This was a small, intimate gathering at my rough-and-ready property in the countryside somewhere between Ottawa and Cornwall, Ontario.
Herv� du Verle appeared first, accompanied by his friend Martine. The resourceful Martine brought a cooler stuffed with delicacies of all kinds, including Normandy cheese, crab salad, olives, pastries, and I'm missing some; thanks so much Martine, you saved my sorry, overtired neck... Did I mention emergency renovations fell upon my family in the form of a collapsing bathroom floor? And that this happened 3 weeks before the pow-wow, with only weekend labour available?
Ah well... for the pow-wow we sat outside in the summer evening, and even enjoyed a brief bonfire, before the rain came to chase everyone away.
My children fell in love with Kodi, Henry and Rumi's 9-month old son. I had seen him last in Spain, at four months. I thought he looked the same (sooooo cute, what a kissable little face), but for one major difference: the little tyke can walk! I read somewhere that this is indicative of above-average mathematical ability.
My kids also fell in love with Rumi, who had the foresight to bring bubble-makers. :-)(Jocelyne asked me the next day about `the baby with the little mother.').
Paola arrived a little flustered, having taken the roundabout way here, but I'm sure she enjoyed the sight of dairy farmland, because she appeared bearing a block of the world's very best cheese, St. Albert Old Cheddar, along with a summer sausage and a bottle of Italian white.
Louise came to get a foretaste of her pow-wow, set for August 14 in L'Assomption. She discovered that it is quite a hike from her place to mine... but was very fortunate in that she encountered no traffic problems. She left here on her way to enjoy the weekend with her girlfriend. I hope you had a nice relaxing time, Louise!
A last note to Martine: Henry just loved the Bourgogne you brought; could you tell us what it was?
I looked it up in the dictionary you gave me, but couldn't find it ;-)
For those who don't know, in addition to her fine fare, Martine presented me with a copy of Pierre DesRuisseaux's Dictionnaire des expressions qu�b�coises, a mighty amusing read. Over the next few weeks I'll glean a few gems from the 470-page tome for discussion on the French Forum.
Thanks to all for coming. I hope we meet again soon (at Louise's, of course!)
Nancy |
: organizer 
: photos 
: report 
: host 
