Summer rain

It rains here a lot and that's why we everything is so lush and amazingly green.

http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/city/pages/qc-147_metric_e.html

Unfortunately it rained a little too much yesterday.  It rained nearly 80mm in an hour and that meant water everywhere - in the metro tunnels, in the underground shopping malls and in basements.  Some poor people even had sewerage water coming up from toilets and basements!  Yuk!!  Luckily we escaped all that!

cbc.ca 

Not only does it rain a lot here we get amazing thunder and lightening as well.  It booms and cracks while lighting up the night sky.  The other morning was an amazing show of nature's fury.  But before the rain and storm the air gets thick and heavy.  The humidity is quite intense but it does wonders for creating curl! 

All this rain also means there's no need to water any of the large garden.  Yippee!  It's amazing to see what pops up as it gets warmer and I was so excited when I realised what this lovely bush was.

They're peonies!  There are so many buds and I can't wait to see them open and bring them in the house.  I wonder what colour they'll be?

xx

Pool opening...

Our pool is still not open...  It seems that "opening" a pool is quite separate to make it swimmable.  What makes matters worse is the pool wasn't "closed" properly so there is a nasty layer of decomposed leaves settled on the bottom.  

Green swimming pool! Yuk!

Despite pool opening being part of our lease, we've decided to just do it ourselves so we can start swimming sooner rather than later.  So the little ones and I headed down to the pool shop to get supplies and after spending a small fortune, we got what we need to get it going.

The pool shop tested a sample of the water and apparently it's not in too bad a state after the lack lustre effort of the first pool guy so as soon as we can get the leaves off the bottom we should be close to swimming!  We will be closing this pool perfectly at the end of the season so we don't have to go through this hassle again next spring.  Apparently you should be able to whip to cover off, skim the surface, give it a quick shock and then you're swimming...  if only!?

xx

Flowers

There is a lot of anticipation and preparation for the bulb season but beautiful as they are they certainly don't last very long.  (Just ask our friends who drove to Ottawa for the last weekend of the Tulip festival and ended up seeing a city full of stalks!).

Luckily for those who like flowers and colour in such a cold climate there are hanging baskets!  The winter is so cold and harsh here that not a lot of delicate flowers can survive year to year so instead garden centres pop up all over the place.

This pop up flower market is in our village and is just amazing.  The choice of annuals, herbs and potted colour was mind blowing - it was actually difficult to decide which ones to choose!

In the end I chose two pink and purple fuchsias to try and brighten our very stark front porch.  I think this will be the extent of our gardening effort this spring/summer but I am quite keen to plant lots of bulbs for next year.  Maybe I could cut a deal with my squirrels so they don't dig them up?  Ply them with nuts and grapes to keep the tulips and daffodils safe?!?

xx

Another beautiful Sunday, another lazy Sunday lunch with friends.  Today's dessert was a classic trifle...

Pan-demonium

Some of the citizens of Montreal are getting kind of mad.  They're all mad at the gouvernment, some because the government has let the strike go on so long and they're not happy with the mess that has been created.  Some are mad about the actual tution hikes and some are mad about the new law - Loi 78 - that was enacted to help stop the protests and get some students back to class while suspending the semester for others.

lapresse.ca

To vent their frustration people have taken to the streets and have started banging on pots and pans!  Apparently this type of demonstration began in Argentina during the time of Pinochet and people protest outside their homes within their own communities.  You can notice from the photos that it's a real family affair!  Action Boy thought this was hilarious when I told him about it.  Again, I'm pretty glad that we don't live closer to the city!!

lapresse.ca

The new Loi 78 was supposed to bring back some order to the city but unfortunately it has had the complete opposite effect and has brought more people to the streets!  On Wednesday night there were over 500 arrests!  Also this new law is set to be challenged in the courts with over 70 student organisations, environmental groups and unions joining together to try and have it reversed.

I just wish they would start protesting about the availability of family doctors!!  I most certainly would hit the streets with the double pram and my scanpans for that!!!

Meanwhile in the suburbs, all I can hear is the tweeting of birds, the roar of lawn mowers and the UPS man ringing the doorbell...

xx

100 days

live.montrealgazette.com

Yesterday marked 100 days of the student protests here in Montreal.  It's really quite amazing that it has gone on for so long and neither side is willing to back down and after so long it would be a terrible loss of face to do so.  There has been a massive toll to the city and the province of Quebec - businesses down town are suffering with people not heading out - especially at night, bad rush hour traffic has become unpredictable and insane, vandalism, serious injury to police and protesters and the Education Minister resigned.  There are now great concerns for the summer festivals that Montreal is famous for.

I'm sure glad we don't live closer to the city as the disruptions and night marches have become downright scary.

In the end only about 30% of students are still on strike but of those who aren't some have to had to take court injunctions to be able to get back into class and even then protesting blockades didn't allow them through.  To try and calm things down the city brought in a law to ban wearing masks during protests and the provincial government created a new law limiting the right to congregate and protest without major limitations.  Of course this went down like a lead balloon and yesterday around 150,000 people came out to mark 100 days and vent their anger about the new laws.

live.montrealgazette.com

There are serious calls for free higher education and if you pay around 51% income tax I can see why you'd feel entitled.  Everyone is waiting for the tipping point because surely this can't go on for much longer...

Lazy long weekend

We decided to stay put this long weekend instead of "touring" and I'm glad we did.  The weather has been amazing and we've spent a lot of time outside.  Having an extra day meant that we could get through a few odd jobs as well.  Something that has been languishing on my to do list is sewing.

So Fanta Pants took the kids to the park and then for some ice cream in the village and I descended in to our dungeon to make a few things.  Thank you!!

I've been wanting to make some cushions for a while and the end result was certainly worth the wait!

Pattern tutorial from www.cluckclucksew.com 

I'm very pleased with how it turned out and I'll try to make another one during the week.  I was also very pleased that the massive transformer box that enables the thermomix to perform also worked for the sewing machine.  (We're kind of sick of endlessly buying things we want/need here but won't be able to use at home.)

It was a breeze sewing in the dungeon as I could spread out and have everything I needed at close by.  Basements are a fantastic idea and an excellent use of space.  I've seen a couple of really excellent examples with full guest suites, playrooms and bathrooms.  Unfortunately while ours is big it's not very pretty.  The carpet is old and yuck and there lots of exposed pipes and there are even full tree trunk beams complete with bark!?!  I think this unmodernised basement is one of the reasons why we can afford to live here so I can't complain!

xx

Long weekend

How do you spend a lazy Sunday on a long weekend when the weather looks like this?

Yes that's right - positively hot and sweaty!  It was amazingly beautiful so we spent it under one of our enormous trees having lunch with some friends.

What's a Sunday lunch with out a pav?  Lamonts eat your heart out!!

The kids played, ran and jumped and got very sweaty.  It's a real shame the pool isn't ready yet but this pool opening business isn't easy with a non commital landlord and an elusive pool man...

Even the squirrels look hot!  I plan on enjoying every minute I can in our gorgeous yard enjoying this beautiful summer weather!

xx