Our New Home At Last

Sammy checking out the land out front of the house. 

Well after much asking I have been elected to finish off this blog.  There will be updates of photos on facebook in the future as usual.  We have been unpacking endless boxes and looking for endless things that we needed.  There is still a long way to go but in one day we got the house livable to have Josh and Sarah as our first visitors.

Josh, Sarah and Dave

The weather has been very kind to us and we have been enjoying temperatures in the middle to high 20c.  On our way to get Sarah and Josh from the airport we purchased three kayaks, one double and two singles.  We have had tons of fun with these boats and the water has been like glass so easy paddling.  We took all three boats over to the other side of the bay to a beach to get photo's of the house from there and for Josh to swim.

Our house from the other side of the bay. 

We are going to take a paddle around the island as our neighbors tell us it will take 2 hours to do.  Sarah and Josh leave tomorrow morning and we have to be out of the house at 4am, which is going to be interesting as neither Sarah or Josh are morning people.  One plan is for them to be fully dressed, packed and sleep in the car!!!!!
Living in Nova Scotia we have noticed some changes, one is some of the things that we are used to buying we are having trouble getting here.  If anyone comes out soon could they bring me some mint sauce and some colored Ikea napkins please?  We did finally find tonic water the other day, and as the liquor stores are run by the government they seem to have strange hours of opening and closing.  Also, because of this there is no Costco Liquor Store!!!!  Though thankfully at the moment you can get booze on a Sunday in the summer months, guess that is to stop a riot from the Albertan visitors!!!!
The pace of life is slower in Nova Scotia and no one seems to be in a hurry especially when you go to the store.  Sarah and I went and got flowers the other day and to get the soil it was a huge debate from the employees about whether we had paid the right price.  Turns out there was the wrong picture on the stack and after 30 minutes standing in the heat I told them I frankly did not care and started loading the car myself.  They seemed quite taken aback that I would not go back into the store to sort out their mix up.  All in all though the Maritimers are an amazingly friendly bunch, always waving you on when crossing the road and waving at you as you pass along the roads home.  They love to talk and visit with everyone that cross their path.  We have been for drinks at one of our neighbors already and have an invite to a party in August at another.  Once we get settled we will have some over for drinks and nibbles.  They have been checking us out and the first day or so we seemed to have a steady stream of people passing our door.
We got a contractor in to give us a quote on things we want done, one being my studio.  I need heating, flooring and insulation put in the walls and the ceiling.  Also some water which we should have already out there but cannot seem to get the pump working.  After the studio we will frame out the cottage and then move all the kitchen and the flooring from the house over to use in there and start on a new kitchen and living room for the main house.

Outside studio and garage.  Studio to the right & garage to the left.

Studio space

The studio at the moment as you can see has a dirt floor which is good at the moment but in winter we are thinking maybe a little damp.  I seem to have regular visitors of snakes that slither in and out to take a look see.  We googled these to make sure that we don't have to worry, and they are all harmless except for one that can give a nasty bite.  The snakes that are common in Nova Scotia are Garter Snakes, these can bite but only if you try to pick them up.  The Ribbon Snakes which are quite pretty in yellow and brown stripping, these are harmless.  The Green Snake which is very bright green in coloring as the name suggests.  There are also the Ring Neck and the Red Belly snakes.  All of them are about one to two foot long.  There are also some awful bugs around but surprisingly not bad on mosquitos, and we have only needed bug spray when walking in the woods.
Our garden around the house has proven to be amazing, with every kind of plant and tree imaginable.  I even have two peach trees!

Sarah and I bought some lillies the other day and planted, they grow really well out here, a lot taller than in Alberta.  They seem to be in most yards and along the roads.  There are also raspberry bushes which Josh and I have been enjoying and we planted some strawberries.  I have never been able to grow tomatoes so got one plant to put in a pot to give it a try.  We are thinking of putting in a garden next year, but as the ground is incredibly rocky, it seems most of Nova Scotia is granite based, we will have to import soil.  David is relieved as that means he does not have to clear a section.
Though we are missing our family and friends, we are enjoying every day of our new home.  If anyone wants to come and visit they are always welcome though we may put you to work!!!!!

This Is The Life

 Finally managed to get on (and in) the water here.  Bit cold for swimming but the kayaking is great.

Some of us swam anyway!

 

 

Kayaking 101

On the water Yeah

 

!

Sam is not yet sure about kayaking

Sam will need several more tiny trips before I feel up to taking him further than a few feet from the shore.  He was a bit scared and of course every time he moved, we wobbled which made him worse.

Statistics

On the journey here, we drove 6004 km in 11 days.  A direct route would have been 5472 km, according to TomTom so in side trips we added a little less than 10% to the distance.  The main side trips we did were to Niagara Falls and Bar Harbour.

We did most of the driving in the early days and eased up on the distances later on.  This was definitely a good strategy so as to get the long boring bits (sorry Saskatchewan) out of the way before hitting the more interesting parts.

We passed through (in order): Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan (for just a few minutes), Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

We drove at a fairly consistent (and conservative) speed above the posted limit.  In the early days in rural areas, nothing passed us at all.  As we neared the big cities (Chicago, Boston) we were the slowest vehicle on the road and then as we headed back into Canada it was like the beginning of the journey.

We spent $735 on gas and $3015 on hotels, food and incidentals.  If we had shipped the car and trailer and flown out (with Sam) it would have cost about $5,000 so if we treat the trip as vacation and don't value our time then we saved some money.

The car computer tells me we averaged a fuel consumption of 11.6 litres/100 km.  This is much worse than I thought it would be.  Without the trailer or top box we typically average 7.8 litres/100 km.  The car seems to have survived OK and is now well past the 250,000km mark.  It really doesn't owe us anything any more so every km from now on is a bonus.

Best meal on the trip was either the seafood restaurant in Cambridge Massachusetts or the last hotel we stayed in just down the road from here near Mahone Bay.

Most surprising place we visited was Chicago.  Surprising because we were expecting something similar to New York with rude, impatient people, honking cars, police sirens all night.  The reality was completely different.  Friendly well behaved locals, clean streets, clean air and a general feeling of goodness.

Would we do it again?  Probably not.

The Furniture Is Now In...

but it was another stressful day.

The movers arrived on time and unloaded most of the stuff OK but then took over two hours to turn the big truck around in order to get out.  The lawn is rather ripped up.

The only major catastrophe in the move was our big dining room table which arrived in about ten pieces!  Totally destroyed.  I have a picture of it for the insurance but it's rather upsetting so I'm not going to post it.  There were a few other chips and bumps but nothing too obvious.  Of course, we haven't unpacked everything yet by any means.

Our major worry was that there would be so many boxes and things all over the house that we wouldn't be able to move around for them.  Generally though we seem to have been fairly successful in our culling of things before the move and it looks like everything will fit in OK.  The only major area where we've got way too many things is the kitchen.

So, first night in our new home.  We went out for dinner since we are fairly disorganized kitchen-wise and are now sitting in front of the TV watching trash stuff and drinking wine until we are ready to fall asleep.

Tomorrow, Sarah and Joshua arrive for a week.  My plan is to go get a couple of kayaks and some other essential things (chest of drawers, storage shelves, etc.) from Halifax on my way to pick them up from the airport.  weather forecast for tomorrow is 30C+ and sunny.  But that was the forecast for today too and it mostly just rained!

Finally We Own A House Again

We arrived at our new house on Thursday and left the trailer there (with the owners permission).  It was nice to drive around again without that dead weight pulling us back.

First thing we had to do was source a TV as we had arranged for the TV and satellite internet installer to come in on Friday afternoon.  We went to WalMart in Bridgewater but their selection was rubbish so we nipped over to Canadian Tire across the street to pick up a TV stand we had seen while we considered what to do next.  Annette approached a random guy in the parking lot and asked whether there was a Future Shop or other place we could get a TV.  He recommended a place in downtown Bridgewater and then asked if we were from Alberta.  Turned out that he was our installer guy.  There's a coincidence for you.  Anyway, we went to the recommended store, picked up the TV and headed back to our hotel.

Friday morning we had our final inspection at the house before the deal closed.  We expected to have the deal sorted and the keys in our hands by about 10am as we had been assured that everything was OK.  It turned out that the bank had screwed up big time and the proper paperwork had just not been done.  The stress was immense.  Would we have to cancel the TV/internet connection?  Would we have to cancel furniture arrival for Saturday?  What would we do when Sarah and Joshua arrived on Sunday?  After lots of phone calls by us and our lawyer and others, it came right down to the wire and finally closed at 4:30pm.  The realtor turned up with the keys at 5:15pm and the satellite installer arrived five minutes later!

While we were pacing around waiting, calling everyone we could and stressing, I put together the TV stand in the garage, which was unlocked.  We were therefore all ready for the install.  When the install was done and Coronation Street setup to be recorded, we went back to our hotel for a late dinner and fell into bed.

We've got another busy day today, trying to fit all our stuff into a smaller house so probably won't be in any fit state to blog tonight.

Another hotel room

Hi this is Annette, just a quick blog, as David and Sam are both asleep.
We are in Halifax today, the weather was way better than New Brunswick, about 23c.  We had about a three hour drive this morning and the hotel is situated in a great location, near tons and tons of stores.  As we are doing research on things we need to purchase for the house it has worked out well.  We went to Costco, and saw great stuff but how do you get it home, they do not deliver and frankly even if they helped us in the trailer with some of it there is no way we would be able to unload when we get the other end.  So we went to Ashley Furniture which has a no tax and a no delivery fee on at the moment and found a chest of drawers that will work for a good price, when we come back on Sunday to get Sarah we will have measured and then we can order it for delivery.
David and I were talking today in the car and there is no way we would do this journey across the country again.  It has been an experience but very time consuming and very costly, to date with food, gas, and accommodations we are sitting at over $3,000.00.  We could have shipped the car and flew for that money, but like I said it was an experience and an adventure.
Talking about shipping of vehicles we picked up the Mazda today, as luck would have it, the place it arrived at was just up the highway from here so it was easy to get it.  Tomorrow after signing documents with the lawyer we will both go to Mahone Bay and stay for 2 nights before taking possession.  The actual possession date will be Friday with all of our furniture arriving on Saturday.  That is what is planned anyway.
Sammy is ready to get out of the car for good and get home, every day he is more and more reluctant about getting in the car, poor boy, we know how he feels.
Along our route we have noticed the most strange road kills, lots and lots of racoons, and porcupines, and some that frankly look like large rats......  I fear for my dog and hope against hope that we do not have porcupines on our land, or racoons come to that and I don't even want to think about the rat possibility.   
The other observation is that though drivers out here are polite, and let you cross or cut in (Calgary used to be like that), they use their honks a lot.  They sound them to either say hello to each other if they know someone or to sound off if they are displeased, or just seem to like blasting their horns at each other, very strange.  Everyone is friendly though and we are already enjoying the laid back no fuss no rush kind of way of the Maritimes. 
Just watched Harry Potters last movie as I want to catch the last one that is due out here July 15th.  So thought we had better see the first half, I liked it and know have to say goodnight to everyone.  We are now 3 hours ahead of Calgary time and 4 hours ahead of UK time.  It is now 11pm NS time so it is good night from us here in NS.  xxx

Back In Canada

We crossed over into New Brunswick yesterday and are currently in St. John.  First thing we did after returning to Canada was stop at Tim Hortons for one of their lunch sandwiches. How cliched is that?

Despite a beautiful day south of the border, it was foggy in NB and remained so all afternoon.  A little disappointing even though we do have to expect quite a few foggy days a year.  Today the weather looks nice and sunny again.

Today we go to Halifax and have to sort out money and signing papers on the house.  We will then be just one step away from our new home.  We've already decided from now on that we are going to tell people that we're from Nova Scotia, not Alberta and will start referring to it as home.