Monday, October 08, 2012

Thanksgiving outing at Upper Canada Village

Yesterday we met up with our friends Patrick and Marie-Emmanuelle and our godson Benjamin for an outing at beautiful Upper Canada Village. It was the last day of the regular season, but their Pumpkinferno event runs until the end of October. 

The temperatures dropped yesterday (high of 8C) but it was a gorgeous fall day...



The sawmill is one of our favourite buildings...


Ben loved it too! Such a little boy.


Gordon hangs out with the cute couple and our adorable godson.


These pumpkins are made out of some kind of styrofoam, but they were all hand-carved by young artists from the eastern Ontario region. At night, everything lights up! I'd like to go back and see it all in the dark. That's a pumpkin moose on the right.



Pumpkin totem poles, too!



The fall foliage is gorgeous right now.


And here's the Union Cheese Factory...



...where my friend Eugene the cheesemaker works:


He looks angelic here. He's not. HAHAHAHA!


We are both beekeepers and first met through our local beekeeping association. He likes to give me a hard time, but he has a soft spot for kids...


He was happy finally to meet little Ben yesterday.
  

Ben wasn't so sure at first.


But then he took to Eugene like a duck to water!


And a good time was had by all!




Including the little piglets running around the village.


They'd belly up to the milk bar from time to time...



...then go back out on their adventures. They got along famously with this little dog! (You can bring leashed dogs to the Village.)



Here are the boys enjoying some man-time together.


But what is little Benjamin so fascinated by?



 The Village Blacksmith! Ben looooves blacksmiths. He first saw one at the Glengarry Pioneer Museum Harvest Festival last month. I think I might have to buy Ben an anvil for his first birthday!



Here's the blacksmith talking to his "boy!"




Nice upper body strength!



And he does beautiful work.

The blacksmith shop was fun, but the bakery smelled better..


They make 200 whole wheat loaves a day, which are all sold in the gift shop. There's usually a line-up for the bread and it sells out fast.


This was the last baking session of the season. About 120 loaves fit in the wood-burning oven at once.

And here are a couple of handsome looking oxen...




Idyllic, really.



Such a beautiful time of year.




The village has a tinsmith too! This is in the tenant farmer's house.



I thought this scene would make a nice painting.



And there's a little lighthouse between the canal and the St. Lawrence River. It's funny to see the odd ocean-going freighter drift by. Doesn't exactly fit with the era of the village!



Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends! Hallowe'en is coming. 



34 comments:

  1. I'm just getting ready for our gang to arrive for dinner but took a minute to look at your post. Gorgeous photos. Love the ones with Eugene. The piglets at the window is adorable. Maybe I should be looking for pigs in windows for a change. :) Happy Thanksgiving, Natalie to you and yours. Deb

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving too!

      Delete
  2. Wow!What an incredible place, what colors!! I'm speechless in front of these beautiful photos. Thanks to share!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love it there, Marilla. Shows what life was like here around 1850 or so!

      Delete
  3. Your grandson is so adorable! I love the photos of the beautiful day you spent with family and friends--memories for a lifetime! XOXO

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. GODSON! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! But tragically, at 48 I am plenty old enough to be his grandma! ;) But he's so fun to be with. Thanks Susan. :)

      Delete
  4. Mostly I frequent blogs where the main topic is food and cooking. But, you know what? You reward your readers with such lovely photography and such a variety of animals and people and fall flora that I make an exception.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am honoured!! And occasionally I do snake in some food, so you're not entirely off the mark. :))

      Delete
  5. It does look a wonderful place. Love those piglets!!!
    Happy Thanksgiving Natalie & Gordon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! :) Are piglets the cutest?

      Delete
  6. I a with rusty... love the piglets.... and I adore that farm house

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Isn't the house gorgeous? We really tried to find a stone farmhouse when we were buying, but we never managed to find quite the right one in quite the right setting. We have a couple on our road. I just adore that limestone.

      Delete
  7. These working histories are so important. Glad there are funds to keep some going. We have two near us. One is notable for the artisans and their work and the other for food, especially the maple syrup festival after the sugaring. Thanks for the pictues--and especially that cute little godson.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He's a real little sweetie. Always smiling!

      I love places like this. It gives you a real glimpse back in time. I'm grateful for plumbing, electricity and central heat!

      Delete
  8. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
    I loved the little piglets at the window! That looks like an interesting place and the fall colors are just beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Pasha! Those piglets were adorable.

      Delete
  9. Lovely pictures and thank you for sharing.

    Hugs

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My pleasure! It was a perfect fall day.

      Delete
  10. A delightful set of photos Knat

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a wonderful bunch of photos! I especially loved the ones with your godson and the cheesemaker--utterly charming. You are such a talented photographer!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why thank you! Eugene loves kids and kids seem to love him too. :)

      Delete
  12. You really threw everything at us! Wow! What a fabulous place and day you must have had.
    It's amazing what they do with pumpkin art these days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can't see everything there in just one visit. I love all the demos!

      Delete
  13. I presume you returned home with bread and cheese for supper!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ALas, I did not! The bread was sold out before we made it back to the gift shop!

      Delete
  14. Anonymous9:33 am


    What a terriffic photographic summary of our Upper Canada Village! I am extremely pleased to see families having such enjoyment here. Thank you for sharing your experience!

    Darren Dalgleish
    CEO, St Lawrence Parks Commission.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so pleased you found this post and enjoyed it! The Village is one of my favourite places to visit. :)

      Delete
  15. Beautiful fall photos. Happy Thanksgiving!
    My grandfather was a blacksmith and so was Bob's. I guess we were meant for each other! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love that you and Bob both had blacksmith grandfathers!!!

      Delete
  16. What a beautiful place and beautiful photos. I especially love the shots of Ben (well, how can you go wrong there?) and his concentration on Eugene!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He's a cute little guy! We had such a fun day.

      Delete
  17. Look at those little piglet bums, how cute!
    I also love the photos of Benjamin and Eugene.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!