So what's it all about, Eh?


We keep on about the windows; each window, and its frame, takes up to six coats - three inside and three outside. In the mean time, we have to keep the bugs outside!  

And the previous paint is pretty poor - here are before and after views, after sanding .....

And although each window is small, it takes somehow over an hour for each stage!

Fortunately, they are made of cedar - which doesn't rot, so we don't have that to deal with :-)

Karen and Denis, and Karen's parents, came for a very happy supper yesterday - Friday.  We had a Paella Valenciana which seems to have gone down well; and Ali made a scrumptious, fresh, fruit salad to follow.  Lovely.

 

"The best recycling is re-use" - who said that?  I want a foam bag to sit on to paddle in the little canoe when its done; it took me over an hour to cut some waste polystyrene packing into 2cm cubes and put it into the old feed sack - I need more before it's full enough, but it's on the way....




 


And talking of on the way - here's the little boat after two coats of varnish; real yacht varnish, that is!

All this industry - Ali chased me off to go fishing at the end of the day.  Now, why didn't I think of that before?  Glassy lake, scent of woodsmoke from someone's stove or a Labour Day weekend barbecue perhaps?  No fish ( surprised? - I think not! ) but delightful.

 In fear and trepidation.....

I headed for the basement before breakfast.  Yesterday we had glued the outwhales to the little boat, scrupulously measuring the resin and mixing for ever - had the glue set?  Well ....... it had in the pot. 

I took the stern clamp off; all held tight; no exploding release of pent up, wood-retaining forces.

After a rather rushed breakfast, I took off ALL of the clamps, slowly, one by one.  At every moment expecting a "clack" as the bond failed somewhere.

But no; all is good and the rest of the day has been spent slowly, steadily but oh, so laboriously trimming and sanding and making all ready for varnish tomorrow - when the water from the hose-pipe has thoroughly dried!

The taper joints at bow and stern are tight and even. All's come together really very nicely.

The white walnut outwhales and the ash jointing strips, that the very nice man in Rona in St Jovite cut for me, look the part; the sweet-smelling cedar inwhales are perhaps a little soft...

And in between all this, we took advantage of a warm, not too humid day to add the second coat of undercoat to the window-box on the landing that we had started yesterday, and to give the first coat of primer to the windows themselves.

And Ali weeded the border under the sumac and mended and primed the fly-screen.

There are wild violets in the front lawn......

Two steps forward.....

.... one step back :-(

The two steps forward are a wonderful morning spent in the meadow.  Not only do we now have a "quad" of our own, but we previously bought a trailer (remorque) from the previous owner.  We never really thought that it would work - but it does!  And the hauling of golden-rod  to the great compost heap in the wood behind the house got a whole lot easier!

Which, considering the humidity today was a real God-send.
Everywhere you go in the meadow the place clicks and jumps and buzzes with insect life; no butterflies but bees and wasps and grasshoppers a plenty.  It's stunning.


Mark and Janice came for supper- a very happy affair that Ali cooked. 

And the one step back?  The priming coat of resin on the inside of the outwhales for the little boat has failed to cure - mis-measured is my guess.  So I had to clean all that off.  And then do a trial mix - which worked.  So tomorrow we can try to glue them on!

Left - priming mix at 36 hours; Right - trial mix at 6 hours; set!

10.20 at night and the fly screens are on; the windows open behind them and the fans whirling.  Hot and humid!

First steps....

We have this (mad) idea to travel by our own effort from here to Toronto.  It is extremely unlikely to happen but hey; if you don't begin, you can't finish!

So today we made the first steps - or strokes - and paddled from the descent public nearby to the acces public at the head of the lake.  It is 4 Km each way to the swamp at the top on another mapping system - we haven't got the hang of being picked up yet! 






It gets pretty marshy at the head of the lake - lots of steering strokes  - and changes from deep water to shallow water paddles - to weave in and out of the herbage!  We think that these are sanderling - quite small birds "dipping" on the mud bank.

The day was warm to start - this is our lunch break at the top access.  But the cloud came in and the wind picked up and it was a hard slog, straight down the length of the lake to home.  No water into the boat but quite a bit on to the bow paddler and definitely some determined paddle work in the middle there!

A short "zizz" on the bank when we arrived back, and warm showers and a bit more rest.

Then to show this to Gilles:  he approved of our new gardening helper.



Home at last to eventual supper; a family favourite, "Pork chops with barbecue baste" with yellow zucchini from Audrey and home grown leeks from the maize farm.

It was pitch dark at  8.10 pm - we're racing towards the equinox.

Moonshot?

 

I  mean!  I know that we're known for our somewhat "eccentric" approach to life, but a rocket in the basement tunnel?  Surely not?

Well, no; the more observant of you will have recognised the similarity between this device and insulated chimney pipes - and you'd be right. And the even more informed will recognised Karen's steamer connected to it.  It's time to bend the outwales for the little boat and this steam chamber means that the basement isn't full of steam as it was the last time we did this job!

But life here is taking a gentler pace - not before time, some say!  Lorne and Audrey came for a happy supper on Thursday; masses of home grown vegetables, home baked bread by both families and a tortiere of bison, deer and  wild boar!  The original tortiere were based around pork, and were thus very fatty and moist.  Nowadays, particularly with these animals, they tend to be rather dry - so I made a rich onion gravy to go with it.  And Ali baked a wonderful apple crumble with some of L & A's apples.

The sun went down in a glow behind the grove at the entry to the domaine.

The other front window is in now:

The mystery gets a little clearer.....

Little Mester

A long, long time ago, my dear college friend and flat-mate, Dave, would occasionally give me a lift to and from Leeds when he went home for the weekend.  The "occasional" was my doing, my girl-friend (sitting next to me as I type this) was in Sheffield, his was in Leeds, I'm sure that great-hearted Dave would have given me a lift whenever; and I'm not sure that I ever contributed to the petrol either.  Oh dear, too late to do anything about that now but still, thanks Dave....

As we arrived back in Sheffield early on Monday morning - traffic was light enough to make that possible - we would come through the back streets of, I think, Attercliffe, where the foundries and manufactories were.  Of course all that's gone now, replaced by a gigantic shopping centre.  Shopping - the new industry!

Through partly opened gates and doors, we would see the scaled down versions of the great furnaces that thundered and roared in other parts of the city.  What we could see were the workshops of the Master founders; casting and finishing almost anything that you could name out of iron and steel.  And in support of them there were the "Little Mesters", the hand formers and finishers of everything from scalpels to gardening sheers.

One of these men was a patient of mine for a time; small, wiry, constantly coughing and grey of face from the steel filings thrown back by the grinding wheel that was his essential tool.  But he loved fishing; Sunday afternoon he told me he was to be found by the canal bank, fishing.  I, too, loved fishing and, I expect in gently mocking deference to my longing to catch something "big", he made me a pair of Spencer-Wells forceps - over-long - to use as a disgorger "come the day".

I wish that I was writing this to tell you that the "day" had finally come, but no.  The forceps have met a much more mundane but much more useful role than fulfilling fantasies.  I have - as I think I have already written - been stripping the window fittings.  The stripping gel is fearsome; it can sting through two pairs of vinyl gloves, one over the other.  The Spencer-Wells are perfect for "fishing" the fittings out of the gel and rinsing them without touching!  My "Little Mester" must be long dead, but "thank you" just the same Sir, you are not forgotten - and neither is Dave and those travels of boys becoming men.

Progress is steady; everyone is forcing me to take time off!  A pontoon ride with K & D and her parents Monday afternoon was lovely - but I'm afraid I was very quiet (!) and even dozed on the rear seat. 



Today was busy this morning, I'm mending the bird-feeder (more of that later!) but we went to St Jovite this afternoon to have a pulley and belt replaced on the car - and, as it transpires, to rescue Lorne.  He'd broken down on the 117 outside town and we met him as we returned to the garage to collect our car, after shopping in St J.  So we took him home; what else, Eh?  We stopped off at Tacos Lolita the Mexican / Lebanese diner for supper.  Good as ever!


 

 
And then all sorts of fun stuff happened!  See you later!

Quiet industry - and later meanderings!

Sunday - always difficult to know quite how to mark it here.  In the past we've joined the local Catholic Church for Parish Mass, but at least one of us struggles with the French and no-one said Hello after at least six visits....  There's a lesson there for those of us who care for congregations; accessible language and a welcome.

 
So our day passed quietly enough with more gentle industry - the overnight bread-bake was better again; the other front window's out and its fittings are being stripped prior to re-painting; the first of the white ash trim was glued to the little canoe.....

We made fritters for tea; using up an apple and some ham, diced, and some cooked sweet corn.  There were far too many - but none survived!
 

But somehow, it was a late night; past midnight, in fact we listened to some of Farming Today from the BBC - a programme we are never early enough to hear at home!

Today, by contrast, was all bustle; coats of paint on the window frames - inside and out and removable; great sweeping of the basement and cleaning of those windows; detail work on the little canoe; and a phone call from Mark - riding!


Miraculously, I can still get into my riding trousers!

Such a great way to spend a couple of hours.  Thanks, Mark!

It's SHOWTIME!

Well, Country Show time!

Away nice and early - for us - and down to Montebello, then East (for once; usually it's West for Ottawa and Toronto) along the 50 to the turn south for Hawkesbury and the bridge over the Ottawa into Ontario.  Past places called Happy Hollow and Pleasant Corners to a little town / settlement called vanKleek Hill.  Normally what you might call a "One Horse Town", but not today.  Oh No!  Horses galore!

Mark - and others of the tribe - were riding, but the Stars of the Show were the heavy horses; at one point, 12 rigs of six in hand in the ring at the same time!  They are so big that people were three steps up on step-ladders to plait their manes.  Absolutely wonderful; wonderful.

 

 

Ali really entered into the spirit of things and she, the girl who doesn't like hats, allowed me to buy THIS for her (well, she handed over the money, but you know what I mean ......)

It was a lovely, warm afternoon in farming country; games for the kids; tractors for the men folk; vegetable competitions and handicrafts for someone; horses for everyone!

 We came back the "direct" way, up the valley of the Riviere Rouge; pretty much a straight line and lots of great views (it would be amazing in Fall colours) but about 50% gravel roads and so very slow.

Never mind; really good to have seen for once.


This is Bell (might be Belle)  Rapids from the bridge over.

And such a treat to come home - to this; our one prong buck at the end of the garden - no windows between.

Actually, we are beginning to have mixed feelings about our beautiful herd of white-tails; our hydrangea - which they had stripped to a resemblance of bamboo canes - had done a noble job of recovering; until yesterday.

Hmmmmm

My Mother always said......

.........that I should be a Wagnerian boat-builder.  Well, boat-builder perhaps, but perhaps Bach these days, rather than Wagner - although I still love a good tune!  Do you know the one, "When the Angels play music for God, they play Bach; when they play for themselves, they play Mozart!" ?

Anyway - I'm getting ahead of myself.

Weather has been decidedly mixed!  That constitutional the other evening - that was lovely!  The light, and unexpected finds like the tiny pond caused by the "switchback" in the road....

Thursday was a house-bound day, with a brief trip to the village to pay the rates and buy a few supplies; although we're still living out of the fridge - will be for days at this rate!

Oh!  One little discovery....  I had been in a filthy mood for some of Tuesday; really horrible..... On Thursday morning I discovered that I was taking Wednesday's medicines.  I seem completely to have forgotten my doses on Tuesday.  In the early days of my rheumatoid I was very aware that the active disease produces psychotropic - mood changing - toxins.  I'm much better now!

On Thursday evening we went over to Lorne and Audrey's for supper; a lovely, "back where we began" sort of evening.  Not too much food, what there was was as good as ever; we were surprisingly late, but it was a horrible drive back with the rental car light on its steering in the heavy rain and the road markings obscured by low-lying fog as the heat of the road vapourised the rain.  Yeuch!

Today was a leisurely, mixed-up start with bits of boat-building and bits of reading and a very late brunch before I went to collect the immaculately repaired and restored van (car).  Even valeted inside!  Fabulous and a lot less expensive than having the Morgan done (a lot less work, mind!).


But, do you remember those split and bent Cedar bars?  Well, they're in place now!  And the inwales have been reduced to the height of the hull forward of the curves, ready for the decks to fit flush and be edged with white ash!

And the decks have been cut and coated with resin, so that I shan't be guddling around underneath them in due course!

But the "piece de la resistance" or the "pieces de la ......" have to be the safety rope loops (aka carrying handles)!

Of these, more later .....

Turum; turum; turum; turum.....

.. the bread maker just starting up for another of those (hopefully) yummy loaves!

We have had a busy two days with Pam and Noel here but no Trips as such.  Monday morning early I was in the village leaving the car to have its sills repaired or replaced.  Later, Ali and Pam set off for the trip to Lac Noire in the big green canoe.  They were back in record time - about 2.25 hours - having had what seems to have been a good time.  But not one to be repeated just yet. 

Lac Noir trip

Noel did sterling work pulling golden rod up - the job looks really very much better than before he started, but it hasn't photographed well.













Tuesday - a bit more of the same; strolls, weeding, little canoe (first inwhale fastened (second today!).  Looking good!~~


I have high hopes of the woodwork needing four more days - if the resin lasts......








And speaking of woodwork; Karen and Denis came for supper last night - I cooked salmon on a cedar plank in the barbecue.

This was yummy - but a bit salty; needs longer washing after the brining process.  Spectacular to bring to table on its burned plank!

 The house is quiet again now.  Needs kids here really.  Heading out for a constitutional.....

Game, Set and Montreal!

Saturday morning - bright and early - off to Montreal for the BIG event of the trip (so far!); the Rogers' (Men's Tennis) Cup.  And it was a good thing that we were so early away as the traffic blocked up almost to stationary with an accident in the middle of the road-works on the last bridge before Montreal!

However, we still made it in decent time to meet Pam and Noel at  the hotel.  Parked car, dropped off the luggage, caught the super-efficient Metro (tube) and split into two parties - Pam and Ali to the tennis, Noel and me to our own devices - at UQaM (the University station).

I can only speak for our day, Ali will write something of theirs in due course I expect.  in the mean time, here are some views of her day :-)

We headed off to the waterfront, all the way down Berri St, stopping only briefly to buy oil paints in a brilliantly well-equipped art shop!

The Old Port stretches 3 or 4 blocks along the river - which flows very fast at this point.  On the South shore is the site of the previous Expo, now home of the Canadian Grand Prix.  Many years ago, when we were holidaying in Vermont, we came to Montreal for the day and parked just under the bridge to the left of this picture...

We walked for miles; looked in galleries and Inuit art stores; had late lunch - and decided to head for the Botanical gardens for the most amazing exhibition.  So, back up Rue Berri, into the metro again, and out at the Olympic Park with its iconic tower.

By now, the old ankle is grumbling a bit, but there was a free shuttle bus to the Botanical Gardens and after an interminable wait to buy tickets by smart phone (the long queue would almost certainly have been shorter in time) we finally made it in.

Mosaicultures Internationales is a sort of Municipal Floral Displays (remember every sea-side town and its floral clock when we were young-er?) on steroids.  The displays are simply awe-inspiring; The craft skill involved is huge, but you wouldn't - couldn't - have one in your garden!  The biggest is 30 metes tall and weighs 100 tonnes.

The "dog" in this example is about eight feet tall - and covered in golden grasses; the "Planter" is embracing a four-foot birch sapling!


Here are some more:

But it was a very long walk and we felt that we'd earned our beer and tapas and (eventual) ribs / fish and chips and more beer!

Sunday we drove up  after a latish breakfast (Pam & Ali got back to the hotel at about 11.45pm) and have pretty much chilled since then :-)

"On the road to St Jovite...."

".....  where the car gets its new bits,"

(to parody Kipling woefully but it does make a point about the accent, it's Jovit, not Joveet!)

All morning yesterday to take the car for its new brake discs (all 4!) and pads, to do the inevitable shop in Rona (Think Homebase with a woodyard and a woodworking work-shop) and IGA (Sainsbury's); back home to a degree of success with the windows going back in - thank heaven for Mr Orme and woodwork class at school!

Today - back again (this time with Ali to keep an eye on my shopping ;-) ; I'm a sucker for hand tools). Collect the car (there is a rotor loose on the motor - not urgent but "shall we order the part for you?" - "yes please" - (and that'll be another trip to have it fitted....) - the brakes are lovely!



Back home - corn for corn relish - a Crawford family treat ever since I can remember; "Bicks" it was -  a habit brought back by my grandparents perhaps?









On the way back, we stopped for some photos of my favourite views - but the light isn't right.

Try again tomorrow on the way to Montreal for the Tennis!

Beaver dam

A stream to paddle?

Letter to a dear friend:

I do hope he won't mind, but I'm tired, and it's late and it was such a pleasure to hear from him and the words flowed onto the page - so here they are!

There is so much to do!  Sometimes it's a bit depressing; all those plans to take time off this year just don't seem to come to anything.  But then, I am very miserable if I try just "sitting around" and simply HAVE to go and find myself a job.  So, in reality, it's much better this way.

But I'm multitasking well, obviously enhancing my feminine side! 

 
Last evening we set off the bread-maker again; this time with a lot more water in the mix!  Success!  It's a little bit TOO damp now - but it's risen well, has a good texture and tastes great!


 
Then today has been virtually the last of painting the particular window that we are tackling this side of the weekend; just have to check the ironware (sliding, connected top and bottom bolt - very traditional) to see whether it needs a lick of black gloss, and then wait impatiently for all of the paint to be hard before we begin the reassembly!

I also took time to invent and cook a recipe for cherry and apple chutney (both in season and on "special" in many of the supermarkets.  The cherries are from USA but the apples (McIntoshes) are from Ontario - a bit hard yet but just the job for chutney).  I think that it will serve for cheese or cold meats in the winter.

Here's the recipe - so I don't forget it:  

Cherry and Apple Chutney "107"
3 cups of red onion - coarsely chopped
3 cups of eating apple, cored and diced, skin on
3 cups cherries, stoned and halved
1/3 whole nutmeg, grated
5 inches of cinnamon stick
2 cloves of garlic, whole
2 "thumbs" of ginger (I have big thumbs), cut into pieces like a chip (french fry), counted
2 cups cider vinegar
Peel of one lemon, in ribbons, minimal pith
1tsp ground mixed spice
4 slices of hot pickled peppers, finely diced
1 cup sultanas
2 cups brown sugar


Bring to a boil, simmer to reduce so that a spoon dragged through the mix leaves the pan base clear.  Remove garlic, counted ginger pieces and lemon peel.  Bottle.

© "107" 2013

All the shops here are set up for home"canning" as they call it.  I was expecting wonderful machines to pressure seal metal cans but no; in fact, "canning" is bottling, jam-making and so on.  Any kind of preserving really.


You can buy very sensibly priced jars, labels and what-not in all sorts of outlets.  Canadian Tire (think Halfords crossed with B&Q and Sainsbury's home section) has them on offer!  You are very likely to be given jars of this and that as presents - and now we can, too!
Oh!  and the jar-filling funnel is BRILLIANT!
 
And lastly, the little boat.  I realise now that I have been at this nearly a whole year - in fact, a little longer!  But just after I began it last year we started the house-renovation; Winter is NOT the time for boat-building, although I did make some progress; May was the field and now here we are!
So, what's my excuse?

Well, to be honest, I continue to make life difficult for myself.  First there was all the stencil work.  That was a nightmare and very time consuming.  Then I decided to use fillets of epoxy instead of good old glass tape for the joints.  Then I glass fabric'ed the outside of the hull - then the inside!  Now I am playing at laminating curved cedar laths to go under the decks - which are SO off the plans it's not true!  As a result I'm now waiting for the second clamp-up to dry before I glue that up and - to be honest - I'm a bit tired this evening and that may have to wait another day.  I really want this boat built!"  It's about a light as the Pack;

and I want to get into sail-making and mast-steps, next!

It's rained this afternoon - not that I noticed - and absolutely tipping it down now; the pre-torrent humidity has brought the mosquitos into the house  :-)

Huge activity.

Big weekend ahead; Ali and Pam are going to the Rogers Cup semis (tennis) in Montreal on Saturday, they will come up to us for a stay afterwards; the car goes to have its brakes done on Thursday, back on Friday, and we have no window by the dining table!  It's in the basement being painted.  And we have a tarpaulin over the outside of the window and Ali found Moose poo by the cabin this afternoon and something raided our bin the other evening (probably Raccoon) and something threw over two bins, two nights running last week; possibly, just possibly Bear!

But mostly, the weather has been cold!  9 degrees at night.  Aaargh!

So a big push on the window today - undercoat in the window box; first coat of gloss inside the frame - you know the stuff............

Of course, we've (I've) removed the hinges for stripping and painting - but that leaves the painted over screws: LEFT the painted over screws!  Who's gonna spend money on new screws when you can strip them too!  All you have to do is make a little jig, be sure to apply stripper to the recess in each screw, dunk them in goo for a couple of hours and hey, presto!  Clean screws, just ready for black spray paint to match the hinges .

Ali has weeded out the lower raised border of golden-rod.  It really DID seed heavily last year.  And she cooked a wonderful smelling Cherry pie; AND an instantly edible orange jam (Canadian Marmelade but made with sweet oranges) turnover, with a wonderful crisp and sticky bottom; Yum, Yum.


But after my smaller chores were done, this left time for some serious work on the little boat :-).  Inwales (inner gunwales) trimmed and fitted to abutt the breast-hooks; and a very exciting time splitting Cedar to make it flexible enough to fit the curve of the Deck edges.  Split em, (tricky; start by splitting the plank in half then half again seems to be the way), boil 'em for 15 minutes in the Corn (Maize) boiler; form them up to the jig; leave to dry a while; undo (keeping the right order!);  slather with Cascamite; re-clamp; hope for tomorrow!

If all else fails, Karen is having a clear-out and we are the amazingly grateful recipients of lots of "how to" books.  Perhaps I should have read one before I began :-(

A Tale of Three Lambs

But before that; the shock of the year!  Karen and Denis have sold their house. 
For some time now Denis has been worried that in the event of his death before her, Karen would be left with a big house with high taxes at the end of a lane in the French-speaking wilderness.  She's originally from Athabasca in the West and would probably want to move back in time.  So they put their house on the market.  Nothing's selling here so they felt OK about that; but it sold in 24 hours!

So, some shock all round - to say the least!.  They don't have to move until October but even so!

The rest of Saturday went by in a bit of a daze really.  I went in to St Jovite to collect more timber and vinyl gloves and stuff.  Then more work on the windows; creating the second fly screen and removing the windows, putting the hinges to strip; that sort of thing.

Sunday morning we went into the village for breakfast with Karen and Denis; then we stripped the insulation from under the beams on the southern edge of the basement floor.  We've been inundated with ants - big ones - and we found eggs and a multitude of individuals which I'm afraid we attacked with "Raid".  Reeks but does the job.

But what of the three lambs I hear you cry?



The first of these was cooked, Argentinian style, in a meal called an asado at Norman and Marta's Seignurie north of Nominingue.  She's Anglo-Argentinian, her parents fled when she was very small, but there is a family tradition, kept alive by her cousin-in-law, Jim, of celebrations cooking in this style.

This lamb had been raised by Sylvain, of the horse farm, who is partnered with one of N&M's daughters.

Here it is cooking:  The new wood to the fire is fostered at a distance and then the coals are raked under the beast.


And here it is cooked and removed from the spit:

It's a patchy business; the cooks wait until the side furthest away from the fire is of a suitable temperature and then turn the whole thing just once.  The higher part of the beast cooks very slowly so the legs are left to hang and cook further when the torso and fore-legs are removed for serving.

It was tasty indeed.

The second and third lambs had been rescued from the fire - literally!  A local farmer friend had had his barn hit by lightening and caught fire and something like 300  sheep had perished.  Apparently they run INTO the barn when faced with peril - it represents safety to them.  Duh!  One ram; one ewe and these two lambs were rescued.

The lambs have become house lambs - and wear nappies (diapers)!  Here's "Feu":

They are completely at home in the house, sitting on furniture, coming up to anyone and everyone, gambolling as lambs will.  They even get on with the dog - or mostly so.

The third lamb, who's name I deeply regret I did not catch, or if we were introduced I've forgotten, was playing with the dog when things hotted up a bit and the lamb jumped into the lake and swam across.  And here it was, bleating desperately!





At which stage, N&M's son grabbed a boat, hurled it and himself into the water, discovered there were no oars and hand paddled the craft across the lake to rescue the lamb!


Thrill and spills in the wilderness Eh!?




A very jolly evening with good food, good company, easy shift between French and English, interesting people...

Thanks Marta and Norman; that was fun!