In the Midst of Chaos

I'm sitting in my kitchen, cooking my last dinner in this house (faux tarragon chicken and orzo with Parmesan and basil). Tomorrow is take-out, as hopefully the kitchen will be packed away. For on Friday morning the movers come to empty the house.

I'm surrounded by chaos. A pile of boxes here, half-packed boxes there, counter tops cluttered and messy. We've been going at it all week. Packing, moving things over, unpacking where we can, given there is no furniture and two painters there.

The new house is looking fantastic. The walls are neutral now, we wanted some time in the space before making major changes. The apple tree is showing a bounty of fruit, the raspberries and nanking cherries have made their appearances. The list of maintenance items that accompanies an older home has been started.

I know that this will be my last evening to relax in a long time. Tomorrow brings the last push for packing, Friday is the move, and then the move-in and personalization begins (I'm already having a panic attack about the considerably less cupboard space in the kitchen).

I've taken so many pictures, but they're still on the camera. Next week brings another week off work to get settled, and relax, and enjoy our new home.

Le Mont Saint-Michel

Can you tell I'm feeling nostalgic for France?

Last year at this time we were pulling away from this place:

Le Mont Saint-Michel, France

Off the coast of Normandy, it's an abbey built on a granite rock that is separated from the mainland when the tide is really high. The walled town built up around it, spiraling up the sides of the rock. You can park outside the wall and walk in, poke around the village and tour the abbey.

We had decided early on to stay the night, as we had heard the atmosphere is magical when all the tourists head back to the nearby hotels across the causeway that has been built. We booked ourselves into a little hotel, packed what we needed into the lightest bag we had, and walked into the town and up the five flights of stairs to our room.

That evening was spent touring the abbey at dusk, enjoying musicians playing in various rooms. The next morning we went back to the abbey to snap some photos in daylight, and poked around the shops. I bought my copper bowl for beating egg whites. It was at about this time Hubs decided he was not taking enough advantage of all the crepe stands, and decided to not pass another one the whole trip without ordering a crepe.

Random tree, outside wall of abbey

Like most of what we saw in France, we loved this place, and I hope to return one day and bring the boys.

On This Day...July 16th

One year ago today, this is where we were standing. The beginning of our very first (far from last) trip to Europe.

Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

I fell in love that year. With so many places. And with my husband, all over again.

Bastille Day!

This photo was from last year, the flag was still up when we got into Paris.

Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile

Look at the size of it! Isn't that fantastic?

What Summer Is All About

Parades!

For the past couple of years my Dad has been asked to chauffeur in the Calgary Stampede Parade. I'm not sure how he was first asked, but obviously he knew someone who knew someone.

So, for the second time now, he's been up at the crack of dawn, drives his fancy ol' car down to the staging area, and gets paired up with someone who apparently is important enough to get driven around downtown Calgary for a morning. Last year it was a pair of figure skaters, this year it was a local alderman.

So, this year, my Mum asked if I would go down with her to watch my Dad drive past. Now, normally for me this day means a sleep in, since our office always takes the day off. But, with the possibility of seeing the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as well, I thought, 'Why not?'

So, we found our space at 7am (which means we left my house at 6:15am). Unfortunately not front row, but that group was there at 3:30am. 3:30 AM!! About half a million people came down to the parade this year, more than the usual third of a million.

And we saw them, twice. Once as they left the hotel to start their route, again on their actual route past before the parade began. They drove quite quickly past (running late, according to the police officer near us). But I was able to snap a couple of photos.

(Aside: I'm not a huge fan of the Stampede, and think that Calgary could focus a bit less on its cowboy image, but I did think it was pretty cool that they donned those white hats for so much of their visit.)

See? That's Catherine waving from the driver's side back seat, William is beside her.

 
Now, some people were griping about how fast the motorcade went, and the fact that they were in an enclosed car. I figure, if people wanted up close and personal, they could have stood in line overnight with all those other people to get the event wristband earlier in the week.

And look! A tank! I never thought I'd see a tank on Calgary streets. Now, I haven't been to the parade in over 15 years, so I don't know if this is common.

And there's my Dad. Isn't that car beautiful?

We left pretty quickly after that, our excitement for the morning was pretty much past. And my stomach was growling...

Deep Woods

No, not the bug spray, though I certainly could use some of that right now. The mosquitos are deadly this year! Big! And aggressive!

No, this is a shawl for my sister-in-law. A belated birthday present, I finished knitting a day after her birthday and need to block and weave in the ends, but it's still pretty. Just think how beautiful it will be when it's complete!

I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of the colour green, but when I saw this in the store, it just screamed "L!" to me. Well, not exactly. It screamed my sister-in-law's name.

Pattern: Enchanted Wood by Janine Le Cras. Yarn: Cascade Heritage Handpainted

Happy Canada Day!