Travelling Lumsdens

July was an absolute blur! From galavanting about Europe to Singing Stan on festival stage in Canso it’s been a challenge to keep up! Proof of it all is in the step counter, maxing out at a whopping 18,000+ steps a day. By month end the dust had settled enough to reflect on the July that was and get a few notes online.

We began in Amsterdam, the starting point for our Scandinavia ’25 tour that included Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo. Simply an amazing visit to these northern cities where Janie and I enjoyed the culture, architecture and cuisine around every bend in this beautiful part of the world. A trip for the books!!! Once again… we understand how lucky we are to be able to continue this style of independent travel and explore life beyond our corner of the globe.

Upon re-entry, attention turned to Stanfest ’25. The Lumsden’s are all in with this event, everyone volunteering in some form and taking on leadership roles to bring the event to life. This year I had the good fortune to play on Main Stage on several occasions, while Peter had multiple showcases during the festival while holding down Stage Crew Head duties. Monica was a trooper with Site Crew and Bar Staff work and Janie volunteered with Bar Staff and held together the campground area for our growing Stanfest Family! All in… a huge effort, with countless hours of time in Canso before and after the event.

Packed tightly in and around all of this was as much camp time as possible. We commuted, for much of our Stanfest volunteering, from camp to Canso, and post festival we enjoyed visitors late in the month! Derek & Jill, Curtis & Robert, Jennie & Troy and JP, Erin and Eileen all got in for quick stays! Of note… we saw our first bat since white nose syndrome devastated the North American populations of brown bat since 2011. Perhaps it’s a sign of recovery… as it’s suggested 90% of the population was eradicated. We’re hoping that diversity returns, and that once again we have a species that eats its weight in insects daily! We hope August will be wringing every ounce of pleasure out of the summer vacation. 😁

Most years, my plan going into June is to try and keep busy enough to distract myself from the fact that it’s the longest month as a middle school learning support teacher. Head down, work hard, meet reporting / paper work deadlines and keep things moving as the days slip by. June ‘25 wasn’t a lot different. In this update I won’t focus on school, which was entirely too frenzied for Janie and I, but jump on all the productivity we managed in between!

We had a few visits, with the kids making appearances on separate occasions. The house always gets a little busier when they are around… but we love ❤️ the stays. Late in June Henry and Jon also settled in for a weekend coinciding with the Presidents Gala at StFX. Good vibes from those sleep overs! Further, of course a couple of graduates this year (Paige and Erin) to round out get togethers and milestones.

Of note… Stanfest is looming in the background. Both board and crew meetings took place, which is the “start” for my thinking process with the event. Always up for a project, our merry gang of “super-volunteers” spent almost two weekends replacing the face of the Stanfest Main Stage. Love turning materials into action… people power!!! A new lease on life for the building both structurally and aesthetically.

Squeaked amidst all that, final touches and preparation for Scandinavia ‘25 were ongoing. Itinerary adjustments, tuning up technology, thoughts about packing, trip logistics were details that got handled after hours. Some experimenting in “tour types”, YouTube research on foods / travel tips and a “focus on minimalism” highlighted this work. By my count, trip number 45 hosted on Travelling Lumsden’s and our 10th European excursion! Leading charmed lives indeed.

I keep “data” as a matter of fun in many areas so I can look back for trends, mark notable changes, or even work toward improvement. Annually, May becomes “Camp Month” and 2025 was no exception. Perhaps warmer skies, improvements in fishing, the necessity to complete cottage chores or even just throwing off winter are the impetus for increased visits, but this year saw 13 overnight stays in Upper Whitehead @camplumsden. That’s quality camp time!

So what’s the big attraction on Smelt Lake this time of year (it surely isn’t the black flies)? Well, for starters it’s one of the better months for fishing 🎣. Landed a few beauties that will do nicely on the smoker. Speaking of smoker, racks of ribs, chicken, and salad meals are highlight meals… cooking with charcoal at the camp is the best way to feed company!

Further, the list of chores is long, as we prep for warmer weather (raft, wood, screens, motor maintenance) and our newest addition in our camp systems, our modest vegetable gardening experiment. The exploration of plants that are hardy enough in combination with soil prep / beds / compost / planting keep us outside and keen on the process! This year we’ve added beds for onions / rhubarb to hopefully complement our success with last year’s garlic patch.

May is also a Mothers Day – birthday month for Ms Lumsden. Hijinx included a 70’s / 80’s gathering with cousins in Hammond Plains with all kinds on nonsense. Haven’t had an evening of “dancing” such as this one in quite some time. One would suggest that maybe “Fun Chris” came out to play with his friends. Of note, recovery time from an evening of socializing and sleeplessness has moved exponentially into a “long term” solution!!!

We also celebrated Janie’s Birthday in the city with the kids, having a great visit and lunch at Le Bistro by Liz. We are managing several gatherings a year with the entire gang, and it’s always a pleasure to catch up with everyone and see what folks are up to and how “life” is progressing. A perfect way to end a very busy month and get ready for tsunami that is June in public schools 🫣!

“April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.”
― William Shakespeare

Indeed… a hustle down the hallway at school, a dash through the woodland trails to camp, and even the occasional hurried scuff of a late snowfall in the driveway… all have the pleasure of that rush towards warmer, longer days! Glad to be leaving a nagging winter in the rear view mirror and looking forward to more outdoor adventure, time on task getting yard / garden ready, and honest engagement in the day. Bring it on!

Weekends 1 & 2 were about Ms Lumsden working, and me playing 😂! April is “crunch time” in IB world so her focus was on students, papers, and marks. That left copious, lonely sessions of camp time for me! All good @camplumsden, other than issues around Burner #1 on Propane Stove. When I see gas “poofing” where it shouldn’t I’m out! Measurements have been taken 👍. Chores galore captured on sunny Saturdays this time of year… inside and outside work to prep for visits and visitors was full on!

Two short school weeks were made possible through mid-month Easter Holidays… gotta love the PEI tradition and chance to convene in Summerside! Conversation, foodie delights, excessive lounging and late night music sounded through the Mountain Ave hallways. I worked hard to get out though… lots of walking through the days in PEI. An admittedly embarrassing weakness, Easter candy, is in full show and I have a hard time staying out of the sweets 🤤!

Down times were filled with bits and drabs on trip prep. I’m starting to feel absolutely selfish! Deep dive planning is in full swing for a summer ✈️ to Amsterdam (great early deal on airfare) and an extension into long awaited Scandinavia. Feeling the flow on this one “Happy”, being all in on everything except the price tag 🫣. Regardless, we’re gonna take the financial hit on the chin to create almost two weeks, post school end, of vacation in some of Europe’s most ”Canadian” like cities. Planning, purchasing and preparing are the P’s we have in play so far!

As we have for so many of our breaks over the past 15 years, the Lumsdens were on the move. It was back to Europe for another of our custom excursions abroad! Attractions, transportation, accommodation, history & culture were the colours, Athens, Greece the canvas… and of course, we blogged our way through all the excitement and challenges! Click Athens ‘25 to share in how this one rolled out… maybe you will find yourself looking for an itinerary of your very own! ✈️

While that excursion was all encompassing and absorbed much of the “free-time” beyond work, we did manage a couple of important gains upon return. Firstly, we managed to navigate our inaugural 2025 sail down an ice free Smelt Lake. Really an excellent visit, checking systems after a long winter of snow & ice and trouble-shooting things like solar, engines and refrigeration. Further, a major hunk of house refurb completed with the contracting and payout for repairs (skylights / structural / new sheeting) and fresh asphalt on the crown at 204 Cloverville. Great to have nailed down, as a swarm of roofers captured the chore in two days and we are moving ahead with the comfort of a tight building and security of a brand new warranty!

I actually used a surprise “end of March” Snow Day to finish up some blogging and start scratching away at a new travel spreadsheet. Some decent airfares have us contemplating another excursion. We’ve really turned our sights from our friends south of the border, and we feel more comfortable with destinations across the Atlantic. Costing is an eye opener, but there are ways to mitigate through looking at things early and researching the heck out of options and cost savers! “Free to do…” Google searches and bang for buck decisions are a keen consideration. More to come here as we hope to focus on new ground in our continuing exploration of Europe. Stay tuned!

What can I say, February is the shortest month chronologically, and at the same time the longest. School days have voids of student and adult as the season catches up with those that have held back cold / flu / sickness. It’s marking season, as well as IPP’s for us in Student Services. It becomes busy. Yet, one makes do! The daylight hours stretch, you get outside and exercise, do an honest chore, and try your best to be productive and positive! Yes… let’s talk Lumsden February!

While Ms L was zeroing in on semester one marking, Mr L was out galavanting around the woodsie-lore of Guysborough County the first weekend of February. It was a beaut! Camp got warm, wood 🪵 got cut, hiking 🥾 galore, and a check on systems (solar / heat / refrigeration). This is the season that “never was” at Smelt Lake, only enabled since Rosa XXL made its way across the lake in 2019. It’s a bit lonely, as it’s a one person trip (we heat one room with one bed) but the rewards are absolutely a bit of old fashioned “Man vs Nature”!

If it strikes you that the last couple of posts are feeling like weekend to weekend, it’s because they absolutely are 😂. The work a day will not factor any longer in this post! We spontaneously combusted on Friday #2, and got outta Dodge. Next stop, West Bay… where we booked a cottage with all the trimmings, including hot tub, and built a trip around that. Saturday included hiking in Isle Madame, coffee ☕️ in St Peter’s and lakeside drive in Dundee. We really had a great day ♥️ and weekend!

The month, indeed, remained a mix of camp on weekends and Monday to Friday school work. We did, however, manage to squirrel away some time for trip planning and are very much looking forward to March Break. More to follow when we post next month, but it goes without saying that we have come to treasure our vacation opportunities and have learned to maximize the nine day span so very little is lost in waiting / making decisions. Bring it on was the sentiment, as Feb ‘25 faded into the horizon!

So what’s up with the tradition of setting a New Year’s resolution… where’d that come from? To the “Google” I guess! Established in ancient times to worship gods, the nearly 4000 year old history of “resolutions” is today a goal setting, self-improvement exercise that statistically has a very low record of success (The History of New Year’s Resolutions) ! It’s not a practice I’ve tried… but this year I thought, as I’m so much older and wiser 🤪, I’d kick that can down the road a bit.

Really no issue contemplating a goal… for me it was to get back to music 🎶! I’m absolutely in a space where I want to re-establish the routine of regular guitar contact. We’d had a family session over Xmas and it was all so rusty… to the point that I was frustrated with myself. The fix is getting together with friends and playing! To that end, an impromptu session evolved Jan 4th at Chez Lumsden. A great evening of camaraderie, music, grub and “foolery” putting 2025 on a great footing! Thanks to the boys, and especially Ms Lumsden, for helping with the prep and making it happen!!!

Weekend No. II of January saw us trekking to Halifax for reconnecting. We caught up with friends for birthday / home sale celebrations, collected offerings from the stage via the Mellotones and a Rankin’s Winter Warmer, checked in with the kids and, lastly, an evening MtA “Catch Up” with Andrew, Lori and Reg. Busy, but so many great stops and moments with friends/family! Probably, all counted, a pretty expensive weekend but so great to make all these connections in one swoop.

Since we’re numbering, weekend No. 3 I chartered the “Port Williams Express”… off to the valley for our annual check in there! We, indeed, check in almost daily as a trio in iMessage, to turn soil and catch up on the going’s on. However, it gets to a point where you want to “look ’em in the eye” to see how they are really doing. Great visit with Darren & Scott… hiking, great meals, ton of lies… a chance to take stock on how the gang are doing. What was once a raucous affair is now healthy walks / eating and 9:00 PM bedtimes 🫣.

With Janie fulfilling NSTU duties on weekend No. 4, I tested ice at Smelt Lake for the first crossing this winter. Cold, quiet, calm, clear… all great descriptors of the weekend weather conditions. A particularly photogenic trip… freshly fallen snow, tinges of northern lights, colorful sunrise and setting. Glad to have been back and warmed the premises. January closed, as it always does for Ms L, with exams at DrJ while school pushes into the heart of winter at SAJS. We did manage some trip prep, with the aid of a Jan 30th snow day. Next up, some focus on upcoming renovations at 204 Cloverville, as Janie connects the dots with some contracting for spring / summer 2025. Not a bad showing for the thick of winter! 🥶

This month was a bit of a blur… with the first three weeks dedicated to work. I believe, as is the case with March, that December is one of the shortest months in regard to the number of teaching days. Indeed, it’s a welcome break with shortened daylight, deteriorating weather and a complement of students that very much required some time away in a changed venue. It felt particularly long this year, with students and adults battling virus / colds from start to finish. It was past time to shut our little bug factory down on Dec 20th 🤧.

However, we threw some fun at the wall and several pieces stuck! Of note, we did our 2nd Annual Xmas Family Gathering, this one in Middle Musquodoboit. Included with us were the kids, their partners, and Eileen in attendance. Ms Lumsden made another great pick, as this year’s AirB&B was generously outfitted with lots of space, all the kitchen essentials, hiking trails, hot tub and a beauty wood stove. Cozy, comfy, & busy. The stay was made all the more special with a good old December snow storm 🌨️! So glad to have everyone in one space to relax.

By the time xmas rolled in… the numbers had dwindled to four. Good to have the team back together. We made our way to Canso for a Christmas Eve visit and back for a quiet night at home and Xmas morning. Nothing heavy duty, just a few gifts, big breakfast and the subtle crackle of log (on the living room TV) to set the ambience 😂! Other than a spontaneous pack up and over night at Summerside, we stayed close to home over the holiday, with some March Break planning, World Juniors and Premier League games as distractions!

Last trip to camp for 2024 was on December 28th… a sunny, clear winter hike through the woods. Some hot chocolate, a warm fire and clean up had things cozy by noonish. Trail cam was littered with rabbit/squirrel clips… nothing very sexy. This year saw 90 overnighters… in essence 3 months worth of stays. Spoiled to the max! Epic fail on big projects, but so many enjoyable visits… including family, friends and my first ever Northern Lights experience. Hoping 2025 is the “Year of Camp Infrastructure”!

Bringing it all to a close, New Year’s Eve rolled in at Candid Brewing, where the Travelling Nobodies reconvened for all our listening pleasure! The Lumsden household proved to be “home base” for a wide collection of visitors 😂. The show itself was loads of fun, as we did our best to mix in with the youngsters and not stand out. Happy New Year 🥳!

Of note, big thanks to everyone that follows along and has popped in commenting on our ongoing blog posts this year!

As October felt steady, November brought a series of highs and lows. The month began at a fevered pitch, as the US Election smacked a nation (or globe) with the reality of a second Trump presidency. Climate, economy, reproductive freedom, immigration… the list goes on as policies are expected to be tossed like a salad. The “NOISE” is exhausting, and really so tiresome and unnecessary. Perhaps cooler heads prevail, but I write this with a healthy dose of skepticism!

Nevertheless, it was a fruitful month for camp visits. Included was a long weekend visit with Monica & Evan at camp, with lots of useful chores completed, plenty of time outside, food & games at the kitchen table and another subdued glimpse at the Northern lights. No better way to slam the lid on a dumpster fire than a few days @camplumsden!

It was a rainy Monday service for Remembrance Day 2024. Not as cold as others, but November weather is always a factor. As in previous years, the parade and ceremonies at the cenotaph were well attended with a broad cross section of participants. Thought I might post a link to Uncle Jimmy’s most appropriate tribute to Remembrance Day… the images evoked are true to my own experience growing up in Canso (Remembrance Day).

Work is always extra busy in November with report cards headed home. Janie’s ongoing committee duties with the NSTU saw her attending multiple blasts of meetings in Halifax as well as San Antonio Texas (PD). As for myself, an assignment shift added new complexities in day to day planning and no small amount of creativity! Kind of left us both crawling out of November 😂!

Through it all, I managed some friend filled camp time during consecutive visits with Scott, then Andrew, in late November. Even with weather becoming a prominent planning factor, mornings in the paths of Eastern Guysborough County saw seasonal chores racked up and some great exercise outdoors. The last day of the month saw Andrew and I with over 4 hrs canoe time in the AM paired with multiple hikes and a campfire in the PM! An awesome way to end the month.

Interjections to the “same old” were few… but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this first! A chance weekday Camp Lumsden visit billowed into my only ever encounter with Aurora Borealis, and a crushing display of the Northern Lights over Smelt Lake. I’m no celestial authority, but the Oct 10 solar display in Eastern Guysborough County was both emphatic and magical. Words don’t seem to lend justice to swirling, dancing, mystical skies from my lakeside vantage point. It was a privilege to have managed a few vivid captures of the evening! In fact… I enjoyed at least a night on most weekends this October, including an awesome day long canoe adventure with P McKenna early on and several winter prep excursions. Lucky!!!

As always, NSTU Conference Day came with our annual trek to Halifax mid-month. It was, well, meh 🫤. I’m kind of at a spot with work where I feel it would be much more productive to be in my class, and dealing with the mounting heap of paper, communications and tasks. Programming, student health, data collection/reporting and “academics” might be a better use of time with my present assignment and headspace. Perhaps I just don’t like to be told what to do anymore 😂! I’m here for the kids… it’s where I find the most gain and reward.

And… travel! We bantered around another possible “pre-election” trek south to the US… but that didn’t seem to align, so it looks as though we’ll consider the three treks this year (Vegas/London & Berlin/Appalachia) the throughput for 2024. Not bad at all! The “attention” has turned to March Break 2025, and eyes 👀 on another Mediterranean look. Perhaps putting some of my MtA studies, such as the works of Herodotus and Thucydides, to work and fashion a Lumsden style Greek adventure! It would be new territory for us with incredible cultural, entertainment and historic potential. Maybe even pull off a football match to raise the bar!!! I can see us pulling the trigger on this one soon. Regardless… we roll into November with glasses half full 👍.