A Week at Wilma's

Being at Wilma’s for a whole week was just the rest we needed. It will be hard to put my memories in one blog. Her place is a little clearing in the trees just peeking out from the perennials. It would be easy to miss except for the wild orange house with the blue door. Her dog Burd, (short for Burdock) did his best to be vicious. After eyeing everyone’s garden for the past few weeks hers is an inspiration. Lilies and lavender and some ground covers are the only ones I could name. She knows them all. (And she apologizes that it has been an off year. I can’t imagine what an on year looks like.) I really couldn’t get enough poking around her green house, wood shed, pathways, vegetable garden, berry patch, meadows and trees. Stopping at the many sitting spots. It was fun taking pictures. She has lots of projects on the go and ideas for the future. The most daunting project of all is her stairs to the beach. There is a 120 metre cliff at the back of her property that ends at a small strip of beach on the St. Lawrence. The stairs are almost finished. (For someone who can barely wield a screw gun the dynamics of building such a solid staircase with railings down a ravine is mind boggling.) She obviously has no lack of energy. One of her latest passions is her bees. She has 3 hives that she carefully monitors. One afternoon she was concerned about the way they were behaving and dawned her beekeepers suit and sorted and separated the shelves. (A great photo op!) Each tray was a buzz of activity caring for larvae, building up wax, and making honey. I have forgotten most of what she explained to me but definitely something I’d like to learn about someday.
Wilma had a lot of office work to do so we spent time reading, blogging, and ravaging her bookshelves. (It is so safe to go through pottery books, gardening, woodworking, decorating and cookbooks when you are far from home.) I did a bit of weeding and berry picking. I got my laundry done, Henry got 2 new tires put on the van and Wilma gave up her hair appointment for me. Henry and I spent some time in the museum learning about the history of Gaspe and poking around some shops. We spent some time on the beach, lots of good old lazing around and generally pestering Wilma with talk when she should be working. And we ate, and ate. Salmon, cod, pates, breads with jams and honey, cheese, garden fresh berries and veggies, (purple potatoes!) and of course wine. Wilma’s close friends from Montreal came for a visit. They are enthusiastic mycologists. They came equipped with microscopes, cameras and books. They go tramping through the bush looking for mushrooms. It’s sort of like birdwatching except the mushroom sits very still. Some need a microscope to be accurately identified. Sometimes they eat what they pick. It was really fascinating to see microscopic mushroom patches.
Well the longer we stayed the harder it was to leave. Thank-you Wilma for an awesome week.
Grace
Listening to- the engines of ferry taking us fromIles-de-la-Madeleine to PEI
Wish I left at home- the fold up grocery basket. (Glad I could leave it at Wilma's)