PEI weather chapter 2

And another few things...

I had forgotten how all-encompassing the weather is here and how much conversation about it. It’s too wet and the farmers can’t get on the fields, it’s too dry and the farmers need rain, etc. It’s a volatile climate for sure.

Dorian left quite a mess in its wake, more evident after a few days. Massive poplar trees were uprooted all over the province and we are amazed that very few of them hit buildings turning them into pancakes. Other scrub spruce sections are a mass of toothpicks and more than a few people were without electricity for a week. 

Gary and Lesley had a good weather day or their cruise stop but the day after, with another 3 ships in port, it poured rain all day.

And I mean poured; misery for the passengers trying to make the best of their one day stop. Sunday past, the temperature got up to 21C, yesterday the high was 10C, today 11, and it’s been very windy for 24 hours. Tonight there is a frost warning for the province and Sunday it is supposed to be 22 again. It keeps you on your toes!

Meanwhile w'eve been seeing the sights around town and country as well as eating far too much.
This gorgeous garden is in Rochford Square, about half a block from where Betsy and I spent our first years. Charlottetown was a planned development, laid out on a grid pattern, and there are four of these heritage squares meant to be gathering places.

A bit of family history is that that first house, built in 1878ish and that Dad & Mum paid $6000 for, was expropriated in 1962 by the province to provide for the the construction of the provincial office buildings. As I recall PEI paid about $35,000 for the big beautiful Victoria house and for $25,000 M&D were able to buy a smaller house about 2 blocks away, on the water, facing Government House with no mortgage. Not a bad deal and it also financed our very first "modern" washer and dryer, a fancy Amana refrigerator and a new car!

My mother and her mother were great auction and flea market fans and while my adrenaline picks up at the thought of an auction or an antique store I'm only lukewarm about garage sales. But I broke a pottery chowder bowl in our apartment and the potter closed out her business in 2004, so now we are frequenting thrift shops, flea markets, and other replacement possibility sites. There's nothing like a search mission to get you out and about despite the improbability of success. I've been looking for a particular coffee mug for at least 2 years, to no avail but I keep trying. 
We overheard in a cafe that the last Rustico flea market of the season was the next day and I hauled my friend Marg off to check it out; no chowder bowl or mug but it was a lot bigger and more interesting than I expected in the North Star Arena (rink).

Another day on a tip from other friends we went to Cape Traverse to the Ice Boat store (site of the terminus of the ice-boat ferries, a method of transportation not for the faint of heart.) A well heeled  prairie transplant with a passion for collecting bought first the Masonic lodge and then the about-to-be-torn-down church, sunk a big pile of money into them and filled them with his personal accumulation. Who da thunk? They are both beautiful buildings filled with interesting artifacts, all for sale. :-)