That was a long break. I took photographs this weekend on a beautiful family hike in the woods as is our Thanksgiving tradition and I was reminded once again how time flies.
That was then, 5 years ago, when I started blogging.
Just look at them now. *sigh*.
In my five years (really, I can't believe it's been that long!) of living in Quebec I have to say I have come to enjoy each very distinct and sometimes extreme season. Apart from Spring that is, which i find is a bit of a muddy anti-climatic meh! Autumn is by far the most spectacular from a breathtaking visual perspective...it's my favourite time of year to take photographs too. (Some of last year's best pictures are here ).
We're about to hit prime leaf peeping season over the next few weeks and we're hoping, weather permitting, to take a family hike every weekend until the end of October to soak up la flambée des couleurs. Week one was in Mont St Hilaire, an hour's drive for us south of Montreal. The children quite happily managed a two and a half hour steep hike in perfect 21C weather - you can just see the foilage starting to change here.
Not much sign of any autumnal weather here yet (I'm in no rush) but we marked the beginning of fall with an apple picking trip today. 32lbs of apples (a mix of Courtland, McIntosh and Spartan) ready for some sauce making. I'm also canning tomatoes again this week - I'm looking forward to filling a shelf or two with some homemade goodness - I take my role of domestic goddess very seriously these days!
Ruby joined the synchro team this year. I really knew nothing about the sport, the commitment or the strength it takes to tread water for long periods. Nor did I know about the gelatin that gets painted into their hair, the tight braids and bun pins, or the chapstick used on their eyelids to keep their make up in place. Kudos to these 11 under 11s for their dedication!
I refer not to the recent visit to Canada by Will and Kate, but to my lovely Mum, who arrives this week from the UK. Because every Mum deserves a little a bit of red carpet treatment, preparations have been underway this past week to add some finishing touches to our rather bland guest room. It went from drab to fab with a few small changes. The addition of a headboard (our old black one spray painted white), a few new cushions, a cute matryoshka bedside carafe, a framed photograph and hey presto, a room fit for a Queen!
Just over two weeks into the summer holidays and all is well. The weather has been glorious. Our Canada Day was spectacular - camping, kayaking and fireworks. The children are spending most of their time in or under the water at the pool and we're living on a diet of carrots, cucumber, hummus and freezies.
Life is good.
PS Happy birthday Granny - we're counting down the days!
I'm a year late completing this project having only just printed off photographs and taken these to the copy shop for binding but I wanted to share my children's 2010 summer journals. Last year, thanks to some inspiration by friends with older offspring, I forced gently motivated my children to write/draw a little something during the summer holidays about what they had done each week as a kind of keepsake. To complete the journals I simply added some tickets, swimming certificates, photographs etc with a bit of glue tape. Despite their relatively low tech assembly, I am excited by the end result, in a kind of dorky "wish I had done this when I was young" way. I love that they are able to see how far they have progressed in their handwriting and drawing abilities too - here's hoping that it provides them some motivation for this year as I will definitely insist suggest that they repeat the exercise.
Highlights include the tooth fairy forgetting to come (turns out that even she gets a day off on Canada Day) and my son's pride in his swimming prowess!
I've been quiet on the creative front since Christmas. Life is very full and there's been uncertainty about the future of my lovely part time job which has left me feeling somewhat flat and uninspired. Instead on focusing on what might happen, we've been fully embracing the Quebec winter and I am loving the outdoor time and happy exhaustion that skiing is providing every weekend. Today temperatures were hovering around the zero mark and it was gloriously sunny - the perfect antidote to winter blues!
Since the beginning of my very short lived sock knitting career, I have haboured this dream that I would knit a different pair of socks for every day of the week (see here for inspiration) or even every colour of the rainbow. Just for me though, for I am a selfish knitter.
Christmas 2010 marks the end of my selfish knitting days. My family wanted in on the action and I finished 3 pairs of socks with a night to spare.
I’m hoping there’s a medal for this kind of achievement.
The children accepted their socks very graciously, partly because they know they’re made with love and also because they know better than to cross a mother who’s been burning the midnight oil making something for them. I used this pattern and my son helped me pick out the yarn back in September – its Regia Softy which is, unsurprisingly, very soft.
Hubby’s are made using Regia sock yarn also from this ribbed pattern from Ravelry. They took FOREVER. Mainly because of the rib (K3, P1 slows me down) and the fact that they’re man socks which are obviously bigger and longer. At a guess, I’d hazard there’s nearly 20,000 stitches in this pair alone.
That's right. 20,000.
Selfish? Moi?
Right now we're enjoying lots of lazy pj days, eating leftovers and playing in the snow and ice. It's been nice to be offline for a while and focus on other things. I still have 10 days left before I go back to work and am enjoying time off, pottering around at home and am looking forward to our first skiing outing of the season tomorrow!
Here's wishing you all a happy and healthy 2011.
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