And so the new old rowboat made it home. “Hang in there Sven” said Ken “Just a few more yards to go.”
Ken breaks into song: ♪ ♪ ♪ My clothes are all in pawn, Go down you blood red roses ♪ And it’s mighty draughty around Cape Horn, Go down you blood red roses, go down ♪ Oh you pinks and posies, Go down you…. ♪
“Oh. My. God.” thinks Sven. “He hasn’t been the same since he watched that Fisherman’s Friends movie.”
“What do you think we should name her?” asks Ken. “MONKEY BUSINESS, MONKEY BUSINESS, MONKEY BUSINESS” insists Tiny Monkey.
“BACKBREAKER” suggests Sven.
And once again, Sven gets dragged into Ken’s shenanigans.
That’s okay Sven, it’ll be a lot more fun when she’s out of the snowbank and on the water.
Lockeport, Nova Scotia, that is. It’s on the south shore between Liverpool and Yarmouth, about twenty minutes off the highway. You’ll know you are there when you see
and
Don’t be fooled by the unpretentious exterior, you can buy anything in this general store from a lottery ticket to an egg sandwich, from a lag screw to a new hunting cap. Give yourself a few minutes to poke around and don’t forget to check out the upright freezer if you like scallops, undipped and flash frozen at sea, or frozen haddock and maybe some frozen fries to cook for a side. My favourite item for sale in the store was a rustic sign that read THIEVES, PLEASE CARRY ID SO WE CAN NOTIFY NEXT OF KIN. I didn’t buy one, that’s not who I am, but appreciated the chance to smile.
My destination in Lockeport was
where I drooled over the wool and emptied my wallet.
Becky used to sell strictly sock yarn but has branched out a little. She can also cut your hair as the shop doubles as a salon but only two days a week and you might have to book two years in advance because since COVID she has scaled down. You will know all of this once you’ve been there because Becky likes to chat so give yourself some extra minutes for this part of your Lockeport excursion.
Surf’s up. Way up.
The best thing about Lockeport is that the beach is right in town. I had planned on a nice stroll on the sand but the tide was high, as was the surf, so there was no beach! It was a dull grey day and not so photogenic (my photos rarely do justice to good surf) so you’ll have to imagine these waves pounding the shore afore a bright blue sky.
Now you may think that this herring gull is posing just for me but I know better. He/she is actually waiting patiently to see what edible delicacies the surf might throw up. A gull is not very particular about what it eats. It probably ate the mussel out of this little bouquet I found on the rock:
Why, that little clump has animal, vegetable and mineral represented! I brought it home with me but I have to say, it looks pretty terrible in a vase.
You should go once you’re allowed. And there’s more to the town than just the beach. Here’s a pic taken on a stroll of old Lockeport from summer past.
Yesterday it snowed. All day. When I looked at the pics I took while shoveling I thought I had mistakenly filtered them to black and white! Or maybe more like grey and white because it was cloudy. Had the sun come out it would have been overwhelmingly bright.
Black and GreyMaking tracks.
Looking up-river.
No biking today.
The prettiness makes up for the shoveling.
A patch of colour.
This kitty seems to think this path was shoveled just for him.
The final day. Thank heavens. My hands are sore, my back is stiff and I’m ready to move on. But that said, it was worth every second. My husband often says that the biggest compliment I ever allow myself is “I’m not dissatisfied.” Today I told Ivan, our teacher (I took to calling him sensei by the end of the day) that I was more than happy. I never really expected to make anything that was more than just representative of a mermaid. Whoohoo. Here’s the final piece. Some of the concrete is still damp so things might sag a little over the next few days but you’ll get the idea.
It’s hard to see the rock she is sitting on because it is the same colour as the plastic from all the run off and my seashells are a little on the large side. She has no name as yet and her hands are empty. I was initially thinking bird food but then I worried that she might end up covered in pigeon poop. It remains a work in progress.
Here are the pieces of the other participants. The lady who made the garden feature also made a big smiling toad and four little garden stools like tree-stumps but she left with them in a hurry this morning when the heavy snow started.
Woodland creature with crowPlanterFountainGarden feature
I hope you enjoyed my little journey in the land of concrete creations. Now I wonder what I can get up to next.
Yes, we’ve officially gone into overtime so I hope you are not tired of looking at mermaid pictures yet. Here she is in her current state.
I’m not the only one unfinished; two other participants will be joining me. I’ve left the hardest until last so tomorrow will be a stressful day and hopefully the final one. Working in concrete is so much more crude than working with fondant. This project is about twice the size of the one I had planned so I am cutting myself a little slack tonight but if it goes on much longer I might have to sell my soul to Ivan.
This was supposed to be the last day of the workshop but there is still much to do so several of us have chosen to have an extension. There’s no point in rushing through at this stage of the game. Progress has been made.
She is obviously from the land of very large starfish.
Today was spent building up the form with one walnut sized chunk of concrete at a time. There are other very large things to follow, wink, wink. I had hoped to complete the torso area today, it being Dolly Parton’s birthday, but I didn’t make it that far. I had one very discouraging moment when an hour’s worth of work fell off in a slab. But all in all it was a good day and very satisfying to see things begin to take shape. There remains a lot of work yet to do and I am very anxious that the face turn out at least somewhat realistic. Cross your fingers and toes and your fins for me, please and thanks.
Paddle stroke shivers
Grey haired lady’s smiling face
A thousand fragments.
What I’m Making Now
Quilted placemats
Stained glass sun catchers
A home in another country
Small colour pencil sketches
Studies for acrylic paintings
Greeting cards
Small quilt squares
Miniature kintted sock monkeys
Knitted coffee cup sleeves
Baby sweaters
What I’m Reading Now
The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje ♥♥♥♥
Half Broken Things by Morag Joss ♥♥♥½
Irreplaceable by Stephen Lovely ♥♥
The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter ♥♥♥½
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner ♥♥♥♥♥
The Devil You Know by Wayne Johnson ♥♥♥
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent ♥♥♥♥
Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes ♥♥♥♥½
A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz ♥♥♥♥
Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim ♥♥♥½
No. 13 Washington Square by Leroy Scott ♥♥½
Christopher Carson by John SC Abbott♥♥♥♥
Lucien Freud, Eyes Wide Open by Phoebe Hoban ♥♥½
The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman ♥♥♥♥
An American Childhood by Annie Dillard ♥♥♥♥
Brunelleschi's Dome by Ross King ♥♥♥♥
Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver ♥♥♥
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (audio) ♥♥♥♥
Into the Deep Unknown - Land of the Tent Dwellers by Mike Parker♥♥♥ (great [pictures)
The Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell (audio)♥♥♥1/2
Back Fire by Catherine Coulter (audio book)♥♥♥
In the Mersey Woods published by the paper company
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood (audio book)♥♥♥♥
The Kite Runner (audio book)♥♥♥♥♥
Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver ♥♥♥1/2
The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver ♥♥♥1/2
The Round House by Louise Erdrich ♥♥♥♥
Empire Falls by Richard Russo ♥♥♥
Dear Everbody by Anne Budgell ♥♥♥♥
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera ♥♥
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner ♥♥♥♥♥
Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante
Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi ♥♥♥♥♥
What I’m Watching Now on Netflix
Doc Martin
Marco Polo
Black Books
Criminal Minds
Nashville
Suits
Dollhouse
Dance Academy
My Name is Earl
Midsomer Mysteries
Downton Abbey
Life on Mars (UK)
George Gently
Community
The Illusionist
The Firm
Bones
Damages
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