driving the 101 in autumn

So much water under the bridge, so much catching up to do.
I will start with the 2nd of our 3 trips to Ikea in October as we attempted to design, shop for and finish our new bathroom upstairs in honour of Connie's visit over this last week.

We made that 2nd trip on October 18th which proved to be a lovely autumn day.

  

Formerly the Bog Road Bridge, this is now the Freddie Wilson Overpass.

In 2007, a few weeks after Freddie's 53rd birthday, this honorary sign was hung.

Born in Windsor, Nova Scotia,  Freddie, the oldest of 4 brothers, had complications at birth which left him with brain damage.  From age 6 to 18, he attended a Truro training school for mentally challenged children and moved back home in 1973. It is around then that he started waving to vehicles from this overpass, living only a minute's walk away. He particularly loved eliciting honks from passersby, particularly the truckers. I can't remember seeing him in the 5 years that we've been here. He'd be 63 now.

approaching the Hantsport and Mt. Denson exit on this lovely day.

The views to the south were almost obliterated by the bright sun.

I love this pasture amid the forest.

down to Falmouth with Mt. Uniak in the distance

another southerly scene with old mountains rolling in the background

a hilltop home

looking down at a Falmouth community

Windsor from the highway

scrubbier trees in the lower land

The highway views start to blend for a while

but little pockets of focal points stand out

coming into the Municipality of East Hants

The terrain is more rugged the closer we get to the ocean,

with this lovely northern lake to catch the eye.

Climbing Mt. Uniak, the light is getting low and I abandon my picture taking.

Wally out in the partking lot of the new Ikea at closing time with a stainless garbage bin for the new bathroom among other things. I couldn't capture the surreal enormity of that sign and the fact that we are planted on the edge of a cliff overlooking Dartmouth Crossing a wasteland of big box stores. Maybe another time.

As promised, I am sharing the new project I started in October, working in a Dylusions black "Journal". I had bought the book a few months earlier and cooked on how to use it over the late summer months.

As one opens it, there is an envelope on the left for clippings. The journal is a cardstock sewn book attached to the back of the black bookboard cover that enfolds it.

Knowing that I wanted to use this book for autumn themes but much aware that I was a novice at using both its dark background and the cardstock pages, I decided to experiment with an eye toward semi-finished pieces. I began with a product I had never used before: Ranger's white opaque pen, something like a gel pen. I started on the right page finding the ball of the pen scratchy and difficult to work with. A 2nd pen in the set of two was easier to "roll" with though I had to go slow to keep from skipping. Between the two pens I used an amount of ink amounting to one pen's worth on these two pages; a little pricey I'd say. Regardless, I had fun.

Well, as I said, I have some catching up to do, but I'm somewhat undone by the pace we went between sight-seeing and doing taxes. So I may take a little break before I return. Wally just called on his lunch break and encouraged me to take a nap. I never nap unless I'm unwell, but, geez, I'm tempted.

thanks for dropping by! Til next time...

peace