My Summer, so Far!

This picture shows dolphins playing in the Bay of Islands. Every year, the dolphins come into the bay, probably chasing their food source. Even wild dolphins have a natural ability to play and frequently, jump out of the water and put on a little show for us.

My summer, so far, has been going along in a positive, but steady march. This year, we hired a student to help out with some projects, so my weekends have been freed up and not filled up, with painting, staining and other assorted duties that must be done.

We(the royal,we, of course) are developing a small boarding kennel business and it is to be called Kozy Kennels. I will post some pictures as the project goes forward.

On the rug hooking front, I have been working now and then, on the Harry Potter crapper cover as one of those UFOs that need finishing. The larger projects will wait until the fall.

I still am not able to post comments on some of my fellow bloggers sites as I am having the same problems that Kim did in the past. Anyway, I try to post but it is like being in a revolving door with no exit.

Wicked!

This wicked sunset was taken one night this week overlooking the beautiful Bay of Islands. If you look closely, you will see a small boat probably heading home after a day of recreational cod fishing.

Wicked is one of those NL terms which doesn't mean what it does to the rest of Canada. Wicked is something great, wonderful, beautiful, unbelievable. Used like this; I had a wicked time last night at the concert, or that's a wicked tee shirt you have on.

Wicked is the equivalent of the word "sick" that the young people from away, use all the time.

Got to Love it!

Imagine looking out your window every morning and seeing this big, old iceberg out in your front yard? This picture is in Goose Cove which is only a couple of hours drive from my house in NL.

I still marvel at the beautiful sights all around me in this place. The summer has been on the cool side but we aren't complaining. I overheard a visitor to our province ask someone what kind of air conditioning did she have? The answer was simple; "why, we just open more windows when it's hot".

Got to love it!

Goosed?

I didn't have a chance to take out my camera this morning but this picture is exactly what I saw just as I left my driveway on the way to the Day Job. It was abit foggy this morning and my neighbour's gaggle of geese were in the middle of the road, taking their time, crossing back home.

Needlessly to say, where else would this happen but on the island of NL. We are so close to the earth here, so much wildlife around us and a small population of two legged beasts-we humans.

People in NL still hunt and fish, go berry picking and raise their own animals and yes, keep the craft of rug hooking alive. With 80% of the world's population living in cities, we are losing our ability to fend for ourselves but not, here in NL.

New Project!

There are two incredible artists, Cara and Pam who live on the East Coast of NL. I have been following their wonderful blog for sometime and I really love their whimisical approach to art with a NL theme.

I just received permission from Cara to adapt "Aunt Bertie's Daisy Garden into a monster size rug hooking project. I am working on the pattern and going to use an interesting border with dragon flies, lady bugs and butterflies around it.

If you get a chance, have a look at the Grumpy Goat Blog and the fabulous art work as well as a good laugh at Cara's postings!

http://thegrumpygoatgallery.blogspot.com

Parsons Pond!

Here is Alice's second mat which she just recently finished the whipped cord finish. This mat was her original design and was taken from a picture that she had and used as the model. Parsons Pond has a special family connection and this mat is a gift for a family member.

One of the highlights was the sign over the store which she had a local embroidery shop make for her.

Well done, Alice!

Eye Candy

We are all settling into the lazy, hazy days of summer and here are some pictures of the garden. Time and tide wait for no one and before you know it, it will be over for another year. So let's enjoy it; the smells, the heat, the flowers and of course, the eye candy that surrounds us.

Fighting Newfoundlanders

Long before my home province of Quebec was demanding Nationhood, my new home province, Newfoundland, was already a nation with its own flag and its own memories such as the Battle of Somme in 1916. This picture is from current day site in Beaument Hamel in France.

Our Blue Puttees or the 1st Newfoundland Regiment suffered unbelievable losses on July 1, 1916. Only 68 out of 801 1st Newfoundland Regiment members who fought at Beaumont Hamel in 1916 answered the roll call on the following day.

So tomorrow, July 1st, we will be remembering the Fighting Newfoundlanders of WW1 and celebrating being part of this great land, Canada!

Finished!

"View from My Window" is now all completed except for the final blocking and steaming. I must say and I know you all have heard this before, this was a delightful project.

From the idea grown from our group project, it incorporated a few items that we all wanted to work on; a building, a tree, some flowers, an animal and we wanted to use alternative fibres.

I did use wool yarn, wool slub, wool strips and t shirt material but I did not like the t shirt material. I would use again but only sparingly.

P and I moved my Cheticamp frame along with the next large project onto the deck as I will work on it that way. If it stays in the rec room, it will sit untouched until the fall.

People to Note.

Back a few years ago, when I first became interested in having my own blog, I came across a very special person. Her name is Roz Savage and she is an incredible person.

Roz Savage is a British ocean rower and environmental campaigner. Coupled with her solo row across the Atlantic in 2005-6, she has rowed over 11,000 miles, taken 3.5 million oarstrokes, and spent cumulatively nearly a year of her life at sea in a 23-foot rowboat.

Her personal creed of taking life 'one oarstroke at a time', and her promotion of the EcoHero movement, has inspired countless people around the world. This year, she has set out to complete the "Big Three" by rowing solo across the Indian Ocean.

I am following Roz's current ocean journey in her daily journal which you can find at www.rozsavage.com


Roz Savage, ocean rower, and one of those people to note!

I Don't Give a .......

minutai. What the heck does it mean anyway? All the new words that we are using, gives me a head pain. What do all these words mean and who invented them?

mi·nu·ti·a: (m-n sh-, -sh, -ny-) n. pl. mi·nu·ti·ae (-sh-) A small or trivial detail.

segue: (say>guay)- the act of changing smoothly from one state or situation to another.

Leet: also known as eleet or leetspeak, is an alternative alphabet for the English language that is used primarily on the Internet.

Irregardless: is a word that many mistakenly believe to be correct usage in formal style. It is not a word!

If I hear Jian Ghomeshi(CBC) say "congrats" once more, I may short circuit.

Irregardless of the minutia, that is my segue into leetspeak. Who says George Orwell had it wrong!

Such Beauty!

How often do we not even notice the beauty that surrounds us. I have been coming to NL for over 28 years but it has been only in the past few years, that I moved my "stuff" here. Afterall, home is where your stuff is.

I drive by this scene day after day and sometimes in the rush of daily life, I forget just how beautiful this island is in its crooks and cranies, so much like our ancesteral home of Ireland.

Stop today and celebrate the beauty around you! By the way, thanks for all the birthday wishes from my great blogging friends.

Just Another Day

....in the beautiful Bay of Islands. The weather though, has been horrible. You can count the warm days we have had since May on one hand or even less. The only thing growing seems to be weeds.

This picture proves that beauty and art can be found anywhere, if you look hard enough. I am almost finished the border on the View From My Window and already thinking of the next project.

But first, a couple of UFOs need to completed before I get ahead of myself. A gemini trait? Oh by the way, I celebrated another year of wonderful life on this earth and as my dear mother says, I wouldn't have missed it for all the riches in the world.

Almost!

Almost done with the View From My Window. Now, only the window frame to do. I have enjoyed this project from the very beginning. The design is original and it flowed so easily from my hook onto the burlap!

Spring Delight!

Spring time has been on the slow side in the west coast of NL. Only in the past week, I have noticed trees are greening and my garden starting to wake up. The two oak trees beside the inukshuk are the final ones to produce their leaves as usual.

While the rest of Canada is sweltering enjoying the heat, we have only one or two days of 20 degrees. But truthfully, I prefer our moderate weather.

On the hooking front, I have been working on the View from My Window project and it is coming along. We are meeting today at lunch time for the first time in a month because of vacation and conflicting schedules.

Mat Progress

I had a lovely, restful weekend. The weather wasn't great and we went from air conditioning on Friday to heat on Saturday and back to warm today.

I was able to work on the View from My Window and it is shaping up quite well. Only the sun and the sky to finish and then, of course, the border. I have really enjoyed this one!

We are Lucky in NL

This beautiful picture was taken by a fellow blogger who lives in Texas. It is last night's sky after all the storms; beautiful and frightening all at the same time.

We are lucky in NL I suppose. It isn't that we don't have bad weather, storms, winds and the like, it is just that we always expect them, prepare for them and are quite happy when they don't happen at all.

Another thing, is that most NLers are all prepared and can be self sufficient without water and electricity etc. Afterall, we are parked out in the North Atlantic, all by ourselves and can be cut off so quickly from the rest of Canada.

My thoughts go out to all the people affected by weather and fires.

Hitch Hiker!

I never pick up hitchhikers...well, unless I know them. Henry is the last of our cockatiels; Mom had two--Alfie and Sam, and I had three--Henry, Simon and Lily. Henry is the last of them and he is 16 years old which in bird terms, must be old.

Henry hitched a ride back to the island so that Mom is free to travel later in the summer. This little bird has travelled more miles than most people and he is a great traveller. He has a nice compact travelling accommodations and sits on his perch looking down the highway on moose patrol. He can say a few words like "hello pepper" (Pepper was our oldest schnauzer) and "come on, come on". He whistles like a professional.

Henry used to be my bird but now, is claimed by Mom who misses him more than us. (just kidding, Mom!.

Before

and after




What started out as a simple task of replacing a bathroom sink has become a task of many sub tasks. First, it isn't easy replacing a silver grey bathroom sink without a large price tag. But luckily while we were away, we were able to obtain a grey sink at a reasonable amount. Yesterday morning, we decided to go ahead with the replacement only to find out, that it wasn't the same shape as the original, so a new counter would be in order. Off to the hardware store and after much discussion, a black slate counter was decided on.

Now, a very vertically challenged person had put in the bathroom originally, so when you were brushing your teeth etc, you would have to bend over to get closer to the sink. So seeing we were installing a new counter, we may as well raise it at the same time. It took most of the day but here is the semi final result.

I say "semi final" because we still have to;

1) Put on the iron on side piece
2) Get a new mirror
3) New curtains
4) Using caulking on the edges
5) Paint the new piece of wood to raise the counter
6) Paint the bathroom
7) Finish decluttering the drawers etc.

The moral of the story is there is no such thing as a simple job when it comes to home renovations!

Where have you been?

Well, I have been on vacation. To Montreal, Toronto and back again. The new ferries to the island are quite spectacular in size and amenities. I was even able to stop and shop at Deanne's!

It was a lovely two weeks of mostly great weather and wonderful visits with family, especially my dear Mother, who continues to amaze me!

Completed Project!

Here is Maureen's completed project. This is the themed project that our rug hooking group was doing together. It had to be 50% tee shirt material, contain a buiding, flowers, a tree and a novelty border. Maureen is the first one of the group to complete her project and of course, what a job!

Maureen has moved away to another province but continue to work on the group project.

Awesome!

How many times have you heard that word today? Maybe, we could design a button and every time you hear the word, awesome, we could push it to "bleep" out the word.

However, I heard an interview yesterday on the CBC about The Book Of Awesome by Neil Pasricha. After listening to this young man's explanation of how The Book of Awesome developed from a blog to a book, it got me thinking. At the end of it, the word awesome, from at least his perspective, was not so horrible.

The awesomest (if I can use that word) part about it is the realization that if you enjoy the simple things in your life, you will be happier and more complete in your life. It's the thousands of little things in life that are important or as my mother says, it's the moments that count.

So today, think of your own awesome moment or call it something else, if that word creeps you out!

Happy Easter!

I am selfishly savouring the last few hours of the first long weekend of the year. This long weekend was just what I needed. The weather was not good on Friday, great on Saturday and rainy/cold today, but that didn't matter.

We were able to do some hard pruning of the winter damage on my willows, raked part of the lawn and even put out some solar lights. To me, holidays are never about the commercial value of them and all about the spiritual value.

Oh yes, and of course, some quiet hooking on the window project. Looks very nice, if I say so myself.

Coming Along!

Along with the beautiful weather, the snow finally disappearing, tulips and crocus popping up, I have been working on the group project. I not only designed this piece but drew it out myself.

I found that the book, Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain, has helped me out alot. I couldn't draw a straight line before using this book, and now, able to draw my own designs.

Daffodil Day!

It wasn't until I was out at lunch time today, that I noticed it was Daffodil Day! On my way out of the store, I stopped to purchase my small bundle of daffodils. I chatted with the three ladies for a few minutes. I introduced the fact that I am a 11 1/2 year survivor and each one, in turn, told me their "survivor" age.

One lady, more than thirteen years, another 10 years and the last one, just two years. The 13 year survivor explained that her husband was now battling the disease and was terminal.

Today, if you see the daffodil display, think about your own survivor story or someone close to you, their story. Keep the hope alive and we can see that some people are able to survive this disease because of all the support which enables research through funding.

Ghost Work?

New Word: ghost work?

Definition: the tasks and duties of laid-off or fired employees that must then be done by the remaining employees

Example: The ghost work has been taken on by surviving employees, without their former colleagues' expertise.

Kim's blog post today made me think of my own word of the week and also, a new word for 2011, ghost work.

In an office haunted by the ghosts of laid-off employees, those workers who dodged the hatchet aren't necessarily the lucky ones. They must excel at their old jobs to avoid still looming staff cuts and must also juggle extra, unfamiliar duties.

I think I am going to make a sign for the bumper of my truck, "I'd rather hooking" and see what reactions I get!

Finally!

Well, finally, spring has arrived on the West Coast of NL and here is my proof! Tulips coming up and small fishing boats leaving port in search of crab as the season has opened.

I seem to only be blogging now and then, as I have been on the busy side with the Day Job. I have been working on my hooking project and enjoying it quite alot. Pictures to come on the progress later this week!

No Joke, April, that is!

I suppose everyone has the same story this spring. More and more snow. After a beautiful sunny, warm day on Friday, a spring storm blew in yesterday. But not enough to cause any real problems.






Here is the progress on my new project, View from the Window. It is coming along slowly as I am trying hard to stick to the plan of 50% tee shirt material. I have to congratulate anyone who uses this material regularly, like my dear fellow blogger, Anne Kirby. I am not sure I really like it, but I am persisting.

Sadly, one of my rug hooking members at work, has resigned from her Day Job and will not be hooking along with the new project. Maureen as you may remember, is destined to be a great hooker! I am glad that I started her on the fibre road with her hook, in hand.

No More Whining

.....about the snow. Yes, more overnight and my little garden is buried once again. But I did cheer myself up with pulling a few loops while sitting at the kitchen window trying not to watch P push tons of snow out the driveway!

Anyway, that's enough of that. If you don't let it bother, guess what? It won't bother you!

Please, No More...

Snow!


True to fashion, it ain't over yet in the west coast of NL. Overnight, we received a nice big dump of the white stuff. Must be my fault for having the winter tires taken off too soon.

P has been out plowing for over two hours and still not finished as you can see. Oh well, I am at the "who cares!" stage of spring!

Spring has Sprung!

Well, after a short, but very hard winter, we have signs of spring. No, no robins yet but I did have had the snow tires taken off. Perhaps, a bit too soon but I am willing to chance it.

I have been taking a small break from hooking but have continued cutting up tee shirts. I am still not sure if I like using this type of fabric but I will continue to plod along.

Last Day of Winter 2011

Can it be here already? The last day of winter 2011. Considering our winter didn't even get started until January 15th, we certainly had a tough one. On the west coast of NL, we had over 10 feet of snow in only a few weeks.

Today, it is cold but sunny and bright. I am cutting up tee shirts for the new project and even pulled a few. I find using tee shirt material quite different. It has more texture in a way, but you can't control the stitches. They go every which way but adds some interest.

Supermoon and spring equinox, let's hope that is a good omen for a calm future!

Before and ......

Maddy is a broken coat Jack Russell which really means her coat grows extremely thick in some spots and shorter in other areas. She has been quite warm lately, not wanting to bury herself in the covers at night. So this morning, while the idea was as fresh as the little bit of snow we got last night, P dug out the clippers and the rest is...




After.....





Maddy still won't talk to anyone as she is in a bit of a snit but I am sure that won't last too long.

Shiela Gets to Laugh Last!

In weather legend, Newfoundland recognizes a winter storm that falls near St. Patrick's Day as Sheila's Brush.

Sheila is related to Patrick in some way. Now mystery has it, it's his wife or sister or mother or mistress or housekeeper.

The idea is that the storm is one of winter's last, and that Sheila is brushing the season away.

The legend is about the fact that after St.Patrick's Day, so from March 18th on, there is usually a sort of winter's last hur'rah.

True to legend, we are in for Sheila's Brush Friday into Saturday.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Here's to good Irish friends
Never above you
Never below you
Always beside you.

May you be in heaven a half hour
Before the Devil knows your dead!

New Project!

I haven't posted any news in awhile and it's not because that anything has been wrong. I just haven't had much to say which may be abit unusual but sometimes, it does happen.

I have been working on two projects that will be awhile in completing. Here is the project that I am preparing for our rug hooking group at work. We decided as a group on the size (roughly 14 x 24), common elements of a building, tree, flowers and an animal. We also decided to do something different in our borders. Either incorporating the border into the picture or adding a design.

My project as you can see is a view from a window and the window framing the view as a border. Another part of the design is we must use at least 50% tee shirt material. We liked the idea of working on new elements as a group for support and input.

And Another

This is Maureen's third mat which I haven't posted before. She has completed four mats now since we started our rug hooking group in October 2010. During our lunch time meeting yesterday, we discussed our next project. We are working on our own patterns but will include highlighted topics we decided we need to develop such as trees, animals and flowers. Should be lots of fun.

I better get busy this weekend with my own design so that it is ready for our group next week.

More Mats Please!

This absolutely gorgeous mat is another one by Maureen in my rug hooking group at work. It is from a picture that was taken of her cabin. I love the perspective and how she has framed only a part of the cabin and incorporated it into a beautiful mat.

The fibre is mixed including wool strips, wool yarn and tee shirt material. The small bush with flowers in the lower section is done in proddy and also, high hooking of yarn. The photograph doesn't really do justice to such a piece.

Maureen really wanted to match the colour of the cabin and sent samples to Deanne Fitzpatrick who came through with a custom dying order.

How High?

Normally, when I look out from the rec room in the basement, I have a nice view of woods and the bay. After Saturday's storm which included rain, snow, wind and more snow, we have almost no place to put the snow.

The deck above the pictures is more than eight feet high, so it gives you an idea of the height of the snow which has piled up from shovelling the deck above. Needless to say, I feel like a gopher this time of year, living in my snow cave and peeping out once in awhile for a breath of fresh air.

Thanks!

I took this picture this morning of some of the finch that my birdfeeder has been attracting. For the past two days, I have had many eating at Chez Julie. So much that I had to fill the feeder twice yesterday.

I use a type of a sock and fill it with niger seed (thistle). I have found this seed to be expensive but the birds don't waste it. It also only attracts finch and juncos, so bluejays and other larger birds stay away. I also put out some suet in a cage for the chickadees.

I love looking at the birds and during yesterday's storm, an odd sight caught my eye. I could see a finch upside down and oddly seemed to be moving with the feeding sock. OMG, I noticed it was attached. Somehow, the bird got its toenail in a long piece of thread from the sock. I hurried and dressed to see if it was still alive and it was.

I pulled in the clothesline and took the bird in my hand. I couldn't get its toenail out but I could snap the thread as close to its foot as I could. The little finch flew away, and I thought that was that. In a second or two, it landed right beside me on the clothesline as if to say thanks!

Pottering Along!

I am working on Harry mostly now and then. The picture doesn't do his cloak justice. I used a black and gold ribbon for the folds of his cloak and it shimmers when you look at it.

I am also working on my new larger project on the Cheticamp frame and when I have the bottom border completed, I will post some pictures.

Yesterday, our rug hooking group decided on a project which we will all work on next. The size was decided at 14 x 24, it must be at least 50% tee shirt material, contained a building, a tree, flowers and at least, one animal. It is made up of all elements that we would like to practise on and it should be fun to work on a similar project together.