Walking 18 kms

Last January Lori Lang of recipegirl.com issued a challenge to get healthy in 2010. She called it the 10 in 2010 Challenge: Ten Weeks to Healthy on 2010.  I decided that Arch and I should participate so we signed on and set goals.

By changing our eating habits, walking and, for me, yoga we met our 10 week goals (it took Arch 12 weeks but he made it).  I decided that I wanted to keep going and lose another 10 pounds before summer. I walk each weekday morning with my sister. The church she attends decided to have a fund raising walk-a-thon on June 19 2010 - the distance 18 kms. So we decided that our goal would be to participate in that walk. After training all winter and spring the walk was yesterday:

 It was a beautiful day. Fourteen of us started at out from St Paul's Church in Seabright. That is me with my ever-present water bottle dangling from my waist. We were joined by others along the way. The parish consists of 4 churches around St Margaret's Bay so the idea was to walk from church to church.

Here we are leaving church #2. St Margaret's in Tantallon after a coffee break. That is my sister Mary in the foreground. The first 9 kms of our walk were along the Peggy's Cove Road so we had a RCMP escort - you can see his car in the background. The group was beginning to scatter at this point as each person walked at our own pace.

There was still a long walk ahead.

At the half-way point we were able to move onto The St Margaret's Bay Trail. Built on the former rail bed this is a great walking, biking and hiking trail.

The trail was a very busy at the Bike and Bean. A great neigbourhood coffee and bike shop in the old train station.

A view from the trail

Shining Water's Marina in the distance. We walked by there 3 hours previous.

You can barely see the spire of Church #3, St George's through the trees. We walked by this one as there was no good exit from the trail in this spot.

And, finally, the end - a barbeque at St James. Took us three hours (not including coffee breaks) to complete the walk. After lunch I came home and rested in the hammock for 2 hours :)

But it is not the end of the 10 in 2010 challenge for me. So far I have lost 25 lbs and plan to keep going until I lose another 5 to 10 lbs. Any suggestions as to what my next walking challenge should be? I plan to take a bit of a break for the summer. Mary and John are going to Australia and New Zealand for 3 months in early September so I will be on my own this fall so don't make it too difficult.

And a special thank you to Lori Lang for getting me started on this project. I wonder how many lives you changed by issuing your challenge?

Diary of a Garden

There is a small garden at the northwest corner of our house that I find very difficult to get looking just as I would like. It gets the early morning and late afternoon sun and is subject to the northwest wind as it whips off the ocean. In other words it is a tough spot for plants to exist. This year I am giving it one last chance to survive.

I purchased the annuals for this spot from Valerie at the Hubbards Farmers' Market. I know from experience that plants from Valerie are healthy and will grow well.

The plants  pretty much filled the back of my Smart Car.

 I chose begonias as they do well in part shade and make simple beautiful table centerpieces for dinner parties, etc.

I left in place a small bleeding heart and some sweet woodruff that seem to be doing well in this location. Moved a tall grass that grows well in another, very windy, spot in the yard and planted it at the corner the wind whips around. Finally I added a hosta plant a neighbour gave me. It will fill in the spot where 3 rather lonely daffodils are growing.

The tree stump is a permanent feature. I am not about to tackle that :).

I will post photos occasionally so you can follow the garden's growth and see how it does.

Summer is Here

May 24 weekend is the official start of summer in Nova Scotia and most of Canada. Go outside and have fun

Reflections and Shadows

Photography is a fascinating hobby and a great reason to go outside and have fun. For the past three weeks I have been participating in a fun e-course called the Sensational Snap Society Course. Each week Shelagh, our teacher, presents a new challenge designed to encourage us to see the world through different eyes. This week's challenge is to look for the hidden shadows and reflections around us. I thought you might be interested in some of the reflections I found in the various bodies of water that exist in mother nature's playground in this area.

Rain created an interesting effect on the reflection of this tree in the river.

Signs of spring: a reflection of a budding branch and rocks at the river's edge.

Electric wires and pole in a puddle.

Shadows and reflections on the ocean floor.

It was raining the day I took these photos so not too many shadows were to be found. It is beautiful & sunny today so I am off on a shadow search.

Rum Spill in Ingramport

Today, during our morning walk along the trail, Mary and I noticed the side of a box car lying in the moss over the embankment. It looked like it had been there a long time, especially since they stopped running trains out here 20 or 30 years ago.

 
Then Mary remembered, back in the 1970s there was a train derailment and one of the cars that derailed was carrying liquor to Nova Scotia Liquor Commission stores along the route.

Needless to say, word of the derailment spread quickly and local people came out in droves to collect the spoils. Many returned their finds to the local authorities but many did not. Most of the rum went missing. Nova Scotians love their rum - sailors love to kick back with a Dark and Stormy (rum and ginger beer) and we all love a rum and coke, or, on a special occasion, a Cuba Libre (add a lime wedge to your rum and coke).  Apparently there were lots of great kitchen parties in this area after the wreck :).

We walked a long way this morning (about 8.5 kms we think).

The road home looked very long.

But we are still here to talk about it. Our goal is to do an 18 km walk on June 18 to raise money for the Parish of French Village, the local Anglican parish. So we still ave a way to go.

Easter Egg Hunt

One of the Easter highlights at our house is the arrival of the Easter Bunny and the ensuing Easter egg hunt:

 He is a little large

 But the smallest amongst us watch from a distance so as not to scare him.

 Then it is time to find and share the Easter eggs

 And take the time to savour them - one at a time

Signs of Spring

One of the great things about the snow-free winter we had is that the trails are already dry enough to walk on. This morning Mary and I went for a dawdly (is that a word?) walk along the St Margaret's Bay trail searching out signs of spring. I took lots of pictures, some came out well, some did not. That's why I am joining Shelagh Duffett's Sensational Snap Society. :) The course starts today, actually.

Alder beards and buds.
Hubby, Arch is patiently waiting for the alder leaves to appear.
When they get as large as a mouse's ear it is time to go trout fishing.
Fishing season opened yesterday.

 The maples are getting ready to bud

The crocus are peeking from the ground.

 The lupins are not far behind

 Roaring brooks are carrying spring snow melt down to the sea.

I love early spring. It is such a positive and hopeful time of year.