Irish Famine Walk. It's funny how things come full circle. My Great Great Grandfather John (on my father's side) came over here from Ireland in 1848. He lived in Griffentown at one point and Point St. Charles (both situated southwest of Old Montreal, around the Lachine Canal). Griffintown was where the fever sheds were built to house the thousands of Irish immigrants coming from the famine in Ireland. In the census of 1852 he was classified as a labourer. I don't know at this time where he worked or exactly what he did. This photo is not my own, but it is a picture of the Darling Brothers Foundry that was built in the mid 1800's in Griffintown and employed 800 workers. Today it's an art gallery and production studios for up and coming artists. The full circle part is........ wouldn't it be ironic if John worked there years ago, because I now live in Edward Darling's summer residence in Pointe Claire on the golf course (Beaconsfield) that he helped founded in 1904.  

 The Lachine Canal. The canal runs 14.5 kms long, running from the old port of Montreal to Lac St. Louis on the western end of the island of Montreal. The canal was needed for ships to by pass the dangerous Lachine rapids. Irish Montrealers were the single biggest group of workers involved in the construction of the Lachine Canal, which opened in 1825, and later in its expansion, between 1843 and 1848, and then again in 1875. Wages were low, work was never steady and the work was extremely dangerous. There are bodies that have been buried along the bank as the canal was being dug. The canal brought industry along it's banks, as you can see in the background, the numerous old grain elevators.

Just south of Place d'Youville stands the Grey Nuns' Hospital (also known as Hôpital général des frères Charron). The hospital was built outside the Fortifications of Montreal in 1695. Management and hospital administration were entrusted to the Grey Nuns in 1747.

Photo #2. Place d'Youville. This small square in Old Montreal was named for Marie-Marguerite d'Youville. Known as Marguerite, she married François d'Youville, a bootlegger who sold liquor illegally. By the young age of 30 she became a widow, while also losing 4 of her 6 children who died in infancy. In 1737 along with a few women, they formed a religious order which treated the poor. Mocked by people, they referred to them as 'les grises' a slang term for drunken women which was given because of her late husband's reputation and thereafter became known as the 'Grey Nuns.' They were given a charter to run the Montreal General Hospital, which was in ruins.

"You can't have your cake and eat it too."  How many times have you said this expression or heard it said?  I never really understood the actual wording, but I have always known the meaning behind this old English proverb.  It means you can't have one thing two ways if those things conflict.  According to the Urban dictionary, the proper use of the proverb is easier to understand: "You can't eat your cake and have it too."   Once your cake is eaten, you no longer have it.  The saying is about making compromises, understanding that you can't have one thing while having something else.  The choice is yours to make.  

"Let them eat cake."  This phrase was supposedly spoken by the French Queen, Marie Anoinette in the 1700s.  It was a phrase that was coined to her because of her lavish lifestyle while her subjects were starving and her lack of interest in helping them.  

"That takes the cake."  You are a winner,  you are extraordinary or you are exceptionally good at something.  I have no idea where this saying came from.

"Cakewalk."  To me this meant something that was easy to do.  I did a little research and found that it  actually was a ragtime dance performed in the Southern United States in the 1800s.  Who knew?  

When I think of cake, I think of birthdays, celebrations, family and friends, and calories!  Today cake making is an art form.  From wedding cakes to extraordinary cupcakes, pastry artists are whipping up amazing cakes.  There are tv shows dedicated just to cake decorating (not even baking). 

For this little girl, she got to taste cake for the very first time on her first birthday.  She loved it.  

Taking photos of this celebration..........a piece of cake when she's this cute! 

Happy 1st Birthday.

After a very long and cold winter this year, here in Montreal the month of February broke a 119 year old record for being the coldest month.  The average temperature was -15 C (5 F) and we had 12 days of -20 C (-4 F), and that doesn't include the wind chill!

In the last month people have been wandering outdoors, trying to soak up some sun, get some gardening done and finally slip into some sandals, t-shirts and shorts.  We all promised not to complain about the hot summer days and the humid sticky nights.  Now, as good as the rain is for my vegetables, grass and trees....enough is enough.  It's June!  The April showers brought the May flowers, so please Mother Nature, just a few days of sun?  We all feel a need to recharge our batteries at this time.  I feel like I am a solar powered human and I need some of that brilliant sunshine to get me going again!

The saying is in Canada is, "If you don't like the weather out your front door, open the back door."  

At this point, all my door are open!