Tuesday Travelogue--Day 4 in Nova Scotia

We started out our day at the Linsmore Sheep Farm and Wool Shop in River John. Very interesting, and we ladies got to purchase many warm, handmade gifts in the shop. I bought a lovely shawl for myself and for my husband a stadium seat to use when he sits on bleachers at soccer games. Then we spent the rest of the day in the Pictou area, starting out at the Northumberland Fisheries Museum where we saw this very rare blue lobster--some say 1 in 2-3,000,000 million!

For lunch my husband and I decided to eat at a Thai Restaurant we saw along the street.--we love Cashew Chicken Stir Fry! While being served, my husband heard someone speaking Thai (he served two tours in Thailand during the Viet Nam War era), so he asked the waitress to go back and tell the person "Sa wa de cu!" (which means hello, good day, etc.) Soon we heard this loud talking behind the door, and the waitress came back out front and said one of the Thai women wanted to meet the one who spoke her language. So she did and we took this picture with her--a very international experience to meet someone from Thailand while we were visiting Nova Scotia!

We also took this picture of the Thai restaurant while across the street from it while touring the Hector Quay (pronounced "key"). The Hector Quay was a replica of the boats those from England crossed the Atlantic Ocean on. It seemed very small and cramped quarters for those who took from 7-10 weeks to make the crossing.

Then we had a long trip to Cheticamp where we will take up next time!

Friday Book Review--Song of my Heart by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Kim Vogel Sawyer is one of my favorite authors. You can always count on her for a great gentle romantic story and real-to-life characters. This book is all that and more! Besides the charming heroine and steadfast hero, we also have many other quirky characters including twin sisters and their scoundrel brother.

Sadie Wagner follows her cousin to Goldtree, Kansas for a job opportunity to help out her family after her stepdad is injured. Thad McKane accepts the job of sheriff in Goldtree to earn money to go to school to become a minister in hopes of overcoming the stigma of his drunken father.

Sadie and Thad are attracted to each other, although there is someone else interested in the pretty Sadie romantically. Plus another man who threatens Sadie with losing her job and income to send back home if she won't go along with his illegal activities. What will happen to her family if she doesn't acquiesce to his dealings? What will happen to Sadie if she does go along?

As with all Kim's romances, Song of my Heart does have a happy ending, but there are times when you wonder how she will get her characters there! A very enjoyable read I highly recommend!

This book was sent by the author and publisher, but the thoughts are all my own.

Tuesday Travelogue--Day 3 in Nova Scotia

On Friday, July 20th we started out at the Fox Hill Cheese House, another family owned business where we learned the cheese making process and got to sample many kinds of cheese, plus delicious ice cream!

Then we travelled to Hall's Harbour Lobster Pond and Restaurant where most of the group had a gigantic lobster dinner. And we learned how to tell the sex of a lobster and got to see this gigantic (and ancient) lobster.

Next we toured the Sainte-Famille Winery and sampled several varieties, although as usual, I could not stand the taste of any of them!

Our last stop that day was the Mount Uniacke Estate, a beautiful country estate built between 1813-1815 that gave us an idea of the life of the gentry in those days. The grounds were beautiful and green.





I don't have any other pictures from those sites, so thought I would share this one I took at a gas station we passed. It looked cheaper than back home at first, but since this is $1.32 a liter, that translates into about $5.00 a gallon in the US.

Tuesday Travelogue--Day Two in Nova Scotia

I told you we were on a farm tour, and this day was definitely filled with farms of all sorts! We started off at the New Ross Farm Museum where we spent a couple hours learning about farming in the mid 1800's style in NS. Very interesting and informative! This farm is still being worked with oxen as it would have been during that time period, and we ate biscuits and jelly prepared the old-fashioned way in Rosebank Cottage, built in 1817.  And learned how they made staves and barrels for storing and shipping.

Also got to see an operating blacksmith shop where they shoe 30 teams of oxen each year. And several of our group rode in wagons pulled by oxen. And I got to act like a schoolteacher in a one room school house the children attended back then.

After lunch we went to the Balsam Christmas Tree Farm, a family owned operation that ships trees all across the area and has a huge following of local customers who come out to cut down their own tree each year. And the family even has sent a big tree to Boston for their annual tree lighting ceremony.

Next was Dill's Pumpkin Farm where the world's largest pumpkin was grown--1818.5 pounds! And where hockey began. Then dinner at a neat restaurant named Cocoa Pesto in Windsor where we spent the night. Can you see why I gained two pounds while on this trip?

Hope you will come back to visit next Tuesday to see where we went and what we ate next!

Book Review, Titanic:Legacy of Betrayal by Kathleen E. Kovach and Paula Moldenhauer

I have over 100 e-books on my computer Kindle because I am still one of those readers/writers who would rather read a book I can hold in my hands! I know--I am showing my age! This is only the third book on Kindle I have finished, but I couldn't help myself! I couldn't wait to find out the story inside the story, so let me begin there.

The prologue of the story takes place in 1925 in the point of view of one of the wealthy survivors of the sinking of the Titanic which happened 100 years ago this year. We meet Olive Stanford who speaks of a secret she must share before she dies.

Then the modern-day story opens in the present with Ember Keaton-Jones receiving a phone call from a lawyer who tells her she must open a safety deposit box on Friday, April 13, 2012, on the centennial anniversary of the Titanic's sinking. Ember has to forego an important career-building real estate deal that day to open the box at a specific time or the contents of the box will be given to a museum as per the will. She can't give up the contents of the box--it may contain money or jewels or a secret that could embarrass her and her family name!

Next we meet Jeff Dawson, a young man who has lost his job and is living in his sister's basement and helping his dad at his antique shop until he can find another job. He and Amber meet when she comes into the shop to find a way to listen to the secret from the past contained in the safety deposit box in hopes they will reveal the family secret of her great-grandfather who was listed as a survivor of the Titanic only to never be heard from again. Was this the start of the family curse of all the women being deserted by the men of the family?

There are many more ins and outs to the story which switches from present to past with each listening of the voice from the past, but I want you to get to read it yourself for the enjoyment of this funny, heart-warming, romantic story of Jeff and Ember and their quirky families. And of course you have to find out the secret! So go to Amazon and order the book on kindle or paperback. You'll be glad you did!

Although this e-copy was sent to me by the authors who are friends, this review reflects my honest thoughts on this great read!

Tuesday Travelogue--from KY to Halifax, Nova Scotia and surrounding areas

My husband and I returned last week from a farm tour of some of  the Maritime Provinces of Canada--Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Our first stop was at Peggy's Cove on the Bluenose Coast of Nova Scotia where we walked up to this lighthouse and my adventurous husband climbed out on these rocks.

Then we drove past the site where Flight 111 went down in the bay, then on to Mahone Bay for lunch and a tour of the Settler's Museum there. Next on to Ludenburg where we toured the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. Our last stop of the day before dinner and hotel in Bridgewater was the Wile Carding Mill where we learned the steps in carding and spinning wool. My husband spun the longest piece of wool! Here are some members of our group spinning.

Hope you'll return next Tuesday for points of interest on the second day of our Canadian journey. And if you leave a comment any time this month with email contact info, you might win a copy of Love Finds you in Prince Edward Island, Canada by Susan Page Davis. Drawing to be held on September 1st.

And the winner of Cecelia Dowdy's book Milk Money is...

... Karen K. Cecelia will be contacting her for the mailing info. Thanks to all who entered and to Cecelia for the generous giveaway!

Book Winner and New Contest!

The winner of A Wedding Song in Lexington, KY by Jennifer Johnson is Kay Gervais. And the drawing on September 1st will be for a copy of Love Finds you in Prince Edward Island, Canada by another KY author--Susan Page Davis. The reason I am giving away this book this month is that I just read it last month while touring Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, so plan to blog about my trip and share some pictures of sites there and thought this book would be a great tie-in for those blogs.

Here's what the back cover of this book says: "In the summer of 1860, Prince Edward Island is astir as its citizens eagerly anticipate their first visit from a member of the British royal family. Molly Orland is too poor to be invited to the ball in honor of the young Prince of Wales, but she and several other local young women are pleased when they're hired as extra staff in the house where he will be a guest. The she meets Peter Stark, understeward for the royal party. Peter is attracted to the beauty of the island--and to Molly, whom he's determined to shield from the antics of the playboy prince. When they discover a long-buried secret that could bring shame to Peter's royal employer, will he remain a loyal servant--or help Molly and her family get the justice they deserve?" If you love historicals I know you will love this story, and you will learn some interesting info about Prince Edward Island in the process!

So all those with USA mailing addresses who leave a comment and an email addy for contact info during the month of August will be entered. I hope you will come back often this month to read about my adventures in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Each time you leave a comment will garner you another entry in the drawing.