If Only??

I finished Maddy and now, onto the snow surrounding her. I was reading Deanne's post this morning about ideas and it reminded me of an idea I had last night while hooking some of the snow background.

I thought that once I am finished Maddy's mat, I would design another one for each of the other dogs I have had; Babe and Bonnie, the Dobermans, Heidi and Pepper, the Schnauzers, and finally, Pee Wee along with Maddy for the Jack Russells.

Once finished, I could join the six mats into one large mat. Now, that seems to be a great idea!

If only??

Payback Time!

Well, maybe it's over. Now, that we have Christmas and Boxing Day sales out of the way, it's onto the "lifestyle resolutions" treadmill.

Now that we have stuffed overselves with food and drink, maxed out the Visa cards, it's on to the television ads berating us for our overindulgence and pity for the starving children around the world. It's payback time!

Merry Christmas to All

Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends. Thanks so much for visiting and also for sharing your own lives with me.

Blessings to everyone!

Happy Tipp's Eve!

In Newfoundland, the day before Christmas Eve is known by Tibb's Eve, Tipp's Eve or Tipsy Eve. No one is really certain of it's exact origin but I do know that it is only in Newfoundland that this term is used.

It is thought that Tipsy Eve originated by the old custom of the men in the outports going from house to house on the 23rd of December to taste each other's home brew. Thus, becoming 'tipsy' by the end of the 23rd.

Happy Tibb's Eve to all but please walk from house to house and leave the car at home!

Dog Gone It!

This is Alice's progress to date on our animal themed rug hooking project. I think her choice of her brother's Labrador Retriever, Abby, was a bold choice as there is a high degree of difficulty. After all, black is black but how to show the shine of Abby's coat and the play of light.

The progress on my project has not progressed as far but plodding along, when I can.

Seems All Too Soon!

The older I get, winter seems to come all too soon and buries my garden with her cold, white arms.

And the Wind did blow!

We had a unbelievable wind storm from Thursday evening into Friday and lost the power for 27 hours. The temperature soared to over plus 14 and then, dropped like a proverbial rock.

Now, we have had wind storms before but this one had us all nervous and afraid that the roof would blow off any minute. At one point, we watched a light fixture in the kitchen ceiling rock and sway like we were on a boat. Oh the North Atlantic, the winds are cruel and merciless.

Our portable garage which used to house the boat was shredded and collapsed like it was just cardboard. Besides that ,a piece of siding and part of a fence blown over, our little house by the Bay of Islands stood her ground and bravely survived another attempt to blow us off this rock!

Maddy's Off and Running!

Here is the beginning of the portrait of Maddy. I have no idea how this is going to turn out, but here goes! I am following a coloured photo I took of Maddy last winter on the deck looking cute as a button.

The weather has been up and down, some days snow and cold, the next, rain and melting snow. Well, I guess that's winter in the North Atlantic.

Hard to believe that Christmas is less than one month away. The stores are starting to be so crowded and almost impossible. Imagine, in one month, it will be all over, except the bills!

I am not a "bah humbug person" but I hate how commercial Christmas has become. I guess it is up to we, the people, to make it less commercial and more about enjoying time with friends and family.

Finished and Started!

Autumn Trio is now complete and it is quite nice, if I do say so myself.

And what comes after one hooked rug project? Of course, more rug hooking projects. This is the one that I am working on with my Day Job group and we picked pets. Here is Maddy and this should be a real demonstration of how many values of brown I can get into one mat!

The weather has been quite mild up to yesterday and for now, we have had a touch of snow which I am sure is only a sampling of things to come.

Sad Ending!

This picture makes me very sad. Two glorious ferries beached side by side waiting their turn to be made into scrap in Alang, India. The Caribou and the Smallwood were only 25 years old and in the life of a monster ferry, that isn't even middle age.


These two Ladies of the North Atlantic which were built in Quebec, were replaced by two new super ferries, the Blue Putee and the Highlander, and were sold to the highest bidder who decided they are worth more in scrap that in transportation ability.

I spent many a crossing on these ferries, always feeling safe despite the rolling, brutal North Atlantic or the thickness of the ice crushing against their sides in the middle of the night.

My Newfoundland Connection!

Catholic Church in North River on the Avalon Penisula where Mrs. Carroll is buried.


I have been coming to Newfoundland for almost 20 years before becoming a resident. I am known to islanders as a "Come from Away" and while, it isn't meant to be rude, it just means I am from somewhere else.

One time,I asked someone, how long do you have to live here before that term is inapplicable. I was told until you have someone buried in Newfoundland.

For years, I have heard my dear Mother talk about a relative who lived in Newfoundland until she was 115 years old. But didn't know much about her, just a last name, Mrs. Carroll. On CBC yesterday, while listening to the CBC celebration, they played a tape of a Mrs. Carroll being interviewed by Joey Smallwood on her 113th birthday.

After a short search in I found this information;

The Oldest Resident
Born on October 21, 1828, Mrs. Ellen Carroll lived til December 8, 1943 when she died where she had been born in North River at the tender age of 115 years, 7 weeks.

In addition to her being Newfoundland's oldest resident, Mrs. Carroll is also known for her radio broadcast debut on the night of October 19, 1940 in celebration of her 113th birthday. Mr. J.R. Smallwood choreographed the broadcast and the following dignitaries were in attendance: Honourable Sir John C. Puddester, Vice-Chairman of the Commission of Government and Commissioner for Public Health and Welfare. Greeting were sent by the Queen and King, and His Excellency Governor and Lady Walwyn, as well telegrams were sent from the Bishop of Newfoundland, the President of the United Church, the Mayor of St. John's and Captain Bob Bartlett.

Mrs. Carroll in her lifetime had witnessed many changes in her community, province and country. For example, there had been rule by Governor, Representative Government, Amalgamated Government, Responsible Government, and Commission Government and when she was in her fifties the Dominion of Canada was formed. The first railway was built when Mrs. Carroll was in her early sixties.


I am not sure how or where the connection is, but now, I can honestly, say I am not longer a Come From Away!

New Project!

I had to develop a new project for our rug hooking group at the Day Job. As Alice is working on a mat with an animal design, I decided to follow suit.

Somewhere in my travels, I discovered the Be Funky site which is great for added artistic flare to your photos. I took this picture of Maddy last winter and just loved the comical look on her face. I played with the Be Funky editing and came up with the black and white "inkified" picture. I will be attempting to draw this on red dot and then, transfer onto burlap for a small 11 x 17 mat.

You can find the Be Funky site on the right hand of my blog under Interesting Places.

Autumn Trio Finished

After considerable redrawing and reversing hooking, the third and final pumpkin went back to its original design. I could not get by the grinning face and it didn't compliment the other two pumpkins. I am happy with the final outcome and will now, carry on with the whipped corded border finish.

Wordless Friday as the Pictures Say it All!

Thanks Mom!

I had a lovely weekend in Montreal with my dear mother. It was just the two of us and it flew by much too quickly. Well, this morning, I guess it had to happen some time, wet snow greeted me on the way to the Day Job. Let's hope the winter passes smoothly for all of us.

I had a visitor to my blog and when I checked out Yolanda's site, she had posted The Knot's Prayer. I had to share it with you as it is excellent and I will be sure to read it once it awhile for reinforcement!

Unexpected Trip!

This is the view of the highway leading from Corner Brook to Deer Lake. There is irony in the name Deer Lake as we have no deer in the province. I guess Captain Cook should have called it Moose Lake, but at that time, we had no moose either.

Anyway, I will be headed up that highway later today as I am being sent by the Day Job people to another location for a meeting and of course, this means Montreal. Well, what better time to arrange a quick, weekend visit with my dear mother who lives only a few minutes from Trudeau International or as we call it, Dorval. In fact, if you have ever landed in Montreal, you flew right over Mom's house, or at least, pretty close to it.

I thought I would add a spectacular picture of the barrens outside of Stephenville with their beautiful fall colours.

Autumn's Splendor!

This beautiful scenery is looking west towards the Blow-Me-Down mountains overlooking Corner Brook.

Autumn's beautiful splendor only diminished by thoughts of what comes after this season. It was a nice long weekend with a few pre-winter chores like chimney cleaning, bottling up beets and putting away the garden for the winter.

This week, my little rug hooking group will be starting up again and I will be finishing the Autumn Trio. I will be designing a small project to bring in and of course, revisit the Cheticamp frame which has the large project on it.

New Toy!

A few months ago, my dear mother gave me my birthday present and told me to buy something special. I don't think she understood my indecision as I wanted to get something I wouldn't even think of getting myself.

It took some time but I decided on a Bolivar cutter, the Cadillac of wool cutters. Of course, it will take some time as each one is made to order. Until then, I will be content using my rotor cutter and scissors but I will be dreaming of my Bolivar.

I want to express my sincere condolences to Mr. Bolivar and family on the passing of Joan Bolivar this past May 2011. Her legacy will live on in her inspiration on this beautiful wool cutter.

Look at What Passed My House!

The Queen Elizabeth was in Corner Brook on Friday and over 1000 passengers were visiting our beautiful city. I waved goodbye to them from my deck overlooking the Bay of Islands while I could hear "Rule Britannia" on the ship's loudspeakers.