Yikes, it's March!!!

And I have already wiled away nearly 7 weeks in Barbados. (Actually had to check on "wiled vs whiled") The days seem long, but the weeks fly past.

We had our daughter, son-in-law and two "grands" here for a couple of weeks, which was pretty amazing. The four year old turns out to be a natural snorkeler and spent so much time under water, we thought he might grow scales and fins. Life returned to the slower rhythm after they left. Days filled with beach walks, swims in the sea, good books, good friends, potluck dinners and visits to our favourite restaurants. 

In the past week, I have heard from two of my Newfoundland rug camp students and they have given me permission to share their mats that were done in the Photo to Mat class there.

Here is Rhoda's piece, which she calls "Aground on Shallow Bay".  She said it was one of the photos that she took that feels very much a part of Newfoundland, and I think she captured the photo extremely well. The simple border and whipping make it look like it is framed. 

Within days of receiving the above mat, I got this one from Barbara - her grand dog Nixon, in his beautiful festive green velvet bow tie. She turned it into a pillow for Nixon's parents, who obviously are in LOVE with this very personal gift. 

It has been a cooler stay this year, with enough rain for me to do a bit of knitting and a couple of afternoons hooking. It has actually been the rainiest January and February anyone can remember, which is strange since it is supposed to be the start of the dry season. But as we Canadians keep saying "At least it isn't snow."

And speaking of hooking in Barbados, I finished a little piece that I brought with me - also adapted from a photograph. A friend who we sail with here shared a photo of himself and his grand daughter spending an afternoon on a beach on the east coast. I loved the photo and used all the teaching tools in my Photo to Mat class to create this little 6" x 8" piece to give to him. He is a "salty dog of a captain" with a soft spot for his grand daughter and many dogs here in Barbados. I think he will be touched - though he might wonder why the heck I did it!!

It was a great exercise to tackle so much subject matter in one piece. The two people, the dogs, the sky, hills, water and beach. I great lesson to share when teaching this class going forward.

So still another four weeks to go. They will waft by before we know it and we will be back home, counting down to next year.  Perhaps I will hook a few more Barbados photos before my return next year.