Sunday, May 29, 2016

Cobalt Ontario

We're just back from Cobalt, a 6 hour drive north, where our son and his wife live.  Our daughter-in-law bravely quit her job 3 years ago, and they moved to Cobalt, a northern mining town, so she could enroll in the Vet Tech program at Northern College.  She graduated on Friday - three cheers!  A very big mid-life career change!  And we're terribly proud of them both.

I'll tell you a bit about Cobalt tomorrow, but of course there had to be some interesting shopping along the way.  The North Cobalt Flea Market is a somewhat crazy place, but we stopped just because of its reputation.  I put in my time playing with pictures of colourful things.

Mind you they did have fabric, so for a couple of serious quilters it was worth the visit.

Then there was the wool shop in New Liskeard, where our daughter-in-law works occasional shifts.

And then there was the Quilt Barn, just out of town (in a barn), a shop which ranks high in my list of quilt shops because it has a man-cave (at least a place to sit).

That wasn't all.  There was Thornloe Cheese Company, which makes great cheeses, and sells Chapman's ice cream (from right here in Markdale).  And we drove over into Quebec for a fabulous meal at the 'Bistro Elle and Louis' in Val Marie.

But most of all we visited, attended both the award ceremony and the graduation at Northern College, and learned a bit about the mining history of Cobalt.  The Northern College campus here grew out of the old School of MInes, which in turn is here because of the discovery of silver in 1903, and the interesting mining history of Northern Ontario that followed.  More about that tomorrow.  I expect I'll get a few blog posts in this week before we get too busy again.

15 comments:

  1. Lovely bright colors! I enjoyed them all, and trying to figure out what I might be looking at mow and then. Congratulations to the new graduate. I look forward to learning more about Cobalt. :-)

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  2. Your DIL was so brave to go back to school. Wonderful though! Family weekends are the best, even without the shopping.

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  3. well this post just set up our summer vacation!! It has been a few years since we've been up to N.L. and the thought of eating Thornloe Cheese again just makes my mouth water.

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  4. My friend Margaret would go crazy for all that wonderful yardage. Congrats to your daughter-in-law. - Margy

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  5. What a colorful place! Huge congrats to your daughter in law.

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  6. What a fun place to visit - and great job your DIL did.

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  7. And you could so easily sing the song " These are a few of my favourite things" So glad the hardware shop was near the fabric shop,and for your d-in-law, many congratulations. This is a wonderful achievement, and to change direction, brave, to achieve, after years of hard work and study, so worthy of it all. Yes, those shops, if I could I would be there so fast too!!!

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  8. Hello, Congrats to your DIL. Wonderful colorful photos! Happy Monday, enjoy your new week ahead!

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  9. How colourful your photo's are too!
    Many congratulations and well done to your daughter-in-law.

    All the best Jan

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  10. Congrats to your daughter-in-law... What career will this give her? Hopefully, she can find a job... Will they stay in Cobalt?

    I have a quilter/stitcher friend who would love to shop at that market....

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  11. Bravo to your daughter in law! That's one part of the province I have not been to.

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  12. Congratulations to your daughter-in-law on getting her Vet Tech! Our daughter-in-law is also a Vet Tech and she loves animals. You sure found some colourful things to photograph at the market there. I'll be interested in your other posts on Cobalt as I don't know anything about that town or area.

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  13. That turned into quite an adventure of things to do. It is good to get the new degree. I am anxious to hear about the mining that was or is in Canada. I am familiar with all that goes on in Minnesota.

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  14. Congratulations to your daughter in law. Good for her!!
    Beautiful colors. I'm thinking the first picture is hula hoops. : )
    Love the yarn.

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  15. You certainly captured the colors of the flea market -- very nice.

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