Today's Photo of the Week

Today's Photo of the Week on the Cape Breton Living website is of a beautiful, serene scene view across a small pond in L'Ardoise. This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago after a light snow covered the ground and everything else that sits above it. Today the pond is frozen and a great spot for the young ones (and mature ones too) to skate, in the open air. I was happy to see 3 or 4 kids out skating on the ice shooting a puck in a net they dragged onto the ice on the pond. They played until dark and came back again the next few days while the weather permits them to enjoy the ice and the great outdoors. Only a few days before, a few guys were out there on the ice, spearing for eels. Another great winter event for sure. The only problem with this, was the way they left most of the smooth clean ice surface with guck and black branches and wood that was raked from the bottom of the pond making it look like a war zone. Not only did it deface what might as well be our front yard, but the chance to do any skating there on that section of the pond a very difficult thing to do. I'm not sure if it was their plan to leave a corner of the pond for those who might want to enjoy a bit of skating, but I was glad to see the kids able to do so after all.

A walk to the shore

It's Friday morning, 4 celcius, sunny sky and no wind. As we finish our second cup of coffee, we set out for a walk to take in some fresh air and a stress free way to start the day. This time, instead of walking the road, we take the path that leads to the shore. Usually, after getting a few days of rain, the path floods around the edges of the ponds and makes it impossible to get through to the shore. The past few days have been beautifully warm and dry, so getting to the shore was achievable.

At the end of the path we get to a brook that runs into the ocean. It's too nice of a day to turn around, so we make our way down the beach. The tide is low, which makes it easy walking.

We walk the beach for about 5-10 minutes then head back. Once in a while, beach glass can be found in the sand and rocks. In this particular area, the beach glass is scarce, but lucky me, I did find two small brown pieces.

As we get back to the path, we have another 10 minutes or so of walking until we get back to the house.

Cape Breton paintings

A couple of commissioned paintings I have done in the last couple of months. The top one is of Little Harbour and the other one is of a sou'wester in Margaree Harbour.

Sunday drive to Chéticamp

Sunday morning 6:49am. The sun was just coming up in the sky and looked like a perfect day for a Sunday drive. By 7:30am, we got in the car and headed out for Chéticamp, a nice little drive to the other side of Cape Breton Island. First we stopped in Port Hawkesbury for breakfast at The Country Kitchen Restaurant. Leaving satisfied on a full stomach, we headed for Highway 19, through Port Hood, where I got out for only a few minutes to take a couple of pictures then drove right through Mabou, Inverness and many small communities. In Dunvegan we took the shore road to Margaree Harbour, over the new bridge to Belle Cote and then Cheticamp. Once there, we stopped at Tim Horton's for a much needed hot cup of coffee. The weather wasn't too bad, a cool 15-17 celcius and a few scattered grey clouds. On the way back, we took the highway going through the Margarees, then onto the Trans-Canada and back to Port Hawkesbury where we picked up a few things at the Superstore before heading back home.

Margaree Harbour Painting

After 3 years, I can finally say this painting is finished. I've been working on it off and on, and sometimes months without even dabbing any paint on its canvas. It started when I found this old window frame in the shed, soon to be taken to the dump. Picking it up from behind more old junk, I thought it would make a great frame for a painting. So this was the beginning of a new life for this old window frame. Each panels is an individual 8x10 canvas board. With a little paint, it's surprising what can be done to an old piece of junk. The scene is of a view of a lighthouse in Margaree Harbour. Breathtaking sight!

The Bali duck

With a bit of research, I managed to find out that this is a Bali duck. It is a little odd to see this duck, with a fluffy crest on the back of his head, trying to fit in with the other ducks. I haven't seen him around today, he might have gone back home after a short visit with his cousins in Lester's pond.

Duck or goose?

The fluff ontop of its head caught our eye. Other than being white, he's also a little larger than the other ones he's been hanging around with, back and forth across the ponds.