Go Outside in the Peggy's Cove Area

I am lucky enough to live in one of Mother Nature’s truly great playgrounds – the Peggy’s Cove Area of Nova Scotia. Peggy’s Cove itself is a tiny fishing village at the mouth of St Margaret’s Bay. Its lighthouse, which warns sailors away from the rocky shores, is world famous but few know of the wonderful outdoor playground that surrounds it.

• First there is St Margaret’s Bay itself. The bay consists of 5x7 miles of unobstructed waters. The area is free of shoals, commercial traffic, and currents. It is aligned with the prevailing southwest winds and generates a 15+ knot breeze on sunny days. A perfect spot for boaters and its many islands make it a fun spot for kayakers to explore.
• Then there are the rocks and boulders. Bouldering and rock climbing are popular sports in the eastern part of our area, around Prospect, Terence Bay and West and East Dover.
  
• St Margaret’s Bay is a great spot for scuba divers with lots of sea life and kelp beds to explore.
  
• Then there are the beaches – we have 10 – while they are busy with swimmers and boaters on warm sunny days they are virtually deserted at other times – perfect for exploring, picnicking or simply relaxing to the sounds of the ocean. Many of us enjoy a walk on the beach on a stormy day when the surf in up.
• The bay is surrounded by small villages but there is plenty of water access and just behind the villages is the forest with miles of hiking trails and many lakes suitable for canoeing and fishing.
  
• This area provides lots of opportunity for remote camping and hiking, all within Halifax city limits. The St Margaret’s Bay Trail runs from Hubley to Hubbards and connects to other trails at both ends. It is a popular spot for walkers, runners and bicyclists. By using the connector trails you can bike (or walk J )from Halifax to Lunenburg.
• I love to golf and we have what I consider to be one of Nova Scotia’s most challenging golf courses in our area. Granite Springs, is near Peggy’s Cove and gets its name from the granite rocks and many springs and water hazards on the course. We have friends who come to visit year after year just to take on this course.
• If you love photography or painting you will love the Peggy's Cove Area. There are endless vistas small and wide for you to portray. Mother Nature changes the landscape everyday so the possibilities are endless.
• Recently, a group of photographers and bloggers toured our area. You can read about their experiences in our area here: Things to do For Two, With Bite, and you can enjoy a the pictures from their photo tour here. Kimberly of East Coast by Choice has an interesting perspective on our area.

If you love to go outside, plan a visit to the Peggys Cove Area and spend a few hours or a few days. It is truly a “locals know” kind of place so please ask local folks about the best spots to go to follow your interest. Everyone is happy to help. We own The Bay Hammock Company on the Peggy’s Cove Rd (highway 333) in Seabright and are happy to share our favourite spots, just drop in and ask. If you live in the Halifax area it is the perfect place to get away without going away. Check the Peggy's Cove Area Blog for special events and deals.

Go Exploring

The little people in our family love to explore outside. There are so many amazing things to discover, especially in the fall when the leaves are on the ground. Here is a general guide to an exploration hike in the fall:

1. Take a book about the bugs, leaves and flowers you will see to assist in identification. We usually borrow one from the library - an adult should be its caretaker.
   
2. Each child will need a container for their collection. Discourage the collection of living things though, they seldom make it home alive.
   
3. One of our little ones likes to take a notebook and pencil to record his finds, another has an old digital camera to take photos of interesting items that should stay in place.
   
4. Find a not too well traveled spot with varied terrain to hike in. Somewhere that will enhance the sense of exploration and discovery. A woodland trail or path along a stream would be perfect.
   
5. After the trip provide each child with a way to preserve their finds- a scrapbook where they can write and draw as well as paste in items is a good idea.

A trip to explore usually requires a snack at the halfway point. These cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod look delicious.

Have a Picnic

Picnics are my favourite thing to do outside. Growing up on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia, warm summer days were occasions to celebrate and we did so by going on picnics. I could write a whole blog on picnics so I will do this as a series, starting with getting ready to go.

Mom kept an old suitcase packed with picnic things - cutlery, dishes, tablecloth, napkins, etc. It was then easy to make sandwiches, a salad and a quick dessert to take along . With today's concerns about the environment many of the things we did then are relevant today.

1. We always used reusable dishes and cutlery - older items that were no longer considered presentable on the dinner table but were fine for picnics.
   
2. Tea towels, a wet cloth in a jar, and a round metal wash basin came along for clean up time.
   
3. A fabric tablecloth and napkins were always packed in the suitcase, again those just past their prime for dinner table use.
   
4. Sandwiches were wrapped in a damp tea towel then placed in a covered tin - usually one that candy came in at Christmas.
   
5. Salad was in a bowl covered with a tea towel tied in place with string from the ball of saved string. (Dad loved to save string)
   
6. Dessert was also in a metal tin, often covered with a piece of well washed flour bag or tea towel before the lid went on.

After our picnic there was no garbage to leave behind or carry out. Everything was packed up and taken home for use the next sunny day.

Hike Peggy's Cove

Fall is my favourite time of year. And hiking the barrens in the Peggy's Cove Preservation Area is my favourite thing to do - especially in the Fall. If you go please obey a few simple rules.

1. Do not pick the flowers. It is tempting as they are so beautiful this time of year.
   
2. Do not stray from the paths - you will see several spots along highway 333 where people enter the area - following in their footsteps will preserve the beauty of the area for others to enjoy.
3. Leave no trace of your visit, take your garbage home with you.

Check out the Peggy's Cove Cam to check the weather at Peggy's Cove before you leave home. Weather out on the Ocean can be vastly different than weather inland.

Corn Mazes Are Fun

Friday September 4 is Eat Local Day in Canada and the four Atlantic provinces have challenged one another to see which can get the largest percent of population to eat only local food on that day.

We took the pledge for Nova Scotia. What fun it will be. The menu is already planned and most of our food was purchased at the Hubbards Farmers' Market last Saturday. But a big part of the day will be to pack a picnic and head to Noggins Corner Farm Market outside Wolfville to have a picnic, buy corn and have fun in the Corn Maze. Later in October we will go back in the evening - the kids love the spooky flashlight maze.

This Friday is an adult day only (school, you know) but we love the maze also and can get just as lost as any kid. There are lots of other great outside things for the kids to do there but we old folks will just picnic, do the maze then buy some fresh corn at the farm market, stop at Grand Pre Winery (a member of our Atlantic EconoMusee Network) for some wine, then head home to prepare a family dinner that will include this favourite corn dish:

Fresh Creamed Corn

8 ears fresh corn
2 T.butter (we like the butter from Tatamagouche Dairy)
8 green onions, sliced diagonially, 1/8" thick
1 cup heavy cream (Farmer's or Scotsburn's)
2 T. chopped tarragon (from my herb garden)

1. Using along, sharp knife, slice the kernels from the ears of corn into a bowl and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add green onions and cook until just softened, about 1 minute. Add the corn kernels and cream andcook, stirring occasionally until the cream has thickened. About 6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the tarragon and serve.

Serves 6 to 8

Build a Fairy House

Go outside and let your imagination run wild - build a fairy house. Fairy houses are whimsical habitats built by children, families, gardeners and nature lovers reflecting their creativity, joy and pride. These small structures are made for fairies to visit. Any material found in the garden, forest or beach can be used. These two were build by 5 and 6 year old children in the garden. They spent hours running around collecting pebbles, sticks, etc. and finding just the right location for their fairy houses - one under the lilies and the other in the ferns beside the pond so the frogs could visit. You can't see it, but there is even a small hammock (made with a leaf) inside the house in the lilies.

Have a Human Wheelbarrow Race

Planning a picnic today? A human wheelbarrow race is a fun game and easy to organize. As long as you can find some willing "wheelbarrows".

• Select an agreed upon start and finish line.
• Organize the wheelbarrows and drivers at the start line.
  
• Yell "GO".
  
• Don't bother running to the finish line yourself as no one will make it - the last man standing will be the winner.

In this race Arch, the oldest driver, and Ruby, the littlest wheelbarrow, were the clear winners as they figured out that slow and steady wins the race.