Lest We Forget

Hello There, Viv here once more to share this year's Remembrance Day Ceremony to thank the men and women who bravely served from our region.  We gathered in the gym of  our little school. and the ceremony began with the school choir singing.

The March on the Flag was performed brilliantly by our young cadets.

Our Master of Ceremonies, Courtney Wall, also read the Gospel, and a poem, Last One Standing, written by Alexa Sjodin, Haley Batson and Natalie Thompson.

The Voices United Community Choir seen here in the background.

 

Our veterans proudly assemble to be honoured and remember their comrades who gave their lives for our freedom.

 This event, as it should be is one of the most well-attended events in our tiny village of under 350 people.

After the March on the Flag, the school choir and Voices United Community Choir led us in singing "O Canada". I am so very proud to be a Canadian and always get goosebumps when I am privileged to join in singing our national anthem. The best of all blessings, is to have my husband beside me, who became a Canadian citizen 3 years ago. As we also sang, God Save The Queen, we were reminded of his British heritage and how fortunate we are to have a choice of where we live. Canada is home and we thank God for our little village, which Brian says reminds him of how England used to be when he was a young lad. 

The Reverend Bill Drysdale gave a beautiful invocation prayer, after which the School choir and Voices United Community choir sang O God Our Help In Ages Past.

The poem, In Flanders Field was read by Meg Troop. 

Last Post and Reveille we played by Jim MacTavish, on either side of The Act of Remembrance, Two Minutes of Silence.

The Wreaths had all been laid, the school choir sang, We Remember.

Sonny McCarron assists Valerie Fagan, our last remaining WWII veteran with laying a wreath.

With pride and honour, he then escorts our, Val out after the parade.

On Rembrance Day, we can't help but think about all our loved ones and neighbours who have left us, especially since this past year. As we convene again in this gym, we remember having to leave quite quickly last year for the funeral services of two of your young men in the village, Colby Callender and Chad Alder who died that week in a terrible car crash. My heart breaks for their families and friends. 

It was so hopeful and encouraging, though to see Jason Bourque and how far he's come in a year. He's fought a tough battle and has a long road ahead, but he looked so handsome today with his poppy on. 

Sonny McCarron was visibly emotional as he thanked everyone who attended the ceremony for the support of our local veterans, saying, "It really means a lot to have such a great turn out." When I spoke to him outside to thank him for his service and the dignity with which he escorted and supported Val Fagan, he said, "It is so nice to see support for the younger veterans is now happening and increasing". I agreed and reiterated that they have fought, and are still fighting and need their country to support them and their families with humble gratitude for their service. 

Reverend Bill Drysdale gave the Benediction and a Blessing before the March Off the Flags and we dispersed to once again go back to our peaceful lives paid for by the brave men and women who have paid, many with their lives for us to have this privilege. 

Until next time, hold each other close. Be kind to one another. Remember the wounds of war cannot always be seen and everybody is fighting some kind of battle. 

VivBounty

The Comfort of Knowing Where My Food Comes From

Hello there, Viv here to share with you a little bit about a day in the life of my friend, Nancy the farmer. We buy our eggs from Nancy and her husband, Earl, who have a little farm in our village, are wonderful friends and Nancy is just a fun, hard working lady. Her profile picture on Facebook is Wonderwoman, no wonder!
	She had a calf whose mother would not feed her from birth, so Nancy has bottle fed this sweet little beauty, Faith with all the tender loving care of a mother and she's not so little anymore. When I would go to buy eggs, she would tell me about her and looking down at my shoes said, "You can't go to the barn in those shoes". :)
So recently on my egg buying run, it was a sunny day so I put my red and white 'wellies', as we call them in England on and announced I was ready to go to the barn. Poor Nancy was all clean in her indoor clothes and had to get her rubber boots and coat on to take me on a tour. We went to see the hens first. I was taken aback by an ammonia smell being a city slicker and was soon told "That's chicken poop"! We laughed about that for a couple of days. Nancy arrives in the hen house and says, "Hello ladies", then gets them some water, collects some eggs and all the while telling me where to stand, moving buckets around, filling buckets with water.
The hen house This is a woman, around whom, it is almost blasphemous to stand around and do nothing. I just did as I was told and I had a blast on the hen run with Nancy! She inspires me with her work ethic, her constant sunny disposition and her dedication to her family.	Happy hens just clucking away Then we went to the poulets house. They too lay eggs, but they lay smaller eggs. In the feed there is something that makes the egg shells hard. Again eggs are collected, feed is scattered and water put out for them and I am so happy that the eggs I buy are from happy hens who are loved by the farmer. :)
Nancy gathering the eggs	The first couple of eggs. Beautiful!
Next it was into the barn where the calves are. When I started research for this post there were two calves. Faith is hereford, brown and white, and she now has a barn mate, black angus and hereford cross, as pretty as she is but shy around people because he wasn't hand fed like Faith was. They are now yearlings as you will see below, have such pretty eyes and they are sooooo cute.
Mama and Bully	The sweetest part of this tour was meeting Bully the little bull who was only 4 days old. .
It was the time of day to bring the big cows in and Nancy instructed me to stand a little back from the barn entrance because they may not come in if they see me there. Isn't nature amazing? Like children, it's an instinctual thing to trust those they know and be a little leery of those they don't. Earl says she raises them because she likes them. He tells me they grow from calves to yearlings and over a year, they're called feeders when they get older.
Cows out in the pasture Before calling the cows in, she swept away hay from their stalls. Then she forked fresh hay from a stall beyond the manger so when they come in they can feed. Water buckets are filled from a tap in the barn, kept from freezing with electrical wire and we're ready to bring in the cows.	The pasture gate Nancy went out to the pasture gate and opened it, calling to them, "Come on in Ladies" and I'll be darned, if they didn't just all turn towards her and file in in a line. Just amazing to me. They lined up one by one in their stalls where she had raked some hay around where each would spend the night.
The yearlings, happily in for the night.That is little Faith and her barn mate all grown up! As the cows take their places, Nancy closes the self locking head gates , and they all happily begin chewing away on the hay.	They can lay down and stand quite comfortably in the head gates, which Earl tells me are only used on small farms.
This routine she calls, "chores" and it's all done in a matter of 30 minutes. Chickens, cows, everyone settled down for the night. She says, "Goodnight ladies. See you in the morning" and closes the barn door for the night. Annette and I were visiting once when I didn't have my camera, but we had so much fun following Nancy on her rounds, I made a date to come back and take photos for my blog. We usually do our egg run together and sometimes stop for a cup of coffee with Nancy and Earl. Annette was away on photo day, but both hailing from the city, we agree that we so love knowing where our eggs come from. This is just another thing that contributes to this wonderful country living. Until next time, hug those you love, eat well and count your blessings. I sure do. VivBounty All Natural Pet Care

My First Experience with Tai Chi Right Here In Our Little Village

Hello There, VivBounty here to share with you a new discipline, Tai Chi, which is already having really positive effects on my mobility and general well being.

Much to our good fortune, the Province of New Brunswick has provided a grant through the Wellness Branch of the Department to the Port Elgin and Region Health Centre (PERHC) for an introduction to Tai Chi. Thank you to Instructor Rick Toupin from the Cumberland group Canadian Tai Chi Academy for providing a complimentary, 12-week introduction to the health benefits of Tai Chi.

I was so excited to have a Tai Chi class locally, and by that I mean really locally, not having to drive to Amherst or Sackville, our nearest towns for most services, I called all my friends who might be interested and happily posted it in the church bulletin! The class has been full and then some in our little school gym, where you last saw my Remembrance Day post. We started a week later than planned, on Monday February 15, 2016 due to a snow storm (hardly surprising for February in the Canadian Maritimes and will run 12 weeks, excluding March Break and Easter Monday) at 7:30 pm on Mondays.


After our first Tai Chi class, I noticed increase soreness in my trouble spots, ie shoulders and neck, but let me tell you that through that discomfort in the 24 hours following that first hour-long class, I felt something unlock. The result of which was being able to actually sleep on a pillow for the first time in 2 or 3 years!  We heard testimony that first class that one of the volunteers who came with the instructors to help demonstrate, had a frozen shoulder, had been through physiotherapy without any success, was able to unlock her shoulder and regain range of motion after just 6 months of  practicing Tai Chi. In the video below,  see how deceptively gentle this exercise is as Rod and Rick give a review of the first 3 moves we learned in our first class. These moves are called 1. Opening move raising hands, 2. Left grab bird's tail and 3. Right grab bird's tail.

NOTE - UPDATE: Today, March 9th, 2017, after more than a year! I have been told to take the YouTube video of our Tai Chi class down. It seems that one of the instructors, after giving me permission to record it and put it on my blog, now says he told not to put it on YouTube which is just a blatant lie. So I will not apologize for you not seeing the video because this is his fault.

Tai Chi can lower your blood pressure, reduce or even remove pain from arthritis, reduce the risk of alzheimers, improve strength and balance. Moy Tai Chi has 108 moves developed for health and brought to Canada by Mister Moy Lin- Shinn. This is a perfect compliment to my twice daily yoga and daily reiki practice. As I said, I am already experiencing for myself the many health benefits offered by this gentle aerobic exercise imported from the far east, and being very open to it as reiki also came to the west from Japan. I know what gentle movement or energy shifting can do and highly recommend anyone try Tai Chi. Rick from the Canadian Tai Chi Academy, is a great instructor who put us through the paces with humour and gentle encouragement.

In our second class, through much giggling and fun, we added a 4th move called whip out dead bird hold by tail. Thank you class participants for allowing me to record this video below.

NOTE UPDATE: Over a year later, suddenly I have been told to take the video down! Again, this instructor with a memory problem is the reason there is no video below. I wish people would say what they mean and mean what they say! Blaming me for his lapse in memory is just plain wrong!

With Rick and the other seasoned practitioners' permission, I was able to take some video and a few photos of our second class. By this time the soreness had disappeared from my neck and shoulders and as I was explaining to Brenda, yes I felt pain, but that only indicated to me that the Tai Chi was working. Continuing through the discomfort with my twice daily yoga practice, I have regained range of motion in my shoulder and sleep so much better. As she said and I agreed, "If you do nothing, it only gets worse and you're stuck there."

The video below is what we aspire to. All of the wonderful folks who teach and practice at the Canadian Tai Chi Academy in Cumberland county, Nova Scotia, kindly gave us this demonstration of the first 15 moves. The hushed voice you hear is that of Serge Morin explaining that there are a total of  108 Tai Chi moves and to do them all in practice takes 15 minutes. I  can certainly find 15 minutes in my day to improve my health. Can you?

NO VIDEO HERE EITHER! Told to take it down over a year later! Shame on him. The only people to benefit from this video is them getting free publicity. Sad.

Thank you again to Rick Toupin, Brenda Toupin, Joan Allen, Glenda Allen, Sharon Wall and Serge Morin who contributed to this post for your permission and your participation. I look forward to learning much more in the 10 weeks to come and imagine I will be so nimble, I'll be hard to keep up with. :D


You can't take care of anyone if you don't take care of yourself first, so do that then hug everyone you love because tomorrow is not promised.

Until next time.

Bountiful blessings,

VivBounty

A Reverent Remembrance Day Ceremony in Our Little School

Hello There, VivBounty here to share with you our experience of the Remembrance Day Ceremony to thank the men and women who bravely served in our little school. We gathered in the gym and the ceremony began with the school choir singing.
	After the march on the flag, the Voices United Community Choir led us in singing our national anthem, "O Canada", and other songs and hymns so beautifully sung by both choirs were O God Our Help in Ages Past, We Remember, God Save the Queen and Go Now In Peace.
The parade forms up and vigil is mounted followed by march on the flag. Our cadets did a super job.
Missing in photos because of where I was sitting is the MC, Courtney Wall who read the Gospel, announced the dedication of the wreaths, and kept the program organized, Joe Simpson who read the honour roll of the veterans, There were poems by Marissa LeFurgey and Jesse MacQuarrie and Invocation Prayer by Reverend Bill Drysdale. Of course, the poem, In Flanders Field was read by a cadet, officers saluted during O Canada & God Save The Queen sung by the School Choir and Voices United Community Choir, Last Post & Reveille bugled by Jim MacTavish, and 2 minutes silence.   Amidst the laying of the wreaths, of which there were so many, some had to be laid ahead of time, we had our last surviving World War II veteran, Valerie Fagan, Korean War veteran, Lionel Halfkenny, our Mayor, Judy Scott, the RCMP and Terry Murphy who was attached to the Fort Gary Horse in Cyprus, 1966 67.
It was very touching to have begun the ceremony with a moment of silence for the two young men Colby Callender and Chad Alder who died tragically in a car accident last week. We also had fewer cadets this year as many were too grieved to perform today after losing their friends. The gym was full for the Remembrance Day Ceremony and there was a palpable sadness in this tiny close-knit community. The cadets who did participate represented the whole valiantly. There were time constraints because the funerals to be held at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. this afternoon were being broadcasted by livestream to the school in anticipation of the large attendance.
As I posted on Facebook today, in memory of my father-in-law, Derrick Edwards who served in World War II in the R.A.F., this day was even sadder as it brought back the sadness of losing my own godchild, much too soon, 4 years ago.  I remember the shock, I remember the many, many people who came who knew us as far back as our grandparents and their friends and all the young people. We too needed more pews, more space at the funeral home and a very, very long procession of cars to the cemetery. So in remembrance, we received Benediction and blessing from Reverend Carmen Webb, and then the gym had to be set up for the funerals. Thank you to all our veterans, the ones we knew and so many we never will who sacrificed for us, brave warriors who made our freedom possible. We are eternally grateful. Until next time, hug the ones you love, particularly your children, appreciate and encourage them today because tomorrow is not promised. Thank every veteran who ever served in any war as it is they who have paid for your freedom. Happy Remembrance Day, VivBounty

My Friend Avery Created An App

Hello There, VivBounty here to brag a little about my friend, Avery Carter who won a prize for creating an App. Yes, even here in the country, we have high-speed broad band Internet and like every where else on the planet, WI-Fi and most people own a mobile gadget of some sort.

Avery attends Tantramar Regional High School in nearby Sackville which is part of the Anglophone East School District, recent proud host of its first ever science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) exposition held at Harrison Trimble High School in Moncton. 

In the competitive portion of the event for students in grades 6-12, Avery won 3rd prize; a $100 iTunes card for creating his Borderlands 2 Weapons Guide App. Congratulations Avery! We are so very proud of you. That's our handsome Avery in the middle of the photo below courtesy of MACLEOD PHOTO.

We have all heard debates about how much time kids spend with their electronic gadgets and devices and what the effects are or will be on them and society, but here's one story with a positive outcome. I, for one, am so glad Avery is so techno savvy and I'm sure his mom is too. The other day when she couldn't find a symbol on her cell phone, guess who came to the rescue? Yup, our boy, Avery did! He found the keyboard short cut and got her all hooked up in seconds. 

In doing some research about this, there seems to be another mom who agrees with me in Idaho. See her article here with 10 reasons why she will continue to give her children hand-held devices and just for the record I have been known to "google" many things like recipes, cooking times for various cuts of meat, blanching and preserving the many gifts of garden produce my lovely friends and neighbours give me, craft making, rug braiding and so much more. My mum in her 70's does the same. She even has a cell phone now and texts more than she makes a phone call to me. I suppose we must just get used to the fact that it is a techno world and that is not always a bad thing. 

I hope you encourage your children when they do something well, even though the world may look a lot different than it did when you were their age and you may not always understand it all. Each generation feels the same about the next one. We might as well keep up. 

Enjoying the country life, 

VivBounty
Joyfully changing lives

My Flower Bed 5 Years Later

Hi There VivBounty here to share with you my flower bed 5 years later. My mum, determined to turn me into a gardener brings me flowers from her own garden each Spring. The horse chestnut tree in our garden back in the Spring to 2008 was dying and so a friend kindly cut it down for us before it might have fallen to cause much damage to the house. Instead of having the stump removed, I decided to create a little flower bed around it.

 Last Winter was a very long, harsh winter and seeing my flower bed come back to life in the Spring was so heartwarming and a reminder of resurrection. I read on a blog, http://www.upisbetter.com

While our culture is currently glorifying death,

the Lord is wrapping every dead looking thing

in light, declaring over it, "Not the end."

Whether it is a dead looking tree 

or a dead looking dream, 

He comes to remind us that

everything is about resurrection.

Within the dead looking thing

lies the mystery of what will yet be.

It is not the end.

 In this flower bed this year I have irises in purple and yellow, day lilies, some ground cover called Homestead Verbena, 2 kinds of hostas, also known as Plantain Lilies; 1 is a broad leaf hosta and the other a Royal Standard hosta. I also have a little pine tree given to me by a very dear friend. On the other side of the garden I have the forsythia she gave me.

Here are the first views of my little garden this Spring. I will post more as the garden develops.

Stay tuned for the flowers as they bloom. They really are gorgeous this year!

Bountiful Blessings for a wonderful Summer!

VivBounty
All Natural Pet Care

Addendum to My Friend Emma Awarded Queen's Jubilee Medal blog post

Hello There, VivBounty here to add to the story of my friend, Emma Cormier being awarded the Queen's Jubiliee Medal.

It turns out my friend, Cathy Consentino of Timber River Farm Country Antiques was also awarded the Queen's Jubilee Medal, but I did not find out until weeks after I attended Emma's ceremony. I certainly would have been there to celebrate with Cathy, had I known she was to be awarded or even if she had been invited to receive the award in person in a special ceremony like Emma's.

Cathy and Emma are just 2 of 60,000 deserving Canadians recognized during the year of celebrations, by being awarded the Queen's Jubilee Medal in 2012 for significant contributions and achievements, and as I have since discovered, not all recipients are invited to receive their honour in person in a formal ceremony. To my great disappointment, Cathy received her medal in the mail without any pomp, circumstance or pageantry and so I felt I must post this addendum in her honour.

I would be remiss if I did not share with you how much Cathy does for the region. Not only is she an antique dealer, with not one, but two antique stores, but she also finds time to be the President of PEDVAC, the Port Elgin District Voluntary Action Council, a registered charity which serves the surrounding district which runs from Cap Pele to the Nova Scotia border and from Halls Hill (Jolicure) to Cape Tormentine, on which board of directors Emma and I also serve, amongst others. PEDVAC offers a wide range of services including Food Bank, Christmas Boxes (food and gift boxes to families and individuals in need at Christmas), School Lunches, Boutique (A used clothing and household goods store which provides items from 25 cents to $4), Income Tax Preparation, Literacy, Youth At Risk, Advocacy, and Employment Opportunities (employing at least 3 people to make and sell products for social enterprise which makes mittens, pillows, and other items from recycled woollen and fleece items).

Cathy Consentino's volunteer experience and causes further include secretary of Port Elgin Housing Inc., a Social Services agency offering subsidized housing, she is board member/vice chair of Port Elgin Public Library and liaison member to Provincial Library Committee. Credit for content to Cathy's LinkedIn profile.

Manning the Timber River Antiques Shop in Summer 2012

The biggest reason that I write this post is to celebrate my friendship with this amazing lady who in addition to employing me from time to time in her shop with pay calling it a favour, has made me promise that I would never drive behind an ambulance alone again if ever, God forbid, my hubby (as it once happened) had to be rushed to a hospital in an emergency situation. She further clarified that it didn't matter what time of day or night, whatever weather, that I must call her and she would come with me. I would without a doubt do the same for her.

Congratulations Cathy, my friend on a well-deserved honour for your extraordinary service to our community, region, and like I mentioned in Emma's tribute, ultimately to Canada like Her Majesty The Queen who has been an extraordinary servant of her country, so are you to ours.

Please leave me a comment below and be sure to subscribe to this blog feed for more lovely stories about the joy of country living.

Bountiful blessings to you and yours, 
VivBounty

My Friend Emma Awarded Queen's Jubilee Medal

Hello There, VivBounty here to share with you the story of my friend, Emma Cormier being awarded the Queen's Jubiliee Medal. Emma is one of the first friendly faces we encountered in the community when we arrived here 5 years ago. As my husband was emigrating here, aside from the myriad of forms to fill in, medical tests were a part of the process. In those early days we spent a lot of time at the library printing forms and as much time between our local clinic and hospitals. More often than not, we met Emma at one or more of those places. As part of the same worshipping community, Emma, her sister, Emerise and I often met at church where they were ever so welcoming with smiles and Emma giving the warmest, tightest hugs making us certain that we had picked the right community to settle in. At the time, names were secondary and we only knew each others' faces from the village.

Left to right: Brian and Vivienne Edwards, Vina McGraw,
Emerise Cormier, Emma Cormier, Marc Cormier, Patsy Murphy,
Jeanine Cormier, Bernadette McGraw
Photo credit: Joan LeBlanc, Writer / Journalist / Photographer

At Mass one Saturday as we hugged Emma let me know about her impending award. I was thrilled at the news, assuring her that she certainly deserved it. She then invited us to attend the special ceremony, and to say that it was an honour would be an understatement! We were 2 of 7 guests permitted to witness the ceremony for each of the 6 recipients from our area, held at the Marshland's Inn in Sackville, NB.

Emma's list of volunteer efforts within the village for many years includes Treasurer of PEDVAC, where I have the pleasure of serving on the board with her, Church community work, local housing association, Scouts Canada and in our case, a warm welcome to a lovely village in the Maritimes. We didn't know this lady from a bar of blue soap and yet she has always treated us like family. It did not surprise us then that by command of Her Majesty the Queen, the Diamond Jubilee Medal was presented to Emma in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of her Majesty's accession to the throne and in recognition of her contribution to Canada.

The Ark, Safari Lodge, Aberdare Mountains, Kenya

Incidentally, this is even more special to me as Her Majesty's accession occurred while she was visiting my birthplace, Kenya. On vacation at the Treetops Lodge in Aberdare National Park, she received the news of her father's passing. The affectionate phrase often used to describe the transition was that "She was the young woman who went up a tree as a princess and came down a Queen". My mother as a young woman remembers Her Majesty's visit to Kenya, standing amid the crowds along the parade route in Nairobi for this auspicious occasion, awaiting a glimpse of the beautiful then-Princess Elizabeth in Kenya in 1952.

Officiating were recently appointed Liberal House Leader,
  Liberal Foregn Affairs citic, Beauséjour MP,  Dominic Leblanc,
NB Senator Fernand Robichaud, and representing RCMP
was the dapper Constable Yoan Comeau
Photo credit: Joan LeBlanc, Writer / Journalist / Photographer

The Queen has been an extraordinary servant of her country and likewise has Emma of our small community. Small communities like ours all across this great nation help to make Canada the wonderful country that it is and make me proud to call it my home. Emma's fellow recipients of the medal this year were Shirley Buck, Carolyn Carmichael, Doreen Richards, Francis Sweeney and Michael Dean. Without these hard working volunteers and so many others like them, our communities simply would not have many services taken for granted in larger towns and cities. Congratulations to all the recipients of the Queen's Jubilee medal and thank you all for your selfless contribution to make the world a better place.

Congratulations to my friend, Emma Cormier! We love you and thank you for including us in this celebration of Her Majesty the Queen and yourself, who are both such a large part of the fabric of our lives.

Article addendum: 

Please leave me a comment below and be sure to subscribe to this blog feed for more lovely stories about the joy of country living.

Bountiful blessings to you and yours, 
VivBounty

We Got a Moose

Hello there, VivBounty here to share the exciting story of our friend Rob's moose hunt.

Rob's moose 40 years ago

The last time Rob shot a moose was 40 years ago. 1972 was a big year for him and Angie. First they bought a 200 acre farm, then he shot a moose and to put the icing on the cake, their daughter was born. That year Rob called his childhood friend Roger to help him drag the moose out of the woods.

To obtain his coveted moose-hunting license this year was literally the luck of the draw for Rob. Over the years since he shot his first moose, his name has been "in the hat" so to speak from time to time with about 60,000 other hopefuls. Imagine the excitement when he knew this year he was awarded one! For each license awarded 2 shooters are permitted to hunt for the moose, commonly referred to as the 1st gun and the 2nd gun. Rob chose his friend Ronnie, a born woodsman around these parts as his second gun. It is only fitting that his boyhood friend, Roger was invited to go along just as an unarmed observer.

Rob's injured knee played a big part in the hunt this year. Ronnie must be given much credit for his preparations going into the woods days ahead for several runs on the ATV to find a trail with a good line of sight, scouting for moose tracks to decide on the best place to build a blind on the ground where Rob could perch safely and comfortably to take aim and from which Roger could observe. To say New Brunswickers are passionate about moose hunting is an understatement and Ronnie's own childhood friend, Donny, although not part of the actual hunt, helped him to scout and build the blind for the comfort and safety of all concerned.

On the day of the hunt the drive-bys and preparation had not been in vain as Ronnie went walk about to circle the area hopefully getting a moose to walk out into Rob's line of sight on the logging trail. This is not an exact science, the general consensus being if you see a moose and you are licensed, you best take your shot or you may not see it again during your 3-day permit and fines are steep not only for shooting a moose out of season, but also for keeping moose meat in your freezer without a permit. Well Ronnie's preparation and instincts paid off, the moose appeared and he took his shot.

Now the moose had to be field dressed in the woods. This involves removing the organs which can get quite messy if you don't know what you are doing. Depending on the ethnicity of the hunter, the liver and heart may be kept for later consumption.

The next thing was to drag the moose with the ATV from the mile or so into the woods out to the main road where Rob's truck was parked. He says, "Real men manhandle the moose onto the truck but why work hard when you can work smart?" One of the few hunters in the area with a winch on his truck, they hoisted the moose up onto the bed of the pick up.

That evening Angie looked at her watch about 9:30 thinking to herself  "It's kinda late to be out in the woods." Dare she hope they got one? Well indeed they had! The proud and exhilarated hunters returned with their prize moose all shiny and white inside on the bed of the pick up truck. Angie took these wonderful pictures and the moose was carefully placed where it could cool naturally without the worry of spoiling until it could be examined by the biologist the morning. It is against the law to skin the moose before the biologist has examined it. Fortunately weather conditions were ideal with our local temperature being only 3°C overnight.

The next morning the biologist removed a tooth from the lower jaw which indicated the age of the moose to be about 2 years and a male, commonly called a bull.  Rob's guestimation by the size of his prize moose was that he was too small to have been born in the spring 2 years ago but larger than if he was born this past spring, making him approximately 16 months old, young enough to yield approximately 485 lbs of tender, less gamy, more beefy tasting meat for the consumption of 2 very happy families.

Rob with what's left of the poor fella

There is much cause for celebration in Rob's, Ronnie's and Roger's households this year on this momentously rare occasion. I'm so grateful to Angie for sharing your great pictures with me for this blog as I'm sure are your children who were unborn the last time their dad got a moose. Congratulations to Rob on getting the license, Ronnie for being chosen as the 2nd gun and shooting the moose and Roger for being the fortunate witness to only the 2nd time in 40 years his friend got a moose. 

Until next time, be sure to subscribe to this blog feed for more lovely stories about the joy of country living.

Bountiful blessings to you and yours, 
VivBounty

Making Tie Fleece Blankets As Physiotherapy For Stroke Survivors

Hi There, VivBounty here to share with you a wonderful way for stroke survivors to get some physiotherapy and have some fun too in the process. My eldest sister is a stroke survivor, a simplified description which doesn't even begin to cover what she endured and has overcome.

When we moved to the country, out here in the beautiful Canadian Maritimes, Juliette had just started an in-home physiotherapy program where she learned how to make tie fleece blankets. Her occupational therapist, Debbie would come once a week to work with her, help her cut and let her tie the knots to keep and improve the dexterity in her affected hand and arm. Read more about her story at the link below.

Making Tie Fleece Blankets As Physiotherapy For Stroke Survivors - CLICK HERE

While she was visiting with us last Spring, we made my birthday present from her together. The zebra is my favourite animal so she brought the printed fabric with her and we bonded over this beautiful labour of love. I snuggle with my "blanky" every evening in front of the wood stove, wrapped in my sister's love remembering our evening walks, drives along winding country roads and those many moments we shared making lovely memories. Aren't I lucky that we get to do this all again next month? I'm so excited I can't wait for my mum and sisters to arrive so that we can top up our love, hugs and giggles tanks! When you read her story at the link above, I'm sure you'll be as amazed by her as we are.

Until next time, hug someone you love,
VivBounty

Another stroke survivor, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D tells her amazing story below in the book My Stroke Of Insight - A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey:

6 Things We Found Out About Buying Firewood

Hello There, VivBounty here to share with you 6 things we found out about buying firewood.

Being city slickers and globe trotters, we were somewhat clueless about how to go about finding this firewood and soon learned a lot. Needless to say the maritimers around us spent a lot of time shaking their heads with well-meaning smiles. Read more here ->>>>> 6 Things We Found Out About Buying Firewood

Stay tuned for the wonderful hospitality and generosity of spirit of our new-found extended family of helpers in my next article, "Firewood Arrived Just In Time".

Until then, remember that a friend in need is a friend in deed.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty

Moonlight Madness Begins The Christmas Season in The Village

Hello There,

VivBounty here just sharing with you the festivities which begin the Christmas season in our little village. Inspite of it's size, this village of people stick together and support each other; or maybe it's because of it's size.

Read on to see how the Christmas spirit gets a jump start each year on the night of Moonlight Madness.

This year, my friend Bev has added another story to her Christmas village, with the help of her children and grandchildren. I swung by this afternoon to take a photo to share with you here, lights twinkling and train moving, this labour of love really is beautiful.

In the spirit of Christmas, please be kinder than necessary as everyone is fighting some kind of battle.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty

Stuff I Would Not Buy From A Dollar Store

Hello There, VivBounty here to share with you more of the little quirks as I continue my learning curve living in the country. Our nearest dollar store is half an hour's drive away from our home.

I love dollar stores. You can get really nifty gadgets and very useful household items for very little money, and sometimes even just one dollar! You do have to know what you're buying, though. Well I wrote about it on HubPages so feel free to check out some of the things I would not buy from a dollar store and why.

Not From a Dollar Store

Next time I hope to bring you great news on my garden. Since I created my first flower bed back in the Spring, as gardening goes, things have expanded. Stay tuned...

Prosperous Blessings,

VivBounty

Work From Home Globally

Do All Dogs Like To Swim?

Do All Dogs Like To Swim?

Hello There, VivBounty here to share with you my perspective about swimming dogs and those which don't like to. This is HubPage number 11 of the 30 I need to write by Halloween.

Are you following me and cheering me on in the Hub Challenge? Call me crazy, but I'm determined to do this. Follow my progress on Twitter and leave me a comment. I'd love to hear from you.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty

Fantastic Travel

Why The Cats Who Adopted Us Arrived When They Did

Why The Cats Who Adopted Us Arrived When They Did

Hello There, VivBounty here with a story of my favourite kitty therapists. These little creatures of God really do sense energy. They are calming, entertaining, very independent little guardians of our energy. I hope you enjoy mine and the wonderful times they have come to me for the time that they do to make my world a better place.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty

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There's Nothing Pre-Historic About Living In a Cave

There's Nothing Pre-Historic About Living In a Cave

Hello There, VivBounty here.

I'm just typing my little fingers to the bone. Having a blast sharing my travels and experiences along with great tips and products on my HubPages.

This HubPage is number 7 or 30 in the challenge and fits right in with this natural country living blog. It's all about our visit to the cave houses in southern Spain. These are eco-friendly modern improvements of literal caves dug into rocks to make homes.

Enjoy the pictures, leave me a comment, let me know how I'm doing and cheer me on in my writing.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty

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How We Got A Bird Out Of Our Woodstove Chimney

How We Got A Bird Out Of Our Wood Stove Chimney

Hello There, VivBounty here with my unusual tale of freeing a wild bird from our wood stove chimney. Bet you've never heard of anyone using this method.

This is hub number 4 of the 30 hubs in 30 days challenge.

I have taken this challenge on so that I can improve my writing skills, learn to share useful information and helpful advice with all my readers effectively.

The great thing about the hub challenge is that we are never alone along the way. All hubbers post their progress and questions in the challenge forum so that we can hone our skills as writers and make each hub comply with the terms of the challenge and such.

Enjoy my hubs and wish me luck as I take on this mad challenge.

I'm happy to report that my little bird has now been freed as you will read above.

Until next time, remember it is much better to live in harmony with our wild friends than to do battle with them. This is part of the fun in living in the country in the Canadian Maritimes. Never a dull adventure with the little critters who are our neighbours.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty

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Driving Through Europe in a Classic BMW 325i Sport M-Tech With a Large Dog

Driving Though Europe in a Classic BMW 325i Sport M-Tech With a Large Dog

Driving Through Europe in a Classic BMW 325i Sport M-Tech With a Large Dog

Creating this page is the most fun I've had in ages.

Until next time, go where the road takes you.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty

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Get Skunk Odour Off Your Dog

Hi There! VivBounty here with how you can get of skunk odour off your dog.

Last week the skunks returned to take up residence under our shed. Sure enough, Pedro saw one as he did last autumn, it was late at night, again, and he bounded happily up to it trying to make friends. Poor little skunk seeing this 85-lb “predator” approaching with vim and vigour had no option but to spray him.

Brian spotted him with his nose under the tail of something furry a bit too late and hollered for him to come back in. As they traipsed past me on their way to the biscuit cupboard, he casually mentioned Pedro was chasing something furry asking if I could smell anything. Taken by surprise, I bent over; took a good snort of the top of my dog’s head between his ears and immediately regretted my actions! Ugh!! Nose burning, eyes tearing and a nasty pungent odour attaching itself to my cilia, I yelled “Skunk”!

Eleven days ago I sprained my ankle quite badly, the day before that, Brian’s back “kinked”, so bent over and bandaged we did not relish the thought of washing Pedro at one a.m. Having taken in a sinus full of this skunk odour, I had to hobble up the stairs to flush it out so that I could think before taking this on. Fat chance! It was days before the it left my nose!

To add insult to injury, I couldn’t remember the recipe for the skunk odour removal solution we used last autumn. I had printed and filed it “in a safe place” but had no idea where. Hobbling back up the stairs to look through my files, I found a newspaper cutting, but the solution didn’t look the same. Brian, in the meantime was searching online once more. He skipped all the solutions with 2 quarts of peroxide, groaning we’d never bought that much peroxide in our lives, but soon came across one suggesting 7-Up, which we had several cans of.

With gloves, Pedro’s towels and dog shampoo, we headed up to the bathroom. From memory I made this solution, which frothed for a while then stopped:

• 2 tablespoons of Dawn dishwashing liquid
• 2 tablespoons of white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of baking soda
• 1 can of 7-Up

We sat on opposite ends of the tub, Pedro hopped in behind the bucket, we wet him with a warm hand shower, rubbed the formula into his fur with face cloths carefully avoiding his eyes, ears and genital area, left it on for a few minutes, rinsed the solution off thoroughly, shampooed with his own shampoo, rinsed again and blow-dried. As Brian says, “What a performance”! Needless to say we didn’t get to bed until 3 a.m. with a very sweet-smelling Pedro happy to be allowed back in the house from the back porch where he left some yucky fumes for a few days. Like last year, Brian will escort him out from now on to make sure a skunk doesn't spray him again this season.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty


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Did a Reiki Treatment Help My Kitten's Vaccine Soreness?

Hello There. VivBounty here with a lovely report of how giving my kitten, Scampy a reiki treatment helped to relieve his soreness after his first round of vaccines.

Scampy was 8 weeks old at his second visit to the vet. He had doubled his weight to 2 lbs by then, so we estimate him to have gained 2 ozs per day in that 2 weeks. Being concerned about vaccines in general after reading too much online about the potential side effects, I asked the vet about sarcomas. Might as well go to the worst case scenario, right? Well I was delighted with her response. She explained that at a veterinary convention she attended a study on this very dilema was presented. The sarcomas were deduced to have been caused by technique.

She further explained that the study had shown an increased incidence of vaccine-site sarcomas at a vet clinic where none had occurred prior. There had been a new staff who vaccinated between the shoulder blades, believing this to be a less painful site, but unfortunately there is also less muscle there resulting in no movement of the tissue and thus the vaccine just sat there in a pouch never moving throughout the body eventually forming a potentially deadly sarcoma.

In her twenty years of practice, she has personally never injected in this location, rather opting to use the outer shoulder muscle where there is movement of the muscle and thus dispensation of the vaccine through the tissue throughout the body, nor has she had incidence of vaccine-site sarcomas in her hospital in the two decades.

So we cautiously agreed to having Scampy immunized with his first vaccine covering a number of common kitten afflictions. She gently said, "You'll probably need to rub that shoulder" and documented his vaccine record. We put him back in the pet carrier and he remained awake for the hour it took us to pick up some supplies for him before returning home.

When he stepped out of the carrier, he limped and I panicked. Brian picked him up to help him to the litter box and he "screamed" such a loud "meow" that I was in tears. I decided if I'm going to be his mummy, I have to maintain my composer and pull myself together. So he did his business and limped over to lay on the sofa. I grabbed my laptop to post an update in my blog and he hopped up on my recliner to snuggle on my lap with slightly glazed eyes. I tried to touch his shoulder and he "cried" so sadly and loudly that I was in tears again. I then gathered him in a fleece blanket on my chest, reclining my chair as rubbing anything was obviously out of the question.

I then grounded myself, and prepared to give him a reiki treatment to see if I could ease his pain. My hands immediately became very hot, within 5 minutes he was purring, and fell into a deep sleep. I kept my hands cupped around his tiny body until the energy ceased to be drawn and then just lay there with him for the next hour and a half.

When he woke up, he bounced of my lap. Scampered, true to his name, through 2 rooms over to his feeding bowls, drank some water, ate a good portion of his food and began playing with his stuffed toy. He had his "mojo" back!! I even gently rubbed his shoulder and he didn't even flinch. Again the next morning I rubbed it again without reaction, he was normally frisky, walking, eating, drinking and eliminating as if nothing had happened. I've read online that lack of appetite and soreness from vaccines can take up to a day and a half to ease off, but my little Scampy after his reiki treatment was as good as new.

Until next time, this is VivBounty reminding you to make informed decisions about your pet's care.

Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty

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