I’m dragging this trip on and on i know but i can’t not finish and this is the last of it.

St. Felix is very near to the farm, perhaps too near when they have the best poutine ever. The Cathedral is a far more pleasant view than my plate of home fries, curds and (real) gravy. It really is not an appealing dish to look at but beyond appearance it can be so delicious - i ate there 3 times and that was not the end of poutine, oh no, twice i ate bad poutine. I’ve been home long enough to crave it again though.

Antiquing! Can that be a verb? I’m not sure. Anyhow i didn’t find much that would fit into my suitcase and aside from the awesome school desks and other furniture there was nothing that really jumped out at me. Little A scored some marble treasures and a hand held egg beater useful for mixing this and that and foaming up bubbles. total score.

Asbestos. It’s the town and the mine. Strangely impressive though sad and toxic.

back at the farm, in the back of the house, through the trees, over or under some electrical and barbed wire fences and bordering the property is a magical place i remember playing in as a kid - the sand dunes (the beach without water). As an adult i was more bothered by the annoying black flies but what squealing and games the kids all played.

oh Carson. He fell in love with me eventually;

I can’t exclude this last frame before the shutter snapped and my camera broke. so sad. i felt like i was missing a limb but i think it was good for me to be without a camera for a few days.

I missed out on some shots of our last day at the farm as well as our time spent in Montreal and the beautiful hotel where we stayed and the short visit with Claudia and of the great show that we stumbled upon at the “Just for Laughs” festival but look see how long it’s taken me to catch up here already and so much continues…we’re into August already. It’s hot and the pool is the place to be.

my mom’s side of the family is quite huge and there are cousins i hardly recognize from when we were kids, now grown and with their own growing families. it was such a good idea to get together and so much fun but still, time was short and there are cousins i didn’t even have a chance to connect with (my shyness of using my horrible french accent a great fault). So here’s my mama and her siblings now and back in 1984 with their dad;

our hosts and organizers Susan and Russell;

candid shots of our weekend gathering of family folk for tea, picnic, birthdays, corn shucking, playing and wandering about;

L (as i remember her much of the time we were away) will have far more and far better documentation of the families than i managed. i’ll be waiting to see those for some time as she is in the midst of wedding season and swamped. oh but they’ll be good.

Most of my trips out east have been in Summertime except for one April when i went for my Aunt’s 80th birthday and also in hopes of tapping some trees and experiencing the whole process of making maple syrup. We tapped some trees and sap did run but not for long before a huge snowstorm froze things up. i guess i’ll have to return again one year. In Summer a short wander down the road;

takes you past the donkies and horses;

past Jed;

and the kyloes;

to the sugar shack where it sits looking abandoned and ever so curious. One day i’ll see what goes on in there;

check out Jed on the left, waiting for us to return. i should liked to have brought him home with us;

sugar on snow. oooh i was giddy for this! how clever to freeze the snow;

i ate 3 forkfuls.

Every day we wandered around the trails and garden in back of the house.What an amazing playground for children, big & little, to explore and play. A family garden is growing with everyone planting and contributing some thing. i was not at all organized with this and i regret it but Grandma P brought irises out from the Okanagan for the little ones to plant. i had planned to plant an acorn that i found on the trail but i forgot about it in my pocket and found it later in my washing machine once i returned home. So many distractions to keep a plan;

i always think of the wood burning stove when i think of the farm and since i failed to get a decent photograph of the stove, the wood shall serve as the reminder. Who can resist a nicely stacked pile of wood anyhow?;

i’m starting sort of backwards and more towards the middle,  recounting our recent trip “back east” as i refer to it after hearing my mom talk about it so often in this way. i’m sure that when i was really little i believed that “back east” was it’s own farm and that Quebec was made up of the few surrounding farms and including the towns of Danville and Kingsey Falls. For little A “back east” is a different farm from where i mostly played as a kid but nearby at “Uncle Russell and Aunt Susan’s” farm where we stayed in the home that my mom and her siblings were born and raised in. i could go in so many directions from here but since i’m starting sort of backwards and more towards the middle of things (at the time just before my shutter snapped) i’ll begin with the beautiful, shaggy and happy highland cows that roam and graze some hundred + acres. What a lucky fold as i’ve learned they are called rather than a herd.

“Kyloes” Russell calls to them so they won’t be startled as we come near;

still the mama far from her calf instinctively calls to it;

my own maternal instincts were first wary of my little one getting too close to those big horns or the other way round of the big horns getting too close to my little one and so a slow approach felt fair and right. Up close and under the shag those eyes were curious and docile. The bull, however, with his horns tipped forward as if naturally always ready to charge, intimidated me and i worried he’d pick up on that so i retreated.

it’s a happy place for the cows and all the animals and a happy place for my boy.

on Granville Island,

i followed my ears to the sound of an accordion and found this Italian gentleman playing under an awning in the rain with the greatest, most genuine lines and smile,

and i thought of you gals and our times of laughter living in Possagno. More specifically i was reminded of our first night in the small town of 2000 (+3) people at the Stella d’Oro where we met the local senior men. Gilberto, Luigi…oh gosh i can’t remember all of their names..? French was the most common language amongst us. That and charades. The wine helped too. Once it was understood where and who we were living with for the next few months (next door to their good friend Beneto - Uncle Beneto to us) the evening took a surprising turn as we were implored to join them in an accordion serenade to wake their good friend, louder and louder and louder….since he was a wee bit hard of hearing. In the end, the neighbors (and family) on our other side had to call and wake him to come outside. Such good times we had, stirring things up in Possagno. i wonder if they still find pink feather boas in their gutters.

i took some photos of old photos as i was packing to move and going through things. Now i wish the albums weren’t in the shed so i could find that serenade shot amongst some others. Anyhow.

i love you both.

xo Ella.

August in the Okanagan is a time to enjoy the abundance. Little A is in his element here; wandering, exploring, picking from the gardens and orchards. i’m grateful that we have this to look forward to each Summer. We sort of have the best of 2 worlds because Vancouver is pretty great too.

i just can’t believe the peaches. so so so delicious. quite possibly my favorite fruit when picked fresh off the tree and still warm with sunshine. in some parts of the orchard they’re dropping off by the dozen even before ripening. many of these trees are old and despite being supported, huge branches have broken, laden with the weight of so many fruits. to me it’s tragic. still it’s a beautiful place to pick breakfast.

yummy!

Bestafa grows hazelnut trees. It was a long time growing since the deer also love to eat the tender leaves on the young trees. These nuts all came from a self seeded tree in their yard and Little A spent a good half hour peeling them - a fine and entertaining project. i love their caps. Now they sit in a bowl on our table where we mix them around to help them dry. Fresh they are the texture of a fresh coconut. interesting but i prefer them dried.

Some days were hot as expected and other days more surprisingly cool, hinting Autumn’s breath. We enjoyed it all and soaked up what seemed like a quick end of Summer with visits, a mountain view, runs through the corn rows, garden wanderings, a wine tour and beach fun. it was quite perfect really. Note; the red hat was forgotten, quite on accident, at home, and so opened the opportunity to fall in love with blue.

grandma’s front step. i love it.

this guy hangs out with his buds in the hollow of my parent’s property. he’s been around a couple years and only ever grows 1 horn.

indeed the corn has grown high over my own head. the cobs were still small but we ate them anyhow.

grapes to the left corn on the right;

so many great wines to try. i feel that we should encourage the fruit farmers to grow more than grapes as there is a mono culture trend spreading throughout the Okanagan. i suppose the money is good but what will we do when there is such a small variety of BC fruits?

should we go back for apple picking in the Fall?

overwhelmingly simple. beautiful. hot. seemingly still at first glance but if you pause long enough you’ll notice that it’s busy full of life. i feel the heat and smell the sage when i look back on these. sigh. sometimes i like to go to this back road for a little perspective.

so bright out;

at grandma & bestafa’s house we see deer every day. they like the cool shade of the gully and sometimes a doe will birth a bambi or 2 there. ooooh their sweet bambi spots. so adorable. we got to see2 newbies this time. this gal, she’s just wandering by on her way to the vineyards next door.

a little randomness that i couldn’t leave out - Betty’s garage doors. i like them. and grandma’s treasures. i see where i get my gathering from;

i’m getting a little lazy on the words here but i can’t post about the Okanagan without including the sunny folk & farmers, family & friends;

Okanagan Lake;

3 of 4 - We met in Kindergarten and we’ve been friends (and sometimes not as girls will be) ever since. i’m a tad envious that their kids will grow up so close together. Pretty darned special and i bet the grandmas all are thrilled too.

While the little one slept i took advantage of grandma’s babysitting and went to town, stayed out past midnight and didn’t worry for a moment. That’s huge for me! (oh yes Michelle, we closed Theo’s. That hasn’t happened in eons.)

damn tourists;