Ancient Life

 I recently left a comment on a blog post about how it is good to learn new things. I'm sure you all agree with me.

So today I want to show you a very ancient form of life called a thrombolite.

Don't get too excited that you are going to see some large dinosaur like creature. Thrombolites were some of the first forms of life on Earth and were single celled bacteria type of creatures which used photosynthesis to get food. They grew in round mounds, and some of them even fossilized.

I thought the only remaining fossils of them could be found in Western Australia.  But then, when preparing for a trip, I did my research and found out there is one other place on Earth (that we know of) where thrombolite fossils can be found.

Those who stop by regularly probably guessed it was Newfoundland.  For me, with a biology degree and teaching a class of microbiology, it was really exciting to see these. 

I created this page in my travel journal using material from a brochure write up, some tape, some paper scraps and also stamping this windy face image. Once I stamped him directly onto the page and the other time I stamped him on tissue paper and then used matte medium to attach the tissue paper to the page. But here's the biggest thing I find confusing. On my actual page, they both look the same color. I wonder why one of then (the tissue paper one) didn't photograph the same. (And it's the angle of my photo that makes the bottom piece of tape look so crooked. You'll just have to bear with the photo on that one.)

I used the wind image because it was incredibly windy the day we stopped here. Cold too.

Learning new things and then actually seeing these fossils was a blessing to me. (What a geek I am!) So I am linking up this journal page to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's super challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

And although they might not excite you, here's a few more thrombolite photos.

Thanks for visiting. And enjoy your weekend.

I Get a Day Home

Hi everyone. Another week is flying right by, don't you think? As it always happens at the end of my vacation, I have a bunch of appointments and things I need to do.  So today is my first day without something on my must go out for list all week. Hurrah! Even though I have had some fun days out recently,  for me when I go out a lot the week seems to go  faster than when I am home.  And I am in slow down time mode right now trying to enjoy what's left of my summer break.

And to make today day even better, we should have sun! Hurrah again.

Thought I would share a few views from my latest travel journal from when I went to Newfoundland back in July.

And  a few more photos too.

Here's a couple of pages that aren't the same size so they might look a little weird here. On the left is a tag I made with some assorted bits and pieces fro my stash.  The right hand page is not white on the bottom as the paper is a bit shorter than the one behind it. This right hand page is my sketch of the fjord we took the boat trip on. The boat is the the white  object just below the ticket. If you want to see those photos you can hope over to this post: Gros Morne part 1.

And I punched and added in a tourist brochure (left, below) as well as making this moose tag.  The tag is a piece of "wood"paper which is actually a really thin wood veneer.

And a moose collage page.

We saw 2 moose when we were there, but I only got photos of this one.

And here's another fjord-this time a real fjord where the mountains go right into the sea.

Beautiful views, seeing wild animals and making art about it all are certainly blessings. So I am linking up to Art Journal Journey hosted this month by one handsome cat named Bleubeard and one lovely lady named Elizabeth. They're asking us to count our blessings.
That's all for me today. Thanks for visiting.

Gros Morne Part 2

Hi everyone. It's been another dark and wet day here. Although Friday was gorgeous it's been a washout of a weekend in my world. Looks like most of the week is going to be humid and wet too. Looks like New Hampshire is turning into a tropical rainforest. (Grin)

So first let me show you a page from my Newfoundland travel journal that I have been working on.

It's a mixed media painting of the carnivorous pitcher plant that is also the provincial flower of Newfoundland.

 They were flowering when we were there as you can see these droopy looking flowers.

The leaves are these short tube shaped structures. They fill with sweet fluid/nectar and which attracts insects, and when the insects go in to feed on the nectar they get stuck. Then the plant releases digestive enzymes that changes the insects into food for the plant.

These plants grow really well in stark rocky environments because they don't need to rely on rich soil to grow since these insects give them their nutrients.

We saw a lot of these in a part of Gros Morne National Park called the Tablelands.

We went on a ranger lead hike up into the Tablelands. You can see how the mountain the background has a lot of green trees, but where we are walking is rather rusty brown.

 The reason this area is rusty brown is because there is  high amount of iron and other metals in this rock. And this is very special rock. It comes from a deeper layer of the earth called the mantle.This rock is not like rocks we find on the surface of the Earth. In fact the Tablelands is the largest area of mantle rock you can find on dry land on the entire planet Earth.

This is picture (the one above) is also deceiving. Although the mountain behind the ranger doesn't look that tall it is 2300 feet high. I know that isn't really tall compared to many mountains, but the Appalachian Mountains that run from the southeast US all the way up the North American East Coast into Newfoundland, Canada are one of the planets oldest ranges and have been exposed to lots of glaciation which wore them down. This is the same mountain range that runs through New Hampshire where I live.

And yes there were still little patches of snow.

It was very different from the rest of the park.

Hope you enjoyed your visit today.

And happy new week!

Gros Morne Part 1

It was a rainy Saturday here but my daughter's home for the weekend so even though it was a good art day, I spent time with her instead. Since I have a lot of photos from my trip to Newfoundland a month ago (wow-it's been a month), I thought I would share a few.

Today's photos are from a freshwater fjord (not really a fjord since real fjords are where mountains meet salt water but for lack of knowing a better name I will still call it that) called Western Brook Pond. It is in Gros Morne National Park, a gorgeous park  the very end of the Appalachian mountain chain.

It was a 3 kilometer walk in along a road (shown in the upper photo) through the peat bogs to get to where the boat tour docked. You can just see the mountains peeking out along the horizon. There is no transport for passengers in or out to the docks for the boat trip, but they must use this road to bring supplies like gas in for the boat.

This next photo is the view of Western Brook Pond near the end of the road. The house roof you see is where you confirm your ticket , use the toilets, or buy a snack.

This is the view of Western Brook Pond near the end of the road. The house roof you see is where you confirm your ticket , use the toilets, or buy a snack.

And this is the boat we took our tour of the fjord on. I took this photo when the boat came in from the tour before ours.

The views of and in the fjord were amazing.

Sometimes you had to look up to get the best views.

It was a wonderful 2 hour boat trip, worth the 3 kilometer walk in and then the 3 km walk out. (Not that 3 km is all that far.)

More photos from Gros Morne National Park another day.

Hope you enjoyed my photos today and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Photos

Happy Friday everyone. It's hot and humid today so I took an early walk and now I am back trying to cool off a bit. 

Today I thought I would show you some photos.

Shall we start with some Vikings in L'anse aux Meadow, Newfoundland. This is as far north on the main island you can go. It is beautiful but stark. 

We are standing on a rise and looking down to the archeological park. This is where the Viking made the first European settlement in North America and it is the only documented sight that they settled. Locals thought all the mounds had been Native American sites, but when dug, they discovered they were Viking sights. The big give away was finding bog iron (as the Native Americans didn't do any iron work and the Viking did) and well as a button and a weaving spindle top. Luckily those Vikings in Iceland kept historical records called the Sagas so there was written material to go back to trace when and who might have been here. (Even though the Sagas were written after Viking times.)

They believe this was more of a trading settlement rather than a permanent settlement. The Vikings came and left, but they believe they didn't leave in a hurry as they left very little remains behind which means they had time to pack up and clear out before they left.

 The sight is run by Parks Canada and is also a Unesco World Heritage Sight. In the archaeological area they built a Viking Longhouse which you could walk through and talk with people.

 This dragon head is part of the statue below. You can see the park visitor's center in the background. This statue is on the walkway down to the archeological site. On the right you can make out the dragon wings which stands for the Viking. On the left is a more abstract piece that stands for the Native Americans that lived in Newfoundland when the Vikings arrived. Each side is made by a different artist.

 The artist who made the Native American side used the shapes of certain animals. Here you can see the bluish lobster claw.

It was hard to photograph up close but there was an outline of a whale, fish, seal and a couple of animals within the art.

 And another statue at the entrance of the park. 

 All of the sites that contained Native American artifacts received this symbol on them. There were no Native Americans living here when the Viking arrived but they have lived here at other time periods.

Near the National Park is a Provincial Park called Norstead. It showed what life was like for the Vikings when they were here. I wasn't too certain how good it would be, but it  actually was quite informative. 

Yes, the Vikings brought women with them. I found this area interesting as it showed weaving, cooking and a kind of one needle knitting I want to try.

And this Viking ship was built in Maine and sailed here in 2000, which was the 1000 anniversary of the Vikings arriving in Newfoundland. 

Luckily it wasn't very crowded that day so we could really chat with the people working there and find out a lot of info.

And finally a few other views from L'Anse aux Meadows.

Have a wonderful weekend!