The days on Twillingate Island seemed, as I sit on my own front porch, expansive. There was a feeling of everything slowing down Neither of us had the urge to try to "do it all". When the rain came we spent time exploring inside and out. There were artists shops, bakeries, museums and a farmers market that was inside a historical community building. Since my first days in Madison, WI many decades I have a loving relationship with farmer's market, if there is one I have to go and so we did. The Twillingate Island Farmer's Market held in the Masonic Building was bustling, there were a number of artisans, soap makers, woodworkers, bakers, textile artists and one consolidated stand of vegetables. I had already bought smoked fish, a lovely chunk of cheese and I found beautiful lettuce, spring radishes, and a good cup of coffee at the market. Even though it was late June, the growing season was early - the vegetables that we had been eating were mostly root vegetables, ones that had wintered over and fresh, crisp greens were going to be a treat. I bought one "I have to bring this home" piece of felted art, I do not have a card and did not write down the artists name but I fell in love with her, which was amazing to me. I know that she exhibits in galleries and museums throughout Newfoundland, and she was eager to part with old work so she could have room in her travels for her new pieces.
Everything about this piece, which I have not yet framed, evokes my dreams and the magical pull of Twillingate Island for me. The artist was so happy as I could not contain my joy - I found the best felted collage full of color and texture and surprise. I see something new in it, each time I look at the piece. Memories, possibilities, delight all there in just a glance. The Farmers Market was a smashing success, some precious veg, a good cup of coffee and my precious work of art. Off to the Durrell Museum we went. The drive was filled with beautiful sights even with the clouds and drizzling rain. There were only a few cars and we drove up this very very steep road, winding around the cemetary to get to the museum building which once was a military post in WWI and WWII. I learned about the amazing, now extinct Auk. There were military exhibits and many fishing items. There were also hand crafts and furnishings from the home. We spent a long time, reading and looking and learning. Here are a few of the pictures I took while enjoying this tiny little museum perched high up on a hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
The stop at the Durrell Museum was fun, informative and sparked some new ideas for my own creative juices. There was a small area in this small building to buy gifts, local craft makers, quilters, knitters, writers all as interesting as the museum itself. I am still thinking about collage ideas that came from that visit. I continue to wonder about the great Auk, this flightless extinct bird that looks like a penguin. I hope you take a moment and read the CBC story that I linked above. I am captivated by story telling, as I sit on the my porch the eastern morning sun shining on my face, I hear the amish horse trotting along one street over from my house. There is a big big truck that now whizzes by on Hwy 159. There are at least 3 different kinds of birds singing, talking, filling the air with their sounds. The tree leaves are slightly moving, but there are no sounds of the breeze, something that is rare. There is a quiet on this Saturday morning, broken only by a few vehicles or the rooster crowing from Dewey and Lindsay's house. Remembering and writing about these days in Newfoundland is meditative, an interesting mix of my being both in and outside of myself. As I tapped on my laptop about this day on Twillingate Island, I found myself being pulled into this linkage of all the women who made quilts while living, surviving and dying there. The solitary or group act of knitting along or with a group of women, I do know that men knit then and now, but it is the woman's handcrafts that have tapped my musings this morning. My musing now reflects that sense of contentment, wonder, and enjoyment that I felt when we left the museum and headed to our next destination. Lobsters!
Off we went to eat at Sansome & Sons Lobster Pool this was the place that everyone said you must go to, and we did. We started with a visit to the "pool" itself where we picked out two lobsters that they would cook and we would take home. Then we waited in our car out of the rain for our turn to get a table. During our wait we met a Canadian woman from Ontario who had spent a number of weeks on the island, she was heading to Gander that evening to see "Come From Away". We decided to share a table together and had a fun time, her sharing about her solo adventuring and us talking about ours. The chowder was great, the place was great and the spontaneous company was just right. We ate and then we picked up our lobsters full of the day, the food and the moment.
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