Fortress of Louisbourg

Photo of the Week, April 29, 2011

Cape Breton Living's Photo of the Week is of the Fortress of Louisbourg.
This summer, why not visit and experience living history in the 18th century? I am told it's the largest reconstructed 18th century French fortified town in North America. It's sure to be the highlight of your vacation...  For more info visit these websites:
Fortress Louisbourg Association
Parks Canada - Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site

Muskrat or otter?

On our daily walk along the shore road by home, we came across this muskrat or maybe it was an otter. We stopped to look and noticed it was looking at us too. At the same time, close by was a frantically cawing black crow that seemed to have an issue with this little guy. As cute as the otter might seem, when it started to head towards us, I felt a little uncomfortable. Just then, the loud black crow got himself between us and the otter and scared it back in a hole in the ice. I'm not sure what happened here, but I was glad the crow did what he did 

It's almost springtime

Instead of going out to find signs of spring, I was out yesterday looking for snow, mountains of snow! We set out early Sunday morning and stopped for breakfast at the Big Stop in Auld's Cove before heading out for the Highlands of Cape Breton. Our road trip was to drive along Route 19, through Port Hastings, Judique, Port Hood, Mabou, Inverness then coffee at Tim's in Cheticamp. From there we took our coffee with us and headed for North Mountain, just past the picturesque community of Pleasant Bay. Lots of snow we did find, now that I got my fill...I'm looking forward to signs of spring...

Wintertime

Photo of the Week February 4, 2011 - L'Ardoise

It wasn't an easy task to make a selection of just one photo from the many cool wintry shots I have in my collection. After the second snow storm in two days, I couldn't resist but to get out there, with camera in hand and click away, finding a picture perfect scene all around me. You'll find this first photo as the Photo of the Week on Cape Breton Living website. I'm also sharing with you more wintry shots of wintertime in L'Ardoise -

East cam Christmas tree

Cape Breon Living Webcams

Yesterday, Sunday December 12th was a beautiful mild and sunny day without a breath of wind... a  perfect day to put up my outdoor Christmas tree. So if you are wondering where the tree is today, rest assured, it didn't blow away with the high gusts of wind we often get here on the east coast, like we are getting today. Before the tree ends up in the ponds or the ocean (depending on the wind direction), I carefully stash the tree in a safe place until a day that winds are a bit more gentle. So hopefully we'll get to see the little Christmas tree more often than not during this Holiday Season!

Thanksgiving 2010

St Peter's

On this Thanksgiving week-end, we went on a day trip ending up driving around the Bras d'Or Lakes. We started off at 8:30am from home, passed through the town of St Peter's, picked up 2 coffees and baked goods at Tim Horton's in Port Hawkesbury and from there we got on the Trans-Canada Highway heading north to Sydney. Before leaving Sydney, we grabbed a pizza and headed home via the Old Highway 4.  The day was a typical fall day where we had sunny periods, then rain, crazy winds, heavy grey clouds and fluffy white clouds too. It made for interesting pictures.

Photo of the Week July 30, 2010

This week's photo was taken in Grand Etang during our trip to Cheticamp on July 27th. At least once during the summer, I like to take a road trip along the west coast of Cape Breton to Cheticamp and the Cabot Trail. Before we left the house that morning, the weather was fine, just a bit overcast, then we hit heavy rain from Louisdale to Port Hastings. I had checked the radar on the Environment Canada website and only noticed a thin strip of precipitation running through Cape Breton, and I believe that was what we drove through  up to Port Hastings. I figured we'll be ok weather-wise by the time we reach Route 19... and sure enough, the radar was right! The rest of the road trip was a mix of sun and cloud with slightly cool temperatures of 20ish celsius.

On this road trip, we ended up in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park as far as the Bog trail where a boardwalk allows visitors to step into a typical highlands bog environment, complete with Pitcher plants, Sundews, Bicknell's Thrush, and orchids. It's a short but very pleasant and interesting walk. From here we returned by the same route, stopping at look-offs and stopping for dinner at the Irving Big Stop in Auld's Cove across the Causeway.