Prized possessions

After reading my niece's blog post of today it made me stop and think about the things I have in my home that are priceless to me... some have been with me for a number of years, some for only months but no matter what - they will always be my prized possessions. I know, I know, you're saying ''where are the pictures of her children, her wedding pictures, etc''. Yes, my home is full of pictures of my two beautiful children and I have an entire photo album from my wedding. I also have numerous gifts given to me by my children and husband and these gifts are perfectly placed at different loctions in our home so as to admire them each and every day. But I have objects that are outstanding in my heart... they make me DREAM !

Here are a few of my most prized possessions (I will post more later) :

In February 2006 my cousin, Aurèl Comeau, offered to teach and help me make this deer skin drum. I hope he know's (I've told him numerous times) how much I appreciated his kindness. He is a very talented person.

Ten years ago, my dear husband made this hutch for me. It is made from driftwood we found while beachcombing together along our beaches.

A very good friend of my father's, Ulysse Maillet is a master basket weaver (and many, many more talents). Unfortunately, he now reside's in a special care facility. Fifteen years ago, he offered me this beautiful basket. I feel honored to have received one because he did'nt give away his master pieces to just anyone.

On one of his trips to France, my husband, Dave, brought me back these beautiful seashells he had hand picked on the beaches of a small remote island in France. This was 13 years ago and I can still smell the ocean when I open the jar. Wasn't this an amazing gift !

I know I mentioned in my intro that pictures did'nt really count but this one does. I was 16 when my father died. We were fishing buddies. This is the only picture I have of him and me (it might be difficult to figure out the content of the picture. He is holding me in his hands, I'm just a wee baby).

When I was one year old my parents bought the house that I've always known as home. It was a gigantic house (3 levels) full of antiques, books and hidden treasures. My parents cleared a lot of the stuff they would'nt be using - my mom kept this book. She wanted to give it to her first child that would graduate from high school. I got the book. It dates back to the 1800's and it is in very bad shape. I keep it stored in a trunk. Don't know if you can see in the picture but I wrote my name on the cover, with a pen (when I was a little girl, I loved to play school and this was the teacher's book I guess).

Oh boy, this one dates back. This tiny cup and saucer was given to me by my godmother as an Easter gift. If my memory serves me right, I think I was around 7 years old.

Sorry for the bad picture. My maternal grandparents' marriage license.

My very special and favorite aunt, tante Angèle, died 5 years ago. This little pin cushion belonged to her.

Another treasure from the house my parents bought when I was one year old. This was ''the special plate''. On special occasions my mom would let my brother and I use this plate (each our turn). Three years ago, my mom was giving away items for a yard sale and I just happened to glance in one of the boxes and there it was ''the plate''. She was giving it away. Oh no, no - the plate now hangs pretty on my kitchen wall.

I am a very sentimental person. Every item has a story, thank you for listening (reading).

Pumpkin Empanadas

Tonight I baked AfricanKelli's pumpkin empanadas. I am having one as I am typing this post. It is delicious. I modified the recipe a little - used cane sugar and 1 cup whole wheat flour to 1 cup white flour. And used pumpkin pie spice instead of the all spice.

I thought it was a good way to start celebrating harvest festivities that will go on over the up coming weekend with Thanksgiving.

Crafty vs. Country

Went Frenchying tonight...

Found this nice hardcover book (full of beautiful color pictures) for $1.25. Very little writing, mostly pictures. It's not about arts and craft country but about country/farmhouse decor, which is what I like.

Also found a few hats for pumpkin decorating. Dave found himself a music book and a t-shirt.

Brrrr...

Remember last week when Harvest Harvey was enjoying the warmth and sun. Well today he had to change his attire, he needed a scarf instead of sunglasses. We got up to a frost this morning. The pumpkins pictured below were covered with frost but the sun warmed them up a little during the day.

Sunday drive... or not

Some people go for Sunday Drives (Sunday Drivers), Dave and I go for Sunday Beach Walks. Don't get me wrong, we've been known to go for a few Sunday Drives here and there but we prefer going for our usual Sunday evening beach walks. In the picture below, in the very far distance (and if you click on the picture, it'll enlarge) you can see the Saulnierville Sacred Heart Church.

When we had our cabin we collected these floating thingies. We had over 50 of them hanging in a tree outside the cabin. But now we leave them behind for some other collector.

Do I need to explain... the heatwave we had last week is gone ! Can you tell from our red noses and jackets zipped-up. But no matter how cool it was... it was a fabulously beautiful sunny day.

Happy Monday tomorrow and happy October !

The Art of Living

This afternoon I attended a two-hour conference on The Art of Living at the Yarmouth Hospital. The conference was given by Dr. Sastry Vankamamidi and our hostess was Dr. Parkash. Dr. Sastry is a professor of engineering at Saint Mary's University and a certified teacher for the Art of Living program. To wrap it up in one sentence - it is ancient breathing techniques for modern day stresses. This was just the intro to an 18 hour workshop that Dr. Parkash is hoping to organize for the Yarmouth area. The way we breath is a major factor in our mental and physical health.

Namaste.

Summer sizzle

What a gorgeous week we just had. Days jam-packed with sun, warmth and song birds. Is it end of September or mid-July... Today it was 30 in land. As you can see in the picture above, Harvest Harvey was enjoying the afternoon sun.

A hole in the forest ! I've wanted to take this picture since this summer but always forgot my camera at home. Today, I grabbed the camera just as I was leaving for work. It looks exactly like a hole. It's actually the entry to one of the trails on campus where I work. The way the trees and brushes form a circle is so outstanding.

While cooking supper on the BBQ tonight, Dave and I taste tested one of the beer we bought in Halifax on the weekend at the Garrison Brewing Company. The one in the glass above was the Irish Red... not bad tasting at all.

Happy Friday tomorrow !!!!!

Plums

What do you do with so many plums...

We have a young plum tree out back on our property that we planted only about 3 years ago and you should see the overload of plums it produces. Last night, Dave and I harvested three bags full and we left about the same amount on the ground for the birds and small game to feed on.

So now that we stuffed ourselves on tomatoes, we'll be eating plums for a few days...

We also have this gorgeous crabapple tree.

And here is my first outdoors harvest decoration for this season.

Fallen for Fall

I've fallen for Fall a long time ago...

Lately I've read a few blogs that shows the author's love for the Fall season. I am one of them. Fall is my most favorite season. I can't think of another one that even comes close to it. I love everything about Fall. However, here are a few things I love the most :

- the crisp cool air.
- the smell of composting leaves.
- the views that open up when the leaves come down.
- pumpkins.

- the Harvest moon.
- that warm humble feeling.
- Sunday drives down country roads.
- baking.
- getting ready for hibernation.

Happy Fall !!!!!

Halifax

We went to Halifax for a couple of days. Dave had a meeting, i went along for the ride and Ginette joined us from Moncton. It was a fun two days. We went to see Drum last night. It was fabulous. I am so happy Ginette had suggested we go. We visited a micro-brewery - the Garrison Brewing Company (sorry no pictures, but we brought back six micro-beers).

Below - a picture of Halifax harbour taken from our hotel room.

We did so much shopping that we had to rest our poor little feet before we head out for supper last evening.
We can't go to Halifax without slipping into Pete's Frootique for a few exotic items. Below is a picture of Dave and Ginette outside the Frootique.

When Dave was a little boy his family lived in Halifax for a while. His father was the caretaker at Saint Paul's Church (pictured below). Dave was happy to re-visit his younger days grounds.

Then, sadly we had to bid our farewells to Ginette as she headed back to Moncton and us to Clare.