Monica and I want to thank all Nellyglass patrons for your devoted support. Despite the weirdness of 2020, you have helped make this a wonderful year for us! And to everyone, may all the joy and blessings in the new year be yours. Merry Christmas!
Monica and I took a drive on a late September Sunday. It is tricky driving with one’s head swiveling around to see the beautiful leaves. And then there were church windows to gaze at in wonder. Perhaps I exhaled a long loving sigh!
Monica and I visited our son, Ryan, in Fredericton on a mild Saturday in January. Our family destination was the Beaverbrook Art Gallery to enjoy the excellent 1-hour guided tour through the various exhibits and permanent collections. It was our first time at this gallery since the new wing was added in 2017. It is a beautiful space full of light.
After the gallery, the three of us hopped next door to Issac’s Way for a delicious meal and stimulating conversation as we recollected our gallery experience. This restaurant is also a venue for emerging artists and displays works on all the walls. Patrons can bid to purchase the artworks in a silent auction format that lasts for several weeks. It’s genius marketing as it keeps partons coming back to the restaurant to check if their latest bid is still on top.
It was a fun afternoon. I enjoy going through the photos again and again 😀
For a quick stained glass fix, Monica and I took a Sunday morning drive to Oromocto and Gagetown to see three lovely churches; a Catholic, a United and an Anglican. We met some friendly church goers and discovered a new glass artist; R. Dietrich from C.P.I. Art Studio in Montreal. It was a wonderful fix, thank you.
Click each image below to see all the windows in that church.
Cousin Darrel and I grooved on a Tuesday night at the Imperial Theater to the music by Canadian Pink Floyd cover band, Pigs. We heard all our favs plus a couple of more obscure tunes. Such talented recreations of this classic music. After the concert, Darrel and I “pigged out” over meat-lovers pizza and garlic fingers. Good vibes reminiscing our many Floyd concerts of the past… and looked forward to the next one.
Monica and I are renovating the deck garden on a beautiful autumn afternoon. There are some BIG rocks involved. All in good fun, so long as nobody gets hurt.
What a wonderful six weeks spent with Monica at home on our back deck as we tended several 4th generation monarch butterflies’ transition from egg to adult. Such a fascinating creature with a complex life cycle involving four generations on migration from Mexico to New Brunswick, Canada. The fourth generation, born here, then returns to Mexico for the winter and the cycle begins again. During it all, the only plant the caterpillars will survive on, is milkweed.
Here is a Google Photo album of our experience with Monnie’s Monarch (photos have my comments attached).
Monica and I were fortunate to find this historic church in Kingston NB still open after Sunday service but just about to close for the day. Trinity Anglican is NB’s oldest Anglican Church dating to 1789 and is probably haunted.
Reverend Painter welcomed us in for a few photos and pointed out some of the wonderful historical treasures such as the original NB provincial seal and Canada’s oldest pipe organ. Such history! The stained glass is delicate with painted emblems and commemorative script. For all photos, visit World Windows and look for Kingston, NB.
He was a Christian priest in 250 AD at a time before Christianity was fully accepted. He married people illegally so the husbands wouldn’t have to go to war. This was much to the ire of Emperor Claudius II, who sentenced him to death: beaten, stoned and beheaded. While in jail, awaiting his sentence, Valentine healed the jailer’s blind daughter, restoring her sight… and on his execution day, he left a note in his cell for her that simply said … “Your Valentine”.
Fact or fiction? Regardless, he is the reason many of us put a little more effort on this day into reaching out to someone special to show them we care.
Monica and I had a wonderful lunch date at Ta-ke Sushi on King Street. We also bought more sushi to take home for supper, after the wine of course. And the sun shone through it all. It was a great day.
…and hello Year of the Pig. For a spontaneous winter date, Monica and I bought tickets to the Imperial Theater to see a wonderful variety show celebrating the Chinese New Year (Feb 5th this year). Astounding performances of music and dancing highlighting the skills and talent of some of the 1500 Chinese residents in Saint john.
After the show, we had a delicious Chinese meal at Bamboo East (in the north end of the city, lol) with lots of left-overs for my lunch tomorrow. 😀 My fortune cookie said, “Your greatness will be noticed” and Monica’s said “Be prepared for the truth”. Is that perhaps a bit ominous? Not sure, but we had a wonderful day anyway and thoroughly enjoyed something totally different on a Sunday afternoon.
Christmas Eve… profound and lovely, a time for reflection and affirmation. It was a wonderful year and we are blessed. As we celebrate tonight with our family, Monica and I extend a heart-felt thank you for your support in 2018 and wish you a very Merry Christmas from Nellyglass Studio.
Like always, the weather in Saint John at Christmas time is unpredictable. In fact, today we are getting a rain storm and there goes all the pretty snow. However, last night was a beautiful moon-lit wonderland and just frosty enough to make all the lights uptown sparkle. Monica and I thoroughly enjoyed dinner at an old fav restaurant; Sense of Tokyo (rated #1 sushi restaurant in SJ). Then pre-show cocktails at Hopscotch whiskey bar and finally a stellar performance at the Imperial Theater by husband and wife (with daughter guest star), Tomato/Tomato. Toe tapping to new and old Christmas tunes, what a wonderful lift of spirit.
Mon and I are training for Lisbon (tongue in cheek) so decided to change scenery on this fine Sunday and hike part of the Fundy Parkway near St. Martins. New trails are open all the way to Walton Glen gorge. The falls (NB’s highest) were barely a trickle today because of the dry weather. Nevertheless, we got our exercise and enjoyed lunch overlooking the coastline all the way to Martin Head.
A random Friday in late May brought a cool and semi foggy morning with the promise of afternoon sunshine. I had some suncatchers to drop off at CraftologySJ so Monica and I decided to go together and enjoy a walk in the city. Then home to enjoy the back yard for the rest of the day… including a surprise visit from Monica’s brother and his wife.
The highlights, in cronological order, are as follows:
Visit to the Saint John Jewish historical museum – I wanted to go for the stained glass windows but walked away with much more. The very knowledgeable Catherine gave us a guided tour through the museum and the lives of the early Jewish families in SJ. This beautiful building was formerly a senator’s residence (1897) and then a funeral home for many years before the Jewish Society aquired it. It now houses the synagogue after the original church was closed in 2007 due to low membership.
Photo stroll with Monica through Queen’s Square to the harbour front
Stop off at CraftologySJ to deliver suncatchers
Visit to Cobalt Gallery on Prince William St. where somebody may have just laid away a certain sculpture by Inuit artist Mikisiti Saila for somebody’s birthday ☺
Lunch at Ta-ke Sushi (double salmon roll…!!!)
Stroll up King’s St., through the city market and through King’s Square
Visit to a decommissioned church on Germain St., now a Children’s Interaction Theater Company. The stained glass is abandoned and some of it badly cacked… but I saw lovely fragments including a square glass “dome”.
Wine, munchies and conversation with Stuart and Darlene on the back deck.
Monica and I decided to get out of Saint John for the weekend, just for a change of scenery… and I had a particular church in mind to visit in the city of Miramichi. St. Michael’s Basilica in Chatham is the only Basilica in New Brunswick and just happens to have three Guido Nincheri stained glass windows. I was itching to see them. What I didn’t know until I got there is just across the river in Newcastle at St. Mary’s Catholic church are four Guido Nincheri windows! I got into these two churches plus one in Bouctouche and they were all spectacular (see Gallery/World Windows for all photos).
The weather the first day was not so good (snow, rain, wind) but was perfect for photographing windows. There is still lots of snow in Miramichi… like 6-foot banks in most parking lots. The poor towns folk are tired of it and don’t mind saying so. The second day was better with clear blue skies. We had a great time seeing the sights, eating good food and photographing stained glass windows. Monica has also started photographing church steeples… this might become a new obsession 😁
Here are some pictorial images of the weekend highlights.
Since traveling to Ireland and learning more about their history and culture, I have a much better appreciation for the man called Saint Patrick... who, in the mid 400s, was captured from his home in Britain by Irish pirates while still just a teenager, enslaved for years on Ireland, escaped and fled back to the mainland, became a Christian, returned to Ireland to spread the word and build his first church in Armagh (we were there), and ultimately become the patron saint of Ireland.
Celebrated on this day all over the world (and most certainly at our house), Monica and I wish you a very Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
Here are some shots all taken close to home in Saint John.
Just when we had ourselves braced for a horrific onslaught of winter, we are surprised and most delighted with the nicest February ever… at least for now… this can’t be sustainable (wishing)
Monica and I took a drive on a late September Sunday. It is tricky driving with one’s head swiveling around to see the beautiful leaves. And then there were church windows to gaze at in wonder. Perhaps I exhaled a long loving sigh! 
He was a Christian priest in 250 AD at a time before Christianity was fully accepted. He married people illegally so the husbands wouldn’t have to go to war. This was much to the ire of Emperor Claudius II, who sentenced him to death: beaten, stoned and beheaded. While in jail, awaiting his sentence, Valentine healed the jailer’s blind daughter, restoring her sight… and on his execution day, he left a note in his cell for her that simply said … “Your Valentine”.
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