Good-bye, Fortune Workshops

This is my 85th and last blogging post. It comes to almost 3 years of sharing my activities and thoughts. I always enjoyed it.

As a good-bye offering, I would like to present this photo of the former St. David's church just north of St. Eugene, Ontario. Like the other 1,100 little churches in Ontario, no longer supporting itself with service to a community, it has gone on the real estate market. Now it belongs to me.

... and I totally love it, ancient carpets, lack of plumbing, peeling paint, bulging, cracked brick walls and all. I can so relate! It is an appropriate project to end my blogging days.

Everyone asks: what will you do with it? This church will get a transformed purpose to serve. Right now it is storing my gardening equipment and undergoing a mild facelift to keep the exterior from falling apart. Then, slowly, it will be surrounded by gardens. The inside will be left "as is": open concept. Then, some very gentle activity, worthy of its 110 years of existence.

Good-bye dear readers and God bless!

Vacation

This is what we decided to do with our "time off" this summer:
1) Drive along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River to Metis-sur-Mer to visit the Redford Gardens.
2) Cross the river on a ferry from Trois Pistoles to Les Escoumins on the north shore.
3) Visit the Saguenay fjord on the east and west coasts of the river
4) Bike around L`Ile aux Coudres, an island in the St. Lawrence river, just out from Baie St. Paul.
5) Last but not least...spend an afternoon at the Montreal Botanical Gardens.










It was an inspiring 1800 km, 6-day trip. Reto took the 2 pictures of me at the right: one where I am behind of a pair of Alder Buckthorn trees and the other where I am reflected in the window of the Insectarium, just behind his shot of a Monarch butterly!. The other photo was taken at Baie d`Èternite on the Saguenay: we took the 3.5 km hike up to the statue of Notre-Dame-du Saguenay, where we got this view to the north.

Sunday

Yesterday was a standout Sunday: finally the rain and cold has stopped to bring out a breezy, clear and temperate frame for a fun trip to Montreal. First stop: Botanical Gardens. As a passionate gardener, I cannot get enough of all that splendor and variety. Here is a picture of Reto under a Maidenhair tree (Ginko Biloba). I have a tiny one growing in a sunny spot at home. Maybe in 30 years I will stand under it!

After a few hours of walking through inspiration, we hopped on our bikes and followed the designated path into downtown, where the Jazz Festival was in full swing. So much free and fun stuff! Drummers, magicians, marionette shows...and the people-watching.Here is a shot of the fountain with art-worthy reflections.

January's Orchids

Imagine walking from an icy-cold and windy snowstorm environment...right into a tropical forest. Then, as you inhale the steamy air and encounter lush blossoms and ferns one-on-one, you catch a view of snowdrifts piling up outside the thick windowpanes. It is not a wonderful dream. You are at the Botanical Garden in Montreal. My afternoon visit had the effect of a mini-vacation to an exotic island without the time and expense of travel. Here are some of the rare and delicate orchids I met.


On my way out, I scanned the Botanical Gardens boutique and could not resist taking home this magnificent Euphorbia pulcherrima "Cinammon Star" (common name: poinsettia). It is 4 feet (about 1.2 meters) in diameter and graces my dining room table. I found out that the rosy-peach "flowers" are actually leaves! The true flowers are the tiny yellow baubles in the very middle of the colored leaves.