Happy 80th to Shirley!

The Hayes boys really know how to throw a party!  Happy Birthday to Shirley!

There was a surprise for Shirley:

That's Keith Henderson - he's very good!  He put on a really nice show.




There was much dancing - Pat and his daughter Rachel:

And a cute photo of Dick and Lindy - blurry, sorry.  I need to hire a better photographer!

Lunch

Yummy. Homemade humas and veggies. 

Veggies and basil!

It's that time of the year again, isn't it??

Dick and Lindy are being generous with their excess produce, of course....(the tomatoes are from my vines - in their garden!)

Lindy has a HUGE basil plant - she encouraged  me to take all I wanted.....so I snipped off quite a lot!

I've rinsed it and here I'm letting it dry a bit.  Isn't it lovely - it smelled fabulous! 

After it was mostly dry - I stripped off the leaves and placed on wax paper on a cookie sheet.

Into the freezer!!

A few hours later - quickly pulled it out of the freezer all crispy.

And then into a big baggie.....then quickly, while it was still frozen - I crushed it - balled it up - hit it with my hands - rolled a glass over it like a rolling pin.

 And this is what's left!   Just perfect flakes - much fresher than the dried variety.

Spaghetti for dinner!!  It was really yummy!

Yummmmm at Virlie's Grill

I spied a blueberry pancake on Saturday morning that was being served to another customer......

So, on Sunday morning, I had to have me some!!

Yummmmm

Twin UNC Helicopters

Funny to see them both on the ramp at the same time!  They had to move some equipment from one to the other so they stopped over where there was plenty of ramp space.

Can't elope!

Haha. I'm typing this on my Ipad and the autocorrect changed my title from Cantalope to "can't elope".   (Maybe that's because I spelled it wrong!)

Anyhoooo, I was surprised when Lindy called and said they had excess Cantalope from their garden. It is absolutely fabulous!

McLobster

I forgot to include this in my Nova Scotia posts.....just thought it was cute that the local McDonalds had their own regional sandwich! (I did not get one....)

Nova Scotia Day 11

Really just a travel day - up early to the Halifax airport for the flight home.

Let me tell you - if you have "SSSS" on your boarding pass....you're in for a treat!  I should have known when the TSA guy waved at the other TSA guys and said  "I've got a Selectee".   He turned to me and said, "ma'am, your airline must have selected you randomly to be submitted to some extra screening".  Oh joy!

So, they took me aside and made me go thru the extra screening - searched my bags with their explosive sniffing wands.  (They offered a pat-down search instead of the electronic one - but I just stood in the contraption and let them scan me). 

It wasn't that big of a deal - but if I had been in a hurry to board a plane, it would have worried me!

But we had plenty of time - so we found the US Airways Club and relaxed.

 Really nice to have that little perk!  Relax in the quiet and comfort - have a bloody mary....and walk to your flight just minutes before boarding!

A first for me - as we were boarding, I noticed that our captain is female!  Not that I've been on that many airline flights, but I've never been on one where the captain was female.  Yay!!!

Nova Scotia Day 10

The trip is almost over!!!   We scooted back down to Halifax for the day. 

Really lovely city - bigger than I was expecting!

Climbed to the top of Citadel Hill (Fort George) for a lovely view of the harbor.

Then we wandered through the Public Gardens.

Then wandered along the boardwalk.

We watched a few golfers try their hand at hitting this hole out in the harbor.   Saw a couple hit and bounce....it you get a hole-in-one you get a new car!

Cute big tugboat! Nothing much else happening for today, just getting packed and ready for early departure tomorrow morning!

Nova Scotia Day 9

Another long drive from the northern tip of Cape Breton Island.     It was lovely - most of the drive was along the Bras d'Or Lake.

Little channels had draw bridges.  

The highlight of the day was the Antigonish Highland Games.  It was a LOT of fun!

When we arrived, a preliminary round of tug-of-war was in progress. 

The sessions were 15 minutes.  Here is the "anchor".

Fun to see when the "action" starts close to the 15 minute mark - they all together "flip" and pull hard the other way.

And then there was the Caber Toss -  this nice pole is about 20' tall and weighs about 175 lbs!  Don't ya love the kilts?

Here is an attempt to "turn" the caber - to toss it in the air and try to make it go end-over-end.

And here is a successful toss!

 And then there were the ladies doing the tug-of-war!

The announcers invited the crowd to participate in the next event - the "Farmer's Carry"  for a $500 prize.  This simply involved carrying two 202 lb weights for 100 yards, best time wins.  You are allowed to put the weights down up to 3 times.   Here was a fantastic run - remember - this guy is carrying 404 lbs! 

But this guy was the crowd favorite - he only weighs 170 lbs himself!  Amazing that he made it 100 yards!

I really enjoyed watching the Scottish Highlands dance competition.  There were hundreds of girls competing.  As far as I could tell, they are each dancing individually and being judged based on the exact steps they are supposed to be doing.

And finally, what Highland Games are complete with out the bagpipes!!

Nova Scotia Day 8

A nice long  drive on the "Cabot Trail" towards our next destination, Fort Louisbourg.   

Nice scenery on the way - about 3 hours.

I always find little road-side eatery's names interesting.....didn't stop at this one, but weird name....not sure anyone wants to lick-a chicken!!

It was lunch-time when we arrived near Louisbourg, so we stopped at a waterfront restaurant.  Nothing special - but I loved that ever chair had little knitted  "booties".  My sis will love that!

We did make it to the Fort Louisbourg park.  It was a 18th century French fort - but was eventually taken by the British.   In it's time, it was the 3rd busiest port in North America in the early 1700's - behind Boston and  Philadelphia. 

Like Willaimsburg, there were lots of  costumed folks doing the work that they would have been doing in the 1700's.  This blacksmith shop was really neat - they hammered out neat items while they were talking.

Very interesting - this is looking down in the "ice house" - it was like a huge well - but they used ice and layers of straw to keep produce and milk product fresh year - round.

What fort is complete without cannons?    These are re-creatations, not the originals.  (real warm-body soldier in the background!)

A pretty chapel.

Must have been a busy town back in the 1700's!

I'll leave you with a cute little video clip!

Nova Scotia Day 7

More Cape Breton touring!

And a whale watching trip on a zodiac!

Unfortunately during the 2 hour boat ride, we found no whales!!  We did, however spot some playful seals.  They were shy though - you mostly saw their head pop out of the water and then a splash like this one in the distance.

And I finally spotted a moose!!  I've been searching every bog and treeline for one....and this one was just on the side of the road! 

Pretty hike to a small water fall.  Wonderful temperatures in the woods.   No humidity. 

Coastline with not a soul in sight!

We hiked the popular "Skyline Trail" - almost 6 miles and ends in a boardwalk that is really spectacular!

The B&B for the night was sortof weird - I didn't even snap a photo.  

I did document the local beer we'd been drinking - (this comment is for Buddy - Karen actually liked this beer - it's called an IPA, but it really wasn't!)