Category: Daily Blog

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Sunday Feed

Yesterday was one of the best Sundays I’ve had in awhile. One of my dearest friends is a 90 year old woman, and Joe Friday and I treated her to a feast up here in Whiteway (she lives in Paradise). It was a little chilly but we were able to eat outside with a little quiet music in the background, Shag Rock in the foreground. And the food was awesome. We had lovely trout from the lovely Lisa Day as an appetizer. Then fresh lobster cooked in salt water from the bay they came from and, for slightly seafood allergic me, rabbit stew made by Joe Friday. Joe also made potato salad, also delicious.

I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend, too. Tomorrow I head we head to Victoria (Laurelyn is already in Ontario visiting family but will catch up with me there), for a much needed vacation!

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Sunday Church Blogging: Flatrock Grotto

So maybe I’m cheating a little – today’s post isn’t exactly a church, just the land surrounding one (St. Michael’s). Flatrock is a little town just outside St. John’s, where some of my nephews grew up, and is home to the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto, the biggest in eastern Canada. Pope John Paul II prayed here in 1984.

After that prayer, the Pope also went to a neaby lookout to offer a homily and bless the boats in the harbour. The Blessing of the Fleet site is marked by this plaque below.

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Alien Dispatch

Our cottages are now connected through cyberspace – no cables in Heart’s Delight! Here is Jeff Caravan of Caravan Enterprises (the Source franchise in Bay Roberts) installing an Xplornet satellite at The Loon – giving us high speed internet and cable. Now, if you come and want to get away from it all you can turn off all your electronics. But if you want to talk to aliens or their earthly cousins then you’re totally connected! (I like getting away from the hustle and bustle, but you’ll take my Internet connection out of my cold, dead hands!)

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Foxy Friday

This stunning shot was captured in Harcourt (about two hours away from Ocean Delight) by my good family friend, Bud Vincent. Like me, he is a former ‘townie’ who has found The Life outside the overpass. Bud got me my first job at the Holiday Inn when I was 14 (gee, maybe I was destined to be in the hospitality business!). We have some sort of very distant family relationship there, but regardless, I remember Bud giving clothes to my family when we were kids. He’s just an overall wonderful guy with, as you can tell from this picture, an incredible eye!

I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend. The Berry is away and we have a full house, so I know I’ll be quite busy. But I’m sure not too busy that I won’t be able to squeeze in a few light beers and a few sunsets while I’m at it.

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Shag Rocked

I wish I was a poet so I could describe the full beauty of Shag Rock. Yesterday evening, as I sat on my deck with Iceberg beer in hand, the sun warming my face, and waves signing along the shore, I floated along with the wind and was open to every sensation, all 5 senses (and maybe more) engaged. I was in a different time and place. A sense of total satisfaction surged through me – I was complete for an instant – what an awesome feeling!

Shag Rock was beautiful again this morning with its ever-presence taking a place in my morning ritual. It is becoming my muse, my meditation, my motivation. It is forever constant and constantly changing. And it is predictably unpredictable – sounds a lot like me and the people around here.

Today, The Berry heads to Ontario to spend some much needed quality time with her parents. Next week we’re both heading out to visit my lovely daughters, who live in lovely British Columbia. I can’t wait of course. I think I’m going to try to keep blogging while there – I’ve gotten into a groove writing these things daily and don’t want to give it up. Please let me know if you’d like to see some pictures of our travels around Victoria, or if you think I should keep this blog Newfoundland-centric!

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Scallops and Ducks

No doubt we are getting spoiled out here! The day before yesterday, Alf went scallop fishing (with his invention for catching them from his boat), and he kept The Berry and her love of seafood in mind. Her brought her over two meals worth of the freshest and biggest ones she’d ever had. Out of the water and into the frying pan!

The yesterday, Clifford (yes, THE Clifford George) sends down 7 duck eggs (which are bigger than a large chicken egg). Holy Duck! What a place we live in! What Ducking nice people! I’ve been doing some work on a new rock garden, so it’s been great to have a full belly while doing it. Between this and all that bread, my waistline might take a hit this summer!

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Awestruck in Whiteway, thanks to the Horse Lady

After spending a weekend in Whiteway last summer, I fell in love immediately and knew we would love it here. I just didn’t know to expect the people to be so awe-inspiring, too. Here I am with one of the many world class artists who call this their home – Renee Butler-Harnum. Renee is truly gifted and truly special. She’s also the “Horse Lady,” known for her love of animals. I strongly recommend you watch this Land and Sea program featuring her, not only to learn about her story, but also to get a sense of what life is like out here.

As you can see, the Wonderful World of Whiteway has a bit of everything – artists, musicians, wonderful neighbours, and kindness everywhere. Below is one of Renee’s pieces that was displayed at the Spring Hare. Enjoy!

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Fresh Fish Followup

If you love fresh seafood, Newfoundland is your paradise. I’m sure it’s one of the reasons we get so many tourists. And as I blogged a few days ago, we were treated to some delicious fresh and local lobster last week – a treat fit for a king (or a queen actually, as I’m mildly allergic – boo! – so it was The Berry who enjoyed them).

Those lobsters (lets call them what they were – monsters!) were so big, we saved a claw for Laurelyn’s son, Adrian – who got to enjoy it when he came out this weekend to help us celebrate Mother’s Day (I hope you all had a good one, by the way). So here he is enjoying the monstrous beast! Ironically enough, Laurelyn’s son is named Adrian, and we named our first daughter Adrienne. Coincidence?And there you have it – the end of the perfect lobster. I’m a classic Jim Carrey fan, and I can’t help but think about this scene from Liar Liar when anyone mentions ‘the claw.’ Too funny.

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The Eagle Has Landed

So it’s official – our friend Albert Legge is our resident photographer.  If you’ve been following our blog, you may remember that our new neighbour and friend Albert has an eye for photography and often shares his shots with us, like he did with another eagle awhile ago. This big guy visited a few days ago, so Albert whipped out the camera.

This is quite the bird! We shall call him the King of Whiteway, as he looks down on us. We’ve named our 4 Heart’s Delight cottages after local birds – maybe we made a mistake not calling one ‘The Eagle!’

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