Small world isn't it...

A couple of weeks ago Dave and I were at Superstore in Yarmouth going about our usual business and doing our bi-weekly groceries.  We were loading up our cart at check-out when this lady approched me and said ''excuse me, are you Vickie... Vickie LeBlanc?''  Of course I said yes than she immediately recognized Dave ''oh, and you're Dave, I recognize you''.  This very friendly woman is from Barrie, Ontario visiting family in Yarmouth and she reads my blog.

She just so happen to be at the next check-out at the same time as us.  So yes, it is a small world isn't it.

Hello Jene (you'll have to comment so I know how to spell your name :-))  Hope your return to Ontario was a good one.

Still here

It's been a while my friends. Truth is, I did'nt really have anything to blog about. We are all fine, enjoying life every single day as much as we can. You know, each day is a gift... but you knew that right.

Yesterday we had the pleasure of enjoying a Spring-like day !

I had help pruning the raspberries. These happy girls are still giving us 6 eggs a day.

Ahhhhh, the fresh scent of line dried clothes.

Neighbours on a morning walk with their horses.

Lovely wooden bird given to me by my daughter from a recent visit to Cuba.

Made muffins. Used coconut flour instead of wheat flour. And yes, they were delicious. Next blog post I will show you who else thought they were good.

Russets

Our property stretches out back 3 acres. There are ''very'' old apple trees over there. Like everything else around here... nothing gets sprayed or treated so sometimes the best pick looks a little distressed but that's how organic is - lumpy and spotted. One kind of apple way back there is Russet. Those are Dave's favorites. So today was our annual walk across our property to fetch a basket of Russet apples (and a few other kinds too).

I think I've mentioned before how much I LOVE fall but here I am saying it again.

We are still busy bringing in our winter firewood and Dave was working away at a storage unit in the laundry room. Divided in two - one side as a closet for our coats, shoes and such and the other half to store our canned goods. Pictures to follow when everything is painted.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

Thankful

I have so much to be thankful for (actually when I stop and think about it, I'm thankful for everything). As I often mention, the number one thing to be thankful for is the health of my family. Everything else is secondary.

No turkey this year. It was a busy weekend with our son's wedding so we put the big turkey supper off until next year.

Firewood is arriving daily.

Dusted off the old scarecrow.

Even though we did'nt have turkey we still had delicious pumpkin pie.

Wooden Monkey

A few weeks ago Dave and I took a day trip to Halifax (actually I needed to find a mother-of-the-groom dress; and I did). An excellent restaurant for us is at the Wooden Monkey (that building behind me with the yellow trim). The food is fresh and delicious. They value and honor the 100 mile diet.
After devouring our yummy lunch we headed down to the Halifax Waterfront (always a popular spot during the summer months). Here I am with Theodore.

Why we live the way we do

A few weeks ago someone pitched this comment to me ''do you think that with all you and Dave do by eating mainly a plant-based diet, using only homemade cleaning products, soaps, lip balms, deoderants and creams, biking, kayaking, all-terrain buggying, make our environment scent free (as much as possible), growing and eating organic fruits and vegetables... that you will live to 100?'' My answer was shorter than his question '' We are not trying to live to 100 but the years which we are on this earth we want them to be of good quality''. It's all about quality of life, don't you think ? We don't know how long we are on this journey so Dave and I are making the best of every single day. Our health is our main concern, we both have family histories of heart disease.

Look at these pictures - isn't this a good quality of life !!! And another thing, we live the way we do because we want to ;-)

All pictures were taken yesterday while kayaking on one of our many prestine lakes.

Feeding ourselves and yarn

This year I made pesto with my garlic scapes and ''it is delicious''. We ate some and I froze a few containers for next winter when I start dreaming of spring and my gardens. I can't believe I did'nt do pesto with my scapes before this year...

Drying garlic
Some yummy yarn I bought on my recent trip to Moncton when Dave and I visited our daughter and SIL

Made by him

We had a rainy evening and half-day over the weekend so Dave made these for me ... I love all three of these projects.

This now hang's pretty in our kitchen. We are starting to have quite the lavender garden outside so some of it is starting to find its way in the house.

Driftwood sculpture in our back entry.

These plant markers were seen on a few blogs this year. I thought they were pretty cool so Dave made a bunch for next Spring's plantings.

We have a winner

I won some pretty cool stuff all handmade by Amber. I've already used the sugar scrub and the red apple hand balm smells soooooo good; I practically use it as a perfum. Can't wait to use the soap and try out that washing mitten. Thank you so much Amber for sharing this loveliness with me.

I love Amber's blog. I've been following for a couple of years. She's always up to something fun and interesting.

Canada Day weekend

And the weekend isn't over yet. Yesterday was Canada's Birthday. We had two fabulous days so far - weather wise and fun wise. We went to a beautiful lake, drank cold refreshing drinks, made a campfire, had a clambake on said fire, found a cache and went on a two hour all-terrain drive on the trail and much more. We'll see what's in store for tomorrow... maybe we should rest to go back to work on Monday.

Big chair and quinoa

I know, that is one wicked big chair. You can see it for yourself if you visit Mavillette Beach.

If you love quinoa and you're looking for a new recipe to try out, go ahead with this one. Served with ziki on the side for dipping. These little patties are delicious and a super food at that.

Father's Day s'mores

Father's Day evening we had a nice fire going at Luc and Liette's house. We enjoyed the sticky deliciousness of s'mores.

Vacation Day 3 - still nice and sunny. Making progress in the flower gardens (lots and lots of weeding).

Just be...

Towards the middle of the week I knew this would be a weekend of not doing too much, relaxing, eating fresh strawberries, some weeding in the gardens,... to Just Be !!! It rained all day Saturday and part of this morning but towards noon today the sun came out and it turned out to be a beautiful day. Dave and I made a batch of soap yesterday; orange citrus.

Tonight we went for a relaxing walk on the beach. Pictures in another post. Wishing everyone a good start to the week tomorrow. I'm on vacation from work for the week.

Fun day away

We spent the day today in Halifax at my brother's for my niece's confirmation. I won't post pictures with my niece in them because I don't have permission. It was a lovely celebration of love and joy. We left at 3:30 pm with our bellies full of delicious food. Dave and I headed one way and Ginette and André the other.
Entertained !!! what people do for fun now a days...

While we waited at the church for the rest of the family, we took pictures of course.

It was fun to get away even for just the day. Back to work tomorrow. I have a week's vacation coming up after this week.

Blessed

We had two beautiful sunny days for the weekend. Today was homemade ice tea (Pink Flamingo) time - although it could have been a wee bit warmer but the sun was so nice and bright in that nice blue sky.

I am so blessed to call this place home !

Today we celebrated our son's 26th birthday with a traditional dish ''rappie pie'' and ice cream cake. I also made my second batch of soap and it's looking beautiful. I love that I am surrounded by so many resourceful people... I enter the soap supply store and walk out 45 minutes later with a head full of new information and a pocket full of little pieces of paper with names, websites, etc on them.