This weekend I took part in the very first Bear River Holiday Spirit Craft Show at the Rebekah Hall.

The tables were 6 feet long.

I had stressed a bit before the show about what I would display, whether I should even participate, did I have enough stuff, how would I display things, etc. , etc.

It’s not like I’ve never been in a show before, but I guess it has been a long time and my head has been in gardening not in art and craft shows.

It was SO MUCH FUN!!  In fact, I’d forgotten about how much I enjoyed the whole process of a show. The fun parts are:

• Seeing a body of your work together

The chaos of creativity in the studio can hide the previous weeks’ pieces. Placing your work together gives definition to your direction.

• Seeing other people’s work

It’s lovely to see other people present their work. It’s inspiring because hand-made work is so unique to the creator. It’s like a signature. It has an energy.

This detailed ornament is made from paper by Apryl Surette.

• Seeing the work of your friends in the village

When I know a person it’s even more interesting to see their work. It’s a window into their being.

• Visiting with your village friends

This is the first show I’ve ever participated in where I knew or knew of 80% of the vendors and many of the purchasers. It’s like having a show with all your friends and that’s an art party!

The people even dressed like works of art.

• Buying other people’s stuff

“Supporting the arts” is never so sweet as when you are buying beautiful things and tasty food from old friends and new friends!

• Selling your own stuff

I paint to satisfy an inner need to respond in colour to a scene or an object that moves me. It’s always a thrill and a surprise when someone else responds to a piece, especially when its creation was such a personal experience for me. It is wonderful to know that my paintings are enjoyed by others. Money is a good thing too!

• Absorbing the energy of others

Most vendors and participants at shows are in happy moods and the happy energy vibes are in abundance and are contagious.

This doll called me, but I had to leave her behind for now.

• Sharing tips and techniques with other artists

I exchanged printmaking stories and techniques with a storyteller artist  Sheila LeBlanc-Joyce. The photographer across the aisle from me shared his tips about digital photography, photoshop manipulation, printing, and paper preferences, all worth gold!

• Uping your own creative force

The end result of all of this is to send the artist home with new ideas and some inspiration for new work

Lots of people came through..like hundreds. Many of us were happily surprised to see such a crowd on a rainy day. It was an excellent turn-out for a first-time venue and it bodes well for the future.

Fabulous stories, photos and dolls by Ken and Amy Flett

And what did I buy? There were lots of beautiful things I wanted to buy, but I restrained myself. When I got home I noticed that all of my purchases were very practical and often food related.  I bought:

• Some coffee from Sissiboo Coffee Roaster, a new, fair-trade coffee roasted here in Bear River by Jon Welch.

The aroma alone is out of this world!

• An  especially-for-artists  week by week calendar that will help me organize my life if I cooperate with it. This was developed by artist Helen Opie who was frustrated with what was on the market and designed and printed her own.

• Some wild, handpicked cranberries from organic market-gardener Gilbert Doelle at Wild Rose Farm in Gilbert’s Cove.

• The tastiest loaded-with-fruit-and-nuts fruit cake I’ve ever sampled made by Barnwood Inn in Bear River.

The fruitcake is so fresh and so tasty.

I forgot to mention that there was also live music and carols.

Emily added some of her Deer to the table and they were a hit!

Thanks to Erin Schopfer and Jon Welch for providing the venue and more.

A very special thanks to a wonderful artist and woman, Jennifer Quercia who did a huge amount of coordinating and organizing and planning for this event. Jennifer makes beautiful felt creations when she’s not homeschooling or assembling yurts or working on  community projects.

Jennifer's felted 'tooth fairy' pouch.

It was quite a fun event. I can’t wait for the next time!

Jesse and I had supper at the Bear River Café a few nights ago and we could barely make the walk home we were so full.

The Bear River Cafe at low tide. (blue building) At high tide, it's surrounded by water.

One of the challenges of living in a little village at the edge of Canada as compared with a bustling city like Toronto or New York or London is that you don’t get to go out to dinner all the time or even some of the time.  If any restaurants are open in the evening it’s usually only during the tourist season. A friend of mine in the village, Lynn Belanger, is trying to change that. She’s living her dream in Bear River by running the Bear River Café, a cute little restaurant that stands on stilts right in the tidal river.  The restaurant is mostly open for lunch and in the afternoons but lately Lynn has been featuring international cuisine once a month and a couple of nights ago Greek food was on the menu.

The opening day menu last May.

Our old neighborhood in Toronto was called Greektown and there were over a dozen Greek restaurants nearby.  Lynn’s meal was a definite contender with the Danforth. But even better, the food tasted like a home cooked meal, which is difficult to come by in a restaurant.  The music matched the food and Lynn borrowed some authentic antique Greek folk dance costumes from the former Bear River ethnographic Museum. (This massive private collection from an international folk dancer needs a BIG blog post.)

Larry and Emily missed the meal because they were in Halifax at a craft show where Larry was demonstrating his chasing and silversmith skills for the Nova Scotia Metal Arts Guild.

Larry drove 3 hours to Halifax, demonstrated and drove all the way home again!

Emily took lots of photos that Larry will use on our Green Willow Studio blog.

Chasing on copper.

Larry and I both thought that the special Greek dinner was the night before he left for Halifax and when he phoned Lynn to reserve our table, she said we should come over for supper anyway. She’d be happy to prepare us a grilled halibut dish because the restaurant crew was busy prepping for the following day.

We arrived to a candlelit dinner while soft jazz music played.  We had the whole restaurant to ourselves and the meal was delicious.

Our table waits.

The chocolate cake and whipped cream was the pièce de résistance.  It’s working out very well that our Bear River dream so neatly dovetails with Lynn’s.

Rabbit eating Bok Choy.

This week the garden became a temporary background for a photo shoot.  Emily’s been working on a few pieces for a plush show in the states and  photographed them before they were mailed.  Jesse got in on the act and helped her select photo backgrounds.  I still have bok choy growing in the vegetable garden and that’s what you see in this movie.  The leaves are rather bitter tasting at this point, but it still looks so pretty that I hate to pull them out.

Emily is very focused when she’s working on a project and was so even as a child. She’s spent at least 1/2 of her time here bent over her sketchbook and creating characters on the sewing machine. She’s also taken lots of photographs and I have learned to be more discerning from watching her tight photo compositions and her eye for the unusual in the usual.

All children have rich fantasy lives. This Christmas decoration became a summer crystal ball.

The kids have also gone to public skating in Digby where they discovered an almost empty arena.  It costs one dollar to get in and an extra five dollars to get your skates sharpened.  Larry was so inspired when he heard them talk about the skating and he went out and bought a pair for himself.  He and I have the same shoe size so I might practice with his skates on our pond if it freezes over although personally, I much prefer my icers.

Jesse is somewhat of a night owl, but then so am I. It’s past midnight and he’s taking a break from cooking up a storm in the kitchen. He’s composing a song on the guitar instead.

It is delightful to have them both here because they bring energy of youth, they are fun to be with, and they are inspiring.  They’ve also had very nice things to say to their father and I about growing up in a house where their creativity was valued and encouraged. And what could be more wonderful than to hear that?  It reminds me of a Mark Twain quote my mother used to tell me when I started to really appreciate her.

“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”

I have to go now. It’s 2 am and I have some spaghetti to taste before bedtime.

]]> http://floramary.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/learning-from-our-children/feed/ 1 Flora rabbit1 em6yrs jesse.cooks http://floramary.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/november-in-bear-river/ http://floramary.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/november-in-bear-river/#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:54:19 +0000 Flora http://floramary.wordpress.com/?p=2125 ]]>

This morning I woke up to a fairyland of frost that clung to each blade of grass in the fields around our house. It all crunched under foot and as beautiful as it was to see, it spelled the end of the gardening season.

The frost temporarily changes the colours of the grasses.

Right up until last week I had still been plugging in a few donated perennials, planting a few more tulips, harvesting the last of the carrots.

I walked around taking pictures because  hoarfrost is short-lived. As soon as the sun hits the fields, the frost warms and disappears. Surprisingly, even our now-you-see-me, now-you-don’t pond had a thin layer of ice forming on it. We may just get a skating rink this winter.

Last week's rain is still draining into the pond.

Two months ago, I planted some lettuce and spinach in the cold-frame and I was eager to read the inside temperature. I crunched my way across the lawn and was startled to see a thick layer of frost on the cold-frame glass.

The outside temperature was 6 degrees celsius. What would the temperature be inside?

Inside, the thermometer read 12 degrees which was double the outside temperature. Not too bad considering there is no insulation or heat source other than the sun.

Six week old seedlings.

Now I wish I'd started a batch 2 weeks before this one, but in the garden with a floating row cover.

The cold-frame is very exciting because it promises more home-grown food and means I can enjoy gardening for a little longer. I nibble at the produce every time I lift the lid. Although it’s slow-growing, the taste is delicious.

I’ve been cooking up a storm all day. Granola, Armenian lentil soup, banana bread, chili, tomato sauce and bread. There is something about the threat of winter that gets my nesting instincts going! That and having the chance to feed our adult kids while they visit us.

This afternoon, Emily and I visited a couple of local cemeteries to take some photos. Her photography is superb and here is a link to her flickrphotos.

Mount Hope Cemetery, Bear River.

The main cemetery here is Mount Hope. It’s very pretty and peaceful, set on a high hill and bordering a babbling brook. By Bear River standards, it’s fairly modern. The dates on the stones are mostly from the 1920’s and forward.

This ornate gate is part of one of the plots for the movers and shakers of the last century in Bear River.

A couple of days ago, we visited the small cemetery across the road from us. It was used for  100 years, from 1810 – 1910.

Old Baptist Loyalist Cemetery, Bear RIver.

Nature has almost reclaimed the space in the 100 years since the last person was buried there. The trees have grown up, many of the stones are broken and are propped up against the emerging trees.

This cemetery is at the top of a ravine and is very private.

It’s a kind of Bear River Stonehenge and in spite of its rough shape, it’s a very contemplative place with some beautiful monuments to people with names like ‘Cora Bella’ and ‘Ethelynne’. There were lots of people, especially children, buried in the 1850’s which made me wonder if they’d had a flu epidemic.

Both cemeteries have lots of evidence of Mason membership.

We walked home down and up the steep hills. I had extra yummy eggs from the free-ranging, organically fed  chickens of Pamela so I baked a cake and we ate it with our tea when we got home.

One of 'the girls' hopes I've got a handful of clover for her.

I figure we are very lucky to be able to participate in this rich experiment called life. I don’t want to sound too morbid, but  that combo of the killing frost and the abandoned cemetery that is slowly being reclaimed by mother nature are reminders of the impermanence of existence.

The kitchen goddess finds her home.

All the more reason to enjoy every moment and to be awake to the beauty of our surroundings and the people in our lives who we love and who love us back.

The sky over my garden.

I still can’t get over the beauty of this place AND that we get to eat fresh eggs and grow spinach in November. AND that our kids have travelled this far to spend some time with us, with their creativity and with the beauty all around us.

My latest very exciting news is that I sold a painting at the Flight of Fancy last week. I  blogged about the creation of this canvas last March. It was inspired by the kindness of friendship. I wonder what thoughts or feelings it sparked for the buyer.

The Gift, acrylic, 2009. (above); Peonies, acrylic, 2009. (below)

Like many artists, I  feel awkward about the selling part. I just want to create the art and let someone else sell it.  Many art-appreciators don’t realize that 99% of artists have to figure out how they are going to get their work seen by the public, on their own.  This can mean paying thousands of dollars to rent a booth at a big show like the Toronto Art Expo,  One of a Kind, or  approaching galleries with a portfolio.  And selling is a very different skill than creating.

Cyclamen, Watercolour and crayon resist. by Flora Doehler.

I have been selling my paintings on my own for a number of years now, in self-organized group shows, art club shows, and in studio tours. While it is a thrill to get feedback from viewers and to actually meet future owners, it is quite wonderful to let someone else take the painting and match it with an interested buyer because that way, I can spend the time doing what I do best– creating the work.

My canvas of Hollyhock will be coming home this week.

My daydream fantasy was that one day someone would walk into my studio, look at my work and say “Let me sell this!  You paint the paintings and I’ll take care of the rest.” In some ways this has  happened to me in Bear River.

Painting under 'Cordelia', our willow tree.

The first time we visited this village,  we went to the Flight of Fancy, a beautiful fine arts and fine craft store operated for almost 30 years by artist Robert Buckland -Nicks. I was impressed with the originality and the quality of the work he had in the store. I hoped he would be interested in selling my paintings in his second-floor art gallery, but I was too shy to show him the small paintings I’d stashed in my suitcase. After we moved to Bear River he approached me. He’d heard that I painted and asked  to see my work. I kept putting Rob off because I believed that my best work was yet to come at some unknown future time. Finally he just showed up at the studio one day and left with a few canvases to hang at the store.

Since then Rob has sold 8 large paintings of mine in 18 months.

Rob poses with me upstairs at the Flight of Fancy.

Like the rest of our life in Bear River this piece has  fallen neatly into place. Rob drops into the studio now and again to look at what’s new and to talk about painting. I only have to paint the picture and figure out a title. Rob chooses pieces that he thinks will suit his store and his clientele.

My paintings are in good company at the Flight of Fancy hanging with works by  Alan Syliboy, Anna Syperak , Craig Rubadoux, and Bear River’s Charles Cooper.

The Flight is closed now until next spring.

Crocosmia painting for next spring's collection.

October may be the most glorious time of year. The leaves are turning golden and orange; there is a crispness in the air and the season has definitely changed. It’s always tough to see fresh vegetables and beautiful flowers transform into black, dead plants.

There are still lots of jobs to do in the garden. It’s time to pull the remaining carrots. Last minute lilies, iris,  tall grasses and mint had to be planted. Today I pulled out the dahlias which have rewarded me with multiple bulbs. Each will grow into 3 ft high flower bush next year.

I planted a good crop of garlic last year and some of the bulbs that I harvested in July will grow new garlic for next season. It took me 2 long afternoons to clear the old tomato plants away, turn the soil, pick out more rocks, pull weeds. I finally planted the garlic cloves under drizzling rain conditions, while listening to my ipod reading of Guy Vanderhaeghe’s The Last Crossing. CBC’s show Between the Covers is podcast and there are readings of entire books available for download.

I’ve been in a bigger rush than usual to get the gardening priorities finished because we were expecting two important visitors. Our son and daughter have flown here from Toronto and LA for some family time and to help us with the finishing touches on the house.

Jesse arrived first and we’ve put him to work stacking MORE wood. The yard looks to me like we are going into the cordwood business.

Emily is an anti-clutter expert and quite organized …way moreso than the rest of us put together. She has moved about 8 times in the last 3 years following the animation trail. She’s got great ideas and I sure don’t want to get in the way of sane living. She’s just got a few commissions to finish first which will give me a few days to redeem myself. It’s the same idea as cleaning up before the cleaning lady comes over.

She is precise and very focused.

Larry is still painting bedrooms, hanging tricky shower doors, sending back window screens for the 3rd time because the supplier custom-made the wrong sizes.

Yet another coat of paint in the dining room.

I’m cooking lots of home-made meals for the family, baking bread, pies and fussing over our gorgeous, creative kids. After all, it’s the first time they’ve slept in this house so it feels pretty important that they can be here with us.

The wood shapes and textures are inspiring.

I planted some more lilies and iris out at our pond too. The heavy rains this month are creating a steady supply of water to our home-made pond and she’s looking fantastic right now. I sat at the edge on an upturned pail for a while before I went in to make supper. (The final harvest stir-fried) I watched birds swoop by me. I found the colours, the smells and the reflection to be stunning. Once again, I could hardly believe what my eyes were seeing.

Cordelia, the willow tree is so far away, but still is reflected in the pond.

I wanted to go back in the house and bring Larry out here, when suddenly he appeared with a hot cup of specialty tea that our daughter had brought us from California. We both agreed that October is extra special not only because the colours are spectacular, but we also get to spend some quality time with our kids.

Larry points out the crossing to Jesse.

If you feel like taking in the sights, please drop by. You don’t even have to bring your own pail to sit on.

Bear River valley.

Larry and I just passed our 2 year anniversary of living here in Bear River. The novelty hasn’t worn off yet and it still feels like we are getting away with something fantastically amazing. It seems almost accidental that we wound up living here now. I want to share that journey with you again and to tell you the pros and cons of our lives here.

We came to Nova Scotia to our niece and nephew’s wedding in 2003 and fell in love with Cape Breton, the northern most part of Nova Scotia. The air smelled so fresh, the people were so friendly, the landscape was so beautiful, the fresh fish tasted so good and we felt so happy to just be here.

The trees during yesterday's walk in Kniffen's Hollow, Bear River.

I’ll never forget sitting in the back of the taxi that brought us home from the airport to our semi-detached house in downtown Toronto after our wonderful tour of the Cabot Trail. The highway was so grey and ugly, the air smelled so bad, the urban sprawl was unending. We sat in silence blankly staring out to the window all the way home.

All that next winter we talked about Nova Scotia all the time. We wanted so badly to live in a community with a few other artists. We’d brought home a brochure that featured fine arts and crafts in the province and Larry looked at where groupings of artists lived. Then he went online to look at photos of those areas and also at real estate listings. What he discovered was that Bear River was a beautiful village, from a geographical perspective and in terms of what was still standing in on it’s main street. The house prices were low compared with Nova Scotia’s prime south shore (Lunenburg, Mahone Bay) but especially in comparison to Toronto.

Hundreds of winding creeks feed into Bear River.

While Larry researched weather, geography and real estate, I googled the village and its people. Every time I came across the name of a person in Bear River, I searched the internet for more information about them. We started with the names of the local artists in the studio brochure guide. Larry found an Elections Canada street map and we printed it out and marked all the addresses of the artists, filmmakers, and grape growers that we’d come across on the internet. By the end of the winter, we had fleshed out a picture of Bear River and its inhabitants.

Aerial view of Bear River by Judy Amirault.

The following summer we came to spend a week in Bear River and a week in Annapolis Royal, a nearby community that has a lot of resident artists, a theatre and a vibrant summer artist’s and farmer’s market.

Bear River won our hearts from that first visit. There was an unpretentious feel to the community and people we met felt like long lost relatives. The river and its tidal drama was beautiful. Our short visit reinforced our desire to move here.

Winter is pristine and beautiful.

For a long time we had wanted to be able to devote more quality time to our artistic endevours, but we were caught in the trap of well-paying, but non-creative jobs with good benefits. It’s much harder to leave a ‘good’ job than a bad one. It’s called “The Golden Handcuffs.” Our big mortgage and debt made it seem incomprehensible that we could step away from it all and survive. We even consulted with a financial planner who smiled politely, and told us that it would be folly for us to quit our jobs. She said

Let me get this straight. You want to quit your jobs, sell your house and leave your friends and family and  familiar surroundings to move 2,000 miles away to a little village where you’ve spent a total of 7 days  as holiday tourists during the best time of year?

I almost felt ashamed of myself. We had shared our  secret obsession with a number cruncher and she was saying that we were crazy fools.

The woods are within walking distance of the village.

She suggested that we continue working, part time if possible, and take longer holidays in Nova Scotia. According to her formula, the ideal retirement income is 70% of your annual pre-retirement income. That way, the retiree can afford to maintain the same lifestyle. We were pretty depressed after that meeting, but we continued to dream and to imagine living in beautiful Bear River.

The following summer we returned to Bear River for 3 whole weeks and actively interviewed some of the artists we’d met through email and asked them about the money aspect of life. People told us that it was possible for a couple who owned their own house to live on less than 20 thousand dollars a year, but that 30 was fabulous. I heard the same figures over and over, but it just didn’t seem possible that people could live as well as the artists in Bear River did on such meager amounts.

The beauty of this village is evident in every season.

I have to mention here that the financial planner wasn’t the only person we consulted. I’ve read that when people keep asking different  people for advice they are really looking for affirmation of their plan and that was certainly true for us! We consulted with our friend and guru Ursula Fugger, a wonderful astrologer whose insights, dates and suggestions benefited us in selling our house, moving here and buying our new house.

Tomlin woods.

People from the city I left are always curious about how the transisiton has really been for us. Sometimes they ask because they too are considering leaving the city. Sometimes they ask because they may be thinking about making some dramatic change in their life and they want some sign or affirmation that things will work out well for them.

Here are some unscientific income suggestions before you pack your bags:

• come with a builder’s specialty skill (plumbing, electrical, roofing, drywall finishing, heating)
• come with a pension
• come with work that can be done via the internet
• be prepared to work for low wages (minimum wage to $15 hr for semi-skilled, unskilled jobs; up to $25 hr for skilled)
• be prepared to derive income from a variety of sources (2 days a week as a clerk, selling honey from your bee hives, trading your labor for a tangible thing like cordwood)

I love the gothic windows of this modest church.

Bear River Pluses

• the community is friendly and welcoming
• the scenery is beautiful, inspiring and the air is clean
• studio space is cheap ($300 a month for a river view studio)
• structuring your own time each and every day means having choices….only the weather trumps your choice
• there is no easy access to consumer goods, so you won’t be spending money
• people are all in the same economic boat and are open about sharing tips on economizing
• people make up their own (free) things to do such as potlucks, watching DVD’s together, walking through the unmarked, but well known trails, cross-country skiing, making music together
• lots of people volunteer here and it makes all the difference to the quality of life

Music nights at the Rebekah Music Hall cost $8. People bring treats to share..

Bear River and area Challenges

• it’s impossible to earn anywhere near a ‘big city’ income, so budgeting is really an essential skill
• because of employment challenges, most youth leave Bear River and the largest demographic is boomers and up
• it’s tough to live at a distance from family and former friends, but free Skype, email and facebook help
• there is no easy access to consumer goods which can be super inconvenient when you need to buy art supplies
• it’s a challenge to stay task focused when there are many opportunities for socializing, staring at the scenery
• there is limited and distant access to health care
• there is a lack of diverse cultures like in Toronto
• government funding is practically invisible

Happily, our children visited us for my birthday last spring.

I should also throw in the disclaimer that our experience and opinions are not shared by everyone. Apparently more people have come and gone from Bear River than have come and stayed. The employment challenges here have forced many to greener pastures. At the same time I believe that the working possibilities that the internet brings will draw a younger crowd of newcomers to Nova Scotia.  Still, there are many groups within the village and I don’t speak for them.  I do sense though that there is a universal, quiet affection that Bear Riverites feel for this place. And after all, could you blame them?

Low tide on Bear River.

Cinderella heritage pumpkin.

There are many garden delights to be thankful for this harvest season. Among them are the pretty, colourful squash known as Pumpkin. My friend Pamela grew this one and although she gave me seeds to grow some this year, I was late in planting mine and they are still golden yellow, not reddish-orange like this beauty.

I hated to cut into this pumpkin, but I remembered how delicious last year’s pie tasted that came from the parent of this pumpkin (or would that be the aunt, or sister???)

This pumpkin variety is tasty for cooking and has thick flesh.

I had to get very serious about cutting into the pumpkin and that meant a machete and hammer! Can you believe how thick the walls are?

After I scooped out the seeds I piled it all into a roasting pan. I added about 3/4 cup of water and covered it loosely with foil. Into the oven at 350 it went and I roasted it until I could easily pierce it with a sharp knife. When it came out of the oven, I let it rest for 1/2 an hour so the excess water could drain away. After that I cut off the outside skin and then pureed the flesh.

Even the sale price is about 10 times the cost of making it from scratch.

I filled the roasting pan twice, so it took some time to cook the entire pumpkin. When finished, I added the sugar and spices to  the equivilant of 20 whole pie portions and and then froze the portions in our upright freezer. When it’s time to bake them, I’ll add eggs and evaporated milk to complete the filling.

I still had containers of plain puree (for winter soup) left over as well as enough pumpkin to bake 3 pies for Thanksgiving weekend.

Ready for roasting in the oven.

I took the leftover pumpkin seeds to “the girls” aka Pamela’s wonderful, happy chickens. It was the end of the day and they had feasted on slugs and worms and organic barley grown just for them, so they didn’t stampede like they sometimes do. I love the cooing sounds they make in this little video.

Part of the point in getting pumpkin ready and baking pie in the first place was to share it with our friends at a Thanksgiving potluck.

First though, Larry and I had to take a walk down Kniffen’s Hollow to take in the beautiful fall colours that cover the Bear River hills right now.

Giving thanks to Bear River.

The air was cool, but we never get tired of this ever-changing scenery.

Kniffen's creek empties into Bear River.

We walked back up through the woods, past the creek that moved fast with the rains we’ve had off and on this past week.

The leaves are falling and the sight is so magical, that it’s like seeing it all for the first time again.

Kniffen's creek.

We climbed back up the hill to our friends’ house. Inside the guests were arriving, the fire was crackling, the house smelled of turkey and squash and stuffing and vegetables and salad…………..and homegrown, homemade pumpkin pie.

Turkey and all the trimmings on the way.

A few days ago, the very last mechanical thing from our old house got replaced. Here is the 20 year old oil furnace leaving the premises.

An interesting fact is that the man removing it, heating specialist Keith Huston, remembered helping to install it when he was a new apprentice in Bear River over 20 years ago.

Larry and I have spent lots of time talking about heating systems with anyone who would listen. That actually means everyone in Bear River, because heating a house is one of the biggest expenses people have and everyone is trying to cut down on costs. As well, lots of people are anticipating the end of ‘affordable’ oil within 10 years and currently the interest in alternative heat sources is high.

Step one: siphon off the oil out of the tank that is going to be moved downstairs.

In the beginning of this project, we were keen on getting a heat pump or using solar energy. Unfortunately, the ‘greener’ methods of home heating are still way more costly for the average homeowner, so we went with a high-efficiency combination oil and wood furnace instead.

These shiny shapes will become new ductwork thanks to the sculptural talent of Keith Huston, our heating specialist.

It was good to deal with Keith because he had practical ideas such as moving the furnace to a more central location in the basement in order to place the heat source below the heart of the house. He also made new shiny ductwork and installed it in a more effective way.

It warmed me seeing Keith's truck.

You may remember that  when we first moved to Bear River our pipes froze at the house we were staying in. We were innocent babes in the woods then and Keith came to our rescue right away. If all this sounds a bit like hero worship, it is! Both Larry and I felt a real sense of relief and a feeling of completion when Keith was finished. Not only was he very professional and skilled, this job marked our house’s last big mechanical change after the electricity, the plumbing, the water pump, the compressor, the septic field, the new chimney, and the wood stoves.

The grey tank is moving to the the basement, the red one to the dump.

There are constantly changing rules about where and how oil tanks are housed and how many years you can use them.  Our tank has 8 more years in her and she was moved to the basement. Keith’s apprentice shoveled a trench into the hard, compacted dirt floor to bury the orange and black hose that will feed the furnace from the oil tank at the other end of the basement.

I opened the wood burning part so that you can see it! The oil goes through the bottom part. (I think?)

Larry and I just stood and stared at the flames like we had never seen fire before. Like I said, it was a very significant moment in the evolution of this house.

The heating guys even repainted the tank!

The basement was looking so spiffy what with shiny ductwork everywhere and freshly painted oil tank with beautifully contrasting orange-red piping. (the extra coil is code – in case the tank falls over so that the oil line won’t sever.) You know how one thing leads to another? Suddenly I noticed all the cobwebs, the plaster bits, the dusty mason jars and other stuff down there and I actually vaccumed the damp, cement floor as well as the ceiling beams. I felt bad for the electrician who had attached wiring to the beams and likely dodged spiders and who-knows-what.

Even the electrician is a pattern maker.

The yard has become somewhat of a junk yard what with lumber and old furnace ductwork and fallen oak tree bits, but it’s small stuff compared with the ordeal of putting in a new heating system.

I'm hoping this will be the END of major garbage!

Now we have an almost-empty entryway without 2 oil tanks. It’s looking to me like it needs a coat of paint and a couple of storm windows cut into the walls. Except, first Larry has to insulate and drywall the garage for a studio.

The newest old space.

We’re almost there.

Two years ago when I started writing this blog, I wanted to give my friends and family a small window into my and Larry’s new life in Bear River, Nova Scotia. I wanted to maintain some connection with them and I thought that pictures and stories would show them where we were going to and what our next steps were.

Larry, Steven and Barbara walking the red sandy beach near Pugwash, Nova Scotia.

What I hadn’t factored in was that the blog would attract a following of people I’d never met before. From the comments and emails and search term statistics,  I see that people land here for a variety of reasons. Over 3,000 people have landed here after searching for ‘tick’ on the internet. That certainly wasn’t my goal – hell, I didn’t even know what a tick looked like before we moved here!

Many of the readers have a Bear River connection. They’ve either lived here in the past, the present, or would like to in the future. Others, like us, have left a city and are also adapting to life in a rural setting. This year, some of the followers are people involved in home improvement pursuits and they are curious about our house updates.

This summer I got to meet a few of the readers for the first time and it was a wonderfully strange experience. It’s wonderful to meet people who are interested in what I have to say and it’s strange to meet people who know so much about our lives this past year.

Audrey flew here all the way from England to visit her son, a good friend of ours living in Bear River. It was wonderful recently to meet with her and her granddaughter and daughter-in-law and to show them the parts of our house that the photos cut off.

Audrey was inspiring and interesting and I wish she would write a blog for me to read!

She stayed for lunch and it was like visiting with a long lost friend because we had so many common terms of reference because of her reading and commenting in this blog.

My Toronto portrait artist friend, Barbara Muir, invited us to stay with her and husband Steven at their very cute Schoolhouse Studio near Pugwash this summer. Barbara and I walked on the red sandy beach and she took photos of me and later painted my portrait.

Low tide Gulf Shore Beach, acrylic on canvas, 8 x 8 inches, Barbara Muir © 2009

The painting is more stunning up close. I know because it’s in my studio now!

Barbara’s  blog is a testament to positive thinking and daily writing and painting. She hasn’t missed a day of posting for over a year now!!

Barbara, Greg and I at the Chatterbox Cafe in Pugwash.

Through Barbara’s blog, I discovered the blog of the owners of the Chatterbox Cafe in Pugwash. They’ve been reading my posts, and I’ve been reading theirs and we were able to have a long conversation about our parallel experiences in Nova Scotia. From their blog I knew that Greg’s wife Noreen is a painter. I was very glad to see her work all over their cafe and I took these pictures. They don’t do her work justice, but you can see that she is a colourist with a strong sense of compostion. Wonderful, organic paintings.

Oil paintings copyright Noreen Smiley.

A new friend I’ve made through blogging this winter is an artist Carol Wiebe. Her blog is loaded with reviews of other artist’s sites and wonderful descriptions of their work too. Carol’s own work is inspired by her work with quilts and her pieces are filled with texture and luscious colour. (OK…you see a pattern here that I love the colours in the works by Barbara, Noreen and Carol!)

Carol featured me on her blog this summer. I was totally flattered to be among the interesting artists she’s written about. (I felt like a complete fraud, but that’s another story.)

Silverspring Studio

Carol did not stop by to visit me this summer, but somehow I think that our paths will cross someday.

The internet and blogging create opportunities for people with similar interests to connect. I feel very fortunate to be able to use this technology to connect with people near and far and to continue the conversation with old friends like Barbara and with new friends like Audrey, Greg, and Carol.