Downhome December 2021

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Vol 34 • No 07

$4.99

December 2021

Xmas Crafts for Kids of All Ages

New tales from Mark Critch

Creative gift ideas Readers’ holiday memories

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life is better Published monthly in St. John’s by Downhome Publishing Inc. 43 James Lane, St. John’s, NL, A1E 3H3 Tel: 709-726-5113 • Fax: 709-726-2135 • Toll Free: 1-888-588-6353 E-mail: mail@downhomelife.com Website: www.downhomelife.com Editorial Editor-in-Chief Janice Stuckless Assistant Editor Nicola Ryan Editor Lila Young Art and Production Art Director Vince Marsh Illustrator Mel D’Souza Illustrator Snowden Walters Advertising Sales Account Manager Barbara Young Marketing Director Tiffany Brett Finance and Administration Junior Accountant Marlena Grant Accounting Assistant Sandra Gosse

Warehouse Operations Warehouse / Inventory Manager Carol Howell Warehouse Operator Josephine Collins Retail Operations Retail Floor Manager, St. John’s Jackie Rice Retail Floor Manager, Twillingate Donna Keefe Retail Sales Associates Crystal Rose, Jonathon Organ, Elizabeth Gleason, Erin McCarthy, Marissa Little, Elizabeth Gauci, Kim Tucker, Heather Stuckless, Katrina Hynes, Lynette Ings, Stef Burt, Ashley Lane, Sarah Bishop

Subscriptions Customer Service Associate Cathy Blundon Customer Service Associate Courtney Ralph

Founding Editor Ron Young Operations Manager, Twillingate Nicole Mehaney

Chief Executive Officer/Publisher Grant Young President & Associate Publisher Todd Goodyear General Manager/Assistant Publisher Tina Bromley

To subscribe, renew or change address use the contact information above.

Subscriptions total inc. taxes, postage and handling: for residents in NL, NS, NB, PE $45.99; ON $45.19; QC, SK, MB, AB, BC, NU, NT, YT $41.99. US and International mailing price for a 1-year term is $49.99.

Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement #40062919 The advertiser agrees that the publisher shall not be liable for damages arising out of errors in advertisements beyond the amount paid for the space actually occupied by the portion of the advertisement in which the error occurred, whether such error is due to the negligence of the servants or otherwise, and there shall be no liability beyond the amount of such advertisement. The Letters to the Editor section is open to all letter writers providing the letters are in good taste, not libelous, and can be verified as true, correct and written by the person signing the letter. Pen names and anonymous letters will not be published. The publisher reserves the right to edit, revise, classify, or reject any advertisement or letter. © Downhome Publishing Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission of the publisher.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada.

Printed in Canada Official onboard magazine of

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98 festive fave

Contents

DECEMBER 2021

42 Christmas Crafts Our festive craft tradition returns with easy projects for the whole family.

54 Heavy Hitter At 57 and eyeing a world championship, amateur boxing champion Tom “Tommy Gun” Young has plenty of punch left in him.

Dennis Flynn

64 Church Revivals How communities have found creative ways to adapt and repurpose cherished churches Nicola Ryan

42 family fun www.downhomelife.com

98 Everyday Recipes Five different and delightful fruitcake recipes straight from our readers’ treasured family cookbooks.

December 2021

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Contents

DECEMBER 2021

homefront 10 I Dare Say A note from the Editor 12 Letters From Our Readers Wooden mummers, newfound cousins, and memories of Pearson’s Peak

18 Downhome Tours Readers explore Paris with Downhome

20 Why is That? Why do we give naughty kids coal at Christmas?

Linda Browne

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janneyin’ in the yard

22 Life’s Funny Santa Surprise Edna Bickford

23 Say What? A contest that puts words in someone else’s mouth 24 Lil Charmers Christmas Cuties 26 Pets of the Month Happy Holidays

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santa surprise

28 Reviewed Denise Flint reviews An Embarrassment of Critch’s and interviews author Mark Critch.

32 What Odds Paul Warford racks ’em up

34 Fresh Tracks Wendy Rose reviews David Picco’s new album Live It Down 38 Poetic Licence The Christmas Day Snowplow William Eby

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bark, the herald angels sing…

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70 return trip

features

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creating a home

50 Home Sweet Homestead Gary and Rosemary Tucker are carving a town out of Nova Scotia’s backwoods to call their very own.

Alec Bruce 58 A Way With Words Joan Sharpe’s life story, the final instalment on the uniquely talented Sharpe family.

Ed Seaward

explore 70 Our Trip Back Home A mother

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feeling welcome www.downhomelife.com

and daughter finally get back to NL. Jennifer Yanish

74 A Thank-You Note to Newfoundland The people with unique ways of making strangers feel welcome. Tom Solomon December 2021

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Contents

DECEMBER 2021

84 wrap it up!

home and cabin 82 Stuff We Love Page Turners Nicola Ryan

84 It’s a Wrap! How to add creativity and joy to Christmas present wrapping Marie Bishop 88 The Chocolate Maker The origin story of Jacobean Craft Chocolate Tobias Romaniuk 94 Everyday Gourmet Festive Focaccia Andrea Maunder 104 Down to Earth Easy-to-grow

104 christmas green

plants that make great gifts Kim Thistle 6

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110

childhood memories

reminiscing 108 Flashbacks Classic photos of people and places

109 This Month in History Alexander Murray About the cover The colourful lights on this lobster pot tree made the season bright in Leading Tickles a few years ago, when reader Ryan Peddle captured this photo.

Cover Index Xmas Crafts for Kids of All Ages • 42 5 Festive Fruitcakes • 98 Bean to Bar • 88 New Tales from Mark Critch • 28 Creative Gift Ideas • 84 Readers’ Holiday Memories • 116 www.downhomelife.com

110 Toys of Old Readers recall the childhood toys they cherished.

116 Christmas Memories Readers reflect on their favourite holiday moments.

126 Puzzles 138 Classifieds 140 Mail Order 144 Photo Finish December 2021

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Decorative focaccia bread was all the rage last year.

Learn how easy it is to make! p. 94

Home Sweet Homestead Watch episodes of “Harmony Haven Homestead” via Downhomelife.com/magazine.

See related story on p. 50.

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December 2021

That time when Santa boarded with a family in Grand Falls-Windsor. p. 119

Give the Gift of Downhome Finish your Christmas shopping with gifts that keep giving all year long.

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Submission Guidelines and Prize Rules

You could WIN $100!

Every reader whose PHOTO, STORY, JOKE or POEM appears next to this yellow “from our readers” stamp in a current issue receives $10 and a chance at being drawn for the monthly prize: $100 for one photo submission and $100 for one written submission. Prizes are awarded in Downhome Dollars certificates, which can be spent like cash in our retail stores and online at shopDownhome.com.*

Submit Today!

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Downhome, 43 James Lane, St. John’s, NL, A1E 3H3 or submit online at: www.downhomelife.com *Only 1 prize per submitter per month. To receive their prize, submitters must provide with their submission COMPLETE contact information: full name, mailing address, phone number and email address (if you have one). Mailed submissions will only be returned to those who include a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Downhome Inc. reserves the right to publish submissions in future print and/or electronic media campaigns. Downhome Inc. is not responsible for unsolicited material.

Hidden somewhere in this issue is Corky Sly Conner.

Can you find him?

Look carefully at all the photographs and in the text of the stories. If you spot Corky, send us your name, address and phone number, along with a note telling us where he’s located. Your name will be entered in a draw and the winner will receive a coupon worth 25 Downhome Dollars redeemable at our store, or through our website.

Send your replies to: Corky Contest

Congratulations

43 James Lane St. John’s, NL, A1E 3H3

to Betty Watkins of Gander, NL, who found Corky on pg. 76 of the October issue.

mail@downhomelife.com www.downhomelife.com Deadline for replies is the end of each month. *No Phone Calls Please. One entry per person

www.downhomelife.com

December 2021

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i dare say I’m not gonna lie, I loves a bit of fruitcake at Christmas.

Todd Young photo

I’d enjoy it anytime really, but growing up I only ever got a taste of it over the holidays, and maybe the occasional birthdays of my parents’ and grandparents’ generation.

We talk a lot about festive traditions, and what’s more traditional than fruitcake?

Sweet, moist, heavy, dark (my favourite, though they can be light), and richer than the most expensive gift under any tree. People pay money for “Christmas scented” candles and potpourri – sure, that’s not fit to eat! But a fruitcake fills the house with the heady aroma of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. It warms my heart just thinking about it.

In general these days, fruitcakes get a bad rap.

They’re made out to be like the coal of Christmas gifts, the overlooked treat at the party table, the doorstop of desserts. But I’m here to tell all you fruitcake haters, you are missing out.

While I’ve always relied on the talent of my mother and others to make the fruitcakes I enjoy (especially with that homemade “hard icing”), I did one time make a delicious facsimile – fruitcake drop cookies, using a recipe by talented cook and author Barry C. Parsons of Rock Recipes. I’ve never actually made a fruitcake myself. But thanks to the readers who recently shared their family recipes, this might be the year I do. See for yourself these festive favourites (starting on p. 98) and tell me you’re not tempted.

Whatever makes your Christmas special, cherish it and allow it to fill your home and heart with goodness and the spirit of the season.

Merry Christmas,

Janice Stuckless, Editor-in-chief janice@downhomelife.com

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Downhome Unites Cousins I’m an avid genealogy searcher of my family tree. Many friends laugh at me when I talk about my many cousins.

Of course, this is true for most of us if we took the time to do the research.

During my trip to Newfoundland and Labrador this year, I had the privilege to meet yet another one of these cousins for the very first time. I got word that Myrel Dicks (nee Stride), married to Len Dicks, living in Springdale, NL, wanted to meet me the next time I visited the area. On September 10, I went to her home and was greeted with open arms. We were both delighted to have this encounter. We sat and chatted about our family for the longest time.

I asked her how she heard about me.

She said she receives and loves to read the Downhome magazine. Occasionally, she would see an article by Calvin 12

December 2021

Perry and she wondered who this could be. She inquired with another one of our cousins, Sunshine, and she filled her in on the connection: Myrel’s grandmother, Mary Ann Perry (who married Andrew Stride), was my grandfather John Perry’s sister. That makes us second cousins.

What a joy it was for both of us to finally meet. Myrel is 84 now and sharp as a tack. Meeting this precious lady, sitting and holding her hand, is a memory I will always cherish!

Thanks, Downhome magazine, for publishing my articles, thus making it possible for me to meet my cousin, Myrel. How great is that?

Calvin Perry, Oshawa, ON (formerly of Laurenceton, NL)

That’s great, Calvin. Nice to hear from you again, and nice to see you, Myrel.

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My Shocking Discovery On a search for my family history this past summer, I found the headstones of my great-grandmother’s family on Change Islands, NL. In 1860, my great-grandmother, Susan Porter, was 10 months old when she lost her two older brothers (aged 3 and 5), mother (26) and father (31) in a period of two weeks. Susan survived and later married my great-grandfather, Solomon Roberts, and had 11 children. It was shocking to find almost an entire young family deceased without knowing the cause (or who raised my greatgrandmother).

Dogberry Delights I tried the Downhome recipe for Dogberry Jelly (October 2021 issue), and it was delicious. I added red pepper flakes to one jar for an added twist.

Yummy.

Tracy Hibbs NL

We can’t take credit for that delightful recipe. Thanks go to reader Yuvadee Feltham for submitting that recipe for us to publish. This month, we again have readers to thank for the recipes, this time it’s their cherished family recipes for Christmas cakes (page 98).

The notes with their recipes really give warmth to the baking season. If any of them makes a new hit in your household, send us a photo and tell us about it. Email us at editorial@downhomelife.com or write to Downhome, 43 James Lane, St. John’s, NL, A1E 3H3. www.downhomelife.com

Amazingly, my sister, Jocelyn, searched the NL Archives and found the last will of Susan Porter’s father (dated Dec. 15, 1860 – the day he passed away). In his will he wrote: “I, Andrew Porter, of Change Islands Planter, at present of perfect mind and memory but afflicted with a sore disease, do make this my last will and testament.” He refers to leaving his “belongings to his remaining children, if they live.”

There were several pandemics at that time like cholera, smallpox and diphtheria, and we believe smallpox December 2021

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was the most likely disease that wiped out Susan’s family.

In 1800, Dr. John Clinch, a medical missionary stationed in Trinity, NL, had administered the first smallpox vaccine in Canada and North America.

It was not until 1980 before smallpox was fully eradicated worldwide. The first smallpox vaccine was developed in 1796, cholera in 1880, TB in 1921, and diphtheria in 1923. The world now has 225 years of vaccine clinical research and history behind us. There are not many institutes with 225 years of research and development. Even the combustion engine in the car you drive was developed 135 years ago, yet we drive them every day without fear of explosion.

Since the development of vaccines in the 1800s, and modern-day medicine, the world’s population has grown seven billion, the average world life expectancy has increased 41 years, and the leading cause of death went from pneumonia, influenza and TB in the early 1900s, to heart disease in the past 80 years.

Just maybe, advancement in science and technology had something to do with this incredible human growth.

With heart disease as the No. 1 killer, our food and eating habits may have to change, to eat like our ancestors did back in the 1800s.

I found this article in a Montreal newspaper dated November 4, 1876, with an illustration of St. George slaying the dragon of smallpox, basically an indication to get the jab! In 145 years,

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ideology has not changed regarding anti-vaccinations, and public health critics opposing mandatory vaccinations and breach of individual rights and freedoms.

Please take the time to walk through an 1800s and early 1900s graveyard and see the youth that have passed away. Ask yourself, why did they die so young? Maybe somewhere along the line this has happened to your ancestors.

As I reflect, if Susan Porter was a statistic of a world pandemic in 1860, I would not have the opportunity to share this post today. It makes us realize how lucky we all are to have the research and knowledge that is available in 2021. History repeats itself; our ancestors paid the ultimate price that we are still learning from.

Tony Roberts

Hammonds Plains, NS Your discovery of your ancestors’ tragic circumstances is incredibly timely, Tony. Historically, vaccines have changed the world and dramatically improved the quality and quantity of life for generations of us. Up until three years ago, we’d be saying “Can you imagine living in the days of smallpox, before a vaccine, and enduring all that death and grief?” Now, too many of us can. But lucky for us 21st century folk, a vaccine against the latest contagion is already here and, hopefully, this too will be something we eventually look back on and feel grateful we survived.

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Wooden Mummers Each year I make and sell wood cutouts from my little studio in Caledon, Ontario. I am originally from Botwood, NL, and try to go back when I can. These wood cutouts decorate homes around Christmas. This is the first set of mummers I made. I normally make Christmas characters like snowmen, Santa etc...They are all hand made, cut, sanded and painted by myself. I hope you like them; I would love to see them in your magazine. My mother would have a conniption if she saw my ugly face in your magazine! Keep up the good work, as I enjoy reading your magazine. Cheers, b’ys.

Rod Smith Caledon, ON

Cheers to you, Rod. Those are some lovely mummers. If anyone in the Caledon area is looking to add some “downhome” to their outdoor decorations, you can find Rod on Facebook and Instagram @kraftymooseworkshop.

Piqued by Pearson’s Peak I am writing you in reference to the letter on page 16 of the October 2021 issue of Downhome about the monument known as Pearson’s Peak. I am not sure how it ended up where I saw it back in 2017, but while walking through a wooded area along the river in Grand Falls-Windsor, NL, I spotted the remnants of the plaque lying in some bushes. I remembered the original monument and decided to take some photos.

I’ve also included a picture of the unveiling of the plaque by then prime minister Pearson and premier Joey Smallwood in the summer of 1966.

I sent the photos to the local Heritage Foundation. I am not sure what happened to the remnants after that, but the pieces of the plaque are no longer where I saw them back in 2017.

Tony Quigley Via email www.downhomelife.com

Interesting! Thanks for your letter, Tony.

December 2021

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Peak Moments In the early 1970s, my mom would drive my sister and me from Colinet to St. George’s in her tiny Datsun every August. An educator by training, she would tell us about the building of the Trans-Canada Highway and that there was a monument to mark the halfway spot just west of Grand Falls. We would eagerly look for the Peak, which was then quite visible on a straight section, and on every trip we would drive up to see it. It was quite a thrill for us two youngsters, as was the experience of driving across our beautiful island. As a young adult in the 1980s, I stopped there with my cousin, Kevin, in 1982, and again with my girlfriend, Michelle, in July 1986. Then one day, it was gone. I’m so glad I have this image of us from 1986 to remember it!

Kenneth G. Pieroway Conception Bay South, NL

Thanks for the fun flashback, Kenneth.

Loves a Clothesline I remember my mom’s clothesline in winter would be full of clothes, all the items frozen in different crinkled forms. How I would now love to have a picture of that to cherish! In my very early years, my mom washed her clothes with a scrub board and big washing pan. Clothes needed to be hung on the clothesline all year-round.

I enjoy seeing clotheslines with a line full of clothes wherever I travel. I have clothesline paintings in my home: one I bought in Spain with the clotheslines erected, three in a row, down the side of a three-storey condo-like building.

This picture [below] is one of two that are framed and hanging on the wall of our spare bathroom. Before we moved into the condo, they were hung on my laundry room wall in our old home. Pictured are my uncle’s clothes blowing in the wind in Rock Harbour, Placentia Bay. I can just imagine the fresh air smell and softness of the sheets from blowing in the wind, when you slide between the sheets for a pleasant night’s sleep.

Arabella (Brown) Lewis Kemptville, ON

There’s nothing like the heavenly smell of laundry straight off the line, especially on a brisk day!

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Sponsored Editorial

Bernice Watton (left) and Netta LeDrew (right)

40 year old St. George’s Princess

4 Generation Family Tree Netta LeDrew and her sister Bernice Watton have created a special place for Newfoundland Ponies on stunning Change Islands with its rustic landscape and pretty ocean views. Though it’s only a 20-minute ferry ride from Farewell Harbour, where the ferry also goes to Fogo Island, the Newfoundland Pony Refuge on Change Islands is a must-see for pony lovers, as it is a permanent home for 10 Newfoundland ponies who live there year-round and who enjoy excellent care thanks to the dedication of Netta and her volunteers.

Netta and Angel

At the refuge you’ll meet 4 special ponies with a unique family link. One of the oldest known living Newfoundland Ponies, St. George’s “Princess” (#297) is a grand dam at 40 years old. She lives there with 3 generations of her offspring! There’s “Charm” (#857), “Lily of the Cove”, (#858) and “Angel” (#881). Angel holds a special place in Netta’s heart as she bottle-fed her from the day she was born. “Her mom wouldn’t nurse her, so I bottle fed her for weeks. They told me I might not be able to save her. But she’s a healthy pony today,” says LeDrew.

If you’re planning to visit Change Islands (or Fogo Island), be sure to drop by the refuge and meet these sweet ponies. For more information, visit www.changeislands.ca/ popups/pop_ponies.htm or email: nlponyrefuge@hotmail.com.

Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season. Thank you for supporting our work in preserving and protecting our special Newfoundland Pony. Hope to see you on a pasture in 2022!

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homefront Downhome tours...

Paris

The Louvre

“The Downhome accompanied us to Paris for a day trip,” writes Paul Fudge of Gander, NL. “This photo was taken in front of the pyramid as we exited the Louvre.”

At Christmastime, stroll up the most beautiful avenue in the world, the Champs Elysées, towards the Tuileries Gardens and the Louvre museum.

Every year the area is transformed into a winter wonderland and is packed with crowds of shoppers and sightseers. Shop the stalls, take a spin on the rides, and feast on delicious soups, sausages, locally made cheeses or rich hot chocolate. Joyeux Noël!

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Eiffel Tower “We always pack our favourite magazine when we go on an adventure!” writes Chelsey Edwards of St. Lawrence, NL.

At Christmastime, festive street markets pop up all around the City of Lights. The bustling Champ de Mars Christmas market boasts more than 100 stalls selling decorations, crafts and tasty traditional treats. Smell the roasting chestnuts in the cool air, sip on mulled wine, and admire the glittering Eiffel Tower as you take a glide on the skating rink.

Sacré Coeur Mary Caines of Port au Choix, NL, visits the Sacré Coeur Basilica in 2019. (Photo

by Adoralyn Kenny. Submitted by Derm Kenny, St. Philips, NL.)

In picturesque Monmartre, at the base of Sacré Coeur, the Place des Abbesses Christmas market is the ideal way to while away an afternoon and get in the Christmas spirit. Traditional Swiss-style wooden chalets sparkling with lights line the cobbled streets, selling crafts, candies and tasty regional food specialties. You may even catch a glimpse of a visiting Saint Nicholas –Père Noël as Parisian children call him.

www.downhomelife.com

December 2021

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Expert answers to common life questions.

By Linda Browne

Why do we give naughty kids coal at Christmas?

It’s the most wonderful time of the year once again! There’s nothing quite like the feel-good festivities and fun of the holiday season: munching on treats galore and making merry, singing Christmas carols with friends and family, and enjoying the twinkling lights that brighten the darkest of winter days. And no matter your age, receiving a lovingly wrapped present (and guessing what’s inside) or a surprise in your Christmas stocking is always something to look forward to – unless you’ve been naughty, of course.

As awesome as Christmas is, it comes with some pretty weird traditions. There’s smooching under a parasitic plant (mistletoe) and partying in the most hideously ugly Christmas sweater you can find or make (a more recent tradition). And then there’s the practice of gifting a lump of coal to those who didn’t make Santa’s “nice” list. This odd tradition is one that goes back many years and pops up in different places around the world – and it’s not confined to the jolly old elf.

“Christmas folklore for many centuries has included a magical or mysterious gift bearer. It also traditionally includes the notion that bad children will be punished rather than gaining the rewards that others get. Some20

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times the gift bearer had a henchman to do this work, and sometimes the punishment included beatings,” says Dr. Timothy Larsen, professor of history at Wheaton College in Illinois and editor of The Oxford Handbook of Christmas (2020), in an email to Downhome.

In Italy, for instance, there’s broomriding La Befana, a kind Christmas witch who enters homes through chimneys or keyholes, leaving candy and gifts for good kids and coal for bad ones; while France has Père Fouettard (Father Whipper), who accompanies Saint Nick and doles out beatings, in addition to coal, to naughty children.

And you can’t talk about festive wallopings without mentioning the 1-888-588-6353

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infamous Krampus of Germany and Austria – a beastly-looking Christmas demon who also joins Saint Nicholas on his rounds, punishing the naughty with coal or beatings or, if they’ve been especially bad, eating them or dragging them to hell. (Makes receiving a lump of coal on Christmas morning seem not so bad, doesn’t it?)

In a way, getting a piece of coal in your stocking is the ultimate deception. You may think you’re getting a lovely treat, until you reach in and haul out something that’s quite the opposite.

“The purpose of wrapping a present is to add mystery and intrigue: what might be inside?

So, the idea was natural that bad children could see a shape in the stocking that would look like what good children received – a fruit, nut, candy or toy – but then learn with disappointment that their misbehaviour meant that it was actually something they did not want or value.

This anti-gift could be bran, or a cold potato or a stone,” Larsen says.

The practice of dishing out coal didn’t come on the scene until a little later, when it became a more common item in households, he adds (making it a convenient item with which to warn misbehaving youngsters of their bad behaviour).

“It was in the late 19th century, by which time many houses were using coal for their source of heating, that a piece of coal became the standard anti-gift for bad children. It served the same purposes: it was easily to hand, not valued by the child, but looked in the stocking like it could be a true, tempting, wanted gift. Coal probably was also valued for its symbolism – it made you dirty and sins were often spoken of as making one unclean.”

However, not everyone would scoff at receiving such a gift, in decent quantities (think of Bob Cratchit shivering in his office while the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge sits in his with his eyes closely upon the coal box). “A bucket’s worth of coal or more would certainly have been a gift that a poor family would have prized and would have been given,” Larsen says.

“Coal is not a gift for kids, however, and one symbolic piece of coal would not have been prized by anyone.”

So this holiday season, and the whole year through, be good for goodness sake, or Santa might surprise you with a gift that’s the pits. (Let’s just hope that Krampus can’t find you on Google maps.)

Do you have a burning life question for Linda to investigate?

Turn to page 9 for ways to contact us. www.downhomelife.com

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homefront life’s funny

Santa Surprise When our grandson Liam was four years old and our granddaughter Ella was two, they were both very excited about Christmas. On Christmas Eve, Poppa decided to dress up as Santa and bring an early gift to the kids.

He sneaked out of the house in his red suit, and while we kept the kids away from the windows he walked down to the back of our yard. When he started walking towards the house, we made sure the kids were close to the window and could see him.

Ella spotted him first and started yelling “Santa, Santa!” and pointing at him. Seeing Santa, Liam got a concerned look on his face and ran into his room, jumped into bed and pulled the covers up to his chin. Santa (Poppa) came inside and it didn’t take much coaxing to get Ella up on his knee, but no amount of coaxing could get Liam out of his bed. Finally, Santa asked Ella to give her cousin the gift from him. Liam’s dad went to his bedside and said, “Liam, buddy, don’t you think you should say thank you to Santa?”

Seeing his present, Liam quickly jumped out of bed. As he approached the living room to see our visitor, Liam rubbed his eyes theatrically and said, hopefully in a convincing way, “Santa, I was sleeping.”

That’s what happens when kids learn they have to be fast asleep before Santa comes or they won’t get presents!

Edna Bickford Golden Lake, ON

Do you have any funny or embarrassing true stories?

Share them with us. If your story is selected, you’ll win a prize! See page 9 for details.

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ne’s getting “Shh! Everyohristmas.” fleas for C er rock – Natalia C

Say WHAT? Downhome recently posted this photo (submitted by Ann Organ) on our website and social media platforms and asked folks to imagine what this cat might be saying. Natalia Crocker’s response made us chuckle the most, so we’re awarding her 20 Downhome Dollars!

Here are the runners-up: “How thoughtful! Dinner by candlelight!” – Patricia Callahan “I wonder if the candle will be out when it hits the floor?” – Jodi Murphy “I wonder if this candle comes in essence of mouse?” – Delores Gabriel

Play with us online! www.downhomelife.com/saywhat

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homefront lil charmers

Silent Night

Presea Dalley looks comfy and cosy as she snoozes on Christmas Eve. Kayla Dalley Fort McMurray, AB

christmas cuties Letters to Santa

Cousins Penny, Kate and Jade visit the post office in Twillingate to mail their letters to Santa.

Allison Wells Twillingate, NL

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The Nice List

Abbigail, Leah, Grace and Jake sport matching pjs as they pose with Santa.

Roxanne Hookey Catalina, NL

Little Mummers

William and his cousin Julia are all rigged out for their first mummering adventure.

Bonnie White Summerville, NL

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homefront pets of the month

Doodles of Christmas Goldendoodles Bacio, Bella, Lexi & Marlie bring festive cheer to Labrador West.

Gabrielle MacDonald Labrador City, NL

happy holidays Jingle Bells

This beautiful pony is all decked out for the holidays.

Joan Raeder Wells Ontario

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Baby It’s Cold Outside

Dobby the sphinx cat poses in his best Christmas sweater.

Renee Drover Churchill Mount Pearl, NL

A Good Boy

Gizmo whispers his Christmas wish to Santa.

Sarah Hedges Grand Falls-Windsor, NL

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homefront

reviewed by Denise Flint

An Embarrassment of Critch’s Mark Critch

Viking Canada $32.95 (hardcover)

After the success of Son of a Critch, Mark Critch’s initial foray into autobiography, it’s no surprise that the popular entertainer has written a sequel. Picking up where the first book left off, the comedian and author has continued his story with An Embarrassment of Critch’s: Immature Stories from My Grown-Up Life. Told in a series of vignettes, the book begins with him at the tender age of 17, completely gormless, deciding to become an actor and landing a role with Rising Tide Theatre. The story goes on to cover his first green attempts to write for “This Hour Has 22 Minutes,” moves through the building of his successful career and culminates in his shirtless photo bombing of Justin Trudeau. Along the way we watch him learn that there’s an entire world beyond the boundaries of his little patch of St. John’s – or even Trinity, which itself once seemed a world away.

Critch isn’t just playing this for laughs, even if there are many funny bits. It’s a sincere chronicle of his professional life. The humour is all selfdeprecating and, for the most part, pretty gentle. It seems that almost everyone he’s ever met is the sweetest person. Those that don’t quite meet that description are still treated gently, and one is left with the strong impression that Critch was raised to believe that if you don’t have something good to say about someone, you should say nothing at all. It’s a rather unexpected stance for someone who makes his living through satire, but an interesting and welcome one nonetheless.

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Q&A with the Author Denise Flint: Is it hard, being a comedian writing a book, not being able to see people respond immediately?

Mark Critch: It’s like writing sketches. When you’re doing it, you feel the rhythm. The first time, with my other book, I knew things were working when I was doing readings and getting a laugh, but with this book there hasn’t been any readings so people are posting on Facebook or Instagram. But it’s nice with a book; you can write in a different way because you’re not trying to get that laugh every couple of seconds. You can flesh things out a little bit more.

DF: What made you decide to write a book about your life? Is there going to be another one?

MC: This kind of goes back to my first book, and that was a story of growing up in Newfoundland in the ’80s, and I had success with that, and Penguin Random House wanted a second book and it seemed natural to pick up after the first one left off. The first is figuring out who I am, and then me using that in the second book. I’d always wanted to write a book, and the book I expected to write was this book. They said, “I think there’s a whole book in growing up and why don’t you just write the first book?”

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DF: What’s the best thing about writing a book?

MC: The best thing is afterwards seeing people enjoying it, hearing their feedback. It’s a longer format, so you can really say a lot more and it’s a more personal medium. People take your work and curl up on the couch or on the beach and take in a lot more. I like the intimacy.

DF: How did you decide which stories to include and which stories to leave out?

MC: I think you have to look at a narrative arc starting with me wanting the work, then getting to see the world, and then coming home and realizing this is where I want to be.

There’s a lot of things I could talk about, but you don’t want to upset someone or tell tales. They’re really the moments that hit me, whether talking to a soldier or pulling a joint out when talking to Justin Trudeau.

It’s like your life flashing before your eyes: what bubbles to the surface and what makes them special.

DF: How did the TV series come about?

MC: That was my friend, Tim McAuliffe of “The Office” and “The Last Man on Earth,” and many different things in America, and he read the

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book and said ‘I think there’s a series here.’ He met with Project 10 [production company] and the producer of “Schitt’s Creek,” and he really liked it.

Right away CBC was on board, and the next thing you knew we were off to the races.

DF: You always seem to be on the go, writing skits while on a plane etc. Do you ever give yourself any down time, and what do you do with it?

MC: You know I have a house in Trinity, and I love getting out there with family and turn the phone off and enjoy the people and the scenery and cod fishing more than anything. The one thing you learn when trying to work in the arts is there’s no shortage of time when you’re looking for work.

That gives you the sense that if there’s work to do, go and do it. I’m lucky enough to do what I’ve always wanted to do for a living, and it’s stressful, but it’s what I’d be doing even if I was doing it on an amateur level. I don’t mind burning the midnight oil.

DF: What differences in how they are made surprised you between “22 Minutes” and your new show?

MC: “22” is before a live audience; this is a bigger scale, and with this one I’m involved in every aspect: executive producer, show runner, I’m in charge and make the decisions.

This new project is one in which it’s exactly how I wanted to make it. It’s the best I can do; it’s the best 30

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I’ve ever done. Pass or fail, I’ve had the opportunity to do something exactly how I want. If it doesn’t work, that’s my fault and I’m fine with that.

DF: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

MC: I see myself in Trinity on the deck of my house writing a book. I hope I’m doing exactly what I’m doing now, writing and performing. I’ve been doing that since I was 15.

DF: How has the pandemic affected your life?

MC: I remember myself and Alan Doyle talking the week when all our summer gigs had been cancelled. It changed the way we perform. Normally I’d be on a book tour; it took away my audience. We had to go online and learn different ways to communicate with people. We’re back with “22 Minutes” with an audience, and it was great to hear their laughter.

Writing a book is something you can do. Home and family is what’s important; I’m often jetting off and it was kind of nice to have the world say “stop and sit.” While the pandemic was very hard, I try to be grateful for the good things it brought, and one of them is the ability to stop and smell the roses – even through a mask.

Mark Critch’s new series recently wrapped filming in NL. “Son of a Critch” is set to begin airing on CBC TV and CBC Gem in January 2022.

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homefront what odds

pub sports

By Paul Warford

Billiards was I can see my mother now as she’d very popular lift the lid off the coffee-brown wicker laundry earmarked for duty in the main bathback in those basket, room – no small assignment for a family with late teenage three boys. Men. I was 19 when Mom would years, and there remove my denims and my T-shirts with Homer on them, sniffing tentatively in disgust. was never a Simpson My mother has never been one for the drinking shortage of and smoking vices of this world. serious, talented “Paul! What a stink of smoke!” She’d drop the players in local garments to the waiting pile as the washing machine sputtered to life in agreement. She’d pour pool halls. in soap and raise her voice to be heard over the water. “I don’t know how come you’ve got to be up there with all them people smoking.”

My brain’s response would be a flash of colours and once-lush felt now stained with rum and possibly vomit. I would see the stern-faced scrutiny of 30-year-olds from Island Cove; men I had no reason to be sharing time with, and yet here we were. I’d smile and give Mom some saucy response, knowing full-well the clean clothes currently on my back would be putrid come morning.

My best buddy Bussey and I frequented the pool hall in Bay Roberts daily, once we were legally allowed in there. He and I weren’t the law-breaking type, so we had to wait until we turned 19 before we could head inside the double glass doors and thump down the carpeted ramp to the waiting tables below. Besides, everyone knew Bussey’s older brother and everyone knew my older brothers; we were too recognizable to sneak past security.

In those days, pool hall members could play for free from noon to two. So Bussey and I would be there, quietly chatting and playing rounds of nine-ball while the clack of balls echoed around 32

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the near-empty space. Unfamiliar nans and retired teachers would while their time away on the VLT machines, but otherwise the space was ours.

We’d return at night when the same space would be plump with the 20somethings of our neighbourhood.

We’d already been playing pool for years. I began in Grade 7, often at Bussey’s house, or my friend Robert’s.

However, I have learned over the years that very few home pool tables have sufficient space. At Bussey’s, there was a support beam in the concrete basement holding the floor above our heads, and if the cue ball happened to sit in its trajectory, a shot would be near impossible to make. Robert’s table had a long-defunct kitchenette in the way, and we’d have to angle our sticks to the ceiling just to make contact with the ball. At a pool hall, we finally had some elbow room.

Perhaps it’s our penchant for pubs, but Newfoundlanders love pub games.

Billiards was very popular back in those late teenage years, and there was never a shortage of serious, talented players in local pool halls. Ernie Layman was a famed player in those days, taking major tournaments in Vegas, televised by TSN. Ernie passed away last year. If his family is reading, my condolences. I never met Ernie, but he was respected by pool players across the island.

My brother is pretty good at darts. I suppose while I was sinking bank shots, Colin and his friends were chasing a score of 180, no doubt getting cigarette smoke on their own clothes.

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My brother is meticulous by nature; precise. He’s a quiet guy and I think the game suits him. Sometimes, when we get together these days, we’ll find ourselves in someone’s shed and he’ll play with the evening’s host. I just watch. I mean, he’s hardly a master, but he’s good, and it’s not often I see Colin compete at anything these days.

And when I was a kid? Before the billiards and the second-hand smoke, I can remember going into the front porch of our home and digging out the canvas bag that contained my parents’ bowling shoes. I’m not sure why. I guess I just thought they looked neat; so immaculate and sleek. I was bowling myself, starting at the age of five, though I was never particularly good at it. My parents’ close friend, Tony, owned a bowling alley, so my brothers and I were in the youth league, and my parents would get out for a night when they could to play with their own friends. We eventually lost Tony, as we did Ernie.

Bussey and I still play when the opportunity presents itself. He teaches in central, so we don’t rack ’em as often as we’d like, but when we do, it’s as if we never left his basement. And thanks to modern indoor smoking bans, our clothes have never smelled fresher.

Paul Warford began writing for Downhome to impress his mom and her friends. He writes and performs comedy in Eastern Canada.

Follow him on Twitter @paulwarford

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fresh tracks

new music talk with Wendy Rose

Chris Donnelly photo

Live It Down David Picco

HIS LATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT is definitely something local musician David Picco doesn’t want to live down. He just released his sixth album, titled Live It Down in February 2021.

While many local artists held off on launching their albums in the middle of the province’s second lockdown, Picco decided there was no time like the present – plus, long days of pandemic-induced boredom/mania really are the perfect time to dive into a deep listening experience.

Live It Down opens with a track that seems well suited to describe the situation around us at the time of the album launch – “Up in the Air.” With his trusty acoustic guitar, Picco tells a relatable story about slowly drifting apart from someone you once knew or felt close to, without cause or conflict.

The addition of beautiful steel guitar shows us from the get-go that this is a country/folk album 34

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that will appeal to many.

Another highly relatable theme is found on the second track, titled “Waitin’ for the Summertime.”

Simple but touching, ethereal background vocals and wailing harmonica give off major Blue Rodeo vibes, with the repetitive chorus lines making this an immediate earworm. There’s a striking visual to accompany this song, by renowned local filmmaker Brad Gover.

The tempo takes a massive shift in “Still Love Ya,” arguably the most upbeat song on the album. There’s a strong East Coast rock & roll feeling on this track – I could picture people boogieing to this song while taking my first listen.

The fourth track, “If You Wanna Change My Mind,” is an older tune, 1-888-588-6353

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with Picco revealing in various interviews that he had “recorded it a couple of times, but it never came out right until now.” At the chorus, Picco sings: “If you wanna change my mind, it’s gotta be in record time.”

The album’s mid-point brings us to the short but powerful “Top Shelf,” which immediately evokes the memory of John Prine or Townes Van Zandt with simple and pretty fingerpicking. “Oh you’re a handful, you’re somethin’ else. You get along with everybody but yourself, but I love you, you’re top shelf,” Picco sings in the opening lines, which double as the chorus. I particularly enjoy Picco’s usage of “you” and “I” versus “he” or “she.” There is something I just absolutely adore about gender-neutral terminology in love songs.

“Some People” was written after Picco was fired from a terrible job, channelling his frustrations with bad bosses into his music. “No one likes me, and I don’t fit in, ’cause I’m no one’s puppet, and nobody pulls my strings,” he sings as the song begins, eventually turning this around to, “No one likes you, and you don’t fit in,” showing the artist’s emotional transition from dismay to disdain.

The violin playing of Carole Bestvater showcased on “In the Fall” makes this a memorable track, which again emits a John Prine vibe. Picco tells the story of taking a drive through small towns in autumn with his mother, snapping photos along the way while sharing memories of her childhood. He notes that his mother seemed sad, and he intended to ask why, but fell asleep on the drive back, never getting the chance to ask. Poignant and elegant, this may be a tearjerker for anyone who www.downhomelife.com

wishes they could have another day with their mom.

“Keep My Love” is also heartfelt – a classic love song about not wanting to become a memory or a stranger to an important person who once meant so much to you, to always hold onto the love that once was, the good times, the good memories. “Maybe there’s a reason we don’t talk no more. Could be the timing, could be so much less, maybe it’s nothin’,” Picco sings as the song ends.

Chris Donnelly photo

The album closes with “Goin’ on Down,” Picco’s personal favourite song on the album. Pure country rock, with more lap steel by Christina Bougie, this song is the perfect cap for Live It Down.

Produced by Mark Feener and featuring the talents of aforementioned artists, as well as Paddy Byrne, Chris Donnelly, Chris Picco, Janet Cull, Andrea Monro, Sherry Ryan, Sean Murray, Ryan Kennedy, Lexi Hicks and Roger Howse, this star-studded album is definitely on a few Christmas lists.

Tony Ploughman, the longtime (about 35 years) “frontman” of Fred’s Records, shares the following charming details about the artist when listing the album for sale, which is available on both CD and vinyl. “We December 2021

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had periodic delightful conversations in some of St. John’s bohemian watering holes as he enthusiastically shared with me his love of Ron Hynes and other singer/songwriters,” Ploughman writes on FredsRecords.com. “He sought my feedback on everything from the local music scene to his own thought process and intentions in the field. It was evident from the get-go that he was sincere and at the ready to make his mark.”

With six albums and more to come, David Picco’s mark has definitely been made in the local music scene.

Q&A with the Artist

Joey Woolridge photo

Wendy Rose: Was there a particular reason why you wanted to release this album on February 26, 2021, instead of holding out for an in-person launch?

How did your virtual release go?

David Picco: When I decided to release it on February 26, the lockdown was lifted at the time I booked the date. I was supposed to play solo at The Ship, but then there was another lockdown a couple of weeks before the show. I decided to go ahead and release it anyway because things were already in motion. I had already released a single and video, had some radio play and reviews coming in. I wanted to capture the moment and felt like I should put it out. And I’m glad I did. I had a proper release show with my band a few months later and it went great!

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WR: Aside from cancelled gigs, how did the pandemic affect your creative output / overall career?

DP: It’s been a challenging year for me personally, but having the album to focus on has really helped. The response has been really positive and it’s sold more than my last couple of records combined. It’s my sixth one, so it doesn’t feel like any big deal to put something out, but there have been a few pleasant surprises. I’ve gotten quite a bit of local and national radio play and “The Strombo Show” on CBC even played a couple of songs, which is nice.

As for writing, 2020 was great, although I haven’t written much so far this year. But I’m getting back at it and hope to come up with a new batch of songs over the coming months.

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WR: At the time of this interview, you’re days away from kicking off a Newfoundland and Labrador-Ontario tour with Toronto’s John Borra. What do you think this tour is going to look and feel like, given the current global situation?

DP: I’m pretty excited about it. John Borra is somebody that I’ve always looked up to as an artist. He’s one of the first performers I saw when I moved to Toronto in 2002, and I’ve been a big fan ever since. As for the tour, I guess we’ll have to just wait and see. But I think it’s gonna be fun, and I can’t wait to play for different audiences!

WR: It’s interesting that this is your first tour since 2012 – why did you wait so long to head out on tour, and why now?

DP: Yeah, it’s been a long time. I lived in Toronto from 2002 until 2014.

Touring there was so much easier financially. You could play all over Ontario and parts of Quebec and cross the border for shows without taking a huge hit on your wallet. But touring

from Newfoundland is a different beast, as anyone will tell you, especially if you’re an independent artist.

When I moved back I was kinda starting over, paying my bills and trying to keep putting out music. There was no way I could tour at the time.

But now I’m fortunate enough to be able to do it, and I feel like the time is now. I’ve built up a solid body of work, and I wanna go out and share it.

WR: What’s in store for yourself and your music in 2022?

DP: Well, the tour goes into November and after that, I’m gonna hang out in Toronto for a few months, do some shows there, see old friends and hopefully play a few shows around Ontario. After that, I’m heading to Austin, Texas, for three months to check out music, write and learn as much as I can. Then I’ll be back in Toronto for a couple of months before I get back to St. John’s in July.

If everything goes according to plan, I’ll have a new album written and something out by late 2022. But you never know. Because nothing ever goes according to plan.

CENTRAL NL JUST WEST OF GFW

OUTDOOR HOT TUBS • ROMANCE • DINING • SNOWMOBILING • RAFTING • ATV TRAILS

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homefront poetic licence

The Christmas Day Snowplow

by William Eby When I looked out the window at the new-fallen snow, There only seemed to be a fluffy foot or so.

A beautiful soft snow fell on Christmas Day, And covered the whole of my double driveway.

But what the hell, I thought, it’s so easy to shovel, Then that bit in the street won’t cause any trouble.

I’ll just drive my car over it where it lies, And it won’t even slow down our cargo of pies.

So I pushed all the snow right out of the way, Threw it all on the lawn where it would just lay.

Then went in to shower and dress up with zeal, ’Cause we’re all off to Grandma’s to share Christmas meal.

She cooks the turkey, potatoes and stuffin’, We bring the salads, the pies and the muffins.

I had just tied my tie and hair-brushed my hair, When the roar of the snowplow shattered the air.

I looked out the window and saw with dismay That the snowplow had caused us a moment’s delay.

As the foot of light snow that used to be in the street Now covered our driveway to a height of three feet.

So I changed back to jeans, all ready for work, And I thought to myself, “That driver’s a jerk.”

Though it was really unfair, he’s just doing his job, He’s probably a really nice guy who’s named Bob. It took longer to shovel this much deeper pile, So my wife phoned her mother, said “Wait for a while.”

My hubby’s out shovelling snow left by the plow And her mother just said, “Thought you’d be here by now.”

It was finally done, so we loaded the food, I ran for a shower, so I would smell good.

And while I was soaping, my wife knocked on the door.

“Your nicely cleared driveway isn’t clear anymore.”

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I threw on my jeans and my warm winter jacket, And ran out to see what the hell was the racket.

The plow had shaved all the ice and the muck, Packed down tight on the street by yesterday’s trucks.

And pushed it all into my driveway with glee Leaving a mucky ice barrier there just for me.

So I got out my shovel, and said with a glower, “Call your mother and tell her we’ll be there in an hour.”

I finished my work and went to get dressed, My wife said, “My mother is not too impressed.

She said if your lazy ass had been out of bed, We’d be there for dinner, all done and all fed.

My father is hungry, the turkey is cold, The gifts are still waiting, for young and for old.

It just isn’t fair to expect everyone to wait ’Cause you stayed in your bed and made us all late.”

Well, we finally got to my mother-in-law’s Who said it was my fault, no matter the cause.

If I met the plow driver, I know what I’d say, Words you cannot repeat on a Merry Christmas Day.

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life is better Christmas in Port de Grave, NL Carrie Pink, CBS, NL

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features

Christmas Crafts Our Downhome Christmas craft tradition returns this year with more fun holiday projects! We dug the supplies out of storage and worked like elves to test these fun, festive, easy crafts. They might not be perfect, but we were happy to spend time together again. We hope you give them a try, and if your creations outdo ours (they probably will) send along your photos and share your tips. It’s time to get crafty!

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Paw Print Salt Dough Ornaments Don’t forget your best furry friend at Christmastime!

MATERIALS 1/2 cup hot water 1 cup flour Matte finish Mod Podge Ribbon Drinking straw

1/2 cup salt Acrylic paint Glitter Small cup

INSTRUCTIONS 1. Mix together the hot water, salt and flour. Kneed it together with your hands until it forms a dough. If it’s too sticky, add extra flour.

2. Roll out the dough until it is 1/4” - 1/2” thick.

3. Use small plastic cups to cut out circle shapes.

4. Gently press your pet’s paw into the centre of the circle to make an imprint.

5. Use a drinking straw to cut a hole for the ribbon.

6. Transfer the circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 225°F for 2 - 3 hours until they are solid and completely dried out.

7. Once they have cooled, paint the ornaments in festive colours.

8. Add a coat of Mod Podge and sprinkle it generously with glitter.

9. If you only want the imprint filled with glitter, allow the first coat of Mod Podge to dry completely. Then add a generous second coat to the inside of the paw print and sprinkle it liberally with glitter.

10. String a ribbon through the hole to hang your ornament.

11. If you want, you can attach an extra ribbon or bow, and tie it to the ornament using hot glue.

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Citrus Garland

You just might have everything you need to make this homespun garland right in your pantry!

MATERIALS Naval and blood oranges (four oranges make a six-foot garland) Parchment paper 2 cookie sheets Jute or natural twine orange slices so Skewer or nail Keep an eye on youro much in the oven Decorative hooks they don’t brown to

Tips!

INSTRUCTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 250°F.

d of the twine A bit of tape on the enfraying. will help keep it from

2. Cut oranges crosswise into 1/4-inch slices .

3. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Pat orange slices dry with paper towels and place them on cookie sheets in a single layer.

4. Bake for approximately 3 hours, turning them over at the midway mark.

Remove from oven.

5. Using a skewer or nail, poke two holes into the top of each orange slice.

6. Thread twine through each hole, evenly spacing the oranges on the garland.

7. Tie off each end with a loop, and hang from hooks.

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Santa Advent Calendar

Help Santa achieve his signature look by Christmas Day.

MATERIALS Red, white & pink construction paper Coloured pencils or markers Googly eyes Cotton balls Glue

INSTRUCTIONS 1. Draw Santa’s hat on red paper, and his hat brim, face and beard on white.

Cut them out and glue together.

2. Add googly eyes and pink paper cheeks, and draw a nose (or draw all).

3. Print the numbers 1 – 25 evenly on Santa’s beard.

4. Starting December 1, glue a cotton ball on one number a day until Santa’s beard is complete!

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Tip!

Sketch your numbers in with a pencil before tracing with a marker.

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Rudolph and Snowman Gift Tags

These gift tags are so cute and easy, you’re going to want to make a few for gifts or to put on the tree.

MATERIALS Construction paper Googly eyes Twigs for antlers Scotch tape

Small red and orange pom-poms Red ribbon Hot glue gun Hole punch

INSTRUCTIONS 1. Cut construction paper into circular ornament shapes and punch a hole at the top of each for the ribbon.

2. Play around with the placement of the pompom nose and googly eyes until you have a look you like. Glue each in place.

3. For Rudolph, affix the twig antlers to the cardboard with glue or tape.

For the snowman, glue on a top hat made from construction paper.

4. Thread a piece of red ribbon through the hole and tie it in a loop.

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Glittering Popsicle Stick Christmas Trees This is a fun project for little kids – and big ones, too!

MATERIALS Coloured popsicle sticks Twine or ribbon Rhinestone stickers Glittery foam star stickers Hot glue gun Ruler Scissors

INSTRUCTIONS 1. Use a ruler to trace a tree shape onto the popsicle sticks and then cut the sticks along the lines with scissors.

2. Add glue to the end of the popsicle stick that serves as the tree’s trunk.

3. Place both ends of the twine on top of the glue, then add the shortest piece of your cut popsicle sticks on top to hold the twine hanger in place.

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4. Line up the remaining pieces evenly on the popsicle stick trunk and glue them in place with hot glue.

5. Use hot glue to attach a star.

6. Decorate your tree with the glittery rhinestones!

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Downhome Magazine Christmas Tree A jolly way to reuse old copies of your favourite magazine!

MATERIALS 2 copies of Downhome Festive foam stickers Gold pipe cleaner Paper clips and/or stapler

INSTRUCTIONS 1. Take the first page and fold the top right corner down onto the spine.

2. Now fold the same sheet again in the same direction so that the outer edge of the sheet lines up with the spine.

3. Tuck the bottom of the page sticking out below the book up inside the folds of the page.

4. Repeat this step with all the pages and the covers. Repeat the steps with the second magazine.

5. Place the folded magazines back-to-back and attach the covers with paper clips or staples. Now you have your cone-shaped tree.

6. Decorate with stickers however you like and top with a gold star made from the pipe cleaner (use paper clips to secure it).

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features

He’s from Newfoundland and Labrador; she’s from British Columbia. Now, with friends, they’re carving a town out of Nova Scotia’s backwoods to call their own.

BY ALEC BRUCE 50

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GARY, A BIG GUY WITH A CHAINSAW, is shearing a trembling aspen from its trunk when, suddenly, all 25 feet of it drops in the direction of Tim, who’s holding the camera. Tim shouts as he nips out of the way, shaken up but no worse for wear. Gary smiles and starts cutting away the timber’s branches.

“Close one, Tim,” he quips, turning slightly to the camera, which is still running. “Tree’s down and Tim is still alive,” he recaps for his YouTube audience. “These are the things we do on the homestead, and we take our chances,” he says, adding, “But, really, always be safe whenever doing stuff.”

So begins the fourth episode of “Harmony Haven Homestead.”

Here, fearless leader Gary Tucker (originally from Reefs Harbour, NL), his wife Rosemary Charnell Tucker (originally from BC), join four other families from across the country to show the world how a band of itinerant Canadians transforms a 320-acre plot of back country near Maitland, NS, into a community.

“There’s our good buddy from Ontario,” says Gary of the nearly departed Tim Armstrong. “There’s my cousin who’s from Newfoundland like me. Then we have a couple from Hubbards, NS, and we have another fellow who is relocating from western Canada with his family. We’re all in it together.” www.downhomelife.com

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Visitors to Harmony Haven Homestead YouTube page can share in some of their adventures. Many of the videos are created by fellow homesteader Tim Armstrong (right).

Gary, who is 45, doesn’t say precisely how he knows most of these people, but Rosemary, 39, offers clues about the origins of the venture, which formally launched in April 2021 after the group bought the property on Cobequid Bay. Though the Tuckers had been living and working out West, far from their points of origin, for more than 20 52

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years, “friends” were never very far away thanks to the internet.

“We were part of the Newfie Edmonton Facebook page, which had more than 5,000 members,” she says. “If you needed anything or wanted to find somebody, you’d go on that page… What I really love about the Newfoundland culture is just really strong traditions of 1-888-588-6353

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community. Most Newfoundlanders I meet know Gary or his family or somebody that he knows.”

That appreciation for community also coupled easily with their own sense of homemade resilience. “We made our own salt meat,” Rosemary says about their lives in Alberta.

“That was really going back to the roots.”

Adds Gary, who worked a variety of trades in the oil patch, “I became a contractor, myself, for about 10 years. But we also had an acreage west of Edmonton where we had our own animals, birds and fish for the most part.”

He continues, “I was taught growing up in Newfoundland, being raised by my grandparents, that if you wanted potatoes or mustard pickles, they were out in the root cellar, not the grocery store. I mean, you know, technology is both a blessing and a curse.”

Ultimately, the lure the East was too strong to resist. And if, as Gary says, “the salt water was calling the old blood,” it was having some kind influence on others who they’d met www.downhomelife.com

and befriended both online and off.

“Resourcefulness is a skill that I think you’re going to see a lot more of, given the state of the world right now,” he says.

Certainly, the Harmony Haven homesteaders are a self-driven bunch.

Having pooled their resources, each family has a little parcel to call their own. Meanwhile, they all pitch in on joint projects. “We have a really wellbalanced team here,” Gary says. “We have a couple of different journeymen in the trades – from carpenters and bricklayers, to interior wall system techs.”

Someday soon, they hope to have their own general store carrying Newfoundland products that are hard to find anywhere off The Rock. After that, who knows? Says Gary, “We have a sawmill and houses going up. We’re close to hunting areas and good quality trails, so there’s the possibility of offering some outdoor adventure stuff.”

In fact, he says, nothing stops the hardy band of modern settlers from contracting out their services to local businesses; for example, building and selling prefab sheds and decks.

Their YouTube channel, launched in September, will help spread the word far and near. After all, says Gary, “We didn’t come here not to be heard. We want to be part of the community.”

Of course, first things first.

Back where the tree fell, Gary and Tim have finished talking about jobsite safety and turned their attention back to the woods, which are dense.

As their video trailer says: “Just another day on the homestead.”

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The Saint John Golden Gloves Amateur Boxing Club, the oldest such club in New Brunswick, marked its 53rd anniversary this year. The not-for-profit organization has introduced generations of youth and adults to the many physical and mental benefits provided by the discipline and routines of boxing in a low-cost, supportive environment, providing training and equipment with the goal to be as inclusive as possible. One of the boxers in the ring for many of those years as a fighter and a coach is 57-year-old Tom “Tommy Gun” Young, a two-time Canadian Championship boxer originally from Marches Point in western Newfoundland.

Tom was seven years old when his family moved from Marches Point to Saint John, NB. “I got involved with boxing when I was 12 or 13 years old, around 1976, through my brother Hyacinthe, who asked me and one of my friends if we were interested in joining boxing,” Tom recalls during a recent telephone interview. “My buddy declined, so I initially said no as well, but I was actually curious about it. Fortunately, Hyacinthe was still around and waited for me. I went a few times with him and loved it. He dropped off from boxing, as did many people I knew over the years, but I just kept going and training and have never looked back. I still fight with the same club today.” www.downhomelife.com

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Courtesy of SJGG Boxing Club

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A young Thomas Young (far left) with fellow Saint John Golden Gloves Amateur Boxing Club boxers, Eddy Chamberlain and Eddy Blanchard

I reached out to Hyacinthe, who said, “I am proud of my brother Tom for all his accomplishments. He was a two-time Canadian champion and the gold medalist (57 kg weight class) at the 1983 Canada Winter Games (held in Sagueney-Lac-St-Jean, Quebec, that year). I never dreamed Tom would go this far… I know my mom and dad and all the Young family were really proud of him, plus all our friends back home in Marches Point, Newfoundland.”

He adds, “Recently, Tom came to me after being 29 years out of the ring (as a competitive fighter) and asked me if I thought he could make a comeback. I told Tom, ‘I know you still have the heart of a fighter, but you need to work out more…’ I jokingly said, ‘You have old legs now, bro.’ Tom proved me wrong, I am happy to say, and went on to win his first senior fight (masters division) at 56 years of age, by a split decision.

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fights, by unanimous decisions.”

Though he’s been boxing for decades, Tom’s gloves and his nickname are both fairly new. For almost all of his career he’s fought using club gear. “The SJGG is very well-known for helping out youth at risk these days, but has always believed in keeping boxing as affordable a sport as possible for everyone. So I started off using club gear, which was a great advantage. It worked for me, and if something worked I stuck with it,” Tom says. “I actually only purchased all my own gear to train with at home during COVID-19 precautions in the last year or two.”

His fighting nickname is also something he’s just getting used to, though he earned it a long time ago.

“I never had a nickname coming up,” Tom says, “but when I made a comeback into the masters fighting, my coach put that on me and it kind of stuck. All my career I was known for speed and creating pressure. I liked 1-888-588-6353

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wealth champs; but no matter who they were, I always gave them a good go. I still believe in taking the fight to them and working well under pressure,” says Tom. “Boxing has been a real passion for me for all my life. I love it and our SJGG boxing club. I could live there and enjoy it every day.”

In November 2019, Tom’s dedication to and achievement in the sport were recognized when he was named to the Saint John Sports Hall of Fame. “It was quite an honour and, to me, one of the biggest things I have ever won,” Tom says. “I was so happy to finally get inducted as a boxer in this great town, which has always supported boxing.”

And his club continues to support him, as noted in this recent An article from the early 80s heralding Facebook post heraldTom winning the Canadian Amateur ing Tom “Tommy Gun” Intermediate Flyweight Championship Young: “At the age of 57, this grey-haired accolades over a long and distingrandfather is still competing and guished career in amateur boxing. boxing like a young man on a misIn addition to the national title and sion. Thomas Young wants to win the gold medal, Tom has been New World Masters Championship. He Brunswick’s provincial champ more will succeed in making his goal a than 10 times. Including his recent reality! Tom spars a minimum of masters fights, Tom has “85 fights, 6-10 rounds a week, training a miniwith only 12 losses, plus over 100 mum of 3x a week with other master exhibition matches” under his belt, age boxers and athletes as young as he says.

14. Thomas Young is our Competitive “Funny enough, I lost my first three Team Captain, all of our boxers look fights – but I never gave up, and we up to him for his knowledge and his like to tell that story to the kids startalways supporting encouragement. A ing off to inspire them to keep at it. true gentleman warrior that we can Even the few folks I lost to, a number all take a page from. Never stop, of them were Canadian champs, Tommy Gun.” American champs, or Commonbringing the fight to an opponent by throwing a lot of fast punches and combinations. I might throw 20 to your one on a strong night, and if you were bigger, stronger or had more experience, it didn’t matter to me. I was going to give you a good fight.

Maybe that’s where the coach got the name.”

Everything else Tom brought to the ring on his own. His hard work and dedication paid off with numerous

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Joan Sharpe’s life story is the final instalment on the uniquely talented Sharpe family of Goodview Street in St. John’s.

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Once, when I talked a little bit about Joan Sharpe

with her youngest brother, Bob, he said this: “She’s the family’s writer and intellectual.” Indeed. To that description I would add family historian and photographer. With family history comes Newfoundland history, for Joan knows in her heart you cannot grasp the history of our family without understanding the history of, as Wayne Johnston titled Newfoundland, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams. The soulfulness of that title, I think, expresses Joan’s comprehension, that it lives deeper than intellectual understanding. The intertwined history of family and place resides in Joan’s very soul.

During the Depression, her mother had three siblings who died as infants: Charlie, Sadie and Joan. It’s clear where Joan’s name came from. Joan once wrote a short story, “Bonnet,” which sprang from an incident her mother shared surrounding the death of an infant sister. As the story goes, the neighbours could be overheard whispering, after the baby girl died, of how Mary had taken the baby outside without a bonnet. The cruelty of such gossip, though all nonsense, resided within Joan’s mother her entire life and found an outlet in Joan’s creative writing.

Beyond the name, when I look upon a photo of Joan’s mother, Mary Seaward Sharpe, who lived her entire life in the same house on Goodview Street in St. John’s, NL, I see Joan when she became middle-aged. With the untimely death of Mary’s father in his mid-40s, Mary, being the oldest child, had to leave school to support the family. Mary’s own promise of intellectual pursuit became as much an unrequited dream as the colony in which she was born. It is easy to perceive Joan’s life – her education, her career as educator, her writing, her relentless uncovering and sharing of history – as travelling the path her mother could not.

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Joan began writing a historical fiction called The Strong Survive, which opens in 1892 with the Great Fire of St. John’s. The meshing of family and Newfoundland history propel the story; at the time, her great-grandparents were living in the house on 43 Goodview Street, the very house where Joan and her siblings were born and raised. According to Joan, her grandmother Martha “was just two years old when the fire raged through the city. Her father spent the day and night with neighbourhood men. They covered the rooftops with tarpaulins and hosed them down in order to prevent the flying flankers from setting the street ablaze. I am assuming they used buckets of water to do so.

As it turns out, the wind changed direction. The backside of the houses on the east side of the street were singed. It was a certainly a close call. Fire was a tremendous threat to the city, as it had been levelled by flames decades before.”

From there, Joan’s story traces the Seaward family through to her mother and her brothers, the stay of the youngest boys in the Mount Cashel orphanage, the later migration of three of those boys, as grown men, to Ontario, which broke Mary’s heart. I hope Joan chooses to finish that novel, as her skills to do so are obvious.

Joan graduated from Memorial University in 1976 with a major in French. She stayed at MUN to work, taking a research position focused on televised instruction versus traditional instruction with a classroom 60

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Taking multitasking to a new level, Joan earned a master’s degree while working and raising a family. Here we see her with her twin boys Michael and Nick (top) and daughter Heather (bottom) teacher. “The big question,” Joan said, “was which mode of instruction was most effective. Generally speaking, the results indicated the test scores were higher in the delivery of content in a traditional classroom setting with a teacher on hand. We were using the same state-of-the-art computer technology that was used by audience researchers at the Children’s Television Workshop in the US (creator of ‘Sesame Street’).”

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As Joan explained, the research referred to television as a “fugitive medium,” with fugitive meaning, in this case, fleeting. “The images appear and ‘poof’ they disappear.

This makes learning from television a tricky business. The medium is so transient. The learner is often bombarded with messages so quickly that it’s sometimes difficult to internalize, digest and remember specific facts.”

For her, computers, and media in general, are an extremely valuable enhancement to learning, but can never replace the human interaction students require to be truly educated.

It’s a timely thought to ponder in this age of COVID, when students and teachers have been forced into virtual interaction.

While working, getting married and bearing three children – twin boys, Michael and Nick, and daughter Heather – Joan earned a master’s degree in learning resources and joined the staff of Brother Rice high school as the learning resource teacher. At that time, the distinction between old “school librarian” and new “learning resource teacher” was critical to Joan. In her words, “The library was no longer the quiet place

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it was in younger days. The days of the librarian with the bun in her hair, telling the students to ‘shhhh’ were over. I was having nothing to do with that stuff, I tell you! The goal was to try to stir things up, to help move teachers away from the traditional delivery methods of ‘talk and chalk,’ and to embrace a more activity-based model involving cooperative learning. After all, different students learn in different ways and at different speeds,” she says.

“The old library was now a busy hub of activity. You might find a Newfoundland culture class learning a long lost Irish dance called The Lancers, taught by fellow teachers.

This dance was once popular on the Southern Shore, but unknown to this generation as the old folks died out.

Another day we might head over to the home economics lab and cook up a traditional Newfoundland scoff.

You might find the place crowded with every kind of an art project imaginable.”

Since retiring from teaching, Joan focuses much of her energy on photography. Her photo of the Quidi Vidi Brewing Company sits framed atop a bookcase in my study. When I talked

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In retirement Joan has been practising photography. This photo of Quidi Vidi Village in St. John’s is a favourite. to Joan about it, she said she loved the reflected light, made possible because the wind had stopped blowing – a hard photo to capture in Newfoundland where the wind doesn’t often stop. Joan, as administrator of two private Facebook groups, Goodview Street and Seaward Clan, posts photos that remind us of personal history, underscoring certain landmarks in the heart of the Seaward family, like the Seaview Variety, Uncle Gerald’s store.

The brother of Joan’s mother, Mary, Gerald was her one sibling who didn’t leave St. John’s for Ontario. His store was an iconic place, not only to our family. It has appeared in many artist sketches depicting the bottom of Carter’s Hill. Gerald Seaward, pictured inside the store, occupied a full page of a St. John’s coffee table book published in the 1990s, along with the caption that declared his famous motto: “If I don’t have it, you don’t need it.” And the store appeared in at 62

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least one local TV commercial.

When I began re-crafting my profiles of the Sharpe family – Bill, Marie, Joan, Doug, Bob – for Downhome, I opened Bill’s story by recalling that I had travelled to Newfoundland the first time as an adult in 1997, two decades after my father had died. My connection with the family that summer, and since driven

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so much by Joan’s photos and shared historical notes, has led me to visit and understand Newfoundland far more than I ever realized through the eyes of my father. Walking with my son Mike around the reconstructed Viking village in L’Anse aux Meadows and hiking up Gros Morne Mountain; watching an amazing natural avian show at the Cape St. Mary’s bird sanctuary; standing on the wharf in that tiny village in Trinity Bay, Gooseberry Cove, with over 30 family members as Doug Sharpe enlivened a tourist tradition in ways both comical and personal; getting drunk more

than once on George Street watching Billy and The Bruisers kick off the annual George Street Festival; sitting in the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario, to enjoy the unique story of Lanier Phillips in a play, “Oil and Water,” costumed by Marie Sharpe; relishing a performance of “Come From Away” at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto with a dozen of my Seaward relatives.

Ask me and I’ll explain I’m an Ontario-born-Newfoundlander. I feel that way – Newfoundlander – because of these Sharpes. Thank you for that, my cousins.

The Sharpe Family: Doug, Joan, Marie, Bill and Bob About the author

Ed Seaward’s novel, Fair, was published by The Porcupine’s Quill in 2020. Mother Daughter Happiness was a screenplay finalist at the 2019 Pasadena International Film Festival. His writing series, Profiles from the Bright Side of the Road, can be found on his website, EdSeaward.com. Although born in London, ON, his father was born in St. John’s, NL, and his paternal grandfather in Gooseberry Cove, Trinity Bay. Ed currently lives in Georgetown, ON, with his wife, Barb. www.downhomelife.com

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explore

Lisa Porter photo

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Cherished church

John W. Doyle photo

buildings have long been a place for people to gather and celebrate faith, fellowship and music. Churches proudly built of local materials by talented craftsmen dot every nook and cranny of Newfoundland and Labrador. As times and congregations change, many communities have found creative ways to adapt, repurpose and preserve their valuable built heritage.

United Church Ochre Pit Cove The old United (Methodist) Church in Ochre Pit Cove, Conception Bay, was built in 1938 to replace the original structure dating from the 1880s. Owners Lisa Porter and Paul Pope have converted the building into a multi-use vacation and retreat facility, maintaining the clean lines of the original architecture. Ochre House Retreat now offers a combination of accommodation and performance space, and hosts a variety of literary festivals, retreats and cultural events. www.downhomelife.com

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Rev. Miriam Bowlby photo

Cochrane Street United Church St. John’s

Built in St. John’s in 1915, Cochrane Street United (formerly Methodist) Church’s Mediterranean style of architecture is unique among the many churches in the surrounding area. In 2015, the congregation could no longer care for the building’s upkeep and instead established a social enterprise – the Cochrane Community Outreach and Performance Centre Inc. The church building is now the Cochrane Centre and includes a worship space, supportive housing units, a teaching kitchen and meeting areas for community groups.

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Twillingate Performing Arts Centre photo

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North East United Church Twillingate The former North East United Church in Twillingate, Notre Dame Bay, was built of pine by local craftsmen and completed in 1868. The church held its last public service in 1987 and began to fall into disrepair. Since then, the North East Church Heritage Association, working with funding from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, has transformed the former church into the Twillingate Performing Arts Centre – a hub for musical, theatrical and cultural events.

All Saints Anglican Church English Harbour

English Harbour Arts Centre photo

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The steep pitched roof and lancet windows of the former All Saints Anglican Church in English Harbour, Trinity Bay, make it a picture-perfect example of the Carpenter Gothic architectural style.

Constructed of wood by local craftsmen in 1889, the church and its connected graveyard were designated a Provincial Heritage Site in 2005. Today, the English Harbour Arts Association is dedicated to preserving All Saints, and has created a cultural centre hosting arts and crafts workshops, cultural events, and creative retreats for artists and writers.

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Greg White photo

Our Lady of Mercy Port au Port

Situated on a narrow isthmus separating St. George’s and Port au Port bays, Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church took 11 years to construct and was completed in 1915. Noted architect William F. Butler designed the Renaissance Revival-style structure, and at the time it was the largest wooden Catholic church in Newfoundland. It was made a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation in 1997. In 2017, the Our Lady of Mercy Complex Committee took over responsibility for maintaining the church and property, which now serves as a heritage site, museum and community centre.

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Heritage NL photo

Immaculate Conception Cathedral Harbour Grace

After fire destroyed the original, this Gothic Revival-style cathedral was built from recycled material and locally quarried stone from Kelly’s Island. Completed in 1892, it served its Roman Catholic parishioners for more than 100 years and was named a Registered Heritage Structure in 1990. The church’s restoration committee kept the building going for many years before it was purchased by entrepreneurs Craig Flynn and Brenda O’Reilly, who plan to transform it into a destination brewery, beer garden, restaurant and hotel. www.downhomelife.com

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explore travel diary

By Jennifer Yanish

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My

daughter and I finally made it home August 16-30, 2021, after almost three years. It did not work out to make the trip in 2019, and 2020 and the first part of 2021 was not possible due to COVID19 lockdowns and the Atlantic bubble.

We enjoyed a direct flight from Calgary to St. John’s, save for the turbulence for the first two hours.

Even though baggage drop-off and pick-up was slower than we remember, the COVID screening at St. John’s Airport was well organized and thorough. No isolation or testing was required for individuals with two vaccination doses and feeling well.

Most places we visited did not seem to have capacity restrictions, but masking was mandatory and/or encouraged. Some noticeable changes in St. John’s were the pedestrian mall on Water Street and major expansion/upgrades to the Avalon Mall. I was born and raised in St. John’s, and the mall was always a go-to spot. It underwent many changes over the years and I still vaguely remember when shopping was just on the main floor with some businesses upstairs.

The only downside to our trip was that we were unable to rent a vehicle.

As all my family are in St. John’s and

Top Left: Sitting in the red chairs along the Signal Hill Trail. Above: Taken after landing at St. John’s Airport, before disembarking. www.downhomelife.com

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area, we were fortunate to share my brother’s vehicle and travel within the Avalon Peninsula, but we did not manage any overnight travel to other parts of Newfoundland. We made the most of it, though, and in addition to visiting family and friends, we spent considerable time on walking and hiking trails. We enjoyed an afternoon on the Signal Hill trail, which I had not done in years. There were spectacular views of the Narrows, Fort Amherst and the Lower Battery.

Love the murals! Red Adirondack chairs are placed at various points along the trail to take a rest or enjoy the view and scenery.

Mount Pearl has awesome greenspace, playgrounds and hiking trails, easily accessible from Commonwealth Avenue and Park Avenue. Twin Falls is strikingly beautiful – a piece of paradise in the heart of the city! We visited Bowring Park in St. John’s several times. We walked along the trails 72

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Above: Murals along the roadside in The Battery in St. John’s.

Below: Twin Falls in Mount Pearl

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Along the Chance Cove Trail

and fed birdseed to the ducks, swans and pigeons.

We hiked the Chance Cove trail, one of the many trails of the 336km East Coast Trail. Thank you to all the volunteers who built and maintain these trails – the signs, benches, picnic tables etc. are much appreciated! There are several sections along this trail where you can grab onto a rope and lower down to the beach.

Of course, vacations always go by so quickly and before we knew it we were on the plane back to Alberta. Hopefully, we will all stay safe, increase our vaccination rate and take precautions so we can continue to visit home! www.downhomelife.com

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2020 edition of Downhome, Paul Warford’s column, in talking of his non-Newfoundlander wife, closed with the line that “she was welcome before she even got here.” When I read that, I thought that there was the seed of an idea for a “Mom & Dad/Newfoundland” writing. But last fall didn’t allow for that sort of thought. I marked the page and set the magazine aside and told myself I’d get back to it.

To some extent, I feel like I’ve been disassembling Mom’s life since shortly after she died. The process of emptying the house has been like taking apart not just the last seven years that she lived in Franklin, Indiana, but years (and years) prior to that represented by many of the things in the house. Something that I have noted during this process was how many Newfoundland things they had accumulated in a short period of time. I’ve lost track of the number of times we saw Buddy Wasisname in Ontario (sort of a trip to Newfoundland without actually going). Our first Buddy concert was (I think) in 2001 and our last one was in 2016.

In between, Mom and Dad actually went to Newfoundland five times. When I was finding these Newfoundland things in the house, they were from a relatively few days scattered over a 15-year span in the life of someone who had made it to 91 (or in Dad’s case, almost 90).

There were, of course, souvenir things: puffin mugs, wooden Vikings, a bottle of iceberg water etc. Those sorts of things don’t really link in with “she was welcome before she even got here,” though. But there were other things. www.downhomelife.com

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In Mom’s jewelry box, I found a pin with her name on it. Not that unusual in and of itself, but this pin was the same style nametag that the staff was wearing one year at Brown’s Restaurant in Whiteway, NL. It was, in fact, Mom’s very own Brown’s nametag. Our routine when we were in that area was to stay in Cavendish and have at least one meal a day at Brown’s, usually supper, but sometimes lunch depending on what our touring schedule was.

Mom and Dad hit it off immediately with Barbara Brown. Each time we’d visit, it was like eating with family. And we did get to know the family. People who run a restaurant can be pretty busy during the supper hours in the tourist season. Usually, though, at least once on our trip, we’d be in the restaurant late enough to sit and talk with Barbara Brown or Colleen Hickey or Renée, Barbara or Cecil or some or all of them, frequently over a partridge-berry sundae (Dad and me) or a piece of strawberry-rhubarb pie (Mom). It was always nice to catch up. I’ll also not forget the time that Barbara had heard on the news that there were tornados in Indiana and called Mom to make sure she was OK. It was a connection that went beyond that of restauranteur/customer. They all treated Mom and Dad like they were welcome before they even got there.

Hanging on the wall in Mom’s living room was a print on papyrus from Egypt. Mom and Dad had never been to Egypt. Barb and Jim Jackson 76

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had. Barbara and Jim owned the Blueberry Hill B&B in Cavendish. On my first trip to Newfoundland, there were two or three B&Bs in the area. I picked Blueberry Hill because they had Fifi, the Newfoundland dog, and the other B&Bs didn’t. We became regulars over the years, and Barbara and Jim began to make a habit of

Tom with his parents outside the Blueberry Hill B&B in Cavendish in 2008. It would be his dad’s last trip to NL.

bringing back a gift from their own vacations for Mom and Dad. Holiday Inn doesn’t do that. That print on the wall was sort of a stealthy way to ambush people with Newfoundland stories. One year when we got in the door of Blueberry Hill, Fifi brought out a toy to the entry area and dropped it. Jim told me that Fifi only did that with people she knew. Feef remembered us. We got the sense that even the family pet wanted to make sure we knew that we were welcome before we even got there.

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boxes of Mom’s things somewhere in my house or garage is a little doll, a gift from our “Bonavista family.”

Other than one year, every Bonavista trip was spent at Butler’s B&B, with Herbert Butler and Janice, their daughter and son-in-law (Kelly Butler Fisher and Jason) and two granddaughters (Hillary and Helana) across the street. I think it was the little girls who made each trip to Bonavista a little new. With all our other regular haunts, no one really seemed to age from year to year. I

they even got there.

When I was clearing out the kitchen, I found a pudding kit – the sort one would need to make Figgy Duff. For those who don’t know, Figgy Duff is a dessert that, when warm and coupled with ice cream and/or whipped cream, is very tasty.

One year, after we’d taken our annual boat trip with Gatherall’s out into Witless Bay to see whales and puffins, we decided to eat at Gatherall’s onsite restaurant. We were enjoying some very tasty Figgy Duff

During a 2004 trip to NL, Tom and his parents ran into a dear friend at a restaurant in Glovertown ‚“Buddy Wasisname” Kevin Blackmore.

know they did, but when we’d go back, all of us (visitors and locals) looked the same. That’s not a problem, by the way. But there was something about going back to Bonavista and watching the girls grow up that really made us feel a bit like family visiting from away. Mom and Dad could do the “look how you’ve grown” routine and I think they enjoyed that. The greeting they’d get convinced Mom and Dad that they were welcome in Bonavista before www.downhomelife.com

when Michael Gatherall got himself a dish of duff and sat down and ate with us. I’d met Michael on previous trips, but it still caught Mom and Dad off guard that someone involved with running the show was actually sitting with us, eating with us and talking with us like we were family.

Before we returned home, Mom had picked up a pudding kit. Figgy Duff with Michael wasn’t an isolated incident. Whenever we visited Gatherall’s, no matter what member of the December 2021

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Tom’s dad was tickled to meet a Viking interpreter at L’Anse aux Meadows who looked, to him, like Hagar the Horrible from the comic strip.

family or staff we ran into, Mom and Dad were reminded that they were welcome before they even got there.

Another thing I found in a jewelry box was a key chain – a Buddy Wasisname keychain, which is why it resided in the jewelry box with the pins and necklaces instead of a kitchen drawer with the spare batteries and Scotch tape. It had come down from Newfoundland in a little bit of a “thinking of you” package from Wayne for Mom. We only saw Kevin, Ray and Wayne in concert once in Newfoundland (and ran into Kevin once in a restaurant in Glovertown), but when we’d see them at shows in Ontario, the theatre was transformed into a bit of Newfoundland for the evening. When Stage West was open in Mississauga, Mom, Dad and I would gather with “The 78

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Boys” (as Mom and Dad liked to call them) for a visit in the dining area.

We’d catch up on what all had happened since our last concert, talk about what might be coming up and chat about the show. When we were sitting there, it seemed the most perfectly normal thing to do. It was generally in the car afterwards that we’d discuss how unusual it was that the band from Newfoundland would want to take any amount of time to visit with a family from Indiana after a concert in Ontario. There was an undefined sense that I had of why it felt normal, but it wasn’t until reading Paul Warford’s article that it was put into a phrase… we were welcome before we even got there.

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in Eastport in 2009, I was chatting with Graham C. Feltham about why Mom and Dad had made such a big trip as many times as they had at the age that they were. Graham said he and Dad had talked about that and Dad’s answer was pretty simple: It was the people. The puffins, the whales, the cliffs, the icebergs, the mountains, the sunsets, the wildflowers and everything else that visually makes Newfoundland, Newfoundland, were all beyond nice. And I think the idea of an adventure along with the scenic pictures I had taken on my first trip had played a large part in their taking their first trip.

But what brought them back four more times was the people. The people who would tell them stories and who would listen to their stories. The people who would give us pointers on where to go and what to see. The people who would ask how our trip was going – and really want to know how our trip was going. The people

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who were so different and so familiar at the same time.

As I stated at the beginning, the last few months have been a trip through Mom and Dad’s life. It’s been obvious that Newfoundland left a mark. I don’t know that I could ever list off all the people we encountered at B&Bs, shops, restaurants and museums, everywhere on the island from Trepassey to Cape Onion to Twillingate to Portland Creek. The snapshots that I’ve written about above are just a few brought to mind as I was filling boxes. I could have listed many more.

All of these words have been to say “Thanks” to everyone in Newfoundland who played a part in Mom and Dad’s well-lived lives. Newfoundlanders are known for many things – music, accent, humour and more.

But I can’t think of a better trait to be known for than making strangers feel like they were welcome before they even got there.

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life is better Sunrise in Little Bay Islands Michael Parsons, Little Bay Islands, NL

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HOME and Cabin

stuff we love by Nicola Ryan

Page Turners

CHASING NEWFOUNDLAND Photographer Ray Mackey’s new book, Chasing Newfoundland, is perfect for the homesick loved one on your Christmas list. Enjoy this colourful collection that captures the spirit of “home” – the beauty of outport coves, rugged coastlines and towering icebergs. Mackey’s photos are as stunning as the scenery itself. Available at ShopDownhome.com, Amazon.ca or your local bookstore.

THE NEWFOUNDLAND DOG True Stories of Courage, Loyalty and Friendship This collection of more than 50 true stories from Robert C. Parsons will delight readers and dog lovers alike this holiday season. From the deck of the Titanic to the sandbars of Sable Island, these stories demonstrate the legendary courage, bravery and loyalty of this breed. (Downhome readers will recognize Mel D’Souza’s illustrations.)

Available at ShopDownhome.com, Amazon.ca or your local bookstore.

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DOWN BY JIM LONG’S STAGE Rhymes for Children and Young Fish The 25th Anniversary Collectors Edition of the classic children’s book is a fantastic choice to put under the tree this year. Children of all ages will enjoy the light-hearted collection of rhymes by acclaimed poet Al Pittman, with whimsical illustrations by Pam Hall. Available at ShopDownhome.com, Amazon.ca or your local bookstore.

ROCK RECIPES The Best Food from My Newfoundland Kitchen For the chef or foodie on your list, choose Rock Recipes: The Best Food from My Newfoundland Kitchen. Author Barry C. Parsons spent years developing and perfecting recipes in his own kitchen for his popular blog, RockRecipes.com, and has gathered them together in this tasty collection of new and traditional recipes with a twist.

Available at ShopDownhome.com, Amazon.ca or your local bookstore.

A NEWFOUNDLAND GARDEN Growing Fabulous Flowers, Fruit and Vegetables in a Maritime Climate Gardeners can while away the winter hours planning their plots with this guide to designing, planting and caring for a Newfoundland garden. Author Todd Boland draws on his many years of experience and long career with Memorial University’s Botanical Gardens to create a practical guide to set you up for gardening success.

Available at ShopDownhome.com, Amazon.ca or your local bookstore.

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HOME and Cabin

It’s a Wrap Go beyond bought paper and gift bags to add creativity and joy to Christmas present wrapping.

BY MARIE BISHOP

When my children were little and life was “on wheels,” seasonal gift wrapping usually landed on the back end of the December schedule, usually Christmas Eve. And then it was a flurry of colourful giftwrap, tissue paper, ribbon rolling off the spool, Scotch tape that always went missing, never enough name tags and where is that pen?

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Now here we are, 2021, and Christmas is still Christmas; though clearly, some things have changed. Aside from the obvious shift in reality, we have become more environmentally aware, more mindful of the gifts we give. However, wrapping them remains a challenge. Did you know, a lot of the giftwrap we use can’t even go in with the recycling, especially the shiny, glittery, very pretty stuff? And sadly, over 540,000 tons of wrapping paper and gift bags are thrown out every single Christmas – and that’s just in Canada! So, in an effort to reduce our contribution to the landfill, and save some money along the way, here are a few alternative ways to cover the goods.

For the foodie on your list, how about a beautiful basket full of culinary condiments, infused olive oils, the latest kitchen gadgets, or a selection of specialty chocolates, all wrapped up in a seasonal tablecloth, held together with ribbon or jute. A round or square tablecloth works (36" or 48"); once it’s bunched up, the top edge creates a pretty rosette.

Tie it with a beautiful ribbon, an ornament or a gadget.

Who among us has too many scarves, hats, gloves or mittens? Our winter is long and wet and cold, we can all use extra head, neck and hand warmers. Why not wrap up a gift of mitts, gloves and a few packs of hand warmers in the scarf? Scarves make

For the foodie on your list, how about a beautiful basket full of culinary condiments?

Why not wrap up a gift of mitts, gloves and a few packs of hand warmers in a scarf? www.downhomelife.com

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Wine bottles fit wonderfully into a sock; a bottle of red, a bottle of white – a fabulous pair!

great wrapping regardless – pick up a few at the dollar store and use them to wrap all kinds of gifts.

Socks: a common Christmas gift, of course, but they’re also great for wrapping. You can fit all kinds of gifts into a sock. Wine bottles fit wonderfully into a sock; a bottle of red, a bottle of white – a fabulous pair! Jewelry would fit nicely in the toe of a sock; now wouldn’t that be a surprise? Cosmetics, T-shirts, gift cards, more socks, of course – never underestimate the gift of a great pair of socks.

Just add some colourful ribbon, a candy cane, or an ornament, and there you have it. Santa isn’t the only one who can creatively stuff a sock!

Reusable shopping bags are also a great option. So many sizes, styles and colours to choose from and always handy to have. Fill them with the goods, tie up the handles with some decorative ribbon and you’re good to go.

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Reusable shopping bags are a great option. Fill with presents, tie up the handles with some ribbon and you’re good to go.

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Get the Wee Ones involved by creating Christmas stamps from peeled potatoes, and use different coloured ink pads or bottled ink to decorate plain brown paper.

free options, recyclable brown paper or newsprint is a practical, environmentally friendly alternative. You could use the paper just as it is, tied up with string. Or embellish it with drawings, ink stamps, cut-outs from old Christmas cards or even photos.

To dress them up even further, add a sprig of spruce or pine, a scented pine cone, or a special ornament as an extra gift. Spectacular!

For an added bonus, why not get the Wee Ones involved? Have an afternoon of fun by inviting them to decorate multiple sheets of newsprint or brown paper. You can buy Christmas stamps or create them by using a peeled potato carved using festive

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cookie cutters as the template, different coloured ink pads or bottled ink poured into a sponge. If that sounds too messy, grab the container of pencils and markers and let them draw their favourite Christmas scenes. Add a plate of cookies and some hot chocolate to the mix and you have memories in the making, not to mention reams of customized wrapping paper!

So, let the joy of gift-giving fill your heart this holiday season, and let the creative ways you choose to wrap your gifts reduce the amount of waste in our landfill at Christmas and throughout the New Year.

Happy Holidays, everyone.

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HOME and Cabin

Bean to bar, farm to farmers market – the origin story of Jacobean Craft Chocolate STORY AND PHOTOS BY TOBIAS ROMANIUK

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Sometimes,

you think you know exactly what something is until you find out that, well, you don’t. For instance, everybody knows what chocolate is and what it tastes like, right? I recently found out that the large-scale, factory-made candybar we all love and know as chocolate is, actually, the lowliest version of what chocolate can be.

Although this is a story about chocolate, it’s better thought of as a story about craft. It’s the craftsperson’s approach that differentiates Jacobean Craft Chocolate from what you would buy at the corner candy shop.

On a nondescript stretch of Topsail Road in Mount Pearl, NL, lined with strip malls, service garages, car dealerships and the like, is an orange clapboard commercial building. Walk through the glass front door and you’ll find a hallway lined with windowless metal doors. Behind one of these doors, in a cool and compact few rooms, Darryl Pike, owner of Jacobean Craft Chocolate, and his assistant make bean-to-bar chocolate.

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It starts with green coffee beans, raw, delivered from a farm somewhere in the world’s cacao growing region, a narrow belt around the equator. Then you separate the good from the bad, roast them, grind them and do some other things to them until you have chocolate. It’s a process that takes anywhere from seven to 22 days.

Of all the ways to make a chocolate bar, this is the hardest. Like raising a cow because you want to make a hamburger, or cutting down a tree to make a chair. There are chocolatiers in Newfoundland – those who make confections from chocolate – but there are no actual chocolate makers, who make chocolate from cacao beans. That scarcity is partly what attracted Darryl to the craft.

“I always like doing things that no one else does,” he says. “It’s as simple as that.”

From the spark of an idea to actually making chocolate wasn’t quite so simple, though. The journey began with pewter. Darryl is an engineer, with a couple of degrees and a career, but he’s also a pewter artist and owner of Saltwater Pewter. “There’s a 90

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link between engineering, ingenuity, creativity [and] passion,” he says, explaining how engineering, pewter and chocolate are all ideologically connected.

One day, somewhere around 2017, as he was looking at an “I heart NL” mould, it occurred to him that it would make a good chocolate bar. He kept thinking about chocolate, knowing that he didn’t want to work with premade chocolate in the way a chocolatier does. And he didn’t want to be primarily a retailer. He knew what that path looked like; what he wanted was the unknown.

“The unknown is what attracts me,” he says, describing himself as a learner at heart who is driven by curiosity.

And, in the case of chocolate, the unknown was how chocolate was made from raw ingredients. “Chocolate was this enigma,” he says, “like, what’s going on here?”

He began researching what, exactly, chocolate is and how it’s made. He discovered there were, in 2017, only about 25 or so people in Canada making chocolate from cacao beans.

Then he started looking for a bean-tobar chocolate – something crafted 1-888-588-6353

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Jacobean owner and craftsman Darryl Pike selects the best beans for the next batch of chocolate.

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start to finish, from raw product to consumable. He couldn’t find one.

He realized he needed to buy the cacao beans if he wanted to make chocolate. Still in the early stages of learning about chocolate, he found a mystery to be solved. What exactly was a cacao bean? Where did it come from? How do you take that bean and make chocolate? What are the steps?

How do you break it down?

Curiosity piqued, he began seeking answers to all these questions. He discovered Dandelion Chocolate, a company in San Francisco, CA, which Darryl describes as one of the premier bean-to-bar chocolate makers.

That discovery led to an email friendship with Greg at Dandelion, who helped Darryl on his journey. Greg’s approach was to point Darryl in the direction of answers, rather than provide the information directly. It was perfect because Darryl, at this point, wasn’t all that interested in getting to the end and knowing all the answers.

“The answer is boring,” he says, laughing. But, eventually, he had all the answers of how chocolate is made. And the adventure continued.

He learned about roasting the beans, grinding them into chocolate, tweaking the flavour profiles of the beans to get rid of the unpleasant, astringent flavour notes.

With the initial research completed, Darryl set up Jacobean Craft Chocolate. He bought commercial grade chocolate-making equipment – roasters, grinders and other pieces – ordered beans and got to work making chocolate.

Chocolate is a wonderfully nuanced thing, with nearly unlimited opportunities for experimentation and discovery. From fruit and chocolate December 2021

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combinations to the flavour profiles of single source chocolate, Darryl’s curiosity keeps him seeking out answers to variations of “what if.”

In the three-plus years since his journey of discovery began – August 1, 2021 was the third anniversary of Jacobean Craft Chocolate – Darryl has proven that he’s on the right path.

After previously winning bronze for his white flavoured chocolate at The Academy of Chocolate Awards in the UK, he won three awards at the 2021 international competition: gold for his Licorice bar, silver for his Partridgeberry bar and bronze for his Bergamot Orange bar.

It’s humbling, he says, to be on the world stage and know you’re getting better and better. And although the win felt good, Darryl isn’t doing this for validation or winning awards. The whole bean-to-bar movement, he says, is about exploration and finding new space.

“It’s about looking at the candy bars you find along the checkout counter and saying ‘this is not what

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we do,’” he says.

There’s a renaissance in the food world, a return to placing an importance on the art and craft of making food. You can see this renaissance in the explosion of craft beer, and in the rising popularity of local cheese makers, bakers and chocolate makers.

These craftspeople all have an interest in exploring the potential of ingredients and reframing the expectation of what food can be.

These craftspeople want to curate the process from start to finish.

Along every step of the way, says Darryl, there’s an attention to detail that gives the artisan’s final product their own signature feel, look and taste. The product is a result of the process. And really, it’s all about the process.

“It’s the journey, the fun,” he says of the appeal of chocolate-making. “It’s the adventure of it all.”

Jacobean Craft Chocolate is sold at select places in St. John’s, some shops in Ontario, and online at JacobeanChocolate.com.

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the everyday gourmet

Festive Focaccia the everyday gourmet

By Andrea Maunder Andrea Maunder is the owner and creative force behind Saucy & Sweet – Homemade Specialty Foods & Catering.

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As a chef and foodie, I absolutely love it when someone cooks or bakes for me. I am either actively cooking or thinking about food all the time. So when I get treated to someone else’s flavours and labours, it’s like a delicious hug. And I, like most people in my family and friend group, have reached the age of sufficient accumulation of stuff, so I joke the best gifts are ones I get to eat or drink (and don’t have to dust!).

So, in this season of giving, I offer you my absolute favourite focaccia recipe. If you haven’t had success with bread before, don’t be daunted.

This recipe is simple, easy to batch up, and even benefits from some chill time in the fridge overnight, so you don’t need to tackle it all at once. The crust and texture are unforgettable.

Your friends and family will bow to your culinary wizardry; only you will know how simple it was.

I’ve included savoury and sweet, seasonally inspired variations. You can change it to suit your taste, or go with the classic. For savoury versions, I use more intensely flavoured olive oil; for sweeter versions, a mildflavoured olive oil – or hazelnut, almond or pistachio oil. (I would not use coconut oil or butter, as they will solidify at room temperature and alter the texture of the bread.)

Allowing the dough to proof overnight in the fridge adds tremendous complexity of flavour and does something really special for the texture. So, I highly recommend that you do it. But if you need the focaccia made right away, it will still be delicious.

For gifting, wrap the focaccia in parchment and then plastic wrap, and tie with ribbon. Or bake the focaccia in a ceramic dish – which forms part of the gift – or in foil pans and leave it in them for wrapping.

The recipient can warm the bread right in the pan. www.downhomelife.com

Savoury Flavour Variations For the holiday theme, tuck some chopped sundried tomato pieces or roasted red peppers and little sprigs of rosemary into the dimples just before you bake. Dried cranberries and green olives folded in – with a few tucked into the dimples – would be brilliant, too. Tender herbs, such as basil, should be tucked in after baking, or you can fold a little chopped fresh basil into the dough itself.

Adding a little dried Newfoundland Savoury and fresh chives gives focaccia that “dressing” flavour. Tuck some lightly caramelized onion slivers into the dimples to guild the lily.

Another really interesting combination is chile flakes, orange zest, black olives and a little chopped fresh thyme.

I caution you not to use wet fruit or vegetables – no fresh peppers, tomatoes or raw onion – as it will alter the texture.

Sweet Flavour Variations For sweet focaccia, reduce the salt in the recipe to 1 tsp. And substitute raw sugar granules for salt on the top.

Knead in chopped chunks of white chocolate with pistachios and dried cranberries.

Chopped bittersweet chocolate with glacé cherries (the kind you use for cherry cake, not maraschino) is a sweet combo.

Chopped dried figs and walnuts are delicious – perhaps with a touch of lemon zest. In this case, I might swap half the wine with sherry.

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Focaccia Makes one 12"x 17" bread or two 8"x 8" breads 2 1/2 tsp (1 pkg) active dry yeast 2/3 cup warm water

1 cup unbleached flour

Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a large mixing bowl, stir it in and set aside until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in flour and beat until smooth. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until puffy and bubbling, about 30 minutes. This is your sponge.

Dough and assembly Sponge 1/2 cup water 1/3 cup dry white wine 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra 3-4 tbsp for drizzling 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tsp unbleached flour, plus 1 - 2 tbsp as needed 2 tsp coarse salt, plus 3/4 - 1 tsp for sprinkling To the sponge in the large bowl, add the water, wine and 1/3 cup olive oil, and stir to combine. If mixing by hand, whisk in 1 cup flour and 2 tsp salt, then beat in the rest of the flour until you have a dough that is very soft and very sticky.

Knead on a lightly floured board with the help of a dough scraper; add 1 - 2 tbsp flour until the dough comes together nicely and is silky and shiny, 6 to 8 minutes. Dough should remain soft, but not wet.

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Mixer method: Use the paddle attachment to beat together water, wine, 1/3 cup olive oil and sponge.

Add flour and 2 tsp salt; mix until the dough comes together (it will be very soft). Change to the dough hook and knead for 3 minutes at medium speed, stopping once or twice to press the dough into a ball to aid in the kneading. Remove dough from bowl and knead by hand using the 1 - 2 additional tbsp flour to finish, 6 to 8 turns at most. It should remain soft, but not wet.

Place the dough in a large, lightly oiled container, cover it tightly with plastic wrap and set aside until doubled, about 1 hour. (I do a refrigerated overnight fermentation in an oil-sprayed resealable bag, which improves flavour and texture. You’ll need a bit of extra time for the final proof because dough will need to come to room temperature. I run lukewarm water (below 110°F or you could kill the yeast) over the outside of the bag to help speed up the process.)

The dough should be soft, full of air bubbles and stretchy. Drizzle 1 1/2 tbsp oil in the bottom of a 17"x12" pan with 2-inch sides (e.g. lasagna pan). (You can halve this batch for smaller 8"x8" pans, and freeze the rest of the dough or set it in the fridge and bake up to 3-4 days later.) Shape dough as best you can to the shape of the pan and place dough inside. If the dough springs back before it’s completely stretched, set it aside to rest and allow the gluten to relax for a few minutes, then stretch again; the www.downhomelife.com

dough will stretch more easily after it is rested. Cover pan with a towel and let dough rise until puffy and doubled, about 45 minutes.

At least 30 minutes before you plan to bake, heat the oven to 425°F. Dimple the top of the dough with your fingertips or knuckles; drizzle the remaining 2 1/2 tbsp of olive oil so it pools in the little indentations, then sprinkle with remaining salt.

Place the pan in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 400°F. Place a shallow metal container of water on the floor of the oven to make steam.

Bake until focaccia is golden (lift the bread to check underneath as well); 25-30 minutes. (At this point I remove the water pan and move the focaccia pan to the bottom rack for a few minutes to be sure the bottom is cooked and allow the bottom crust to brown.) Immediately remove from oven and cool briefly on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

For the photos, I halved the batch and baked in 8"x8" round cake pans so I could do a savoury and a sweet version. I opted for roasted red peppers during baking and tucked in fresh sage leaves at the end, adding another drizzle of oil for sheen (and flavour). For the sweet version, I used dried cranberries and pistachios kneaded into the dough after the first proof. I drizzled with pistachio oil and used turbinado sugar to bake. I then finished with a touch more pistachio oil and a sprinkling of maple sugar granules.

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everyday recipes

Is it really the holidays without a bit of fruitcake to share?

Here are five different and delightful fruitcake recipes straight from our readers’ treasured family cookbooks.

Stollen / Christmas Bread Jennifer Yanish

Ever since I can remember, Mom made stollen for Christmas every year, otherwise known as Christmas bread. It was a family tradition to have toasted slices of stollen on Christmas morning for breakfast. It would also be served with coffee or tea when family and friends came to visit through the holidays. People loved it so much that she started baking Christmas bread around December 1 every year, as she would give a loaf to each of my aunts and uncles and some friends so they, too, could enjoy it during the holidays. Some years I believe she made 10 batches (1 batch = 2 loaves). This was no small feat, since it takes four to five hours from start to finish!

I began carrying on this family tradition a few years after I moved to Alberta, and share it with my own family and friends. The smells during and after baking are delightful. It is a small reminder of home, especially during the Christmases that we spent in Alberta and weren’t able to travel home. I am grateful that I can continue with this tradition and remember Mom in the kitchen every December, in her apron, happily listening to music and preparing this much loved bread.

I am not sure, but I believe Mom acquired this recipe from her mom, who was born and raised in Nain, Labrador, and was influenced heavily by the Moravian missionaries. The recipe is not the same as traditional German stollen, but perhaps this version became popular in Newfoundland or was altered.

The bread can be enjoyed plain or toasted, with butter or preserves.

Your choice!

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1/2 cup milk, scalded 1/2 cup water 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup butter 1 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 1/4 cup lukewarm water 1 tbsp yeast 2 eggs (beaten) 4 1/2 - 5 cups flour

1 cup raisins 1/2 cup mixed peel/fruit 1/2 cup chopped cherries 1/2 cup chopped Brazil nuts 1 tbsp grated lemon zest 1/4 cup melted butter 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 tsp cinnamon Pinch of nutmeg

To scald the milk, heat for up to 1 minute in the microwave. Combine first five ingredients and cool to lukewarm. Dissolve sugar in the lukewarm water and add yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes. Combine the yeast mixture and the milk mixture; add the two beaten eggs. Add 2 cups of flour to the liquid; stir with a wooden spoon until smooth.

Add fruit, cherries, nuts and lemon zest. Stir in remaining flour and knead until the dough has a “satiny” feel. Let rise in a covered bowl for one hour. Divide dough in half, roll out each half into an oval shape with a rolling pin to about 12 x 8 inches. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Brush each oval with melted butter and sprinkle with the brown sugar mixture. Fold over lengthwise, pressing the folded edges together. Lay on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with another sheet of parchment and lay atop the heated stove to let it rise for one hour or until doubled in size. Bake at 325°F for 30-35 minutes, until golden. (Baking time may vary by oven, so start checking the bread at 25 minutes. Brazil nuts may be substituted with almonds and the raisins with currants, if preferred.) www.downhomelife.com

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Dark Fruit Cake Valerie Delaney

This is my late Mom’s recipe that she got from her mom. We made this, all by hand, for my wedding in December 1984. (We will be married 37 years this coming December 22.) I still make this cake for Christmas. It is beautiful and has such a great flavour.

Make it a month or so ahead of time to let the flavours develop. Here (right) is a photo of my mom, Clara (GoodyearEdmonds) Fillatre.

1 cup molasses 1 tbsp cinnamon 1 tbsp allspice 1 tsp cloves 1 cup butter 1 cup brown sugar 5 eggs, well beaten 3 1/2 cups sifted flour 1/2 tsp salt

1 3 3 2 2 1 1 2

tsp baking powder cups currants cups raisins cups lemon peel or mixed peel cups citrus peel 1/4 cups dates (if desired) tsp baking soda tbsp hot water

Steep spices in molasses over a low heat. Do not allow to boil, but the longer it steeps the darker your cake will be. Let mixture cool before adding it to the recipe.

Cream butter and sugar. Add wellbeaten eggs and cooled molasses mixture. Dust fruit with 1/4 cup of the flour. Add remaining flour, salt and baking powder to butter mixture, and blend well. Stir in floured fruit. Last of all, mix in baking soda dissolved in the hot water. Bake at 275°F for 3 – 3 1/2 hours.

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The Dawes’ Special Cake Faith Dearlove

This is a recipe my grandmother used to bake for Christmas. It was sent by mail from Bay Roberts, NL, and enjoyed by my family in Montreal, QC, each holiday season. Her name was Elizabeth Hope Dawe (nee Pritchard). She was born and raised in Bay Roberts and lived most of her life there along with my grandfather, Harry Dawe. My dad gave me my mom’s recipes along with my grandmother’s this fall, and I am hoping to bake The Dawes’ Special Cake this holiday season to bring back the memories I had as a child.

1 lb butter, softened 1 cup white sugar 1 cup brown sugar 4 eggs, separated 4 cups flour 2 1/2 tsp baking powder Pinch (1/8 tsp) of salt 1 can evaporated milk

1 1/2 lbs raisins 1 lb maraschino cherries 1 cup coconut 1 cup nuts (e.g. walnuts) 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp lemon extract 1/2 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 300°F. Chop maraschino cherries and place in a large bowl with the raisins. Toss the fruit in 1⁄4 cup of the 4 cups of flour to keep it from sticking together. Mix the coconut and nuts (I used walnuts) into the dried fruit mixture and set aside. In a separate bowl, sift remaining 3 3⁄4 cups of flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, add softened butter, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, lemon extract and almond extract. Mix using an electric mixer (I still have my Gran’s mixer, so of course, it is used when I prepare this recipe). Separate four eggs and beat the yolks and whites separately. Once both are beaten, add them to the wet butter mixture and incorporate using the hand mixer. Fold 1/3 of the wet mixture into the dry. Repeat until both wet and dry mixtures are incorporated.

The wet mixture is quite lumpy with butter pieces, but once folded into the dry ingredients, the batter smooths out beautifully.

Fold in the dried fruit mixture to the combined wet/dry ingredients. Bake in a 10-inch, greased and floured springform pan for 2 – 2 1/2 hours, depending on your oven. Let the cake cool in pan before placing it onto a wire rack to completely cool.

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Aunt Ann’s Fruit Cake Nancy King

I once asked my Aunt Isabel for a recipe for dark fruit cake. She was happy to share this copy of her Aunt Anne’s Boiled Fruit Cake recipe. I still make a dozen of these boiled fruit cakes each year for Christmas presents because everyone loves Aunt Anne’s Fruit Cake.

2 1/4 cups water 1 cup butter 1 pkg (1 lb) mixed fruit 1 pkg (1 lb) cherries (opt) 1 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp cloves Pinch salt 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 pkg (1 lb) raisins 1/2 lb dates 3 tbsp cocoa 1 tsp allspice 1 tsp nutmeg

Boil all together until raisins are tender. Cool overnight. Next morning, add: 3 1/2 cups flour 2 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1/4 cup boiling water Mix well. Pour batter into prepared cake pan. Bake at 300-325°F for 2 1/2 hours.

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Diet Fruit Cake Yuvadee Feltham

This recipe is from my friend, the late Irene Moulton. She made this cake for the UCW (United Church Women) Christmas sale every year. I now bake this Diet Fruit Cake every Christmas season.

Boil for 10 minutes: 2 cups raisins 2 cups water 1/2 lb dates 1 cup orange juice 1 tsp each of nutmeg & cinnamon Remove from heat and let cool. When cold, add: 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2 tsp vanilla 1 cup each of cherries & mixed fruit Add & mix well: 2 tsp baking soda 2 cups flour Bake in prepared tube pan at 300-325°F for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until done.

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HOME and Cabin

down to earth

Give the Gift of Green

by Kim Thistle

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Everyone is stumped

as to what to give certain people at Christmas. So many people have everything they need and we stress ourselves out trying to come up with unique gift ideas. Why not give a detoxifier? Give the gift of fresh, clean oxygen!

Plants are underrated air exchangers. They take in our carbon dioxide and spit out oxygen. Not only that, but they also absorb particulates from the air and scrub them clean. The things we have in our homes are rife with contaminants: upholstery, cleaning products, synthetic building supplies and household furnishings emit toxic compounds. Plants are simple and inexpensive cleaners.

Listed here are a few of the easy to grow, proven plants that will remove pollutants from the air. I have added the Latin names as plants have many common names and are often incorrectly labelled. If you are looking for any of these plants, go to a reputable grower and use the common and Latin name to be sure you get the correct plant.

Chinese Evergreen

Peace Lily

Aglaonema modestum Do not overwater this plant. Its roots will rot if soil is kept on the wet side.

If the leaf edges turn brown, it is a sign of low temperature. Keep it above 13°C. These plants love extra humidity, so it would be a great choice for a well-lit washroom!

Spathiphyllum An easy-to-grow plant that tolerates low light; however, without some brightness it will probably not bloom; a lamp would suffice. It loves temperatures on the warm side and hates drafts. Keep the soil evenly moist but, as with the Chinese Evergreen, not wet. Root rot thrives in wet soil.

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Aloe Vera Probably the easiest of all the plants to care for, aloe vera is a succulent, meaning it has thick, fleshy leaves that have been adapted for water storage. You can neglect watering it and it will forgive you. In fact, this plant should be allowed to completely dry out before watering it thoroughly. Do not allow your plant to sit in a saucer of water, but rather be sure to let it drain well. Be sure to place your plant in a bright window, as it loves high light. A west- or south-facing window is best. Wherever your cat chooses to sleep is an ideal location for an aloe.

English Ivy Hedera helix Be sure to keep your English ivy in a brightly lit area. Without proper lighting, it will become leggy and more susceptible to pests. Let the soil dry out before watering and then give it a healthy drink so that the water drains from the bottom of the container. These plants are targets for spider mites, so watch for webbing that will indicate they have taken up residence. As with most houseplants, these do not like drafts.

Tips for house plant care Always choose containers with drainage and do not allow your plants to sit in standing water.

Fertilize. Once the nutrients in the soil are used up, your plant cannot access food. We all need food to live. Fertilize in the spring and summer when the days are long, but put the fertilizer away during the short days of fall and winter.

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Golden Pothos / Devil’s Ivy Epipremnum aureum As a plant that grows on forest floors, it will do well in indirect light and is not suited to bright sun. It responds to regular watering, but does not like to be overwatered. Keep this plant in a warm room that does not drop below 15°C. 1-888-588-6353

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Snake Plant / Mother-in-Laws Tongue Sansevieria trifasciata I always thought this was a great name for a plant until I became a mother-in-law. This is a very easy plant to care for. It thrives in indirect sun and will tolerate missed waterings. A large drink once a month will usually suffice, depending on the size of your plant. It loves warm to hot temperatures.

Boston Fern Nephrolepis exaltata As a plant that is becoming increasingly popular both indoors and out, it needs very specific care. This plant needs extra humidity and should be misted regularly. As well, keep the soil damp. Dry soil is a no-no for these ferns. Watch for spider mites and mealy bugs, as these plants are a target for these pests. www.downhomelife.com

Spider Plant Chlorophytum comosum These tolerate low light but will do better in indirect bright light. Direct sunlight will scorch the leaves. They love humidity, so they make another good choice for the bathroom.

Browning on the tips that you know is not from bright sunlight is probably due to fluoride in the water. This will not harm your plant, but if you find it unsightly, use distilled water or rainwater. Also, your cat may enjoy a nibble on this plant (for its mildly hallucinogenic effects).

To sum up, choose a plant to match the person on your list. For a friend who has very little spare time, pick out an aloe or snake plant; a bored retiree might enjoy a Boston fern. Complete the gift with directions for care, fertilizer and, maybe, a macrame hanger.

Let’s try to stay away from gifts that end up in the landfill. At least a dead plant can be composted!

Kim Thistle owns a garden centre and landscaping business on the west coast of the island. She has also been a recurring guest gardener on CBC’s “Crosstalk” for almost three decades.

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reminiscing flashbacks

Naughty or Nice

These two cuties don’t look very happy to be meeting Santa.

Bernice Goudie St. John’s, NL

Let It Snow

“As a child growing up in Renfrew, Ontario, I remember snow and lots of it in the winter,” writes the submitter.

“I loved playing outside building forts and snowmen, but the most fun of all was sliding off the garage roof down into the backyard, about 40 feet.

Snow, snow, wonderful snow!

What fun and great memories of Christmas long ago.”

Debbie Potvin Greenwood, NS

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Warm Winter Woollies

“This photo was taken in 1953 in Cavendish, NL,” writes the submitter.

Back row (l-r): Judy Jackson, Shirley Jerrett, Emily Legge and Loretta Jackson. Front row (l-r): Sadie Fowlow, Emily Jackson, Fronie Cull, Violet Jackson and Ruby Legge.

Shirley George Whiteway, NL

This Month in History Geologist Alexander Murray served as director of the Geological Survey of Newfoundland from 1864 to 1883. Although previous exploration had been made on the island by William Cormack and others, Murray’s was the first systematic evaluation of the island’s geological features. Over the course of nearly 20 years, Murray mapped the island with the assistance of James P. Howley. His reports of rich resources in central and the interior were a key factor in the 1881 decision to build a trans-island railway. Poor health compelled Murray to resign from the survey and return home to Scotland in 1883. He died at Creiff, Perthshire, in December 1884, at the age of 73.

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reminiscing

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the first toy you really loved? One that you begged your parents and wrote to Santa Claus for? Maybe you still have it, like these sentimental folks.

A while back, a letter from a reader in Downhome about his first teddy bear launched a months long conversation with other readers who wrote in about their most beloved childhood things.

We saved them all for this issue, as Christmas brings all good memories to the present and allows all of us to be kids again.

Here is Burton Janes’ original letter about his teddy bear and some of the responses it garnered.

None of my childhood toys remain. However, I still have a vintage teddy bear my late mom gave me when I was but a boy living in Hampden in the early 1960s. She preserved him by putting him in a plastic bag with mothballs. I don’t recall the name I gave him, but he was my best friend for many years.

He has since faded and is discoloured. On several occasions, I almost tossed him out. But, at 63, I’m glad I didn’t, because eventually I will transfer ownership of my special teddy bear to our beloved grandson, Leighton.

Burton K. Janes Bay Roberts, NL

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I grew up in southern Alberta and received my teddy in the early ’60s as well! We got one gift at Christmas – which I searched high and low for throughout the house well before the celebrations of Christmas arrived. I was sure there was a gift hiding someplace, as we had made a recent trip to Lethbridge to shop for Christmas. Sure enough, I found Teddy in my Mom and Dad’s closet! As excited as I was to have found him, it certainly changed the anticipation of Christmas Day, as I knew what was under the tree for me. I never searched for my Christmas gift again.

Lee Klaassen Edmonton, AB

This bear is 64 years old. Dad won it at some fair in Corner Brook back then. He gave it to me because I was the youngest. That was a big gift back then. I would sleep with the bear, but as you know with the large Newfoundland families, the bear got pushed aside because someone else took his place. The bear was at my parents’ home for years. I was going to give the bear away and, at one point, I even put it up for sale. But these last few years the bear, named Sam, became part of our Christmas.

Wayne Hatcher Bonne Bay, NL

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I was born in February 1940, and received this teddy bear as a gift. When I was three, my parents and I moved to a farm. It was not as familiar, and at night it seemed even more strange to me, so the teddy bear became my bed pal and every night he was there. When I put him aside at the age of six, he sat on my dresser until my oldest boy was born in 1960. He slept with the teddy bear from the time he was one, until he passed away in 1962, at two years and nine months. Since then, Teddy has sat on a box on my dresser wherever I have lived.

Joan O’Neill Durham, ON

This stuffed seal was a Christmas gift when I was three or four years old. I would look at it in the Riff’s store window in Bishop’s Falls, NL, every day while waiting with my mother to get my brother from the school bus. Then one day it was gone from the window. I remember being so upset – until Christmas morning it was under the tree! This seal is about 52 or 53 years old. When I moved to Ontario in 1987, I just had to take him with me.

Kimberly Martin London, ON

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This is the last doll I received as a Christmas present 50 years ago. I was 14 years old at the time. She hung on a wall in my parents’ house up until 12 years ago, after my parents passed away. She now stands on a nightstand in my house. I have two young grandsons who think my doll is creepy because her legs, arms and eyelids move. It is a walking doll.

Selma Styles Stephenville, NL

My grandfather gave this walking doll to me for Christmas when it was actually taller than me. I have kept this doll for sentimental reasons for 60 years. She has moved with us three times. The shoes are original and, unfortunately, her original dress rotted so I replaced it with a dress my little girl wore when she was a few years old. The last number of years being stored in the attic haven’t been kind to this dolly. She has a cracked neck and leg now, but I still cannot bring myself to throw her out. My grandsons think she is freaky looking and are scared of her.

Sharon Emberley Dartmouth, NS

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Here are three of my favourite childhood toys. Raggedy Ann was, no doubt, my favourite. I loved her so much! The xylophone was quite popular as well. The merry-go-round was owned by my siblings, who are seven and nine years older than me. I am 62, and this was passed on to me, so that one is definitely the oldest. It still brings a smile to my face when I turn the key to make it go around.

Ann Bell Keswick, ON (formerly of Corner Brook, NL)

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reminiscing

From cherished toys to favourite foods, special people and traditional events, everyone has a story about Christmas.

Let these readers’ stories take you back and perhaps stir up some beautiful memories of your own.

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Christmas Around the Bay Carol Kennedy, L’Amable, ON

The Christmases of our youth were fun-filled days. The anticipation of Christmas morning built during the week ahead.

I remember singing in the choir at Midnight Mass. It was the only time I was in church after dark, and sitting in the choir loft singing “O Holy Night” with the sound of the organ and our voices blending, and the lights, the warmth and the snow falling outside was magical. Walking home on the crunchy snow and knowing in the morning the tree would be up with the colourful lights all lit and the stockings and gifts ready to be opened was a wonderful feeling.

Every Christmas Eve my dad would come home from Town (where he worked) and bring a stranger with him; he never failed in doing this. One year he was late, and I remember him saying he had a hard time convincing this young fella. He would bring a young man home who couldn’t get home for Christmas; they would stay just for a meal with us all around the table and then they would head out to make their way back to their rooming house in Town.

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He said, “No one should be alone on Christmas Eve.” Dad would head out during the day to the woods behind our house and chop down our tree. We never saw the tree until Christmas morning. We would walk into the kitchen and there it would be, all lit up in colourful lights with shiny tinfoil-like rings around them and decorated with a variety of decorations, most of them homemade. I remember spending days stringing popcorn to put on the

myself up in warm clothes and head out, knocking on doors and asking the missus of the house if I could see her tree. Some folks would ask my name and I would say it and in I’d go.

They would plug in the tree lights and I would marvel at the beauty of it all. Some were loaded with tinsel, some heavy with spray snow, but all had tons of lights and were just the most magical things I’d ever seen. I’d always compliment them on their beautiful trees. The smell of festive

And the Christmas concerts in the hall, how could I ever forget those? We would practise for what seemed like months. It was delightful! tree. We would run into the kitchen in the morning and stand staring at the lit-up tree – it was a thing of beauty. We always got our stockings first. They always had the same things in them: an apple, a banana, an orange and little bunch of grapes.

My favourite was the Red Delicious apple. And we each got one gift and it was usually something we really, really wanted.

During the holidays there were Christmas candy, cookies, cakes and Purity strawberry syrup to be had at various times and various houses.

Boxing Day was the day I was allowed to go around to other houses to see their trees. I would bundle

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cooking, the warmth of the homes and the enjoyment of just staring at the colourful, lit trees was priceless.

Often during the season, the mummers would come barging in and that was delightful. You never knew who they were in their homemade costumes. Mummers were given a drink and a bit of Christmas cake, and often one or two would sing or step out in a dance. You could usually tell the one who brought their fiddle by the way they played it. If you guessed who someone was they had to uncover their face. There was great laughter in the house when the mummers came in.

We usually had some time off from

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school over Christmas, and if there was enough snow we would haul our coasters out and slide down the hills.

Lots of snow meant forts could be built and snowballs made ahead of time. Then we would form teams and have epic snowball fights.

And the Christmas concerts in the hall, how could I ever forget those?

We would practise for what seemed like months. It was delightful!

Christmas around the bay when we were young was looked forward to all year and enjoyed to the fullest. The music, the food, the fun with friends and family, was renewing; and you felt happy and part of the society around you.

When Santa Came to Grand Falls

By Jerome Jesseau, Corner Brook, NL

One year in the late 1950s, I decided that I was a big boy and would dispense with my childish belief in Santa Claus. I had overheard enough hints that the Santa “stuff” was a big hoax. It had been such a delicious belief that he existed only to bring joy to boys and girls on Christmas Eve. But for one last Christmas, I suspended disbelief and was convinced that my earlier convictions were indeed true.

It all began around 6:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve. My older brother, Cec, had recently graduated from high school and was enjoying his first job driving a van for Newfoundland Brewery. Despite the fact that he was far too young for such a job, this

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bothered no one. He delivered beer to local clubs, corner stores and homes. Picture it: a 17-year-old with a van full of beer.

On Christmas Eve, Cec was making his final delivery on Junction Road.

As he was getting into the van, he

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There, in our grandparents’ kitchen, stretched out on the daybed, talking to Pop Q was… Santa! Fat belly, snowy white beard and a thin shock of hair on his head. saw the face of an old man staring into his passenger window. He had a white fluffy beard and a bag draped over his shoulder. At this time of the evening there were few people out and about. Cec walked around to the other side of the van.

“Young man, you wouldn’t know where an old man might stay for a few days, would you?”

Of course, Cec was well beyond believing in Santa Claus. But that was the very thought that passed through his mind: “Santa Claus! And he’s putting me to a test.” He shook his head to banish the thought, realizing his childish first impression. It took him but a moment to consider.

Our grandparents often took in boarders, though usually these fellows would be gone home for the Christmas holiday.

“Yes, jump into the van. I think I might have just the place for you,” he offered, never thinking that Christmas was a reprieve for Mom Q, as we called our grandmother, from cooking and cleaning for the boarders.

(We had always called our grandparents “Mom Q and Pop Q,” short

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for McHugh.)

Mom Q was reluctant to admit a stranger on Christmas Eve, but Pop Q intervened and welcomed the man into the kitchen. Of course, Pop had to do none of the work associated with putting up the boarders. He just enjoyed having a yarn, finding out where someone hailed from and who they belonged to.

Glad to have the man settled, Cec came home to our house. We heard him tell Mother about “Santa Claus,” who was staying at Mom Q’s house.

We gathered round to hear the details. No one was more eager to hear this than I was. Oh boy, Santa is really here in Grand Falls! All my earlier misgivings evaporated.

“Did he have his red suit on?” I asked.

“I didn’t see it. Maybe it was in his bag. I don’t think he wears it daytimes, only on Christmas Eve.” “Oh Mother, we got to go over to Mom Q’s house,” I implored.

“No, no, it’s too late now. He’ll be too busy getting ready. We’ll see him tomorrow.”

You know I didn’t get much sleep

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that Christmas Eve. Us kids were up pretty early on Christmas morning.

After the excitement of opening our presents, we wanted to rush down to Mom & Pop Q’s house. But Mother managed to hold us until noon, for our traditional Christmas dinner there.

There, in our grandparents’ kitchen, stretched out on the daybed, talking to

Santa’s direction as often as I dared.

He was deep in conversation with Pop. I decided that they were old friends. Wow, I couldn’t believe it!

Over the next few days I made up excuses to go over to our grandparents’ house to see him. But one day he was gone. No one ever said who he really was, or where he had come from.

During Christmas dinner I peeked over in Santa’s direction as often as I dared. He was deep in conversation with Pop. I decided that they were old friends. Wow, I couldn’t believe it!

Pop Q was… Santa! Fat belly, snowy white beard and a thin shock of hair on his head. The only thing missing was the red suit, but we were already prepared for the idea that he only wore it on Christmas Eve. I thought, how lucky were we to have Santa Claus at our grandparents’ house. We asked a few tentative questions. He played along with the role and entertained our queries. Pop Q soon let us know that we’d bothered Santa enough and shooed us off.

During dinner I peeked over in

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I don’t ever remember telling my friends about our very own Santa.

Surely they would have made terrible fun of me. I just wanted Santa for myself. I believe I really knew he wasn’t the “real” Santa. I just didn’t want to burst the illusion.

Today, Cec and I sometimes reminisce about that Christmas long ago, and about our Santa. We decided that he came to us that Christmas as a special present. I wonder about him and what became of him. I hope he enjoyed that Christmas with our family. We sure did.

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More Like Heaven Gordon Cox, Reading, UK

Let me take you back to 1973, when I was living in London, England, with my wife, Sheila. We’d been married for two years and were yearning for an adventure. Both of us were music teachers.

I remember coming home excitedly one afternoon, clutching an advertisement in the Times Educational Supplement for two music teachers to work in two schools in Newfoundland: one in Green’s Harbour (where we eventually lived), and the other in Whitbourne. This was before MUN had its own music school. We were both accepted by the school board, and on Monday, August 20, 1973, we boarded a BOAC flight from Heathrow to Gander, via Prestwick, and then on to St John’s.

We felt a mixture of apprehension and excitement. Arriving in Green’s Harbour, we found the scenery remarkably beautiful, with the wooden houses clustered around the horseshoe-shaped harbour. We happily settled into our apartment.

I started to teach at Whitbourne High School. One memorable day the school hosted a visit from Chris Brookes and the Mummers Troupe.

They performed a traditional mummers play and talked about the back-

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ground of mummering. The students were entranced by the experience. As a result I became fascinated about such cultural traditions, and the following year I enrolled at MUN to take a master’s course in folklore.

By this time, I had heard whispers about the annual Christmas Eve carolling in Green’s Harbour. I arranged to meet the leader of the carollers, the remarkable Henry Crocker who lived in a small neighbourhood called Crockers Cove, separated by a small distance from the rest of Green’s Harbour. As a result, Henry invited Sheila and me to join the carollers on Christmas Eve 1974. It was an experience I shall never forget. We arrived at his house around 9:30 p.m. Henry was uncertain how many singers would come along. Phone calls were made to ascertain who else might turn up. Just after 11:00, seven of us started out, and were joined later by three others. Most of the carollers came from Crockers Cove. It was a beautifully clear night with the

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moon reflected on the water.

The tradition is based upon a sequence of four carols: “While Shepherds Watched their Flocks,” “The Virgin Whose Purity,” “God Bless You Merry Gentlemen,” and “The Moon Shines Bright.” The first three have different tunes to those sung in church, and the fourth is a folk carol. The carollers always sang the four carols in the same order, unaccompanied by any musical instruments. The routine was that as soon as Henry opened the door of a house, the carols would be sung, with the singers moving into the porch and finishing up in the kitchen.

We walked from house to house in Crockers Cove, then drove to cover the rest of the harbour. Priority was given to the elderly and the shut-ins.

In most of the houses, refreshments were provided for the singers, including syrup and cake, and occasionally a jug of home brew. If I tended to linger too long over the food, I was told half-jokingly that the purpose was not to have a good time. In some houses children perched at the top of the stairs, listening closely.

Occasionally, adults remained in bed to listen in the dark, reminding themselves of their own childhoods when, fast asleep, they were woken by the sounds of the carols wafting up the stairs.

The last verse of “The Moon Shines

1-888-588-6353

Bright” goes as follows: My carol is sung and I must be gone, I can stay no longer here, God bless you all both great and small And send you a Happy New Year.

Henry then shouted “Merry Christmas!” Everyone joined in and shook hands. By 4:30 a.m., the carollers, including myself, were exhausted and agreed it had been a most worthwhile night. We had visited about 25 households. On a later occasion, one of the carollers spoke of the tradition as being “more like heaven.”

I had to agree.

Later I found out that Green’s Harbour was only one of 13 communities along the Trinity South shore, which had very similar traditions, either in the past or in the present. The roll call included Norman’s Cove, Old Shop, Chapel Arm, Spread Eagle, Little Ridge, New Harbour, Dildo, Hopeall, Whiteway, Cavendish, Islington and Hearts Delight. I often wonder whether traces of the old carols still remain.

We returned to England in 1977, but have come back to the island every three or four years to catch up with long-established friends, to refresh ourselves, and to remember with affection that memorable Christmas spent with the Green’s Harbour carollers.

December 2021

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Now more than ever a Downhome membership is a great value. Not only do you save over $20 off the cover price, you receive: 1 Year (12 issues) OF DOWNHOME

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* Valid in Canada on a 1-year term. Total inc. taxes, postage and handling: for residents in NL, NS, NB, PE $45.99; ON $45.19; QC, SK, MB, AB, BC, NU, NT, YT $41.99. US/International $49.99. ** Valid in Canada on a 3-year term. Total inc. taxes, postage and handling: for residents in NL, NS, NB, PE $114.99; ON $112.99; QC, SK, MB, AB, BC, NU, NT, YT $104.99; US/International $140.99.

Send to Downhome, 43 James Lane, St. John’s, NL, A1E 3H3 or call 1-888-588-6353

ORDER ONLINE TODAY! www.joindownhome.com

2112_Puzzles_1701-puzzles 10/28/21 9:56 AM Page 126

puzzles

The Beaten Path

Chad Peddle photo

By Ron Young

Block out all the letters that are like other letters in every way, including shape and size. The letters that are left over, when unscrambled, will spell out the name of the above community.

R M J

S

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p L A T p

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m

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R G

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G G U M T Q R U M F T R N X T S U m A E Q S L m L M G p S A R J T H R G R Q A H H

A p

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R M

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G A

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Last Month’s Community: Norris Point 126

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Sudoku

from websudoku.com

Skill level: Medium Last month’s answers

?

Need Help

Visit DownhomeLife.com/puzzles for step-by-step logic for solving this puzzle

www.downhomelife.com

December 2021

127

Jacqueline Nash photo

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Downhomer Detective Needs You After more than two decades on the Urban City Police Force, Downhomer Detective has come home to rid Newfoundland and Labrador of a new threat – cunning thief Ragged Rick. A real braggart, the slimy criminal sends DD a blurry photo of his surroundings plus clues to his whereabouts just to prove he’s always a step ahead. DD needs your help to identify where in Newfoundland and Labrador Ragged Rick is hiding out this month.

Use these 5 clues to identify where Ragged Rick is now: • located on the Baccalieu Trail • name comes from Portuguese for Green Bay • site of devastating fish plant fire in 2016 • birthplace of trad musician D’Arcy Broderick • former NL premier Frank Moores owned a fish plant here

Last Month’s Answer: Conche

Picturesque Place NameS of Newfoundland and Labrador

by Mel D’Souza Last Month’s Answer: Halfway Point 128

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In Other Words Guess the well-known expression written here in other words.

Last Month’s Clue: Akin to a pair of legumes in a husk In Other Words: Like two peas in a pod This Month’s Clue: That man observes you while you slumber, that man is aware of your conscious state

In Other Words: __ ___ ___ ____ ____ _______, __ _____ ___ _____ _____

A Way With Words H E I S

H I M S E L F

Last Month’s Answer: He is beside himself

Rhyme Time A rhyming word game by Ron Young

1. A talent for bargains is a ____ of ______ 2. A memorable month is a ________ to ________

This Month’s Clue

THE TREE PRESENTS

3. A happy Christmas berry is a ______ _____

Answer: _______ _____ ___ ____

Last Month’s Answers 1. picks up sticks, 2. smug mug, 3. small fall

Scrambled Sayings

by Ron Young

Place each of the letters in the rectangular box below into one of the white square boxes above them to discover a quotation. Incomplete words that begin on the right side of the diagram continue one line down on the left. The letters may or may not go in the box in the same order that they are in the column. Once a letter is used, cross it off and do not use it again.

’ ’

’

N E E B E E E D F E E D B E E I E A E N A F D F R I E D O L I E O E T I E R I I S E O W E L L O P F O P L O V N X N S L S S I T I N O R T W M W P P T V

Last month’s answer: Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time. www.downhomelife.com

December 2021

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Rhymes 5 Times Each answer rhymes with the other four

1. dolls

____________

2. sons

____________

3. compounds

____________

4. distractions

____________

5. pleasures

____________

STUCK? Don’t get your knickers in a knot!

Puzzle answers can be found online at DownhomeLife.com/puzzles

Last Month’s Answers: 1. jump, 2. bump, 3. lump, 4. dump, 5. grump

Tangled Towns

by Lolene Young Condon and Ron Young

Sound out the groups of words below to get a familiar expression.

For best results sound the clue words out loud!

Lettuce Hand Lit ___ __ ______ __

Unscramble each of the five groups of letters below to get 5 Newfoundland and Labrador place names.

1. VASID VOCE 2. KNOTSMOWN 3. TACTLICE ROBHAUR 4. LEIS LAVNE

Wish Shallow Fork Hum __ _____ ________ Last Month’s 1st Clue: Age Ants Oval I’ve Dime Answer: A chance of a lifetime Last Month’s 2nd Clue: Pan Numb Hog Kin Ail Answer: Panama Canal

5. SLOOWT Last Month’s Answers: 1. Rose Blanche, 2. Petites, 3. Isle aux Morts, 4. Fox Roost, 5. Burnt Islands

A nalogical A nagrams Unscramble the capitalized words to get one word that matches the subtle clue.

1. SEND FIR HIP ~ Clue: a vessel that carries one or more kindred spirits 2. RIDDLE EVE ~ Clue: news, pizza and babies all arrive this way 3. CANE LARD ~ Clue: easiest place to get a date 4. DISH THING ~ Clue: it has perfect vision, but can’t see ahead 5. MAT IN ONION ~ Clue: the first step to winning Last Month’s Answers: 1. childhood, 2. unpleasant, 3. solution, 4. retiree, 5. envelope 130

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Four-Way Crossword F o re Wo rd s • B a c k Wo rd s • U p Wo rd s • D o w n Wo rd s

By Ron Young

Unlike regular crosswords, in Four-Way Crossword each letter is not necessarily related to the letter in the adjacent row or column, but is part of one or more words in some direction.

1-91: rev counter 2-42: get lost!

4-1: tilt 4-6: limb 6-56: rule 6-96: regime 8-4: heavenly being 7-27: capture 9-7: vehicle 9-39: urn 10-1: preacher 10-50: additional 10-100: removeable 11-13: behave 12-42: stuff 18-20: min’s mate 21-23: lament 25-5: litigate 25-23: speak 29-27: weep 31-36: fuss 31-61: house 32-34: donkey 33-63: painful 34-4: go by ship 34-40: slim 35-55: toilet 42-62: crazy 42-82: brothel keeper 44-47: larboard 44-64: marijuana 46-26: race engine 47-67: bind 51-56: burgundy 51-91: 39.37 inches 53-23: flushed 53-51: male sheep 59-29: gardens 60-40: vehicle 60-56: anchor holder 62-82: levee www.downhomelife.com

1

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64-4: highest canvas 64-67: 4th dimension 66-70: deserve 66-86: hands 68-18: haphazard 68-64: defer 71-73: revenue 77-74: eyepiece 74-34: discontinues 78-76: beer 79-76: story 82-86: imbecile 84-81: eternal city 84-86: Pres. Reagan 90-87: panorama 91-100: debateable 95-93: small vat

98-68: ursine animal 98-96: club 97-100: capable Last Month’s Answer

D I S T R A C T E D

EGE NNG R I G A T D E AR CR E I GN G I R AMT R E A

N U N O E P I L E D

E RA L I N ODR P E A D WO A I R T T E EOT RMA F U L

December 2021

T E A C R A B U L L

E S P E C I A L L Y

131

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The Bayman’s

Crossword Puzzle 1

2

by Ron Young 3 4 5

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9 17 20

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December 2021

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ACROSS 1. deck swab 3. United Nations (abbrev) 5. lowing sound 6. fish eggs 8. dine 9. small stickleback fish found at low tide 14. opposite of NNW 18. “____ where you’re to till I comes where you’re at” 19. question 20. ewe’s mate 22. ship’s mast 25. Old English (abbrev) 26. traditional refreshments given to mummers (3 words) 30. homemade potent made from a NL berry (2 words) 35. crow sound 36. Tetley 37. handmade equine creature that travels with mummers 41. social media (abbrev) 43. osteoarthritis (abbrev) 44. ___ Savoury of Simani 45. “Your tawts are too far ___” 47. whirlpool 48. chore DOWN 1. janneys 2. switch position 4. NL’s first premier, born on Christmas Eve (2 words) 7. “Some wet ___” 10. overtime (abbrev) 11. run 12. New York (abbrev) www.downhomelife.com

13. bottle tops 14. opposite of NE 15. family store 16. Ireland’s ___ 17. either’s partner 21. air conditioning (abbrev) 22. South Dildo (abbrev) 23. yes (colloq) 24. railroad (abbrev) 27. born 28. apartment 29. ship’s cross timber 30. “___ humbug!”

31. lads 32. chamber 33. reply to a proposal (hopefully) 34. birdie beds 38. Robin Hood ___ 39. he 40. devour 42. myself 46. fourth musical note on the scale M O R E T O N S H A R B O U R

A P O R A T C H O A P L E A S S I M P A S O A N S W

ANSWERS TO LAST MONTH’S CROSSWORD E P B P A R I I S N L G E

Y C O A H M A R E N C E E Y C H O V E S L E Y

V E Y E T A I V

I N A D S T O W P L O O N P O M S N C E O N R A T E I L L E

December 2021

K I N G S P H

133

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DIAL-A-SMILE © 2021 Ron Young

Pick the right letters from the old style phone to match the numbers grouped below and uncover a quote which will bring a smile to your face. _ ______ ____ 2 532654 6377 _ __ _ 6 67 3

__ _ _ _ _ _ 23 2 6 6 3 7

_______ _ _ 4676782 6 8

_____ ____ 46354 6377

__ 47

__ __ 94 36

____ _ _ __ 8654 5 3 59

Last Month’s Answer: Love your enemies.

It makes them so damned mad.

©2021 Ron Young

CRACK THE CODE

x

Each symbol represents a letter of the alphabet, for instance =s Try to guess the smaller, more obvious words to come up with the letters for the longer ones. The code changes each month.

S _ _ _ _ S S xG Q Q H xx

_ S _’ _

z xC A

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ H m H n A BzC 3

_ _ _ pG A

_ _ _ _ S

_ _ _

L

_ _

z A X ZQ H x S _ _ _ _

x A ZCY

_

Z

X ZC

S _ _ _ _ _ _ _ x A n Z z 3B A

Last Month’s Answer: A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.

134

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© 2021 Ron Young

Food For Thought

Each food symbol represents a letter of the alphabet. Find the meanings to the words then match the letters with the food symbols below to get a little “food for thought.”

delight =

enticing =

_ _ _

o mt

erode =

aw cq

dwellings =

_ _ _ _ _

i mnt c

_

_

qtnKqv Y d

faultless = _ _ _ _ _ _ _ KtaVtxq

_ _

_ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

confronting =

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

z atotxqvmY _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _

_

Y mq i vY d nmat _

z

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Y txt c c zat _ _

_ _ _

vY

q it _ _

m

V

_ _ _ _ _ _

Vz xvY d

_ _

vc _ _ _ _

q i zY _ _ _ _

cqtK

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

Kwa c wvq

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

c wx xt c c

Last Month’s Answer: Money and success don't change people; they merely amplify what is already there. www.downhomelife.com

December 2021

135

2112_Puzzles_1701-puzzles 10/28/21 9:57 AM Page 136

Different Strokes

Our artist’s pen made the two seemingly identical pictures below different in 12 places. See if you can find all 12.

ERN AND COAL BIN JOIN SANTA IN CAROLING

Last Month’s Answers: 1. Fence, 2. Coal Bin, 3. Rope, 4. Jacket, 5. Sail, 6. Rudder, 7. Spar, 8. Ern’s arm, 9. Table, 10. Scissors, 11. Bottle, 12. Saw “Differences by the Dozen”- A compilation of Different Strokes from 2002 to 2014 (autographed by Mel) can be ordered by sending $9.95 (postage incl.; $13.98 for U.S. mailing) to Mel D’Souza, 21 Brentwood Dr., Brampton, ON, L6T 1P8.

136

December 2021

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HIDE & SEEK SANTA CLAUS

The words can be across, up, down, backward or at an angle, but always in a line.

NICE PARADE POLE PRESENTS

BEARD BELLY BOOTS CHIMNEY CHRISTMAS COAL COOKIES ELVES HAT HOHOHO LIST MAGIC MILK NAUGHTY

H N Y V C V Q B L C P R Y M V Q J J

D U L P I I C K L D H G N P C S P N

X I L C G D L C F K N I M A C U V Y

B T E Q A I E T L M C D M G G I Z F

H V B D M B J O Z E T P H N F J X M

R M X M K O G G U B P C H A E R L X

Last Month’s Answers

I Q P A F E Z I T D J W P N E V T Q

T T Z P M W X T U O Z R C L W Y F A

www.downhomelife.com

Z O J H A T I L J W Y V V A A Q D P

K A H P W R A T S I L F Q V C I U R

F N E J J O A E F S X F M T O K N E

W E D V Z K V D L G K O L Z O Q P I

O B T W C L G Y E G N V S F K D Q N

R Q L T S F E A H Y O T U X P I I U

Y S B I E P B X G Y L A O C I B J D

RED REINDEER SLEIGH TOYS P X Q N P L S X I H G C P K U W Y C

E A P M A A T E A I T E N L Y B H M

K P Q H S H Z F A N O I G F E V S E

Q F T E E Q N G L B K D E O U N P I

F Q R E Z X G C N F K Z A V C L C L

S X K M A T M V Y W Y B N O S I W E

Y E U C H V E U A T F T F F Z A E K

C Q G V Q Z J F C K M A O E B Q B Y

T W G Z M Q N Q P T L G H T N Q N R

B X O J E M F B J E E W W A A G J H

J M Y T C Y R W A O B N D U S Q T T

O T F H T X R E H R Y T H G U A N H

L B Q X O Y K L G G F D P S W T X E

U Q L V F R H K W N E C C Q I T G Q

O M O D S I C R S H X G D Y O V T J

B T F N F N E P C I C L F J D D V C

Y M F O E U Q D P F I B S I I C U A

B K Q E I M S N D E I K P Z X L G L

Y E R T E T O C M F U A D R E Q I G

O Z U U G O T I E U J N R T G U H X

Y O S R R N O W B E R Z N J F S N L

B N I O G L Q E O M M O D L M I C W

R B S G H M Q H L B H P O H O H O H

S H T T S C T T L R P M Y M A V A A

J E G Y E T X T P E L H Y P O G Z G

P Y R M C R X S Y O T P J Y H M L W

X Y J Q G F U S O H M X C T L W C E

J G P H A P H B M F N O I H O G X X

H D R A E B L E L O P J A O S L Y C

F Y Z L S M O O T H I E G Z Q H Y I

F C X J U I F J R F U M V L I P R H

H R X N P P L S N K N R O W D V Q Q

December 2021

B S E J A H N R A L D U A S O Y H T

K V R J S S Y D F M C X Q C C K M U

H P M J E S T W H W I P I O K U L E 137

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Business For Sale

Baccalieu Sod Farms Inc. • Two Locations & Equipment Hearts Delight, NL • Approx. 49 acres with 30 acres in production Markland, NL • Approx. 130 acres with 30 acres in production

Bill Sheppard 709-746-5858 or bsheppard@remax.nf.ca ReMax Realty Specialists Ltd MLS# 1229519 & MLS# 1229512

Business For Sale

Downhome Real Estate Ad prices start at $50 for a 1 column x 1 inch colour advertisement.

This size fits approximately 20 words. The smallest size of advertisement with a picture is $100 for a 1 column x 2 inch advertisement.

Springdale, NL

3 Levels. Approx. 2800 Sq. Ft. per Floor. Basement, main floor & two apartments on top level. Includes $120,000 in inventory. $300,000 Contact 709-673-4512

709-726-5113 1-888-588-6353 advertising@downhomelife.com

Not intended to solicit properties currently under contract

LAND FOR SALE St. George’s

West Coast, NL Two Acres • Ocean Front $80,000

Contact: 709-641-1736 or 709-649-9482

709-726-5113 Licensed to do Business in Ontario.

Mortgage Agent # M18002662 FSCO# 12728

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December 2021

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Business For Sale

Vending & amusement serving western, northern, south-western and parts of central NL. Owners looking to retire. Serious inquiries only

709-646-5528 jblamusements@eastlink.ca

6(59,1* :(67(51 1(:)281'/ $1' 6,1&(

Z ZZ Z HV WHUQ1/ KR XV HV FR P

Book Today 709-726-5113 1-888-588-6353 advertising@downhomelife.com

Movers & Shippers

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DISCOUNT STORAGE 8' x 20' unheated storage units

A Family Moving Families Professionally and economically Coast to Coast in Canada Fully Insured

Covering all Eastern & Western Provinces and Returning Based from Toronto, Ontario Discount Prices Out of NL, NS & NB Newfoundland Owned & Operated

Newfoundland Owned & Operated

35 Years in the Moving Industry

St. John's, NL

Contact: Gary or Sharon King

709-726-6800

Toll Free: 1-866-586-2341 www.downhomemovers.com

Andy: 416-247-0639 Out West: 403-471-5313

www.downhomelife.com

aandkmoving@gmail.com

December 2021

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Bakeapple Partridgeberry Wild Blueberry

125 ml #1007 | $11.99 #45625 | $7.99

Bakeapple Partridgeberry

57 ml Bakeapple Partridgeberry Wild Blueberry

Dark Tickle Spread with Newman’s Port | 212ml

Blueberry #79371 | $13.99 Partridgeberry #79372 | $13.99

#49907 | $8.49 #49908 | $6.49 #49909 | $6.49

Dark Tickle Tin Teas | 40g $13.99 ea.

Bakeapple

#11874

Partridgeberry

#11875

Blueberry

#11876

Dark Tickle Tea Bags 20 Tea Bags $8.99 ea.

Screech Bakeapple Patridgeberry Blueberry Blueberry Green

Dark Tickle Loose Teas | 40g $9.99 ea.

Bakeapple Iceberg Partridgeberry

#79373 #79377 #79374

5 Tea Bags $4.59 ea.

#45644 #45641 #45642 #45643 #63348

Bakeapple Partridgeberry Blueberry

#63351 #32145 #32147

Dark Tickle Soap $6.99 ea.

Bakeapple

#79381

TO ORDER CALL: 1-888-588-6353 Prices subject to change without notice.While quantities last.

Blueberry

#79383

Partridgeberry

#79382

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GREAT GIFT IDEAS! Kids’ T-Shirt Cuter Than a Puffin $12.99 each

Infant (Sizes 6m, 12m, 18m) Hot Pink #78031 Light Blue #78050

Kids (Sizes 2, 4, 5/6) Royal Blue #78058 Light Pink #78054

Oh My Cod! Too Cute To Throw Back!

Infant T-Shirt (Sizes 6m, 12m, 18m) Pink #78809 | $13.99 Blue #76700 | $13.99

Infant Onesie

Ocean Green #78805 | $14.99

May the Forest Be With You Youth Tee Navy

#58301 | $16.99 Size 8, 10, 12

!

Clearance Stud Puffin

Unisex Boxers (Sizes S - XL)

#47832 | Was $21.99 Now $9.88

Unisex Pants (Sizes S - L)

#51944 | Was $36.99 Now $16.88

Moose Wars Youth Tee Black

#75864 $14.99 Size S-L

Youth Anchor Tee Purple

#79083 $14.99 Size S-L

ORDER ONLINE: www.shopdownhome.com Prices subject to change without notice.While quantities last.

2021GiftGuide_Layout 1 10/28/21 3:26 PM Page 143

MORE SELECTION ONLINE www.shopdownhome.com

Purity Goodie Box #79290 $52.99

Syrup

Jam Jams Cookies

750ml

$5.99 each

Hard Bread 625g

#78947 $8.99 350g #18709 | $6.99

Strawberry #79558 Raspberry #15358 Pineapple #77660

Jam Jams - 2 Pack Bull’s Eyes Candy

Candy Barrels

#1085 $4.99

#49556 $4.99

#79557 | $1.65

Peppermint $4.99 each

Nobs #4238 Lumps #4239

TO ORDER CALL: 1-888-588-6353 Prices subject to change without notice.While quantities last.

Kisses

$4.99 each Assorted #3997 Peanut Butter #4010 Rum & Butter #16805

2112_photo Finish_0609 Photo Finish 10/28/21 2:50 PM Page 144

photo finish

Christmastime in the

City

Falling snow and coloured lights make the season merry and bright on Water Street in St. John’s, NL. Cheryl Best Stouffville, ON

Do you have an amazing or funny photo to share?

Turn to page 9 to find out how to submit.

144

December 2021

1-888-588-6353

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