Sun, Sand, and Swimming on a Sunday in September

Here in my area Sunday was beautifully summery, reminiscent of July days. Before my head left the pillow that morning, I was cajoling my husband into a trip to the beach. An early lunch allowed us an early start and we drove to nearby Parlee Beach for some sun and fun.

We weren't surprised to see a few others with the same idea and a low tide encouraged a number of walkers. We counted a total of 7 adults and a handful of children in the water, all seemingly oblivious to the strong winds that whipped stinging sand in the more open areas.

We had barely gotten our knees damp when we struck up conversation with three very polite and chatty young gentlemen visiting the beach while filming a movie in the area. I exchanged shark snorkelling tales and had a short discussion about snakes (?) with one of the two stunt men while Rejean chatted with the other, as well as with the third fellow, an actor. Rejean took a photo for them wading in the waves and they joked about jealous wives and girlfriends back in Montreal working while they enjoyed the east coast. Then they wandered off in search of seafood while we continued along the shore. My daughter always jokes about me and my frequent conversations with young guys, and I really have no idea why this is a fairly constant thing for me, but maybe they find me, a middle aged, chubby woman non-threatening, or maybe they are missing their moms?? Anyway, they were very fun to talk with and I think they might have stayed longer had they not been hungry..lol Always delightful, these conversations!

After we walked the shore and checked out the wharf area, we came back to the beach and had a wonderfully refreshing swim in the ocean. One fall when our children were in middle school, each afternoon I picked them up after school and drove to Parlee with a van load of their friends and we swam until 8 pm every night! That lasted well into the last week of September and I haven’t seen me in the water this late in the season since then. So, this was a great treat! And to be able to lie on the sand in the hot sun (25 degrees!!) afterwards was icing on the cake! 

Last night the rain pounded down, but the temperature stayed high. This morning the sun is pushing its' way back out from behind the clouds and it is going to be hard to stay on task today..sun, sand and the possibility of an ocean swim are the sirens call for me. 

Another swim - September 10th, 2014

Glimpses of a Maritime summer

Looking toward Charlottetown, PEi across the Charlottetown Harbour

A typical incredible roadside view, Cumberland, PEI

A couple of happy bikers on the south shore of PEI

Our favorite honey stand which works on the honor system for payment, a standard for road side stands in the Maritimes

The absolute best..Blueberry Honey although the Blueberry Cream is equally as delicious

The view from under my rainbow umbrella

The skies over my favorite NB beach

Throwing a few lines off a wharf in Petit Cap, NB

So many seaside treasures, this an abandoned crab shell picked clean by the gulls and washed by the ocean

Even More Sun Printing!

I can’t seem to get enough of making sun prints! A little walk along my favorite beach yielded a nice size bag of gull feathers to use in creating more fabric this way.

In order to make the feathers lie flat on the fabric, I had to snap the quill, or shaft, in two or three places along the length. Even so, they balanced precariously in some spots.

I know if I add paint to the fabric, brushing over the feathers, they will stay in place a bit better. But, once I have painted my fabric, I hate to muck up my design and coloring, so I hesitate to do that. So, I snapped and pressed and tried to will the wind away. The feathers stayed down quite well on my first pieces, and I wandered off to do other things.

While I disappeared, a breeze started blowing and jostled some of the placements on the second batch. Once the fabric is dry, the opportunity for printing is lost, so they didn’t turn out quite as I had planned.

But, I liked the subtlety of the design and since these are only the first layer of many in my quest for complex cloth, I know I can work with the results. 

Today I am linking up to The Needle and Thread Network. 

Time well spent!

The south western shores of Nova Scotia are breathtakingly beautiful, especially at this time of year.

I recently had the pleasure of taking in a few sights along the shore with my daughter as I begin to learn the ways and habits of not working every day. Mind you, I did have my chores that kept me busy enough while visiting! I had a quilt to bind, and blocks to make, and some piecing to plan. And on what would have been my Mom’s 79th birthday, I tried 4 new recipes and each one was a success! 

One of my daughter’s co-workers gifted us with a huge bag full of fresh rhubarb, all in exchange for tips on picking and caring for his patch. Then came the big decision as to what to make! Rhubarb muffins, rhubarb crisp, cobbler, stewed rhubarb, strawberry rhubarb pie, oh my! A chance trip to the grocery store where ceramic loaf pans were on sale for what we felt was a dirt cheap price, made us decide loaves would be a good idea. I started flipping through recipes online and having faith in Canadian Living Magazine recipes, chose Rhubarb Loaf which conveniently makes two loaves, so one for us and one for the kind owner of the rhubarb patch. Be aware though, this recipe has soooo much sugar in it, it is not the healthiest choice, though most definitely a very tasty treat!

With still more rhubarb chopped, it was on to another Canadian Living recipe, Rhubarb Almond Crumble Squares...oh dear. If you like date squares, this is a must try! Again, lots of sugar, but all we rhubarb lovers know that is the price you pay for cooking with this fruit. This recipe is actually a bit more labour intensive than I am used to making in the past while, but again, I was trying to embrace the idea of being on my own schedule. When Simone walked in the door after work, the look on her face as she smelled the sweet aroma was well worth all my efforts. 

We also had an idea that a strawberry rhubarb combination needed to be included, so I made Rhubarb Strawberry Scones, but I used milk instead of heavy cream. Another delicious choice!

The fourth recipe tried that day was Kale and Quinoa Patties. We fell in love with these yummy burgers! So delicious and so worth making again and again! We did discover later that they are best reheated in the frying pan and not the oven, as they tend to dry out and become too crispy in the oven.

The sun was shining and though we had plans for a bike ride, the wind was just too wild for us that day. So, off we went to find a beach for a walk, with a pan of hot crumble and two forks, knowing that Mom would find this a perfectly suitable way to celebrate her birthday.

As is the norm in this area, the fog started to roll and when it rolls, it comes quickly, but we still managed a walk before we had to give in and get out of the damp wind. Besides, we did have that hot crumble in the car!

On Saturday we headed to the local Farmer’s Market where we tried even more scones - can you tell there is weakness here? And then we found me some more of this delicious coffee at the Natural Food Market.

Another great pastime is “antiquing” and I am one who loves to put all good things to use over and over! We visited four stories of antiques, 90% of which I could identify, own, or have seen in my family’s homes. Simone also tends to love the workmanship and intrigue of antiques and uses her Great Aunt’s dishes and her Grandmother’s silver daily, has her Great Grandmother’s table and chairs as her kitchen set and regularly collects new to her items for her home (Especially hats! Grandma June's granddaughter for sure!). One lovely purchase Simone made recently was with me in mind and I was the lucky one who came home with these beauties to use in my kitchen!

Sunday in November along PEI’s South Shore

This past weekend, we made a little trip to visit my Dad and family on Prince Edward Island. It was windy and cold and I am so glad I wasn’t driving when we crossed the Confederation Bridge. I am not fond of bridges and when the wind is strong, I like them even less. I counted my knitting stitches very loudly, outloud all the way across. 

We took Dad’s dog, Jake for a walk and raced at high speed in an effort to keep from freezing completely. It was so chilly, my husband wasn’t interested in jumping on the frozen furrows with me although I did convince him to stomp on some ice covered puddles along the road! So much fun!

Here are some glimpses of my island, the south shore of beautiful PEI on a crisp, sunny Sunday in November.....

A beachy interlude

I never get tired of beaches. How pretty is this shot of the Beresford Beach in Northern New Brunswick? It’s amazing how early morning treks beside the pounding surf are so good for the soul.....

New Brunswick Mini Vacation

Ah, the fleeting days of summer. I feel the chill in the air, especially in the evening and in the early morning hours. Without fail, after the kettle is put to boil, I open doors and wander onto my decks. This morning I sat, coffee in hand and contemplated how I should have planted earlier and tried to figure out how many more warm nights I needed to harvest healthy, ripe tomatoes. I only lasted bare armed and legged for about 10 minutes before I had to get up and move, get the blood flowing and find a little sweater to cover my arms. Hours later my legs are still chilly to the touch, but I refuse to add more layers. It is still August. It is still my summer.

I know there will be more warm days before winter arrives. I have lived this same transition from one season to the next for over 5 decades. And somehow I am always shocked when summer starts to fade away as the leaves turn, the sun is less strong, the days are noticeably shorter. My husband always chuckles at my naivety, though he too seems to feel the season changes happen more quickly as we age. Me? I am too busy getting comfortable with the heat and the pace of life to notice that summer is gradually packing it up for another year. 

We have interesting work schedules in this house. Rejean works infield for weeks at a time and has only been learning in these past several years to grasp the days he can for himself. This summer he managed to take some vacation days here and there for fishing, biking, river swimming and snorkelling, with a few beach days with me added to the mix. My summer has been hectic for the most part; June and July disappeared in a haze of days spent indoors working. I guess that is also why I am slightly perturbed that there aren’t many beach days left and I just didn’t get in my quota this year.

However, when we have the chance, we are most apt to toss the gear in the car and head out. Two weekends ago, we did just that. We had ourselves a 36 hour mini vacation and it was well worth the effort of loading all our “stuff” and hitting the road.

This trip took us down the coast to Cap Pele and further along to Murray Beach.

We paid for a site at the Provincial Campground and after setting up, headed out for a bike ride, almost to the PEI-NB bridge.

Since we packed light this time, we biked just past our campground to a little take-out for a super, Maritime summer treat of hand cut fries, a hand sculpted, loaded burger and a fresh club sandwich. Yum!

Sunsets are best enjoyed over water in my experience and tonight was no exception.

Mosquitos be damned, we built a campfire and revelled in the peace and tranquility of our beloved Maritimes.

The next day we wandered the area, visiting the old Cape Tormentine wharf.

Tormentine was once a bustling area filled with rows and rows of cars, trucks and buses waiting to load onto one of the ferries that would transport them to PEI. The opening of the Confederation Bridge in 1997 put an abrupt end to this community’s prosperity and since then, the wharf area has seen changes. I was shocked to see that CN had literally walked away from giant pieces of equipment and left them on the pier to rot.

Of course, my second thought involved fabric and the rusting process! Oh my!!

The massive tires fascinated me.

We rode our bikes out to the end of the weed invested pier, avoiding some giant holes and pits in the pavement, ducking under an opening in the wire fencing to gain access. People were flocking down this same path with fishing gear in hand. We stopped and chatted for a bit, meeting locals as well as people from Nova Scotia and Ontario, all throwing in their lines. One engaging young boy was visibly thrilled to be pulling the fish in, snapping their backbones to end their suffering and then sharing his extensive knowledge and his minnow bait with an older couple from “away” who were new to the mackerel that were running. Another man shared his bucket to store their catch once pictures had been taken. 

We also wandered up and down some new to us backroads, marvelling in the number of properties for sale. Once such lane brought us to this amazing view of the Confederation Bridge.....

We found ourselves back in Cap Pele and donning shorties, had a quick dip though the strong wind created murky waters that made snorkelling less than interesting.

Eventually we headed to Shediac to ride our bikes along their well designed paths that connect the town to the marina and beaches. Shediac is a tourist mecca here in New Brunswick and the area was full of tourists and locals alike, enjoying the beauty of the summer day. The popular pier at nearby Pointe-du-Chene was packed with cars, bikes and people and we were amused to see this new sign posted, obviously in an attempt to keep everyone happy!

It is surprising what a short vacation can do for the spirit when you are open to opportunities close at hand. 

A Reader Challenge Published!

I was getting a bit concerned. I had sent numerous emails about my subscription renewal, but was re-assured they had received my payment and there would be no interruptions in delivery. Then friends told me they had received their copies. I saw evidence on blogs that people had their issues. Someone told me they had picked up a copy at a newstand. Every day I checked my mailbox. Finally I sent yet another email and learned that my subscription was suspended due to an undeliverable address. But, I haven’t moved! My address hasn't changed! Sigh.

So, I drove to three different newstands and finally found and bought the June/July issue of Quilting Arts magazine. 

And here is my work.....right smack on the Editor’s page! 

To be honest, just last month I remember thinking about how being the Table of Contents girl might kind of suck because everybody wants their work visible and in the context of the article. Or, that’s how I feel anyway. Then a friend mentioned she had seen my piece and the photo was re-e-eally small. But, she was quick to assure me, you could see it and my little write-up was included!! I have to admit, I was a bit deflated. I had already noticed on a couple of other blogs that some pieces had received a full page - pretty heady stuff when you consider the audience this magazine reaches. But, the editor did single my work out in comments in her editorial, so I am honestly pleased with that. 

The idea behind these pieces is that the magazine issues a Reader Challenge with a theme and guidelines and then opens it up to their readers. You send in photos of your interpretation of the theme and the editorial staff chooses a varied number to publish in an upcoming issue. So there is lots of room for having fun and getting creative with an idea!

This piece is based on a photo my husband took of myself and my son when we were travelling in Guatemala. We are on a sloping road in a little village on the beautiful Lake Atitlan, checking out our bearings. Neither of us had any idea we were standing back to back with those puzzled looks on our faces but Rejean captured the moment! To be fair, Gabe is now actually a very good navigator, but he had a lingering virus that entire trip and felt pretty lousy most of the time. I have no excuses. I am generally pathetic with directions, but am an enthusiastic traveller and am willing to follow anyone most anywhere! It just takes me longer. Anyway, the photo makes us laugh every time we see it. 

I used a lot of my photos printed on fabric for this piece, as I am so often apt to do. I printed a map of Guatemala for the back and my label is a photo I took of a beautiful beach, the Playa Blanca, on the Caribbean Sea a short boat ride out of Livingston. If you ever feel the urge to visit Guatemala, go for it!! We were so charmed by this country that we plan to return to visit areas we missed and volunteer, most likely with Trama Textiles. 

The little worry dolls I stitched onto the quilt are ones my son had when he was just a wee boy. My Mom had purchased them at a Ten Thousand Villages sale and they came in a little handwoven bag. I really hadn’t paid attention that they were Guatemalan until we travelled there and I saw lots for sale. Kind of serendipitous, in a full circle kind of way, I think. Anyway, we were so sure we would eventually find our way that we really didn’t need worry dolls that day, though in my experience, it is always good to have a backdoor plan! Just in case.....