Category Archives: Canada

Road Trip

 Image via pinterest

 Many apologies for being so infrequently here, this last month has been hectic preparing for a loooooooong holiday!   Our vacation is going to look a lot like this; motorcycle, mountains, a couple of backpacks, and the wide open road leading to  . . . . . . 
 Image via pinterest.
Image via pinterest
Happy Canada Day to the Canadians and Happy 4th of July to the Americans!
Image via pinterest

Oh Canada!

 Image from craftgossip

 Happy Canada Day!  I have never been that fond of red, in design nor fashion (except for those few years in high school when Gwen Stefani and Marilyn Monroe somehow convinced me I should be blonde and where it on my lips).  It just so happens that I have a client who loves the hue and wants to replace several throw pillows which must incorporate the daring color.  I can easily let her live with any of these great fabrics:

Pillow case cover from etsy vendor

Red is a known stimulant color so small splashes will add quite the decorating punch to any room.  To read more on the color red, interesting facts and associations, please see sensational color.

Old Home Days

All images by PepperKey Stacie

On a road trip through New Brunswick, not long after traveling east across the province to the coast passing fewer than a half dozen cars in three hours, we suddenly hit traffic.  Bumber to bumper cars, some of them decorated in parade style, all of them full of cheerful people who were in celebration mode.  Rows and rows of colorful flags draped across the small town two lane highway, repeated every few hundred yards.   As our road trip came to a slow crawl we had ample opportunity to look around; most of the houses lining the road were adorned with the same strands of colorful flags, the kind that you often hang to draw attention to an open house.  As we inched closer to what I later discovered was the town of Tabusintac, many of the houses boasted family reunion signs and crowds of people picnicing on the front lawns.  Several people were perched on their front porches, or reclining in their lawn chairs, waving at all the traffic go by.  Were we somehow mixed into the parade?  What exactly was going on?  The entire town was having a family reunion?  We passed what looked to be a fairgound with tents set up, old cars parked in the front, and a big sign reading “Old Home Days.”  I so wanted to be part of the fun; maybe we should stop and pretend we are long lost cousins? 
  After googling the phrase I desperately regret not stopping.  Check out the schedule!  Country market, salmon supper, quilt show, Durty Nelly Dance, antique car show, Thirsty Rangers Welcome Home, corn boil, pancake breakfast, Wheel of Farmer, Mackerel Fishing Derby, Old Fashioned Kitchen Party, Genealogy Fair, and a raft race.  I could have stayed the whole week!  On Family Day alone I could have had a delightful day of pony rides, pie eating, tug of war, visiting the petting zoo, shopping at the craft sale, then taking a spin on a wagon.  Every little town needs an “Old Home Days.”

Images of New Brunswick

Holiday in Quebec

  Pepper & Pikey has been M.I.A. due to a holiday in Quebec.  We spent time with our families, took a few road trips, ate fresh produce and home cooked meals daily, and enjoyed refreshingly cool Canadian nights.  A few highlights of our trip included Quebec City, the capital of Quebec, one of the oldest cities in North America.  Quebec comes from the Algonquin word Kebec for “where the river narrows.”  It’s first fort was erected in 1535 and the cities fortified walls, built some time after, were declared a World Heritage Sight in 1985.  We happened to make it to the lively old city twice, the second visit during the New France Festival

All images by PepperKey Stacie
Another highlight was discovering the Circuit du Paysan.  This is a road tripper’s dream route; every stop there’s something delightful to eat, drink, see, or experience.  The gourmet stops include bakeries, cheese makers, fruit and vegetable farms, breweries, delicatessens, cideries, wine vineyards, and apple orchards.  For the culture cravers there are craftsmen and artisan workshops, galleries, and boutiques, antique stores, and marked historical buildings and churches dotted on nearly every road.  For the active road tripper there are national parks and hiking trails as well.  One could spend a week discovering all the many attractions, unfortunately we only had a day so we chose wisely and look forward to revisiting again. 
Charcuterie Frick Inc.
Les Tresors de L’ile

Canada Day

Image above from Design Sponge
I’m a couple days tardy but I am somewhat new to being somewhat Canadian.  A belated happy national day to many of my favorite people on the planet!  For my fellow Americans or otherwise international readers who may not know, July 1st is the anniversary celebration stemming from the year 1867 when the enactment of the British North America Act took place.  It united the colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada into a federation of four provinces (the Province of Canada being divided into Ontario and Quebec).  Canade became a single country, though the British Parliament had limited political control over until 1982 when the Constitution Act patriated the Canadian constitution.
 
Though the above interiors are most not likely not in Canada, they feel very Canadian to me;  red and white patriotic color palette, humble, cozy, and country.   To see hundreds of amazing Canadian interiors, gardens, design, and one of my favorite resources,  stop by Style At Home.  The magazine is just as delicious as the site.