In the End / C'est la fin

The end of August is here already.  We've had the most beautiful summer weather in years in Quebec, but greedy as we humans can be, I would have taken more of it, for months to come.  Yet, fall is knocking on the door and I will have to let it in, eventually.

Déjà la fin août.  Nous avons eu la plus belle température estivale depuis des années au Québec, mais j'en voudrais plus, j'en aurais pris pour des mois encore. Sauf que l'automne frappe déjà à la porte, et je devrai éventuellement le laisser entrer.

Last Saturday, we got in the car and drove off to the Eastern Townships for one last summer escapade.  We spent the day in Sherbrooke, first visiting the beautiful gardens of Domaine Howard, where an impressive plant sculpture is displayed to celebrate the Chinese year of the Dragon, and then walking through the marsh just outside of town, observing ducks and herons among the dense nympheas.

Samedi dernier, nous avons pris la route vers les Cantons de l'Est pour une dernière escapade estivale.  Nous avons passé la journée à Sherbrooke, ou nous avons d'abord visité les magnifiques jardins du Domaine Howard.  Cette année y est présenté une impressionnante mosaïculture pour marquer l'an chinois du dragon.  Une ballade dans un marais tout juste à l'extérieur de la ville nous a permis d'observer des canards et des hérons au-travers d'un épais tapis de nénuphars.

In my backyard, squirrels run around, carrying peanuts from my birdfeeders and apples from the neighbour's tree.  Their frenzy in making provisions for the winter to come inspired me to do the same and stock on new books to read when the weather becomes less inviting outside.

Dans ma cour, je vois les écureuils qui courent partout en trimballant des arachides puisées dans mes mangeoires d'oiseaux, et aussi les fruits du pommier du voisin.  Leur activité intense à se préparer pour l'hiver m'a inspirée à faire comme eux des provisions, de livres dans mon cas, que je pourrai lire quand le temps sera moins invitant à l'extérieur.

My own garden is slowly fading, greens turning to golden hues, but some flowers remain dashing until the frost comes, like the red petunias serving as background to my furry friend, and also the papery gomphrenas that I like so much.  I am thinking about drying these to keep them through winter.  Last year I had purple ones, smaller but lovely, and I saw a large patch of white ones in Sherbrooke, that were stunning among giant cabbages and geraniums.

Mon petit jardin en ville perd un peu plus de son éclat à chaque jour.  Les feuillages verts prennent une teinte dorée, et les fleurs cèdent la place aux capsules de graines qui les feront revivre l'an prochain.  Certaines fleurs, par contre, conservent leur beauté jusqu'aux premiers gels, comme les pétunias rouges qui servent de toile de fond à mon petit ami poilu, et aussi les gomphrènes à texture de papier que j'aime tant.  Je songe à les faire sécher pour les conserver à l'intérieur cet hiver.  J'en avais des violets l'an dernier, plus petits mais tout aussi jolis, et j'en ai vu un large massif de blancs, à Sherbrooke, qui étaient superbes au-travers des grands choux décoratifs et des géraniums.

Out in the rain / Sortie sous la pluie

N.B.  J'ai rédigé cet article dans les deux langues, vous pouvez me lire en français dans le texte violet.

We had this little trip planned out for a while, the room was reserved and we were to go out birding for two days in the Eastern Townships.  However, the closer we got to the date, the more certain it became that rain would be upon us the whole weekend.  We almost cancelled.  But it was Patrick's 35th birthday and it didn't make any sense to stay at home and do nothing special for the occasion.  So we decided to leave anyway, but change our itinerary a little.  We headed to Montreal on Saturday and went birding inside, at the Biodome, which is such a wonderful place to watch animals in their (recreated) natural environment, out of cages, hopping from tree to tree and mingling together.  We were able to identify over 35 bird species during the visit, and had a chance to watch turtles, alligators and monkeys as well.  I am sorry not to have any pictures to show you, but truly, I wanted to take time to take it all in instead of focusing on my camera and missing all the action.

Depuis un moment déjà, on avait organisé une petite sortie comme on en fait trop peu souvent.  On avait réservé une chambre dans un gîte charmant et on avait planifié deux journées d'observation d'oiseaux dans les Cantons de l'est.  La semaine fut très pluvieuse sur le Québec, et plus les jours avançaient et plus il devenait évident que le week-end serait toujours aussi pluvieux.  On a failli tout annuler le jeudi soir.  Mais c'était le 35e anniversaire de naissance de Patrick, et rester à la maison sans rien faire de spécial pour marquer cet événement me paraissait inconcevable.  Alors, on a décidé de partir quand même, en modifiant un peu notre itinéraire pour l'adapter à la météo.  Nous sommes partis vers Montréal le samedi matin, pour aller au Biodôme.  J'adore cet endroit, ou les animaux cohabitent dans leurs habitats naturels recréés à l'intérieur.  Là-bas, pas de cage, les animaux sont en liberté dans des grandes salles, ils peuvent aller d'arbre en arbre et se mélanger les uns aux autres.  En plus d'y identifier plus de 35 espèces d'oiseaux, nous avons pu observer des tortues, des aligators, des singes et un lynx.  Je suis désolée de n'avoir pas de photo à vous montrer de notre visite là-bas, mais je préférais observer les animaux et profiter du moment plutôt que de me concentrer sur ma caméra et manquer toute l'action qui se déroulait autour de moi.

After our visit, we took the subway and headed downtown Montreal and strolled down Ste.Catherine Street, which was crowded as usual, despite the rain.  We walked past all the cool shops and I did admire the window displays, but I was not in the mood for shopping so I have to admit that the only place I went into was Banana Republic.  Everything was so grey outside, and between trying not to step in the water and not to hurt anyone with my umbrella, I had very little time for picture taking.  This little flower stand, however, caught my eye and I had to stop and take a picture.  These flowers were the only flash of colors in all the greyness.

Après notre visite, nous avons pris le métro et sommes descendus marcher sur la rue Ste-Catherine, qui était bondée de monde malgré la pluie.  J'ai admiré les vitrines des grandes boutiques, mais comme je n'y étais pas pour magasiner, je ne suis entrée nulle part sauf chez Banana Republic, et encore juste pour jeter un petit coup d'oeil.  Le temps était très gris dehors, et entre surveiller mes pas pour éviter les flaques d'eau et faire attention de ne blesser personne avec mon parapluie, je n'a pas eu beaucoup de temps pour prendre des photos.  Quand j'ai vu ce petit kiosque de fleurs sur le coin d'une rue, par contre, il a fallu que je m'arrête un instant.  Ces fleurs étaient le seul élément coloré dans la grisaille de la ville.

We left Montreal in the afternoon and headed toward Magog, a small town in the Eastern Townships, on lake Memphremagog.  We stayed the night at a lovely B&B called Le Cerf Argenté.  They had luxurious theme rooms with a fireplace and a therapeutic bath. We took the morrocan one, nicely decorated with rich fabrics, intricate tiling and colorful lamps.

Nous avons quitté Montréal en milieu d'après-midi et sommes partis vers Magog, une charmante petite ville des Cantons de l'est, au bord du lac Memphrémagog.  Nous avons passé la nuit dans un très beau gîte, le Cerf Argenté, qui offre des suites thématiques luxueuses, avec foyer et bain thérapeutique.  La nôtre était de style marocain, décorée de riches tissus, de motifs complexes réalisés en céramique et de luminaires exotiques et colorés.

I did not dare take pictures in the rest of the house, but the place looked lovely and was filled with green plants, more artistic tiling and ancient furniture.  It was a shame that rain would not stop one minute, because I would have liked to go for a walk on the property and have a look at the pond and gardens.

Je n'ai pas osé prendre des photos dans le reste de la maison, mais l'endroit était superbe, rempli de plantes vertes, de jolies céramiques réalisées par un artisan et de meubles antiques.  C'était vraiment dommage que la pluie tombe sans arrêt, parce que le gîte est entouré de jardins et d'un étang que j'aurais bien aimé visiter.

The following morning, rain had stopped - temporarily - and we were able to go visit a small marsh recommended by our host.  The place was calm and the only sounds were coming from the birds.  Barn Swallows and Red-winged Blackbirds were puting a great show for us, while mallards were quietly feeding on the far end.

Le dimanche matin, la pluie s'était arrêtée, bien que temporairement, et nous avons pu aller visiter un petit marais bien caché que notre hôte nous avait recommandé.  L'endroit était tranquille, et mis à part le vent qui soufflait, les seuls bruits étaient les chants des oiseaux.  Les hirondelles et les carouges à épaulettes nous ont offert un beau spectacle, pendant que quelques canards se nourissaient en silence, un peu à l'écart.

We left when the cold and the wind made our fingers too numb to hold the binoculars, and drove on country roads for a while, admiring the flowering trees and some unusual farm animals, like these alpacas, along the way.

Nous nous sommes résignés à quitter parce que nos doigts étaient engourdis par le froid et ne pouvaient plus tenir les jumelles.  Nous avons parcouru des petites routes de campagne et admiré au passage des arbres en fleurs et des animaux de ferme un peu inusité, comme ces alpagas.

We were headed toward another marsh, where we braved again the strong wind and the rain, which began pouring.  Nevertheless, it was a great birding day for us, as we were able to see many warblers, a dashing Baltimore Oriole, a flying Great Heron and a proud Double-crested Cormorant.  We also made a new friend in this Canada Goose, who was not bothered by our intrusion.  In fact, she seemed to invite us to follow her.

Nous sommes allés visiter un autre marais, ou il nous a fallu braver encore le vent, le froid et la pluie qui s'était remise à tomber.  Malgré la rudesse du temps, nous avons beaucoup apprécié notre sortie d'observation, qui nous a permise de voir plusieurs parulines, un oriole de Baltimore éclatant, un grand héron en vol et un cormoran à aigrettes trônant fièrement sur un tronc d'arbre immergé.  Nous avons aussi rencontré une gentille bernache du Canada qui n'était aucunement importunée par notre présence.  Ne trouvez-vous pas qu'elle semble nous inviter à la suivre?

Walk for Wildlife, April 10 to 16

National Wildlife Week

Did you hear the songbird's melody coming from that tall pine on the corner of your street?

Did you see the squirrel running along the neighbor's fence?

Did you notice the small toad jumping on the sidewalk, or the robin looking for worms on your front lawn?

I am a nature lover.  I cherish the trees and flowers that grow in my environment.  And I am amazed by all the animals that I meet, from the smallest ladybug in flower beds to the giant moose hiding in the forest.

This week we're all invited to go for a walk and look at the life around us.  We often forget all those creatures who share the territory with us and we don't realize how much our actions on the land impact them.

Official walks are organized all over the country, but I invite you to make it on a more personal level.  You don't need to go deep in the woods to be aware of the wildlife.  A simple stroll around your neighborhood will let you see plenty of animals, and will reconnect you with nature, if you just open your eyes and your ears and take time to observe.

I am not just talking about this, I believe in the necessity to reconnect with nature.  My boyfriend and I started the week on Sunday with a visit to one of our favorite places, a protected area including a small marsh, a wood and an access to the St.Lawrence River. 

The marsh was still frozen and pretty much deserted at this time of the year, but in summer

it is a marvellous place to observe birds:  herons and egrets, kingfishers and kingbirds, and a great number of ducks

We went down the trail to the woods where the snow had begun to melt and where robins were actively looking for juicy worms.  Black-capped chickadees and squirrels were begging us to give them seeds and nuts and were following us from branch to branch.  A wood-pecker was hard at work in the dead trees a little further, and water was streaming down the hill in a soft ringing melody.

And just as we were going through the apple orchard and wondering about the faded prints in the snow, Patrick spotted a deer lying under the trees about 30 feet from us.  We knew then whose prints we'd been looking at on the trail.  She looked at us unalarmed and let me take pictures of her for a long time, even when she got up and walked slowly towards a clearing.

A second deer was going her own way a little further, we watched silently as they gracefully entered another wooden area and disappeared.

Our walk took us down to the river side where we were able to observe a large flock of Canada geese feeding and chatting gaily.  We also spotted a couple of mallards sliding on the calm water and far away some sea ducks were visible through our binoculars, though we could not identify them at that distance.  We watched them dive and resurface a few yards from their starting point.

This was a walk filled with pure delight, and we still talk about it two days later as if we had just come home.  We could have made it a very different experience, we could have walked through the woods and never stopped one minute, talking about our problems or about the movie we had seen the night before.  The deers would have watched us walk by unnoticed.  We would have never seen the sea ducks.  We would have been annoyed by the insistence of the chickadees.

We would have forgotten that we share a land with so many other species, all of them worth at least as much interest as ourselves.

Take some time this week and go for a walk, open your eyes and your ears and your heart, and who knows what new furry or feathered friend you could meet.

Sweet Summer Nature

This time of year I always stop and just admire the nature surrounding me, like this great view of the marsh above
or one of the many blue jays visiting my backyard
neighbours cat lounging on my deck steps in late afternoon
a lonely duck cruising the marsh
a fluttering butterfly.

Take time to stop and watch, and enjoy!

Sylvie