Conundrum!

Here are a couple more pictures taken on our weekend ATV trip into the back country.

While we certainly have the beauty of the boreal forest surrounding us on the west coast of NL, we also have the scars of clear cut logging. My Day Job is with a company who creates much of the destruction which, leads to my conundrum!

A Trip in The Woods

We loaded the ATV on the trailer and within 15 minutes, we were on our way into the woods near Hughes Brook. With the soggy weather coming on Sunday, it was a last minute idea to enjoy the sunshine and the spectacular views along the way.

A Life Lived

Going into the weekend, my thoughts are on life, in general and what we make of it. Our time on Earth short and most often, life is what, we ourselves, make it.

As you get older, you start putting all the things you have learned along the way and every once in awhile, we have that AH HA moment. So many times, I haven't been grateful for all the positives and truly, this weekend I will keep in my mind, all the those wonderful things. And even the things that were negatives, I did learn from them too.

Urban Survival ?

Women are notorious at getting maximum things done in minimum amount of time. We are the eternal multi-taskers and that's why we are good at blogging. It is like April's 10 minute Challenge. We understand all too well about fitting in a few minutes here and there; shopping on our lunch breaks, making sandwiches for lunches before going to bed, not going empty handed when going down to the laundry room, vacuuming while waiting for supper to heat up. We all do it and I believe it is now part of our urban survival and the price we pay for it.

My Secret...shhhh

hOOklings, I have a secret I haven't shared! I am a Coronation Street Junkie and have been for more years than I like to mention. During lunch today, I was cheating and looking ahead on YOUTUBE for episodes of the Street that haven't aired yet in Canada.

I shouldn't do it, but sometimes, well, I am tempted. Don't get me wrong, I still watch it every day for half hour usually while working on my rug hooking project. My mother is now hOOKed on the Street too and we love to discuss the latest escapades.

Nothing better than a sarnie and cuppa with the Street on a dull day!

Unscathed!

Bill fizzled out. This beautiful picture is of St. Mary's Bay in Nova Scotia and sometimes, I am not happy about living in a sheltered bay. It is during storms that when I see the crash and power of the waves, I am glad that we don't have waves like these!

So much hype about Bill that I found it exhausting in itself. Other than a few torrential downpours and dark skies, we didn't have anything but calm and still air. In fact, it was a bit hot overnight as I had closed up most windows just in case.

This lighthouse reminds me of the icon I worked on this weekend. I have always wanted to be a lighthouse keeper!

Ahead of the Storm

The Eurodam was supposed to be in St. John's today but with the impending Hurricane Bill, she made an unscheduled stop in Corner Brook. She is pictured here making a quick get away just ahead of the storm.

Accidental Explosion!

Sometimes, the best things happen are purely accidental. This covers rug hooking and gardening. In one of my raised beds, the birds dropped a couple of sunflower seeds and instead of removing them, I planted around them.

I have had sunflowers before and they didn't do as well as in the Mainland. But my accidental sunflowers are an explosion of colour and flowers. The stalks are more than 2 inches in diameter and there are two of them, both full and beautiful.

I hope they survive the hurricane on its way this weekend. P and I cleaned up all loose garden items and will lash down anything that may become airborne. I watched in horror last night, the news about the tornadoes in Ontario and my heart goes out to the people who have lost so much.

Goosed!

My little goose is now finished and looking quite content swimming in a pond. I started the lighthouse last night but didn't work on it this morning.

I have been thinking about what I am going to do with my rug when finished. The designer of the rug, Anne Kirby, says that out of 40 completed rugs, she doesn't have one saved for herself. I understand completely as over the years, I have done many petite pointe/cross stitch projects and only have a couple to show for the years of work.

I think that years from now, there will be an important piece of me that will exist beyond my days. It takes 1-2 years to complete a petite pointe/cross stitch piece as I love detail and shading; the smaller the stitch, the more realistic it looks.

Back to this project, I do have some thoughts on the matter, and once it is completed, I will let my hOOklingS know where it goes.

What Can I say?

Here is a wonderful picture of an Orca whale taken in Bonne Bay. What can I say? We live in the most beautiful place in the world. I guess everyone can say that about the place they live.

Well, the weather has been a mite damp our way and with Hurricane Bill on the horizon, perhaps affecting the island next week. I decided to head downstairs this morning as it was cool and dark on the deck. I passed the frame and stood with my steaming cup of java, looking at the emerging icons. I had hooked the land in the background a green but didn't like it and took it out last night, replacing it with a mottled red, yellow, green for an autumn effect.

I sat down, unable to resist the call of the hook and before I knew the goose is finished. I still had time to get ready for the Day Job and have my second cup.

Update on Icons

I am afraid that it was just too tempting not to mount the Icons of NL onto the Cheticamp Frame. At first, I was going to continue using the sit on portable frame that P made so that I could enjoy rug hooking outside weather permitting.

But I had to attach it to the frame and take it out for a test drive!! My little goose is coming along and love the look of the icons merging all together.

Thanks to April's Ten Minute Challenge, I am making great progress on the rug and the weeds!

Beautiful job P!!

Framed

Well, a big shout out to P who finished up the Cheticamp Frame and for teaching me how to use it. It is a full 42 inches of working space and it is absolutely gorgeous. I am going to use for a while as I(we) haven't decided about a stain or a varathane finish. I am leaning towards leaving natural.

Lovely Weekend

It was a lovely weekend. Weather abit hot but who can complain. This a picture of the Artic Schooner, The Bowdoin, coming into the harbour just passing my house. This is the last stop in her schedule as we are celebrating Captain Bob Barlett, truly a NL hero.

Yesterday's Flower Children

Yesterday's Flower Children are now today's leaders. Can it be 40 years since the celebration of Woodstock in the summer of '69. I had just graduated from high school and knew from my friends that there was to be a concert in the states.

There was no way I could have gone anyway but in spirit, I suppose all of us were there that weekend. A half million strong and all hoping for a change in the status quo. Now, here we are 40 years later, the Flower Children now aging adults and far from the dream of an Age of Aquarius.

Summer's Over?

Living in Ontario for over 30 years, I picked up the habit of linking the end of summer with the CNE. Of course, when I saw in the Toronto Star that the CNE is starting August 21st, I could hear the little voice inside me say "Summer's Over."

In Newfoundland, while they don't equate the CNE to summer's end, I guess berry picking and the end of trout/salmon fishing signal something deeper than the start of moose hunting time.

Autumn is my time of year and has been for many, many years. The harvest, the smell of leaves in the air and crisp mornings all make me feel alive and spiritual at the same time.

Seal Icon

Never has such a symbol of a culture has raised so much controversy as the seal for NLers and Mainlanders alike. It is part of the NL history both past and present. My little seal is just basking in the fresh air and sunlight near her hole in the sea ice, living in the moment as animals do.

There's a Change Coming

I don't know, it might just be me but I sense a change coming. The light is fading earlier in the evening and I like, the trees and the plants, feel it deep within. There is more dew on the grass in the morning, my pansies have pooped out and all the garden looking a bit shabbier than two weeks ago.

My rug hooking project is coming along and I almost finished the fourth icon; the proverbial NL seal. P almost has the Cheticamp Frame finished and it is gorgeous. I am so struck by people who can make useful things. Of course, the frame won't be used until it is too cold to sit outside.

Rug Progress

Well, hOOklings, I am back after a couple of days of downtime. I must say, I missed all the people that I follow. I would also like to welcome back my dear mother, whose computer also had some downtime too.

Here is the boat icon completed and I started the seal yesterday. Just to review, there are 12 icons depicting NL. I am enjoying this type of rug hooking; little pictures within a picture and this keeps my interest in the project.

Anchors Away!

I love the way the water around the boat turned out. This was totally unplanned but it looks like small swells on the bow of the fishing boat.

This is the first large project I have done in rug hooking. A pattern by Anne Kirby. I must say that I am drawing on years of petit pointe and cross stitching, shading etc and it seems to be paying off.

I took out(reversed stitched) the blue around the wharf posts and used grey which helps change the prespective. The seagulls look a little funny but once they are squeezed into shape by the surrounding clouds/sky, I think they will look more like birds and less like cow horns in the sky!

Taking a couple of days off for a routine medical test and should have loads of rug hooking to report.

Yarn or Wool?

I have a picture of the progress on the icons of NL but forgot to download it but I will do that this evening for tomorrow's post.

I am a new hooker and self taught for the most part unless you count Deanne's and Gene's video lessons. I started my first project with wool yarn from Molly Made. And I did the second project with wool strips. I find that the wool yarns are easier to obtain in a vast amount of colours. But I do incorporate wool strips from time to time when I have to.

Deanne says that you can use what you want primarily looking a texture, colours and interest as your inspiration. At first, I found that yarns didn't give any movement or direction, but I soon learned how that wool is just a malleable as strips.

I am going to clean out some cupboards later in the week and I will not be throwing anything out in the way of material.

Weekend Drive

The beauty of living in Newfoundland is that you are only a few minutes away from the best scenery in the world. Here are a few pictures from Saturday's drive to Cow Head. I left the weeds, housework and dusting behind to enjoy some of the Creator's creations!