Presents, purchases and a finish!

Time to review what made my suitcase so heavy coming home from Canada and Alaska! The credit card got a good airing, but that was far outweighed by the fun exploring the wonderful quilt shops up north!
Many of these goodies come from 4 quilt shops - The Rushin' Tailor in Skagway, Changing Tides in Juneau, Whale's Tail in Ketchikan, and the Sugar Pine Quilt Shop in Canmore.
Others were given to me by friends, such as the Cantik Batiks picture quilt designed by Shania Sunga. We met the lady at Quilt Canada, and Audrey surprised us with this lovely "Canadian Mystery" kit.
Audrey also made us a couple of lovely mug rugs, always welcome in the Owlery, and spoiled me with the beautiful owl batik. Will have to come up with something special for that.
Some northern wildlife-themed batiks found their way home, and several wildlife fusible cutouts, a big whale and some bears of course. They will go well with another 'Quilt Alaska' batik given to me by Susan (Kiwikid) for my birthday. I'm a lucky

one! The animal panel just had to find a spot in the suitcase too, as did a panel depicting 1930s style destination posters from all over Canada. It depicts places I've been to and some that are still on my bucket list, such as Churchill and its polar bears.
Oh, the mind is ticking, ticking....
And yay! I had a finish - completed the so-called Sawyer Scarf, a warm and woolly wrap just perfect for the winter months. It was fun to crochet, and if I find the wool again, I might just make another one for sale.

North to Alaska! (more photos)

Some more shots from our trip, this time from Alaska. Unfortunately, Blogger won't let me upload more - getting rather annoyed with this site!
Alaska was great, as always. The weather wasn't the best, cool and rainy most days, but the low cloud added a little mystery to some of the photos. This is my third time up here, and I love the wilderness, the wildlife, and landscapes.  As soon as I got home, I had a look at some more trips to Alaska, I'd really like to go to Denali and Kodiak.
We still encountered snow and ice on the White Rail Pass, and layers of winter woollies were a must. In Glacier Bay, we saw a few bergs, but they were small. The most thrilling part was seeing a grizzly walk along the beach! Other wildlife included seals, eagles, dolphins, and whales. A  mother and baby whale surfaced right next to our window on the ship, and the baby breached a couple of times!
Our ship, the HAL 'Volendam' was a medium-sized one, but with most of the features of the bigger ships. We enjoyed out Lanai, which opened onto Promenade Deck, so we could duck in and out easily for sightseeing. It was hard to leave the ship and fend for ourselves again...

Cruising up and down the Inside Passage, we saw stunning landscapes, with numerous waterfalls, sheer cliffs and endless forests. Modern civilisation up here has only a small foothold, thankfully. The First Nations peoples' culture has a strong presence, in stories and art.
We were lucky to hear a tribal woman tell us stories of her people.
There is also a living history of the gold rush here in Alaska, none more so than in Skagway, a frontier town at the foot of the Chilkoot Pass. Gold miners had to bring approx. 1 ton of equipment and supplies with them to survive on the goldfields, and lift them on the steep pass.

Stories abound, such as the one about "Soapy" Smith, a notorious conman during the gold rush. He was eventually shot by Frank Reid, and lies just outside the Goldrush Cemetery, while Reid, who also died, has a large grave marker.  And not far behind the graves is a beautiful waterfall!

Back in the Shire (photo heavy!)

We've made it back home from our awesome trip to Canada and Alaska, and I'm pretty much over the jetlag too. Needless to say we had a fabulous time and amazing experiences. Here are some photo memories from the Canadian part of the trip, involving friends, critters, and landscapes. I've been in this part of the world four times, and always find something new to do and to see. If you do nothing else in your life, go on this trip! It's fairly easy driving in BC and Alberta, and you might see a bear or five on your travels! Always a thrilling experience.
The impetus for this journey was to visit Quilt Canada, which was a great experience. The Canadian quilts are less traditional than what we see here in Oz, with many modern quilts on display. There were also many unique northern landscape quilts, and innovative techniques such as needle felting and 3D elements included.  Blogger doesn't seem to like me today, so I'll leave you to enjoy the photos and see if I have better luck with some Alaska photos.