Working on the plot and Quebec City

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It's 10.58 on Sunday 29th March. Friday was another usual working day for us here at the Old Stone house, but since we're getting used to the routine here we managed to get a lot done. In the morning Matt and I had the last 10 or so pieces of the trunk of the large tree Ted cut down on Tuesday to move from where they had been chainsawed, and then split into useable pieces. Each piece was about the size of a car tyre, or bigger, and was very dense wood - so it took a fair amount of effort to shift.
We split these then moved them up to the house to be stacked while Rosie and Kate went shopping with Judie.
While we were getting on with that, Ted had cut down and cut up 2 smaller (but still of decent size) dead trees, so Matt and I used the wheelbarrow and sled to move the pieces back up to the house ready to be cut. There must have been 40-50 in total.
By the time we'd got through all that the girls had got back, and we sat down to a lunch of chicken noodle soup and sandwiches. We had our customary quiet period after lunch, then headed back out around 40 to finish the work we had started. For Matt and myself it was splitting the logs, while Kate and Rosie stacked all the wood we had done that morning, plus the wood we were getting through that afternoon. I have to say, although it's only been a week, I'm pretty handy with an axe. To finish all of these, plus tidy up afterwards, took about 2 hours. The evening played out like most evenings, with Judie cooking Sole in a white sauce and rice for dinner.
We got up Saturday morning at the usual time, then left for Quebec City at around 10. We took the scenic route past the huge river that runs between the City and Portneuf to the West, which took us around 45 minutes or so all told. Judie and Ted dropped us in the Lower Town, and agreed to pick us up from the same place at 10 that evening.
From there we made our way up to the Old Town Quebec, through cobbled streets and past old, almost European style houses and shops. Quebec City is on two levels, separated by a cliff face looking out over the river and across to the snow covered hills on the other bank. Once up the top we made our way around the town centre, which is fairly compact, and found a French patisserie and café to sit down for a cup of coffee and discuss the next move.
We had about an hour or so to kill before the St. Patrick's day parade that was to take place that afternoon, so we decided to head back down to the picturesque Rue de Petit-Champlain, which links Lower Town and Old Town, and found a little restaurant serving a generous size burger and fries for a good price. As well as this, and most importantly, it served a very nice beer called Moose Head.
We headed back up the hill to stand and wait for the parade. The parade was good fun, consisting mostly of marching bands, assorted Irish groups from the area and the occasional performance group doing Irish Dancing or dressed up as Celtic warriors.
It took a good hour or so for the entire procession to pass, and by the time it had we were ready for another drink. Along the parade route we found an American style bar, and sat for an hour or so drinking Coors Light and chatting.
After locating a Starbucks at the base of the impressive Chateau on the hill, we spent the rest of the evening in the fashionable district the other side of the Old Town. There we found a bar to eat and have another few drinks (revelling in the 18 drinking age while it lasts), before moving on to the pub next door to eat and drink some more. Before we knew it it was 9.30 and we were on the other side of the city to our rendezvous point so we had to hot-foot it over the hill and back down on a full stomach and in sub zero temperatures. We arrived a couple of minutes before Judie and Ted however, so could catch our breath and take in the lights of Quebec City at night.
We went home the faster way along the highway, and were home by quarter to 11, and it was straight to bed for all of us. Today we have a day off working in the forest, which starts again tomorrow. I'm sure I'll check in again during the week.

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