Always moving forward ;)

Building site

Before

After

As you can see, much has changed here in little time.

The excavation lasted in total 5 days, due to three days of jack hammering solid rock, and produced a lot of material, some of it when to the dump (old concrete slabs and tree roots), some of it was transported to another site (mostly stones), and the rest stayed on site (mostly clean dirt for fill and a lot of beautiful reddish stones).

Mike is now busy making the wooden forms that will hold the concrete foundation of the garage. There are young apprentice working on the 8 wooden posts that will hold the 4 main roof components. Mike is working with recycled materials such as flooring planks and roof framing components from a demolition site. It will take time, organization and a lot of energy but at the end it will certainly be all worth it, I am sure of it.

Our Volkswagen GOLF from 1987

Another mile marker: the car has exited the garage!

New motor and transmission, adjusted the shift mechanism (new bushings), changed seals and many gaskets, new clutch, new seats, miscellaneous small repairs

and finally,

now that my arm can handle the manual steering (takes strong arms to ride this car I tell you!),

the car is ready to hit the road again. With much fun, I am back driving my precious car from 1987.

JUST LOVING IT !!!

Thanks Mike xxxx

Chickens

After the hard period we just went through and the lose of great birds, the flock is re-building nicely.

Most of the chickens that got killed by the fox were older ones and now our "retirement home" have changed into a "kindergarten". The 10 chicks of this year are growing up becoming young adults (now laying eggs) and the young roosters are starting to hone their singing voice ;)

A neighbor of ours is growing meal-worms used as a high protein source for chickens. So I started my own growing station here at home! Using wheat husk, supplied by our baker, as a ground medium, the beetle (black) lay eggs which turn into larva (golden colored) and then pupa (really white ones) which transform themselves in adult beetles for a new cycle. Beside husk, I give them some old bread and sliced zucchinis. Once the worms have processed everything, the husk turns into a fine manure which can be used for example as fertilizer in plant pots.

Chickens love the golden worms so, once in a while, I gather a hand full and threat the birds a little snack. Once the machine will roll, I will be able to threat them more regularly; this is my optimal goal.

Bees

The bee season has ended and all went well. We will see the real result coming out of the winter period, if the hive is still strong enough in the spring. Because of my broken wrist, a colleague of mine came twice to inspect the colony. This was a huge help and it allowed me adjust where necessary and start the treatment against the Varroa mites on time.

I did the one before last inspection with Jeroen, a friend that visited us for 1 week at the end of September. Jeroen and I lived in the same city in the Netherlands (Apeldoorn) and we met during the beekeeper course in 2011.

As you can see on this picture, I was really happy to be able to inspect the frames myself and enjoy the presence of the bees around me.

Garden

There is a whole lot of work to be done in the gardens ! Because of my broken wrist and the recovery period, lots have been neglected. Now that it is winter, I need to clean all beds. The garlic has been planted as well as oats and rye which will act as a cover crop, feeding the underground life and restructuring the soil where needed.

I also have to water the soil in the green houses and prepare them for the next season: this is my biggest headache. In between, there are trees and shrubs to be trimmed and new fruit trees and berry shrubs to be planted.

At the moment, there is nearly no winter crops in our garden.... only some chard, some celeriac (celery root), one or two cabbages (the rest got eaten up by bugs) and some leeks.

The last harvest included chayote, various squashes, potatoes, yacon, cardon, Malabar spinach and grapes (for juice)

And this is Jeroen :)

He came for 1 week during my vacation in September. I had some activities already planned for us but there was as well enough time to relax and chat. This picture was taken during my art class, which I attend every Monday morning, Jeroen showed he had natural talent ;)

During his stay, my health was not optimal and it allowed me to rest a bit more but nevertheless, we harvested chestnuts, we attended a fair in an old Abbey site and we saw musicians singing traditional Québec and French "chansons à répondre" (call and response songs).

2025 is coming to an end soon and the new year already promises lots of changes.

We are keeping busy, hoping that you guys are creative in your own ways.

Enjoy the path that is called LIFE :) Best wishes for 2026. We will meet again soooooon ;)