So, it's Monday the twenty-fourth and I am trying not to think about how this is our last week here. How can time pass so quickly? But it does though, especially when you're having fun!
Today Gary and Keenan went to climb Mount Royal together. I didn't know if I was strong enough to do that yet, so I decided to just stay around here. I had some flower shops I wanted to visit anyway which isn't really something Gary would be overly interested in even though he is sweet enough not to complain when I drag him in and out of places like that.
It was a beautiful day, +30C in the sun, a real Indian Summer. I spent my afternoon sitting in the park enjoying the weather and bobbing in and out of flower shops buying cacti and dried flowers and grasses for arrangements around the house. One place in, particular, a small shop called Kyoto Fleurs has a large table full of jars of dried grasses, leaves, flowers, etc and you can make your own arrangements there. If Inspiration Boreal ever has a booth somewhere or an actual shop, this would be something I would love to do with both dried flowers and fresh greenery.
Tuesday was a bit of a slow day for us, I was feeling pretty dizzy, so I rested a lot.
In the evening we had friends over for supper and then decided to walk around as it was still such beautiful weather.
After our company left, we decided we still wanted to be outside and were still full of energy, so we took Bixis down to the Olympic Stadium.
Random fun fact for your day: the Montreal Olympic Stadium is the highest inclined tower in the world with a 360-degree view of the city. The flat part of it used to have a retractable roof but after a lot of breaking down and technical difficulties with this, it now remains permanently closed. The Summer Olympics were held here in 1976 and ran from July 17th to August 1st. In all 6,084 athletes competed. The ceremonies were opened by our late Queen Elizabeth II.
Today, the stadium is used for events, concerts, trade shows, etc. And of course, if you happen to be in the neighborhood, you can ride the elevator to the top of the tower and check out the beautiful view down below.
Long ago, in February, Gary gave me a card for my birthday and on the card, it was written that I was going to get a weekend stay in Montreal and also some spending money for anything I liked. Fast forward to October. Now I am finally well enough to be out and about, and my weekend visit has turned into a month. I decided I was going to take the month to poke around in all the big, shiny, or small, dusty shops that I could find and really take my time deciding what I wanted.
Nestor, from @matcha, paints and sells beautiful watercolour pictures, and, lately, he has painted many nature scenes that I had my eye on. We also walked into a lot of stores I had seen in the past or noticed while walking around to see if my perfect gift could be found there.
On Thursday, the 27th of October, I finally found the perfect gift.
It was one of the stores I had eyed many a time from the car window as we sped along on delivery days. The thing about it that had caught my eye was the many beautiful brightly coloured lamps with glass globes made out of many tiny pieces of glass making patterns like stars and circles in any colour you could think of. The expectations I had about the place were not dampened by reality.
Inside the ceiling was hung with many more lamps, both glass and copper and the store was full of all sorts of treasures from faraway lands. Richly embroidered pillows, stitched leather poufs, leather bags, heavily embroidered shoes, scarves in a pile like a rainbow dropped out of the sky, clothes, dishes, and knick-knacks. The owner told us the merchandise came from all over Tunisia, Turkey, Africa, India, and Morocco. I wandered around in a happy daze gazing about me at all the bright, shiny, glittering objects.
In the end, I used my birthday money to buy one of the beautiful glass globe lamps that I have admired for years. It hangs suspended on a stand in the shape of a moon and I think it's one of the best birthday gifts I have ever received. Thank you, Gary!
That day was also special because we got to have Nestor over for supper. It was a wonderful evening full of talking and laughing and food and tea (Nestor brought us both our favourite tea from his shop. I guess he knows us pretty well after all this time!).
The next day we went to the Biodome.* They had closed it during the pandemic and had changed of few things, so I was dying to go see what they had done.
We were lucky this time because we got to see both the beaver and one of the otters out and about. Every time I have ever visited except once they have been sleeping. I've decided that going in the afternoon and being there close to closing time is a good plan because it's closer to evening and that's when they tend to be more active it seems.
A couple of the new features I noticed were walkways up above the rainforest and the St. Lawrence seaway so you can get a birds-eye view of the waters and forests below and they also changed the entrance to the arctic regions. To get there you now walk through an actual tunnel of ice! So cool.
Saturday morning, I was in the bathroom doing my hair when Gary came in and told me he had extended our lease for another month! I was thrilled. Being here has been good for my mental and physical state as well as having been a great experience. November was going to be a bit different though in the way that Gary would be going back to work (doing the reverse commute from city to country) during the week and I would be putting my nose to the grindstone a little more with Inspiration Boréal. But that was ok. You can't play all the time, right? And October had done its magic on us, and we were both feeling refreshed after our rest and actually getting to spend time together (and I don't mean rest as in me lying in bed and being together as in Gary sitting on the end of the bed reading to me).
Dad and mom came over for the day, taking us out for brunch at a nearby gluten-free bakery that makes the most amazing baked goods ever. We told them we were staying for November as well and they were happy for us. Dad said he thought that might happen. I guess Toast will have to stay there a little longer. Mom will be so unhappy. Just kidding, really, she wants to keep Toast. :)
We went for ice cream in the afternoon, and I showed mom Toast's bad side. She is a good dog, and has her place she sits during meals, so she doesn't mooch for food while we eat. But when it comes to ice cream, let me tell you, she's a little beggar. I think it's the fault of one summer when we ate a lot of dairy-free ice cream at a little stand called Swirl. If you visit Montreal in the summer, please eat there. It's amazing.
Dogs are lactose intolerant, so I never treat Toast to things like cheese, ice cream, etc. But this ice cream is made with coconut milk so I would always share a little with her. After that, she decided that all ice cream was fair game and meant for her. And I'm talking about looking away for a second and her helping herself to what's there on her own! So, I always give her a little bit of ice cream when we get some. Maybe it's because she's so cute. Maybe it's because she's a royal pain! She will walk down the sidewalk backward now and then going up on her back feet to make sure she doesn't miss anything. And she will do this until the ice cream is gone. I guess I should understand, being such an ice cream lover myself...
Sunday the 30th brought visitors to our house for lunch. Some friends of ours who had been in France for a few months that we hadn't seen since they got home. That was so much fun, catching up and taking them on a little walk around our neighborhood. It was the perfect day for a walk. This whole fall has been so warm and sunny. A nice change after our fairly cold and very rainy summer.
Monday was the last day of October. Gary went home to do some stuff at the house and get ready for his coming weeks of work. I spent my first day in a month around the house by myself. I missed Gary, I'm not going to lie!
Though I will be alone more of the time in November, I'm happy I get to spend the time here where I still have a lot to see and do right in my neighborhood. I feel like the picture of my soul looks like the view out our bedroom window.
To the right stands Mount Royal thickly covered in trees, the only real sign of life on it being the tall white cross** on its summit that lights up at night. To the left, you can view downtown Montreal with all its hustle and bustle and tall buildings, and sparkly dazzling lights in many colours. The throbbing heart of an active city.
Part of me belongs to the city. The bustling streets, the shops, the lights, the festivals, and the events. And part of me belongs to the country. The mountains, the forests, the streams, the rivers, and the rolling fields. If I stay away from one too long, I am always bound to miss it.
*The Biodome is part of a complex of five different points of interest called Espace Pour la Vie Montreal (space for life Montreal). These attractions include the Biodome, the Insectarium, the Botanical Gardens, the Planetarium, and the Biosphère. Each place is absolutely worth exploring and while being educational is also extremely interesting.
**It was Jan. 6, 1643, when Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, erected a wooden cross at the summit of what would become Mount Royal. He wanted to thank God for sparing the young colony from rising flood waters. No one is sure how long the wooden cross lasted on the mountain. Did it eventually rot away or was it torn down by Indians angry with de Maisonneuve? The current steel cross was erected in 1924 and continues to be a major attraction for Montrealers and the city’s many tourists. This is a summary of the cross’s storied history. (excerpt from The Montreal Gazette)
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