Yamachiche and Village des Caron

Yep, Village des Caron, no S on the end.  Nine sons of Michel Caron, son of pioneer Robert Caron, settled here, hence the name.  The Chemin des Caron, which runs right past where the Village des Caron used to be, is still there.  Now, though, it just runs past a string of small farms and ends in a cul de sac in the middle of a field (or maybe the line between 2 fields; hard to tell, and we didn't want to risk getting mired in mud to find out).

The (ghost) village is just north of Yamachiche, itself a very small town - one church, one school, no grocery store, and the only gas station is where the main street intersects the nearest highway, on the extreme western end of town.  The one sit-down restaurant is attached to a motel by that lone gas station, is open 24 hours, and is along the lines of Big Boy or Denny's. 

Low-end restaurants, in our limited experience, all seem to run to burgers, pizza, at least one or two pasta dishes, and poutine.  They all have poutine, often in different variations.  Even the Greek restaurant where we had dinner tonight had poutine on the menu.

Another thing we've noticed is that only about half the restaurants seem to be licensed to sell alcohol.  The rest all tell you to bring your own wine, which seems to mean there's at least one liquor store nearby where you can buy a bottle to take to dinner.   We haven't noticed anyone bringing beer; don't know whether that's a social custom, preference, or something else.  Makes me wonder how the liquor laws are written here, and whether we'll see many BYOB restaurants when we get to Quebec.

We attended the vigil mass at Notre-Dame-du-Cap, about 2 blocks from our hotel.  It's a basilica, so it's big, though not as big as other basilicas we've seen.  Which is fine; it means the back rows can still see the altar.  The order of service was a little different; for one thing, they only did two readings, not three.  The second half of the eucharistic prayer didn't match the first half in the missalette, many of the prayers weren't even printed in it, and the hymnals only had the lyrics, no musical notation.  They also recited the Apostle's rather than the Nicene creed, but that's a minor matter.  The Chief said he felt like he hadn't really been to mass because he couldn't follow things but also because it seemed like they skipped things.

The Greek restaurant where we ate tonight was not like the ones we're used to in the States.  Spanakopita was only available as an appetizer, the only lamb was chops, and they didn't offer many of the mains that are standard on Greek menus in the US (no pastitsio, moussaka, fish offerings, or roast lamb).  Our dinners were so filling - served on a bed of Greek salad and fries, with a side of garlic bread - we didn't even consider dessert.  This particular place was also very noisy - the Chief and I didn't bother trying to hold a conversation.  To their credit, though, they squeezed us in even though we didn't have a reservation.

More time in the Archives

We got to the Archives about 10:45 this morning and started right in on researching the Chief's family.  They kicked us out for an hour at noon because they close for lunch, so we ate in a nearby cafe.  Ciabatta sandwiches with ham, brie & apple were very good; only change I'd make would be the bread.  We also split a piece of carrot cake, which was nice and carrot-y and not overly sweet.  A man obviously down on his luck came in while we were eating and the Chief acted in typical fashion.  He went up to a cashier, gave her a $20 and told her to use it for whatever the man wanted to eat, then to give the man the change.

We went back to the Archives for another 2 1/2 hours before packing it in for the day.  We thanked the staff for their help, and Eric reminded us that we'll still have account access when we get to the Archives in Quebec.

We stopped at 2 different grocery stores to pick up things for dinner, then took our haul back to the hotel.  We started with happy hour:  wine (for me) and beer (for the Chief) and cheese & crackers on the balcony.  Beautiful day for it - nice and sunny, with a mild breeze.  Dinner was chicken legs and broccoli salad, followed by an oatmeal raisin cookie (with no detectable cinnamon).

Tomorrow we're off to Yamachiche to see if there's anything worth seeing there and to see a few places named for the Chief's ancestors.  Sure hope the weather holds...

Trois-Rivieres, Quebec

The Chief and I took two days to drive up here.  Ten hours on the road the first day, driving in rain pretty much the whole way.  We pushed all the way to Albany before stopping for lunch, by which time we were SO ready to get outta the car!  That was the worst of it, though; we got into Bennington, VT, around 4 for an overnight stop.  The Autumn Inn is an older, mom-and-pop motel.  Not very fancy, but clean and convenient, and they were very anxious to be sure they complied with our "no down bedding request."

Wednesday we left before breakfast at the motel, but we had some pretzel rolls to eat in the car.  We took our time, stopping briefly in Wilmington, VT (very pretty little town) to get some Dunkin coffee for the Chief and to stop into Our Lady of Fatima church because the architecture caught my eye.

More importantly, we stopped at King Arthur Flour in Norwich!  We got a nosh in the cafe, then went into the store.  The Chief opted for a mini-scone pan and scone mix, while I got a few ingredients and a flour-sack dishtowel.  We went into Norwich proper to top up the gas tank and drop a clothing return at the post office.  What a postcard-perfect little town - very New England.

Crossing the border into Canada was almost a non-event.  We gave the guard our passports & second ID, he asked us where we were going and how long we expected to be in Canada, asked if we had any weapons, and that was it. 

We stopped in Sherbrooke looking for the tourist info office.  It was further into town than we could have wished, and there seemed to be roadwork every other block, but we made it.  It's a tiny little building on the Magog River - lovely view.  We picked up a few brochures, then headed on to Trois-Rivieres.  Waze wasn't working - we learned the next day our phones didn't have connectivity in Canada. (My phone now does.) but Gladys got us to our hotel.

L'Auberge Familiale La Veranda is another older place, not a chain, but the woman who checked us in was very nice, gave us a bigger room than we'd booked, at the same price.  The sprinklers are apparently a retrofit - they only run around the perimeter of the room, so there's one in the shower and one above the upper kitchen cabinet in the kitchenette.  The room is a bit on the warm side, so we've been using the ceiling fans to make it more comfortable.  However, the mattress is nice and firm, and we have not just one, but two small fridges and ample storage.

Yesterday we ventured into downtown Trois-Rivieres.  We started at the tourist info office, got a nice lunch, then went to the Archives, the reason we added Trois-Rivieres to our itinerary.  Archivist Eric Lamothe-Cyrenne was very helpful - showed us how to use their database, got us guest accounts for it that are good until we leave Quebec, pulled out some old maps for us to examine, even helped me with a few French terms.  We finished up around 4, then walked around downtown for an hour or so.

We started at the quay, walking along the water and the waterfront park, then venturing into the neighborhoods, admiring the range of architecture and plantings.  Had the prettiest little orange-and-white cat come up to us while we were exploring the Anglican cemetery. For some reason, he decided *I* needed to give him scritches, not the Chief, the one who's not allergic to cats. I gave in - first time in ages I've dared to pet a cat. (Thanks to liberal application of hand sanitizer, I didn't have a reaction.)  Dinner at Moose Grill & Pub, then back to our hotel for the night.  (Where the Chief binge-watched news about the Kavanaugh hearing and I tried to ignore it.)

Self-indulgent weekend

Because the Chief is in heavy-duty study mode (the US Tax Court exam is just 3 months away), I've been looking around for excuses to stay out of the house so he can study with fewer distractions.  This weekend was perfect for that - I spent Saturday at a G&S sing an hour's drive away, giving him nearly 12 distraction-free hours.  Sunday was another 6 hours, as I headed off to a Regency bonnet-making workshop.  I didn't get my bonnet finished, but I did get a good start on it, along with a very pretty bit of ribbon and some ideas for decorating it once I finish wiring the brim.  The workshop was at a tea room in a little antique shop out near hunt country.  It was a tiny little village, which would make a nice day trip once the Chief gets past The Exam.

Gotta love it - I was able to indulge not just one but two hobbies without feeling guilty about "abandoning" the Chief.  No, I was doing him a favor, giving him so many distraction-free study hours. :)

"Travel team"

I'm registered in Chorale as one of my classes this semester.  This has already meant an outside rehearsal (this afternoon), with more coming up.  Our first performance series consists of 3 concerts split between 2 venues, about 30-40 miles apart.  We got an email earlier this week with the schedule, including when we have to be on the buses.

We're also on tap to sing at a directors' conference in mid-March.  That one's out of town, which means packing an overnight bag (and probably sharing a hotel room with a fellow chorister).  Because we leave late on a Friday morning, I also have to arrange to make up my Scene Painting work for that day.

I never realized, when I registered, that I was signing up for a "travel team"! :D

Not the fabric I meant to buy

The Chief and I took a day trip to Amish country on the way to a birthday party last weekend.  He wanted to look at furniture, I wanted to look for fabric for that cloak pattern I bought.  I did find some Christmas-red wool, but at $21 a yard, I decided to keep looking.  I wasn't really surprised to find that, this being quilt country, 99.99% of the fabric on offer was quilt fabric.  In one such shop, the Chief ran into Irene, a Mennonite quilt saleswoman par excellence.  She had him helping her peel back quilt after quilt in a big stack, told us the name of each pattern, pointed out all the features (different types of work, "every stitch sewn by hand") that made them special.  Funniest was that she kept warning us that if we didn't buy this or that quilt, someone else would.  She got to the Chief; we walked out of there with not just one but two quilts, when we weren't planning to buy any!  However, he did show his own shopping skills by asking if we could get a discount, since we were buying two quilts.  We didn't get the markdown he asked for, but we did get one.

We stopped at one last fabric store on our way to our hotel, where the Chief picked out some flannel for another pair of flannel lounge pants.  I also bought some lavender dotted cotton to use for the mock-up for my first Regency dress.  I figure if my maiden effort goes together reasonably well, I'll end up with two dresses - the practice model and the "real" one. :)

Excellent judge of character?

... or too trusting for her mother's cardiac health?  The Chief and I sat across from a woman and her 2 little ones on the rental car shuttle on our way to the family graduations.  The 4-year-old, all curls & big eyes, was very chatty, which of course the Chief loved.  He didn't get to chat with her long, though, as it's only about a 5-minute ride.  Saturday afternoon, as I was waiting in line to board and the Chief was off searching for a restroom,  I spotted a familiar family.  Little Miss Curly-locks obviously recognized me, as she lit up and ran at me full tilt with her arms open wide for a hug!  Naturally, I couldn't disappoint the dear thing, though I quickly released her, not wanting to make her mother nervous.  The poor woman smiled a bit sheepishly and said "She's very friendly!"  I commented that the girl obviously recognized me from the rental car shuttle the week before, hoping to reassure Mom a little that I wasn't a complete stranger to her little girl.  That's a tough balancing act - you don't want your kids to be afraid to talk to people, but you don't want them to be too trusting, either.

Home after a quick but lovely weekend away

The Chief & I spent a quick weekend in Baltimore in honor of our anniversary.  We didn't get to dinner in Little Italy Friday night as originally planned - we got no more than a few blocks from our hotel before the rain & wind suddenly kicked up, so we turned tail and had dinner back at the hotel.  A bit pricey, but the lamb was good and the chocolate dessert was worth every calorie!  Yesterday we spent several hours at the aquarium, then strolled around the Inner Harbor a bit.  Went to mass at the Basilica of the Assumption (the organ there sounds fabulous!), then walked into Little Italy and had a lovely dinner, where I was reminded how much I enjoy pasta w/ clam sauce.  We walked back to the hotel because a) the temps were still mild and b) we wanted to walk off at least a little of that dinner. ;)

We learned Baltimore has a free Charm City Circulator bus, but finding a map or schedule proved surprisingly difficult; we finally got one at the hostel across the street from the basilica.

As we were driving back today, we decided we need to go back for a longer stay - too many things we didn't get a chance to do.

I still think they should tell us.

When Southwest announced that people could start flying with their small pets, the Chief asked how someone would know ahead of time whether any of one's fellow passengers were 4-footed.  The answer boiled down to "you won't."  Not a good answer when you're allergic to cats, dogs or both.  

Finding out only at the gate that you'll be spending however many hours in a tin can with one or more allergens means you can't prepare medically or try to get a different flight.  They're potentially putting people's health at risk.  They need to do better.

They'll have to reunite without the Chief

The Chief and a buddy from his old Reserve unit have been organizing a reunion, to take place in Manhattan the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend.  Nothing very fancy, just 3 hours' worth of drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and getting caught up.  The other night the Chief spent a few hours on line researching hotels and fares.  Short of staying in a VERY spartan room and taking one of those cheap buses, he didn't see any way to do even 2 nights, let alone 3, for less than $2000 for both of us.  Especially given the way we've been spending money to fly out to see Dad while he's still alive, he just couldn't justify the expense.  Maybe we should buy a lottery ticket...

He's plotting travel again...

The Chief has been on the phone with one of his Reserve buddies starting to plan another reunion of their unit.  This time they're looking to hold it somewhere in New York City.  The Chief's buddy mentioned that the Marine Memorial Club has reciprocal arrangements with 3 or 4 nice clubs in Manhattan and Brooklyn.  That got the Chief to wondering what other clubs the MMC had reciprocity with.  Let's see - not just US clubs, but clubs in Canada, France, Germany, the UK, Ireland, Belgium... He's already starting to plan our next trip. :D

Finally getting caught up

My, but we've had a busy month or so! The Chief & I were at the cabin over the 4th of July weekend and hosted several visitors for parts of it, as well as having some fellow part-timers join us for dinner. We loved having so much company, and our guests seemed to have a good time too.

Then came the marathon:

L&K converged on the cabin the 3rd week of July; first time the three of us had been together for more than a flying visit since K moved away several years ago. It was lovely to have so much time to chat, even if we did have to wait until K's two girls (ages 7 and "10 slash 11") were in bed. The heat set records, and the portable a/c unit could barely keep up (got the temp down to 85 and the humidity down to about 55%), so we weren't terribly active, but that wasn't really the point.

They left on a Saturday; the next day, my sister3 and family arrived at the house so they could do the usual tourist things. I had to work and the Chief ended up leaving Tuesday to go to the dentist, then continue west, but I did get to see them briefly when they came back at the end of a day, hungry, tired, sweaty, and dehydrated from walking all over town in triple-digit heat. They ended up leaving a bit early so they could stop at a Civil War site on the way home. That gave me a whole day between their departure and my own departure to join the Chief (who had driven) in the Midwest for a week.

We spent the week hanging out with family; stayed with mom's sister & her husband, had dinners with different siblings and at Dad's place, hosted those who could join us for a lovely seafood lunch, went swimming w/ several of us, including my 2 little nieces, and generally had a nice, relaxed time. Hard to believe we were there a whole week - seemed like we'd barely opened our suitcases when it was time to go home again.

I got back Friday afternoon, went home from the airport by way of the commissary, was home for all of about 3 hours before heading back out to the cabin. Saturday was the annual block party out there - couldn't miss that! The Chief was still on the road and couldn't make it, but I did save him a piece of the peach cobbler that one person had brought.

We were back out at the cabin last weekend, where friends joined us. This time the highs were only in the 80s and the humidity was low, at least for August, so we had a very nice time indeed. The Chief had to stay and accompany the window installers while I played tour guide for our friends, but we didn't leave him alone all that long. In fact, we managed to time our return so that we got back barely half an hour after the installers left.

Here we'd been trying for years to get people to visit us and they all arrived practically at once! That's OK, though; we're glad they made it.

This could be a really sucky Christmas

I've been bracing myself for the pain of our first Christmas without Mom. The rest of us will all be together, but that gaping, Mom-sized hole is gonna be raw.

TW called home earlier this afternoon to let his brother know we were planning to come up for another visit next weekend, but he waved us off. MuMu is more & more out of it (she asked TW, again, how the kids are), so I guess P thinks she won't know us if we visit. From what TW relayed, it sounds like MuMu's decline is accelerating; last week, just making the short trip to the bathroom tired her enough that she needed oxygen for 5 or 10 minutes before returning to her recliner. She's weak, she's in pain, and she's outlasted the 3-6 months the docs gave her when they diagnosed her terminal cancer 8 months ago.

This could affect our plans to spend Christmas with my family - they live in the midwest, while MuMu & P live 5 or 6 hours' drive northeast of us. Depending on how much longer God gives MuMu, we might end up going north for a funeral before going west for Christmas (or post-Christmas), or cutting our midwest trip short to head back east for a funeral. Or MuMu might hang in there until after New Year's. As the Russian proverb says, God knows and he ain't tellin'! (OK, so it's a colloquial translation, but it made Mom laugh.)

Pray for us all - it's been a helluva year.

"A weekend in the country"

The Chief and I spent the weekend at a festival out in the hills - mild temps, sunny & gorgeous! Perfect day to inhale the aromas of apple butter, funnel cakes, brats and other "fair food" while browsing a few vendors, checking out the local history museum, and buying my usual apple butter & baking pumpkin. Added a twist this year, though; I let the pumpkin vendor talk me into buying a couple of butternut squash too. One will be for a soup experiment, the other will be for pie - she and her mother both swore they make better pumpkin pie than pumpkins do.

We spent Thursday night at the cabin on our way out. Friday morning was the kind that makes us SO glad we have the place: just a touch of chill in the air, sun streaming through the leaves which are just beginning to turn, birds flitting about - the kind of day that must have inspired the psalmist to write "This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it!" Glorious!

Dad's in town

Dad's OCS class was having a reunion in Williamsburg this week, so he decided to build a visit to daughter and SIL around it. He got in Sunday evening and we stopped for (VERY good!) crabcakes & other seafood for dinner on the way home from the airport. We were pretty busy once we got home, since we hadn't unpacked from our "surprise party" trip; this meant unpacking from an overnight, repacking in a larger suitcase for a few days in Williamsburg that would include a coat-and-tie dinner, and getting ready for work the next day.

The Chief, with Dad riding shotgun, picked me up at work on Monday and we all headed off to W'burg. Beautiful day, and because I adjusted my schedule so I could leave at 2, we avoided most of the traffic. The Chief & I spent a few hours at Jamestown Settlement (their new museum is very well designed - nicely laid out, good organization, so you can immerse or browse according to your mood) on Tuesday but walking around in the heat & sun wore us out so much that we ended up eating take-out in our room. Wednesday we took Dad to "historic Yorktown", which turned out to be little more than a bunch of shops. Because Dad's knee was limiting his walking, we skipped the Waterman's museum, but there was a tall ship docked there that you could explore for free, which the Chief & I enjoyed. Wednesday night was the dinner, with a Col. Shaymes (sp?), one of the last surviving Band of Brothers, as the guest speaker. I sat next to him at dinner and he was a gracious dinner companion. When he learned that one of his fellow survivors now lives in Dad's town, he took Dad's contact information to pass on. Today we headed home and made good time - 2 pit stops and a grocery stop added only an hour to our travel time.

I spent most of the afternoon in the kitchen - making my usual "vat o' salad" for lunches, mixing up some salmon spread for snacks (it would have been lunch, but we had to wait for the lemon juice to thaw), and heating some spaghetti for lunch. Laundry took us to dinner time; a nice, simple chicken dinner was a welcome change after the rich food of the past few days.

Tomorrow, the Chief plans to take him to the local fishmarkets for oysters on the half shell and to pick something for dinner tomorrow night, though the Chief wasn't sure what else they were going to do to fill the day while I'm at work. Saturday we hope to take Dad to the Eastern Shore for more seafood, perhaps a ferry ride, and definitely some time looking at water, boats, etc. No plans for Sunday yet, but we may go out for brunch.

Explosive situation?

Fireworks are legal in Missouri and it seemed the Chief and I saw fireworks tents every fraction of a mile from the time we left the St. Louis airport until we were well beyond the city limits. Some of these tents were in lots right next to gas stations. Am I the only one who thinks that's not such a great idea?

Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket...

The newlyweds graciously dropped me at the airport on their way out of town for their honeymoon, and did so early enough that I was able to get on a flight that arrived 2 1/2 hours earlier than the one I'd originally booked. That earlier flight landed about 10 minutes ahead of schedule, the usual 15-20-minute wait at baggage claim was more like 1 or 2 minutes, my bag was one of the first out of the chute, the parking shuttle was waiting outside when I went out to flag it down, we filled up almost immediately so that we headed for the lot in short order, and I was the 2nd drop. This is the first time I've ever had an arrival go so smoothly!

Now if only I could get the temperature back down into the 90s...

Donate miles

If you've got frequent flyer miles you can't use, put them to good use. Fisher House provides free on-base housing to family members traveling to visit a loved one in the military who's recuperating in a military hospital.

The Fisher House Foundation also administers several other programs supporting military families, including the Hero Miles program, which provides free airfare to military members traveling for medical treatment and for their families' travel to visit them. The way Fisher House can do this is by having individuals donate their frequent flyer miles.

Different airlines have different donation procedures, so the Fisher House website has made it easier to donate by listing links to each airline's process here. It even includes instructions for donating miles you earn with a credit card. If you can't use those miles yourself, donate them to someone who needs them rather than let them go to waste. And if you can use them but would rather donate, well, even better!

On to the next

Got a call this evening from the artistic director of the company holding Mikado auditions. They'd had a mezzo drop out of their February show and would I be willing to fill in? "No is an OK answer." Well, since Grand Duke runs in February, "no" is exactly the answer I gave. "Oh, and by the way, we cast another Katisha." Someone with a "huge" voice, I was told.

Which is OK. There'll be other Mikados, and not getting this one means I'm free to take a work-related seminar being held in my hometown. I'd be able to tack on a few extra days and spend some time with family practically for free. I think it's probably a safe bet that my folks would be willing to let me use their spare bedroom, and maybe even feed me a stray crust of bread or so. I'd be paying only for the extra days on the rental car and the meals while I'm on my own time, not for the airfare.

Not getting Katisha also means that I'm free to audition for several other shows this spring - I've got 6 on my list, in fact, so if I'm not cast in the first one, there are several more auditions just waiting for me to show up.

Gonna hafta make this quick

Yeah, I know, long time no see and all that. Maybe I'll get caught up, but in case I don't - TW and I took a nice, long vacation in Yorkshire, where we had surprisingly decent weather, saw a bunch of really cool old stuff and I gorged visually on the lush scenery. We got home Thursday, then hared off to the cabin Friday afternoon to try to recover.

Panto rehearsals kicking into high gear - runs starting tomorrow night, load-in the day after Thanksgiving.

Got a comprimario role (i.e., named chorister) in Grand Duke, which starts Fri/Sat/Sun rehearsals this Friday. That means that, unless the chorus gets a bye somewhere, I'll have a rehearsal EVERY DAY between now and Thanksgiving! =:o So if you don't hear from me, it's because I'm at work, at rehearsal, or trying to get a little bit of sleep. Pity my poor theater widower - he won't be seeing much of me until the panto closes Dec. 13th.

Fall was particularly colorful this year, and the sugar maples were downright spectacular.

I'm sure there's more, but I need sleep.