I'm warning you in advance. There are a lot of pics of pumpkins in this post. Weirdo that I am I went a bit mad at the sight of them everywhere and ended up taking endless photos.
I make no apologies. All things pumpkiny seemed to be the theme during our visit to Prince Edward Island (otherwise known as PEI by the locals). That and pretty houses and Anne of Green Gables.
As a book lover a visit to Prince Edward Island was high on my list of must visit places. And I'm so glad that we made the effort to get there.
But I'll be honest. Getting to PEI isn't easy without a car. It will most likely involve a train trip and then a bus trip. Although calling it a bus might be pushing it a bit. Think more along the lines of a van... with really cramped seating. Shorty that I am, even I had my knees squished up to my ears in the seat they gave me.
Taking a car is definitely a much better way to go. It will also mean that you will be able to see a lot more of the island because without one you're be pretty much stuck to seeing the sights of Charlottetown and nowhere else.
Hiring a car for a couple of days was the best thing we ever did.
With a car we were able to visit the Anne of Green Gables house and even better we didn't have to pay a cent. Yes you heard me right. You can visit the house for free. Only if you want to go into the house do you have to pay. But if you're like us and are happy to just wander around the property and the outside then you can. And all for free.
Driving around the island we also got to see pumpkins and lighthouses and more pumpkins and pretty coastal towns.
We
also wandered around Charlottetown a lot. A super pretty town filled
with beautiful painted houses, trees galore and a lovely boardwalk that
takes you right along the waterfront.
We
spent a whole day just wandering around oohing and ahhing at all the
sights while trying to take photographs that would do it justice
and failing.
In the end we just soaked it all in and drank ice cold lemonade.
PEI seemed like the perfect place to treat ourselves. So we did.
First
by staying in an inn which made me feel very Gilmore Girlish. Then by
having an amazing meal at the Lobster Barn Eatery just outside of
Charlottetown and finally I went out on my lonesome at night and saw Anne & Gilbert the musical which was totally worth the $75 price of admission. I came away singing all things Green Gables.
All in all PEI was amazing place to visit and one I would definitely love to go back to.
See. I told you there would be lots of pumpkins.
We won't talk about December and January except to say that selling, buying and moving house pretty much don't go well with having any kind of plans. I spent the months trying to play catch up (and failing) while moving between house sitting gigs as we sorted out both ends of finally buying a house. Now so much closer and there is a light at the end of tunnel. A pretty dim light to be sure but a light never the less.
And on top of all that my anxiety decided to kick into to gear for the first time in years and hit me with a whammy of fear and terror completely out of the blue.
It's no wonder that Monday will see us heading off on a two week jaunt around the South Island, taking in the sights and relaxing.
As you might imagine my plans then for February are fairly small.
First up reading...
I'm trying to mix up my reading a little bit more this year, while at the same time curtailing it just a little bit and not read quite so many books so I've just got 3 books on my reading pile at the moment.
1. A Home By The Sea / Christina Skye
A sappy romantic chick lit about finding love again sounds just the thing to read under a
shaded tree with a nice cold drink.
2. A Year Of Being Single / Fiona Collins
And another rom-com with a little less sap and hopefully a lot more sass and laughs.
This is also going into my holiday bag.
3. Breakfast At The Exit Cafe / Wayne Grady and Merilyn Simonds
I've mentioned in a couple of recent posts that I'm keen to up my non-fiction reading so
when this one caught my eye I decided to add it to my pile. I love a good travel
memoir and this one sounds interesting, cross fingers.
4. South Island Holiday
This is pretty much all organised. We have our ferry tickets and first night of
accommodation booked. The car all ready and camping gear loaded. It's now just a
matter of days and we are off on our little adventure. And yes you heard right, I, lady
of all things comfy is going camping. I'm not sure how I will cope without my ties to
civilsation but I'm giving it a go and have at least got some books and hidden chocolate
if and when I need reminders of all things home.
5. Being More Frugal
Having money is nice. No question about it. It pays the bills, helps you out when you
are sick and gives you a few treats when you want something pretty or to do
something fun. Other Half and I have always walked a pretty fine line between
splashing out on things just because and being extremely careful with money such as
me mostly buying clothes etc at charity stores. Mixing the two seems weirds but it
works for us and means that we spend our money on the things we really want and not
spend much on the things we need.
Our holiday down South is a mixture of this. We'll be saving money by camping as
much as we can handle, buying cheap food at the supermarket, and using our
saved up gift cards to buy our fuel and food which means that we can splash out on
some sightseeing like whale watching etc.
6. 101 Things In 1001 Days
I'm pretty close to ticking off one thing on my list and I'm also busy working on some of
the others. Hopefully our holiday will see me nearer to crossing off some more items.
