I must apologize that its been so long since

I've updated my blog. Lots has been happening and I just haven't had the time. We have also been out of town for 4 days....

Last Monday we had a town meeting. It was a good meeting with the mayor and one counsel member that showed up. The two were excited and full of questions for us. We are going to be having another meeting one evening this week and hopefully there will be more of a turnout (don't hold your breath though).

On Wednesday we left at four in the morning for St. John's. At 3:30am, we tried to start the car and the battery was flat. Good thing we have a standard car and were pointed down a big hill. I'm not sure who would have been up at that hour to give us a boost. The trip was supposed to be a couple days long. We were meeting with our fair trade organic coffee roaster and a few other Newfoundland artisan contacts that we had. After the first day we knew we would need more time. Each time we stopped we were enlightened with more information. The Newfoundlanders are so warm and friendly and inviting. There are two great places for artisans to get exposure. The Crafts Council of Newfoundland and "Crafts of Character". Through these two organizations we were able to get lots of contacts and meet with most of the ones we thought we would like to work with.

Good thing we had brought our warm blankets so we could sleep in the car. We collapsed the seats and the four of us were nice and cozy. It dropped a couple degrees below zero a couple of the nights but it didn't bother us too much. We camped up at Cape Spear. The most easterly point of North America. It was about 15 minutes out of town. Here we could let the dogs run in the morning and see the sunrise.

St. John's is a great city. The arts community is incredible and the city itself has so much character. One minute you can be walking through the streets and the next minute hiking on the rugged coastline. This was great for us having the dogs. They had some pretty awesome hikes, which was great cause they were living in the car for 4 days.

For us, meeting the people that we are going to work with is important. We learned a lot about the different artisans and their talents. Along with every person comes a story. Most of the people were open about talking about their art and how it came to be. It was good that we took the time now to get everything set up since a lot of the artists are feeling the pressure of the coming season.

On our way home we took a side trip to Upper Island Cove to stop into "The Grumpy Goat Gallery". There, Cara and Pam work together to make the most spectacular art. Here is their blog address that shows some of their work. They use Cara's art and Pam's woodworking skills to put together the most amazing 3-D art. Check it out!
www.thegrumpygoatgallery.blogspot.com

Arriving back home last night, we were encouraged. The snow had melted quite a bit, which is essential for us to go ahead with building. This coming week we can get someone in to level out the building envelope and dig our footings then we can form them. We will have everything ready so that the following week (when it is supposed to be a bit warmer) we can pour our slab and start the framing process.

More updates to come. Lots of hugs from the east..