Cruise concluded: Montreal

Our final stop was Montreal. We went straight from the ship to the airport. We were all checked in for our flight and ready to head home. Then they asked if anyone would be willing to get bumped. We volunteered, and ended up with a sweet deal that included some vouchers for future flights, our hotel stay, three meals, and first-class seats back to Salt Lake. It was a fun way to end a great trip.

Diane on the deck of the Maasdam, Montreal in the background
Ray and Diane in Bar Harbor, Maine

Cruise continued: Quebec

Day 6, October 9, we docked in Quebec. Quebec is a fascinating city. I think it was my favorite place for architecture, historical interest, and character. Quebec has a walking trail around the new and old city, which we were going to do, but the weather was terrible. Cole hired a driver to take us around, and it was much more interesting than if we'd gone by ourselves.

Jean-Pierre was our driver/guide, and we loved him! He had a strong French Canadian accent and we loved listening to him. He gave us a lot of great history, and took us all over Quebec.

It's against my rules to have pictures without people (of course my previous post already broke those rules) but I have to share these few. This first picture is a wall in the city of Quebec. It appears to have quite a bit going on, and to be three dimensional, but it is not. The wall facing us in the picture is one dimensional.
Here are three pictures of details from the above picture - all in reality are flat walls, painted to look three dimensional:

Pretty cool, huh? Now here's another person-less picture of Quebec (not a painting, this is real architecture):

Okay, here are a few pictures showing that we were really there:

Ray and Diane on a street in Quebec.

Diane and Cole in the Farmer's Market

Ray and Diane at the Farmer's Market.

Cruise continued: a day at sea

Day 5 (October 8) was spent at sea the entire day. I like those days. We relax on board, play games, read. No rushing to be somewhere at a particular time. Not that we did much rushing this whole trip. I decided to post here some of the great pictures that Cole and Marsha took around the ship at various times. They show typical things about the ship, and of course I have no such pictures that I've taken myself. Thanks Porters!

The first day before the ship leaves port there is an emergency evacuation drill. Everyone has to be on deck at their assigned position, wearing their life jacket. Roll is taken, then after a few minutes, everyone is dismissed to go back to their cabin.

Here's Marsha on one of the top decks. That's Boston in the background. Usually I go all over a ship during a cruise, but this time I didn't meander much. Dining room, stateroom, thermal spa. Repeat. We did go to the show one night, but I must say it was terrible. I didn't waste my time doing that again. Give me a good book and my thermal spa instead!

This fabulous shot of the stern was taken by Cole. This is when we were docked in Bar Harbor.

A shot of the side of the ship. At the far end of the ship, just above the black paint line, you can see the lifeboats hanging.

I'm pretty sure this is where we docked on PEI. You can see the gangway, which is where we disembarked and embarked (left and came back) the ship. The small red/orange boats on the right are actually from other cruise ships that were there that same day. Those are the tenders that their passengers had to come in on. There wasn't enough dock space for all the ships that day. Those tenders are the actual life boats used in a ship emergency. When passengers tender in and out to a port it provides practice for the crew to raise and lower the lifeboats.

This is the top rear deck. There is a small pool, as you can see. There are two additional pools in the center of the boat. When in warm climates those center pools are open air. However for this colder cruise, there was a roof that was closed over the pools. It made swimming more comfortable for those who chose to swim. It also provided another place to gather and still be able to watch the progress of the ship. And be warm while doing so. Here's Ray lounging and talking while sitting on the covered deck by the pools:

Cruise continued: Prince Edward Island

October 7 we docked in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Charlottetown is best know politically for being the location where some history making charter was made for Canada.

PEI in general (and the real reason we were there) is best known for being the setting of the Anne of Green Gables books by LM Montgomery. We hired a guide and saw the island. First we stopped at some pumpkin farm. The thing to do there was take your picture with an Anne of Green Gables hat. Here's Marsha modeling one of the lesser-quality versions. Still, she looks quite entrancing, don't you think?

By the way, Marsha sent her pictures. These great pictures were taken by Marsha or Cole. Ray took a couple of pictures too.

This hotel (I forget the real name and wasn't wise enough to write it down) was what they used for the outside shots of the "White Sands Hotel" in the Anne movies.


Here's Ray - getting ready to take 5 or 6 pictures (in various poses) of these Adirondack chairs.

Next we drove to a beach along the north shore of the island. It was beautiful. PEI is a beautiful island.

Dave Badger

Marsha Porter

After the beach we drove to where LM Montgomery actually lived while she was growing up. The house no longer exists - there is just a foundation there, which we did not pay $4 to go see. They do have a little bookshop that carries all the books she wrote, and has a few plaques up to tell about the location (that was free). There were two handsome dogs out front that Cole took a liking to. The affection was returned:

Here are Diane and Marsha in front of the home that Green Gables was described from. LM Montgomery's cousins lived there, and she spent quite a bit of time there herself, but she never actually lived there.

Diane and Ray heading up the staircase in Green Gables. Doesn't Ray just look thrilled to death?

Ray outside Green Gables.

Ray and Cole were great sports to come along with me and Marsha. I would wager neither of them have read at least twelve of LM Montgomery's books. In fact I would wager that neither of them have read any of her books. That is what you call a safe bet.

Marsha and Diane inside the Anne of Green Gables Chocolate Store. A great way to end the day on PEI.

Two little boys...

Two little boys came into my room and scampered into my closet. I asked, "what are you doing?"

Their response: "We're hiding. In your closet."

A few illustrators I like

Travelin'Oma has asked for some of our favorite children's book illustrators. Here are three that I really like:

Shirley Hughes. The Alfie books were always a big hit in our house. And we still say "Alfie's Feet" when someone has their shoes on the wrong feet.

Peter Spier. Fun for all ages, and particularly great for kids who don't read but sure can follow a story in pictures. I don't know if you can ever see all he has in his pictures. A family favorite was The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night.

Tomie de Paola. One of my all time favorites. Here are three of my favorite books of his. Now One Step, Now Another makes me cry everytime I read it. It is such a tender story.

First Snow of the Year

Travelin'Oma got me thinking about some cozy things...

We had our first real snow of the year today. Luckily I didn't really have to go anywhere, so I stayed home. I love days like this.

If I could spend a rainy or snowy day any way that I wanted, I would spend it in one of two ways.

Passively: Read my heart out. Hot herbal tea (Ruby Mist is my preferred), and maybe some good chocolate at hand.

Actively: I'd most likely sew. Turn on a good, old movie that I love, and quilt away. It needs to be a movie that I'm familiar with so I can really get some sewing in and still be able to follow the movie. Meet Me in St. Louis, Notting Hill, Mamma Mia, You've Got Mail, 27 Dresses, Much Ado About Nothing, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice. Any old Judy Garland movie. Several Disney movies would work also.

From now until Christmas, my absolute favorite thing to do would be to watch White Christmas with my girls (read how I love this movie here). We would hunker down on the couch armed with some good hot chocolate, and each with our own bowl of custom buttered and salted popcorn. The real thing, not microwaved or hot-air-popped. Well, maybe Beth would have something else. (Girlies - let's set a date!)

Star Sampler Quilt

The stars aligned for the fabrics in this quilt. I just love it, and love the rich colors. I used batiks and I couldn't be happier with the result.

I started this quilt prior to our move here to Salt Lake. It got packed up and put away early in the packing process. I finally pulled it out to finish it last spring. I procrastinated, knowing there were a lot of little pieces to cut. Much to my surprise, I had already cut all the fabric for the blocks. That upped my enthusiasm for finishing the quilt quickly. It was a pleasure to work on because I liked the fabrics so much. I finished it a couple of months ago. It was so pretty I sent it to my friend Valerie to quilt it. I got it back last night, and I can't stop looking at it. Now I've got to catch Ray in a great mood to see if he'll hang it above my stairs (which will require some real acrobatic skill on his part).

Star Sample Quilt
Finished: October 2009
Size: 66 inches X 84 inches
Pattern: Lap-size Star-Studded Sampler from Star-Studded Quilts by Roxanne Carter