August 2015

This blog is going to be a summery rather than details!!   There has been so much going on that it would be a book if I tried to tell you all the details!

We made a second trip to Coaticook....  this time for the evening tour.  If you want to get a feeling of what it is like, you can visit the web site.  http://forestalumina.com/   It is not as spooky as it looks in the video, but more of a Fairy garden with lots of lights and images.  We loved the sparkling lights on the trees and the granite cliffs...  it was breathtaking.  Thank you Agnes and Jr. for going with us.  It was fun to see it through the eyes of your young boys!

We also visited Blue Lavande.  Many acres of lavender. One of the largest fields in Canada. 

A fun adventure.  We got there 2 weeks after harvest, so it didn't look like this then...  but it was still beautiful and smelled great.

I had a Relief Society Project that lasted a few weeks during this time also.  We did some Kits for the Kenya project, Days for Girls.  It was a great project and a big learning curve for me.  But there were many dedicated women who gave a lot of their time to serve these young women.  

When we visited a member that is about a 1/2 hour north, we decided to stop at one of the local museums and we were pleasantly surprised with what we saw, both inside and out.

 Interactive outside art, where we left our message of God Bless.

Trees dressed as people

 

clay creatures that were incorporated into the natural environment

and inside, my favorite were the paintings that flowed into photographs.  Unique.

One Monday we took a hike with our district to Pinnacle Peak.  It is a pretty sweet hike, but the end is spectacular.  The Elders and Sisters particularly like it because those mountains in the distance are the good 'ol USA.    It is a beautiful view.  Yes that is our District leader sitting on the top of the cliff.  He wanted to go out to the end, but I told him his mother would shoot me if I let him.

Just before we left for California we visited the father of one of our members.  He is a retired Agriculture Professor at one of the local Universities.  Wow...  does his back yard show it.  He has about a 1/4 acre in the middle of a city block, but his whole back yard is garden.  It is amazing.

 He has all the regulars..like  tomatoes, peas, lettuce, beans, and squash - but much more!

and he also has things I have never seen before, like ground cherries. 

He also has strawberries, raspberries and lots of other bushes.

 Elder Petersen helped him do some weeding, picking beans, and harvesting garlic.

 Now, I know you won't believe me....  but these are a squash that looks like pumpkin, and they get pretty big, I tried to get a perspective so you could see the size, but it didn't work well.  The plants are huge and they are arbored up like grapes (to save space he said) and the vines are all UP.  Who would have thought you could get squash to grow UP?

 

 Needless to say, Elder Petersen loved being in and helping with the garden.

 Lately on our hikes and adventures I have discovered and become intrigued with Canadian Mushrooms...  I have taken MANY pictures of them. Here are just a few. ...  

This is the end of Part one of this segment...  California is next up.....  to be continued.........