Jo Edgett

Whoa, it’s almost May.

Where did the time go? What the heck was I up to? Everything’s coming fast and furious now, tree buds, flowers, hostas, the relentless goutweed. I knew it would happen just like this; no matter how many Nova Scotian springs I have under my belt, I’m never ready.

B and I went to a locally advertised yard sale two Saturdays ago, which is something we usually avoid, as neither of us is keen to brave a crowd just to sift through some stranger’s cast-offs. But this was taking place at Cottage Woodworkers over in Hampton, where our friend Lauren used to work, and where our new neighbour Scott currently works. Stephen, the owner, had advertised a few tools and odds and ends being for sale, but what he hadn’t advertised was that all showroom floor models would be half price. Gazoink. Since the reno was completed (yeah, since November) I’ve been on the lookout for some office bookshelves, so we popped into the showroom to see if he had any. There were gorgeous sideboards and sleigh beds, a custom kitchen, some really beautiful wardrobes and dining tables, but no shelves.

And then B spotted a pine entertainment unit (or TV armoire as I called it); it was going for a song, was beautifully handcrafted, and would hide a lot of my office junk. Sold! Stephen even delivered it and helped B carry it around the house and into my office. Once positioned, B hit me with the brilliant idea of turning it into my desk, so that I could shut my work away and hide all those unsightly and tangled cords that come along with a modern wired existence. This had the added bonus of allowing us to turn my desk into the room, so I can use it as a craft table.

I’m overjoyed! Really, I’m sickeningly happy. For the first time since we moved in, my office functions for all the things I do in it and even fits the look of the house (important since it opens onto the dining room).

My keyboard sits on a sliding, rotating shelf that pulls out, allowing me to get my legs under it like a normal desk.

The bottom half houses my printer and files and work doodads. Those drawers hold all of my mailing supplies, business cards, giftwrap and stationery for Garden Street Designs.

The craftier side of the room.

Me and Rooster.

Monkey was sitting behind me, as usual. Don’t let this docile pose fool you, I’m sporting a wicked bruise and raggedy scratch on my chin where he bit me two days ago. Bad kitty.

I almost squished her when I grabbed this pen.

Handily, I have a deck off my office, so she was freed promptly.

A glass of B’s first batch of home brewed beer! He’s not normally an ale guy, but some porter is next up on his brewing to-do list. I’m not a beer drinker, but I think I can safely say that B’s ale is better than McEwans (it’s a dollar store glass).

Like every other Come From Away you’ll meet in the Annapolis Valley, B has spent many hours wondering why there is no hard cider readily available here in Apple Country. And like almost every other CFA, B has had plans to brew his own since pretty much the day we arrived. He’s finally gone and done it, and designed some nifty labels too. Good job, B! Now he has to fine tune things, try a few different recipes until he’s truly satisfied. This first attempt is darn good, though. I foresee a real-life bricks & mortar (or clapboard and nails) Granville Ferry Cidery somewhere in our future; maybe we’ll make that a retirement goal.

This winter has been the best yet, not just because we got set up early (winter tires, dry firewood, lots of books to read), but because we discovered the mind-saving genius of the overnight trip to the city. B was always a little skeptical of Halifax’s charms, though I liked it from the get-go. Of course, he never really got a chance to explore it in our early days as Nova Scotians, since he would be in meetings all day long with web clients, while I would be off exploring. Starting last November, we realized we could separate the cats (our house is handy for that, what with all the doors), fill their feed dishes to the brim, and leave them for a night. Then we zip off to the city hotel, get Thai takeout for dinner, wander the freezing-cold but pretty streets of downtown, and take in the bright and bustling Saturday morning market. We have our favourite places to eat, our favourite shops, and these short ventures into a citified existence keep us from going stir-crazy.

We’re off for another overnighter sometime soon, and we’re thinking of keeping it up throughout the summer. But we’ll see. Neither of us feels the need to leave the Valley in the summer, when the beautiful weather leaves us wanting nothing more than to hang out in our own backyard. I have often said that living here makes me feel like I’m on permanent vacation, and that’s never more true than in summertime.

But before I completely forget about the past three months (I do take my time between blog posts), I thought I should record some of it for posterity. Hopefully I’ll be back to make some springtime posts before we’re deep in the heat of August.

Mom, these are the books you got me for Christmas. Thanks again!

Monkey staring out the window…

…at this deer in our neighbour’s garden. There were three.

Our beautiful felted Christmas Fairy tree-topper, made by Erin.

Our cats like their (medium-size dog) carriers quite a lot, and treat them like bedrooms.

Me, blurry and happy and holding a plate of Thai food.

Susie’s Classics, Red Velvets, and Black & Whites from the cupcake shop.

We looked after Griffin for a few hours while Lauren taught a yoga class. Lesson learned: eat your own dinner before trying to feed a baby, or you’ll end up with stewed prunes and baby socks in your mashed potatoes.

One of the 6 cardinals that stayed with us all winter long.

A painting Sarah (Reesor) traded with Brandon, in exchange for web work. I like how I get to benefit from these trades, even though I did none of the work!

Any random winter evening in our kitchen.

Any random winter workday in my office.

Eve conducts the waves at Hampton Beach.

Jonah amongst the (sea)weeds at Hampton.

Brandon and Derick at Mavillette Beach.

Chloe, Erin, and Sunna playing in the soft Mavillette sand.

Chloe and Griffin dogpile on Lauren, Jonah dogpiles on Beach Dog.

Group shot with Beach Dog, a stranger (but not stray) dog who followed us around all day and was partial to the kiddies. Maybe we should call her ‘Nana’, like from Peter Pan. Such a good doggy.

As you can tell from the last seven photos being beach scenes, we’re all ready for warmer weather. Any day now! (It’s snowing as I type this.)

It’s been a long, long while since I last blogged. I spent a month and a half up in B’s office while work was completed on the new floors and mini-renovations downstairs. When it was finished on Nov. 13th, I naively thought it would take us a week, maybe a week and a half, to get everything put back into place. Good grief. By mid-December all the painting was done and the house, at least downstairs, was functional once again. And then suddenly Christmas was upon us and I was already behind on baking, decorating, and finishing the seven scarves I had decided to knit for presents. We go all out at Christmas, so usually we wish some family would come out for a visit then, but this year we’re glad no one did (the guest bedroom houses all the remaining post-renovation chaos).I’m hoping to have the guest room up and running for a May re-opening.

The moms (and others) have had to wait too long for photos of the completed reno, but here they are, finally, with some x-mas shots thrown in. Hope everyone had a merry holiday and has plans for a festive ringing in of the new tomorrow night. Cheers!

We took a break in late November to attend the Mahone Bay Father Christmas Festival, our usual start to the season. Even though this Sinterklaas’ hugs are free, I was too shy to go get one. Santas still make me nervous. This year, the pre-Christmas snow actually stuck around and we had our first white Christmas. Stuffing branches into rolled up chicken wire shoved into the new-ish window boxes was so much easier than wiring together boughs and tying them to sills. Check out the real flocking and the real icicles. Mother Nature really helped me out with the decorating this year. A female cardinal , outside my office window. Tree #1. Tree #2 and the table set for Christmas dinner. Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies + Blackcurrant Pistachio Thumbprints + Almond Sugar Cookies + Pecan Maple Buttercreams = yum. Santa stupidly put a catnip mouse in Monkey’s stocking, so Monkey shredded his stocking. Bad Santa. Lauren made this sweet card display. The dessert table, with my ‘Homage to Button Moon’ Christmas tree art piece that I won at a local art auction (it’s done by my pal Sophie). Jai and Little G. Dinner! With Jai, Lauren, Griffin, Lydia, David and Sophie and us. An extra special Christmas dinner, as it was G’s first! Griffin liked the wrapping as much as the gift. Gnome paper! Another modern folk-art piece from Sophie. That’s me on the left, B on the right (with a backward facing Kangol hat no less). B & I super-love this. And finally, especially for Doreen, a photo of the birthday gift I made for B this year. His mom (that would be the lovely Doreen) sent us his grandpa’s fishing lures years ago, and I only just got around to putting them into shadow-boxes. They look stellar, and B was really touched. Sweet.