Speak my Language

This has been a week of rejections for me. Boo! Nobody likes rejection, especially in plural, but I'm not letting it get me down. I allow myself five seconds to make a pouty face and then I shake it off and get to work on my latest WIP.



A nice distraction this morning was putting some thought into this award I was gifted by Paige at Paradise Valley 2...Hell's Mountain. The point of this Literacy Builder award is to share some of your favourite words and why you like them. I thought this would be a fun way to show off some great Newfoundland words.

Duckish: I used this word in a story once and was told by quite a few people that I had a typo. Duckish is when it's starting to get dark, twilight.

Sleeveen: Someone who is sly or deceitful.

Gawmoge: Complaining about being sick, especially to get out of doing something.

Puckawn: A goat. I mention this one because one of my mom's favourite sayings (especially about my brother) was that he was "wild as a puckawn".

Yaffle: Originally meant an armload of dried fish, but it has come to mean a whole load of anything. Learn any new words today? Yep, a whole yaffle of 'em.

So there you go. Five new words you probably won't use much, but they're fun to say.

Culinary Delight

This is another little taste of what I've come to call "Housewife Poetry". Click below for some background music.



Django flows through the speakers
A bottle of wine open on the counter
I pour twice
One for the pot
One for me
Chopping, swaying
Stirring, spinning
All the way to Italy and France
I don't have to leave my kitchen
I just need some
Secret ingredients

From the Wrath of Igor

That title is actually a lie. Igor hasn't hit us yet, we've got a few hours to go before he lands. His entourage however, is causing quite a stir. It started last evening with some wind and rain, a little thunder and lightning, and in true horror movie fashion, the power went out. So far today we've got a ton of rain, lots of wind, and a few towns have declared a state of emergency with washed out roads and power outages.

Right here, all the schools are closed, the wind and rain are pelting against the windows, and yet my backyard is full of little birds trying to eat and find a place to weather the storm. I caught this little guy on the ledge of my back deck, well sheltered and close to the feeder. You can barely see him through the blur of wind and rain.



It is the perfect day to be indoors. A good day to curl up with a good book. And speaking of good books, please allow me to direct you to Salty Ink. This site is a great place to grow your reading list. Chad Pelley, operator of Salty Ink and himself an award winning author, highlights the work of Atlantic Canadian writers. Check out the interviews, book reviews and sections featuring both poetry and prose writers and books. There are also a few competitions, including the short fiction contest for which the long list was just released. I sent along my story, "Just Right", otherwise known as "The Story No One Likes", but it didn't make the last cut.

Long list - that reminds me. The Giller Prize long list was released this week. You can find that here. This list usually adds a few books to my reading list each year as well. (I just realized how long that list is getting!)

If you want a little guilty pleasure to go along with your literature, check out SlushPile Hell - so bad it's funny.

So now you have some stuff to help while away the stormy hours. And if it isn't stormy where you are, pretend it is.

Dog Meets Frog

Hannah found a new friend.

Kayaking Between Islands

Change Islands is a small island community between the mainland and the more densely populated Fogo Island. The only way for visitors to get there is by ferry. We have passed the island countless times on our way to Fogo, but never stopped there. We decided to visit, but under our own power, a kayak trip from Blackhead Cove on Fogo Island across to Change Islands - a distance of 7.5 km.



We got up early in the morning to check our gear and the weather. Unfortunately, the weather itself doesn't know what it will do from one minute to the next, so it is difficult to predict with any great accuracy. It was a lovely, calm day when we left Fogo for Blackhead Cove, with just a mild wind and somewhat calm sea. By the time we got a third of the way across the wind had picked up and the water was quite choppy. Halfway across we were struggling against wind and white caps.



Once we reached the sheltered coves on the far island it was less of a struggle. Still we were eager to reach land and stretch our legs for a bit. Our original plan was to kayak around to the main tickle, but instead we pulled up on the first stretch of beach we found. After such a challenging trip across we were very excited to see the brightly coloured house at the tip of the community. What we weren't excited to see were the dark clouds moving in.



Our plan was to have lunch and then explore for a bit. As it turned out, we ended up landing at the far end of the community. This gave us a chance to walk and see and bit of the town on our way to the restaurant.



Change Islands is a perfect picture of outport Newfoundland, with its brick red stages and weathered docks, lobster pots and fishing boats. We didn't see many people on our walk, but those we did see waved and nodded as we passed. It seemed eerily quiet, in fact, no doubt due to the low layer of dark clouds moving ever closer to the island.



I was completely charmed by the bridge that ran across the tickle. Wide enough for only one car, and a separate walkway for pedestrians, it looks like something that could have been built eighty years ago.



The rain started just as we reached the TLP Restaurant. They had a beautiful gazebo for outdoor dining, but not for today. We did grab a seat near the window so that we could look out across at the approaching weather. We hoped it would pass over before we had to head back across to Fogo Island. Until then we chatted with the restaurant owners and had a fantastic lunch of fish and chips. Our luck held out as the sun started to break through just as we were signing the guest book on our way out.



We braved the showers to explore a little more of the community before heading out. I wasn't planning to leave before seeing the Newfoundland Pony Refuge. The refuge was started to help bolster and protect the endangered Newfoundland Pony. Since its beginning in 2004, five foals have been born at the refuge.



Once the wind died down and it was safe to head out onto the water we made our way back to the beach. We had lots of curious company along the way, mostly of the four legged variety.



There was a bit of a swell on as we made our way back, but we made better time. We were soaking wet and salty and very tired from our adventure. It was quite a relief to see our own four legged welcoming committee. I will definitely go back to Change Islands, there was much we didn't get to see during our quick trip. Next time, though, I think we will take the ferry.

Baker's Dozen

She pulled the last of the croissants from the oven, two racks of twelve plus one – a baker’s dozen. The heat in the kitchen was stifling today, and the work harder than usual, but she hummed as she kneaded and rolled the dough for baguettes and pastries.

She once dreamed of having her own little patisserie somewhere in France, living a quiet life, delighting villagers with her treats. Instead she met a man with shining green eyes and settled here on another shore.

She smiled and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. She still had a quiet life, a good life, and built a business doing what she loved.

She washed her hands, removed her apron, and put the two extra croissants into a small box. The sun was rising over the Narrows when she stepped out onto the street and locked the bakery door. It was a beautiful morning, full of promise. She and her love would have breakfast together - fresh croissants and coffee - and she could finally tell him that she had one more bun in the oven.

Gratitude

Sunday. I was having one of those mornings. You know the ones. The kids were fighting, we were out of coffee, and the cat just would not shut up. Mornings like this make it hard to be grateful for the good things. But, like the weather here on the island, you just have to wait a little while for things to change.

Everything calmed down after I went outside, enjoyed the beautiful sunny morning, watered my pumpkins (the best I've had in years) and just enjoyed the few moments of solitude. When I logged on to see how things were going in the online world, my morning took a rapid upswing.

Linda clued up her 30 Days of Gratitude contest over at leftbrainwrite with the announcement of the contest winners. Wasn't I tickled pink to be the winner of the most heartfelt gratitude comment. Linda gave $1 for every gratitude comment left on her blog for the duration of the contest. Once she rounded up, that meant $150 for her local hospice and crisis centre. I think generosity like that deserves a huge thank you and round of applause.

This was my comment on Linda's blog:

I am grateful for those people who take just one quick moment to point out the good in someone else. That one moment can make a world of difference.

I mention this because my second surprise of the morning came when I swung by the Owlery Chronicles and found that the latest post was about my blog. Sweet! The Owlette had some very nice things to say, and I am eternally grateful for her kind words. If you have the time I would encourage you to take a look at her blog. It's full of fun posts, animal rescue tales, and amazing photos of all her travels.

While I have you here, I'd like to point you in another direction. Michael Solender (I may have mentioned him here once or twice before) has a chapbook of his poetry and short fiction available at Full of Crow. It is deep and haunting and beautiful and I would encourage all of you to read it. It is called Last Winter's Leaves and you can read or download it here.

And Erin Cole has released her novel, Grave Echoes. I have ordered my copy and cannot wait to read. You can find out more about it at Erin Cole Writes, or on her blog, Listen to the Voices. Read it now because she's already hard at work on the sequel.

Newfoundland Pony

I took this picture on a recent kayak trip to Change Islands. I'll write more about that, and the Newfoundland Pony refuge another time. I just wanted to share this photo today.

Dog Days Results

The results are in. It seems the Michael Solender has spent the last few weeks hiding from the heat, reviewing stories and putting them together for his Dog Days of Summer contest chapbook.

You should make your way over to The Not and read the very fun interview with Grand Prize Winner Sam Adamson. Then check out the chapbook of winners, near winners, and assorted hangers on. All stories are 101 words, and all contain the words summer and heat.

My 101 worder, Respite from the Heat, can be found on page 11. It was really too big a story for the word limit, but I tried to cram it all in. It was passable enough to earn an honourable mention.

A big thank you to Michael who once again threw a heck of a contest and put together a great chapbook.