Another year has come to a close. The adventures of 2018 paved the way for some incredible experiences in 2019. Our first winter in Nova Scotia involved feeding Chickadees by hand, snowshoeing, a winter festival in PEI, ice skating on our driveway, a trip to Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick, and building an igloo for our local winter festival.
The Spring and Summer provided multiple opportunities to be with friends and family. We have been able to meet up with Laurie and Spike several times and were so excited when Aubrey and the boys flew in to spend 6 weeks with us. This involved a special trip to Newfoundland to spend time with Sandy and introduce Will and Dylan to Port Kirwan. We have also been blessed to form close relationships with a great group of people here in Parrsboro, the self-proclaimed "Mom Squad". Matthew even came out for a 10 day visit! It is evident in the picture how much his sister had been missing him. Will's family also rented a cabin in Mount Uniacke (about 30 minutes from Halifax). We spent two weeks together kayaking, fishing, and completing jigsaw puzzles. The highlight of the year had to be our month in the UK and Ireland. This was a maiden voyage for Carolyn and Dylan who had never crossed an ocean before. From London to the Cotswolds, Edinburgh through the Highlands, across to the Emerald Isle. Too many wonderful experiences to list but the best parts were surrounded by friends. Coming home to Nova Scotia from across the pond brought us back to the reality of settling in for another winter. We decided to add another family member. After many months of searching, we found a breeder of Golden Doodles here in the province and went out to meet them and were chosen by one of the litter. A week after meeting her, we brought our new puppy home and named her Kiva. She is adorable and aggravating but has shown us a lot of love since she came into our home. Our life also move on to the next step of calling this community home by Carolyn accepting a job as the Active Living Coordinator for Parrsboro. We feel very fortunate to have found a job in our community, one that fits Carolyn's expertise and one that allows us to fill a passion. We concluded the year with some holiday celebrations and a winter solstice spiral. We are so grateful for the family and friends who have joined us in our adventures this year. Thank you all for being a part of our lives. May you have an incredibly blessed 2020. Happy New Year!
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tI had heard about the fall foliage in New England but had never experienced until last year when we spent the night in Bar Harbor, Maine. The drive through Acadia National Park was nothing less than extraordinary. Since we drove from Florida straight up the East coast into Canada last year, we only experienced the tail end of the season. This year, however, we were able to live it.
During the third week in October, we went on hikes to two different waterfalls close to home. Both of these were within a ten minute drive of Parrsboro. The first was Wards Falls, on the way out to Advocate. This is a moderate hike that is 6 km to the falls, out and back, across 16 bridges. 3 of the bridges were out at this time so we did have to get creative in spots and managed only a couple of soaked socks in the end. We did this hike with our good friends and their dog, Enya. This made the day even sweeter. Another day during the week, Carolyn and I had a few hours to ourselves and decided to enjoy the sunshine. We found a hike that neither of us had done: Hidden Falls. Although the trail to the falls is very short and easy, we decided to detour up the mountain to check out the view with the blueberry field. The fabulous thing about blueberry bushes in the fall is that they can turn any shade of red that you can imagine, and some you can't. For more information on Ward's Falls, click here For more information on Hidden Falls, click here We have been getting daily reminders from Social Media and other sources about where we were one year ago. We see posts and photos of our time in the New Mexico and Arizona deserts. Our trip to Disneyland. Staying in a treehouse and boondocking on the beach in Oregon. Carolyn and I look at each other and long for that life again. The life of a nomad is not for everyone but it was an incredible experience for us.
Although we long for that lifestyle, we are also very happy with where we are. We have been in Nova Scotia for nine months now. We have met incredible people and made quality friendships. We wake up everyday to see the Minas Basin either full of water or an impressive 40 feet below the high tide mark. We have been here through a cold winter, a rainy spring, and a warm summer, all of which have provided unique opportunities to explore this impressive landscape. We have had many adventures around the area. We have explored lighthouses, the perimeter of the Bay of Fundy, spent a month in Newfoundland, hunted for fossils on the beach, built a winter fort, ice skated in parking lots, swam in rivers and lakes, performed in multiple local music events, and have walked multiple times per week on the ocean floor. Dylan was even asked to speak in front of an international group that is qualifying our area as a UNESCO Geopark! Suffice to say, we love where we are. We could not think of a better place to be nor a better time to be here. We are so grateful that we spent four months living on the road and I anticipate we will do something similar to this again. For now, we are content to live our life as Bluenosers (someone from Nova Scotia) and find our forever (or at least for a long time) home. Things we didn't think about prior...
In February of 2019, we had an ice storm that blew through overnight. Check out our video of the aftermath: Winter in Canada can provide a myriad of temperatures and weather patterns. With all the fluctuation, it is important to have adequate shelter. Being in the woods, we took the opportunity to begin construction of a tree shelter. We chopped down a tree so that we could use the top as our Christmas tree. From there, we stripped the unused trunk of its branches and began construction of a shelter in a spot that had four trees in the shape of a nearly perfect square.
We thinned some trees around the property and used the stripped trunks to form the frame of our roof and one of the walls. We then used the branches we had stripped to cover the frame and provide a roof. The end result was a (somewhat) reliable shelter that was mostly kept free from damaging weather throughout the winter season. We will make some modifications and improvements through the summer and hopefully have an even sturdier structure for this coming winter. Here are the steps we took to make our shelter: 1. Clear the area - We found a space that was relatively clear of debris with enough room to move around comfortably. We cleared low hanging branches using a hatchet and/or hand saw. It was helpful to leave a couple inches on some of the branches to act as hangars for coats and bags. 2. Prepare materials - We have plenty of trees on our property and specifically chose ones that were being crowded out by other close trees. We cut down mostly Balsam Fir as we have many of these and their fanning branches with flat needles make great shelter material. A chainsaw made this process significantly faster but we did use our hand saw for some of the smaller trees. After a tree came down, we stripped it of the branches and put all the branches that fanned out well in a pile for use later. 3. Build the frame - We used longer, thicker trunks to act as the frame and wedged them among the crook of the branches to be stabilized. We added one across the middle and supported that with a y-shaped trunk that reached from floor to ceiling. We also added two beams that extended off one side of the shelter from ceiling to ground at a 45 degree angle. This would act as a weather barrier from northeasterly winds. 4. Construct the ceiling - Using the fanning branches from earlier, we started in one corner and placed branches along the ceiling beams in a diagonal direction while interlacing them as much as possible. We proceeded down the barrier until we had covered the entire ceiling and wall filling in any gaps. 5. Have a picnic - We brought out some cucumbers, carrots, hummus, and flat pretzel chips to enjoy some winter warmth beneath the sun. Another science experiment we attempted in the chill of winter.
Did you know that you can make your own snow? All you need is boiling water and sub-zero temperatures. After boiling your water, proceed quickly and carefully outside. While the water is still boiling, toss it in the air away from you and others in the vicinity. The boiling water will immediately freeze because of something called the Mpemba effect. Ultimately, we don't know why this occurs but this video from Sciencium explains a few of the theories behind this. Check out our YouTube video of our experience here: With temperatures staying below freezing for many days in the row it was time to test our artistic skills and make some outdoor ice sun-catchers. We made ours for decoration to hang on the porch so we wanted to use all natural materials. As we have been walking the property we have found many beautiful plant material in their winter rest and wanted a way to use it for decorations. Material: Pie and bread pan Natural material Rope/yarn/string Water Science with a five year old - Ice Sun-catcher
1. Hot water or tap water? we wondered if hot water vs tap water would make a difference in how it froze and how quickly it froze. Result: Because we froze them through the night we missed out on finding out which froze quicker, but we did find that the one with the hot water had more bubbles left in the ice, creating a cool effect. 2. What was the best way to hang our creation? Freeze something in the pan to create an empty space....Or freezing it with nothing and drilling a hole later...Or freezing a string into the creation. Result: we found that freezing the rope into with the material to be the best way to create a way to hang the finished design. We had a very hard time getting the bottle we used to create the hole out of the ice and the drill just broke the ice. 3. Decorative material or water first? Would putting the material or water in first be easiest for small designers? Results: Adding the water first, but only deep enough to cover the material allowed for the material to stay where it was placed, but carrying it did jostle the design slightly. The one we added the water to after the material shifted the design quite a bit. We would suggest, if you are able to create the design where it is going to freeze, that would be best. We did a few winter science experiments during the coldest months in Canada. Here is one we did in February. When the dead of winter sets in and temperatures are constantly staying below freezing, it is a perfect time to create some beautiful outdoor art to decorate your property. We also found that the tops of our globes have a divot the perfect size to hold seeds for the birds. Material needed: *balloons *water *food coloring *consistent freezing temperatures Instructions: Fill each of the balloons with water from the tap, put 5-10 drops of food coloring in the balloon, tie it closed and play outside for about 24 hours. Although these globes make a beautiful addition to the yard, they also create many open-ended science-based questions. Here are a few that were discussed in our household...
You have probably played this game before but these are unique to experiences that we have had since we left Utah in June of 2018. You get one point for every line that you have not experienced. Like golf, the lowest score wins. Leave your score in the comments and a short story about your craziest experience related to the list.
Never have I ever.... 51. Gone ghost crab hunting 52. Sat in the cockpit of a Blue Angel plane 53. Ate gator 54. Ate dinner with a wild flock of turkey 55. Been to a field of painted Cadillacs 56. Walked the rim of a volcano 57. Driven through a canyon in a car with the top down 58. Listened to sea lions barking for 24 hours a day 59. Used the toilet with the company of a scorpion 60. Become a Jr Ranger at over 15 US National Parks in just 3 months 61. Walked through the forest of Endor from Star Wars 62. Experienced the distinct aroma of a 2 month old rotting whale carcass 63. Constructed a sea creature out of driftwood on a Washington beach 64. Visited the cabin of Lewis and Clark 65. Climbed through the bow of a shipwreck 66. Went hiking with banana slugs 67. Visited Tillamook cheese factory 7 times within 4 days 68. Walked across a covered bridge 69. Ate dinner with a grey whale 70. Been splashed by a puffin 71. Shared a cave with 2500 lb sea lions 72. Added my gum to the famous Gum Wall Seattle 73. Ate lunch from products exclusively from a farmer's market 74. Climbed a 30 foot mountain made of oyster shells 75. Played ocean keep away - and won 76. Slept in a tree house 77. Been on evacuation watch for wild fires 78. Had our picture taken with Paul Bunion and Babe the blue ox 79. Driven through a tree 80. Spent the night at a highway rest stop 81. Explored a sea cave 83. Been to Glass Beach and not taken a piece of beach glass with you 84. Had a picnic at a winery in Napa Valley 85. Swam in Lake Tahoe 86. Visited an old west ghost town frozen in time - (Body, CA) 87. Walked on a columnar jointing rock formation 88. Rode on electric bikes through the mountains 89. Explored an abandoned observatory in the Mojave Desert 90. Ran into a friend from your home state in the middle of Joshua Tree National Park 91. Experienced 114 degree Fahrenheit temperatures 92. Sledded down the sand dunes in White Sands National Park 93. Walked in 11,000 year old dwellings in New Mexico 94. Said, "Remember the Alamo" at the Alamo 95. Toured the Earthship Community in Taos, NM 96. Saw the "Worlds Largest Rocking Chair" 97. Walked around inside Colorado's oldest church 98. Took a picture with the Worlds' Largest Pistachio 99. Ordered your burrito Christmas style in New Mexico 100. Met your favourite princess, in her castle, at Disneyland |
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April 2019
AuthorCarolyn and Will Bollwerk share their adventures with their 5 year-old daughter, Dylan. |