meet your farmer!

It's exciting that our dear friends Mary Morse and Leroy d'Entremont are the current stars of Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture's "Meet Your Farmer" -- a way to highlight the wide range of farming activities in Nova Scotia. Here's the link: http://meetyourfarmer.ca/profiles.php?profile=morse-and-dentremontI'm very glad to see that Nova Scotia island sheep are getting the recognition they deserve, and of course the intrepid shepherds! To read everything about sheep and shepherding on McNutt's Island, go to the label "wild island sheep."

Here's a portrait Greg painted of Leroy looking for his sheep...

early birds, and a fierce March wind

There are two song sparrows getting blown about in the side yard. They arrived the other day, the advance guard. They'll certainly have their pick of the best nesting spots by the time the laggards show up. I bet they're glad they got here first.The wind is fierce today, and cold. Environment Canada is clocking it at 55 km/hr with gusts to 70 km/hr at nearby Baccaro Point. It reminds me of the wild winds that March blew in on, only eighteen days ago.

All in all, an excellent day to stay indoors.

insects of the sea

Our friends Skipper and Radar dropped by for tea on their way home from lobstering the other day. They brought us our dinner, too! After four years here it's still amazing that we can sit down and eat lobsters as fresh as this. Skipper and Radar say the lobster season hasn't been good, though. The weather even in December -- usually the best month -- was horrible for lobstering, with some major storms. Maybe things will pick up in May, when the waters are warmer. In the meantime, Skipper says "We are a non-profit organization."

Well, especially if they give away the catch before they even get back to their wharf.