Maggie's Journal

Tags: Around The Lake Culture & Traditions Music Fun And Entertainment Life In Cape Breton Local News Local Talent News in Nova Scotia
This is my horoscope for today. It's rather a good one, I think I'll keep it for a while. "This is a time for getting a little loose and wild with friends, going dancing, or doing something out of the ordinary that is stimulating and fun. You meet interesting new people and are more open to people who are quite different from yourself." Where is the dance this weekend? There's one in St. Peter's Monday evenings at 7 in the United Church hall. $5.00 We'll be there, will you?

Posted by Maggie Davis At 12:51 PM Location United Church Hall, St. Peter's | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Food & Entertainment Food & Fun Fun And Entertainment Life In Cape Breton Life on Marble Mountain Local News Local Talent Marble Mountain Music And Entertainment News In Malagawatch News In Marble Mountain News in Nova Scotia Quality Of Life In Canada
Marble Mountain Family Fun Day noon - 6 today at the wharf and beach.

There will be games with prizes for the kids. Magician! Juggler! Face painting! Live music and singing by fabulous local talent on the stage! Dancing, merriment! Food and soft drinks on the wharf! Poker Run! Duck Race!

It will be fun for all - come join us!

* Kindly refain from smoking at this event to set a good example for kids and be considerate of those who are affected by tobacco smoke. Tapadh leat!

Posted by Maggie Davis At 7:54 AM Location Marble Mountain Beach and Wharf | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Food & Entertainment Food & Fun Life In Cape Breton Marble Mountain News North Mountain Quality Of Life In Canada
Potluck and pub and music - Oh My! There's no shortage of things to do on this wonderful weekend.

Noon - 6: Potluck and Open Mic at St. George's Channel Hall

7 - Midnight: Microbrew Pub and Irish Music at St. George's Channel Hall

5:00: Potluck in Marble Mountain Hall

Remember to visit Marble Mountain tomorrow between noon and 6 for Family Fun Day at the wharf and beach. There will be games with prizes for the kids, a magician, a juggler, live music for all, food and soft drinks at the wharf, a duck race for $ on the beach at 3 or 4 and a Poker Run at 1. This event is always a lot of fun for children of all ages. Please come!

Posted by Maggie Davis At 3:56 PM Location St. George's Channel Hall and Marble Mountain Hall | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Around The Lake Being Neighborly Entertainment News Food & Fun Life In Cape Breton
West virginia,

Mountain Mama ..

What does it mean when there are people from Cape Breton, USA, Germany, Wales and more singing along together? Music is an international language and everyone joined in the singing, no matter their country of origin.

In all, there were 19 musicians and a full house of guests. The music last night was the best yet, ditto for the guests. Thank you, St. George's Channel folks for a great time!

Posted by Maggie Davis At 5:16 PM Location St. George's Channel Hall | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Exciting News Fun And Entertainment Life In Cape Breton Life on Marble Mountain Local News Local Talent Music And Entertainment
The tickets are selling out quickly. Already some of the concerts are sold out and tickets have only been on sale for 2 days. If you want to attend any concerts, I higly recommend you hurry and get them NOW, right this very minute.

Our favorites are the local concerts. We always attend Whycocomagh, Lower River, Orangedale, Judique and Glendale.

Posted by Maggie Davis At 8:48 PM Location Cape Breton Island | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Being Neighborly Entertainment News In Marble Mountain Food & Fun Food And Entertainment Fun Life In Cape Breton Life on Marble Mountain Local News Music And Entertainment
What a fabulous time we all had at the St. George's Channel Hall with entertainment provided by Rob Woodley, Pat Lamey, Heather Richards, Tim Laborie and Adam Cook and friends.

The music started at 7:30, with a full house and then some, and played until 10:00 with only a break for sandwiches, sweets and tea at 8:30. It was a blast and I am sure that everyone had a great time.

What a great bunch of people they are at St. George's Channel! They managed to raise approximately $1,137.00 for our new hall fund. Thank you all for your wonderful and much appreciated support. You rock! We couldn't ask for better neighbors.

Posted by Maggie Davis At 9:01 AM Location St. George's Channel Hall | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Health Important Enough That We Focus Our Attention On It Life In Cape Breton News in Nova Scotia
On June 26th the Assessment Centre at the West End Mall will close. As a final push to recruit participants in Halifax Regional Municipality we are asking you to lend a hand one more time. If each person that was through encouraged one friend, one family member, one co-worker or a neighbor to commit to participating in Atlantic Path, researchers would have all the samples and information they need to analyze Nova Scotians and make discoveries on how future generations can live healthier, more cancer free lives.

As Recruitment Manager for Atlantic Path, I am asking you to lend a hand one more time. Please make an effort to ask people to commit to a 2 hour appointment so they can make a difference. Besides receiving beneficial personal information such as blood pressure, body mass index and bone density results, they will also experience the feeling of being part of something much larger than them and know that their time may help save the life of their loved one in the future. They can register online at www.atlanticpath.ca or by calling 1-877-285-7284.

Again, thank you for lending a hand and toenails to the largest cancer research study in North America; but mostly, thank you for helping us become the leading recruitment region in this study across Canada. You have made a significant contribution.

Best regards,

Gail Adams, Recruitment Manager

Atlantic Path

1494 Carlton Street, Halifax, NS, B3H 3B7

902-494-1804 (t) 902-494-2089 (f) 902-403-3844 (m)

Have you participated in Atlantic Path? Find out more at www.atlanticpath.ca today!

Posted by Maggie Davis At 9:05 AM Location Halifax, Nova Scotia | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Adventures Being Neighborly Culture & Traditions Entertainment Life In Cape Breton Local Business Local News Music And Entertainment Nature and Technology New Ways Of Working In The New Millennium Travel
Enhance your holiday with a private tour guide in the comfort of your vehicle. Supported by a professionally recorded tour played through your car stereo in English, French or German, our GPS unit will pin-point directions to many places on your itinerary and guide you through with short well-researched presentations. We offer multi-language custom tours for various vacation locations in Canada.

Blending regional music with brief and cogent descriptions of places and events, Ask GPS offers a more authentic vacation experience. Each tour has been carefully crafted to bring you numerous points of interest and will alert you to the best accommodations, restaurants and cafes, artisan studios, live music and dance, local festivals, museums, and attractions that Cape Breton Island has to offer.

It will also lead you to locations off the beaten path - hiking trails and whale tours, wildlife attractions and hidden beaches.

This unique new travel aid will enrich your vacation experience, eliminating the headache of planning, locating and navigating to your destination choices. Your GPS Tour Guide will likely be the best decision of your entire vacation. User friendly and effective, in less than five minutes you are on your way!

Posted by Maggie Davis At 3:42 PM Location Cape Breton Island | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Life In Cape Breton
"The Atlantic Path is the largest cancer research project ever undertaken in Atlantic Canada. We collect lifestyle information, biological samples and physical measurements from men and women aged 35 to 69 who volunteer to take part in the landmark study into how genetics, environment and lifestyle contribute to the development of cancer. We also track participants’ health for 30 years through cancer registries, hospital records and other health-related databases.

“The information obtained through this study will provide an enormous bank of information which researchers will be able to draw upon to help identify the causes of cancer and, in turn, develop better detection, treatment and prevention methods,” says Dr. Louise Parker, principal investigator for The Atlantic Path.

The Atlantic Path is about the health of our children and grandchildren. "

From me - Click on the link for further info and call or email to participate in this study. New participants are being accepted for another week.

Posted by Maggie Davis At 11:12 AM Location Home | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Life In Cape Breton Travel
"If they're interested in traditional music, they should go to Cape Breton," she said. "Maritime music is dominant there. They can learn to step dance, play the fiddle. . . . There's usually a dance of some sort going on every night."

Posted by Maggie Davis At 2:09 PM Location Cape Breton Island, NS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Life In Cape Breton
On the site: The Cape Breton’s Magazine website is FREE and will remain absolutely free. We ask you to register so that we can measure the worldwide Cape Breton community and keep you up to date with new items added to this site. Good wishes, Ronald Caplan

Posted by Maggie Davis At 6:22 AM Location Internet | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Life In Cape Breton Real Estate
Yesterday a couple came in to the office looking for a place to rent, lease or rent-to-purchase. They are living away and will be moving into this area. The house needs to have 2 roomy bedrooms. Apparently they have plenty of furniture that needs to fit into the rooms. It could be in Lower River, Long Point, West Bay, anyplace no more than 15-20 minutes from Port Hawkesbury. This is a really nice couple, from what I can tell from talking with them, and I'd like to help them out. Please let me know if you know of anything local. We don't normally handle rentals but I really feel for this couple, it's hard to shop for a place to live in a new town when you're on a 2 day visit.

Posted by Maggie Davis At 1:25 PM Location In or near Port Hawkesbury | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Humor Life In Cape Breton
A photographer on vacation was inside a church taking photographs when he noticed a golden telephone mounted on the wall with a sign that read '$10,000 per call'.

The American, being intrigued, asked a priest who was strolling by what the telephone was used for.

The priest replied that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 you could talk to God.

The American thanked the priest and went along his way.

Next stop was in Atlanta. There, at a very large cathedral, he saw the same golden telephone with the same sign under it.

He wondered if this was the same kind of telephone he saw in Orlando and he asked a nearby nun what its purpose was.

She told him that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 he could talk to God.

'O.K., thank you,' said the American .

He then traveled to Indianapolis, Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, and New York.

In every church he saw the same golden telephone with the same '$10,000 per call' sign under it.

The American, upon leaving Vermont, decided to travel up to Canada to see if Canadians had the same phone.

He arrived in Canada and in the first church he entered there was the same golden telephone but this time the sign under it read '50 cents per call.'

The American was surprised so he asked the priest about the sign. 'Father, I've traveled all over America and I've seen this same golden telephone in many churches. I'm told that it is a direct line to heaven, but in the US the price was $10,000 per call. Why is it so cheap here?'

The priest smiled and answered, 'You're in Canada now, son ... it's a local call.'

Posted by Maggie Davis At 7:46 AM Location Canada | Permalink | Comments (1)

Tags: Life In Cape Breton
Today we took advantage of a beautiful day and did a little drive-around trip through Antigonish to Malignant Cove. The scenery around that road rivals the Cabot Trail in places and we had the road almost completely to ourselves.

We took the dogs for a little walk on the beach. The waves were rolling in, foamy. That didn't stop my intrepid Border Collies, they plowed on into the waves. Lily especially was into fetching sticks from the water, paddling furiously on into the Atlantic. At one point a big wave washed over her and she momentarily disappeared, only to pop back up to the surface, stick in mouth. Then back out into the surf she went, on yet another fetch.

Posted by Maggie Davis At 4:13 PM Location Antigonish and beyond | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Life In Cape Breton
This morning we turned around in Lime Hill and went back home. The wet snow was getting deeper and we decided to stay at home after all.

By the afternoon, the weather had warmed, all the snow and sleet melted and there was a definite look of spring around us. The perennials, biennials, herbs, bulbs and rhizomes have sent up fresh shoots and greened their leaves. The trees and shrubs are forming pale buds. The snow is gone, the grass is starting to grow and the lettuce is getting frisky in the cold frame. Spring has sprung and it's early this year. The weekend is forecast to be cold but that's temporary. We could be in for a balmy St. Paddy's Day.

Posted by Maggie Davis At 5:54 PM Location Marble Mountain | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Life In Cape Breton
We had another lovely all-day Gaelic Immersion session on Monday. Our usual instructor, Jeff, was not able to make it so Jessica took over and did an excellent job or running the session. The house in which we were holding our session is infused with the residue of cigarette smoke. As soon as we walked in we noticed it and I thought Oh no! but I managed to make it all the way to 3:00. After lunch many of us were fading drastically and I wonder if it wasn't due to being slightly poisoned from heavy exposure to cigarette smoke residue. There was a lovely lunch of stew, soup, fruit salad and cake. It was nice and now I know that eck is gaelic for horse.

Posted by Maggie Davis At 7:28 AM Location Aberdeen | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Food & Entertainment Life In Cape Breton
The kitchen party was good! There had to have been at least a dozen musicians there. The selection was eclectic, for sure.

Posted by Maggie Davis At 10:36 PM Location St. Peter's | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Learning Life In Cape Breton Local News Local Talent
Message from Jessica:

Bliadhna mhath ur.

An all day Gaelic immersion session with Jeff MacDonald will be held Monday, Jan 11.

It will run from 9:30/10:00 to 3:30/4:00. The fee is $20.00 and includes lunch and tea.

Please let Jessica MacLennan or me know ASAP so she can finalize the plans.

Thanks.

Posted by Maggie Davis At 9:33 AM Location Blues Mills | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Life In Cape Breton
No hunting is allowed on Sunday - supposedly - so today should be safe to take the dogs for a walk - supposedly. I know I don't look like a duck or a deer but hunters will shoot at what moves and my white jacket with the fake fur collar - 'nuff said. Has anyone seen hide nor hair of the coyotes lately? Has anyone heard their howls since last weekend?

Posted by Maggie Davis At 5:05 AM Location Outdoors | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Life In Cape Breton
Linda, Wendy, Iris, Glen and I had a good time the Highland Village last night. The walk was much the same as last year, right down to the weather. The skits were new and well done. It ended with a session in the stage, which is closed in this time of year. There were refreshments of tea, quick breads, cookies and candy. The unintended entertainment in the form of little tow-headed Angus was just as entertaining as the storytelling, singing and music that was planned. He's quite the character, that little boy. He was playing with a foot-high toy spider that stepdanced to the music. What a talented spider.

Posted by Maggie Davis At 6:55 AM Location Iona | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Life In Cape Breton Life In General
I locked the house and started the car, then walked over to the coop to let the chickens out. I returned to get back in the running car and it was locked. I couldn't get the key from the house because I had locked that, too. I went from locked window to locked window until I finally came across one that I was able to open. I climbed in over my desk, got the key and opened the car. This was not the best of starts to my day. Things will only improve from here, right?

There have been some guys trying to steal cars in Port Hawkesbury. When you are in town, make sure to lock your car and take keys with you. Do not leave valuables in sight, even in a locked car.

Posted by Maggie Davis At 10:26 AM Location Cape Breton | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Life In Cape Breton
It's only 48F/9C. I'll need to put on a warm jacket, hat and gloves to go for my morning walk.

Posted by Maggie Davis At 6:00 AM Location Home | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Life In Cape Breton
On the way into Port Hawkesbury this morning, I noticed that the roads are being patched and patched and patched. By my estimation up to 20% of Marble Mountain Road is being re-filled. That tells you how many potholes there are in the road.

Unless I'm told differently, I believe that the last time a new road surface was laid down was in the 70's or 80's. That road is long overdue for repaving. Over the course of 5 years, there is as much surfacing material laid down as it would take to resurface it new. To be generous, I'll double that to 10 years. Why can't we simply have a new road laid down every 10 years? Think of all the money we would save on repairs and wear & tear on our cars. That's a lot of disposable income that would be freed to pour back into our economy for things that bring us pleasure and for things that we need besides car repairs.

Wouldn't that be a nice boost to the local economy?

Posted by Maggie Davis At 6:18 PM Location The Roads | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Life In Cape Breton
We had our big summer bash last night. 31 people showed up. Kit made 4 different paella's and nearly everyone brought something. The side dishes and salads were perfect. Sandra, thanks for bringing the salad dressing. The dessert table was magnificent. We did our best to clean up but at 1:30 a.m. I'm sure some things got missed, we'll get to those in the light of day.

I'm afraid I didn't get to move around and visit with all my guests like I had intended at the outset. I heard there was even one guest who showed up, made a contribution of soda and departed without me ever seeing him. It was a little crowded in the house, I'll admit. But still .... I wonder who else I missed.

I don't know what happened to the energy of this party. Some people departed early and that happens at the best of parties but our last guests left at only 12:20 a.m. and they were the only ones still here at midnight. There was no dancing on the tables. Sigh. Each party has its own character and this one was a little subdued. We needed Iris and Michealette. We missed Judy and Berle, too. The party would definitely have had a different energy had Jutta and Heinz been here. Then there DEFINITELY would have been dancing on the tables. Maybe we should have played the song "It's Getting Dark Again" and some jigs & reels. Even without Irene here I think that would have gotten the feet moving.

Did anyone get any pictures? No? How about a sketch? Or would that make it look like a courtroom scene?

To those of you who left cigarette butts on my sidewalk, are you going to come back and pick them up or do you expect me to pick up after you?

Posted by Maggie Davis At 6:57 AM Location Home | Permalink | Comments (2)

Tags: Life In Cape Breton
When I was taking the real estate class in Halifax back in February, professionalism was emphasized in oh so many ways.

We were encouraged to be honest in all our dealings and to do our best to ensure that our clients behaved ethically as well. Professional behavior extends to our fellow realtors, too. All good stuff. Then there was talk about how to dress professionally. We were to dress like professionals. Men were encouraged to wear dress shirts and ties and business suits to look professional and women were to dress in the female equivalent. We women discussed where to shop to find good dresses and lovely suits, etc. Again, all good - if you live in the city.

In Cape Breton, dressing professionally means tough slacks like chinos, waterproof footwear and fresh socks, plus extra layers of clothes because you never know when a chill wind will blow up. Everything we wear needs to be machine washable. You can't be Type A about your car, either, when a clien'ts exuberant dog climbs back in all wet from a dip in the ocean.

The last two weeks we went out with clients to look at properties, touring old, dank farmhouses that harbour all kinds of wildlife and insect life. We were climbing up and down hills in the woods, sometimes pulling ourselves up slopes by hanging onto tree branches. We tromped through swampy fields, across creeks and bogs. Yesterday, walking along a rocky beach we all of a sudden hit a patch of rocks that sank into thick, brown, sticky mud the color of melted milk chocolate that oozed up over the tops of our shoes. Yes, even the shoes went into the washing machine last night. Good thing we weren't dressed in business suits, business pumps and pantyhose.

This is the reality of being a realtor in Cape Breton and it's all good.

Posted by Maggie Davis At 5:16 AM Location All Over The Place | Permalink | Comments (0)