A Great Place To Stay On Digby Neck

 

Digby Neck is a very beautiful, unique part of Nova Scotia. But one thing in short supply are places to stay that put you in the heart of the experience.

Problem solved!

Just across the marsh from me, Seawall Beach Cottages are now open year round. They are truly beautiful and offer all the amenities you need to make your stay comfortable and enjoyable. 

They share the same million dollar view of St. Mary’s Bay that I have- a spectacular view that changes four times a day with the tides. The beach is just a few minutes walk and it is a fantastic beach to walk, rockhound and look for souvenir treasures. In fact, most of the agate, jasper and amethyst I use to create my jewelry has been found right on that beach! Guests even get a 10% discount at my shop.

The location is unbeatable- close to town (Digby is the scallop capital of the world!) but away from the noise and a great place to swim or put your kayak in the water. And all the great attractions of “The Neck” such as Balancing Rock, Gulliver’s Cove, Beautiful Cove and Briar Island are close at hand. But I warn you, the view is so good you might never leave your comfortable chair on the porch!

Digby Neck is a great vacation destination and Seawall Beach Cottages make it even more so. Check them out!

More From The Lapidary Shop

Like the rest of the world, we are self isolating way out here on Digby Neck with the hope that at some point in the future, "normal" will return and we will actually see some tourists.

I am fortunate to have a hobby (lapidary) to occupy the time and a large amount of rock to cut and polish.

As some of you may know, my wife Vickie, (She who MUST be obeyed) has The Agate Eye and it is because of that that I have such beautiful material to work with. Here is one she demanded be cut this morning and although it was a little big I decided to give it a try on my Hi-Tech 10 inch saw (you try saying no to her!). The results were spectacular! The surface is like glass and includes areas of plume, moss and fortification agate.

If you click on the pic you will see even more detail.

But because there have been no visitors, I have had time to cut a lot more and here are a few of the nicest.

The last one (greenish) is called eclogite and it is formed deep in the earth where one tectonic plate is dipping below another. As such, the pressure is so high that sometimes diamonds can be found associated with this rock.

If you click on the individual pictures you will be able to see even more detail.

I happen to live smack dab in the middle of an amazing geological setting and I hope that you can experience it for yourself sometime. In the meantime, stay safe and healthy!

Something's Missing!

Several weeks ago we sustained a direct, 2 day hit from Hurricane Dorion and apart from losing power for 52 hours (no big deal when you have a propane generator) we suffered no ill effects- not even the loss of a shingle!

Well, last week they forecast a little "blow" that turned turned out to be somewhat larger with wind gusts topping out at 120+ KPH! This time we had some damage to an area of siding at the back but the real loss was our beautiful shop sign that for several years has served as a beacon for tourists and locals alike as they travel The Neck.

As you can see, our sign got blown right off its clips and is now sitting about 30 feet out in the marsh. It's not the end of the world as we had already cut the wood for a new one we were going to make over the winter. I had secured the "closed" sign by a bungee cord but the hooks holding it were also pulled right out of the post so it is now jerryrigged as well.

But not to worry. As they say in that movie, "We can rebuild him- even better!"

And in the meantime, although our sign might be gone, we're still here and open most days (although we will be in Halifax this weekend) so if you are looking for yarn or that perfect gift, call us at 902 482-2188 and we'll make arrangements to meet you at some point.

Cheers,

Why You Should Visit Digby Neck

Most people don't have a lot of time to spend visiting other places so I'm going to make the case for you using some of that valuable time to visit Digby Neck Nova Scotia.

First, it's the only way you are going to get the chance to visit The Artist's Mark and meet me!

All kidding aside, many people who visit the shop say they are amazed at the quality of our goods and the fact that everything is hand made by professional local artisans.

But beyond that, we have an on site professional lapidary shop (and professional lapidary!), art studio and jewelry bench. Families love to see how the various machines work and learn about the local geology and everybody leaves with a beautiful free piece of Digby Neck in the form of a tumbled rock that is over 300 million years old!

However, we aren't the only artists in the area. Digby Neck is dotted with galleries and studios, not to mention the home for the best whale watching around. And driving The Neck is far from a boring experience! Check out this aerial view of the beach and cliffs across the street from our shop. The little house at the end of the beach is ours and here's what it looks like up close. And thanks to Troy and Carmin Cale for sending me these photos!

There are misty coves around every corner and the sunsets will take your breath away.

So make plans to visit this truly unique part of Canada's playground. You'll leave with a lifetime of memories for the whole family!

Fall Comes To The Neck

Well, another tourist season is drawing to a close and the scene of activity now shifts.

Yesterday, the last stones were groove cut and all the saws, tumblers and wheels have now been drained,cleaned and put to bed. The VT Rock Lab is in hibernation mode.

The oil cooled 10 inch saw is in Dartmouth where, hopefully, my talented grandboys will be replacing the neanderthal 1/3 HP motor with a new 3/4 HP beauty and mounting it to a nice laminated countertop piece courtesy of East Coast Countertops. Who knows, knowing them it might come back equipped with bluetooth!

So now is the time when I take inventory of what I need to make over the winter and get to work at my bench in Vickie's studio.

The first priority is to finish some ear ring and ear ring/ pendant sets as I sold quite a few of these over the summer. I get to use this beautiful space as long as I keep my mouth shut and don't disturb the REAL artist.

Here she is working under the close supervision of one of the two studio cats (the true rulers of the domain!). And here are a few of the pieces she is working on.

So while it is cold and rainy outside, we are all set for a fun, creative winter inside.

The shop is still open and we still have a good inventory of Seawall Fibres yarn so if you are in the area, come on by!You might want to call first to make sure we are here.

This Magical Place Called "The Neck"

I am writing this post mostly for those who intend to visit the area but even if you don't, this may be of interest to you.

Digby Neck is a small strip of land sandwiched between the Bay of Fundy and St. Mary's Bay in western Nova Scotia. It is actually a chain of three distinct land masses that were once all connected but over hundreds of millions of years have become separated by cataclysmic geological events. It is these events that have produced the conditions that make The Neck so special.
Scenic coves and headlands dot both shorelines and the cracks in the basalt have been filled by colourful silicates such as agate, jasper, quartz, amethyst and carnelian.

When you drive up The Neck on highway #217 (one road in and out) you are retracing the steps of ox carts that initially carved out the route. In fact, everywhere you look, you see The Neck through the eyes of history. Wharves that are now crumbling once hosted large commercial sailing ships. Sleepy fishing villages were once thriving hubs of activity before the depletion of the fish stocks and the remnants of old fishing weirs stand as ghostly sentinels to the past glory.

Our house built in 1849

The scenery is spectacular whether you are on land or on the water watching whales breach right beside your boat. And the people are friendly and delighted to let you in on our secret paradise, whether it is for a day or, as some have chosen, a lifetime.

If you come, I hope you stop by my shop in Rossway and I can share my insights on the amazing geology and geography. I might even cut a rock while you are here.

Houses on Brier Island

In the meantime, I want to introduce you to three amazing resources that will make your visit much more interesting and enjoyable.

We now have a dedicated web site for The Neck. It's found at www.digbyneckandislands.ca  and has been created by Jon White, one of the many who have fallen under the spell of the place and now call it home. Check out his air B&B called The Mermaid House in Little River! This web site will answer pretty much any question you might have on the area and lists many attractions and resources (including my shop!).

If you want to get a feel for what makes The Neck special, do a google search on The Last Weir and take the time to watch a short film produced by Tim Wilson. It will give you a very personal and close up insight into who we are and how our lives have changed through time.

And if you want even more historical perspective, check out www.heritagehub.ca  where you can access a wealth of historical information including old maps, pictures and even interviews of people who have spent their entire (and sometimes long) lives here.

Visit these three resources and you will absolutely have to pay us a visit!

Eagle perched on the old wharf across the road

The Beauty of Nova Scotia

It's been a while since I posted because I've been busy in the rock lab and it's also the time of the year when we "batten down the hatches" around here. The store is still open but we will probably bring the large sign in so it doesn't blow away in the next big wind.

The knitters had a very successful show in both Vancouver and Austen Texas but we have received new stock just before the postal strike!

So, the beauty of Nova Scotia. For those of you who have traveled here, you know all about it. You are never more than a few miles from the ocean and even old abandoned houses are amazing! Just google abandoned houses in Nova Scotia to see what I mean. People have been living, and making a living, here for 300 years so history is everywhere you look.

Even the weather is beautiful- especially when it is wild. And trust me it gets pretty wild! Here's what I woke up to a few days ago, when a big storm was heading our way.

Talk about "red skies in the morning"! We were getting pounded just a few hours later.

But there's beauty everywhere, even below ground. Here's a slice of a fossilized tree showing really distinct rings.

And here's a beautiful slice of seam agate.

So if your idea of a great vacation is to wring beauty from nature, this is your place. And if you find your way to my beautiful "neck of the woods"- Digby Neck, stop by and say hi and I'll show you some beautiful treasures of nature.

Getting To Know The Neck

Often people come into the shop and ask about restaurants or interesting places to visit so I thought today I'd discuss a few.
First- a great place to eat!
Just a little further out the Neck, in Sandy Cove, is the Schoolhouse Cafe.

I had lunch there today and found what everyone else has- the food is fantastic! I had a fresh tomato and cheese pannini and my wife, who has Celiac Disease had the gluten free chowder as did our guest. Everything was wonderful and absolutely fresh.

The menu is short and simple and changes depending on what is fresh but if you go to their facebook page, you can see the menu for that day. Don't leave without trying a cinnamon bun!

They even have a large map of part of the neck which shows places of interest- including our shop!
Check their facebook page for hours and make the time for a meal. You won't regret it!

Now about interesting places and things to do.
Digby and Digby Neck, are fascinating places to visit. But how can a visitor know about all the interesting coves, beaches, walking trails etc.? And how can they know about the teeming life in a tidal pool?
Easy!
You contact Greg Turner (no relation I swear) at Gael Tours! Greg knows EVERYTHING about our area and can take you and your family on an adventure that will even get your teen off their phones!

Check out Greg and The Schoolhouse Cafe and get the most out of your Digby Vacation
And don't forget to visit us at The Artist's Mark!

Why "The Artist's Mark" (and no, my name's not Mark)

Every year several people come through the door and ask if I am Mark. I say that no, my name is Peter (although sometimes Vickie refers to me by other names that can't be typed here- well deserved, she says).
We call our shop The Artist's Mark because it reflects the contents. Pretty much every piece of every item is hand made and thus bears the mark of the artist. This is something we feel is very important, even more so in our age of mass, cookie-cutter production.
We were reminded of this when we were having coffee this morning and looked up and saw these beams.

The house was built in 1849, from timbers of a ship that went down in the bay across the road so these hand hewn beams (each about 30 feet long) were probably made 200 years ago! We have 10 of them so about 300 feet of beams. How long did it take to make these? Where were they made originally? What kind of men did the work? Why are there holes and indentations at certain points? Would one ask any of these questions if you were looking up at a steel I-beam?
So when you look at pieces in the shop, if you look closely, you will always find the mark of the artist. A customer asked recently if I put an identifying mark on my pieces and I answered "Tons of 'em- just look closely and you'll see tiny scratches and nicks in the copper and often little irregularities in the shape, etc. of the stones- these are all my identifying marks and show where and how the material was handled". So it has a story- a history as it were and we feel strongly that this adds not only to the charm, but to the value.
A perfect case in point is the piece I just finished.

It,s called Sea Foam and is a local piece of jasper that Vickie found nearby. If you look closely, you will see marks where I nipped the ends of the wires and filed them smooth and where I pinched it to hold the leather cord. You'll see hammer marks where I flattened the copper bar so I could drill it.
The main stone has beautiful patterning and shows why I prefer agate and jasper to gem stones.

But as you can see, there are some tiny pits in the surface and the shape is not perfectly symmetrical. Some would have filled the pits with resin and made the stone symmetrical but I find that boring. It was a collaborative effort. I cut, ground, polished and drilled the stone and God chipped in with the amazing patterns.
So if you are looking for perfection, if you want cookie cutter, you will be disappointed at The Artist's Mark. But if you like unique pieces that tell a story, you will definitely like our shop.
And by the way, if you want to read more about artist's marks check out Vickie's polymer clay blog. Just do a google search on "claymagination".
Hope to see you soon!

Officially Open For The Season.

As usual, spring is taking its sweet time getting here and because of all the cold water, cool temperatures and fog are the order of the day. But I have it on good authority that warmer weather will arrive at some point. So today, the sign went back up.

Yup! The Artist's Mark is open for business!
People who have visited previously will notice that we have reconfigured thing so we can cram in even more stuff.
We still have Vickie's popular gorgeous totes:

And a HUGE selection of Seawall Fibres hand dyed yarn in all weights along with hand knitted items, unique patterns and knitting supplies:

And more polymer clay and stone jewelry than ever before:

We still have amazing original art and this year, we will be selling individual polymer clay beads for those who want to create their own pieces. Of course, we always have a great selection of local rock and mineral specimens. We even have the world's largest diamond! (OK so it's a Herkimer diamond which isn't really a diamond but it's still cool to see)!
So if your travels take you to Digby, come on out to "The Neck"- a truly unique part of Nova Scotia. You can tour the Rock Lab and see jewelry being made and don't forget, every visitor gets to choose a tumbled polished local stone so they can take home "A Piece of the Neck"!

Polymer Clay Jewelry- Part 2

Yesterday, I showed you beautiful jewelry made from polymer clay. Many of the pieces contained striking geometric patterns and we are often asked how this is achieved so today, we're going to show you how it is done.

We start by mixing up the desired colours: (and by we, I mean Vickie)

These colours are then assembled into various patterns and shapes:

These shapes are then assembled into what is called a "cane" and reduced to about 1.5 square inches. This reduction process creates a cane about 10 inches long and this is then cut into two or more (in this case 4) sections each 2.5 inches long. The blade needed to produce these cuts is a tissue blade and is EXTREMELY sharp!

Two of these sections are then cut on the diagonal through the length, cutting opposite corners on each of the two. This yields 4 differently patterned triangle canes, each of which can yield 3 different patterns for a total of 12 potentially.

Each triangle is cut into two equal segments and the two pieces are picked up and placed face-to-face.

This is further reduced to about a half inch square which produces a length of about 4-6 inches. This cane is then cut into 4 sections:

Each piece is arranged in one of the three possible double mirrored arrangements ( called a tessellation).

Then this final arrangement becomes the new cane and can be wrapped in complimentary colours and then slices can be taken and used to  cure and produce the final beads.

Pretty easy, huh?

Actually, you can see that this takes a lot of skill and practice as well as an artistic sense to choose the most desirable options and colours.

So now that you know the process, we hope that you find this jewelry even more special!

P.S. Thought you might like to see a shot of what we woke up to this morning and what makes this place so special. Enjoy!