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!

Introducing The Castaway Collection of Jewelry

 Beautiful jewelry is easy to find. But interesting jewelry isn't. That's why I make it.

We live right across from a beautiful beach and got to wondering how we could make pieces using the materials we find there. Thus The Castaway Collection was born.

The idea is simple- take found items- driftwood, shells, sea glass and rocks and make interesting pieces. They aren't to everyone's taste but those who like them LOVE THEM!

here are some we've made from shells so far:

The last one is extremely interesting and features a shell core and we've made several others.

We also use driftwood:

And of course we incorporate beautiful local beach glass.

As you can see, some are simple and some are more complex but all are very modestly priced because, quite frankly, our reward is overcoming the design and engineering challenges. These pieces are so different, they had to have their own display.

So if your travels take you to the wilds of Digby Neck, stop by and see for yourself. And check out our rock shop, hand dyed yarn and other jewelry!

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!

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

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!

A Lapidary Convert?

Currently, my friend Ted is visiting from Sydney Australia. Ted is also a geologist, in fact, we went through McGill together.

My objective on this trip was to get him working in the rock lab and I have succeeded beyond my wildest dreams! Best of all, he works for beer! And even better, HE BUYS THE BEER!

Ted's weapon of choice is my Hi-Tech 8 inch slant lap. Here we are suiting up for battle in the rock lab.

Note that I graciously let Ted wear my Hi-Tech apron. Now we're getting serious.

And now Ted is totally immersed in his grinding efforts.

I must say, he did really well, taking several pieces from 100 grit right through to final polish. And while he was doing that, I was cutting some of our recent finds. I'm pretty lousy at rockhoundind what with my artificial hip and all but between Ted and "She with the agate eye" we have come home with some pretty nice stuff! Here's a little sample straight off the saw:

The shop has been super busy of late with a lot of European visitors and many of my pendants have left for new homes so with the weather being a little punky today, I'm working on some new stuff and will try to post pics when finished. Also, I have a load coming out of the tumbler tomorrow and will follow that up with an absolutely spectacular load of mostly crazy lace.

So if you are in the neighbourhood, drop on by and see what's new.

Cheers!

Lots of Great Stuff Happening!

New Hi-Tech blades have been installed on all 3 saws and have descended into some kind of cutting frenzy.
I will try to post more pics on the weekend but here's a little "teaser".
This is a rock that Vickie found and she wanted me to cut it. I didn't really want to because it didn't look too hot on the outside:

But here's how it came off the saw (this is why I LOVE cutting rock):

There are some really nice flames in this agate as well as pockets of fortification and the odd crystal druzy so this is going to be a lot of fun to polish up and shape into some cabochons for pendants.

I should be able to get about 4 pieces 4 cm x 3 cm and will try to post a pic of at least one finished piece.

The number of visitors is picking up and several pendants have gone to new homes this week (which is bad news for me since I have to make more and that seriously cuts into my "sit on the deck and drink a beer" time)!
Hope to see you soon.
Cheers!

The Boss of The Moss

For a brief period in my life, I was a golf professional. I wasn't very good- hence the adjective "brief" and even though I haven't played for close to a decade, I still follow the game. This is Masters Sunday, a special day for all golfers, as it is the culmination of the Masters Golf Tournament from Augusta Georgia. In honour of this, and since my latest piece features a really nice local moss agate, I am naming it "The Boss of the Moss" after one of the best putters ever- Loren Roberts- who was so good that in 1985, a fellow competitor gave him that nickname (one I think is the best ever).

This stone was found virtually across the street and was originally round. After I had run it through the tumbler, the deal is I show all the rocks to Vickie (She who MUST be Obeyed!) and she takes the ones she wants for jewelry. This one she asked me to cut in half and drill and so of course, it got cut and drilled. We then used a balled copper wire to do a cool "funky wrap"at the top and put it on a waxed cotton cord with a copper clasp and now it is, with apologies to Mr. Roberts, The Boss of the Moss.
When viewed with light behind, a very interesting pattern shows up. A lot of people think that moss agates are green in white but, in truth, they can be many colours as long as the patterning is organic.

All in all, a very interesting local stone.

Back on The Bench

The nice rockhounding weather of the past few days left yesterday afternoon. In fact, last night we had high winds, snow, freezing rain, ice pellets and finally rain. Then this morning, we were back to wet snow.
It was time to move indoors and finish some pieces and what better stone to work on than a piece from Brazil! I felt warmer just touching the stone (heh,heh)- a nice piece of crazy lace jasper.
For the last few days, I have been experimenting with a totally new (at least to us) technique for setting stones using only copper wire and after a few failures, it worked!

If the stone looks familiar, it is because I did a similar piece with a different setting a few months back. Remember this:

As I said, the setting is unique, and allows me to use finer wire (in this case 20 gauge) and still have the stone snugly and firmly set. I took a picture of the back and if anyone reading the blog is interested, if you ask nicely I will send it to you via email.

On the yarn front, sales have been pretty brisk over the last week or so but we are expecting a large shipment early next week so the shelves will be fully stocked and with some new colours!

Cheers and hope to see you soon!

Back on The Beach

Well, the weather is improving- s l o w l y !!
But it's good enough to go looking for some rocks and work in the rock lab a bit..
I am very fortunate in that I have a wife who is gifted with "The Agate Eye". This is not to be confused with "The Evil Eye" although I'm pretty sure she has that gift as well. Vickie can literally smell agate. This first piece was in a creek bed with just a few dull inches showing at the surface. Imagine her surprise when she extricated it, turned it over and found this:

This piece actually has sections of different agate including plume, moss and fortification and areas of what I think is carnelian. It has a surface consistency of glass so it should polish amazingly but it is too big to cut on my trim saw so it will have to wait until I get the slab saw going.
But we wanted to cut something so we chose a couple of smaller pieces we found a few days ago. The first one is a little macrocrystalline but has some nice patterning.

But the next one is a real show stopper!

The picture doesn't really show the depth of colour and it isn't polished but this is going to be really nice when it is finished.
So if you like hunting for rocks, Digby Neck is a pretty good spot. And if you are in the area, come on by The Artist's mark and see some of the pieces we have collected and polished up. Everybody gets to pick a free polished stone so one way or another, you will go home with "A Piece of the Neck"!