It’s been exactly one entire year that I’ve been baking bread. One whole big fat year of not bringing home the store made stuff. My mother in law taught me, then I was guided along by my father and uncle. I make my bread the traditional way, I don’t use a bread maker. I use good ol’ elbow grease.
I’m more and more surprised about how many people make their own bread. Once I was told that “men make the nicest bread because they knead it better.” Hmmm. Them’s fight’n words!
After a year of trial and error, I honestly think my ego would take a beating if I bought a loaf at the store. I take such pride in my bread making. It’s usually different every time. A handful of oatmeal or wheat germ or flax seed. Whatever is in the cupboard at the time. I love the creativity and simplicity of bread making.
My grandfather had a bakery near Bedford, Nova Scotia and he was well known for his bread. My uncle, who worked in the bakery alongside him, often gives me wonderful advise. When I was a young girl coming home from school, my father would just be taking bread out of the oven. Despite his warnings to never to cut into a warm loaf of bread, I’d cut into it anyway. Absolute heaven.
As I sit here typing, I have dough rising. In a few minutes I’ll put it into pans to and put them in the oven. When the aroma is lofting throughout the house, the kids will appear. My daughter will make the margarine out of the fridge and get the Grohmann bread knife ready. The bread will be minutes old and still warm from the oven when the first slices are devoured. I won’t be telling my kids to wait until the bread is cooled before slicing. No way, I’ll be sitting in the kitchen eating a slice along with them.
It’s late January in 
The last girls weekend was no different. We checked into a 
While some of us had 
Following our swim and soak, a couple of us stayed behind to read a book or make an earnest attempt at the Saturday crossword. One couldn’t help but look up from the lounge chair and out at the gorgeous view. Later, we moved to the large fireplace off the main lobby where we read the newspaper and munched on a plate of sweet potatoe fries. Before sunset, one sole adventurer couldn’t resist a walk along the shore and brought back beautiful pictures to our cozy chalet. 
Legend has it that there is treasure on Oak Island. The Oak Island Money Pit, “the worlds greatest treasure hunt”, is privately owned. For 200 years, men have attempted to dig through the booby traps and unscramble a secret code that leads to the treasure. Some say it’s a hoax but others are adamant that there is gold to be found. There is a lot of debate as to how the treasure got there to begin with, yet alone who buried it. Maybe pirates? The islands investors work closely with the Oak Island Tourism Society (OITS), and promote the Oak Island Money Pit as a fascinating heritage site with the aim of ‘securing the rights to operate guided tours on Oak Island’. 
Yes, at this time of year we curse the ice and snow but before you reach for that shovel and ice pick, discover the beauty in the white stuff. Take a picture of it. Get close-up, and zoom in on an icicle.
January and February are the best months for viewing eagles and the 
I’m usually corrected when I say “coasting” but I grew up saying it on the Eastern Shore. Must be a Maritime saying. Whatever you call it, it really gets the heart rate up. It’s self-explanatory, find a hill, get on something that slides and go. While it’s not wise to wear suede, it sure is fun. 
On a chilly afternoon, we decided to go for a walk around 
At many locations along the trails you’ll come across feeders filled with seeds or oatmeal. Critters such as chickadees and squirrels find some sustenance in these feeders as well as from park visitors. Next time you go, fill your pockets with sunflower seeds. Look for a wooded area, stand really still, 
Because of its location, the park is exposed to the harsh elements. Just a week before we visited, there was a bad winter storm. These storms wash up sea urchins, mussels, sea weed etc. It’s here where adults and children alike can crunch along as they stomp on shells. Seagulls and crows feast at low tide. It’s amazing to watch them put a mussel in their beak, then fly into the air and let the mussel drop onto the ground. Natures fast food.
In September, 2003, Point Pleasant Park was devastated by 
“I won’t buy anything from a bin”, this is what an out of province relative said when Guy’s Frenchys was described to her. The idea of buying used clothing was not appealing at all to her, in fact it was appalling. The eco-conscious will say it’s “recycled clothing”, I say roll up your sleeves and dig in.
There are so many diamonds in the ruff just waiting to be grabbed. Seasoned “Frenchys” goers have a particular method of how they sort through the clothing. Just like how you may have a strategy for hanging clothes on your clothesline or how you unload your dishwasher. It’s fascinating to watch them but then again, there’s no time to waste, there are diamonds to be found!
What started as a small store in Digby 
I like to go “au naturel” when I decorate my home for the holidays. Wait a sec, that came out wrong, I am FULLY clothed. What I meant to say is that I like to use natural sources for my seasonal arrangements. My sister calls it “wild crafting” and we’ve been doing it for years now. My collection method is gathering pine and balsam fir branches and picking red berries from land that is soon going to be developed. 
The top two berry pictures are what “Winterberry Holly” looks like. A holly has glossy evergreen leaves, right! No, not always. Ilex verticillata, Winterberry Holly, or Winterberry is Nova Scotia’s native, wetland holly that loses it leaves each autumn. This beautiful shrub is a gorgeous burst of bright red colour during the winter months. Watch out though, their berries can easily fall off when shaken. Birds love these bushes and provide the avid bird watcher hours of entertainment.
The last picture are Rosehips. These bushes tend to grow in bunches. If you want to snip off a few of their limbs for their burgundy coloured berries, you practically have wear metal-plated gloves and garden clippers. This plant to thorny and you’re guaranteed a few scratches and thorns if you’re not careful. Take my advise and don’t make wear your favourite down-filled jacket.
Growing up on Nova Scotia’s 
Willy Krauch came to Canada from Denmark and began smoking fish in 1956. Willy developed a method that was uniquely his own and using only Nova Scotia hard wood kindling and sawdust. Willy passed away several years ago and the business is now run by his sons. They continue the fine craft of smoking the finest quality fish. In the tiny village of Tangier, Nova Scotia (about 1 hour 20 minutes outside of Halifax) you can see smoke billowing from the smokehouse. Tours are available but I recommend contacting them first.
The Right Coast Nova Scotia 