A sure sign that the winter is almost over and that spring is just around the corner. This morning, just another cloudy, drizzly and windy day, I spotted the magnificent bald eagle, back again after the long winter months to do some fishing in the pond. The ice is breaking up, giving the eagle a great opportunity to pluck an eel from the water in the pond.
Another great day for skating on the pond. The temperature is minus 8.6c and a bit of a breeze, which makes this a typical Canadian winter day... only without the 2 or 3 feet of snow we usually have on the ground by now. Well at least there's no need to do any shovelling before enjoying the ice!
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.
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. 
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. 
