Oh, how I love Newfoundland!! I just returned from 12 fabulous days of music and hiking in Gros Morne Newfoundland. Why so early in the season? I went for the Trails Tales and Tunes Festival, a celebration of music, storytelling, readings and hikes. We hiked every morning, sometimes in deep snow, sometimes with the ground under our feet. However, the weather was so good (yes I did say Newfoundland) that we were often in our shirt sleeves walking through the snow. We had sun every day for the first week and temperatures rose well above the mid teens celcius which was perfect for hiking. It was even warm enough some days to sit out on the dock by the Cat Stop Pub - drinking a cold beer and listening to music (on day 2 I got a sunburn even tho I was wearing sunscreen).
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| We hiked up to Burnt Hill where a wonderful a capella group from Corner brook gave us a mini concert! |
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| Sun, music and drinks anyone? |
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| 32 members of Folk of the Bay - just folks who got together to make music - now they have 100 members - with all sorts of instruments! |
We saw caribou and lots of moose, even a minke whale on a boat tour complete with musicians from the Claire Lynch Band who were acting like tourists too but ended up playing music on the upper deck.
We started every day with a guided hike and ended it with a concert then after hours music at various venues. The performers were so talented and included Acadian and Labrador connections. So much fun!!! And I learned so much about Newfoundland, the history, music, cultures.... This is the 9th year and the organizers did a fabulous job of it. They are becoming too successful because most of the venues are small and the crowds are growing.
I even was able to find some lovely fabric at a PharmaSave in Norris Point!!
And we ate traditional NL food - fish and brewis, fishcakes, cooked dinner/jig's dinner, and great fish and chips! This was the first time I had seen NL in the spring and after the winter of snow there was still a lot of it around. We saw people skiing and snowboarding on the Tablelands - not too safe at this time of year.
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| View of the Tablelands from Norris Point |
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| This is me walking through the snow at the base of the Tablelands - a little chilly there! |
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| Lobster Cove Lighthouse next to where my friend grew up |
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| This was the view we had of Gros Morne from our patio door - my friend's brother graciously let us use their home |
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| We hiked up to Bakers' Brook Falls one day |
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| And met up with this moose on the way up |
And all the time I am pointing my camera I am thinking - how would this look as an embroidery/art work/wall hanging/painted background etc? I see so many opportunities for stitchery in the photos I took. Now I just need some time to do it. On Monday I am giving a
workshop on making landscape postcards so busy preparing for that.
Then I hope to dive into some creative work. I have applied for fall
shows and am looking at two SAQA exhibitions that really speak to me -
Concrete and Grasslands and My Canada. My son is also planning on making some changes to my website so I need to give that some thought as well.
BTW, you too can see the wonders of Gros Morne and enjoy their upcoming
Fibre Arts Conference at the same time. I took the time to visit an exhibition of Fibre Art at the Discovery Centre in Woody Point called Wild, Pure Aesthetic Wonder. Very edgy!! This exhibition is a precurser to the Fibre Art Conference that is coming to the area in October of this year. You can find out more about this Conference and view the exhibition here.
Fibre Art Conference
I wish I could manage two trips to NL in one year - probably not though:(
I have to mention the new love of my life - my sweet new grandson who seemed to have grown a lot while I was away. He was born on April 23 and is becoming cuter and more alert every day. He even smiles when his mom makes funny faces at him. I don't want to post any photos of him without his parents' permission. But take my word for it - he is a cutey!!
Now back to work!
