Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia Wrap Up

These were going to be last weekend's The View Around Here. But there was too many to whittle down, and I wanted to post the sailing photos. So, here I am, left with a bunch of great photos I am compelled to post with no real reason to do so except I want to.

Good enough for me.

I don't have time for too much commentary to accompany these photos. I've got a couple big posts I'm writing. Doing my best to deliver on that homeschool series I promised to finish. More than that though, I am downright busy in our home.

mom's garden veggie harvest

veggies becoming "ferments" in my mom's kitchen

On this trip to Nova Scotia we rented a U-Haul for the trip back and brought with us the last of our earthly belongings - some furniture, kid's bikes, and the trampoline - all stuff we didn't need when we moved to Québec last November. With our furniture now here we are finally able to finish unpacking and settling into our new home.

Dance Party!

This is not a complain-y post but I will say I am sick and tired of moving. Actually, not sick this time, just tired. And as usual, with each major transition in our life (and there have been many this past year), I'm fairly stressed. Stretched thin.

the boys' fort in the woods

It's a state of overwhelm. I've been here enough times this past year to know this too shall pass if I just Do The Work, rest, eat well, read (The Seven Storey Mountain - fascinating religious autobiography) and try to be kind to my gracious family. This too shall pass. This too shall pass...

But then there was Nova Scotia. A little break from moving and settling into our latest home. A time for cousins and grandparents, aunties and uncles. Sailing and backyard tenting. The Lunenburg market and LaHave Bakery. Hirtle's beach and secret forts in the woods. Family chess tournaments, dance parties and the Olympic games. A time to live summer. It was very good. A little calm in the middle of this storm of a summer.

Sailing On The LaHave

My parents live on the LaHave River in Lunenburg county. I talked a bit about that last summer when we lived here. My Dad has always wanted to be on the water and has been trying to find the perfect boat to live out his dreams.

This summer's trip to Nova Scotia, my kids were happy to oblige my Dad's passion for the water. I'm not so much of a water person but last weekend I joined Saturday's sail. Anything for a trip to the LaHave Bakery and nearby Westcote Bell Pottery gallery (I have a custom order on the way).

We're leaving today and I have mixed feelings about this. I have nearing-end-of-summer melancholy. And my kids have loved spending the past two weeks with their cousins at Nana & Papa's. Sometimes I think it would be nice to live closer to my parents, we're currently a whole day's drive away.

But the nice thing about having distance and difference in our living situation, us in the Gaspé mountains and my parents on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, is the unique experiences we have when visiting each other. I especially appreciate the opportunities my kids have when coming to Nana & Papa's house. Stuff we just don't do with them at home - like sailing.

Thanks Mom and Dad for the great visit. We'll see you in a couple weeks when you come to experience the Gaspé. No sailing. But bakeries, yes (we call them boulangeries) and some great tenting and hiking.

Cousins Eat Salad and Other Launch Day Happenings

Life does not slow down, not even for a book launch day. The last three months have been extra-ordinarily full for our family. Not in an overly stressful way (amazingly), just full-of-life living. Summer is the time for this kind of activity - for travel and high output. At least my seasonal rhythm seems to go this way.

I have a lot of energy in summer, which is good because this summer I have needed it. It’s been pretty much non-stop activity for our family for the last three months. The wonderful, whirlwind month of May (Céline’s birthday trip was the highlight for me), followed by June in Montréal.

July has been about finishing this e-book, settling into our new, not-quite-finished home, and now more travel. All of this on top of usual 24/7 creating, learning, living and growing together. I feel so incredibly blessed.

Sunday night we arrived in Nova Scotia for a two week visit. Yesterday, I released my second e-book (sales have been fabulous - thank you so very much) and very early this morning I drove Damien to the airport for his trip to Outdoor Retailer in Utah.

We timed our visit to NS to coincide Damien’s trip to OR (for both the easy access here to an international airport and having fun while Daddy is away) and also to see my brother and his family, who are spending the summer in Nova Scotia with my parents. We don’t get to visit our siblings and their kids nearly enough so this was is a rare treat - to be all together as a family for a couple weeks.

It’s a cousin fest around here I tell you. And it’s a little crazy. By 2pm yesterday afternoon at least four of the six children had injured themselves in some way and I sliced my finger while chopping greens for lunch! First aid kits come in handy with this many active kids all together, hyped up on cousin energy.

‘Cause it sure ain’t sugar they’re hyped on.

One of the things I love about visiting with my brother’s family is learning from my sister-in-law who has tweaked and majorly modified her family’s diet over the years to treat and heal disease. My brother too deserves a lot of credit for dietary change in their home.

After years of informal study, research and “practicing” on her family, Dawna is getting serious about continuing her education and taking the same course my mom took a couple years ago. (I love Dawna's take on how to get your child to eat healthy. You can see why we get along so well!) Nutrition is Dawna's passion and it’s so much fun to hang with her and learn from her.

I love hanging out with family where kids are served huge, heaping salads for lunch - the kind I talk about in my book. It’s nice to know we’re not the only ones who feed our kids lots of vegetables. We weren’t always this way but over the years our dietary journeys have taken us deeper into plant-based nutrition.

In case you’re wondering that’s an avocado dressing Dawna prepared for her family’s sprouted salad. My book has step by step directions, thanks to Jennifer Sanders, for sprouting beans if you’re interested.

Dawna’s family is aiming for the Hippocrates diet which is raw vegan (that’s the short version, read more here). We are plant-based eaters (both cooked and raw), not completely vegan. And my mom is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and knows a lot about nutrition, health and well being also. My mom’s kitchen is an especially busy and “green” space right now. So much fun.

Yesterday after we all ate big salads for lunch we headed to a nearby beach. And what a gorgeous afternoon it was! And amazingly, no first aid was needed.

I enjoyed the rush of a book launch and a small measure of relief at releasing this book. There are still little things I have to finish - affiliate and download FAQs, marketing graphics, etc, but you know what? I have a life to live also. A really good life.