May 15, Setting Day

Tags

Canada., fishing, Maritimes, PEI, Seafood, Setting Day

Today is a very important day in the Maritimes. Setting Day is 2 weeks late this year due to the Pandemic. Fishers are nervous and anxious about this day but following established rules, all should go well. Lobster traps are set today and this means that we will have PEI Lobsters available in the next day or so.

The current price in fish stores is $9 a pound uncooked and $10 cooked. However the Island is still closed to visitors until further notice, so the pricing may stay low with only local demand.

The boats set out at dawn from various harbours around the Island.

Storm Chips

Tags

LAY'S, Maritimes, PEI, roast chicken, Sea, Storms, winter

In Winter on the Atlantic storms can be ferocious, living in the Maritimes you learn that high winds in the 80 to 100km range are common. If you are not use to it and can be a little disconcerting.  We get storm warnings about 72 hours ahead of time, which is a long time weather wise and sometimes the announced storm fails to materialize. Tomorrow Thursday 4 and Friday 5 January we are told there will be a big storm affecting the Maritime provinces, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI. Here on the Island we will get apparently mostly icy rain, the temperature will be too warm for snow.  The problem will be the high wind which can cause trees to topple and power lines to break, meaning power outages. We live in the centre of the Capital with modern infrastructure, hopefully we will be spared the worse.

Islanders are use to this type of weather and people are prepared. Today I went to the grocery store to get supplies for a party we are giving on Saturday, I did get extra candles. I did notice a big display of chips, apparently an absolute essential during a storm is storm chips made by LAY’S, you probably wonder why this would be the chip of choice.

It turns out that LAY’S buys all its potatoes here in PEI to make their chips. Well when you are in the dark, the wind is howling outside and the sea waves are crashing causing surges there is nothing like a bag of LAY’S chips to soothe the nerves, who knew!

In the store by one chip bag display a lady said to her friend, I have to get some chips and I told her it was important not to forget the chips given the storm coming, we all laughed.

A whole roast chicken is another commodity a lot of older people will buy, it is known as storm chicken, grocery stores stock up on it knowing people will come in to buy one, they have them in the deli section.

So you stay at home, everything will be closed anyway, no school, nor business will open, everyone knows better than to go out and the local radio will advise people to stay put. That is what we plan to do.

As of 3 January 2018 from Environment Canada

Fall colours

Tags

Canada., Colours, Fall, Maritimes, PEI

PEI is a very scenic place, here are some images of the Island and what you see.

This is the scene in early morning as the cruise ships come by my window to dock at the end of our street. The last cruise coming into port is on 28 October. A little like living on the grand Canal in Venice, here it’s the Hillsborough River.

What would PEI be without the big black crows imperiously watching over us, noisy brats that they are.

It’s Spring time

Tags

Al Jolson, April, Brendan Allen, Canada., CBC, Maritimes, PEI, Weather

Well according to Brendan Allen our new weather man who is replacing our retiring Kevin Boomer Gallant at CBC Weather here in the Maritimes, Winter is over and the mild weather pattern shows that we have broken the back of Winter. Mild Spring weather is with us now.

Brendan Allen, new radio weather man on CBC in the Maritimes, most people think he is 16 years old. A very friendly guy, he is still in school.

So I called the dealership and am having the Summer tires put on the car. Started to wash the windows, we have 18 large windows, you have to pace yourself.

I also started to clean our back deck which looks out unto the Hillsborough river, love to sit there in the morning having our coffee and Nicky loves to just take the Sun. I know that on the mainland in the rest of Canada it still Winter but hey that is why we moved to the Island, enough with the 10 months of Winter.

Tomorrow we are getting April showers say Brendan, here is Al Jolson to tell us all about it. Enjoy Spring!

 

 

Last day

Tags

Canada., Charlottetown, Fanningbank, Maritimes, PEI, River Clyde, Weather

Living in the Maritimes and here on this Province Island you learn about the weather and you also appreciate that the weather here is very different from Central Canada (Ontario-Quebec). The Weather Network and other weather services are located in Toronto and the weather bulletin reflect that fact. You usually get the weather of Ontario and Quebec first then the weather in B.C. and Alberta. They don’t mention the rest of the country too much if at all. One day recently I sent them a message asking, when are we getting the Maritimes weather? The testy response was, we’re getting to it!

Our weather is strongly influenced by the Ocean and the winds coming in from the coastal areas up the US seaboard or from the North Atlantic. So if you are living in Central Canada you get a skewed picture of what is happening in the Maritimes. Just a week ago weather reports mentioned heavy snowfall in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, high winds in Cape Breton. Here on the Island is was sun and clouds and some wind, we never saw the storm.

What we do have is hurricane strength winds 90-150 Km per hour which can last for hours. If it is just the wind and no snow that is not too bad though electricity can go out and buildings can be damaged by the wind, this is what happened yesterday when 15,000 people lost electrical power due to the wind and the 12 Km long Sea bridge had to close for a few hours. This is not reported outside of PEI and we get lumped in weather report with the rest of the Maritimes. Only if you go to CBC PEI do you get an accurate picture. However we do cope quite easily, a storm day is decreed and every one stays homes, time to read and do things around the house. No one stresses over the fact that you cannot get to work or to school, every one gets a day off.

Here is a view from the Garden of Hope of the Clyde River in New Glasgow, just 20 minutes away from Charlottetown. One of my favourite areas to visit, the garden of Hope is quite beautiful. A typical Winter scene in PEI.

St-Dunstan RC Basilica up our street, the bells are being re-installed after being out of service for 38 years. Special citizen funded project led by historians and business people.

Prince Street seen from my window on this 31 December morning.

Morning view of Water Street looking West from my window.

Glass balloon we got as a gift in one of the kitchen windows

So for New Year’s Eve on the menu on the Island most people do a medley of Seafood, Oysters are very good at this time of the year, Lobster is also a favourite.

Tomorrow is the Levee and we will probably go to Fanningbank to shake hands with the Lieutenant Governor and wish him a Happy New Year. In fact you can spend the day doing the rounds of all the Levee to shake hands with the Premier, the Mayor, Police Chief, the Fire Chief,the Bishop, numerous Clubs like the Irish Benevolent Society, etc… Hundreds of people will do the rounds, it’s an Island tradition.

Fanningbank, the Official Residence of the Lieutenant Governor of PEI.

Buona Vigilia di Capodanno a tutti voi!

Am I stressing myself?

Tags

Canada., Charlottetown, Friends, life, Maritimes, move, moving, PEI, Provinces

I am told by my better half that I am stressing myself out over this move. I agree, I think I have been a little silly over thinking this move and over analyzing every detail over and over again. I have always been highly organized but this time I am over doing it.

It does not help that our landlord in Ottawa has decided to sell the condo we live in and is showing it while we are still living here and paying full rent. I resent that and maybe I could have put my foot down and said no. There is just over a month left before moving day so not much more time and any visit by a prospective buyer last all of 10 minutes no more. We have only  had 3 in 14 days, so not much of a big deal, but it is annoying nonetheless.

Province House (Legislature) Charlottetown

Also part of this move, we have been thinking of our Friends in Ottawa, I say our Friends with a Capital F because we have known these people for 40 years or almost. So we go back a long time with them and many may feel we are abandoning them, we are not, we are simply moving to another Province and it is not that far, really not. We will not forget them, unless we were ingrates, and too much water has passed under that bridge for us to forget them once in PEI. We only hope they will not forget us.

As I said yesterday at my formal farewell to the National Gallery Party for Volunteers where the Director and senior management made a point of thanking me for my contribution, I was honoured and moved by their words. We chose in our Sunset years (what can you call them) a higher quality of life and doing something we wanted to do for a long time which is to live by the Sea. I also want to be able to see the Universe at night without all the light pollution we enjoy here. It is quite an amazing spectacle it makes you realize how big it is and how small we are lost in the vast space. So for my remaining 25 years this is what I want to do. I say this with a grain of salt since no one knows how long one has.

European Gallery at the NGC 

The quality of life in PEI is high, the people have an old World charm about them, it is a small place and everyone knows everybody, families have been established for a long time, (17th century), the food is very good, with excellent restaurants and resorts, chefs with a solid reputation, the Farmer’s Market is the real thing, there is also a new wine industry growing, the beef, seafood and award winning cheeses, beaches are spectacular according to Condé Nast, the best in North America. There is a charm to the Island all it’s own. The weather is heavily influenced by Atlantic currents, the Gulf Stream and winds from the North and the East, meaning one is never sure what you will get during a single day. It is certainly not as cold as Central Canada which competes with Siberia in terms of cold days,  I will take -5 any day over -35C. The vibrant Art scene all year round, the numerous Festivals, etc. As Sarah Palin would say, I can see Europe from my kitchen window, actually we see New Brunswick and the Straits of Northumberland but you get my point, we are only 4 hours away. We are also on Atlantic time which means one hour ahead of Central Canada.

We are now set and all I have to do is simply take a deep breath and all will unfold as it should.

 

 

A sure sign

Tags

Ascot, Canada., gold cup week, Horse Racing, lead soldiers, Maritimes, miniature, moving, PEI, World

Well a sure sign that we are moving is something I did yesterday, it happens every time and it is the start of packing and preparing for the movers to come. The last time I did this was in June 2011.

I have a collection of about 250 lead soldiers in the 54 mm size and representing regiments from around the world. From the Papal Swiss Guards to Mexico Soldier Cadet School, Prussian, Bavarian, Austrian, Italian, French (Ancient regime) Russian Imperial, British etc… All hand painted and beautifully detailed. Packing them off as it where requires usually 3 full days. They are fragile and must be carefully re-boxed individually.

 

Once this is done that means we are moving and now sorting our books, we have 6 book shelves IKEA style about 48 boxes all together, must be gone through. Then the closets and clothing no longer required given away, even pots and pans in the Kitchen will be sorted and what is no longer used will be discarded. We are not throwing anything away, if it can be given to someone, books to the Municipal Library or clothing to St-Vincent etc.. It will be done that way. We do not thrown away since there is always someone who might be interested in having it.

April is cleaning up month! May is moving to PEI month.

Just noticed that Old Home Week in Charlottetown and the Gold Cup and Saucer Race (PEI’s Ascot Race) is August 11 to 20. Since the early 1960s, the Gold Cup and Saucer Race has been considered one of the most celebrated harness racing events in Eastern Canada. Each August, as a culmination of Old Home Week, the fastest horses and most skilled drivers compete in 15 racing programs in nine days.

 

The last hurrah of Winter

Tags

Canada., Maritimes, move, PEI, relocation

We returned from PEI where for 10 days we enjoyed Spring like weather or at least early Spring with some warm days and temperature of up to 14C which is pretty warm for February. Ottawa in comparison is a frozen gulag and last night we had a late Winter storm, which I hope is the last of this Winter. Next 10 days the temperature is above 0c. It is Spring everywhere else in the Northern Hemisphere, pictures from Europe shows flowers and budding trees.

So as Winter folds up we look to Spring and what I hope will be our relocation to PEI.

Contrary to popular belief in Central Canada, we found that normal life followed its course in Winter in Charlottetown like anywhere else. What is close are all the tourist souvenir shops, tourist restaurants and other tourist traps, none of which is of any interest to us. We went to the opening of a new exhibit on portrait painting by Robert Harris at the Art Gallery of the Confederation Centre, it was very interesting, since he is also featured at the National Gallery here in Ottawa. We also returned to the little memorial chapel of the Anglican Cathedral to see his pre-Raphaelite frescoes on the wall. I did notice they are in need of a good clean-up but I suspect that would be very expensive and you need a specialist for that type of work.

Lots of good restaurants and music, yes they are full and there are lots of Islanders about. The Farmer’s Market was a very special attraction, it’s a real farmer’s market not the faux market we have here in Ottawa with just a handful of producers selling there wares. There is also a very diverse scene at the Market on Belvedere street, with an excellent coffee shop serving a perfect espresso and we also found caterers, one of authentic African dishes, we were impressed. It is a different pace of life more quiet and slower. Everyone knows everyone else. Lots of business is done by word of mouth. We saw a few places we were interested in and now we are in negotiation with 2 landlords over places we might want to rent. We are strictly looking in the old 500 block of the Capital. All the housing in that central district were built between 1790 and 1890, lots of character. Many were great mansions divided into apartments, other houses which have two apartments now.

One Sunny day we went to North Rustico on the North side of the Island some 30 minutes away from Charlottetown. It’s a fishing village so all the boats were out of the water for the Season but the lobster season starts again in a few weeks and the boat captains are looking for crew. We stopped at a very nice little restaurant for lunch and had a great lunch. The air was clean, crisp and it was all so peaceful. Again the people are very nice and pleasant everywhere. We discovered a great bakery and many other food specialty shops. So we were able to check the boxes on all the questions we had.

So in the end we established that yes we could live there and be happy.

 

 

 

Day two

Tags

Acadia, Canada., Charlottetown, house hunting, Maritimes, PEI, Potato, rentals

This morning we got up late, we were more tired than we thought, air travel and then road travel though very easy is tiring when you are in new parts of the country. I did not know what to expect from the Sea Bridge crossing it was uneventful. We had an excellent seafood dinner just a few steps from where we live, it is the only opened restaurant as far as we could see, pubs where also closed because of a Civic Holiday in the Province. There was lots of people and a joyous atmosphere.

This morning we had some coffee and then went out shopping at the mall, all of 5 minutes away up the street, remember this is a small Capital and the distances are short. I have never shopped at Sobey’s for groceries, I only know the owner because he gave $20 million to the National Gallery. I did find the store confusing, per example bread can be found in 3 different locations, the butter section is separate from the milk and the eggs which are all in very separate sections, we could not find unsalted butter but did find extra-salted butter it is also called British butter, had never heard of this before. The un-salted butter was in a separate section with other frozen foods, strange. As for prices well it is the big chains, Sobey is more expensive than Loblaw’s which is known as Atlantic here in the Maritimes. However potatoes are dirt cheap 10 lbs for 0.99 cents, now that is a bargain. What to do with 10 lbs I do not know. Maybe Jean-Paul and Guido in London could make helpful suggestions. https://itsmyhusbandandme.wordpress.com

So while in the USA and Canada it’s Black history month in PEI it’s Potato Lover’s month, which by the way is pretty inclusive if you think about it, anyone is welcome as a Potato Lover, anyone!

We do want to go to the Farmer’s Market this weekend to see what is on offer, it looks pretty good and nice from their website.

Went to the liquor store, good selection and they have several brand of liquor in small mickey’s of various sizes which is very practical, you can put the contents in your little flask you carry around with you for a fortifier when needed. Otherwise wine prices are the same as in Ontario, Champagnes are still over priced compared to Ontario. Apparently prices are better in New Brunswick. Since the COSTCO is in Moncton you could make it an outing and buy champagne at the same time. I am sure everyone who goes to COSTCO also then drops by the Champagne store for bubbles.

The rest of the day we went to a gallery to view paintings by a local artist Robert Milner, now the paintings were un-equal in quality, some like his landscapes had an Alex Colville feel to them and others were evocative, while his birds and fauna was almost naive in style.

The weather here has turned quite mild, Spring like and since the streets run down towards the harbor there is quite a lot of water all around, now tomorrow is will be 9 C or 50F which is quite warm for February and we are suppose to get torrential rains up to 25cm in one day, that is 10 inches of rain. Apparently there could be flooding, I am not surprised, though this is better than the snow storm in Ottawa today.

I think we are suppose to see 5 properties tomorrow with the agent starting at noon time. Hopefully something will gel and may strike our fancy, all are located except one, in the downtown core of Charlottetown.

 

 

Where are we?

Tags

Canada., Charlottetown, Maritimes, PEI, travelling

For those of you reading this blog regularly maybe the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place, remember the posting a few weeks ago about Pesaro, Sicily and Capri? A similar place where we might end up.

So we flew from Ottawa, going East towards the Maritime Provinces and landed in Moncton, New Brunswick a 72 minute flight, just time for a coffee really. We rented a car at Moncton airport and drove to the bridge to PEI. Fairly easy drive 78 Km on the Trans-Canada Hwy 1 on a bright sunny day, no traffic. Going by Shediac and Miramichi, why are those town important in Canada, after all they are only villages, but hold magical significance for all Federal Government Employee because they are respectively the pay and pension centre for the bureaucracy all 350,000 and numerous retirees. We thought of stopping by to offer thanks and Tim bits of appreciation.

 

Map of PEI and the other Maritime Provinces Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Moncton appearing in the top corner. So from Hwy 15 to 16 across the bridge, I was expecting very high winds but by the time we arrived by the Strait of Northumberland, there was no wind, so we crossed without hindrance. The view is spectacular, you cannot see from the side of the car but looking straight ahead you see the curve of the bridge and the ice flows below.

The Capital Charlottetown, pop 34,000.

We crossed the North River bridge and went down North River Road to Dorchester onto Queen street to avoid the rush hour traffic, well can 46 cars qualify as rush hour traffic? Today on the Island is a public holiday, Islander Day, in Ottawa it was Family day, meaning that all is closed and quiet.

Tomorrow we go shopping for food, the apartment we have is lovely, we really like it and it is very comfortable. Wednesday is looking at rentals day with our agent. We are quite excited.

In the meantime what about Nicky and Nora? Well we drove them to the trainer just outside Ottawa yesterday, our trainer owns a big farm over 100 acres with a forest attached. She is sending us hilarious reports, this morning Nicky and Nora doing exercise on the treadmill, it was too cold for a walk outside at -30C. Nora liked it, Nicky not so much, he is such a lazy boy, but it is excellent exercise for them. There are also wolves and coyotes in them parts and it will be good for them to listen to the noise from the woods at night. Here in Charlottetown there are lots of Foxes and outside the city coyotes and wolves.

There are 7 other big dogs at the farm, boxers mostly of various ages. So it is also an opportunity for Nicky and Nora to socialize and mingle. We think that the 2 weeks at the farm will do them loads of good.