I have spent every single summer of my entire life at my family cottage in Nova Scotia. When I was young, mom would pack us all up and we would move to the cottage the day after school let out, we would spend all summer there and then move back home usually the day before school was going to start up again (or as close to it as possible). Then I got older and things like summer jobs and then full time jobs got in the way of spending as much time there as I'd like. The past two years I've managed to squeeze in a one week vacation, but upon each return I always moaned about how one week just wasn't enough. This year, since Chris and I are both self employed we decided to take advantage of our summer and spend 18 glorious days at the beach! Sure, two of those days involved an 11 hour drive to get there and back, but oh was it ever worth it! Nova Scotia is so beautiful. I often wonder why I don't live there all year round, Chris and I have discussed moving to the East Coast many times, but our family ties and the fact that we love Montreal always prevent us from doing so. For now we're happy to just spend as much of our summers there as possible.
The weather this year was perfect. Mostly warm, sunny beach days with a few rainy days mixed in. The rainy days are welcome (as long as there aren't too many of them) because then I don't feel bad about leaving the beach to go into town for a morning.
This year Stella learned to swim. She had never expressed any interest in the water and, in fact her standard reaction was to stop on a dime as soon as her ankles got wet. But this year I think that she forgot that she didn't like the water and spent as much time as she could running on the beach and swimming from one sand bar to the next. Then, exhausted and cold (she's a whippet, she always cold!) we would bring her up from the beach and wrap her in a blanket so she could warm up.
Chris and I got the chance to go boating with my Uncle Hughie. It was a windy day, but its always fun to see the beach from the ocean's perspective.
We spent one of our grey days on a little day trip which included a visit to Lismore Sheep Farm. I love that place! I took a ton of photos of the cutest, wee-est little lambs you've ever seen, but unfortunately the lighting in the barn didn't play well with my camera and none turned out well. Just trust me that they were adorable and tiny. One completely black lamb was very friendly and loved to be pet, he even sucked on our fingers if we gave him the chance! We didn't leave empty handed, Chris and I both picked up a sweaters worth of rustic, wooly goodness.
Like I said, we spent most day playing on the beach. Sitting, tanning, swimming, walking, collecting beach glass, chasing after dogs, chasing after kids...
My Aunt Ruthie (she's not really my Aunt, but that's what I call her) got a puppy. Tucker spent a lot of time sleeping under beach chairs.
We spent one night dancing 'til the wee hours of the morning at the annual barn party. Its literally a dance party in a barn, and its awesome.
We ate lobster twice, we played cards and board games, we spent every day, every night, and almost every meal surrounded by friends and family. Chris and I have both unanimously voted that this was our best vacation ever.
photo's by me and Steve Cloutier via Facebook. Thanks Steve!
