Autumn Adventures 2014 : Apple Picking

Last week, Dan and I spent four days exploring the western end of our province with Violet before he returned to work from his parental leave. Can we take a moment to acknowledge how awesome it is that either parent can take paid time off of work to spend with their newly expanded families? 

We spent time in our provincial capital of Halifax, visiting with our awesome friends and sharing oodles of laughs, just what my heart needed. Heidi and Kenny were our hosts for three nights, and little Tate is V's newest favourite man. We also met Kelsie and Adam for a delicious brunch (breakfast bean burrito, what?!) on the last morning of our mini vacation. 

One of my favourite experiences? Apple picking in Wolfville at Noggins Farm. We had spent another day exploring Lunenburg, Mahone Bay and Chester, and we were eager to visit Wolfville for its farmers' market. Heidi mentioned that their favourite apple picking site was nearby, and after a little GPS mishap, which took us to the middle of nowhere, we arrived at Noggins. Dan and I pushed a snoozing V in her stroller through the wicked corn maze (the arial view is in the shape of an apple) and snacked on freshly popped kettle corn. We hopped on the back of a wagon and ventured into the middle of the apple orchard, where we picked a huge bag of apples. Noggins has over 15 varieties, but we concentrated on McIntosh, Gala and Cortland apples. The Honeycrisps will be ready in a few weeks time. (Darn!)

Dan and I have decided to make apple picking an annual event for our little family. Spending hours together outdoors in the fresh air, creating memories, was so special. Next year, V will be snagging apples of her own off the trees!

Happy Thursday!

Scenic Newfoundland : Road Trip Photos, Part 3

It's March! Eeek - the winter is finally going to turn into spring soon. Although, according to the news this morning, the Weather Network released their report that in Canada this year, we'll be having a late spring. They estimate the weather to not officially turn to spring until mid-April. Let's hope that those weather guys don't know what they're talking about. I don't want to wait that long for green grass and spring coats!

As a bit of a "beat the winter blues" sort of series, over the past three weeks I've been sharing photos of our trip to Newfoundland this past August. It's been great looking back through our photos (which I've yet to get developed! Must get on that.) and reminiscing about how much fun Dan and I had on our road trip. This is the last of my three part series; you can see part one and part two here. All of the photos are straight from our camera or iPhone, no fancy editing work here, other than some diptychs. 

What's a diptych? It's a way to present two photos, side by side, that can complement or contrast with each other. (You can also create triptychs: three photos. Crazy talk!)

Here's a few shots from our days on the ol' Rock:

Cape Spear - one of the most beautiful stops on our trip

A door fit for a hobbit on the side of the road.

Seashells galore / Peeking at Newfoundland from the ferry window

The dock and boat before our adventure through the mountains / a fun airplane shot

Yet another gorgeous lighthouse / How fun is that ceiling?! It was in a pottery shop.

So many adorable shops along our trip / Several businesses backed onto the water and had decks for observing

I'm always spotting patterns that I like / Decrepit buildings are my jam - love that pop of red!

That just about winds up our photos! I have oodles more, as you can well imagine, but I won't smother you with pics of Newfoundland. I think three posts is plenty without overloading my blog. I hope you enjoyed the glimpses into our road trip! If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend taking a trip of your own to see that fine province.

Happy Tuesday!

Scenic Newfoundland : Road Trip Photos, Part 2

Well, the snow's still here, so let's reflect back on the warm summer months again. This is my second post on my trip to Newfoundland in August; if you'd like to see the photos from the first post, click here. Dan and I had a total blast on our road trip around the province, covering much of the western coast as well as the opposite (St. John's) coastline. If you've never been to "the rock", I would highly recommend taking the time to visit the lovely province. Such rugged beauty, and friendly residents in almost every town! 

Most of these photos were taken during the second half of our road trip, mostly in St. John's and the trip to and from the city. A friendly piece of advice: if you can avoid the trip across central Newfoundland, do so. It took hours and hours to get from one coast to the other; we used up almost two days in total, traveling to and from St. John's. Since we drove, we did get to explore some of the communities that weren't directly on the highway, which was a lot of fun.

A little coastal community right inside the city of St. John's / Fish drying on racks in the sunlight

Gorgeous street art everywhere in St. John's / The view from a tower on Signal Hill

Two scenes from one of our favourite communities, Little Harbour: we stayed in those cabins for a night.

Signal Hill, Newfoundland

Another coastal scene in Little Harbour

So many picturesque lighthouses

Cape Spear, the easternmost point of Canada / A few of the houses on Jellybean Row in St. John's

A beautiful river scene on the side of the highway in central Newfoundland

The view from the tower on Signal Hill

The water and coastlines were gorgeous at every stop

I hope to have a third post next week with a few more pictures from our road trip: mostly little snapshots that I took to capture small details and moments. We had so many great laughs and funny experiences on our trip. Taking our time and traveling through Newfoundland was one of my favourite vacations that Dan and I have taken together so far!

Happy Tuesday!

Scenic Newfoundland : Road Trip Photos, Part 1

Snow day! It's blizzardy outside, and the roads aren't in good condition. When we woke up this morning, it was impossible to see out of any of our windows. This has been quite the winter! I have a long commute to school, so on the days that I feel are hazardous, I stay put. I'm doing my schoolwork from home: the advantages of having modern technology :)

As I sit here this morning, sipping my (super sour!) smoothie and snuggled up under a blanket with the snow swirling around outside, I thought it might be nice to share some photos of our trip to Newfoundland this past August. I hope to share more later on this week as well. There's nothing like reminiscing about warm summer days to make the day seem a little brighter.

Pulling into the port early in the morning

Our first glimpse of Port-aux-Basque, the little village that my grandmother grew up in

Those mountains! That sky!

Even someone's junk pile can make a fun photo

Clothes drying on the line at a little museum - loved the colour of the house!

Dreamy sunsets, low tides and plant life

Beach treasures - shells that we took home, and an inukshuk with a dog

Panoramic beauty

A gorgeous boat trip through mountains

An adorable seaside village with fun shadows and tiny shops. We ate crepes on the dock.

Local plant life and our home for the week

That was fun - I can't wait to share more images with you! We had such a blast on the vacation. We both love road trips and the outdoors, so traveling and discovering our neighbouring provinces is one of our favourite things to do. We've been slowly checking off each of the provincial capitals from our list of places to visit. I wonder what the next one will be?

Happy Wednesday!

Scenic Cape Breton Adventures

When transferring some photos off of my phone to my laptop, I noticed that there were so many beautiful shots of Cape Breton and adventures that we took in the recent past. I thought that I'd share a few with you, straight from the camera phone. What a lovely place to call home!

Dan and I took a little drive after work/school in October and came across the most serene cove decked out in autumn colours and a hint of fog. I got him to turn around and pull over so I could capture the moment. While we were pulled over, a tour bus went by and I was envious of the passengers: what a great time of the year to tour through Cape Breton!

Back in October, Dan, Rachel and I took our friends to the Skyline Trail, as this is their first year living in Cape Breton and had never done the hike. We took a few photos and fought the wind. We forgot about the difference in temperature further north, so it was a bit chilly without a hat, mitts, or scarf. It was my first time doing anything very physical after being so sick, but I took it nice and slow and had a great time!

How about you? Go on any fun adventures over the past few months? Do share!

Happy Thursday!

How we do Summer, Part I

We take quiet evening drives

We watch the sun set

We visit our friends' farm

We eat breakfast on the waterfront

We have lunch at the new local food truck

We read great books

We take walks on the beach

We watch track and field meets

We celebrate our first tomato of the season

We smell our fresh herbs

... and we soak up the sun on our beautiful island.

That's how we do summer 'round here.

(Oh, and we also spend too much money at thrift stores, eat too many cones of ice cream, feel sad and/or lonely and all of those other not so fun things. But we tend to skip the photo taking of the not so pleasurable moments. I'm sure you understand.)

Happy Tuesday!