nellyglass studioFebruary is a wonderful month to have a baby son. Maybe that’s why I love fish so much … because of the Pisces thing. Ryan was born on this day, February 19th, in 1986 and turned 30 years OLD today. It was a spectacular day from start to finish as the photos will show. Happy Birthday, Ryan. We love you, you’re so old, practically ancient, like the ruins of Rome.
You bet it was! That has to go down to one of the funnest deck parties we’ve ever had. The weather was perfect. Ryan came home from Fredericton! Sarah and Matt and Deacon (150 lb Rottweiler) came to our house and we all kicked in for a family-only celebration on the back deck. Ryan and I waited for others to arrive under bright cloudless skies and warm sunshine excellent for spiritual healing. Arrival of Sarah and Matt signaled the official start. With the bar now open, cocktails included El Dorado Spiced rum on ice … saved from St. Martin last February. Ryan and I partook, most happily. Also gluten free munchies for me (veggie sticks) and try-to-avoid-fail munchies (ripple chips) for the kids. Sneaking snacks to Deacon was a game of trying not to get your entire hand swallowed along with the chip 🙂 What a wonderful dog. Magnificent.
Humbly, I profess I was totally spoiled and am so appreciative of the great gifts I received from everyone (thanks for the wine, Marlene 🙂 thanks for everything kids, thanks Honey…love my card).
Monica had master-menued a beautiful meal with grilled striploin steak, fried mushrooms and onions, baked potato, boiled corn with cilantro butter, herb butter shrimp and lots of rolls. Ever have a 150-lb Rottweiler stare at you while you’re eating your steak? knowing that if he really wanted it, there would be nothing you could do to stop him…so I bribed his loyalty with bits of everything as much as I could get away with. (is that sort of like spoiling the grandchild?)
I am so blessed to have my family surround me to wish me well for my birthday and my last day in the office. I’m on vacation for the next three weeks and then officially retired from NBCC. It has been a wonderful career at NBCC… truly. I have learned so much and done so many interesting things during my 16 years there. Now my journey of learning continues into the world of stained glass as I pursue the skills of the craft to hopefully one day become a master glass craftsman… and then we’ll see where it takes me from there. God willing, I can spend the rest of my life finding out.
Thank you Monica, Ryan, Sarah, Matt and Deacon for celebrating my day with me. I love you all…. you know that, of course.
Monica and I decided to get out of the house and go for a wilderness hike on this very hot and humid Sunday… with a 35 degree humidex factor, we asked for it!
Destination, Walton Glen Gorge in Saint John County very near the Fundy Coast just an hour’s drive from St. Martins. Walton Glen Gorge is often referred to as NB’s Grand Canyon and sports NB’s tallest water fall at 140 feet vertical drop. This waterfall only flows during wet season and August has been hot and dry in NB so we didn’t expect to see it on this day. Nevertheless, the gorge itself is supposed to be spectacular with 300 foot vertical cliffs on either side. Since we had never been here before, we thought this hiking adventure would be good practice for our upcoming Ireland trip in 5 weeks.
Off we went toward St. Martins to find the Shepody Rd. which cuts across land through perhaps one of the last unspoiled and unsettled tracts of forested coastline along the Atlantic Coast from Nova Scotia to New Hampshire. En Route we passed through a turn of the century community called Londonderry (same as the one in Ireland). What an unexpected thrill to find St. Paul’s Anglican Church and graveyard complete with high crosses just as if we were in Ireland. How ironic. Some of the graves date back to the mid 1800’s.
Traveling on past Crawford Lake and turning south onto Little Salmon River Rd., we came to major construction where the extension work of the Fundy Parkway construed my mental map for the gorge parking spot. Lost momentarily, we backtracked to the only signage we had seen for the gorge which meant a 5 km hike was ahead of us. Very good then, off we went. Within 5 minutes, we were soaked to the skin in this 35 degree weather.
It took at least an hour to get there…passing McLeod Brook Falls on the way. Arriving at the canyon and we were rewarded with an unparalled panorama of this spectacular gorge with it’s 300 ft vertical walls. On my belly, I crept to the edge as close as I dared and stuck my camera over the edge for a snapshot. Photos just cannot do this justice. Because the weather has been so hot and dry, the main falls were not running on this day…so, we will be back…maybe next spring.
Hot and thirsty (we consumed all the water we brought withing the first 30 minutes of the hike) we started back to the car. An hour and a half later, we dragged our tired bodies into the car and cracked a cold drink (thankfully our cooler still had plenty of ice). What a day trip. We walked over 10 km and saw some of the most beautiful scenery NB has to offer. If you get a chance, you must come here and see this.
Bless the Saints Above, our daughter (Sarah, 27) got her driver’s license today. What a joyous celebration. A nervous but cool Monica took her to the test location uptown Saint John this morning bright and early before the scheduled 10:00 appointment. While registering our car for the road test, they discovered I had not signed the car’s registration papers. The car was REJECTED for testing. Test cancelled…sorry, young lady. You can reschedule for another time. 😦
Well, Saints Alive let me tell you someone was not happy. As it was my fault, I have to take blame. All sad and mad and depressed, they left the test location with heads hanging low…and descended on my office with car registration and pen in hand and “sign here, please”. I complied.
Shortly after they left my office, I got a text message that the test instructor called and had a cancellation for 2:30 in the afternoon, could she come then? YES!!! Thank You! What a relief. So now, nervous mother, Monica, has to drive around with recently ruffled child for 4 hours until the afternoon test. Emotional roller coaster morning. What to do? Lunch!
All ended well as Sarah took the afternoon test and passed with flying colors. Big high-5’s and hugs. Mother greatly relieved not to mention daughter. Father as cool as always and very pleased for everyone.
After work, we invited Sarah over for BBQ supper. It would be her first time driving her new car alone. Nervous mother and father waited patiently for her to arrive (me not so patient, I paced a bit with camera in hand). Finally I just happened to catch sight of her coming from the opposite direction than I was watching. I got the sequence of evening photos and am so glad I did. Congratulations Sarah!
Here is the video clip of Sarah leaving after supper. https://youtu.be/qMgr6m4cQUg
There is so much beauty in our province and much of it goes undiscovered by the vast majority of folks. I have lived here 25 years and never knew about Bald Hill just a few kilometers north of Saint John (Bald Mountain to the locals but not to be confused with Big and Little Bald Mountains in the north of the province). Saturday afternoon Ron and I went for a drive and ended up here just 15 minutes from Welsford. It’s an easy half kilometer hike from the parking lot and the view from the summit is jaw-dropping. At 217m (712 ft) it ranks as the 369th highest peak in New Brunswick. The presence of huge rogue boulders near the summit are a reminder of the glacial powers that sculpted this landscape thousands of years ago. What a wonderful day we had, exploring back roads, fishing secret woodland lakes and taking a few pictures along the way.
Monica and I were very fortunate this weekend to be overnight guests of Diane and Chris Carson at their cottage on the magnificent and moody Youghall Beach in Bathurst. The weather wasn’t promising any sunshine and in fact was downright insistent on showing us what “windswept” really means. And we were blown away by the beauty and the power of this place.
We arrived at noon and were welcomed to the cottage and promptly escorted to the dining table for a tasty tuna salad sandwich lunch with veggies and chips. What a way to start our visit and such service! Chris’ culinary prowess is second to none. I stand in awe and intimidation at his skill with a knife. It’s hypnotic to watch him cutting vegetables.
After lunch, the rain in the forecast was still holding off so we jumped at the suggestion of a beach walk on this stunning 7 km stretch of soft quartz sand. The tide was out and the shallow sand bars were exposed making for easy walking way way out from the shoreline. We walked and walked and talked and talked…what great therapy! I couldn’t resist pocketing a few colorful beach pebbles to add to my garden at home.
The day was cool by summer standards and as we returned to the cottage, a fresh breeze was coming in from the north-east. That meant drama on the high seas. Because it’s so shallow, the breakers start way out on their long rolling journey to the beach. It takes so long for one wave to arrive that you can actually see 9 or 10 of them coming at the same time lined up one behind the other. You really have to see it to appreciate the tranquility of the place… even in high winds and driving rain, the surf is so consistent and rhythmic… it’s peaceful.
Inside the cottage was anything but peaceful and anything but boring. Between the joking and laughing and philosophical discussion, we managed to uncover life-long memories and stories of our past and present and reveal dreams for the future until the clock struck a new day. We touched on everything from how modern technology has transformed the sport of distance cycling (good luck in Ottawa, Chris) to how our children have shaped us as adults… and continue to do so. Conversation with Diane and Chris is always so adventurous (I mean that in the exciting exploratory way).
Meanwhile, Chris cooked up a storm on the BBQ and we feasted on chicken and sausage, potatoes and salad and cheered to our friendship and good fortune. We really had a great getaway and it’s always wonderful to see our friends. Thank you for the wonderful hospitality and another blog-worthy memory of Youghall Beach.
Here are the photo highlights.
While Monica was away with Sarah to a wedding in Cape Breton, I took advantage of the beautiful weather and my buddy Ron’s invitation for a free wheeling 24 hour run through God’s Country. We had a blast and caught a fish and ate a feast (not fish…they were free to go)…and enjoyed the fresh air and peace & quiet.
Here is a 4.5 minute video with sound & music that highlights the 24 hours from afternoon to afternoon. This is how I like to remember the good times. Enjoy!
Just like my home page says, “This site is dedicated to the following…” i.e., all those things I said I would dedicate my site to, well they all just happened to come together this week at the same time: 1) I’m itching for a new stained glass project and have something in mind for my bathroom downstairs (hint: marine theme). So, while I was looking at some glass possibilities, I snapped a pic or two. Selecting the glass is step #2 in the process, after pattern preparation, and is perhaps second only to patterns in terms of the creativity factor. I love searching the colors and patterns in the glass for the possibilities. 2) There was sushi involved (thank you above for the Japanese who perfected this culinary delight centuries ago). 3) My favorite two celebrations of the year are back to back…our anniversary and Canada Day. Monica and I always love to celebrate our lives together and then have a holiday the next day. She somehow masterminded that 31 years ago, and I’m ever so glad she did. Two wonderful occasions to celebrate and I couldn’t be any more proud and patriotic of both.
Here is a quick photo reel of the highlights.
Monica and I always said “Lorna brings the sun with her from Ontario” and today was no exception. Peter, her husband, with all of us in tow for support, gathered at Fairhaven Cemetery to finally say goodbye to Lorna. It was a really beautiful service. Poor Peter stood solid, patiently sweating away in his black suit under the hot sun… not a cloud in the sky. We could tell he was far away with her at the moment and our hearts broke for him, again. At least it didn’t rain which was good for Lorna’s 92 year old Mom who was there with us. Imagine her thoughts.
Goodbye Lorna, old friend. You will be missed forever, especially when the sun shines bright in New Brunswick.
Monica is officially on vacation for the next three weeks, but when asked what it feels like to never have to go to work again, she can’t answer that just yet unless “surreal” is enough of a description. So what do you do when you’re feeling “surreal”? Celebrate! … easy though, we’re not 19 anymore.
I picked her up at work on Friday for her final farewell to her microscope. My job was to carry the gift bags and snap a couple of photos. Lots of hugs, a few tears and promises of summer reunions and we skipped down the stairs and out to the parking lot as if not a care in the world…and at that moment there wasn’t.
Off we drove to watch the sunset over cocktails at the York Bistro on the waterfront. Then a fantastic dinner at Italian by Night in the Urbandeli restaurant. A truly wonderful evening. Next day, Monica put me straight to work as she attempted to cram as many of the list of retirement chores into one day. We did find time, however, to relax and reflect on her 35 years of service to the health care system of New Brunswick. She is proud of her legacy and is going to miss the people at work, for sure…already is. Now to discover what lies beyond the Horizon Health Network.
Here are the photo highlights of the first 24 hours of vacation/retirement.
Late spring fishing is my absolute favorite trip of the year. I’d like to say “The bugs aren’t out yet” but that’s not quite true. We got hammered this weekend! I think they all hatched at once and WE were the only things to eat. Nevertheless, there were moments of no bugs. Like, when the temperature suddenly fell to zero and we got a snow squall surprise! Seriously… not that we should be surprised in late May, but we were. Or the next morning when a fresh breeze picked up and blew the bugs out to the Bay of Fundy (no bugs…hard to throw a fishing line though).
Most of the time, however, was sheer tranquillity as Ron and I explored some of south-west New Brunswick’s beautiful water ways and pristine old growth forests. We fished all Saturday afternoon right into evening and the coyotes sang us home to the camp. How hauntingly beautiful to hear them so close.
Saturday night was for feasting and playing cribbage. I lost, but what a fight! In both games, we were both right there at the finish. Darn pegging points!
Sunday dawned beautiful and clear and we explored more territory and discovered new waterways where we teased the trout. They were very wary I must say. But, we had a ball. A picture is worth a thousand words, so here is the photo reel of our weekend. Enjoy!
What a blast we had in Saint John on a Saturday night! Dinner at Big Tide Brewing Co. followed by 101 Years of Broadway at the Imperial. And that was just Saturday evening. The surrounding weekend was just at interesting.
It started with Boys Night at the camp with Ron and Mike after work on Friday. Reconnecting with nature during an early April thunder storm and downpour was almost as sweet as feasting on wood-stove moose roast and winning at Hearts three times in a row 🙂 It was a stuffed 15 minutes of fame and glory as the Card gods answered my prayers and smiled on me amid my peers.
Then, following Boys Night, came Saturday night dinner and theater with the family including first cousins Ryan, Sarah and Ellen. How totally excellent to have the three of them together as we laughed and reminisced and broke bread together at the Big Tide Brewing Co. Bloated, we staggered around the corner to the Freak Lunchbox candy store and then to Second Cup for a coffee and cookie just before stepping into the Imperial Theater for an evening of seasoned Broadway stars performing well know musical gems of the many shows we have enjoyed over the years: Cats, Chicago, Jesus Christ Superstar, Phantom of the Opera, The Sound of Music, South Pacific, Jersey Boys, Les Miserables and more. Standing ovation!
Sunday was for returning a son to Fredericton in the morning and then playing with stained glass patterns in the afternoon. A new Celtic pattern has caught my eye and calls me to the emerald hills in my dreams.
I’m late posting this but the photo gallery shows a day or two’s passage from a week ago leading to a happy moment when the City of Saint John widened Mollins Dr.
The photo gallery scroll through should take less than a minute to give you a good idea of the amount of snow on the sides of the street. Each photo is titled.
Skies were clear and blue…not a cloud in sight. The sun made it feel like minus single digits. Almost a day at the beach compared to the past few weeks. Ron and I went to his camp today to see if the snow on the roof needed removal. 
Thank you to ancient civilizations for inventing snow shoes. We’d have been to our necks otherwise. We arrived at the camp in 10 minutes and a quick assessment showed all was well but we had some work ahead of us. 
Ron had already shovelled once a couple of storms ago so the main camp roof only had about two to three feet in places. The shed, however, had over 4 feet and was still standing strong under several tons.
The snow scooping was fun and easy. The sun is gaining strength and we were working up a sweat in no time. 
With the main camp roof completed, it was time for the wood shed. There wasn’t room for two scoopers safely, so Ron went up alone while I shouted words of encouragement from below and took the pictures.
Great exercise and very satisfying to get the weight off the roofs. 
The walk out to the road was easier and we paused to enjoy the winter wonderland. 
Home in time to shower and get dressed for dinner with our niece, Ellen, who took us to MIX resto-bar at the Delta. 
It’s nice to have Ellen in the city. We enjoy her company and especially when good food is involved. Cheers to a wonderful day and the end of a tough month. March is coming in like a lamb. We’ll take it, and be grateful.
Like good scotch and wine, Ryan is aging well. He hit the 29 year milestone this week and we got together with him Saturday night in Fredericton for gift giving and a belching good time at Montana’s restaurant.
We arrived shortly after 5:00 pm to find a sleepy Ryan who had just woke up after a full day of sleep (night shift people). A cheerful photo opportunity of card and gifts. Here’s a 15 second video of him opening his card. We gave him a Killer Bee (looks more like a mosquito) t-shirt from Nevis and three Star Wars prints signed by Nick Maley from St. Martin. 
Ryan and I hung the prints in his living room 
while Monica offered up a birthday toilet scrubbing. 
How motherly of her (gross!)
Having worked up an appetite, we checked out Ryan’s fridge. 
Totally pathetic: a bottle of ketchup, maple syrup, soy sauce and strawberry jam (we added the frozen cheesecake we brought with us). We decided we couldn’t do too much creatively with his inventory, so…
…Hungrily, we headed straight for Montana’s Restaurant for a great meal. 
Just a little 30 minute wait for a table (not an un-enjoyable wait at all) as we hung out in the bar and made Ryan suffer through photos of our vacation.
Soon escorted to our table, we pigged out on wings, ribs, steak and salmon. 
It was a wonderful evening with our Boy. We are so lucky to live close enough to see him whenever we want. Happy 29th Birthday, Ryan. Hope you enjoyed celebrating it with us. 
Love, Mom and Dad.
Oh, what a stormy night! I knew that great stretch was too good to last forever. We got it two feet deep off the steps and four feet at the garage (drifts). I suppose we faired well compared to elsewhere poor souls of deeper sorrow in the snow. How’s that for poetic justice. Here’s a shot of Mon’s nice sled and skates decoration. 
So lovely 😐
Well, let it snow…can’t stop it, I guess, and let us settle into the darkness of Winter. The birds are fluffed up and tucked in tonight in the branches under the snow. 
So glad I’m not a small wild bird tonight.
It’s January 24th and we’ve had it pretty good so far this winter. Local folks are all smilin’ and saying “We’ll take it, thank you very much”. Compared to last winter, this one’s already shorter. Except for a bitter -30 snap early in January, which made us complain, we really can’t complain… we have grass showing on our front lawn here in Saint John! However, the weather man said this week “Plug in your shovels, we’ve got 10-15 cm of snow coming mixed with rain and freezing rain”… Nice (not). It’s already starting to snow lightly at 2:30 on this Saturday afternoon and Monica and I are snuggled happily in our comfy chairs in the living room enjoying some refreshments and social media. Facebook and WordPress (smiley face) and Mon said “How about a fire log?” Now, there’s a great idea!!
and within 3 minutes,
Ahhhhhh!
How totally excellent to stay home this weekend and enjoy the house, hobbies and each other. A morning of chores (laundry, supervising Roomba and painting furniture) plus some stained glass productivity lead to an afternoon of relaxation and blogging. I’m working on a glass project that is really exciting for me … but I’m not ready to post anything just yet. Let’s call it a work in progress.
Meanwhile, Monica is surfing hotels in Dublin for this fall. I hate to wish time away but I can hardly wait for September 28th!
Snow is falling pretty good now. It’s gray outside and cheerfully warm inside. Makes me think of the beautiful sunset we had a couple of nights ago.
And that leads me to dreaming of warm nights walking on the beach with my Baby.
Very soon now, very soon.
Ahhhh… now that’s the stuff. A fantastic January Saturday at home. A lovely pink sky morning offered up a photo-op before this bright beautiful day of productive chores: mega laundry, bottling a batch of wine, tidying the garage and moving furniture (Monica’s going to paint something), shredding old bills and paperwork (smiley face) and of course enjoying an afternoon glass of the new wine while blogging some photos (last part not very productive but VERY relaxing).
Once the camera is in hand, I just can’t help myself as I wander through the house enjoying various art forms. Snap, snap, delete, snap, snap, delete.
Starting with first light – well not quite. I laid around in bed until 7:15 this morning which is late for me… but felt really nice. Yawn! Coming downstairs I saw the sun just coming up over the neighbor’s house so I grabbed the camera – snap. First photo of the day!
Looking out a little closer I could see the curious deer had been right up to my living room window in the night. Hmph! That’s why I can’t have a bird feeder. I’m on to you, deer! 
Nevertheless, the fresh snow from yesterday cast a glow in the early morning. Really quite pretty if you like snow – which some of you do.
Then, continuing around the house I realized we have quite a few pieces of art with winter themes. So I thought I’d share them with you. Here is a quick tour through the gallery to lift your spirits on this early January day. Hope you enjoy.
In the kitchen is our Jane Wooster Scott print titled Alpine Constitutional. 
We got this in North Conway in 1990 on a trip to Ontario and back through the States. Ryan was 4 and Sarah was 2. That was the same trip Ryan threw Sarah’s rubber pants out the car window. What memories.
Also on the same trip I bought these two oil paintings. They are among my favorites. The Villiage of Conway and Mount Washington. The artist, Richard Packer, is deceased now but I remember running into his gallery while Mon and the kids waited in the old blue Dodge Caravan. He was there and he noticed me admiring these oils. I was torn – I really wanted them but the price was quite high and I knew we were just about broke by this point in our trip. So, I followed my heart and I bought them. I’ve never regretted it. I love them every time I look at them. 
Wandering downstairs to the family room, I discovered we forgot to put away the treetop snowflake. There it was on the window sill. And, it made a lovely photo with a bit of stained glass for color. 
Also in the family room is the Winter Gazebo print that Marlene gave us. It has little battery powered LED lights that show off the winter details: snow on the branches, cardinals in the tree and at the feeder, squirrel and other little birds on the ground. How inviting is that. I want to go there. 
Here is a winter print by Linda Nelson Stocks. If you can zoom in on this, the details are incredible.
I couldn’t resist taking a close up to show Monica reflecting in the corner surfing on her i-pad.
Finally, a prized painting by my Grandfather, Spurgeon Keith (Mom’s dad). “Sugar Woods” hung in my Mother and Father’s house in recent years and my Uncle Harold’s house before that. It would be from my grandfather that I inherited my love of art and any artistic talent he passed on to me. I admire him more and more as I get older. 
Well, that’s it. Hope you enjoyed a quick tour through the winter art gallery.
Happy January, everyone! 
As you bundle up against the cold in your own winter wonderland, dream of warm beaches in far away lands. I know I will be 🙂
2014. Such a big year! Filled with exploration and wonder (Mexico, New England, Chicago). And also a year filled with worry and want for loved ones whose days would be numbered (my father, who art in heaven, and Lorna). This is the stained glass angel from the flower arrangement at my father’s funeral. How wonderful that he could be with us in spirit this Christmas, perched high on a branch of our Christmas tree, watching down over us.
Also on Christmas Eve, we lost our good childhood friend, Lorna. Our hearts broke when Peter called us at 9:00 Atlantic time to give us the sad news. I can’t even imagine what he went through that night or how he will miss her every future Christmas and remember what a wonderful person she was. We definitely felt her sprit with us during the dinner table grace the next day. 
Monica and I have both said at some point over the past year, “2015 has got to be better!” But, in reality, ’14 was a year that produced such precious memories as I could never have imagined possible.
We had a wonderful family Christmas. 
This was the first time in four years we were all together. We laughed, we cried, it became part of us. That’s a huge turkey! Just saying.
New Year’s was just as fun with Maneau and Jake and Stella, the golden lab. We heralded in 2015 with laughter and dreams of future journeys to parts unknown.
Today (Jan 4th, Sunday), one can feel the season is winding down. Mon and I spent the day tidying the house; taking down Christmas lights 
, putting away the tree and decorations 
and me organizing my glass studio. 
A new project for 2015 is in the wings.
Farewell 2014. You will forever be a huge part of our lives. And we will never forget all that you were.
In the next breath, BRING IT ON, 2015! Let’s see what you’ve got!
Wishing each and every one of you a fantastic new year full of hope and promise. From The Alwards.
nellyglass studio 