old houses and storefronts

This first week of September has been a busy one.
On Sunday, before Labour Day, I suggested we get ourselves off to our favourite cut rate supermarket.

As usual, Wally took the "short cut", the backroad to Wolfville, a lovely scenic route.

Coming into Port Williams, there are many beautiful houses, and many shots I lost due to low light and shooting from a moving car, but this delightful scene of an old man on one of 8 seats on the front porch was a keeper.

As we came to our turn, we come to two storefronts in two very old buildings that probably once had something to do with fishing as we are about to cross the Cornwallis River quite close to the Bay of Fundy.

This is big time farm country. Here we see the back of a big operation, Noggins Corner Farms, in front of which we'll pass on the slower road home. (I'll show you later.)

Nearing the corner we pass by this discreet laneway into the farmland.

Turning towards Wolfville, we are in Greenwich (GREN-ich).

The garage has never been open in the 5 years we've been here and it is after hours at the vet's so it makes for a lonely shot.

Most of the homes are older. This one has a huge rhododendron bush to the right.

This sweetie has a laneway that leads to other houses overlooking the farmfields. 

Another yellow house, twice as big.

This seems to be a humble 1940's interpretation of an Arts & Crafts style house that was most popular between 1910-1925, a favourite style of mine. This go at it has some of the generous proportions for such a little house and is built in the traditional but rare, for here, red brick. 

I can always tell when we're in Wolfville by the grander homes, this one with an extended front porch and extensions out back as well.

This lovely Victorian on a corner lot is enhanced by lots of flowering shrubbery.

The Wolfville Nursing home is grandest by far.

The Wolfville Baptist Church is magnificent even by big city standards. To it's right is the Acadia University Gallery and behind that, classrooms and then the great library which a regular library card will grant us access to.

Kitty-corner to the church is the library pub. Down that side street is the library that I've shown you before, located in the old train station.

Past the library pub and a few more shops including the Harvest Art Gallery is Paddy's Pub that ekes into the street for outdoor seating.

Again with another 2 shops inbetween (you may have noticed that that's how long my camera takes to ready itself for the next shot even at this slow through town pace) is the Acadia theatre, known now as the Al Whittle Theatre, that is devoted to more esoteric films.

This huge building houses Atlantic Lighting on the main floor

with incredible modern lighting choices.

Oh! My little camera is ready for the next building, the Bank of Montreal, or B-Mo as it is known.

Suddenly, in the middle of all this commercialism is a lovely patch

devoted to the Wolfville Post Office.

With its park like setting, its a wonder that there are not more visitors resting there- except that you would have to bring your own blanket.

Across the street is the Naked Crepe. It's amazing how many variations you can make with a crepe.

A few doors down from the post office is another eatery, the Pita House, and next to it Wild Lily.

Located in an old gas station and garage, Wild Lily is a delightful gift and women's clothing shop.

I got my spectacular whale and octopus glass Christmas ornaments there. And they pipe in the most delightful vintage music.

This is the corner we would turn to go into the Gaspereau Valley if we wanted to visit the wool shop.

But we turn instead toward the dykes at this corner of the Bay of Fundy to our destination, Cuts, where sweet potatoes sell for 28 cents a pound and sweet local corn for 15 cents each. I needed carrots which were fresh and bagged at $1.49 for 5 pounds.I always feel like quoting that IKEA commercial where the woman leaves the store wild-eyed, bags in hand, yelling to her husband,

"Start the car! Start the car!!"

Loaded up with fresh local produce, we head out of Wolfville past grand mansions.

Of course I'm getting better tree shots than houses because of the slow readings of my little camera.

Perhaps you remember this wonderful old saltbox house from past posts.

Now we are back in Greenwich passing this unusual pale pink roof with its old red roof.

Just try to find old red roof tiles these days; I couldn't.

This is prime farm market country but one rarely finds the little guys anymore.

More often it's these bigger operations like Noggins Corner Farm that seems to expand each year and hosts huge events like a corn maze that attracts thousands each fall.

I'm always delighted by this discreet country home each time we pass.

And this simple house comes alive with its magnificent landscape and red door and matching roof.

Doesn't the blue wheelbarrow set it all off!

Even this quaint sweetie has its charm.

Just beyond is Avery's a local chain that sells much local product.

We are coming into the land of subdivisions that is New Minas.

This is very typical of the kind of house I grew up in.

While our local Michaels gets much of Wally's hard-earned cash as it continues to provide us with much of the product you've seen me show in past posts, we're equally delighted with the vast sunsets we see from its parking lot. The treed hill will give you an idea of the abundance of fresh air we're privileged to have as well.

It is after hours at Canadian Tire that sits next door to the supermarket that we just dropped into to grab some pre Labour Day sales.

I still find some nostalgic charm to the old A&W design. Wally and I recalled how they used to bring a tray out to hang on your car window though neither of us recall the roller skating waitresses who once did, possibly before our time. Sounds dangerous anyway.

I really ought to show you some of the artwork I've been doing lately, but I'll have to save that for another day. In the meantime, I hope the weather has been kind to you in your part of the world. We're having some much needed rain.

peace dear people

peace

wet weekend

Good Morning on a golden late summer morning. How special to be alive after a dreary wet weekend.

It was Wally's weekend to work mornings. I usually pull together a gourmet vegetarian lunch of two dishes, one of which is usually quinoa tabbouleh with mint and parsley from the garden. The other is often organic lentils and steamed veggies with more herbs from the garden. There's nothing like fresh oregano, almost spicy and so different from dried.  Then there are crudités and a dip, often guacamole and always lemon water for me, lime water for Wally. We nearly always watch a home improvement or decorating show over lunch to elevate and motivate us for the afternoon ahead. This weekend, Wally sealed and painted some more in the new sewing studio while I did the usual clean up, laundry, floors, etc. 

Afterwards we headed out to Wolfville to gather up some bathroom tile samples and do a little cut rate produce shopping. Passing by Joe's, the usual crowd of outdoor diners were hiding from the rain.

I've never been into Muddy's but must try it sometime. It looks so inviting. 

Note the 3 beige bins for recycle and garbage that are typical waste disposal here in Nova Scotia, the land of environmental concern. The red box is for mail. I'm guessing that the one to its left is for real estate advertising.

The Al Whittle Theatre puts on esoteric films and documentaries.

The Harvest Gallery has some lovely local and Canadian art and prints.

The town square is empty today. It was down this street that we had gone to The Home Hardware. Just beyond it is the Bay of Fundy.

So many of my pictures were lost from blur and windshield wipers so only a few more.

Leaving town we come upon several farm markets. This one has stood here for decades but will soon be moving to its new location in that fine red roofed building beyond that we've watched slowly go up. It's rare to see fish featured here in the land of farms even though we're so close to the ocean.

Hennigar's attracts a large crowd, especially tourists. I think this is the one place we stopped for two fresh apples when Wally brought me out here circa 2010.

  Some of the tourists are out of their minds, strung out on ice cream or something, as we almost got wiped out about a month ago by someone driving a late model SUV, full of passengers, who took a long angle run, cutting in front of us into the oncoming traffic. It was only Wally's defensive driving that saved us.  That's something I can't shake now.

Back home, the hydrangea bowed to the ground 

the mist rising in the valley beyond the hayfield

the hayfield beyond Forget-Me-Not Cabin

the mist rising, the cloud cover breaking up

the goldenrod, vetch and lupins bowed with wet, embroidered in distinctly fall colours

This morning Muji joined me in the kitchen

paw poised

for the famous

Muji High Five

"I Beseech Thee" he seems to say.

Then Babu takes his place and begins to violently rub my arm with his head and give me little kitten squeaks. My boys are hungry and so I take a break to give them their breakfast.

my try at art journaling

As you can see, I'm over a week behind in posting this. 

The featured piggy is by Golden Books artist Garth Williams, a favourite illustrator of mine. There are so many of these books still available, this one entitled Baby Farm Animals, that it doesn't hurt my feelings to vandalize it. A mixed media piece done with 3 kinds of washi tape, paint pen, mauve acylic, and India ink Pitt pen.

There is an alarming trend now to throw away books that don't sell in short time. Wally and I have rescued many old volumes that I'm convinced are the last of their kind. But it's a lost cause in this paradigm of the New. Antiques have lost value too. And old traditions and knowledge are valued by a dying breed and relatively few young un's. My sister assures me this devaluing of the past is cyclical and that, as a species, we humans seem destined to repeat, relearn and rediscover, the Renaissance a case in point. I can't help but think of all the lost profundities of all the lost cultures. 

I console myself with this paint chip collage of the 9 Buddhist Virtures

using one of the Tim Holtz cutouts I got earlier this month.

It really is only this moment.