Annual foliage drive

This afternoon Dave and I went for our annual fall foliage drive. We were a few weeks late, most of the leaves are on the ground but it was still pretty and peaceful. And I LOVE Sunday drives, I just love them... and Dave knows that. So he knows exactly when to suggest such a drive.

We stopped at our secret spring in the woods to fill our water bottles.

Mmmmmmm, so refreshing.

Filling Dave's bottle, because as you know, he broke his wrist so he has to be super carfeful about those yoga poses ;-)

I love the ocean but I sure was born to be a woodswoman. The deeper the woods the better for my soul.

Have a good start to the week everyone.

Baby, it's cold out there

This is the kind of day we had ALL day. Plus, extreme winds (which you can't see in pictures). We still have about 3 cords of wood to bring in. Dave broke his left wrist a week ago so I'm finding myself bringing in the firewood with Luc and Liette's help. Dave has a hard time accepting he can't do these things.... and that, for 6 weeks. This is making me realize how much he does around here... I miss that left hand (and the right one also).

There has been a whole lot of ''secret'' knitting around here in the past month. Dave and I are going to be grand-parents in May. Ginette and André are expecting our first grandchild.

And yes......... we are VERY excited!!!

Halloween 2011

This year our group's theme for Halloween was ''Martini cocktails''. We went to the dance last night; it was so much fun. I have such an awesome group of friends.

That is a wig I am wearing but a lot of people commented on my new hairdo. They actually thought it was my real hair.

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.

Wedding :: Few more for you

Dave and I enjoyed having this bunch of funny, crazy boys in our home for a few hours while they got ready and waited for the limo to pick them up to go join the girls.
Luc escorting me to my seat.


The beautiful couple in their driveway.

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.

Wedding :: Groom getting ready

Saturday, October 8, was a gorgeous sunny and warm Fall day and it was our son Luc's wedding day. The ceremony, reception and dance took place at a lovely rustic lodge only 2 km from our home. Here are a few pictures of Luc and his entourage taken while they were waiting for the photographer...

The handsome groom.

Bestman Simon, Luc's childhood friend. They've known each other since they were 4 years old.

Groomsman André, Luc's brother-in-law.

Groomsman Daniel, Luc's highschool friend. Luc was a groomsman at his wedding in August.

Groomsman Sylvain, another of Luc's highschool friend and music playing buddy.

I'll post pictures of the beautiful couple as soon as I get my hands on pictures.

Dream Big

Dream Big... I knew right away that with a name like that I was going to love Sara's blog. I was immediately drawn to this section. This beautiful blog became one of my regular reads in blogland. Than one day Sara had this post up. Blue and dragonflies... yes please. After a brief exchange of emails and a two hour road trip and a very warm welcome from Sara and John at their beautiful home, and two cute dogs, here is the rest of the story...

I have the perfect window for my gift-to-myself. When the sun hits those blues and greens, oh my (no sun today as you can see outside).

The valance came down and up went the stained-window.

Roasted tomato soup

I've been following this wonderful blog for a few months now and I enjoy seeing all the wonderful things Renee and her family are up to. Last week Renee blogged about her family's favorite soup. Actually I think she said it was her family's favorite ''meal''. Just reading about it I immediately knew it would be my favorite also. So first thing Saturday morning I set out in the garden to pick all the ripen tomatoes and I made half a batch to see if I would like this soup. By the time I went to bed Saturday night I had eaten the entire batch by myself. Sunday I made a full pot. This time my husband got to see for himself what the rave was about the previous day. I managed to freeze two jars to be consumed later this Fall.

In our household, Fall and Winter means soup. We hardly eat soup the two other seasons. Now, go ahead and make Renee's Roasted Tomato Soup. Seeing that I'm a cheese addict, I added crumbled feta cheese on top of the soup after it's been scooped in the bowls.

All the signs are there

All the signs of Fall are out there. I love the transition from Summer to Fall and of course Fall being my favorite season.

Our cultivated scarlet runner beans. They are a heritage seed from the 1600's.

This little guy is all smiles... I think Fall might be his favorite season also.

We are still eating chard from the garden. It's amazing how much we ended up harvesting this year.

That beautiful golden color of Fall.

Eggplants still growing in the cold frame.

As well as peppers.

This picture was taken a few weeks ago... these are the scarlet runner beans drying in the sun.

Mmmmm, pumpkin pie here I come.

Next post I will share an amazing roasted tomato soup recipe from a blogger that I follow. Stay tuned and get your tomatoes ready. You will want to cook up a pot of this soup.