mmmmmm

i love good food. and i love eating out. but being vegetarian almost vegan in corner brook newfoundland (pop. 20,000) there's not much choice of either. so when i travel, eating is a big deal and every meal counts. i had breakfasts in ottawa at the wonderful scone witch (just by the hotel) - freshly baked scones - sweet or savoury with deliscious jam or with grilled veggies or eggs and mushroom ragout. my last night in ottawa i sought out zen kitchen - a vegan restaurant. that's a photo of my caesar salad (including crispy seitan instead of croutons). it was amazing to actually have choices on the menu!
and on my last morning in montreal, my son and i went to the famous 50plus year old montreal establishment st. viateur bagel for brunch and brought back some bagels to newfoundland.

stepping on and off the carrousel

i've spent a fast summer - filled with friends and family and trips and shows and as much work as i could manage. it seemed to culminate this past weekend with a quick trip to ottawa (canada council business) and an even quicker visit with my son in montreal. after every trip i come home with my camera full of inspiring images, my belly full of good food and my heart and mind larger.

and more travel...

i can't remember a busier summer. i'm off on the 6:00 am flight to ottawa today (for business) and montreal saturday (for pleasure). although i will be taking some work with me, i want to spend today walking around ottawa with my camera, taking in the colours. and tonight i want to hole up early in my hotel room and read. alone.

something new

every year i try to have a new product to take to the toronto one of a kind show. this year i'll have my knit kits (yarn, matching needles, and a pattern for a scarflette or a pair of fingerless gloves).
i'm also knitting up some large cowls. some are all handspun and others are a combination handspun/commercial novelty yarn that are lighter and more suitable for fall or spring. they can be worn as a long scarf, wrapped a couple of times for a neckwarmer or worn as a headwrap and scarf combined. i've started listing them in my etsy shop.

moon

now the nights are clear and crisp. last night the moon shone as bright as the sun. almost.

after the show

brenda and i went back up to woody point yesterday, and in the late afternoon helped niki and urve take down the show. the crowds were gone. the music and the words. and the sky clouded over and there was an autumn chill in the air. i drove back feeling that summer is over.

the author and the cellist

this time around, since all of us would be in woody point for the writer's festival this week, our little book club wanted to read a book by one of the authors who would be there reading. we chose stephen galloway's "cellist of sarajevo" - a gripping book that leads you into the siege of sarajevo and into the minds of the inhabitants who survived it. catherine wonderfully arranged for diederick van dijk (who was in the park playing with the gros morne summer music fesival) to come and play albinoni's adagio for us - the music that the novel swirls around. and at the last minute stephen galloway also agreed to come. and so, on a warm summer evening, in a room jutting out into the ocean, with the mountains surrounding us, wonderful food and company, we experienced the ultimate book club meeting. and we shared it with another local little book club. pure magic.