It's Official...We're Newfoundlanders!!

Well.....sorta official.

Yesterday we spent the day switching our Ontario Licence plates and drivers' licences for Newfoundland ones. Sooo...I guess that makes us official Newfoundlanders now ---- right?

I know, I know.....I can hear you all now, one is not 'officially' a Newfoundlander unless they were either born here or...for the 'Come-From-Aways' until they've kissed the cod or been screeched in.....but really....I can't see either of those happening to us in the near future (or even distant future)...so for now....this is as close as we're going to get.

( the following explanation of being 'screeched in' and 'kissing the cod' was copied and pasted from here)

"the "Screech-in"- The most famous of newcomer traditions, mainlanders and visitors to the isle must drink a shot or glass of Screech (a brand of Jamaican Rum famous to Newfoundland). Take this all in good humour, but don't be surprised if you don't like the taste; the name has good meaning.

Kissing the Cod- As well as being "Screeched in", occasionally visitors will be coaxed into "Kissing the Cod". The visitor must kiss a codfish, emblem of the historic fishing industry, after arrival. While this does happen occasionally, it is usually a humorous part of a guided tour or similar event. The use of an actual fish is rare, though, especially since the introduction of the cod moratorium. Kissing a real codfish is discouraged by many, not to mention possibly unhygienic, so an imitation cod, made of wood, plastic, or rubber is used"

And Still More Visitors.....

(Click pics to enlarge)







And they're off........

Larry's sister, niece and great nephew from the mainland came to visit us.

After not seeing them for a whole year, we really enjoyed their visit! It was a short one but a great one, nonetheless. As with any short visit, the risk of encountering only bad weather is higher. This was the case with this visit. Although it could have been worse (with high humidity or smog or tornado watches and warnings or severe thunderstorms and/or weather warnings that are quite prevalent in the part of Ontario we were from), it was bad enough. Even though it was cooler and cloudy and some drizzle, we managed to show them around our part of 'The Rock'. Things always look better in the sunshine but we still managed to look around a bit.

We visited Cape Spear (the most easterly point in North America)

We visited Middle Cove Beach.

We had 'a feed' of fresh Newfoundland Cod --- 'Fish and Chips'. Mmmmmm soooo good!

We spent an afternoon in St. John's visiting various shops.

We celebrated the three August birthdays.

We spent time chatting, catching up and being entertained by our two year old great nephew (he's so cute!).

The three days seemed to fly by and as quick as our visitors came....they were off again.

And of course....the day after they left....the weather turned nice again....sigh...

And they're off.... (click pics to enlarge)

(A little late with this post due to ongoing health issues....but hey....better late than never.....right??)

We said our goodbyes on Wednesday evening as they had to be away really early on Thursday morning. We're about 2 hours to the ferry and they had to be there for 6:00 a.m.....did I mention they had to leave early??

Our last night together was great. Dad and Marilyn took us out for dinner, followed by an evening of dominoes back at our place. Our friend Paul stopped in for a visit, a cup of tea and to say goodbye as well.

It was hard to say goodbye and we were all sad to see them go. Jake is so sensitive and he was extremely upset. He cried for the rest of the evening and then, as he quite often does when he's upset, he slept with us. The next day wasn't much different for him....still lots of tears.

It was a great visit though....we all enjoyed seeing them and are looking forward to their next visit...hmmmm......maybe Thanksgiving???

It's been a whirlwind of a visit

Helping Brittney sell ice water



Windy day at Cape Spear



Our backyard



Marilyn and Dad in our backyard


I haven't been blogging for a few days as we've been enjoying the grandparent's visit. And quite a few days it has been! I guess the best way to describe it would be while experiencing that 'east coast laid backness' (hmmmm....are those even words???), we've still managed to keep somewhat busy.

Some highlights have been:

~~Each kid has enjoyed their own special day and time with Grandma and Grandpa.

***Jake chose Swiss Chalet for his restaurant. They then enjoyed an unplanned tour of St. John's. We finished that night off by a visit to our friend's Paul and Joan.

***Next was Brittney's turn. She chose A & W for her restaurant. She then followed that with a trip to Frenchy's for a shopping spree. She got 2 t shirts, a pair of capris and flip flops .... all for $15.00.

***Tyler was next and he chose Jungle Jim's. They also went to a used book store where he found some old Archie Comics.

***Last but not least was our turn. Dad had wanted to check out where the ferry would be coming in, so the four of us went for a drive there. It was a pretty drive and Larry and I saw an area of NL we had not yet seen. On our way home Marilyn and Dad took us out for dinner to a little cafe here in Pouch Cove. It was a great afternoon!

Also during their time here, we took them to Cape Spear (which is the most easterly point in North America). It was really windy that day, but the whales were out in full force. We sat and watched them for a bit before heading to downtown St. John's for some shopping. We followed that by supper at Montana's.

We also took advantage of the free admission night to The Rooms. We've wanted to go there for some time, but have just never made it. A great way for (all of) us to learn more about Newfoundland, the way of life here (both past and present).

The nights are usually spent playing dominoes or cribbage with them.

Today, Marilyn and I are heading to a local artist's shop for a visit.

It's hard to believe their visit is drawing to a close...we've all enjoyed our visit with them so much!

Ya' just never know...

Click picture to enlarge.......


who will arrive at your doorstep.

This point was driven home this past Thursday. It was 4:00 in the afternoon. I was talking on the phone with my friend Lori from Ontario, when I noticed a car coming down our driveway. We seem to get quite a few cars coming down here....people come down to look at the icebergs/ocean etc. I've come home more than once to find a car parked and the people out looking around. We've posted "Private Drive" signs at the end of the driveway....that has stopped most people but occasionally, we still get the odd car coming down. Thursday, was one of those days. As the car came down and didn't leave, I knew they were still out there. I sent Jake out to see who it was and politely ask if he could help them. A few minutes later he returned with tears streaming down his face.........yelling

"You aren't going to believe this but Grandpa and Marilyn (my step-mom) are sitting in our driveway!!!!"

So....I went out and sure enough --- there they were!! We haven't seen them since we left Ontario almost a year ago.

They are both 80 something and Wow! --- what a trip they had to get here.

~~They took a train from Ontario to Montreal.
~~At Montreal they caught another train to Moncton.
~~There was some sort of mix up/problem there and they had to take a taxi from Moncton to Truro, NS. They said the taxi driver drove 125 kms/hr all the way...
~~At Truro, they caught a bus which brought them to North Sydney, NS, where the NL Ferry comes in.
~~They rented a car in North Sydney to bring over here and then boarded the Ferry.
~~They took the long ferry ride (which was a 17 hour trip).
~~They arrived in NL in the early morning and drove to St. John's where they got lost but eventually found their way here.

They were introduced to a lot of 'Newfoundland' things within a day or two of arriving here. After disembarking off the ferry, they saw a moose. When they arrived here at our house, we took them back to our lookout. While there, a whale came up about 10 feet off of our shore/rocks and swam right by us. It swam gracefully by us on the surface, coming up out of the water twice. It came out of the water as if to say, 'Welcome'.

Yep....you just never know who will arrive.

Our day

First to see the sun



Still looking for whales ....


Brittney has graduated from grade 8!


Today was a great day here on The Rock.

Larry and I were up early, the sun was shining and the kids were all still in bed. We decided to take our coffee out back, enjoy the lookout, and watch for any whales that happen to be up early. It was beautiful seeing the sun shine on the ocean but that made it difficult to see any whales (if there were any). Oh well....we still looked anyway.

After we'd spent an hour back there just watching we figured the troops would all be up and we should make our way back. Not so though....when we returned they were all still asleep. Eventually they came to life and gathered in the kitchen for breakfast.

This year, Brittney finished grade 8 ---- where did the time go? I can hardly believe my little girl is so grown up! In celebration of her finishing grade 8, we'd promised her lunch out at the restaurant of her choice. She'd had her sight set on a certain one that is well known for pasta. She's been wanting to go there for some time, but it's a little more expensive than the types we go to, so she's never been there. However when she asked to go this time, we agreed. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the restaurant, there was a posted sign that said renovations were happening this week which meant a limited menu of pizza and salad only. I felt badly for her as she had her sights set on pasta....but after a bit of initial disappointment, she happily selected another one.

It was a great lunch...lots of laughter.

After lunch we had some errands to take care of. Tyler had been wanting for some time to pick up a certain type of marker for his cartooning. We'd been waiting to combine this with another trip into town...so this worked well. |We also had a few other errands to take care of ---- a new lawn chair to buy (although we *are* keeping the broken one), caulking and cement to purchase, Jake wanted to pick up a new pair of sunglasses (gotta look cool ya know) and there were some great specials at the grocery store.

After all that, we headed for home. Beautiful drive coming along the coast line. Upon our arrival home, Larry took care of a few details before we headed back to check on the whale situation. We weren't disappointed as one came up 10 feet off of our shore....Wow....so close! --- and even with my camera set on the fast speed (thanks Molytail!), I still wasn't fast enough to get the shot.

Oh well...there is always tomorrow.

The Whales are Here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Whales are Here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brittney looking for whales..... (click to enlarge pics)



I know....it's difficult to tell if this is really a whale....but it is! If you click on the pic it will enlarge and then if you look closely in the middle of the picture....that black spot *is* a whale. I'm not quick enough on the draw and always seem to miss capturing them. I am working on this.


Besides my poor photography skills, sometimes we are just too far away/too high to get a good picture (I need a better camera). Just to give you an idea of how high we are, here are some people fishing off the rocks next to our place. As you can see, the rocks they're on are up high and our lookout is much higher still (those are tree tops we're looking down on).



Woohoo!!!

The whales have *finally* arrived in our back yard.

Upon moving to Newfoundland, we'd hoped to see a few things....with icebergs and whales being at the top of the list. We weren't disappointed with this year's bumper crop of icebergs and were hoping the whales would follow suit.

We've been waiting, patiently waiting (and sometimes not so patiently) to see some whales. We keep asking our Newfoundland friends, "When will the whales be here??", which for reasons we still don't understand, causes them to laugh heartily at us. Oh well....we're mainlanders....what can I say? lol

Then....on top of waiting....it's been such a cool, wet and foggy spring....we were concerned we'd end up missing the whales altogether (can't see whales if you can't see the water). Everyone assured us though....that type of weather is "Caplin Weather." It will bring the Caplin in and the Caplin brings the whales in.

So ..... we continued to wait.

Sure enough......the weather turned warm and beautiful here last week. The Capelin came in.....and so did the Whales!!!

Larry, Tyler and I went to the lookout in our backyard yesterday afternoon. WOW!!! The ocean was alive.....so much spouting going on and then the whales would come up! As we looked out over the ocean....numerous white spouts dotted the blue water. Everywhere we looked....spouts.

Un.be.liev.a.ble

Today was no different. Brittney and I went back....equipped with our binoculars and camera. Off in the distance we saw a shining object floating on top of the water. Looking through the binoculars....we could see it was a whale floating on top....his wet skin reflecting the sun and really sparkling. A few minutes later....down he went.

It was simply amazing watching them and the show they put on. Some came right out, some caused big splashes, some waved their fin, some barely disturbed the surface as they gracefully came up and went back down....we saw it all and had front row seats. We were just amazed at their beauty and grace.

Sorry about the picture....but it's the best I could get. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some better pics to post. Half of the time they were out too far and when they were in closer, I had a hard time getting a picture when they were up. By the time the camera went off....the whale had disappeared down and all that showed up was a picture of the water. :0( Honestly....you'd think the least they could do, is hold that pose in mid air while I get a half decent picture ;0)