Linaloo

Once in a lifetime

Yesterday's advent treat was a most likely once in a lifetime event.  The olympic torch has been making it's way through Montreal this week in preparation for the winter games in Vancouver next year, finally reaching our neck of the woods last night.   What a thrill to see it.  The children were very excited and proud to know that the torch bearer was someone who they had a connection to (the son of someone in our community).

Tommy, holding his own olympic torch:   
The children cracked open their money banks to buy some special red mittens to support the Canadian athletes.  Good job too. There's a snowstorm outside today.

Leaf peeping

In our local arboretum.  Our first visit since arrriving here more than three years ago.  We took a long afternoon stroll there with some friends today and tried out geocaching for the first time too. We found the hidden cache pretty easily and it added bit of extra drama to our adventure!

 

We've had a lovely long weekend (Thanksgiving here in Canada) which means a short week at work and school - yay!

L'automne est arrive

I can't help speaking in franglais these days.  L'automne est arrive is the name of the book my daughter brought home to read last night.  Very apt, as the weather and our weekend both had a definite autumnal feel to them.  We went to our wonderful neighbourhood annual corn roast on Saturday, where they served eat as much as you like corn and chili (little did they know how much my lot can eat). I love our little community, it's very tight knit and friendly.

And on Sunday my tomato canning marathon began.  Fourteen hours of blanching, peeling, mincing, sterilising, pouring and processing.  And now a bit of waiting.  Apparently the longer you wait the better it tastes.  It was a long day, but fun and hopefully worth all the effort.

 

And whilst I'm in the mood for all things fallish, I'm off to make spicy sweet potato and butternut squash soup for dinner!    

des tomates

  

48 mason jars (36 of which were given to me by my son's daycare owner) washed and dried.

4 bushels of tomatoes bought at the local market, washed and drying on newspaper (the picture above is about just over a bushel - in case you're wondering how many tomatoes that is).

12 hours of canning planned this weekend with a friend. 

She's done it before. I'm new at this kind of thing and foolishly excited.  Wish me luck!

Camping

This weekend was our first camping trip of the year.  It rained.  A whole lot the first day.  I've never camped in conditions like it before, it was damp, cold and muddy and well, er, wet. My first thoughts were that it was a disaster, especially when there was a huge rainstorm in the middle of erecting our tent (I scooped out almost two buckets full of water that had got in before we managed to get the fly sheet up properly).  But we soon realised the children weren't complaining and that to them the downpour was all part of the adventure.  

It's amazing how viewing life from our childrens' eyes with a bit of tweaking expectations and going with the flow can make a huge difference isn't it?  Day two was spent exploring the campsite, catching bugs and frogging at the river bank and squeals of delight when we almost caught a few! 

Of course there were the ubiquitous s'mores around the campfire in the evening too.  She's a big fan.  Her top three best things about camping are "marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate".  Check out those finger nails!

Day three, the sun came out and there was a trip on the river in a canoe followed by a bit of swimming (ironically only the recently converted hydrophobe really wanted to venture into the murky cold water..) before heading home, tired and content, for hot baths and several loads of very muddy washing.

 

Apart from being eaten alive by mosquitoes, we had a very good time indeed. 

Grateful

A busy weekend lies ahead with lots to look forward to.

Movie night with the neighbours. The fruit salad (in my favourite bowl) is our contribution.

The last ringette game of the season. Oh yep - she loves the ice!

Sugaring off. Our annual pilgrimage to the sugar shack where the maple syrup never fails to disappoint.

And sunshine. The snow has almost gone and spring is defintely here. Time to dust the bikes off and get outside.

Happy weekend all!

I need a holiday!

What I miss about England.

Family and friends.
Long muddy walks in the country.
A proper Sunday roast made by my Mum.
Pubs.
Fish and chips.
Good telly.

We had a great trip back home, not relaxing in the slightest as we were way too busy trying to cram in visits to all our family and friends. Didn't manage to see everyone on the list, but had fun trying.

The downside is we're all exhausted but thankfully have a few more days left to recover before routine reigns once more!

Happy new year to you all!

Sugar Shack

The big trip we’d been promising all week – the visit to the cabane a sucre, a half hour drive from us. Now, let’s be clear that this place is definitely a tourist trap, but that's OK. It’s hard to find things that are authentic sometimes, and with children in tow, authenticity can be a little…well, boring. So the whole experience for them was magical. A trip to the woods is exciting enough (oh yes, this country girl is raising very suburban children). A trip to the woods in the dark with the promise of a sugar fest and some dancing to local music is just beyond my children's wildest dreams!

So let me tell you what we learned about sugaring off. First of all you have to grow the right kind of maple tree. Then the weather conditions have to be just perfect (freezing nights, warm spring days). Then you stick this simple metal bucket into the tree and wait a few hours and hey presto you have maple sap. Then you boil it and voila – maple syrup. It takes 40 litres to make 1 litre of pure sap and absolutely nothing is added.

Then you may eat it any number of ways in sausages, beans, meatballs, sugar pies, and on just about everything - most commonly, waffles and pancakes. But the most special of all is the maple taffy. Hot molten sap poured straight on the snow – insert stick and roll away!

We had a wonderful time, an extremely late night and a belly full of maple syrup.

If you like maple syrup then enter my giveaway later this week as I have a small bottle of the real deal and a little handsewn art up for grabs to celebrate the passing of my 100th post last week without me noticing.

My neighbourhood

My new favourite sewing trick, the little ribbon "label" detail on this bag. This is a birthday gift for one of our neighbours' children.

Have I ever told you how lovely my neighbourhood is? It's a really friendly, everyone-looks-out-for-each-other, kind of neighbourhood. It makes this stinking weather so much more bearable. After being hit by another nasty snowstorm yesterday, this is what it looks like now.

The view from my kitchen (still curtainless) windows this morning. There's a deck under there somewhere.

Refreshed

That's better. A little time away always makes me happy. I love how even the shortest trip recharges my batteries, allows a little perspective on my own life and renewed focus. This was a very fleeting trip to Toronto. 500km driven on Friday afternoon and back again on Sunday. I would consider this length of drive completely preposterous in the UK for such a short time but we're all getting used to such marathon journies.

There was lots of overindulging, late nights and catching up with family.

A trip to one of the children's favourite places: The Ontario Science Centre.. They had a blast and could have stayed there all day.

Ice skating. Somehow in my mind I've pegged Ruby as a creative rather than a sporty type and she's totally blown me away this week. She's taken to skating like a duck to water and loves it. Wonderful how they can constantly suprise you.

Back to reality. Piles of washing to do. Dirty house to clean. See you later!