All posts by Jane Chambers Evans

Colours of Tadoussac

Walking the paths lately has been so beautiful. I have been taking random colour shots and thought I would share some of them.  Funny though the colours are sporadic in some ways. On some hills half the hill is brilliant yellow and red and the other half has not changed at all and is still green. Seems to be the same all over.

Sunset shot
Sunset shot
Long shot of the bay with the wispy clouds that I love.
Long shot of the bay with the wispy clouds that I love.
Early morning frost October 2nd
Early morning frost October 2nd
Corner of Turcot and Stairs upper property looking out on St Lawrence
Corner of Turcot and Stairs upper property looking out on St Lawrence
Fall colours pigeon berries
Fall colours pigeon berries

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Path in front of Tudor Hart
Path in front of Tudor Hart
Tudor Hart path
Tudor Hart path

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New Inukshuk on Pointe Rouge
New Inukshuk on Pointe Rouge
Random Shannon shot
Random Shannon shot

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I’m not sure what to do with Sunday’s?

Today is Sunday. We, like most of you, have had a quite the rain storm over the last 24 hours. Wonderful sound on the tin roof though and in the last hour the sun has finally started to come out again.

We have had quite the week. Seems like everyone in Tadoussac has started to get ready to nest for the winter! We have ordered our wood – and so seemingly has everyone else – as the wood can’t be delivered just yet.  The men are all gone on the hunt for moose.

I spent most of yesterday morning trying to get my flower beds organized and most is finished . I just have to figure out what to do with the hydrangeas. I pruned last year and that did not work well as the one I pruned did not bloom this year,  so I am now looking for a Plan B. We spent yesterday afternoon clearing brush and cutting dead trees on the property so they don,t fall down and crack us in the winter!

We are slowly meeting people which is really fun.  We had Sean Thompson and his girlfriend Pascale in to dinner this week. It was lots of fun  and learned lots about the community which was super. There is a women’s group which meets on Tuesday evenings all winter long at the Auberge de Jeunesse. I signed up so that will be a great way to meet other women in the village.  We also figured out more practical things like how to get a physician so apparently that will only take a month which is quite a rapid turnaround.

We also found out quite a bit about the Hovington Farm. Apparently it is now owned by the MRC which is roughly translated as the Regional Councils of Municipalities. There was a call put out to gather tenders for 6 projects to reclaim the Farm as a farm. So far there are several established. One section which we saw this summer is a place to raise and ride horses. Apparently there is a fairly new but not small movement called Equestrian Tourism.  A group of horse owners go together to a specific place with trailers that are part horse trailer part camper and set up camp together in a large field. They spend a couple of days riding the trails and then they pack up and go to another place. Simon Lamarche (son of Gerard) will head this section and apparently they have been given permission to use the Parc Saguenay trails. The first group was here last Fall and apparently it went very well.  He hopes to  be able to board horses for owners inthe area as horses are becoming more and more popular. Another section will be to revive the apple orchards and bring heritage apples to the area. Another will be a large garden to provide vegetables for sale to the community, including to rejuvenate the strawberry patch! There is also discussion of a large plot for a community garden with plots for use. I have put my name on the list to see if I can have a garden. I am not sure about the other sections yet as not all are determined but it will be very exciting to follow this.

I think my only problem is going to be Sundays. We have had really good church in our lives for a very long time both in summer and winter. By good church I mean thought provoking services making me think about my life, great music and great people. We have started to the Catholic church here and it has not yet lived up to any of the above. Nothing to do with language that is for sure. Six weeks in and not one person has spoken to us yet – my St Andrew’s and St Mark’s crowd would have a fit about this. So I have started a campaign to speak to at least 2 people even if only to say hello and comment on the weather. Mission accomplished today. It is weird and sad to me to have no good church but we will hope that this will improve. I am putting this down to the fact that there are strangers in the church every week so we are still considered vacationers and not much point in investing in strangers. Not a good attitude to build your church – just saying.

Our basement project is underway. Slowly coming closer and closer but boy did I under estimate what still needed to be done.  There are still some of the anglo community around – Dorothy and Thierry are here for a long weekend and we had a wonderful dinner with them at Skutezky’s last night with Jannie Beatty.

We are still pinching ourselves every day as we walk and live in this wonderful place. We had friends, Pam and Stephen,  in last week for a couple of nights and were able, even on a very cloudy day, to wow them with where we are!!

Lots of love to all,  Jane

Why I like the River Road or the old highway

I am sure that each Tad family has their special route to get to Tadoussac and it usually involves getting from A to B as quickly as possible! For me I always take the old highway along the river.  It is 20 minutes longer and no more – for all those who think it is too long!!

For me every mile I travel on that road calms me down and reminds me of how beautiful this place is. I was home to visit my Mom in Peterborough this past week and on my way home I took pictures of all of my favourite spots. The Fall colours are stunning right now so that was the extra bonus.

 

St Tite du Caps
St Tite du Caps
Above Baie St Paul from the information Center
Above Baie St Paul from the information Center
Entering Les Eboulements
Entering Les Eboulements
That crazy Alpaca farm in Les Eboulements
That crazy Alpaca farm in Les Eboulements
Above Ste Irenee
Above Ste Irenee
Ste Irenee
Ste Irenee
Near Ste Fidele
Near Ste Fidele
That beautiful Eagle at Cap à l,Aigle
That beautiful Eagle at Cap à l,Aigle
Near St Simeon
Near St Simeon

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Deuxieme Lac du Seminaire - 5th in the series of 6 lakes that you have to get by before you arrive (Harvey, Ennis, Du Pitré, du Portage, 2eme Lac du Seminaire then Seminaire)
Deuxieme Lac du Seminaire – 5th in the series of 6 lakes that you have to get by before you arrive (Harvey, Ennis, Du Pitré, du Portage, 2eme Lac du Seminaire then Seminaire)
Home by ferry!
Home by ferry!

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Hazards of living in a bird migration zone

We have discovered over the last two weeks that with the increase of small bird migration we are also having an increase in the number of small birds that are smacking into our windows. So far the count of dazed birds is still larger than those that have died but it is getting close. We did some research and it seems the simplest way to manage this is to find a way to break the reflection of trees in the window. For the time being we have had  to tape our largest windows and are keeping our fingers crossed.

Alan finishing the large doors
Alan finishing the large doors
Second generation bird diversion.
Second generation bird diversion.

My original idea was not to put anything on the windows at all but to make little helmets in fetching colours for the birds to wear.  I thought they could pay for them with worms which we, in turn, could sell to local fisherfolk to defray expenses but Jane said it wouldn’t work because most people here fly-fish and don’t use worms.   So we’ve switched to ropes from green masking tape.  Still pretty bad.

Front of shed

The new woodshed

We realized that I have so much gardening junk and that we are going to need a BIG pile of wood so we needed to construct a new shed to accommodate both. So just finished today here it is. Do not get me started about that crazy punt  on the top. Been in the family for 1,000,000 years. Should be a flower pot but no it has to be preserved!!

Front of shed
Front of shed
Inside already getting full
Inside already getting full
From the back
From the back

A view of the finished house

The top two floors are finally finished. I have added here in sequence pictures starting at the road side and in through the house. Hope it will give those of you who have not seen the house a picture of it all.

Back of our house on the road side
Back of our house on the road side
Stairs sweep up to the deck. Stairs were designed and built by Lewis, Alan's brother
Stairs sweep up to the deck. Stairs were designed and built by Lewis, Alan’s brother

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Stairs rise to a large deck
Stairs rise to a large deck
Big enough for lots of parties!
Big enough for lots of parties!
Front of our house on the bay side
Front of our house on the bay side
Step inside the house and you are in our dining room on the left
Step inside the house and you are in our dining room on the left
Just on the other side of the peninsula is the best kitchen ever.
Just on the other side of the peninsula is the best kitchen ever.
On right of entrance is the living room
On right of entrance is the living room
Second shot of the living room with our fireplace
Second shot of the living room with our fireplace
Stairs up to the loft area. Take a look at the banister it was the original mast of the Trillium . The mast broke in a big storm many years ago getting caught in a tree when it broke from its mooring. Sadly it reinforces our idea that you should never throw anything away!
Stairs up to the loft area. Take a look at the banister it was the original mast of the Trillium . The mast broke in a big storm many years ago getting caught in a tree when it broke from its mooring. Sadly it reinforces our idea that you should never throw anything away!
Flower box at the top of the stairs
Flower box at the top of the stairs
Our sitting area
Our sitting area
our bedroom
our bedroom
our bathroom with multicloured drawers as a "call out" to Windward - Alan's family cottage where the steps up to the second floor and the bathroom upstairs are all multi-coloured.
our bathroom with multicloured drawers as a “call out” to Windward – Alan’s family cottage where the steps up to the second floor and the bathroom upstairs are all multi-coloured.

Wildflowers: How many can I find?

 

 

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The wildflowers here are lovely. I am trying to capture as many as i can from all sorts of settings. For now I am getting pictures and over time I hope to be able to  name them all with their right names. Lots of them I am calling names that I have known since a child but I have discovered that some of those names are not correct and were really pet names – sort of.

Some are standard – golden rod, daisies, but some like fireweed and what I call purple or white asters are names that change depending on who you speak to. Think bunchberries, pigeon berries and the other many names we call those lovely little flowers that are in all of our lawns.

So feel free to send me any thoughts about names and any pics that you may have that I don’t yet have.

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Mushrooms: Who knew there were so many kinds?

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Since mid-August to now Sept 16th I’ve been taking pictures of all the types of mushrooms and fungus that I see popping up daily in my walks in the woods. Absolutely unbelievable, especially after a rainy couple of days. They are large and small, colourful, odd shaped and found alone or in clusters.

My challenge is to try to name them. I need to find a website or book that can help with that and have not yet had time. If anyone knows such a site let me know. Like Alice, I need to know if they will make me grow tall, or small,  or kill me on the spot!! I do not intend to eat any of them but it has been fun searching for new ones.