Leg 3 of the journey

We have successfully finished the third leg of the long trip.  This mainly involved getting out of New Brunswick, which we did with a vengeance today.  We left Nova Scotia on Sunday but travelled only a short distance to New Brunswick.  DD left me at my Aunt Sylvia’s home, then went off to PEI to see her friends there.  I had a lovely 24 plus hours with my aunt, cousin Lee and her husband.  Lots of snow at their house.

 

My aunt had just finished transcribing some taped interviews with her sister, my Aunt Cecily, who has been deceased for more than ten years.  It was fun to read her stories and talk with my aunt and cousin about the family.  I discovered that my mother was stationed in Newfoundland during WW II.  She was a nursing sister.  I also found out that my triple great grandfather was lieutenant governor of Van Diemen’s Land from 1843 to 1847.

I went for a few walks down the driveway and had to check out the animals. 

This cat was a master purrer….

On Monday we moved on to my sister’s house.  Again lots of snow.  This is the view from her house out to the Bay of Fundy.

I hadn’t been to her place before and we had to stick around for a day to see the sights and visit.  New Brunswick is very picturesque.  This is the land of covered bridges.

And boats…

We left early this morning.  A long day of driving took us out of New Brunswick, through Quebec and on to Ottawa, where we are spending the night with another of DD’s friends.  This girl has a lot of friends

I grew up in Quebec and it holds many memories for me, some sweet, others not.  It feels familiar and homelike to me though.  What struck me about Quebec today was the birch trees, brick buildings, tall spires on churches and millions of saint names.  There must be a thousand small towns that are named after saints.  One of the most unique is St.-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!  Wikipedia has this to say about the name.

“The commission de toponymie asserts that the parish's name refers to nearby Lake Témiscouata, the sense of haha here being an archaic French word for an unexpected obstacle or abruptly ending path.^[2] The Louis may refer to Louis Marquis, one of the first colonists of the region, or Louis-Antoine Proulx, vicar of Rivière-du-Loup, or perhaps the abbot Louis-Nicolas Bernier.^[3]

The exclamation marks were added colloquially and have since gained recognized status among Canadian federal institutions such as Canada Post.”

I love Le Fleuve Saint-Laurent…

And the Montreal skyline…

 

After a fourteen hour day of driving I’m feeling woozy.  I think we’ll have to go a bit slower tomorrow.  There is no one for us to visit, so no rush to be somewhere in time to visit. 

We’ve had sunny days the last two.  The roads today were clear and dry and there is only a little snow in Ottawa.  Tomorrow begins leg 4: the long haul through Ontario.

On the sewing front I’ve got Maria’s goat ready to mail.  I might add another little thing tomorrow morning and I’ll find a post office to mail it from tomorrow. 

 

Janet

And on to Nova Scotia

Well the second leg of the long journey is over.  A twelve hour drive across Newfoundland to Port-aux-Basques.  There were a couple of quick stops along the way so DD could say goodbye to friends, and a restaurant dinner in Cornerbrook with one of her friends. 

A little digression here with some family history.  Canada is a very big country with a relatively small population.  It always amazes me who you can meet along the way, and the connections there are from coast to coast. 

Both my grandmother’s families had been in Canada for generations, and both my grandfathers were new immigrants to Canada from Britain.  My father grew up in British Columbia, my mother in Quebec.  My DH’s father’s family was the same, his grandfather was the “bastard son of the lord of the manor”, somewhere in Britain, and was a new immigrant to Canada as a young man.  His grandmother’s family lived near Chilliwack, B.C.  His mother’s family were from the east coast of Canada. 

One set of my mother’s grandparents lived in Newfoundland at Pilley’s Island, for a number of years.  My DH’s great grandmother came from Burgeo, Newfoundland.    His Chilliwack grandmother’s family originally came to Nova Scotia on a boat called the Hector.   There is a replica of it in Pictou, Nova Scotia.

His mother grew up on a farm in Nova Scotia.  My aunt lives down the road a couple of hundred miles in New Brunswick.   One of my sisters also lives in New Brunswick, not far down the road from my aunt.

We had dinner with DD’s friend who comes from Newfoundland, but is working in Alberta and was home to visit with her boyfriend who is from Melbourne, Australia.  My sister lives near Armidale, Australia. 

There are connections everywhere.

After our long drive we took the overnight ferry to North Sydney, Nova Scotia.  As DD commented you would think since it’s a “night” ferry that they would at least dim the lights so people could sleep.  No such luck, but we managed to get a bit of sleep. 

Lined up waiting to get on the ferry.  Guess which is DD’s car…

Off the ferry we had a three hour drive to DH’s mother’s home at the farm in Nova Scotia.  His cousin, Carl, still lives here and raises Black Angus cattle.  Another cousin, Linda, lives minutes up the road.  About ten minutes after we left the ferry we passed a truck and DD commented “I think that was Stephen we just passed.”  Steven is Linda’s son and he has been going to college in Newfoundland.  Sure enough it was him and he had been on the same ferry as us, only we didn’t run into him all night long. 

The view down the hill from the farm to the Bay of Fundy.  It’s still overcast and snowy.

We’ve had a most entertaining visit with them all, helping prepare a big chicken dinner for lunch, aka dinner, feeding calves, playing with the cat and just chatting.   Carl’s wife Jessie has been really ill and just got out of hospital, but she is one of the most positive spirited people I know and they insisted we stay the night. 

The calves were hungry…

So we had to feed them.

Tiger, a well indulged farm cat.

We went to a community dinner at the Canadian Legion hall with Linda and her husband.  Baked beans, brown bread and blueberry grunt.  Delish.  There were door prizes.  They came over and asked me to pull a slip for one of the prizes.  I said “if I pull my own name do I still get to win?”  “Of course.”  And I proceeded to pull my own name and won a nice t-shirt.  Then DD won a bag.  

These Brownies were working towards earning badges by helping to serve at the dinner.  They were very attentive waitresses.

Tomorrow a short third leg of the journey.  I’m off to visit my aunt in New Brunswick, while DD hops over to PEI for the day to see some of her friends there. 

Janet

St. John’s, Newfoundland

The first leg of my long journey ... I arrived in St. John's at 1 a.m. on the 16th.  The flight was smooth and not too eventful, short layovers in Vancouver and Montreal, a little bit of turbulence going across the prairies and a couple of short delays in leaving.  The most interesting thing that happened was that they didn't serve any coffee or tea on the 6 a.m. flight out of Whitehorse because the hot water machine was frozen up.... By the time we were due to land in Vancouver there was water dripping out of the ceiling of the plane.

I've had two days to see the sights in St. John's and run around with DD # 2 while she does all her last minute chores prior to leaving.  The weather has not been cooperative for sightseeing however; lots of wind and blowing snow.   

Last night DD and her friend took me to a pub, Shamrock City, to see a local band, the Navigators.  They play "traditional" Newfoundland music, sort of Celtic, a bit folksy and a bit modern.  They really rocked the Shamrock.

This morning was sunny and no rain or snow.  We managed to get up to Signal Hill before the weather changed...

This was the closest point of assistance for the Titanic when it sank – 365 miles away according to the sign.

 

St. John’s from Signal Hill.

But by the time we got out to Cape Spear, the most easterly point in North America, this is all we could see....

Tomorrow we're off on a ten hour or so drive to Port-aux-Basques to catch the overnight ferry to Nova Scotia.  Maybe.  DD said that she isn’t getting on any ferry in waves like that.    The ferries have been running off and on over the last few days due to the rough seas.  Maybe we’ll have to wait. 

DD is trying to cram all of her things into her car.  She doesn’t want me to point out to her anymore that she seems to have more boxes than her car can possibly hold. 

I haven’t done any sewing yet, although I brought lots of projects with me to work on in the car.  I did manage to finish the Christmas block swap block for Cheryl before I left.  Here’s a sneak peak.

Janet

I’m still alive

I’ve been a delinquent blogger lately.  I’ve been really busy doing something and not much sewing has been done.  I did make some inspiration blocks for Victoria’s 15 Minutes of Play.  I have a dozen more of these to finish.  I’m not sure what I’m going to do with them next.

I got excited about Madame Samm’s mug rug contest one day and whipped up this one.  It was supposed to represent me… I got one vote for third place.  Gotta start small….

Here is a sneak peak of the block I made today for Robyn in the Block Swap Adventure. 

And I took a class last week with my friend Dahn in working with metal for fabric pieces.  Dahn said she’d like to see a picture of herself on my blog, so here she is teaching away.

And here is my masterpiece from the class.  I have a great idea for using it on a journal cover – when I get time.

I’ve received some goodies in the mail as well.  Toni sent me a hexie in the Inchy Hexie Swap in December, but didn’t like her work so sent me this one, received today.  I liked the first one but I LOVE this one.

My DD sent me another installment of the vintage hexies…

What else have I received??? These great Valentines mugrugs from Karen.

 

And Allie, my wayward goat from the Sisterhood of the Travelling Goat has come home to roost and she brought this fabulous pillow cover with her!  Thanks to Fiona, Maria and Laura.

I’m leaving on Tuesday, flying to St. John’s Newfoundland to drive back to the Yukon with DD # 3.  A long trip – 8000 + kilometres and it is winter out there.  We’ll take it slow, stop and sleep every night and hopefully have a great time.  I’ll check into blogland if I can.  If not see you all in a couple of weeks.

Janet

Friday Night Sew In report

I managed to spend a good chunk of time sewing yesterday evening.  DH took Zeke, our dog, to a 5 p.m. vet appointment so he was gone from 4 to 8.  Ah…so much gets done when I am home alone.  I can never figure out why that is. 

I finished the block that is due for January for Quilting Block Swap Adventure.  I also finished my contribution toward Fiona’s goat in the Sisterhood of the Travelling Goat.  Only sneak peeks are available of these two items.

Here is the block for Alexis.  Yes that is Origins fabric.  I bought some at the quilt store in America before Christmas and don’t know what I’m going to do with it. 

And here is a little peek at Fiona's goat…

I feel so accomplished

Janet

Giveaway at Lila Tueller Designs

I haven't advertised other people's giveaways before because, well honestly I can only spend so much time on the computer.  But this giveaway requires the entrant to link on his/her blog, and gee, I really want to enter this one.  So check out this site http://lilatuellerdesigns.blogspot.com/2011/01/its-giveaway-time-again.html and enter the contest for some fabulous fabric.

Janet

Mail, PIF and my lack of progress

January begone I say!!  December and January are hard months.  Here in the Yukon it is usually cold (-25 today, -30 yesterday, - 40 last week) and it is dark.  It gets light around 10 and dark around 4.  The sun is UP for about two hours, after it comes out from behind the mountains, if it comes out from behind the mountains.  There are lots of grey days and snowfalls.  But the daylight is returning at the rate of 2, then 3, then 4 minutes a day by the end of January.  Soon will be into February which is usually cold but sunny and getting lighter all the time.

I often feel depressed in December and January.  This year has been particularly bad for me.  I have to force myself to go out for a walk, ski or snowshoe every day, otherwise the depression gets worse.  The toll has been taken on my sewing this month.  I haven't done much.  But in an effort to be cheerful, I'll share the things that have brightened my days over the last couple of weeks.

Mail in the form of a pay it forward from Deanna at Wedding Dress Blue.  She sent me this pretty needle case - along with the Christmas card.  Love them both, even though they arrived long after Christmas.
 

So I am willing to Pay it Forward to two people who leave me a message.  I will commit to making you a nice gift within the next six months.

Next I received this gorgeous block for the Christmas Block Swap Australia.  (I'm not sure why it is called that but it is...) 

Linda sent me this one, along with this lovely pile of Christmasy fabric.   Love the fabrics in the block Linda - they look very modern to me.  Oh and all the other fabric too.  You are so generous!

Sewing progress has been slow, but I have made this block for a round robin with Sue.  We signed up to do an intuition quilt with Victoria from Bumble Beans.  My block is done and in the mail to Sue for the next round, or side or whatever she decides to do.

And finally, I've added a few more blocks to my colours quilt...

I desperately need yellows.  If anyone has any yellow strips (need 14 inches long or shorter and any width down to 3/4 inch) that they feel like sharing please let me know.  I really only want your scraps...not your main meal.  :)

Janet





What did I do with my two days alone?

It always amazes me how quickly two days can just disappear - pffft.  There I was just planning all the things I was going to do in my time by myself and DH walked in the door.  I restrained myself from saying “Back already?” 

So what did I do with that two days?  Well I went for a couple of long walks, one alone and one with my friend Nancy.  I made (and ate) caramel popcorn.

I made three blocks for my colours quilt.

I made four loaves of sourdough bread – two white and two whole wheat.

I watched two movies while doing some hand stitching.  I’ve decided that I don’t like watching movies while sewing because I don’t really look at the movies and so much of the charm of movies comes from viewing them.  The two movies I (sort of) watched are The Life of David Gale and Frida.  I’d recommend them both. 

And what was I hand stitching??? Well I finally got Laura’s goats for the Sisterhood of the Travelling Goat done and they are in the mail, winging their way to Australia for their next round of attention.  Just a little peak of them here in case Laura is looking.

Other than that I fed myself, kept the kitchen clean and took care of the chickens.  Seems like I should have been able to accomplish more . 

Janet

A day to sew

DH has gone on a gruelling winter “boy’s” trek up to a cabin that we  go to sometime.  It requires skiing and snowshoeing to make a trail into a snowy mountain pass.  He’ll be home on Monday.  Even the dog (male) has gone on this trip.  So I get to do whatever I want for the next two days!   I love having time alone at home.  It doesn’t happen often.

Not much sewing lately.  I made this holder for my measuring spoons as I got tired of never being able to find them in the drawer. 

Not much mail either.  I received my December hexie from Toni.  Another lovely hexie and look at how those stripes line up!  Amazing!  Thanks Toni.  She also sent me a cute button snowman.

Sorry this is not the greatest picture.  I joined up with Angela to do the two month fabric diet – trying to limit myself to using the fabric I already own.  So what did I do?  I went out and spent double my two month fabric budget on a new camera!  It’s just a day old and I’m learning how to use it.

I am interested by the fact that the two hexies I’ve received so far in the Inchy Hexie Swap have been in the blue/green colour range.  I wonder if this will be the trend…..not that it’s a problem, just interesting.

I sent this hexie to Maria in Denmark for the January hexie….She asked for strong colours…you know I LOVE to play with strong colours…

 

I’ve just started reading At Home; A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson.  I love his writing; it is so interesting and humorous.  Here are a couple of short excerpts I have to pass along.  The first chapter is setting the stage for the book by talking about The Great Exhibition in London in 1851.  The first excerpt  from page 22 is for DD # 2 in Newfoundland.

“Not all displays were equally scintillating.  Newfoundland devoted the whole of its exhibition area to the history and manufacture of cod liver oil, and so became an oasis of tranquillity, much appreciated by those who sought relief from the pressing throngs.”

The second excerpt, also from page 22, is for all you quilters and sewers…

“Elias Howe’s sewing machine dazzled the ladies and held out the impossible promise that one of the great drudge pastimes of domestic life could actually be made exciting and fun.”

And with that I must go sew….I hear some goats bleating for me.

Janet

More mug rugs!

My finish for today is the other mug rug that I needed to make for a Christmas present.  My friend is away until tomorrow so I’m not too much in trouble for being late.  My friend Nancy owns a grey parrot that thinks she is its mate.  Nancy loves her bird as well.

I almost like the back better than the front.  I used my home dyed fabric because it was just the right colour.

I received this mug rug in the mail from Quilt Sue.  I love the colours and the embellishing stitches.  So pretty with such simplicity.  I always seem to make everything so complex.  For all the mug rugs I’ve made this is the first one that I own!  It’s not really droopy on one side – I think I need to iron it.

JANET

PIPs (Pieces in Progress) to finish in 2011

I am going to add my list to Judy’s UFO Challenge at Patchwork Times.  I won’t necessarily do the projects according to the numbers she pulls however as there are some things that I want to have done by specific times.

3 Cat Stories Quilt – Made from scraps from my exchange with Vesuvius Mama last summer.  The top is 9/10ths finished.  I really want to finish this quilt.  I really like it.

Christine’s Quilt – 65 blocks left to sew out of 195.  I’d like to finish this one by February as she is coming for a visit then.

Kim’s flying geese quilt – Top is done, just needs to be quilted and bound.  This one has been in the works for three years.

Tammy’s quilt – a duplicate of Kim’s, only it isn’t nearly as far along.  The flying geese are made but not sewn together yet.  I need to get these two done at the same time.

Sunflower wall hanging – this has been on the go for several years as well.  I need to do some minimal hand piecing on it, then can put the blocks together and quilt it.

Celtic Knot table runner – this is only a year old.  I have done about half the quilting on it.  Not much to do to finish this one.

One block wonder – this quilt is for our bed.  I need my big design wall free to figure out the block placement.  This project is only six months old.

Postage stamp quilt – I’ve got 475 of the needed 525 blocks for this quilt.  Time to start putting them together.  I am sashing between each block so this is going to continue to be a leader/ender project, but I would like to finish it this year.

Colours quilt – No new blocks since I last posted about this quilt a few weeks ago.  I am still excited about it and want to work on it.  It is only a couple of months old.

Mushroom and toadstool pin cushions – pieces are all cut out and I’ve done half the embroidery.  Started these in October; time to get them done.

Puzzle pin cushion – I started this one in October as well.  Didn’t like the progress on it and I think I’ll restart and make the pieces bigger. 

Brown bag quilt – this is due by March so I need to get working on it.  Have the fabric and the idea but haven’t started cutting yet.

There’s my twelve.  I’ve got other unfinished pieces but if I get these ones done I’ll be happy. 

Here is my last completed item from 2010 – I do get some things done!  Mug rug for my friend who we had dinner with last night.

Happy New Year everyone!

Janet