Saying goodbye to the St. Lawrence shore was difficult. Saying goodbye to our new favourite nurse, Isabelle in Fortierville, was a bit sad. But, it didn't seem quite as bleak as driving through the far side of the moon. Thetford Mines is a dismal place. The asbestos mines have been closed since 2012.
We are now set up at Camping de l'Île-Marie, on the south end of Sherbrooke. We've camped here many times in past years. It is slowly getting a little more bi-lingual. Their website is now in English as well as French.
The weather has changed for the cooler, Ted is feeling slightly better and now I have come down with his cold. Good day for some driving and walking. First stop: our second favourite farmer's market in North Hatley. These 20 or 25 vendors have managed to attract a large following for the two short hours they are open every Saturday in the summer.
Breakfast.
Your mouth is watering.
There are some skilled organic farmers in this part of the province. Sanders organic farm has been at this market as long as we've been coming. They have 60 acres! of vegetables and strawberries. It looks to us that they know what they are doing.
Note to self: remember to put some nasturtiums in our salad green bags next week. Nothing like blinging up a salad with some edible flowers.
I never have the guts to pull off a squash blossom and eat it.
Aren't these mushrooms works of art? Alert! There will be a bit of a mushroom theme to this post.
We saw one field of corn that looked like it had received a frost. But, nowhere in the market did we get that impression. Fall flowers were still vibrant.
There were three varieties of eggplants available today. I love eggplant season.
Many booths have lineups for the first hour or so. We wandered around the market grounds a few times, soaking in future good memories.
And, goodbye.
Northeast of North Hatley, it gets hillier quickly. Crops are starting to look like it's fall.....
... especially the soybean fields.
Because of Ted's health challenges last week, we didn't get to go to la Grande tourbière de Villeroy, my favourite bog. Second-favourite will have to do. Last year, when in this area, we happened upon the Johnville Bog. It's somewhat on the way home from the North Hatley market. Even if it wasn't, I would want to go there.
If you don't like looking at mushrooms, you may as well stop here.
A wonderful, meandering board walk makes its way through the bog.
I never think about yellowing ferns as being beautiful. I need to change my opinion about them.
Some mushrooms were little specks.
Some clung to rotting stumps.
Some had no caps on. And, some did.
The bog is surrounded by a very damp forest....
.... where there are more fungi.
I could have spent all day inching my way along the boardwalks and being astonished by what I saw.
But, lunch and a nap were calling to me.
Sometimes I think that the not-so-fun parts of this trip have been a gift. A good reminder that everything comes to an end. Nothing is perfect, but some days are close. Today was one of those days.
“I guess that's what saying good-bye is always like
like jumping off an edge.
The worst part is making the choice to do it.
Once you're in the air,
there's nothing you can do but let go.”
Lauren Oliver
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