Our visit to Montreal, this time, was to spend the weekend with Stephen's parents, and his sister, who lives in Vancouver.
Stephen, Mary Ann and someone else, 1971.
We don't often get a chance to see her.
Some things never change.
Flying to Vancouver right now is too expensive for us, but we could most definitely manage a trip to Montreal.
So we did.
Saturday morning, Mary Ann came with us to one of our favourite haunts, Adonis. http://www.adonisproducts.com/pages/accueil_en.asp
I indulged in my Montreal-visits-only treat, gelato.
This time is was lemon.
And it really was lemony!
The insides of my mouth were forced together with a sour inducing suction that could have allowed me to scale walls with my lips.
It was sooooo good.
And thick, creamy tzatziki with just the faintest touch of mint.
We purchased our usual staples, Herb de Provence in its keg size container and a half dozen more Adonis reusable bags, the ones that make us the envy of our fellow Superstore shoppers.
This is just one small section of the pastry counter from which were selected our petit fours.
And all sorts of other goodies we both needed and wanted, including a 3 liter container of extra virgin olive oil on sale for $8.99.
After Adonis, we ventured to the SAQ.
Quebec's haven for wine and spirits.
We browsed through the aisles looking for a wine we had during our visit with Donna and Andrij in March, to Quebec City's Petit Champlain.
The hunt for this wine is becoming almost an obsession.
And while we didn't find that particular wine, we did manage to purchase a half dozen bottles.
And therefore received 15% off our purchase.
Buying in bulk really is the way to go.
We also managed to purchase a couple of other bottles of wine at Maxi's, lost amid the piles of egg bread and egg buns we brought back for the kids.
Because remember, in Quebec, a far more liberal province when it comes to alcohol, you can buy it almost anywhere.
So civilized. . . .
Exhausted from our morning of shopping, we returned to Stephen's parents for some lunch, which included the tzatziki from heaven.
And then after lunch, we spent the afternoon outside, in the warmth and sun, gardening.
It was the best kind of gardening.
No one knew for certain what they'd be doing when they started, but when we finished several hours later, there was much that had been accomplished.
Stephen's parents have a large, corner lot.
Large by Montreal standards.
And on their property are several absolutely gorgeous gardens.
With virtually no weeds.
I have to remember to ask Stephen's father how he manages that.
They also have cedar trees.
And if you know anything about cedar trees, while lovely, they can become quite large and therefore in need of trimming.
Climbing-up-on-a-ladder-kind-of-trimming that neither of Stephen's parents should be doing.
So, being 6 foot 4 inches, the tallest among us, Stephen took to the ladder and started hacking away at the cedar trees.
I held the ladder.
Which meant that at least twice cedar branches of varying thicknesses decended upon my head.
I will continue to labour under the delusion that the branches to head was accidental.
Good thing I have a hard head.
I was even permitted to shape the trees from the middle downwards.
The only places I could reach.
Stephen's mother then showed me how to trim the "candles" from their large and sprawling mugo pine.
This one is about 1/8 of the size of Stephen's parents.
I REALLY have to get a digital camera.
Keep in mind that Stephen's mother has never let me do much of anything other than a few dishes, and maybe take the sheet of the hide-a-bed.
Either she's resigned herself to the fact that if I'm there I may as well do something, or, she is beginning to trust me.
Or a bit of both.
Regardless, I spent an hour trimming this massive shrub, talking with Mary Ann and just enjoyed being outside, no cell phones, no texting, doing something useful.
It really is the little things.
Title Lyric: Wild Gardens by Magneta Lane
No comments:
Post a Comment