As July nears the end..

July is almost toast..
it has been.
Dry and hot.

Farmers are struggling..

Gardens are struggling..it seems there is always something to complain about right?

My biggest complaint in July ..? Japanese Beetles..they come right after the rose chafers.
It's a wonder I garden.

Every day I squish handfuls of those disgusting things.
To salvage my flowers.

To walk about the gardens that make me exercise..make me practice gratitude for nature..make me appreciate miracles.
And now sometimes I get to see the cutest garden helpers.

Oli helped me for chores and he will come again tomorrow..
Max came and helped with the hedge..

It's one on one time..

My fave people.

One ay Noah was coming and so was Oli..  Oli had popped by a bit earlier..

this is the note he slipped his work at home mom as she was on a conference call:)

So I made amazing  muffins..here's the deal though that crunchy little topping is best DAY OF.
I got rave reviews here and from my neighbours.

You can find this GREAT GREAT recipe here.
KEEPER.

 100 bulbs ..my harvest this year..All clean..cured ..ready to do..bugs don't go near it..it's just so rewarding!!


If you have herbs..gather into bouquets garnis..dry and store in a Mason jar..pop into soups and stews all yr long♥
I used Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme..of course;)

Cute as buttons and fun to have on hand..
These require NO work.
And I am still loving learning ..w/ Chris Petri.You tube..Save your cans to make floral arrangements.

What a Covid Summer.
What a year.

On top of all this let's think of those who need medical attention on top of all this..
Let's just..
And how many are waiting to see a doctor?

And then we have this hero in our midst.
You may remember Laurent~Duvernay~Tardif
He played for Kansas City and they won the super bowl when all was well..
He's also a doctor.
He is opting out of this coming season and foregoing a 2.7 million salary to help here as a doctor.
There are angels in our midst.

I think he's one of them.
Take care.
I wish you well.....



PS I have watched a few Netflix series..and here are some..

Derek..not for everyone..in fact I found it too crude and stopped..and returned and well I really liked it.

Atypical..  lovely..

Love On The Spectrum.. genuine and good.

I already told you about AfterLife.

The thing about Ricky Gervais is that I never thought I liked him
Well..I do.

Well..another garlic harvest is done~Mid July.

Inside the sheshed

These are pics my cousin Louise sent me..her mom is Claire..the bows the bows the bows♥♥♥
The sailor tops;)

They lost Marie~Louise This is at my grandparents 25th Anniversary.

I know this is only of interest to me:)

But my blog disappeared w/ old pics..:(

We all know that story.

Elise was an angel..she cared for my grandmother who paralyzed.

She never married but took in a foster child for all his life.

I never knew this but Elise and Claire went to l" Ecole Des Beaux Arts here in Mtl..

And Louise and I surmised..and a memory came back to me...Elise and Claire must have met my mom at l'Ecole Des Beaux Arts because she was a student there..and introduced their brother William to her.

The rest is history.

These are 2 I sent her..
Great ~Grandfather..Grandfather..(I never knew either) and the 3 brothers..the 3 sisters were not in these pics..

Again..just because it was so nice to catch up w/ her and help fill in some spaces.. in her tree..


Thankfully I had a garlic harvest again this nasty Covid Year.
I thought Trump said it was just going to go away.
Ya..right..when .
My first political statement ever.

Wow..with the no nursery shopping per say..and the drought and all our wasps nests..it's a summer of discontent.
Burnt grass and weeping plants are not an artist's canavs in the gardens..
You know..the season we look forward to in Jan..Feb..March when you live in QC.

I had MAX ♥help me♥
I will never harvest my own garlic again.
The pleasure of his company you see:)

I know..far far far worse things..than not great summers..

One only has to look in our own families to find worse.



A cousin of mine..who I have not spoken to in 20 yrs..the last family funeral I attended..called..I loved it.
She is doing a genealogy search of her mom..my dad's sister..Claire above and William my dad.
She sent me pics I didn't have..
These are  two of them..the first two..
I am certain this is by the water at their home.

We talked about how how into some lives..some rain must fall.

She sent me newspaper clippings of my sister's tragic passing (I was not born)..
Pictures of my grandparents..I don't think I had ever seen my paternal grandmother before..
Anyway..a lovely experience.

I love growing garlic and now I love lettuce.

One day I guess I won't have a potager and perennial beds..

Life..is very ..well..very..uncertain.

When you are young..or unmarked ..things appear so different.

Let's end this on a creative note.

If you have Youtube..I encourage you to follow Chris Petri's tutorials..They are some of my very favorite..he is nice..giving..talented..generous with his knowledge..and I am usually ok with my outcomes..
Like I don't tear them up..which I do  a lot:)
These are 4x4..my choice of size to fit into the only frames I have left..
Clip frames.
Pre-Covid I should have stocked up on frames.
Even the $ stores here have great ones w/ mat ..4x6..5x7 etc..
Will I ever enter a store again?

That was miss miserable writing lol.;)

Take care..stay safe..
and why on earth did they open BARS before I could get into stores..
Bars.. drink at home:)
Help the world.
Wear a mask.
Numbers are soaring in certain parts of the world.
Come on..please.
Wow..pretty vocal I am.
Bonne semaine..s:)

What? July 1rst?Tomorrow?

This cake scored a 10 w/ J..it's from here..
and it is a 10..the caramelized almonds on top make it..she initially made it w/out cherries I think..then added..
I think it's the best cake I make.:) LOL.

A new cookbook for me..

For a long time..I have followed @justcrumbs on IG..Suzie Durigon..
I watched her journey..long and arduous in creating her cookbook.
Betty @stemsandforks an amazing photographer joined the project to become it's photographer.
I knew this book would be a winner with these two;)
I was right.
Eye candy plus great recipes..
A cookbook needs great pics for me;)
And great recipes.
A match made in heaven.

I gave the blueberry breakfast cake to my family one early morning..left it there..I had a bite to taste..it's cake..muffin..scone;)

one of my grandsons sent me a pic of him eating it saying how good it was♥

I just love the 4 boys..all different all so original and sweet with us.
I also made her butter tarts Sunday..and J gave them a 10.
Funny my mom made her pie dough w/ Crisco or Tenderflake..
I made Suzie's because I wanted the full on Just Crumbs Butter Tart experience..
When J tasted it he said..mmm..butter ? No..
all shortening.
EASY as pie to make by hand.
Flaky..
And NO SOGGY BOTTOM.
Delish tarts.
I honestly make all butter..half butter..and storebought:)

Our weather has not been super for the gardens..I don't now why but Feverfew is absolutely thriving in big big bouquets here and there..when they leave..whoa..the gardens will be sad and me too.

I read that Broadway is closed until at least Jan 3rd 2021..
Jacques at one point questioned if Christmas gatherings would happen:(
Summer you can be outside 6 feet apart.
Winter in QC?
Not so much.I won't dwell on that..
But ordered cotton yarn for farmhouse dishcloths..
Need to stay focused on creativity not negativity.

Social distancing..no mask required~

Tomorrow is July 1rst.

Canada Day..♥

Take care everyone..

~Blue skies and pretty blooms..watercolors and pasta~

What's Blooming Now..♥ 

Time to harvest the garlic scapes..June 16th~

She was beautiful this year..but..the chafers have arrived.

All kinds...

below..

And still all kinds below..

Had fun painting Noah's home:)

This is something I love to eat during heat waves..or anytime in summer..I've mentioned this one million times lol..

It's so easy..

In a bowl..

Cut some great little cherry tomatoes up..
add garlic that you have chopped too
add parsley..
Olive oil
salt and pepper
kalamata sliced olives
herbs that you love..i.e..basil..rosemary..chili pepper flakes..oregano..
capers f you like them..
Mix all this up in a bowl..
cover and sit in the sunshine all day long.
Cook your pasta of choice and spoon this delicious sun cooked pasta sauce on your pasta.
Sprinkle w/ Parm petals and extra basil..
You can top w/ garlic bread crumbs too;)

It really is absolutely delicious.

Our 19 yr old dishwasher..ended it's cycle...
It was great.
anyway we hand washed for 1 month and I am fine with that but we both knew we should get a new one..so we did..and Jacques the engineer installed it..no small feat as a box had to be installed..an electrical box..Bosch..the new ones need it..so he did that..

It's a long job..

Before he started..I had to empty part of a cupboard to the right..
The silicone part lol..
I know..no wonder the bunny looks down.

These have all been tidily relocated to my craft room..They were organized in the cupboard but when I emptied I threw caution to le wind.

Imagine..this is just the silicone.
I am a baker.
No question.
Some are gifts..some were such bargains.. some were recommended..
2 of my favorites you can't even see..buried..

I told my girls..they are aware..of their new resting place..

I got laughing emojis when I showed them this.;)

Imagine..the spring form pans..Nordic Ware..ceramic ware..you cannot be married 46 yrs and not accumulate baking things if you are a baker.
Or flowers if you are a gardener.
Or paints and paper if you like to paint.



Ending my post on a very pretty note..
Paris Breakfast Letters From Paris..Marie-Antoinette♥
On the right of her blog..in her Etsy shop:)
I mean..look...

A dose of the pretty rule in your mailbox.