It’s been a few weeks since I have played the Friday Five at Revgals. I am on staycation and been reading, catching up on some household projects, gardening, spending time with my youngest granddaughter and generally relaxing, unwinding and recharging.

Today’s question is treasures in your neighbourhood, whether current or past neighbourhood.

Having grown up on air force bases and moving every few years, I am blessed to have lived in many different parts of the country, both as a child and adult. As a minister, and one who does not live in the neighbourhood that I serve at the present time, this is a challenging question. I spend far more time in the pastoral charge’s neighbourhood than I do my own home’s neighbourhood. The first 8 years of my ministry I lived in close proximity to the churches I served; for the past 4, I have not. They both have pros and cons. So, my five local treasures are a mixture of past and present.

1. I love my own home! My husband and I built it when we got married 4 years ago. It’s on a dead end street that is not paved, has a beautiful treed, backyard and I have invested time and energy into flower and shrub beds. It’s my refuge. This picture reminds me that I need to take a newer one… the garden beds have filled in greatly!
2. I lived and served a church in the Northend of Halifax for 4 years; it’s an amazing part of the larger city. One of the things that I loved about it the most was its walkability; that part of the city was rebuit after the Halifax Explosion, built in a time when they put sidewalks on BOTH sides of the street, built in a time when most people didn’t have vehicles, so amenities were within walking distance.
3. Cup of Soul Cafe is a coffee shop within walking distance of one of the churches I currently serve. It has all the perfect things, friendly owner and staff, great food and great ambiance. It’s a wonderful spot to connect with parishioners and colleagues or to work on a project.
4. Fisherman’s Cove is a project that grew up out of the collapse of the Atlantic Fishery a number of years ago. It has shops, restaurants, a boardwalk. beaches for both swimming and fishing and the best ice cream shop around! 
5.   The ocean. The motto of Nova Scotia is Canada’s Ocean Playground. You are never more than about an hour or so away from the ocean, no matter where you are in the province! Some of them are too cold to swim at except for a couple of weeks in late summer, some are warm from June till mid-September.