It’s Gardening Time!

I have never been much of a gardener in fact I usually kill any plant that dares to cross my path.  I even got a cactus once, thinking that this had to be a plant that would survive my lack of gardening skills.  It would be strong enough that even I couldn’t kill it.  I was wrong.  That poor cactus plant didn’t stand a chance under my gardening guidance.  It was dead within a month.  At least it didn’t die in the first week!  I gave it extra points for lasting so long before going to the prickly plant place in the sky.

However, with owning 4 acres of land, one feels the need to plant something.  So I have decided to give it another try.  I bought a big tray that holds 72 mulch pucks that all you have to do is add water and they swell up so you can plant your seeds in them.  I thought to myself … well that looks easy enough.  So I bought some flower seeds and added the water to the pucks.  When the pucks were swollen I carefully added the flower seeds to them.  I put the dome lid over my precious flower seeds and anxiously awaited their arrival to sprout.  I then waited … and waited … and waited!  Finally I saw a couple of pucks had some green things growing!  I was so excited!  But wait … what about the other 48 pucks?  There is nothing growing in them!  I suppose they heard about my gardening skills and thought … why bother coming out.  She’s only going to kill us!  To this day, 2 months later, they have not come out.  Oh, and those green things that came out and gave me such hope, well they haven’t grown much more and come to think about it … a few of them could be weeds. 

I’m either a glutton for punishment, or I don’t give up easily but I’m trying again.  This time I got some different flower seeds, another 72 puck tray and thought with all this acreage I would have a vegetable garden too.  I know, I’m feeling very ambitious!  For the vegetable garden I thought about what we like to eat and got seeds for growing peas, beef steak tomatoes, green onions, chives, English cucumbers, corn on the cob, beets and carrots.  I heard that you could start some of the vegetables indoors so I got some little containers and potting soil and planted the peas, green onions, chives and tomatoes.  I wasn’t too sure about the tomatoes because they said to start them in a “soil less environment”.  Since I didn’t know what that meant, I planted them in dirt.  I know … planting them in dirt isn’t “soil less” but then … I’m not a gardener so I figure we are even.  J

After they were all planted, I gave them a little pep talk and asked them nicely to try and grow as hard as they could.  I know talking to your plants sounds silly, but many of my friends talk to their plants and they do well.  At least I hope they are talking to their plants.  I might just have crazy friends who pretend to talk to the plants but are really talking to themselves.  Either way it worked!  Three days later I looked in on my efforts of gardening to find that they had sprouted!  My babies were growing!  How exciting is THAT!!  I was thrilled!!

Now all I have to do is figure out when the last frost is (they always mention that on the package) and when I should put them out in the garden.  It will be fun picking things out of the garden and cooking them.  You can’t get much fresher from garden to table on the same day.  I feel like Scarlet O’Hara from Gone With the Wind when she said … “As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again!”  Well ... maybe that is a little too dramatic, but it will be nice to eat what we grow.  Now let’s hope they continue to grow!  J

Planting the seeds

Making sure they get plenty of light

This was my first try at planting.  Not much grew.
The pots on the end are plants from my second planting
that grew so quickly they didn't fit under the dome.

My version of a hot house

They are growing!!

My second attempt at growing flowers

They are popping up too!  Maybe it will work this time!

They are off to a good start

I don't know if the pucks are going to develope flowers or weeds!

My gardening centre

This looks very promising!

Has Spring Come to PEI?

The Arts Centre in Summerside

Today was Good Friday and it WAS a good Friday!  The sun was shining, the skies were crystal blue, the temperature was above zero (something I haven’t seen in months) and the snow was melting away.  Could this mean that Spring has arrived?  Or at the very least Spring is on it’s way? 

It was too nice to stay indoors today so we decided to do a little driving.  Of course everything was closed today due to Good Friday, so the roads were very quiet.  After driving through Park Corner and circling back through Kensington, we found ourselves heading towards Summerside.  We drove down to one of our favorite spots, Spinnaker’s Landing and parked by the docks.  The water still had a thin layer of ice but there were spots where you could see the water rippling freely.  I took this as a sign that Spring was about to be sprung!

It was interesting to see the location where the boats, which had been docked during the summer, only to find that there wasn’t a boat in sight during the winter.  I suppose the boats would be damaged by the layers of ice that would be forming over the winter months.  I wonder where all the boats went?  Do they have a storage area for these boats?  Did they all move to warmer climates?  I wonder …

This is the first time that Ron and I are able to see all the seasons of PEI.  In the past our visits to the island have only been during the summer months.  Even though the summer is beautiful, I always wondered what the other seasons would look like.  We have now experienced the Fall, which brought a very colorful look to the island and we have also experienced the Winter on PEI … something I thought would never end!  Although the winter months seemed long and dark, when it snowed it brought with it a sense of peace and tranquility.  This was something we were looking for in our retirement.  Now I’m not saying that we will stay here next year for the winter months, after all we have now experienced it, but for our first Winter in PEI it was worth sticking around for.

We have one more season to experience and that is Spring!  I look forward to the Spring because I know that it will bring warmer weather, Spring flowers and an opportunity to sit out on our deck to look at our beautiful view … without our winter coats on!  J

Thin layers of ice down by the docks

This is where the large frieght ships dock

Sign on the docks

The back of Spinnakers Landing

Front of Spinnakers Landing

Ice forms around the pillars

A Summer photo of the boats behind Spinnakers Landing

A Fall photo of where the boats usually dock

A Winter photo of where the boats dock

The ice still covers water in Summerside

I’m Back Again!

Where did she go?

For those faithful followers who have been checking into my blog (and finding nothing new) I do apologize.  There have been a lot of things going on here but unfortunately, I cannot blog about them in a public forum.  However, if you know me personally and would like to find out why there have been no recent blogs, then please email me directly and I will be glad to fill you in.  J

Last Saturday, March 23, Ron celebrated another birthday.  I love it when I can say, we celebrated another birthday because that means we aren’t dead yet!  LOL 

We spent the day travelling around the island, driving on roads we’ve never been on before.  The weather had started out sunny but quickly clouded over.  A few flakes of snow tried to fall but held off long enough for us to enjoy the ride.

We found a new Parkway to drive on from Brackley to Dalvay which ran along the coastal shores of The Gulf of St. Lawrence.  The ice had mostly melted from the gulf but left blocks of little ice bergs floating ashore.  The water was running really quickly and the ice bergs floated by fast.  We stopped the car in Covehead Bay and took some photos of the floating ice bergs.  It was a sight I had never seen before.  Another first for me!

I found the drive along the new Parkway not as interesting as the other Parkway between Cavendish and North Rustico.  Maybe it was because we didn’t see one fox along the way.  We did see a skunk on the road though … but I like the foxes better.  J

When we arrived home I made Ron his birthday dinner.  We had BBQ steak, lobster tails with melted garlic butter and fresh carrots.  For dessert I made him a homemade lemon cake with real lemon frosting.  It was really good.  After dinner we decided to go in the hot tub and reflected upon the day.  It was pretty cloudy and looked like it would snow but then all of a sudden the sky opened up and you could see the moon and the stars.  Ron was really happy about that because I had given him a telescope for his birthday and he didn’t think he would be able to use it because of all the clouds.  We decided to get out of the hot tub so Ron could play with his new toy … I mean use his new telescope.  He was so excited to be able to use it!  It only lasted about 10 minutes before the clouds rolled back in but it was enough time to impress Ron with what he saw.  I’m sure he will get a lot of use out it.  Usually the stars are incredible where we live.  We are out in the country with no bright lights from the city to brighten the dark skies.  It’s a perfect spot for star gazing.

So that is all I can report on in the blog as to what has been happening to us lately.  There is of course a lot more to say … but just not here.  I will try and post more often.  Until then … I wonder what new adventure we will have next.  J

Covehead Bay

Ice Berg just floating by

Ice jams under the bridge at Covehead Bay

Tourist Attraction at Covehead Bay

Big Ice Berg floating by

Fishing Harbor in Covehead Bay

This will be a busy place during the tourist season

For some reason I think of the Titanic when I see this

Large chunks of ice line the shore at Covehead

Covehead Lighthouse

Happy Birthday Ron!

What did you wish for?

Lemon Cake with real Lemon Frosting

Bathroom Renos Continued

I left you hanging in the last blog post called “Bathroom Reno”, to tell you what color we decided to paint the walls. If you think I’m going to tell you right away … think again.  J

First I’d like to say that the ceiling color turned out really well.  At first it looked like it was white instead of beige but after awhile we decided that it was just because the previous color was dark orange.  The new ceiling paint really brightened up the room.  It’s amazing how a coat of paint to a room can make you feel so good.

Now the color of the walls was a little more complicated as to whether I liked it or not.  I’m still not too sure of it even after a few days of living with it.  When I opened the paint can, right away I wasn’t too sure of the color.  I wanted a nice brown tone for the walls.  What I saw was more of an orangey pinky color.  We did a couple of test spots on the wall to get an idea of the color with different angles of light.  It looked pink!  Not what I was looking for at all.  Then it started to dry and it took on a more beige tone … but with a pink undertone.  I wasn’t too sure about it at all.

I smeared a bit of paint on the sample I had chosen, thinking that maybe they had mixed it wrong, but no … it was bang on to the color sample.  Ron told me to go back to the store and see if they could tint it darker.  If they couldn’t darken it then I was to chose another color and buy it.  So off to the paint store I went.  I got there and the girls were very helpful.  They looked up to see if they could add more tint to it but found out there wasn’t enough room in the can for the additional tint.

I looked at the original paint sample again in the store.  The lighting in the store made it look brown … and I liked it again.  I hummed and hawed a long time in the store.  Then I decided, with the help of the clerks, to take the paint back home and completely paint the walls.  The clerks in the store thought that maybe the paint that was currently on the walls was being picked up in the new paint and changing the tone of the color.  If it didn’t work, then I could always come back for another can of paint.  So … back home I went with my original can of paint.

As soon as I returned home I started to paint.  I finished the first coat of paint and still wasn’t sure of the color.  I decided to hold off changing the color until the second coat of paint was on the walls.  After putting two coats of paint on the walls, I was tired of painting.  So we are keeping the color!

We installed the new vanity in the bathroom, hooked up the plumbing, and added the granite counter top.  It looks really good against the new paint.  It turned out, the granite counter top has flecks of granite that matches the color of the paint perfectly!  

It’s funny how light can change the color of paint so many times during the day.  Every time I go in the bathroom the color of the walls look different.  Sometimes I like it … and sometimes I don’t.  I’m sure that once things are totally finished and I put some finishing touches around I will like it a lot.  For now, I am LOVING the extra counter space and extra drawers of the new vanity.  We had NO counter and NO drawers in the old vanity.  What an improvement!  The only thing left to do now is put up the trim and baseboards and then we will be finished! 

Original Bathroom - No Counter Space



Dramatic colors



I want to make sure I cover the orange paint!

Lots of counter space now!

We now have some drawers too!

Painted the black cupboard the same as the ceiling.  Much brighter now!

Love the new vanity!

Bailey likes it too!

Bathroom Reno

We love the house we bought in PEI, but like any home you buy, you always like to put your own stamp on it to really make it your own. 

When we moved into the house, we really didn’t have to do anything to it.  Usually when you move into a house there is usually some painting to be done or some repairs, but not here.  Every room in this house was nicely painted and didn’t require any painting … unless you didn’t like the color.  But even the colors, although a little bolder than what we are used to, were really nice.

After living in the house for about 4 months we decided that we needed to make a change in the bathroom.  This was going to be our first “project”!   The one thing we felt we could improve upon was the amount of counter space beside the sink … we had NONE!  The vanity we had in the bathroom was very small and only contained a sink on top of the vanity base.  There were no counters attached at all.  I found it difficult to balance my hair dryer and brushes on the sink without them falling into it.  Also I didn’t feel that it was a very safe place for the hair dryer … but there was no place else to put it.

So we decided to go out and buy a vanity that would also give us some counter space.  Of course buying a larger vanity meant that we had to change the location of it to a different wall, which means the plumbing all has to be moved as well.  Ron is toying with the idea of doing it himself, but I would like to get a couple of quotes from plumbers as to how much it would cost them to do it.  We will see how that turns out.

Now that the vanity is going against a different wall, it means that the overhead lights needed to be changed to the other wall as well.  Good thing Ron has got some experience in this, from when we renovated our kitchen in the last house.  He carefully cut out a hole on one wall and then another on the other wall.  Then he drilled through a couple of 2x4’s on each side, then fished the wire through and connected it to the new location.  Then he put back the cut out pieces of gyp rock and we plastered it back in place.  It turned out better than if we had hired an electrician!

After we plastered, then sanded, then plastered some more, then sanded again, it came time for the fun stuff.  The paint!  We decided to tone down the colors in the bathroom a bit.  The original colors were orange ceiling, mustard colored walls, and black trim and baseboards.  It was not what we were used to but in a strange way it worked and we didn’t mind it.

We managed to get the ceiling painted with two coats today.  It’s a light shade of beige to help brighten up the bathroom.  The walls will be done tomorrow and it will be colored … wait a minute … you will just have to stay tuned it to see what color it will be!  J

Our old vanity

Our new granite counter top.  Much more space!





Old Vanity removed

Orange ceiling

Black doors removed on skinny closet

Moving the light fixture

Wires were restrung to the other side

Plastering the hole

Removing the nails from the old trim

Ron did a nice job of cutting tidy holes.

Small closet





I love to paint!