Forest at Laurel Creek Ontario

This weekend we went for a great bike ride around Warren's house although my butt is still sore. It was awesome. I'l take my camera next time because the scenery is just beautiful.

On Sunday we went to Laurel Creek Ontario. It's in Waterloo which is about 20 minutes from Warren's house. (Ok you can stop singing the Abba song now.) It had everything, a forest, groundhogs, geese, ducks, a lake, a beach (see below for exaplanation of the beach) and a dam.

What more do you need?

Scenery at Laurel Creek Ontario

The first photo is our chosen meditation spot this weekend. When we go hiking we usually sit & immerse ourselves in nature and meditate for about 15 minutes. Today was so easy in this peaceful setting.

The second photo is our chosen Christmas tree, although I'm not sure it's going to fit in the loungeroom, or even the house! Its pretty cool to see real Christmas trees growing everywhere. Mum bought a real one in Australia when we were young with the intention of it blooming into something like this tree, only it never bloomed. It was this thinned out stick like couple of branches which we called a Christmas tree. Eventually we gave up & bought a fake one again. Still - it was fun!

The third photo is some fluffy plant that I dont know the name of. I'll have to investigate to see if I can find its name. For now I'll call him "Fluffy." There were whole fields of fluffies.

Warren's favourite trees

Warren loves his trees. Remember his love of the Australian gum tree? Well this weekend he introduced me to his favourite Canadian tree. It's a Birch Tree. They are very pretty and apparetnly have great wood for Warren's carpentering. . .but only if the tree is dead to start with. He would never kill one of these babies.

Butterflies

This cute little guy was very obliging and stayed still while I snapped some photos. I was quite surprised at how close he let me get. I studied him for quite sometime. I actually took it as a sign from the universe, maybe a hello from a spirit guide or even a relative. I dont know why - it just felt like a sign. Butterflies dont have a long lifespan but they make their mark on the world. I've been around for 37 years and feel I'm still yet to make my mark.

There is some stuff happening at the moment that I should be able to reveal next week. It's like soap opera where you feel compelled to come back next week to find out what happened. I can assure you it's very positive and for the first time since I got here I feel that my life makes sense. Thats a good start. It's only taken 7 months. For the first time I feel peace. I feel like I'm on my way to being able to make my mark.

Geese

Geese are everywhere in Ontario. Warren waited until I got down to the water to warn me that they can be quite nasty sometimes if you get too close to them. They can come after you. Fortunately I was able to photograph the cute ducks without incident from the geese behind me. I think these ones are used to people. We were about 100 metres from the camping ground.

Ther tree with the orange berries is called a mountain ash. It's quite pretty but the berries are poisonous.

Comparisons

One of these is a beach in Australia, the other one is a Canadian beach. I wont tell you which is which. :-)

Yes Canada is not world renowned for its beaches. . .now I know why! We wouldn't even call this a beach. However the surrounding scenery was beautiful just the same.

Wild Apples

These were just growing near the forest at Laurel Creek. I've never had a wild apple before. We ate one - it was really nice.

Typical Canada

So when I think about Canada, even before I saw it - this type of scenery is what I imagined. Peaceful setting; a pine tree lined lake front, an old rugged jetty to launch your canoe off. . .just like this one. This is Laurel Creek Conservation Area about 20 minutes from Warren's house. I asked him why he hid this from me and took me to the ones next to highways & jails & industrial areas. He said he's never been here.

Its amazing how much of your own backyard you dont see. Warren's eyes are opening up to Canada from an outsiders perspective and he's really enjoying it.

Canadian Cricket

Yes - Cricket exists in Canada. . .but not much. This is the first sign of cricket I have seen in Canada. Some Canadians don't even know what it is! Imagine something you've grown up with all your life that EVERY Australian knows about is unknown to the average Montrealer.

But here it is! A cricket match! Ok they were all Indians (from India) playing and we know that India loves cricket, but they were still Canadian!!

A didgereedoo in Montreal?

The first photo is me, Nat the Bachelorette, and Sabine. I cant say Bachelorette's are my cuppa tea & I left early after dinner. But it was fun meeting a whole bunch of Lebanese & 2 Australian Lebanese. The 2nd photo is Sabine & Nada the Aussie. So they spoke Arabic all night which is very confusing. I'm still getting used to the French.

The 2 Aussie's came from Punchbowl in Sydney & were very Aussie & very nice. Fortunately for me they spoke Arabic, French & Aussie so I felt at home. . .especially seeing as they had a didgereedoo.

Waiting for food

Waiting. . . .waiting. . . .waiting. Bella got hopeful when I stood up but then realised I had that stupid flashing thing in my hand instead of food.

I, on the other hand could do with some waiting for food. I havent exactly gotten my weight under control yet as planned. It would help if I knew which city to settle in. I'm still in limbo between Ontario & Montreal so I dont get into a routine, or if I do it gets broken.

But that should settle down soon. Just like the puppies, I am waiting, knowing the time will come and hoping that every movement is that very step. I guess I'll just sit. . .and wait. . .

The kids

Like all kids, these ones like to carry their toys around & leave them all over the house. The one in Bella's mouth looks almost pleeding to be let go.

These are my friend Shelley's dogs and I love them. Shelley thinks I'm coming over to see her, but really its the puppies!!! (Ok and Shelley & Jeff too)

This weekend I had a BBQ with them & their friends on Saturday and on Sunday we wathced some movies. Shelley's partner Jeff was bagging Shelley out for being a big scaredy cat while watching Amytville Horror. We watched it during daylight so we didnt get nightmares and we were able to sleep. Jeff was saying how "unscarry" the movie was & how we were just chicken. He said to Shelley not to wake him up with nightmares later. The funny thing was. . .it wasnt Shelly who ended up with the nightmares!!! hahaha

Friday Night Haircut

So get a good look at this hair because this is the only day it's going to look as nice as this. Why is it that you can never do your hair as good as the hairdresser?

So this Friday I went with Pierina to get my hair done at her hairdressers which is very French. Not much English spoken there. I'm just glad they understood me enough to give me the right colour & cut. You never know what I could've ended up with. . .but then I had Pierina translating anyway.

I like it out where Pierina lives in St Lazare (1st photo). Its half an hour from work and considered "the country." And you do go past lots of horses, cows & a few goats. Pierina gave me directions to go home but one street she said go right & she meant left. I rang her from the graveyard saying "I dont think I'm in the right place somehow. . .this doesnt look familiar.

Endermologie

The sign says "Endermologie" which is the business that my brother-in-law & step-sister run in Australia. (The ones that own the house in Sanctuary Cover where Warren & I had a BBQ) They are the sole distributors of Endermologie machines in Australia. I was surprised to see such a big sign for it here in a small Quebec town called Sherbrooke.

Endermologie assists weight loss but also is effective for muscle recuperation. It was a nice sign from the universe to let me know that I am never far from home.

Serenity

This is our new little sanctuary in Montreal. Its in a suburb called Bois-Franc which is only a few blocks from where I live but a much nicer area. The duck pond was peaceful and we had Sunday breakfast at the local golf course.

A family of ducklings came up closely followed by mother duck and were expecting us to have food which we didnt. Well we didnt know that's what was expected - had we known I'm sure we could have provided some bread to the hungry ducklings, not to mention the congregating carp below the surface of the water who were equally expecting a meal.

Comedy Festival

This weekend was the comedy festival which followed the Jazz festival last month. At the Jazz festival is people like Paul Simon and the comedy festival has equally well known performers.

Unfortunately I didnt participate this year but we saw some outlying evidence of a festival. The green thing is the comedy festival mascot, and many buskers were in Vieux (Old) Montreal such as the fire juggler. And behind Warren is the usual horse & carriage that are residents in Vieux Montreal most of the year round.

The main port is at Old Montreal and there were some big tanker ships in dock. It's a great atmosphere.

More Gardens

I cant get enough of Canadian gardens - they're absolutely beautiful & change so rapidly. Everyone plants things that have a finite season but bloom one after the other. Tulip season is the first one after winter, then it expands from there. Either way Canadian gardens are always full of life & colour.

Vieux Montreal (Old Montreal)

This weekend Warren drove the long journey up from Ontario. We went to Vieux Montreal followed by a shopping spree Downtown where we got lost in the underground network of shops. Very early in my blog you'll see where I used to get lost in the shops downtown quite frequently. Not much has changed in 6 months, only this time Warren joined me in our lostness. I know that's not a word for all of you who just thought that!

We had a lot of fun as usual. It seems to be the standard when we're together. Now that summer is truly underway we were able to sit in Old Montreal cafe's and watch the world go by. Minutes after the first shot was taken was a summer downpour & thunderstorm. Lucky I wore my quick dry shorts!

It's very beautiful down here, the old cobblestone roads, horse drawn carraiges in the distance and sandstone cottages finish off the ambience.

Houses in Brossard, Montreal

These are some of the houses in Brossard where my friend Shelley lives. They're awesome houses & very typically Canadian architecture. The weird thing about Brossard is that all the street names are alphebetised. Shelley lives in the R section where all street names start with R. But the S section is really upmarket. The first question for anyone living in Brossard is "what section are you in?" The S houses are twice the size of these ones. The funny thing is by Australian standards - even the S section ones are so cheap. These huge mansions for under a million dollars is unheard of in Aus.