10/23

Sunday morning, before I awoke, Melanie was up and about - she'd baked a pan of muffins with craisins and put on the coffee. I got up around seven and took the muffins, along with several letters going to the States, to Don & Joan's where I hung them by the side door on their RV. They make it a practice to sleep in their rig the night before they leave; we may consider doing the same since it would allow us to shut off and drain the water system in the house the day before we go rather than making it the last thing to do before closing up.

Later we took a walk down the lane to the Tyndal Road, then north to the Park (Amherst Shore Provincial Park), turned into the Park, walked down to Annabel's, and followed the path beside the creek running deeper into the park. The sky was cloudy with a bit of wind and rain in the forecast but deep in the forest the air was still and all was very quiet though we could see the treetops swaying, slowly shedding red, yellow and orange leaves and carpeting the path. Since the Park closed last weekend we saw no other walkers until we got back to the front of the Park on the highway where four cars were parked. Thence  home for my usual breakfast consisting of a cup of yoghurt, a cup of Melanie's version of Tassajara Granola and some lemon flavouring - excellent. Spent the afternoon bookkeeping followed by continuing to read my current Louise Penny book. Dinner was a fine Eggplant Parmesan using Melanie's tomato sauce, made recently from the many tomatoes we have been gifted by friends and neighbors. A quiet evening at home, reading, watching Poldark, a bit of news on the telly, and to bed.

Monday morning began with 1) a cup of King Kole tea gussied up with cream and sweetner, 2) followed by walking with Melanie out to the road where she was picked up and taken to the Tidnish Community Centre for an exercise class, and 3) my walk along the highway to Chapman's Settlement Road, and return. A cool cloudy morning with water burbling in the ditches from yesterday's rain and very little traffic - a bit of a rush around 8:15 as folks headed into Amherst for work followed by breaks of five minutes between cars, and the occasional truck from Dave Greeno rumbling gown the road. Back home it was a good morning for bookkeeping chores, completing Melanie's enrollment in the annual Fitness New Brunswick classes to be conducted online, including classes for CEUs. In the afternoon I finished reading my Louise Penny novel and boiled a turnip which, mashed with a bit of sugar, salt and pepper was not bad. First turnip in many years. 

OnStar has been billing us monthly for a safety/security system in our pickup truck. Tired of the monthly billing I called to see if they could switch us over to an annual plan. I got a ditzy giggly young southern girl on the line. She first offered to switch us over to a more expensive plan but, upon objection, was able to find us a plan for 25% less than we are currently paying - hope she doesn't lose her job. The sun will be setting in about twenty minutes but at the moment it is spreading a golden glow through the clouds to the west, promising better weather for my round of golf tomorrow - now if it could also promise a better score....

Chilly cloudy Tuesday morning. Back when I was playing golf regularly I had a cut off temperature and would not play if it was below 10 Celsius. This morning it was 4 but I carried on. Except for a few shots from sand traps I played every shot and all putts with my driver which I have not swung in two years. Interesting - my putting was much better than expected but I had to tee the ball up in the fairways for my second and third shots. Needless to say, I did not keep score. This evening we went to Jean & Bev Tanguays for dinner with Al and Carol, Bud & Nancy. Good hors d'oeuvres, a fine fish and lobster pie, wines and beers flowed like water, and Carol made a delicious cake she served for dessert + whipped cream. Conversation ran from golf, Jean's search for a small outboard driven lobster boat complete with pictures, books, books, and more books, meals and recipes, friends and trips, to families. We departed around 9:30 with lots of empty jars, apples, potatoes, squash for Carol, and Nancy worked out swapping books with Al.

Wednesday morning, after starting my tea, we discussed how to eat less when we are out; the solution seems to 'be present at the serving' in order to control portion size. This solution may also be applied to desserts. We then spent time catching up with major news around the world, including this from the SaltWire on trees which reached their autumn peak during the past week: The blaze of autumn leaves is Nova Scotia at its finest

Melanie was off to fitness class at eight and I returned to my bookkeeping. At eleven we headed down to Tatamagouche to visit the Grace Jollymore Joyce Arts Centre featuring the

work of many Nova Scotia potters. We didn't care much for the exhibits though they were clearly the work of very skilled and imaginative ceramists. On the way home we visited the Yost Vineyards (haven't been there for a number of years), in Wallace we stopped at MacMahons for several scoops of great ice cream, and after that took the shore road by Fox Harbour, and the  Northumberland Links Golf Course which I have played, though not recently. Though the weather was cool and cloudy, with occasional sprinkles, the sun broke through from time to time and the maples and birches were gorgeous. To wrap up our trip we passed a manure spreader in Northport which was headed to Coldspring with a full load, maybe our fields will be plowed before we leave. The lane is bedecked with small cow patties that drip off the spreader as it makes its way down to our fields - polka dots of muck. I don't mind the smell at all. It is reminiscent of life at Stoney Acres, growing up in Pennsylvania Dutch Lebanon County, where the odor of ordure was part of everyday life.

More bookkeeping Thursday morning - it's not that I do this all the time but I've not kept up with my chores these last three months - and then off to Wallace for a round of flog with Al Baldock. The course and weather were gorgeous.

The course is bounded by the bends and coves of the Wallace River, each hole surrounded by a mix of evergreens, maples, birches and aspen, spectacular in their fall colours. Though the rough is quite forgiving, mostly cleared woodlands with little underbrush, I still manage to lose a few balls while continuing play with one club, my driver - this makes walking the course a very pleasant exercise, not the losing balls, the one club. On the way home we stopped at several shops for some fresh scooped ice cream but unfortunately none was available. Scooping ice cream is a viable summer business around here; come Thanksgiving all the tubs are put away, refrigerators emptied, cleaned, and turned off until next summer - another reason not to play golf in the winter, no ice cream. Next year I think we'll have to put fly rods in our golf bags and fish several of the the Wallace River salmon holes, not the golf course holes. We're a bit late for that this year - the season closes in ten days but some lovely fish have been taken, and released. The River Phillip is more widely known as a salmon river but the Wallace is lovely. In the evening I loaded the kiln to do a glaze firing of work Melanie finished earlier in the week.

Friday morning, bright and early, up to fire the kiln, at cone 5 (2185 F), a six hour undertaking. We walked the lane at 8 o'clock to catch Melanie's ride to fitness class. On the way I stopped in the shed to turn up the kiln to the next setting; there are five stages in the process involving increasing temperatures and closing peeps (holes). The sky was cloudy, the weather quite mild. We passed through a small tunnel of birch trees along the lane, littered with light golden, tan and brown leaves, lovely at this time of year. I thought I could hear the honking of a small flight of geese but did not see any. Passed an old apple tree, wild seeded in the ditch at the side of the lane. It still bears delicious fruit though many wild apple trees do not.

Out of the shade of the trees are wild roses turning red. Their hips, high in vitamin C, are used as a home remedy for osteoarthritis and also in the labour intensive process of making rose hip jams and jellies - wear your gloves if you go picking them. Just a bit farther along, Nick and Becca have planted fruit trees. The labels are still on them but we have not gone into their 'orchard' to see what types they may be.

Years ago Bill brought his backhoe down to the wet land bordering our two properties where he thought there might be a water source. Backing up to the mushy area he dug out several scoops of dirt and sure enough we could see water bubbling up from small springs. He proceeded to dig out an area which eventually formed a pond that drains under our lane and runs down to Annabel's Hole. On the east side of the lane there is now a small pond with lilies, cattails, and occasional wild ducks. The water flows through a large corrugated pipe under the lane. That can cause problems in the winter when freezing water blocks the pipe, flows over the road, washes out the culvert, at which time - call the road committee.

Saturday morning, before 8:00, Melanie had planned to go Heathers to 'participate' in the annual Fitness New Brunswick meeting and several workshops to earn six Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for her Fitness Instructors License - all via Zoom. However, given some concerns about using Zoom on her netbook she decided to stay home to take the classes online. Her morning was consumed with classes on 'Mindfulness and Acceptance' and 'Immediate Effects of Modified Yoga' plus others, while I took a walk. 

Going down the lane I met Joel O'Byrne, a neighbor we have not seen in several years. He stopped to chat and in the course of our conversation told me of a family of beaver that had tried to build a home in our pond last winter. Unfortunately that effort included damning the culvert under the road, from both ends, with large branches from nearby birch trees. That was not acceptable to the residents of Coldspring Head so the beaver were trapped and disposed of, the culvert was cleared, which took considerable effort, and gates were installed at either end of the culvert so as to block future efforts. Beaver - just more life in the Maritimes.

Leaving Jole, I walked the road, crossed Annabel's and took the service road through the woods in the Park (Amherst Shore Provincial Park) toward the beach. Took several cloudy day silhouette photos of the headland, then back into the woods, still following the service roads. The park, many years ago, was a farm and though it is now heavily forested there are still a number of productive apple trees which have shed this year's crop - the ground was covered in spots with bushels of apples. Turning them over I saw a lot of good ones, we'll have to go back soon to collect a few bags full - I ate one my way home.  Melanie was finishing up her third Zoom fitness class. Time for breakfast.

In the evening we went in to Fran and Tony's, in Amherst, with David and Beryl, for dinner  - Tony's B'day, cake and ice cream and lots of good conversation before a not blazing fire. They will all be leaving for AZ next week and we look forward to seeing them in December and January. There is some question, for them and us, as to how comfortable we will feel in Green Valley, with the GVR activities in the Covid environment. My expectation is that with a careful conservative attention to social contacts everything will feel pretty 'normal' but we shall see.

Things not written about this week which I leave to your imagination:

• two drawers full of mouse nests
• a sore hip
• manure on the lane
• the full harvest moon - rising and setting