…..one of the few new flowers from my garden
Going away at the beginning of the summer and the unusually hot and dry weather didn’t fare well for any new bulbs that I planted this spring. The only flower that bloomed was my dahlia.
…..this week’s challenge is to capture a scene with an ‘edge’
……from my neighbour’s garden up the road from the cottage
….thanks to Becca Givens for hosting Sunday Trees
Sometimes you can’t see the trees for the forest. I love August when the trees are full and lush and you can’t tell where one tree starts and another ends.
…..as promised in my last post, Last Four Days at the Cottage here is the rest of that weekend
Going to the cottage with A and J is always a lot of fun. This year my birthday happened to fall on the last of those four days. Our good friends and neighbours at the cottage were also up and they invited us over for dinner on the Saturday. It turned out to be a little bit of a celebration. They toasted A and J’s wedding which took place earlier in the year and to my ‘last year of being young’. This was in reference to the fact that next year I will be officially declared a senior. I personally don’t think that I will all of a sudden become old just because of a number attached to my age. I never tell the students at school how old I am because I know they will automatically think that I’m ancient. They think that 40 is old.
The next day, which was my actual birthday, we packed up to go home. I’m sure that my daughter was given instructions by my family to be back by a certain time. When we got to the ferry dock we were the last car put on the barge so we had enough time to make a few stops on our trip back to the city. We stopped at Wendy B’s in Lafontaine and picked up a few snacks to enjoy on the trip home and the girls picked up a birthday present for me from her small gallery in the back corner of her store. 
This lovely bracelet also came with a pair of beautiful hand painted earrings.
On the way home we were approaching an antique market outside of Cookstown that I’ve always wanted to stop at but never have. This trip we decided that we had enough time to stop and have quick tour of the place. We weren’t disappointed. I love collecting old bottles and found a few to use as subjects in my paintings. I also found a rack of new linen tops that were on sale and I treated myself to a beautiful orangey button down blouse that I can also wear like a jacket. Here are some of things that we saw there:
When we got home there was a parcel waiting for me from my friend, D, from the cottage. She ordered me a new game called King’s Cribbage.
My daughter, granddaughter and son-in-law were already there. My husband and son-in-law were busy cooking up ribs. We had a glorious outdoor meal with the family. The baby is walking holding onto things but she has managed a few steps on her own. I received a gift certificate for an art store (always appreciated) and my husband combined my anniversary gift with my birthday gift and bought me a great macro lens (which most of you already know I’ve been using a lot).
Last weekend my husband and I made our final visit to the cottage to close the place up for the season. I know it’s early but this year is an exceptional year with milestone birthdays in October.
Cheers!
….do you ever take photos of things that just appear before you?
Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge is all about those photos that you take that don’t seem to fit into any category other than ‘odd’.
Here are a few such photos taken recently on my last trip to the cottage.
….a Pow Wow, a birthday dinner and a flea market
My last week at the cottage before we closed up for the season was very memorable. For one thing I spent four lovely days with my oldest daughter and my daughter-in-law. A and J are great cottage guests. They are so laid back yet very helpful. We all took turns cooking and they usually got the dishes done before I could get at them.
J had never been to a Pow Wow so I decided that it was an event everyone should experience at least once. I, myself hadn’t been in several years. I was glad I went. The venue for the Pow Wow had changed from the school yard to a more scenic setting next to one of the two lakes on the island. We got there in time to see the little ones dance. We walked around the perimeter of the outdoor stage and checked out the vendors and their wares. We sampled some food, shared a giant lemonade and I bought a pair of moccasins for my granddaughter from Velma.
Velma is a long time resident of Christian Island and I have been going to her store for over 20 years. I always take my visitors to her so that they can see and buy her authentic indigenous crafts. She handcrafts the most beautiful sweetgrass boxes and hand stitches her moccasins. I bought a pair for myself almost 20 years ago and I still have them.
As we were leaving the Pow Wow I came across a booth where two lovely ladies were selling raffle tickets for more than 50 prices. I bought a sheet of tickets and two days later I got a phone call that I won a handmade cloth bag. More about my last four days at the cottage tomorrow.
Cheers!
…..when in bloom this plant provides a major source of food for bees and butterflies
….last week it was barely open and this week it was already withering
Growing anything on the north shore of the island is always challenging. The sandy soil and the shade from the forest makes growing sun loving plants almost impossible. That didn’t stop D from trying. Had her garden been on the opposite side of the road she would have had a completely different outcome.
… our apartment in Rome was big enough for 5 adults and a baby
One of the things that really stood out for me in Rome, especially where we stayed in Monteverde Vecchio is that everyone seemed to live in apartment buildings. I didn’t see any single family residences. Our apartment was gated and within walking distance of the grocery store, the tram, parks and restaurants.
Our first afternoon there we walked around the neighbourhood to get our bearings and discovered a lovely square, caffes and outdoor vendors.
On our way home we passed a parade. We weren’t sure what it was but clearly it had something to do with the church.
Mama Cormier 