Throughout Space and Time

Somehow defying space and time, I am sitting on the couch in Gillams. Never left, it seems. Or so it especially seemed as we arrived to find our dear, dear friend Olive in the house, making a fire in the woodstove and setting up a delicious, homemade lunch so that we felt not only welcomed but as if we never left.

Each year our trip back takes on a new flavour. Last year I remember it was one of hardship - the house had encountered difficulties over the winter and it was hard to turn the wheels that had to be turned to make improvements.  Everything generally felt like it was slightly off. This year, however, has been much more dreamlike. It truly feels like we just popped away for a weekend and now we are back with only that slight jog in between. Of course, that jog was much more than a weekend and it boggles my mind to think of all the activities we managed to cram into those nine months in New York.

Then, there are things like seasons that help confuse us and suggest that we have breached the time/space continuum. Here is Sunnyside on May 27th:



Here is Gillams on May 30th:



Things are rapidly getting greener, but it is clear that, if anything, we have been moving backwards in time.

As if to add to that sense, here are Finn and Lucy exploring an ancient relic from days long past...

They were quite amused by this quaint antiquity.

Here they are slightly less amused, as it is about 10 p.m. on Friday while we wait to board the overnight ferry in North Sydney, NS, after 12 hours in the car.  I won't even post the picture of Dan.  It would be near impossible to even whisper the word "amused" at his shadow at that point.  He was not a happy traveler.

The cafeteria in the ferry terminal.  There was something so....I dunno....post modern about it all.  

For myself, I was cheered up greatly upon arriving at the ferry terminal, despite North Sydney being one of the most depressing cities on earth.  It was the first time we saw license plates from Newfoundland and Labrador and the first time there were clusters of people standing around talking and laughing, speaking Newfoundese, as Finn calls it.  Ahhhhh....home at last!

The requisite pictures of the Tim Hortons in Port aux Basques.  We gladly stopped there in the morning after the ferry across and slurped up our steeped tea and coffee.  Never has fast food caffeine tasted so good.  (And thank you, Helen, for your explanation of caffeine from my previous post.  I knew I could count on you!)

A typical day in Port aux Basques.  We saw an RV in line for the ferry in North Sydney that was called "The Sun Seeker," giving us many laughs.  If it's sun yer after b'y, I'd turn around right quick!  Of course, that isn't really true, as the sun is shining brightly today.  But it was cold and rainy the whole trip north, so we had a more jaded attitude at that point.

Speaking of jaded attitudes....

One lovely new development in our absence has been a weekly get-together of knitters at a new cafe in Corner Brook.  Lucy and I eagerly attended this week's gathering, where an amazing lace shawl - with bead work! - was displayed.  Fourteen knitters showed up.  We had local tea and homemade sweets to supplement our conversation and knitting. Very nice.  Very, very nice.

And today, I am experimenting with dyeing with dandelions, among other activities.  From a resource perspective, it seems like a sustainable idea.