I will soon be closing Frenchy Addict.  I will be back in the future with a new blog, journaling our life of homesteading and self-sufficiency.  Stay tuned ! but it could be a while.

A day of first

It was a day of firsts around here today...

My first attempt at baking gluten-free bread.  Recipe makes a small loaf but it looks good.  Haven't tried it yet.  It's mostly for my morning toast.

I love anything coconut !!! so it's no surprise that I find this skinny pina colada delicious.  And since we are on the coconut subject - I also made almond butter this morning for the first time and I made it with coconut oil.  Yes, it is perfect.  So easy - only two ingredients; almonds and coconut oil.  I haven't made de calculations but I think it comes to about half the price of the store bought stuff.

Spring is coming !!! yes please.

So is Easter...

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.  We have perfect snowman making snow out there.

Nor'easter

They had been talking about it since last Tuesday... the BIG one coming our way overnight Friday to Saturday.  An Nor'Easter is never good, means a huge dumping of snow and a lot of wind.  I don't think we got the amount of snow they were predicting for our parts of the Province but man oh man did we ever get heavy winds.  We have huge snow drifts caused by said wind but other parts of the yard you can see the lawn.

 Our kayak is under there somewheres

 The post where our mailbox was sitting Friday.  Wonder where the mailbox is...

 

The sun this afternoon sure was a nice welcome



Consciousness

Took a walk in the snow this afternoon in our back field.  Everything is so crisp and fresh.  Not a whole lot of movement.  Seems like time stops.  I love that feeling.  Forces me to slow down and be more in the moment... consciousness.  My new year intention (I don't make resolutions) was consciousness.

Wishing everyone a wonderful start to the week.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party 2012

Some of you have emailed asking if we had our annual ugly christmas sweater party again this year... here is my entry for 2012.  This year, we added something new - a christmas fascinator.

Our Prince

And of course I must share a couple of pictures of the love of my life ''our Prince'' (also known as Rémi).  In my absence from this blog, I've been busy enjoying grandmotherhood.  This cute little man turned 8 months last week.  He lives 6 hours away but I've managed to see him in person at least once a month since he was born last May.  Unfortunately, I won't be seeing him in January but plans are in the works for a visit in February.  Skype is the next best thing to being in person.  But I can't kiss those chubby cheeks on skype.

He is such a content, happy, easy-going baby xxo

Spoon Oil (beeswax polish)

I took a longer than planned break from this here blog.  Can't promise how frequent you'll see me here but here I am.

In the past I've used store-bought beeswax polish for my wooden bowls, spoons, some antique pieces of furniture, etc.  But I can't seem to find the stuff too easily anymore.  Hey, it's very rural in these parts, selections are not too plentiful at times.

After a quick search on the internet I found this recipe and the rest, as they say, is history.  I am very happy with the results.

Thankful

I am so very thankful to have this little guy in my life.  He brings so much joy to my heart.  Can't tell you how many times a day (and night) he crosses my mind.  I just came back from spending one week with them in New Brunswick.

Had turkey and all the trimmings for supper last night.  Look at those carrots and golden beets. 

Our yearly trek to a small remote community for our acorn picking...

... led us to a very small yield.  I think the squirrels got there before us.

Walk with me

Come with me, I will take you for a walk around the yard to see the gardens and what we have growing around these parts.  It has been an extremely hot and dry summer. 

 The in-ground garden further in the back field.  In here we have onions, calendula, golden beets, red beets and yellow beans.  We had to fence it in because the chickens were busy digging and eating everything in sight.

 Tomorrow I need to get out here and harvest a third round of calendula.

 Cukes - which we have been enjoying for the past couple of weeks.

Green onions.

Leek bursting into flower.

Lemon balm for bedtime tea int he evening.

Prayer flags to keep positive energy for the gardens.

Chime that Dave made earlier this summer.

Still green tomatoes.  The plants are loaded.  Hope we get ripe ones before it starts getting too cool.

Harvesting :: calendula

Calendula is a plant-matter that I use a lot in my homemade lotions, oils, creams, etc.  Last summer I only planted six plants and did'nt harvest enough to dry so I ended up having to order more dried flowers.  This year I have 24 plants and let me tell you - they are keeping me busy having to harvest every second day.  My drying racks are full !!!

Rémi...

And for my friend Louise who is not on facebook but is a faithful reader of this blog here is an updated picture of Rémi ...

Camping

Last week Dave and I went camping for 4 days at a very beautiful National Park.  It had been at least 10 years since we had gone.   What a fun time we had.  I'll let you judge for yourselves with these pictures.

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.

Updated pictures - the love of this family, Rémi Sylvain Barrieau.

 Rémi with is godfather Luc (Rémi was only two weeks old in this picture)

New addition

Dave and I became the very proud grandparents of this little fellow... Rémi Barrieau was born on May 16 (his due date) at 6:16 p.m. in Moncton, New Brunswick.  I was visiting them the past 10 days and falling more and more in love with him.

Biker chicks

A couple of weeks ago we had another one of our theme parties.  This time it was ''The biker chicks at the Lipstick Saloon''.  I love my friends.

Chow time

That top picture shows the beginnings of these delicious cookies.  This is the third time I've baked these cookies in two months.  I use regular whole wheat flour and I don't have almond meal so I dumped coconut flour in there instead.  After you've baked these cookies, take your cup of coffee or tea with a few cookies in hand and check out Renee over at Fimby.  Three of her recipes are now printed in my recipe journal. 

Those round things with cheese, bacon and chives - I got the recipe on Pinterest.  They are baked potatoes with those toppings.  They are worth baking.... delicious !!!

You've probably read on this blog a few times before that I did'nt like sushi AT ALL.  Had to try it half a dozen times before I fell completely in love with the stuff.  Although, I don't like the raw fish yet.  The smoked salmon I do like.  Here is Dave and I's supper tonight.  We worked as a team and had everything prepped and rolled in about an hour.