Halloween - 2015 edition

Once again, with some help from 'mon oncle Marc' and some make-up assistance from Mama, the girls came up with some splendid costumes again this year.

Alice as Une clowne épeurante

Lily and Annaelle as two Maharani - the female version of  Maharaja and so - indian queens. Lily declared that her favourite coutumes were not the scary ones.

Flor, who you can see in the back ground here, stayed home to answer the door to the streams of trick-or-treaters. She was dressed as a Spanish widow. Very convincing!

The 'white' house always wins the most decorated category!

The new improved Fragments Libres

Here is the new enlarged Fragments Libres. Éric spent one week hard at work with his new Serb/Croatian friend - and there it is. We all wonder now how we all fit before in half the space.

Alice's soccer début

Here we have Alice Back on the soccer pitch after having been sighted by an eager coach at Gabi's final match of the summer season. So Alice joins the fine family tradition of team sports. All good for now and she seems to be able to kick the ball occasionally!

A few mountain pictures that I could not resist shareing

Lily on her way DOWN whitewater after a miserable night with fever manages  a real smile after a leisurely coming of the mountain...  thanks to her patient Pa .

 And the superbe Lyle Basin

 

Alice in the paintbrush 

Meo's concert

A grand event in the valley, Meo's first harp gig at the Hidden Garden Gallery along with talented and beloved Paul and Koko. We were quite a crew of Harris supporters - the concert quite upstaged the art show in many respects. Well done Meo!

The ritual hair braid before departure.

Front row supporters

 The artists at play

A captivated crowd

Oh the lake!

Thomson was almost a match for his aunt this summer!

 

and the trail home again

cousin power!!

Here they are, the fearsome five. Fearsome indeed, they spent a good deal of time this summer in the orchard sitting in a pile like this one telling each other scary stories. I think that they all managed to sleep despite their best efforts to spook themselves.

Some New Denver Summer moments - Émile and Paul-Antoine

Trumpet to the lake. 

el fotographo - setting up for the family portrait. 

This same camera was hauled up white water by the photographer himself!

New Denver - First things first!

I am back from a very full three weeks at the Ranch. Eric and the girls return tonight, one week later. I post here a smattering of our time there.

 Before anything else can happen there are iris to contend with. I spent my first couple of mornings with mattock in the marsh. I would return to the marsh at the end of my stay but this time in performance mode. Quite a different rapport with the mud!

Day Four - Moose Mountain, Saskatchewan

No pictures yet today but I talked with Colin and Eric earlier. They all seem to be doing well. Colin says that the term 'mountain' is used here rather loosely and there don't seem to be any sign of moose either.

They are making very good time. In New Denver by Saturday?

Day Three - Blue Lake, Ontario (near Kenora)

Day two - Pukaskwa

I don't have much news today apart from hearing that they did make it to Pukaskwa provincial park on the shores of Lake Superior. Colin was there last time and was keen to go back, and back they are. They should have one more day of Ontario before they hit the prairies.

Day One

Colin, Griffin, Éric and Alice headed off today for New Denver, from Ottawa. The beginning of a 6-8 day adventure! Lily and I drove them there yesterday, we all stayed the night and we were there for the great send off this morning (with a certain amount of last minute meal preparations and gear sorting). I have a feeling that this trip is going to go smoothly and that Colin and Éric are going to make a very good team - they were aiming to get off before 10am. When I looked at the clock just after they had pulled out it was 9:56!  

Here are our voyagers fresh and clean and all packed up.

A surprising amount of stuff fit into the tiny Fit. There is no clue from the outside that they are heading off for a trip across the country and not just around the block.

The wave off committee.

and they are off....

Some hours later.... I have driven back to Montreal and then to the eastern townships where I left Lily and her friend Annaelle for a couple of days. 8pm. I just talked with them from their camp site where they were waiting for their supper to cook. They are at Les Chutes provincial park just past Sudbury. Where they were hoping to get tonight. Colin stayed there on his last trip. They were slowed by a good deal of road work but otherwise all seems to have gone well. Alice seems to have listened to her new Taylor Swift album much of the way! Tomorrow they aim for Pukaskwa.

Vinalhaven - Lane's Island

 A beautiful excursion on our bicycles to Lane's Island. It made me think a bit of Ruckle Park on Saltspring minus the farm and the sea life. A beautiful trail along the shore through the rose bushes overlooking the rocks and the ocean. Great scrambling for children young and old!

Happy Scrambelers

 Lily And Zack in the waves

I don't know where Zack is in this one, under the wave

Lobster Boat passing

 

Two friends again

Lily with her seaweed bracelet

Rachel looking (in vain) for sea creatures. There are lots of snails and crabs and limpets but not much else. The thing to study here would be seaweed which comes in all shapes and sizes.

Alice, keeping up with the boys.

The bike ride home, as pleasant as the walk. The boys are already well on ahead on their speedy bikes with Alice close in tow. Some of us travel at a more leisurely pace.

Lily with the Harbour

Lily and flag.