Our first evening meals!

I've wanted to offer our guests an alternative to the cuisine of the area which has a large emphasis on deep fried foods. It would also give me the opportunity to test recipes and further develop my repertoire.

Lobster and cod were the choices of our delightful guests. Kris and her daughter Riki chose the lobster, while Rhonda, Arne and Greta settled on cod au gratin. These were accompanied by a rice medley, dressed up green beans, spinach salad, peas with mushrooms and a Black Forest cake to celebrate Greta's birthday.

This group chose Hugh's Invigorating Porridge several mornings during their stay, much to Hugh's delight. He has developed his unique mixture based on his studies of nutrition and his own love of seeds and is tickled to share it with others.

This delightful fivesome stayed with us for 3 days while acquainting themselves with cousins and aunts that they had never met. What a great start to our season with such warm and appreciative guests.

The Wonders of Spring!

Spring in Newfoundland brings delightful seafood. Lobster season and trouting happens very close together. We enjoyed delectable lobster for Lloyd's birthday and Hugh went out to a point here on Pool's Island to collect these beautiful sea trout that taste much like salmon. Lovely!

Mother's Day Tea at the Edge

New paintings, new tablecloths, new recipes were the preparation for our High Tea. Cucumber sandwiches, shortbreads with white chocolate and raspberry, scones with lemon curd and whipped cream, chocolate sponge roll and chocolate truffles filled the plates.

The sun shone during tea on both Saturday and Sunday, favoring our celebration. Mothers left with a stem of carnations. Both Hugh and I had great fun.

Exploring my artistic side

One of the luxuries of retirement is the time to develop new interests and skills. I've been captivated by oil painting after attending a workshop this summer at Norton's Cove Studio (my most favorite haunt in New Wes Valley!) and learning some basics from Tara Bryan, a fabulous instructor from St. John's who started life in Texas (another place that I love).

My first paintings were of the wild roses in my yard, and I painted them from photos I had taken.

Then I found recorded programs of Ed Martiniuk demonstrating a "wet on wet" technique on satellite tv. The two at the top were painted by following his instructions. I have a fondness for the one that shows the hay bales piled in the field. I used to drive the tractor while my dad loaded them onto a tiny trailer that would pile them into this shape and then dump them to dry before putting them into a huge stack.

Enjoying Tuesdays this past winter

One of my pleasures this past winter has been spending Tuesdays in Janet Davis’s shop Norton Cove Studio which is both an art gallery and an active artist’s studio. The studio is housed in a heritage building which was Job Kean’s general store from the 1890's. It has been a labor of love to restore both this building and the grand home behind that Janet, Duke her husband, and Frederick, her son, live in.

Janet earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design graduating in 1998. Since then she has been a prolific artist in many kinds of media. Her current passion is fish! She sketches them, oil paints them, linotypes them, etc! Her art gallery features not only cod, but capelin, squid, dolphins, then branches into moose, puffins and historical buildings of the area.

I was first attracted to Janet because of her quick wit, and her expertise as an artist and teacher. Last winter both Hugh and I took some classes and hung some of our renderings. But I’m also drawn to her because of her passion for Newfoundland. I loved the times she shared stories of her family, her take on the social fabric of this fabulous province.

I've found the studio a magical place, just being there causes me to want to express myself creatively. I've been drawing and painting. What fun! What a magnificent time of life where I no longer care what others think, I love being who I am. To me, retirement means recreating yourself in other dimensions that make you feel full alive. Yes, life is good here at the Studio!

March ice storm

Three days ago the winds came in stronger than usual from the northeast accompanied by rain, and some sleet. With temperatures around freezing during the day and below at nights, the ice build up was amazing.

Along the house is a 6 foot drift that we can walk on!

Winter moods here at The Edge

Last week on February 4th a good storm blew into the area and gave us an opportunity to practice our shoveling skills. We had guests with us for 2 days from Happy Valley- Goose Bay in the room at the end of the deck who needed breakfasts and coffees so keeping a pathway open was important!


After dumping a fair bit of snow - 8-10 inches it left. Now, freezing rain has given us glitter. Looks gorgeous.