Merry Christmas to ALL

Merry Christmas 

 After being stuck in Washington, DC for 25 hours during the wind storm, I managed to make it back to New Brunswick.

Dad is slow but on the mend from his open heart. My son from NYC flew in and my daughter and her boyfriend from Montreal came in last night. We are all snug as a bug in our 650 sq ft cottage—- it can be done.

This season’s family crises and topsy turvy planning have meant I have needed to throw myself on Christ; this has meant laying aside all my expectations and ideas of a perfect holiday. Sometimes several times an hour. 

I leave you with a photo of our daughter gazing at gifts beneath the tree, our Reggie cat beside the tree and , our son in a a surprise market meetup with a high school friend. Merry Christmas; whatever it looks like!

Update and Snow

Our little house in the snow

Dad had two bypasses and they were declared successful . But he hasn’t been able to get up and moving yet. Still, I’m heading there when we estimate he’ll be released.

I am discovering more about my grown siblings’ personalities through this. They each have their weaknesses (of course!), and their strengths have been a real help in this situation. I know our family is very blessed that way. 

Rug hooking party tonight! We did have several bow out already with Covid and flus. I’m ready for yummy food and laughter 

Beauty and Challenges

I draw strength from my time in nature. Today I gathered red dogwood branches to share with some friends. Around here, folks pair them with birch and pine to decorate for Christmas. The sky is heavy with coming snows.

To connect to our new community, I’ve been volunteering at the Saturday markets, making breakfast sandwiches to sell to vendors and shoppers. The season will end December 9th. I discovered that the women who make sandwiches also decorate the hall for Christmas, keep the restrooms supplied with tp and paper towels and troubleshoot heating and cooling issues😂. This is all fine and good with me though. 

I’m looking forward to our rug hooking group’s annual Christmas potluck— this Wednesday. We will have a gift exchange game and some draws; it’s always a fun time! Last week our group  finished our wool trees. Here is our lovely forest.

Tomorrow my dad will have open heart surgery. He went in for a heart cath and they found too much blockage. My busy working siblings (who all live within 3 hours of my parents) have scrambled to rearrange their lives. I’m planning to go once he gets home. I live in another country😞. Poor mom is befuddled and exhausted. 

Life often interrupts our (holiday) plans- but reminds us what’s important ♥️

Late Autumn handicrafts

Spooky tale recommend: if you like gothic stories be sure to read Mexican Gothic. 

Here is my 10.5” x 22” turkey runner. I’ll finish my design with a dark brown plaid wool peeking out. Question: there is more space between the front end of Ms Turkey and the bittersweet. Should I add a falling leaf or acorn to balance?

And our rug group is making wooly trees but I experimented with wooly wreaths first . Here is the progress I’ve made: 

It’s several cream shades on a 10” grapevine. My co-chair and I decided against these because it takes lots more wool and wire and this size wreath is not cheap or easy to find here. I got this one at a thrift store and removed the tattered scarecrow and shredded leaves. 

 I am happy with my Apple SE 3rd edition. I finally got a new phone. My last was a 7SE from 2017. The sales assistant looked at me like I had two heads. 

Happy Thanksgiving

 In Canada it’s Thanksgiving weekend! We expect friends tomorrow (if electricity holds due to tropical storm) so I have flowers in a favourite vase. Hubby and I love Dunbar Falls, a mere 1/2 mile from our home on the river. The leaves were coming along just fine yesterday, as you can see♥️

It's been since July thay I last posted and I thank   Peggy H. for reaching out and reminding me! Scotland was beyond fantastic and a huge personal reminder that I can be alone and strong. I credit Christ’s presence. My most precious day was a 25 mile lochs bike ride I peddled. Still processing it all.

Other experiences: my parents came for six days and the septic failed the last two, a bear joined me on a walk and then took off back into the woods, I attended a hook-in at an old train station, our son spent a long weekend here, and I put on 10 pounds since starting  hormone replacement therapy (grrrrrr). 

I continue to clean and document mats at Kings Landing but have cut back to every other week as gas prices are higher and we are now 45 minutes away and it’s voluntary.

I’ve been in a more reflective space; perhaps this is why I’d not posted. Besides aging parents and aunts and uncles, cancer seems to be touching too many in my sphere. 

I’ll leave you with what I have been working on: the turkey will be a very primitive runner I am creating as I go. The cross stitch is a freebie by Lori at NotforgottenFarm.

Well this is interesting

 The area of Canonbie, Scotland is exquisitely beautiful, rural, and packed with history. Best, it is not prime tourist area! My dad and sister have been great fun as co-travellers.

 And I must say that tho airplane travel is fraught with delays and the seats are uncomfortable (to say the least), the efforts to ease airport lines for people with mobility issues are Tops! Dad is just over 80 and was whisked through on a wheelchair and we got the benefits too….

These last few days have included trips to nearby environs including: the Rockcliff area our family spent much time in in 1977 (it is unchanged!),  Jedburgh, Langholm, Carlisle, and lunch with a shepherdess we met in ‘77. Apparently, my ancestors were reviers, border dwellers who robbed the English and guarded the line between countries. Perhaps that’s why I feel at home here- it’s in my genes? Glad I didn’t inherit the theft thing. 

                                      Tis moi

                               Cemetery, rural 

                          Random gorgeous estate

          One of two churches dad preached at in ‘77

                             Sweetheart Abbey

                   Our sprawling childhood manse

                   Dad and sis on Gilnockie tower 

The craggy beach at Rockcliff

We are half- way thru our trip but our plans have been upended. My sister’s mom-in-law died unexpectedly and she and dad booked a plane back today. They will drop me at the next cottage stay which is a couple hours North. I won’t have the rental car so I am going to scale back the original sightseeing plans and entertain myself as best as I can. 

Putting on my big girl panties and dealing. Why is it still hard at 50?!

NC Beauty and Scotland Calling

When I return to mountains I wonder how I could have moved away. There’s something about the old Appalachians that fill something in my soul. And the fresh peaches, sweet tea, pine trees, hospitality…

We had a gorgeous 3 days of family reunion and 80th birthday celebration in Montreat, NC. Former home of Billy Graham. Like most mountain towns here, offspring of old timers cannot afford to settle back here. 

     Hubby at Veranda restaurant, Black Mountain NC

Rhododendron and small creeks trickle down sides of the mountain. Trails are plentiful and surrounding mountains cradle one as you walk while never giving a feeling of claustrophobia. 

We did have a yearling bear cub sniffing around our lodge but he/she/they did not stay long. 

I picked up a slim history of Montreat and was happy to see how women figured so prominently in its settling in the late 1800s. It was always a place for spiritual and physical rest and healing.

Along our drives we made it a point to stop at primitive store Nanbrook Farm, Lincolnton NC. 

I was pretty bummed to find it closed for vacation. Here are some pics of the inviting outside. 

These face jugs dotted the Main Street through the town. 

Hubby back at home whilst I continue my journey; I head to Scotland in the next 48 hours with father and sister.

 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿  

July July July

 HAPPY CANADA DAY!

 🇨🇦 

We are staying put, not attending fireworks and whatnot,  at our new-to-us cottage on the country. We just explored further on an atv trail by our place; we ended up with a lovely 5 mile walk which wandered between a creek and the river. Surprisingly, pretty bug-free.

It has been an incredibly easy adjustment, moving from urban to rural life. I go the 22 minute drive with hubby up to 3x a week for work and volunteer; but even the drive is pleasant. When alone here, my routine is garden, lunch, walk, projects, and supper prep.

The flower garden and veg garden are coming along (which is amazing given our almost daily rains for the month), and I fashioned a sink skirt from a shower     curtain to hide pipes and brushes. 

 I’ve gotten my sketch pad out again and have been considering putting rug pdf patterns on Etsy. If you’ve used Etsy feel free to persuade or dissuade me from them. About 20 years ago I sold patterns on eBay but got weary drawing out patterns on linen. 

Not my bag baby.

I’m prepping for some travels: a birthday celebration in NC, a trip with my dad and younger sister to Scotland, and then another archaeological dig involving human remains from the 18th century. 

As my geometric rug is looking very much the same, just longer, I’ll leave you with

more eye candy from the happy place where I volunteer…

River Life

We’ve started life on the Nashwaak River. 

The cottage is small but it suits us. Across the river is the old highway to Miramichi. Cars that traced this route for years are slow to abandon routine for the new highway. The sometimes noise is the only thing to mar our place. Perhaps the cars will eventually migrate to the Fast Route, or perhaps the noise will become background; ask me in a year if I hear it. 

There are eagles across from us and in the trees behind. Bank swallows, night hawks that skim across the water late in the day, a large nest of crows a few feet away…

Hubby cleaned out the gazebo yesterday, removing winter plastic over screens, dragging cotton padding and pillows into the sun. Airing out, sweeping out. I planted the three raised beds and pulled weeds from the circular flower bed; forming borders with stone from a forgotten pile… Tomatoes, peppers, squash, peas, beans, basils, lovage, lavender, scented geranium, oregano. I murmur prayers for the plants as I go: for growth, few pests, for plenty and more to share.

 

This will be my summer hooking spot, it catches the breezes and blocks out the bugs, the river runs behind.

Now leaving my meanderings….

We had a superb final hooking group potluck. One in every ten has the perfect amounts of sides, mains and desserts— this was one of those! 

We played Left, Right and Centre with wool strips. Two rounds. If you don’t have this easy game you must go get a set:

Each person starts with 3 of something and you lose or gain throughout the game. Winner ends up with the whole centre pile. One of us is a teacher and plays with candy, another plays with quarters, etc.

Just desserts…

I made the impossible coconut pie- remember that Bisquick recipe from so long ago?

A newbie won the second round and she was thrilled. Each left with a goodie bag of wool. Great night!!!

Next visit I will have my hooking station set up and the interior of the place in better state for photos. 

Make decisions with Love as your goal. That was my reading this morning. ♥️

Moving along

Well, we’re about 1/3 moved into our new place by the river. Twenty minutes from town but a world away. Bald eagles— we suspect there’s a nest in a towering pine in the yard—bears, mud swallows, red squirrels, and a peepers. 

      Hubby is working from the gazebo this morning.

Wednesday I roamed my favourite historic village and snapped some photos. Now that I volunteer there I go behind the scenes and meet the villagers (and now I’m not allowed to name the place as it’s a social media conflict. Ok). The place doesn’t open to public until next week. Anyway, it was great to meet the people; I was shown where ice cold spring water was and was given many flower seeds. 

So. Pics from yesterday. The “setting time” is the 1860s.

 

This is an octagonal outhouse with a fresh coat of paint. It seats four inside. So my question… what family is close enough, and regular enough, to sit at the same time? 

It remains to be seen how the distance will affect my very pt work. I have some ideas but stay tuned. 

If you don’t know, our neighbor province, Nova Scotia, is suffering horrendous fires which continue to roar, taking homes and woods. No humans have lost lives but my heart is sick for the animals and trees.

🙏🏻