Rainbow Scrap Challenge, Sunflowers and Battle Harbour, Labrador

This week, for the first time in a long time, I spent some time sewing every day!  In the sewing room, I worked on my light blue (June) and red (July) blocks for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects.  I now have 8 pineapple log cabin blocks completed.  I am aiming for 12 blocks for a wall hanging. I really like working on these scrappy blocks...the fabrics bring back all sorts of memories of other things I have made for us as well as gifts given to and received from friends and family alike. 

These 6.5" square slabs are made from my smallest scraps which I store in plastic shoe boxes by colour. 

I was making great strides on my counted cross stitch sunflowers until I discovered I had not counted correctly and had to take out a bunch of stitches...  I am back on track now and working on the top right quadrant of the picture.  (I will fill in the missing stitches on the top left sunflower when I get to that colour on the one on the right.)

My husband and I went blueberry picking this week and froze most of them, leaving enough out to eat fresh for the next few days.  

I went walking in my neighbourhood after it rained the other day and the sun came out, illuminating the water droplets on my neighbour's hosta flowers.  

Finn had a haircut this week...  Here is a picture from before the haircut--he was doing one of his chores--the prewash cycle of the dishwasher!!
 

And after the haircut...his ears always look very floofy after a haircut and blow dry!

While on our Newfoundland vacation in June, we took a ferry to Labrador where we spent a night at Battle Harbour.  It was an amazing place, where the people who hosted us told the stories of generations of their families who lived and worked in the cod fishery.  After the 1992 cod moratorium (due to dwindling cod stocks), several fishermen were trained to be historic restoration carpenters and the buildings and homes were restored to their former glory as a living museum which hosts guests like ourselves for an immersion experience like none other.  Here are some pictures from our visit to Battle Harbour:

Our guide, Janice, explained how cod nets worked. In the second picture, she showed us how the cod were processed for salting, storage and shipping.  Janice spent her summers as a child at Battle Harbour. 

An iceberg in the distance. 

We stayed in a room in the Merchant Building. 

Most of these buildings are private homes but some are accommodations for guests. 

This is the church where Janice was baptized. 

Delicious, made from scratch meals were served in the dining hall which used to be used to store fish waiting to be shipped. 

My husband and I took a couple of hikes around the island. 

It was chilly but we had the right clothes with us to keep warm. 

Can you find me in this picture?

At one time, the cod were bigger than a small child. 

Battle Harbour was certainly a highlight of our trip!  If you are ever going to Newfoundland on vacation, consider a side journey to this magical spot in Labrador. 

I will link up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and Slow Sunday Stitchers on the weekend.