After our trip to Cape Breton, I'm back in Montreal but far from home. I was born and raised in Toronto, live in Montreal and go to Cape Breton whenever I can. I have a complicated relationship with Toronto; there are people there whom I love very much, but going back often makes me sad. I love Montreal and have no mixed feelings about it; it's beautiful, bilingual, vibrant, affordable. (Okay, some mixed feelings - it's too dang cold in winter.) But Cape Breton is the place. Even though I've never lived there for more than a year, Cape Breton feels like home for me. It's the most breathtaking place I've ever been, and the only place where I feel total calm, where I don't have that itchy feeling like I should be doing something else, or remembering to do something else. I'll get maudlin with nostalgia if I start going on about it now, so I thought I'd share some photos. These are just a smattering from here and there, from the train and my father's house. Some things I love.
Dad's new Magnolia tree (which he says has grown three in every direction feet since spring).
The crumble a made for a party (I picked all the apples and blackberries for it, then ended up liking that store-bought lemon meringue pie better).
Blood-coloured hollyhocks.
My sister's albino mice. (She rescued them from her neighbour, who was going to feed them to his pet python. Ew.)
The fig tree in my dad's greenhouse.
Dad's beautiful tomatoes (alongside some doll limbs. Keepin' it creepy...)
Dad's garden, in front of which I married my one true love.
Coming into Montreal after 22 hours on the train.
Cool old building.
Artsy-fartsy photo of the sign in the Montreal station.
Encore un autre photo artsy-fartsy.
~*~
Now that I'm back, I'm working away on new dolls and pendants and am planning my next shop update for Saturday, September 26th. I'll list more specific information as well as photos of the forthcoming work as it gets closer to that date.
p.s.
My apologies to anyone who tried and was unable to leave comments on my last post; Typepad has a fancy, newfangled interface and somehow I accidentally closed them.