a decade of being elle

there is this girl that has a big piece of the pie when it comes to my love, if not the biggest.

her heart is so kind and gentle. see sees the world very much the way i see it

she notices all the little things and makes them special. she is so talented and picks up everything

on the first try. she can work a camera so wonderfully that soon she will be teaching me.

she is kind to all creatures and all creatures adore her. she has a sweet tooth and is not afraid of baking the most complex of recipes. 

I love my nature walks with her, i love hiding with her in the dark behind trees waiting for deer to emerge, or discovering a fisher cat high up in a tree and running back for binoculars, she has incredible patience.  

I love that she in ten today, because ten i remember and it felt special. I will be going to montreal to celebrate her birthday this weekend, we will go boulangerie & patisserie hopping, old montreal for picture taking (she received her very own camera this morning) and china town for dinner.

happy birthday elle, you are the loveliest.

*elle is my niece

when you meet gypsies on the dirt road!

our weekend. 

we had only seven dollars to spend having over extended ourselves that week, january, february never easy on a farm. I was not worried, for i had already planned for home made soups, hummus, apple crisp. we decided saturday morning to head to the cafe and blow it all:) on our way we drove down the dirt road, the sun was bright, yet it was bitterly cold. i was not feeling it since i had just spent the last two hours working hard doing chores.  as we drove down the dirt road i got my camera ready, incase a muscovy duck would be blocking the way or a tree branch would catch the sun just right but what i found instead was a herd of sheep.  i have to tell you i could not contain my excitement,  this was a dirt road after all and the farm was that way and where did they come from i wondered out loud.  i jumped out of the car( it was still moving) and just snapped away. they looked at me with the same questions i had just asked. they were studying me and i them- no that is not true i was admiring them, falling in love with them, specially him, do you see him. they were like a band of gypsies, ragged, dishevelled but so handsome. i was in heaven.  this was the biggest gift, i stood there wanting to speak to them, i swear they were so alive, they seemed so wise with stories to tell.  i watched them go then ran back into the car so giddy, saying "honey can you believe it, can you believe them, can you believe how lucky we are".

the rest of the weekend was full of photographic opportunities it seemed, peeking through the window i would see k, picking up the chickens, gathering eggs and i would yell out the window stand still i will be right there with my camera... and i was there in that moment.