HAPPY Birthday JIM!

Jim & Lea lecture at Sawyer Free Library Lyceum

My friend, Lise, joins us in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. I am so happy to see my high school classmate. This year we turn a certain age. Most of the 45 girls who graduated from Winsor in 1970  are meeting in Vermont to celebrate. That was tempting. We are happy that people are gathering.

However, Lise and I are invited - along with our husbands - to sail for two weeks from Louisburg, NS across the Cabot Strait to the island of  St. Pierre and then along the coast of south Newfoundland. 

Lise and I often dreamed about sailing together aboard "Windigo", a 58 ft Boothbay Challenger. We each have sailed with our friend, the captain, and owner, Sandy, at different times. This invitation seemed too good to pass up, so we chose to celebrate entering a new decade this way!

Jim & I welcome Lise to Baddeck! Here we sit in our house skyping our classmate/foreign student, Leena, who lives in Finland. Jim joins us as we dream about a trip to Finland - maybe next summer!

Shadows of heart rocks

Enjoy shadows of heart rocks on Killick's beach....

Can U CANOE?

Jim builds these 'skin on frame' canoes at the Essex Shipbuilding Museum workshop.

Baddeck Bay seems to be the perfect place for them.  Jim snaps this one of me with the Amoeba in the background.

 As Jim paddles by me he says; "This is the most fun I've had yet in Baddeck."

Dancing River Sprite

In Middle River, Cape Breton Island, NS, there is an unusual restaurant.

 George and CoraLee host guests in their dining room. Their home is on a pig farm!

 We wander down a path through long grass to enter the front door.

 The dining room table is set for 21 - all crammed into a tight room with a tree holding up the ceiling.

 We sit with strangers who become friends very quickly.

 Each feast is centered around a book. Tonight is The Little Prince.

Cora Lee always dresses up as a character from the literature.

First of the seven courses; we eat flowers, herbs, and foods gathered from their farm or nearby places.

 Jim, Lea, and our cousin David Fairchild.

Second course is a salad of lovage & clover....

Paying our respects to Mabel and AGBell

Usually at this time of year, Jim and I attend the Alexander Graham Bell Convention focussing on listening and spoken language for families of children who are deaf and hard of hearing. This year that conference is in far off Arizona. Our summer plans for Baddeck, Nova Scotia and sailing in Newfoundland do not allow a trip to the southwest.

We choose to be at "Being Bhreagh" early. For 35 years now, every summer - Jim takes me to the summer home of Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell, his great-great grandparents. What a treasure to have in a family! This "Beautiful Mountain" is just that.

As we drive through town I spot a young family having fun with these statues. I see the mom squishing their toddler in-between Gamma and Grampy Bell - so cute! I ask Jim to stop the car. We tell them how nice it is to see Dr. & Mrs. Bell loved in this way. The father (who has no idea who we are) offers to take our photo with the Bells - sure! 

He also takes one of us with Beinn Bhreagh  in the background.

Lupines Lupines EVERYWHERE

Lupines bloom early this year.

Surprising me, they grow there?

Fairy gardens make me stare.

Blue towers stretch over here.

Purple flowers everywhere!

our lupine car

white lupines are rare

pink lupines are very rare

lupines dance in the wind