Bluenose Marathon 2012

What a weekend! This was our fourth year participating in the ScotiaBank Bluenose Marathon (fifth for Evan) which takes place in Halifax each year on the long weekend in May. By all accounts, this was the best weather we’ve ever had! Last year was freezing, and 2010 was sunny, but cooler.  In 2009, we had drizzle along the whole course.

This year, because we are bogged down in renovations, we made a flying trip down-and-back from Truro to run in the Bluenose. The boys chose not to participate in the youth run this year and just ran the timed 5k. We had made arrangements to have a sleepover with D’Arcy’s parents at their condo. We had stayed there last year, but they were away on a cruise, so this was the first time our kids had a sleepover with their McDonah grandparents.

We left the house mid-afternoon, and picked up our race kits at the Halifax Metro Centre. We LOVED this year’s purple “I RUN THIS TOWN” race shirts! We explored the expo a bit, then went to Woozles Book Store to pick up the 2013 set of “Battle of the Books” books for the Elementary School.  We stopped at the grocery store so we could pick up some safe snacks to send to the race in the morning with Olivia. (She has peanut/treenut/egg/soy allergies.) As I was walking down one of the aisles, I did a double take as I recognized one of my best friends from high-school, whom I had not seen in about 12 years! We had a great time catching up!

We arrived at D’Arcy’s parents’ place at suppertime and got settled in. Grandma had made a wonderful, safe, roast-pork dinner, and two of D’Arcy’s sisters & a niece joined us for awhile. After supper, we chatted and got ready for the race, making pom-poms for the girls, signing up for race alerts, and filling out the medical information on our bibs – just in case.

We had an early night, and I should have taken some photos of the unconventional sleeping arrangements – Olivia in a sleeping bag under the dining room table, Alex on an easy chair in the den, and Sarah & Evan in the living room. He was sleeping on the couch, and she was in a sleeping bag on the floor beside him. When I went in to check on them, I found Sarah asleep, with her leg up on the couch and her foot touching Evan’s – just to make sure he was there!

We were registered for the 5k this year, as none of us has been training seriously. D’Arcy had hopes of running the half marathon this year, but injured a muscle in his leg back in March and has been having trouble running. We had breakfast and walked up to the start of the race. Sarah & Olivia stayed with D’Arcy’s parents while they waited for Aunt Erin to pick them up to take them to their “Cheer station”.

We walked up to the start and warmed up with the marathon runners, who started their race ten minutes before we did. Evan grabbed a clapper to run with. We made sure that we knew where to meet after it was over and we were off! Evan shot away from us right away while Alex ran with us for over a kilometre. We told him he could run ahead if he wanted to, so he did. I was pleased with how good the run felt, especially considering the little bit of training I’d done. (To be clear, although I haven’t been consistently ”running”, I do walk, and am usually on the move. We don’t spend much time sitting around so it isn’t that I’m totally out of shape…) D’Arcy & I ran together until we got to Citadel Hill. I knew I couldn’t run up that hill, so walked it quickly. I have asthma, and could feel my breathing getting quite tight. D’Arcy waited for me at the top, and stayed with me until my wheezing subsided and I was running again.

One of my favourite things about the new course was running Citadel Hill. Although it was a daunting task to run up, the views were beautiful, and seeing the route lined with Highlanders in full costume, high-fiving runners as they passed by,  had this tourism junkie a bit emotional! Nice touch!!

I joked with a man who had stopped to walk, asking if he thought we’d be disqualified if we rolled down the hill instead of running it? He giggled and I smiled. Once the Citadel was conquered, the race was almost over.  As we ran down the hill past Centennial Pool to the finish, I spotted the 21km sign for the half-marathoners. I quipped to the girl running beside me, “21k, so that’s why I feel like this! We’re not doing so bad!” She laughed. The feeling of camaraderie along the route is something really special. I really appreciated the people lining the streets, cheering the runners on! Two of my favourite signs were, “Run like you stole something!” and “Way to Go Random Stranger!”

I was fading by the time I got to that slight incline that leads to the finish, but pushed through. I heard D’Arcy & Evan cheering for me and spotted them at the line. We found Alex waiting by the medals for us, and we went into the Metro Centre. Evan was nowhere to be found, but we weren’t too concerned. We got some chocolate milk and a cookie, and chatted with some other runners. We looked up our finish times, and although none of us had a personal best, we were all pleased with our times:

Evan MCDONAH, Truro, 391/2002, Time 0:28:38.8, Pace 5:44, Category M 15 and Under 58/100, Gender 221/574

Alexander MCDONAH, Truro, 604/2002, Time 0:31:05.2, Pace 6:14, Category M 15 and Under 68/100, Gender 290/574

D’Arcy MCDONAH, Truro, 696/2002, Time 0:31:55.7, Pace 6:24, Category M 40 – 49 61/119, Gender 318/574

Anne MCDONAH,  Truro, 759/2002, Time 0:32:42.8, Pace 6:33, Category F 30 – 39 108/406, Gender 423/1417

After a half an hour with no sign of Evan, we started to get slightly worried. After 45 minutes, we started looking for him. Surprisingly, D’Arcy was more worried than I was. I knew that Evan knew where we were supposed to meet, and reminded myself that he had gone to Brazil without us! It turned out that he hadn’t realized that Alex had crossed the finish earlier, so he was still outside, waiting to cheer his brother on at the end! When it became apparent that the 5k runners were winding down, he came in and found us!

D’Arcy & Alex had massages, and then we walked to the Cheer Station for the marathoners to meet up with Erin, Sarah & Olivia. We stayed there until lunch time, cheering the runners on, passing out jelly beans, oranges, and wet sponges. It was a lot of fun!!

We went back to Grandma & Grandpa’s for lunch, then packed up and came home. I was exhausted and had a hard time keeping my eyes open, but went to sleep with a smile on my face.

It was a great weekend and a family “tradition” we plan to continue!

Grandpa, smiling at 7am, despite being invaded for the weekend!

Bluenose 2012 – runners & cheerleaders at 7am!

Just before the 5k start

Waiting for the race to begin!

Sarah, passing out jelly-beans to the half-marathon runners

D’Arcy & Olivia cheer on the marathon runners

The Halifax Running Club Cheer Station – handing out oranges, jelly beans, and wet sponges

Fun at the Cheer Station, D’Arcy’s cousin, Lynn on the right

Alex & Olivia hand out sponges to runners

The Halifax Running Club Cheer Station

D’Arcy’s sister, Erin, cheering on the marathon runners

Chatting with D’Arcy’s brother, Brian, a course marshall.

Evan & Olivia refreshing & encouraging runners.

To see our full gallery of photos, please click here.

To see all Bluenose Marathon Finish Results, please click here.

We’re Reducing our Ecological Footprint!

First of all – great news!! We’ve made it to the Top 3 Bed & Breakfasts in the Truro & District Chamber of Commerce’s  ”Best of Colchester” awards. Congratulations to Eagle’s Landing B&B and Mrs. O’Leary’s B&B who join us – we’ll find out the winner at dinner on June 7th. Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote for us – we are so grateful!!

Renovations are going well. We are slightly behind schedule, but I’m still holding out hope that we will be finished by Wednesday at the latest, as planned. We received the written report of our energy audit in the mail this week. A lot of it is somewhat difficult to understand (for me – D’Arcy the Science teacher understands the abbreviations and measurements) but I do get the gist of the important information:

• The blower door test produces a standardized measure of the air tightness of a home, and provides a number which represents the number of times all of the air inside your home would be replaced with outside air in a one-hour period if the wind were blowing at about 56kph (35mph).  Ideally, the air in your home should be replaced with outside air once every three hours. Our home replaces our inside air with outside air 9.11 times PER HOUR!!  No wonder we rarely get colds or flus!! Lots of fresh air here!
• The Equivalent Leakage Area (sq.in) is a theoretical measurement of all the air-leakage areas in a home. The report says to “Think of it as a single hole through a wall equivalent to the area of all the gaps and air leakage places in your home. (For reference, an 8″ diameter hole would have an area of 50 square inches.) Our home’s ELA? 801.9 square inches!! That’s the equivalent of a 5.5 square foot hole in the side of our home. Or, if you’re visual like I am, it would be the same as having no glass in our den window:

Thank you for the visual D’Arcy – you’re a great teacher!

So, as you can see, we really did have our work cut out for us. Last Thursday & Friday, MJM Energy came and blew 800 cubic feet of cellulose insulation into the sloped walls of our upper floor where there had been none.  The guys were fantastic - flexible, accommodating, and understanding of working around our guests.  The insulation was blown in from the exterior of our home as we are getting our roof re-done as well, so it was easier all around.

We had a very small window of opportunity without bookings to get this work completed. The workers have all been teasing me because I have everybody lined up just so, with little room for error and no time for rain! We officially closed our B&B to guests on Sunday night, and first thing Monday morning, phase 2 began.

D’Arcy had spent Mother’s Day weekend preparing the basement to be insulated. This meant that everything had to be moved 4ft away from the walls, some walls had to be opened up and some ceiling had to come down. D’Arcy called me from school on Friday at lunch and said, “As long as we’re going to be moving everything anyway, why not have a yard sale – tomorrow?” So we did. As an aside, our girls had their first lemonade/iced tea/coffee stand at the yard sale and raised over $50 for the new Truro Hospital!

The entire content of our basement, pushed into one pile. (Please don’t mind the mess!)

The stone walls of our basement foundation before.

Chad, from MJM Energy arrived first thing Monday morning and blew on a closed-cell polyurethane foam directly to the entire foundation and up into the headers, then covered it with a fire-retardant coating. It looks kind of space age down there now, but luckily I don’t have to go down into the basement too often!

An example of what the foam looks like now.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Gordon & Chris from Apple B Contracting had started shingle-ing the South side of the roof (our backyard). What a job they had cut out for them due to the slopes & height of our roof. We chose slate gray shingles, not to be confused with gray slate shingles! I had wanted to put on a slate roof, but due to its size, was told “NO”… These shingles, however, offer a lifetime warranty, so I’m glad that we like them! It took from Monday until Wednesday to get the South side of the roof done, but they had to cut around two windows, work in the L-shaped corner, and deal with the staging. We figured that section probably amounted to 1/3 of the roof. They moved around to the front of the house on Thursday & Friday, and I think the neighbours were happy to finally be able to see what, exactly, was happening.

They have been doing a fantastic job and we are really pleased! They are accommodating and pleasant to work with. They understand that we are on a tight timeline and work from 8am – dark each day. We had a small glitch in the front, when they discovered that some of the roof’s boards were rotten, so they replaced those.

On Friday, Mark & Kevin from Advanced Solutions arrived to install our solar hot-water panels! So exciting. We’ve been told that these panels will provide up to 75% of our domestic hot water (showers, laundry, dishwasher) during the course of a year. And you can just imagine – we use a LOT of hot water between our family and the B&B!!

It was great fun to watch them lift the panels onto the roof.

The boom truck gets ready to lift the panels up to the roof. Each panel weighs approximately 100lbs.

Ready to go…

On the way up…

Grab it! Good view of what the old roof looked like!

Maneuvering the solar panel safely onto the roof.

The solar panels in their final resting place on the South roof, over our Minuet room. (And isn’t that new roof pretty?!)

They have run most of the piping through the house (D’Arcy knocked out the closet wall in the Serenade room to make it a bit easier for them.) They’ll be back on Monday to get it all hooked into the hot water system. D’Arcy spent last night putting the gyproc  back up in the closet and I have the rest of the room torn apart to get it house cleaned. The Serenade room also had developed a cracked bedroom and bathroom window over the years, so we’ve taken the opportunity of replacing the glass in those windows while the staging is up!  D’Arcy is outside doing that as I type.

Especially lots of fresh air in here at the moment!

Inside, I’ve been getting lots of housecleaning and organizing accomplished, while my dad has been helping me out doing some painting. The boys have been put in charge of yard work, so it’s a real family affair. I’m happy to report that things have been generally going as smoothly as possible and we are happy to know that through these renovations we are reducing our Ecological Footprint in a BIG way!! They can’t help but make a difference!

We’re been disappointed to have to turn away a number of rooms this week, but look forward to re-opening on Wednesday with a refreshed look!

Have a great long weekend – I’d better get back to work!

Spring has Sprung

Although we will still have some frosty nights during the next month, we are happy to report that there are some sure signs of Spring at the Belgravia Bed & Breakfast in Truro, Nova Scotia:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big plans!

As you can imagine, running a business while living in an 108 year old home means that there is always a project to be worked on.  I say we joke about how the list of priorities is always being re-arranged, but it’s actually the truth. We’ll think we’re going to tackle one project, and another will come up which becomes the top priority. Because the past two years were so busy while  both of us were teaching, a number of little jobs that need to be done have piled up; however, our top priority has become saving energy.

This big, old, home is beautiful, but not energy-efficient. We have  original cast iron radiators that throw wonderful heat in winter, but the water that runs through them is heated with oil. As is the hot water we consume. You can just imagine – using oil to heat the water used for six family members to bathe/shower, plus three rooms’ worth of guests, plus all the laundry we do each day, plus the water that needs to be heated for the radiators. Did I mention that an energy audit concluded that the draft in our home with four fireplaces &  poor insulation is the equivalent of a two square foot hole in the side of our house? And we don’t want our guests to feel cold? (Family? Sure. Guests? No.)

The result? We burn approximately 8000 Litres of oil each year.

Oil this year has cost $1.10/Litre – before tax.

Starting next month, we’ll be performing some big renovations: installing a new roof, adding insulation in the basement & exterior walls, and installing two new solar collector panels to pre-heat our hot water.  We’ve been told that we may be able to reduce our yearly oil consumption by up to 75% as a result.

We have a short window of opportunity to get the work accomplished, because we’ll (obviously) have to close out the B&B while much of the work is being performed. Since our tourist season is quickly approaching, we’re scheduling workers around our guests who have already booked, hoping to cause the least amount of disruption.  The next two weeks are quite busy here due to the Truro Music Festival, a Bridge tournament, and the Colchester Home Show, so we’ve got the work scheduled to begin in early May. While the work is being done, we’ll also be painting fences, replacing worn doorsteps, and doing the other small jobs that need to be done.

My goal is to have the B&B ready-to-go by the time the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia (TIANS) Annual General Meeting is held in Truro on May 24th & 25th.

We’ll keep you posted…

St. Paddy’s Day at the Belgravia (with some photos from Brazil)

Before he left for Brazil, we had asked Evan if he wanted to curl in a bonspiel taking place in the Annapolis Valley this weekend. I was a bit surprised when his response was, ‘But that’s St. Patrick’s Day. Aren’t we doing something?” Our last name, McDonah, is Irish, and D’Arcy’s father’s family came from Killarney, in County Clare, Ireland. Each year, we usually get together with family and friends (and some years, guests!) and host a Guinness inspired meal. I didn’t realize this had become an event the family looks forward to so much.

When I asked for menu suggestions, they came up with burgers. “Patties” for St. Paddy’s! We invited my parents and I made lamb burgers and sweet potato buns. They were really good – the recipe came from Canadian Living and can be found by clicking here: Sweet Potato Rolls. We also barbequed potatoes, carrots & onions, and my mom had brought a salad. I cooked mushrooms & red onions in Guinness to top the burgers. For dessert, we had shamrock shaped cookies and mint-chocolate-chip ice cream while watching a slide show of Evan’s photos from Brazil. There was coffee & Bailey’s for the adults. We ended the evening playing a short version of Pictionary.

I leave you with a few of our favorite photos from Evan’s trip:

First glimpses of Brazil

Evan's Brazilian families - we love them!

The beach in Santos

View of Santos from Monte Serrat

Evan and Scott at City Hall

They made the paper!

Learning to surf

Surfing!

A view of the rain forest, taken from the home of Jean Piaget's Principal's mother.

Endless beach

Rainforest

Ruins in the rainforest

Evan is in Brazil!

Anybody who has been following our Facebook or Twitter Feed knows that our son, Evan, 13, is in Brazil on a school exchange for the next two weeks. Since our children do not normally get a huge amount of press on our social media sites, you may find it strange that I would post about his Brazil trip. However, many of our guests and friends have been avid supporters of Evan’s trip, and we want to keep you all updated!

Evan has always loved travel. A byproduct of growing up in a Bed & Breakfast, perhaps? Before we started the B&B, we hosted exchange students in our home from Mexico, Germany & Brazil. Our children have grown up, not just meeting people and learning about other cultures, but appreciating all of the benefits and excitement of global travel.

When Evan was starting Junior High, he circled all the clubs that he was interested in on the sheet they’d sent home. The first one he circled was Travel Club. Travel Club takes the students to Santos, Brazil, on a two-week exchange with the Jean Piaget School. We learned that the cost, depending on the number of students, was between $2000 – $2500. We told Evan that we would support him, but he would have to raise money to go..

He started raising money last year, and was proud to raise the money to go himself! He mowed lawns, looked after houses for people who were away, sold tickets for a lobster draw, sold “Jungle Jim’s” money, babysat, and collected recycling. He designed four Christmas cards, printed them, and sold them at the elementary school craft fair.  He worked really hard and we are proud of him. Many of our guests were aware of his efforts over the past year, and supported him.

We hosted two sweet boys from Brazil during the last week of January/first week of February – Caio & Joao Victor (JV). They had a wonderful time together and became friends. A major highlight for them were the “snow” days that we had. During their stay, they went on a sleigh ride, watched (many) curling matches, went to Halifax, celebrated Family Literacy Day, had a Superbowl party, explored the maple sugar woods at Sugar Moon Farm, went to two hockey games, went downhill skiing at Ski Wentworth, had lunch with the mayor, went to museums, and had a Superbowl party. (Those are the things I remember off the top of my head!)

The Brazil & Nova Scotia kids together.

Our group in Brazil is much smaller – just four students and three chaperones. We took Evan to Halifax Stanfield International Airport on Thursday afternoon to meet the group. They flew first from Halifax to Toronto, and then from Toronto to Sao Paulo. We watched the plane’s progress through the wonders of Flight Tracker. Both flights were delayed because there were storms between Nova Scotia and Ontario.

We were able to Skype with Evan yesterday afternoon, twenty-four hours after we had left him at the airport. He reported that the five bouts of turbulence they encountered between Halifax & Toronto was “fun”. He had slept “a little” on the ten hour flight between Toronto and Sao Paulo. It was 33*C (91.4*F) when they landed in Brazil, quite a bit warmer than what he is used to! They had a three hour bus ride to the school in Santos, where they were fed before being taken to the homes of their host family.

I can only imagine that the reunion with JV was a happy one. While we were Skyping (oh the wonders of technology!), JV, his brother, his mom, and his dog came by to say hello. They brought Evan a piece of cake and a glass of delicious looking fruit juice that I can only imagine was REAL. Evan looked happy and insisted he wasn’t tired… adrenaline?

The plans for the evening were to go swimming and go to a teen club to meet friends and dance after JV’s soccer practice. There were thunderstorms last night which Evan thought were pretty cool. We don’t often get thunderstorms here in Truro. Today, their plan is to go to the beach.

I will continue to update for those family, friends & guests who are interested in Evan’s trip. Hopefully he’ll send us some photos too! It’s sure to be a great adventure!

A group shot before departure!

Showing off the backs of the shirts they designed!

Snow Day Breakfast-in-Bed

It’s a SNOW DAY here in Truro. We’ve had more than 5cm of snow fall so far, with another 10cm and wind expected throughout the day. Because D’Arcy & the kids are in the public school system, they’ve already had a few snow days this year, while I’ve still had to go teach at the College. What a nice treat to wake up this morning and learn that Truro Campus has also closed for the day because of the weather! I emailed my students and crawled back under the covers for a few extra moments of sleep. The kids have obviously learned a few things from living in a Bed & Breakfast for close to ten years – they arrived into our bedroom laden down with a tray filled with hot (tasty!) coffee, french toast, syrup, yogurt, and dishes of cut up strawberries & bananas! They even served it on the china!

"Snow Day" breakfast in bed - D'Arcy had already taken his plate and dug in!

Snow days have their own special feeling. Because you’re never quite sure the night before whether or not school will be cancelled, you still have to make sure you are prepared for the following day. This makes a snow day much more relaxed than a normal “holiday” because everything you accomplish is a bonus!

The view from the dining room window - gentle snow falling on the trees

Today’s plans include D’Arcy & my getting caught up on our marking and planning for school, packing Evan’s luggage for his Brazil exchange (he leaves on Thursday!), and spending some time outside clearing snow and playing. This may very well be the last snow-day of the year, with spring just around the corner! We’ll enjoy it to the best of our ability!

Somehow, doing school work in front of the fireplace just seems so much more enjoyable!

A Busy Fall

I was mortified this morning to realize that the last time I posted here was on August 23rd!  Needless to say, it’s been a very busy fall…

D’Arcy & I are each back teaching school.  He is at a new school, just a five minute drive from our home, across the Salmon River where guests go to see the Tidal Bore.  He is teaching Grade 7 & 8 Math & Science and seems to be enjoying it, despite having all new preps.  I am back at the Nova Scotia Community College, teaching the second year of the Tourism Management diploma program.  I am with the same students I had last year, and this semester they are taking Law for the Tourism Manager, Financial Decision Making, Service Marketing, Rooms Management, Human Resource Management, Ecology & Conservation, and Meeting & Event Planning.  It’s an intense program!

We continued to welcome guests straight through until the end of October, when things naturally slow down.  My classes are scheduled to start at 9:30 each morning which gives me time to serve breakfast to our guests before running out the door, leaving my parents, Dave & Deanna, to chat, give travel tips, and look after cleanup!  We are very fortunate that they live so close to us and are willing to help out!

We had a beautiful fall and hosted Thanksgiving for our families again this year.  It has become tradition!  This year, we were fortunate to host 36 McDonahs & Clarks at our table.  Our 33lb. turkey came from a local farm, veggies & cranberries from the farmers’ market and carrots from our very own garden!!  We do all the cooking ourselves and ask our family only to bring donations for the Food Bank.  It was a wonderful meal and we have so much to be thankful for.

A hot pepper in our garden!

Some of the carrots we picked for our Thanksgiving Dinner.

Cranberries from the Truro Farmers' Market, about to be made into sauce.

Our fresh 33lb. turkey, ready for the oven. The photo just doesn't do justice to the actual size of this bird!

A trip to the Pumpkin Patch for pumpkins. Doesn't everyone pick pumpkins in a shirt & tie?

The table, set for 36

Family

Cousin fun on the front lawn.

Anne's parents, Dave & Deanna

D'Arcy with his mom, Fran

Three of D'Arcy's brothers and a nephew.

Anne with our great-nephew, Phinn

Giving Thanks for our many blessings!

A hamper full of food for the NSCC Campus Food Bank!

The first weekend in November, we were fortunate to have a night away at the beautiful Colby House Bed & Breakfast in Sydney, NS, while attending the annual general meeting of the Nova Scotia Bed & Breakfast Association (NSBBA).  Bev & Gordon were wonderful hosts, as usual, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  I have been the marketing director for the association for the past six years, and stepped down at this year’s AGM.  Bill Monk from A Seafaring Maiden in Annapolis Royal has taken over my position and for that I am extremely grateful!  I haven’t totally stepped away – I will represent NSBBA on the Nova Scotia Tourism Human Resource Council which I have a great interest in.  Change is good!

The last week in November, we spent four nights in Halifax attending the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia’s  (TIANS) annual Tourism Summit.  I was luckly to be able to have my students attend this year as well. The conference was wonderful and deserving of its own post - I came home with many new ideas.  One of the many things I learned at the information sessions is that “Less is more”, so with that I wish you a great weekend and promise to update again more regularly!

Running in Truro

I admit that I am more of a fair-weather runner than a serious runner.  I do go out running, but more because I should than because I have a burning desire to run.  D’Arcy, on the other hand, really seems to enjoy running.  I enjoy running in races like the Bluenose Marathon 5 & 10k, but that’s because there are people lining the streets cheering me on!

Truro is a great place to run, with routes of varying degrees of difficulty.  You can run around the downtown which is very flat, or expand your run to include hills.  Victoria Park is a favorite of many, running on groomed paths under the overhang of evergreen trees.  The park has many more challenging trails and even the dreaded Jacob’s Ladder!  It always amazes me to see people running up & down and up & down Jacob’s Ladder!

One of my favorite trails to run in Truro is the Cobequid Trail.  The Cobequid Trail is a 14 km walking and cycling trail network through central Colchester County. The Cobequid Trail takes you along a former railway, through Acadian dykelands, through forests and along brooks, and beside the tidal Salmon River.

Last Sunday, after the cleanup was finished, Alex & I set off to run the 3.5k (each way) Old Barns section.  It was beautiful!  When I run along that trail, I can hardly believe I am so close to Truro!  I took some photos with my phone, as the camera would have been a little awkward to carry! Despite the poor quality of the photos, I think you can get an idea of the beauty!

Off we go!!

Taking a break for a moment to capture the beauty before turning around...

A view of the trail.

When you come stay with us at the Belgravia Bed & Breakfast, don’t forget to ask and we’ll share our favorite running/walking/biking trails with you!

Please welcome our new part-time help!

Over the years, many people have asked us, “How do you run a bed & breakfast with a family?”

Honestly… we just do it!

Before we had the B&B, D’Arcy and I both worked in the restaurant and hotel industry, so hospitality and service are all our family knows!  In fact, the year our daughter Sarah was born, we had two rooms the night we brought her home from the hospital!  (Looking back, we do wonder, “What were we thinking?” But it was October, she was early, and we already had guests booked!   We couldn’t cancel!)  Of course, it does help that our home is large, well-built (read: mostly sound-proof) and is laid out in such a way that we are able to have our own space for our family. Our children have been taught that if they are willing to be polite and mature, they may join us around guests, but if they need to act like children, they have to go to their own areas of the house!  Also, my parents live just a bike ride away – and they have a pool – so they are not always tied here to the B&B with us.

In the eight years that we have had the B&B, our children have had many experiences, opportunities, and met many people that they would not have had growing up in a “regular” house.  They really do seem to appreciate this and we are proud to have children who are kind, intelligent, thoughtful & mature as a result.

They each have various chores that they do to help out with the B&B, but this summer, we’re happy to have Evan helping us in an even larger, official capacity!

You can't tell in this photo, but he's drying the dishes for me!

Evan is raising money to participate in a two-week school exchange to Brazil next winter.  He’s been mowing lawns for neighbours (and his grandparents) and as of this summer is also is the official lawn-mower at The Belgravia Bed & Breakfast!  This morning, while D’Arcy was in Halifax attending a conference on adolescent mental health in schools, Evan was my breakfast sous chef!  We served omelets.  Evan was in charge of cooking the bacon and helped me serve our guests!  He has also capably taken reservations and records some of our book-keeping work for us.

In his spare time in the summer, Evan plays both baseball and golf.  The Truro Golf Club is just on the other side of our block, so he can be found there most sunny days.  He is an excellent student and in the winter, he is a curler, plays basketball, and is in both the Intermediate Band and the Jazz Band as a percussionist at his school.  He loves geography & travel, wants to see the world, and has future plans to be a cartographer.

We’re happy to have you working along side us  Evan – we hope you love it as much as we do!