sand between our toes

Banana bread and a friend

I have met someone in the blogger world that I would like to call a friend..but can we call someone we never met in person a friend? When I was young I had a pen pal I referred to her as such " my pen pal madeleine"...so is this different now? would I say my " blogger friend Aran" because to me it is more than that.......

This morning I made banana bread, last night i had mentioned to aran via e-mail that I wanted to make something simple with whole wheat flower, she returned the e-mail saying that she had just made banana bread with whole wheat. this morning with a house full of family -niece and nephews, sister in law, and mum- such a treat because it is very rare to have company here since they live far away, and I long for these moments. anyways, the children laughing in the living room and the rest sitting in the garden, i pulled out the recipe, the bowl, ingredients and baked. I do not do it often anymore but there is something about having children in the house that makes me a better person. As i took the bread out of the oven everyone gathered (it's not like I never, ever bake or cook) but something about this morning was different- we took it to the garden where I was able to share some with my neighbors....as the loaf disappeared I knew what that difference was- for a moment it was if aran was here, sharing her recipe with us- maybe just the way she would have done it at home in spain.

Thank you aran- we all agreed it was the best we ever had!

elle in the garden

strawberries & peas

the first picture is from yesterday( but does not do it justice)- as we arrived to pick strawberries yesterday the darkest clouds came over the farm. I decided against picking and we drove on- what happened next was incredibly exciting and if truth be told a little scary. the winds on the coast and the rain and lighting was visualy spectacular but as I tried to drive through it, the sky opened up and released millions of hail balls and as they hit the car we knew we we're in trouble, we tried to hide the car behind something but all we found was a little tree- we waited........it was something else, needless to say it was the kids(niece & nephew) big adventure as Dylan said " My friends are never gonna believe this auntie!"

Today the sky was blue and the strawberries and peas abundant!

he stepped into the garden

La fournie

There is many bakeries in Montreal
but this one is tucked away, hidden
perfectly.......the picture will not do it
justice. it is tiny, with brick walls,
chalkboards, old wooden shelving-perfect.
for our ride home we bought biscottis, brownies,
rye bread, ginger cookies(exceptional) chocolatines,
banana meringue square, bread pudding square....I think there is more
yes, i know!

thirty six hours in montreal

eleven hours spent at a wedding

when a leaf catches the rain fall

frolic

to my very happy surprise, while visiting blogs that inspire me
I found myself ( it took me a minute to realize it was me) on the beautiful blog frolic.

if she is'nt already, she will surely become on of your favorites.
I love typing elseachelsea...........all the letters and the sound of it as you say it outloud makes me happy!

chasing light with color

delicate as if it was made of paper

when light comes into the room

Shall we go for a sunday stroll

If i may talk about the first photograph, I was walking with a friend and took this picture as she strolled, love how her dress looked among the cobblestones and moss- but what i did not know at the time is the parallel of the ivy and her dress- it is lovely
you can see it here on onesilentwinter