Tag: Newfoundland

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No So ‘Boring’ Park

Yesterday was bright and sunny in St. John’s, where we’re back for a few days, so I took advantage of the weather with a trip Bowring Park. I couldn’t count the number of times I took my girls here when they were little, for picnics and to feed the ducks. They didn’t know how to pronounce it so for them, we were always going to “Boring Park.”

Of course it’s anything but boring, especially on days like yesterday when everyone was out it tee-shirts and smiles. I’m pretty sure we’ve had more sunshine in the past month than we did all Spring last year – hopefully a harbinger of nice seasons to come.

I have two hidden spots in Bowring Park where I like to take picnics and feel like I’m hiding out in the middle of the city. Everyone needs a quiet space where they can escape – do you have any in St. John’s? I’m always on the lookout for more!

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Horsing Around Town

On Sunday we were lucky enough to get a call from our new friend and neighbour, Clifford George, offering a horse ride with him and Renee Butler-Harnum to me, Laurelyn, and Janet, our guest staying at the cottages. Renee is another great painter and horse lover/owner, with a beautiful Friesian, and another great new neighbour and friend.

The horses were ecstatic to be out the mostly sunny Sunday, and so were we. When was the last time you were in a horse-drawn carriage? I’m hoping to get out in one again when I visit my daughter in Victoria in a few weeks.

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A Hand from (and for) Firemen

As you may have already read, we’ve been updating our cottages, making them more our ‘own,’ and that has meant new furniture. Which of course also has meant a basement full of old furniture not being used. In steps the Heart’s Delight – Islington Volunteer Fire Department, who took all 4 truck and 2 trailer-loads to use for their fire training house, which they use for real-life training. Any extra will be given to those in need in the area.

We had a ball moving all the furniture as we got to meet some local firemen. What a great bunch of people out here! Then on Saturday, we celebrated Joe’s birthday with close friends and family and a marshmallow roast – a 2om to 2am type affair, so lots of fun! And again, the local firemen were involved, this time delivering 12 roast beef dinners as part of a fundraising campaign. At $7 a pop and really delicious, we were happy to oblige! It was a wonderful weekend, I hope yours was too, and Happy Birthday once again to Joe (who’s doing it right in this picture – wine in one hand, cake in the other!)

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At Your Service!

We have a guest coming to our Heart’s Delight cottages tonight who is in a wheelchair – and unfortunately the cottages are not wheelchair accessible yet. But we want everyone to be able to enjoy this place, so Joe Friday and I spent yesterday building a ramp. She would also really like to have a fire, so we made sure there was lots of firewood ready (all the other cottages were similarly stocked – my poor arms!).

I really like the hands-on nature of my new job as Happy Innkeeper, and I’m getting into the best shape of my life. Even though I was a little apprehensive about using power tools on Friday the 13th! 

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Office Space

If you’re looking to find me on my St. John’s days, this is the first place you should look – Coffee Matters, my favourite coffee shop and place of business! For the ambiance and strong coffee, it gets my vote every time – even though an overzealous manager got the chain in hot water (so to speak) not too long ago. The owner resolved the issue quickly though, which I’ve learned is the most important thing to do in business, and I’ve never had anything but great service there.

But of course, we’re back in Whiteway for the next few days,  so this will be my office. I like both, but the view is better here! When given the choice, do you prefer to work from home, or get out of the house for a bit?

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One Ocean; Two Views

If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile (almost two months going strong!) you know that The Berry (Laurelyn) and I are splitting our time between the cottages and our apartment in St. John’s. So yesterday we traded this view of a boat anchored near Shag Rock (taken by our friend and Whiteway neighbour Albert Legge, whose stunning shots I’ve also posted here and here)…

…for this view of slightly larger boats in St. John’s Harbour, with Signal Hill in the background. Either way, I know I’m blessed to be so near the ocean, like most of us on this island!

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Bayman’s Flea Market

The Berry got a lot of credit (and rightfully so) for being a good sport and sleeping out under the stars this past weekend. But this is my blog, so I’m making sure I get my due recognition for being the The Berry’s shopping partner (or, more often, go-between for sales on Kijiji!). This woman knows how to find a bargain, and she’s used this skill to really spruce up our new cottages, making them all over in her unique taste and our personal ‘style.’ They really feel like ‘ours’ now, and are almost all ready for the summer season.

We’ve been pleasantly surprised with the amount of shopping there is here on the Baccalieu. One more reason we’re so happy with this life-change.

This past weekend we hit up something great that I didn’t even know existed before moving to Whiteway – the Bayman’s Flea Market. It’s a great place to look for odds and ends – we got frying pans and a barbque set. The Berry was in her glory, roaming the stands.  She loves old stuff, which works out for me (I keep getting better and better!).

We bought a beautiful, old (maybe 100 years or more) five drawer dresser made of solid oak that we spent all day yesterday lovingly restoring for the Partridgeberry Cottage. It’s the perfect match for the 125 year old door we converted into a headboard.

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Jackie, Dave and Sally Ann

Meet The Fergusons, just like I had the pleasure of doing this weekend as they took advantage of our April Special. They enjoyed themselves at The Osprey and on our ATV, and we enjoyed having them.

Jackie and Dave checked out Sunday morning, on their way to the Salvation Army Church in Twillingate, which recently celebrated its 125 year of ministry.  Their regular church is the Pathway Community Church in Paradise, which has services every Sunday at 11 o’clock at the Rotary Paradise Youth Centre.

The Salvation Army has a rich history and great tradition of helping out the poor of this province, and while I am not a member I certainly respect what they do, and was happy to meet these soldiers (church members). In researching this blog post I learned that Newfoundland boasts the largest per capita numbers of Salvation Army soldiers in Canada, and they still carry out outreach work today.

I’ve always been a people-person – that’s why I’ve excelled as a business- and salesman. I have been more than thrilled that my new job as Happy Innkeeper allows me to continue to meet people and hear their stories on such an intimate level. I can’t wait til the summer for our high-season to really kick in.

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Listening to the Waves

Barb and Jim, the previous owners of Ocean Delight Cottages, left us these great army sleeping bags, good to minus 40 degrees. The moon has been too glorious to describe of late, so last night we decided to experience it in nature herself. We fell asleep listening to the waves, with FREE tickets to the greatest show on earth.

The Berry made it til about 3 o’clock. I made it through the whole night – unabashed and unafraid! An experience not to be forgotten, and experienced again soon. Bring on summer!

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Early Easter Bunny

Although it’s not quite Easter yet, the Berry (I mean, the Easter Bunny) has been decking out our cottages for our coming guests, who took advantage of our Easter Special (Buy 2 Nights, Get the 3rd Free is good through April, by the way). This is still our first off-season, so busy weekends like this one are challenging but really fun.

One of our guests this weekend will be fellow blogger, Jenny. Being a CFA (Come From Away), she offers some great reading about the province in her blog, The Republic of Me.

Of course, Good Friday is a day for a lot of reflections and a lot of memories. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing that I need to spend the day working on the cottages with Joe Friday. At least this evening when we finish, I’ll be able to look out over Shag Rock and do some reflecting then!