Fall is Best...

For what you ask?  To clean out the gardens and put them to bed for the winter! 

 

My Parents Red Maple Tree is oh so beautiful in the Fall. Ours is beautiful also but it's small.

This past weekend I finally had a chance to clean out my flower beds and get them ready for the winter.  When I first started gardening when we got our first house (I can not believe it was almost 10 years ago already),  I left all my garden clean to do in the spring. Boy did I quickly discovered that was a big NO NO.  What a soggy yucky mess that was to clean up.

 

The fall is definitely the time to clean up the gardens while all the plants are somewhat dry and the weather is enjoyable.

 

This year I bought a big pack of yard waste bags from the Superstore and Hubby noticed they came with an insert support piece.  

 

 

Man did it make filling up the bags a whole lot easier!

 

 

 

I had some extra hands helping again this year until the Lil Man decided he wanted to play the Red-stop / Green-go game with Dad.

 

 

 

Five lawn bags later I finally finished and my flower beds are ready for the winter. It was so nice crossing that off my 'to do' list.

 

When do you do your garden clean up?

 

2014 Thanksgiving Celebrations

Thanksgiving was a little different for us this year. It was still very enjoyable and really nice to get together with family.

 

I did some baking... 

 

Made an Apple Crisp picture below

We enjoyed a turkey dinner with my family on the Saturday of the Thanksgiving weekend.

 

 

On the Sunday we had a roast beef dinner at Hubby's parents. Oma made poffertjes with wild blueberries for dessert and the picky Lil Man enjoyed both things!  Aunt R went away Thanksgiving weekend which resulted in us celebrating thanksgiving with a turkey dinner a week later. Which worked out great as I had a few breaks from cooking, which is always so wonderful {insert a happy dance}.

 

 

Sitting around the table with the people that matter most to you, chatting away and reminiscing over past memories while enjoying a delicious home cooked meal with family,  is truly what Thanksgiving is all about. 

 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

The Inevitable

 

Two months ago today we said our goodbyes to a close family member. No matter how old an individual whether ten, sixty-seven or ninety, it always seems to early to say goodbye to someone until we see them again.  Life is so precious. 

 

 

Although it is not a first I will be recording in the Lil' Man's book of firsts,  it is still a first. Two months ago today the Lil Man attended his first funeral. On August 9th we received the call that Aunt B had passed away.  She is the first spouse of our parent's siblings to pass away. At times like these it is really hard not to look at life as a whole and analyze it and reflect on what is truly important.



Image found on Google search

In all honesty I was quite worried as I was unsure how the Lil' Man would behave and I was not sure if people would see him being there as inappropriate. I did not have a babysitter and it was really important to us to attend Aunt B's funeral.  If you have not realized it by now,  Family is EXTREMELY important to us. Overall, considering the circumstances, the Lil Man did really well. I worried for nothing. For part of the morning I had to sit in the car with the Lil Man and we drew sad faces (pic above) as I explained to the Lil' Man that it was a sad day. Before we headed home, we received a thank you from Uncle E for bringing him with us. I guess in his own little unique way the Lil' Man kind of lightened the day a bit with his contagious smile and it brought a little bit of sunshine to a dark sad day.

I've seen the following verse before at my grandfathers funeral thirteen years ago and again on this day two months ago. I am sure I will see it many more times in the future.  I always try to think of it during sad times like these as I find it comforting.
 

One of the prints I designed recently. Another quote that I find comforting during the death of a loved one.

 

 

I wish life was full of just happy and joyous moments, like the celebration of two people in love - a wedding, an anniversary,  the birth of a child. But it is inevitable, we are here only for a while.  Every breath we take and every day/ hour we spend with those dear to us is a gift in itself. This summer, during a time of  celebrating happiness and joy we also experienced loss and sadness. We should not take for granted what we have. Life is just to short not to live it to the fullest and cherish every moment we get to spend with those we love.





 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was put to the test.  A certain someone said they don't like pumpkin spice anything.  Turns out he liked these guys! Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Icing!

Guess I passed the test.
Hope everyone has a wonderful thanksgiving with your families!  Time to pull out the stretchy pants. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Time Flies.

This is one of my favourite shots from that day, taken by Nat Caron from Nat Caron Photography.

 

This past weekend we celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary. It's crazy how fast the time flies. Feels like it was just yesterday.

 

We did not really do anything special this year. On the actual day we attended a first birthday party. The drive down was nice as all the fall colours are looking beautiful.

 The above photo and the one below were taken last weekend near our place. We snuck in a drive because the weather was beautiful. We are surrounded by so much beauty where we live. Don't you think? Have I mentioned I love this time of year, it's just so beautiful!

I thought I would replicate the dessert from our wedding day and made caramel apple crepes. It was my first time making crapes and lets just say I need to work on the thickness. Other than that they were very enjoyable.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

September 2014

 

I snapped this photo when we went apple picking this past weekend.

 

Just a little update of what we have been up to this month. The weather around our place has been absolutely gorgeous the last two weeks. Which has allowed us to enjoy a bunch of wonderful outdoor fall outings. We went to the fall fair - the GNE. The weather was the warmest and driest it's been in years (when we were there at least. It started to rain as we were getting in the car to go home).

 

 

The Lil Man had fun. He enjoyed seeing the animals especially the cows and the tractors. He had his first taste of a candy apple. This was the best candy apple I have ever had. It was so fresh and juicy.

 

 

 

We treated ourselves to a smile cookie and supported our local community. This was the Lil Man's first smile cookie. He decided to lick the icing off his "Happy Cookie" (that's what he called them).

Muddy puddles ...

With all the rain we have been getting, things have been a little muddy around our place. This has made one Lil' Man really happy.

... are LOTS of fun!

This past weekend we went apple picking at a local apple orchard close to home. Hopefully this will be a yearly tradition for our family. When I was little, we always went apple picking in the fall.



Great little helper.

 

 

Yes I posted the same photo twice. What do you prefer ... colour photos or black & white. I love b&w photos.

 

 

The following photo summarizes Hugo and Mommy so well.

 



 

I Spy an Apple Tester

 It was such a beautiful day and we had so much fun. We will definitely be returning next year. This location had a nice assortment of apples, it was nicely laid out, reasonably priced, and the best part it is local and only ten minutes away from home.

 

We also went plum picking ...

 

 

Some one was enjoying apple picking so much they did not want to go home. 

 

 

 

  

This years assortment of Apples - Macs, Cortland & Spartan.
Note to self: next year grab some snow apples also

I have also been trying to take advantage of this beautiful warm weather to get some sanding done. I had a little sanding accident (not the first time and I'm sure not the last either) ... sanded my fingers while I was sanding my mini ornament blocks. They are just so small to work with. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it.

 

 That is it for now. It felt nice to finally get another blog post up. Hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather. Have a great week!

When it Rains it Pours ...

... I think that's how the saying goes. Last weekend the Lil' Man and Hubby were in a wedding party. Here's a little sneak peak.

 

 

Don't they look cute in their skirts. Hopefully the wonderful and talented Nat Caron from Nat Caron Photography was able to snap some photos of the wee Lil' Man who is always on the go. Can't wait to see them!

We managed to squeeze in a family photo {insert super excited face}.

Working his magical powers lol.

 

If I said this day was a breeze, boy would I be lying. It has been one of my most challenging days as a Mom. It was a really hot day and as a result the Lil' Man wanted nothing to do with wearing his warm outfit. Thank goodness for his orange socks that his awesome Aunt R picked up for him in Europe. I seriously think they saved the day. The ceremony took  place at two-thirty in the afternoon, which meant he wasn't able to have a nap. If you have been around a child who is tired and has not had a nap you know how that ends. Long story short, the Lil' Man was not himself this day. We dealt with eye rolls and "shhhshhh" for the first time (which made me feel so wonderful ... NOT). I thought it was because he was tired but it turns out he was getting the beginning of a nasty virus {insert extremely sad face}. The day after the wedding he woke up with a high fever (the highest he's ever had) and a nasty rash all over his body. It was not a good week. If I knew what I know now, I would not have put him through that {I feel like a horrible mother}.

 

I of course did not have a crystal ball and had everything sitting at home to make salsa the following Monday. If you have made salsa before you know how much work that involves. Now throw a sick child into that mix.

My family braved being around the Lil' Man when he was sick and I some how managed to get it all done. It has been a crazy week around here. Maybe one of these days I will get caught up on blog posts ... we'll see.

A Little Sneak Peak

There are a lot of parties happening lately. This past weekend we celebrated Oma & Opa's 40 years of marriage.  Here's a little sneak peak (photos taken with my cell. I have not had a chance yet to dump the photos off the camera. It's been a little crazy). The Lil' Man loved his mini ketchup bottles and of course the ice cream buffet.

[Designed by Feito By Tania]

 

 

Hope everyone is having a lovely week.

Archibald Microbrewery Restaurant

Byron came back a bit earlier than I was expecting all sunburned and exhausted from all the walking he did at MSA. This meant we were able to head out  to dinner earlier and possibly go to Old Quebec City after dinner if the rain held off. He had a good time, which made me happy and he took lots of pictures

While in Quebec City we enjoyed a delicious meal at Archibald Microbrewery Restaurant.

 



Once you step into the restaurant you are greeted by this guy ...

... which instantly sets the mode for the restaurant ... a traditional Quebec cottage feel with a rustic décor  throughout.

 



 

 

While we were looking over the menu and trying to decide what to order our waitress brought us some marinated olives which were served hot.

 

 

 

We started our meal with a delicious poutine appetizer. When in QC, one must have poutine, Right? Well that is what we did.  It was practically a meal on it's own. 

 





 

 

I think it's safe to say it's the best poutine we have ever enjoyed complete with real cheese curds (smoky ones), braised beef and delicious hot gravy. My mouth is watering just thinking about it as I write this post.

 

Following we each enjoyed a tasty steak dinner ...

 

 

 

I ordered a 6oz beef tenderloin which was served with mashed potatoes and veggies. Even the corn tasted so yummy.

 

Hubby ordered a sirloin steak which was served with French fries and veggies. Both meals were very enjoyable.

 

To drink with our dinner Hubby enjoyed their Chipie beer and I thoroughly enjoyed a glass of Malbec which went perfect with my meal choice. What can I say, my Hubby knows his wines!

 

We did feel a little rushed during dinner because they asked us if we would be done our dinner by 5 p.m. when we arrived, just before they took us to our seats, which we found a little odd. I guess they want to keep the flow moving as it appears to be a popular place to eat. Once we were seated, they did not rush us at all. Our food came out at a reasonable pace.

 

If you get a chance to visit this restaurant while in Quebec City, we would highly recommend it. We arrived early, just after 4 p.m. which was good because it was packed by the time we left about an hour later just after 5 p.m..