Quilting and other Things

We had a ladies retreat at Deerhurst last weekend with Rosemary Flaaten as the guest speaker. The topic was A woman and her Relationships and was based on Rosemary's book. It was an excellent weekend. Rosemary spoke about the relationships God wants to have with us, how we damage relationships and how to avoid the damage. Both mornings I got up early and went out to take pictures. These are some of my favorites There are additional photos in the slide show

On Saturday morning I went up to North Bay. This time I pulled over at the High Falls Rest Area (Hwy 11 and 117). Had a wonderful time wandering around taking photos. The trans canada trail runs through here. When I discovered I'd been at the rest area for 45 minutes I called Mom to let her know I'd been distracted and would be a little late. She said the drive they'd done the week before through Dorset (Hwy 117, 35 and 60) had been very pretty. Since it was a nice day I drove that way instead of getting back on the highway. I left my house and 8 am and finally got to North Bay about 4:30. Should have been there by 1. These chairs were facing a canal at Baysville. There's a selection of photos from my drive in this slide show On Sunday Dad and I went over to Duchesnay Falls. We didn't get very far before we need to go home as Karen was going to be online for a chat.

Karen has dumped the suitcases and got started on her laundry. Helen Anne put pictures onto Karen’s computer. We had synchronized the clocks on our cameras but they are out by seconds so not all the photos sorted correctly. Close enough though – much better than the year we were out but hours and minutes. We finally headed over to the train station and got the12:2? something train to Victoria. We were going to get the open top bus tour but the coupons for the discounts, if you have come by train, are being done differently now and we decided it wasn't worth it. So, we jumped on a double decker bus and had fun riding from Victoria out to Hammersmith on the 211. We then got the 9 or 10 bus back and jumped off at Hyde Park. We went and stuck our feet in the Diana Memorial Fountain and got them nice and cold. It felt rather good as the day was nice and warm. We then wandered through Hyde Park, had an ice cream, and eventually made our way to the gates near Buckingham Palace...

Today, we went to Alum Bay and then home to Karen’s flat. We left our suitcases in the office and came back for them after seeing Alum Bay. Alum Bay opens at 10 so we got the 9:20 bus (the buses run hourly from Freshwater Bay) and arrived about 9:45. Some of the shops were open but the chair lift down to the beach didn't start until after 10. It is possible to walk down but involves over 200 steps. Karen's toe didn't think that was a good idea. They sold a book of twelve tickets that could be shared. With the chair lift, and two demos there was enough tickets in one book for both of us. We got one of the first chairs down and discovered a short boat trip out to the Needles at the base of the chair. So we got the first boat tour out. Good one to get as it wasn't very full and the tide was still low enough that our feet didn't get too wet going across to the dock. The next few groups of passengers we saw going to and from the boat were getting wet feet. Ap...

Today we did the medium walk Winkle Street to Hulverstone. It was 14 km (8.5 miles) and 300m (975ft) of ascent. We were dropped off in Calbourne (SZ 424868) and walked back to the house. The walk started with a visit to the Calbourne church. There is a brass memorial from 1379 in the church placed there by the Earl of Salisbury in memory of his son William. William was jousting with his father and was blinded by the lance and later died. From the church we headed to Winkle Street (or Barrington Row). There are a couple of explanations for the name Winkle Street – Winkle use to mean “to twinkle”. It also meant a lane that goes around a corner but doesn’t lead anywhere. It might also refer to a type of seashell. The lane has some older stone cottages and thatched cottages on one side and a stream on the other. At one spot in the stream there is a stone wall with vertical groves down into the stream. They can drop wooden pieces into the vertical groove and let the water come up....

For the last few days the forecast has been for heavy rain today however this morning it was for light rain between 10 and 1 so we went hiking. Helen Anne took just the little camera in its waterproof container. All the walks were circular walks from Godshill (SZ528816). We did the alternative easier walk – Godshill, the Worsley Obelisk and the Donkey Sanctuary. It was 9.7km (6mi) and 210m (675ft) of ascent. It was raining as the bus drove into Godshill so everyone was busy pulling on wet gear (jackets mostly). Before we were 10 minutes up the road, we stopped to put the jackets away. It did rain again for a minute or two after lunch but not enough to bother with jackets again although the pack covers did stay on. From Godshill, we headed out via the Sunshine path to a Donkey Sanctuary where we had our morning break. The donkey sanctuary takes in donkey’s that are in need of care. They really didn't want anyone to feed the donkeys -- we counted at least six “Don’t feed th...

Helen Anne I got up early and went to take some photos in the bay area at sunrise. All the articles I’ve been reading about photography say that first hour and the last hour are the best time (only time in some) to take photos. Karen stayed in bed. Last night, for once, I was in bed and ready to sleep and she wasn't. I stayed down for the first part of the evening then went up to read. Karen stayed down for the whole evening and had fun playing games. The leaders have organized an optional trip to Osborne house for the rest day today. Both First the bus took us to Whippingham to see St. Mildred’s Church. Prince Albert helped design the church. He died before the church was finished. In the design, the choir loft was moved to the back of the church so that no-one would be able to stare at Queen Victoria during worship. Near her chair is a memorial to Prince Albert. There is a church calico cat name Henrietta that came to get attention from Karen. Apparently Henrietta w...