One final day at my little pop-up home… 💚

Tomorrow (Sunday) is my last day at my wee waterfront cabin at Quinte West Pop-ups.

I’m stuffed full. And not just with the momos and brisket and bulgogi and spring rolls and ice cream and wood-fired pizza and butter chicken I have made it my personal mission to sample from all my wonderful culinary neighbours 🍨 And not just full of admiration for my crochet neighbour, whose hands can create things mine have barely dreamt of. 🧶

I’m also stuffed full of wonderful conversations with incredible people. All day every day I have met people with dazzling stories. I met the niece of Anahareo, who wrote a children’s book about her incredible aunt’s work on behalf of beavers. I met the super cool woman who changes the lights on the Hercules aircraft. I met a hospital worker and muralist who painted rolling farm fields in the hospital hallways to comfort patients living with dementia. I met a valiant crossing guard, with a deep and abiding love of moths. I met skilled woodworkers, mushroom foragers, and doting dog dads. Kayaking instructors, expert printmakers, and amateur musicians. Lovers of wildflowers and defenders of pollinators. Storytellers and landscapers. A septigenarian cyclist who shared with me the book he made for friends and family back in South Korea, all about his many years of life here – lusciously laid out with photos he takes of the wildlife and water, woven through with his poetry.

I need soon to sit quietly under a tree and unpack all the beautiful gems people have shared with me so generously. So many little lights. So many stories of kindness and hope. So much enthusiasm and empathy, passion and compassion.

But it’s not time to sit in the quiet of trees just yet… One more sleep and one more day of Jamaican patties and listening to the little magics of whoever next walks through the door.

Hope you’re having a lovely weekend folks. I sure am. 💚