September 12, 2010

Today we did a sleep-in and decided to go to mass in Pictou at the Stella Maris Catholic Church. When we walked into the church the musical director was playing on the piano near the sacristy and there was background music accompanying him. I finally came to the conclusion that they had stereo speakers were the extra music was coming from and it filled the church from top to bottom an in every niche. This is the second church we attended that had the same name. Stella Maris is Latin, and translates to ‘Star of the Sea.’

The apostleship of the Sea, a Catholic Church organization for the support of sailors, is also known as Stella Maris. “Stella Maris’ is the name by which many seafarers know the Apostleship of the Sea. This is because many of AOS seafarers’ clubs and hostels around the world are named ‘Stella Maris’, in honor of our patron, Our Lady Stella Maris.

'Stella Maris', 'Star of the Sea', is an ancient title for Our Lady, used by seafarers and others associated with the sea. Just as seafarers have traditionally depended on the stars for navigation, so they trust in the protection and guidance of Our Lady."

The singing in this was just amazing because the parishioners sang with real gusto. We have never attended a church with such participation from the parishioners. The choir was in a few rows at the front of church and the male voices filled the whole church. Such enthusiasm is wonderful.

After mass we went to the harbor for lunch and then walked to the curling club because they still had the Farmers Market in the building. I had seen some prints which were perfect as a small souvenir by purchasing a 5 x 7 card which I can frame and put in the R.V.

While we were in the Market, Walt asked one of the ladies sitting at a booth about the curling club. Well, he hit pay dirt. Joyce and her husband had a booth with wooden utensils and machine embroidered items. She had been an avid curler. She explained how they put an inch of ice on the floor from October to March each year. They had 3 lanes with a elevated walkway around the outside walls of the building. She also showed us the curling stone weighed 42 pounds of granite with a handle on it. She said they never lift the stone but only set it on the side so it moves only on a thin ridge which is under the stone. She was so vibrant and really could answer all our questions.

After our curling lesson we went back home and spent the afternoon with no special activities scheduled. We have gotten things ready for our move in the morning and are watching the only TV station we can get with our antenna.

September 11, 2010

Burr!!! It has been cold and rainy all day. I wore my winter coat while we were gone today and now I have my winter garb on here in the house. We left early this morning and had breakfast at Sharon’s Restaurant in Pictou, N.S.. This restaurant was recommended by the locals in the park as being the best breakfast in Pictou. It was very good and it was the busiest place filled with locals and a few tourists. Everyone knew everyone. This area is Scottish and they have voices which are loud and dynamic. It was fun just listening to the chatter while we drank our coffee and tea. Yes, I am drinking hot tea. I tried all over PEI to get cold unsweet tea and I failed miserably, so I have finally joined the crowd and have ordered hot tea. I am really starting to enjoy it with some sweetner. When we were in PEI I picked up some tablets which have honey and lemon in them to put in your. I bought some so I must give that a try.

Sharon’s was a short distance from our camp. The locals say it is 8 minutes to Pictou. Everyone on PEI and Nova Scotia give directions by minutes not kilometers or miles. They say they have so many curvy roads that the minutes are more accurate. Our goal for the day was to drive the Northumberland Drive. We each had a spot we wanted to stop at. My spot of interest was a quilt shop in or near River John, and Walt wanted to stop at a winery near Malagash.

But as we left the restaurant we asked a man on the corner where the Farmers Market was located in the town. He pointed towards the harbor and said (Its over there). Not real directions but we went were he pointed and finally found it a few blocks from where he had pointed. It was not a typical farmers market—it was a craft show. Some local craftsmen bought their products in the local Curling Club for the market. Their was a man by the door on the outside who had some plants like hostas, Autumn Joy Sedium, and other perennials. Then just in the door was a young man who made small wood turnings for key chains, whistles, pens and letter openers. All done very well. Some of the other booths had homemade bread, jewelry, handmade beads, natural lotions and soap, beautiful wood benches and stools with inlay, sewn objects and prints from and artists paintings. It was very nice.

As we left Pictou our GPS started us on a beautiful smooth road but after we went a few miles she sent us on a shorter back road. Well, needless to say it was not smooth and it shook us and rattled our brains. I have come to the conclusion that Nova Scotia repairs the main tourist roads and forgets about the other roads.

After many miles on the rough road we finally turned off onto another road (just as bad) and found the quilt shop which was a blue house in the country. When I left the truck I told Walt to come and find me in a little while in case I got lost. When I walked in the door I was on a little porch with some fabric leaning against the wall and a sign above the fabric saying it was $3.95 per yard. Needless to say, I was not impressed. When I opened the door I was in a room cluttered with fabric, books, notions and patterns. There was another lady in the room talking to the owner and when I came in they stopped talking even though I said “Good Morning”. I certainly did not have a good impression of the shop. You can walk in a quilt shop and immediately know if you want to be there or not. Well, I spent some time in the shop and Walt came in to find me. We picked out some fat quarters (a quilt term for a piece of fabric 22 x 18 inches) for my stash and left the shop.

We got to the truck and quickly turned it in the direction of the scenic road and finally gave a cheer when we hit the tourist road—it was SMOOTH. We were again on the way to the winery. The road hugged the shoreline of the Northumberland Strait and some of the views would have been awesome if it had not been for the wind and pounding rain. They also had intermittent farm areas, some were small farms with hay as their main crop and in another area we saw dairy farm which extended right to the shore line.

We drove many miles before we arrived at the winery on another back road. This road was not quite as bad and we saw the winery we were immediately impressed. They had the vineyards and the buildings looked like pictures of vineyards in magazines. When we went inside we saw a very interesting room before us with little tables set up displaying their different wines. I went up to the loft and looked thru the many accessories for home and woman. They had very nice and unusual gifts for everyone. When we left Walt had bottles of wine and vowed to bring one bottle home to the Gehret wine parties. They have an open house each week for conversation wine tasting and drinking.

It is now 1 pm and it is 57 degrees with rain and high wind off the strait. Our next order of business was to find a spot for lunch and then onto Amherst to find a Hook Rug shop. I have become interested in the hook rug hobby done by women in this area. It is more popular than quilting. They take strips of wool and hook it in a canvas that has a pattern printed on it. These are not like the hook rugs you do with yarn. The top side of the rug is smooth. They are a piece of art when they are finished. Walt said I should get a kit and then we could use it at the entrance of our home. I immediately said it would be a piece of art on the wall and not something for him to wipe his feet on.

Well, we found lunch at a little café along the highway near Pugwash . Their décor was bright, clean and with a lot of window. They had glass mosaics on the wall with 3 large round mirrors with a 6 inch band of mosaic around the mirror. Very impressive!!! They have long winters in this area so everyone must have a hobby to keep the winter months interesting.

When we left the café and looked at our time schedule and we noted it was too late to make it to Amherst before the stores closed so we turned back to Pictou. As we approached Tatamaguiche we spotted signs for a grist mill so we turned off of our prized smooth road to go to the grist mill. Well, before we arrived at the grist mill we saw a sign for a Southerland Steam Mill. Well, by this time, I had lost all of my energy so Walt did the tour. He had a one on one tour with the guide.

Alexander Sutherland, founder of the mill, learned his trade as a carriage maker in West Branch, Pictou County at the McKenzie Carriage Factory. In 1891 he purchased a parcel of land beside the newly completed Oxfort to Pictou railroad. Here he set up his first saw mill which housed a portable steam power mill. By this time steam mills were replacing the conventional water powered mill. A steam mil could turn out 10 to 20 times the footage of the older types of mills.

While a larger mill was under construction, a fire broke out destroying the new building and the portable steam mill a new mill was started almost immediately, it is the present structure, and was completed in 1894. Alexander Sutherland managed the mill for a few years and then his brother, John Thomas joined him and they formed a partnership. Alexander specialized in the manufactured carriages, sleighs and sleds while Thomas looked after the house construction part of the business.

During the winter months, local residents would bring their supply of logs to the mill to be sawn. As many as sixty piles of logs would be piled behind the mill with each owner’s name attached awaiting to be cut into lumber in the spring.

In 1910, Thomas moved from the area leaving Alexander to manage the mill alone. In 1912 Alexander married and in 1914 a son, Wilfred, was born. Wilfred entered his father’s business when he was 16 years old. In 1940, Alexander retired and the business was continued by his son.

The war years brought about an increase in the demand for lumber in domestic and foreign markets. Wilfred expanded the operations to meet the export demand for lumber. The lumber for the export trade was cut in the mill, loaded onto railway cars next to the mill and shipped to Pictou or Pugwash to loaded onto ships for England. Although business slowed down somewhat after the war, it was still good and in 1952 Wilfred extended the roof over the saw mill to make room for a separate assembly room for windows and doors.

Alexander died in 1953 and Wilfred retire in 1958 and closed the mill.

As we got on the road again, the weather got very blustery but Walt wanted to go to the grist mill. The Barmoral Grist Mill Museum is a three-storey mill tucked away in a wooded gorge on Matheson’s Brook. The mill operates as it did when it was opened in 1874. They grind buck wheat and oats.

Our final drive back to our home went well and we spent the evening in front of the fireplace.

September 10,2010

Hello to everyone from Nova Scotia.


We left this morning at about 8:30 this morning with our new GPS set for Wood Island, PEI. We did well until we had to go thru the middle of Charlottetown and Walt was upset because it should have taken us around the city. Walt is not sure we have a GPS like our old one. Maybe it is operator error. Anyway we stopped for a break and they said we were on our way to the ferry. We arrived at about 10:15 and the boat started loading at 11 am. The trip to Nova Scotia was good and then we started our ground travel to Pictou, Nova Scotia. We did not listen to Lizzie and we ended on the wrong side of the bridge. So, we turned around and finally got to Pictuo. Lizzie took us right downtown and so we again stopped for info. and we finally got to our park.
It had rained very hard in the area so the sight we were scheduled for was to wet for our big rig, so they put us on a better site. We cut down in the lot but got setup in no time. We have some great neighbors and we are getting acclimated quickly.

After about an hour we went to the info center and got an armful of new brochures. We will have to go through the pile of brochures and plan our next 2 days. We will be leaving Monday morning and go to St. Annes, NS which is in the northern part of the island.

When we walk about a ¼ block we are right at the Northumberland Strait shore. It is beautiful and Walt and Bart took a walk on the beach this afternoon when it was low tide.

We are invited to a camp fire this evening so I will close.     

September 9, 2010

Today was a day of shopping in Charlottetown. We did not leave for the town until about 10 am. It was a short drive to the Future store to pick up our GPS. After purchasing the new toy we went to the harbor area and old historic Charlottetown for lunch. This was a done when I had to read a small map of the town. Well we finally made it and chose a wonderful restaurant. They had a special of haddock with rice and a wonderful sauce over the fish. The sauce was grape tomatoes with mushrooms in a very tasty sauce. It was light and wonderful.

After lunch Walt played with his new toy as it went to Walmart for some essentials. They Walt could not get his GPS to do what he wanted to do so he dropped me off at Michaels and he went back to Future and pick the brain of the salesperson. After a great deal of time I had gone over every inch of Michaels so I called him and he finally came to pick me up. After a visit to Home Depot and a fabric store we headed for home. It was 4:30 pm and rush hour again. The GPS worked well on our way home, but Walt continued to explore the new technology road.

Tomorrow we move to Nova Scotia so some housekeeping needs to be done tonight – talk to you soon. I believe we will take the ferry from PEI to Nova Scotia. More news tomorrow.

September 8, 2010

Well, today we did the Cavendish attractions and went to Charlottetown to try and get our GPS fixed or by a new one.

We started out early and arrived at the Green Gables. After we had bought our tickets we looked to the parking lot and saw 4 tour buses park and let of their passengers. We hurried with another couple to the barn and then to the gardens and the house. We were fortunate that we kept a few steps ahead of the mad rush and got the pictures we wanted. The gift shop was my next stop while Walt tried the lovers lane and the haunted woods. He found out after walking a little while that it would take 48 minutes, so he gave up and met me at the gift shop. I believe half of the people from the bus went straight to the gift shop and never went through the exhibit. They were definitely on a mission and they had 4 registers going as fast as possible.

We then went to a few more exhibits about Anne of Green Gables, but it was not as good as we had expected the exhibit to be. It definitely draws people to the area.

It had rained most of the morning so we went back to the RV and warmed up and dried off. We also ate lunch before we went to Charlottetown.

We checked on the internet for the stores which dealt with Garmin GPS”s. We found 3 stores in the town. Two of them were the Canadian Tire Company. When we got to the store the little clerk was very frank and said this is an antique: that is, our old GPS. Well, it was only 5 years old and very expensive and Walt had got so accustomed to it that it was hard for him to follow my instructions while I was reading the map. When he gets stressed so do I. When the clerk checked with her manager he said there was nothing he could do with it. He said it was dead. Then we asked if they carried Garmin’s and so she showed us some, but encouraged us to go to a store called “Future”. She even took us to the door and showed us were the store was and were the GPS was located in the store. The store was a very large electronic store and we got immediate assistance. After checking all of the GPS’s out we decided on a Garmin at one fifth the cost of our first Garmin. The big catch was that they had sold out of the one we wanted and it would be in the store by the next day. After all of this we said we would be back in the store tomorrow.

The area we were in was a crowded area with construction so we left that area and drove to the harbor area. We drove through it and started for home because it was rush hour by this time and we wanted to get out of the city.

We arrived home safely and prepared for another day in the morning.

September 7, 2010

The North Cape Coastal Drive is our target for today. We had done the southern part on last Saturday so today we hope to finish the drive.

It was raining when we left Cavendish, so we hope we can still get some interesting pictures. We have not heard how many days a week it rains on the PEI, but as I remember when we were here it rained the whole time we were here.

Let me talk about ecology for a moment—first, there is no litter anywhere on the island. All the ditches are perfectly clean and at least 80 percent of the houses and farms are very neat and clean. They do recycling everywhere you go. They have similar bins in stores, restaurants, on the streets and in the restrooms. The bins are usually 3 setting together in one area. Bottles, Plastics and Refuse are the labels on each bin. They also have recycling areas where you can drop off you waste. I believe the US needs to get more in step and we would not see the inmates cleaning the ditches like they do in the south.

We left Cavendish on route 6 to a new route we have not traveled. This new route was 254 to route 2 and then we drove to the North Cape Coastal Drive on route 122. When we were on Route 2 we passed on of the traditional Catholic Churches on the island. The Church was St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. It was a large yellow beige wooden church with white trim. The windows were fairly tall windows with round tops. The balustrades on the side of the church were white with black accents cut on a 45 degree angle at the top. The main entrance , as all the other doors on the church, had huge white pillars capped with the black 45 degree cap at each floor level and came to a peak with more black accents. The fret work around the church just above the large windows was white with black accents. The steeple was stripped horizontally in the colors of black and yellow beige bands with white accents as trim. The church sat on a hill so it shinned in the sunshine and it could be seen for miles. It was a very impressive building.

Our first stop of the day was at the Green Park Provincial Park just south of Lennox Island. This stop became one of the most memorable stop on our whole trip to PEI. As we drove up to the interpretive center there was one car parked at the entrance and one car in the parking lot. So it seemed like no one was there at the time. So we went in the front door and was met by a very friendly person who said she was filling in for one of the staff as she left on an errand. We wanted to pay admission and she did not have her glasses so she ran to her car to get her purse. When she came in with her purse she could not find her glasses until she dug to the bottom of her purse. While she was doing all of this hunting she continued to talk about her day and how blind she was without her glasses. When she finally started to use her credit card machine the second person came up and helped her. They then gave us a tour of the center and add more personal info.-like one of the first shipbuilders was her great grandfather. Then we were asked if we wanted to see

the house he had built. So both ladies had us follow them in their car to the house. It was a large Victorian house on a hill which was built in 1865. It had been occupied until 1950’s by a family member. The next relative to own the house was not able to restore it so she sold the 200 plus acres and the house to the province. They restored the house and furnishings and made the farm a park.

When we got in the door they asked if we would like some coffee. Well they had some Home made buttermilk biscuits and a percolator with them. So as one of the girls made the coffee the other gal showed us the house with much detail. When we reached the kitchen she had the table set with biscuits and coffee. When they found out I did not drink coffee they made me a cup of tea. Both gals were now dressed in period dress as maids. There was a large fireplace in the room across from the table. They had a quilt hanging by the back stairway and they had just taken it off of the quilt frame. It was a beautiful quilt in period fabrics. As we were talking about our families I happened to say something about the tin sitz tub they had next to the fire place and one comment lead to another and before we knew it Walt was sitting in the tub with one of the maids helping him lather up. We all laughed so much we had a hard time taking pictures. They were just incredible people and we had a lovely tea party with them. It was hard to express how much we enjoyed this tour.

When we left these lovely ladies we drove to Lennox Island and the First Nation. They had a interpretive center which explained their customs and beliefs. We had a private tour again. It was given by a lovely native girl. She used some of her families language to name certain animals. She also explained basket making because her father had been a basket weaver. She also showed us photographs of some honored people who had lived in their area. She had known many of them and she could describe their lifetime works. She also had some paintings which described their religious beliefs. It was amazing how it was somewhat like our beliefs in God. The twin sons of their God were like Cain and Abel in our bible.

After we left Lennox Island we looked for a place to eat lunch. It was found in a small town at a local eating establishment. The food was homemade and was really good. We had a simple Western Omelet and some toast. It was light and just what we needed.

Then we drove to the northern most part of the west drive. This place was called North Cape. As we approached North Cape the skyline was filled with the moving blades of the towers in the wind farm. They have a facility tests the wind turbines and they are a leader in wind energy research. The largest wind turbine in North America has been tried and evaluated here.

The North Cape has been famous for the longest natural rock reef in North America and the ‘meeting of the waters.’ At low tide, you can walk out almost a kilometer onto the reef. As the tide moves in, you can see the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Northumberland Strait merge together over the reef. It made some beautiful pictures.

After we left the North Cape we drove to Miminegash. This area is known for its Irish Moss harvesters. They harvest the moss from boats or by the traditional method using horse-drawn rakes in the surf and on the shore. This seaweed is used in the food industry in jellies, ice cream and also for lotions and cosmetics. While we were driving thru the area we had seen many Belgian horses eating the grass in the fields. Well they use these horses to drag the rakes in water after or during high waves with a storm.

The other place we were told to try Seaweed Pie. Well, we found The Seaweed Pie café and we ordered a piece of pie to share. It had a layer of angel food cake on the bottom with a light filling on it with some whip cream on top. It was good but not special like everyone else tried to tell us.

After we left the café we decided we needed to point our truck towards Cavendish.

It had been a long day with rain for the first hour and then we had occasional sunshine. Thank goodness we did not have a cold rain all day. When we got close to Cavendish Walt decided to go to North Rustico and get some seafood. Well, he came out with some salmon and a cooked lobster. He had wanted to eat some lobster since we stepped our feet on PEI, but he could not pay the 30 dollars in the restaurants. So they have a thing called a cooked lobster which is done and all you have to do is crack the shell and dig in. He definitely enjoyed the meal.

That was the end to another good day for the Albers.

September 6, 2010

It is Labor Day today and the Canadians also celebrate the day. We have seen a few less people at the park this morning and we continue to see travelers at the sites of attraction. Our first stop was a cup of coffee for Walt and then we traveled east on Route 6. The Prince Edward Island National Park, Brackley-Dalvay was our first park for the day. We arrived before 10 a.m. so we did not have to pay an entrance fee. The park was known for the sand dunes which were covered with sea grass and other vegetation. They were very high so we could not see the St. Lawrence Bay. We also took some pictures of the lighthouse at Covehead Bay. The beach was wide and went for miles. There were a few brave souls in the water but they froze when they came out of the water and stood in the strong ocean breezes. I would have loved to see one empty beach during this trip but that has not happened as of today. When we left the park it was 10:30 and it was 67 degrees with a stiff breeze.

Our next stop was the information center at Mount Stewart. We pick up one map and they suggested that we go to St. Peter for more information. After stopping at St Peter and receiving a whole handful of information and suggestions on were to stop for lunch we left the center and did a few shops in the little shopping mall. Most of the stores had only a few things to sell and they were on sale. It seems after Labor Day most of these stores close for the season. There was a bookstore and a high end home décor shop which had many things but they were not on sale. Then we started on our way to find a little café to eat a quick lunch. We found only one place open in the town and they had fish and chips and sandwiches. None of the items were on our diet so we split a fish and chips. The most difficult part about it all was that we had to sit outdoors on the deck and the wind was very strong and raw. We finally got our winter coats out of the car and ate our lunch.

The harbor at Naufrage claimed they had white beaches. We looked high and low for the white sand and only found some sand that looked a little beige in color only when the sun shined directly on it. I guess we are to accustomed to the white sands of Destin, Florida.

Just as we were about to look for the town of Hermanville we saw a distillery. The ladies in the St. Peter information center had told us about this place so we were watching for the spot. The person who was in charge said she had been a descendent of a person who had run a distillery so she came to PEI to do the same thing. They make their vodka from potatoes and another vodka is made from blueberries. The mash from the potato vodka was fed to the hogs they had on the back of their property. When the hogs went to market they were tagged and marketed as hogs who had been fed potato mash from making vodka. It was a big hit in the expensive restaurants on the island. – Well, I guess you can make a buck on anything if you have the right strategy. Walt took a tour and he said the sample was a very few drops but it went down smooth. The bottle of the vodka was 47 dollars. Needless to say, we don’t drink that type of alcohol. Just give the men a good dark ale.

North Lake Harbor was a place noted for fishing boats and fishing. They had fishing boats anchored all over the harbor. Since today is Labor Day the fishing boats all seemed to be safe in harbor. Also, they all tied them down real well for Earl who was to come over PEI last Saturday. Just next to the fishing harbor were many farms. It seems most of the men who were fisherman were also farmers when they came to PEI. They worked together very well. Like our farmer friend in Bedeque said “Everyone works well with the farmer because they are everywhere on the island.” We also saw some farmers combining their wheat the conventional way with a combine. In the southern part of PEI we saw wheat that had been cut and rolled into piles like we do the hay and then when it was dry they ran a combine thru the field. I do not know why they did it.

We reached East Point and the lighthouse at the very north east point of PEI. This area is known for the area where 3 tides meet at one point. The Atlantic Ocean Tide, the Gulf of St. Lawrence Tide, and the Northumberland Strait Tide meet to make the most treacherous area for ships in this part of the world. The pictures we took are breath taking just as it was to stand on the cliff above the area and watch as the tides met and made huge rough waves against the shore. You could be put in a trace by watching the waves.

As Walt went to the lighthouse I went into the gift shop and they had an area where you could use a computer. I finally got a chance to see the email that Krista had wanted me to see for a few days. It was so nice to have a computer that did not fight me when I was trying to get on the internet. By the way, we will be grandparents again in March of 2011. That will make 21 grandchildren. We have 11 granddaughters and 9 grandsons, so we will be happy with whatever sex we can add to the family tree.

After we left the lighthouse it was getting very late so we stopped at Sourie for a short time and then found the shortest way home. Since our GPS has died I have been the map watcher. It definitely takes the joy out of traveling when you must be sure we are always on the right road. We have found they do not have the signs done like we see in the states. Sometimes we do not know what road will be coming next and if that is the road we want to take so we can get home. They have so many gravel roads so you need to be right the first time.

When we got home it was about 7:30 pm and the sun was just setting over the hills to the west, so we were able to get the most wonderful pictures of the sunset. As some people know I am the “Sunset Grandma” and Walt is the “Ice Cream Grandpa”.

Good night again.