Thanksgiving Preparations

Well, Thanksgiving gets a lot of attention in our home
and this year is a biggie.

Our 21 yr. old son who has been off on an adventure in British Columbia
is flying home for the week!
It has been one year since we have seen him so needless to say.....
uh...
we are a tad excited!!

And our daughter has now moved back to Quebec to complete a masters degree
at the local university so she is here as well.
It just doesn't get any better.

So I guess that sort of wraps up all the "thanks" part in regard to our immediate family.
Lots of other points to consider and I promise I will be back for that.
But for now I just want to share with you a few of those
crazy things I seem to do when these large gatherings happen in our home.

First off,
floors upstairs have been driving me crazy.
Too costly to install new floors rights now
and the old pine floors are too far gone to sand and refinish
soooooo.....
paint.
I finally painted the floors a nice creamy white.
I only completed one bedroom and the hallway but I am really pleased with the results.

(Camera is still not charged...missing battery and charger for some time now....so low quality photos...sorry and hence the reason I have not finished a post on the magazine spread....coming I promise!!)

Good idea? We'll see.

A photo posted by Anangloinquebec (@anangloinquebec) on Oct 3, 2015 at 11:41am PDT

A photo posted by Anangloinquebec (@anangloinquebec) on Oct 6, 2015 at 6:23am PDT

And the duvet cover that I made last year finally stands out against the creamy background.
It becomes the star of the show as I had always hoped.

Painting the floors was always something I imagined but could not quite get myself to take the risk and now,
well now I am wondering what the risk was!!

You might have noticed that I did not paint the walls.
I am going to live with that for now. 

So that takes care of painting for now, still need to paint the floors of the other two bedrooms
but that will have to wait until after Thanksgiving.

We have had such a late summer here that even the other night I decided to get in one last taste of our favourite summer chicken....

We picked up this great grilling gadget
this summer
and it has been such a hit for
butterflied chicken.

This one received a healthy dose of pesto and good....well, beyond good!!
Is that possible?

Anyway, I will be back with the photo spread once I get my camera figured out.
Just wanted to drop in for a quick visit.

Take care all.

Summer out.... Fall In

Well, I love summer
but
I also love fall.

In preparation for the onset of colder temperatures,
and the onset of our beloved
"cocktail dînatoire"
we decided to change out the very creaky and uncomfortable stools for some director's chairs.

A cocktail dînatoire is similar to tapas in Spain or a 5 à 7 here in Québec and a happy hour elsewhere. But it can be a little bit more elaborate than all that and spread out over the course of the evening as a meal would. In the fall and winter I love it.

Our problem was that the chairs around the island were not comfortable.
And since we spend a lot of evenings indoors during the colder months
I figured these director chairs would be of good value.
Of course a cocktail dînatoire usually involves somes standing and some sitting.....

We have to obviously invest in at two more chairs before the cold settles in....
But, I wanted to see how two felt before going for the magic 4.
Verdict.....LOVE it.

 

Oh and did I mention.....COMFY?

Well, I guess that would be stating the obvious. :)

And, I believe I mentioned some special visitors had passed through here in June?

Well, it is official.

Story is out.

I will be back with that later on in the week.

In the meantime..... hint?.....why of course.

Does that fireplace look familiar?

Instagram meet Blogger

Okay, so is this sort of like cheating?

Or is it maybe more like mixing friends?

I have the sweetest niece on the planet and she has always had this interesting need to keep particular aspects of her life in different "compartments".....
One group of friends which signifies one part of her life cannot mix with those from another segment of her world.

Yep, I am the person that invites a lot of different people to the same dinner party with the hope
that they will all get along....
Mixing people is not always easy.
Usually after one dinner party with new guests invited you start to sort out the best mix.
But....you have to keep it interesting and you have to keep trying.

Maybe I should be following her rules and keep Instagram in a totally different "zone".
But, I just had to share some of the pics I have been posting there
that are integral to my summer wrap-up mood.

Oh and not all of this is on my Instagram account.
It just seems that I am loving the ease of posting on Instagram these days
and the quick access to great images from the people that I follow.

As of late, I usually get up early, grab a coffee and sit out here in the early morning light and
tap into Instagram before settling into work.

 So, here are a few random shots....

Lobster rolls from the Panache Mobile on Ïle d'Orléans....
Trufle mayonaise with the fries of course and a healthy dose of avacado to top off the lobster roll.

Québec city is a great town for walking your dog
and it always seems that local restaurants understand the need to consider 4 legged friends.

Still need to deal with the collections from the sea...

But, sweet summer is certainly feeling like it is winding down...
and I cannot complain.
2015 has been a great summer for us!

I am starting to turn my sights indoors to possible projects.
There is one particular change that I want to make in our kitchen.

Style at Home- click image to go to site

I am on the hunt for directors chairs for our kitchen island.
We spend a great deal of time at the island
during the fall and winter months.
It ends up being the best spot for a cocktail dînatoire.
And for us
that becomes the best dining option after a day of skiing or snowshoeing.

So...
welcome September.
Cannot wait to see what you have in store!!

See you back here or on Instagram!!

 

Summer Musings

So, I do understand that summer is not yet over....
even though a visit to Costco yesterday
had me lose my grip on the shopping cart.

Christmas trees were mingling with Halloween costumes which were concealing the kayaks.
Snack-size candy bars for trick or treaters were sharing shelf space 
with gold and silver ornaments 
that were only one aisle away from the remaining BBQ tools, 
flotation devices
and outdoor tables and chairs. 

Early July on the edge of Georgian Bay

It had me all "confussed" and frustrated.
I mean seriously...what is that all about??

Ignoring that merchandising nightmare,
I always have this sense of August as being a time to review our efforts to enjoy the wonders of summer and consider what still needs to be lived, tasted and experienced.

Alfresco dining in a beautiful backyard in Thornbury on the edge of Georgian Bay

August also brings on a tiny sense of panic 
as I see the maple tree on our neighbour's property 
starting to show hints of red....
That tree would be in serious trouble if it lived here.

Summer Rental in Tadoussac

But then I gather up my thoughts about where we have been,
the people we were with
and the fun times we had.

The summer began with family on Georgian Bay.

Going "home" always provides me with a new sense of balance.
Dinner parties, swimming in the bay and early morning walks with the dogs
quickly become the established routine.

Follow that up with a 3 week stay in beautiful Tadoussac.

Barns in our backyard in Tadoussac and lake just beyond

 

 

Ferry crossing to Tadoussac

Mouth of the Saguenay River

And, the best part of all...
the most unique wedding I have ever attended.

Pre-wedding cookout

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapel at Port au Persil

Each table set with a different antique place setting.

Individual desserts for the wedding guests served on their table's china setting

 

And of course the beautiful couple.

So.... what's left to do?
Perhaps a few more trips to ïle d'orléans..... a day with friends at Lac Sergent..... some family bbq's....

Oh, but I have a little surprise for you.
I don't usually mix my business with my blog but....
 
We were busy working during one of our weeks in Tadoussac and we posted a video trailer of a project that we are going to be providing through our classroom management platform.
The project will be part of our integrated content library.

In the meantime, here is a link.... krispii.com

Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Company's comin'

This is how it goes down in our home.

Somebody is coming for dinner,
for a visit,
or for some reason or another....
The point is they are coming "chez nous"...
which means
call out the broom, the vacuum, the cleaning agents, you name it,
there is work to be done.

It is a certain type of panic that washes over me.
All those little jobs that I have been meaning to do move to the top of a rather long and daunting list.

I become obsessed with the "must-do list'.
The problem is that the "must-do list" did not officially exist until now...
well, other than a random fleeting idea of some design detail I might want to add or adjust in our home.... but you know,
in the future,
down the road,
on a rainy day.

I lose control of my ability to reason and be logical, it is like there is this whistle blowing in my head and it all has to get done....NOW.

We joke around here about the dinner party clean-up before and after.
The, "why did we bother getting so obsessed about cleaning up as the kitchen is a mess all over again...."

I head to the grocery store and stock up on flowers.

I find myself in the ditch gathering lupins by the armfull. 

I haul out the sewing machine to make a new curtain for the washer and dryer
because my favourite yellow and white version is stained and really not camera-worthy.

And then of course there is always Jack,
he is a big boy and although kind and gentle,
his size can be rather imposing.

Sometimes Jack heads to the kennel which he loves, lots of dogs, free run of a large country property and usually a rather long play date that requires 3 days of sleep to recuperate.

But not this time.
He was typical Jack, intimidating when our guests arrived but
calm and laid back once he felt properly introduced.

So, I am being somewhat mysterious I know.
But, I will remind you of this rather cryptic post in about a year.

Let's just say,
our company was lovely,
creative, interesting and inspirational.

I saw our home through a different perspective.

And now, I am hoping to put away my rain boots
and pull out my flip flops!!