Another Season

In shock that the season came and gone. We have now officially been at StarBase for more than a year. We have learned so much and continue to find new things to keep us wanting to come back each week.  Old things like curling up with a good book, stirring my 30-minute oatmeal, or just relaxing over a cup of coffee on the deck are also welcoming pauses in our hectic lives. Boy did we have a lot of fun even with the chores.  

More time weeding the roof - Pauline doing all the actual work in the back

A lot of weeding so we can see the water

Our picnic service courtesy of Gary

One of our PEC outings - Karlo Estate

Sebby enjoying the view with Papa Bear

Enjoying the sunset - something we never do in the City

We decided to take it slow with buying toys for StarBase.  The two toys we added this year were a kayak and a telescope.  Both take us to a quieter more relaxed space and time. Both we will enjoy for years to come.

Toy #1 - Kayak

Toy #2 - Telescope

County Activities...

As we enjoy our first summer at the County, the family has been decidedly different on how each of us spend our time. Heeding the call of unbridled creativity, Catherine has been stretching her painting chops and using the nice weather, the relaxing burble of the Bay of Quinte and clean air to produce some masterpieces. The tools of her labour...

We have also had a tremendous amount of help from our kind neighbours, Rob and Brian, in helping us with the caretaking of the property. 10 acres seems daunting at first, but lucky for us most of the true grooming is limited to the immediate circumference around our house. Twice a year, the living roof requires some TLC.

Even Sebby has complemented his period of discovery to include mostly jamming things into his mouth. Recent favourite is the lip of the tray for his high chair.

Finally, no night is complete without some games. Scrabble is a Chan favourite.

Until next time.

Summer Kind of Wonderful

More flowers and fruits have been discovered thriving at StarBase in July. We find new blooms every time we land in the County and it brings me joy looking up the names of all the varieties since we are new to everything.  Sebby is also having a good time and we hope he grows up with an appreciation for nature.

Sebby doing tummy time in the sun

Putrek spending time with his human pals by the Bay

Nanking Cherries

Coreopsis

Cascading Sweet Peas (Lathyrus Latifolius) in a variety of colours

Sedum Rupestre along the limestone edging

Echinacea Purpurea (Eastern Purple Coneflower)

Gooseberries along the bank

StarBase in Spring

It has been a few months since we have posted.  Yes, we have been busy and we have a good reason for it.  Our little man was born on Feb 17, 2014 and he has kept us quite tied up.  We did however make it back into the county in April with him.  In the first weeks, there was still snow but as we slowly welcomed the warm weather, we were rewarded with the many blooms at StarBase. Here are a few pictures captured in Spring. Even the pups were delighted.

A look back

2013 wrapped up with many activities at StarBase.  The following is a photo retrospect of some of the finer moments of the past few months.  There were quite a bit of growing pains with this place but we have finally settled in and be able to relax.  Many thanks to our friendly new neighbours who helped us look over the house and previous owners who never stopped answering our endless e-mails.

With our new bundle of joy on its' way in 2014, I am sure our next chapter will be full of laughter, challenges, and learnings. We are ecstatic to have the StarBase to share with the baby. It will certainly be a colourful backdrop for many more of our memories. 

Apple crumble shared with our new neighbours.

A little bit of quirkiness found at StarBase.

The StarBase guardian sitting comfortably. You will see him appear in a lot of shots.

Nacho appreciating the warmth from the stove.

Scenery from one of the harshest Canadian winter. 

Same day but towards the Bay of Quinte.

T-Minus One Month to Life Altering Event

As we roll into the final month of Catherine's pregnancy term, we have made some good progress in gaining some much needed knowledge on how to operate a house without a constant flow of electricity. The solution? Get a backup generator. Thankfully, we were able to source one through Quantum Renewable Energy that was made for setups such as ours. We are now the proud owners of a Generac 6kw monster.

Heat is FINALLY manageable, and we won't be facing the single digit temperatures (interior) that we experienced during NYE 2013. Hopefully, my brother in law and his wife won't be dissuaded from coming to StarBase when they plan to visit February 2015.

Finally, who knew that walking on a completely frozen Bay of Quinte at midnight with no creature in sight would be so magical? Ask Humphrey.

8 degrees and inside Jan

Staring competition between Nacho and Cat

Reminds me of a German hunting lodge

12 hour onion soup

Joe was smoke stalking. With wind chill, -40 degrees Celcius

Charmaine cuddling for warmth.

Sibling resemblance

The following snaps are from our weekend with Peter, Jessica, Patrick and Chris. This was MUCH warmer as we figured out the heating system. There was air stuck in the floor heating system preventing from hot water to transfer appropriately from the boiler.

Epic meat plate

Board games and crochet!

Peeling a mountain of potatoes

A frozen Bay of Quinte. Humphrey did not like this at night.

German vehicles in PEC

Finishing another project.