I like this idea, which lets me catch up with some random observations and photos, while not spending too many words.
1. Our regular evening burglar, come to purloin some cat food . . .
2. One of several trays of pear slices I froze before
packing them into freezer bags to open later and throw into smoothies or bake into a gingerbread cake. . .
3. The marker buoy for a crab trap Paul hasn’t set out for far too long. I love its colour in the early morning grainy sombreness of the non-flash photo.
4. As for colour, it’s hard to beat these candy-coloured beautyberries of the Callicarpa shrub:
5. And last, a great little ritual I’ve started adding to my Friday afternoons — inviting whichever island girlfriends can make it over for a little bubbly and snacks. L’heure de l’apéro, I’m calling it. If you’re ever around on a Friday afternoon, just stop by . . . (Updated: I’m not the only one who likes this tradition — by coincidence, I discovered this Paris post just after I’d published mine)
Meanwhile, why not say hello in the comments below, and let me know what you’re up to this weekend. Then perhaps you can pour yourself a glass and we can tilt our glasses toward each other and call out Salut!
Your "apero" looks wonderful! I miss being able to get together regularly with friends or neighbors after a workweek, just to nibble, sip and unwind. We get possums, not quite so cute as your raccoons, though equally pesky I'm sure.
I've recently made a resolution to fit in a bit more social activities in the name of balancing . . .
I'd love to see a possum or two, just for the novelty, but we really don't need more pesky critters here . . . 😉
J'adore l'heure de l'apéro. I have maman's 82nd birthday tomorrow and on Sunday, I fly to Boston if I finish packing. It seems that Boston must be one of the cultural capitals of the United States but I'm not sure what to expect. Bonne week-end.
Bon voyage! My sister & her husband are in Boston right now, getting ready for an East Coast cruise.
Wondered about the Bonne weekend (having wished someone recently a Bon weekend — which is how I've always seen it) knowing you must be right — realized it lines up with the French La fin du semained, so agreement is with feminine. Hmmmm.
Love your photos and the observations. What time are we gathering? (With a three-hour difference i might just make it!) Here, it is the "cinq à sept" and an inviolable part of many Montréaler's Friday… or Thursday, this being the city it is.
Wouldn't that be great if we could clink our glasses together one of these Fridays? Although selfishly I rather wish that could happen in Montréal, since it's 3 years (or more?) since I've been there. . . . I was going to say "cinq à sept" but I have Parisian friends who always catch me out in amusing (to them, embarrassing to me) errors — and I know that the term can have, shall we say, naughtier overtones in France, at least. . .
I have been reading and enjoying your blog for a while….I hope you don't mind that I peek in on your life and slip away quietly without leaving a comment. Our would seem our lives are only alike in that we are women who work and have grown families and we enjoy a Friday ritual with friends. I live in the rural South…so our time together is more casual….much more casual…lol….It usually involves iced tea or soft drinks in 'to go' cups and a bag of chips and a jar of dip! Anyway…the connection made me smile and realize that we all have more in common than appears on the surface…..
Ann
I don't mind at all — in fact, so pleased that you find it worth stopping by. I'm smiling as well because I've somehow made my Friday afternoons look more glam than they really are. That was a simple tray of snacks born of desperation — having invited GFs over to share a bottle of bubbly I'd been saving, I looked around to see what I could serve with. The classic devilled eggs to the rescue (Oeufs Mayonnaise sounds so much more elegant!) and the olives we generally keep in the fridge, plus a bowl of fresh blueberries. However casual the food, you're right that it's the sitting down together, making the connection, that is important, so we do indeed have much more in common than might first appear. Thanks so much for the lovely comment!
What a lovely idea for a Friday afternoon. It's one I'd certainly like to try.
My weekend? I'm sitting in the Ottawa airport waiting for my flight home. I've had a long week of meetings for work and evenings with my parents. Lots to think about from both activities. I can't wait to be home and breathing island air.
May the island air bring you some peace, although you'll know by now that it's blowing and raining up a storm. . . all the best as you sort out care for your parents and juggle new work responsibilities. Busy times!
Hi Mater, I haven't commented much recently, sorry, not feeling very inspired lately. However, it's a lovely weekend and tomorrow we will do some garden clean-up and finish painting the deck. I love your idea of a Friday apero – I love grazing on nibbles!
You NEVER need to apologize for not commenting, Patricia. If it's a lovely weekend out your way, does that mean you're beginning to enjoy some fall colour, or is it still a week or two too early. . .
I love your Friday afternoon socials!
Come join us! 😉
I'll be dropping by next Friday … I wish!
Have been wanting to comment on your previous post but too stuck in the middle of one of those very issues at the moment – a sick parent in another country, but also pressing family and work/financial commitments at home. I will formulate my thoughts more clearly when I'm through the other side of this particular crisis, perhaps.
I'll look forward to eventually reading your thoughts — meanwhile, I'm wishing you strength and support. It's tough stuff.
Over here in England – national stereotype alert – it's a cup of tea on a Friday afternoon for us…
My good friend suggested getting together at a café late afternoon and yes, it is a wonderful way to round off the week and set our faces to the weekend. How lovely to think that around the world we're all doing the same.
Bottoms up…
It's a new pattern for me, as I've been more likely to come home and collapse quietly on Friday afternoon. I'd have the cup of tea always, yes, but on my own or with my husband. But I've been feeling the lack of social time, and I thought I might be a bit pro-active about it. Lovely to think it's even more social than I knew, with blog-reading girlfriends all 'round the world joining in. Bottoms up indeed! 😉
I came to read this post after reading your week in review post and realizing that I'd missed this one. Love the idea of sharing 5 things. Getting together with friends for a bit of socializing on a Friday afternoon is such a great idea. Don't we all need to process life with friends?
I noted the discussion regarding Bon weekend and it intrigued me so I did some research. The general consensus is Bon weekend when anglicizing the term, but Bonne fin de semaine in the pure French.
linguee.fr/francais-anglais/traduction/je+vous+souhaite+un+bon+week-end.html
One example there says, "Je vous souhaite une bonne fin de semaine, un bon weekend," – perhaps for emphasis.
It's been a wet and windy weekend here with more wind beginning now. We alternated between hunkering down by the fire and venturing out into the wilds.
Thanks for this, Lorrie — I've often seen "un bon weekend" particular in combination with "souhaiter" — so interesting that it would be assigned a different gender than its French counterpart. Mind you, that's probably not an Academie decision. . . .
I did the rainy venturing yesterday. Today, it's been hunkering all the way!
How much I would love to sit down with you, a glass of wine and an hour or two to get to know you. That is a timely reminder about the importance of friends. I am so caught up in the difficulties of family health right now friends have fallen off my radar. Must do something about that.
I'd love that to, Elizabeth, and let's hope that someday . . . I have really let my relationships with girlfriends take a back seat to the work-family balancing act, and I know how important they are to my happiness — I've been trying to find a few ways to pull that priority back into place and my Friday afternoons are a start. . .