Our Wee Brush with Royalty....very wee....

Sitting on the rocks with the kiddies waiting for a glimpse of Prince William and the lovely Kate.

OMG!!! That's her hand waving in the back seat!!  LOL! Doesn't she have a lovely hand???  I also videotaped her and William walking along the pier before getting on the ship where they watched a simulated search and rescue mission. It's really weird though because they only look about a centimeter tall!?

 Aren't you glad they didn't say "Family Jewels"?  Oops, did I just say that out loud?

 The lovely oceanside shopping/eating area in Summerside. I'm pretty sure it's not all sliding left into the ocean, I think that's just me and my wonky eye acting up again.

 There, a wee bit better.

 From the sublime to the incredibly mundane chore of laundry. Just wanted to show you our new clothesline.  As the wind is almost always blowing in PEI we have the fastest drying time of anywhere in the world. (I just made that up.)

 Michael wanted me to post the picture of him pointing to our underwear hanging next to each other on the clothesline but I said "NO!" this is a tasteful and classy blog....

 Here's my guy with his new used lawn mower:) Who knew cutting the grass could make someone so HAPPY!?

 This is my journal writing spot (below) and this is the view I muse upon while writing. Yup, that's right, a field of potatoes getting ready to blossom AND Casumpec Bay.

 Rum and gingerale:)

 Fields opening onto fields and more forest and more fields and more forest...

 Every night the sky is gorgeous, when the sky is clear it seems as though we can reach out and touch the milky way.

 Michael is continuing to add on to the firepit - we just love our firepit. It provides some warmth on the cool nights and the smoke calms down the mosquitoes just a little.

 Managed to capture the little crescent of moon in this one.

 A field of lupines at the side of the road (any road...all roads:)

Same lupines, just closer up! 
That's it for now...just another little glimpse into our fun times at Crofters Lane!

Seems Like We've Been Here a Month Not Just a Week

Well, not even a week yet.  Each day seems sooooo looooong, i love that, reminds me of when I was a kid and summers seemed like they'd last forever. I am writing from the Alberton library so no photos for you today:(

Kendra - what we need is furniture lol! But we're managing with our lawn chairs etc! Can you email me your phone #/address? Would love to connect with you while we're here.

j_harrison@rogers.com

Marguerite - thanks for the quick flower ID - I knew you'd come through:) We are going to be in Canoe Cove (on the beach) for a picnic with the Islanders by Choice facebook group.  Would love to see you! Can you email me your phone # and address?

Christy - let me know when you're on the island!! Would be wonderful to see you.

Cell# 519-671-5294.

Sorry you don't speak Canadian Mark lol! We were actually thinking about visiting some of the eastern states (have a friend in Connecticut we might visit)! I'd call you but I guess we'd need a translator!

Johanna - what an absolute joy to meet you in person and your family too. Thanks for including us in your vacation on the island and safe travels home my dear! HUGS! oh yes, Michael sends a big hug to Morgan lol!!

So we are heading off to Tignish and the North Cape wind turbine farm and much more today. We are finally taking a day to do some exploring and adventuring. Can't wait to get on the road. I miss you all and wish i could be posting daily and keeping up with all of you but it's just not possible, however i will try to get to the library as often as i can.

You'll be happy to know that the famous PEI potatoes are growing quite well in our neck of the island and the sun has shone every day since we've arrived. We had the laneway cut ( a post of its own!) and Michael loves getting out with his push mower to do the trimming around the trees and bushes. We've put up a clothesline and have great big fires in our firepit. It's been a great adventure so far, with many challenges (that we've learned a lot from:) and more to come, I'm sure.

Take care everybody!!

Hellooooooooooooooooooooooo!

 The PEI Adventure continues...I've only uploaded pics from the first couple of days...will do more as time allows:) The picture above is of the sunrise seen while driving bleary-eyed through eastern Quebec (not too far from New Brunswick). There is something very special about watching the sky change from black to...well...spectacular...very humbling.

 Here we are on Confederation Bridge heading into PEI - I used to hate bridges, but I rather enjoy this one!

 Perhaps it's because I can't see over the side (that's me waving) so I can pretend that the cold, deep Northumberland Straits aren't really there...instead there's a nice fluffy pillow that will catch us if our car happens to jump the barricade :)

 From sunrise to sunset...we saw both during one day of driving (22 total hours driving time...about 4 hours sleeping time). Try to ignore all the bug spatters on the windshield!

 There, that's a somewhat clearer, less buggy shot...I love the PEI sky!

 Our first pitstop on the island was to my favorite Richmond Dairy Bar where we enjoyed Almond Toffee Twist icecream. I am feeling rather giddy in the above photo.

 Unfortunately, that little pitstop meant we arrived at our home in the dark to a rather overgrown laneway. There is no dark as dark as this dark in the city!

 After fiddling unsuccessfully with our water pump we pumped up our king-size air mattress (nothing but the best for us) and went to bed around 1:30am. I slept til 10am but Michael was up jumping around at 6:30am. So he went outside and took photos of the house and property in the early morning light.

 There's our grassy laneway - we had it cut today so the ruts are more visible!

 Wildflowers in abundance, our lawn is covered in purple and yellow flowers.

 The seedlings we transplanted from the forest last August are doing well - spruce are very resilient! 

 The famous view from my porch.

 It's here, at Crofters Lane, that we get to really enjoy life's simple pleasures...one of them being a cup of tea while sitting on a rock in the early morning sun.

 Yes, we brought my swinging chair from the trailer. Look at the wind! Michael has since cut the grass around the tree - wheeeeeee!

 One thing I always wanted in a house was "billowing white curtains", I do have a romantic idealistic side, believe it or not. Well, I have the "billowing" in spades! 

 We've put a couple of lawn chairs here - we call this our "lookout". That's Casumpec Bay. I love to sit here and write in my journal, or close my eyes and listen to the birds and the breeze in the trees.

 This year there are potatoes as well as soya beans planted all around us. Like SW Ontario PEI had a ton of rain this spring and some fields haven't thrived, like this one. Makes for a great photo but few potatoes.

 The ferns like the damp cloudy weather though!

 Don't know what this wildflower is called, it's growing by our little forest.

Lupines seem to be doing well - we arrived too late last year to see them so really appreciating them this year!


More pictures to come!
Putting my contact info here so my fellow PEIers can contact me. I am on my computer only sporadically as we don't have internet at the house, so please give me a call or a text or an email with a phone # so I can arrange a time to meet!
cell 519-671-5294
email j_harrison@rogers.com
I am also on facebook if you would like to send me a "friend" request. 

We're Here and We're OK!!

Just a quick note to let you know we've arrived safely and are busy with getting all the little details (like running water) worked out!! We didn't know how to PRIME our pump (we have our own well) but some helpful neighbours (honestly, EVERYONE around here is so helpful!!) got us sorted out but we still don't have HOT water but a fellow is coming to help us out with that today!

Just at the local library in Alberton right now so can't add any pictures just yet, but soon. We have connected with a fellow IBCer (Islander by Choice) and she has wifi at her Bed and Breakfast that we can use, so will post some pix soon.

Gotta go, be back soon!  Miss you all!!

Last Post til PEI!!

 Hello everyone! I wanted to connect with you good people before we head off into the sunset (except we're heading east so technically it would be the sunrise!)
The last 10 days have been a bit of a blur. It all started with the inimitable Sarah McLachlin concert.
Then I spent another stressful week at work - nothing has changed there...I still have two educational assistants with grievances filed against the school board :(

 Last weekend we went and said au revoir to the trailer :( Though I have to say that selling it to friends was a great solution. These are Michael's feet... I know, I know you thought it was the Eye of Rom, but no...not quite so magical!

 We decided to mark the event of our last weekend at the trailer with sparklers - we thought we should celebrate all of the memorable times we spent there - family reunions, girls' weekend etc

 Here's me putting the last log onto the fire. We burned everything we had...including the fire stick! 

 The last sunrise was spectacular, in true Bayfield fashion. It did my heart good to capture it on film. 

 Last night we gathered with friends at the Wortley Roadhouse and toasted each other with beer and chicken wings - yum yum! Then we carried on to a friend's house where we continued to share good cheer and favorite dance songs - yes, we boogied the night away.  I'll miss you guys!


Tonight (any moment now) we are heading out to Jack's, where my daughter is working later (much later) to have yet more chicken wings! It will be Michael and I and our two kids, Kazi and Dane - a little family time before we get on the road. Yes - we are heading out tonight instead of tomorrow - the car is packed so what are we waiting for???


If you're looking for me, try the following locations:

 one of many lighthouses...

 traipsing through the fields...

 wading in the water with the herons...

 on the Confederation Bridge....

 watching the sunrise through the mist...

 walking up...or down....my laneway...

 sitting on my front porch watching the storm clouds...

 checking out the neighboring farmer's crops....

 visiting any of a number of beaches...

 checking out the local natural wonders....

ok, so I've been told that it's time to pack up the laptop and put it in the car, so au revoir my friends, when next I talk to you I'll be in PEI!

You'll just have to enjoy the rest of the photos on your own!