Two for the Price of One

Getting ready to carve this year’s pumpkin reminds me of an unusual one we had the year before last. We were fortunate to find a Siamese pumpkin. What were the odds? You can clearly see that while they are joined, they each have their own set of pumpkin guts and seeds.

Brightening a Winter Day

Was lucky to come across this beautiful yarn at a local thrift shop. One bag was marked $1.99 the other was $2.99. So for $4.98 I was able to launch my latest knitting project, a winter scarf with a lovely nubbly texture. It's sure to brighten up a winter day.

Fragile Beauty #3

Another example of the fragile beauty of autumn leaves... that point where a leaf has crossed its blazing prime, the beginning of its decline. Such fragile beauty.

Fragile Beauty #2

Think of autumn foliage and chances are the first leaf that comes to mind is the maple... in a gold, orange, red palette. But there are all sorts of other trees that contribute their own brush strokes of colour to fall's masterpiece.

Fragile Beauty

At this time of year the evidence of decay is all around us. There is a type of beauty in such decay. The changing pigments eventually give way, the colours gradually fading out. The leaves show blemishes and tears. It has a fragile beauty. Wrinkled parchment, with a luminosity. Many leaves are still on the trees, but at any moment the last of the life force will drain away and one leaf or another will detach itself from its branch and float silently to the ground.

A Piece of My Heart

The word for memories in French is souvenir. So it was apt that I would want to bring home a small souvenir of my beloved mountain on a trip back to my childhood hometown.

At the base of the mountain, along the path in the car park I noticed this heart-shaped rock. I brought it home with me, a small memento of Mont St. Hilaire. But there’s a tiny notch at the bottom missing… the little piece of my heart I left behind.

La Cabosse d'or

After a hike up Mont St. Hilaire, having worked up a little appetite, a great place to stop at the base of the mountain, is the chocolatier La Cabosse d'or, just down the street from Auclair's barn. Unfortunately for me, this wonderful chocolate wasn't around when I was young and living just a short distance away. Among the assortment of chocolates we purchased is a postcard of Mont St. Hilaire.