Beauty Days~

Garden dept:)

Sedum is a magnet.For so many little flying treasures.
I could watch and watch and watch.

Art dept;)

Fun watercolor books..Arteza..cheap and cheerful..good for mixed media..3 books to a pack.Amazon:)

Baking dept..

With Sarah's little beehive cakelet pan..I dressed up my sideboard for DA:)Hope to see it:)

In other news..

I am often complaining that we NEVER go downtown anymore..unless we have an appointment.
Years ago..it was fun to go to the markets..Little Italy..Old Montreal..

the last 3 yrs have been utter chaos for us.

I live in the country surrounded ..by..shhh......
and butterflies and bees ..
Here I just look about and see the sky..

In the city you must look up.

We went yesterday..

Took 1.5 hrs to get there.
It's really 45 mins from here.

Our beautiful city is still beautiful but..as even downtowners will say Orange ConeVille  these days..Huge new hospitals being built..interchanges....wow.
All my old Ipad/pics..through the window and not.

Detour is règle du jour.

Men at work..wait..women too..many many ..at work are everywhere.

How the merchants are surviving all this is beyond me.

These brave guys I tell ya..

Imagine  me alone w/ no sense of direction..Oh lala.

Rue Barrée..means Road Closed..OMG..what would I do? CRY.

Everything is in French here.
But you will find the majority can speak English in stores downtown and in Old Montreal.
I live in an English enclave.
I have the very best of both worlds.
I was brought up syaing Oui and Yes in the same breath.

All my primary and secondary schooling was done in French.
College..English..
and then McGill University..English.

My family is bilingual..from the biggest to the littlest.
It's a gift really.
I am always grateful.


It's like most cosmopolitan cities..lots of black..lots of men in suits..lots of men in tight suits now..tight jackets shorter pants and jackets..
Lots of BEAUTIFUL people.
The shortest skirts.. the tallest heels..

Don't wear orange lol.

To me Montréal is so beautiful..the architecture..the boroughs..
The trees..the Old part..truly a city to be so proud of.I grew up there until the age of 10.
Then we moved to the suburbs.
As a young bride..we moved to the country.

It's been over 43 yrs..

I have been sort of gardening..not much to do in Sept..
Crocheting..
Working on a Lucas blanket..went and bought Max blanket yarn:)

At Michaels..I picked up a small bid 60% off and it just fell  and broke it's tail.
My husband was in tears when I tell him what I did..what I always do.
I brought it to a clerk and told them and asked if I should pay for it.
Don't worry they said.

ME? Not worry.
Fat Chance.
Have a great weekend.
I'll be enjoying quietude.And watching the leaves change as I speak..

No football this w/e..they are palying out of town..last weekend we watched Lucas and Max now both on the same high school team.
I only have eyes for them.

Beautiful seeing 2 brothers together..
The Littlest..played elsewhere and we couldn't be in 2 places..

This is the kind of Little he is..

3 touchdowns.. 3 injuries.

:(

He gets up and keeps going..never complains..

He lives breathes and eats football.

That's not an unhappy face..that's a focused face on how can I win this game with my team.

I adore all my 4 grandsons.

They are my sweet..funny..lovely and loving rewards of my later  life.

~I'll See You..In September~

Looking so forward to trying this out:):)Below..and I will soon:)

Thoughtful,thoughtful girl sent this ..she knew I had ordered it and it never came then was unavailable..

How NICE.♥

Many Thanks  ..Sarah..

everyone that knows Sarah..loves Sarah.

Above..I took an online class ..Mindy Lacefield..

go see..you will be happy you did:)

Waning waning Summer... yet so pretty at many moments ,and much needed rain has fallen~

I love having a variety of tomatoes as much as flowers believe it or not..

I made tomato jam..that leads to THIS RECIPE~

It is AMAZING.

I have better luck toasting my home made baguette slices  in my toaster..(we fell in love w/ a particular one in our apartment in Paris..)and found one here..it toasts a few slices at once..lenghtwise♥
Then I rub w/ my garlic..
Spread that NRJJ spread on top and you are in like Flint.

The figs have been so beautiful we eat one a day at lunch..
and I've made some tortes w/ them.

I am grateful we kind of renovated our small breezeway/screened-in porch w/ windows and new doors..Everything stays cleaner and I love looking out front and out back through the new doors.

More windows to wash..but worth it.

I live in such a great neighbourhood.
Great neighbours.
♥
5 of which you hear about regularly;)

With Instagram ..I forget what I have talked about here..but I am not ready to jump the wagon on blogging.
Blogging is where I met such wonderful people.
I am not ready to let that go.

And my husband reads my blog and knows most of you.

So many connections have been lost with the other venues..
But I hang onto things lol..

So that cute book  above is so worth buying..the Joanna Gaines book..We Are The Gardeners..  for the art and the words..for me and ..more youthful people;)
I love it..
and I love ALL the others I have pictured here.They are not how to books..they are..:Oh I just love looking at these books books.
I will never part with them;)

It's time to start saving seeds..tomatoes..calendula..poppies..(done a while ago)..4 O'Clocks ..etc..

Soon..not yet..I'll be preparing beds for garlic..

So many cool songs for September:)

The Happenings ..;) 

Go see..
Oli turns 10..Sunday..double digit delightful.
He is.♥
Have a good weekend!

Ohmygosh ~September~

My daily pickings..and more..I have globe zucchinis..lol ..too many but not as many as regular:)
And if you forget small globe zucchinis?
Look:)
Like pumpkins.2 I have LOL..

With the blooms..make Gnocchi..

The idea came from ..
Here~
I made a different recipe adding the chopped blooms and froze..next time..her ricotta recipe and NO freezing:)
Suzie has a great blog..great IG account and is soon to have a recipe book out~

In the gardens..as you can see above the basil is still a knock out..this was last week..even bigger now.
The cherry tomatoes are so sweet to me..I made Diane Morissey's Panzanella..check it out on IG..

I have made pizzas and roasted and frozen whole..
I am a tomatoholic.

My fave food group..ITALIAN.

Italian sausage lasagna~

Annuals still doing well..Nicotina..4 O'clocks..baskets etc..

I have been baking..playing w/ fresh yeast..made a few things..Belgian Liège Waffles were on trial")

Our summer was so late in arriving it almost feels like we were cheated in some ways..however the summer we had was beautiful.

I am grateful to have gardens and a chicken although my sweet neighbour had to come tell me she was in her front yard..!!
Oy my neighbour lives on an acre..we're on half acre..
she's grounded.
A waved a Kraft Single and she ran home.
Still..grounded;)

I may sound earthy but trust me..first thing I do when I get up..every single day of my life is wash my face and apply mascara.
And most days I see no one..
That's just for me.

After breakfast etc..blush..and bronzer..
I am so not that earthy natural.
I get streaks done..and twice a year a trim.
I leave with wet hair except the trim..he trims dry.

Pretty low maintenance..But I do my morning maintaining in any weather any mood any feeling.
So earthy?

I just dig in it.

I used to feel like Sept ..was the beginning of a new year.
I don't anymore.For some reason.

Have a good long weekend~

A little outing~Sunflowers..zinnias..

I loved how one was so different:)♥

These 2 cousins get along famously.

A sweet little outing yesterday..I posted some pics on IG..and more here for memories.
The sweetest days to me are spent in the company of my family.
Add some gorgeous vistas..flowers..a camera..and that's what heaven on earth is for me.
We change with time♥
This place is humble..no fanfare or fancy buildings..family run operation..
Corn maze to wander through..
Fresh Corn..
Sunflowers..zinnias..chickens..
a hay wagon ride..
the owner..his grandparents lived in his home..  his parents..him..61 yrs old he is..so the place was owned over 100 yrs ago plus plus by his family..his 3 children help..
an agronomist..an engineer..and his daughter does all the bio cultivation.

THEY WORK SO HARD.

Humbling to say the very least.

Kudos to this family.

They have props in the sunflower area..ladders to climb on  to get a view of the heads..hats in a huge treasure chest..frames of all kinds..a chair w/ ribbon..

We brought a picnic and ate at a table..I just loved the day..

Here the tomatoes and basil and round courgettes are stars.
The gardens are parched..

I'll leave you with this if you need a good marbled cake:)
You can find it at the blog Pardonyourfrench~
Have a good rest of weekend~!

Oh...and..

:):)

Mid Augustus~

Our eldest daughter Mylène turned 44 Saturday..and you know Lucas turned 14..Adamo 20 and Giuliana 18..:)

So everyone came and we celebrated them all.

♥

Some recipes I made worth noting..

I made Sue's Raspberry Lemon buttercream cake..pictured w/ the 44..

Loved that I could freeze..then ice frozen:)

I also made a unique cake from Leite's Culinaria..

Sour Cream Mocha Cake..

The icing was like none other I ever made.

This too I froze and iced frozen.

Both desserts went over well:)

For apps..I made 2 of Chris' recipes..

Her Salsa..

and her Feta Tomato Appetizer

Both of which I had made before and knew were very good.And EASY.

I made little black olive savory/ sweet shortbreads and even the boys liked them.

I like savory cookies w/ apps.

Dinner ..was a Rigatoni /Italian Sausage bake for the boys from Diane Morrisey..

and for us..a grilled Caesar sald..Diane Morrisey's half eggplant marinaras I already shared w/ you..and hot Italian grilled sausages.

Feeding 12 is not something I do regularly anymore:)

My son-in-law Alain orchestrated matching tshirts for the boys..I must admit this thrilled me:)

I hope they wear them at Christmas.

You can see how big these boys/men are getting..

:):):)

Football Season has started for Oli and Noah..Noah is Offense:)  Oli is running back...and wide receiver.

The first game was while I was prepping dinner..2-4..

Jacques went.

20-0 they won.

Oli won MVP ..2 touchdowns..and Caroline took this pic.

of Max and Oli  after the game.I ♥ it.He is appreciating his medal.

Actually Caroline took all the people pics..I don't even try lol..

First of all a bit busy..the weather was The PITS.

Brief sun periods..cold and torrential downpours.

So we apped outdoors and dined indoors.

Her phone camera is Google Pixel 3xl and she bought a pack of fab filters the 2 together=WOW.

I love all the great recipes I glean from everyone I encounter on IG..the web..

and I THANK everyone.

Zinnias have FINALLY started to bloom..4 o'clocks..

Tomatoes changing colors..globe zucchinis doing so well:)

Nothing is perfect this year..summer was late..summer was dry..a hard winter made certain perennials either return much later in the season..Nepeta..feverfew..some clematis.. and some not return at all..
Rose chafers ate most of the first batch of roses..second flush Japanese Beetles.
You have to wonder why I persist.

Summer..garlic..color..tomatoes..exercise..blooms..the miracle of growth..nurturing;)

Bon Weekend!