Midnight Salamander Run in Port Joli

10pm  Tues  Apr5
Hello,

Tonight was the very interesting “amphibian march” here in Port Joli.

Based upon what John Gilhen ( John is  a herpetologist with the NS Museum) told me last year they were right on cue as this was the first warm wet night in late March/early Apr.

How amazing that across Queen Co (and probably Shelburne and coastal Lunenburg) thousands of these large wood salamanders are tonight crawling from their underground burrows and making their way to ponds where they will lay their eggs before returning to their woodland habitat.

Along with numerous very large black spotted salamanders (estimate the larger ones to be 15 cm in length) there was also the occasional wood frog or two (med size orangey colored).  As an early count I’d say about a dozen or so salamanders crossing along a road length of 10 metres.

They were exiting from the woods and crossing the road by my home to make their way to our pond (named when my kids were young as “The Frog Pond).

I suspect that by now there are many many dozens (similar to last year)   and I’m a bit curious and wonder about checking out the pond however as I’m the only one currently up (6am comes early) and the wind is howling, the rain is belting down every so often and the darkness is rather foreboding I’m not heading back outside for any more pics .

Darlene Norman

#99 .. When they stop they raise their head and almost take a dragon stance.  In loose “DOT winter ice sand” on the shoulder of the road

#06  ..  For a comparison my boots are women size 8.













#11  ..   And when I relate this to a measure ..  This salamander is 15 cm.

This makes me feel all warm & fuzzy

I recently drove to Summerville, my beach of choice on any stinking hot & humid day, and as usual looking around in Summerville centre near the Quarter Deck as it is such a of excitement. Well I noticed something which I thought was a yard sale and I always have to have a peek. As I drove closer, I realized it was not a yard sale and I was trying to read the sign. Oh for God sake Heather pull over. OK Then I thought,  "how wonderful is that. This is why I love living in Queens"

Yes this is what I saw and could not read the sign, so look a little closer. Here you go, try this.

It's so wonderful that people like this exist. I am glad they do in Queens County.

Heather Kelly

The Annual Greenfield Planked Salmon Supper

The Greenfield Planked Salmon Supper just might be one of the longest running traditions in Queens County, and planked salmon might just be one of my all time favorite meals. I may be dating myself and someone please, correct me if I am wrong, but I am sure I was attending these Planked Salmon Suppers as long as 30 years ago.

When I heard a friend was going, I asked for a Queens County Community update. What could be more perfect than a first timers review of the Greenfield Planked Salmon Supper.

Here is what he had to say,

"This was our first planked salmon supper and it certainly lived up to expectation.  The weather was great and there was a huge turnout.  The firefighters did a great job of feeding us all in the searing heat and dressed up in their overalls!"

Stephen


Thanks Stephen, glad you had a great experience in Queens. Thanks for the pics and review.

Queens Early Childhood Development 4th Annual Chowder Challenge

Good old fashioned, down home fun with homemade seafood chowder. Wow it was good too. There were 5 chowders to taste and they were all very different. There were submissions from RBC, Mayme Adams, Art MacLeod, Tony & Jessica Whynot, and Vicki Conrad.

Did you know that anyone can submit a chowder. They are always looking for groups or individuals to submit a contender. Do you or others think that you make the best seafood chowder in the world, then watch this time next year and let's put it to the test.

There were so many volunteers that came out to help and they all made this a very successful fundraiser. The QECDA is funded by the Community Support Group, but as you know there is never enough to go around and any shortfalls are made up through fundraising. The QECDA offers vital services to parents and children in Queens County. They work with you and your child on many different levels when you are dealing with your child's developmental issues. Watch out for the next well child clinic for a chance to gauge your childs development. Early intervention is always important for any child development issues.

There is one satisfied customer. And this is how you do it. Take your tray and your numbered cups and get each one filled with a different chowder, eat, decide and vote. It was very interesting for my first time. There were a lot of veterans there, no instruction necessary. Good luck next year QECDA. You'll see me at the head of the line, tray in hand.

A Day out in North Queens.

A road trip is a road trip no matter where you are going and I love road trips, especially on a sunny Friday. This one took myself and 2 others to Caledonia. I have been wanting to visit Giggling Grannies. I love their Facebook posts and they always put loads of pics on as well. That is me to the left sitting at one of the tables in Gigging Grannies. A cup of coffee is just over a $1 and the atmosphere is welcoming. It seems to be  a bit of a hub in Caledonia now. There were people gathering to chat around the coffee station. Visitors arrived to meet our group as well as we were really there for the International Food Luncheon at the Masonic Hall. We were not disappointed. It was packed and the food was fantastic. I tried everything and went back for seconds on the Japanese dish called pot stickers. That is the North American name for them and I could not tell you what the Japanese name is. There were dishes from Germany, US, Canada, Italy, France and India. All made in local kitchens. My personal favorite was the beef vindaloo. I love Indian food and this was an excellent representation.
The desserts were awesome. You had to pass these before you got to the food, so you were

already planning to leave space for the them at the end. I am not one to eats sweets, but I could not resist  the Boston Cheese Cake with a side of German Apple Strudel. It was a wonderful day and I met lots of new people of Caledonia. We had some great conversations and great food. Thanks to all that made my day.

Ship wrecks & buried treasure, a piece of Beach Meadows history.

Hello

    I Just got back from my walk. Today I walked down toward Beach Meadows and on my way back I went down a new road where a one time Brooklyn native is planning to build a house. Its a nice walk down the road through the hard woods and pregnant cat spruce. I call them pregnant because they have them big carbunkles on them like many cat spruce do along the shore.

    Once on the shore there are some nice ledges running out into the harbor there are also tidal ponds to play around in . Good  places to look for crabs especially hermit crabs and other sea friends. I use to love doing that when it was easier for me to get around in rough areas and learning about all the sea critters. There is so much to be seen in these little tidal ponds but and you can spend hours finding wonderful creatures who live there

    In this particular area when I was a kid there were tree stumps sticking out of the mud flats as if the sea had taken the land over in the last couple hundred years. The trees had been cut off by people living along the shore many years ago. Eventually the land got undermined or sunk and the tide came in over the area. This is also where the Clara Friend an American fishing boat ran ashore  and many men were lost. We discussed that on here not to long ago.

    This is the area called the creek it runs in behind the Clam flats for those who know the area. I did a lot of diving in this creek as its where the remains of a ship wreck sticks out of the muddy bottom. It is also the area where the black folks of  Brooklyn lived many years ago they were "Neils" and the ledges off there are known as Neils Ledges. Many lives have been lost on Neils ledges over the years. Its nice to walk in these kind of places when you know its history.

    So you see I was for a part of my walk back in time to the 1700 and 1800 hundreds. Folks then built there houses on the shore as boats were their means of traveling here and there. I know where most of these houses were and I use to scratch around the old foundations looking for relics. Some of the older folks in my time use to go down there digging looking for buried treasure - I doubt if any was found. Most villages had stories of buried treasures as that was the entertainment to sit around nites and tell stories --- no radios or tv's back then. Some story tellers were very good at it and could convince their followers that the stories were true.    

    Queens county has a lot of history and most areas you travel when out for your walks have stories to tell of characters and things that took place in the past. I did not write this to be published  but I will pass it on to Heather Kelly and she can post it if she wishes to do so.

OL BUGGER (down on the shore of Liverpool Bay)

So glad we've made our home in Queens County

When I first moved here, I was very much a girl 'from away' - hurrying, used to more bustle, and driven crazy by the slower pace of this dreaming area. I had no experiences and not much to draw on for the history of this place. (And I was a little....bored.)

But my father-in-law, God rest his soul, changed all that. He gave me books about the area and took me on Sunday drives where he would tell me stories of the houses we passed and the people that lived there. And what we talked about helped me fall in love with this place.
Where else can you swim in the ocean (The OCEAN! It is baffling to me when people are so matter-of-fact about that great expanse of water right out their windows) and raft down a freshwater river that afternoon? Along the Medway, where I live, there are old dams and quiet spots to explore - even amazing finds like a long-abandoned pulp mill to peek into and wonder about, and hundred-and-some year old buildings, still in use today.

The first time I went to Crescent Beach was amazing. All that open space! The fresh salt air! And there's a small store that sells candied ginger ice-cream nearby, too, for recuperative purposes after long beach walks.

I'm so glad we've made our home in Queens County, where there is so much to do and so much to explore!

Jessica, daysgoby, http://jessalogic.blogspot.com

Tourism Season

Today was pretty well filled with a Tourism meeting/workshop seeing there old and new faces all with excitement in the thought of a positive season filled again with familiar and new people to meet. For years we have had our returning costumers /friends from away, so many faces we enjoy seeing every Summer.

We have a wonderful town and surrounding areas full of fun ,adventure, heritage and friendly locals. It doesn't take long to be welcomed once you step foot in Queen's County.

This Season will see a new Tourist Bureau in Liverpool the other one being somewhat a small cabin type building this new one would make a great house sitting on the Mersey River with deck all around. A lovely building indeed. When can I move in :-)

We all were giving our suggestions at this meeting as to what our areas have to offer and we have a lot around us .I for one am thrilled when someone finds me here and visits, then I send them to all our little hot spots. The beaches in Queens County are simply the best with beautiful white sand, now the water yes is a bit on the cold side most Summers but i can tell you stories about body surfing at Summerville when the water was like bath water so make sure you always test her before jumping in and when there is a September storm on the horizon why that would be the time to jump in. Way back when my Mom got her cabin which now is owned by my Sister and her husband, Mom and I were sitting on our deck looking out to the Ocean eating an ice cream Sunday from the little canteen across the street which is now the Quarter Deck. A car full of young suffers stopped , they were so excited at the look of the waves and asked us if the Beach was private when we told them go right ahead enjoy that it was not private, well you should have seen them trying to get these surf boards quickly off the car as my Mom is saying "Boys go feel the water first" now today we have surfers come from all over for our South Shore waves but they come with wet suits and are ready for their fun.

Growing up here before Summerville became a Provincial park my family and friends use to camp there every weekend I literally grew up on that beach. My Dad and friend use to dig a hole in the sand and put up a canvas outhouse and it would be there all Summer long. One year my Dad bought a tent trailer ,Mom and I loved it, to us it was home away from home and believe this, we would leave it out there all week long to return on the weekends to our tent trailer still there and not touched by anyone, those were the days.

Another special spot was up river on the Mersey, where now we have the Trestle Trail. There were train tracks and river crossing with log booms holding back pulp wood to be driven down river to the paper mill. The local boys, I say boy's because It was mostly boy's who would jump from the trestle bridge and run the pulp wood across the river to Pine Groove Park where as a very young child I would go to play "Cowboy's and Indian's " yes running around the woods doing just that.

One other special place I want to share with you and many out there know this great treasure ,it is beyond Summerville in Sable River " Bare Hole" I like to spell it Bare not Bear for just that reason I believe named because It is back in the woods and if looking for it without direction you may not find it ,being very secluded and private at most times and if people do come along you would hear them walking through the woods. The water is deep ,warm, brown and simply wonderful. The large rocks that surround it are warm and after a great swim are an inviting place to lounge . We would go there daily to wash the sand and surf off our bodies and your hair after swimming there was so soft .

There are many, too many places to mention like this, here in Queen's so I would suggest any of you out there looking for simple beauty come on and look us up, and when in town drop by here and say Hi.

Debbie Taylor, Sea People Art,  www.seapeople-art.com

Pamela & Phoebe's Day Out

I took my camera along today on our visit at Queens Manor. This is my dog, my girl, Phoebe, and she and I have been a St. Johns Ambulance Therapy Dog team for three years. We used to visit at Queens Hospital, then a few month ago switched to the Manor.  

Every Saturday morning, I tell Phoebe, "Let's go to work." She can't wait to get to the car! She loves visiting with the wonderful people at the Manor, residents and staff alike. Every person there welcomes us with smiles, and lots of 

affection. The photo top left, the one of Phoebe and I, is in Thelma Scobey's room. Thelma crochets beautifully and we have a lot to talk about as she grew up in the house I live in. I want to say that Liverpool should be very proud of the Manor, of the people who work there and make it a real home rather than just a nursing home.

All best, 

Pamela Ditchoff and Phoebe

Great experience out and about in Westfield.

This letter to the Editor of the Advance inspired me to start this new page of Queens County Community to inspire others to get out and rediscover all that is wonderful about Queens County. I spoke to Lanny and he was happy to share this article with all the Queens County Community readers.

My wife and I just returned from North Queens, where we attended a community supper at the New Westfield Hall. The supper was sponsored by a group promoting the using of local foods. Our supper consisted of cornbeef, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes along with home made butter, rolls, biscuits and apple crisp topped with whipped cream. Coffee, tea and water for drinks. It could not have been any better. Very good meal. There were little booths set up along one wall selling everything from pickles and jewelry, to fresh eggs and blankets. There was a fairly good turn out from South Queens. Many of us commented on how we thought we were on the streets of Haiti after the earthquake once we hit the road from Caledonia to Westfield, it sure is a mess. Hopefully something can soon be done to upgrade this section of highway.

All in all it was a very pleasant day to make such a tour, to meet old friends, enjoy a good meal, buy a few things and enjoy QCCR country music part of the way home. I love that station, especially on the weekends. There are things going on in Queens and they need our support. Give it some thought and see what you can do to take part.

The supper was to be followed with music on stage by local talent.

Lanny DeLong

The next big event at the Westfield Hall is a Country, Gospel and Newfie Music Variety Show on 18th April 2010 Featuring: Charlie Purcell and the Newfie Country Sound Melinda and Alisia Naugler, James and Agnes Clinton. Show time is 1:30-4:00. Admission:$6. Half take tickets, canteen; a portion of the proceeds goes to the Westfield Hall.