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.
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.
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.”
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.
We are almost to St. John’s on what has been one marathon of a drive!
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:
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.
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!
So now I get to reveal something that is both very sad and kinda exciting. Rayna, my fibre buddy, confidant, bridesmaid, craft companion in spinning, dyeing, weaving, designing… in other words one of the most important people in my world, is moving home to Newfoundland. Permanently.
In a lot of ways this sucks, and I’m going to miss her like mad. On the other hand, she’s moving to one of my favourite places in the world and a place I will happily visit regularly to see her and her hubby (though, as was pointed out, if she was moving to someplace ghastly I would still find a way to visit regularly).
All their stuff is being shipped home for them. There are 2 things, however, that need to be driven there (the car itself, and their doggie). Tito and I have opted to drive with her, to keep her company on the road and help get her settled.
We’re light packers. Camera gear will take up more room than clothes, and the only other thing is knitting, because that’s a lot of hours to be on the road. I confess that I’ve thought more about what knitting to bring than I have about what clothes I should pack. Then yesterday I saw Sous Sous by Norah Gaughan:
So last night I did this:
I knitted a sweater about 5 years ago and it turned out too tight so I frogged it. I bought a sweaters worth of Tosh DK in a colour called ‘filigree’ and cast on the ‘Effortless Cardigan’ but I missed my gauge and it was turning out really huge, so I frogged that too. I’ve never knit a successful sweater, but this pattern really captured me, and what better project for a week on the road?
I tell myself that she’s not moving that far, that the internet is a wonderful thing, and that I’ll see her regularly. I know that there will be some teary farewell’s in 2 weeks, but in the meantime I’m super excited for the drive! I will try to blog daily as we pass through some of the most gorgeous country on earth. Old Quebec City, Montreal, Moncton, the Bay of Fundy, Peggy’s Cove, Cape Breton Island, Port Aux Basque and then across the island to St John’s, this promises to be a gorgeous drive.
While fibre touring the Brooklyn General Store I decided to pick up a bag of superfine merino pencil roving (sadly, only 2 oz of it) and a few packets of acid dye. I dyed the pencil roving in strips, split it right down the centre when it was dry, spun, and chain plied each one into 2 identical skeins. The skeins are 25g each and just about 100 yards.
Spinning my own hand dye, AND getting a 3ply sock yarn! I feel like I’ve arrived, somehow. Now, what to do with them?
The Blue Brick 