Colours in Life

Life is filled with colour. Colourful things and colourful characters. In one day we saw examples of both.

While traveling up to Bay Roberts, we came across a very quaint town called Brigus. It is very pretty. The former home of Captain Robert Abram Bartlett is located there. His home is called Hawthorne Cottage probably because of the Hawthorne trees in the garden. It was a large two-storey house with an even larger garden. The cottage is now a museum with displays of the Captain's Arctic explorations and how his family lived the 1800s. I was particularly amazed at the maid's room on the second floor. To me, her room looked nicer than the other family members' rooms. Apparently the maid was treated very well and her room certainly showed that. Back in the day, Hawthorne Cottage was the centre point of the town.

Path leading to the front entrance of Hawthorne Cottage

Side of Hawthorne Cottage

Captain Bartlett is famous for preparing the way for Commander Robert Edwin Peary's celebrated dash to the North Pole in 1909. Bartlett's seagoing career spanned 50 years, and in the 1930's "Captain Bob's" exploits were as famous as Jacques Cousteau's. With his schooner, the Effie M. Morrissey, he sailed north on scientific voyages, collecting animals for zoos and taking crews of teenage boys on training voyages. He travelled farther north than almost any other living person, was shipwrecked at least 12 times, survived for months in the inhospitable Arctic after sea ice crushed his ship and journeyed hundreds of miles by dogsled to reach civilization. Bartlett loved the north Arctic and once said, "It's all right while you're exploring. You get used to rotten meat, frozen fingers, lice, and dirt. The hard times come when you get back."

The Brigus tunnel was bored through solid rock on the waterfront in 1860 to provide access to a deep water berth for the Bartlett sailing ships. Today, people can still walk through the short tunnel to the waterfront.

Entrance to the tunnel that take you to the waterfront

Bartlett loved to be at sea and at the age of 70, the year he died, he was still sailing. What a colourful character he must have been.

The real reason we were travelling past Brigus was because we were going to a quilt show in Bay Roberts. The quilt show was fabulous. There were almost 200 quilts on display. Some people are so talented with a good eye to see how the colours will all fit together and, of course, sewing skills. My main reason for going was to get some ideas on how I can use some of the fabric I inherited from my Mother. I certainly got lots of ideas. Here are some of my favourite blocks on quilts and whole quilts there.

Red Cross Nurse on a Quilt commemorating the Battle of  Beaumont-Hamel

Mummers dancing

        

    

   

   

Life is full of the different hues and tones of colour. Everywhere you look and even everyone you meet adds to that colour. Enjoy and appreciate it all!