Travels by CAML

We began last Sunday morning with Team Cattle Penning .  The weather was cool and crystal clear. Brodie Trenholm and his family annually host a number of penning competitions at Creek View Farm on the Mud Creek Road just outside Northport (NS), less than three miles from Coldspring . This was the last day of their 2021 season which had been interrupted several times by Covid shutdowns.   Competitors run the gamut, men and women of all ages, shapes and sizes. Entry fees are $35 or $40 per person and the prizes can be substantial. The road and barnyard were lined with cars, trucks and a number of large horse trailers with living quarters attached. We've seen similar rigs used by Bar-B-Que competition teams or race car teams - obviously big investments - hauling  grills and smokers or cars. I took a lot of photos; it being the first time in several years that I've used a real camera, i.e. not a cell phone, the results were not outstanding.  We stayed for around ni...

  You get a line and I'll get a pole and we'll both go fishing down at Annabel's Hole. So goes the ancient, and possibly suggestive, Amherst Shore ditty. Melanie started a new fitness class this morning, it's called 'Yard Work.' While she worked on clearing two years of weeds and extraneous growth out of the berry patches I limbed up pine trees in the back yard, severely pruned an old sour cherry tree, and cut down random aspens. 'Random Aspen' is a new plant species rampant in our area which we raise unintentionally amongst the flower beds. And about that 'yard work,' it really does make for fine exercise and I may take it up. What do you think, maybe one day a year? That should do it. Gorgeous fall weather; not a sign of colour in the trees, warm and breezy with some showers around supper, just as Jean and Bev arrived. They'd had a very busy week. When the got back from Mahone Bay via the Valley Bev had to take a nap before coming over but ...

We'll start off this week's post with a  Post Ida Pizza  story from the New Orleans area. Back in Nova Scotia, Sunday continued with cloudy but comfortable weather we had at the end of last week. Melanie was in a baking mood and presented me with a lovely cornbread, made from scratch - I had to taste test it right away.    In the afternoon we walked the perimeter of  Coldspring , following the paths that bear and deer had made through unmown fields - first time we've done that in some years - coming across several portions of bear and deer poop along the way. Sunday evening Claude and Florence came over for supper and the cornbread, what was left of it, was shared with them. We had a fine evening, catching up on summers and winters past, sharinging Rumtopf recipes, kayaking stories, tales of dogs, and so on. Monday was Labour Day, cool, cloudy, rainy and much like other days. Melanie was off to exercise while I went down to visit T and Judy at the Green cottage...

Monday: Took Melanie' s Hyundai up to Ted Embree this morning for pre-inspection inspection. Melanie drove, first time in quite a few months. Chatting with Ted, who has been working on our vehicles for a number of years, we got into a discussion of family. He was surprised when I told him I'd first come to The Shore in 1954, that my grandfather had built the Green Cottage in 1908, and that Clare Christie is my first cousin.  Came back home to watch more news of Ida on the Weather Channel and read local news in my online copy of Saltwire. One of the lead stories was  Cape Breton police rein in wandering horse, lead it to rightful owner , very different from the daily news we've been consuming in the States. In fact, I decided to remove the major newspapers from my browser 's Bookmark Bar. If I really want them I know where to find them but they won't be the first thing I read every morning, local news will suffice. Tuesday I went in town (Amherst) and played a round...