I confess!

It is very trendy today to confess to some sort of addiction. I have never thought of myself as someone who had an addiction to anything. Impossible as being a Gemini, the two of us keep each other guessing and roaming from one interest to another.

But really, with Charlize Theron's admission of her OCD, I may as well come clean. I too have mild form of OCD. I am not fussy about my cupboards being tidy as Charlize; as long as the cupboard door is closed, the chaos doesn't exist for me. I don't count, I don't avoid cracks in the sidewalk, I don't wash my hands over and over.

But what I do is follow a routine when travelling or leaving my home. If, for one second, my mind goes somewhere else, and I don't remember locking the door etc., I have to start the routine over again or if I don't, worry about it the whole time. Dishes have to go back in the same place, cutlery and linen too.

Gloomy Sunday!

It is a rainy day in Montreal but temperature is mild. We are going to start getting ready for the drive back next week. I just checked the ferry schedule and of course, they are running late and may stay that way until our booked crossing.

The weather looks like light rain all the way but at least, no hurricanes on the horizon. We may go out for a movie and lunch today; only movie that looks interesting is the new Brad Pitt one.

I am not sure if I will have time to stop at Deanne's but will see as time goes along.

Sideway Puffins

I have tried all morning to turn the puffins around right side up but to no avail. Anyway, here is the puffin rug I made up for my mother to try out. But first, we will go to Costco this morning. Or as I call it, the $300.00 store.

Weather has been just beautiful so far and let's hope it continues on until, January? No such luck but we take what we can get.

Reservations all made for the return trip early next week and Mom has decided to come along for a bit of a vacation before the snow flies!

Happy Autumn!

What beautiful weather the entire country is experiencing. I feel very sorry for the people in Georgia who are being flooded. I was in Atlanta a couple of times many years ago, and enjoyed it very much.

Today, we may take a short drive to our nation's capital, Ottawa, for a bit of a break. And you never know, we may end up in Hull in the Casino for a couple of hours.

Hooray!

Part of the way that my mother and I keep in contact is through the internet. After a problem with her computer, it was set up again by a "Geek" service. While we were able to communication via email, her computer was acting up and the wireless router wasn't working at all.

I tried last week to reinstall the router but after several hours of attempts and technical support calls, the router firm suggested the problem was with their device and would send a new one.

The replacement router came by courier today and I spent several hours trying to set it up without success. I was about to throw in the towel, but I know how much Mom enjoys internet radio and kept at it.

Finally, I got the modem and the router talking to each other. The computer is behaving beautifully and the internet radio is playing a station from Australia.

Hooray!

The Big City

I worked for more than 30 years in Toronto after graduating college. I fully intended to go back to Quebec but due to changes in reciprocity of nurses from other provinces, I ended up staying and putting down roots.

The Toronto of today is not the one I remember years ago. It is more diverse, faster paced and spread out. It is not just me that changed, the city did too.

I will be heading back down the 401 to La Belle Province. I enjoyed time with old friends and of course, family. The shopping was good too and spent some time in Michael's and bought some beautiful yarns to bring home to NL.

Oh Me Nerves!

I have many fibre projects over the years and I was saying in previous posts, I only have kept the scattered one. Here are some petite pointe projects that I have given my mother. I thought that it would be good from now on, to keep a picture history of some of them.

Petite pointe used to be my favourite medium. It is like painting with threads; the tinier, the more detail you get. Taking a picture of a picture is difficult to get the quality of the design but here are some examples.

I am now teaching my mother how to rug hook and before I left the island, I designed a nice, simple pattern of a puffin. We will be working on it when I get back to Montreal as off to the "big smoke", Toronto for the weekend as I will be visiting my stepdaughter.

Kim, of course, I never miss Coronation Street and yes, it is getting pretty good but Stevie is sure going to have his hands full breaking up with Michelle and hooking up with Becky. Oh me nerves!

The Red Tape Blues

One of the tasks my mother had lined up for me, was a new car purchase. Her car was older than some of my shoes and that says something. It was in great shape for 17 years old and only had 119,000 kms on it.

With the incentive to "retire your ride" from the Gov't of Canada and deals from car manufacturers, it was time. So off we go. The selection and purchase was simple but it was downhill from there. To get the "retire your ride" rewards, it takes internet experience, reams of paper work and a firm disposition to stick with it.

Once you have your paper work completed, you can wait for weeks for the pick up or drop it off at the recyclers. It took 45 minutes on the telephone to locate the recyclers which was quite a distance but would be a speedier option. The car performed beautifully on the drive there and I kept thinking what a shame to just have old snoopy recycled. But, as with everything, her time had come to go to the great junk yard in the sky.

Family Memories

This is a picture of my sister and I taken so many years ago in the '60s. We are crammed into one of those picture booths in Old Orchard Beach in Maine. We spent a couple of summers there in a very quaint place called Higgins Inn.

So many years have gone by, making me wonder how time flies when you are looking at it from the other side. Today, I helped my mother buy a new car. The salepeople and processes have changed so much, she felt better with us making the deal.

I had a good chat with the accessory saleman about my rug hooking and about the wonderful world of blogging. So, at least, in the run of this day, I thought about rug hooking and all the nice people I have met because of it.

On the Road

Arrived safely in Montreal. We ended up on the Leif Erickson instead of the Vision but crossing was fine. Isn't it funny how technology has made us dependent. I have spent the whole morning trying to sort out my mother's internet/router problems. I spent hours on the telephone to various support centres only to find out that the router is defective.

I think that it was much easier when we only had an on/off button and two channels.

Ferry Service

Part of the problem of living on an island is that from time to time, it requires leaving the island. I have made the crossing many, many times since 1984. On some of the older ferries, the loading and unloading was a major event taking hours and hours. In those days, passengers brought sleeping bags and pillows, and stretched out anywhere they could on a night crossing. Not very safe and not very comfortable.

In the early '90s, the two super-ferries arrived and allowed a roll on/roll off service. And now, the latest, the Vision, has been added. Lovely cruise ship but more designed for a longer voyage, not for a quick crossing of 4-5 hours. Our part of the Trans-Canada Highway, the most expensive and only 90 kms or so.

I will be striking out once again, leaving the island for a few weeks to connect with family on the Mainland. Thanks to the modern world, I will be posting as I go. The only thing I haven't figured out, is how I am going to rug hooking along the way!

Got Your Moose B'Y?

Certainly as I continue to hook the 12 icons of NL, the moose has its place in my rug. Along with the seal, the moose stands out as a symbol of this province. While the moose populations diminish Canada wide, NL is "maggoty" with them.

Here's the history as I have been told. Moose were successfully introduced to the province in 1904 and are presently numbered at well over 250,000. Love them or at least, hunt them, the moose is sometimes, fondly called "government meat" by some of the older folks.

This weekend kicks off the end of trout and salmon fishing and the start of hunting season. The phrase of the next few months until the close of the season in early December is, "got your moose, b'y?"

Why is it?

We were sitting around the fire on the weekend, looking up at the glittering stars and the play of lights on the bay. We started reminiscing about the places and people we worked with over the years.

Why is it sometimes, people are stuck in your memory banks for years and years after you had contact with them? You seem to remember full names of some people for absolutely no reason and don't remember others that you had alot of contact with. It doesn't make any sense to me.

Oh well, they say it is the memory that's the first to go. I do have a good memory but it seems shorter than it used to be. Now, working on the moose icon and it is coming along nicely. I am preparing for my semi annual trek to the Mainland to be with family in Quebec and Ontario. I hope this time to make a stop in Amherst, NS at Deanne's store and do some pre Christmas Shopping for myself!

Here's the Definitions

What a gorgeous weekend, weather wise and other wise. I puttered and relaxed and mostly, enjoyed. Here are the definitions for last week's NL Quiz




killick- An anchor made up of an elongated stone encased in pliable sticks bound at the top and fixed in two curved cross-pieces, used in mooring nets and small boats

pinchgut- A channel or run of water.

tickle- A narrow difficult strait.

scoff and a scuff- A meal followed by a dance.

figgy duff- A boiled pudding containing raisins

toutans - A piece of bread dough fried in fat

hangashore - A man regarded as too lazy to fish

Sure B'y

Here is the next completed icon, the Lighthouse. I am okay with how it turned out and am learning as I go. I am self taught and if it wasn't for the rug hookers I blog with, I wouldn't have learned as much as I have.

I had to laugh the other day when I used the word, duckish but also put in an explanation of the word. I loved Corinne's comments. It reminds me that NL have a unique way of speaking and using odd words. I am a "come from away" Quebec/Ontario but have been coming to NL for 26 years. I have gotten used to some of the terms but for the first little while, I had trouble.

Everyone in NL seems to use the word b'y (boy) for everyone, male and female. Everything that you use like a tool is a 'machine' and when you say the month, you say September month, not the other way around.

Here are a couple of words. Do you know what they mean?

killick
pinchgut
tickle
scoff and a scuff
figgy duff
toutans
hangashore

The Ant and the Grasshopper

There is a fable about a grasshopper who has spent the summer singing away while the ant worked to store up food for winter. When winter arrives, the grasshopper finds itself dying of hunger, and upon asking the ant for food is only rebuked for its idleness.

It is this time of year in NL that preparations are now being made for the cold winter months. Vegetables being harvested, winter wood being cut, split and stored, pickling and making jams, and of course, hunting. We live close to the land here and take every opportunity to reap the bounty.

Rug hooking came out of the this same mindset. Using everything we have around us to make us warm and comfortable. A chore of necessity, a chore of love.

Hanging by a Thread

There is nothing more beautiful than a spider; unless of course, you have a phobia to them. Towards the end of the season, we have lots of gorgeous spiders hanging around the screenhouse and decks.

I always think of the children's story; Charlotte's Web when I see a particularly splendid example like this one. Their lives so short and yet, filled with creative genius in the making of their webs. It makes me wonder about the rugs and other crafts we make.

I finished up the lighthouse last night and started the outline of the moose, the next icon. I also tea dyed some natural white Briggs & Little 2 ply wool. It turned out pretty good using April's crock pot technique. Gosh, starting to think in terms of dying my own wool now!

I must have been bitten by the rug hooking spider!

Progress on Mat

Between my ATV trip into the woods, making 24 bottles of marinated carrots and bread/butter pickles, I was able to make some progress on my mat.

Actually, I have completed most of it up to the sky and will take another picture when it is finished.

We are still using the hot tub although, it is getting abit chilly at night. This weekend, the Labour Day weekend, my little hot tub will be put away until next year. I am abit sad as this is the first of the "things" that have to be put away as the weather cools.

It is too duckish in the mornings to sit out on the deck, so I go to the Cheticamp frame with coffee in hand and get my ten minutes in before the Day Job!

PS: Duckish is a NL term for dusk or twilight.