Filed under: Musings, Nostalgia | Tags: Canadian heritage, canadiana, CBC, folk, frontier Canada, Log Driver`s Waltz, logger, mountains, National Film Board, NFB, nostalgia
A piece of heart-warming, handmade Canadiana
Last month something sparked a lovely bit of nostalgia for me around the National Film Board of Canada. My family never had a TV but I do remember, on those school days that were far too close to a holiday for kids to actually be able to focus on work, the big projector (later replaced by a TV) would be wheeled in and we would spend our afternoon watching the delightful NFB short films most notably “the Cat Came Back” and the all-time favorite “the Log Driver’s Waltz.” *
Of course I had to look them all up for a current viewing and as silly as it might sound, I actually got intensely emotional while watching the “Waltz” again.
I’ve never really considered myself to be very patriotic- in fact, with dual US and Canadian citizenship by blood and birth, I’ve always seen myself as a North American rather than belonging to either country specifically. But there it was, with Kate & Anna McGarrigle’s voices coming through the speakers and flannel and toque clad loggers twirling on the screen I was struck with how sweetly, simply and honestly Canadian the film is –I was feeling serious pangs of Canadian pride! Naturally I had to do a piece to celebrate it.
As I am often haunted by unfulfilled creative projects, I’ve been waking each morning since to a head full of the “…birling down, a down white water…” so here is my homage to the great “Log Driver’s Waltz” I hope you love it as much as I do!
Note: I am only making 20 of these pieces so don’t miss out! You can check them out in the Curious Oddities Shop
Complete with a handmade flannel pouch of course!
*For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure: The Log Driver’s Waltz is about a young girl who loves to dance and chooses to marry a log driver over his more well-to-do, land-loving competition. Driving logs down the river has made him the best dancing partner to be found. It’s a lighthearted, animated tale based on the song The Log Driver’s Waltz by Wade Hemsworth. Kate and Anna McGarrigle sing to the music of the Mountain City Four.
Filed under: Musings | Tags: 1930's, Anais Nin, inspiraton, mermaid, quote, the sea, white cellar door
Image courtesy of White Cellar Door on Etsy
Filed under: Musings | Tags: California, folk, hippie, Log cabin, memories, Mountain living, musings, of the earth, Pioneer living, Sierra Nevadas, sustainable, West Coast, woodland
It’s a peculiar morning, awake before the sunrise- something that, these days,only happens when I travel. The air is crisp, the wood floor- cold on my bare feet. With my heavy velveteen patchwork quilt wrapped around me to keep away the chill, it is a familiar morning, comforting.
Back to my childhood again, back to the little log cabin in the Sierra Nevadas; my dad stoking the wood stove, warming my clothes on its iron top in an attempt to coax me from bed to dress for school.
It was a beautiful life, a simple life; one of cycles and of balance. A life of planting, of harvest, of gathering, of creating and sharing, of respect and beauty an of connection. I was alive, truly alive, aware and a part of everything.
These days I feel lost, in a city, cut adrift from what I know, what I understand and what speaks to my soul. I hear the whispering of the earth, in an ancient and almost forgotten tongue, of natural cycles and my place within them. My hands are restless, they long to plant, to grow, to nurture, to feel the soil.
I am a child of the mountains and a child of the ocean, of wide, star-lit skies and the rich forest floor. I am haunted by crashing waves and soothing surf, bonfires and blackberries and hot-springs under moonlit skies.
I am a child of the West and I have been away from home for far too long…
The cottage in the woods where I was born
The cabin where I grew up, on the Lucky 13 Ranch
Filed under: Oddities | Tags: brass, Curious Oddities, locket, nautical, necklace, pirate, ship, Steampunk, swallow
Filed under: Oddities | Tags: 20000 leagues under the sea, bizarre, fish, leviathan, monsters, Natural History Museum, ocean, octopus, oddities, sea, sideshow, Smithsonian, specimen, squid, undersea creature, Washington DC
I just wanted to share a collection of fantastic creatures of the deep- all pictures from my trip to the Natural History Museum in Washington DC. Truly amazing!
Filed under: Steampunk | Tags: boats, brigantine, brigs, Canada Day, schooner, tall ships, Toronto, waterfront festival
If you’re in Toronto next weekend, you absolutely MUST head down to the waterfront to see and board the 14 majestic tall ships that will be docking for the Canada Day weekend. Friday night there will also be a showing the film The Bounty !
The ship pictured above is the visiting German brig, Roald Amundsen
For those wishing for a truly stylish outing, join the Toronto Steampunk Society on Thursday night for a tour and group photos at the waterfront. Costumes are, as always, strongly encouraged.
For more information on the tall ships, visit the waterfront festival website.
And for those of you who can’t make it, don’t worry, I’ll take lots of pictures!
Filed under: Oddities, Steampunk | Tags: clockpunk, clockwork, fountain, Germany, Koblenz, mechanical, Noah's Ark, Steampunk
I fell in love with this delightful fountain in Koblenz, Germany. I wish I knew the story behind it, as it seemed completely out of place just outside of a modernish mall exit.
Filed under: General | Tags: Fox Theatre, GirlCanCreate, Handmade Nation, Movies and Makers, Queen East, Shop Curious Oddities, Toronto craft show
I know the notification is a wee bit last minute, but if you are in the Queen East area Sat November 21st, um, yeah I know it’s tomorrow, come by the Movies and Makers craft show at the Fox Theatre 2236 Queen Street East. 
Check out the Curious Oddities interview on the Movies and Makers Blog!
Movies & Makers Blog
On Facebook
Filed under: Steampunk | Tags: clockpunk, costume, Halloween, Malabar, neo victorian, retro-futurism, retrofuturist, Steampunk, Toronto, window display
If you find yourself in downtown Toronto, be sure to stop by Malabar Costumes at 14 McCaul Street, they currently have the most fabulous Steampunk window displays. Delightfully inspiring!
curious oddities 