Summer Vacation and Crafting

We are recently back from our week by the sea in Nova Scotia. This is the house we rented--a 1780s fisherman's cottage right on the water.

The location was gorgeous and we spent many hours sitting on or by the rocks.

The girls spent a lot of time hanging out on the rocks singing. For some reason, they sang variations on "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" all. week. long. Still have it stuck in my head.



We wanted to have a mix of touring the region and just hanging by the water. I brought a big bag of art and craft supplies which was a big hit. The biggest hit was the new bag of craft thread.

We all now sport many friendship bracelets on our wrists and ankles. We renamed them "thread bracelets" which just felt like a cooler name.

While Helen attached her project to her leg, Lou hooked it on her toe and knotted away. She took her project everywhere. Helen caught a bunch of tourists taking photos of Lou and her toe project at a maritime museum :) Maybe they thought it was some exotic sailor's knot technique!

Lou brought colored pencils, a compass, and paper. She spent hours making compasses and clocks inspired by all the compass roses we saw in museums.

Helen brought jewelry wire (silver & copper) and tools.

She made some gorgeous pendants from sea glass and small stones.

She also brought acrylic paints and had fun turning a rock into her palette.
She made some pretty seascapes.

Of course we also explored the magnificent, empty, cold beaches,

toured the maritime museums,

and shopped.

And, of course, we read & read & read. The grand total-- over 7,800 pages of reading by our family!
That was a fun little math project :)

It was great trip that ended up having a good rhythm of down days and touring days. The down days worked well for us because we had along:

some books on CD-- we all ended up listening to or reading King Arthur tales for some reason
drawing paper, colored pencils, compass, eraser, pencil sharpener
acrylic paints and brushes
watercolors, gel pens & journals
embroidery floss/craft thread & scissors
jewelry making gear
I had also brought super-glue (for rock sculptures) and yarn/thread (for weaving or tatting) neither of which we used.