Vacation?

I need a vacation from my vacation. Last week we went to visit Véro's family in the Saguenay region of Québec. The weather was nice and we got to go for lots of boat rides! Véro's cousin rented a cottage and we hung out there and ate and went for boat rides and ate and shopped and ate and... well, you get the picture!

There are three dogs in the family and when they get together, look out! One of the dogs is a chihuahua the other a Bernese mountain dog and the third is a 6 month old that fits somewhere in between. When they all get together they have a hard time getting along. Throw a few kids in the mix and you have a real party!

As always, we had a great time. The twelve hour drive home is a bit long and I need some time to catch up on my sleep!

We now have a friend visiting from Caraquet and I can safely promise some interesting pictures for my next blog update. We have been doing some touristy things around PEI.

On the road again... for vacation this time!

I am in the Saguenay region of Quebec visiting with Véro's family. We just got here yesterday so I will tell you all about this trip in my next post. Last week we had a few days off from Gadelle gigs before finishing up our last shows of the summer. It was “la fête des acadiens“ on the 15th of August so the shows we did were celebrating this Acadian holiday. These were my last gigs with the band and I have let them know that I won't be returning in the spring. One of the band members, Caroline, is pregnant and due to this the band was on hiatus this fall anyhow.

I have many projects on the horizon and I will keep you updated as they become more clear. One of my main focuses will be recording a CD this fall. It has been 10 years since my last one so I think it is time. I have a lot of my own original material I want to record and for the entire CD I want to include only tunes composed by people I know or have met. This will be a bit of a challenge but I think it will make for an interesting project.

On one of my days off last week Véro and I went to see the play “V'nez Chou Nous“ in Deblois. One of my former students was in the show and the playwright, Raymond Arsenault, is a good friend of mine. I had a grand time! The show was wonderful, everyone played their roles to a tee! They also serve some traditional Acadian food, a bowl of fricot, a piece of râpure and dessert for $5!!! Can't beat that! The first picture shows my former student Robyn on the far right.

Our best friends here at home are all the members of the Ouellette family. It was Vallier's birthday yesterday and we had a celebration for him last weekend. PEI mussels, homemade pizza and a yummy cake! I find the cake looks like a giant cupcake! It was nice to have everyone there for the party! I will name everyone in the picture for you since I often mention them in my blog. Sitting at the table from left to right: Diane, Véro, Mylène, Brent, Geneviève, Jerry and the celebrated birthday boy, Vallier.

Maritime tour

Well, we head home after the show tonight! I am excited about that! I have not updated at all since the start of the tour I have to think back a bit not to miss anything! Miramichi Folk Song Festival was our first stop. Before our show I had a nice surprise! Melanie Ross Breen, a friend who I had not seen in ages came to say hello! She has a beautiful voice and if you ever get the chance to hear this girl sing it is well worth it!

Our next stop was St. Andrews. We did two shows in the theatre there. Such a cute little town. I love all the little shops. I stayed in Saint John and got to meet up with Kim Matheson, a fiddling friend. She took me to a Thai restaurant, Thandi, for lunch. I ate way too much and it was yummy! These trips seem to be all about food! Check out the picture of the dessert!! That was from a restaurant in Halifax called da Maurizio. Véro came to meet me for this last bit of the trip and da Maurizio has been on our list of restaurants we have been wanting to try. We drive to Lunenburg for the shows but stay in Halifax.

The picture of downtown Halifax from the water was taken while we did a trip aboard the Harbour Hopper. You know, that green and blue car/boat that tours the city on land and in water. We felt like silly cheesy tourists taking this but it ended up being pretty fun. We were on board at the same time as a youth soccer team from St. Johns NFLD. They kept us in stitches for the entire tour.

We head back to Lunenburg this afternoon for the last show. The crowd in Lunenburg sure is something! We played on the main stage Thursday night, the place was packed! As soon as we would finish a number the crowd erupted with applause and cheers. I have never experienced anything quite like that. The last photo is taken from the golf course across the harbour from the town. I liked the view from that vantage point.

So this is the last tour with Gadelle. Caroline is pregnant and she is getting some well deserved time off. I have some other musical plans on the horizon, calls seem to be coming in these days. I like that and look forward to playing with Mylène and Brent. I plan to record a CD this fall and I am looking forward to having some time to get to work on that project. I will start up with lessons again in October. I will keep updating the blog even though the updates may be a little less exotic!

My new favourite color is blue!

We leave again for a short maritime tour tomorrow morning. I've had a great week at home and managed to cram quite a lot into one short week... well, 6 days to be exact.

Did I mention I love to eat?? Moroccan burgers on the bar-b-que! The picture does not convey how delicious these are! Véro did most of the cooking on this one. It is the sauce that makes the meal. Did I mention I love sauce? Lots of fresh cilantro from the garden, yummy! When I get home from a trip it is great to have fresh home cooked food. Eating in restaurants is fun at first but it gets old pretty quickly. We watched the film “Julie and Julia“ the other night and while I found the movie just so so, it made me want to cook... and EAT!

You know you have the best friends when they are willing to spend their whole day off (a sunny Saturday on top of it all) inside painting your room. One of our very good friends, Geneviève, is an interior designer (one of her many talents) and she helped us rethink our master bedroom. It was in sad need of an update. It is not finished yet (yes, that is a towel over the window) but we have the biggest part of the work done! 3 coats of paint in one day!! I love the new color. I have always flip-flopped between red and blue as my favourite color but this new paint job makes me side with the blue! There are still lots of accessories and linens to buy but there is already such a big difference from what it was before. Geneviève's boyfriend Jerry was here all day as well, installing a chair rail and moulding. We owe a lot to these two! They are coming back this morning to finish up. I am spoiled!!!

For those who don't know me so well, my sister has 4 kids that I love to spend time with! The older boys aren't always around so it is a special treat when I get to see them. My 2 nieces, Grace and Cate make me feel so special when I get to see them. I never doubt that they have missed me too! My sister Joanna, son Sam, Grace and Cate came for a visit on a very windy day last week. We walked down to the beach and were treated to a marvellous show of waves crashing. Mont Carmel isn't exactly surfers paradise so I get excited when I see waves here! There was hardly any sand where we usually sit on the beach because the tide was so high! Impressive sight! The two little girls in the picture are my nieces.

Off on a trip tomorrow morning, Miramichi, Saint Andrews and Lunenburg. I'll keep you updated!