A great month

So here I am last week, returning to Kingston after nearly 3 weeks on the road.

I have certainly felt worse, and don't think that I look too bad in this picture.

I spent this last week of my sabbatical month working from home, consolidating some of the information that I'd picked up out west and working on the rug. And below is a picture of how it ended up as of today, Monday May 31st. I also got one of the toe up socks finished and began the second. I would say that I definitely accomplished what I intended to do.

All in all, I'm so grateful for this time away from regular life. I've always been a person who can do a lot, but of different things in smaller quantities. My motto should be "In diversity is happiness." I really thrive on a change of scenery, which is strange as I'm a cancer, and cancers are supposed to be homebodies I thought.

So to sum up I learned a lot from this trip. I learned that the word Quinoa is pronounced Kin-Wah. That there are many business that have survived and thrive by combining interests and branching out. That for a long trip, if you can afford the time, the train is definitely the way to go. I discovered that I like asparagus, and halibut is a beautiful fish. I realized that a bit of mist is what makes the west coast particularly beautiful. And from a business perspective, I've come home with lots of fresh ideas and a refreshed attitude.

Now for next year...

Heading East Part II

It's a little weird, getting on the train at 11:30pm as we did in Winnipeg heading for Toronto. Everyone is tired and just wants to settle in as quickly as possible. But consider for a minute that traveling by coach in a train is a lot like camping (without the bugs and elements, I say thankfully). Imagine arriving to your tent at 11:30 at night and having to get your nest for the night established, especially when you find yourself, as a few of our fellow passengers did, stuck up beside a stranger. All things considered, it's surprising how quickly everything becomes quiet.

On Friday morning, we woke to a slightly grey day in northern Ontario. It was nice to see a more familiar territory. I brought out my rug hooking stuff and my fanny pack with essentials and valuables, and headed for the dome car to watch the scenery go by.

About twice an hour the train would stop along the tracks. We never knew exactly why: sometimes it would be to bring on supplies, sometimes for passengers, sometimes to let a freight train go by. About 5 minutes after one such stop that morning around 7:30am, the club car below the dome where I was sitting was invaded by a gang of very loud and playful guys. We could hear the card decks being fanned, backs being slapped, guffaws all around. Those of us who could hear it all yet couldn't see anything were amazed that anyone who had slept on this train could possibly have so much energy at this hour of the morning.

Then a couple of 20-something guys who joined us in the dome car explained what was going on. This group of 18 men from Madison, Wisconsin had been coming to the Allenwater River for a week of fishing at the end of May for decades. They had driven up and parked their cars in Savant Lake, boarded the train which would bring them to their fishing camp (accessible only by float plain or Via Rail which crosses the wilderness of Northern Ontario) 40 km down the tracks.
20 minutes later, the train stopped again, the gang got off and from where I was sitting I could watch them unload their gear from the baggage car: a mountain of beer cases, two dozen coolers of every size, lots of sleeping bags and a few small knapsacks. I'd say they guys had their priorities well defined. In my amazement I took a picture of the gang of them as we passed their cabins. When we crossed the Allenwater bridge, pictured here, someone pointed out that all the wives had probably gone to New York City.

This, unfortunately, is not the picture that I took. I borrowed this picture of the Allenwater Bridge from flickr and hope that it's owner understands my need: I put my camera on my small pack at my feet and continued my rug hooking for a bit then returned to take a nap. When I woke up I realized that I'd forgotten my fanny pack in the dome car...needless to say it wasn't there. It actually was a bit of a surprise as people left their bags everwhere as they went to get a coffee or pick up something back at their seat. But truly, this was my own fault...I might as well have put a sign that said: Take Me, as leave the camera on top of the bag.

All that to say I had no credit/debit cards, cash ($20), phone nor camera. But I did have my ticket from Toronto to Kingston and enough food to get me through the next 24 hours and was hoping to connect with daughter #2 in Toronto.

As it turned out, the train was reaaallllyyy late, and we barely made the connection to the cramped oversold commuter train from Toronto to Montreal. I was tired and hungry for the last leg of this journey, but I did have internet access so I was at least able to email my daughter's blackberry to let her know why I didn't show at the station.

It occured to me that the entire trip was an almost euphoric experience. So many chance occurences, insights, lessons, fun times, reconnections. How could I possibly complain about losing a couple of things and the inconvenience of waiting for a new credit card? My experience on the train, up until that point, was so perfect, that I might have been tempted to run away from home and become a railway bum.

Anyway, I arrived back home to a perfect Victoria Day weekend with the neighbour's traditional camp fire and some down time before tackling that which awaits me at home and at work. Life is Good!

Beautiful days in Winnipeg

The weather and the city have been beautiful during the past couple of days here in Winnipeg. It is predicted that the "MOSQUITOS" are 3 to 5 days away...quite early they say, brought on by a wet winter and very warm spring weather. It would appear that Winnipeg MOSQUITOS really do deserve a whole set of capitals. I'm glad I missed them.


This scene made me feel right at home. It's a clematis in full bloom around a light standard. Winnipeg is built, as Kingston is, on a bed of limestone which accounts for our wonderful blooming clematis, but full bloom on the 20th of May is a little incredible.



I'm here in Winnipeg with my daughter, Catherine and her boyfriend. As he grew up in Winnipeg, we have a great guide. Yesterday we went to Assiniboine Park, home of one of the best zoos I've ever been to. This is a picture of Catherine who was thrilled to meet a new friend except that the turtle got one of her last clean shirts dirty, but he (the turtle) was very cute and posed well for the camera and so was forgiven. We know that it was he as the keeper explained how you can tell the difference between the boy and girl turtles: the boys have concave undershells, and the girls have flat shells.


Day 2 in Winnipeg had me meeting up with a friend from my teens whom I hadn't seen since 1976. How fun! We might look different but inside, we're all pretty much the same.


Then I got to do the yarn store tour. First to Ram Wools Yarn Co-op which has recently moved up Portage Ave from downtown. Many of you will remember Ram Wools and their gorgeous catalogues. For years, we at WOOL-TYME Kingston were the unwitting recipients of the excitement that always followed their mail out. I knew that they had stopped publishing the glossy catalogue a few years ago and had gone strictly to on-line marketing in addition to their storefront, but I was surprised and intrigued upon entering their store to see the addition of the "Co-op" in the name. I went on-line to discover that a worker owned cooperative has been established to keep growing this highly respected fixture on the North American yarn scene following the departure of Inge Gaspard, its founder and driving force.


On to WOLSELEY WARDROBE, a really fun store that has found a couple of great overlapping markets in the lovely Wolseley neighbourhood of Winnipeg. Check out the website and see how they delightfully blend a quality second hand clothes boutique with a lovely little yarn shop. Both the clothes on display and the selection of fine yarns show that quality and fashion are where this business has made it's commitment.



One of the great things that I've seen over and over in the past few weeks of meeting business people of all stripes, from my brothers' friends, Schnepps and Kathleen in Victoria who spend winters in Asia purchasing beautiful jewelry to bring back and sell at markets all over Victoria area, to the folks at Knotty By Nature in Victoria, is that it takes a LOT of resources to start up and continue a small business at the best of times. If you don't have a LOT of money at your disposal, then you have to rely on other resources: friends to scavange from, barrels of creativity and great ideas, and a certain chutzpah and commitment to keep you on track for as long as it takes. Book store/cafes, yarn store/picture framers in Sidney, farm/residential care centre/ general store owners in Glenora, and now Wolseley Wardrobe in Winnipeg...all of these people have found their multiple niche-S that have supported them and enriched their business lives.

Heading East - part I

Heading back east again, with a stop over for a couple of days in Winnipeg.


This is the train as we stop in Blue River B.C. for a smoke break/fresh air break. How beautiful this little town is. This is very long for a passenger train (about 20 cars) as we pick up 2 tour groups in Jasper. By the way, Blue River is home of the oldest store in Western Canada. It's just a little storey and a half frame house that now sports a somewhat weathered sign that says "Janie's Convenience Store."


While stopped here, I found this spike. I'm not sure why I decided to bring it with me, but it just seemed like a fitting souvenir of this wonderful trip, to have a real piece of the railroad...it just looks so old!

The time on the train really does remind me of a lazy visit to a cottage. You mozey along doing whatever you feel like doing...reading for a bit, napping for a bit, going to the dome car to enjoy the scenery for a bit, playing cards or Scrabble or just socializing with others in the club car while you feel like it. We had a lovely little passenger on this trip named Coco. She's just 3 months old and was on a trip to visit her great grandmother. Coco's mom was more than happy for any help and so we all got to play pass the baby.

On the trip west, you miss out on the true visions of the prairies as the train goes through this area at night. There aren't nearly as many of these great horizon views as you get on the Trans Canada Hwy further south, but just enough to remind you of the effort that the early settlers must have put out to claim this land. I had lunch with a couple who had come from Britain 50 years ago and settled in Kamloops. They were struck by the stories of the trains of war brides who came through this territory after the war. I would think that many of those young women might have been horrified at the thought of the remoteness that faced them.

So, after day 2 on the train, here is the rug hooking sampler that I've been working on. Some of the same passengers from my trip west are back on the this train and recognize me from our trip out because of the rug.

By the way, I ran into a customer of mine who had moved last year to Edmonton and was coming back east for a family get together. Also played Scrabble with a lady from Kingston with whom I share a dear mutual friend. It is a small world.

Now in Winnipeg, I'm looking forward to a visit in Neil Young/ the Guess Who territory. Although it would appear that Winnipeg has another reason for being famous that isn't so great: Coco's mom says that it's the home of the largest swarms of mosquitos in the world (or so she remembers from her childhood). I don't do bugs well. I'm hoping that it's too hot for them...we're expecting 30 degrees tomorrow.

Last few days on the Coast.

A few notes about the last couple of days on Vancouver Island, as internet time is very limited. (I can't believe that I'm actually here answering emails and working on the computer while standing in the train station in one of the most magnificent towns in North America - Jasper, that is).

One of the reasons that I wanted to go back to Vancouver Island was to try and discern the origin of our store mascot: this beautiful Cowichan sweater. I did locate it's store of origin (Sasquatch Trading Co. on Government St) and was even able to get a couple of likely possibilities of knitters, which is quite a feat considering that the people in the know in Duncan figure that it was knitted about 30-35 years ago. I'll be getting it back on display early in June and hope to keep researching from home based on the info that I got here.

This is Anita. She is by her own account a "fanatical knitter" andd is selling her beautiful socks as the Moss Street Market on most Saturdays. I had to get a picture of her with her LOOOONNNGGG double pointed needles. She explained that her family is Dutch and always knitted while supporting one needle under their arm. So obviously to do that with dpns, they too must be very long. The other lovely thing that I discovered when speaking with Anita is that she's originally from Napanee and will be visiting Kingston this summer. Hope to see her then.

The reason that we got to go to the Moss Street Market was that for the first time in my brother's very long history on Vancouver Island, the foot traffic tickets for the ferry to Saltspring Island were sold out when we arrived at the terminal on Saturday. Oh well, all the more reason to hope for a return visit in the near future.

This great little shop The Button and Needlework Boutique between Trounce Alley and Bastion Street caught my eye and imagine my suprise when I went in expecting a million buttons and nothing more, to be met by a wonderful selection of yarns and exquisite array of knitted sample garments. In speaking with the owner, he explained that they decided to take on the knitting world a couple of years ago to offer a broader selection to their needlework customers and to bring in a few more new customers. It's a great location, a lovely and friendly shop...and I love the button.

On Sunday morning, the day I was leaving, I took one last walk into the downtown area and was browsing around when I met this lovely lady. Victoria is full of interesting people of all ages who are "living the dream". This lady explained to me that she went shopping for a scooter for her friend who had been recently diagnosed with cancer. As she entered the store she saw this lovely pink scooter that was designed to support Breast Cancer Awareness. She never did tell me if her friend got a scooter but she said that she fell in love with this model, and despite the fact that she is able bodied, she bought it as a convenient and safe way to get around the city and carry groceries, etc. She then dressed it up with pink and black Skull and Crossbones and is quite a noted figure around town.
I love to be inspired by seniors who are thoroughly enjoying their life.

Victoria at its fibre finest.

I had decided that I wasn't going to be too cliche and put in all kinds of pictures of the beautiful flowers in Victoria as with our mild spring back east I actually got to see some lilacs beginning to bloom in our neighbour's yard before I left on May 4th! Unheard of.

I resisted the seduction the few roses that I've seen in bloom but there was something about this gorgeous peony struggling up beside the reconstruction of the sidewalk beside my brother's place that I just couldn't resist. Isn't it lovely? A few more weeks and we'll have our own back home to admire.



This is the gate to Chinatown in Victoria. Although Chinatown here is but a couple of blocks of great restaurants and a few grocers and oriental trinket shops, it does have the distinction of being Canada's oldest Chinatown. The other reason that I thought it interesting to mention this area is that both of the knitting stores and the main quilt shop in the city are all within 2 blocks of these gates...I have no idea what that means or why that is but I found it very interesting.




The Beehive Wool Shop has been a fixture on the Victoria fibre scene for many years (from 1906-2010 to be precise...now that's longevity). This felted hat is from a display that customers are treated to as they walk in the front door. It's from a collection of Everett Wong, a young fine arts student at UVic whose grad project was to design the costumes for the main characters of Alice in Wonderland. Can't you just see this top hat at the tea party. I was hoping that there would be other pictures available on line but alas, no.





I found an extremely interesting home in Knotty By Nature the newest fibre arts store in the city. Link to the site and be patient as it's not exactly obvious how to navigate - the concept is fantastic: lots of beautiful yarns (many that we carry) tastefully displayed and supplemented by fantastic attractions (like this knitted bicycle) and a wonderful selection of items for sale on consignment from the many wonderful fibre artists in the city. It's lovely to read the "about us" page on the site although the site itself doesn't do them justice. It a fabulous store and it says a lot that I plan to return tomorrow to learn more about this great young couple.

A big walk down memory lane.

Yesterday I got to take the day in Duncan and area where we lived when we were first married over 30 years ago. This is the 1st house where we lived: it was a camp that was owned by the Diocese of Victoria on Shawnigan Lake but because of size and liability issues, it was no longer being used as a kids' camp.

Imagine my surprise to see that everything was exactly the same...30 years later, including the young carpenter who was working on the main house, who reminded me so much of my husband, apprentice that he was in those days and who was probably the last person to have worked on those front stairs.

Then up the highway I went to WhippleTree Junction, a wild west era shopping mall...actual buildings from the turn of the last century and before were transported to a site just south of Duncan and were turned into retail space. At that location is The Loom, which is one of the knitting stores where I began my knitting career when we lived here, making samples for the store. It seems a lot smaller than I remembered it, but just as vibrant.

The irony is that my husband's cousin Ronald Woodall, whom we have never met, is the artist who created these lovely pieces of "disappearing architecture", which includes a piece entitled "Old Chinatown" I believe (bottom left), which is how the stores at WhippleTree originally looked before they got gussied up.

Later in the day, I got lost and literally drove into (the parking lot of ) a lovely little case of serendipity. This is a picture of Andrew who works at Glenora Farms' Weavery. Link here to their site to read more about this wonderful community just south of Duncan BC. The Glenora Farm community refers to itself as: "A place where special needs are met..." Andrew is an amazing weaver and I bought 3 of his cotton and linen tea towels. His fine wool scarves are also greatly prized. He told me with great pride that he loves to bake too and often makes his special lemon loaf which is sold at the Glenora general store. It's wonderful to think that lovely people like Andrew have found a warm place to live and be productive, within the confines of their special needs. Isn't it fun to get lost?

This is Victoria?

Victoria is just as beautiful as ever. For Mothers' Day, my brother, Anthony, took me to Hatley Castle, now part of Royal Roads University. There was a craft fair on the front lawn and the castle and its gardens were open to the public. Absolutely amazing.

While we were there we met Wendy Mitchell of Sea Bluff Farms in Metchosin, near Victoria. Wendy is the creator of Barbie here, she is a papier mache sheep who has been dressed in a cardi and balaclava that were knit by Wendy of locally grown sheep's fleece that she spun. Wendy had called her creation Barbie and one of the guests at the castle suggested that Barbie could be Barbie Dollie in honour of Dollie, the cloned sheep.

Wendy is hoping to encourage knitters from her local fibre arts guild and crafters across Canada to donate knitted clothes to Barbie Dollie's wardrobe. You will notice the colourful leg warmers that she now is wearing but she could certainly use a hat or scarf or tail warmer, or shawl from other parts of Canada.

If anyone would like to help clothe Barbie Dollie, please contact Wendy at wendyncmitchell@shaw.ca

P.S. A hat to fit a medium adult or large sized child would suit the bill perfectly.

Nearly There...

Arrived this morning at the Vancouver station. By the way, for anyone who is interested: this trip is absolutely amazing. And much to my husband's eventual dismay, I've discovered that there are similar rail services all over the US too. I think I'm hooked...oh yeah, I do have to go back to work at some point.

So here is a picture of one of the first mountains that we came upon just before Jasper. How pretty, but I realized that although I was impressed, mountains don't actually do anything. If you've seen a picture, you've seen a mountain. BUT at 5 am this morning, we rode through the Fraser Canyon. WOW! How sad that the schedule doesn't allow for travellers to see it unless they are chronic insomniacs like me.

This is a lovely knit and quilt shop that I got to visit in Jasper. I noted the coincidence as my store is called WOOL-TYME and one of the customers in the store said: "Why, I've been to WOOL-TYME!" It is a very small world. After my visit came the best part of our 1 1/2 hour stop over in Jasper: I dropped $40 plus tip for a shampoo...and worth every cent.

I've come along a bit on the toe up socks. The pink stripe is the waste yarn for the "afterthought heel" which will be added when the rest of the leg is done. Any observers, knitters and non knitters alike, had great difficulty visualizing the afterthought addition of a heel.

Off to get the bus/ferry/bus to Victoria where I hear that there is a giant rally/parade for earth day and protesting the local fish farms. My brother says that they planned it for today as they knew I'd be arriving. I think not!

The Assiniboine Valley is too beautiful to waste on a straight highway.

For some reason, I've been really surprised by the friendliness of all the passenger and staff on board. But if you think about it, spending 80 hours together is a bit like being on a cruise where people will start chatting just to satisfy their curiosity about each other.

At first it began with the younger ones getting together and staying up way past when the rest of us had tried to get some sleep But as we passed the half way point between Toronto and Vancouver, we all started looking at each other as potential chat buddies. These girls had brought some very creative activities to pass the time in the dome car. This was their balsa wood model plane. Later in the day they brought out wax crayons and mini colouring books.


Needless to say, the toe up socks and the rug hooking that I've been working on have attracted some attention along the way but now people are stopping to watch and ask about what I'm doing instead of just shyly passing and mentioning that they liked it.


A young woman from the Niagara area, whose boyfriend had borrowed my scissors the day before while they were working on woven friendship bracelets of embroidery floss, was telling me something interesting that she has learned during her Midwifery program where she is enrolled at McMaster U. It would appear that there is a nurse-midwife in Britain who has made it a part of her practice to knit during the labour and part of the delivery of her patients, only putting down her needles in an emergency. The theory is that by knitting, she creates an atmosphere of calm and mild detachment, believing that nature is capable of leading the way and assuring the mothers that they will able to follow what their bodies are prepared to do.

Her success and satisfaction rates are apparently phenomenal. It puts a new twist on Elizabeth Zimmerman's perennial edict to: "Knit on with confidence and hope, through all crises."

This is a picture that I took of a little girl that I saw during our stop over in Winnipeg. What first caught my eye was her little white coat which actually has a sheep hood and is a cute as can be. But then I saw her beautiful fingering weight leggings. The Mom said that her best friend made them for the little one and although she herself can't knit, she certainly appreciated the knitted gifts that this good friend likes to send.
We can't all be creators. Grateful recipients are important too!

Day 2 on the train

We've arrived early in Winnipeg and it's one of the few times that I'll have internet access along the trip so I'm making the most of it.

For the full 16 hours of daylight time we rode through deep forest that I'm sure no amount of the most super powered insect repellent could protect one from during the buggy season.

I've driven across Canada several times and have taught Canadian Geography and neither experience prepared me for the amazing vastness of the wilderness in northern Ontario. Aside from the occasional dirt road and a few villages with nothing higher than a 2 storey dwelling, there is very little of human intervention to be seen from the train for hours on end.

When people asked me why I didn't just fly to Victoria if I wanted to go to the West Coast, I told them that I wanted a working vacation, and that this would be like a cottage that could also move me to where I wanted to go. After a day, I realize that a better comparison is like being at a vacation resort with really nice staff to help out and lots of interesting people to meet. And sitting on the "porch" of my chalet is like watching a really long episode of National Geographic: Astounding for its magnitude and beauty when you glance up from your work, but you wouldn't want to have to pay constant attention to it for all 16 daylight hours.


Here is a picture of the socks that I was working on yesterday, and that's the boreal forest in the background. I actually started the toe at home as I'm not ultra confident in toe-up techniques and I didn't want to have the stress of trying to get it right enough to give as a gift when I'm working on a moving train.
As it turned out, it was a good thing that I did that as it took me 3 tries to get it right-ish.

The bulk of my crafting time yesterday was spent on the rug hooking project that I've designed. I had wanted to learn more about shading with yarns, so I created a mosaic of 9 "tiles", each containing a flower from The Rug Hookers Bible. I did the blue one at home as a test run to see if it would be a feasible project. The wild roses I did yesterday. I'm going to try and complete the majority one flower each day that I'm on the train. I'll keep you posted.

Vancouver Island or Bust!

After 15 months of planning the final hour has arrived and I'm on the train to Toronto for the shortest leg of my ultimate trip to the West Coast.

From what I can tell from the Via Rail website, this jaunt from Kingston to Toronto is likely to be the least comfortable of the trek as we (the other travelers who are heading west and I) will be boarding the "Continental" just a bit before midnight tonight, which should arrive sometime on Saturday morning in Vancouver. From there, I'll make my way by bus and ferry to Victoria where I'll be meeting my brothers for a week of visits, yarn shop searching and a day at the Cowichan centre to try and connect with some of the Native knitters there.

At left is a picture of Victoria in full bloom a few weeks ago. Not all that different from what I'm leaving here.

This is what we have to travel through on the way across Canada: what Albertans are hoping to be the last of the spring storms. Very pretty but I had been hoping to see SPRING on the prairies. A lot can happen before I get there.

I have packed a whole suitcase of knitting, rug hooking, books, note books, this laptop, my MP3 player and a whole lot of snacks. I was assuming that I'd have a chance to blog a fair bit while on the train but have discovered that it's only on this leg of the journey that internet access is available on the train. It appears that I'll have to wait until I can get off in train stations for a bit of a break, once or twice a day in order to connect to the station's access. All that to say, I'll be keeping some notes and pictures along the way but it might only get posted every second day.

Be back with you soon.

Anne

The Ultimate Knit and Chat Weekend on Amherst Island

is incredibly excited to offer

THE ULTIMATE KNIT AND CHAT WEEKEND on Amherst Island.

Isn't this the lodge where you would love to spend 2 nights, enjoying 6 gourmet meals,and a series of knitting workshops, a yoga class for knitters and all the Knitting and Chatting that you can handle.

Save the dates on your calendar now:

Friday. Sept 24th (for supper) to Sunday Sept. 26th (after lunch) all for just $350*.

Or if you can only spare a day, take the ferry and join us on the Saturday from 10:00am to 4pm for workshops, a delicious lunch, lots of fun for $50.

The goal of this weekend retreat is to relax and get away to this lovely island setting and enjoying the company of new and old friends, while picking up some great knitting tips.

The knitting theme of the weekend will be "Going Around In Circles".

-Friday evening we will have a pot luck snack fest while having the opportunity to try out a wide range of circular knitting needles. Bamboo, nickel plated, lace tips, 9" sock needles, "Clicks" (interchangeable ends).

You name it, we'll have it there for you to try and compare.

-Saturday after breakfast we'll welcome our daytime participants and have the first of 2 workshop sessions that you can choose to attend. Likely themes for these sessions will be:

-Converting a regular pattern so it can be knit in the round: the pros/cons, and how tos.

-How to use circular needles on smaller projects: magic loop, 2 circulars, small circulars.

-Moebius knitting a la Cat Bordhi: lots of ways to use this interesting technique.

Needless to say the exact schedule and content isn't firmed up just yet, but we'll keep it posted here as things solidify.

-Saturday afternoon will have another workshop and/or free time to walk the shoreline or sit on the beach.

-Saturday evening will be movie night/ chat night/ "P.J. party with knitting" night...whatever.

-Sunday morning we'll have Jackie from Yoga to Go come and visit us to share some gentle yoga techniques, specifically helpful for knitters. Then you can catch up on the knitting class that you didn't get to participate in by chatting with the teacher.

We'll finish off with a great Sunday luncheon and a last walk on the beach and head to the ferry in time to be home for the lovely dinner that your family will have prepared for you...

Some of the nitty gritty details:

Registration: To save your spot for this exquisite fall getaway just call WOOL-TYME Kingston at 613-384-3951 and we will be glad to save your spot (for the full weekend of the day.)

A $150 deposit is required at registration ($100 refundable until Aug 31st.) for the weekend and a $25 deposit is required for the day registration.

The rest of the payment is due by Aug. 31st. Cancellations after this date can only be made if we are able to find someone to take your place.

Where: The Lodge on Amherst Island is just a 2 minute drive/5 minute walk from the ferry terminal. As parking is at a premium, (and who wants to pay for the ferry anyway?) we can meet in Millhaven and car pool from the ferry dock.

*Note The price quoted above is based on double occupancy (2 beds per room), consequently if you prefer not to share your accommodation, the fee for the weekend is $450.

Other details will appear here and in email posts to you as specific plans gel together.

Don't delay. Registration is on a first come, first served basis.

Anne