sharing time with nikole herriott & friends at sunday suppers

 

a few weeks back i had been invited by aran to attend Nikole Herriott workshop at Sunday Suppers in ny, i was so excited for nikole esthetics and her way of life had been something i admired for so long.
i have never had so many photographs on a post before and i could have kept adding to it that is because the beautiful studio that karen created was perfect, mix that with props and goods by herriott & grace nikole shop well one could not help themselves.

Nikole is everything i had hope for,  that what i found beautiful and simple on her blog and shop would be present at the workshop and  it was. nikole is the real deal, she puts you at ease, makes you laugh and wow's you all at once. I was so happy, it was so refreshing to have someone so passionate about what they do and that their talent is not only in what they create but in how they make you feel while viewing their work. I was lucky to also meet Michael Graydon ( nikole's beau) i have been an admire of his work and to be able to take time to chat and talk about his shooting methods was very enlightening as well.

Nikole along with a wonderful group of attendees baked, iced and styled some of her legendary cakes. then a wonderful lunch was prepared and eaten as stories were shared by everyone. The highlight for me was to actually meet Nikole and feel a kinship ( not just because we are both canadian) but also because we are living a life that is in our very core way beyond trend. also that as the workshop came to an end, Nikole, Karen, Aran and i were able to help prep for the following days  Sunday Supper while exchanging thoughts, laughers and all this is such a beautiful well executed space that karen has so thoughtfully created. that truly has my creative friends from all over the world drooling.

thank you for letting me be a part of it aran! see you in Tuscany Nikole & Micheal! ( rolling my pennies as we speak)

* i will share an instagram post of my stay NY with Aran at a later time, it was so much fun.
* also i just came back from whistler bc and hope to share with you soon.

when letters from readers remind you about the fog

i am sitting as a cool breeze brought in by pouring rain makes me put on the kettle, the fog comes in out and just like the emails in my inbox from you my readers, i am reminded what i have been missing. yes, as i mentioned i have embraced this summer more than previous ones, although how it is almost the middle of august i do not know. i mentioned emails and in the last few days i have received emails from readers who some have never commented but have been reading from the very beginning and in these letters they wrote how the photographs and words of la porte rouge are needed in their life, a sanctuary of sorts for the their soul and mind,  reading those words and now writing them here i have goosebumps for they are saying these things about something that has to do with me. yet what you do not know just like them i need it and when they talk about photographs of the hill, forest walks and the fog stirring them, i am reminded about how much these things stir in me, better yet how much they are part of what i need to exist. now i know that sounds dramatic but i assure you i had almost found myself on empty these past weeks, not because  summer has been miserable because like i stated above the contrary it has been full but feeling full can not replace the need for certain nutrients to feel healthy and at peace and for me those things mean the hill, it's landscape and the living things that like me inhabit this piece of land.

yesterday when in the middle of tears for some personal matter i received another one of these emails, as soon as i read it i knew what i had to do. i walked out to the forest, i stood among deep greens and trees that stood like protectors of what i treasure most. today waking up with a list of errands and things i wanted to do, my body shut me down and i found myself deeply under the weather. this was gift i recognized that and  i sat listening to the rain and watching the fog come in, i slipped into my boots went outside to feel the fogs soft mist turn into rain drops that fell upon me enough to help mend my aching bones. i walked to the garden and ate a few tomatoes and peas that had been washed by the mother nature herself, i held a butterfly with a broken wing and let her drink and eat the juice of a plum.

now i sit and my dinning table as a piano plays in the back round and the fog is coming in through the window, elle's twirling in it saying look auntie the fog is in the house, yes i say and whisper back in my soul too... and as all this, elle, fog, piano and the sound of the rain mixes and fills my senses i can feel my heart hurt in the way it lets you know you are living something special even magical.

so dear friends who share your thoughts and letters with me, i too need this in my life and i thank you for reminding me just like the the fog and rain has today.

a pie on the hill

a short post to let you know the lovely nikole of Herriot & Grace posted the beautiful pie made and shot by aran here on the hill thank you for including me!. Here is a few photographs i styled and took myself nothing to fancy. Next week i  have been invited by aran to attend a workshop that nikole will be teaching and sunday suppers, i have coveted nikole's style, work and the beautiful simplicity that is her everyday so needless to say i am so excited not to mention spending time with dear aran in the city!

also  aran posted about her visit to the hill here, so beautiful.

summer moves along quickly

 it is past midnight and a beautiful moon shines bright, only one window is open finally a cool even crisp night. my house is full again to the rim with guest but everyone is sleeping after a full day and all i can hear is the sound of crickets through that open window. the weekend was a good one k, elle and i headed for a long drive by the hudson river as a storm made it's way. today elle and i took another country drive and before we left i took pictures of elle in my favorite drive way. i love spending time with her, yesterday we picked blueberries, blackberries, apples and discovered white pumpkins growing in our manure pile all this as the sun was setting. there has been such magic all summer long, the kind that has you whispering thank you many times through out the day. i will have guest almost till the very day i leave for new york and then a couple of days in between ny and whistler and a few weeks between whisler and france and maybe it is the cool air and the long sleeve sweater i am wearing as i type this but summer she seems to be going by far to fast. i feel a sort of lump in my throat as i write this, knowing that i will be away from the hill as summer comes to an end. i want to hold on to every morsel, savour it and let it linger as long as it possible can. maybe a slight sense of melancholy and maybe that is normal for one who spends most of her time on the hill to feel as she starts traveling for work. i feel blessed for what i will see and learn but for now i will just be here on the hill in the moment.

* photographs taken with a phone.

* dear friends not sure when i will post again, ( it took me a full hour to post this, computer trouble) and the traveling but i do have so much to share so i will do my best.

* aran  will post from her stay in vermont this week so be sure to visit, can't wait to see
also we worked together for a small shoot for nikole of  herriot & grace that should be up this week too so please stop by.

dear friends, although i love this summer so much, i do miss my regular exchanges when i post. please know how glad i am that you guys are here and i do hope that you do that thing you have promised yourself this summer,  please.

at the end of a new road

i never thought that between my last post and now there would be so much distance of time. i am sitting by the window and soft music is playing as i desperately try to get this post written, my computer barely working typad and cursor. i have many photographs to share with you but getting to them has been tough. i have used instagram to document the things i have seen and done and find myself neglected my true love the camera that is going to change i promise you, i promise myself.

Last week i had visitors the house filled to rim with people i care about, doing the things i love. i will be sharing more of it soon. this week i am taking time to get my garden back to a manageable state, it being small i think i should have it done my the end of tomorrow. i am writing this now knowing that in a few minutes after i publish this i will grab my sun hat, muck boots and make my way to the fields to resurrect a new horse pasture, it will be long but i will not stop till it is done. in this time my thinking becomes clear as my body works hard burning all extra energy and the some that has been bottled up.

i will be traveling a lot in the august and september and yesterday i thought about how the list i made of what i was going to do when i moved to the hill was put in mental drawer and this week i have decided to bring it out. simple things like, nap in the hammock, foraging greens i had not thought off, meditate in it's true form, make jam and walk till my legs hurt or my belly feels hunger. i plan on doing these things, even though more guest are do to come. for now i will leave you with these ( okay) images i took after i dropped aran and the kids at the airport, we left the house at four am in the cool rain when i came upon this road the rain stopped and the sun came and just life that my inner reset button was pressed and inspiration drove me all the way home...

* i have eaten my weight in blueberries and hoping to do that again this week along with the goods from my garden.