Oak Island, Nova Scotia

While in Nova Scotia, Sailor Dan had a real hankerin' to see Oak Island ... the stuff of legends. So on our way to Lunenburg and Peggy's Cove, we stopped to see Oak Island. After taking a wrong turn we ended up at a dead end road where a beautiful little piece of property just happened to be for sale! So we explored and imagined ourselves living there!

Isn't this an amazing view?! What a wonderful gazebo at the end of a long, wooden pier. On the other side of the gazebo the pier slopes down closer to the surface of the water.

Don't we all look perfectly at home here? Just another little piece of paradise in the world.

If you're not familiar with the stories surrounding Oak Island and it's "treasure", it is fascinating! And ongoing! Read about it here.

Oak Island, Nova Scotia

I Won An Awesome Giveaway

Look what arrived in our mailbox yesterday! WOW! I mean ... WOW! Just LOOK at this very large stack of beautiful fat quarters! They are "A la Maison", designed by Terri Conrad for Robert Kaufman Fabrics. You can see a better photo of them here at Margot Languedoc's blog. There's also a photo of these very fabrics made up into this Frosted Squares pattern. I've read the pattern and I think it's something I can do! Once I master that quarter inch seam that is, which means AFTER I get my new sewing machine ... probably early next year.

If you're interested in quilting, you should look at the many patterns designed by Margot. You can see them here. Margot is from Ontario.

Thank you so much, Margot!  You can count on me to "pay it forward".

I Won An Awesome Giveaway

Cancer Researchers Say Blueberries May Control Breast Cancer Tumor Growth - MarketWatch

Did you think I'd been exaggerating a little when I refer to blueberries as "medicine"? Yes? Well, stand corrected! And then go buy a freezer full of blueberries and eat some everyday. I'm not eating two cups per day but probably average half a cup or more every second day of various kinds of berries, but mostly blueberries while trying to avoid strawberries from California because of the heavy and controversial use of some particularly nasty chemicals used on those strawberries not stamped "organic".

Cancer Researchers Say Blueberries May Control Breast Cancer Tumor Growth - MarketWatch:

Eating blueberries may inhibit breast cancer tumor growth, according to a recent study by researchers at the City of Hope in Los Angeles that is published in the October 2011 issue of The Journal Of Nutrition and featured in the September issue of Food Nutrition and Science.

The study resulted in tumor size reduction by 60-75 percent. In addition, molecular analysis revealed that blueberry consumption altered the expression of genes that are important to metastasis, suggesting that cancer risk would likely decline from blueberry consumption. The blueberry dose required to achieve these results was equivalent to two cups of fresh blueberries per day.

Read the rest of the news release at the above link.

Cancer Researchers Say Blueberries May Control Breast Cancer Tumor Growth - MarketWatch

Lovely Lunenburg

Lunenburg is a picturesque little tourist destination in Nova Scotia not far from Halifax. Dan, Amy, Kevin and I went there after Peggy's Cove. We happened to pick a day when no cruise tours were in town and it was late afternoon when we got there so we almost had the whole town to ourselves! It's a very pretty little place with boats of various types and sizes scattered about in the harbour, which reminds me of old drawings I've seen. Because as a landlocked prairie girl who is more familiar with lake country than oceanside communities, I couldn't figure out why the boats weren't all tied properly to docks instead of left way out there in the water. And then someone explained tides to me. Ahhhh. Now I get it.

There were some very cute houses, many of them made into shops or restaurants. The detailing on some of the Victorian style houses is beautifully done. And I loved the bold colours of some of the buildings. Thank you, world, for people who use bold colours and who do things in ways that I mostly don't!

Sailors, it seems, sometimes use rope the size of which I've never seen on a prairie farm! Scroll down to see a pile of ginormous rope! If you made a rope rug out of that you would need a handrail on the edge just to step up onto it!

Those marble columns beside the red buildings commemorate lives of local people lost at sea. So many names over the years and so many with the same last names.

Shortly after we arrived in Lunenburg, Dan somehow got separated from the rest of us. Kevin went to look for him leaving Amy and I ... and our credit cards ... to look through the many lovely little shops on our own. Tee hee! As it was, Kevin was the only one with a charged cell phone on his person so that didn't do us much good in terms of finding each other. But eventually eagle-eyed Amy found them both! She claims it had nothing to do with her "eagle eyes". She used simple logic. Whatever it was, we found them and joined them for drinks on a deck overlooking the harbour.

Lunenburg is very pretty. It's true. But it's very different than Peggy's Cove. Peggy's Cove doesn't appear to be prettified in any way. It's more stark. More rugged. More rustic. Less conventionally pretty. And smaller. I have to say I really fell in love with Peggy's Cove. It felt like a lovely place for one's soul and I could have spent the day there just soaking it up. The peace and, despite the tourists, the sense of solitude it somehow maintains is so appealing. It's one of the first times I have ever truly felt any "lure of the sea". It's how I imagined I might feel if I were to ever set foot in Ireland.

Lovely Lunenburg

A Brand New Kerr

On Sunday we finally got the phone call from Josh we'd been eagerly awaiting! The little guy finally emerged! What an adorable, perfect little fella!

A newly minted Grandma, Lynn, wrote in an email ...

I'd like to introduce you to:

Robert Lucas Kerr

Born: Sunday, September 25, 2011
Weight: 8 lb 4 oz
Length: 19 1/2 inches
Proud Parents: Josh and Noelene
Very Happy Grandparents: Barrie and Margaret and Darrel and Lynn and Great Grandparents Betty, Ruth, and George.

Noelene and Robert are doing fine - Josh, too!

Do you think he looks like the earlier photos we had of wee Robert?!

We are so happy for Josh and Noelene! And Luke is pretty tickled that Robert's middle name is "Lucas". Luke will be putting a lacrosse stick in the wee man's hands asap!

And I had better get back to quilting! I'm behind schedule!!  Next week ... after Kayla's wedding and Hannah's visit, I'm back to it. For sure!!

By the way, aren't those teeny feet in the ultrasound photos MAJORLY CUTE??!! I never ever saw such clear photos of Luke or Hannah when I had ultrasounds.

A Brand New Kerr

Lucky Sometimes

I 'm not so lucky to be one of those who gets breast cancer and I wasn't lucky that my treatments didn't get started as soon as they could have because my cancer wasn't diagnosed as early as it should have been. Nope. Not lucky in that regard. But, aside from feeling luck to be alive, it turns out that I have been very lucky lately at ...

... WINNING fabric giveaways!! I almost feel embarrassed! And for that reason I have committed to a "giveaway win policy" for myself.

1. If I win a sponsored giveaway, I commit to purchasing something from that vendor. Maybe not right away but when I do plan to buy some fabric or other quilting supplies, I'll put that vendor at the top of my checklist and eventually I'll have "paid back".
2. If I win a giveaway from an individual ... a generous quilter who is sharing the love ... I commit to sending something back in return OR paying the love forward in a charitable way.

So here is one of the THRILLING giveaways I won recently (read about it here). It was in the mailbox waiting for me when we got home from Halifax and even though I was thoroughly wasted from a full day of sitting in airplanes and have flights cancelled and then diverted and stopping at 5 airports instead of the scheduled 3 ... I tore into that package immediately!! I knew I'd won fabric but I wasn't expecting the quilty greeting cards, the two patterns, the perle cotton thread and the package of embroidery needles (for hand quilting with perle cotton thread). What a happy surprise and I know these fabrics will be put to good use in a quilt. And I really like the "Littles" pattern included in the package. It looks easy enough for me and is "charm square friendly" according to the pattern. I just happen to have a bright charm square that I bought in Paducah (Kentucky - a quilter's mecca) a couple of years ago. The pattern of the mini bags (the right size for cell phones and iPods) look to be a bit of a stretch for me. Maybe when I read the pattern I'll feel more confident.

I must thank Madame Samm for this wonderful giveaway (scroll down to read a bit about her). She is the brains, the brawn, and the heart and soul of a 3 month event going on right now to help "Wantobe Quilters" get started while also rewarding "Quilt Bloggers" who are generous with their knowledge, skills, tutorials, tips, etc. It's genius and Madame Samm has, with her talents, got all kinds of sponsors on board. They have donated HOARDS of quilting items for the giveaways! Everything from needles, threads, fabric, rulers, and cutting mats to irons and even sewing machines!! I'm pretty thrilled with this package of goodies. The fabric is from Ty Pennington's fabric line and was donated by Free Spirit Fabrics. The thread is Presencia Finca #8, and the Pebble needles are from Colonial Needle!

The sweetpeas in the above photo are mine. They are there for Madame Samm's benefit. She photographs most of her giveaways with her favourite flowers - gerbera daisies. Sweetpeas are my favourite and with all this amazingly nice weather, I was able to get one last small cutting.

Lucky Sometimes

Wharf Hags and Pirates

Amy, Dan, Kevin and I had quite a bit of fun!

Wharf Hags and Pirates

We're Back from Halifax

Here are some photos from Peggy's Cove. So quaint! It wasn't at all what I imagined but there's something about it!

I think there must be a Peggy's Cove bylaw stipulating that nobody is permitted to repair or remove anything old or damaged. It adds to the charm of the place. I was charmed, that's for sure.

I'm amazed at some of the reflections! The water was like glass while we were there and there was a bit of fog but not so much in the cove itself.

We're Back from Halifax

Mr. Director of Operations

Kevin's into his second week as the new Director of Operations for SARCAN. Kenny retired and Kevin is now learning the ropes. He has a pretty good grasp already having been there since SARCAN's inception 24 years ago.

Kevin's parents left this clever bouquet on our doorstep for him. Funny! A milk jug (that can be recycled at SARCAN) as a vase. Ha! We laughed!

Congratulations, Kevin!

Mr. Director of Operations

Ohhhh Noooo ...

That's what this little face in the wall of my doctor's office seems to be saying. I read all the fashion magazines I could manage today while I waited to see him today and then, bored and looking around the room I spotted this little face. He reminds me of Mr. Bill from old Saturday Night Live fame. Mr. Bill was always saying, "Ohhhh noooooo .... ".

So, I learned a new word this weekend. Diverticulitis. That is my latest affliction. Oh yeah for me.

Earlier this week I had a couple of brief stabbing pains in my lower left abdomen. They didn't last long and I ignored them. Thurday night, I started to get a more persistant pain there but it wasn't too bad. By Saturday I was telling myself, "I hope it holds off getting much worse until at least Monday so I can see my own doctor about it". Not so. I called my doctor on Sunday and he wasn't on call. I ended up going to the medi clinic for a couple of hours, getting home just in time to hang out on the couch and watch the Rider game. The medi-clinic doctor diagnosed diverticulitis and prescribed me a couple of antibiotics that work together somehow ... one to take on an empty stomach and one to take with food ... as well as another medication to calm stomach spasms. I couldn't feel that I was having "spasms" but the doctor said I was very rumbly.

While I didn't disbelieve the doctor at the medi-clinic, I decided it would be best to talk with my own doctor who knows my medical history just to be sure. There are so many internal things in one's body ... especially in women ... that can cause lower abdominal pain so I just wanted to make sure it wasn't anything to do with my ovaries or uterus, or other girly parts. There's always that hovering cancer phantom and the knowledge that Tamoxifen can cause uterine cancer. And then there was that blood last Wednesday. My doctor said I did the right thing in following up with him to be sure. He agreed that it's likely diverticulitis ... a word that now trips off my tongue rather easily ... and that the antibiotics should take care of it. I see that not getting enough fibre or water in one's diet can result in diverticulitis but that can't be my case because I eat a substantial amount of fibre and, especially with hot flashes, I drink lots of water.

So that's what ruined much of my weekend. It's probably why I was feeling kind of generally crappy this past week, too. Nothing like a little brewing infection to take the wind out of one's sails.

I can feel the antibiotics kicking in, despite the fact that they're giving me an upset stomach.

Ohhhh Noooo ...