Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts

Tuesday, 2 September 2014

Summer round up / Regard sur l'été

A dream kitchen garden / Un potager de rêves
Parc Marie-Victorin, Kingsey Falls, Québec

One lovely pond / Un étang fleuri
Parc Marie-Victorin, Kingsey Falls, Québec

Cimetière des frères du sacré-coeur
Victoriaville, Québec


Fabric balls for the little ones / Des balles de tissu
Easy, 12 pentagons sewn together /
Facile, 12 pentagones cousus ensemble

My sleepy Gazou / Mon Gazou endormi

Playful ducks / Des canards enjoués
Cap-Santé, Québec


A batch of homemade cucumber relish /
Ma relish de concombre maison

Five-spots from my garden /
Némophiles maculés de mon jardin

A balloon flower just before it pops open /
Un platycodon, ou fleur ballon, juste avant son ouverture

Bounty from my garden / Récolte de mon jardin

Quiet marina / Marina tranquille
Brighton, Ontario

American waterfalls / Les chutes américaines
Niagara Falls, Ontario

Canadian waterfalls / Les chutes canadiennes
Niagara Falls, Ontario

The Skywheel and night lights / La grande roue éclairée
Clifton Hill, Niagara Falls, Ontario

A pedestrian pathway / Un sentier pédestre
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario

A small winery / Un petit vignoble
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario

Wine grapes / Raisins à vin
Inniskillin Estate, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario

Flowered park at dusk / Parc fleuri au crépuscule
Niagara Falls, Ontario

Niagara River Whirlpool / Le tourbillon de la rivière Niagara
Niagara Falls, Ontario

Botanical Gardens / Jardins botaniques
Niagara Falls, Ontario

Botanical Gardens / Jardins botaniques
Niagara Falls, Ontario

Botanical Gardens / Jardins botaniques
Niagara Falls, Ontario

Toronto skyline as seen from Niagara-on-the-Lake /
La ville de Toronto vue depuis Niagara-on-the-Lake

Minoune enjoying late summer sunshine /
Minoune profitant du soleil de fin d'été
Yes, it is the end of summer already, and although I could have taken more of it, nature is sending clear signals that we have to move on.  The garden is going to seeds and looks tired, more and more every day.  Birds are molting, getting ready for the long travel south or the roughness of winter ahead.

Oui, c'est déjà la fin de l'été, et même si j'en aurais pris encore un peu, la nature nous envoie des signaux très clairs qu'il est temps de passer à autre chose.  Le jardin produit ses semences pour l'an prochain et a l'air de plus en plus fatigué à chaque jour qui passe.  Les oiseaux sont en pleine mue, ils se refont des nouvelles plumes avant d'entreprendre leur long voyage vers le sud, ou pour affronter les rigueurs de l'hiver prochain.

We had late vacations this year, so I am still at home this week, and took some time to look through the pictures I took over the last two months.  I have had the chance to visit many new places and to see beautiful sights.  Always, the sun was shining, I felt so lucky.  Just last week, we traveled to the south of Ontario, where I had never been before, and this trip felt like a dream. We took the time to wander around in the Niagara region, trying and tasting local products, stopping at farmers markets and fruit stands on the road.  It was high season for stone fruits like peaches, plums and nectarines, all so delicious when picked ripe from the trees.

Nous avions des vacances tardives cette année, alors je suis encore à la maison cette semaine, et j'ai pris un peu de temps pour revoir les photos que j'ai prises au cours des deux derniers mois.  J'ai eu la chance de visiter plusieurs nouveaux endroits et de me régaler les yeux d'images superbes.   Toujours, le soleil était au rendez-vous, je m'en suis trouvée très chanceuse.  La semaine dernière, nous avons voyagé vers le sud de l'Ontario, ou je n'étais jamais allée, et ce voyage m'a semblé un rêve.  Nous avons pris le temps d'errer sans but précis dans la région de Niagara, nous avons essayé et goûté les produits locaux, avec des arrêts dans les marchés et les kiosques de fruits en bordure de la route.  C'était la haute saison des pêches, prunes et nectarines, toutes tellement délicieuses lorsque cueillies mûres sur l'arbre.  Rien à voir avec ce qu'on trouve dans les épiceries du Québec.

Now back home, we have a few renovations projects to tackle, and I started spending more time in my studio.  I have some sewing projects on my mind, and just last night, I was looking at Christmas fabrics on Etsy!  I know, we don't want to think about Christmas just now, but by the time I choose the fabrics and get them in the mail, it will be time to get started on holiday projects.  Like nature, we have to move on, always.

Maintenant que nous sommes de retour à la maison, nous avons quelques petits projets de rénovation à réaliser.  J'ai aussi certains projets de couture en tête, et mon studio m'attire de plus en plus.  Hier soir, je regardais des tissus de Noël sur Etsy!  Je sais, on ne veut pas déjà penser à Noël, mais avant que j'aie arrêté mon choix sur les tissus à commander et que je les aie reçus dans le courrier, il sera grand temps de s'y mettre.  Comme la nature, il faut aller de l'avant, toujours.


Friday, 31 December 2010

2010 in pictures

While browsing through the pictures I've taken over the year 2010, I came to think that it might be nice to show them here.  I have made three mosaics (sorry for the quality, they were made quickly as I have to get ready for tonight's party), one as a review of this year's craft projects, one of my garden, and another one of places I've been to this year.

Hope you enjoy this little journey in what really makes Maevy's Corner!
All these projects can be found in earlier posts. 
Flowers include, in order, lilac, sunflower, wild red cherry, gaillardia, rose, black-eyed susan, hosta and lupine.
1. Birding in Parc du Bic; 2. Old building in Bois-de-Coulonge; 3. Rodeo in Ste-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier; 4.  The lake at Duchesnay; 5. A rainbow seen from my porch; 6. A street in Old Quebec; 7. The view in fall, from my rooftop; 8. The marsh at Cacouna; 9. Fontaine de Tourny, downtown Quebec; 10. Gardens at Domaine Joly; 11. Beachfront houses in Ste-Luce; 12. Sunset on Ste-Luce.
See you all in 2011, wishing you all the best!

Sylvie

Wednesday, 29 July 2009

London Paris New York Baie-Saint-Paul

The title is from a t-shirt I found in a gift shop in Baie-Saint-Paul yesterday, on our day out of town. My boyfriend and I are still laughing at it today because it is so funny to think Baie-Saint-Paul could measure up to these enormous cities, with its 7000 of population.

However, Baie-Saint-Paul sure has its own charms, and I'd choose it over bigger cities anytime. Besides, it should be known all over the world, after all this is where Cirque du Soleil was born back in the 1980s.

Anyway, we went there yesterday for a change of scenery, only one hour and a half from Quebec-city, and for a breath of fresh air. As its name indicates, Baie-Saint-Paul is a small town built in a little bay in the St.Lawrence River. It is also one of the craftiest and most artistic towns I know in the Province. The number of art galleries and craft shops is impressive. This is the perfect rendez-vous for landscapes painters, and you may understand why from the few pictures below that I took during the day.

Above is a large view on the bay, with the small beach, the quay and Rivière du Gouffre.
Below is a closer look at the town and its rural setting.

Only a few minutes east of Baie-Saint-Paul we took the ferry to cross over to Isle-aux-Coudres, a small island in the St.Lawrence that makes about 30 km in circumference. We rented a "Junior", one of those funny two-place bicycles and slowly pedaled our way along the south shore road, enjoying the beautiful "seashore" landscape and the characteristic smell. We could almost believe we were by the sea, although this is just the St.Lawrence River and we can see the other shore in the distance. The tide was at its lowest when we were there, which is why you can barely see the water on the pictures, but the feeling was there all the same.


I took great interest in the wild flowers growing on the shore, like thousands of common rose bushes with their sweet smell (above) and other colorful flowers (below).

Look how patient Patrick and Crusty were while I hopped down the bicycle and on again to take one picture here and another one just a hundred yards away! I loved how some people used heavy boat cables to fence their properties,

or an old bicycle frame as a decorative accent in their garden.

I fell in love with the little stone house below and its neatly arranged flowers. It is a very small house and it made me think of a doll-house. Besides, I have a thing for stone walls. My parents have the most amazing one (of which I should definitely take a few pictures next time I go there).


After our tour on Isle-aux-Coudres, we made it back to Baie-Saint-Paul and went down to the beach. It really is just a long and narrow patch of sand on one side of the bay, but it always feels good to walk barefoot in the sand, even though the water was so far off with the tide being so low.

We had originally planned to stay there for a couple of days, but with rain in the forecast, we headed back home on the same day. Now trying to find another spot not too far from town where we could be heading in the following days, before Patrick's vacation is over.

See you soon,
Sylvie