Ladies Night Out in Baddeck, Cape Breton

Yellow Cello Cafe in Baddeck.

Ladies night out on Sunday night with friends Wendy, Catherine, and Linda over in Baddeck was a lot of fun.   On the way over we stopped at a little deli and bakery, the Herring Choker.  It's right on the Trans-Canada at a little place called Nyanza.  They are known for their good bread, soups, sandwiches and the wide variety of spices they offer.  (Note to myself:  add to my "bucket list" stopping for lunch at the Herring Choker next summer.)

Catherine at the Herring Choker.

Wendy and Linda buying bread at the Herring Choker.

Baddeck is one of my favorite places in Cape Breton, and on Sunday it wasn't that crowded.  In the summer it is a popular place for tourists and quite often rather crowded.

                                                      Beautiful Landscaping in Baddeck.

Our destination was a little restaurant called the Yellow Cello, a clever name, no?  I had been there before for brunch or maybe an early lunch but never for dinner.  Like the town it was not crowded, and we were served very quickly.

                                                                  The Yellow Cello Cafe.

We each had a rather light meal in order to save room for dessert.

                                                                 Linda perusing the menu.

                                                                I had the vegetarian chili.  Yummy.

                                                        Catherine's choice the chicken salad.

                                                    Wendy and I each had the blueberry crisp for dessert.

I enjoyed the dinner, but most of all I was glad to have a visit with these three before Dan and I head back to North Carolina later this week.

A Serendipitous Lunch in Baddeck

Last weekend in Port Hawkesbury I ran into a friend, Shirley, that I had met on my first trip to Cape Breton .  Shirley and her family have a summer cottage just down the road from our place.  That summer when our younger son Patrick was along he had played with Shirley's boys during our stay here.  Despite her cottage being so near, I hadn't seen her for a number of years. 

Dan and Alexa shared stories of their fathers.

I learned that Shirley is now very active in the NDP here in Nova Scotia, so I asked if she knew Alexa, who is also active in the NDP and is the daughter of a friend of Dan and his father.  As it turned out she and Alexa are indeed friends.  Dan for years had been hoping to connect with Alexa during our visits to Nova Scotia so it was serendipitious over the weekend when I got an email from Shirley saying that Alexa was visiting and that they were heading to Baddeck to meet Alexa's friend, Betty and since we too were in Baddeck could we all get together for lunch. 

Betty's lovely summer house on the Baddeck waterfront.

We had planned to meet at the Inverary Inn for lunch, but when we discovered they didn't serve lunch, Betty insisted that we have lunch at her place.

Lovely lunch.

Blueberry cake and rhubarb crumble.

Betty's garden, a beautiful venue for lunch.

Pond in back yard. What a view!

Alexa and Betty have been friends since their youth.

Meeting Alexa and her friend Betty was delightful, and it was fun to spend an afternoon with Shirley as well.  Dan and Alexa were able to share stories of  their fathers and of friends in the NDP. Thanks Shirley for arranging this serendipitous get together.

Maggie in Peril

Our dog, Maggie. (Photo by Alain.)

We had quite a scare with our dog Maggie the other night when she began showing signs of respiratory distress.  She seemed to be trying to cough up something without success and was making wheezing sounds as if something were caught in her trachea.  It was even more scary because we were over in St. Ann's quite far from a vet, and it was late on Saturday night.  We headed for Sydney while making calls to an emergency vet number there, but we were encouraged to go to Baddeck which was closer. 

It was about two in the morning on Sunday when we reached the Baddeck Veterinary Clinic and were met by Dr. Golding.

Baddeck Veterinary Clinic.

After an xray of her esophagus and trachea showed nothing, it became necessary for him to sedate her and insert a device into her throat to determine what was causing the obstruction.  What he found was a large blade of grass with one end in her esophagus and the other in her windpipe.

Dr. Golding saved the blade of grass he removed from Maggie's throat.

 He was able to remove this, and by 9:00 on Sunday morning she was able to go home with us. It was quite a frightening experience for us and for Maggie, and we were quite relieved to have her breathing normally again.

Maggie safe at home.

Thanks so much to Dr. Golding for helping  Maggie.