The Tall Ships are Coming!

When I was a boy, we went to Lunenburg  and I saw a tall ship leaving port in full sail. The sound of the wind in the sails- a deep whoosh, whoosh- was awesome and something I remember 60 years later! Now the tall ships are coming to Digby!

The dates are August 15th and 16th and if you are in the area, you have to see them for yourself! You will get a glimpse of what life was like in a seaport 100 years ago.

You can even see the replica of Nova Scotia's most famous ship- the Bluenose- a ship so beautiful she made it to the back of our dime!

But there is a lot more to see in Digby. We are the home to the world's largest scallop fishery and you will see many of those iconic vessels at the dock as well.

And if that's not enough history for you, drive out "The Neck" and visit us at The Artist's Mark Studio/ Shop, right across the street from beautiful Seawall Beach. The house was built in 1849 and the occupants (She Who MUST Be Obeyed and yours truly) are almost that old!

And if that's not old enough for you, we have Agates, Jasper and Fossils in the shop that are over 300 million years old! Now THAT'S history!
By the way, that's the Digby Pines Hotel in the background of the shot above- a great place to spend a few days and explore the area. So if you want interesting scenery, unending photo ops, friendly people and great food, come to Digby and see the Tall Ships!
We'll be waiting for you.

Our Own Little Art Colony!

Each year, more people discover that Digby Neck is a great and unique place to live. Among them are artists who find unlimited inspiration in the beautiful natural surroundings. So far this spring, we have had several new arrivals come in and say hi and tell us a bit about their craft. On top of that, we have some amazing talent that has grown up right here! We have several galleries and many artists (including ourselves) are more than happy to have visitors tour their studios.
It has reached a point where we felt that we had the critical mass necessary to put on our own local art exhibition and sale.

So if you are here in early August, stop by and see some amazing art and meet some of the local artists. You will see a fascinating diversity of mediums and styles and you may even be moved to take home "A Piece of The Neck"! Vickie Turner, our resident artist will have some pieces there and if you want to see more, just drop by our studio/shop, The Artist's Mark, on your way out or back from Sandy Cove. You can't miss us- we're right on the highway.
And if the tide is out, leave some time to walk the beach across the street and maybe find your own "treasure"!
Each year there are new things to see and do on Digby Neck and more and more people are visiting for reasons other than the amazing whale watching. So if you are considering a Nova Scotia vacation this might be the perfect spot for your family to spend a few days.
And when you come, stop by The Artist's Mark Studio/ shop where each visitor gets to choose their own free tumbled stone as a souvenir of this amazing area.

Summer Finally Comes To The Neck

Well, after a pretty lackluster, cold, damp spring, summer has arrived on The Neck. And just in time because we are seeing more and more out of province plates on a wide array of cars, campers and motor homes travelling highway #217.
I am pretty well over my hip replacement and complications so we are getting back to our normal schedule but I'll be in Kentville on Friday for most of the day so we'll be closed then.

An Amazing Super Moon
Last night we were treated to the awesome sight of a super moon coming up over St.Mary's Bay. It was so spectacular that cars were pulling over in front of our house to watch!

That means that we are getting King Tides (higher than normal). And when the normal tides are higher than 22 feet, that can be pretty spectacular.

Knit City
The girls are headed out to Vancouver in September to display our world famous Seawall Fibres yarn. The good news for knitting enthusiasts is that Lisa has doubled her shipments to us and we currently have the best yarn inventory ever. So if knitting turns your crank, come on by and pick up a skein or two of the yarn we are shipping all over the world!

The "Rock Shop"
Starting next week, I hope to be back in there churning out specimens and jewelry for sale in the shop. I am also exploring the possibility of getting a few more machines to enable me to do even more. So if you have ever wondered how we make all this beautiful stuff, come on by and I'll show you!

So summer's here. The scenery is great. We have new places to see and eat on The Neck so if you have some time, take a little road trip down one of the most unique areas of Nova Scotia- the totally awesome Digby Neck!

New Season- New Hip

Tomorrow, May 4th, I am going in for a total hip replacement. And to think, it was only 2 years 8 months ago that I was put on the list!
Ain't socialized medicine wonderful?
 Note to our American friends, take good care of yourself because this is what is headed your way.
So, I have managed to get some new agates polished and into the shop in the tiny space left after the yarn is stocked! (Just kidding- we have a really nice new area.)

Yarn Ready For The Shelves

Beautiful Rustic Pendant

And here's a shout out for one of our favourite knitters and shop visitors- Congrats Colleen Jones and her Nova Scotia rink who just won the Senior Women's World Curling Championship!

Just a note- Colleen tells me she hasn't lost  since she bought one of Vickie's paintings so you other curlers might want to give it a try! We have some amazing art in the shop!

Lastly, because of the surgery and rehab, our store openings will be a little sketchy for the next little while. We will be closed from May 4th-9th and after that, it will only be when Vickie is available for a while since I won't be able to get down there. If you are going to be in the area and want to stop by, call us at (902) 482-2188 or send an email and we'll do our best to be open for you.

We Are Open!

After a really long, cold spring, there are signs that warmer weather is on its way. This morning we saw a couple of robins. True, they were cowering under the car to get out of the freezing rain, sleet and wet snow but they were there!
So, what's new for the shop this year?
Lots!
To start, we have a new sign to replace the one that blew away.

 Inside, we have revamped the layout to enable us to show even more great items.

We have expanded our hand dyed yarn area to meet the tremendous demand that we have experienced since we launched Seawall Fibres last year. In our first year, we have sold well over 1000 skeins of yarn and have shipped it literally all over the world.

This is just part of the latest shipment we received from daughter Lisa. So if you are a knitter or fibre artist and plan to be in the area, you owe it to yourself to come on by!
Of course, we have plenty of other things as well, including beautiful, museum quality jewelry made from polymer clay and local semi precious stones.

 And I promise that one day soon I'll chain Vickie to her sewing machine and get her to beef up our popular bag inventory.

Kids love to look through the pile of polished stones to choose their free souvenir and I'll even tell them a bit about the rock they have chosen. And if I am not too busy, I'll be glad to show your family the "rock shop lab".

So make your plans now to visit Digby Neck, one of the most unique spots in the  beautiful province of Nova Scotia. The whales are all rested up and ready to entertain and our famous St. Mary's Bay lobster and Digby scallops are ready to be eaten.
I'll be getting a new hip in early May but we'll be open unless we say otherwise on this blog and I am back in the rock shop cutting, grinding, sanding, polishing and drilling some beautiful stone so I'll post pictures in future posts.
We look forward to meeting you.

Winter on The Neck

We are back from visiting our daughter who lives in the Bahamas and things are returning to "normal".
This is "normal" on The Neck in Winter.

A lot of people who visit the shop ask why the door opens in. The last photo answers that question. If it opened out we'd be using the door on the deck to get out!! The winds topped out at somewhere north of 90kph which accounts for the 3 foot drift at the door and 4 footer behind my car! It's still blowing pretty hard and the wind chill is -23 C so we'll just stay hunkered down for a little while.

Don't worry, it will all be gone by April so you'll have no trouble if you come on by. And you should! We'll have new yarn (which we have been shipping all over the world through Etsy) and I'll somehow get Vickie to put down her knitting long enough to make a new supply of her  bags that seem to fly off the shelf and even some new jewelry.

Digby Neck is a great spot to vacation so we're looking forward to seeing you!

A Very Satisfied Customer

One of the best things about living on Digby Neck is that you have so many interesting neighbours. Elaine lives in Sandy Cove and loves combing the beach for rocks as much as I do. She also finds a lot of beach glass.

Recently, she dropped by to give me some rocks and I cut a beautiful slice of fortification agate for her in return and then a few days later she was back with some really nice beach glass. She wanted to give Vickie the glass but get her to wrap a piece for her to make a pendant for her friend.

Elaine with her pendant

Vickie is able to do beautiful wire work with a large variety of different wire types and thicknesses. The results are high quality and beautiful!

Beautiful wrap job on a nice piece of brown  beach glass

She has started to wrap some of our stone and over the winter she will be producing a whole array of pendants reflecting the shape and beauty of Digby Neck.

Beautiful piece of agate and copper wire

So stop by next spring and check out our inventory. They make perfect gifts or mementos of your visit to beautiful Nova Scotia!