Category Archives: Hobbies

Mise Tales Thirty-Six

March 13, 2014Adult Memories, Books, Books, Books, British Columbia, Childhood Memories, Children, Coast Guard, Construction, Hobbies, Humour, Icebreakers, Incidents, Information, Lighthouses, Models, Photos, Photos, Ships, Toys, Videos, Videosbook review, CCGS, CG, children, Haida Gwaii, lighthouse, litehouse, night, photos, Snowy, videoretlkpr

For an update on what a Mise Tale is then please see Mise Tales One.

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[youtube url=”http://youtu.be/b3e7CDg8a3g”]

Here is a great video taken on board the Coast Guard ship CCGS Sir Wilfred Laurier as it services the mountain-top radio sites using the onboard helicopter. Great shots of the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwai) and the old lighthouse and radio station at Cape St. James.

It is titled on Youtube as the “Big Red Restaurant“!

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Early 1900’s Tin Lighthouse Windup Toy with Four Airplanes

March 11, 2014Adult Memories, Advertisement, Construction, Hobbies, Information, Lighthouses, Models, Modelsebay, lighthouse, litehouse, planes, sale, tin lighthouse, toyretlkpr

This item appeared on ebay recently and became an instant hit. On the ebay website it was described as:

DESCRIPTION: This is a very unusual and rare early aviation airplane toy called “Light-house Aero-Planes”. It is marked on the toy and box “Mfgd. By Valentine Sandberg N.Y. Pat. Appd. For”. Included is a partial original box, lighthouse tower, 4 airplanes, and all parts needed to assemble it. When wound Continue reading Early 1900’s Tin Lighthouse Windup Toy with Four Airplanes →

Reprint – Sentinels Encased in Ice

January 16, 2014Adult Memories, Automation, Construction, Government, History, Hobbies, Incidents, Lighthouses, On The Job, Photos, Reprint, Storms, Weather, WomenGreat Lakes, ice, icy, lighthouse, litehouse, stormsretlkpr

Sentinels Encased in Ice by Elinor DeWire

from WeatherWise November-December 2011

The ice was here, the ice was there
The ice was all around;
I t cracked and growled, and roared and howled
Like noise in a swound…
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Caption: St. Joseph Pierhead in Michigan as it appeared on December 20, 2010. Continue reading Reprint – Sentinels Encased in Ice →

LEGO Does It Again!

January 14, 2014Advertisement, Construction, Denmark, Equipment, Europe, Hobbies, Lighthouses, Models, Models, Ships, Ships & Shipping, VideosLEGO, lighthouse, litehouse, Maersk, model, shipretlkpr

As most of you know I love lighthouses and I have a special attraction for LEGO lighthouses (link1) (link2).

Well, as you can see by the photo at the left, this is not a lighthouse, but it is a marine vessel which could very well sail past a lighthouse, and it is the largest ship in the world (right now!) – the record-breaking Maersk ‘Triple-E.’

Built from over 1,500 bricks, the model recreates the real vessel in amazing detail.

Features include rotating gold-colored propeller blades, brick-built twin 8-cylinder engines, viewing window into the engine compartment, adjustable rudders, detachable lifeboats, removable containers, rotating crane arms and a special ‘good luck’ coin.

It includes rare medium azur, dark red, sand blue and sand green colored elements.

Play with the model on carpeted surfaces or mount the model on the display stand

Building instructions also include interesting facts about the real ship.

The model includes 1,516 bricks

The ship (mounted on stand) measures over 8” (21cm) high, 25” (65cm) long and 3” (9cm) wide – more Continue reading LEGO Does It Again! →

Pinterest People Posses a Positive Phasination with Pharos Photos!

December 13, 2013Art, Hobbies, Lighthouses, Photos, Photosfotos, lighthouse, litehouse, pharos, photos, Pinterestretlkpr

Sorry for the bad alliteration but “What is Pinterest“?

According to Wikipedia, Pinterest is:

. . . a pinboard-style photo-sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, and hobbies. Users can browse I have posted a few collections other pinboards for images, “re-pin” images to their own pinboards, or “like” photos. The site was founded by Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra and Evan Sharp. It is managed by Cold Brew Labs and funded by a small group of entrepreneurs and investors.

Well LIGHTHOUSES seem to be a theme that is of interest to many Pinterest users lately. I have posted a few collections before in Misc Tales but lately I have been inundated with Pinterest Lighthouse links in my email so I will post a few of them here with thumbnails of the pages so you can see what is available. If you are doing a lighthouse collage or other picture collection these are great places to collect your photos.

The first is a very unique collection – it is based solely on the Cape Hatteras lighthouse – ALL photos! The clip below is only a few of the many photos.

Continue reading Pinterest People Posses a Positive Phasination with Pharos Photos! →

Build a Gingerbread Lighthouse for Christmas

December 5, 2013Children, Christmas, Construction, Hobbies, Lighthouse Models, Lighthouses, Recipescookie, design, edible, gingerbread, lighthouse, litehouse, model, plansretlkpr

Author and friend Elinor DeWire posted the photo at left on her Facebook page.

I was interested to see if it was real or not so I did a Google Image Search for the photo and look what I found!

This is definitely a gingerbread lighthouse and the page below from Coastal Living has the instructions.

Build Your Own Gingerbread Lighthouse

Building a gingerbread house has many steps, and it does take awhile. But it’s not as difficult as it looks. Just relax and have fun with it—we’d love to see what you come up with!

Continue reading Build a Gingerbread Lighthouse for Christmas →

Film Media and the Lighthouse

November 2, 2013Advertisement, Art, Hobbies, Information, Lighthouses, Movies, Videos, Videos, Worldwideepisode, film, lighthouse, litehouse, media, movie, Phare d'Eckmühl, Phare des Héaux de Bréhat, Slangkop, TVretlkpr

After my comment in Misc Tales Twenty-Eight about a movie with a lighthouse reference in it, I wondered aloud “How many more media sources have lighthouses in them?”

Well, off to Google and I started looking. There are many. I am going to list them by date, and if you know of more, please let me know.

As you will see, not much of the media uses a real lighthouse – mostly movie props.

Continue reading Film Media and the Lighthouse →

A Day at the Beach

October 30, 2013Advertisement, Beachcombing, Books, Construction, Environment, Facebook, Hobbies, Jewellery, Lighthouses, Recreationjewelry, lighthouse, litehouse, mermaid's tears, sea glassretlkpr

I posted an article on a book that shows you what makes up beach sand, A Grain of Beach Sand, and a lot of it is shells and glass. The larger pieces of glass are collected and use in jewelry as in the story Nootka Sea Glass.

Cobalt Blue Earrings Perfect Pair on Long Earring Wires — Cobalt Blue Earrings

Now another company I have found called A Day at the Beach has an online page and also a Facebook page. They specialize in earrings, bracelets, pendants, and necklaces with also a chance to special order items.

Pictured here is a pair of cobalt blue sea glass earings from their earrings page.

There is also a page on necklaces and bracelets.

For their custom designs check out this page which shows off many different variations.

Next time you are at the beach keep an eye out for sea glass pieces which are rounded off and safe to handle. They come in many brilliant colours only limited by the colours of the glass bottles from which they are made. Glass is so much prettier than plastic on the beach don’t you think?