We had the opportunity to attend a Ukrainian concert in Charlottetown. Large diaspora here and the hall was filled with folks excited to connect with their culture and homeland. While 98% of the event was in Ukrainian - so I didn't understand much - you didn't need to speak the language to understand the patriotism, the sense of community and family.

Adrian and I are spending the long-weekend at our Beach House in PEI. So wonderful, great weather and the tourists are leaving - our beautiful beach feels like a private oasis. Happy to be here, one of the few times we've come just for fun, with a little work thrown in, instead of the other way around.

Adrian's been in Calgary for the last few days so I took the opportunity to tackle some gardening - ugh! Feeling pretty good that I moved the dark mulch from the new fenced in garden into the old front garden and then replaced it with new red mulch. I also got the weeds out from between the driveway bricks, managed to catch our last butterfly just as it was emerging! Even managed to put together our new fire table.
Adrian managed to move all the furniture from our condo in Calgary on this visit 

We're very excited to have our first butterfly arrive, hoping for at least two more!! Hatched last evening just as we headed into the hot tub.
​And if that wasn't exciting enough, while we were in the hot tub, too dark for a photo, but light enough to for us to see, we were visited by a family of raccoons. They were hanging out in a tree near the hot tub, watching us watch them. 

Gorgeous summer day to celebrate Adrian. We had a lazy start to his birthday Sunday, followed by some time enjoying our deck. Later we headed out to the Seaside Shanty, in Chester Basin.
​Huge thank you to Jamie, Liz, Carrie and families for the wonderful meal. Could only have been better if you'd been here to join us. 

Our friends, Ginny and Sandra, have an annual summer get-together where we all get to enjoy their fabulous deck. They live in a penthouse condo at,The Quinlan, that has an amazing deck. We've missed the last couple of years so this was Adrian's first time in this condo building.
Great friends, good food and a lovely evening. Such a wonderful event and we were so happy to continue to be included and to actually make it this year!

Excited to see the "new to them" generator arrive at the Maasai Eco Boma. This means that even on cloudy days devices can be charged, the lights will work and soon - hot water will be added to the accommodations. Adrian and I are so excited to see this latest improvement.

So excited to see some caterpillars enjoying our milkweed. Butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and caterpillars are all enjoying Adrian's gardening efforts!

sWe live in the most amazing community. Mahone Bay is home to so many artists and creative people, and we're lucky enough to know a few of them. This year, Vicki, Karen, Kate and so many others conceived and then delivered on a wonderful new attraction - Faerie Trail. The trails start at the small bridge that leads to the town's Aquatic Gardens and follow a wooded path behind Suttles and Seawinds, through a sunken garden (old house foundation) and then along the water behind the Barn Coffee House. Additionally, there are some faerie houses in other places in the same general area. Adrian came home from having coffee with a friend raving about how great the trails were - when I was there, it was full of kids and adults enjoying the magic that our fabulous volunteers created for our community and visitors alike. 
The only thing I contributed was a refurbished parking meter to accept donations. These meters were part of  a project I started before I retired - Give the Gift of Change. I sourced and helped install meters throughout Mahone Bay and beyond to help raise money for great area causes. The Faerie Trail snags the last two meters I had available. So excited I could support this amazing effort in a small way. 

Friends Karl and Susan invited us to their annual lake party. Great friends, wonderful food and an amazing tour of the lake. So lovely to be on the water and to be home to enjoy the company of our friends. Thank you Captain Karl amd Susan!