catching up, reminiscing, an anniversary and being thankful!

holy moly - where did november go????

we both had our birthdays this month (he turned 49 and i turned 44), we had a potluck supper for our vfd which was awesome, we missed the spaghetti dinner in fourchu but our friend B made sure to get our suppers and freeze them for us (he's awesome like that!), we had our dear brother G and sister C over for a roast supper - my sister C made a beautiful Christmas arrangement for our dining room table AND they got us these super herb planter bags, 2 of them, so they will go on the porch this spring and i'll be able to just step outside the kitchen to get my fresh herbs for cooking, and we went out with our besties B and C (from fourchu) to the city for some chinese food that had us all stuffed, all leaving with leftovers and just enjoying spending time together. that on top of finishing the porch, finding a place for all of our pepper plants inside of the house (they are still producing - woohoo!), getting the greenhouse ready for spring and a whole pile of other stuff. it's been such a busy month!

the great polar vortex which did some real damage in some areas only gave us a couple of days of strong winds, lots of rain and one snowfall which melted the next day.

today i realized it was our 4th anniversary of the day that we left the city to come to the Manor??? what can i say except that we feel that we have been here forever...and yet it feels like we just got here yesterday! this is the 1980 "vandura" that we drove in to get here 4 years ago.



you can read this fun post which has many pics of the "vandura". you can also read this post about our last day in ottawa and how, although we had everything packed and ready to go, our moving truck got stuck in the meridian on our very busy street, during morning rush hour and what should have been a 4-hour moving job ended up involving police and many more hours!!! it was an adventure i tell you! it seems everything that has happened since we decided to ditch it all and move here has been an adventure! and one that we are still living to the fullest and enjoying!

here's some delicious home-made bone-broth soup with shrimp, a gazillion spices and green onions that we are still growing and enjoying from the greenhouse!

want a super delicious snack??? soak some dried chickpeas overnight, drain them, pat them dry with a towel, dump a few glugs of olive oil on them and then season to taste (you can use plain salt and pepper, fresh garlic, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, smoked paprika - use your imagination and let your taste buds lead the way!). roast them at 450 for about 15 mins or longer if you like them crunchier.

so what do you do to celebrate the fact that today is your 4 year anniversary? you have eggs florentine for breakfast.



pretty schnazzy! but what if you are celebrating your 4 year anniversary AND also celebrating the fact that the gonzo homesteader, also known as my man jam, has moved the dishwasher back down to the basement???? you share an afternoon bloody mary cocktail is what!

the man used to be a waiter and bartender and he makes some of the best cocktails known to man!

you gather up your dried seaweed - free food that you foraged from the ocean.

you grind that stuff up to be added to broths, soups, stews, salads - and you consume a healthy spice that you made yourself.

then you spread the table with all of the fixings required for making some delicious thai rice paper wraps with peanut-hoisin sauce and chili-garlic-lime sauce.

and while you are giving thanks for living in such a beautiful, remote, wild, healthy environment and meeting the bestest friends of your life and feeling like you have finally come home and that both of you finally have what feels like true family (even though the people here beg you NOT to serve them any of your weird food - bahahahahahahah!) - you stuff yourself full of thai rice paper wraps, hold your baby's hand, look into his beautiful blue eyes, play cards several times throughout the day, pet all 3 of your cats throughout the day as usual (and feed the little buggers 4 million times that day!!! arghghghghgh!) -

...and end the day in amazement and wonder and look forward to tomorrow. and give thanks. and feel peace. and understand that this day was unique. there will never be another 4th anniversary at Framboise Manor - THIS is the only one.

now it's time to climb on the couch with your man, finnagle something worth watching on netflix....and sigh. filled with thanks for every adventure that has happened and the trillion that you know are coming.

bring it on.