Projects finished, in progress, and new...

It really isn't hard to stay busy when we are home.

First I have a crochet finish that happened in early September. I made the natural colored headband as a prototype and it fit my DIL so then I made the charcoal gray one she wanted. She found the free pattern on Ravelry - Knotted Headband.

A few days ago I finished this scarf that I knit from the blank I bought at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Fest in early September. The scarf is Merino wool and is made with a garter stitch. The pattern is Hitchhiker by Martina Behm.

The dehydrator has been running mostly for acorn squash. It is one of my favorite things to rehydrate. 

I pinned this quilt. It is a little larger than most quilts I make, so I had to rearrange some furniture to pin it. Now I am quilting it. My Bernina started skipping stitches - I've changed needles and cleaned it. I'm still not sure what's going on but I have some tearing out to do. 

I've started knitting this wool sweater for myself

and this pair of socks for Ray. The yarn is yak and bamboo.

Yesterday we took a little road trip to get fabric for a bed quilt for a grandson. He just got his own bedroom and a new bedroom set. He wants me to make a quilt and surprise him. I have an idea and now I have fabric. Stay tuned!

A Fun Day and A Long Ride

Wednesday, September 20

We had a bad storm last night and woke to cloudy skies this morning. We decided to spend some time shopping - I had 3 stores that I wanted to visit. I don't go shopping often so it is a treat when we travel.

First was Creations Quilt Shop. As soon as I saw the store, I remembered being here seven years ago. The owner told me that she had expanded into the building next door. She has a good selection of fabric and notions and great prices. I found some blues to enhance my stash. I left behind a fantastic collection of batiks - I must go back! 

Then we stopped at Hannah Johnson's. This was a new place for me and it was a neat place with a friendly owner. She had a nice selection of quilting fabric and some other fabrics also - knits, laminates, oil cloth. I bought some hockey fabric for a child's quilt.

Just down the street was Yarn Harbor. I found some Quince & Co. yarn for a sweater that I can't wait to start! The sweater will be wheat colored with light blue, dark blue, pumpkin, and apricot highlights. With the help of the owner, I changed the original colors a bit. She was very nice and very helpful.

By the time we finished lunch, the sun was shining and it was a gorgeous day! We walked along the waterfront in Canal Park. There are 3 lighthouses but I'm not sure they are all working.

In addition to beautiful scenery today, there were statues,

water fun,

and pretty flowers.

On the way back to our rental, Ray noticed a tower so we went in search of it. We found the Enger Observation Tower in Enger Park just a short distance from our 'home'.

 

In the park, there was also an observation area overlooking Lake Superior. 

Ray and I were both looking out at the lake when Ray noticed the Aerial Lift Bridge was up.

We waited for a boat and a sailboat to pass through and then watched the bridge go down.

By sunset, there were no clouds so we decided instead of going to Canal Park for sunset pictures, we'd head back to Enger Park for pictures of lights.

The tower from different angles:

The Aerial Lift Bridge at sunset:

Tomorrow we'll head for home.

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Thursday, September 21

It was 48 degrees when we got up today and 59 degrees when we left at 8:30 AM. When we arrived home about 4:30, it was 84 degrees. Whew! At various times today, we were in bright sunshine, heavy clouds, and partly sunny weather. We thought we were going to be in rain but that never happened.

On the way south we stopped in Barron, WI. at Country Lane Market. Besides being a neat place with many gorgeous mums for sale, (Sadly, we had no room to transport any.) 

they host a big farmers' market on Thursdays. Although the farmer's market officially starts at 2PM, vendors often are there earlier. We arrive shortly after 10:30AM and picked up a few things in the store including some fresh raspberries. Some vendors were setting up but we decided not to wait - we had a long day ahead of us. These two older people don't enjoy too many hours in the car on any given day and we had many hours to go.

We are now home. All is good; unpacked, laundry started, few groceries bought. Now to get some rest - this weekend is our village's big festival.

Heading South

Tuesday, September 19

It is always sad to leave Canada but it was time to head south past wheat fields

and changing trees.

Ray drove and I took pictures - that's the way it usually is!

We stopped at Naniboujou Lodge near Grand Marais, MN. After hearing about it, we just had to see it. Now I'm trying to go back there on a quilting retreat. We both would love spending time there. These are pictures of the restaurant.

We found our rental in Duluth, MN, with no problems. We are sitting way above Lake Superior with some fantastic views.

We took a few hours this afternoon to catch up - our phones did not release any text messages while we were in Canada?? Anyway we had a little catching up and some calls to make. And it felt good to just sit for a while.

Ours to Discover

Post delayed due to a very slow Internet connection.

The motto on the Ontario license plate is “Yours to Discover”. We have had a great time discovering some of Ontario's treasures.

Today, Monday, the morning greeted us with 38 degrees brrr and some sun. We headed to Kakabeka Falls which is west of Thunder Bay. What a gorgeous sight! These falls have been called the "Niagara of the North".

From the parking lot, the falls were a short walk on wooden walkways and down steps. We also walked across the bridge and walked along the other side of the river.

Enjoy the photos.

nice color 

above the falls

After we left Kakabeka, the GPS said to turn on 25^th Sdrd. We had some ideas but found out when we turned that it was 25^th Sideroad!

We arrived at Fort William Historical Park about 12:30 PM. 

It was time to eat so we headed to the Cantine Restaurant within the Fort and enjoyed a delicious Beef Stew. I didn’t take a picture of the piece of carrot cake that we shared.

We joined a tour group and had an entertaining guide. Here are a few photos from inside the fort.

We did have one 'sad' experience today – we had to fill the Jeep with gasoline. It has a small tank and cost almost $60! Gas is about $1.21/liter – very expensive! A liter is slightly more than a quart.

Tomorrow we will head south to the States. 

Terry Fox Memorial and more

Post delayed due to a very slow Internet connection.

Saturday night we had a storm and woke up Sunday to partly cloudy skies that gave way to partly sunny skies – a gorgeous day in the 60s with some wind.

We went to the Terry Fox Memorial. Terry was in remission from cancer and had lost his right leg to the disease at age 18. Just few years later, he decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. He ran nearly a marathon a day for 143 straight days and then his cancer returned when he was running in the Thunder Bay area. He lost his battle in 1980 when he was nearly 23 years old.

His “Marathon of Hope” captivated Canadians with its bold humanitarianism, transformed our vocabulary about personal courage, and revolutionized fund-raising.

                                    -from a plaque at the Terry Fox Memorial

While we were at the memorial, which is located on a gorgeous overlook of the area, a couple of sports teams from a local university were there. It appeared to be a motivational outing.

From the overlook, you can see the Sleeping Giant.

As we traveled on, I loved seeing the rocks.

Our next stop for the day was the Cascades Conservation Area. We decided to walk the yellow trail (it was the most direct and shortest). The trees are changing in the area and the walk was beautiful. 

We found a few cascades but then hopped on another trail and found more.

When it was time to return, we decided on the red trail; it was just a little over twice as long and followed the river. However we couldn’t get to the river - we were too high above it - and when the red trail ended, we weren’t back to the parking lot! Checking a map, the shortest route back was the blue trail. Our hike was much longer than we had planned but very nice. It would have been great if we had carried some water along!

We headed to the Riverfront and found roses still blooming and they smelled heavenly!

There were nice walkways going out to the water where we could see the Sleeping Giant. 

One sign told had the story of Nanabijou and the legend of the Sleeping Giant. 

We could see the marina, sailboats, ships and two lighthouses on Lake Superior. Here is the closest lighthouse.

I especially liked the bandshell with the log seating.

Our last stop of the day was at Mission Island Marsh. It was not what we expected but still interesting to see. It is a coastal wetland and there are wooden walkways for a short distance.  While there, we did see some ships offshore.