Yippee it's done

I came home last night and there were no more piles of gravel and debris. Everything was all tidy. The work was done and the landscapers have folded their tents and melted away into the night.

Sooner or later it all comes down to plumbing

Further to my recurring theme of the vibrant social life the village affords, it's community septic tank pumping time again!

Apple Picking Time

Every fall I take the girls to a nearby orchard to pick apples. We end up with a giant sack of various types of apples - current favorites are Honey Crisp and Cortlands - that find their way into school lunches, pies, apple crips and tack boxes as treats for the horses. So this Sunday after riding lessons, we headed out to Pine Hill Orchard in Hammond to pick our fill. The girls' friend Hannah came along and the three of them spent more time climbing trees and sampling than picking. It was a beautiful September afternoon, too bad there were so few apples. The weather this year was very hard on the areas' apple trees, so we weren't able to get our usual amount. Still, a good time was had by all, and it's not so much the apples and the experience. We'll be back again next year, hopefully mother nature will be a bit more generous with her apple crop.

September is Soup Month

Every September I end up with a bumper crop of tomatoes and have to make numerous batches of soup to use them up. This year was no different. There's a reason the market in Ottawa is filled with stand after stand of farmers from Navan. The soil here is sandy loam, perfect for growing just about anything. I had 6 tomato plants in the back garden that yield lots of lovely red and yellow tomatoes. I've made 4 batches of soup and the freezer is full. There's nothing like hot homemade tomato soup on a cold February night to remind you that summer will indeed come again.

Here's the recipe:

3T olive oil
3T butter

2 med. onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped

3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery stalks chopped

12 large beefsteak tomatoes, chopped
1c. white wine

4-5 cups chicken stock

Fresh basil for garnish


In a really big sauce pan, heat oil and butter over med. high heat, add onions and garlic and sauté until soft (about 5 mins.).

Add carrots and celery and cook gently for another 20 mins – or until soft.

Add tomatoes and wine, mix together with the other vegetables in the pan, and then add just enough stock to make it the consistency you like (This year my tomatoes were so juicy that I just added one can of concentrated chicken stock for flavor, other years I’ve used the full 4-5 cups the recipe calls for).

Bring to a boil then turn down the heat and simmer for 40 mins. uncovered. Cool and puree in batches in a blender.

** You’ll end up with a lot of soup, but it freezes beautifully and tastes just as good when you defrost it.

Heat and serve garnished with basil - at this point you can also add cream, if you like a creamy soup.

Sandwich Board Wars

Here's further evidence of the rich social life a village affords. Last week two sandwich boards appeared at the main intersection in the village. Both advertise that mainstay of village life, the community dinner. One is for a church dinner at St. Mary's in aid of their on going restoration of the 100 yr old stone church that anchors the corner of Colonial and Trim road. There's nothing like a country church dinner on a fall evening.

The other is for a Lion's Club dinner with proceeds to go to FoodAid, a charity that supplies area foodbanks with beef from local farms. Both will be sold out I'm sure.

A Night at the Opera

If you don't think village life is very exciting, then you probably don't live in one. There is a constant social whirl in Navan. This weekend was Bradley's General Store's 110th anniversary bash. The whole village was invited to an evening of live country music, highland dancers, and all the good wholesome fun you could handle. http://www.jtbradleys.com/index.htm

Sadly, we weren't there. We were in the big city at the Marriage of Figaro. Arguably the other end of the entertainment spectrum from the down home fun of the Bradley's party, but a fine evening as well. The reception afterwards was wonderful, and for once we got to stay and enjoy it because the girls were having a sleep-over at their cousins', so there was no babysitter to worry about getting home to. Yeah!

Tremblant

The week before school started I took the girls up to Tremblant. Murray had to work, so didn't come up until the weekend.

The girls had a great time on the Euro-bungie and Rock Wall. Both were able to climb all the way up and ring the bell.

When Murray did arrive for the weekend, he had a terrible cold so was pretty miserable all weekend (see exhibit A).

Still we had a great time, and even managed to get our annual end of summer lobster, corn and blueberry pie fest in before we had to head back to our village and the first day of school.

Under construction

So this is what our front yard currently looks like. We have had the landscapers at our house - or not, actually - for the last 3 weeks doing more stone work on the drive. They pulled apart the steps to repair them, dumped 4 loads of earth, gravel and stone dust all over the front and started working, then disappeared. You can only get into the drive if you have an SUV and have to vault over the rubble to get into the house.

First Day of School

Ah, the smell of freshly sharpened pencils.

Another August, another Riding Camp

Or horsey camp, as the girls have been calling it since they were 5.

This year, they were really riding. No more glorified pony rides. They had a terrific week. They rode, went for wagon rides, swam, and even did a little show on the last day of camp. All this was made even more idyllic by the spectacular summer weather - the first good weather of the entire summer I might add.

Once school starts they'll be taking regular lessons and be well on their way to being even more horse obsessed than they are now.