Tails and Feathers

Kim of Millie's Mats got me thinking about what common ground most of the rug hooklings have together. The love of our little fur/feathered friends!

It was almost one year ago that Lily, seen in the foreground, took up residence at chez Julie. I shouldn't do this but I always look into various local animal rescues as part of my usual routine. There is one animal rescue in Central NL which looks after critters such as ferrets and rabbits and also birds.

There she was! Lily, a very old cockatiel who was once again being given up. As she was around 15 years old, there was little hope of adoption. We have had cockatiels before and in fact, the last of the bunch, Henry T. Byrd, seen behind Lily is about the same age.

Lily had a bit of mysterious and checkered past. She was found at large on her own in the wilds of NL, rescued and adopted but then, only to be given up again and again. I made arrangements to adopt her knowing that she was a senior with her clock ticking.

Lily is a very quiet, well behaved bird with a penchant for millet and sunflower seeds. She is also very independent and has not succumbed to Henry's whistles, songs and flirting.

Henry and Lily make the trip to the Mainland several times per year in their travelling cage and in fact, Henry has made the crossing more than most people in the province. Never once do they ask "aren't we there yet??"

Simple Pleasures

I was able between naps, coughs and sneezes to work on the puffin icon over the weekend. With all the bad news of pandemics, bombings etc etc, it is wonderful to have a simple pleasure of hooking for distraction.

Down with a Cold

I have been down with an old fashion head cold for the past couple of days. I have always wondered why dogs never seem to catch colds. Maybe scientists should study that fact and we may come up with a cure.

Feeling much, much better now and working on Mr. Puffin and taking my time on the last couple of icons. Starting to think, ponder and plan the next project. Of course, with Christmas two months from today, I may switch gears and hook something for Christmas presents.

I try every year to do something crafty for the people I work with; one year, I knitted those old fashion cotton dishcloths, putting three in a nice basket with Christmas candies. Last year, I tried to make marmalade so I could give a jar of it with some other sundry items. The marmalade didn't set and was a total failure. So I wrote a poem about it and gave chickens instead.

Chickens, you ask?? I donated money in every one's name to a Canadian charity that gives a variety of animals to people in various countries. I bought two lots of chickens to be given to a single mother in Africa. A couple of my coworkers were very responsive and liked the whole idea of giving something worthwhile, instead of things that are nice, but unnecessary, in our land of plenty.

Buying Rug Supplies

I posed a question yesterday about choices in rug backing and got some good advice from Debra, Kim and Corrine. As such, I started to search the internet for rug warp and it made me think about buying rug supplies in general.

As a Canadian, I always try to source out any rug supplies through Canadian companies first. Not just for the exchange but for other reasons such as duty, shipping costs etc. Over the past few months, I have found a great Canadian supply company out in Alberta called Shuttleworks. Cal Harvey is the owner and very knowledgeable in all things fibre. This includes spinning wheels, yarns, fabric, gripper strips etc etc etc.

If you get a chance, have a look at www.shuttleworks.com.

Pictures of Corner Brook

Nine down, three to go!

Well, nine icons now complete and three more to go. I am now working on the puffins and will take a picture in the next day or so. I tried something different on one of the rocks; combined two different colours of wool and hooked them together. By taking a picture, I will get an idea of how it looks.

I am wondering from my fellow hOOkerS, if you have ever used other types of rug backing other than burlap? I see that some hOOKerS use Monk's Cloth, with its 2 x 2 squares and lines. It might be a nice alternative for something say, geometerical and when you have to stay square and all in line.

I am mulling around the next project and have some ideas.

Rug Progress

My dear mother flew back home very, very early yesterday morning. What a nice visit we all had and shared much good food and chats.

I was able to finish some of the garden chores yesterday and wash the trucks. They are gleaming this morning and of course, as "murphy's law" would dictate, it is going to snow/rain.

Here is the map of NL and I added a couple of cities/towns. The left one is my neck of the woods, Corner Brook. The middle lower is the little town of Lord's Cove, where Anne Kirby, the designer of the project, lives. And the final right one, St. John's.

So Busy!

I have been so busy that I haven't even had the time to post on hOOkwOrM. Well, the Mill is down for two weeks in a effort to reduce inventory but let's face it, the newprint industry is in big trouble. As I am not in production, and as I have no vacation left, I am working.

It is a myriad of problems; from the high Canadian dollar, the economy, the internet, etc etc. I enjoy my dayjob but I do have a Plan B as I am sure all people have or at least, should have.

I have had a really nice visit with my mother who is flying back home on Sunday. I am afraid the weather has been cool and wet but it is warm and toasty by the fire at chez Julie.

I am almost finished the 9th icon...the map of NL and it is simple, straightforward and plain. I am not sure how I am going to "tweak" it up abit; afterall, a map is a map. Having said that, have you ever noticed how many NLers put the map of the province on the back of their vehicle? It is very recognizable to NLers, that's for certain.

When did you last see anyone from B.C. or Ontario, put a provincial map on their vehicle to proudly state their origins!

What's in a Name?

In NL, your last name seems to be an important thing. For years, I have heard people talking at kitchen tables and the one question that always comes up is, "who was she before....?."

At first, I wasn't even sure what this meant. Before what? Maybe like native people, once we are at certain age, we could choose our adult name; usually befitting some great accomplished feat. But no, who was she meant before she was married. Ah, the great feat of marriage!

My surname is not of the island and in fact, I know that I am the only one of my kind here. This tends to un-nerve some people; after all, it proves that I am a CFA (come from away) and have no island history to determine just who I am and where did I come from?

And don't get me started on the term of "maid". Another NL term which seems well entrenched into colloquial days.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I would like to start out by wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States.



In today's fast-paced, high-stress world, I think it is important to stop and give some thought as to what we are thankful for this year.

I will go first:

I would like to pause from my busy schedule to give thanks for the love and support of my family. It has been a good year as we are all healthy and happy, and we are celebrating this day together.

I am thankful for my dayjob which allows me to have financial security when so many do not.

I am thankful for each and every day I wake up and greet the day, whatever, it holds for me. Sometimes the pigeon, sometimes the statue!

I am thankful for my interests in rug hooking and all the wonderful people I have met through this interest.

I am thankful for choosing to live in the most beautiful place in the world and making living more important than sitting in traffic for hours.

Now it's your turn. Let's hear what you are thankful for this year. Leave your comments and lets all take some time out to give some thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Coming Along!

My rug hooking project, We Love Thee Newfoundland, is coming along. Many of my hooklings asked if this is my design. It is from Anne Kirby, a wonderful artist from Lord's Cove, NL. If you get a chance, have a look at her site which is listed on my blog roll. She really epitomizes the NL culture in her artwork.

I will finish the bottom border in the next day or so, and then, I will start on the top four icons and the border with the words, We Love Thee. For those who are not aware, the phrase is from our anthem. The only province in Canada that has its own anthem!

Sad News

When I was in Toronto, I had an opportunity to visit with some dear friends that I miss. There were two couples that we socialized with, travelled with, played with and worked with for more than 25 years.

Over the years, we have all had serious illnesses, myself included and we lost dear Mike, a NLer from Stephenville last year. Yesterday, we got a call telling us that quite suddenly, Donna (56) passed away at home. I was shocked to say the least, only seeing her two weeks ago. I thought at first, heart attack but Donna was quite ill and didn't let anyone know, choosing to suffer in silence.

Rest well, dear Donna, you will be missed by all.

When Cod was King!

It felt so good to have my hook in hand over the weekend. This reminds of a time when cod was king in NL. My codfish is hiding in the seaweed and taking a rest. He has an accidental smile which was supposed to be his jawline. I will tweak this later but for now, the cod is smiling.

I have 4 more icons to complete and started the lower border with the word "Newfoundland". I am enjoying hooking so much, I have forgotten that I am back to the dayjob and busy.

I finished me moose!

Well, actually, I had finished the moose icon just before leaving on my holiday. I like the way the mottled yarn turned out as it looks just like the bog where our moose roam.

I was able to continue on with the icons and also, got outside for a couple of hours to work on the garden. This time of year is the dump the pots, clean up and load up the composter for next year's rich soil.

Well, it's back on the dayjob treadmill tomorrow, but will be glad to get back. While I was away, I found out that the mill will shut production for two weeks due to economic problems within the newsprint industry. I will most likely be working during this time but won't know for certain until tomorrow.

Back Again!

Well, we arrived safely back to the Island 4:30 am Thursday morning. It wasn't supposed to be that late, but let me explain. We left Montreal Tuesday morning with the plan to drive at least 12 hours and stay over in Antigonish. Anyway, there was alot of rain and that slowed us down abit but we did pull over in New Glasgow just at dark.

That would leave about 3 hours to make the boat deadline of 10:00 am. Just as we left the motel, I finally remembered to telephone Marine Atlantic to see if the ferries were still on time. With no bad weather, I was sure we would be on schedule to leave at 11:30.

Nope, the ferry was delayed and would leave until 2pm which wasn't too bad but would put us on the island well after dark. To make a long story short, we didn't get out of North Sydney until 3:30 pm. Around 9pm, rumours started circulating around the passengers that the Vision which had left North Sydney around 6:30 am, still hadn't docked and as such, we wouldn't be able to dock until the Vision did. P went to the Purser's office to find out but they wouldn't explain anything at all or even gives us an arrival time.

By 9:30 pm, we were stopped in a fog bank, going nowhere and still no announcement, nothing. By that time, Mom was very tired to say the least, as we all were. We did finally dock at 12:00 midnight but with unloading delays, we didn't exit the Smallwood until 12:45. We decided to head to Corner Brook as it was clear and calm. But as chance would have it, low lying fog made the treacherous drive even longer. You have to watch carefully for moose on the roads too!

We arrived back in one piece. I am very sure it has taken Mom two days to rest up and still looks abit tired today. I did up 8 bottles of beets harvested from our garden and worked on the icons and will post a picture tomorrow.