Canada’s First Sawmill

We went out to visit Alex, the sawyer at the old mill on Allain’s Creek yesterday. It is always interesting to visit. This time I even looked in the basement where the apparatus for the water powered mill is still in place. 

All the cogs still mesh and move. 

Then upstairs there’s all the wood drying before being cut. 

And some windows Chris has his eyes on. 

When Alex got talking, he told us that the grant for the land that the sawmill is on goes back to 1607. The first industrial grant in Canada the first factory if you will, the beginning of the Canadian approach to prosperity which is to extract resources and sell them. As far as he can tell, the site has been used as a sawmill since the beginning, although there is the possibility that it was used also to Mill Green. Apparently all up and down Allains Creek there were a variety of mills, taking advantage of the water power to produce goods. It’s enjoyable to be in a place that has such deep history in the same materials. There’s something quite pleasurable about talking to the man is milling the wood in a particular way for your project.

Smug Cats

The cat has moved in to the dog’s den in the nice warm kitchen. The cat is pretty happy with his place in the world. 

Nest up: Turkey Soup

We are both craving classic soup with egg noodles. There’s a natural progression, turkey, dinner, hot, turkey sandwiches, turkey soup. We are at the turkey soup stage.

Merry Christmas Morning

That was before the unwary! Olive my new tam

And Chris was helped by Scapa. 

Merry Christmas!

I’ve set the table for friends who are coming for dinner this afternoon- I’m really looking forward to it! 

I pressed my poinsettia table cloth and napkins - mum would be pleased! 

Everyone’s Favourite Chair

We bought this IKEA chair last year and it is literally everyone’s favourite. 

If we leave it uncovered the dog curls up in it. We have to vacuum it all the time! 

Second Monday Hurricane

This Monday and last Monday we’ve had high winds and rains. Not a hurricane because hurricane season is over. Last Monday tens of thousands had their power out. Our power is till on. We are keeping the cat in and he’s happy about that. 

Gunning and Cormier

A great concert on Saturday night. 

Christmas tunes and other melodies. 

Cat’s Back

Our cat, GrisGris (greegree, grey grey) went AWAL overnight on Friday night. After making missing posters and talking to the neighbours he was found in the neighbour’s basement. Thank goodness! 

I put his pretty Christmas collar on so everyone could see him looking particularly handsome. 

Christmas Bling

I’ve started putting a little more Christmas/mid-winter lightness and joy around. I love the real evergreen swags that we can get here. The scent is perfect, and they look lovely too. Especially after the judicious application of lots of lights and extras. More is more this time of year. 

The cat made it into this photo. He is intrigued by the whole process. The little fairy lights are particularly attractive. I was too slow to get any good photos of him investing my work on the stairs. But I think he approves of the final result. 

And then I added some candles to enhance the Hygge effect. 

I hauled the birch chunk back on my walk and Chris kindly sawed it into three parts. 

Christmas Craft Fair

I did my first Christmas craft fair in ages. I was strictly a supporting player to my friends show, but still nice to be there. Yes, the cat was very helpful with part of the preparation. 

Working on stock. 


The table! 

And from the other direction - we expected 6 feet and got 8!

Hate Bros Milling

Christopher hunted around for the best price for the lumber to build my she shed and his wood shed. It’s a bit late in the year, so our choices were not as many as we had hoped. In the end, the Hare brothers on the Mount Hanley Road, were able to sell us what we needed. The delivery price was the same price as the lumber. So Christopher went and picked it up. What an adventure! This beast is called the payloader.

I thought I had a few more photos of the lumberyard itself but suffice to say it was a pretty cool piece of rural NS. 

(Temporary Backup) Halifax parade of lights

Chris and I went into Halifax to visit with mum and see the parade of lights x2. A good time was had. 

There was even a light tank. But I didn’t know until after it was mostly past us. 

And some reindeer in lights. 

Canada Post had a good float. 


We all had a good time. 

Chris wanted me to be sure to note the baby spruce tree from the Natural Resources folks. 

(Temporary Backup) Lunch!

(Temporary Backup) New Power Lines

The lights in our house have been flickering for a while so I finally did something about it and called Nova Scotia Power (aka Emera). Surprisingly a power truck came by the same day I made the complaint and Chris chatted with the linemen - and they are all still men. Even more surprising is the pair of trucks that showed up today to replace the line. 

There’s a lovely kiwi vine on the pole that is sadly getting cut back. 

Here’s hoping it solves the problem.