Last days in the Old Stone House

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It's 14.48 on the 11th of April. So, I think this will probably be the last post I will do while here in Portneuf. The lady who has kindly said she would put us up in her spare flat in Montreal has also said she would give us a lift down too on either Monday or Tuesday of next week as she is up in Portneuf anyway. This means that we've only got 1 or 2 full days left here at the Old Stone House.
The last few days have been like most of the others - making use of the fair weather and remaining weekdays to take down a few more trees and get them split for firewood. Increasingly, we've had more sawing of the smaller branches and raking of the bark from the footpaths as we gear down from our usual pace of work.
Indeed, I feel that we've somewhat worn out Judie and Ted by now. Not that they have become any less hospitable or enthusiastic for our help, but as soon as Ted has taken down and cut up a tree - which takes considerable effort on his part - we've split it all and stacked it, so they're feeling as if they have to keep up with us. So, I think by this point they are ready to take the pace down a bit, and we're beginning to be ready to see new places and meet new people. Oh and while I remember, we all (4 of us) took a walk down into Portneuf town Thursday afternoon, so the houses and streets in the photos I'll post with this blog are of Portneuf itself.
Anyway, what a fantastic time we've had here. It's really been a great experience of what real Canadian, or at least Quebecian (probably not a word) life is like. Judy and Ted have been accommodating, friendly and wonderful company. As, of course, have been Bezoar and Stubbs - who we all will very much miss. The food has been varied, delicious and with a nicely local touch. I think we've also been lucky here with the amount of free time we've had - probably a luxury that we won't have with some of the other, more active, hosts. There's nothing better than coming in from a hard days chopping wood to be met by a hot meal and an evening spent in front of the fire with a cup of tea, a book and Bezoar (and occasionally Ted) gently snoring on the sofa.
We've spent a few hours already today sawing small dead branches of the bottom of the pine trees in the garden, and sawing them up for kindling - and currently we're all in the process (pretty much unsuccessfully) of hyping ourselves to go back out and finish the job. Tomorrow is our day off and, with a promise of KFC in the evening, we all very excited. Then, Montreal awaits!

It's now 9.22 on the 12th. I had written this post yesterday afternoon but hadn't had time to post it, so I mIght as well record what we did the rest of yesterday. Once I had finished writing, we finally got up and out to cut up the rest of the branches and take them up to the house. This only took 20 minutes or so, and once done we headed back in to put the kettle on. It was only 4.00 by this point so Rosie and I decided to walk into Portneuf to by some bits from the pharmacy etc..
The walk takes around half an hour, and was really pleasant in the now mild temperatures. Once we'd got what we needed we decided to dip in to the local bar for a drink before heading back. The bar was pretty much like a pub back in England, or maybe a little more like the ones you'd expect to find in a ski resort in Europe, but friendly (although no one spoke a word of English). Amusingly and inexplicably, although the bar was full of middle aged regulars, for some reason hardcore rap and the German heavy metal band Rammstein were being played loudly over the music system.
Anyway, once home we ate pork and vegetables with apple crumble, then Louise, the lady who is giving us a free apartment, came round to meet us. She seems like really nice and is one of these people who doesn't so much talk, but tell stories. She had the mannerisms and way of talking that one would associate more with Bostonians - but she's French Canadian. We sat chatting for an hour or so and she told all sorts of off topic and impromptu stories, that were nevertheless interesting, and agreed she was to pick us up Monday morning. We're all very excited now to move on to Montreal, and it'll be from there that I write my next post.

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Comments

[Dr John HW]

Onwards and upwards
This is my third attempt to write a comment on your blog this week - was down in Devon on Monday night with the small black laptop which twice succumbed to 'cursor freeze'. Just couldn't do anything about it so had to abandon the first comment and restart the laptop, inevitably losing all I had typed. Then it happened a second time. The phrase 'futile rage' only really partially and inadequately described my emotions at that point. Anyway, looking forward to reading your blog about a gay Canadian bison called Gary (or whatever it was). Sounds fascinating. Have enjoyed the word paintings of your time in Pontneuf and it has been great to follow your progress. It sounds as if it was time to move on, great though the last few weeks have been. Montreal looks quite showery/wet this week with temperatures of about 12 or 13 degrees, although these slide back to 7 or 8 degrees by the middle of next week.