One of the great things about weekends in Montreal is that you’re not far from the countryside if you want to take a day trip to get away from the concrete jungle. Fall is harvest time and for an inexpensive wholesome type of outing, a pleasant way to spend the day is in the fields picking apples or other crops. About 40 minutes north of Montreal in the Saint-Joseph-du-Lac region, there are plenty of apple orchards to choose from and especially interesting for this city slicker was the Centre d’interprétation
de la courge du Québec where you can pick your own squash and of course, pumpkin for Hallowe’en. You select a wheelbarrow at the entrance to the fields and off you go. The selection of squash is astounding for someone who is not familiar with squash. Who knew there were so many kinds! If in doubt, the staff are very knowledgeable about their courges. I learned that the decorative squash are not for eating as they can be powerful laxatives. So the next time, you want to get back at someone, you can cook up a pot of your special squash soup…

Apple picking and wine tasting after the jump…
Read more

The ‘high’light of my long weekend was a day spent up in the trees at one of the arbraska adventure parks. We went to the one in Rigaud about 45 minutes from Montreal. For those who don’t know about these parks, they’re basically forests rigged with obstacle courses suspended up to 50 feet off the ground. After a 10 minute initiation on how to use your carabiners and pulley, you’re ready to go swinging through the forest. Courses vary in difficulty and get progressively higher. For those who chicken out, there are escape ladders on some platforms. I had a great time flying over the tops of trees on the zip lines and it’s an amazing rush once you get over that moment of stepping off the platform. It’s a great way to connect with nature while testing your limits and I definitely hugged a few trees this weekend. Anybody in mildly good shape from kids to adults can take part. Although I felt really safe with my helmet and harness on, my only beef was that there didn’t seem to be enough guides around. It’s basically up to you to be careful about keeping yourself hooked securely to the cables with your carabiners at all times. Other than that, I ‘highly’ recommend this sport of treetop trekking.

Yes, it’s another weather post but this classical expression is a perfect fit. As I look out of my window, the sky is blue and the trees are perfectly still 24 hours before the first major snowstorm of the season. Estimates vary widely but we should prepare for 20-25 centimeters of snow.

I love snow storms but I hope that this one starts early enough for some people to stay home and for the schools to close. Driving in storm-clogged traffic, surrounded by cars fitted with three seasons tires, is probably one the thing that I hate the most about winter.

Je pense qu’on peut compter le nombre de bonnes bordée de neige à Montréal depuis le début de l’hiver sur une main! Alors la neige d’aujourd’hui rends plusieurs gens heureux (les amoureux des sports d’hiver) et tristes (les automobilistes qui n’aiment pas les mauvaises conditions). Je suis allée faire une petite promenade dehors aujourd’hui. C’était vraiment plaisant de marcher dans cette belle neige fraîche!

I saw a lot of Christmas trees on the sidewalks, waiting to be taken away. It made me wonder when exactly is it that the city collects trees? The information is right here! Depending on where you live on the island… Apparently last year about 23 000 trees were picked up.

I bet that a lot of people used one of those today… I love shovelling snow! But I know a lot of people hate it.

Finally, I think this guy didn’t watch Meteomedia before heading out with his bike!

Finally the snow that everyone’s been waiting for is here. It was absolutely lovely this morning stepping out into the snowy air and seeing a fresh blanket of cool fluffy whiteness over everything. Feeling the snow falling on my face, it was like being in a snowglobe. Here is a pic of trees at the foot of Mont-Royal and a pic of the monument. The snow was wet and heavy, perfect for packing snowballs! Not as many kids tobogganing off the side of the mountain as I would expect but perhaps they were higher up on Beaver Lake or else out Boxing Day shopping. Even though we didn’t get snow for Christmas day, it’s not too late to go out and enjoy it for those who have the week off. Season’s greetings and best wishes to all for a spectacular metroblogging-worthy 2007!

Inspired by blork’s Scary Christmas post, today I went downtown to have a look at the shopping mall Christmas decorations!

I got there at around 13h. It wasn’t as busy as I expected it to be… Just like a normal Saturday. I couldn’t really feel the hectic Christmas shopping yet. I guess that comes a bit later in the month…

And then it was time to compare the decorations! The underground city is quite handy when you’re shopping downtown, going from one mall to the other without ever stepping outside! So, which mall has the nicest decorations? Here are a few photographs…
Read more

Although I don’t like that it gets dark so early these days, one thing that makes it better is all the lights that go up around town this time of year. Last weekend I was on St. Denis and they had little blue lights strung up on all the trees. I didn’t have my camera with me then but today I did and I was downtown on McGill College Avenue which I think is one of the prettiest when decorated with lights. The big Christmas tree at PVM has already been turned on and it’s quite enjoyable to walk down the street towards Ste Catherine with all the office towers lit up on either side and looming over the street that’s lined with trees festooned and draped in lights. The tail lights from the cars going by and the buzz of the people on the sidewalks are so lively that it makes impending winter seem not so bad.

Howdy!

[oops, my bad, update an hour later: The most important and significant one, is our very own Metblog Montreal author Lisa Hunter will be launching her new book on November 2, at Indigo books 7pm. If you would like to buy your own copy of The Intrepid Art Collector online click away. And by all means come on by to meet and help celebrate the publication of the book].

or

That are perfect for cold, gray and rainy days.

1. While the Festival du Nouveau Cinema is about the films, they have also decided to do some sort of art exhibit called OpenSource, I went to see it last week, and while it is a tad difficult to find, I was annoyed at myself for going alone, ‘cuz the video games looked interesting. It is at the Just For Laughs Museum and goes as long as the festival does. (2111 Saint-Laurent Boulevard, walk in between all the desks and to the elevators in the back, and take the one to the third floor).
Read more

Most of my day was spent getting my house and yard ready for winter. I really don’t mind the raking and mulching of leaves as well putting the garden furniture into the shed, but I also had to do this most disgusting of chores, cleaning the gutters. I have a slightly slanted roof that is covered with small gravel. Add a couple of big oak trees and my gutters were completely filled with an organically-rich mixture of gravel and humus. My own lazyness was apparent for all to see in the form of growing weeds, a suburban version of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Home maintenance doesn’t get any more unpleasant (and dangerous) than that. What was even more amazing was the presence of earthworms in the humus. I don’t need my Ph.D. in biology to know that earthworms can’t fly and they can’t climb trees. So how on earth did they get up there? Maybe they were picked up by a Robin who dropped them when it was startled by a squirrel. Alternatively, a baby earthworm might have hitched a ride on a small piece of dirt that was temporarily trapped under a racoon’s paw. The mystery remains.

At the end, nature had one more surprise in store for me. I climbed up with a garden hose so that I could wash off the rest of the dirt. That’s when I noticed that part of my roof gravel was covered with these adorable bulbs of moss, our very own green roof.

This is just for Justin who was so disappointed that he had missed the Fall leaves. Yesterday, I took my kids to the park and although many of the trees are bare, I still managed to find a few with bright yellow and orange leaves. It’s true though, over half way through October, it looks like it’s pretty well finished now.