"This looks like a good place to photograph the dolls!"
"Here you go..."
"Sigh..."
but the fog was too dense to see anything...
"How can you tell? I can't see anything"
We headed over to the Twillingate lighthouse at Long Point, high on a cliff overlooking the ocean.. Took some dolls along while we hiked the trail. "This looks like a good place to photograph the dolls!" "Here you go..." "Sigh..." David and Olivia did manage to get out and look around, but the fog was too dense to see anything... "There's no icebergs here either..." "How can you tell? I can't see anything" "Well, if there were any, they'd be out there..." "Might as well go back in the box then..."
Over on the next 'dock', Rex and Bianca were busy cleaning the day's catch.... One big fish, and a bunch of lobsters....should make for a great dinner..... *Note - at this point I had no actual story in mind for these two, and was just taking photos I thought might be interesting - or useful later. I'm just posting them in the order I took them.
The next day we had the stormiest drive we've ever had, with Jan having to fight to keep the RV straight on the road in the tremendous wind gusts and pouring rain. The only photography that day consisted of some 'window shots'... Jan would pull over so I could take a photo. "Look at that amazing view!" "What view?? All I see is my stupid mirror!" Next day we arrived in the town of Twillingate, wiped off one of the soaked 'docks' so the kids could get out and have a look around.... "Look at all the boats in the harbour!" "But there's no icebergs..." But that didn't deter Paige from taking some photos.... Or Jan....
We were out at the Rose Blanche lighthouse taking photos at sunset on the rocks there, the night before the arrival of a big storm. I thought the lighthouse walls would make a good background... Then the sun came out from behind the clouds, casting a golden glow over everything... I decided to take some photos from behind, with them looking towards the sun.... Then a shot from the other side.... ...and a true sunset shot... My trusty helper shaded the dolls from the sun between photos. He was all bundled up with parka and gloves in order to stay warm....because it was very COLD..... ...and one last photo as the sun sank below the horizon....
Just a quick note to let everyone know that I really appreciate all your comments, and try to respond to them all. However my issues with not getting email notifications whenever anyone posts a comment continue. This has been going on since the beginning of June, with no resolution. I was told I disabled the function, when I hadn't touched anything, and even though I was told they had turned the setting back on, nothing happened. Still no emails. So I contacted them again, and heard nothing, and now, after coming back from our trip, the issue still hasn't been resolved.
Which means I have to manually search for any new comments. Obviously I'm not going to scroll back through my entire Blog, so I only see something if it's been posted on the most recent post or two. So If you've posted or asked a question on something older, and not received any response, it's not because I'm ignoring you. I have no way to know it is even there. Anyways, I've contacted their Help line again, and am hoping the issue will get resolved this time, as it's becoming seriously frustrating. So, here's hoping..... The ferry takes seven hours to travel the 148 km to Newfoundland, so we arrived in the evening. The forecast was calling for a major storm for the next four days - lots of wind and rain, and very cold - but it was still clear that evening, so we headed down one of our favourite drives in Newfoundland, along the south coast to the fishing village of Rose Blanche and its stone lighthouse.....hoping to take advantage of the sunset. We packed up Rex and Bianca and their horses, into the big cloth bags I'd made to carry them, and headed out onto the trail over the rocks to the lighthouse... ...and found a spot on the rocks overlooking the ocean.... The scenery there is so spectacular, that my helper was constantly getting distracted..... But I was happy to get my first photos of Rex and Bianca in Newfoundland.....
We brought a few kids with us on the ferry, and went up un deck.... "Look at all those birds over there!" Down below them, the huge concrete pylon was covered with nesting cormorants.... Many had nests full of babies.... "Let's go look around some more..." Checking out a lifeboat.... "Do you think there's enough room for everyone on board?" Before we sailed, I decided it wasn't worth keeping the dolls with us for seven whole hours. We were on the ferry Atlantic Vision (least favourite of the Maritime Atlantic ferries) and it didn't have any good outdoor seating at all, so there wouldn't be the opportunities for photos like I had hoped. Once the ferry set sail, passengers would no longer be able to access the vehicle decks, so Jan quickly took the dolls back down to the RV.
..and a bunch of Arm Warmers I rather enjoyed making the 'Outlander' inspired costumes and thought maybe I could use any spare time on our trip - as on long, boring, highway drives, and any lengthy ferry rides - to knit shawls, scarves, and arm warmers for some more outfits, that I could potentially offer up for sale. Not being averse to 'copying' stuff, since it's a lot easier than trying to come up with something unique, I had noted that Claire wears more than one kind of shawl in the series. There's the brown with black stripes, that I already made a version of, and a gray cowl scarf, which I also knit. But there were shots of her wearing a gray and dark green shawl as well.... I gathered together every spool of 'ugly' coloured needle-punch yarn I had - every brown, beige, gray and black - as well as some other skeins of yarn in earthy shades. I thought I'd try some bigger versions as well, and went to Michael's looking for appropriate coloured sock yarns, but the one near us didn't have much selection at all - just some beige and a dark gray. I bought one of each. I thought I'd start with the gray and green shawl out of the finer yarn I had. I began as soon as we were nicely zooming east down the 401. It took three days to finish, but when I compared it size-wise to the shawl I'd already made for Bianca, it was a lot smaller. I never realized that the yarn was even finer than the needle-punch yarn. Well, it would be impossible to unravel, with all the decreasing of two stitches at the beginning of every row, so I just had to start over. This time just duplicating the shawl I'd already made., knowing it would turn out the right size. Then one after another, I made shawls on all the long drives.....each one averaging three days to complete.... After I had three shawls, I wanted to try the first colour combination again, so did some math to figure out how many more stitches I'd need in order for the shawl to come out the right size. I really liked that first shawl colour combination, but there wasn't enough yarn left in those colours, so I ended up using a lighter olive, and a darker gray to make the original colours go far enough. My Bianca immediately claimed that shawl for herself. Then it was time to try some bigger shawls. The first one I made using the sock yarn from our Michael's, but the last shawl ended up being made from some yarn I picked up at the Michael's in St. John's (the only Michael's in the entire province) They had the yarn I liked in all kinds of dull earthy colours. So I got a ball of many of them. Here's what's left..... I also knit a lot of arm warmers, a pair to go with each shawl. I could do a pair per day. Then started on some scarves for the guys. I completed one, and started another, but it went on hold after we got home. There's still too much to do around here before I can actually get back into making doll clothes again, but at least I have a good start.....
Lined up, waiting to board the ferry to Newfoundland... Ringo was concerned...."Are you sure all these cars and trucks will fit into that ferry?" "There sure are an awful lot of them!" "Better get inside, since our line is starting to move" Following the RV in front of us, in we go.....
Next destination was the town of Lunnenburg. It's a World Heritage site, and I was hoping there would be a schooner in the harbour. Lunnenburg is the home to the Bluenose II, which is the schooner on our dime, but I knew it was going to be away in Toronto for the upcoming Canada Day celebrations. I was hoping there might be another schooner in the harbour..... We explored the town with it's gorgeous old homes, before heading to the harbour... And there was a schooner in the harbour......and it was perfect for what I had in mind.... So, out came Rex and Bianca, for some photos.... There were plenty of people around, but I just ignored them, and made sure none were in the background. The biggest issue to contend with was the wind... I had made their cloaks out of very thin fabric so they'd drape well, but they also caught the wind ...and then there was Bianca's hair.... Even so, I managed some great shots....
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AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
April 2024
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