Day 141, Friday August 17,2018- More computer “salvaging”, major truck repair.

Another great day here in Nova Scotia, the ‘Seabound Coast” as it is often called.  New Brunswick is often referred to as both “The Loyalist Land”  and the “Drive Through Province” as folks just drive through to get to the other Provinces.  Certainly not very complimentary as it does have many fine features, especial Atlantic Ocean and the Maine boundary.  It is however, probably not easy to remember the name of  a city or town in that Province.

The morning was spent getting the computer back to where they were before we attempted to get them coordinated on “i cloud”. We finally got my address book (contacts) back the way they were and only have my Google account to return to normal. Ruth was on the phone for 45 minutes this morning.

Having done that ,we ate lunch and headed to a school named Dalousie University , which has three colleges in Halifax and one here on Truro. The one here emphasizes agriculture and the attending sciences. I had read that they have some very fine gardens on campus that are actually living labs for the students. Our aim was to see some of those and we went beyond that today as the story will relate.

The first stop was the”rock” garden that they are very proud of. It is a 1/2 acre plot filled with 450 tons of red granite rocks for the decor in this “bowl” that is  really a garden. There are paths to walk and the water ways are “dry river” beds. We earned some things about gardens here. There were a few things, like ‘Juniperus horizontals’ that we might try.  A bicolored maple try was beautiful.







rock garden

One of the attractive sculptures in the Alumni Garden at Dalhousie U.

The "Rock Garden" is just that. One half acre, and 450  tons of red granite .

 We also had read that they have an aquaculture building (it was more than that)  and we found it and walked in the side door  as summer is a down time and few students are around. We were met by Marla who said she would show us around and if anyone was in the department she would show us the Aquaculture department. We were in luck as a “Dr. Paul MacIsaac”  was just walking out of his office and volunteered to give these Michiganders a tour of his pride and joy. This was his program that he ran. First, he offered us a choice …”Would you rather see the big fish or the little fish, as that answer will depend on which way we go”. We choose the big fish.

Aquaculture at Dalhousie U

That led to the tanks in a large room that were the basis of his work in developing ways to produce fish so that commercial companies could profitably produce fish for the fisheries for Nova Scotia.  The relationships of the fish and the salt and fresh water was important as the  Two types they worked with were Atlantic Salmon and  Bass.  The Bass can move from sat to fresh water each day easily.  The same on the the hand can only use the fresh water for about six weeks, then it needs torte turn to the salt water again.  Although student enrollments have dropped the past few years he is optimistic for the future even though  an investor needs to be found who can back the projects in the years ahead. 

Fingerlings in the tanks.  Commercial Co's. need their results.

More of the tanks in Aquaculture

The part the “tour “with Marla led to the meat department (Agriculture) where one of the profs was in the hall and we found out that she was in the meat (beef and chicken) department , teaching students the nuances of beef analysis as well as  the ins and outs of the same.  It was a time when we partook in the “unexpected” , but we learned much . It was interesting and new to see lecture rooms where whole beef carcasses were brought on as a display.

The final two stops were Stop 1).  to the Alumni Garden (a large walk around garden on campus, which had many pathways and some of these flowers and plants.

The entry to the Alumni Gardens at Dalhousie U

Stop 2). The truck! Finally… we had a 2:30 appointment  at the Toyota dealer to deal with the consistent loud vibration that was emanating from under the truck.  It was the “U” joint that was loose as a result of  not being greased probably at all during ”quick stop” lube jobs.  This truck (2007) is not a sealed grease fitting on the U joint and has to be greased each time there is a lube. As a result of not doing this the joint had seized up and although in Renfrew Ont. We did get it greased and cleaned, it  was not right. So Truro Toyota , ordered the part when I called week ago, and today they installed it in good fashion. Thanks to them for the correspondence and the work today . It is a long standing  dealership that’s been there since the 1980’s. It took a great deal of weight off my shoulders for the truck’s health. Thank you God!

For the third night we are having thunderstorms, but none have arrived. We will see if tonight is the night! The other two nights were “pseudo storms”. Oh yes, we saw a Cooper’s Hawk and a Ruby Throated Hummingbird n the gardens today.  (See)

There is the hummer in the rock garden