man-eating snails

October 23, 2017 Arlene Giddings

or...could also be
about how maybe i tend to exaggerate
for comedic purposes...
heh.

but
as promised yesterday
here is part 2
of my friday-adventure-on-a-holiday-monday
because i know you were sitting on the edge
of your seat refreshing the webpage
just waiting for part two, right? heh.

as i was leaving fort amherst
i saw this dirt road
and remembered how i told myself
that under no circumstances
were you going to go on dirt roads today...
but...
really...would you be able to say no to THIS dirt road?
it's on a hill!
who KNOWS what could be on the other side!
maybe a candy store...
or a space ship
or a herd of goats
in pajamas
or
a frigging cool lighthouse
you've never seen before.

(ummmm...it was the lighthouse, if you didn't guess...)

and such a pretty view!

and this....isn't it cute! that roof. ♥♥♥ it's so fairy tale-ish...in a decrepit kind of way...

and where are the non-man-eating snails i promised? you ask
well...next, i came across this place
which is burned into my memory
because
a) i love love love that broken down wharf
b) i did wedding photos here for the sweetest couple AND
c) we lost the bride's engagement ring on the beach here
and it was horrifying and awful and stressful but then a man
came along & asked us what we were doing
(the whole wedding party and myself on hands and knees
digging in sand frantically) and he offered to go home & get
his metal detector...we went to the reception and this sweet man
FOUND the engagement ring and that's reason #345 235 why i love PEI...
(plus there are no bobcats).

it was fun to climb on
but that's how i noticed the snails...
i saw one at first
but then i realized there were hundreds!

and then...the drive home...
which found me on
dirt road #3...
but i'm so glad i
didn't take my own advice.

and that was the end of another adventure...
i know it was a low blow to trick you with man eating snails...
i hope the pretty dirt roads made up for it.
:)

fall friday adventure...on a monday

October 22, 2017 Arlene Giddings

i feel i should give a disclaimer here
so you can decide
whether or not
you want to
continue reading this post.

there will be pictures.
oodles and oodles of pictures.
:)
it's fall on PEI...
every 3 steps makes you want to stop
and grab your camera.

i am going to try
really, really hard
to control myself...
but i apologize in advance.

(see? I couldn't even get through the
disclaimer/apology
without posting THREE photos already!)

thanksgiving monday
i went for a drive...i had no plan at all...
although i did tell myself
there would be NO dirt roads.
it rained hard the night before
and i did not want to get stuck

dirt road #1 of the day...i listen to myself well.

and after some aimless meandering...
& a couple of middle of the road shots
which the mom in me KNOWS are a bad idea
but i still just can't stop myself

ended up in fort amherst
where i have been once before shooting
wedding photos
but didn't realize that there were trails.

luckily i know now that there is an airport in Charlottetown and will not embarrass myself by ducking and running for cover wondering why no one else is panicking that a plane is OBVIOUSLY going to crash...not that that happened to me before...well...i was only young.

while i was walking through here
i heard a loud noise
right above me...
like the swooping/rustling of giant wings...
the path opens up to a trail that
runs along the beach
but when i looked back
i could see this bird circling overhead

i thought it might be an eagle
and i have always wanted to see one up close
so i went back towards the woods...
but then i was disappointed
because i couldn't see him anymore...
but then
there he was.
perched up on a tree branch about
TEN feet away from me!
i was so excited.
i started taking pictures
and felt all National Geographic
until
he
turned
his
head
and looked right at me
and suddenly
i started thinking
do eagles attack people?
does it depend on your height?
(don't ask me why i wondered that...
i think it had something to do with thinking
an eagle might carry off a small dog
but not a big dog
hence a short person
but not a tall one...
i can't explain how my brain works).

i quickly moved to a different spot
where i could still see him
but maybe he wouldn't notice me
and texted my husband to see
if he felt that an eagle might attack
a short person
on a trail if he mistook the
clicking noises the camera was making
for a gun instead.

my husband gave his usual answer...
"lol".

so i walked back to my car
and celebrated surviving my
close encounter with wildlife
by eating the most amazing
s'mores doughnut from tim hortons
that i bought on a whim
but it was SO GOOD.
i'm not sure if it was just the
exhilaration of my narrow escape
from the clutches of a giant bird
that made it taste so good...
or the fact that i was starving...
but it was damn good.

i went other places and took other photos that day
but this post is already way too long
so...i'll show you the man eating snails tomorrow.

i would not make a good sailor...

September 17, 2017 Arlene Giddings

all summer
i said i was going to visit greenwich national park
(the above picture IS NOT from there but was taken on the way)
so a couple of weeks ago
i finally did it.

and it did not disappoint.

the day was windy and a little cool
but the clouds were big and fluffy
and so low it felt you could jump up
and pull one down
and the sky was so damn blue
which seemed like a perfect day
for this trail.

the dunes were so incredibly cool...

but the walking bridge over the water
was way, way longer than i thought it was going to be
and i am sure
i walked it like a drunken sailor.
i thought that once i was on it for a bit
my body would adjust...
but no...not really...
i wobbled along, tripping and stumbling
and feeling a little seasick.
i kept watching other people
(because for the record...there were TONS of other people
on the trail the whole time i was there...
i didn't enjoy that part so much...
i like a little more solitude when i am on a trail)
to see if they were being affected
the same way
but if they were,
they hid it much better than me.
so...that coupled with the sad fact that i can't swim
has completely removed sailor
from my list of "what i want to be when i grow up".

and i didn't know that it would take you to the beach...
which was beautiful
and i love days like that
where the wind is wild
and the waves are foamy
and rushing in with a roar
and you just feel like laughing loud
and running along the beach
without caring what anybody thinks
but...
you are still feeling slightly seasick
AND there are so many people around
so you limit yourself
to trying to get really close to the waves
for photos
until one wave tricks you
and actually runs you over
soaking your pant legs
and making you laugh out loud
and run in front of strangers anyway.

the day before i went to this park
i had dyed my hair kind of purple...
so i also spent an inordinate amount of time
trying to get a photo of the purple
while on the trail...
which i am sure made people look at me oddly
as well...

and...
even more exciting...
i found a perfect little truffula tree
as i was walking back.
part of me want to point it out
to the other people as they walked by
but realized that shouting
"look!!!! it's a PERFECT TRUFFULA TREE!"
paired with my staggering walk on the bridge
might cause someone to think maybe
i shouldn't be driving...or unaccompanied.

i know this post was way too long
and so many photos so if you stuck with me
til the end, yay!
and honestly...THERE WERE SO MANY MORE PHOTOS
that i DIDN'T post...but wanted to.
if you have not been to this park yet, you really should go!
i regret that i didn't explore the interpretative center a little more
other than just to find the bathroom
and there is a whole other trail i didn't do
but that will be another adventure.

oh...and an ice cream sundae on the way back... :)

friday adventures...

September 15, 2017 Arlene Giddings

sometimes the best adventures
catch you by surprise...
like when you get up friday morning
& pack up the car
with the camera and the diet coke
but your heart is
just not in it today...
the light's not right...it's too cloudy...
the car is making a funny noise,
you need gas but you don't feel like pumping it
and you feel like your hair is doing something weird
and then you think you will go for coffee
and bullet journal
but you sit in the parking lot
and think...you know what...
i just wanna go home and put on some pj pants
and doodle at my own desk.

so that's how i spent most of the day.

but i had plans with a friend to go for a bite to eat
and a walk so i left home a little early
and went to HMS and got 2 new leuchtturm1917
baby journals because apparently i'm an addict
(BUT THEY ARE SO CUTE)
and then met up with my friend for supper...
we ate at the silver fox
and seriously,
it was so good.
and inexpensive.
and no, there were no chicken fingers on the menu
but my new trick is to order the
chicken bacon wrap
but...without the wrap.
cause then?
well...it's just chicken fingers on a bed of lettuce with
some BACON.
sooooooo good.
oh...and a ceaser...also...soooooo good.
especially the spicy string bean.

so anyway. :)
then we walked the boardwalk
and the geese! there were so many geese.
i tried to convince my friend to
do something to make them all fly at once
so i could take a picture
but she declined all the ideas i proposed
(yelling wildly...throwing rocks)
(not AT the geese...just close...like...to make them fly...
not kill them! sheeesh)
and yes, uncle eddie...there WERE squirrels!
gangs of them. AND i forgot the stupid peanuts.

so anyway. :)
then we went for ice cream at holman's ice cream parlor
and i had the strawberry shortcake sundae
and look, i'm doing you a big favor right now.
go have that sundae.
you will totally thank me.
i mean..unless you are allergic to strawberries,
then maybe you shouldn't listen to me...
but otherwise...
you should try the sundae.

a perfect day...♥♥♥

September 10, 2017 Arlene Giddings

i love fridays
especially fridays off...
especially sunny fridays off...
especially fridays off
that happen to fall on your
birthday!

i met up with a friend and
she introduced me to a brand new trail
that i had never heard of
winter river trail.
it was beautiful...
runs adjacent to a river in places
(hence the name, i guess)
and was definitely a bit of a work out!
we did the orange trail above
but you can do shorter versions as well.

it was so peaceful and the moss and ferns
made the whole area seem electric
with color...

there were mushrooms and
tall, tall trees
and a little cabin by the water...

if you have not done this trail before
(and you are on the island)
you should totally check it out!

we came across a flock or a herd or a gaggle
of butterflies, too.
i think they are called painted lady butterflies...
so pretty!

i came back into town
and stopped at our local office supply store
because they had emailed to let me know
that the mildliners i have been waiting for
had come in!!!
these are made by zebra
but only recently released in canada
and i have wanted them
for
so
long
that
i think i may have been a little
scary
in my
exuberance (i'm not sure that everyone
gets that excited about high lighters)
when i walked into HMS
and saw the display...
i bought one of every package.
and a little baby bullet journal!
it's so cute!

the rest of the day
was spent with my sweet husband...
chinese food for supper,
exploring a new dirt road,
ice cream drumsticks and
movies...and so many sweet messages
on facebook and text that
it took me until today to read them all
(and i am totally not complaining...
i loved them all!)

all in all, it was a pretty perfect day...
♥ ♥ ♥