On to PEI - The Next Leg of the Journey!

 Staying with my friends in New Brunswick, Michelle and Gary, was a welcome respite from a long day of driving (16 hours).  It would have only taken me 15 hours if Michelle hadn't texted me every few minutes to find out where I was lol!!

I arrived around 10pm or so, hot, weary and very sweaty shiny! I got to stay in a lovely guest bedroom and slept like the dead! Michelle and Gary treat their guests really well - they want us to come back!!   (I will!)

 Look at that Thai salad-it was absolutely scrumptious!! Gary is quite a cook and knows that I sure love me a great salad!

 I got to visit and play with my other good friends - Jango...

.....and Colby who is blind.  Jango takes good care of Colby - he's such a sweet and loveable dog :) They both are!

 We had a nice long stroll along the boardwalk and man was it a HOT day!!

 It was also Canada Day and lots of people were enjoying the beaches!

 I miss you my friends, and you too Colby and Jango! I love coming to see you all and Michelle I am making good use out of the clothes you gave me :)

It's a beautiful property, well looked after and lots and lots of trees ;)

This one is my favorite!
It was a quick visit but I'll see you again before summer is over! I need to get to Crofters Lane and see how the place has held up over that extremely long and extremely ferocious winter! So back on the road I go!

 Approaching Confederation Bridge!

 Heading towards the highest section of Confederation Bridge - I don't find it scary anymore crossing the 13km long bridge.

There's the island! I have about another hour of driving to go, but first I'm going into Summerside to buy lots of groceries at the Atlantic Superstore.  All year long I use my President's Choice mastercard for any and all purchases which earns me at least $300 worth of free groceries!!  I love FREE!

 The sun is starting to set by the time I get to Crofters Lane but it's light enough still to see that the grass has gotten out of hand!! YIKES!! I find a note in my door from my lawn guy saying I need to get about 20 cows! Due to the delay in getting the gate unlocked at the bottom of my laneway by the de-winterizing plumber dude Ian couldn't get in to cut the lawn. Needless to say I'll be making extra keys to the gate so Ian can have one of his own.

See the metal pole sticking out of the ground in the middle of the picture? That is where the firepit is but the grass is up past my knees - the darn daisies are starting to grow! 20 cows would just about do it!

 You can see Ian attempted to cut a bit of the "field" in front of the house so I'd have somewhere to put the truck.  Good thing I have all-terrain tires on ol' Dougie! I still had to wade through long grass to unload the truck and I got everything in to the living room through the front door. By then it was beginning to get really dark and I needed to get the groceries put away and my bed made. I was up pretty late the first night trying to get my belongings in some sort of order.

But first I took a picture of the view, fields and all, from my front porch. At least IT'S still the same :)

"I vant to be alone".....(read with German accent)....(as if you were Greta Garbo)...

Most, if not all, of you understand the need to be alone sometimes...not lonely, just peacefully, restfully, refreshingly, revitalizing (etc etc) alone. Sigh...

Not wanting to sound  ungrateful, I  just got home from yet another dinner. There was nothing wrong with it, it wasn't horrible, or loud, or long, in fact it was very nice. One of my students wanted to take my dep't head, Fil, and me out to dinner. It was lovely but I'm so very tired of being ON if you know what I mean. I can be sociable in small amounts, in spurts, but then I need to rest and re-energize. The last few weeks there have been too many dinners, lunches, breakfasts, parties, open houses, BBQs, drinks, cakes and I just want it to END!! Or at least have a breather - thankfully it's the weekend.

Here we are with our young date being photographed by the waitress while a sparkler sizzles away in our complimentary baklava. I think I have perfected my smile over the last few weeks to the point where I don't really have to think about it anymore. That sounds insincere but truly I just need to fully charge my batteries.

Am I being a whiner? I hope not. I gave tonight's dinner my best effort as it really was wonderful that Josh wanted to do this for us. We had great food, and good conversation - oh, and next to us a fellow proposed to his girlfriend (she said yes!!) plus there was a birthday celebrated at another table and then we were applauded for our retirement so it will be a memorable night for all.

When I'm feeling utterly exhausted I imagine sitting in my truck, the miles flying by, arriving at Crofters Lane, making a pot of coffee (after I figure out how to turn the water back on!), sitting on the front porch and looking out over the bay and letting my mind drift. IT WILL HAPPEN-JUST NOT QUITE YET!!

I must summon reserves of energy to power me through one more week. I can do it. Only 5 more days of school - on Thursday I get to work at home - yeehaw - and on Friday we have breakfast at school, mass, a meeting and then yet another luncheon and then FREEDOM (so really that's only 3 days of school!!) Oh, but let's not forget getting together with friends on Friday night - oh my. I should have been a cloistered nun! No, not really, I will enjoy the social activities as much as I can and then I will relish my alone time even more. Oh, and one more dinner with another set of parents next week, lol.

Truly - I'll be fasting and biking a hundred miles a day to get rid of all this blubber around my middle - I kid you not. I've never seen so much CAKE!!!

OK, gotta go. Going to take my glass of wine to bed with me, who cares if it isn't even 9pm yet? I need to quiet my mind, listen to an audio book (I have a new Louise Penny mystery and it's wonderful!) and ease on into a rejuvenating sleep.

Good night!

Oh, and Barb - when I get to Summerside in PEI I'm going to check into wifi - hopefully without having to be on a year long contract (since I'll just be there for 5 months) - the intent is to continue recording my journey - the trials and tribulations - la deuxieme partie!!

Therapik - I'm a Believer

I interrupt this program with an important public announcement. I don't think I've ever endorsed a product on my blog before but there's a first time for everything I guess. What does the following image evoke for you?

Fear?
Disgust?
Pain?
Annoyance?
A sudden desire to scratch?

If you picked "all of the above" then you'll be interested in the following product!

I don't usually purchase gimmicky looking products like this but it was economically priced so I thought I'd give it a try - yes, there IS one born every minute or so I thought! I mean, who would really believe that by holding this device against a swollen red bump of a bug bite and holding down the magic button for 30 seconds you could get rid of the itch!?! Not me, that's for sure.

Well, I am now a reformed cynic! This funny little gadget really works!!!!!! (no number of exclamation marks can truly relate how excited I am by this product!!!!!!!)

I know that coming to live on the east coast means living with bugs...I get that. But gol'darn it I'm gonna give them a fight for their money (that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever!)

On my drive out to PEI a few days ago I was listening to a CBC program (thank GOD for CBC on cross country drives - putting in a little plug for them - the one radio station you can count on when you're travelling on the most god forsaken roads in this vast country) (there is a point in here somewhere!) and they were interviewing some folks who were at a bluegrass festival in Nova Scotia. They were talking about how they all pitched their tents together providing a common area for them to share food/drinks etc and then they started talking about how bad the mosquitoes were this year but they weren't going to let the bugs get them down, in fact, they said "WE LAUGH IN THE FACE OF MOSQUITOES!!! Fie on them, I say fie!!

Now I too LAUGH IN THE FACE OF MOSQUITOES!! I've tested the Therapik on at least 10 bites since I've arrived and after zapping them with some intense heat from my new best friend there IS NO MORE ITCH!!!

I've written before about how I am a "bug buffet" for mosquitoes and other biting bugs. Something to do with my luscious tasting blood I guess. Who knew? So to find something that actually "kills the itch dead" is like finding $1,000,000 in the ditch in front of my house so I could retire early and live happily ever after! Actually, even BETTER!! than that!!

So my friends, if you too live in mosquito infested areas like me invest in a Therapik and a 9volt battery - it'll be the best $15 investment you ever made. No more scratching, no more sleepless nights, no more running back into the house at the first hint of a familiar whine in your ear.

I saw a mosquito in my car today while I was driving to Summerside and do you know what I did??
YES! I LAUGHED IN ITS FACE!!!

Prince Edward Island - Here I Come!!

My countdown clock is a bit off - I think my original plan was to leave Friday, June 29th but I'm really leaving on Saturday, so only THREE MORE SLEEPS!!  Yikes, I just realized I'll be driving across the Confederation Bridge alone this year!!  I'm driving out by myself and then Michael is flying out on July 9th. He has an important event to attend on July 8th in Toronto and then I'll be picking him up at Charlottetown airport on the 9th. (A whole week to MYSELF!! - what a luxury!)

I don't mind driving on my own - I'm looking forward to it actually. The first day will be the longest part of the journey - about 13-14 hours of driving will bring me to Edmunston, NB where I will spend the night. The next day I'll be driving to Bouctouche, NB to visit a blogging friend :) !! That part of the journey will take about 4.5 hours.  And then another 2-3 hours will find me driving up the loooooooong laneway of Crofters Lane and I'll be HOME! I'm arriving in daylight this year and all I have to do is turn the water pump on and flip the switch for the hot water heater. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll have no trials and tribulations to work through upon arrival this summer!  It will be a long time before we forget about the fiasco with priming the pump and burning through the element in the hot water tank :(  At least we learned a thing or two in the process.

I'll be arriving on Canada Day - July 1st which is a Sunday.  My job that day will be to unpack the car and make up my bed. The next day is a holiday as it is a long weekend to celebrate Canada Day so I don't know if I'll find any grocery stores open. I may be eating out for a couple of days. Boo hoo...  My job that day will be to clean the house and get it somewhat organized for a summer of relaxation.

Here's a map of PEI - my place is about halfway between O'Leary and Tignish. It takes me about 40 minutes to drive to Summerside (nearest city) and about 1 hour and 40 minutes to drive to the big city of Charlottetown. My sister's place is over by Montague, about a 2 hour drive. Islanders think that is a long drive but when you're used to driving in Ontario that's just a short little jaunt.  And the scenery is worth every cent spent on gas.

This show the very northern tip of the island north of Tignish. I've walked on all of those pathways as well as those rocks in the bottom left corner that jut out into the water. Its a great spot for bird watching. Well, I must get busy - I have a very long list of things to do before I leave (plus I'm going to watch the Euro Cup soccer game this afternoon between Spain and Portugal - I pick Spain to win!!)