This isn't the best picture I've ever taken, but it was an experiment, so bear with me. This lovely bouquet of muguet--Lily of the Valley, comes from a friend's garden. She invited me to dinner at her house for a pre-birthday celebration. The food was wonderful, the conversation, too. Thanks Donna!
Marc came down from Montréal last Saturday to celebrate my birthday. He took me to Sunday brunch at the Astral Restaurant, which sits atop the Concorde Hotel. It slowly turns, giving one a 360° view of la belle ville de Québec. It was a sunny, clear day, so the view was just as great as the food. No pictures of the view, because I forgot my camera. No comment, please. Afterward, we a walk in the nearby Jardin (garden) de Ste-Jeanne d'Arc. Every kind of flower one could imagine is there, expertly arranged. What a wonderful day! It's great to be 70!
Marc left Monday morning, after coffee at my favourite coffee house (below), The Second Cup Café.
It's been an incredibly long time since I've posted, mainly because I haven't been making cards or ATCs. At the end of September, I started teaching English at Berlitz Québec, and haven't been fitting cards and work into a schedule.
The good news is that I enjoy teaching and hanging with the other teachers. I'm determined to get myself on track and blog, make cards, and journal.
I spent December 2008 in France with older son and family. Took lots of pics, but haven't gotten them all labeled and improved. The next blog will include some of those photos, but for now, feast your eyes on what my workplace is like. Berlitz is on the 8th floor of Place Québec, and the views, as you can see, are stunning.
View from a Classroom
The Teachers' Break Room
More of the teachers' Room
One of six classrooms
The Québec Hilton in Winter--heated pool!
Each season has its charm. For me, Winter is a time to do indoor things, like stamping, writing, reading, making cocoa or hot spiced cider. Spring brings a welcome relief from cold and snow, Summer fills me with a playful mood, and Autumn, ah, Autumn! The ochres, scarlets, bronzes, and fitful changes in weather of Autumn! The title of this entry comes from the following poem.
Chill winds are wailing and
The sky weeps rimey tears.
Another summer's passing,
Another winter's near.
My heart vibrates
With the approaching steps
Of a season haunted
By long-gone scents and sounds.
With memories pierced by
The cries of southbound geese
Of golden afternoons bitter
With the haze of bonfires.
Old flames smoldering
Under the ashes of memory
Are rekindled and blaze
Brightly in my heart.
The echoing call of the loon
On the lake is answered
By her mate. Would that you
Could answer mine.
Kathleen Chabot, all rights reserved
The following card was made at a Sale/Make 'n Take held by my very talented SU demo. Look, ma, no stamps!
The two cards below were made for Inkstainers weekly challenges. The first; 1-2-3-4 Challenge, which meant, 1stamp, 2 flowers, 3 brads or eyelets, 4 cs layers or pieces (as in punched cs).
This challenge was to stamp mailing labels.
This ATC was for me--or trade. I used one page from Vogue magazine, in which a model was wearing a very elaborate, voluminous evening dress. I used her head (ouch) as the focal point, and cut-up pieces of the dress as background.
This post was supposed to be about the trip I made to St-Joseph-de-la-rive last weekend with my younger son. However, said son inadvertantly (???) packed my digie cam in his luggage. It's now in Montréal, and won't be recovered until he comes to Québec, or I go to Montréal, which won't be tomorrow. Siiiiigh! Didn't realize how much I love that DC! All is not lost, however. I have pictures from the trip I took to the same place with a friend, in July.
The town cited above is small, on the St. Lawrence, and literally has its back to a very fragile mountain. One of the sites to visit there is a humungous crater, now grass-covered, dug out by a comet in ages past. Most heavenly visitors don't make it through our atmosphere intact. If they do, they're usually bits and pieces, some large enough to do damage, but planet-threatening sized ones very rarely make it through. These last, to survive burning up in our atmosphere, need to be truly unimageably huge on entering our atmosphere, to do the damage the one did that landed in Charlesvoix county--where my son and I were.
Up an impossibly steep hill--Marc was driving, and when he saw the hill, said, "Good grief! (language amended for Internet purposes), "What gear am I going to use to get up that hill!" We did make it up to the top, however, where the town of Les Éboulements hangs onto the edge of said hill. Great view! The name of this town means, Landslides. The underpinnings of the whole region has been made fragile by the comet's landing. The first settlers found this out when an earthquake brought a side of the mountain tumbling down about them. Huge boulders are still visible, torn from the earth and flung about as by a giant's hand, are still visible in the countryside.
Earthquakes still shake the region from time to time, but one forgets this history when looking out on the St. Lawrence, already much wider at this point than in Québec, sunshine dancing on its waves. The blue of the river is repeated by the mountains on the far side, which blend in with the blue of the sky. Look long, and it seems that the three are one. Close your eyes and listen to the rhythm of the waves as they sigh onto the shore. Your heartbeat slows, your muscles relax, and life rocks you in gentle arms. Take a deep breath and let the salt air clear your lungs. Listen to the cry of the gulls, whose voices are part of the song of the St. Lawrence.
Pictures, top to bottom: 1. Hôtel Beauséjour, St-Joseph-de-la-rive; 2. part of hotel's porch; 3. yours truly, relaxing; 4. Quai at St-Joseph, looking back toward village; 5. Quai and ferry crossing to l'Isle aux Coudres; 6. view of intimidating road up to Les Éboulements; 7. outdoor part of Maritime Museum, with ship being overhauled for eventual tours. Ships like this were kings of the St. Lawrence, carrying logs and other merchandise at a time when there were no roads or railroads; 8. mast of an old, abandoned ship at the museum.
The long days of summer are melting away. It's dark at 7:30 p.m. now, instead of 9:30 p.m. But autumn is a wonderful season here. It's as if Mother Nature regrets she gives us rainy summers almost every year, and makes up for it with autumn.
The hills blaze with color, the mornings are cool, middays warm or even hot, and the evenings bring a chill. That's a season to look forward to!
I've been following Michelle Zindorf's wonderful tutorials with pictures and step-by-step instructions. Following are some of the cards I made trying to follow the tutorials. Here's a link to them: http://zindorf.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/tutorials-ive-written/
Below are "Halloween Moon", in which I tried to apply the Zindorf technique on my own, using Green Pepper Press stamps, and "Happy Thanksgiving", based on an idea in the 2008 issue of the magazine, "Stamp It" by Paper Crafts.
I haven't "mused" in a long time, so this will be an update kind of entry. The celebration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of Québec City has been literally "à l'eau"--drowned out. We had over 400cm of snow this winter, and have now had over 400ml of rain--so far. Practically every day brings a violent weather warning, and Sunday evening, the lightening and deafening cracks of thunder even scared the cats. I just try to take each day as it comes, and what better time to curl up with cats and good book than a rainy day!The following are cards I made for Inkstainers challenges.
Following are a couple of ATCs I made for the ATC Artists monthly mingles. One month was on mermaids, and the next month was "thumbprints." In the latter two, the cat, mouse and cheese, as well as the flowers, sun and Ladybugs were all made with inky finger or thumbprints.
I recently joined an online group, "Technique Junkies", whose members like trying new techniques in stamping. Here are my first cards using techniques from the TJ newsletter. The first is Layered Collage, the second, Designer Tiles. For a peek at what Technique Junkies is all about, go to: http://www.techniquejunkies.com/
That gets this blog pretty much up to date. See you soon.
The Father's Day card is for my older son, the father of my two grandchildren. The stamps are from the Papertrey Ink set, Pond Life. The technique is a variation of Michelle Zindorf's Dappled Light Garden Tutorial. Her tutorials are available on her blog:
http://zindorf.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
The pictures were taken at the Restaurant Au Parmésan in Old Québec. A celebration was in order, because Sharon, from Nova Scotia, on the right, was visiting her longtime friend, Jeanne, (photo below), which gave Sharon and me the chance to meet in person. We've known each other through online stamping groups for about six years.
The friendly fellows? Ask Sharon and Jeanne!
