Mon Voyage À L'Acadie: Part 9: LE GRAND TINTAMARRE

Now, we come to the big goal of my trip, Le grand tintamarre in Caraquet, NB. We had arrived early and the official parade was supposed to begin at 6 PM Atlantic time. So, with time to kill, I walked around and snapped some photos.

Here is a man from the Savoie family. According to his genealogy, he is descended from royalty. He looks it too. I could see him in a crown. But right now, I think he needs another hand.



I am glad I took a photo of these costumed people, because I never did see them again in the parade! Click to enlarge.


Here is a papillion; it looks a bit hot out for a dog today. He reminded me of Joshua, Martin Mazza's puppy [which can be seen at Stag Homme Studios]!


Oh, mom and I did take time for some Caraquet oysters. This handsome young man shucked them for us and they were DIVINE! Raw and firm with briney goodness! Slurp!


There were Acadians from Louisiana at the food court behind the church who were deported there during the horrible times of 1755. They offered very unspicy versions of shrimp etouffe and jambalaya. But, they were inexpensive and filling, so we ate them.

Then it was time and the parade began! OMG! It was so gosh darn noisy! A din for sure! I approached the street and couldn't tell where the parade began and the audience was. It was just a huge, noisy milling crowd of humanity. A crazy, Acadian riot! Out of control! I raised my camera to get a photo of all the commotion.



It was like this one day of the year, August 15, all of these typically reserved Canadian people just let loose and go nuts making noise with airhorns, clackers, maracas, clappers, tambourines, whistles, drums, and what have you.

Also, there was a costume and float contest to liven up the parade. Below, these two fellows figured that drag is always a good bet in costuming.


Here a fiddler adds his music to the din.


These fellows' add their muscles to the costume contest.


Landry and Arsenault are the two Acadian names here. Google them if you want to know more about them!


These two gals are dressed in old timey frocks, but wouldn't stand away far enough for me to capture the pretty hems of their dresses.


The family name here was Mourant, which means to be dying. In their float they featured a dying man who is being administered an IV of tequila! LOL!


This was so much fun! A huge Acadian flag that spanned half the street was passed over the parade and observers and parade marchers had to lift it over with their hands. It was so inclusive and bonding for everybody!


This was an impressive float because the actors were painted white and stayed in character and the boat was so spooky.



This was fun - a ship decorated like those we saw in the fleets!




The Acadians are a very inclusive people as shown by this African man. He and others like him, plus some Acadians played some Rastafarian drum rhythms.


These two ladies were selling maple leaves with Acadian family names on them.


Now, here is a way to get attention - get on top of a cherry picker!


Here I am at the parade [my mom shot this photo with her iPhone and all the rest]! I even joined it for a bit when my cousin invited me to. How could I turn him down? I am not Acadian, my mom's family is Quebecois, but on August 15th, everybody is Acadaian!


Isn't this a colorful shot?



I hope you enjoyed the photos, here is a video of the parade!


Video source: Capcadie, more videos there

Miniata Groupers, Chinese Wetmarket, Singapore

This watercolor painting is called Miniata Groupers and is from the Singapore series. Click to enlarge.



It is based on this photograph that I took on my trip to Singapore in 1996 at the Chinese Wet Market. This was a tank of live miniata groupers.


The painting was an exercise in watercolor washes and gradients and was tons of fun. I drew the tank and fish and then painted the water and the painting sat for a long time before I got up the nerve to paint the fish. But once I got started, I was okay and couldn't stop.

Travel Plans

I am going to Spain to see the boys get hitched this weekend. Blogging will continue when I return on May 31st. I leave tomorrow so wish me well!

Photos from Singapore

Sean recently gave me a scanner and I am just a scanner crazy gal! Here are some photos from my trip in 1997 to Singapore.

Below: This me in Nirvana. SHOPPING FOR JADE! The only issue is that I was not fabulously wealthy. But these lovely ladies were having a ball negotiating with me. I bought the two necklaces on the wall (left) and then showed them to a Malayan colleague (I was there to work, cough) who told me I got a really great deal, so I went back again and bought more!!!


I tried on so many bangles that my hands and wrist hurt! They had a lavender one that I was in love with, but it cost too much!!! But I did buy a bangle for my twin sister. It was mostly white with a dark red band and some bright green cloudy lines.

Below is a photo of me in the Chinese / Japanese Gardens Bonsai section. It was taken by a Japanese woman tourist who was there with her young son.


Here is a "small" sidewalk hazard that I saw in Holland Village. A chasm just opened up in the middle of the sidewalk, but never fear, there was a handy concrete tie that nimble pedestrians could step over to avoid falling into the bottomless pit!


Really!!! Could you imagine seeing this in the US??? Could you imagine the lawsuits??? I don't recommend that people dependent on wheelchairs visit Singapore, as in general things were not handicapped compliant at all that I could see.

If you want to read about the rest of my Singaporean adventure, just click on the label "Singapore" and they will all appear. Magic!

My First Kitteh: Neral

Here are a couple of photos of Neral, my very first kitty cat. He was quite a photogenic guy. He had perfectly blue Siamese eyes and his points were a true brown seal point Lynx color, as you can see in the photo below when I took him to visit my Mother's kitten, José. José was rescued from the pound and I immortalized him in color pointillism for my mom.


Here is a photo of me circa 1980 holding a baby Neral. I was so happy with my baby kitteh! Can you tell??? I think I was about 24 years old. (Getta load of that Dorothy Hamill hair cut!!!)


Wasn't he the cutest?

I Put Up Blue Bird Boxes Today

Don't they look cozy? If you were a blue bird, wouldn't you just move right in? We were going to put up three, but we only had two poles. I was going to do it earlier this week, but I was too tired. The green thing that is larger than the metal pole is a predator guard. It is a plastic cylinder that hangs loose and rattles around when a predator tries to climb the pole. You can see that Spring has not sprung much here yet. We do have snow drops and some daffodils have broken ground, but not bloomed.

Here is more information on Installation of Blue Bird Boxes.

Everything You Wanted To Know About Fair View Sue But Were Afraid To Ask*

*Is right here.

HIghlights of My Trip to Mom's

[All photos in this post were taken by me, you may click to enlarge them.]

Sean and I drove to the wedding of Dr. L’s second daughter in Brooklyn on Saturday at Steiner Studio’s Stage 6, which overlooks Manhattan across the East River. The wedding began very late at 7:30 PM and the main course was not served until 10:00 PM.

The photos above were taken by Sean, my husband.

We left at midnight, just as the wedding cake was served. But, the bride was beautiful in a simple white sheath dress and I am sure that this is a marriage that will work out really well, as the couple are very committed to each other. Some of my old work colleagues were there, since I worked for Dr. L many moons ago and we talked of old times. They played music mostly from the 60’s and many of us cut the rug. The food was fabulous.

We got to mother’s house a 1:00 AM on Sunday morning. She was up and let us in. I washed off my make up and went to bed. Sean left the next morning as per plan, as he had an architectural project to finish at home for a presentation on Tuesday.

Mom and I enjoyed a breakfast visit from one of her ex-colleague’s who will celebrate her 100^th birthday next year. The ex-colleague had brought Irish soda bread from Gemellis’ Bakery and it was delightful. Although at an advanced age, this woman is mentally together and sprightly. She uses a cane, but only because she does not trust her footing in unfamiliar turf. At home she runs around like there is no tomorrow. She still plays bridge. She does not drive, however. I have known her since my childhood, so it is always a treat to see her. I intend to go to her 100^th birthday celebration, because, how many of those does one get to go to??? That night we watched Big Love.

Monday at noon – during my nap, Vasco, mom’s Portuguese water dog, worked his first day as a companion dog at an adult center for learning disabled people. He and mom met 20 people there who go for classes. Plus, they met the staff. Vasco was a big hit and was asked to come back again. He is such a good boy! Then Mom and I went out bargain shopping. For dinner we went out to the Cheesecake Factory, but were not served by Penny. We were ably served by Kinesha, who took very good care of us. I had a cheddar cheese burger on whole wheat with onion rings and mom had a cheese burger with bacon on it on a bun and fries. For desert we shared an original and vanilla bean cheesecake. Then we watched the Big Bang Theory and Saving Grace.

Tuesday took it easy we went out for Indian food. We wanted to go to the all vegetarian Dhosa Diner, but they had had a kitchen fire and were closed. So we went to mom’s favorite Indian restaurant which I have eaten at before. We were so early and I told her that it was when the peasants eat, and she replied indignantly “I am a peasant.” We had the whole place to ourselves and the server flirtatiously said “Would you like the ocean view or the mountain view?” We took the view of the Himalayas. The food was the best I have ever had there. The nan was flaky and to die for. We took home leftovers and had another dinners worth and a lunch for me. We watched Law & Order SVU that night.

Wednesday we went to the Planting Fields Arboretum State Park in Oyster Bay to see the camellia houses and the orchid houses. We went with a former Docent of the Arboretum and she was very informative. First we went to the Synoptic Garden where the species specimens are in alphabetic order. It is interesting to go to this garden in all of the seasons to see what each species looks like in each season. For example, in winter what does the bark of a Stewartia look like? We saw snow drops in the hundreds if not thousands dotting the landscape everywhere!

Plus we saw a Daphne literally covered in buds and ready to bloom.

Then we approached the mansion and I took a photograph. We were taking a shortcut across the main lawn from the Synoptic Garden to the mansion. The greenhouses are to the left and behind the house; the main entrance is on the left.

Here is the main entrance. Notice the sinking ship on the top of the doorway which signifies the family’s main income from maritime insurance.

Next, we entered the camellia houses. Here, grow camellias planted directly in the soil and also potted. The plants range in size from small, like you might buy in your local greenhouse, to huge, as in taller than a man. The flowers come in all colors, from white to red, varieties and sizes.

The houses are not heated, but airy and fragrant. It was like a breath of spring being in there. There were also water features and the camellias were augmented with hanging vines, like jasmine and roses.

Reluctantly we moved on. We visited the succulent houses, but I only took a photo of this jade vine, because it looks so extraterrestrial.

Then we went through a color room that had oranges, bananas, palm trees, bromeliads, orchids, crotons and all sorts of tropical plants. I had to wait until some photographers left to get this photo.

Then it was onto the orchid houses. Sigh. It was so beautiful there! I instantly began taking photos of the lady’s slipper orchids, because I have a Ralph Glory that is a lady’s slipper at home and I prefer them possibly because of that. I think they are damn sexy orchids (well, at least to the Hymenoptera that pollinate them)!

Above is a photo of a bee pollinating an orchid that I found on the web.

The Phalaenopsis orchids seem very ordinary to me. But this shot, that my mother took, finds one that has random spots. I love that!

Here is a look down the orchid house, just to give you a perspective on how it looks.

So refreshing to see an entire greenhouse filled with orchids in bloom! Of course on the other side were the lady’s slipper orchids. And finally, as a tribute to Cristiano, here is a photo of green orchids that we saw a large arrangement of at the Asian Art Festival that we attended together.

Then we went out again and saw a small fish pond with bright orange red comets in it. No koi, how disappointing!

Dinner Wednesday was with mom’s dinner group and we journeyed to Fisherman’s Catch on Lido Beach for fresh seafood. We had a view of the bay side and I wished I had my camera with me. We had fried calamari for an appetizer and it absolutely delicious! Most of us ordered the scallops, which are a house specialty, and that is what I had. They were lightly breaded and not oily at all. Tender inside and truly perfect, these sea scallops left nothing to be desired. That night we watched Law & Order.

Mom cooked dinner on Thursday. She made fettuccine with prosciutto, peas and Swiss chard in a roux. It was fabulous! Thursday night we watched Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy. Of course we watched Jon Stewart's Daily Show on our computers all week.

The last photo I took was from the Sea Jet as I was departing of the beach on Orient Point. Bye Mommy! Thanks for having me! I had a great time!