A Weekend Away

 Every year, during Thanksgiving weekend my DB and I head off to the cottage and take in the Perth Autumn Studio Tour.  We arrived Friday evening.
Not a fuzzy picture above, that was the sky that night.  Just like the ripples in the sand at the lake!

 At one of the studios was this unique-looking wasp's nest.  It rather blends in don't you think?

                                                   The colours were wonderful!

 You will find many split rail fences all over the countryside.   The rocky landscape prevents your more traditional fencing, requiring posts to be sunk into the ground.

                                 I love how the birch stand out against the changing leaves.

                         This gathering of milkweed looked more like a piece of installation art.

                                               One studio had some colourful fowl.

                                       Ruffly peach-coloured fungus spilling out of a tree.

                                                            Sunset on Saturday.

                                              It was very windy Saturday evening.

                               Sunday morning, we woke to much cooler, clear weather.

                                                          Rippling shadows.

                                                Lots of wood bits along the shore.

                                        Heading home.  More on the tour tomorrow.

Waiting

 The dogs are in waiting mode.  They are waiting for Marty and I to get back home today.  They don't much care that it is Thanksgiving weekend.

However they do care that we aren't around, creating the usual balance of comfort and fun.  Not to worry, in a few hour's time all will be returned to  "normal."  And, I shall have lots of pictures of our activities.
I hope you are enjoying the long weekend too.

Thanksgiving Weekend In Canada

Wishing all Canadians a blessed Thanksgiving weekend, and a happy Columbus Day weekend to those South of the border.

Upper Canada Village

 This is the final week of the regular season for Upper Canada Village, in Morrisburg Ontario.  As you can see by all the pumpkins, they are setting up for October's special events.  They are all set up to light up at night.  I'm sure it will make for quite the stunning display.

Students carved four thousand of these foam pumpkins for the village's upcoming events.

            There are pumpkins EVERYWHERE!  Like these three owls sitting on a branch in a tree.

                       Naturally this pumpkin patch's pumpkins are all carved with vegetable motifs.

 These are carved to look like lanterns.  I must state here also that none of these are "real" pumpkins.  They are all some kind of Styrofoam that is carved as you would a real pumpkin.  Obviously real pumpkins would begin to rot and attract all manner of insect by the end of October, so I guess these are the logical choice.  I think I have said "pumpkin" enough now.

                    There was a wonderful show of sweet peas in front of one of the village homes.

                                                     The bakery was in full swing.

                                   The afternoon light made for some lovely vignettes.

 This really interesting mirror with the lovely reverse painting has real acorns stuck along the top of it.

             We happened upon the cheese factory just in time to watch them cutting the curd.

 My favourite spot is the print shop.  At this point they were putting all the type back into the drawers after printing the Gazette.

 Inn another home there was a beautiful loom all set up for weaving and here are samples of wool and what they were coloured with.

 Each building has a costumed interpreter to answer questions and tell you all about the house they occupy and how things were done there.

 One the next road we met a woman putting the edging on a hand made quilt.  They make one quilt each season.

                       Here is the community woodworker showing us how the lathe works.

Here is Aaron with a bottle of pumpkin pie soda.  It tasted just like a pumpkin candle smells.  It was interesting and not unpleasant.

Well, that was our day today.  Lots of fun, perfect weather and just a short drive from home.  If you are ever in eastern Ontario, Upper Canada Village is a great place to spend the day.

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

 I found a photo of these lovely brownies here and decided to give them a try.

Moist and tasty.  You can find the recipe here.  Do you have a favourite way to use pumpkin this time of year?

Thanksgiving Part 1

The gang rolled in about one AM Saturday morning. Joshua came home and with him came along Marty's brother and his family of five. We were ten for the weekend. Lots of food and visiting and other activities too. It was sis-in-law's birthday on Monday and her daughters wanted to make cards for her, so off to the studio we went for an afternoon.

Seven year old Nicole chose the stairs for her desk. That way Odelia couldn't get to her.


Nine year old Jeannette knew exactly what she wanted to do for her card.
Then they spied the two crinolines I have hanging in my studio and wanted to try them out.
There was a LOT of spinning going on. No sign of their older brother. He spent his time with my guys.

Odelia was content to let them have their fun without interruption. She stayed out of their way.

Thanksgiving Weekend Part 2

There was a lot of tug-of-war throughout the weekend. Here Jacob has Gumdrop on one arm and Odelia on the other. There was also a game of croquet outside which Jacob won. The dogs were left indoors for that activity- you can't have them running off with the balls can you? They howled up quite the lamentation inside.

There was also wood cutting and grass mowing, a trip to the market in Brockville and another trip back to Brockville with the kids the next day.
Did I mention there was twirling? Yup, more of it downstairs.
With the kitchen table gone there was plenty of room to put on quite a show.
A little break.
After the big Thanksgiving meal, Odelia climbed up to see what all the fuss was about. No nibbles for her.

A full, wonderful weekend for all.