Changes

After a 7 month absence, it's time to start writing again and bring you up to date on the changes that have taken place in the past few months.
Several things happened to trigger these changes. We fell in love with the "French Shore" and the Clare area. The ocean, the beaches, the Acadian culture, the food and the climate. At the same time we realised that our ability to travel in the 5th wheel and truck would become more difficult due to steadily increasing fuel costs, currently $1.45/L. Our dreams of living full time in this rig were slowly dissolving. Other factors are health related as all of my body parts are well beyond the best before date.
While spending the summer at Belle Baie RV park last year we started looking at the possibility of buying a house in the area for all of the above reasons. In August we finally found a house we wanted. It was bigger than we planned but was only 17 years old, constructed to R2000 standards, sitting on four and one half acres with 200 feet of beach frontage. There was plenty of paved parking with room for the 5th wheel and truck. We closed down our apartment and moved in during September.
The house is surrounded by lawn with no plants or flowers of any kind. Because of this we spent many of the winter evenings planning and designing flower and veggie beds. The work to create the beds would begin in the spring.
It was an easy winter this year. Hardly any snow, the biggest storm might have given us 6 inches of snow.  Temperatures were well above normal and we were able to spend time walking the beaches each week looking for beach glass and other "treasures". We spent the fall and winter getting to know our neighbors and the area. Started taking tai chi lessons as well as ballroom dancing.
Spring came early and temperatures stayed well above normal. Windy and cool some days but we were able to build our raised beds and dig up areas for flower gardens. We are planting perennials only plus greens, tomatoes and herbs for our own consumption. The raised beds have been covered with with a hoop house system and we have been able to get an early start on a lot of greens. Seeds were planted on March 17 and are up and growing fast. Fresh salad greens coming soon.
We are spending the summer here and the "gypsies" travel plans are aimed at the southwestern area of N.S. Lots to see in this area and there will be lots to write about.
Sadly, we have our 5th wheel and Ford F350 up for sale. It is the end of our traveling adventures with a rig this big. However, in a year or so we'll be looking at something smaller so we can still visit those far away places.
Stay tuned, more to follow!