We had a little weekend getaway in the Eastern Townships, and it was lovely.

First stop was the Alpaca Farm Norli in Bromont, where we met some alpacas, bought some of their yarn to make Julien a hat, and some of their meat. It wasn’t my favourite animal protein, but we had to try it!

Every time we go out to the Eastern Townships we think we should spend more time there. It’s a really nice area, with loads to do. When it warms up some, I’d like to spend some time in the wineries and at the lavender farm: see how it stacks up to the fields in Provence!

We went snowshoeing in the Parc de la Gorge de Coaticook. As usual, it seems, we chose a trail that looked manageable but about halfway I became convinced I was going to die: This is it – do they even know we’re up here? Often when we are hiking or snowshoeing I get overwhelmed at the midpoint. I suppose I have to become fitter so that I can make it to the 3/4 mark before I start panicking.

Julien, of course, has no such crises, spotted a fence and needed to know what was on the other side – so he sprinted up the rest of the mountain, be-snowshoed, and reported back.

Afterward, we treated ourselves to well-deserved ice cream at Laiterie de Coaticook. It was so good, Y’all, I can’t even tell you how good it was. Creamy and sweet and just wonderful. Does it feel a bit silly to scarf ice cream while wearing snow pants? Yes. Does it matter? Heck, no.

Did you know I used to take figure skating lessons? I did! For many years – I could do crossovers, and wee jumps, and skate backwards.

Now, I can fall spectacularly! It’s not like falling off a bike, at all, this is not a skill you retain. I did get the hang of it eventually, but wings out the whole time. People laughed at me (in a joyful way, no malice), but I had a good time! I really like skating, once I get going 🙂

We have no other trips lined up for the foreseeable future, but winter will be over soon, I can tell. Time to start planning the garden!