Wood

Larry finished cutting and splitting next winter's wood. It's all neatly stacked and out to dry before moving it under cover once the fall hits.

Dealing with wood was somewhat of a new learning curve for us and Larry loves working with it. It's hard to describe....but once bitten with the wood burning bug, it seems to get in your blood. Who would've thunk?

Larry's handiwork (along with a bit of help from Tyler, Brittney and Jake)

Backyard whale shows

These videos were taken from our backyard last night. There were so many whales all spread out across our 'viewing area' that it was impossible to capture them all at the same time.

(You can click the little picture of a square with an arrow pointing on the diagonal, which is found in the lower right side, to make it a full screen video)

Video #1


Video #2

That time of year, again

Not this morning, but a few days ago....and just because (click to enlarge)



We are still in the tail end of this year's burning season, but it is time to start getting ready for the next one. We had logs delivered last fall, where they've been sitting all winter. Larry also took a few trees from our property. But....seeing as the snow has gone...it's now time to deal with the pile.

Larry and Tyler have spent the last two mornings, carting them up and then sawing them. Hopefully, one more morning should do it for the cutting part...then comes the splitting and stacking. Brittney and Jake (and hopefully I will be well enough to pitch in too) will help with the stacking part. Our goal, as long as the weather co-operates, is to have most of it done by the end of the week.

Bringing the logs up


Tyler is sooo strong!


Positioning it just right


The fun part... (and Tyler trying to hide from the camera....he is sooo different from his brother ;0)


Carting more logs..


Still more...


The pile so far...

Earning My Keep

When I was young, my parents made me work .....and work hard, as evidenced by the above picture. That's me, sitting on my Dad's tractor.

Yep...driving the tractor, ploughing the fields....all in a day's work for me.

*grin*

Well...ok...so I didn't exactly have to earn my keep. I grew up on a farm and sure liked riding on the tractor with my Dad while he worked in the fields. Some jobs were more enjoyable than others....getting stuck in the mud while being eaten alive by mosquitoes was not one of the more enjoyable. Spreading manure wasn't one of the best either. But...ploughing and other field work was great.

The Whales are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my goodness. Larry called me to the back lookout this morning to see the whales.

What a show they put on!! There were several groups (hmmm....I *think* a group of whales is called a pod..but I'm not sure...so I'm calling them a group for now lol) of them...one group must have had 10. They jumped and spouted and had a grand ole' time. Amazing.

Here are some pics...click to enlarge. My whale picture taking skills have improved a little bit over last year....but not enough. The whale jumps, I snap the pic but before the camera goes off...the whale has gone down. (I tried yelling, "Hold that pose" to the whale while he was in mid air...silly whale did not co-operate ;) I have several pics of the ocean....not a whale in sight. Oh well...here are a few of not too bad ones. Don't forget to click to enlarge them, it does show a bit more detail.

Three of them playing together....



Caught his tail...



Some spouting shots...notice how small the fishing boats appear...

Decision Made....

Finally.....

As many of you know, we took a (huge to us) risk a couple of years ago. After vacationing here in Newfoundland and Labrador for a few summers, followed by two extended stays (two months each year), we fell in love with "The Rock" (The Rock is a nickname of sorts for Newfoundland as the whole island province is really...well....one big rock).

That's when the risk came into play. We are not risk takers at the best of times....but after discussing it to death for three years, we decided to take the plunge. After all, we weren't getting any younger and who knew what the future would hold. We didn't want to look back on our life and regret not trying. So Larry took an unpaid leave of absence from his job in Toronto, we sold our house, packed up everyone and everything and moved to 'The Rock'.

Larry had no job to come to (but did manage to get one in 11 days of arriving here. It wasn't in his field...but an income nonetheless).

We had no family or any real connections here.

We just really, really liked it. It's practically impossible to translate into words why we liked it so much.....it's something that must be experienced to really understand what we are talking about. Those who are "come from aways" (the Newfoundland term for people who are not from Newfoundland but 'come from away') will understand.

Here's an attempt at a list (in no particular order) of some of the reasons why we like it here

** The beauty of the province...the ocean with it's majestic icebergs, graceful whales and all other things it has to offer)
** The magnitude of the rocks.
** The clean, clear, fresh air.
** The warmth of the people.
** The weather and yes...you've read that right...we mostly like the weather here in our part of NL. I used to get rather frightened of all the Tornado watches and warnings as well as severe weather warnings that were issued (with increasing frequency) for the area of Ontario where we used to live.
** The pace of life.
** The wide open spaces.
** The uncomplicated lifestyle.
** No teacher bashing
** And....I have to mention Danny (story here). He is our premier and honestly....I've never known a politician like him....I'm *still* amazed that he does not collect a salary...he donates it all to charity! He stands up for his province and for his people. Some may not agree with his tactics...but I have to give him credit...he stands up for Newfoundland and Labrador.


The list goes on......

Now, we didn't just land here in Newfoundland and Labrador and take off running. We've had some growing pains for sure. Lots of things are done differently here....and I know some Newfoundlanders get a kick out of our "mainlander" ways. Oh well...we need to know things so we ask questions...that's the only way we'll learn, right? After the laughter dies down, we always get an answer though and then we know. (Like my missing iceberg....I couldn't understand how it could just go missing....it seemed to fall off of the radar screen. How can an iceberg just go missing....so I asked our Newfoundlander friend. He laughed and laughed...."I just laugh at ya" he said....before telling me "the wind probably changed direction and he went on...way out into the ocean, out of radar." Oh ya....it's a BIG ocean with no boundaries....I keep forgetting that...The next shore east is Ireland! Yes...it's a big ocean. I'm used of little lakes --- 23-feet-deep-at-it's-deepest-spot lakes, with boundaries. Even Lake Ontario (one of the Great Lakes) has boundaries....and nothing as big as an iceberg could just float away and disappear.)

We find the things that took a long time to do in Ontario, are done quickly here and without excruciating effort (like when we bought our house...closing date was less than two weeks from when our offer was accepted). The flip side is true as well though....the things that were done quickly in Ontario, take longer here. It has taken some adjusting to get used of these changes.

We get a lot of questions and shocked looks from Newfoundlanders on why we would choose to move here...especially when neither of us are from here or have relatives here. It's nothing to hear, "Let me get this straight....you chose to move from Ontario to Newfoundland????"

After awhile, we decided we'd just quit telling people we were from Ontario. That worked well......until we started to talk. "Where are you from?" we'd get asked. "Pouch Cove" we'd say. Then they'd say, "No...where are you really from? That's no Pouch Cove accent you've got there."

Larry's leave of absence from his job in Toronto is now up. The time is now..the decision had to be made....he either had to go back to his job or resign his position.

This decision did not come easy to us....many things to consider. But....after much thought, discussions, research etc....we've decided to stay here! Larry is taking early retirement from Toronto and will continue on with tutoring and substitute teaching (a full-time job would be best).

Soooo.....we're looking forward to this next chapter of our life.

Who knows what that will entail.

Forgot one thing

about what I like about Newfoundland :0)

The premier (leader) of our province, Danny Williams, does not collect a salary. He donates it to charity. Even though he has a lot of money already, I've never, ever heard of a politician who works for free. Article here.

Favourite things about Newfoundland

Most people seem genuinely surprised when we tell them we just packed up everything and moved to Newfoundland. They are really surprised when we tell them we have no connections here, no family, no roots....nothing other than we just like it here.

I was asked today, what my favourite thing about Newfoundland is?

Oh my....how can I possibly narrow it down to one thing?

There is the amazing scenery....the icebergs (betcha didn't know that we like the icebergs....did ya?? ;0)), the whales, the ocean (or should I say 'the water'), the massive amount of rock, the clean air, the wide open space, things are not over crowded, the beautiful drive into town (well...it's really the city but everyone here calls it 'town'), the way our garbage is handled (yes...it's treated as garbage here. One does not need a Ph.D. in garbeology just to figure out how to put their garbage out).

But also....there is the people. It's hard to put their friendliness into the proper words...one must experience it first-hand to really understand it. I'll try though through some examples....Today we were in a parking lot, sitting in our van waiting to exit our parking spot. A woman in a car was driving along and when she saw we were waiting to leave, she stopped and motioned for us to back up...which we did. Larry proceeded to back out figuring she was waiting for our spot. Nope, she was just being nice and letting us get out.

I am still amazed at how we can be waiting on the side of the road to cross to the other side. Cars will come to a screeching stop in order to allow us to cross the road.

When you hear a car horn here, it usually means somebody has saw somebody they know. The tooting of the horn is followed by a big smile and wave "Hello".

Then there is the weather. I dunno.....we just haven't experienced any of those year-round 15' snow banks we were warned we'd encounter here (by people who I'm sure don't even know where Newfoundland is, let alone ever been here.) Today it was 16 degrees (61 F)....on December 2.....amazing!!! The summers are beautiful....no humidity and no smog.

I guess if I had to narrow it down to one thing I like about Newfoundland, I'd have to say it is living life here.

Our day

When we began homeschooling (we're into our 7th year), we started a tradition of taking a day off to go Christmas shopping. It's our one and only PD day for the year (ya...that's right, their teacher is a mean old tyrant that only allows one PD day per year). The children look forward to it, as do Larry and I.

We decided today would be the day. Everyone was up early, had breakfast, dressed, washed dishes and ready to go by 8:00. This meant we were in town by 8:30. Walmart was the only store open at that time so we began our shopping there. From there we moved on to a few other stores....Michaels, Zellers and a couple that are unique to this area.

After we'd shopped for awhile, we decided it was time for lunch. This too is part of our 'tradition' and after a bit of a discussion on where we should go, we headed to the restaurant at Zellers.

After lunch, Larry had to head off to work. The kids and I had one more store to hit before we headed home.

It was a great day and we didn't have any of the usual questions we've been accustomed to on our one PD day (questions like, "What, no school today?" etc.). I think the reason being schools here seem to have many PD days (similar to Ontario before Mike Harris did away with them). Added into the mix, not all schools get the same day off....so people are probably used of seeing children out and about during school hours. We were ready just in case though (one year on our PD day, we were in line at Walmart....you know where there are lines all over the place. This is when we were still in Ontario. Anyway, just as the cashier started ringing ours in, the computer systems went down. There we were, along with all the other lines and cashiers just standing there....wondering what we were going to do. People were starting to get impatient, looking around and rolling their eyes. All of a sudden our cashier spotted our children and asked, "What....no school today?" When we said we homeschooled, that caused a lot of people to look....and the questions started coming at us from all sides....literally....people standing in line to the left and the one to the right, people in the line behind us and all the cashiers around us....All of a sudden we were centre stage having to explain the whole homeschooling thing. Eeekk...We did pretty good and were able to answer all the questions....but I sure was glad when the computers came back on-line.)

We all finished our Christmas shopping too, so that is a bonus. We don't go all out for presents....they each get $20.00 to spend and that has to buy presents for 4 people. (Jake even had $5.00 left out of his $20.00). It was interesting trying to get presents without the others seeing what we were buying for them. This too has become part of the game though and adds to the whole day. It was much easier when they were younger to hide what we were doing, but now not so much so. Tyler has been accusing us of "whispering" all day. Silly boy. ;0)

Oh well....back to the grind tomorrow!

Sunrise over Pouch Cove (click pics to enlarge)

"First To See The Sun"

That is our town's motto.

We awoke to a beautiful sunrise on Sunday morning. I just had to run outside (in my jammies no less) to take pictures of the beautiful sunrise that was before us.


A couple taken from beside our house...That is our shed.






Then on to the back look out point to see more. I couldn't resist.





The Food Fishery is once again open for a short period of time(for how long, I'm not exactly sure but it's only for a few weeks --- two or three maybe?? Not long in any event). Because fishing is no longer allowed, we don't usually hear or see small fishing boats. Larger ones, like Coast Guard type ships are the only ones who grace our view. With the Food Fishery being open, coupled with the beautiful day today, there were a lot of boats out there (later in the day). This early in the morning though, I could spot only one already out there....that was until I heard another motor. It took me a couple of seconds to spot it though....it's a BIG ocean and I can hardly believe how small these boats appear. Can you see it? Click on the picture to make it larger ..... can you see it now?



It's getting closer to the sparkling sun reflection....



Ahhh.....it's there.....




And one more of the sunrise....I just couldn't resist...;0)



Looking southward back on some of the town of Pouch Cove



The southern part of our property. Can you see the water falls in the middle of the picture? Click on it to make it larger. We've dubbed these falls "Pouch Cove Falls" (kind of reminds you of Niagara Falls, doesn't it? Well....ok...I guess they're not *quite* that big but we like to pretend lol. In the spring with the snow melt, the rushing river and subsequent water falling off these rocks is un.be.liev.a.ble)




Looking northward....We are about as far north and east as there is in Canada. One can go further north and part of Newfoundland is a bit further east....but we're about as far northeast as it gets.



Meanwhile, later on the deck.....did I mention it was a gorgeous day? It went up to 25 degrees Celsius (hmmm...I think that is approx 78 degrees Fahrenheit). I'm guessing there won't be too many more days like this, so we decided to take advantage by having a BBQ.




Chef Larry at work...




Brittney in the back yard...




Brittney at the lookout point, back part of our property. Can you see her? Click on pic to make it bigger.



How about now, a little bit closer ---- can you see her?



What a great day! Beautiful sunrise, clean air, sunshine, 25 degrees ...... gotta love days like this. Unfortunately, it's probably one of the last for this year.

Oh well....not much we can do I suppose.

That time of year again

Click pics to enlarge.....






Wow, I can hardly believe it is the middle of September....not sure where the summer has gone.

We're full swing into our school year now. Piano lessons start this week and then it will be business as usual.

Time to start bringing in the wood. It's been piled outside all summer but the time has arrived to get it in under cover. Tyler has somewhat settled into the fact a lot of the wood related chores are his responsibility. He spent some time on Saturday morning bringing some into the shed for us. Over the next few days (as long as the rain holds off), he'll take it all in.

Last year, we ran out of firewood about March. Being new the whole wood burning scenario, we didn't know how much we'd need. There was a lot here when we bought the house and figured it would last all winter. It lasted most of the winter, but not quite the whole thing. Hopefully this year, there will be enough.

Nothing like a warm, crackling fire on a cold winter's night!

Ahhh...gathering wood

We're still trying to get used of life here on 'The Rock'. So many things are so different than what we are used of.

One thing that is new to us is wood burning. We enjoyed having an almost full year's worth of wood that came with the house. We burned that and thoroughly enjoyed our first winter with wood heat. But...as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end .... and this is no exception.

The winter has gone and the wood is too. We have been scrambling....or what feels like scrambling....trying to buy some wood for the upcoming burning season.

We finally scored some wood. It was delivered last week, (and....as per usual here, the guy didn't come to the door to be paid, instead telling us to drop around and pay him whenever we got around to it). The wood was still in log form, which means we have to chop it up, but not having a chainsaw, makes that rather difficult. Our friend Paul offered to bring his saw and chop wood, just as soon as he got it fixed.

Not knowing when this would happen, we decided the boys would try and saw some by hand. I was surprised....but they did quite a bit considering. We joked around as they cut, about how long it was taking or that we were going to get the largest logs for them. All in good fun and it made the time go faster. Eventually, Paul showed up with his chainsaw and made the job go much quicker.

Yep...I can just about feel that heat now.

Just as an aside, you can see from the above pictures how foggy it was this morning. In the pictures with Tyler and Larry, you can't see the ocean or the icebergs. By the time Paul arrived though, most of the fog had cleared and the ocean and icebergs (although it has rolled) are once again visible.