Looking in the old town, there were some bright sparks:
Sparky
I think this old fella might know a thing or two about it:
“Just you listen to me, young fella…”
The chap above seemed to have some competition from the chap below (we’ve been keeping an eye on him, looks the sort that might attempt a chimney-based home invasion, and he’d be tough to spot…)
“Come back, young fella – I can tell you where to find ho-ho-holiday spirit – I’ll drop in later!”
Yikes, I found him a little scary and way over my head. I turned to these friendly looking types, but to be honest, whilst they seemed to be in good spirits, it was all rather wheezy and too smoky to get to what they were saying:
Holy smokes…
Before the big glitter of the big town got too much for me, we retreated into the woods:
“Follow us, OPC, you’ll be fine!” They seemed friendly enough…
I have to say, for me, it was a touch more manageable. A breezy day, so the wind whistled through the treetops, and if I couldn’t make out the words, well I was happy enough with the tenor and tone:
A chilled tune…
In fact, with a whisper of light snow, and the rattle and rustling of dry leaves, I’d say there were plenty of spirits in the woods. Holiday spirits? Who knows, but it was pretty and peaceful:
Small sounds, happy spirits
To finish, we absolutely found some holiday spirit:
Full(ers) of good things
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
A brief piece this week, celebrating recent bright and brilliant weather days – we got out there when we could. Most of the past ten days has seemed somewhat overly (but necessarily) medical, from getting COVID and flu shots (never doing both at the same time again, didn’t work too well for me) to meeting every eye doctor in town (or so it seemed), as we went from one escalating appointment to the next, each doctor wanting a second opinion to the previous second opinion.
Bright and brilliant
Fortunately, once all the information had been gathered, the most senior opinion won the day (or week) and declared all was well, with no new news and to please come back in twelve months. Phew…
All is well
I hadn’t been experiencing any symptoms, but once one doctor took a look, they all wanted to peer in there, and really, can you blame them? If you’ve met me, and gazed into my beautiful grey-blue-green (that’s right, can’t even get agreement on this) eyes, you already understand the attraction. If you haven’t met me and you’ve yet to gaze into my eyes, well, join the line and you’ve so much to look forward to…
I think on that modest note it’s time to start wrapping this up. Most importantly, thank you doctors – always better to be safe than sorry…
Well chilled
We celebrated the eventual no news is good news with some still and some sparkling, and goodness, it was very well chilled. Minus 10 was the daytime high midweek – cool! To my lovely eyes and clear sighted thinking (huh?) these are the very best sort of winter days, with fresh snow, blue skies, and barely a hint of wind. It was wonderful to be outside this week, on the Plains of Abraham and in our local woods in near perfect conditions – some truly splendid sights for sore eyes!
Splendid
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
A bit earlier than we expected, and it didn’t stick around too long, but it was a welcome first sight of what we hope will be an enjoyable outdoorsy winter. (Ask us about that again in late March…)
A light dusting!
Scout was absolutely thrilled to see the snow and couldn’t get out of the house fast enough. Fortunately, our door and front gate is each wide enough to accommodate one excited canine and one excited human at the same time. C’mon, Scout, it’s not a race…
“It was, and you lost!”
The total amount didn’t top out much over a handful of centimetres, but it was enough to kick and slide around in, and it remained cold enough to still look pretty the following day, quite dazzling under bright blue skies.
It’s melting… (photo: Mrs. PC)
Mrs. PC managed to calm Scout (and me) down, explaining that there’ll be plenty more snow the next few months and wondering if we might be a little less excitable, ‘cos it’s a long winter? I can’t speak for Scout being less excitable about snow, but I’ll try. Although, whisper it, it was Mrs. PC looking up local xc ski trails and searching out the snowshoes in the basement. Cool!
Cool
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Very coolA few days earlier……and a few days later!
By happy coincidence, thanksgiving more or less marks our anniversary for when we moved to Canada, a decision we’ve never once regretted. With each passing year, we love the place we call home more and more – we’ve so much to be thankful for here in Canada!
Live here? Sounds good!
Happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate this holiday!
Home
Keeping it short – we’re heading out to visit friends and family the next little while, with off grid and in the woods cabin time involved, so not too sure if there’ll be anything posted for a week or two or three.
Cabin time? Sounds good!
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great (long) weekend!
That’s not a word, but it is an attempt to convey how much we’ve been enjoying the season. Being up with or even ahead of the latest thing is so very much us, haha. Identifying fall is beautiful? Couldn’t be more on trend… Moron, you say? No, but I’ve been called worse, by worse…
Trail starts here
Where was I? Clearly, you’re not going to get high quality season-centric (huh?) writing here (see “fall-tastic” above) but we really have enjoyed our eastern woodland leafy fall into autumn.
What a mood enhancer! We’re pretty chipper anyway most of the time, (don’t judge a book by it’s cover; it’s a smiling – on the inside – visage I present to the world) but being out in the woods the past few weeks has further boosted our generally sunny outlook. Each recent morning we’ll approach the local trail and murmur “that’s beautiful”, then a few yards on and a few turns into the trail, say again “that’s beautiful” and on and on we go.
On and on, into the woods!
The crisp air, the bright blue sky, the green through yellow through orange and into red leafy splendour, plus Scout’s bouncing gait, the wet-dry smell of leaf decay, and the satisfying crunch and scrunch underfoot? We add it up and our answer is “that’s beautiful!”
“Bouncing? Me? I’m far too dignified for that. But if you wanted to say beautiful…”
Yup, here we are this week struggling to find words and phrases to describe our autumnal adventures. Fall-tastic? Fallsome praise? Autumnulent? Why I autumn do better… Hmm. Should I stop, leaf it for now?
Just leaf it
If you’re looking to read about fall – about any season – with thoughts on the joy found in the natural world, then head over to Walt at Rivertop Rambles. He posted this week, and, like always, it’s a great read. I’m not blowing smoke from a leafy bonfire up his a- … read him, and you’ll see.
Joy
Anyway, it’s far too nice outside to be in here writing. I can see the trees from my office window, glowing in sunny autumnal glory, and let me tell you, it’s beautiful!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great weekend!
“His vocabulary really is limited, isn’t it? I mean, bouncing?! What’s wrong with regal, majestic, purposeful…”
Oh this past week or two! I mostly (mostly!) avoid the political sphere in this blog, but recent political news locally and globally has been something else, hasn’t it? Goodness, the whining and bleating of many of those on the right, the far right and alt-right! Avoid and avoid! What a void… What is it with the never taking responsibility, it’s always somebody else’s fault, and othering whoever doesn’t share their groupthink? Alternative facts, gaslighting, lying, doubling down on a lie and then blaming their supposed victims and targets if they answer back, so terrified of any comeback in case it turns out they have underachieved and are at fault? Don’t they ever stop to look at themselves and listen to what they are saying? Climate change deniers, election deniers, post truth – huh? – fact deniers, “we’ve had enough of experts”, lies on the side of a bus, promising sunlit uplands knowing the impossibility of such promises, putting immigrants on unsafe barges, denying basic human rights, and encouraging a hostile environment if you look or sound different. Painting over cartoon murals for children in immigration centres because that is too welcoming?! Who can support that?! Lies, lies, denials, and more lies! What is wrong with these people? It’s inhumane to behave in such a way. What do they hope to gain or achieve by being thoroughly unpleasant? It is so tiresome…
How to explain it? Perhaps they are weak and very likely personally ineffective, utterly and drearily so… Yikes, try to imagine living such a scared and self loathing life, appeased by fearful cronies and projecting their shortcomings onto others, completely unable to take any responsibility for messes of their own making. Sad little conservative nobodies clutching their pearls if there’s a different opinion expressed… Only feeling like they’ve achieved something if they’ve belittled or lied about someone else. Pathetic. Thank goodness we don’t have, in our very immediate circle, to put up with anyone like that. I feel rather sorry for anyone who does, particularly if they are afraid, and find themselves appeasing these awful people. Being so scared that they might turn on you, being so scared that you condone them, even enable them. Yes, how sad, although, scared or not, I suppose they choose to do so. If you lie down with…
Enough of these dreary people and the bad news they create! No more politics today! On to more interesting items!
Ever since we moved here, one of our favourite activities has been to wander through the Old Town streets. A friend (thanks, JH) recently mentioned how pretty parts of this city are, and she’s right, so I thought I’d share a few more sights and stops we’ve enjoyed the past few weeks. You don’t need a destination; it’s enough just to let your feet point in a direction anywhere in or near the Old Town, and it’ll be interesting. (Most of this past week has been spent in and out of various government offices completing and filing applications for health cards, driver licences, and car number plates – we didn’t take photos of the government office edifices as they weren’t so attractive!)
Stock up on essentials hereAnd here!Found at the end of a cobbled street – worth the potential turned ankle!So colourful!People watching spot near the parliament buildingVery happy to be here!Cheers!
Yes, very happy to be here, particularly as the paperwork and other dreary stuff this week is firmly in the rear view. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
…and thank goodness, particularly after the recent mini heatwave! So, how have we spent these cooler days? (Be warned: bouncing around like a box kicked rugby ball, this post will chop and change more times than a fly half trying to fool the opposition, showing no coherence, like a game spoiled by a fussy rugby referee with a whistle breaking up the flow of a game, or, or, like a…) Yeah, if you don’t like rugby, maybe stop reading?
Let’s try the non-rugby stuff. Falling temperatures and falling leaves helped make the week a pleasant one. Scout has been very happy to get back to the woods, and we’ve enjoyed the almost bug free wandering through the trees. Yesterday morning was cool, close to the point of chilly, but it isn’t light jacket or rugby jersey weather quite yet.
Fog?! Cooling…
Gentle breezes prompted some light leaf fall, and the photo below is colourful evidence autumn is more or less upon us.
Red
Red leaves seems a reasonable reminder to look out for red ales (it does? On what planet, OPC?), and hats off to Brasseur de Montréal for their splendid red. Autumn in a glass with the cardboard and toffee caramel flavours I like in a red. It tasted far better than I’ve described it…
Red
We spent a couple of mornings mooching about the Old Town, enjoying the slightly slower fall pace compared to the more full on summer visitor business. Shall we stop for a coffee and pastry? Oh, ok!
Mooching timeCoffee time? Oh, ok!
Almost forgot – rugby stuff! The rugby World Cup is in full swing, but at seven weeks long, I’ll pay more attention after some of the opening phases are finished. My hopes are very high indeed for Ireland, unrealistically high for England, somewhat high for France, but let’s be real – most likely New Zealand or South Africa will win the whole thing.
I recently read a great piece about remarkable rugby grounds in attractive locations, and for me, this place was the winner: (we’ve agreed with friends to watch a game there sometime and go for a pint or two of Guinness after!)
Donegal Town Rugby Club’s pitch, the Holmes, next to Donegal Bay in the Republic of Ireland. Photograph: Connor Doherty/Harper Collins
Must leave it here as there’s a rumour our backyard lawn (that’s too grand – let’s say patch of grass) is being laid today, needing my expertise (huh?) and fast developing skill with a garden hose. Nope, I’ve no idea where or why Scout is hiding…
Might need some grass here?
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Backyard and him with the hose? You haven’t seen me…Followed by a Guinness? Oh, ok… (Photograph: Connor Doherty/Harper Collins)
As mentioned last week, Mrs. PC was determined to attend the Festibière. I’m guessing here, but perhaps it was the thought of over 100 Quebec beers presented in one location (plus we could get there by bus) that caused her eyes to light up? Ever supportive, I went along. A bus ride? I’m in!
A bus ride? I’m in!
We went on the opening afternoon, a fairly quiet time, with most attendees seemingly retirees or young parents with small children. The daytime vibe was quite family oriented, very much a tasting and trying rather than big drinking event. Save that for OktoberFest and leave the young ones at home?
It being relatively uncrowded gave us the chance to chat to the vendors and brewers, chew over the various offerings and mostly still end up with IPA or APA. Adventurous, me? No, not with beer. Not after The Gose Incident. If you know, you know…
Not a gose? I’m in!
I did have a maple influenced saison that was really good, and Mrs. PC opted for a Belgian blueberry ale that was way better and more subtle than it could have been. Actually, looking back, somewhat hazy of memory, I also had an amazing stout from a tiny producer that was as good as any I’ve tried. There, not all pale ales!
Tiny (the volume produced, not the brewers – they were on the tall side if you were wondering…)
Aside from chitchatting with tall brewers in Franglais about the beer, we also learned about the small towns where the beer is made. The enthusiasm the brewers from Baie St Paul shared for their region had us looking up the area, and we’ll be heading there sometime in the fall, and not just to visit the brewery. But mostly to visit the brewery.
Good beer, blue skies- oh. Good beer.
We tried eight new to us beers, four each, and if anyone thinks we overdid it, the servings were 4 oz, so we had the equivalent of a pint over the afternoon! Quality not quantity, and that’s something my younger self took some time to learn with beer…
Quality
Anyway, we spent a delightful afternoon down on the docks, and for the most part the weather cooperated. We (I) got absolutely soaked in a heavy downpour that lasted the five minutes it took from bus stop to venue. (One of us packed a light rain coat. And one of us steamed gently when the sun reappeared…)
After the rain
Next year, following a better training schedule, and packing another light rain jacket, we’ll aim to taste the other 92+ beers we couldn’t quite manage this outing.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
August already? Where did July go? Mostly in a blur for us, but it was a colourful one…
Bright green!
Colourful and damp! I read a report on The Weather Network noting that July in Quebec had been one of the wettest in recent times, with Montreal and Quebec City receiving more than 200% rainfall compared to the average. Sherbrooke, a small city to the southeast of Montreal, received over 301mm, the wettest month on record. Keep heading east, and the Maritimes was even wetter than QC, suffering floods and record breaking rainfall. Luckily, locally, we have an umbrella or two. Colourful ones at that.
What an ongoing worrying time, climate-wise, that this summer is proving to be. The floods mentioned above, the extreme heat in southern Europe, the wildfires in the north and west. Yikes!
Colour
There’ll still be plenty of desperate-for-power politicians pretending there’s nothing to see here, being bankrolled by insatiable-for-more-wealth billionaires, and often voted for by (gullible – maybe?) folks wishing it all away, but c’mon! What more do you need to see before accepting we’re in trouble?
Bright
Anyway, with July done, here’s hoping August isn’t too extreme (either way) for rain or heat. Selfishly, I’d settle for the low 20s, and lengthy periods of sunshine and blue skies after frequent (but not too frequent) rain showers. The days where a shaded pint seems like a good idea…
A good idea? Hmm…
Keeping it brief. Youngest brother unexpectedly required and survived a lifesaving operation earlier this week. Mightily relieved is an understatement. Our plans to share a pint or two have been put on (temporary) hold. I’ve always told him no good ever comes of cider. Now beer, however…
Thanks for reading, and here’s wishing you comfortable conditions for a wonderful weekend ahead!
Cheers!Leaves on the ground – the merest hint of fall ahead?! No…
We went through these gates and found ourselves in a delightful planted garden. Given the day was getting warmer and warmer, it was quite a relief to be wandering shaded paths as we admired the semi-formal arrangements.
An open (well, unlocked) invitation – let’s go!
As mentioned last week, I don’t have much gardening knowledge, but this didn’t prevent my appreciation of the colours on display. Mrs. PC is better versed in plant stuff (that’s a technical term) and confirmed these were hollyhocks:
Hollyhocks (photo and ID by Mrs. PC)
Some of the areas were a bit overdone for my tastes, and other spots were just right. This, to my mind, is just right:
Probably because it appeals to my lethargic side…
Some of the wider vistas reminded me of the gardens of stately homes I was dragged around as a cheerful child back in the UK. You’ve probably seen a few serving as picturesque backdrops to televised British costume dramas. There is always a line going “Mr. and Mrs. Whittenstall-Ponsonby-Wealthy-Slave-Trader-Landed-Gentry-Hyphenated-Jones kindly request the company of…” and then you fall asleep.
“…request the pleasure of your company for our summer ball. Please wear an uncomfortable frock and a powdered wig. The ladies too…”
I particularly enjoyed the small stream running through the gardens, and was very tempted to dip a toe in the water. Mrs. PC stopped me just in time, and took this one as a reminder I really should listen:
PC disrobing and ready for a dip. Agreed, I do look good for my age, but it isn’t my garden.
Must have been temporarily disoriented by the heat, but with cooler heads prevailing, we repaired to a shady bench and enjoyed a picnic lunch.
Shady
As you might have gathered, I’m not one to make regular visits to stately homes or formal grand gardens, at least no more than once or twice in a decade, but my lack of seriousness aside, I did enjoy these gardens. I can very much appreciate the skill, effort and passion necessary to produce such a lovely setting. Our new backyard requires a little landscaping, and now we’ve so many ideas. I think Mrs. PC is open to a tasteful statue or two or three…
I’ll finish by saying thanks for reading, I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and sign off with a few more photographs below!
OldPlaidCamper 