Our newest addition at Upper Clements Cottages!

So, I haven't used Blogger in a year so I am a little rusty! My little editorial ended up at the bottom and I can't figure out how to get it to the top without re-typing it so scroll to the bottom first! And the pictures are all out of order too :(


Our RV with the deck that Gary built - 8 X 24.


Gary is 'harrowing' the field here - which I think means smoothing and breaking up the sod and getting ready to put grass sead down. Those posts in a line are the hook-ups for RVs - that is about all we'll have to show for all the $$$'s spent!

The sewer and water lines are in and, after a bed of sand the power goes in. There will be 5 poles in the park and the rest is underground.

Sand in, power in - ready to close up.

Hum - water in? Apparently the water in the trench is not a problem - good thing since it rained just about every day in May.

Getting the utility building off the trailer - notice Gary's tractor helping out. The utility building will house the laundromat and water/power utility stuff.

Utility building arrives. Gary was going to build this from scratch but we found a fabulous price on a pre-built and saves Gary alot of time. We will put some kind of siding on it.

Drilling for water - this was the first thing done after putting a partial road in - we have about 70 gallons a minute - apparently enough to supply the town of Annapolis Royal. This was the first good news we got after a bunch of other delays - much needed good news, especially since we had to drill 2 wells for the second set of cottages and still only managed to get about 2 gallons a minute!

The first part of the roadway - so the well driller can get in.

This is what the construction looks like from our deck and gives you an idea of how it fits on our property. Notice our RV to the left (with it's beautiful deck!)

Now for the stuff that should have been at the top:

Some of you know of our new development - a 30 seasonal unit RV park. I haven't been posting photos on facebook but thought I would update everyone here. We have had this in the back of our minds for awhile - how to expand without building more cottages - way too expensive and way too much work - i.e. cleaning, taking reservations, etc. With the RV park, it is still way too expensive - LOL!, but once folks are in for the season, we don't need to do anything else - they mow their own grass and, of course, no cleaning for us. To get the RV park going we decided to buy an RV ourselves and put it in - we will rent that on a nightly basis. The rainy spring definately slowed down our progress on the RV park, but things are moving along quickly now and we hope to be open by July 1st at the latest. We hope to be able to attract at least a few RVs for this season, but we'll be up and ready for May 15th next year.

Mike and Kim's Wedding - May 21, 2010

Weel, it looks like it took Mike's wedding to get me back on blogger - and now I remember how long and painful it is unload pictures - ugh. Anyway, Mike and Kim had a beautiful, sunny day for their wedding and Kim's parents' place was a great venue as you will see in the photos. A lake is a great place for a wedding . . . .


The wedding party getting ready to walk down the isle/lawn. Left to right: MJ (all grown up!), Mike, Kim and Brittany (Kim's daughter)


Kim and her Dad, walking down the isle/lawn.

Waiting for the Bride.

Mike saying his vows.

Mr. and Mrs. Mike Brown with best man MJ and Matron of Honor Brittany

The cake - if you make this big you can see the groom has a ball and chain on his ankle - LOL!

Getting ready to cut the cake.

Cutting the cake.

MJ and fiance Linda, who will be married in July.

Mike, Kim and Brittany left for the Dominican this morning. I know that Mike does check out our blogs, so hopefully, he will check this out on his return. It was a really nice wedding and Mike seems very happy - I was happy to be able to go, but I have been kicking my butt because I should have got someone to take a picture of me, Mike and MJ - of well, maybe at MJ's wedding. Unfortunately Gary had to stay home and man the fort as we are full this weekend.

It's been awhile!

It's been awhile since I posted to blogger - I just love Facebook - so quick and easy. Anyway, a little update for those non-facebook folks - you know who you are!

Brenton came home in early December and decorated our tree - I'm soooo spoiled! I know I will have to do it one of these years, but he does such a great job!

A few weeks ago I decided to repaint Brenton's old upstairs bedroom (as opposed to his downstairs bedroom that he has been using for the past 3 or 4 years) Back when he was about 10, lime green and black seemed like a good idea. After 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of light grey paint, the lime green and black are finally gone. I forgot to take an 'after' photo and the room is now full of Christmas wrapping paper and stuff, so that will have to wait.

Last month we decided to sell our little green Escort and buy a Focus Wagon, which I have wanted for a while - don't ask me why, I just like them! It was a used car and just happened to be the same color as the rest of our Fords - not planned - just happened. The Taurus wagon just spends its days driving around the cottage loop as our cleaning vehicle. Gary wanted to get a picture of, what he calls - The Fleet. Notice the tractor is even red!

And last, but not least, another bunny pic. This little guy decided to hop up on the deck and sit in our Adirondack chair and spent much of the day there. We have since noticed that the little devils have been chewing our Adirondack chairs, so they have been barricaded out! Some touch up staining will be needed in the spring - ugh!

Well I guess that's about it for now . . . .

Goats for sale!

Anyone interested in two female pygmy goats for sale? Funny story, we are putting Clementine and Willow on Kijiji and, since we don't know how to resize pictures, this seems the easiest way, since Blogger resizes for you. This is what we have become since Brenton moved to Halifax. He tries to help us by phone but we are quite inept and he is all Mac now, so it seems this might be the easiest way for us.

Clementine on the left and Willow on the right, with Lexy and Sprocket in the background. Bella and Gizmo are missing from the picture. Yup, we have 6 goats - I guess 2 too many so Clementine and Willow, being the old girls, will go because our little barn is getting over crowded. Last winter 2 of our goats spent the winter at Upper Clements Wildlife Park (where brother-in-law Eddie is manager) however, this year the wildlife park is closing for good and the animals are being moved to other provincial wildlife parks, so we don't have the option of housing any of our goats there. About 10 of our bunnies are going off to Shubenacadie wildlife park today to add some new genes to the gene pool there.

Fall update

It's hard to believe that summer is now officially over and we are enjoying some fabulous fall weather - sunny, cool days and crisp nights - Gary make our first fire of the season last night and, I must say, it felt pretty good! We have our 6 1/2 cords of wood tucked away so we should be nice and warm, no matter what the winter brings - ugh!

Hi, back again - I just had a drop in - a German woman and her mother staying tonight and possibly tomorrow night as well. So, we are still having some business, but things are slowing down.

This hornet nest was found next door to us in Upper Clements Park's apple orchard. It's huge!

Another view.


Since people go into the orchard to pick apples, Gary made this sign as a warning - as it is a really active nest and we don't want anyone getting stung! Since our graphic designer has moved to Halifax, we have been forced to try and do this stuff ourselves - I think Gary did a fine job on this.


Working on some other fall projects, since the slate work is done, we decided to put some nice, white vinyl lattice to finish off under the deck.

I guess this picture should have come first, as Gary measures for the last panel. Since we don't want the bunnies going back and forth through the lattice holes, Gary had to put chicken wire on the back side - you would be amazed at the small hole those creatures can get through!

In other news, Brenton has a new job at Geox - a shoe store in Park Lane Mall, which is a 4 minute walk from his apartment. This new job will save him a 1 1/2 hour bus commute (each way!) every day so he is happy about that. The experience that he gained at Golftown was helpful in getting this job - thanks big brother Jay! Jason is about as good as me at updating his blog. For those on facebook - Jason has a bunch of pictures from his summer vacation with Shannon and some fall pics of doing a corn maze with Shannon and her two children.

I know Frank and Cathy are on a trip to see Joseph and family and Michelle and family so I'll be anxiously awaiting some photos from that trip.

What kind of bird is this?

I know, it's been forever since I've updated my blog; however, I LOVE FACEBOOK! So fast, so easy! Anyway, we are having a great summer - full every night since July 5th - yeah!! We have good staff and everything is going really well - I should knock on wood or something, right? This is our first summer as 'empty nesters' - Brenton is enjoying his apartment and Halifax and his job at Golf Town - Thanks big brother Jay! B is getting used to all the things that come with living on your own - buying groceries, dragging them home, doing laundry, learning the bus system, etc.

We have a new added attraction this year - the 8:30 p.m. feeding of Sprocket. It has become a favorite with the kids. Here's a new batch from last night - a group of folk who have adopted little girls from China - they are so cute! Some nights we have about 15 kids and Sprocket eats fast - so it's about 2 sucks per child! It's a great photo op for parents and will probably make the kids want to come back next year, eh? And of course the bunnies are a hit as usual and we have more than ever!

We need some help identifying the bird in the following photos. We were eating lunch yesterday and Gary noticed it on the clothesline - a strange, big, bird. Of course, his first thought was, "I wonder what kind of bird it is?" and then, "I must get the camera!". My first thought was, "I hope it doesn't crap on my sheet!!!" So, I guess that makes me the practical one - yesterday was a 42 sheet day, so I guess that's allowed. Anyway, thought that maybe Joseph or Frank may have any idea of what this bird is . . .

Pics from the dining room window.

Spreading it's wings.

Flying away - from inside, I thought it was flying right at Gary - like attacking! LOL

Any help will be appreciated!

Oh, one more picture!

This is what Brenton has designed for our new road sign. Very simple and classy, I think. I'll take pics of the real thing when it is done!

Finally . . . an update

I know it's been awhile - time just seems to go so fast these days - not enough hours to get everything done! So, what's new? We moved Brenton to Halifax on May 26th and he is busy looking for work and setting up his great bachelor apartment - prime location on Spring Garden Road! He'll be home next week for graduation and Prom - where did those years go? Seems like just yesterday we were at Jason's highschool graduation.

We're busy getting ready for the 'busy' season. There's always lots to do - Gary is making a new road sign this year as our old sign was a victim of the high winds we had here this winter. Brenton has designed the new sign and Gary is constructing it. Gary's been working on the pond as well - the goldfish are in and this year we have a couple of turtles so the pond must have a fence. Here's the temporary fence.

Our new hibiscus bush - it's such a pretty color. Oh, a bonus to having the fence is it will also keep the bunnies out!

Our calla lillies - donated by Karen's Mom, Marilyn. I think they make a nice addition and the black bunny (Scooter) is just trying to figure out how to get in there and taste them . . .

Sprocket continues to do well - he's such a baby - he still like to have a little 'baba' at night before he goes to bed - only a couple ounces of water, but he still enjoys some cuddle time. Here he is playing with Gary - oh, am I that bald? - yup, you are honey, you just don't get to see that view of yourself!

Well that's about it for now, guests are checking in - we only have one cottage vacant tonight - neat for this time of year. And, on tourism being down and the recession and all - we are 83% booked for July already! So it looks like we'll have another great summer!