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.

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.

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!

Why I like to Blog?

1. Meet like minded people from different parts of the universe.
2. Helps me keep a journal of my thoughts and projects.
3. Develops new approaches to problems like the 10 minute challenge.
4. Overcomes the isolation of living in a remote area.
5. Passes the time while at the day job.
6. Place to post pictures etc, much like a bulletin board.
7. I like to write down my ideas and ramblings.
8. It gives me a permanent record.
9. Forces me to ask questions and find answers.
10. Finally, because I like writing my blog because I like reading blogs.

There is a tangible sense of community and a realization that we are all the same in this life and yet, come from many backgrounds.

Learn to blog and blog to learn.