Maritimes - Part 2 and Giving Thanks!

Before I share a bit about the rest of our trip

to the Maritimes in September,

I want to post a few pictures of our recent activities ...

The mantel sparsely decorated for this season!

So thankful for these two!

And these two!

We celebrated with the farmer's family ... a quick dinner at Swiss Chalet

and a hike on beautiful nearby trails.

I am so thankful for this fun loving bunch!

It was a good day.

So thankful to celebrate with our wee family too ...

Our son-in-law ... he always does a great job at carving the roast!

She doesn't like to have her picture taken but this girl has my heart!

She posted this on her IG today.

Use the Good Dishes!!!

Can't tell you how thankful I am for the loved ones that 

God has put into my life!

Our trip to the Maritimes seems like a distant dream.

After St. Andrews By The Sea we headed to Saint John, NB

Saint John, NB - reversing falls under that bridge!

Hurricane Dorion's damage was evident in the city's downtown square.

The famous City Market - built on a slant!

We did a walking tour of the historic

brown stones near the harbour front.

The Three Sisters historical lamp.
This gas lit lamp guided sailors into the harbour.

Throughout the city were beautiful salmon sculptures, all special pieces of art!














Wall art/graffiti on many walls and buildings - such talent!

                                                                                                         

Engaging with this John Hooper time piece clock sculpture guy for a bit...

                                                                                

One day in this beautiful city was simply not long enough!
It was cold and windy but didn't hinder us from enjoying Saint John.

Next stop ... the unforgettable province of Nova Scotia.
I can hear the bagpipe welcome from here.

In the meantime ...... feeling like deep Fall over here. Thankfully the soy beans have been harvested with more success than expected, the garlic has been planted and the new tulip bulbs are in the ground.

Sorry about the grey blob at the bottom of this post. I couldn't get rid of it??? eek!

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Maritimes in September - Part 1

September is a bit of a blur.

So much happened and we enjoyed a much needed get-away

to the Maritimes!

First and foremost our little lady started school!

However has this happened already?

She loves it (Jr. Kindergarten) and is attending the very same school that her mommy did!
Full days, every day! A tired and happy student at the end of each day.

Waiting for the big yellow bus!

This also means her little brother gets to spend some time with me ...
Need I say more - I just love this little man!

Summer came late with a slow start to garden and field work.
When September rolled around it seemed like a good time to "Escape" for a few weeks.
Our Escape 19 was loaded and off we went.

The first day we made it all the way to the Eastern Townships of Quebec
and camped at L'le Marie - a sweet island campground connected with a bridge.

The camper fridge was sparsely loaded because we were heading across 
the boarder and didn't want to worry about food restrictions.
Bonus - this meant not much cooking for me!
The farmer had scouted out some wonderful restaurants and places to visit.

Our first meal to celebrate this trip ...
Delicious East Indian food at Shallimar
in the quaint college town,
Lennoxville

A great way to start this culinary "camping"
trip to the East Coast.

A quick hike and leg stretch
along the Kennebec River.

So pretty with signs/smells of Autumn filling the air.

On our way to Bar Harbor, Maine we drove through Skowhegan.
We should have stopped there.
It was such a picturesque little town and would have been an interesting stop.
Another town we by-passed and looked interesting was Newport.

We made it to our campground, unhitched and went off to explore 
Acadia National Park. It's massive and beautiful and we got totally lost.
The next day we took the free shuttle into the park and did a proper tour.
What a treat ...

The weather was perfect - sunny and cool - for hiking in Acadia National Park!

So many beautiful scenes along the Sand Beach Trail hike!

The photos, of course, do not do justice to these beautiful rugged shorelines.

Our first lobster dinner - delicious!

Sunset at the beautiful Bar Harbor seaside!
It was a full moon that evening.

So glad we had the chance to visit this beautiful area again!

A quick shopping stop at L.L.Bean warehouse in Elsworth
and after a "sketchy" road less travelled (I79) drive through upper Maine
we arrived back in Canada in St. Andrews By The Sea.

Our campground was right on the water front where we enjoyed sunrises and sunsets!

The tide here is so extreme and remarkable!

St. Andrews By The Sea is such a pretty place. We walked the Market Wharf Pier
and saw the Nao Santa Maria (replica of Columbus ship) at low tide and high tide.
What a magnificent vessel!

The artsy shops along Water Street were lovely to browse.
And then there were the stunning Kingsbrae Gardens ... so thankful that we took the time to see this!
It's a 27 acre, award winning masterpiece"
We should have had more time to wander and enjoy ...

The Fall foliage was so pretty and the these pictures are simply a "glimpse"
of these incredible gardens - they must be amazing all throughout the season!

Dinner was a shared huge platter of clams at Clam Diggers - a small take-out
stand just outside the town that is so busy it causes traffic jams!!
Delicious.

Before leaving this pretty place - we ventured out on the Tidal Road to Minister's Island.
We were too late to take the tour because the tide would have stranded us there.
Would love to see this some day - it's apparently well worth the while.
The Tidal Road itself was intriguing and we drove back to see it "filled in" a few hours later.

Low Tide

High Tide










We loved St. Andrews By The Sea, New Brunswick

Next stop - St. John, New Brunswick

If you are still reading, dear reader, I will attempt to continue this trip blog soon.
Also, will try to figure out how to make picture collages with my new computer
(apparently my old collage app no longer works).
Any suggestions - fellow bloggers?

In the meantime, it's Thanksgiving Weekend here in Canada and the preparations
are waiting to be made.

We have SO MUCH to be thankful for and are blessed beyond deserving!
Have a wonderful weekend wherever you are!

Till next time - counting my blessings ...

Herbs on the Go

Before we left for our 3 week vacation to the Maritimes

I checked my herb garden.

(stay tuned for some down East posts)

The basil was at it's peak - I had to do something!

After viewing https://www.mairlynsmith.com/index.php/2011/06/27/freezing-a-bumper-herb-crop/ Mairlyn Smith's tutorial on how to preserve this bounty

in Olive Oil I was determined to "save" these beauties.

BTW - I love her fb tutorials. She's hilarious and I must get a copy of

her latest book - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/557973/peace-love-and-fibre-by-mairlyn-smith/9780147530929

It was easy to do and now I can look forward to throwing them into future sauces and such.

I used my silicone tart liners.

They did the trick.

Frozen and ready to use!

Oh, but the mint, the parsley, the chives, the sage, and the rosemary ...

What if we get a frost while gone?

I literally grabbed handsful of each, wrapped them in wet paper towels,

and threw them into my camper fridge - hoping they won't be 

confiscated at the border when we travel into the USA.

I confessed to the border patrol (he was so nice) that I have fresh herbs on board

and he said no problem! Yay!

While visiting Bar Harbor, Maine and then on to the Canadian Maritimes,

I rarely had a chance to use my fresh herbs because we were SO ENJOYING

all the fresh sea food.

To make a long story short - I did not do very much cooking on this trip!

When I unpacked the camper fridge yesterday, I was ready to see my poor herbs

dead and gone and needing to be composted.

To my surprise - they were still "fresh as a daisy"!!!

Here they are after 19 days ...

I had packed them in bunches, and put them all into one soft plastic bread bag.

Voila - still fresh and fragrant. Who knew they would last this long?

Mint, dill, chives, sage, parsley and rosemary

Upon inspection of said herb bed on our return, the parsley had exploded!

As I really hate to see this go to waste, I searched the internet for a good

parsley oil recipe.

It seemed easy enough to do so I tackled the challenge.

Two ingredients:

4 Cups lightly packed parsley

1/2 Cup Canola Oil

(I usually like to use Olive Oil

but the Canola Oil will stay more 

liquid when refrigerated - as was

suggested).

My Vitamix blender struggled a bit

when blending this (too many tough stems?) but it eventually

turned out pretty good when sieved 

through cheese cloth.

We drizzled some on ripe Ontario tomatoes for our dinner tonight

and it was so delicious.

I will have to do another batch or two this week before the frost comes our way.

Also, perhaps, a huge tabouli salad?

Can you spot the bright green drizzle?

Well - it seems Fall truly has arrived on this old farm.

I simply love this time of year!

Do you?

Till next time .... enjoying this season (with a long "to do" list).