The Jotter

    
The Jotter

     I like to think I invented “The Jotter”, a little notebook I take to my social engagements with a list of items we should discuss over dinner.  I started doing that because often I would come away from a 4 hour meal at Dimitris thinking I had forgotten to ask so and so about her daughter, or her sciatica, or her fantasies.  So now in preparation for my dates, I update The Jotter.  Consistent topics include Children, Husbands, Books, Movies.  Here is a sample of an expired jotter from a year or two ago.  You can see traces of the meal smeared across the surface.  

Expired Jotter

     The term “Jotter” was the result of one of those nasty Scrabble games I had with my room-mate at the camp.  Although I had never really heard the word jotter before, when I got the appropriate letters, I feigned self-confidence and laid those Scrabble tiles on the board.  After all, the J is worth 8 points, and if you can get it on a triple letter score, you might have a chance of beating the brilliant strategist across the table.  My room-mate, aka Brilliant Strategist, snarled at me.  “Jotter.  I don’t think so. What’s a jotter?”  I snarled right back with false bravado.  “One who jots.”  Tom would not let it rest.   He challenged.  I surreptitiously held my breath as he consulted the Scrabble dictionary.  Fortunately it was there!!  I got the points and the upper hand …for a moment.    

Scrabble Dictionary

     According to the above definition, "a memorandum book", I guess I did not invent the jotter idea, but I am going to take credit for putting it into practice.  Many of my social circles have come to expect The Jotter at our outings.  They might even contact me beforehand with a request to put a certain topic on The Jotter.   

Commercial Jotter

     Most of my social circles consist of groups of four.  In a group of four lies the danger of two conversations emerging simultaneously.  I HATE that because one of my ears is always straining to hear what the other two are talking about.  I don’t want to miss anything!!  

Social Group of Four

    The Jotter helps alleviate that "missing out" problem to an extent.  If I catch a word of the other conversation, I can jot that down then get back to it when my one-on-one conversation is over.  That way I have not been TOTALLY rude to my conversation partner by only listening with one ear, and I have a reasonable chance of retracing the other conversation. 

Common Ear Strain

    The Jotter also helps with brain hyperlinking.  You know when you are in a conversation and someone says, “I have great hope for Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister”, and you want to blurt out, “What kind of shampoo do you use, Paula?” but you know it’s rude to interrupt.  The hyperlinking goes like this:  Justin Trudeau; nice hair; Paula’s hair looks nice tonight; I wonder what kind of shampoo she uses?  With a jotter at your elbow, you simply jot down the word shampoo so you will remember to ask Paula that important question.  You don’t need to interrupt and you do not need to expose your circuitous brain functioning to your friends. 

The Circuitous Brain

Hot Tub Jotter

     With a bit of ingenuity, the jotter can be adapted to suit various environments.  A few years ago, I had a hot tub party in our backyard in December.  There was wine, bubbling hot water and snow falling….absolutely too much liquid for a paper Jotter.  Solution?  I wrote the jotter items on large graph paper with heavy marker and duct-taped it to the side of the garage.  

Recognize Anyone??

     I’ve had various versions of The Jotter over the years.  I was being all 21st Century and keeping jotter items on my cellphone for a while.  Because I’ve had 3 major cellphone mishaps in the last 3 months, I no longer trust that format.  I'm back to paper.

Broken CellPhone

     Back in the day when I was working for a living, I created The Environmental Jotter, a bunch of scrap paper cut and stapled together in one corner.  Very rough but a respectable effort at recycling.

The Environmental Jotter

     I do buy the occasional jotter, if it’s a bargain.  My Nancy Drew Jotter is probably my favourite, and coveted by many.  I found Nancy at a dollar store in Quispamsis for only 50 cents.  What a jewel.  Jot on!!

The Nancy Drew Jotter

Until Next Time......

The $5.00 Homemade Gift Challenge

The $5.00 Homemade Gift Challenge

 

      I know you are all waiting impatiently to read about the results of the $5.00 Homemade Christmas Gift Challenge.  Now that it is the last day of January, it's time to share the details. 

  Jody, Barb, Cheryl, Dawn

(a year or two ago...)

      The challenge, proposed by Jody last Christmas, was that our group of four would exchange Christmas gifts that were homemade and cost no more than 5 dollars. 

Gifts I Received

Alpaca Hat and Pumpkin Spice Soap

       Cheryl knit us each a hat from the finest alpaca which she bought in the western USA.  She knit the hats while motoring across North America with her daughter Kathryn last summer.  Every stitch tells a story!  She assures us there was no “knitting while driving.” Cheryl also added a bar of locally-made soap purchased at Gagetown’s Christmas in the Village.  Mine was Pumpkin Spice and smells good enough to eat.

 

Early Winter Forest Bouquet and Christmas Tin of Home-Made Oatcakes

 

      Dawn had plans to make us “chemically-adjusted” pine cones which would provide a fireworks display when ignited.  However, on her trip to the woods, she was unable to find the necessary pine cones.  So she made Early Winter Forest Bouquets to attach to the Christmas Tin of Homemade Oatcakes.  Yummy!

 

Sweet Bread and Seasonally-Themed Dishtowels and Cookie Cutter

 

     Jody made us each a sweet bread,  lovingly baked, and wrapped in blue ribbon.  She included seasonally-themed dishtowels and a cookie cutter in her package.  Jody assures us that she bought those items post-Christmas last year and that they fall within the $5.00 budget.

Gifts I Gave

     Stepping outside of my knitting comfort zone, I drew on my card-making enterprise to create my $5.00 homemade gifts for my friends.  Each package was designed to represent my personal relationship with each of my “soul sisters.”

Cheryl:

"Drink A Cup of Concrete" Card Collection

 

      In September 2013, Cheryl and I walked the Camino El Santiago in Spain together, along with 4 other friends.  So the cards I made for Cheryl were based on pictures and significant moments from that trip.  I call Cheryl’s card collection “Drink a Cup of Concrete…”, the beginning of a famous quotation and certain attitude we adopted on the Camino. 

 Dawn:

"Lit Mitts" Card Collection

 

      My connection with Dawn has a lot to do with books we have read, or want to read, or should read.  Inevitably, whenever we meet, the discussion gets around to books.    So the cards I made for Dawn feature some of our favourite titles with matching mittens, of course!  I call Dawn’s card collection “LitMitts.”

 Jody:

"The View from Above" Card Collection

 

     My connection with Jody goes back years before we were even born!  Both our family roots are firmly planted in the soil of Long Reach.  Through the help of my brother and Jody’s sister, I was able to get photos of Long Reach taken by Jody’s father in the 1940s from the steeple of St. James Anglican Church.  So Jody’s card collection is called “The View From Above.”

 

 

 Life Philosophy

     As you know from my previous blogs, I am cheap and I like the challenge of making something from nothing.  So, of course, I kept below the $5.00 budget.  I had my eye on a piece of homemade paper which my daughter Julia has had tacked to her bedroom wall since high school.  She has been out of the nest for 7 years now so I knew the paper would not be missed.  I made the packaging for the card collections from that paper.

I cut the paper into 3 equal sizes.

 Homemade Paper from Julia's Wall

 

 

Folded it.   Sewed it with leftover alpaca yarn from the Titus farm in Gorham’s Bluff...

Titus Alpaca Yarn

 

 

Attached buttons from my mother’s button box, part of my inheritance.....

 Buttons from my Mother's Button Box

Labelled it with my father's turnip tags, another precious item of inheritance…

 

 My Father's Turnip Tags

And, voila, a package for homemade cards and/or an earthy evening clutch to be worn with gown and tiara. 

Package for Cards or Evening Clutch

 

 

I wrapped the packages in an old Friends poster (significant) torn from Julia's wall.

Friends Poster

 

 Tied them with yarn. 

 

Wrapping Yarn

 

And tagged them with my new line of Mitten Gift Tags. 

Mitten Gift Tags

 

 

      The $5.00 Homemade Challenge has been reinstated for next year.  I'm thinking along the lines of Doll Dish Cupboards or Milkstools. 

 

Doll Dish Cupboard

 

Milk Stool

 

 

 

 

Until Next Time.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

Come Play on Our Island

   

     For the past 10 years I have been going on a bike trip with a group of friends.  The destinations and people change somewhat from year to year, but, generally speaking, we are a bunch of retired teachers who do our trips on bike trails built on old railway beds.  That means they are relatively flat!  We have done trips in Quebec, PEI, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Maine. 

     There have been some memorable trips for sure.  For example, there was the trip my dear friend Cheryl and I took to the Magdelan Islands. 

We didn't take the bikes off the bike rack.  Well, it's windy there.  And there are other things to do and see.  There's...

la boulangerie,

la fromagerie,

 

 

la patisserie,

 

la chocolaterie,

There was a former student to visit on L'ile D'Entree.

There was a little bit of gin to drink,

 

and some knitting to be done.

 

     Then there was our first trip to PEI where I booked us into an interesting establishment which was not only off-the-grid, but also off-the-beaten-path.  I get the feeling my colleagues were not exactly thrilled with my choice since it comes up every time we get together.  Some people, Donald, refer to it as The Funny Farm or Hillbilly Haven.  I will admit it was unusual. 

Hillbilly Haven

    
      And there was the trip to Quebec to bike Le P'tit Train du Nord, a linear park north of Montreal.  We biked 200 kilometres, 100 of which were paved, on a trail that seemed to be going downhill all the time.  Fantastic!!  On the advice of an old friend who had summered in the area, I booked us into an auberge in Mont Tremblant.  The accommodations for the 12 of us for 3 days included gourmet breakfasts and dinners.  Making the reservations over the phone in French (sort of), I was worried that I had misunderstood the final price as it seemed rather low.  I thought perhaps I had missed a zero or two in my understanding and was anxious that my Visa would implode when we checked out.  Happily, it was simply a great deal and my Visa survived.

Le P'tit Train du Nord

     This year, we decided to return to PEI to redo a section of the Confederation Trail in mid-September.  Still traumatized by my Hillbilly Haven faux pas, I was a bit nervous in searching out lodgings for us.  There was not a lot available for 7 people but I finally found a cottage at Greenwich which appeared to meet our needs.  Greenwich Cottage

 Cottage at Greenwich

 

The main cottage would sleep 5 people and the bunkhouse, which we fondly labelled The Woodshed, would sleep 2. 

 The Woodshed

 

The Mesheaus graciously volunteered to take The Woodshed, which, they assured us, was quite cozy. 

 

 Interior of The Woodshed

 

The Greenwich cottage had everything you would ever want or need, including WiFi, a Boston Bruins toaster, and an outdoor shower. 

 

Outdoor Shower

 

The Main Room

 

The Kitchen

 

 

The Bathroom

 

Double/Single Bunk Room

 

 Main Bedroom

 

The View from the Cottage

 

I was in touch with the owner on several occasions in making arrangements and she was most patient and helpful.  All in all, the cottage was a success.  Phew!  I recommend this place!

 

The Confederation Trail

 

     Our first day of biking was beautiful, fresh enough to encourage an energetic pace.  We started out in Morrell in the sunshine,

 

Peggy, Donald, Mike, Mary, Rick, Joan.

 

 and finished at Elmira in a hailstorm having covered 55 kilometres. 

Elmira, the End of the Line

We went by the ocean,

 

across bridges,

 

 and through the woods.

 

 

     Personally, I love the part through the woods.  I am reminded of the book The Substance of Light about the art of Mary Pratt.  I am not able to capture the substance of light through words or pictures but it is somewhat magical biking through the canopied trails where the light dances and leaks through the trees.

     Biking in mid-September offers a feast of color.  I kept jumping off my bike to take pictures in an effort to capture that color. 

 

 

Don't those colors just make you want to KNIT!!??  Inspired by the autumnal hues, I call these mittens, October. 

October

     Back in my other life as a teacher, in September and October I would take my students outside to inspire poetry in their souls.  One poem I always shared with them was A Vagabond Song by Fredericton's own Bliss Carman.  The line from that poem that stands out in my mind is "frosty asters like a smoke upon the hills."  While biking in PEI, I kept looking for the perfect picture to reflect that line of poetry. 

...frosty asters like smoke upon the hills...

A Vagabond Song

Bliss Carman(1861-1929)

There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood—
Touch of manner, hint of mood;
And my heart is like a rhyme,
With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time.

The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry
Of bugles going by.
And my lonely spirit thrills
To see the frosty asters like a smoke upon the hills.

There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir;
We must rise and follow her,
When from every hill of flame
She calls and calls each vagabond by name.

Bliss Carman

 

    In the last few years our bike trips have become more relaxed.  There is no urgent need to complete a certain number of kilometres each day.  We are flexible and open to alternative activities such as.... 

 

dining, 

 

painting,

 

 

beachcombing,

 

making sand angels,

 

 

strolling, 

 

 

     Last weekend when I was telling my 90-year-old uncle about our PEI bike trip, he said in his sage and forthright manner, "Barb, don't you think you're a little old for that?"  I hope not!

 

 

Uncle Shirley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until next time....