Thursday brought my favourite pseudo-Canadian, Krista, into town and she invited me to her cottage for Friday-Saturday and it was amazing! I've spent many a moment sat in the Penny C corridor hearing Krista's stories of the lake she lives on and oh my days, it's beautiful! Lac Bernard is about an hour away from Ottawa in Quebec, in an anglophone bit! Apart from introducing to a traditional Quebec vennison pie and sugary tarts, corn on the cob covered in salt (delicious but seriously unhealthy) and Canadian cider, Krista took me out on the lake!
Krista is a true water baby; I am not. I can't swim after a traumatic incident aged five where my cousin, Phoebe or Antichrist, attempted to drown me in our grandparents' swimming pool, and ever since then I've just been able to find better things to do than get in deep water, just in case my psychopathic cousin should appear and try to finish what she started. However, armed with a life jacket, the sturdiest pedal boat known to man and the sea legs of Krista, we set off across the lake. I cannot tell you just how envious I am of Krista getting to live here! It's stunningly beautiful! We pedalled past beaver damns (I looked but couldn't find any. Devestated!) As we turned a corner, the sun was searing the clouds and I couldn't catch my breath I was so taken aback by the beauty.
Lac Bernard is enormous. I'm discovering that everything is bigger in Canada and its bodies of water are no exception! The Ladygrove Lakes complete with the discarded Tesco trolleys just cannot compete with Krista's lake. I had that great song Land of the Silver Birch in my head and felt like a true Canadian! Later, we went with Krista's parents around the lake on their speedboat and got up close to some loons (which are these black and white birds about twice the size of a duck.)
After dinner, as the tail end of Hurricane Issac battered the lake, we curled up on the sofa to watch the 1985 Anne of Green Gables film which brought back so many memories of being 8 or 9 and reading all the Anne of Green Gables books - which will definitely be brought out over Christmas and re-read. Sorry Harry Potter, you've been relegated for not being Canadian enough!
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| Wakefield, Quebec. |
On Saturday, we went in town which was like stepping into a scene from The Waltons or Little House on the Prairie with its white washed wood structures and vintage General Store signs. I also bought my first earrings and my first dream catcher whose beauty is now being overshadowed by being hastily bluetacked on my light switch!
The rain was torrential; so heavy that it was hard to see and I slipped on a walkway, smacking my head hard on the conrete in the process. Headache to the max! Today has been total agony - I have a splitting headache, a lump on my head, a really stiff neck which I can't move fully, a practically purple bum and I'm seriously winded! And I'm not currently in possesion of a health insurance card so good job I'm not injured enough to need treatment!
Saying goodbye to my favourite pseudo-Canadian meant that today was the day for spending time with my favourite Canadians at the church I'm going to here! Joanna and Julia are the most wonderful friends and God has been blessing me so much more than I deserve with those two! Plus I got to have a hug from Hazel which definitely settled the slight pang of not having had a hug all week. I'm quite tactile and get all angsty when people don't hug me. I think that also makes me quite needy!
I LOVE IT HERE!
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