Happy Ho Ho

We're off to see the Parrsboro parental units tomorrow. It was meant to be today but the weather threw a spanner into that plan.
Here's a pic of us torturing the cat in front of the fire. (Well at least he's not wearing a silly hat)

Hello, my name is...

Meet New Cat.
New Cat was spotted in a shelter a couple months ago and deemed to be the right animal for our house, so he was adopted by his foster mom in anticipation of our return to NS. When he went to live with his foster mom and family, we tried to name him, but couldn't really decide on anything that stuck or fit.
Thus far, he has tried on Bear, and Boris.
His shelter name was Pharaoh, so we tried some Egyptian monikers for a while, which included Siris (for Osiris) but I felt that was too close to Sirius, which is the dog star and completely inappropriate.
He was found in a kennel full of dogs, so as a nod to his penchant for 'keeping bad company' I wanted to call him Mr. Wickham. Peter felt we would shorten it to Wiki, and then everyone would ask why we named our cat after an internet encyclopedia.
It also led to his foster neighbours to call him Mr Rogers. Apparently they aren't Jane Austen fans.
Wickham's first name is George, so we tried that, but Peter worried that our friend George would wonder why we named the cat after him.
His foster mom thought Hector was good, but Peter had an uncle Hector, so he vetoed that.
We left it for a while and his foster mom just continued to call him New Cat. We started calling him New Cat too, and wondered if we should just call him Newkie, and say it is short for Newcastle Brown Ale. But once we met him, we realised he needed a better name.
I also realised he didn't look like a Wickham so I gave that up. In fact he didn't look English at all, but American. So we started trying to think of American literary characters, and realised that we must only read Brit Lit because the only American characters that came to mind were Huckleberry and Hawkeye. Neither seemed appropriate.
Then, being a true Canadian I decided it should be a Canadian character, but could only think of Gilbert from Anne of Green Gables. So I call him Gilbert all day Wednesday, but Peter didn't seem keen.
How do people ever manage to name their children I wonder?
We went back to the idea of mythology, and as New Cat's favourite position seems to be in front of the fire, we thought perhaps Prometheus, or Phaeton, but I didn't really like either of those. Apollo was too Battlestar Galactica.
Eventually we googled 'cat names' and found the website 2000 Cat Names. The world is a sick sad place. Peter thought we should try something botanical as a nod to my profession, so we tried Nepeta (for catnip) and Felino (which is Latin for cat.) Then we googled 'Latin Cat Names" and found a website that lists cat names by language. The world is truly a sick sad place.
We went back to literary characters by googling "American Literary Characters" and found Atticus, for Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird. It has the advantage of sounding Latin, and therefore classical, plus I've always thought Gregory Peck was rather dishy so I think we've settled on Atticus the Catticus. Peter has already started to make up rhymes about him.

The Grande Finale

We started packing in earnest on Tuesday afternoon. Pack pack pack pack pack. You get the picture.We were mostly packed by Thursday evening. Except the things we were still using. We unpacked the household furnishings that came with the place on Thursday so we could use those and pack our own.
Filled up with gas and windshield juice and checked all fluids on Thursday night.
Friday morning Peter (no longer Studyboy) started putting things in the truck, while I did last minute errands like buying road food and returning the cable modem. We decided to buy walkie talkies for the road trip so we would know when and where to stop. Very useful (and fun.) Friday afternoon Peter packed the car and I cleaned the house until about 9pm.
Neither of us slept well Friday night. The bed was picked up Friday afternoon by the moving company so we were on the blow-up camping mattress, on the floor. Plus we were concerned that someone would break into the vehicles to steal our stuff. At this point I think Peter wouldn't have minded losing anything, as there were still last minute items to go in and no room to put them. (Also, too excited/freaked out to sleep)
Saturday morning up at 6am to leave at 7am. Our plan was to hit a Tim's at Churchill Square for coffee (coffee maker packed) and a breakfast thing, then go straight up Alandale Road to the TCH. Tim's at Churchill Square is not open at 6:45am. Used the walkie talkies to make new plan, BONUS! Alternate plan: there is a Tim's on Portugal Cove Road just beside the TCH.
One the TCH heading east by 7:10. Windy, wet, dark and 16 degrees. The first 90 minutes we are both a little freaked out, because we realize that neither of us has driven on a highway for 17 months. The road is up and down and up and down ( I mean really steep) and curvy and the wind keeps trying to blow us sideways.
We hit Clarenville about 9am. Both of us are calmer now. First pit stop for a pee and a tea. Grey skies but less wind.
Next stop Gander. More pee, more tea.
Got lost in Grand Fall Windsor looking for a rest stop, so just kept on to Badger for a fill up. It was after noon but decided not to eat, just kept going and eating road food. Temperature dropped to zero degrees and we got some snow flurries.
Thought we'd stop in Corner Brook next, but the sign said 4 exits and I only counted 3 and then Corner Brook was gone, so we thought maybe Stephenville. But Stephenville is miles from the highway so we kept on to Stephenville Crossing. Which is also miles from the highway. It was about 4:30 and getting dark, so we stopped for dinner at a little gas station diner.
Back on the road for the last leg in the dark. There was very little traffic and it felt like you were driving to the end of the earth. No Wreckhouse winds to fear and we arrived in Port Aux Basques about 7pm.
Was the drive pretty? If by pretty you mean in a barren, rocky unforgiving godforsaken kind of way... I'm not sure, it was foggy.
The ferries had been backed up all week due to wind and a broken ramp, and we were plenty early for our scheduled sailing time of 11:30pm. There was a restricted sailing due to leave at 9:30 which we thought we might get on, but no joy. The 11:30 ferry was delayed departing until 3am. The wait was long and uncomfortable. We stayed in the terminal until about 12:30, but then hoping the boat would depart early (ha) we went to the vehicles. The wait was worse because we couldn't wait together. No room in either vehicle for more than the driver.
Peter in the truck. Me in the car. Good thing we bought those walkie talkies!
Finally we boarded, and found our cabin. Proper sleep at last!
The ferry docked in North Sydney at 11am, and we stopped for our third tank of gas just off the boat. Gas is 10 cents a litre cheaper on this side of the gulf. Yay!
This side, Peter was lead dog. There was this strange ball of fire in the sky all the way home that we hadn't seen for weeks. Clear road and -3 all they way. Travelling behind the truck means I could see just how splayed out the back wheels were from the weight. Somewhere in Cape Breton.

A mere five and a half hours later and we were home.

The alternative title to this post could be Ka-Ching!
How expensive it is to move you ask? Here are some numbers.
Drive 2 vehicles 1400 kms in 2 days. Equals 4.5 fillups. $250
2 Ferry passes and 1 cabin with 4 berths. $400
1 bed shipped. $200
1 new water tank. $1500. (but it is a really nice one)
1 empty oil tank $350
1 new septic pump (maybe) $?
1 Cable Modem hookup and cable reconnection fee $100
1 power reconnection fee $22
Replacing the food tossed out or given away $200
Finally being home - Priceless.

10 Things We'll Miss About St. John's

As one person put it, the Roadshow is now inaccurately named, and it is only going to get more so in the next few weeks. In fact the Roadshow is coming to an end very soon. We leave the island on Saturday. Don't miss the Grande Finale culminating in packing the vehicles once more and making a 12+ hour drive across the province to Port Aux Basques to catch an overnight ferry to Cape Breton, where we will drive a further 6+ hours to a house in the Annapolis Valley that still needs some major renovations.
So many items have been checked off the TODO list. Studyboy passed his last exam in yesterday. I read it over and despite his sleep deprived and stress induced negativity, it was at least lucid and grammatically well structured, although I cannot vouch for the argument as I am not an expert in the field. Goodbye lunches and Christmas parties have been attended, utilities have been cancelled and ordered, and many large items have been given away or otherwise disposed.
Internet is disconnected on Thursday and so the Grande Finale will be posted from another province (even more inaccurately named..)
All that is left is to list the Top 10 things we will miss about St. John's.
(in no particular order)

Fresh Air - with no heavy industry or agriculture to speak of, the air is always clear.

The Grand Concourse - despite having the most overweight population of any capital city, these walking trails are amazing.

The Rooms - made my last visit on Saturday, always something new to see.

The Georgetown Bakery - best bagels east of Montreal, and could give easily rival Solly's in Vancouver

The Manna Bakery - we are breadafiles, and their multigrain is a daily treat

Auntie Crae's - for those hard to find culinary items and the atmosphere

Posie Row - because who can't spend hours trying on great hats?

Coffee Matters - for their great Astec Hot Chocolate

Bitters - this is the grad pub at the University, need I say more?

The NL Craft Council Clay Studio - and all the people who hang out there

All the Friends we made.

I went to a luthier lecture last week. (Say that 5 times fast)
It was presented as part of the Canadian Folk Music Awards held here in St John's, and the presentation was co sponsored by the NL Craft Council, who allow me to potter in their basement. The luthier giving the lecture was Grit Laskin, who I had never heard of but I went because a potter friend ( and folk musician) was going and it got me out of the house.
Boy this guy was amazing. I am not a guitar fan. Mostly because they are ubiquitous and that means that everyone thinks they are a guitar player. (Note: Just because you have a guitar doesn't mean you should take it to a party.)
Grit Laskin is not simply a guitar maker, he is an artist, and to prove it he was awarded the Saidye Bronfman Award for excellence in fine craft in 1997. That's a GG, and he's the only luthier on the list. What put him there is his amazing inlay work on all his custom guitars. After consulting with a client to find out a little about them and what their favourite art style is, he designs unique inlay for the head and neck of each guitar which represents them. I cannot say enough about how astounding his work is. Check out the gallery on his website. Here's an example of his "Blue Woman" in Art Deco.
While we were watching the slide show as he explained the genesis of each design, both my friend and I admitted we were trying to decide what art style and what images would best represent us. Now if we only had the $$$$.