Hooked Mats - A Part of Growing Up

I was alerted to the following videos from the CBC archives through Deanne Fitzpatrick's Hooking Rugs Facebook page and they are gems. Not only because they are about hooking mats, which you know I'm pretty passionate about, but also because watching them was almost like stepping into a time machine. These people, their language and dialect and their houses, inside and out, is a glimpse into my childhood. Mrs. O'Brien (and her sweet and supportive husband) are marvelous and I wish the videos would just go on and on.

1977 Edited Version of Mat Hooker Interview

I love the variety of mats displayed in this video. Many of the patterns are similar to the ones I used to see in people's houses when I was growing up. I'm told my great-grandmother used to draw her own patterns and was a very prolific mat maker. My grandmother too hooked, after the work of the day was done (how she didn't just collapse into bed alongside her nine children is beyond me. I can barely survive with 'only' three off spring). Their designs were usually of flowers and leaves though one of my Aunt's remembers a 'hit or miss' style that my grandmother did.

This is a picture of a mat made by a lady living in the same community my mother grew up in. Another one of my Aunt's won it at a time (that's the Newfoundland and Labrador word for a dance or a party usually at someone's house/the local hall, etc) when she was growing up. She still uses it in her kitchen. Lucky duck!

The following is the 'uncut' version of the interview with Mrs. O'Brien which is a little rough around the edges but the one I prefer as I felt I got to know her better. The interviewer also asks her many questions that I wish I could ask my grandmother and other relatives of her generation but have missed the chance.

1977 Interview of a Mat Hooker: Mrs. O'Brien, Cape Broyle

I've been thinking and doing a LOT of hooking lately. I'm working on a commissioned piece for a very good friend and this not so little mat will be flying off to the UK at the end of the month. So, in case you're missing me, I'm just hooking. All. The. Time. I'm not exactly sure how big it is but this is certainly my largest rug to date (I haven't time to measure so my toes are included in this picture to give you an idea of the mat's size). I'm learning lots!

Off again. I've important hooking to get to. And I think the boys need supper again (I'm swear I just fed them yesterday…).

Scattered

Last week was a bit scattered. It was the first week for Eldest back in school after Easter holidays so perhaps that's the reason why as we've eased (or been pushed) back into a semblance of a regular routine. The most exciting news of late is a) we saw the sun a few times last week though it's still unreasonably cold, b) the icebergs are moving South providing much entertainment and c) we had Spring snow last night, about two inches of it.

I've planned on having an Easter tree for, probably, twenty years now. I finally got around to it this year. The boys and I traipsed up into the back forty of our property and I cut branches from what I thought was an alder bush. It's now gracing us with some gorgeous spring green (unlike the exterior environment) and it turns out to be a Dog Berry tree (Mountain Ash to some of you) instead. 

The crocheted eggs look cute on the tree.

A happy, happy cat and proof that we have had sunshine in May. Hopefully the weather will take a turn for the better this week and I can happily type about the fantastic May 2014 weather. Hopefully.

I've started hooking my largest project yet for a friend of mine. Here is the sky in progress. I'm on a strict deadline for this one as my friend leaves the country (permanently, sob!) at the end of June.

I'm trying to keep Youngest from napping during the day as, if he gets one, he will stay up until 2300 hrs (11:00 PM) and that's just frustrating. Obviously there's no stopping the independent two year old from doing what he darn well pleases anyways.

The meadow where my brother and SIL got married looks good.

The boys and I went for a walk and a picnic on the portion of the East Coast Trail just below us this past week on a gorgeous (but still darn cold!) afternoon. 

We're going on a bear hunt...

The ice bergs have started their trek South and we see many during the day out on the horizon. This one is a small growler that's been staying just below us. There are three actual icebergs in the bay this week.

Two more off in the distance.

Youngest - happy with life and with his speedy 'brudders'.

The growler.

Spring run off.

We have a gorgeous waterfall on the trail which is usually the end destination when we go for a walk from our house. It is passable when the water is lower but I don't like taking the boys across by myself. I have done it solo both crossing the river or by going down below the falls, crossing the rocks and climbing back up the hill. It's such a pretty place and lovely on a hot summer day for small children to play in.

The bottom portion of the falls falling into the ocean.

Things are going to be even more scattered this week. I am off for the first of (I hope) an annual girls trip for three nights without DH or children. This time I am headed off with a lovely friend from the UK (currently living here but posted back to the UK in June :( ) to New York City! We leave at o'dark early Thursday morning and I am having trouble concentrating on anything as I am so excited. It's kind of a Mother's Day gift though that's slightly oxymoronic in that I'm leaving the boys for my Mother's Day treat. I will be back after supper on Sunday so I will still get some Mother's Day hugs.

Meow

I've noticed that Patty has been going to the basement on the iMac to make funny tapping sounds more often. I know because I usually keep her company. She really enjoys it when I chase something she calls a cursor around the flat thing on the desk, especially when my paws hit that fun keyboard thing and I get to type on my own. Liberating! I usually sleep up on a couple of boxes next to her so that I can keep an eye on her whilst having a bath. Baths are very important. If you haven't had one yet today, you might want to think about it. I find at least six a day is good. A nice round number. Naps are important too.

Can't we get some sensible cat napping mood lighting
around here?

My name in Angel and I am a cat. I like to think of myself as 'the' cat in this house but there's another feline named Bella who was here before me and I am pretty sure she thinks she is 'the' cat. She's bigger than me but I can hold my own so this wouldn't be the first point we've agreed to disagree on.

Patty found my draft and insisted that I add a couple of pictures of Bella. Here's
the first one. I'm in the next picture. Ignore this one and move on.

In October of 2013, I came to live with Patty, that man and those three smaller two legged creatures who terrify me one minute and then charm me by trying to squeeze the stuffing out of me.

There's a hierarchy of toys around here. The small two legged creatures
get them first and, when they've grown out of them/gone to bed,
I get them. 

I was a stray and rescued by a group called Heavenly Creatures. They're pretty cool. Patty didn't know it when she answered a Facebook request for an urgent fostering subsequent to my being spayed but, if she and Heavenly Creatures hadn't intervened, I was going to be 'put down'. I'm not entirely sure what that means but it sounds pretty grim. Luckily, Patty and that man had a spare bedroom for me to stay in while I recovered from the surgery.

My temporary digs. Not too shabby.

Going from a cage that was so small I was using my litter box as a bed (at the pound Heavenly Creatures rescued me from) to a cat hospital and then to Patty's spare room was a weird experience. I really didn't know what was going on. However, I managed to cope pretty well. In the spare room I had my own window to look outside along with many many surfaces to lie or play on. My favourite was the rocking chair.

Me on my rocking chair getting the attention I deserve.

Even though everything in my life had changed I really love people and Patty and her family came to visit me in my room lots.

Patty and that man weren't sure if they were going to adopt me or not at first because it depended on how I got along with Bella. She is another calico cat like me, though her hair is much shorter, and thinks she's the boss of the house. I guess she was until I came along. I stirred things up for her, that's for sure! I like nothing better than to sneak up behind her and pounce. After the first few weeks of getting to know each other, we rarely hiss at each other anymore but we do play fight and we LOVE to chase each other around. Well, I love to chase Bella around. I can't be bothered to find out if she enjoys it or not.

The obligatory second picture of Bella...

One of my favourite parts of living with Patty and her family is the bird window. That's right. They have a BIRD window. The only thing better would to be able to get outside and get a taste…but Patty won't let me. Le sigh. That man put up a bird feeder right next to the back window and the patio door for the cats of the house to have a bit of entertainment. Well, that's my interpretation of why he put a bird feeder there anyways. Bella and I spend hours on the cat tower, window sill or lying on the mat in front of the patio door hunting birds. It gets pretty boring when the bird food has run out so I get Bella to go tell Patty that the food is empty. Bella is really, really good at that. Sometimes Patty's a bit stunned and thinks it's us who need the food but she usually gets our point eventually. I LOVE looking at those birds. A squirrel also lives close by too. He's quite saucy though and tells me off through the glass of the window. I don't mind. He really has no idea who he's up against and I might manage to sneak out…eventually.

Patty regularly calls me 'Checkers'. Her family had a black and white cat with long hair like mine before I came along. Apparently she died over the Labour Day weekend in 2013 and Patty was quite upset about it especially as Checkers was such a young cat and the cat doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. I wish I could have met her too but if she had still been alive when Heavenly Creatures found me, I'm not sure I would have come to live with them or not. It's too bad though. She sounds like she was a really nice cat.

The time I almost got packed in a box of
hand me down clothes.

I'm a really nice cat too though Patty sometimes says I was misnamed. I'm not sure why. I mean, isn't it my job to chew on everything in sight (and what's a dog bone anyways? Patty keeps telling me she's going to get me one), climb into obscure and dark places and walk on any surface in sight no matter how high or low? I am a cat after all! Sheesh! However, I have noticed that every time she gets mad at me, she's laughing at me too. Apparently she and that man have a soft spot for bratty cats.

Me being a clean laundry menace.

Well, that's me. I thought I should introduce myself on this thing Patty calls a 'blog'. I really have no idea what that is but it's a public forum and I'm such a special cat so I really thought I should introduce myself to the world.

Off to have another bath. Or a nap. Or both. Meow!

A

Sunday Fun

On weekends where when we actually have two days with nothing organized (e.g. birthday parties), DH and I take turns letting each other sleep in. It was my turn on Sunday and I got a great lie in before a boy came and jumped on me and said,

"Mommy! Mommy! We're going to the beach!" It was Eldest who said I might be able to go too but he had to check with Daddy first to make sure it was okay. Cute kid.

DH was a Scout and a military man. Can you tell? Nice tee pee!

I got up and got ready without really checking the weather outside. I'm glad I didn't because it was misty and I probably would have balked at the idea of taking the boys down on the beach for a cold outing and that would have meant us missing out on an absolutely fantastic day.

There was a bit of mizzle (that's mist and drizzle combined. Like the Inuit have many, many words to describe snow, Newfoundland and Labradorians have a lot of different words to describe rainy weather conditions) when we first arrived but the boys were happily decked out in sweaters and rubber boots.

Any trip to the beach entails packing a change of clothing for each of them, which we needed. Eldest learned that rubber boots fill up with water! He was pleased to put on a warm and dry pair of socks and his winter boots after that.

What began as a simple trip to the beach turned into a fire and picnic at the beach before we'd left the house so DH had a box of dry wood, matches and starter (aka cardboard) ready to go. We brought hot dogs (I'm not a huge fan but there's nothing like a fire roasted hot dog), baby carrots, snap peas, apples, homemade peanut butter cookies and, most importantly, marshmallows! No one went hungry.

After a wonderful time around the fire and really, really appreciating its heat (it was 4C yesterday) we headed out for a hike on the East Coast Trail heading in the Torbay direction.

You can barely see a brown trail head sign in the distance up
on the grass.

During the summer of 2008, DH, Eldest, Middlest and I walked from our house along the trail headed towards Middle Cove Beach where we stopped for a picnic.

Looking back at Middle Cove Beach and an impressive fog bank
rolling in.

We managed to make it to the section where we'd previously turned around so have now completed the Motion to Middle Cove Beach section of the trail in its entirety.

Youngest was a little trooper, holding onto DH's hand and singing the whole time to and from.

I had a vice like grip on Middlest (the runner/escape artist of the family) for most of the trip. This picture gives a good indication why.

I can't wait to go back and see this on a bright day.
Youngest kept looking for whales and screaming that
he'd seen one each time a wave crested.

Our section of the East Coast Trail really shows off some of the coastal forest that we are lucky enough to live next to and one that I grew up with.

Lichen covered branches.

I am so happy to be sharing this with my former British Columbian husband and making this landscape a part of our children's childhood too. I really think that the landscape you grow up with shapes your soul and has an impact upon you your entire life.

The Spruce trees are stunted and moulded by the wind.

The longer we stayed, the more the fog rolled in but the mist let up after the first 45 minutes or so at the beach. It was neat - an extremely foggy day but dry, dry, dry. Eldest even stayed outside to play more when we returned home.

Before.

After. Still dry though.

Sadly, Middlest started to feel off during our picnic, did the hike well but then spiked a fever when we got home. I think it's another ear infection. That poor child and his ear infections (he has his second  (and third set on one side) of tubes in his ears).

Seasons

Eldest asked me the other day which of our seasons was the longest. I told him that the four seasons are split up into three months each (please tell me where in the world that actually applies. I remember one "Spring" in Ottawa when we had a 30C heatwave in May and Summer began). Then I had him count the months in this Winter season. The snow started in November and it is now April. He decided that Winter must be our longest season and I would have to agree on him. Despite the fact that March and April are hard because I am longing for more warmish sunshine (this year we had some gorgeous bright blue days with diamond snow and the best sliding in our back yard that we've ever had so this wasn't a bad year sun wise) and spring green on the grass, I don't think I could live somewhere full-time that doesn't actually experience clear seasons.

In 1996 DH and I went to Barbados for our honeymoon (pre-honeymooon actually as we went in May and got married in July. We were posted to Cold Lake, AB three weeks after our wedding, I was starting the field placement of my Masters program in September in St. John's; there was really no other time to go on a honeymoon. Mudder thought a honeymoon before the wedding was eminently sensible. She said something to the effect of going and having a good time and, if you didn't like the guy, you had time to dump him before it was official. Such a sensible woman! Considering what a witch I am in heat and humidity and that Barbados experienced both during our two week visit, it's a wonder that her plan didn't backfire and he dumped me on the way home instead! But, I digress…). Each morning one of us would get of bed, throw open the curtains and announce the weather with satisfaction during the initial few days.

Day one: "Blue sky, one cloud on the horizon."
Day two: "Blue sky, one cloud on the horizon."
Day three: "Blue sky, one cloud on the horizon."
Day four…and so on.

Frankly, it got a little boring. Don't get me wrong. Barbados is an island paradise and I hope to return some day. Warm aquamarine waters,  lush foliage, white sandy beaches, the 'Highland' area reminiscent of the Scottish highlands plus palm trees, you get the idea. It is an idyllic place. But when you're used to living somewhere where if you don't like the weather you can wait a minute for it to change, the Barbadian weather was a wee bit, dare I say, monotonous?

Back to the reality of weather in our fair area of province of Newfoundland and Labrador during the Winter of 2013-2014 where we scored very high in snow fall (loved that!), the white stuff has officially taken a beating.

From this...

The melt had already started by the time I took these pictures, believe it or not.

to this.

This... 

to these.

It took one and a half days for the majority of the snow to go. There are likely a few small patches of snow underneath the shaded areas of thick trees but out in the open, the earth is once more exposed.

One fantastic thing about a heavy winter snow is that all that white stuff offers such a wonderful insulated layer for the plants underneath. That has been a worry for me the previous winters as our lawn especially gets harsh treatment from the salty winter gales. These leaves introduce our first batch of tulips, a rather pitiful bunch of 15 or so but still...

We are heavy into the RDF (that's 'Rain Drizzle and Fog' for you CFAs) portion of the early Spring season here now and that's okay by all of us. No more snowsuits. We have moved into winter coats and rubber boot season with the occasional reality smack down from Mother Nature like this past week when we had flurries and freezing rain. No spring in this province would be complete without them!

The Week Before Easter

The week before Easter included painting an Easter tree at the MFRC. We go there twice a week - it's our second home!

Enjoying Spring flowers. I love tulips and this colour combination is one of my favourites.

Our first supper meal outside in 2014 as requested by the boys. You can see that it had cooled down from a 17C degree day at supper time. Still, it was WONDERFUL to be out in the fresh air listening to the Spring bird song.

The snow disappeared in a day and a half.

A brave little tulip that pushed itself up (and it has siblings!!!) through the snow in hopes of some warm Spring air.

A bleeding heart plant also pushing its way up through the soil and mulch. My rose bush has buds on it too.

Quick and cute Easter treats for teachers and friends from this Lacy Crochet pattern. I can whip up one of these, including weaving in the ends and tying on the hanging string in about ten minutes. An excellent beginner crocheting project with quick and satisfying results.

I made up these for Eldest's classmates. It was REALLY hard not to eat all the eggs myself before I filled the bags.

From our house to yours, have a wonderful Easter weekend.