Tag Archives: halifax

Point Pleasant Park, Halifax

PhotoBlog, ,

I had an INCREDIBLE birthday.

Jeff and I got to spend the entire day together. After he visited the dentist, we drove along the mighty St. Marys River to see how high the river is with the run off from the massive deluge of rain we received earlier in the week, then we travelled to Halifax along the water, went shopping, and hiked in Point Pleasant Park before we went to see The Fighter movie.

St. Marys River

I’ve heard of Point Pleasant Park for years – both for its devastating tree loss during Hurricane Juan, and while I worked at the Canadian Forest Service because of the brown spruce longhorn beetle (Tetropium fuscum) outbreak.

The park is a large area at the southern tip of Halifax and there are paths and trails for walking and hiking – even areas where dogs are allowed off-leash!


There are also many old military batteries in the park. Some of them were fixed up for tourists, and some look like they were just being unearthed and preserved.

The brown spruce long horn beetle is a wood boring insect that likely came to Canada in wooden shipping containers in the Halifax harbour. The beetle is native to northern and central Europe and western Siberia where it typically attacks stressed or dying spruce trees.

The first beetles were found in Point Pleasant park in 1998. By the year 2000, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency wanted to quarantine the outbreak, and planned to cut 10,000 red spruce trees in the park to control the outbreak. Unfortunately, the Friends of Point Pleasant Park challenged the harvest in courts resulting in a temporary injunction. Eventually less than 2000 were allowed to be cut.

Then in September of 2003, Hurricane Juan hit Halifax and blew down nearly 75% of the trees in the park. The park was closed until the following June. Many Acadian tree species have been replanted in the park.

Here are some pictures we took while we walked around. It was sad Monty was there – he would have LOVED running around off-leash with the other dogs! I would love to live near this park – what a treasure for Halifax, even without the forest it once had.

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Beetle exit holes:
Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Learn more about Point Pleasant Park: http://www.pointpleasantpark.ca

The Fighter

Movie Reviews, ,

I don’t enter many contests, but I get an email newsletter of coming movies and events on The Movie Network. A couple of weeks ago they were advertising a contest for movie passes to the screening of “The Fighter” on December 16th.

My birthday jumped off the page and I said to myself, “Hey, why not? Maybe I’ll have birthday luck!”

And I did! I won two passes to see the screener of the new movie, “The Fighter”, in Halifax last night, on the night before it is released across the country.

On the ticket it said no cell phones or recording devices would be allowed in, and that there are more tickets than seats given out to ensure a full capacity audience.

I did a bit of research online to see how this would work. The movie start time was 7pm, with doors opening at 6pm. The people online said you need to get there early to get your choice of a seat. Geez, I didn’t want to sit in the front row! We better get there early!

5:15 it is.

We found the theatre in the basement of a mall in Halifax. The box office at the movie theatre wasn’t even open yet, so we picked up a couple free coming events/Halifax news flyers and took a chair. People started gathering around, all with internet print outs. I did a bit of eavesdropping and speculation to deduce that they had internet print offs of the same official looking ticket I received by courier from the Alliance movie company.

As soon as a girl appeared near the ticket sale counter, I sauntered over and let her know I had a movie pass for The Fighter screener, and asked how it worked. She said the ticket was to be given to an usher and we could proceed downstairs to the theatres if we wanted. Well at that point it was 5:45 and with the doors supposedly scheduled to open at 6, I whispered the information to Jeff and we went downstairs. A young couple that had also been waiting came down and asked a lady who worked there where we go. She said it was going to be shown in theatre 8, and we could line up there whenever we wanted. I verified the information, and then I was off.

I smelled an opportunity and my hiking boots were in action. I didn’t look back for Jeff, I passed the other couple, and I marched myself down the long winding hallway to theatre 8 so I could be the FIRST person in line.

:-)

A line formed swiftly behind me. Jeff first, of course, followed by a few dozen other early birds.

But the odd thing was, every one of them was on a cell phone.

Huh? Don’t these people read their tickets? We left our smart phones, begrudgingly, in the car, under our seats. And here were all these people on cell phones. One guy even had his laptop, and another lady had an entire suitcase on wheels!

“She’s the one”, I said to Jeff. “If anyone is a movie bootlegger, it’s her.” She was a frumpy middle-aged woman, knit sweater, homely clothes. “I bet she’s got multiple cameras in that suitcase for her bootlegging operation.”

6pm came and went with the line of smartphone browsers getting longer. The lady who had told us to line up there returned, and she said she thought security would probably come to scan our tickets and let us in, so we should continue to wait.

I think it was closer to 6:30 when another lady came to let us in. All she did was rip our pass in half and let us in. No security check. No camera check. Nothing. So off we charged for my favourite seats.

Backrow centre baby!

And the seats were ours! Woo hooo!

Here we were at my first movie screener, with free entrance, I was the first in line, AND I got the seats I wanted. Could my birthday get any better?

Quickly people started packing in. Jeff took our ticket stub and left to get popcorn and coke for us.

At 7pm, when we figured the movie previews would start, a guy ran to the front and said he was from a local radio station. I gather that several passes were given away on the radio. All the passes were actually free, but you need a code to order them online, or you could win them, like I did.

He introduced the movie, and the actors, and then him and another guy ran around the theatre tossing out t-shirts! WOW! AWESOME! Except we were in the middle of the back row, so no t-shirts made it back to us.

The guy then introduced the other guy as being from Alliance, the company that is distributing the movie. He had a The Fighter prize pack, and did anyone have a birthday today?

HELL YEAH I DO!!

But unfortunately another girl did too, and she was up near the front standing, and although Jeff was yelling that I did, and I had my arms up in the air, they asked her to run down and show her birthday ID.

Aww well, wasn’t meant to be.

But then a minute later, either she was lying, or couldn’t prove it was her birthday, and I was ON!!

He said HURRY DOWN HERE WITH ID, and I grabbed my bag, made my way to the end of the aisle, and ran down the stairs to the front. I whipped out my Nova Scotia driver’s license, listened to the Alliance guy say his birthday was on Saturday, and to the lady who told us where to line up an hour ago say “Oh I’m so glad it is you, you’ve been here from the start”, and then was passed a black bag.

WOO HOO!!

I ran back up the stairs like I was Stallone in Rocky.

As I made it back to my seat, I had about 3 seconds to survey the bag’s contents before the lights dimmed.

A hoodie, a water bottle, a headband, and a set of earphone ear plugs for my iPod, all with “The Fighter” written on them!!

The day couldn’t get better!!

And then the movie began – without any previews!!

It was a really unique movie. It had elements of a drama, a comedy, with a dash of a potential cult classic, all woven together.

Mark Wahlberg played the main character, but the support actor role that Christian Bale played was award-winning.

I highly recommend going to see this movie in the theatre. The sound was fantastic – I looked around a few times to see if everyone around me was clapping, or if it was on the movie (it was on the movie).

I don’t want to give anyway any of the plot, or storyline, except to say it is a boxing movie, but it isn’t like any other boxing movie you’ve ever seen.

Go watch! It opens today in a theatre near you!

Rating: 5/5 stars for its uniqueness

City Shopping, Countdown to Boat, a New Kitchen, and 18°C!

What I've Been Up To, , , ,

We headed out early yesterday for the Outdoor and RV Show in Halifax.  It was a decent sized show.  I didn’t see any freebies, but there were draws everywhere, and  many RVs indoors for us to dream about our retirement years after our lottery win, travelling around the continent with our dog and two cats :)

Today is Sunday and if you ask Jeff he will tell you exactly how many minutes are left until we go pick up the used 14 foot aluminum boat we’re buying!  He is really excited.  He was up before the sunrise both days this weekend – I don’t think he can sleep from all the excitement!

Of course, in a few hours we will own a boat, but most of the lake is still covered in ICE!

Anyway, we enjoyed the outdoor show, and after the show we had lots of time to shop in Halifax.  Our shopping choices are very limited in our rural area of the province where costs are high, incomes are low, and selection is limited. We hit Home Depot, Linens and Things (well, I peaked in the window to see they have closed up shop), Homesense, Home Outfitters, and Costco!

I am not good at spending money, but I did finally find a shower curtain! I’ve used and rewashed the awful green fabric one that came with this house for 2.5 years now, but now I have a brand new liner and lacy curtain.  Now I am inspired to repaint and decorate the main bathroom!

I’ve wanted to redo our kitchen for awhile too.  But new kitchen cupboards are really out of our spending limit, so we picked out new hardware for the cabinet doors and drawers.  What a difference!!  It is true – you can change the entire look of your kitchen with new hardware!  Some hardware is steep – but we found some that were just over $4 a piece.  Next in the plan is a new countertop and some paint and I think I’d like to tile a backsplash.  Someday this house will feel like it’s really ours, and done in our style!

We had a gift certificate for Montana’s restaurant so we had a delicious lunch in the city.  I ordered the sizzling chicken fajitas.  When you orders those, you get a huge spread and get to make your own! They bring a sizzling hot pan with chicken, peppers, and onions, and you also get a dish of cheese, lettuce, tomato, and of course a little dish each of salsa, sour cream, and guacamole!  I ate like a queen and filled those tortillas full of flavour and even defied gravity and didn’t get any on my white shirt !  :D

The temperature hit 18°C on the way back from Halifax.  It was sunny but dusty and smokey.  It was a dry winter, and an early spring.  People Idiots everywhere are lighting up grass fires, either intentionally or accidentally.  The Halifax municipality has already put on a fire ban.  Perhaps the rest of the province should have done the same.

This morning I can see that the raccoons were back over night. Two of my bird feeders were tilted, empty, and one had a couple of the plastic panels knocked out.  Hungry buggers.  Too bad the bird feeder poles aren’t a bit longer so the fat raccoons would have to jump higher.

I’m Back!

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I know, I was quiet lately. So many things going on!

-still have 2 great days full of photos from Newfoundland to post for you, including our visit to the Newfoundland Insectarium (www.nfinsectarium.com)
-I went to Charlottetown for a week for a library tech conference. Highlight of the conference was going to visit Uncle Joe and Aunt Patricia at their PEI place for a night
-went home to Ontario for 6 or so turkey meals and helped move Mom to her new condo townhouse
-made it through a few screenings for a new job but failed miserably on the written knowledge test, but that is okay, I don’t think the job would have been within driving distance
-the chimney sweep finally came yesterday
-finally have heat!
-Jeff is melting now that it’s 20C in here and not 15
-it’s snowing today and it is really really windy
-something suspicious is occurring with the septic system – I heard some gurgles this morning when Jeff flushed the toilet and there is water seeping into the basement a bit around a … well .. I don’t know what it is .. it’s like a drain on the floor but it is plugged and it has a square type of tightener on the top – septic clear out? no idea. Clog somewhere? It doesn’t smell like sewage, the ground is waterlogged outside again
-Becky was here visiting for a week. We’ve been friends for 30 years now! wow!
-Becky and I drank and partied like we were 20 in Halifax last Friday night. Not sure I need to do that again, well for at least another 5 years
-Becky heard an owl outside. We downloaded owl sounds until we matched it to a great horned owl and the other day Jeff saw it at sunset!

The Schuyler’s Visit

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Jeff’s parents were visiting this past week. Unfortunately they got a rain soaked trip for the second year in a row!

Last summer we had a couple nights of Euchre. This visit we had two evenings of Trivial Pursuit marathons. I fared a little better in Trivial Pursuit. Jeff’s Dad won the first night’s game, and Jeff was declared the winner for our second night.

Yesterday we headed to Halifax for some sightseeing. And the sun came out! We left home in the morning in the rain and weren’t expecting it to turn out so nice.

Here are a few candid photos from the Halifax waterfront:

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Our Halifax Vacation

PhotoBlog, ,

Yesterday we headed out early to Halifax to be tourists for the day!

We first went to the Passport Office and I passed in my passport application. I’ve never had a passport but soon we’ll all need one even to get into the U.S. by land so it was time to get ‘er done!

After that we went to the Alexander Keith’s Brewery! Jeff and I both love Keith’s beer and we were hoping they would have a gift shop where we could pick up some nice beer glasses. We were in luck!

We took a tour of the brewery. It turns out it isn’t so much of the brewery anymore. It is a historical building and Alexander Keith brewed beer there since 1820! The tour was great, and put on by 4 really good actors. Throughout the tour they pretend it’s the 1800′s and they took us through a restored set of rooms. It is the oldest brewery in North America that is still brewing beer. But they are only brewing a bit of speciality beer there. All the rest of the beer is made somewhere else in the city. In a room that was mocked up like the dining room of the Keith’s house, we watched a video about the history of Alexander Keith and the brewery. It was really interesting.

Of course the best part of the tour was the free sampling! At the end of the tour we ended up in Monk’s Head Pub, an old looking pub right out of the history books. They had their traditional pale ale, their red beer, and their brand new lager to taste. I had a glass of their red. It was really good! Then they called for last call and said we could all have seconds. I downed the first and saddled up to the bar for a pale ale.

I know I had my moments in University, but I don’t think I’ve EVER downed two beers as fast as that in my life. Jeff thinks it might have been 15 minutes. I think it felt more like 5-6.

Here are some pictures:

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

After we stumbled out of the Stag’s Head we hit the City Deli for some lunch to sober up! :p

Then we headed up to the Citadel! I can’t remember if we hit the Citadel when I was in Halifax for vacation when I was 15. We got a walking tour there from a great tour guide. The Citadel is on a big hill in Halifax. It is the 3rd fort on the hill. This one was built by the British around 1850 and was in place to guard against landward attacks, primarily from Americans. It was built with such intimidating design, that it was never attacked.

Here are some photos from the Citadel:

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

Halifax Vacation

After the Citadel we headed to Costco for food. You’d think a household of two wouldn’t need such bulk items, but I married a carnivore. Jeff NEEDS his meat. And the grocery stores in Antigonish do not sell good cuts of meat, and the meat they do sell is overpriced by about 200%. We’ve thought about becoming Costco members and yesterday we bit the bullet and signed up.

We even brought a cooler to bring the meat home. A lot of the stuff at Costco doesn’t seem to be any cheaper than a regular grocery store, but there were a few deals (other than the meat). We got enough papertowels and kleenex for a year at bargain prices. And they sell rawhides for the dogs that are so cheap so we got a huge bag of those. We bought a few flats of canned vegetables and tomato sauce to stock up the basement with our emergency rations. Just in case another hurricane comes to visit or some other unforeseen event.

Not sure what today has in store. These days off are flying by! We didn’t get out of bed until 10. LOVE IT!