Downhome July 2019

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$4.99 July 2019

Vol 32 • No 02

A Song of Love and Disaster The Bravest Seaman in WWI MYSTERY-SOLVING MOOSE

Ceramics by the Sea

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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 Elizabeth Whitten Special Publications Editor Tobias Romaniuk Editorial Intern Steven Tapper Art and Production Art Director Vince Marsh Graphic and Web Designer Cory Way Illustrator Mel D’Souza Illustrator Snowden Walters

Warehouse Operations Warehouse Operator Josephine Collins Distribution Sales & Merchandising Joseph Reddy Sr. Customer Service Associate Sharon Muise Inventory Control Clerk Heather Lane Warehouse Associate Anthony Sparrow Retail Operations Retail Floor Manager, Water Street Jackie Rice Retail Floor Manager, Avalon Mall Carol Howell Retail Floor Manager, Twillingate Donna Keefe Retail Sales Associates Crystal Rose, Emma

Advertising Sales Senior Account Manager Robert Saunders Account Manager Barbara Young Marketing Director Tiffany Brett

Goodyear, Jonathon Organ, Nicole French, Elizabeth Gleason, Melissa Wheeler, Rebecca Ford, Erin McCarthy, Mackenzie Stockley, Marlene Burt, Jackie Burt

Finance and Administration Junior Accountant Marlena Grant Accounting Assistant Sandra Gosse Operations Manager Alicia Brennan Operations Manager, Twillingate Nicole Mehaney

Subscriptions Sr. Administrative Assistant Amanda Ricks Customer Service Associate Ciara Hodge Founding Editor Ron Young Chief Executive Officer / Publisher Grant Young President Todd Goodyear Chief Financial Officer Tina Bromley

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

Subscriptions total inc. taxes, postage and handling: for residents in NL $39; AB, BC, MB, NU, NT, QC, SK, YT $40.95; ON $44.07; NB, NS, PE $44.85. US and International mailing price for a 1-year term is $49.00.

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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seaside ceramics

Contents

JULY 2019

60 Women on Board Once more likely to stay ashore and handle the processing, the women of today’s fishery are just as inclined to ride the high seas with the men.

Kim Ploughman

80 Good News About Plastic A MUN researcher has found a way to turn fish waste into a petroleum-free plastic. Elizabeth Whitten

88 Meet the Potters

134 a hero’s honour www.downhomelife.com

Folklorist Dale Jarvis introduces us to local ceramic artists and the interesting history of pottery in Newfoundland and Labrador.

134 The Soldier Behind the Statue How a Newfoundlander became the face of the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve. Lester Green July 2019

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Contents

JULY 2019

homefront 10 I Dare Say A note from the editor 11 Contributors Meet the people behind the magazine

12 Letters A bus tour reunion, close encounters with celebrities, and spring break in NL

20 Downhome Tours Explore New Zealand with Downhome

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CFA encounter

22 Why is that Why can’t you smile for a passport photo? And why do we blow out birthday candles?

Linda Browne

24 That’s Amazing Wild news from around the world

26 Life’s Funny Drama Ends in Comedy Jerome Jesseau 27 Say What A contest that puts words in someone else’s mouth

28 Lil Charmers Fishin’ For Fun 30 Pets of the Month Going for Walkies

32 Blast from the Past Remember

26 32 no show

groovy!

Go-Go Boots?

36 Reviewed Denise Flint interviews Terry Doyle and reviews his short story collection, Dig.

38 What Odds For Paul Warford, everyone’s a critic 4

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40 rock in the rock

76

two of a kind

40 Do You See What They See?

features 48 Adventure Your Way A travel story with multiple endings Tobias Romaniuk

50 Dressing Generations Ever wonder where Ron Hynes got his trademark hat? Adrian House

54 New Newfoundlanders Diversity is the fresh face of Newfoundland and Labrador Marcia Porter

68 Lucky Sea Charms Old-time tokens and superstitions of seafarers to ensure safe voyages or ward off drowning Dennis Flynn

76 Digging Into the Roots An exploration of the similarities between Newfoundland traditional music and bluegrass music Tobias Romaniuk www.downhomelife.com

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Contents

JULY 2019

102 strange visitors

explore 86 What’s on the Go Exciting events happening around Atlantic Canada 98 Art at the Gate A popular outport launches another festival, this time appealing to visual artists.

Tobias Romaniuk

102 Wild Backyards Readers’ photos of unexpected visitors to their gardens 108 Stuff About What do the Muppets, George Orwell and the Chinese Zodiac have in common?

food and leisure 110 Everyday Gourmet Bakeapple Mignonette Andrea Maunder

114 Everyday Recipes 8 fruit flavours

122 Down to Earth Sowing and Growing Annual Herbs Ross Traverse 6

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126 way back when

reminiscing 126 Flashbacks Classic photos of people and places

127 This Month in History The Nickel Theatre and cinematic beginnings in NL

128 Newfoundlandia A Song of Love and Disaster Chad Bennett About the cover Photographer Elizabeth (ocean_jewell33 on Instagram) took this amazing iceberg photo one "gorgeous day in Tizzard’s Harbour," she tells Downhome.

“The two ladies featured in the photo took oodles of photos and enjoyed themselves tremendously!”

Cover Index Seafaring Superstitions • 68 Fish Plastic? • 80 Adventure Your Way • 48 A Song of Love and Disaster • 128 The Bravest Seaman in WWI • 134 Mystery-Solving Moose • 24 Ceramics by the Sea • 88 www.downhomelife.com

130 Killed in Action The short, brave career of Philip Petite of English Harbour West Doug Wells 138 Between the Boulevard and the Bay Ron Young waxes poetic about his Newfoundland Vacation

140 Mail Order 144 Real Estate 145 Marketplace 148 Puzzles 160 Photo Finish July 2019

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Choose your own summer adventure.

We set you off on a journey – you decide how it ends p. 48

Watch Dave Rowe play a song two ways on Downhomelife.com/magazine.

See related story p. 76.

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The bravest seaman of WWI page 134

Send us your whale photos!

Downhomelife.com/submit

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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!

Send your photo, story, joke or poem to

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. www.downhomelife.com

July 2019

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i dare say If I had my time back...

Todd Young photo

I would have gone to university. I would not have eaten that third slice of pie. I would have paid for the extra warranty…

We all look back on choices we made and wonder if it was the right one, or how things might have been different if we had walked through door No. 2. Especially in moments of weakness or doubt, we wish for the chance to do it all over again.

For instance, on our Gros Morne trip last summer, my husband and I were out on an evening bike ride when we came upon this little pond. The water was calm and the air warm, ideal for a paddle. It was getting late and we figured by the time we got our kayaks from our campsite to this spot, we’d have less than an hour before dark closed in. So we said, we’ll come back another day.

But it turned out to be the only kayaking window we got during that trip. So if I had my time back, we’d race back for the kayaks and make the most of the evening.

We explore the idea of travel do-overs in a very special feature this month: Adventure Your Way (p. 48). It was inspired by those Choose Your Own Adventure books.

It’s the first time we’ve ever tried this in the magazine, and we had a lot of fun mapping out the various ways your adventure could end. It’s a whimsical exploration of part of the province, taking you wherever to do whatever strikes your fancy each time you’re at an intersection in the road. And if you get to one destination and wonder what your day might have been like had you taken the other road, you can “have your time back” and return to the crossroads to make a new choice and experience a different day.

Life presents us with many paths to take, and there are always decisions to make along the way. The best we can hope for are more good things to remember and less to regret.

Thanks for reading,

Janice Stuckless, Editor-in-chief janice@downhomelife.com 10

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Contributors

Meet the people behind the magazine

Cory Way

Marcia Porter

Cory Way has been a Downhome Inc. graphic and web designer since 2007.

You might not see his byline on any stories when you flip through the magazine, but his work is everywhere, such as the illustrations that bring That’s Amazing to life (see page 24).

He graduated from the College of the North Atlantic’s graphic design program. When he was first hired at Downhome, his role was initially more focused on web design but soon shifted to include graphic design.

“Every day you are doing something different. Whether it is design, layout, IT, photography, e-newsletters, printing, cutting, folding, website development – you never know what the day will throw at you,” he says.

Now at the magazine for 12 years and having worked on hundreds of issues as well as other Downhome Inc. publications, including Inside Labrador and Home and Cabin, “it is still enjoyable working on featured stories in Downhome,” Cory says.

When not at work, Cory trades in his computer for a bass guitar and plays in a rock band.

While Marcia Porter grew up in PEI and makes frequent trips back, she’s called Newfoundland and Labrador home since 1998. “The two islands complement each other – one gentle and rolling, the other bold and rugged.

There’s just something about islands that still intrigues me. I love exploring them – the more remote the better!”

In this issue of Downhome, she’s writing about the newcomers to this province who have also decided to make their homes here (see page 54).

“It was really fun talking to Moody, Stefanie and Safaa; they were lovely and so hospitable,” Marcia says.

When she visited one couple living in Kilbride, they served her Turkish coffee, “which was delicious!” she recalls. They also bonded over a shared love of literature.

“While writing this article I learned that newcomers have many more supports and resources than in the past, particularly through the Association for New Canadians [ANC], which is great! Also, I had no idea that the ANC had satellite offices across the province.”

www.downhomelife.com

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Berg Spotting

Here’s a photo from our trip to Little Bay Islands, May 20, 2019, to see the icebergs and I’m showing off the May issue of Downhome. It’s a beautiful spot to see huge icebergs.

Colin Cramm Grand Falls-Windsor, NL

Nice photo, Colin. This has been a banner year for bergs up and down the coast.

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Went Away to See Come From Away My sister and I took a pleasure trip to New York City last week and had the great fortune of taking in “Come From Away” on Broadway. We took with us a Newfoundland flag from the The Newfie Corner store in Innisfil, Ontario, as well as a copy of the Downhome magazine. After an amazing show we had our NL flag signed by several members of the cast. Cast member Sharon Wheatley used our Downhome copy to fan herself after a long show and then posed for a photo with it. Sharon Wheatley played Diane and others in the musical.

Lisa Keough Ontario

Clearly Sharon Wheatley recognized Downhome as a big “fan” of their show! Thanks for sharing your experience and this fun photo. We’ve gotten several photos from fans who’ve seen Come From Away in NYC and Toronto – and we’d love to see more. Anyone seen it in London yet? Readers can share them anytime the way Lisa did, by visiting Downhomelife.com. www.downhomelife.com

What are the Odds?!

The odds of the following story taking place are probably in the millions. But happen, it did!

On May 1, 2019, my wife, Mary and I were sitting at our gate at St. John’s International Airport waiting to board our flight to Toronto and on to Calgary to visit family. I take my Downhome whenever I travel, and to pass the time I was reading Ed Power’s article “My Celebrity Debut” (page 90, April issue), where he met and became friends with NL’s very own Alan Doyle and his family at Woody Island.

I looked up once and saw two men standing apart from everyone, having a chat, also waiting for their flight. I went back to reading the article – for about 10 seconds – then my head jolted back up rather quickly. I looked at the picture in the article, looked up again and said to my wife, “Holy Moses! It’s Alan Doyle and our other great legend, Mr. Bob Cole!”

My mind raced. If I let this moment go, I’ll never forgive myself! I took my Downhome and walked over to them.

Mind now, I’m not a young man, but I was as excited as a little kid and trying to find words!

I excused my interference in their chat. I said, “Alan, what are the odds?”

I showed him the article I was reading when I looked up and saw him and Bob Cole. Alan said, “Wow! How cool is that!”

I asked Mr. Bob Cole to autograph one page and Mr. Alan Doyle, the page with his photo on it. I shook their hands and thanked them. A couple of minutes later the plane was boarding when I suddenly realized, “Good grief!

I forgot to take my camera over with me!” Too late! They were gone. I should have pushed my luck just a July 2019

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find corky sly conner 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:

Congratulations to Loretta Bryant of Kensington, PEI, who found Corky on page 32 of the May issue.

little bit further and taken the camera.

But I was thankful to meet them and have their autographs.

P.S. I gave up Readers Digest years ago for Downhome and that was a GREAT move. Keep it up and don’t ever give up the puzzle section!

Aiden Moriarty Via email

Corky Contest 43 James Lane St. John’s, NL, A1E 3H3

mail@downhomelife.com www.downhomelife.com *No Phone Calls Please One entry per person

Deadline for replies is the end of each month.

your Downhome wherever you go.

You never know how it might come in handy! (And don’t worry, Aiden, the puzzles aren’t going anywhere!)

Note About NONIA We visited NONIA last October and finally got to see the spinning wheel built by my great-grandfather that is still in the store. Wonderful people and products at NONIA – a must-see for anyone visiting.

William Cook Via Downhomelife.com

So not only is Downhome an entertaining way to pass the time, but it’s also a great way to meet celebrities! Let that be a lesson to other readers – take 14

July 2019

William left this as a comment on This Month in History from the May issue, which we posted on our website. It was about the 1920 founding of the Outport Nursing Committee that evolved into the Newfoundland Outport Nursing and Industrial Association, which still has a shop on Water St. in St. John’s.

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This Wasn’t Yesterday’s News Spring cleaning unveils a lot miscellaneous items... some that you have totally forgot existed! Today’s find was a pleasant reflection of years ago when I lived out West. Mom and Dad would send me the Downhomer magazine to keep me in touch with home! These are all dated 1990. Lots have changed in 30 years!

Jim Butt Pasadena, NL

Yes, a lot has changed. That’s for sure! But one thing that we’re happy to say has not changed is how we keep folks connected to Newfoundland and Labrador no matter where they are. And there are still parents sending Downhome magazines to their homesick kids!

www.downhomelife.com

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Bus Tour Reunion

In May 2013, Pat and Dave Stratton, and Beverley Howe and Steve Gale of Corner Brook, NL, took a 30-day bus tour through Europe. There were 39 other passengers on the bus from different parts of Australia and New Zealand.

Many great friendships were formed and continued through Facebook over the years. One of our fellow travellers, Ian Sturrock of Cremorne, New South Wales, came to Newfoundland twice to visit with the Newfoundlanders.

In April 2019, the Newfoundlanders decided to travel to Australia and New Zealand. Mr. Sturrock worked tirelessly to arrange a reunion dinner at the Kirribilli Club in Sydney, Australia, for us. He also planned a week of activities for the 21 people who attended the reunion. It was an amazing night for all who attended the function, including members of Mr. Sturrock’s family. A highlight of the night included a video conference with one couple, Mario and Louisa, who were unable to attend due to medical reasons.

It is a testament to friendship when people who live so far apart can come together to enjoy each other’s company after six years. There are already talks of this group coming together again in a couple of years.

Patricia Stratton Corner Brook, NL

Most people hope for souvenirs and photos from their vacation – these folks created lasting friendships. What a lovely story. Here’s a photo Patricia sent from their reunion. Back Row (l-r): David Khoury, Gary McNicholl, Barry Kingdom, Steve Garbutt, Di Hill, Ian Sturrock, Pat Stratton, Dave Stratton (holding Downhome magazine), Steve Gale, Raylene and Trevor Dedini, Peter and Janet Graves, David Connolly. Seated Front Row (l-r): Beverley Howe, Robyn McNicholl, Chris Kingdom, Lyn Garbutt, Lourice Khoury, Chris Connolly, Wayne Hill.

Letters contnued on p. 18 16

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Where to see Newfoundland Ponies!

Hitting the road this summer and wondering where you can see Newfoundland Ponies in Newfoundland and Labrador? Here are a few places we know of. These pony owners love to show off their ponies, but we recommend you get in touch with them in advance. Enjoy!

Change Islands Newfoundland Pony Sanctuary Change Islands, NL Netta LeDrew runs this amazing sanctuary for Newfoundland Ponies and has put her heart and soul into it. You’ll need to take a ferry to get here, but we promise you it’s worth it. Rumour has it Netta has a Newfoundland Pony named after the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middelton.

Tel: (709) 884-6953 or (709) 621- 6381 Email: nlponyrefuge@hotmail.com www.changeislands.ca/popups/pop_ponies.htm

NL Pony Pals Project

South River (between Cupids and Clarke’s Beach)

The NL Pony Pals Project was started by a group of Newfoundland Pony owners in Conception Bay North who have their ponies turned out on a community pasture in the summer. Money raised by the Newfoundland Pony Pals Project goes straight back into helping Newfoundland Ponies by providing hay, feed and farrier services.

Email: Contact Byron Hierlihy at byronhierlihy@yahoo.ca or Tammy Webber at strawberrypony99@hotmail.com

Dixie H Farms Goulds (5 Cochrane Pond Road)

The Hansford family have a beautiful farm with Newfoundland Ponies close to St. John’s. They have 7 Newfoundland Ponies, including 2 foals and a baby on the way in August.

Tel: (709) 685-4593. Email: Jimhansford51@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/dixiehfarm/

Newfoundland Ponies of Cappahayden Cappahayden (Southern Shore)

Liz Chafe has been rescuing and helping Newfoundland Ponies most of her life and is an expert on the breed and the various bloodlines. You’ll find Liz repairing her fences and showcasing her beloved ponies on the rugged coast by windswept seas just past Renews.

Stunning views!

Tel: (709) 363-2886. Email:lizchafe001@gmail.com

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Spring Break in NL

Seeking Info on Percys / Pierceys

This is Donna Angell and her niece, Pamela Greenham, enjoying a day at the beach with the ice in Carmanville harbour. Donna is home visiting from Fort McMurray, AB, and Pamela is out from St John’s. You can take the girls from the bay, but you can’t take the bay from the girls.

I am looking for information on my great-great-grandparents, Joseph and Susanna Percy or Piercey. Joseph was born in 1827 and Susanna in 1830 at Pass Island, Hermitage Bay. I am wondering if anyone might know when they were married and what Susanna’s maiden name was. They had a daughter, Parthenea (or Berthanea), my great-grandmother.

Parthenea was married to Thomas Skinner in Richard’s Harbour and they had a son, Joseph William Skinner, who was called Joe Willie. He was my grandfather. If people of Hermitage Bay would have any information on this family line back to Joseph and Susanna Percy/Piercey, I would like you to share it with me. Hermitage Bay people are good people, don’t you think?

Madeline Greenham Carmanville, NL

Jeremiah Osmond Channel-Port aux Basques, NL

As anyone missing home will tell you, any day around the bay is a good day!

It looks like the ladies know how to seize the day in style.

Anyone with information on this family line of Percys or Pierceys is asked to please contact Jeremiah by phone at 709-695-3577 or by email at nadine.osmond@gmail.com.

Dear readers,

Would you like to comment on something you’ve read in Downhome?

Do you have a question for the editors or for other readers? Submit your letter to the editor at DownhomeLife.com/letters or write to us at 43 James Lane, St. John’s, NL, A1E 3H3.

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homefront Downhome Tours...

New Zealand

Fiord Calling

Daniel Devin was reminded of Newfoundland and Labrador while cruising through Milford Sound in New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park last February.

At 12,607 square kilometres, Fiordland National Park is the largest of the 14 national parks in New Zealand. It was founded in 1952 and is a part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. In the far distant past, glaciers carved out fiords here, and the most famous today is Milford Sound.

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All Aboard

Dave and Patricia Long, from Fairport, NY, were visiting their friends in Dunedin, New Zealand, and stopped outside the grand Dunedin Railway Station.

The Dunedin Railway Station is known as “Gingerbread George,” after the man who designed it, George Troup. It opened in 1906, and today it’s one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks. It’s open to the public, and the booking hall has a mosaic floor made up of almost 750,000 Royal Doulton porcelain tiles.

Vacation in the Vines

To celebrate their 30th anniversary, this couple travelled to New Zealand’s Marlborough Region to drink their favourite wine, Sauvignon blanc. It’s the perfect spot to enjoy a glass because it’s the Sauvignon blanc capital of the world. (photo submitted by Doreen Lovell-Hann, Labrador City, NL)

The Marlborough region produces 77 per cent of New Zealand’s wine, and the most popular is Sauvignon blanc. The region’s hot days followed by cooler nights create a prolonged ripening season for the grapes. www.downhomelife.com

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Expert answers to common life questions.

By Linda Browne

Why can’t you smile for a passport photo?

Have you ever glanced at your passport photo and wondered who the grumpy grouse is staring back at you? I mean, why so serious? Is it because the folks at the passport office just enjoy looking at surly mugs all day?

Or do they not want you looking like you’re having too good of a time before you head off on that long-awaited holiday? Turns out there’s a fairly simple explanation as to why smiling on passport photos is a no-no.

Prior to August 2003, there were no specific requirements for facial expressions in passport photos, says Brianna Lessard, communications analyst with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) – the government department that took over passport issuing authority from the now defunct Passport Canada in 2013.

“If an applicant was smiling in a photo, it was not a criteria for it to be rejected,” she writes in an email to Downhome. However, as of August 15, 2003, Lessard says, the Passport Program began requesting neutral facial expressions (eyes open and clearly visible, mouth closed, no smiling) to help enhance security standards of passports. These recommendations were set out by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for aviation issues.

“This allows us to use facial recogni22

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tion [FR] systems to help prevent fraud by electronically verifying identity based on each person’s unique facial features,” Lessard says. “Facial recognition is the process of identifying a person by acknowledging the familiarity of their facial characteristics. The Passport Program has used facial recognition technology since late 2009 to detect and prevent fraud.”

The photo specifications, including a neutral facial expression, were considered the highest standard for passport photos, Lessard says. “In order to facilitate fast, safe travel for Canadians who may travel to countries that had implemented FR, these standards were implemented by Canada.”

So the next time you find yourself staring into a camera lens, waiting for the photographer to take your passport snap, and your first instinct is to “Smile!” – just say no.

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Why do we blow out birthday candles?

Why is it that once a year, we take a perfectly good baked dessert and set it alight to celebrate being another year older? A closer look at ancient Greece offers a glimpse into the origins of this tasty tradition.

In ancient Athens, a sacrificial cake (called an amphiphon) was offered to Artemis, goddess of the hunt and the moon, says Dr. Amber Porter, sessional instructor with the department of classics and religion at the University of Calgary.

“It was a cheesecake-type cake with dadia in it (or around it); dadia are ‘little torches’ – what I assume most have translated as ‘candles,’ but they weren’t wax candles like we have,” she writes via email to Downhome. “It’s probably safe to assume that these cakes were round because we know that most were. The name of them, amphiphontes, means ‘shining allround.’ The ‘little torches’ appear to have been made of wood,” she adds.

“These cakes were offered to Artemis on the day of the full moon (around the 16th) in the month of Munychion (which equates to about April/May).”

Some scholars have noted that the round cakes and accompanying candles mimicked the glowing celestial body over which Artemis had dominion. According to a study published in the Journal of Food Research, which looks at the transfer of bacteria associated with blowing out candles on a

cake (spoiler alert: it’s gross), some ancient cultures also believed that the smoke from the candles helped carry their wishes and prayers up to the heavens.

While the Romans used cakes to help celebrate birthdays, this practice was reserved for more affluent folk. It wasn’t until the 15th century rolled around, when German bakers began making birthday cakes, that they started to experience a bit of a rebirth.

Over time, the cakes became more elaborate and candles were added.

It’s said that during the German Kinderfeste (children’s birthday parties), the candles totalled the child’s age, plus one extra to wish a long life.

Eventually, adults adopted this practice as well. The aforementioned study describes the celebration for a Count Ludwig Von Zinzendorf who, in 1700s Germany, received a birthday cake with candles matching his age.

As the 19th century came to a close, and the Industrial Revolution made ingredients cheaper to make and purchase, the tradition of having a frosted cake to ring in another year of living became widespread.

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

That’s

AMAZING Wild news from around the world

Mystery Solving Moose

On a recent Saturday night, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary in St. John’s, NL, received calls about a moose wondering about town. Officers tracked down the loose moose and tried to steer the animal away from downtown, but not before it led them right to a vehicle that had recently been reported stolen.

Who Needs Coffee?

Between the First and Second World Wars, Switzerland began to stockpile coffee in the event of shortages caused by catastrophe, such as war or crop failure.

But now the government wants to do away with the emergency reserves, arguing that coffee isn’t essential to life. When the coffee drinkers get a whiff of this, it could be grounds for a roasting.

Keeping it Clean

A new study from the Hirslanden Clinic in Switzerland revealed that dog fur is cleaner than human facial hair! When running beard samples and dog hair through the same MRI machine, researchers found more germs in the human samples.

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Kid Goes Missing

When a 12-week-old goat went missing after a baby goat snuggling event in Ladysmith, BC, the farm’s owner went all out trying to track it down. He enlisted the help of private investigators as well as clairvoyants for any clues.

Soon after, three psychics claimed the baby goat was still alive, but they couldn’t say where it was. There’s also a $1,200 reward for information that could help lead the farmer to his goat. As of press time, the baby goat was still on the lamb.

Four out of Five Ain’t Bad For the past year, digital marketing agency Versa has been experimenting on their employees. They’ve been giving their employees the Wednesday off while still paying them for the full work-week. The results have been surprisingly spectacular; revenue has gone up and profits have tripled. Employees also report being happier and more productive.

$

29.95

This is a compilation of original artworks and stories that reveal the artist, the era, and the place where he discovered his own distinctive artist’s style as a youngster, and then honed his talents into a mature portrayer of daily life in Newfoundland, Canada. His oil paintings are widely sought after, and can be seen in many galleries and private homes.

This book commemorates both the art and the artist in stunning reality and lyrical revelations of past times.

WWW.CROSSFIELDPUBLISHING.CA 8 x 10 inches landscape, quality soft cover. Colour, 112 pages, more than 60 artworks. Crossfield Publishing, June 2018. ISBN 978-1- 7751496-2- 0

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homefront life’s funny

Drama Ends in Comedy When we were kids growing up in Grand Falls in the 1950s60s, we considered ourselves the luckiest family in town.

Why? Our mother was the ticket seller at the old Popular Theatre, and we got to see all the latest movies for free.

One day Mom told us we weren’t allowed to go to the “show” (movies) that week. She explained that the risqué movie Peyton Place was playing and it was suitable only for adults.

I knew that my younger brother had misunderstood Mom’s explanation when I overheard him tell one of his pals, “We can’t go to the show this week. They’re paintin’ the place.”

Jerome Jesseau Corner Brook, NL

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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nobs?

“Peppermint nobs?” t in m r e p p e p What Robin Cuff –

Say WHAT? Downhome recently posted this photo (sent in by Nicole Watson) on our website and Facebook page and asked our members to imagine what the chipmunk might be saying. Robin Cuff’s response made us chuckle the most, so we’re awarding her 20 Downhome Dollars!

Here are the runners-up: “Keeping my nuts in my cheeks so they don’t freeze.” – Doug Hicks “I should have gotten my mumps vaccine.” – Thich Nu Tinh Quang “Don’t look at me like that! I have no idea what happened to the seed in your bird feeder. Do I LOOK like a bird to you?” – Fran Coursolle

Want to get in on the action?

Go to www.downhomelife.com/saywhat

www.downhomelife.com

“Like” us on Facebook www.facebook.com/downhomelife

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homefront lil charmers

Fishin’ For Fun Fun on the Lake Waiting for a bite on Juniper Lake as the sun goes down.

Roy Rogers Dover, NL

What a catch Nicholas happily shows off his catch from a successful fishing trip with his dad.

Daisy Hollohan Summerville, NL

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Rub-a-dub-dub It’s never too early to learn how to fish.

Colin Smith Beaverton, ON

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homefront pets of the month

going for walkies

Dogs’ Eye View Finnegan and Harley are out enjoying the beautiful scenery of Blackhead, NL Kerri-Leigh Pittman Mount Pearl, NL

Purr-fect Conditions Mario loves to get outdoors and feel the grass under his paws.

Trudy Kenway Baine Harbour, NL

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On the Trail Sid takes a moment to appreciate the view of Chambers Cove while on a walk.

Kelly Keating Conception Bay South, NL

Rolling With It Rudy the Golden Retriever loves to roll around on fresh grass!

Barbara Critch Mississauga, ON

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homefront

Remember Go-Go Boots?

Joanie Labine

carefully drops the needle on a record one night in 1964. As the music starts, careful turns to carefree and she begins to dance. The tassels of her short skirt sway in rhythm to the music as her feet, in low-heeled boots, move to the beat. Her DJ booth is suspended above the dance floor to the right of the stage (the band is on a break) and the patrons of Whisky A Go Go, a new bar on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, assume it’s part of the show. Joanie is just dancing, though, and in dancing, she created a whole new aspect of the club scene – the go-go dancer.

Soon, in bars across North America and Europe, go-go dancers are twisting and twirling in cages, on platforms and beside stages, usually wearing a version of those same boots Labine wore, which would become known, 32

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appropriately enough, as go-go boots.

The original boots were christened Courreges boots by the high fashion crowd in Paris, France, where designer André Courrèges created the boot in his newly opened fashion house. The style proved popular and was soon adopted by ready-to-wear footwear makers, who made it available to the masses. Courrèges himself played with the form, making versions of various heights and materials, including leather and vinyl. That design – an unadorned boot with a chunky, mid-rise heel and a height anywhere from mid-calf to knee, in leather or vinyl – would come to define the style of the go-go boot and, ultimately, the go-go dancer.

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reviewed by Denise Flint

Dig Terry Doyle Breakwater Books $19.95

Anyone looking for a summer beach read of the escapist va-

riety probably shouldn’t pick up Terry Doyle’s short story collection, Dig. It’s steeped in the everyday minutia of a working class existence.

The people who inhabit the pages are just regular joes and their occasional jills. They cling precariously to employment, never able to rely on a steady income, coping with financial insecurity simply because that’s the hand they were dealt. No point in complaining: no one would listen. With a couple of exceptions, the stories are mainly about young adults – those starting relationships, starting families, starting to realize what lies ahead. And what doesn’t. In some ways, I preferred the two stories about adolescents simply because their lives were less static. They had the potential to change, something many of the other characters did not.

Yet the characters keep on going. If there are any heroics performed in these stories, they’re the small kind performed by ordinary people that usually go unmentioned – small acts of kindness that keep us human and engaged in the world. Two men shovelling snow and only charging those that can afford it. A woman uncharacteristically showing appreciation for a favour she’d taken as her due.

Doyle has written a quiet and thoughtful book, a set of stories about people who, ironically, might never read a book like this. Because of that it almost feels a little voyeuristic to read – people are being observed and they don’t even realize it. And that may be the book’s greatest strength.

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Q&A with the Author Denise Flint: Which is your favourite story?

Terry Doyle: I think probably “Bawdens Highland.” It probably stuck with me the most. That’s where I walked my dog, and I wrote the ideas down really quickly as I walked. And as I went I’d try to think about other stories; but when I was there I would always think about that story, and the more I thought about it the more nuanced it became to me. It has more happening under the surface. I don’t know if readers will agree.

DF: Have you always wanted to be a writer?

TD: No. I guess I was 19 or 20 when I decided it was something that I wanted to do and would really suit me... I always wanted to do something creative. I tried when I was younger and then left it for a decade, and when my best friend got sick and was in the grips of death I decided I should try again so I wouldn’t live with regret. I didn’t even read recreationally until I was 19.

DF: Why don’t males read (as much as females do)?

TD: I dunno. It’s common amongst most of my peers. I’m from a trades background. I’ve had disgusting things muttered at me for reading.

Maybe it’s not manly enough. Our attention span is short. We want instant gratification. Reading is an escape for women. If you have nothing to escape from, why read? It’s not something I’ve thought about. I might have two male friends who read www.downhomelife.com

recreationally who aren’t also writers.

DF: You acknowledge a great many people at the end who helped you.

Is writing no longer a solitary occupation? And how important is the writing community to you?

TD: It’s still very much a solitary occupation – very lonely. But being alone all the time makes you appreciate company. It means an awful lot to go to your writing group or get an email.

I joined WANL [Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador] and took classes and joined a writing group at Memorial, and the list just kept growing of people who were willing to help as well as give emotional support and solidarity.

DF: I understand you’re writing a novel. Are you finding any differences that surprise you between the two types of writing?

TD: Absolutely. Writing a novel is a lot harder. It’s really difficult to hold the whole thing in your mind and see where it needs work, or find the holes or see where it needs connective tissue. I really enjoy stepping back at the end of the day, and with a novel all you really have is word count. Short stories are much more joyful and free because I don’t know where they’re going, and if they go nowhere that’s okay because it’s only a couple of weeks [of work]. But with a novel you can go months and months without realizing what’s happening. I’m at 100,000 words and who knows what will be in the final draft? I’ve added elements that are getting tangly.

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homefront what odds

everyone’s a critic

By Paul Warford

Nothing has “How much longer this go on?” changed since must “Now that’s a good question,” I hissed at my the days of wife, in response to what the actor had just said I was satisfied when she stifled a laugh the Roman onscreen. into her popcorn. colosseum; We were in a packed movie theatre, watching the crowd the popular springtime blockbuster, Avengers: Endgame. The movie was touted as the final always has chapter of the Marvel universe saga and fans been and were keen for a resolution. By the time I was making this joke with Andie, we’d already been always will in there for two and a half hours, so I was ready be fickle. for a resolution myself. The good guys had already beaten the bad guys, and I felt as though I was now watching an excuse to include cameos of other “heroes” from past movies. We’d known the running time for Endgame was just over three hours, but it still somehow managed to feel longer. Would the sun be up by the time we stashed our trash and left? What time was it?

So, like millions of others, I took to the internet the next day to let everyone know what I thought of the movie, injecting as much sarcasm and cynicism as my little heart could manage. “Better pack a lunch!” and stuff like that. I mean, it wouldn’t stop them from making more superhero movies, and it wouldn’t cut down the running time of Endgame, and it probably wouldn’t stop anyone from watching it (most of the internet loved it), but it made me feel good about myself.

What does that say about me, though? What have I gotten caught up in? Who cares what I think about this film or any other? I don’t know much about comic books, I don’t know much about making an action flick, I don’t go for coffee with the actors – really, why would anyone give a damn?

As several of you must know, “Game of

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Thrones,” the grandiose, big-budget HBO conversion of the famed fantasy fiction book series of the same name, has now concluded. Andie and I watched a lot of the show, but we’re still a season behind the monumental crux of the thing that was aired for millions a few nights ago. So, what did the more diligent fans think of “Game of Thrones” as a complete package?

Did they like the ending? No, readers, they did not.

Twitter, Facebook and all the other avenues are clogged with negative reviews and snarky appraisals, mounting to what can only be described as a public, widespread hissy fit. They hated the ending, they felt cheated by the abrupt resolution, and they couldn’t believe they wasted the past eight years watching this affront.

Although I didn’t take time to verify this, I’d bet the iron throne that most of these decriers are the same folks who lauded each episode, week after week, for close to a decade. Nothing has changed since the days of the Roman colosseum; the crowd always has been and always will be fickle.

What must the actors think of audience reaction to their final performances on “Game of Thrones”? I hope they have skin as thick as the boiled leather armour they had to wear in the blowing breezes of Belfast, filming scenes again and again until they were perfect, during those 10- and 12-hour days for months on end.

I did an academic paper on CODCO about a year ago. During the research, www.downhomelife.com

I found archived fan mail (and you can see it yourself at Memorial University’s library) sent to the performers.

Most mail was from the era of their CBC television program, but other pieces were directed towards their live stage shows. Most loved the performances. Some religious patrons disliked their satirization of the Catholic church, but even these admonishments were hand-written and mailed; someone had taken the time.

Public criticism now takes no time, and the “Game of Thrones” backlash is a culmination of this; entitled, selfabsorbed layabouts who couldn’t hope to muster the fervor needed to be a gaffer on a “Game of Thrones” set, let alone a lead performer or head writer.

You can’t please everybody, but I think fans of yesterday’s programs and shows would have been less polarized and perhaps a little more patient.

Now, everybody thinks they know better, everybody thinks they’re owed, and after Avengers: Endgame I was just like the rest of them.

Something to think about, right?

Please, if you have any thoughts on this or any other “What Odds” piece, feel free to write the Downhome office and give me what for.

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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One of the stories to come out of the recent

devastating fire at Notre Dame Cathedral was about a photo that seemed to show the outline of Jesus in the flames. This cognitive inclination to interpret random patterns of light, colour and shadows as something familiar, such as a face, is called pareidolia. It’s the same mental process that creates our impression of the “man” in the moon. And it may be why so many readers see the shape of Newfoundland and Labrador in random things. Here are some of the unexpected places where the outline of this province has mysteriously emerged.

Do you see what they see?

Island in the Cloud

This picture was taken in Cavendish, Trinity Bay. I was surprised to see, looking back at this photo, that the clouds outline the island of Newfoundland.

Pam Cranford: Ottawa

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Newfoundland Eggs One Sunday morning for breakfast we cooked steak and eggs.

We sat down to eat and a few minutes later, after our daughter Julia had a few bites of her eggs, she says, “Mom! It’s Newfoundland!” She showed me her breakfast plate – Newfoundland with a side of steak!

Leanne Kelly: Mount Pearl, NL

Newfoundland on Ice This was spotted on a cliff face in Outer Cove, NL, in March 2018.

Edward Wakeham: St. John’s, NL

Frozen Form

You can see the berg was really in the shape of Newfoundland.

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On the Nose

My friend Anita Pelley has a true Newfie cat, showing his pride with the shape of Newfoundland on his face! This is her son Haydon holding her cat. They live in Springdale, NL. Ella Head: Tumbler Ridge, BC

Forged in the Sunset

Out through my front door I took a picture of the beautiful setting sun. Looking at the photo later, I noticed that inside the glow of the sun this maple leaf looks very similar to the shape of Newfoundland.

Tina Legge: Deer Lake, NL

The Rock in the Rock

The sharply angled shape of Newfoundland seems to push itself out from this rock in Hibb’s Hole (Port de Grave).

Calvin Perry: Oshawa, ON

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Nearly Flipped

This picture was taken by my brother, Harry Mercer of Blaketown, NL. He was frying fish one evening, dipping it in egg and then flour. When he was done he thought it wasteful to throw away the leftover egg, so he threw it in the frying pan. In between watching the evening news he ran to flip over the egg, and when he did, this is what it looked like. You would think it was artwork, but it’s nothing more than flipping an egg.

Phyllis Gulliver: Dildo, NL

Sea Stack or See Something Else?

This rock shaped like Newfoundland rises out of the ocean near Carbonear, NL. Chris Ricker: Cookstown, ON

Home-Cooked Beef

I was sitting down to supper when I noticed my roast beef was in the shape of Newfoundland.

Amanda Hunt: Ontario

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So Cheesie

I found this cheesie Newfoundland look-a-like during a lunch stop in Gander, NL. I searched through the bag for Labrador, but to no avail.

Andrea O’Brien: Cape Broyle, NL

Finger Pointing

My friends and I went to supper one night and we had chicken fingers and fries. One of the chicken fingers was in the exact shape of Labrador!

Leah Noseworthy: Cartwright, NL

Labrador’s the Breast

I recognized this shape of Labrador in a frozen chicken breast as soon as I removed it from the box.

Trudy Gosse: Clarenville, NL

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features

is n. In th nd fictio a t cter. c ra fa a f h c a mix o e main ’s th It : re y a r to ou es you ut this s style travel story, y nding on the choic are o b a d r ” A wo the story ry, depe venture ents in this sto your ad ings to ir comm d e n “choose e th acebook F d le r n eople a d on ou re multip p e a k e s h a re T e ntures e . h T ding it the adve stions w hile rea on, but s to que ti e c li are real. fi p – make w re is gs to do aracters red from h in e c th th e a e g th real, and th u meet ry. nd stay, e way yo to see a travel sto s e page. Th c o la e p k na e ta th t – n d re iffe describe y this d you enjo We hope

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The sun rises over the Southside Hills, shining into your window in downtown St. John’s. It’s a glorious summer day, the kind that has to be spent out of the house. You’ve already done pretty much everything there is to do in town – you’ve walked Signal Hill and down the trail to Quidi Vidi; you’ve been to Cape Spear, Fort Amherst, and all the other touristy places that, even for a local, are fun to visit. The parks are nice, but you want something different. Unsure of what to do on this fine day, you begin by heading out to your favourite coffee shop that’s conveniently around the corner.

Opening the heavy wooden door of the café, the smell of ground coffee and baked goods greets you. As your eyes adjust to the dim interior, you see Cathy Beacom Bedard sitting at a table, sipping a beverage. You order your coffee and go say hello. You mention your desire to get out and do something and ask Cathy for ideas.

“Walking a trail, a road trip, beachcombing, watching sunsets or picking berries,” says Cathy, “it’s always great in Newfoundland.”

“Those all sound like wonderful ideas,” you say, thanking her for the suggestions and heading for the door.

In no time at all, you’re in the car, sipping your fresh coffee and heading down the highway, still considering the possibilities when you see a sign that says Brigus is the next exit. Brigus is such a pretty place to walk about. But then again, there’s a good lunch spot in Clarenville you’ve been wanting to try.

If you take the exit to Brigus, turn to page 59 If you continue on to Clarenville, turn to page 64

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Ever wonder where Ron Hynes got his trademark hat? BY ADRIAN HOUSE 50

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Amidst all the newer restaurants and shops in downtown St. John’s, it might be easy to overlook a business that’s been there for 89 years: Wm. L. Chafe & Sons menswear.

The store has quite a history. “In 1929, Grandfather custom made suits in downtown St. John’s. Father took over in ’62, and we’re still doing it,” says Derek Chafe, one of the “Sons” in the family of nine.

Derek started working in the family business as a young boy. “After school, weekends, nights. It was nonstop,” he recalls.

At that time suits were custom made onsite, and there was a bustling factory of seamstresses and tailors above the store.

“The folks were busy, but we did well, had a nice house and were well looked after,” Derek says.

Like many Newfoundlanders, Derek spent time working away in Alberta, before returning home in 2002 to the family business. Now he runs the clothing store along with his brother Roger and their mother (his father has recently retired for health reasons).

The days of custom tailoring being past, Chafe’s now focuses on having a wide selection and attentive customer service.

Entering the store, customers are met with an almost dizzying array of menswear, from socks and shoes all the way up to coats and hats. With the soft sounds of VOWR playing in the background, it feels a bit like a trip back in time.

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Adrian House photo

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Felt, straw, beaver fur, fedora, pork pie… the variety of hats on display seems endless. “We probably have 1,000 hats and 2,000 caps! We have a hat for everybody,” says Derek, and whether you want to look like Sherlock Holmes, a Greek fisherman or Ron Hynes (yes, he bought his hats here), you’ll find it at Chafe’s.

Speaking of Ron, Derek has fond memories of the singer-songwriter’s longtime patronage of the store.

“Ron Hynes was always a valued customer. Always nice, friendly, good for a chat, and he certainly loved the hats. Even his family or friends, if he had a birthday or occasion going on, they knew exactly where to come. He could never have enough of them,” says Derek. Ron’s generosity was good for sales as well: “Someone would say ‘Oh I love your hat,’ and sure enough he’s giving them the hat and he’s coming in here the next day to get a new one.”

His last visit to the store was a sad one. “He’d told me that he wasn’t well, and he knew the end was coming. So we gave him a special hat for that occasion, and that was the one that they had up on his casket. I spoke to

his sister, living up in BC, and she actually bought the same one just to take with her. She was going to have a little collage on her wall as a tribute to him, with the hat hanging in the middle,” Derek recounts.

Another legendary hat-wearing musician who frequented the store was Leonard Cohen, who came into Chafe & Sons when he was in town for his 2008 and 2013 shows.

“He was very friendly – nice fella, down to earth,” Derek recalls. “He had a love for hats and knew that we did, too.

Last time he was in he bought hats for the whole band for the show that night. They all wore the same hats.”

Some audience members for the annual Feast of Cohen tribute have purchased Cohen-like fedoras from the store as well, says Derek, and sport them in homage at the show.

Some patrons of the store are top secret, however. Derek will only say that they have arranged private time in the store for certain rock stars. “So they spend an hour and pick out 20 hats. Always fun, and you get a little selfie with them and make sure you go to the show that night,” he says.

Many of the hats, and much of the stock in Chafe & Sons, are made in Canada.

“A son will say ‘this is where my grandfather came. He got his first suit here.’”

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Adrian House photo

Derek Chafe outside the family business on Water Street.

“We made a conscious effort to do that,” says Derek. One may be suspect of a store called Chafe’s being a good place to buy underwear, but the quality of Stanfield’s is hard to question. Made in Truro, Nova Scotia by well-paid workers, that company has been around for 160 years and supplying this St. John’s store for many of them. www.downhomelife.com

“We’ve seen generations of people come in,” says Derek. “A son will say, ‘This is where my grandfather came.

He got his first suit here.’”

With Templeton’s closed, Chafe’s and O’Brien’s Music Ltd. are the last of the old retailers on Water Street, one of the oldest streets in North America. Two stalwart brands in a “city of legends.”

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It’s fast-food

Friday night and Kilbride Pizza is busy, as usual. Behind the counter, pizza shop owner Mahmoud (Moody) Elsayed (pictured) and two of his staff are preparing the dough, making up pizzas and getting them into the oven, while also keeping an eye on the soccer game unfolding on a flat screen TV in the corner. www.downhomelife.com

This is a crucial game in the European Premier League – Liverpool vs.

Barcelona – and Moody is rooting for Liverpool because its star player, Mohamed Salah, is the only Egyptian on the team. It’s a slice of home for Moody, a native of Cairo, Egypt, who has lived in Newfoundland and Labrador for almost 20 years.

Kilbride Pizza opened just over two years ago. During a trip into the city from his home in Placentia, Moody and his family passed an old convenience store and noticed its shop closing sign. His wife Amira, a lawyer by profession and very inquisitive, urged him to stop and have a look.

Six months later he began renovations on that building and opened his shop in September 2018.

Moody’s life in 2019 is a far cry from that unforgettably cold January day back in 2000, when the “winter came through my bones,” as his plane landed at the St. John’s International Airport. At the time he was wearing just about every piece of clothing he owned, plus a hat, gloves and scarf.

“It was really cold and I took a step back and I said, ‘No, I’m not getting out [of the plane], I’m going back.’

Imagine my shock. Everyone was looking at me and laughing,” he recalls. “That first week, I thought my life had ended. I really thought Newfoundland weather was like that the whole year.”

In spite of a very bad first impression, Newfoundland and Labrador has improved on closer acquaintance. He proudly makes his home here with his wife Amira and their two children, and near his two older sons from previous relationships.

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“I felt much better when I started to make friends here, and it was very easy to make friends in Newfoundland and Labrador,” Moody says. “People are nice and friendly… I’ve lived in so many countries, visited so many places. I like it here, and I like how Canada is organized, that power does not rest in the hands of one person.”

With his university degree in travel and tourism, and experience in the industry, he found a job handling business meetings and bookings at PJ Billington’s restaurant in the Ramada St. John’s hotel.

Then one day a friend in Marystown asked if he’d take over his pizza shop. So he did, driving to Marystown during one of the worst storms of winter 2004. He ended up in a ditch, was rescued by two fishermen on their way to buy a snow machine, and later repaid their kindness with free pizza from his shop. Moody stayed in Marystown for eight years, making many good friends with whom he’s still in touch.

You could say it’s the secret of his success – making good friends and forging connections.

From Syria to St. John’s Since Moody’s arrival in the province all those years ago, many more newcomers are making their homes in Newfoundland and Labrador, some arriving as immigrants like him, others as refugees or temporary foreign workers. Their numbers have nearly doubled, from 627 in 2007 to almost 1,200 in 2015.

Many recent newcomers are like Safaa Tohme. She arrived in St. John’s in the wave of Syrian refugees 56

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that came to Canada in the latter part of 2015, fleeing horrific conditions in their war-torn country.

“I like the people. I like everything here,” she says from Safaa’s Kitchen, her food stall at the St. John’s Farmers’ Market. “We’ve been everywhere in St. John’s, every park. It’s good for the children, growing up in a small city.”

You’ll find her at the market on Saturdays, serving up her home-cooked Syrian cuisine. She’s quite proud of her chicken shawarmas, but everything looks colourful and delicious.

You’ll find tabbouleh salad, yellow rice, falafels and much more.

This enterprising mother of four, who only learned to cook when she got married 13 years ago, opened her kitchen in the Farmers’ Market in September 2018. You can tell she’s excited to be here at the market with her children, and happy to be in St. 1-888-588-6353

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Safaa Tohme arrived in St. John’s from Syria in 2015. The mother of four runs a successful ethnic food business at the St. John’s Farmers’ Market.

John’s with her family. Safaa fondly recalls her first trip to the supermarket as a new arrival to the city. Standing in line at the checkout with her shopping cart, a woman behind her asked if she was “one of the Syrian refugees.”

She said yes, and this complete stranger welcomed her to St. John’s by paying for her groceries. Even after four years here, she says she still experiences random acts of kindness.

Welcoming new Canadians

Safaa and her fellow Syrians, and many newcomers, find support and friendly faces at the Association for New Canadians (ANC), the organization that helps people settle into their new homes, and new lives. The ANC arranges to meet new arrivals at the www.downhomelife.com

airport, helps kids integrate into their schools, works with teachers to build an understanding of cultural experiences, offers English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, and provides child care so that women can attend those classes. And that’s just skimming the surface of services they offer in St. John’s, Grand FallsWindsor, Corner Brook, Forteau, Happy Valley-Goose Bay and Labrador City.

In recent years the provincial government has stepped up efforts to attract newcomers and convince them to stay. Their immigration goal is 1,700 immigrants a year through 2020, recognizing that newcomers are key to solving huge challenges posed by an aging population with the lowest fertility rate in Canada.

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Stefanie (fourth from left) came to L’Anse au Loup from Taiwan in 2011 to work in this grocery store. Currently her job is to help other newcomers settle in her area.

The ANC’s newest location in Forteau, on the southeast coast of Labrador, is where you’ll find Fen-Ni (aka Stefanie) Kao-Fowler, regional settlement coordinator for the Labrador Straits area.

One of the first temporary foreign workers in the area, Stefanie moved to L’Anse au Loup in 2011 from Taiwan, where she’d been working for an import-export company. She’s Filipino and Chinese, and spent her childhood growing up between the Philippines, where all students learn English in school, and Taiwan.

“My mom works for a Canadian immigration consultancy in Taiwan and she was sending out my resume everywhere. You know moms, they want the best for you,” she laughs.

“The grocery store here in L’Anse au Loup saw my resume and was interested, so that’s how I got hired and ended up here.”

At first what she noticed most about life in this community of about 600 people was the quiet. It was so 58

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quiet, and there was very little traffic.

And very few people who looked like her. But she was undaunted.

“I was young, and game for anything,” she says. “People were nice and welcoming, and for the first three months I was invited to dinners and outings and rides on snow machines. And in my first week I was able to experience my first ‘hot dinner.’” A “hot dinner” is the Labrador equivalent of a Jiggs dinner, only with gravy.

Working in the area’s only grocery store, Stefanie and two Filipino colleagues became local celebrities of sorts. She only found out later that many shoppers were dropping by to “check out the new people.”

Eight years on, and Stefanie has really settled in. She married a fellow from the community in 2013, has adapted to a more relaxed way of life and loves walking her dog. It’s all a surprise to her dad, she says, who never thought his daughter would be contented to live in what seems like 1-888-588-6353

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such a remote corner of the world.

And she’s no longer one of just a few; the area has 41 newcomers now, from many different countries including the Philippines, Syria, India, Ukraine, Tunisia and Morocco.

As the ANC’s regional settlement coordinator, Stefanie is busy providing all the information she wished she’d had when she first arrived: the basics, like where to find groceries, where to go if you’re sick, how to access health care, how to get around, and how to enroll your child in school.

She’s also encouraging newcomers to get involved in community life, to put down roots.

“We definitely need them here,” Stefanie says. “There’s been such a demographic shift that there are many more seniors and only a few families. We want to keep them in Newfoundland and Labrador. Over the years many of them have moved out west.”

Keeping them in Labrador, and in the province, calls for novel approaches. This past spring, Stefanie started up the first multi-cultural cooking class, Globally Seasoned, inviting a newcomer from the Ukraine to come talk about their culinary traditions.

“She created an interactive cooking class, and about 20 people came. It was great!” Stefanie says.

When she talks to newcomers to L’Anse au Loup and area, Stefanie says she wants them to know that local people are sincerely kind and will do anything for you.

“I want them to know that people here are very friendly and welcoming, and we have one of the lowest rates of crime. It’s safe here.” www.downhomelife.com

Brigus might be the cutest little town you’ve ever seen, with all its old wooden houses clustered around the waterfront. Driving past a large, white house, you notice a sign on the lawn declaring it a national historic site and the home of Captain Bob Bartlett, famous Arctic explorer.

Now a quiet village, Brigus was once an important staging area for fishing and sealing expeditions.

Jessica Lundrigan, who you know through Facebook, once mentioned that the Blueberry Festival was a must-see. But you’re too early – the festival is in August. Now with blueberries on your mind, you stop in at the Country Corner to try their blueberry crisp, which you’ve heard is delicious. Sitting on the patio, savouring your blueberry crisp with vanilla ice cream, you’re thinking about the antique store across the street that you saw on the way into the restaurant. Maybe you’ll find a bit of Brigus history to take home with you.

This is the end of your adventure. To see how your day could have gone if you had chosen another path, return to page 49.

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Once more likely to stay ashore and handle the processing, the women of today’s fishery are just as inclined to ride the high seas with the men.

By Kim Ploughman

The Newfoundland and Labrador

fishery is typically tagged as a man’s business, but the truth is that women have always been an integral part of the “fish racket.” Often with children in tow, women immersed themselves in making fish as part of the shore crew. They headed, gutted, salted and laboriously spread fish on flakes for months on end. Further, a good many outport women joined the migratory fishery on the Labrador each season as servants.

In more modern times, many women have worked lifetimes inside fish plants, spending careers on the production lines.

And the times continue to change for women in the local fishery, as they increasingly take to the boats as harvesters.

Jasmine Paul is spending the summer at sea, harvesting crab on her parents’ vessel. www.downhomelife.com

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Tammy Elliott fishes out of Happy Adventure alongside her husband and other male crew member. She’d like to see more women recognized as harvesters, to help keep the profession alive.

Tammy Elliott

Try catching up with Tammy Elliott, a commercial fish harvester from Gambo. On any given morning, she might be heading to Victoria to pick up lobster bait or mending gear. Another day, she’s “gone at the crab” or cutting logs to build lobster pots – whatever it takes to keep in the game of fishing.

The 39-year-old fishes out of Happy Adventure with her husband, Jason, 42, and another male crewmate on the Brandon and Victor Adventure.

The young couple decided that Tammy going on the water would afford flex time to be with their son, Brandon, who has special needs.

Fishing for close to five years now, 62

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Tammy is working towards her Fishing Masters Fourth Class, with the hopes of buying her own licence.

With her crewmates, she catches lobster (as part of DFO’s Lobster Tagging program), crab and sometimes cod. “Can I do what a man does? Not quite! But I will try,” she says with a laugh. She also admits, “It’s hard work and I ache at the end of the day, but it’s rewarding.”

Over two years ago, the Elliotts lost their four-year-old boat just minutes from the wharf at Happy Adventure.

All five crewmembers were safe, but it brought back memories – 10 years previously, Jason’s dad had died suddenly aboard a boat. Plus, as Tammy 1-888-588-6353

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describes, “My husband’s dream sunk right in front of our eyes. It was a big blow as everything went topsyturvy for a while.”

With a renewed fishing spirit, the couple was soon back on the water.

Yet, Tammy has serious concerns about the inshore fishery, including that “the fish harvester is a dying breed.” Nonetheless, she is optimistic. “I’d love to be able to do more to keep our livelihood alive and show women are alive and visible in today’s fishery. It gives you pride to do what our ancestors did for hundreds of years…”

Tammy is keen to see more women fish. “I like the idea of promoting women in boats. I really don’t think there’s enough recognition,” she says, “and it gives you a warm feeling when women and the fishery are being recognized.”

Recently Tammy shared a beautiful sunrise photo on social media, and

captioned it, “Just another day at the office! Now, how many people can watch the sunrise at their work?” She reveals to Downhome that when she’s on the water, “the rest of the world doesn’t matter. It makes all troubles fall away… I can see why my husband loves to fish. It’s not just a job…”

Jasmine Paul

During the summer break from her university studies, Jasmine Paul is fishing out of Arnold’s Cove with her parents, Kathy and Andre, who own a fishing enterprise. The 31-year-old admits it’s her “first season going at it,” but she envisions that someday she will take over the business when her parents retire.

As a young girl, Jasmine was often out in the boat with her mom and dad, hauling nets or jigging, so it was a natural fit to accept her parents’ offer to join the boat this year. Now

Jasmine (left) and her mom Kathy.

Jasmine posted this pic to social media with the caption: “Me and my momma! Two tough gals who love the open water, salt air and good, hard work.” www.downhomelife.com

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Over the Doe Hills, beyond Bull Arm and past the giant moose at Goobies, you finally arrive in Clarenville. It’s only been a couple of hours, but you’re ready for a break. You head down to the causeway in Shoal Harbour to stretch your legs. While looking out toward the water, you see an osprey sitting on a rock. The osprey, its rest done, spreads its wings, some four feet across, and takes off as you admire the majesty of this fish-hunting bird of prey.

On this day, you’re in an outport sort of mood and realize that, although Clarenville would be a nice place to live in a small-town Goldilocks sort of way – not too big, not too small, just right – you’re looking for more of an outport experience. You’d really like to see some fishing stages and maybe a lighthouse.

If you decide to head up the Bonavista Peninsula, turn to page 73.

If you decide to continue on the Trans-Canada Highway to Eastport, turn to page 66.

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armed with her apprentice licence, Jasmine finds the work rewarding.

She recently tweeted a photo with her mom in their green fishing gear, proudly exclaiming, “Me and my momma! Two tough gals who love the open water, salt air and good, hard work.”

Challenging a male-dominated stereotype runs in Jasmine’s genes.

Her mother, Kathy, has been fishing since the 1990s. She describes how, as a woman and a mother, her work affected her: “I remember years ago, when my girls were small, I would feel guilty about leaving them with their grandparents. I guess it is no different than any other profession.”

Working alongside her daughter in the boat as they fished for crab this past season was an “awesome” experience, says Kathy. “She did an amazing job... She went above and beyond what was asked of her. Having her by my side makes me very proud. Jasmine can do anything she puts her mind to.”

Kathy admits that she would not have been able to go fishing if it weren’t for her mother and motherin-law (and sometimes her father), who took care of her children and home while she was at sea.

Jasmine credits a supportive network of people, including fishermen on Twitter and her own parents (and her nans) for her foray into the fishing field. “Anyone can take on this work – you just got to have the patience, work hard, and have a supportive network and mentors.”

She adds, “I think a lot of women want to go fishing, but why aren’t they in boats? There are a lot of barriers… Is it child care? Whatever it is, we need to advocate harder for 1-888-588-6353

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removing those barriers.”

Fish harvesting is not Jasmine’s only foray into non-traditional trades for women. This past winter she joined a boat-building course at Memorial University, offered by Jerome Canning of the Wooden Boat Museum. Being social media savvy, she even penned a blog about it (buildinganfldpunt.home.blog). Jasmine is also working towards a folklore degree and runs a textile business. She is on her way to becoming a Jill-of-all-trades.

Joanne Stirling

Finding love on land led to Joanne Stirling’s new career on the water.

Her sales career took an unexpected turn when she met her partner, Bernard. The Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s resident moved to Baine Harbour on the Burin Peninsula and joined him on his fishing boat.

She admits to loving her new job catching and selling crab, especially the “peace and quiet” of the simple life, she says. “It is rewarding to see happy customers with fresh seafood and, at the same time, promote our culture, work outdoors and stay fit.”

And she’s able to continue her painting on the side.

A seafood lover, Joanne considers herself lucky to now have it at her fingertips. This harvester hopes to use her industrial sales background to set up international contracts to sell top-grade and never-frozen Newfoundland fish. The couple plans to soon start a cod ranch at an aquaculture site in Placentia Bay. Joanne says her life has changed for the better with her new career as a fish harvester – “all because I fell in love with a fisherman!” www.downhomelife.com

Joanne Stirling left a career in sales for one in the fishery, catching and selling crab.

Females and Fishing for Success

One group empowering young women to join commercial fisheries is Fishing for Success, a non-profit in Petty Harbour formed in 2014.

Board member and Fishing for Success founder, Kimberly Orren, weighs in on women in boats. “No one is addressing the huge issue of career development in the fishery and its gender imbalance,” she says.

“We need targeted outreach programs, policies and funding to engage girls and women, like they do with tech.”

To help address this concern, Kimberly’s organization nurtures a popular “Girls Who Fish” program, which bonds youth, women and new Canadians with the ocean and the fishery.

It also encourages females of all ages to reach for outdoor independence.

Kimberly, who possesses her Fishing Masters Fourth Class, reminds us that only two per cent of the July 2019

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Leaving Clarenville, you slide a Harry Hibbs CD into the stereo for the drive through Terra Nova National Park, admiring the park’s forests and getting curious about those campground signs. But you’ve got other plans, so you keep driving and soon reach Eastport, on the recommendation of Beatrice Powell, who says it’s one of her favourite places to visit. With the accordion tunes of Harry Hibbs still a fresh memory, you head out to explore the Roy Babcock Beaches Accordion Festival. Afterwards, you see it’s getting late, and you still have to find a place to stay for the night.

If you decide to unpack that tent in the trunk and spend the night in Terra Nova National Park, go to page 74.

If you decide to push on to Gander, go to page 83.

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KImberly Orren, founding member of Fishing for Success and avid proponent of getting more women and girls on the water in fishing boats.

province’s population fish and only 23 per cent of them are women. She says more needs to be done to address barriers, including getting enough sea time and appropriate gender gear.

“How is our story going to continue? We have to make fishing more accessible and inclusive as possible,” she says, ultimately suggesting “it will take vision, strategy and policies of the decision-makers – including fishery unions, PFHCB [Professional Fish Harvesters Certification Board], MI [Marine Institute], government departments and the Women’s Policy Office – to ensure women get into this male-dominated space.”

She adds, “It is vital that women’s voices are heard and that their concerns are validated. Diversity in leadership in any level of governance [political, corporate etc.] creates more dynamic solutions and sustainable systems. Women must be at the table.”

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life is better Puffin on watch in Elliston, NL Nicole Watson, Kingston, ON

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The striking face

of the young witch Nannie stares up at me, her short chemise blown about in the winds of pursuit. Her left outstretched hand grasps the horse’s tail she ripped from the fleeing animal as it jumped the river Doon, carrying its rider out of her reach. Because a witch is supposedly unable to cross running water, the chase suddenly ended. The token horse’s tail, however, is a reminder of the encounter.

Luckily for me, the witch is only a remarkably carved wooden figurehead resting for all eternity in the bowsprits of the most famous sea clipper ship of them all, the Cutty Sark. The vessel sits in permanent dry dock at the Naval Museum in Greenwich, near London, England. The Nannie figurehead is one of the many aboard the Cutty Sark, in the World’s Largest Collection of Merchant Navy Figureheads. The significance of the Above: Nannie, the Cutty Sark figurehead Royal Museums Greenwich photo

www.downhomelife.com

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figureheads is explained in the exhibit: “In the perilous life of an ocean-going ship, figureheads embodied the spirit of the vessel, offering the crew protection from harsh seas and safeguarding their homeward journeys. As such, they were often lovingly cared for by the crew. The superstitions of seamen meant that the figurehead held great significance to those on board and they would go to great lengths to protect it.”

The figurehead tradition is merely one of a large number of old-time charms, superstitions and rituals that those engaged in activities upon the waters all around the world subscribed to in bygone eras to either ensure a safe and prosperous voyage or to prevent drowning.

Keep It Right Side Up Boats are meant to float upright and to turn anything upside down on a ship (that is not supposed to be) is to perhaps jinx the vessel and send the crew “bottom up” some day. Graham Badcock, proprietor of the Mad Rocks Café in Bay Roberts, NL has had many different jobs over the years, including fisherman, and has a wealth of stories. One of them is about this very superstition.

“One time, back in the 1980s, we were fishing out of Port de Grave,” he tells me. “Now this fellow working as a crewman on the boat may have been a bit new, or he might have very innocently just not been paying close enough attention to what he was doing when he was loading supplies and grub in the boat’s galley. Anyway, this guy took a can of beans out 70

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of a box and placed it upside down on the shelf aboard the boat. The skipper didn’t say a thing, but he reached in immediately, grabbed the can, went up to the deck as fast as he could travel, and threw the can with all his might as far away from his vessel as possible. The can went across Port de Grave Harbour and so far out it may have landed halfway to Ireland before it even splashed in the water. I can’t say for sure, but it may still be out in the ocean floating upside down yet, because nobody aboard that boat was going to touch it or even mention it.”

He continues, “It is not that they necessarily believed in the old superstition, but fishing is dangerous work and luck is a funny thing. So for something small like that they weren’t going to take any chances… If a crewman missed something simple like a can being upside down, what else more important might they miss? So maybe the superstition was a way of keeping all the crew focused on things aboard the boat always 1-888-588-6353

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being in the right place, correct order and shipshape. That sense of order and control might save your life at sea if anything went wrong.”

Whistling Up the Wind Another common prohibition was against whistling at sea for fear of whistling up the wind (invoking a storm). Conversely, in the days of sailing vessels, whistling might be judiciously employed to get a breeze to fill the sails and propel the boat.

Tony Flynn of Colliers, NL, served as a ship’s welder aboard a Dutch vessel off Europe and Africa in the late 1980s. “I always whistled wherever I worked,” he says. “Most of the crew members and the captain didn’t care if I whistled as long as I was doing a good job. They were very practical about things, and I could have started a marching band for all they were concerned about it affecting the luck of the ship at sea, as long as all the work got done.”

Every once in a while someone new and superstitious might join the crew and suggest that Tony stop whistling.

“I would smile and tell them that the best good luck charms against drowning were keeping the boat watertight, which I was doing when welding things… Usually they would laugh and leave me alone after that.” www.downhomelife.com

Don’t be a Pig

(or even mention one) Things associated primarily with the land were considered bad luck at sea.

In addition to whistling, it was frowned upon to mention clergy, women, dogs and, particularly, pigs or swine. Perhaps that’s why the “Pig and Whistle” is a fairly common bar name in port towns, including one in Twillingate that burned down a few decades ago. Sort of a sailor’s inside joke, using two words they can only say on shore leave. The most famous Pig and Whistle may be a centuriesold pub in Liverpool, England, that merchant navy sailors simply called “the Pig.” On the other hand, black cats (normally considered unlucky on shore) were good luck charms aboard sailing ships. It probably helped that cats are clever hunters that would keep rodents under control, preventing their damage to ropes, food supplies and cargo.

Get off on the Right Foot (and the Correct Day)

It was once considered essential to board a vessel with the right foot first to ensure a safe and prosperous voyage. The general prohibition against doing anything lefthanded or counter-clockwise aboard July 2019

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ships goes back so far as to perhaps be untraceable in origin, but some suggest that doing things right-handed and going clockwise (when coiling ropes, for instance) is to travel in the normal direction of the sun, or to work with the sun in the supposed natural order of things. To go against this is inviting bad luck.

Likewise, the idea of not starting important journeys on the wrong day of the calendar year is widespread and pervasive with a number of “bad luck dates.” Chief among them is not to set sail on a significant trip on a Friday. The reason for this is perhaps lost to time, though for early Christian mariners it may have been linked to the crucifixion of Christ on Good Friday.

Heed the Caul Doug McDonald of Colliers, NL recalls one of the more ancient tokens against drowning, namely being born with (or subsequently obtaining possession of a piece of) something known as “the caul.” In telling me a story one time about being lost at sea with his father and uncle when he was a boy, he says, “Now my uncle Bill was a very religious man in his own way, and he had us doing a lot of praying all that time in the boat to keep our spirits up and focused on something positive.

He laughed at Father and said that ‘Jimmy can’t drown anyway because he was born with a caul on his face.’

Bill told a story right then that the caul is a piece of jellied flesh (actually part of the amniotic sack), almost like a flap of skin, that covers 72

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the baby’s face when the child comes out and they often cut it off and keep it. It is supposed to be a very good luck charm and is traditionally prized as a token against drowning by some people and cultures.”

According to an article, “Caul: A Sailor’s Charm,” by Imogen Crawford-Mowday, executive research assistant at Oxford University’s Pitt Rivers Museum, “Babies born ‘in the caul’ (when their amniotic sack, or amnion, has not burst and remain intact on the babies’ head or face like a circular crown) are in many instances worldwide thought to be lucky, special or protected... It may be both the rarity of occurrence and the watery symbolism of the amniotic fluid that led to both the children born in the caul, and those subsequent bearers/wearers of the caul as a charm, to be deemed, specifically in English folklore, as subsequently unable to drown.”

The caul is harmless to the child, but was so valued long ago that it was often kept and sold to mariners, even advertised for sale in newspapers.

English author Charles Dickens (1812-1870) even briefly describes the auction of a caul in his book David Copperfield. The mysteries of birth, and the fact that it is estimated fewer than one in 80,000 babies are born with a caul, added to the scarcity of the item and its charm status.

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The King of All Birds: The Wren’s Feather The Christmas-time tradition of “The Wren,” which can be traced back to England and Ireland and is still practised in parts of Newfoundland and Labrador, involves carrying the effigy of a wren to houses in the community and reciting a poem in exchange for coin. It’s all in a bit of fun now, but in days gone by the feather of a real wren was prized by sailors as a charm against drowning.

Other birds of deep significance to sailors include the albatross and cormorant. As mentioned in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” it is very bad luck to kill an albatross. Cormorants (“shags” in NL) are considered a good omen in parts of Norway, where it’s an old belief that they disguised the spirits of loved ones lost at sea.

Patron Saints There are many saints that hold special significance to mariners, and tokens associated with them are particularly good luck charms. Among them is Saint Nicholas, whom legend says calmed a storm by prayer. There is also St. Brendan the Navigator, who travelled on a tremendous voyage. Lesser known in this part of the www.downhomelife.com

Driving past the Clarenville Airport, you recall the fun times spent at the Legends Charity Airport Drag Races, and tell yourself you’ll have to come back this way in August to see it again. The fond memories keep you entertained for the drive down the middle of the peninsula. At Port Rexton, you stop for lunch at Two Whales Café and gain a newfound appreciation for vegan cuisine. A chat with the staff leads to a recommendation to hike the Skerwink trail.

It’s your lucky day, and you see humpback whales feeding on capelin during the five-kilometre hike.

All that walking has made you thirsty, and now that it’s late afternoon, a beer sounds like the perfect refreshment. You head to Port Rexton Brewery, where you enjoy some local craft beer before walking up the hill to Fishers Loft to stay in one of their guesthouses, bringing your idyllic outport staycation experience to an end.

This is the end of your adventure. To see how your day could have gone if you had chosen another path, turn to page 64.

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You pull out your cellphone and look up Terra Nova National Park’s reservation website. Looking up, you see a couple of early stars shining through the dusky blue of a late evening sky. That must be your lucky star, because there’s an open campsite in Malady Head campground, which the website says is good for a quiet, remote camping experience.

That sounds perfect.

Pulling into your campsite, you recall the last time you set up a tent in the dark, and how you managed to pitch your tent on a slope beside the flat spot and dreamed of landslides all night. This time, you carefully check the ground and find the flattest area. With your tent set up, you build a fire and take advantage of the darkness – Terra Nova is a designated dark sky preserve – for an evening of stargazing.

This is the end of your adventure. To see how your day could have gone if you had chosen another path, return to page 66.

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world is Erasmus of Formiae (or Saint Elmo), who continued preaching after a thunderbolt struck the ground next to him. Sailors viewed colourful electrical discharges at the mastheads of sailing ships as good tokens of his protection, calling the phenomenon “Saint Elmo’s Fire.” Finally, Saint Clement had a unique design of a cross, often referred to as the “Mariner’s Cross,” that was a good luck token favoured by many sailors.

Tattoos, Earrings and Coins Today’s tattoos are largely seen as personal ornamentation with significance only to the owner.

That was not necessarily the case for early mariners. Sailors often bore tattoos of the North Star (or the nautical star) and the compass rose, both symbolizing finding a way home.

Anchors, to hold a vessel safe in a storm, were also common tattoos.

Pirates weren’t the only ones wearing golden earrings. Some earrings marked a sailor’s first crossing of landmark locations, such as the Equator or Cape Horn. As a token, gold earrings were believed to ensure 1-888-588-6353

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good eyesight, cure sea sickness and even prevent drowning. On a more grisly note, it was also considered that if a man died at sea bearing a gold earring, the gold could be used to pay for his burial.

Coins also held power at sea, according to David Pickering in Cassell’s Dictionary of Superstitions. In it he wrote that people might toss a penny overboard at the start of a voyage, “in the belief that this will appease the marine gods and guarantee them a safe passage.” In addition, he noted that coins were sometimes affixed to wooden boats or nets for good luck and safe journeys. One particularly popular spot to place a coin was under the main mast as it was being installed, or somewhere on the main mast or in the wheelhouse.

In the absence of a coin, a horseshoe could serve the same purpose.

Writes Pickering, “Horatio Nelson was just one of many Royal Navy commanders past and present who have had a horseshoe nailed to the mast of their ship (in his case, the Victory) to safeguard the luck of the ship’s company and keep the vessel safe from storms.”

Bad Ideas and Things to Avoid Widely mentioned is the idea that when christening a boat it is very bad luck if the bottle of champagne does www.downhomelife.com

not break. Another once common belief was that women should not be aboard, given the potential for distractions on long voyages, which in turn would anger the sea gods and cause bad weather (fortunately, this fear has been long put to rest). Pickering, in Cassell’s Dictionary of Superstitions, also writes, “Sailors claim that it is unwise to trim the nails (or cut the hair) while at sea, for fear that it will summon up a storm.”

Salt of the Earth (Sprinkled at Sea)

Finally, Pickering indicates that because of its high value as a food preservative, there were many superstitions and customs associated with salt. He points out that wooden “…boat builders traditionally spill salt between the planks of a craft under construction in the expectation that this will safeguard the crew on their voyages.”

From everyone I spoke to and local sources, that particular custom never made it to Newfoundland and Labrador boat builders – not yet, anyway.

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THE CROPS ARE FAILING,

the food is scarce and there’s no work to be had. This was the state of affairs in early 18th-century Ireland, when hundreds of thousands of Irish people migrated to North America, destined for Newfoundland, Pennsylvania, New York and Boston.

They brought many things with them, and 300 years later, we don’t have much of it left. Except for the songs. The melodies of the ballads and dance tunes of yore still float through the air, connecting far-flung people to a common history.

What began as the ballads and fiddle tunes of Ireland and England in the early 1700s evolved as people brought them to the New World, eventually becoming the folk songs of Newfoundland, New England and the Appalachians, the birthplace of bluegrass music. As it turns out, the old-time country music and its offspring, bluegrass, have a fair bit in common with traditional Irish-Newfoundland music.

Dave Rowe grew up in both Irish and bluegrass music worlds.

His mother’s side of the family are the O’Brien clan, the namesake family of O’Brien’s Music in St. John’s, a store – and family – that, since 1939, has been an important part of the Irish-Newfoundland folk music scene. His father is Ted Rowe, a founding member of Crooked Stovepipe, the longest running bluegrass band in Newfoundland.

“So I grew up around bluegrass music,” says Dave, “and I grew up around Irish and Newfoundland music.” These days, Dave owns O’Brien’s Music and plays mandolin in Crooked Stovepipe.

“There’s definitely a connection with the song tradition, the ballad tradition that came over to Newfoundland as well as the New England area… and also a lot of the settlers who ended up in the Appalachian Mountains, they would all have come from a very similar tradition of balladry,” says Dave.

It’s not the similarities between the places or people that connect the musical styles of these regions, but rather their shared source location, says Dave. The roots of this music all reach back to Ireland and England, with influences from other regions blending in as well. www.downhomelife.com

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In 1932, Oxford University Press published English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians by British musician, teacher and folk song collector Cecil Sharp. It’s a book of songs he collected during trips in 1917 and 1918 to the Appalachians. He found the people of the remote mountain regions to be very similar to his English country folk of yore, and they were still singing the folk songs brought to the area a few generations ago.

TRACING THE TUNES

Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys gave the bluegrass genre both its name and its defining sound of fastpaced, driving rhythms played on acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass and fiddle. Growing up on a farm in Kentucky, then later pursuing a music career, Bill Monroe was immersed in the songs of the Appalachian region. Many of those songs had roots in the British Isles, as did the people.

In 1932, Oxford University Press published English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians by British musician, teacher and folk song collector Cecil Sharp. It’s a book of songs he collected during trips in 1917 and 1918 to the Appalachians.

He found the people of the remote mountain regions to be very similar to his English country folk of yore, and they were still singing the folk songs brought to the area a few generations ago.

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England, during which he catalogued hundreds of English folk songs. His trip to Appalachia was guided by thinking there may be more songs to be found amongst English settlers around the world. And following this train of thought, he had every intention of travelling to Newfoundland to collect songs, but died before he could make the trip.

We know this thanks to Cecil’s assistant, Maud Karpeles, who accompanied him on his Appalachian trips and continued to gather songs after Cecil’s death.

She would make the trip to Newfoundland herself in 1929 and 1930, later publishing the songs in her book, Fifteen Folk Songs From Newfoundland. In the introduction she writes: “Cecil Sharp’s discoveries in the Appalachian Mountains led him to believe, quite rightly, that folksongs of English origin were to be found in other parts of the American continent.”

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Dave Rowe grew up influenced by Newfoundland traditional and bluegrass music. than different. “The Cruel Mother” appears in both the Appalachian and Newfoundland songbooks, with a shared refrain but otherwise different lyrics and melodies, providing a documented link between the musical cultures of Appalachia and Newfoundland.

In the introduction to his Appalachian songbook, Cecil writes of hearing – but not documenting – many fiddle jigs and tunes that were either similar to or the same as fiddle tunes from his homeland. Dave Rowe’s experience as a young child, listening to his parents and their friends play and listen to Irish Newfoundland and bluegrass music, is in some ways similar to the experiences of Cecil Sharp and Maud Karpeles. www.downhomelife.com

“I didn’t know the difference between a bluegrass fiddle tune and an Irish fiddle tune at the time,” says Dave. “It was all just music. And it was all very similar.

“The newer ones [fiddle tunes] that are in bluegrass music that Bill Monroe himself wrote since the ’40s are still similar to fiddle tunes that you’ll hear played at Erin’s Pub on Friday nights that are three, four, five hundred years old, that are just old Irish dance songs,” says Dave. “And you can still hear that commonality.”

Visit Downhomelife.com to watch and listen to Dave Rowe play an Irish and a bluegrass song on mandolin. Can you hear the difference – and the similarity?

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In a pair of blue-gloved

hands rests a dark, shiny, almost translucent piece of red plastic.

It’s the end result of more than a year of work on the part of Courtney Laprise, a master’s student in chemistry at Memorial University.

While this is plastic, it wasn’t made from petroleum and you won’t find anything made with it in stores yet. Using oil extracted from fish heads and intestines (ordinarily disposed of as waste), Courtney was able to create a plastic that could be the future of eco-friendly plastics.

“In Newfoundland the aquaculture industry has a lot of waste that they produce, so they kinda have this need to get rid of this waste and use it for something,” Courtney explains. “And my supervisors were talking to people in the aquaculture industry, and I wanted to come up with a project to use it.” There’s already been research into alternative uses for fish waste, including fish leather, skin cream and fertilizer.

Moreover, alternative substances have already been used to create plastic and oil-substitutes, including soybean oils and corn. But, Courtney points out, those methods often rely on using food that would normally have been consumed. “That’s the big problem with the ones that are based off of crops: you require large land space in order to grow the crops and that space could be used for food production instead, so it’s not good for the environment,” she says.

Instead, her research relies on fish waste, and for Courtney it’s an important distinction because she’s using parts that were never going to be eaten from fish that had already been caught. “It’s from a waste material and we’re not killing fish,” she says, “because that’s been the big problem so far.”

Newfoundland and Labrador is probably the ideal place for researching fish waste recycling. As fishing is still an important industry here, there’s plenty of fish waste to go around, so the material doesn’t have to be shipped far to get to the lab.

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MUN master’s student Courtney Laprise holds up the plastic she created in the lab using oil extracted from fish waste.

“Aquaculture is just increasing in Newfoundland, it’s becoming a pretty large industry, and one of the problems as they increase their production is they’re gonna see more and more waste being produced. So, in theory, you could have your plant right next door to where the fish is being processed, take the waste, extract the oil and then from your oil you can make your materials right there,” she says.

GETTING LAB RESULTS

This research, part of Courtney’s master program, took plenty of trial and error to create a successful piece of plastic. In fact, she was finally able 82

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to synthesize it just this past January. “So it took me a full year and a couple months to get it, but now I have everything optimized,” she says.

“It was extremely exciting because ... when you go into your degree you hope you get some good results… So when I came back after Christmas I was starting to get a little sad, you know, maybe this won’t work; nothing’s worked so far. And then I tried it one more time and it worked!

And it was a nice, plasticy material. I was ecstatic and so happy I ran down the hallway screaming,” Courtney laughs, remembering that first moment of success.

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guarded secret and she can’t disclose how she created the plastic. What she can say is that it’s basically from fish oil derived from waste materials.

“So it’s like the waste left after the processing of the fish. So we’re taking the oil from that… And then I take that oil and I process it through a few steps, and then in the final step I cure it with a plant-based curing agent to make the final material,” she says.

With Courtney’s graduation right around the corner, she’s busy finishing up her master’s this summer. She hopes that even after she’s left the lab, her research will be continued by new people.

“Right now, we’re looking at finding industry partners to help us do some of the research because we don’t have a lot of the instrumentation that’s required to characterize my material. And then, because I’m leaving, we need another graduate student to come in and pick up the project from where I left off. And hopefully that happens and someone can keep working on it.”

There are also more research avenues to pursue for future scientists. This plastic is supposed to be a green material, so it should be able to biodegrade on its own, not just sit in landfills for a century after it’s been thrown away. Courtney explains, “So we’re doing a bunch of experiments to figure out how it would degrade and if it would degrade.”

She adds, “There’s still a lot of research left to be done with it, but it is very promising.”

As for Courtney, she’s not going too far; this fall she’ll start on an education degree in order to become a high school chemistry teacher. www.downhomelife.com

Driving to Gander, you see a bird gliding overhead and you think how nice it would be to glide over the trees. Arriving in Gander, you realize it’s the perfect destination to indulge in these dreams of flight.

A tour of the North Atlantic Aviation Museum gets you up to speed on the region’s importance to transatlantic travel. Inside Gander International Airport, you admire the celebrated modernist design of the international departures lounge. Next morning, while enjoying breakfast at the Albatross hotel, you ask the two ladies at the next table for some local travel suggestions.

“Lewisporte!” says Stephanie Cuff, adding that the Mussel Bed Soiree is “a great full-week event in an even greater community.”

Her tablemate, who introduces herself as Maryann Preston Elliott, suggests taking a different road.

“Lumsden beach in Windmill Bight Park,” she recommends.

If you follow Stephanie’s recommendation of Lewisporte, go to page 92.

If you decide to go with Maryann’s recommendation of Lumsden, go to page 100.

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We’re wasting no time preparing for the next

Downhome Calendar, . . . and neither should you!

Submit your best photos of scenery, activities and icons that illustrate the down-home lifestyle. We’re looking for a variety of colourful subjects – outports, heritage animals, laundry lines, historic sites, seascapes, hilltop views and so much more – and photos from all four seasons.

In addition to free calendars and a one-year subscription to Downhome for all those chosen for the calendar, one lucky winner will receive a free trip for four aboard O’Brien’s famous whale and bird boat tours!

Here’s how to submit: Online: www.downhomelife.com/calendar By mail: Downhome Calendar Contest 43 James Lane St. John’s, NL A1E 3H3

Digital photos must be at least 300 dpi, files sizes of about 1MB Must be original photos or high quality copies. We can’t accept photocopies or photos that are blurry, too dark or washed out. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want your photos returned.

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what’s on the

Go

July 4-5

Moncton, NB

July 6

Canada’s Circus Spectacular stops in Moncton this month, bringing the action of the big top to the Maritimes.

Like any good circus, there will be performances by clowns and aerialists, plus there will be BMX riders, motorcyclists, jugglers and people doing amazing things on horseback.

St. John’s, NL For those who like to wager, being at Quidi Vidi Pond on this day could give you the edge on your Regatta Day gambling, as rowers compete in a time trial to determine their placement in the Royal St. John’s Regatta. Just like the main event, this one depends on the weather. This one’s for fans of rowing, as it lacks the massive garden party of the August 7 main event.

July 6

Gander, NL Head into Central for a bit of music at the Crossroads Music Festival. This oneday event at the Steele Community Centre features musical performances from Alex Byrne, DJ Chad Cole, Chris Morrison, Crxssroads, DJ CUZ, Jeffrey Quilty, paqs, PINEO & LOEB, and Rawstoxx. Tickets are available online at gandercanada.tix.com.

July 6

St. John’s, NL

Alex Byrne

After a near 70-year hiatus, the Mundy Pond Regatta returned in 2017, to public delight. Unlike the Royal St. John’s Regatta, this one still uses traditional rowing punts. For fans of wooden boats, it’s a must-see event. And, like the regatta at Quidi Vidi, a good bit of the fun is on the shore, with music, food and entertainment.

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July 10-14

July 23

Eastport, NL

Corner Brook, NL

If you love Newfoundland traditional music, you need to head down to the Roy Babstock Beaches Accordion Festival. The festival is a celebration of this beloved musical instrument and its role in folk music, and aims to promote Newfoundland and Labrador’s accordion tradition.

You can spend an evening among the stars – the sky type, not the Hollywood type – by attending Night at the Observatory, at Memorial University’s Grenfell Campus. Physics professor Dr. Svetlana Barkanova will be giving a talk about celestial folklore and the starry sky, followed by tours of the observatory. The event is open to all.

July 20

Holyrood, NL For their 50th anniversary, the town of Holyrood is hosting a come home year featuring a beach party at the festival grounds. The annual concert, usually part of Squid Fest, features live music from Shanneyganock, Fortunate Ones, Masterless Men, Bic and the Ballpoints, and Fairgale. For tickets and more information, visit squidfest.ca.

July 28

St. John’s, NL

Masterless Men

Runners already have this date circled on their calendar because they know it’s time for the Tely10, a 10-mile road running race that ends in Bannerman Park. Head down to the race route to cheer on the runners, or show your support at the finish line.

July 30 July 21

Grand Falls-Windsor, NL

Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL

Sitting with a group making music on hand drums is something nearly anyone can do, with a bit of effort and practice. It’s also incredibly fun. Musubi Drum Circles is hosting a drumming circle at the Gordon Pinsent Centre for the Arts, and it’s open to everyone (children under 13 must be accompanied by an adult).

What do you do with cross-country ski and snowshoe trails in the summer?

Run on them, of course! Minipi Outfitters is hosting the Devil’s Circuit trail race at Birch Brook Nordic Ski Club. The race will be around a 6-8 km lap with a timer running for six hours and a goal of completing “as many laps as you can, or as you want, in that time,” either solo or in groups of up to four people.

www.downhomelife.com

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Folklorist Dale Jarvis introduces us to local ceramic artists and the interesting history of pottery in Newfoundland and Labrador.

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Growing up in Bonavista,

ceramic artist Wendy Shirran was always interested in the arts, but she knew little about clay and pottery. After graduating from Memorial University, where she studied English and theatre, Wendy ventured about as far from Newfoundland and Labrador as one can – all the way to Japan. It was there that her interest in clay was sparked.

“I had a student there who, every day after her pottery class in Naruto, which is a famous place for pottery, used to bring her pottery to my class for our one-on-one session,” Wendy remembers. “She was learning English, and we would have English conversations around her pots. At that point, I said, that’s it, when I go back to Newfoundland, I have to get my hands in some clay.”

Upon her return, Wendy took her first class at the Devon House Clay Studio in St. John’s under the tutelage of Laura Sheppard. The rest, as they say, is history.

Wendy Shirran Dale Jarvis photo

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Wendy’s journey away and back again to find her love of clay seems fitting given the back story of ceramics in the province, which is linked to travel and the exchange of ideas.

The early indigenous peoples of this place left behind very little in the way of pottery. Only a handful of potsherds have been documented from archaeological sites, the majority from western Newfoundland and Labrador.

Whether these ceramics represent a local tradition at the start of its evolution, or the movement of people and ideas from other areas of eastern Canada, is not yet fully understood.

It’s possible that some of the earliest pottery was the result of far-ranging indigenous trade routes that predated the arrival of Europeans.

When settlers did come, European pottery came with them: North Devon pipkins and cooking pots; Bellarmine jugs from Germany; Portuguese Merida-ware and Basque

roofing tiles. Clay as an industry didn’t start until about 1832, when a man named John Clement of Smith’s Sound shovelled out the local clay and shaped it into bricks. By 1898, Trinity Bay brickmakers were churning out 60,000 bricks a year, selling them at seven dollars per thousand.

Livyers continued importing the pottery goods they needed, everything from dinner plates to chamber pots. Today, you can find locally made pottery at festivals and craft stores all across the province, but it’s a fairly recent evolution of the craft.

From Germany with love We owe part of that evolution to another traveller, the late Margo Meyer, who in the 1950s moved to Corner Brook from Germany and started teaching the art of potterymaking. One of her first students was potter and ceramic artist Isabella St. John. Isabella now produces porcelain, stoneware and raku pottery in her Blue Moon Pottery studio overlooking the Narrows in the St. John’s Battery. Back in 1971, Isabella heard about a pottery course being offered in Corner Brook. It was a one-year course developed

by Margo to give students the experience and skills needed to start their own pottery studios.

Wendy’s Pail, entitled “I Sweat” based on a fairy story told by Wilson Hayward of Bonavista.

Photo by Wendy Shirran.

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These pigments add colour to the pottery. Photo by Dale Jarvis “We started with hand-building, as is usually the case, forming small pots and gradually larger pots from coils, from slabs, developing our own designs,” says Isabella.

“After some months of hand-building techniques, we started on the potter’s wheel, which we were all very eager to do. It was very demanding, and very rewarding. You could see your progress day-by-day. We went through that whole program and finished learning to fire the kilns and apply the glazes, every aspect, and had a final exhibition at the Arts and Culture Centre in Corner Brook.”

Inspired by Margo’s teaching, a love of pottery-making spread around the province. Isabella and friends applied to the Canada Council for funding to develop a pottery studio and craft store in Pasadena.

The shop continued for decades, www.downhomelife.com

while Isabella herself moved on to Colinet, St. Mary’s Bay, and worked in a studio there.

One day another potter, Peter Thomas, who was working at Memorial University, came to visit. He said, “I was just walking in the Battery and I saw a handwritten sign in the window of this house. You should go check that out.” Isabella did and bought the house, and when the Memorial University clay studio shut down in the 1980s, she opened Blue Moon Pottery in that same house, a business she runs to this day.

The Craft Council takes form Isabella and other passionate craftspeople also set up what is known today as the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Craft July 2019

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Arriving in Lewisporte after a 45minute drive from Gander, you’re excited for the 33rd going off of the Mussel Bed Soiree and its lineup: the Tom Petty tribute band, Practically Petty, along with Carolina East, Station Road, Tarahan and Conway.

It’s going to be a great few days of music. But then you realize that you’re too early. It’s only July, and the festival is scheduled for August 10-13.

After contemplating finding a place to rent for a month, then realizing that sort of on-a-whim action may not be the most practical, you head down to the Lewisporte Yacht Club to sit by the sea and admire the sailboats while pondering what to do next.

If you decide to stay in Lewisporte and explore the town, go to Page 107.

If you decide to head to Boyd’s Cove, go to page 124.

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Council purchased the historic Devon House building on Duckworth Street in St. John’s.

“I remember walking through the empty space with Sophie [Margo’s daughter] when we did acquire ownership of the building, and trying to plot it out. ‘Okay, where will we put this? Where should the kiln go?’ and we did a layout for the studio, and so on,” Isabella says. “And that was it, the beginning of the Clay Studio.”

Years later, it was that Clay Studio where a young Wendy Shirran took her first clay course. Another journey followed: Wendy moved to Halifax to attend the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, graduating with a B.Ed Art Specialist degree in 2003. She then moved back to St. John’s in 2011, and began working as the Clay Studio coordinator and running her own business, Wendy Shirran Ceramic Art. Over the past quarter-century, the Clay Studio has been instrumental in building a strong community of ceramic artists, with a focus on community outreach, collaborative projects, internships and work placements.

“When you walk into a community studio, there’s conversation,” Wendy describes. “It varies from shop talk about ceramics, to something going on in someone’s own personal life.

We’re celebrating this, or we’re celebrating that, or we’re helping somebody with this difficult time.

It’s constantly organic, and it’s community-building – a diverse community of all ages and backgrounds.”

This summer the Clay Studio is moving house, and setting up a new workshop on Water Street in St. John’s, where visitors can see artists 1-888-588-6353

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NL POTTERY TOUR

Clay workshop for kids Photo courtesy Craft Council Clay Studio

at work, take part in one of their many workshops, or learn more about the annual outdoor pottery firing on Middle Cove Beach.

Ceramics in the province continues on its own path, moving from its earliest functional, production pottery styles and branching out into more sculptural and experimental artistic work.

“There’s a million possibilities,” says Wendy. “You can never stop learning from it. I think that’s my love with clay. As well, it’s done all over the world: I can travel anywhere on this planet, and slip into this community wherever I go, and in any city people are working with the same love of this material. It’s incredible.

I’ll do it until the day I die.”

“In Our Hands,” Wendy’s most recent gallery show, featured handmade porcelain vessels inspired in part by her great-uncle Wilson Hayward’s stories about the fairies of Bonavista.

The best journeys are the ones that bring us home again. www.downhomelife.com

King’s Point Pottery 27 Bayside Drive, King’s Point Kingspointpottery.com Multiple award-winning artists Linda Yates and David Hayashida have transformed a 1960s gas station into one of NL’s best known craft and art galleries. They have been creating a line of blue and white functional pottery with their signature “Whales and Waves” designs since 1992. Keep your eyes open for Wallie Hayashida-Yates, the studio’s friendly greeter cat.

Plank Lane Pottery 196 Water Street, Carbonear Planklanepottery.com Charlene Sudbrink graduated from the College of the North Atlantic’s pottery program in 1992 and has been creating ever since, making her Wave Over Wave mugs, running pop-up workshops and pottery classes for beginners, while also offering studio space for experienced students and potters.

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Fogo Island – you’ve heard a lot about this place, and head straight for the Fogo Island Inn to dine in the restaurant, taking in the panoramic view through the large windows. A walk through the lobby leads to the discovery of hooked-rug bench cushions. The front desk host tells you they were locally made. Wanting to see more local, handmade crafts, you walk up the road to the Wind and Waves Artisan Guild. On the way, you run into Tanya Matthews, and ask her what other things you should do while on Fogo Island.

“The Fogo Island Music Festival,” she says, “if you want to hear great Newfoundland music.” But that’s still a few weeks away.

At Grandma Lilly’s, one of the Old Salt Box Company’s vacation houses that you’re calling home for the night, you think about the festival, and how maybe you wouldn’t mind calling Fogo Island home for a lot longer than the weekend.

Wild Cove Pottery 102 Main Street, Port Union Wildcovepottery.ca Ceramic artist Michael Flaherty is always up to something interesting: digging clay, collecting glaze materials, creating installation pieces, or building wood-burning or solar-powered kilns.

Drop by his studio in the Port Union Registered Heritage District to see his handmade stoneware pottery and oneof-a-kind sculptures.

This is the end of your adventure. To see how your day could have gone if you had chosen another path, turn to page 124.

Northeastern Folk Art Northeasternfolkart.com This studio is a marriage of the east and west coasts, both in the figurative and literal sense. When they began making pottery and giftware, 94

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Mike Gillan and Erin McArthur brought together different ideas and designs. Mike, a chef who has had a lifelong passion for carving and polishing stones, found ceramics to be a natural move. Erin gladly left the corporate world once the dream of an encore career making art became possible. Their work is available at fine shops and galleries around Newfoundland including The Rooms Gift Shop, 9 Bonaventure Avenue, St. John’s (www.TheRooms.ca); and at The Artisan Market, 96 Main Street, Twillingate (Twillingateandbeyond.com/artisan-market.html).

Blue Moon Pottery 17 Outer Battery Road, St. John’s Bluemoonpottery.weebly.com No jaunt through the twisting lanes of The Battery is complete without stopping in at Isabella St. John’s cheerful yellow studio. Twice chair of the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador, Isabella was also one of the founders of both the Christmas Craft Fair and the Council’s Clay Studio. Look, as well, for work by her niece, Erin Callahan St. John, owner of Saucy Pots Pottery (www.saucypots.me).

Pottery Firing on Middle Cove Beach This all-day, all-ages, free event happens every year towards the end of summer. Students and volunteers make upwards of 300 pots, and first fire them at a low temperature in an electric kiln. On the morning of the firing, a pit is dug into the beach and lined with wood, sawdust and other flammables. The pottery is wrapped in seaweed or newspapers, sprayed www.downhomelife.com

with iron oxide and copper carbonate, and stacked in the hole. Then, more wood is piled on top, perhaps some salt is thrown on, and the whole pile is lit ablaze. The fire burns for three to five hours, and when it dies down to embers the finished pottery is revealed. The random combination of minerals, salts and high heat results in unpredictable patterns on the pieces, which are sold right there on the beach as a fundraiser supporting the Clay Studio’s programming. Get your pottery while it’s hot!

Visit the Clay Studio website to find out dates and more information. www.craftcouncil.nl.ca/clay-studio July 2019

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explore

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Twillingate has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to artistic inspiration – the scenery, the wildlife, the built environment; it’s an artist’s treasure.

And now it’s the home of Art at the Gate, a visual arts festival running July 2-5 with workshops, demonstrations, and an art exhibit featuring the work of two dozen artists from across the island portion of the province.

“This festival aims to be a unique way for artists to collaborate and enjoy sharing their art and expertise with workshop participants, volunteers, tourists and members of the community,” says Kathy Murphy Peddle, a visual artist and Art at the Gate coordinator.

Left: Kathie Chalker’s Crocus Party, Michelle Penney Rowe’s The Neighbors View, Dave Hoddinott’s Back Harbour, Twillingate, Leona Ottenheimer’s Battery View. Above: Louise Colbourne Andrews’ Hand Quilted, J.C. Roy’s King's Cove. www.downhomelife.com

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How can a windmill bite if it doesn’t have a mouth, you say to yourself, knowing full well that a bight is a curve in a coastline. And now suddenly hungry for some corn, you make your way to Lumsden beach, hoping for a firepit to roast some sweet corn.

Ankle deep in fine white sand at the edge of the surf, you listen to the soothing sounds of the ocean washing on shore as you contemplate the centuries it took for that beach sand to build into the dunes behind you.

This being the cold North Atlantic Ocean, you start to lose feeling in your toes, so you head back over the dunes to wade in the bathwaterwarm shallow lagoon.

With feeling once again in your feet, a walk seems like a good idea.

You jump back in the car and head to the Cape Island Walking Trail in nearby Cape Freels. Camera in hand, you leave the car to meander down the trail, over the wetlands and pass the sand dunes, following the flight of tiny seabirds to the ocean.

This is the end of your adventure. To see how your day could have gone if you had chosen another path, return to page 83.

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Left: Julie Duff’s I Bow to You, Jill Moores’s Fish Flakes.

Above: Daniel Anstey’s The Weighing Station.

Making art tends to be a solitary process and this festival is partly a way to bring artists together. When she first started talking to fellow artists about wanting to do an arts event, she says “they were so excited about this and it grew and grew.”

The new festival also gets people inside some of Twillingate’s heritage buildings, including the former United church that now serves as Twillingate’s Performing Arts Centre. The venue will host the group art exhibition, with other locations around town hosting various other events.

Created by artists for artists, both experienced and aspiring, it’s fitting that Art at the Gate will host artistwww.downhomelife.com

led workshops in various mediums.

“It’s kind of like a taste of art,” says Kathy, who now lives in Twillingate seasonally.

This is the first Art at the Gate, but not the first time Kathy has had artists visit her in Twillingate to paint. This festival, she says, grew out of that experience and the desire to have more artists visit the region.

Although the three-day and oneday workshops sold out early, there is still space at the pop-up art parties, barbecues, mixers and receptions, and local artists are offering studio tours. Anyone who enjoys art is encouraged to attend. Follow along on the Art at the Gate Facebook page.

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explore

Whether invited or not,

when wild animals visit us where we live, they’re bound to cause a stir. If we’re lucky, we can get close-up photos of the pretty, skittish ones, like birds. Sometimes we get rare glimpses (from a safe distance, like from inside through the window) at the more powerful ones, like bears. And what do you want to do when you get a photo like that?

Share it, of course! Here’s a collection of some of the best and most interesting photos readers have sent us of the wild visitors to their backyards.

Do you have a photo, and a story, of a surprise encounter with a wild animal on your property? Submit yours online at www.downhomelife.com for a chance to be featured in a future issue.

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Momma and Babies A mother moose and her twins relax in the backyard.

Karen Keats, St. Anthony, NL

Feathered Friend at the Feeder This cardinal visits my feeders almost everyday.

Darlane Brockerville, Lawn, NL

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Garden Rabbit One summer evening there was this rabbit just sitting in the back garden, having a grand feed on the ground cover.

Don Hodder Sr., St. John’s, NL

A Bit Gusty I spotted this male rosebreasted grosbeak on a windy day in my backyard.

Reg Marsh, Pickering, ON 104

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Backyard Company This bear came to see what was cooking on the BBQ, or maybe it was the Newfoundland BBQ cover he liked.

J. Coles, Ontario 1-888-588-6353

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Ruffled Feathers?

I took this photo of a very serious looking immature robin in my backyard.

Norman Purchase, Whitbourne, NL

Eversweet Chipmunk This is a picture my wife took of a frequent visitor to my grandfather’s backyard. Pop places birdseed in the Eversweet container, makes a little noise by shaking it, and the chipmunk comes out of hiding.

Jamie Vaters, CBS, NL

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Burin Fox Found lounging in our daughter’s yard Valerie Kean, Plum Point, NL

Bullock’s Oriole This beautiful bird graced my backyard one early spring morning. What a nice surprise!

Cindy Joyce, Robbinston, ME, USA

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Eye-catching Eagle This eagle seemed to pose as I took his picture. Taken right in my backyard!

Amy Pollard, Northern Arm, NL

As nice as it can be to sit and watch the world go by, you soon grow tired of it. You head off to explore By The Bay Museum and Craft Shop, where you admire a 28-foot-long hooked rug that tells the history of the first 100 years of Lewisporte. Then, as it is another beautiful summer day and you want to be outside, you head to Woolfrey’s Pond, where you walk the seven-kilometre trail and boardwalk. Tuckered out after your walk, you head back into town to find a hotel room for the night.

This is the end of your adventure. To see how your day could have gone if you had chosen another path, return to page 83.

Seeking Snacks Well, look who came to our house for dinner!

Mick Paul, Sault Ste. Marie, ON www.downhomelife.com

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explore stuff about

Animals The script for the 1978 National Lampoon’s Animal House was inspired by the real university frat house experiences of the cowriters and producer. It was such a hit that it spawned a spin-off TV show on ABC, “Delta House,” in which Michelle Pfeiffer got her acting start, appearing in multiple episodes as “the bombshell.”

The puppeteer who brought to wild life the muppet known as “Animal” – the crazed drummer for Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem – is Frank Oz. And the man behind Yoda of “Star Wars” he also is.

Wrestling fans know William James Myers only as George “The Animal” Steele, though really keen fans know the former teacher started his wrestling career in the 1960s as a character named The Student.

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Did you know that Disney World’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida is the only one of its theme parks there that has outer doors to its public restrooms? It’s so that guests have somewhere to barricade themselves if an animal escapes its enclosure!

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Jonathon the tortoise is the oldest living land animal, according to Guinness World Records. He was born sometime in 1832 – back in the days of Upper Canada and Lower Canada – and turns 187 this year. He lives on a remote island in the South Atlantic, where he’s lived since 1882.

Animalism is the philosophy that all humans are animals.

It also refers to the allegoric communism that runs through George Orwell’s book, Animal Farm, in which all animals are declared equal.

The first animal to win the PATSY (Picture Animal Top Star of the Year) award was Francis the Talking Mule. The host that evening was then actor (later US President) Ronald Reagan.

There are 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac – rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig – that repeat in this order every 12 years. We are currently in the Year of the Pig.

The Newfoundland pony was the first, and so far only, animal declared under the Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Animal Act when it was passed in December 1996.

www.downhomelife.com

Barnum’s Animals crackers, a popular treat named for the famous circus, have been made

by Nabisco since 1902. Originally the animals on the packaging were depicted in cages, like in the circus. A more ethical redesign in 2018 shows the lions, zebras, elephants etc. in their natural, wild habitat.

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food & leisure the everyday gourmet

Bakeapple Mignonette

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the everyday gourmet

By Andrea Maunder

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

www.downhomelife.com

Ever had a rich seafood dish that just needed a little kick of flavour and brightness? A mignonette sauce is the perfect condiment. I think of it as the classic French equivalent of Latin American salsa for the way it adds brightness and zip to a dish. If you’ve ever been served raw oysters on the half-shell in a restaurant, chances are a little dish of mignonette was served alongside to spoon atop. Classically, it’s a loose vinegar-based sauce with shallots and black pepper. It has an acidic punch, a little bite from the raw shallots and a little heat from the black pepper.

A few years ago, I was working on dishes with snow crab and created a crispy spring roll stuffed with rice vermicelli noodles, shredded vegetables and crab. It was rich and sweet, so crisp and delicious, but it needed something with acidity and a little heat to cut the richness, fattiness and sweetness. I considered other local flavours that would pair well and thought of the floral, fruity and slightly earthy quality of bakeapples. It turned out to be a match made in heaven. So often mayonnaise-based or tomato-based sauces are served with deepfried foods, but I encourage you to try a mignonette instead.

This works beautifully with any rich seafood. Try it with scallops, shrimp, lobster or halibut. It’s also wonderful with duck and skin-on chicken. For a sauce that can be made up in just a few minutes, from a few simple ingredients, you’ll be amazed at how much flavour it adds.

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Bakeapple Mignonette 8 tbsp cider vinegar 3 tbsp bakeapple wine (or apple juice, but omit sugar) 1 1/2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp finely minced red onion or shallot 4 tbsp chopped bakeapples

Pinch salt – to taste

1 tsp finely minced red hot chili pepper – or to taste

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1/2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger root

Whisk liquid ingredients together with sugar and salt to dissolve. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Chill until ready to use. A little while in the fridge lets the flavours come together. Serve in a pretty dish with a little spoon and allow diners to help themselves. A little goes a long way.

Serves 6-8

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life is better Summer in Salt Harbour, NL Julian Earle, Twillingate, NL

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everyday recipes.ca

Summer days are made for picnics, and so are the following recipes. Choose from refreshing fruity drinks, a zesty salad, savoury chicken and sweet treats.

Orange Tabbouleh Salad 1 4 1 3 1

1/2 cups fine bulgur green onions, thinly sliced cup cucumber, small dice tomatoes, small dice 1/2 cups fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 cup lemon juice 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 3 oranges, peeled 1 tsp dry mint leaves (or 1 tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped fine)

Soak bulgur in very hot water for about 10 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water. Set aside in a strainer to drain thoroughly (squeeze a little if you must – it should not be dripping wet).

Combine everything but the oranges in a large bowl.

Using a paring knife, cut out the orange segments by cutting in between the membranes so that you only get the orange flesh (this is called “orange supreme”). Squeeze the leftover orange to extract the juice.

Add the juice and segments to the salad. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, stirring occasionally.

Serve cold. Yield: 4-6 servings.

All of our recipes are brought to you by the fantastic foodies in Academy Canada’s Culinary Arts program, led by instructor Bernie-Ann Ezekiel.

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Partridgeberry-Hazelnut Stuffed Chicken Breast 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded flat 1 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp minced shallot 1 1/2 tsp fresh minced garlic 1/4 cup partridgeberries 1/4 cup apple, peeled and grated

1/3 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped fine 1/4 cup bacon, cooked and minced 1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs 2 tbsp butter

Heat oil over medium heat; sweat shallots and garlic until shallots are translucent. Turn heat to medium-high and add berries, apple and nuts. When apples have broken down (after 1-2 minutes), add bacon and herbs. Cook for another 1-2 minutes and add the cooked mixture to the breadcrumbs. Thoroughly mix.

Divide stuffing between the 6 breasts and pat down the stuffing to cover each whole breast. Tightly roll up each breast and place on a sheet of plastic wrap. Roll up tightly, twisting the ends and then tying them together to secure it and ensure the package is water-tight.

Boil a pot of water and reduce to a simmer. Place the rolled breasts in simmering water and cook for about 20 minutes. Remove breasts from pot and from plastic. Let them rest while you heat butter in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook breasts in hot butter and regularly turn them to brown them slightly all the way around (do this in two or three batches, depending on the pan size). When the internal temperature of the breast reaches 165°F, remove it from the pan, set aside for 3-5 minutes and slice to serve. Yield: 6 servings.

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Orange-Chocolate Chip Muffins 2 eggs 1 cup buttermilk 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup white sugar 2 tbsp orange zest 3/4 cup mini dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, beat eggs, milk and butter. In a large bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients. Stir the zest and chocolate chips into the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to just combine. Don’t overmix – a few lumps are fine.

Portion the batter into lined or greased muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the muffins are starting to become golden and spring back when lightly poked. Yield: 9 large muffins or 12 small muffins

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Mango-ade Purée

Syrup

2 cups mango 3/4 cup lemon juice 1/4 tsp chili flakes 1 cup water

3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup water

Boil the sugar and water together for 1 minute, remove from heat and set aside to cool.

For the syrup

In a high-powered blender, blend mango, lemon juice and chili flakes. Gradually add the water until it’s fully incorporated and then switch the machine to its highest setting.

Blend for 15-20 seconds. Strain the mixture and whisk in the syrup to sweeten it to your taste. Serve cold.

Yield: 4-5 cups.

For the purée

For pr in recipe table car visit ds

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Pomegranate Kombucha 4 cups hot water 10 cups cold water 6 black tea bags 1 cup sugar 1 SCOBY + 1/2 cup starter (you would get this from anyone who brews kombucha, get a starter kit from a health food store, or visit downhomelife.com for DIY instructions) 8 mason jars (500 ml capacity) 2 cups pure pomegranate juice

Wash and rinse a 1-gallon glass vessel (e.g. a pickle jar). Add hot water to the jar and dissolve the sugar in it. Add tea bags and steep until it comes to room temperature. Add cold water and remove tea bags. Mix in SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) and starter liquid. Cover with cloth and let it sit for 7-10 days undisturbed.

On day 7, taste for sweetness. If it is too sweet, check again the next day (sweetness lessens over time). Once to your taste, begin the second fermentation to add carbonation and flavour.

(Day 10 may be a good stopping point – it should have an apple flavour, not too sweet and not like vinegar.)

When ready, make sure you first set aside ½ cup of kombucha and the SCOBY for your next batch. Pour 1/4 cup of pure fruit juice in the bottom of each mason jar and fill to within 3/4" of the rim with the kombucha. Seal the jars tightly and allow to sit on your counter for about 4 days. After 4 days, put it in the fridge and drink it cold.

You may have to strain the tea before you drink it because a small SCOBY sometimes forms in the jar.

Yield: 8 x 500ml jars.

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Apricot-Pecan Tea Buns 3 cups flour 1/2 cup sugar 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1 cup unsalted butter

1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 3/4

cup dried apricots, small dice cup pecans, chopped tsp lemon zest cup whipping cream cup milk

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together and cut in the butter until it resembles coarse cornmeal. Add in the apricots, pecans and zest. Mix well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the cream and milk. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry, and combine until evenly wet and just starting to hold together. Do not over mix.

Divide dough into 12 buns and place them on a lightly greased pan, pressing them down to about ž"-1" high. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until buns are golden and fluffy. Serve hot with butter.

Yield: 12 biscuits

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Blueberry Crisp Filling

Thickener

8 cups frozen berries 1/2 cup white sugar 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/4 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup cornstarch 1/2 cup cold water

Crisp 1 1/2 cups flour 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 cup butter, cold

Preheat oven to 375°F.

For the filling Bring all ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat in a heavy-bottomed pot. Mix together cornstarch and water.

Whisk it into the boiling filling and allow it to return to a boil, stirring constantly. When it boils, remove from heat and set aside.

For the crisp Sift together the flour and sugar. Cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

Assembly Spread the filling over the bottom of a 9"x13" casserole dish. Evenly crumble the crisp mixture over top. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the crisp becomes golden and nearly cookie-like. Remove from oven and let rest on a rack for about 20 minutes before serving.

Yield: 8-10 servings.

For printa recipe ca ble rds visit

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Apple Cider Vinegar First Batch 6 apples, washed (mix of your favourite red/green apples) 2 cups sugar 4 cups warm water Extra cool water (for topping up your jar)

Day before: Cut apples into chunks about 1-2" big, including the core.

Freeze it all.

Next day: Thaw apples and put them and sugar in a sanitized gallon jar (pickle jars work great – wash with hot, soapy water and rinse with boiling water). Mix well. Add warm water and stir until sugar is mostly dissolved. Add enough cool water to fill the jar about 80% of the way and stir well. Cover with a clean dishcloth and put an elastic around the neck of the bottle to keep bugs and dust out.

Every 2 days, for the next several weeks, use a wooden spoon to gently push the apples back below the surface. You don’t have to stir it.

Eventually, the apples will sink (usually!) and the “mother” will form on top. Like a layer of jelly at first, it will eventually get cloudier and thicker – this is your mother! This may take a good 4-6 weeks for your first batch. Once you have reached this stage, set the covered jar in a pantry or cupboard and forget about it for at least 30 days. You’ll know your vinegar has formed once you smell and taste it – it’ll be distinctly vinegar. (If at any point you see mould growing in the vinegar, throw out the whole batch, sterilize the jar and start again.) www.downhomelife.com

Strain the apples out, set aside the mother and ½ cup of the vinegar for your next batch (store it in a clothcovered container in the cupboard, it will last a long time), and pour the rest of the vinegar into pint jars with the covers finger-tight. Store them in the pantry to allow the vinegar to settle and clear. This will take several days before it’s ready to use.

For future batches, use the same ingredients but replace the 2 cups of sugar with just 3 tbsp and add the 1/2 cup reserved vinegar from your first batch and the mother. Follow the same 30-day fermentation process. At the end, reserve the mother and 1/2 cup vinegar again before pouring up your pints.

Yield: 3-4 pints

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food & leisure down to earth

Sowing and Growing Annual Herbs

By Ross Traverse

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By this time in the summer, you could be growing a crop of annual herbs to add the freshest flavours to your meals. Most annual herbs are easily started from seed, which you can plant every two weeks or so to ensure a continuous, fresh supply during the summer and fall. Annual herbs can also be grown inside during the winter.

Annual herbs are plants that have a lifecycle of just one year. They grow from seed and then flower and produce seed for another year to start the cycle all over again. Some annual herbs, including dill, can produce seed that will come back the following year so you don’t have to seed new plants. (You can buy annual herb plants already growing in pots, but growing from seed is cheaper.)

Most annual herbs will produce a crop within 30 to 60 days, depending on the type of herb and the weather conditions. Usually there is no work involved in dividing or pruning, with the exception of thinning out the seedlings if they are too thick.

Annual herbs can be easily grown outside in containers. The plants can be grown in pots on a deck or in a window box. This makes it very convenient for harvesting them fresh when you need them right away for cooking a meal. The containers should be large enough to grow the plants to maturity.

A peat-based, professional potting soil mix at least a foot deep will prevent the plants from drying out too quickly in pots or window boxes.

Hanging baskets are not very good for growing herbs because they don’t have enough soil to prevent them from drying out, especially in windy areas. Also, so the plants don’t get waterlogged, make sure the containers have large drainage holes. A soluble fertilizer may be needed to keep the plants growing during the summer. The containers must be kept in a sunny location, which is on the southern side of the house.

You can sow more seed in the container in mid-summer to replace the herbs that have been harvested.

When planting annual herbs in a garden bed, the soil should be improved with organic matter, lime and a general-purpose fertilizer like 6 –12 –12. A raised bed should have about a foot deep of improved www.downhomelife.com

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You decide to explore Lewisporte another day, and head off to Boyd’s Cove. Protected from the sea by islands, and with plenty of seals, fish and nearby caribou, people have called it home for centuries. The first people to live here were the Beothuk, who sadly no longer exist.

You learn all of this at the Boyd’s Cove Beothuk Interpretation Centre.

Curious to learn more, you set off on the area’s walking trails, imagining what life might have been like before Europeans moved in.

Checking your watch, you figure you can make the next ferry to Fogo Island if you leave now. But then again, you’ve always wanted to explore Twillingate and you’re nearly there.

If you decide to venture to Fogo Island, go to page 94.

If you decide to travel on down the road to Twillingate, go to page 136.

soil. A sunny location that is sheltered from the wind is ideal. Some gardeners like to have the plants in a square block rather than a single row so that the plants will protect each other from the wind. Annual herbs can also be planted in a vegetable garden in a space where early vegetables like spinach and lettuce have been harvested.

Here are some tips about annual herbs that can be successfully grown in Newfoundland and Labrador. Of course, your choice of herbs depends on what you like.

Summer Savoury Simply called savoury in Newfoundland and Labrador, this is the most popular herb in this province. It is used in poultry dressing as well as many other dishes. It is preserved by drying, which intensifies the flavour.

The dried leaves can keep for quite a long time. Usually just one sowing is done in the spring, after the danger of frost. The seed is very small, so it may be a good idea for the home gardener to mix it with a small amount of clean, fine sand to make it easier to sow. It is usually planted in rows about one-and-a-half feet apart.

Savoury has the best flavour when the tiny blue flowers are just emerging. The fresh leaves can be used at any stage of growth, but usually the whole plant is cut and hung up to dry in a cool, dark, dry place. When it is dry, the leaves are rubbed off and stored in a moisture proof container.

Basil Basil is a warm season herb that is best grown in a container so it can be protected when the weather is cold.

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The seed will germinate quickly if the soil is kept warm. If you want to have a lot of basil for preserving as pesto or freezing in ice cube trays with water, you can make several sowings two weeks apart. Basil loses its flavour when it is dried.

Do not over water the soil where basil is growing. The cold, wet soil will cause the stems to rot.

Mature plants will produce a flower stalk (bolt). This can be removed to encourage more leaf growth.

Dill Dill is an annual weed that can seed itself and produce new plants in the same area next year – which is why it is sometimes referred to as dill weed. The immature flower heads can be used to make dill pickles. The fern-like leaves will lose their flavour when dried, so it is best to freeze them with water.

Dill plants don’t do well if they are transplanted, so it’s best to sow the seed in a container or in the garden.

You can make several sowings of dill to get a continuous harvest.

Parsley There are two common types of parsley that are easily grown from seed or transplants. The curly leaf form is the most common; however, the flatleafed Italian form is preferred by some for its unique flavour. The seed is slow to germinate, so it would be a good idea to soak the seed in warm water overnight. It is best to start the seed in containers inside and then transplant later. It can be grown in pots on the deck or transplanted into the vegetable garden.

When it is dried, parsley it loses its www.downhomelife.com

flavour. It is best used fresh, and you can preserve it by chopping it and freezing it with water in ice cube trays. Late in the fall, the plants can be potted up and taken inside to provide fresh leaves for at least part of the winter.

Borage Borage is an interesting ornamental, annual herb. It produces a uniquely attractive, star-shaped blue flower that is edible. The flower is sometimes frozen in ice cubes to be used in drinks. The leaves of the plant have a mild cucumber flavour and are used in salads.

Borage attracts pollinating insects.

It will seed itself and produce plants for next year if the soil is not disturbed around it.

Growing Annual Herbs in Winter The lower intensity and fewer hours of natural light in winter is not sufficient to grow annual herbs successfully in Newfoundland and Labrador; they’d need extra artificial light.

Some people question the economics of using artificial light when the herbs growing during the summer can be preserved for the winter. If you do want to grow herbs inside over winter, you have to be especially careful not to over water them.

Use a professional soil mix that is porous so it drains well.

Dr. Ross Traverse has been a horticultural consultant to gardeners and farmers for more than 50 years. downtoearth @downhomelife.com July 2019

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reminiscing flashbacks

Smile for the Camera These Masonic Anik Lodge masons were photographed in Labrador City circa 1976. The submitter’s father, Fred Rossiter, is at the far left in the front row.

Bob Rossiter, Bay Roberts, NL

Little Lad Hezekiah Robert Gosse was born on January 1, 1912, in Whitbourne, NL where he spent his whole life. Here he is at age five, in his Church Lads Brigade uniform.

Bradley Myrick, via email

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What’s Happening Here?

The submitter found this aged photo in her nanny’s things. Her grandmother was born in Cape La Hune, NL and then moved to Rencontre and later Margaree.

With all the people in this photo, it seems like a big community event was taking place. If you know where and/or when this photo was taken, and what might have been happening here, please email us at editorial@downhomelife.com.

Paula Varcoe, Sudbury, ON

This Month in History For more than a century, people have been heading to theatres to catch the latest flick. On July 1, 1907, the first film was played for a paying audience in Newfoundland and Labrador at the Nickel Theatre in St. John’s, the province’s first movie theatre. It was located at the top floor of the Benevolent Irish Society’s St. Patrick’s Hall. According to The Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, in attendance that day were 25 people in a room built to seat 600. Despite its rocky start, by the end of the year, another three movie theatres had opened. In 1908, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Roman Catholic Bishop banned seeing movies during Lent. The ban was lifted in 1915. The Nickel Theatre closed in the ’60s, but it had helped cement movie-going in the province.

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A Song of Love and Disaster

by Chad Bennett

Music has told our stories. It has given us the tastes and flavours of ordinary life in Newfoundland and Labrador, an emotional time capsule to remind us of what truly matters. One such song is one of our oldest surviving native born songs: “A Great Big Sea Hove In Long Beach.” It was written circa 1755, in Bonavista, by an unknown woman in love. The story of that song begins where it must, with our lovely songstress. Let’s call her Sarah.

“He’s gonna ask any day now!” declared Sarah’s friends, who were almost as excited as she was. Almost.

“He better,” she said, smiling, “or I’ll push him off the end of the wharf.

I feel fit to burst.”

“When are you seeing him next?” her friends asked in unison.

“Next week, for supper with him and his Gran.” Sarah shifted. “I’ll bring a pie.”

Sarah had brought Granny Snooks a lot of pies during that summer of fair winds and dreams. After a chat and tea, Granny would always arrange for Georgie to walk Sarah home. They lived in Bayley’s Cove on the edge of Long Beach, and Sarah in Canaille. The neighbourhood of Mockbeggar, in between, seemed to grow on each walk home.

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Sarah could make well, so it wasn’t long before creative flavours were needed. “I wonder what a partridgeberry and turnip pie would taste like,” Sarah mused as she and her father sorted the winter vegetables in the root cellar.

The next morning was a soft November 1st; the sweet smell of the sea hung in the air as Sarah headed up to the barrens above town. Partridgeberries, currants and bakeapples were plentiful. Getting on to noon, Granny Snooks was taking in the laundry while Georgie was around the corner splitting and stacking firewood.

Worlds away and far from the dreams of our sweet Sarah, untold violence was occurring. An earthquake measuring 8.5 on the Richter scale was laying waste to the city of 1-888-588-6353

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Lisbon, Portugal, killing more than 30,000 people and sending energy pulsing across the Atlantic. It took just seven hours to reach Bonavista.

Sarah first heard shouts and screams carried on a strengthening wind. She raced to a promontory overlooking Bayley’s Cove, and the sight froze her breath in her chest.

People were running as an ugly great water poured in over the headlands of Long Beach, destroying boats, homes and gardens as it went.

“Georgie!” the name stuck in her throat and she bolted.

Sarah cut straight through a hay field, feet flying over uneven ground lost in the tall grass. There they were!

“Gran saved me,” Georgie said, looking rattled. “I’ve never heard anyone yell half so hard, but she hasn’t been able to get a word out since. I’m taking her to Mrs. Mouland’s for help.”

Sarah’s thoughts jumped to her family. Quick goodbyes and she was off running through the curving lanes of Mockbeggar. The words came unbidden: A great big sea hove in Long Beach and Granny Snooks she lost her speech.

She tore past Abbott’s big red store where she and Georgie first met. It was still standing. She rounded the harbour and the destruction was hard to take in. Dazed, she nearly bowled over Mr. Keough who had been staring, stunned. A great big sea hove in the harbour, hove right up in Keough’s parlour.

Sarah was pounced on by her parents. “Sarah! You’re OK! I couldn’t save it, Sarah,” her mom began, pained. “It’s gone – the material for your wedding dress, everything, ruined.”

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“She nearly made away with herself going back after it,” her father said.

“Oh Mom, I’ll get married in a flour sack for all I care,” Sarah reassured her. Oh dear mother I wants a sack, with beads and buttons all down the back. “That’s if he’ll still have me – would you look at the state of us!” All three burst out laughing, and Sarah knew they were going to be OK. Me boot is broke, me frock is tore, but Georgie Snooks I do adore.

“Any wedding will have to wait,” her father began. “With the cost of everything, we’ll be fortunate to put a roof over our heads, and the Snooks can’t be much better off. “ Sarah had to agree.

Oh fish is low and flour is high, so Georgie Snooks he can’t have I, but he will have me in the fall. If he don’t, I’ll hoist my sail and say goodbye to old Canaille. Sarah wrote down the words that had been running through her head all day. “Was it a happy song?” she wondered. “Did they marry in the end?” To answer that question we need only listen to the tune. Locked into every note is joy. Over two and a half centuries later, and that message of love winning out can still be heard.

The big red store of Mockbeggar, built in 1733, was there in Sarah and Georgie’s time in the sun. You can still put your hand on the building, close your eyes, listen to the waves crashing on the rocks and smell the sea in every breath. And if you sing Sarah’s song you will be transported, feel what Sarah felt. It’s hard not to admire the Newfoundland spirit. Of course they married.

This has been a reimagining based on real events.

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He died in the service

of his country, on a battlefield in France, making less than $2 a day. More than half of his pay went to his parents back home in Newfoundland, and when he died, they got a final cheque for $73.26. A meagre payout for a life of service, however short.

Philip Petite was the son of Jeremiah and Elizabeth Petite of English Harbour West, Fortune Bay. At 21, he was a recruit of the Eight Draft. Having presented himself for medical examination at the Church Lads Brigade Armoury in St. John’s on January 3, 1916, he then joined the Royal Newfoundland Regiment on January 5. Pte. Petite was paid a daily private soldier’s rate of $1.10, and allotted 60 cents of his daily pay to his mother in English Harbour, to take effect on March 22, 1916.

After 11 weeks, Philip boarded the Sicilian in St. John’s harbour, bound for overseas service to the United Kingdom. He was now Lance Corporal Petite, promoted on March 22 as a member of the second contingent of H Company. He had also earned a five-cent per day raise. After reaching the UK on April 9, he made his way to the Regimental Depot in Scotland. In a matter of days, he passed through the port of Southampton, England, and on to Rouen, France, for final training at the large British Expeditionary Force base depot before joining the 1st Battalion.

Philip first saw action on September 4, 1916, in the trenches near Railway Wood, east of Ypres, where troops endured heavy Left: The Caribou monument at Beaumont-Hamel, France.

Top: A young Philip Petite of English Harbour West, Fortune Bay

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Left: The Victory Medal and the British War Medal (right) awarded to Sgt. Philip Petite for his service during WWI Bottom: Royal Newfoundland Regiment recruitment papers signed by a 21-year-old Philip Petite in 1916

shelling along with heavy rain. After 10 weeks in Belgium, the 1st Battalion moved south to France in the area of the Somme. After four days, the Battalion fought at Gueudecourt, not far from Beaumont-Hamel. On November 23, 1916, Philip Petite was promoted to the rank of Corporal and earned a second five-cent-perday pay raise.

On December 21, Corp. Petite was admitted to the 88th field ambulance

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and diagnosed with a hernia. It must not have been serious, as he was discharged the following day. Petite and his Battalion returned to the Front January 23, 1917.

On March 14, 1917, Petite was promoted to the rank of sergeant. On March 29, the 1st Battalion made its way to the medieval city of Arras and eventually to the rubble of a village called Monchy-le-Preux, where they suffered heavy casualties. The Battle of Monchy lasted April 14-23, and included the most costly day of the Newfoundlanders’ war after Beaumont-Hamel (July 1, 1916). They suffered 487 casualties on April 14 alone. Among them was Sgt. Philip Petite, Platoon NCO, of English Harbour West, at 22 years of age. His war service totalled one year and 100 days.

Philip left behind his parents, Jeremiah (Jerry) and Elizabeth (Betty),

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Upon Sgt. Petite’s death on the battlefield, his parents received his medals, a final cheque for $73.26 from their son’s estate, and his Memorial Plaque (nicknamed the Dead Man’s Penny) with this receipt. and 10 siblings (he was predeceased by two of them – William and Marion – who had died as children). It was the responsibility of Rev. R.F. Mercer at Harbour Breton to bear the news to his family.

On June 26, 1918, a cheque was delivered to Philip’s father in the amount of $73.26 from his estate. On April 20, 1920, his father received from the Department of Militia, St. John’s, one Memorial Scroll and a message from His Majesty the King.

His Memorial Plaque (Dead Man’s Penny) arrived on August 8, 1921.

Sgt. Philip Petite (#2059) was entitled to the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his service in the First World War. Betty Petite wrote to Governor Harris on March 7, 1919, requesting

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an inscription to be inscribed on her son’s headstone: “Greater love hath no man than this Than to lay down his life for his friends.

Well done thou good and faithful servant.

Enter thou into the joy of the Lord.

Gone but not forgotten.”

Her request was denied by the Imperial War Graves Commission, as a standard headstone is erected to all deceased soldiers in the UK. Petite’s body was never recovered or identified, but he is commemorated beneath the Caribou in BeaumontHamel Memorial Park, France. He is also commemorated on page 96 of the Newfoundland Book of Remembrance in Ottawa.

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AT THE CANADIAN WAR MUSEUM in Ottawa, there is a bust of a Newfoundland Royal Naval Reservist. It was sculpted by Christen Corbet and unveiled during the annual Battle of the Atlantic Gala in April 2016. In September of that year, a second unveiling ceremony of Able Seaman Leander Green’s bust was held in Sunnyside, NL. He is the hometown hero whose visage is memorialized in these sculptures. How this came to be is an interesting story.

Leander Green was serving aboard HMS Hilary when a request came in to help a sinking Norwegian freighter, SS Maryetta, on January 1, 1915. The ship was taking on water after being torpedoed by a German U-boat.

The crew was preparing to abandon the vessel.

When HMS Hilary arrived on the scene, it gave chase to the U-boat, then returned to the Maryetta. The naval captain asked for a volunteer to jump into the frigid waters and swim to the crippled boat carrying a lifeline.

Two sailors volunteered and both perished in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. The captain requested a third volunteer.

Able Seaman Leander Green, when recounting the events of that night to his family in later years, would say, “I looked over the side and thought, ‘What the hell am I doing out here?’”

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Arriving in Twillingate, it’s been a while since you last ate, so you head to Auk Island Winery in Durrell, where a feed of fish ’n’ chips hits the spot, washed down by a glass of wine made on site. Touring the building, you learn about the wine making process and how the wild berries for the wines are all harvested by local berry pickers.

Making your way down to the saltwater, you buy a ticket for a boat tour, hoping to see some icebergs or whales. As the boat pulls away from shore, you look back, realizing this is the same view fishermen would have had centuries ago as they returned from the fishing grounds with their haul. Motors have replaced sails, and bungalows have replaced saltboxes, but the beautifully rugged landscape remains the same. Later, you’ll realize this was the moment you truly fell in love with Newfoundland and Labrador.

This is the end of your adventure. To see how your day could have gone if you had chosen another path, return to page 83.

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ABLE SEAMAN LEANDER GREEN Courtesy of Green Family

He stood on the railing and peered down into the cold Atlantic on that dark night. Then he plunged into the frigid waters with the end of a lifeline around his waist and swam towards the distressed vessel. He secured the rope and Norwegian lives were saved. Royal Naval logs for HMS Hilary confirm the loss of two sailors and the rescue of six individuals.

AS Green was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Service Medal from King George V, becoming the first decorated Newfoundlander of the First World War. Green’s children describe their father as a kind, mild and humble man. His own words in a letter written to his sister, Rachael Jane, seem to reflect this. “I had a good trip this 1-888-588-6353

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time. The King gave me a medal...”

When the war ended, Green returned to St. Jones Without, NL, on November 27, 1919. He and his new wife, Blanche, had 11 children together, whom Green supported as a fisherman. When St. Jones Without was abandoned in 1952, the Greens moved to nearby Sunnyside. He continued fishing and, along with his son Bertram, sailed a schooner up to the Southern Shore in the late ’40s.

Green purchased a car in the late ’50s, although he did not have a driver’s licence. His sons would drive him wherever he needed or wanted to go. His son, Pearce, was driving on August 26, 1966, when Green was invited as a WWI veteran to attend the official opening of the Come By Chance oil refinery. Tragically, his vehicle was involved in an accident on the TCH just before the turnoff to the refinery road. Green’s son Pearce, and two grandchildren, died.

Our hero, Able Seaman Leander Green, also succumbed to his injuries.

SCULPTING A HERO Christen Corbet is the sculptor-inresidence for the Royal Canadian Navy. He was hired to document visually, using the art of sculpture, notable members of the Royal Canadian Navy and Reserves. To his credit, Corbet had already sculpted Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace before he started his work with the Royal Canadian Navy.

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SCULPTOR CHRISTEN CORBET AND VICE ADMIRAL MARK NORMAN AT THE UNVEILING OF LEANDER’S BUST AT CANADIAN WAR MUSEUM, 2016.

Richard Lawrence Photography

several files of sailors. In his opinion, Green’s actions that night were the most heroic and unselfish act by an individual sailor to happen during the Great War and would do well to honour the heroism of all Newfoundland and Labrador sailors.

Able Seaman Leander Green’s portrait bust, of which only two editions were made to date, will form part of a collection titled “Honouring Our Great Sailors,” which is presently on display at the Maritime Command Museum in Halifax, NS. The edition of the bust that was unveiled at Sunnyside is now on permanent display in the conference room at the town hall.

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between the boulevard and the bay

waxing poetic

By Ron Young

Oars over water dripping sounds, like rain oarlocks creaking under the strain

Summer days

in Newfoundland and Labrador were preciously spent when I was a youth, and even more so when I was a police officer living in Ontario. Whatever vacation I earned was guaranteed to be spent somewhere in my home province, and when I wasn’t there, I was dreaming of it. I wrote a lot of poetry back in those days, including this one. My fishing mate then was Leonard Ivany from Stephenville, a longtime friend. The poem brings to mind the peacefulness and enjoyment of lazy days on the water, catching fish and telling stories. Sometimes the littlest things make the biggest impressions.

Newfoundland Vacation On Grand Lake west in late summertime I rested a while and scribbled a rhyme Where fluffy clouds float under the blue and over the mountains where the dew covers the grass the flowers, the clover on the sweeping sides of the island, Glover Morning before the sun is up breakfast liquid from coffee cup Stillness broken by the sound 138

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Wayne Stacey photo

of rippling brook over rocky ground Oars over water dripping sounds, like rain oarlocks creaking under the strain Boat skimming over the shimmering water of the beautiful lake mother nature’s daughter With rod and reel and fishing mate and frying pan to seal the fate of any speckled who wishes to dine upon my bait and test my line Around noontime when sun is hot back at camp with the fish we caught we laze on the grass contemplate sky 1-888-588-6353

and talk of our catches in days gone by the last five inches being a lie The lies were good and so was the rye.

Times of happiness never last It always seems the time goes fast Days zipped by hours flew In late September I said Adieu to the place on earth that I hold dear The fish will be biting again next year.

“If you can’t be a great person, be a good one.” – Ron Young Ron Young is a retired policeman, published poet and founding editor of Downhome. ron@downhomelife.com

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FOR SALE Skipper Shea’s Lounge with House FLEUR DE LYS, NL

6000 Sq. Ft.Turnkey including: cold room, ice maker, glass washer, pool table & more! Propane Fireplace, Oil/Electric Heat. House includes: 2 BR, 3 Bath, Propane Fireplaces, Solarium, Jenn Air BBQ, Sauna & Hot Tub $449,000

Contact ShirleyRShea@yahoo.ca • 709-253-2121

OCEAN FRONT EASTERN NEWFOUNDLAND 56 acres of wooded ocean front land on Smith Sound, Trinity Bay. Priced at CAD $800,000

Contact Paul Quigley

709-747-2797 pquigley@penav.nf.net Spectacular View and Very Private

(709) 726-5113 1-888-588-6353

advertising@downhomelife.com

Spaniard’s Bay House 1860 sq ft Garage 1340 sq ft approx 5 acres of land $439,000.00 709-589-4179 mash961@yahoo.com

For Sale

Beautiful Waterfront Property

Deer Lake, NL Price Reduced to $419,900!

Listing ID: 1154568

Tel: 709-636-2904 • regberry10@gmail.com • www.rivermountainrealty.ca 144

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Announcements

PRIVATE SALE BY OWNER Building in Town Square, Gander First Floor, Commercial 1700 Sq.Ft. Second Floor, Residential 1700 Sq.Ft. 2 bedroom apartment with separate entrance. More pictures on request

709-221-8757 or 709-424-0757 f.tizzard@nl.rogers.com

Marketplace

Happy 70th Anniversary

Frank & Leora Mahaney Frank & Leora of Fogo are celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary on July 27th. Their son, his wife, their 3 grand­ children (and their respective spouses), and their 4 great­ grandchildren say thank you to Nan & Pop for their ongoing example of love & devotion.

Lorl Guesthouse Located in Indian Bay

Full house. 3 bedrooms. $150 / night. Wi-Fi/cable Located on the Shore Highway 1hr 15 mins from Gander. Come from away and stay!

Facebook.com/LorlGuesthouse • Lorlguesthousereservations@gmail.com

Marketplace Information Rates start at $50 for a 1 column x 1 inch colour ad.

This size fits approximately 20 words.

The smallest size of ad with a picture is a 1 column x 1 inch ad and the cost is $100.

Happy 50th Anniversary The Venerable John & Mrs. Ruth Spencer were married at St. Thomas’ Anglican Church in St. John’s on July 5th, 1969.

Congratulations Mom & Dad

Book your ad today!

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

Love Lesley (Dan, Andrew & Emily) and Pamela (David & Mackenzie)

Announcement ads start at $69.95 Call 1-888-588-6353 July 2019

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Movers & Shippers Clarenville Movers

A&K Moving

Local & Long Distance Service A Family Moving Families Professionally and economically

Your Newfoundland & Alberta Connection

Coast to Coast in Canada Fully Insured

Toll Free: 1-855-545-2582

Newfoundland Owned & Operated

Over 30 years Experience Tel: Cell:

Contact: Gary or Sharon King

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

Moving you from Ontario and Newfoundland... or any STOP along the way!

DOWNEAST CONNECTION 709-248-4089 905-965-4813

709-545-2582 709-884-9880

clarenvillemover@eastlink.ca www.clarenvillemovers.com

35 Years in the Moving Industry

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

aandkmoving@gmail.com FIVE STAR SERVICE Without The Five Star Price! ★ Local & Long Distance Moves ★ Packing

Voted CBS Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year

★ Door-to-Door Service Across Canada ★ Replacement Protection Available ★ NL Owned & Operated

Hawke’s Bay, NL (collect calls accepted) downeastconnection@yahoo.ca

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

MOVING INC. 709-834-0070 866-834-0070 fivestarmoving@outlook.com www.fivestarmoving.ca

Over 25 Years Experience in the Moving Industry

SAMSON’S MOVING

Movers & Shippers

Let our Family Move Your Family Home

Rates start at $175 for a 1 col. x 2" ad.

Newfoundland, Ontario, Alberta and All Points In Between Newfoundland Owned & Operated Fully Insured, Free Estimates Sales Reps. in Ontario and Alberta

Call Jim or Carolyn - Peterview, NL 709-257-4223 709-486-2249 - Cell samsonsmovers@yahoo.ca www.samsonsmovers.ca

Call Today! 709-726-5113 Toll Free 1-888-588-6353 Email advertising@downhomelife.com

August 2019 Downhome Ad Booking Deadline June 28, 2019 146

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puzzles

The Beaten Path

EJ Sears 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 will spell out the name of the above place name in letters that get smaller in size.

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Last Month’s Community: Colliers 148

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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

July 2019

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Downhomer Detective Needs You

A

fter 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: • Name reflects the prominent waterfalls • Between LaPoile and Burgeo • Only accessible by boat • Founded on the cod fishery • Resettled in 2010

Last Month’s Answer: Change Islands

Picturesque Place NameS of Newfoundland and Labrador

by Mel D’Souza Last Month’s Answer: Black Tickle 150

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

Last Month’s Clue: The peace that occurs ahead of the tempest In Other Words: The calm before the storm This Month’s Clue: There exists no other occasion similar to the here and now In Other Words: _____ __ __ ____ ____ ___ _______.

A Way With Words Eggs Easy

Last Month’s Answer: Eggs over easy

Rhyme Time A rhyming word game

by Ron Young

1. A little bit awful is a ___ ___ 2. An inexpensive ewe is a

This Month’s Clue

_____ ____

WATER CAMERA

3. A complimentary hot beverage is a ____ ___ Last Month’s Answers 1. cleans jeans, 2. pine for wine, 3. hook a crook

ANS: ____ ____ ____

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.

A E E D A I D N A I E F H E H E N I O C O G M T N O P N I O M T T S W N

E E A M D D E A B E E E B I C R N A N H E M G N E E E D U N S Y T U S T L I V R S Y O T T Y R N

Last month’s answer: Friendship improves happiness and abates

misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief. www.downhomelife.com

July 2019

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Rhymes 5 Times Each answer rhymes with the other four

1. toil 2. crazy 3. new dance 4. oddity 5. bonus

___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________

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

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

Last Month’s Answers: 1. summer, 2. drummer, 3. dumber, 4. mummer, 5. bummer

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!

Ale All Heap Hop _ ________ Ate Whole Freak Haul _ ____ ____ ____ Last Month’s 1st Clue: Ice Mail Air Hat Answer: I smell a rat Last Month’s 2nd Clue: Bell Heed Ant Sir Answer: Belly dancer

A

nalogical

A

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

1. GNTEALWITIL 2. ANNDII VCOE 3. NRERIHG KNCE 4. ROFDUSMERM 5. NGIVIR MRA Last Month’s Answers: 1. Gaskiers, 2. Riverhead, 3. Path End, 4. Mall Bay, 5. Admiral’s Beach

nagrams

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

1. SIGH FIN – Clue: having a reel good time 2. TAG YOUR PHOBIA – Clue: story of my life 3. DULL POET – Clue: a dirty word 4. WEE HORN – Clue: neither here nor there 5. MERCURIC FENCE – Clue: all around the circle Last Month’s Answers: 1. aviation, 2. runway, 3. airport, 4. suitcase, 5. itinerary 152

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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.

1-3: Ford 1-6: atomic number 6 1-10: added fizz 1-21: toilet 1-91: glowing 8-6: cure hide 11-13: fruit drink 12-15: unhearing 12-32: payable 15-17: enemy 23-28: lawman 25-23: small wave 25-28: noggin nuisance 26-6: charged particle 29-9: farm tool 29-59: warmth 30-50: beige 31-36: leave 33-36: portion 33-53: pan’s pard 36-56: beret 37-17: top dog 38-8: dispatched 38-40: ocean 46-41: somebody 47-17: ethnicity 48-98: Robin’s pal 50-48: apprehend 51-56: TV show 53-3: Hopalong Cassidy’s horse 53-73: faucet 53-83: record 54-59: battle 54-94: headland 57-17: pair 57-59: club 58-8: away 59-57: check www.downhomelife.com

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61-64: fossil fuel 61-91: copper 62-82: aged 65-45: defraud 65-85: weep 67-87: tear 70-65: measure 70-68: faced 76-71: three times 76-79: prison term 80-76: defer 82-85: resist 84-82: nourished 86-90: shovel 91-93: as well 96-6: appraisal 98-100: profit

100-10: ended 100-70: school segment 100-91: greenhorn Last Month’s Answer 1

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RACKE T E E WO N S O N D E T I AWV E S OL E E Y CARB URA OY P ERU S RAT S T I N ACE TONE T E P O WA Y E D I WN O I

E C A R T E G R A T

July 2019

R O T C O D U S K A

S A T U R A T I O N

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The Bayman’s

Crossword Puzzle 1

2

by Ron Young

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ACROSS 1. pitch 3. “When __ rays crown thy pine clad hills” 4. opposite of WNW 6. fir (colloq) 7. flag 11. sweet talker 17. Canadian Automobile Association (abbrev) 18. festered and sore (colloq) 20. aide 21. Uncle __ Clouston 22. puzzle 24. Grand Ole ____ 26. university degree (abbrev) 28. There’s favour __ hell if you bring your own splits 29. camp kettle (colloq) 30. dog’s foot 31. Trans-Canada Highway (abbrev) 33. “C’mon __ goes!”

34. You got __ knocked 35. seabird 36. cleaves 37. Canadian National (abbrev) 38. senior (abbrev) 39. foaming ocean waves 41. _____ Harbour, Connaigre Peninsula 43. sheep sound 45. fine ice floating on the water surface (colloq) 46. first resident DOWN 1. December 23 in NL 2. Baseball-like game (colloq) www.downhomelife.com

5. beach 8. frozen over 9. frame for drying nets 10. back of the neck 11. “Sweet ________, good times never seemed so good” 12. Harbour Main (abbrev) 13. separate 14. depend 15. mister (abbrev) 16. up to my ________ – busy 19. cod roe (colloq) 20. Harbour Deep (abbrev) 23. Jack Was Every ____ a Sailor 25. place 27. shoemaker’s tool 30. Port Union (abbrev) 32. surname 35. _____ Big Sea 37. weep 38. scram 39. short for Beatrice 40. Abraham to his friends 42. exclamation 44. “He don’t know if he’s punched __ bored” 1

S U C P R 5 6 O D 7 O D P

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N A R D E R

S Q U Q U I 22 U O 26 I A 31 S S 34 35 H E 38 39 V A 41 D E A 46 O R 49 E Y E 18

ANSWERS TO LAST MONTH’S CROSSWORD 11

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I D S S L E V E E N 19 20 21 D O N E R E D A 23 24 25 A V E P A N A T 27 28 29 30 S E V E R O N U 32 33 O N E O M O O R 36 37 U G R OW O N C E 40 N G S U E T 42 43 44 45 D A G A I N S T O 47 48 P L A N O N A 50 B A L L S W A T E R July 2019

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DIAL-A-SMILE © 2019 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. _ 4

__ __ _ __ 84 68 4 48 ______ 934448

’

____ 3668

_ ____ 2 2688 ____ 6623

___ _ 545 3

’

______ 567464

___ 288

_ 4

______ 567464

Last Month’s Answer: My house was clean yesterday; sorry you missed it.

©2019 Ron Young

CRACK THE CODE

L

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

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ R l k Hi _ _ _ _ _ _ _ H _ _ _ _ _

\ pC H Z\kDLHt lC Z _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ i xK t l D D H K\D _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ H h B x b Z H\ Kzt l i H Hi L t

_ _ _ H

Z l bL

_ _ H _ _

K iLZC

Last Month’s Answer: There is no love as great as that of a mother for her child 156

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Food For Thought

© 2019 Ron Young

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.”

promise =

erode =

kid =

careful =

_ _ _

w mI

_ _

_ _ _ _ _

x i vf b

matvdn

lighthouse =

vt z xmn

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _

_ _ _ _

vttn

izc _ _ _

izc

_ _ _ _

vttn

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

V

_ _

t b wxz qvmn

c wawv wt c

_

xz wqvmw c

abroad =

_ _

aw cq

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

vc _ _ _ _

I i tn

_ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _

I i zq _ _ _ _

I i zq

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

ft zant b _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

V

mad mqqtn

Last Month’s Answer: Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time. www.downhomelife.com

July 2019

157

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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 GO JIGGING OFF ROSE BLANCHE

Last Month’s Answers: 1. Roof; 2. Shrub; 3. Window; 4. Pole shorter; 5. Stop sign; 6. Pedestrian; 7. Funnel; 8. Marine Atlantic logo; 9. Stripe along hull; 10. Mast; 11. Truck; 12. Fence post.

“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.

158

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HIDE & SEEK NL SHIPS

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

ALERT ARGYLE ARIEL BACCALIEU BELLAVENTURE BONAVISTA BRUCE BURGEO CARIBOU CLYDE CONSCRIPT CURLEW DUNDEE ETHIE FIFE FOGOTA GLENCOE HERCULES

J P M P W U E E B R E N B L E D N X

E Q W G H G G O S M A V Q R F W O O

N L J E E P N L O O J O U F T X E I

T Q A F L A Q H E D R T K A L J G S

N I L D V R Q Z Z N N T V S Z T R C

B N G I G F U S B E C E N Y C X U O

B Q S E O N E C V B R O M I H R B N

www.downhomelife.com

PLOVER PORTIA PROSPERO SAGONA SPRINGDALE TAVERNER TIGER VOLUNTEER

HOME HOPEDALE INVERMORE KYLE LEOPARD LINTROSE MEIGLE NEWFOUNDLAND R R J B T H G R R J Q L F K F T S I

Last Month’s Answers

M T T G R L I A P N A Z E M L U R S

A R O L U E L R E L S W I W X O W C

O T H C L L D R P W O U G C T A J R

A G R Y E Z D D L S Q V L P N Q T I

G E G B L F N F I F E Y E O N D G P

H R M G A H A O Y O D Y G R B S N T

A R E J A I A L E S H R Y F R D R V

A Q U M D U L I B E F A T E C U R B

E K E I L R O M Y D E J S W N V E R

K M A B N M A E I S N P L A W Z V N

Q K C J E O D C N L S J R W X C M T

A H E L O O N C H L T A L C O G I I

X R H N E O M W H F T H G O T F R S

T Q D L L Y A L D O G O S P X G W I

M A K M P E N A Y V A F E A F D Q O

W N G A C T S M A I I H N H W V Q R

K A M D E O E A H S G S I J R T L W

S P B Q O K U R R U E I L A C C A B

E P A R P I R N D R O F R E T A W P

W V M E C E P U A W F X M F I X N P

O T S Y H S O I Z P T R A L Y K M X

Y P L X I E E E M K J X K S P X T M

I D I P S F N L A U K L N J U Y U R

E E D N U D F B C I H L M H M V L K

J N G L R V T S Z D Y E F B A I O L

E X A O R E I H E P L R E A K P R P

V L I G G E W O P M I N E O U I D Q

Q D M I G P N L E A S I F U S N T A

M Q G T A D E N H M O R Q N A B V L

Y Y R K Q J E U W A E O I I R C Q I

O A L S J A Q W I C E E E H N A N M

Y U M I J E F F R E Y S L K K J A E

G K K O V T N H F T Q J U O R E U Q

U P D D Z H U A I P S G R U A R Q R

E N I P S R E V A R T U T K H O B M

I A J L H Y V O L U N T E E R A Y G

C T O R R E N T X R K A K P S D C V

S Y S Y V V D R O O K P L J I T W Z

O R E P S O R P G E L E O P A R D C

July 2019

Q A T E N I L O C P R E B M U H O Y

I E E I D R C H U R C H I L L Q M A

K V T D C X P O R T I A C W K R R A 159

1907photo Finish_0609 Photo Finish 5/31/19 10:52 AM Page 160

photo finish

New

View

A drone camera puts a different perspective on the often photographed Cape Spear lighthouse.

Bailey Parsons Stephenville, NL

Do you have an amazing or funny photo to share?

Turn to page 9 to find out how to submit.

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