Another busy week

Tags

Dachshund, grooming, life, PEI, Spring, Summerside

This week the weather has taken a decidedly Spring like look. It is actually warm and even hot in the sunshine. There are traces of snow but overall it is mostly green. This is all good, but it is also a period of the year when you do not know exactly how to dress, warm in the day time and cool at night. Everyone on PEI is anticipating a big return of the tourists and the huge issue is a lack of staff, I have heard plenty about that from friends who own coffee shops, restaurants and bars. There is a need for Chef, short order cooks, dishwashers, wait staff, etc… So much so that many will not expand their business because they cannot find the staff. This problem is the low minimum wage, no benefits, little time off, and the cost of living which on PEI is the highest in Canada. Rents are impossible so if you are working on minimum wage then you starve. I remember years ago wait staff from restaurants in the old market in Ottawa would come to the local soup kitchen where I volunteered for lunch or dinner. That should not happen and then they go to work to get abuse from customers. Business groups have not been able to tackle this problem and governments do not appear interested despite the good words.

On Wednesday I drove to Kensington which is 45 minutes West of Charlottetown on Highway 2. At one time when we had a railway on PEI it was an important junction. It is a small rural community about 10 minutes from Summerside. I was going with Nicky and Nora for their grooming, a highly stressful affair for both of them. A beautiful day, the drive was quiet, it usually is. After dropping them off, much drama, I drove to Summerside for lunch at Samuel’s on Water street, the food is very good. Then to the little second hand book store, a block away. The selection is always changing and very good, I got 3 books for $12. One book is by Japanese author Haruki Murakami, it pass my test, if I read one page and want to read the next page then I will buy the book.

The second book is by the Artist Marc Chagall simply called My Life, he wrote his autobiography, a small book but I thought it would be nice to read about him in his own words. The last book is by John LeCarré, Smiley’s People, when it came out in 1980 it was a sensation. I never read it but heard lots of praise about it.

I bought 3 months ago another LeCarré book The Constant Gardener, after reading 3/4 of the book I simply lost interest, I could not finish it. I did not care for the characters or the story line.

When I returned to pick-up the pups at the groomer, well they could not get out of there quickly enough, they made a run for the car, like a getaway car. Get in quick let’s get out of here, come on!!! They slept the whole way back to town, had a short walk, then dinner and then went to bed immediately, they were exhausted. Though they look very nice now.

It was nice to drive out and see the countryside after the Winter, not much snow left in the fields.

We are still waiting for our T4 slips, it’s income tax time in Canada, I got one slip on my pension but not the other one on my CPP, OAS. The Canada Revenue Agency announced that they were late this year and it should arrive next week. You absolutely need your T4 to pay your income tax since all the vital detailed info is contained on them. In our case, we pay like a lot of people at the source, so reporting/filing means simply to confirm that yes this is correct. Will I owe some this year, I think so. Will see.

Kensington from the sky. The top right corner of the photo is where we spend part of our Summer in French River.

Summerside

Tags

coffee, ice cream, PEI, Summerside

Once upon a time the Town of Summerside PEI there was a military airport and training facility from 1940 to 1991. Then Government program cuts came and it all disappeared. It destroyed the economy of Summerside and created serious unemployment and business failures. The town of 15K went into a slumber and decay. The town had also suffered great fires in its core which did damage the fabric of the city in 1879 and 1880. Summerside is often described as a city of little interest.

During our staycation we discovered something quite different. Summerside has beautiful neighbourhoods and great homes far more impressive than what you see in Charlottetown. Leafy avenues and imposing brick buildings. We went to Summerside to buy ice cream at Holman’s, a family run business located in the old Holman Family Mansion across the street from City Hall. All the ice cream is freshly made on the premises, all natural ingredients and made in small batches. This is high quality ice cream and in my opinion beats in terms of taste and quality, the more commercial COWs which dominates the market in Charlottetown.

Holman Family Mansion 1855 in Summerside, PEI and its beautiful garden.

We did buy 2 litres of ice cream, chocolate and strawberry, creamy and very good.

There is also some very good coffee shops in Summerside, which also serve breakfast and lunch. One is Samuel’s where we had a coffee and a sweet, top quality, all made on premises fresh daily. There is a trend in PEI now for this type of coffee shop which offers someting different from the Corporate brand coffee shops. In Charlottetown we have Receiver Coffee and in Montague The Lucky Bean, all offer their own roasted coffee beans on premises and all food and breads are baked by them, it is a more European approach. Menu is also ever changing and has Vegan options.

Samuel’s Coffee House at 4 Queen street corner with Water street.

Summerside is on the sea and here is the famous Indian Head Lighthouse at the entrance to its harbour. I was surprised to see how far out it was in the harbour.

Summerside City Hall across from Holman’s

Also while we were visiting we stumbled upon the Wyatt House who organized an Art Exhibit of large canvas paintings on one of its residential streets.

All in all Summerside is well worth a visit, it’s a nice city.

 

 

 

 

About the Fox header and….

Tags

Brandy, Charlottetown, PEI, Price index, rentals, Rum, Seafood, Summerside

The Fox header is for the numerous foxes on PEI, they are everywhere and sometimes can be seen in villages and towns. They are quite beautiful with their black legs like silk stockings, and their luxurious red fur, they are also very smart and cunning.

So we visited several houses yesterday and at one location there was a staircase to the basement. The owner told me not to open that door, it was condemned and now the staircase had been blocked, it was merely a closet. However in olden days when rum running was the thing from 1765 to 1930, the cellar of the house was used to store imported rum and brandy from the Caribbean Islands. When there was a raid by the local police, the men in the house would run to the cellar and to a secret tunnel which took them a block away to an exit. Charlottetown is full of such places, the police would only raid a house if you did not pay your custom tax on the illegal merchandise, yes the government knew all about it and made a handsome profit from the illegal trade.

Again walking around old Charlottetown which is 9 city blocks by 15 city blocks, you see various types of architecture from 1779 to 1890. Lots of beautiful architecture, mostly Georgian, (George III and George IV) and Salt box houses for the fishermen and workers. There are also numerous great mansions made of stone or wood built at the time of the great tall sailing ships and schooners.

As for the cost of living, rents are cheaper than Ottawa or Toronto for the core of the city and even cheaper for suburban or rural area on average from $100 to $800 dollars less per month. You can find 2 bedroom apartments including heat + utilities for $900 CDN, in Ottawa you would be paying $1875 for something similar. The Capital Charlottetown is the largest town in the Province and Summerside is the other big town, the rest are communities often quite small a few hundred people at most.

Food prices are Seasonal, in Spring, Summer, Fall, this being an agricultural province, lots of fresh produce and potatoes. For 9 months of the year there is seafood and fish of high quality, the Island being in the Gulf of St-Lawrence on the Atlantic Ocean. There is also high quality Island beef and International Award winning Cheese. Most of the food produce here if not all is in the Artisan mode, free of chemicals and other nasty stuff. Overall grocery prices are not much different from Ottawa and not higher. Wine and liquor is about the same and you can always go to New Brunswick for somewhat cheaper liquor.

The Farmer’s Market is a very big thing on the Island since most inhabitants are either farmers or fishermen. In fact right now Lobster boat captains are recruiting for the Season which will open shortly. I fancy enlisting Will for duty on one of those boats, I think the fresh sea air would do him a world of good.

Tonight we are invited at friends for drinks just around the corner from where we are living at the moment. We will walk over, everything is that close. I think their house was built in 1835 all brick building, quite nice. Saturday is Farmer’s Market day, I want to see it to meet the vendors. http://charlottetownfarmersmarket.weebly.com

The flag of the Acadians, adopted in August 1884 in Miscouche PEI.

The Tricolour represents the Motherland of the Acadians. The yellow star, the Stella Maris, is the symbol of Mary, Acadian national symbol and patron of the mariners.

The French flag was selected as the basis of the Acadian one to underline the adherence of the Acadians to the French civilization. You will see this flag in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and in Prince Edward Island, the ancient Acadia.

St-Paul’s Anglican on Church Street next to Province House.