One of the simpler summer time pleasures in Quinte is taking advantage of the many local fruit and vegetable stands that seem to pop up all over the place. It usually starts with the strawberries, and as the summer wears on they will be selling other goodies until pumpkin season arrives. I don't like pumpkins, by the time they are in the vegetable stands summer will be long over. Until then though, I get to enjoy cucumbers, brocoli, tomatoes, peppers, raspberries, blueberries, potatoes, and lots of other locally grown produce. My favourite is the corn. No question. There are several varieties that are grown locally, and they are all delicious. I love picking through the corn bin and selecting the ears that are just right. A lot of people just pick the biggest ones, thinking that they ar... 07/08/2011

Thank You Justin Bieber. You are an inspiration to all of us. "Find out what's possible if you never give up". That's a great motto, and coming from someone like you makes it extra special. We can all relate to the long hard struggle your life must have been before your debut album charted at #1 and made you an international recording star and multi millionaire at the age of 15. It must have been a tough 14 years prior to that, especially in light of the fact that your childhood was spent in the hardscrabble town of Stratford, Ontario - home of the Shakespeare Festival. Stratford, located on the banks of the Avon River, is where they release 24 white swans and two black swans into the river in a symbolic gesture of whatever the hell that's supposed to symbolise. Childhood could not have... 04/29/2011

A few months ago I wrote a blog post about a dog named Willy. His owners were downsizing and moving to an apartment, and even though it broke their hearts, they knew that it was best if Willy found a new home. We did manage to find Willy suitable accomodations, thanks to someone who read my blog post. - That should be a lesson to those of you who wonder about the effectiveness of blogging. Well today I'm making a similar appeal. One of my clients has an old farm dog who can longer be at her side as she journies on to the next stage of her life. Old Max. Whenever I drive my car up the long driveway, the first being that greets me is Max. He lopes (about as gracefully as a rather rotund old fellow can manage) alongside my car the whole way. Boy oh boy is he ever excited to see me. He can'... 04/20/2011

  Ladies, ladies, ladies, I read a lot of real estate blogs and articles and a recurring theme seems to be (gasp) the horror of "mancaves". I know a lot of you crinkle your noses at the very idea of a mancave existing in a house that you are trying to sell. There are countless articles on how to transform them into something that's more appealing. In this blog post I'm going to strike a blow for equality. Yes, men are human beings too. See this picture of a bathroom on your left? This pink creation that vaguely resembles a five year old girl's birthday cake. What the hell is this? Who on earth needs a carpet on their toilet? This is obviously not something that a man designed. I am going to let the ladies who are reading this in on a little secret that every man knows but few will admi... 04/08/2011

Many teachers have been reluctant to use Facebook. The reasons for this are pretty obvious. If I were a teacher, I wouldn't want my students to know a lot of the personal details of my life (and I probably wouldn't want to know too much about theirs). Being in contact with students through a platform like Facebook could become uncomfortable for many teachers. With Facebook's atrocious record for dealing with issues of privacy many teachers refuse to sign up for an account in the first place. A new internet venture called Teachbook has been launched for teachers. Not only is it a bit of a social network, it's also a place where teachers can share resources, lessons and many other things that could be helpful to the teaching profession. It is simply an online community for teachers, simil... 08/26/2010

QUINTE REGION CAREER FAIR Are you new to the area and looking for a new job? If so you need to go to the Quinte Region Career Fair being held on:   Thursday April 29, 2010 Quinte Sports Centre, Wally Dever Mezzainne 10:00 a.m - 5:00 p.m.   Don't forget to bring several copies of your Resume. Best of Luck!   For all your Quinte Real Estate Needs please  contact: The Sharon Shortt Team Catherine Polan, Sales Representative Re/Max (Remax) Quinte Ltd. Brokerage 1-866-969-9907 613-243-9659     04/19/2010

Carrying Place is a small town (hamlet maybe) close to Trenton. People pass through it on their way into Prince Edward County (from the highway 401, there's only 2 ways into the county), and as the expression goes "blink and you will miss it". There's a few houses, a Post Office and a small diner. The general store closed down some years ago. It is little more than a bedroom community for the larger towns of Trenton and Belleville. Certainly most people in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) would never have heard of this small place, but it is one of Ontario's oldest settled areas and it had a huge impact on the history of Ontario some years ago. After the American Revolutionary War, refugees who remained loyal to the Crown were streaming into this area after having left the new nation of A... 02/23/2010

Are you suffering from the mid-winter blahs yet? If you happen to be reading this from anywhere north of the Carolinas, chances are you probably are. I know I am. Today I decided to write about something a little warmer, and just thinking about it makes me feel better. Chattel houses can be found on a few Carribean islands, but for the most part, it is the sunny island of Barbados where they are best known. The plantation workers would build small houses that could be moved from one plantation to the next. As we all know, "chattel" means "movable property", and that's exactly what these houses were designed to do. They are constructed entirely out of wood (except for the tin roof) and no nails are used to keep them together. Thet can be disassembled fairly quickly and moved to another ... 02/07/2010

The Bay of Quinte Region rests serenely on the north-east shore of Lake Ontario, one of the 5 Great Lakes of North America. It has a 4 season climate with hot, humid summers and the winters, although variable, can be very cold and snowy.We do not have alligators here nor any poisonous snakes of any kind. The lakes and rivers are all fresh-water and can be swam in safely without the worry of being attacked by any creature.There are a few animals to be wary of though, especially if they are acting aggressive or if you come upon one by chance.The Snapping Turtle is a prehistoric looking creature with a ridged back and tail and a sharp looking snout (because it is!). This turtle can grow quite large and is capable of jumping forward with amazing agility and speed if threatened. It can infli... 02/10/2008

Here we are near the end of 2007 and I'm trying to figure out where the Quinte Real Estate market will be heading next year. In order to see the future I pulled out the old crystal ball from storage, dusted it off, tied the scarf onto my head, and focused intently on the the large orb (What? You thought I was going to pull the predictions out of a hat?)As many who sell Belleville Ontario Real Estate know, 2007 has been a banner year in the Quinte Region. Total number of sales to October 31st was 3,334, up 11.5% over the same period in 2006 - not bad at all. Using year to date figures, the average residential price in the Quinte Real Estate region increased 7.8% to $196,830. Can this continue?So what is going to happen in 2008? Well, according to all the "expert" opinions that I have rea... 12/12/2007

have you ever been taken by a tenant or worse a government agency. As a landlord I have watched others and myself suffer at the hands of tenants all using the tenant tribunal and thier use of government politics to get around providing the monies agreed to in a the initial contract. With constant changing by-laws landlords in some small towns in the quinte region are subject to all kinds of charges such as water and sewer even if the tenant signed an agreement to pay thier own utilities. It seems like some companies allow individuals to get away with stealing from landlords to save themselves from having to do any follow-up. It also seems like some members of our society are fully aware of thier privaleges and make no attempt to take responsibility for thier actions. That is why we at l... 10/23/2007

I have come to enjoy all the great things that the Quinte area has to offer to my family and me including the things it doesn't have. Here are a few of my favorites: Traffic delays that slow my trip by only a few minutes rather than a few hours.I only have to travel a short distance to reach water. Whether it's the Trent and Moira Rivers or the Bay of Quinte and Presqu'ile Bay or Moira Lake and Lake on the Mountain.The fact that I have great neighbours but they are not so close that I can hear their television through an open window.Although our air quality could always be better in the Quinte region, I 'm glad I can't see the yellowish -brown cloud that hangs over the larger urban areas on a hot humid day.I appreciate the fact that many in my neighbourhood feel safe to walk any street ... 07/30/2007