Quarantine finds

So we decided it would probably be okay if we took short walks around the area, staying away from any other buildings or people. Just up the road, where this picture was taken, there’s an abandoned orchard – you can see a gnarly apple tree to the left. A sign indicates that it’s been designated as a development site for homes or cottages, but there doesn’t seem to have been much uptake. So we wandered through the orchard, and came upon three small buildings that look like fruit stands.

This one piqued my curiosity. So I googled strawberries and Deer Lake and discovered that Deer Lake is home to an annual strawberry festival that celebrated its 38th anniversary in 2020 – or would have, if it hadn’t been cancelled due to the pandemic. April Wine were set to headline.

Strawberries are the highest value fruit crop in the province, with the Humber River valley area as a top producer. The strawberry harvest takes place in late July – something to look forward to!

Across the road from our accommodation, there’s a small forest. We took a walk along a path leading to the forest and found this sign:

The Nature Conservancy has protected this stand of Black Ash, which reaches its northern limit in Newfoundland and is provincially vulnerable. We had trouble identifying any Black Ash trees, but there were plenty of Birch, and Black Birch, which I had never seen before.

The forest looks fairly unremarkable from our porch during the day, but at sunset, it’s a whole different story. Amazing how much beauty and how many things of interest you can find within a small perimeter, if you just explore a bit. And no, that’s not a UFO in the photo – it’s a reflection of a light fixture inside. Newfoundland is interesting, but not that interesting!