Vol 33 • No 06
$4.99
November 2020
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2021 Calendar Winners Revealed
Cats in Boxes Explained
Looking for Gifts from Home?
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life is better Published monthly in St. John’s by Downhome Publishing Inc. 43 James Lane, St. John’s, NL, A1E 3H3 Tel: 709-726-5113 • Fax: 709-726-2135 • Toll Free: 1-888-588-6353 E-mail: mail@downhomelife.com Website: www.downhomelife.com Editorial Editor-in-Chief Janice Stuckless Art and Production Art Director Vince Marsh Graphic and Web Designer Cory Way Illustrator Mel D’Souza Illustrator Snowden Walters Advertising Sales Senior Account Manager Robert Saunders Account Manager Barbara Young Marketing Director Tiffany Brett Finance and Administration Junior Accountant Marlena Grant Accounting Assistant Sandra Gosse Operations Manager, Twillingate Nicole Mehaney
Warehouse Operations Warehouse / Inventory Manger Carol Howell Warehouse Operator Josephine Collins Distribution Sales & Marketing Amanda Ricks Sr. Customer Service Associate Sharon Muise Inventory Control Clerk Darlene Whiteway Retail Operations Retail Floor Manager, St. John’s Jackie Rice Retail Floor Manager, Twillingate Donna Keefe Retail Sales Associates Crystal Rose, Emma Goodyear, Jonathon Organ, Nicole French, Elizabeth Gleason, Rebecca Ford, Erin McCarthy, Marissa Little, Hayley Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Gauci, Beth Colbert, Kim Tucker, Heather Stuckless, Katrina Hynes, Lynette Ings, Stef Burt
Subscriptions Customer Service Associate Kathleen Murphy Customer Service Associate Nicola Ryan
Founding Editor Ron Young
President & Associate Publisher Todd Goodyear
Chief Executive Officer/Publisher Grant Young
General Manager/Assistant Publisher Tina Bromley
To subscribe, renew or change address use the contact information above. Subscriptions total inc. taxes, postage and handling: for residents in NL, NS, NB, PE $45.99; ON $45.19; QC, SK, MB, AB, BC, NU, NT, YT $41.99. US and International mailing price for a 1-year term is $49.99.
Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement #40062919 The advertiser agrees that the publisher shall not be liable for damages arising out of errors in advertisements beyond the amount paid for the space actually occupied by the portion of the advertisement in which the error occurred, whether such error is due to the negligence of the servants or otherwise, and there shall be no liability beyond the amount of such advertisement. The Letters to the Editor section is open to all letter writers providing the letters are in good taste, not libelous, and can be verified as true, correct and written by the person signing the letter. Pen names and anonymous letters will not be published. The publisher reserves the right to edit, revise, classify, or reject any advertisement or letter. © Downhome Publishing Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission of the publisher. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada.
Printed in Canada
Official onboard magazine of
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surprising sights
Contents
NOVEMBER 2020
44 Life After Service Three veterans share how the military helped shape their lives and their current career paths. Linda Browne
66 Yarn Bombed!
122 storied breed
Twillingate gets The Rock Vandal’s trademark treatment. Jenn Thornhill Verma
90 Warm Welcomes Fall decorating, inside and out, with interior designer Marie Bishop
122 Newfoundland Legend The special breed of dog that makes headlines around the world. Dale Jarvis
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NOVEMBER 2020
homefront 10 I Dare Say A note from the editor 12 Letters From Our Readers Honouring those who served, recalling a fairy poem, and recreating Downhome covers
20 Downhome Tours Downhome readers explore China
22 Why is That? What’s the origin of “crocodile tears” and why do cats love boxes? Linda Browne 24 Life’s Funny Making a Stink Angela Christenson
12 cover boy
25 Say What A contest that puts words in someone else’s mouth
26 Lil Charmers Childhood Chores 28 Pets of the Month Special Friends
30 Reviewed Denise Flint interviews Jeanette Winsor about her novel The Apprenticeship of Molly Chant.
32 What Odds Paul Warford’s spin on car shopping
features 34 And the Winners Are… Your first look at our 2021 Calendar photos
52 On the Prowl Meet the coolest cat in town Marie-Beth Wright 4
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calendar worthy
56 Pops’ Legacy The story of a woman and her surprise dream boat Kim Ploughman
explore 60 Salvage & Salvation Ferryland church’s shipwrecked statues and a war memorial rescued from the rubble Dennis Flynn
72 The Secret to Happiness Seeking the reasons why Newfoundlanders are said to be the happiest people on earth Daphne Belbin Tumlin
80 knit knack
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78 Travel Diary Onward Through the Fog Berdina Ford
home and cabin 80 Stuff We Love Wild About Wool Tobias Romaniuk November 2020
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comfort & charm
84 Venture with a View A young couple in love find their happily ever after in Norris Point Janice Stuckless
94 Todd’s Table Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Todd Goodyear
98 Everyday Recipes 6 recipes with “fancy” cheeses 106 Down to Earth Winterizing Your Garden Sean Dolter
reminiscing 112 Flashbacks Classic photos of people and places 6
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112 wartime
114 Shot Down Over Germany He survived a plane crash, a PoW camp and the dreadful Long March. Bernadette McKelvie
118 Visions & Vignettes Adventures with two young scalawags in an imaginary outport of days gone by Harold N. Walters
128 Beware of Lightning Strikes A reader’s own frightening encounter led to this dire warning. Josephine Murphy
About the cover This is Tillie, owned and often photographed by her human, Nicole Watson. We don’t know if she’s ever rescued anyone, but Tillie is legendary at Downhome for the number of beautiful photos we’ve seen of her over the years!
132 Newfoundlandia When Newfoundland Saved Canada Chad Bennett
Cover Index
138 Puzzles
Shot Down Over Germany • 114 Warm Welcomes • 90 Newfoundland Legend • 122 2021 Calendar Winners Revealed • 34 Cats in Boxes Explained • 22 Looking for Gifts from Home? • 152 www.downhomelife.com
150 Marketplace 152 Mail Order 160 Photo Finish November 2020
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homefront pets of the month
special friends Feathered Friend This boy has found a buddy in this chicken. Victoria Squires Jamestown, NL
No Kidding Daisy, the Ryan family’s pet goat, loves jumping and quickly took to the backyard trampoline. Kaitlin Ryan Ferryland, NL
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Deerly Beloved The submitter’s great-granddaughter feeds her pet deer. Una Smith Kirkfield, ON
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homefront
And the Winners are... Aren’t we ready to jump to 2021?
After the year we’ve had, the job of looking at beautiful photographs and choosing the best ones to illustrate each month of a fresh new year was exhilarating. Going through hundreds and hundreds of jaw-dropping images of Newfoundland and Labrador reminded us again why this is the best place to be quarantined. Thank you to everyone who entered the contest, and now it’s time to let you know who won. Each of the 13 winners will receive 10 copies of the calendar and a one-year subscription to Downhome magazine. In addition, a random draw from the 13 winners netted one lucky person the grand prize: a free trip for four adults with our contest sponsor, O’Brien’s Whale and Bird Tours. Congratulations to the winning entries, which you can preview on the following pages, and to the winner of the O’Brien’s boat tour, Eldred Allen!
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Summer in Little Bay Islands Tanya Northcott, Ottawa, ON
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January Winner Winter Morning in St. John’s Jim Desautels, St. John’s, NL
February Winner A Cold Night in Trinity Ivo Lacle, Bonavista, NL 36
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March Winner Labrador Majesty Larry Jenkins, Labrador City, NL
April Winner The Daily Catch Lester Green, Little Heart’s Ease, NL www.downhomelife.com
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May Winner Dungeon Road Horses Mark Gray, Bonavista, NL
June Winner Meet the Puffins Rowena Holloway, Bloomfield, NL 38
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July Winner New Bonaventure Visitor Bernice Goudie, St. John’s, NL
August Winner Whale of a Time Alisa Smith, Clarenville, NL www.downhomelife.com
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September Winner Ferryland Portal Nicole Bishop, Paradise, NL
October Winner Colours of Manuels River Brenda Voisey, Mount Pearl, NL 40
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November Winner Salvage Sunset Cory Babstock, Clarenville, NL
December Winner A Splash of Colour Eldred Allen, Rigolet, NL www.downhomelife.com
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We’re wasting no time preparing for the next Downhome Calendar, . . . and neither should you! Submit your favourite photos of scenery, activities and icons that best illustrate the down-home lifestyle. We’re looking for a variety of colourful subjects – outports, animals, laundry lines, historic sites, seascapes, hilltop views, and so much more – and photos from all four seasons.
And you could win right away! Downhome staff will select four 2022 Calendar Contest entries submitted November 1-30, 2020 to be put to a public vote at Downhomelife.com. The photo that receives the most votes will be turned into a postcard. The lucky photographer will receive 10 postcards and $50 Downhome Dollars, gift certificates that can be used like cash to purchase products from Downhome Shoppe locations and online at ShopDownhome.com.
What are you waiting for? Submit today, using one of these ways:
by mail: Downhome Calendar Contest 43 James Lane St. John’s, NL A1E 3H3 online: www.downhomelife.com/calendar Must be original photos or high quality copies. Digital photos must be at least 300 dpi, file sizes of about 1MB. We can’t accept photocopies or photos that are blurry, too dark or washed out. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want your photos returned.
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features
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Sid is not
an alley cat, but he is a cat known to roam the alleys of downtown St. John’s and is as much a familiar face as the regular summer buskers. He’s become quite the celebrity, with sightings of him excitedly reported on social media. Amanda Ball was dining downtown when she encountered him. She posted to Facebook, “Sid was at Celtic Hearth the other night. We realized this after our server walked away and then yelled, ‘OMG, there’s a cat in here!’ I didn’t realize it was him at first, until I posted photos on Instagram and a few people messaged me to let me know. I was worried about him when we left (we carried him outside the restaurant). I was glad to find out that he has a home and that he is a downtown icon! Such a sweet little guy!” “I got Sid six years ago. I picked the only male and neutered him to help control the cat population,” says Adam Blackwood. “His dad may have been feral, for Sid sometimes has feral tendencies, like being a great mouser and loving the outdoors.”
Since being adopted six years ago, Sid the cat has become a fixture of downtown St. John’s. All images from “The Adventures of Sid” on Facebook
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Normally found lounging and occasionally trying his luck in the bars downtown (above and left), Sid has spent much of 2020 like most of us – indoors and socially distant (bottom). Sid joins a spectacular group of famous felines: the Tobermory Cat from Scotland; Coal, of Ottawa’s former Parliament Hill Colony; and Feral Fred, who was a dump rescue from Bonavista South. Sid is famous, admirable, adventurous – you decide! To say he has fans is an understatement; there’s a Facebook page dedicated to him, “The Adventures of Sid,” and his Facebook group has more than 2,500 members who follow his escapades. Usually Sid goes into chill mode 54
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during the winter, and fans clamour for his return come spring. This past year, between Snowmageddon and the pandemic, Sid has been indoors a lot and new sightings are in short supply. Darrell Cooper, a member of the Facebook group, opines tonguein-cheek, “While the bars were shut down by COVID, Sid sobered up. He is living the good life as a house cat. He would post pics, but he’s embarrassed by how boring he is now.” Sid’s regular route takes him up and down Water Street. He especially likes visiting restaurants where kind people cannot resist his inquiries about what’s on the menu. Soon tasty treats appear for epicurean Sid. He also has a penchant for the night life. “George Street is like home to him,” says Adam. Sid’s page shows him on a stool at Turkey Joe’s, on the edge of the bar in Sundance or waiting at Shamrock City for the live music to start. If you see Sid, don’t ply him with too much milk, for he’s been known to do pub crawls! Lesser known are his visits to the Murray Premises Hotel lobby and The Heritage Shop, where Sid has occasionally bunked down, especially close to closing time. That nearly led to him getting locked in at the Dildo Brewing Co. shop. Vanessar Blair posted on his page, “He used to visit me at work here, but one evening we were closing and couldn’t find him. He was in the shelf with the shirts and would not come out. I had to turn the vacuum on to get him out after chicken luring did not work. I don’t think he came back since, poor guy.” Poor Sid? This feline needs no pity. He’s the most loved cat in town! www.downhomelife.com
Sid has been spotted in store window displays and tending bar at local watering holes. November 2020
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HOME and Cabin
venture with a view
A young couple in love find their happily ever after in Norris Point Story by Janice Stuckless | Photos by Candace Kennedy
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From their new home
in Norris Point, Peter Thurlow and Meigan Aspin can look out over the bluff where they were married in 2015. They can also watch the days begin and end over beautiful Bonne Bay and the seasons sweep over the Tablelands. The landscape was love at first sight for them, and they designed their home to be part of it.
“You feel at one with the landscape from every main room in the house,” says Meigan. “It really lends to an immersive feel of being connected to the environment and the landscape outside.” Meigan is from Prince Edward Island. Peter is a Newfoundlander from Buchans who grew up in Corner Brook. They met years ago at university in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 2014, they decided to sell Meigan’s restored Victorian home in Halifax and find a new home in a new place, one with plenty of open space, “wilderness, www.downhomelife.com
adventure, community, activities and huge potential,” Meigan says. They spent that summer casually touring around Newfoundland and found themselves in Norris Point. They were out for a bike ride, admiring the view of the Tablelands, when they stumbled upon Pierces Lane. Peter said, “I’m related to the Pierces from Norris Point. Maybe it’s named after them.” And it was! Surely, this was their first sign. Then the view at the end of the road, and the For Sale sign on a property there, sealed it. This would be their new home. November 2020
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They lived happily in that singlestorey saltbox house, operating a loft-style rental next door called The Little Wild, for several years. In 2018, after their daughter Sophia was born, they started working on their bigger dream. Their friend, Jon Thorne, a house plan and landscape designer, helped them create the concept for their new property, located just 100 feet down the shore from their old home. First on the list was positioning the house to make the most of the incredible views. “We were also adamant to make it an energy efficient home, which is why we went with ICF construction, high heat output/efficiency wood stove, MYSA smart thermostats and triple-pane glass windows,” Meigan says. And because Meigan, a registered massage therapist, would be working from home, they designed a beautiful, professional space in the basement for her office and treatment room with a separate entrance. They hired Bob Chubbs, a local builder who’d worked on The Little Wild, to help carry out the scope of the project. And they turned to local interior designer Holly Costello to complete the look and feel of their new home.
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“We first worked through the colours and materials that would clad the outside of the house and then moved inside to the really fun stuff,” Holly says. A key element that inspired much of the rest of the interior design was a funky flower wallpaper designed by New York artist Wayne Pate. “I fell in love with the idea of a feature wall. The colours and personality [of the wallpaper] just seemed to fit so well and helped to anchor other decisions we made for the house. The images and colour of this paper were pivotal when I really think about it,” Meigan says. “The ‘Particles Pendant’ dining room light fixture, which we sourced through the help of Helen Champion at Modern Komfort, was a perfect fit for the paper, with the round shapes and whimsy of the piece. The colours in the paper also paired so well with the colour we selected for the island and the textured leather detail of the stools at the island, and the walnut stain of the floating shelves. The paper is, by far, my most loved feature in the entire home. It just helped to make the decision of every88
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thing else flow that much smoother because it became our sort of theme.” “We sort of ran with that as the main inspiration for the colours that would go into the kitchen and throughout the main spaces,” Holly agrees. “The reddish-orange island colour, of course, is front and centre and a pretty obvious connection to the print; the colour of the granite top with the blue and terra cotta tones, the dark blue paint colour in the mudroom/entry off the kitchen, the black dining room chairs and hits of black in the light fixture and in the staircase area” can all be traced back to the wallpaper. “It’s this phase of the build that I think I can honestly say I loved the most,” Meigan says. And that’s in large part because she made the wise decision not to try to hang the paper herself, but let the pros do it. “I considered hanging it myself, and am I
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ever glad I didn’t go there. Holly put me in touch with Jeff Cunning, who is her go-to for a lot of jobs… so I watched him and another of his guys go through the painstaking precision of gluing and hanging the paper themselves. I’m eternally glad to have saved myself from the tedium of it. Some jobs are just really worth hiring out for, and that was sure one of them!” Now settled nicely into their dream home, Meigan and Peter’s former saltbox home has become their second short-term rental property, called Exposure. Thinking back on that day when they first rode their bikes down Pierces Lane and saw that For Sale sign, Meigan recalls she and Peter looking at each other and shrugging, “Why not?” “Nothing ventured, nothing gained, they say,” Meigan comments. “Thank goodness we ventured.”
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Walnut-Pomegranate Baked Brie 1 lb wheel of brie, cut into 16 wedges 2 tbsp olive oil 1 cup leeks (green parts), sliced thin 1/3 cup walnuts, minced 2 tsp garlic, minced 1/2 pkg phyllo 1/2 cup butter, melted 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs 16 tsp pomegranate molasses
Preheat oven to 325°F. Stack the brie together in twos, in opposite directions to create rectangular blocks of cheese. Sauté the leeks in olive oil over medium-high heat. Once the leeks soften, add garlic and nuts. Cook until the garlic starts to slightly brown. Remove from heat and set aside in a bowl with a small spoon. Spread out one sheet of phyllo and, working quickly (because phyllo dries easily), spread with melted butter, sprinkle lightly with panko, and lay another sheet of pastry on top. Press layers together firmly. Butter and add bread crumbs once more. Place the pastry in front of you running the length from left to right. Cut it in half from top to bottom, and arrange a cheese block on each half at the bottom. Spread 1/8 of the leek mixture over each cheese block, and drizzle 2 tsp of pomegranate molasses over the leeks. Roll each cheese block in the pastry, folding in the ends as you go to create a neat little “package.” Place the phyllo packet on a parchment-lined sheet pan, brush with more butter and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Repeat steps 7 more times. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and crispy. Remove from oven and let them rest for 5 minutes before serving. Yield: 8 servings
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