the road to Peggy's Cove

Here we are in December of all places! So much for my trying to catch up with that first week of November, travels with Connie, within that same month. Our little trips were worth documenting (in my mind) so, with that, here are some vignettes of our

trip to Peggy's Cove on the Saturday evening of November 5

It's a straight trip down our road to the south shore. I had forgotten what a magical road the Lighthouse Route is as we usually take it home at the end of an outing, too dark to really see anything.  After passing some wonderful landmarks I finally thought to pull out my camera, but the light and proximity of things from a moving car wasn't working for me.

After an hour or so, Wally found the somewhat secret entrance to a little public beach where we got out to stretch our legs.

The ocean tide gently washed the shore

The curl of the waves was benign.

I took off immediately from the car to gather myself from the car ride, unaware that Connie also had agenda: to wet her feet in the Atlantic Ocean. Let me tell you, it wasn't warm.

But beautiful, yes it was.

Once we were on the road again, we travelled the inlets along the coast

through towns with beautiful names, evocative of another time

two views of ...

this same stretch of road 

and along somewhat lonely patches,

 coming upon little fishing villages

and the occasional well-to-do patches of bigger homes, often just for vacation.

There were many picturesque opportunities...

but we were on the move

a pretty country home

a quaint country church

a rare old home in a grand style

another country church with a pyramid roofed house like ours in the foreground,

adorned with pumpkins

Now the landscape is starting to show that rocky barrenness tells us we are getting close to our destination

A quintessential old time fishing home

another fishing village

and someone who thought this inlet was photo-worthy

Now we are almost in Peggy's Cove, just past the memorial of the infamous Swissair crash of 1998.

The rocks themselves, left by ancient glaciers, almost seem like memorials themselves.

So much ancient history.

And here we are, our initial sighting of the famous lighthouse

that has attracted millions of visitors over the years.

I will never forget my first visit with Wally, when the waves crashed magnificently on the long spread of rock to the sea.

The rock really sets the scene here, long undulating stretches of it.

The vegetation is hardy, the trees are very old, bonsai in stature.

The red roof of the town church looms closer,

We round another bend...

and I must save the rest for next time.

until then... holding this moment, this unique and only moment...

peace dear ones

 

last friday in august

Friday from my little part of the world.

Nothing much has changed, though Wally is working like crazy organizing cars for the flight squadrons, crew and support staff who are performing at the air show in Greenwood this weekend.

Wally has free tickets but I won't join him as it truly is his thing and not mine.

a crystal and beach stones on a window sill

Muji watches me take the picture.

Then it's off to the front porch to check the mail. Yes, we still get home delivery here. Sweet.

The lilies are spent in the lily garden but the mallow keeps blooming.

Muji has been waiting for me to come in 

and then he hears Babu clunking around in the kitchen.

Could he be cleaning up?

Muji was once an outdoor cat and the world outside continues to hold great fascination for him.

He continues trying to make The Great Escape through the bathroom closet, kitchen cupboards and the basement door. Some things never change. 

This is where I left off this morning at the kitchen table.

My ancient box of Eagle Prismacolor coloured pencils is getting a good workout these days.

The Jane Davenport set lays to the left. It is also useful for its unusual colours.

I don't usually use a mechanical pencil but I've bee working on a sketch of Botticelli's Venus and finding this fine graphite easier to work with, easier to rub out with that school grade eraser that has worked amazingly well for me on the cheap paper of my little sketchbook.

a bunny sketch in Derwent Black pencil with that marvelous "light green" Prismacolor that fairly glows in the background

and that picture I showed you as a work in progress 2 days ago, now complete.

Done in coloured pencils with some fine Pitt pen outlining.

I played with a similar fantasy background in the fox picture I showed you earlier this week.

It's a fun way to fill in the background but this time I had to subdue it with sepia pencil because it competed with my main characters- hence the extra outlining as well to help bring the characters forward. I have no purpose in having them petition the cat with open bags. I call it Collecting.

The weekend is upon us. So is cooler weather. I hope yours is pleasantly spent.

in peace and presence my friends

a tuesday in may

The rains of April have finally come, and this week is proving to be a soggy one.

But there is some respite from it all and certainly the valley is coming along in her spring regalia

It is a sweet middle time between bare branches and full dress code

One of our little spring gardens is blooming.

Wally calls this Mary and Joseph, a plant from his childhood

It blooms pink and blue and mixed pink and blue blossoms

Daffodils are always a treat

I love their frilly centres

and the Forget-Me-Nots are blooming!

That means no mowing of the lawn for at least another week

I'd forgotten that they start off pink, doing a reasonable job of faking a Mary and Joseph

And the Cherry tree!

The neighbour's cherry tree leans into our yard .

From this slant you can see the petals backlit by the morning sun

(and the other side of Forget-Me-Not Cabin) as we look to the east

I will always think of Leona and her wish to go to Japan in spring when the cherry blossoms bloom 

Looking down the hill at Wally's garden that he dug out on the last weekend of April

The little peach tree to the south side of it is loaded with blossoms

How will it ever stand the weight of this year's peaches? It looks like there will be 4 times as many peaches as last year when it bent almost to breaking

Looking back up the hill at the cherry tree.

Just below it is a flowering bush that I still don't know the name of, here it's blossoms still furled.

Alongside the south end of Forget-Me-Not Cabin the gopher or (Wally thought) a skunk has dug up a good chunk of lawn looking for grubs. The palettes that made the deer barrier have fallen over.

As I walk to the other side of the cabin, I spy the raven

He sees me too and ponders what to do

the solution

Not much later, in the front of the garage, two thirsty crows come to have a drink

One preens while the other walks off with what appears to be a leaf

drinking

It's moments like this when I have good vantage that I regret my puny camera

I try to bump out the shadows

I  try for a sepia effect

The crow appears to dance. Soon they're gone.

I come back to the kitchen table for an impromptu visit with Babu

who gives me meaningful looks as he requests some attention

plea-ea-ease?

Some table rubbing

and some monkeying around

some sniffing

and some more monkeying around

He manages to pull the placemat closer to him

to have a sniff

and a taste

I pull the placemat back but that doesn't faze

my earnest boy