Fa la la la la, la la la la!

Hello! Sorry for the lapse - this has been a roller coaster month. In a nutshell, Gilles' kidney disease caught up with us in a sense. Since starting his new job in October, he was extremely fatigued, and for the first time ever, physically unable to do that kind of work. He ran tests and found that the illness (Berger's disease - diagnosed in 2002) had evolved, leaving him with a low blood cell count... So he quit his job and is looking into other possibilities, while also getting new treatments to regain his energy. We see the specialist next Tuesday. He is thinking about turning to smaller-scale woodworking, wood-turning, etc. and selling directly at festivals, markets. I think the creative side of that kind of work, and the people side with the markets, really suits Gilles. He already has lined up a week of learning with a friend's woodworking company. His large-scale carpentry skills will serve him, but there are new techniques and tools to get to know for finer woodworking.

Aside from all of that, here are a few pics. Up top, Camille with the neighbors Lila and Plume who spent the night recently. The middle shot is a view of the trench for the pipes from the house to the basins - that's hooked up and working! Gilles is busy gathering reeds, papyrus, and other aquatic plants from various plant gurus in the community. A neighbor dug the trench for us with his digger tractor in about a half an hour! It took us three days to fill it back up.

Last but not least, our Christmas tree during the decorating. Gilles cut it in the woods with the girls and they said a little prayer of thanks. We are lucky to live in a place where the pine trees need thinning! Camille picked a little baby one which is decorated in her room. In the car on the way home, Camille swore she heard the big tree talk, and it said "I'm scared of that monster next to me." The monster, Camille later explained, was the saw.