It’s pronounced ‘Pooch Cove’ and it is said that they are the “first to see the sun” rise in North America. It’s also the town where Rayna was born, hence ‘First Light Handcrafts’ :)
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After leaving Cape Spear on our first morning in Newfoundland, Jerry drove us to Petty Harbour for a quick visit. Petty Harbour is the favourite place of our friend Chase, the inspiration behind the Petty Harbour Socks by Rayna and easily one of the prettiest places we got to see on the trip.
From Wikipedia:
The present town is approximately 200 years old, though the site has been continuously occupied since at least 1598, predating the arrival of the Mayflower and making it one of the oldest European settlements in North America.
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I apologize in advance for anyone who’s *not* interested in photos of Newfoundland for the next few days, but what can I do when I just came back from my favourite place in the world?
These are from a tiny fishing village called Bauline, population just shy of 400 as of the last census. It’s nestled in beside a mountain, and when we got there it was both snowing and showing just a touch of sunset. Definitely one of my favourite stops on the trip.
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From wikipedia:
Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto is a religious shrine located outside of the parish church in Flatrock, founded in 1954 by Fr. William Sullivan after his return to the parish from Lourdes, France. Fr. Sullivan saw many similarities in the terrain in Lourdes to that of his church in Flatrock, and saw that it would be a great opportunity to take advantage of this land. It is to date the largest religious grotto east of Montreal and has been visited by Pope John Paul II on September 12, 1984 where it received a special blessing from His Holiness.
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In lieu of a post, here are some of my fave pics along with some of the best quotes I’ve overheard here on the island.
“When you’re throwing dirt, you’re losing ground.”
“I feel like someone dragged me through a bag o’ nails.”
“Maple Leafs? Might as well just let a bunch o’ goats out onto the ice.”
“Indeed I is (a Newfoundlander), me old cock, and long may your big gib draw.”
“Everybody and their dog got one o’ those.”
(He’s so handy that) “He could put an ass in a cat.”
“It’s hot enough to knock up goats.”
“You look like a birch broom with the fits.” (in reference to a bad hair day)
And my personal favourite:
“There is no such thing as bad weather. There is only inappropriate clothing.”
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After our 5 day haul (including a hard trek across the island in 10.5 hours on Tuesday) Rayna, Tito, Kayleigh and I arrived in St. John’s Newfoundland yesterday evening.
Rayna’s father is my kindred spirit. He’s a photographer, adventurer and he loves Paul Simon (with special emphasis on the Graceland album). When we arrived I was dying to go out shooting and he asked if we’d like to see Cape Spear. Cape Spear, Newfoundland is the easternmost point of North America, and therefore the place where the sun touches the continent first.
We asked what time we should be ready and he said “Say 5am? you want to see the sun rise there, don’t you?” I just about lit up like a Christmas tree. I wrote to my parents ‘When you see the sun today, think of us. Of all the people who live in North America, we saw it first.’
We are not looking forward to the end of the trip and the inevitable (though temporary) ’til next times’ but in the meantime we are being treated like nothing else. Rayna’s kitchen skills are exceeded only by that of her mother and Rayna’s dad spent the rest of today touring us through the St. John’s area, with a promise to do more tomorrow.
Rocks, water, I’m in heaven. I’ve said it before and I stick by it, Newfoundland is a photographer’s paradise and my favourite place in the world.
Every year a few tourists decide to climb down on the rocks and get washed out to sea. I own the t-shirt ;) but I promised I wouldn’t be *that* tourist. 
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We are almost to St. John’s on what has been one marathon of a drive!
- Day 1 – Toronto, ON to Quebec City, QC
- Day 2 – Quebec City, QC to Moncton, NB
- Day 3 – Moncton, NB to North Sydney, NS
- Day 4 – North Sydney, NS to port Aux Basques, NF
So in just 4 days we’ve crossed the country and the Gulf of St Lawrence to arrive in the province where the rising sun touches North America first. Due to our hectic schedule there has been basically no photography other than what I posted a few days ago (crazy, right?) but I am hoping to remedy that when we arrive :) Tomorrow is the last big haul, as we book it across the province for the 10.5 hour drive from here to St. John’s.
I did manage to fit in a few shots from the ferry today:
Another sunset shot with great detail in the clouds. 
The sunset from the Newfoundland ferry today – soon to be the inspiration for a skein of my own hand dyed yarn. 
I have been supplanted! And I can’t tell who’s cuter <3 
The face that can keep you up all night… and get away with it. 
The sweater proceeds apace. 
Beautiful downtown North Sydney -
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It’s been a long time since I blogged some of my pottery – I just haven’t had the time to get into the studio lately! I am definitely going to change that in the new year, because nothing compares to drinking from handmade pottery. This set of 4 hand-thrown, comfort-sized mugs actually came out of the kiln last spring. Hand-texturing before glazing helped create those depressions where the glaze could ‘pool’, resulting in that lovely blue colour.
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Further proof of the genius dyer at Inglenook fibres. Mother Macrina recently decided to shatter my fiber diet plans by releasing a series of batts inspired by the Hobbit. With a name like ‘Smaug, chiefest and greatest of calamities’ how could I resist? My nerdy little heart went all a flutter.She took this image from ‘The Hobbit’:
And turned it into this unbelievable batt, which I haven’t touched yet.
But she also sent me this 50g sample braid to match, in a 50/50 yak/silk blend:
Which I have turned into this!
The Yak/silk is a challenging spin at first, so I spun from the fold. The results are just lovely and now I want more of it!
