La Fête des Rois Mages

Tags

BULGARI, Christmas, cookies, Epiphany, gifts, sunshine, the 3 kings

Well today is the 6 January, the last day of the Christmas festivities. Again at dinner time we were listening to Radio Canada from Montreal and Monique Giroux the host of the music show had a special 1969 French Song of that year. It was a great year for French songs in Canada and in France, many hits for sure and some duds. I was 12 years old in 1969 and the Host Monique Giroux was 6 years old. It was so strange to hear all these old songs, many made me smile remembering Montreal then, we lived in Snowdon and the big street was Queen Mary Road name after the wife of King George V.

My father was the manager of the Bonaventure Hotel which was operated then be Western International, the hotel part of United Airlines, my Mom was in real estate in Westmount, then a really expensive stone mansion was $50,000. For some unexplained reason this Holiday Season I have been thinking a lot about my parents and my childhood years in Montreal. Our Prime Minister then was Pierre E. Trudeau, the father of our current PM Justin, who was not even born. It was also the year before the October Crisis which would see Martial Law impose for 6 months with the army occupying the streets. Being in Quebec, despite our young age I remember how aware we were of the political events.

This beautiful mosaic in the cathedral of San Vitale in Ravenna of the 3 kings dressed in the Gaul style with pants and the red phrygian caps bearing gifts to Jesus. 

This being the Feast of Epiphany, La Befana brought me a gift. In Italy she is the old lady who gives gifts to children on this day, there is NO Santa in the Italian tradition. BULGARI  is my favourite.

 

Will also made Peanut Butter cookies, they are very good but not the 22 dozens the recipe called for.

Home at 04:10 pm with the sun setting in the West.

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Another Christmas 2018

Tags

Canada Français, choir, Christmas, Montreal, Noël, traditions

We had friends today for Christmas Lunch, it took me about an hour to set the table. I had polished all the silverware a few days ago and all the linens had been ironed.

The menu was classic French Canada fare, tourtières, Ragoût de pattes de cochon avec boulettes, a breast of turkey. For dessert we had mulled wine jellies and Plum Pudding flambé with brandy, a great meal.

Later I watched the Christmas Day message of the Queen, her messages are well crafted and never say more than need to be said on this day. The photos on the desk are related to what the Sovereign is saying, they also convey the message of continuity. This year a photo of her father as a young man in the Royal Navy during the First World War, not yet aware that one day he would become King. Then a photo of a young bride and husband with their first child, the Prince of Wales, who one day will be King. The group photo is of her son HRH Prince Charles on his 70th birthday with the Duchess of Cornwall surrounded by his own children and grand children. Continuity, the Queen is a great-grand mother now. The one absence today HRH Prince Philip who at 96 has retired from the public eye.

Today on Radio-Canada Christmas programming the host tenor Marc Hervieux spoke of his childhood and played this great classic of the Midnight Mass in parishes in French Canada, Ça berger, assemblons-nous. ( Shepherds let’s gather) the singer was one of the very great operatic tenors in Canada in the 1950’s  Richard Verreau (1926-2005). He was a neighbour in Montreal for about 10 years. A wonderful voice with a tragic ending. The Choir is Les Disciples de Massenet, a group with a 90 year history.

 

Such sacred music is muscular and sounds almost like a martial air. It says come let’s go now, nothing is more important, leave your flocks to look after themselves, the Messiah awaits you. There is no greater calling.

Ça bergers assemblons-nous
Allons voir le Messie
Cherchons cet enfant si doux
Dans les bras de Marie
Je l’entends, il nous appelle tous
Ô sort digne d’envie

Laissons là  tout le troupeau
Qu’il erre à  l’aventure
Que sans nous sur ce coteau
Il cherche sa pâture
Allons voir dans un petit berceau
L’auteur de la nature

Ça bergers assemblons-nous
Allons voir le Messie

Cherchons cet enfant si doux
Dans les bras de Marie
Je l’entends, il nous appelle tous
Ô sort digne d’envie

Que l’hiver par ses frimas
Ait endurci la plaine
S’il croit arrêter nos pas
Cette espérance est vaine
Quand on cherche un Dieu rempli d’appas
On ne craint point la peine

Ça bergers assemblons-nous
Allons voir le Messie
Cherchons cet enfant si doux
Dans les bras de Marie
Je l’entends, il nous appelle tous
Ô sort digne d’envie

 

Something I learned today

Tags

Acadians, Cape Breton, Christmas, Holiday, Mi'k Maq, native, New Brunswick, New Year, Nova Scotia

The Maritime Provinces of Canada are part of what is the ancestral homeland of the Mi’k Maq people. CBC PEI interviewed Elder Bernie Francis who was raised in Membertou, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and asked him how do you say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in the Mi’k Maq language. Elder Francis is a linguist and he explained how it came about. The two holidays are foreign to the Mi’k Maq people and in living alongside French Acadian settlers they came in contact with the celebration of Christmas and New Year. They simply used their own words to do a simple translation into their language.

Per example seeing Midnight Mass, the Mi’k Maq of Nova Scotia will say Etawey Wli Nipi Alasutman or Happy Midnight Prayer, while their cousins in New Brunswick will say Wli Newelewin based on the French saying of Joyeux Noël.

As for New Year seeing the French say to them Bonjour, Bonne Année and extending their hand to shake the Mi’k Maq simply translated it into  Pusu’l Punane. The Mi’k Maq are all around us here in the Maritime Provinces and their ancient history mixed in with the Acadians in the 17th Century.

A fun fact to learn.

Towards Xmas

Tags

Canada., Christmas, Food, French, life, Montreal, Music, Quebec

This week listening to Radio-Canada in the morning I heard some old Christmas favourites from my childhood. One was Mon Beau Sapin, Roi des Forêts known in English as O Tannenbaum. This was the song the second wife of my maternal grandfather, we called Tante Fernande would sing each Christmas at lunch at my grandfather’s house when all his children and spouses and us grandkids would gather for the traditional meal, gifts and benediction. It was an old, I dare say a very old tradition going back several generations, the family patriarch would bless is family for the New Year. Tante Fernande would have cooked a turkey it was always an excellent birds and very juicy, serving peas and mash potatoes and cranberries which she called Atoka, dessert would be a mix of chocolates, Bûche de Noël and other sweets. I always thought that Atoka was the real name for cranberries but it turn out that Atoka is a Quebec recipe for processing cranberries after they are harvested. It gives a much sweeter fruit and has none of the tartness found in canned cranberries. Tante Fernande was a cook who did everything from scratch including her cranberries. You could not buy canned cranberries back then or if you could it was not done on good homes.

The dishes used to serve the Christmas meal was on two dinner sets, one was white with a dark blue and gold rim, the other set was their wedding dinner set which I have now.

There were other songs and my aunts knew one each, a favourite, one was Petit Papa Noël, my Mom use to sing that one. It is not an old song, the melody is taken from an old Ukrainian song and the words written in 1944 were about a child asking Santa to bring his father home for Xmas from the POW camp in Germany. After the war the words were changed erasing any reference to the war to what we hear today. It is a song that you would learn in school and my mother knew it well.  It was part of every Christmas music recital at school in French Canada. Tino Rossi premiered this song in 1946 and it became his Christmas signature song. Radio-Canada played it today as part of their weekend Christmas show it brought back a tidal wave of memories.

On this score the French service Radio-Canada is doing a much better job with their Christmas programming than the CBC who is playing a mix of commercial music. Tomorrow 23 December, the CBC will have an all day Christmas concert as they do every year from the European Union broadcasted live starting at 9am. Radio-Canada will have its programming, vintage shows from the 1940 to 1970. Despite the fact that such programming might be speaking to an older generation, it is still enormously popular.

Maybe it speaks about a time when Christmas was not about shopping and stress. The Media today puts a heavy emphasis on how stressful and unpleasant it is, with those awful relatives. I wonder why it has to be this way, not to mention the trove of bad news. It sounds almost perverse.

Gifts use to be in my mother’s childhood an orange which was a luxury then, books, clothing like a scarf or a sweater. For us it was books, sweets or the dreaded Fentex slippers your gradma knitted for you, some small amount of money like a $5. bill new and crisp or a board game. The adults were not stressed, no one was driving around shopping in malls, it was a nice holiday with a focus in Roman Catholic Quebec on religion and midnight mass recalling the traditions of Old Canada and France.

The other popular song and remains so to this day is J’ai vu maman embrassé le Père Noël sung by Line Renaud who is 90 years old. This 1956 version is one you will hear on the radio. Renaud was and remains one of the great French singer of her time.

Well we avoided the stress of Christmas and it is something I never quite understood why so many people whipped themselves into a frenzy.  I think that a lot of the stress is made up on false notions about gifts and having to please other people, it is somewhat artificial. I hope you all have lots of fun and enjoyment out of the Holiday Season.

My Best Wishes to You!

 

Have you made your list?

Tags

Canada., Christmas, home, life, Music, Santa, Travel

Have you made your list for Santa?

What do you want for Xmas? I would like a BMW convertible or better still a Bentley Convertible, lots of Bulgari stuff and some nice cases of Bollinger Champagne. like in this photo in Lisbon.

 

Today 87 years ago, on 11 December 1931 Canada became a fully independent Country with the proclamation of the Statute of Westminster, George V was proclaimed King of the Dominion of Canada. These important changes were enshrined into our Constitution and Canada adopted its own Law on Royal Succession.  We were also able to finally make our own Foreign Policy independent from Britain and open our own Canadian Embassies around the world. The first one was in Tokyo, Japan and Sir Herbert Marler was our first Canadian Ambassador to the Empire of Japan.

 

Here we are

Tags

Christmas, Music Daveluy, Noël, PEI

Well it’s Christmas 2017 in Prince Edward Island and around the world. We are just waiting for our dinner guests here at home. All is ready, champagne is chilling, nice wines for dinner. The menu is a shrimp and lobster soup, Acadian Meat Pie with vegetables and for dessert Merlot wine jelly, had a taste last night and it is good.

This morning with the brilliant sunshine on the Hillsborough river I was listening to the Symphony no.8 by Dimitri Shostakovich. It is about the survival of the City of St-Petersburg, the old Imperial Capital of Russia during the 2 year siege it endured during the Second World War, music to the human spirit.

Tomorrow Christmas day we are going to friends for a late lunch, the weather forecast is not good very high winds in the 50 to 60km range, some rain and maybe snow. But we are just going 15 miles from home and it only takes 20 minutes to get there, highway driving.

It is very green around here now and with more rain in the forecast, oh well, we moved here for the European like weather.

Our table for tonight’s dinner, setting it up takes time

Before the guests arrive I am having a large scotch, Dalwhinnie 15 yrs old, neat!

Will today made Ginger bread men, women and bears which are now called Non-Binary gender fluid people.

Of course tonight, being a clear night, we will see a lot of this on the roads of the Island, no point in calling the police, I was told it is perfectly legal and I should be thankful and If I continue to complain, the police chief will personally deliver a bag of coal to my home. Ok I get it!

All the best to all of you, dear readers. Thank you for reading my blog and many blessings to you on this Holiday Season. I leave you here listening to French Christmas Music of the 17th and 18th Century, music I learned from my mother as a child. Music from old French Canada and France.

 

 

A Noël at Sandringham

Tags

Canada., Christmas, EIIR, protocol, Royal Family, Sandringham

Sandringham House is a country house near Sandringham, Norfolk, England. It is the private home of Queen Elizabeth II. The house stands within a 20,000 acres estate in the Norfolk Coast Area.

So it was announced that HRH Prince Henry (Harry) and his fiancée Meghan Markle will be spending this Christmas with the other members of the Royal Family. Meghan was invited by HM the Queen,  the family spends several days celebrating but it will not be at all like most people imagine a family Christmas is spent, you know in your jammies opening gifts and just being silly, letting our hair down etc.

Anytime spent in the presence of Her Majesty is a highly choreographed affair with briefing on what to wear and at what time each event takes place, all of it of course is private and no one from the public in attendance. It will be quite the adjustment for Megan and it is a test in a way to see if she can conform to a life time of following an exact program. It is a world very far removed from the common folk and not even TV series like Downtown Abbey can give an idea of what all this would be like. The actors in that television series portrayed rich aristocrats not the Royals.

Here is a little description of what it will be like.

Christmas traditions are sacred, and in that sense, the royal family is no different. Every year, the Queen goes up to Sandringham House in Norfolk on the 19th or 20th of December, with the rest of the family arriving on Christmas Eve around lunchtime.

Unfortunately for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry and now Meghan,  Christmas with Granny doesn’t mean they’ll be spending the holidays in a relaxed family atmosphere. In fact, Christmas at the queen’s official Winter retreat, Sandringham, is a different beast altogether.

While most of us think of Christmas as being a quiet, casual time at home, the holidays are hardly a low-key affair for the royals. Family members to the Queen’s Christmas Celebrations are required to adhere to court protocol, including bowing or curtseying to their royal superiors and paying attention to who enters a room first. Even their arrivals are coordinated based on seniority, with junior members arriving at Sandringham first and the more senior ones arriving last. Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, always arrive last, as Charles is the immediate heir to the throne. The queen arrives at the estate usually a few days before her guests so she can oversee the preparations. Yes family members are seen as guests in the House of the Queen.

In addition to coordinating their arrivals, family members have to adhere to the queen’s perfectly timed schedule. They are typically given an outline of their activities upon arrival so they can coordinate their outfit changes and timing. Family members also cannot go to bed before the queen, who typically stays up until midnight. (However, we imagine exceptions would be made for sleepy little ones like Prince George and Princess Charlotte.)

Again, Christmas at Sandringham is not a casual affair, and guests are expected to make at least three outfit changes throughout the day, including an outfit change for morning activities, a new ensemble for afternoon tea (usually a suit or tweed dress for women), and formal attire complete with jewels at dinner. Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, once complained that she once had to wear seven different outfits in a 24-hour period when she used to be invited to the holiday celebrations.

Keeping with tradition, the food at Sandringham tends to be your typical holiday fare, including a Christmas turkey accompanied by winter root vegetables like parsnips. Royal Family members also start their days on the estate with a typical English breakfast, complete with bacon, sausages, kippers, and kidneys.

Prince Charles famously brings in his own organic vegetables and food to eat that come straight from his garden in Highgrove. Charles prefers poached plums from his estate, so his valet would often place up to four bottles of the treats in the estate’s fridge.

Family members typically arrive at the estate on Christmas Eve in the early afternoon, where they are ushered to their rooms to change for tea. At 4 p.m., they gathers in the White Drawing Room for tea and snacks, while children are given last-minute ornaments to decorate the Christmas tree. Then, everyone is ushered into the Red Drawing Room, where tables are set up with presents which are, again, displayed in order of royal precedence. (The family opens their presents on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day, as the queen believes Dec. 25 should be reserved for religion.)

Rather than fancy gifts, the royal family exchanges joke presents — the sillier, the better. Diana famously made a mistake during one of her first Christmases at Sandringham, bringing an expensive cashmere sweaters and luxury items to give to her in-laws. It appears that Kate has gotten the hang of royal gifting, as she reportedly gave Prince Harry a plastic Grow Your Own Girlfriend kit during an early visit. Previous gifts that made a splash include a padded toilet-seat cover that Princess Anne gave Prince Charles and a pepper mill that one family member gave to Prince Philip.

Later, the family changes once again for dinner, donning formal clothing and jewels. The adults and older children dine together, while the youngsters play in a nursery. After dinner, the queen stands to signal to the women in the party that they should move to another room for coffee, while the men stay behind for an after-dinner drink.

On Christmas Day

After breakfast, the entire royal family dons their best church clothing for a visit to the Sandringham parish church at 11 a.m., where they are usually greeted by a large crowd of fans and photographers, the service last exactly 12 minutes. Then, everyone heads back to the big house for lunch, which includes a Christmas turkey and a selection of cold meats, before watching the queen’s annual Christmas message on TV at 3 p.m.

After lunch, the family is free to roam around the estate or, if they prefer, stay inside and watch TV, which is usually full of special Christmas-themed TV shows.

Boxing Day

Following another traditional breakfast, the group heads out for an annual pheasant shoot on the estate. The men are the only people who are allowed to take part in the hunt, as ladies are not allowed to use a gun in the presence of the queen. Once the shoot is over, the party begins to break up, with everyone heading home to spend the holidays with other members of their families. Kate and William typically visit Kate’s parents in Bucklebury before heading to Balmoral to meet up with Charles and Camilla again. However, now that the Cambridges have a home at nearby Anmer Hall (which sits on the Sandringham grounds) there is talk that the Middletons will stay at Anmer Hall and join the royal family for various events during the holiday.

Anmer Hall built in 1802 in the Georgian style and renovated in 2015 at a cost of $3million dollars. Home to William and Kate and the kids.

While everyone else takes off, the queen and Prince Philip will remain at Sandringham until February. Reportedly, the queen insists that the Christmas decorations stay up during her entire term at the estate.

I wonder how will Meghan manage all that? She is not a Royal and very low on the totem pole. She will have to prove herself to the Queen and the rest of the family, this is probably the most difficult part. Fail and you are in for a lot of misery.

 The White Drawing room, Sandringham

Events

Tags

Acadie, Charlottetown, Christmas, Christmas markets, Fanningbank, Haviland Club, Macphail homestead, Noël, PEI, Port La-Joye

Well  the whirlwind of events continues, with Christmas approaching. There is no war on Christmas here, decorations and Christmas theme events are everywhere, numerous Christmas Fairs, so many in fact that you can easily chose which one you want to go to and which one to skip. Concerts, choirs performing, parties of all sorts.

We started with a Christmas dinner on 2 Dec at the Homestead of Sir Andrew MacPhail in Orwell. We reserved for the dinner because the capacity is under 30, the Seasonal food was wonderful, everything they serve is from the farm and garden and the price of the dinner was very reasonable.  The Fair at the MacPhail Homestead was so beautiful. I think what I like about the Homestead is how this once private home has kept its character as if Sir Andrew was just about to walk in on you, there is no crowds ever. The Fair to raise funds for their operations, we bought a beautiful Queen size wool blanket from MacAusland’s Woollen Mills of PEI located in Bloomfield in Prince County about 90 minutes West from Charlottetown.

the tree on the enclosed veranda of the MacPhail home.

Stollen, marzipan potato and jam by Sabina

The dinner table in the old dining room of the Sir Andrew in front of the fireplace with of course the oil portrait of Sir Andrew in his academic robes from McGill University in Montreal.

At the Homestead we met Sabina Schönknecht from Murray Harbour North who has beehives, makes preserves, Stollen at Christmas and also sells Marzipan as a treat and makes her own dog biscuit. In the Summer she also has chickens but they are European not North American, meaning they are black. See Lucky Bee Homestead on Facebook. Sabina is originally from Dresden in Germany a city we know well. This Season we also went to the one at the Eastlink Centre just East of our home and the Farmer’s on Queen Street just up a few steps from us.

Many of the Fairs are organized to raise funds for an historic site like the MacPhail Homestead or for a charity. There is a lot of poverty amongst our small population of 150,000 on the Island and this time of the year, there are loads of food drives organized by social clubs, the National Broadcaster CBC, Farmer’s, businesses like Receiver Coffee Co. and Churches. They always manage to feed and provide Christmas cheer to many poor Islanders.

Then because I work as a volunteer at the Official Residence of our Lieutenant-Governor we were invited to dinner at Fanningbank, the house is named after General Sir Edmund Fanning who in 1789 reserved 100 acres of parkland for the exclusive use of the Crown. The house itself is in the Palladian-Greek revival Style built in 1834.

Our new Lieutenant-Governor H.H. Antoinette Perry is an Acadian from Tignish, up West. She is also a musical teacher and plays both the piano and the organ regularly, she loves to have the guests sing while she plays on the piano. When we meet we always speak in French.

Will had a birthday and we had guests for the event, he got some pretty impressive gifts. He really cannot complain.

We also went to a Service of Lessons and Carols at St-Peter’s Anglican Cathedral on Rochford Square. It was in the old style Anglican Service and the Lieutenant-Governor came always accompanied by her Aide-de-Camp in full uniform. There was a small buffet afterwards and we had the most splendid Smoke Salmon from Lord’s in St-John New Brunswick.

Now we are looking at Xmas Eve dinner and Xmas day luncheon in Vernon Bridge at friends. For New Year’s Eve I was thinking we could go to the Haviland Club which is at the end of Water street, again steps away from our home, so we can drink and celebrate and walk home.

The Haviland Club in Charlottetown, a former private residence built in the Italianate style.

This Wednesday 13 December marks a very sad anniversary in PEI, that of the violent deportation of the Acadians in 1758. Thousands died at the hands of British troops who were sent to occupy the Island then named Saint-Jean. It was an early episode of ethnic cleansing and the Mi’kMaq people did not fair better. Every year there is a ceremony at Port La-Joye (Fort Amherst) to commemorate the deportation of the Acadians who left the Island on boats often un-sea worthy. Two of those ships Duke William and Violet carrying more than 600 people sank on their way to England, the Captains, Officers and crews were saved but all passengers/prisoners perished.

The photo shows pilgrims at Port La-Joye which is the entrance to the harbour of Charlottetown and faces the Strait of Northumberland. The flag in the photo is the Acadian National Flag with the yellow star Stella Maris. Many of those who survived the horrors of British occupation returned after 1765, some hid in remote areas of the Island in what is called the Evangeline region (Prince County).

 

 

Little ideas for Christmas

Tags

Canada., Christmas, Delia, feast, Food, home, traditions, XMAS

Many years ago, well about 40 years ago, I remember a conversation about Christmas and meals, it had to do with what people did, one person mentioned that in her family it was always the same thing, turkey, mash potatoes and green peas, gravy and stuffing.

I thought how absolutely boring and awful, the same old thing every year, pleeeease!!!

My father always liked different things for Christmas and because he was an hotel manager, would ask the Chef to prepare something different, out of the ordinary.  One year I still remember, I must have been 15 years old then, we had Scallops in Moutarde de Meaux and cream sauce as a main dish on Christmas Eve.

One Christmas followed another and were always different and unusual. Even the tree was out of the ordinary. With my Dad it had to be, he wanted innovative, something not done by anyone.

We also had Christmas around the world, only to discover that this Holiday is very much a North American thing, in many countries were I served, Christmas was not really a holiday at all but a Western World import. The most beautiful Christmas trees and lavish food for the holiday Season was in Poland. In Italy there was no tree per se, because it is a Northern European tradition, but lots of other dishes connected to a time when Noël was a secondary holiday to Easter in the Christian calendar. In China it was largely a big consumer thing around Santa Claus, the Chinese under Communist rule had no idea what it was and pushed instead shopping as a Xmas concept, very sterile. In Mexico we had great traditions mixed with old native beliefs and will never forget that Christmas night we were in the Zocalo after midnight at the Cathedral built on top of the former great pyramid of the Aztec gods. We were able to hear the choir and see the giant choir books from the time of Hernan Cortes.

In Egypt and Jordan being Muslim countries the holiday was celebrated in a muted way though Muslims recognize Jesus as a Prophet of God and Mary has one chosen by God (Allah) with special reverence. In Jordan King Hussein Bin Talal, a great man if there ever was one, he would visit the Christians churches in Amman and bring gifts and greetings to his Christian subjects. King Hussein was a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed. His son King Abdallah II continues this tradition.

We do keep one tradition at Christmas and that is to have a home made Plum Pudding and to rotate dishes each year, from crown of lamb to prime rib roast beef to roasted goose. But other dishes are also important to have.

Looking at recipes here are some favourites from Dame Delia, CBE and Companion of Honour ;

Potted Pork with Juniper and Thyme, with a Marmalade of Apples, Raisins and Shallots

Prawn Cocktail

Coarse Country Pate

Chestnut Soup with Bacon and Thyme Croutons

Duck Liver Pâté with Armagnac

Rillettes of Duck with Confit of Cranberries

Pheasant Terrine

Something truly different and fun for your holiday menu. I somewhat favour patés and terrines which are good for lunch and breakfast too.

 

Social Season

Tags

apple pie, Blake Caissie, Charity work, cheddar cheese, Christmas, dachshunds, Fashion Show, PEI, PEI Regiment, Remembrance Day

With the departure of the tourists we have the island back to ourselves and the fun begins. Many think that there is nothing to do here in PEI after the Summer Season and the last cruise ship leaves. This year thanks to climate change, the Summer was dry and warm and the month of October was unseasonably sunny and warm, we broke a lot of records with high temperatures up to 30C on some days when it should have been around 15C. No one is really complaining, warmer weather is always more pleasant.

The number of Food festivals, Art evenings, events of all kinds all around the Island will keep you busy during the Winter months until Spring and the return of the tourists. If California has the swallows of Capistrano we in PEI have the tourists of Crapaud.  So you have to plan your activities and time during these coming months so as not to be overwhelmed. This is not including the many invitations to parties and dinners from friends and neighbours. In the past 7 days we had 5 events to attend plus all the regular daily activities around the house and with our dogs. We are currently planning our After Christmas activities, we decided that this year we will have a party on 6 January or La Fête des Rois, this is a period after the rush and before February.

Last night we went to a Fashion Show fundraiser called Santa’s Angel, a Fundraiser providing some Xmas cheer to children who would otherwise do without. Fundraising at this time of the year is a big activity on PEI, many families are poor, so you will have food drives, last year the CBC-PEI the National broadcaster on the Island provided donated turkeys to a large number of families. Same goes for warm clothing and other supplies, reminding us that poverty is an issue in Canada despite all the social programs we have.

Here is a Blake Caissie creation presented during the Fashion show, Blake has a lot of talent and it was a really beautiful dress for the Season.

Here are all the dresses for this Xmas Season Fashion Show, all created by people who had the imagination and time to come up with a design. All in good fun, very colourful.

So to return to the topic of activities and other things to do, yes there is a lot. This Sunday there is a craft fair and Tea at the Homestead of Sir Andrew MacPhail who is one of the luminaries of PEI. His family home is beautiful and located in Orwell just 20 minutes from us. Hoping the weather will be pleasant for a drive out. I read recently his famous book The Master’s wife published after his death in 1938. MacPhail is seen with Lucy Maud Montgomery and Milton Acorn the People’s Poet, as a man of ideas and a writer documenting his life period.

The weather last night was quite chilly and the wind fierce and cold, we were at the Convention Centre which looks out on the Hillsborough river and the opening to the Strait, it started to snow at one point, just swirling drifting snow. Looks like the mild weather is over. There were wind advisory and restrictions on the Sea bridge all day. The sea can be very impressive.

This morning is 11 November and so the Remembrance ceremony took place as usual at the Cenotaph in front of Province House and the cannons were positioned in our backyard at the bottom of Great George Street, remember all this takes place within 3 city blocks so you can hear it all. The dogs were jumpy as they fired an 11 gun salute. The house shook and then the marching bands of the PEI Regiment on a bright sunny windy day at -1C.

Mr Nicky went to the groomer this week and he looks really good with his big moustache à la Kaiser Bill.

Here is Miss Eleonora or Nora for her friends just sitting by the door. Next week is her turn at the grooming salon.

Finally Will found a recipe for 2 types of Apple Pie with a Four year Old Sharp Cheddar pie crust, it smells divine. I married him all those decades ago not for the family fortune but for his cooking skills which is an important asset for any French person like myself. La Cuisine toujours la Cuisine!