Back from Cape Breton

Well I am back from my hiking trip in Cape Breton with some new ideas.  Unfortunately I injured my back (not a hiking accident) and may be taking it easy for the next few weeks.  Hopefully I can still stitch a bit and plan some new work.   The hiking was good with some difficult trails and the weather was mostly sunny except when the tropical storm passed by (that was some hike up at Cape St Lawrence in the wind and rain!!).   I visited a lovely craft gallery along the Cabot Trail called Arts North with some wonderful hooked rugs, driftwood whales, landscape quilts, jewelry, pottery and more.   It was a quick stop and I didn't get the names of all the artists.  I hope they have a website.

We had a great turnout for Hike the Highlands, got to see old friends again and meet new people.   We saw a few moose on the trails and along the highway.   I purchased a couple of interesting books, one called The Song of Rita Joe, the poignant life story of an aboriginal poet from Cape Breton.    The other was a book about Cape Breton weather called Weather Watching for the Naturally Curious written by Bill Danielson -- a very interesting read!    Bill gave a talk about the weather at Hike the Highlands a few years ago and he and his wife Esther invited all of us hikers back to their home for snacks after a hike that year so I was thrilled to find this copy of his book.    The weather extremes on Cape Breton create magnificent landscapes - sun, fog, storms, high winds, rainbows over the water, wonderful cloud formations, great sunsets and sunrises, lovely twilight......great for a landscape quilter.  It is kind of appropriate that I am working on a Weather quilt right now.

Since I need to nurture my back for a few weeks I guess I'll have some time to read.....