Profiterole Vision

Results..

2012-02-08T06:28:00.001-08:00

Winter is on its way....slowly, a set on Flickr.

The series of photos of the Rideau River, I've taken one most mornings since last November, watching the ice creep in...

I've been taking the same shot most mornings, tracking the progress of winter. You can view them in order as a slideshow on my flickr page (follow the link above). And if you want to turn it into a 'Where's wally' type game, try spotting:
A traffic cone
Ski tracks
Political protest
An abandoned Christmas Tree
and a Sun Dog.

Oh and while I'm here (drum roll please) P got his language test results yesterday, and you will be shocked to hear that he is indeed proficient in English.

Bizarrely he scored highest in the Speaking test. This would be strange on any day (he prefers stoic silence), but on this particular day he'd been to the pub for lunch and had three pints prior to engaging in small talk with a stranger.....

It is safe to say that if I had behaved in the same way my results would not have been so rosy. In fact it is debateable whether I would have made it to the test centre standing up!

Ho hum...

x

New sports for the olympics

2012-01-30T11:44:00.000-08:00

We headed out cross-country skiing again on Saturday. Except this time we went with a much more advanced skier, who was ambitious on our behalves.

Which means today I have bruises and aches in places I'm choosing not to share with the world. Suffice to say that I actually managed to get some housework done today, it was preferable to sitting down!

I managed to attempt two new winter sports whilst out though. The first is tandem skiing - this arises when one skier is too scared to attempt slopes on his/her own, so allows a second skier to steady the way. As you can see from this video, Rune was a little nervous, so I bravely guided him down the hill.(Excuse the shaky camera work, Paul fell in a snow bank just before we set off, and did remarkably well to keep filming!).

Why am I screaming? Oh, I just wanted to ensure the path was clear of bears. Safety first and all that!

The second sport? Woodland walking, whilst carrying ski equipment. This sport is designed for those who have decided that if they fall consistently when travelling uphill, and fall consistently when travelling downhill, it might just be better if they bloody walk.

One more photo to share from our day out. A beautiful example of the differences between the sexes. On the right we have Mr. Hairy Woodpecker, sitting in the sunshine watching the world go by.
On the left we have Mrs. Hairy Woodpecker, working so damn hard she is just a blur of feathers.

Hmmmmm.......

11 in 2011 done!

2012-01-27T19:44:00.000-08:00

Hoorah and huzzah, last years challenge is done......so a little photo gallery of 10 out of the 11 (I've just realised I don't have piccies of the summery cardigan, and frankly its far too chilly to model it today!).

Number one: The plain and simple pullover. Love this pattern, and loved this top. Sadly it came to a sticky end when accidentally put in the wash.....fits me like a cropped top now which does not go well with my physique. Haven't decided whether to recycle it into a cushion or pass it on yet!

(Out of order now, getting blogger to upload these in the right order is far too much for my whisky addled brain to handle!).
The bramblewood vest, coincidentally I am wearing it as I write - I love this top and am very tempted to make another one soon. Never thought I'd be a lime green kind of girl, but this yarn can make anyone fall in love with bright colours, its Punta Merisoft, my favourite!

Next up we have an Owls sweater, you can't quite see it in the photo but there are cabled owls all around the top. Designed by the fabulous and inspirational Kate Davies, this is another one that will almost definitely get made again.

Yummy yummy. This ones from a design called Irish Coffee, and has become another of my wardrobe staples. The colour is scrummy and it fits great too. I am very fond of several other of Thea Colman's designs - who'd have thought I'd have a soft sport for snuggly sweaters?!

(You may have noticed that all of my efforts have had short sleeves thus far - this is NOT cheating! Why? Because I said so!).

The first of the baby sweaters now - and look long sleeved!
This one hasn't been gifted yet, it was made with a little boy in mind, but sadly he was inconsiderate enough to keep growing while I was knitting - how rude! If anyone has a littl'un in need of a cotton baseball style stripey tee - let me know!

Dodgy quality photo, but this one was late getting to the post office so this had to do. It was my birthday present for my Mum last year, the pattern is the Sage Remedy Top, and (yet again) I quite want one for myself too!

Three more baby sized offerings: Dance of Robots for my nephew; a Sunnyside cardigan for my cousin's newborn and a Little sister dress for my niece. All great free patterns, well-written and with lots of scope for playing with colours.

And last, but definitely not least - number 11. This was a beast of a knit, cast on last May and finished on Tuesday this week. The pattern is Shalor by Penny Straker. And the finished sweater (if I do say so myself) is fabulous. I wore it to work on Tuesday just to pretend that it was mine, before handing it on to the lucky recipient. Obviously it can't possibly look as good on him, cos all sweaters look better on women (its a boob thing
!), but I think he'll love it nonetheless. He'd better!

And yes, those of you paying attention will have noticed that I none of my 11 were for Paul. No, he hasn't fallen out of favour......his new cardigan is number 12, and hopefully will be done before winter passes so he can get some use out of it.....

Right, back to the needles. Night all. x

PS. If someone can let blogger know that 'snuggly' and 'scrummy' are definitely valid words that don't require spell-checking that would be lovely.

Canal time.....

2012-01-22T18:51:00.000-08:00

The lessons were worth it....

I have a long way to go, but there were no falls, no swearing and no tears. And lots and lots of giggling, so vast vast improvements on my previous two attempts at skating on the canal. I managed about 1.3km (from the start to the beaver tail cabin!), which is at least 10 times further than my last effort.
It is a grand thing indeed to be this proud of yourself at 31!

Oh, and for those of you interested, the language test apparently went well, despite the three pints devoured with lunch prior to the speaking test. When asked to talk about a historic building, he chose The Trip to Jerusalem, a pub in Nottingham. Can't think what brought that to mind!

Challenges....

2012-01-21T06:08:00.000-08:00

I've just waved Paul off. He's sitting exams today. No, not laser exams - Language exams. As part of our Permanent Residency application we have to prove that we can speak, write, listen and read ENGLISH!

Yes, he is English. Yes, he did attend schools in England for his entire academic career and yes, he does have a PHD from an English University. (OK, to be fair, I can not vouch for how much of his thesis is written in English, it all seems like a foreign language to me. The pictures are pretty though!).

Anyway, in the interests of fairness everyone has to sit the same exam. So I waved him off this morning, having sharpened his pencils for him (with his lucky Niagara Falls pencil sharpener), and provided him with a list of words and phrases he should attempt to shoehorn into the written and spoken parts of the test. I wonder how many of these he'll manage:

A parliament of owls. (Bonus marks for any collective nouns he can invent and drop in).
Knitting.
Jasper. (Preferably as an invented best friend, who is to talk of in human form, not as our dog).
Inauspicious.
Boardwalk.
Jessica Fletcher.
As is tradition.
The correct use of the words 'pants' and 'trousers'.

I'm hoping he gets assigned a writing task where he has to write a letter of complaint. This should open the field for an elaborate and hilarious story about a mix-up with a trouser-press in a hotel in Cabot Cove, where an inauspicious character named Jasper, seen knitting on the boardwalk kidnaps a Parliament of Owls and is hunted down my Jessica Fletcher. As is tradition.

Yes, it would be easier (and more fun) if I took the test! But, sadly as a 'dependent' it matters not whether I can speak, listen, read or write, as I have my big strong man to do it for me. In my case, when faced with a fifteen minute speaking test where he has to make small talk with a strange woman, my big strong man would probably rather rewrite his thesis. In French.

While I'm here, for those of you interested in the knitting/crafting side of my personality (and if you aren't, I'd be interested to know what other facets you do find interesting!) there is a new blogging adventure happening here: knitters rumble.
with my friends Julianna and Emily. I wasn't going to share until I'd taken the lead in our little competition, but that's taking longer than expected, so I'd best garner support now!

Have a great weekend everyone. x

Ski-ing....

2012-01-18T13:54:00.000-08:00

When the temperature drops to -23 or below, it may be tempting to hunker under a duvet and watch the frozen world from the safety and snuggery of the sofa.

Don't do it!!!! Follow the snowy trails on your skis, bask in the blue.....

Then go and find a restaurant where the only other vehicles in the car park are skiddoos. It is sure to be a sign of a fine meal ahead!

Britishness....

2012-01-09T15:59:00.001-08:00

I stumbled upon the 'British' section in the supermarket the other day, in the 'ethnic' aisle. Now much of what you would expect to find has been integrated in with the 'Canadian' items. Marmite is in the baking section, 'English Salad cream' mingles with the mayonnaise. Chocolate bars are in the 'candy' aisle, although the chocolate isn't right obviously.

So whats left in the 'so British we can't possibly confuse people by putting it elsewhere' section?

Ribena, Horlicks and Ovaltine. We are a rock and roll nation of warm drinks before bedtime.

That makes me very happy. x

A sweater review....

2012-01-02T07:37:00.000-08:00

Some of you will remember that I set myself the ridiculous goal of knitting 11 sweaters in 2011.

Unsurprisingly I didn't manage it. I was close, in fact if I sewed together the pieces from the two I have on the needles into some Frankenstein inspired monstrosity then I'd be there......

When I finally get number 11 done, I'll share some piccies, but for now I'll share some of the knitting/crocheting I did when I should have been working on sweaters:

Ugly bunny

Star Trek potholder

Query Shawl

Paul's mittens

Cornet the House Hippo

Angry birds

A clanger

An epic Mario blanket

Divine hat for me

Neon the duck billed plaidypus

Fish hat for Sarah Sarah

A scarf for N

A whale for Jochen

Kevin Keegan the Lion

Socks for Stuart

Socks for Steve

And finally a skirt for me:

A productive year all in all!
Lets see what 2012 holds.....

Brrrrr.....

2011-12-29T06:26:00.000-08:00

We've dropped down to -20 this morning. Thankfully I finished my new mittens last night, and apart from a little chill on the left thumb, they stood up to the chill very very well. Like having a duvet on your hands.

(This shot taken before mittens became tainted with frozen droplets of tea. And snot).

Snuggly hands much in demand, because the light this morning was beautiful, so I needed somewhere to warm my fingers after snapping with the camera.

Adult content warning

2011-12-17T06:46:00.000-08:00

For those of you with delicate hearts, or who are easily offended by mature content, I'd suggest moving on and not watching the video below. I am giving you fair warning that I am wearing my sexiest sleepwear in this video, and you may not be able to concentrate on your usual day to day activities if you watch it, I am that hot.
I fully expect this film to go viral as it gets reposted around the internet, as who wouldn't want to witness the beauty that is me ice-skating in my pyjamas:

Hows that heart holding up? Palpitations?

In defence of my skating skills - remember that I could not skate 7 weeks ago. I could stand up on skates. I could shout and yell at people whilst wearing skates. I could stamp off the ice in frustration in skates and go shopping (after taking skates off). I could not however move in any way that involved gliding, because it scared the bejeebus out of me and I ended up shaking and moody and mean. Progress is massive!

In defence of my outfit - let it be known that despite the ever so saggy crotch and the way that the onesie seems to enlarge my hips by a factor of ten, it is still my favourite item of clothing and I am staying true to it. Oh and just to be clear, I am wearing day-clothes underneath it. I am not denying that I am a lumpy bumpy woman, but not quite this lumpy and bumpy!

Happy Christmas everyone.....oh and a little bonus for those of you making it to the end of this post. This week i learnt to stop - and now that I have seen how much stopping increases my similarity to a constipated chicken I think it'll be best if I just keep going in future.

Trucking...

2011-12-12T08:05:00.000-08:00

We were upgraded to a truck this weekend (after having to return the Suzuki Swift that sounded like a Wildebeest).
When you have a truck you should:
Drive out into the country, fill it with Christmas Trees and fill yourself with perogies and cabbage rolls.

Drive your friends around town so they can fully experience truck joy too.
Head to the beer store at fill it up with beer......it is the festive season after all.
Get up earlier than you have in weeks and head to the diner for breakfast, eggs benedict and crispy home fries - deelicious!

Pose for far too many shots with the truck - I think Paul has fallen hard for this beauty.

And ensure you've cleared your credit card so you can afford to fill it up again!

What's in the bag?

2011-12-08T13:43:00.001-08:00

Hello there....remember me? I have been a busy busy girl, with lots of blog-able activities, but just not had the chance to catch up. So here is a completely random post, unrelated to everything. Maybe it'll give me the kick I need to get back into this again.

Right, introducing my bag. This is my fabulous bag, made for me by my middlest sister earlier this year:

Fab isn't it?!

I use it most days, in fact every day that doesn't involve carrying my skates.....and it has excellent Mary Poppins meets Tardis qualities - much bigger on the inside. Here are the treasures I bought home today:

From top down:

Upper Canada Village Cranberries and oranges for making delicious sponge pudding to take to a Christmas Tree party on Saturday. (Looking forward to perogies).
Red peppers to make sweet potato and red pepper chowder over the weekend.
Quebec carrots - going in the vegetarian Shepherd's pie this evening.
A bag of figs - late night snack this evening, grilled with goats cheese and honey - yummy!
Art-is-in rosemary and garlic rolls
Two bags of pasta, stocking up again.
CHEESE!!!! I'm not sure whether I spend more on cheese or yarn on average.
A poppy I found on the way home today. I'm collecting them for an art project at some point in the future.
My funky red felted slippers for changing into at work.
A copy of this weeks Metro - it has a story about yarn-bombing on the front.
Miscellaneous packaging from this weeks lunches. Leftover fake-chicken and fennel pie today, scrumptious.
Chewing gum and a harvest bar - staples.
A pencil I found in the street.
A recipe for Tofu stew, from a fellow crafter at the bookbinding course I did last weekend.
The pattern for the socks I've been knitting for the last fortnight.
My knitting bag, this weeks project is thrummed mittens. Oh so snuggly.
Mini-skeins of Art-by-Ana sock yarn - check out her etsy shop in the new year (she's closed for the holidays). Scrummy!!!

So there you go! Oh so much stuff.....most of it edible, what does that tell you?!

Creative inspiration.....

2011-11-21T13:30:00.001-08:00

Last weekend was the gingerbread house competition, with the amazing creations on display at the Rideau Centre.

Well, I'm guessing they were amazing. I stumbled on this by happenstance two years ago and found beauties like this smartie-extravaganza:

Since then, I have missed the show, finding details of it two days after the masterpieces have been packed up - AGH!
So last night I decided to pay tribute to the event, using the 'build your own gingerbread house kit' B bought us a year or so ago, that had languished in the cupboard.

Step one - improve the structure of the walls by soaking in tea:

Step two - lighten the walls by removing large bite size chunks.

Step three - erm.....erm......enjoy?!

Ho hum.....turns out a gingerbread house won't stand up with only three walls......or only two.....lesson learned. x

Busy busy.

2011-11-20T18:43:00.001-08:00

No time for naps this week - a sorry state of affairs.
Monday - birthday celebrations for a friend - pizza, hoorah!
Tuesday - babysitting.More delightful Mary Poppins melodies.
Wednesday - coffee and putting the world to rights with a new friend.
Thursday - Bruce Peninsula at raw Sugar - fabtastic.
Friday - bed by 9:30pm - shattered!

Thought we'd lined up a quiet week to follow but something seems to have gone awry with that plan. It is all fun though (with luck) so no complaints......but if you see me snoring leant against a lamppost somewhere - leave me be!

Learning curves.

2011-11-18T15:48:00.001-08:00

I've been making progress in my classes in the last couple of weeks. For those of you who don't know, I am currently one week into a four Sunday weaving course, and 3ish weeks into my learn to ice-skate course.

Lets tackle the weaving first.

I've had a loom for 18 months or so now. I bought it on impulse at an estate sale, $40 for the loom, various homemade wooden contraptions and far too much scratchy acrylic yarn that the agent insisted I take too. The whole lot has been resident in the craft room since then, looking intriguing and taking up far too much room.
Whilst at the weaving and spinning sale a fortnight ago, I signed up for a course at last. And here is my progress after the first lesson:

Pretty impressive isn't it? Well I'm very fond of it anyway. Turns out I got one hell of a bargain, even if I did then let it gather dust for far too long. This Sunday we're sampling some more patterns and talking about colour combinations. If you've seen my wardrobe you'd realise how useful this may be!

Now the skating is more of an ongoing project. To fully understand and appreciate my breakthrough today, you really have to have been on the ice with me before. I am a wreck. A squealing, girly, shaky wreck. Who doesn't move anywhere.
As I have explained to my well meaning friends, it isn't the falling over that scares me - I stumble and trip so regularly without the aid of blades that I'm pretty used to this. It is the gliding I have an issue with - yes, actually skating. As soon as my feet make any kind of slidy motion, the screams start and I quit. Pathetic.

This week our teacher didn't turn up (maybe I should have tried this approach more when I taught!). I forced myself onto the ice anyway and decided that this week I was going to move on the ice - without holding on to the side barriers. And somehow that decision was all it took. By the end of the lesson I was gliding (albeit in short stuttery bursts) across the ice - out into no mans land, all the way to the other side. My knees were wobbly, my breathing ridiculously erratic. Bizarrely I was humming hits of Madonna to distract myself - but I made it! There were squeals again - of joy! So so proud of myself, I gave myself a moment to relish my victory, breathing deeply and relaxing again.

And that's when I fell over. Flat on my back, giggling my head off.

The man in charge of ice-care kindly took this piccie for me, just to record the day for posterity. Check out that sexy helmet!

Lets hope I make as much progress next week, I'll be spinning and jumping before we know it!

Walking....and walking some more

2011-11-13T17:10:00.001-08:00

Since my return from England I've been challenging myself to walk more, partly in an effort to get a little fitter before skating and skiing season is upon us once again, and partly to ensure I get into good habits before the weather turns. Originally I planned to walk 500 miles in 100 days......."I will walk 500 miles and i will walk 500 more" as the song goes. Now even the less mathematically gifted among you will realise that this is an average of 5 miles a day.

Two weeks in and I'm averaging 7 a day - yes, finally a personal challenge where I am ahead of the game! And on Monday this week I really pushed the boat out, clocking up 14 miles throughout the day.

First 2.5 miles with Paul and the dog, enjoying a beautiful sunrise:

Then a fair whack of it was up and down by the river enjoying the sunshine. Now, my internal jukebox seemed to be set again to random, and also seemed to be less 'internal' more 'sing along out loud and hope no-one jogs too close by'. Two year old N provided judgement over the 'tunes' as follows:

Hits of Take That - big no no. There were whines and general sounds of discomfort. As I could only remember one verse of Never Forget this was probably for the best.

Songs from the musicals, in particular Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins - more popular. Not sure whether this is because I knew more of the words or because I'd bribed him with a bottle and he was a bit distracted. I don't think many people can resist my medley of 'Truly Scrumptious' and 'Fly a Kite' though......not that many have witnessed it!

The Stone Roses - I wanna be adored. By far the most popular, maybe I sing it like a lullaby (?). Maybe he was eating biscuits. Who knows?!

That took care of another 5 miles, and the others? The walk too and fro from work and another dog walk in the evening. That is over a half marathon, all be it in bitesize chunks. Lets hope I can keep this up when the snow arrives. For now I'm happy soaking up the sunshine and blue skies.

A weekend of fun....

2011-11-07T10:22:00.000-08:00

Busy busy, but so much fun.
Started with a walk with in the morning sunshine, Ottawa really is beautiful at this time of year:

Followed by a day of crafting with friends. There were sewing machines, scissors, buttons, fabric, Halloween shaped ginger cookies and soup - whats not to enjoy?! Sadly I got caught up in the crafting so failed to take any piccies. Here's one of my finished purse though, along with the one my sister made me from the same pattern (hers is the neater one with the whales on it!).

NB. For future sewing projects, I advise checking the pattern pieces carefully before beginning. We had two sets - one printed in England and one here, which of course means that they were slightly different sizes. Sadly we failed to notice this until the end of our projects, it went a long way to explaining the mismatched sized fabric pieces we'd cut during the day. At one stage my project looked like I'd been hitting the sherry!

And after crafting? Sushi and hockey - hoorah! Off to see the Senators play the Buffalo Sabres. A close match ending in a penalty shoot out which sadly the Sens lost out in, but hey, it was a good night anyway - made all the better as my companion chose (without nagging or pressure from me!) to wear his fish hat throughout:

It is always gratifying to see your handiwork worn with pride!

And so on to Sunday, another beautiful day - I'm sure winter is lurking somewhere, and the snow will definitely be fun when it does arrive, but I am loving the autumnal days in the meantime. Off to the Weavers' and spinners' guild annual sale, to fondle pretty yarn and gain inspiration from others handiwork....I was particularly fond of this needle-felted giraffe:

I managed to refrain from adding to the yarn stash (shocking!), but have signed up for a beginners weaving course starting this Sunday. Hopefully going to add another string to my crafting bow - and at last make use of last years loom purchase.

To end such a fab weekend? The return of P, who arrived home laden with apple pie. He's a good boy!

2011-10-31T17:40:00.000-07:00

Just to share our pumpkins.
Paul encorporated the markings on his to add a creepy scar to this mismatched face:

And I went with an old favourite and carved a witch on (with the help of a cookie-cutter, I'm not that artistic!).

Added a couple of bike lights and jobs a good 'un.

Plenty of princesses, a plethora of pirates, scary hockeymasked individuals and a stegasaurus amongst the visitors this evening.

Three strapping lads: We're little kids dressed as teenagers, cos teenagers are scary right?

But top prize for us was this homemade pac-man, who was accompanied by a girl in a homemade hot-air balloon costume too. Great effort.

Boo!

2011-10-31T11:22:00.000-07:00

Oh deary me, has been a long long while hasn't it? And there is so much I could have been blogging about, I just lost my blogging mojo....we've had a great visit from UK friends, then I jetted home for a fortnight of family friends and fish and chips....and still no blogging. No lack of fun has been had, just a lack of sitting at the computer, which in a way I suppose is a good thing.

A brief summary......
I have fought over gold bullion at the Royal Canadian Mint:

Explored the Kent countryside with my parents, making the most of the good weather with some birdwatching. Key spot for me were Bearded Tits (P seems to think this rates as one of the funniest bird names of all time, up there with 'boobies').

Caught up with old friends over far too much food (and far too much teacher talk for my dear chauffeur!), and even converted one sister to geocaching (the other seems to be managing to stay away from this temptation, strange girl). Here W and I are having found a cache hidden in a snail which was magnetically attached to a postbox - whats not to love?!

Anyway, now back in Ottawa, full of colds, but decided to face the morning and head out for a ramble with Jasper this morning. Just thought I'd share a few piccies from our wander around. Sadly I didn't whip my camera out quick enough to catch the zombie chef who passed us on the bridge, or the pirate who cycled by. Going for a walk on Halloween is like living in a Where's Wally book.

Lets see whether I can make it two days running hey?!
Happy Halloween everybody.x

Oktoberfest!

2011-10-02T19:22:00.000-07:00

We had a rare opportunity to attend a gig by a grammy award winning artist today, in fact, the man has 3. He inspired some slick moves from the men in our party:

Who knew that Canada's Polka King would have such a small repertoire? I for one enjoyed the blend of accordion and electric guitar, but even my patience wore out by the third outing of 'Sweet Caroline'.....all was forgiven when he cracked out 'Roll out the barrel' though - fabulous!

A good time was had by all, despite the rain. And with Betsy confident she could do well in the sausage eating competition, and Paul eager for us to enter the carry-your-partner obstacle course too, a busy year of training ahead for all.

Nagged into it!

2011-09-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

My littlest sister is fiesty. And has decided that my lack of blogging disappoints her. So I'm back.(I go back to England in a month and don't want to put her in a bad mood!).Anyway, its been three hectic weeks, and frankly I can't see myself blogging each day in retrospect, so some key memories/observations for you (in no particular order).

Apparently the word 'difficult' does not mean the same in different parts of Canada, at least when it comes to hiking trails. We've walked 'difficult' trails before with ease...so when we booked our hike along the Saguneay Fjord we thought we would be fine.......we were not. At least not on the first full day. 16km feels a darn sight further when most of it is uphill on dodgy terrain. P and I were ready to quit after the first night. S didn't give us the option. He was right, the next two days were much easier and definitely worth the effort.

Traffic Jams in Canada are more fun. The road to our campsite was blocked due to Hurricane Irene damage (oo-er!). We were diverted to a beach, where we made a cuppa with our camp-stove and watched Belugas with the binoculars. Magic.

Paul gets almost excited about inch-wormy caterpillars as he does whales. (In his defence they are exactly like the Sesame St.. ones and very cool).

Steve can light fires without matches., on one occasion he managed it without even his flint, just with his eyes. He is the manliest man I know.

Except for P, who can portage a canoe 850m down a muddy incline, hopping between rocks and limboing under fallen trees. Amazing. My biggest challenge that day was eating all my oatmeal.

Booking youth hostels from websites without many photos is a risky business. You may end up with all three of you in one big bed, with a man in a hammock hanging above you, someone on a couch at the end of the bed and another 5 people in various other spots aroudn the room.......don't let that put you off though, it may also be the quietest and most relaxing nights sleep you've had in a long time. Very considerate folks stay in $20 hostels in downtown Montreal. Fact.

It is NEVER a good idea to make coffee using water drained from making Kraft cheese dinner. No matter how low on fuel you are. Learn from our mistakes.

Motels are cool. Sitting outside motel rooms on benches, supping cider from the can and sharing a big bag of cheetos is cool. Thats another fact.

Even non-birders are impressed by the sound of loons calling in the night. Especially when there are 17 of them on the lake. They are less impressed however by dogs who grumble in the night and sound like bears.

Photos of these adventures can be seen on flickr as usual. (More on flickr than on FB).For now I leave you with the bread I baked on Monday night. Thankfully I finished the last of it at lunchtime, as I have just had to chase a squirrel out of the kitchen, that was munching on Steve's salted sunflower seeds.Jasper was asleep on the bed.

Visitors take preparation....

2011-08-22T18:18:00.000-07:00

Step one: Get on the sewing machine and make a sign for the airport....

Step Two: Turn up at the airport on time and hold sign aloft.

Step Three: If your visitor is a member of the Hockett clan, ensure you have plenty of pickles on hand.

Very excited, off on adventures - hopefully have some fab photos to share over the next couple of weeks, fingers crossed for Belugas!

Blogging failure....

2011-08-15T13:28:00.000-07:00

Well, suppose I should admit that i'm just not keeping up with this - had a good run though didn't I?

I'm not quitting completely though, will add more rambles when I've got something to report.....

.....in the meantime I'm afraid I got eaten by a fish again, and have to deal with the consequences before anything resembling normal service resumes.

221/365 Imaginary Importance

2011-08-10T15:05:00.000-07:00

I have no photo for Tuesday, just a moment or two of amusement to share.

On my walk home from work I was saluted by a man in Military Uniform, who exclaimed 'Good afternoon Sir' as he passed.

I walked on a little bemused.

Then it happened again.

It took a third time for me to turn round and realise I was walking two paces ahead of a military gentleman with a fair number of stripes and medals displayed.

Guess I'm not as important (or masculine!) as I thought.

That is all.

220/365 Doorothy

2011-08-09T18:29:00.000-07:00

You know it has been a successful trip when even after breaking camp and with thoughts of the slog back across the lake, the group can still find enough time to pose for shots like this:

The key member of the group I have yet to mention is Doorothy. When plans fall through and that three man tent you borrowed from a friend turns out to be at most a two-close-friends tent, finding an abandoned door in your campsite is a source of much relief. Especially if one of your party is happy to bond with said door, balancing it lovingly on chopped wood under a carefully hung tarpaulin by the campfire. R and Doorothy ended up very close, and it was only fitting that she featured in our group photos.

I only hope the next group to venture to the campsite treat her with as much love.

Good bye Doorothy, our time with you was brief but oh so special. You are one of a kind, and it can only be seen as proof of our love for you that you weren't chopped up and burnt on Sunday night what with you being the only dry wood on the campsite. That's love that is. x

219/365 Extreme Paddling

2011-08-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a more adventurous day, heading out to explore yet more new shores and to try and find some of the elusive Algonquin wildlife. Kingfishers and frogs in abundance, and the ever present Loons calling, but still no moose - one day!

We paddled and swam, snorkeled and napped - four of my favourite activities, add to that some sock knitting and I was definitely a happy camper.

Here I am, particularly proud of myself after swimming over to an Island from our lunch-time spot....graceful aren't I?!

We may have napped a little too long however as we got caught in a thunder-storm on the paddle back to camp. Lightning whilst sat in an aluminium canoe - not very sensible! The downpour had me double-checking we had our bailer with us too - poor Jasper sat in a puddle....and yet it was a fantastic afternoon! All campers responded with good humour, Dunkirk spirit kicking in I suppose. Thankfully the boys went straight into camp-fire building when we got back, an evening of drying out and top-notch Risotto......oh and Sherry from the hip flask - what a classy bunch we are!

218/365 Daytripping

2011-08-09T14:50:00.001-07:00

A lazy Saturday afternoon. Short paddle, then a hike to a new lake, with sandy shores for pottering about on. Sitting in the sunshine with tiny fish nibbling our toes and crayfish popping out from under rocks.

This was a man heavy trip, with yours truly the only girly.

It was also a dried-fruit heavy trip with pears, mangoes, apricots - so many options.

Dried fruit in abundance + male heavy trip = increased trips to the camp toilet for most of us + vast increase in toilet humour. Boys boys boys.

217/365 Hi ho hi ho....

2011-08-09T14:34:00.000-07:00

.....its off canoeing we go!

After a couple of hiccups (last minute cancellations, canoe booking lost etc!) we were off - and with paddles in hands everything looked brighter. How can you fail to be happy with lunch spots like this?

Arriving at our lake of choice (well, second choice!), the Island campsite was already bagged....so we ended up on the shore at what turned out to be a prime spot. Camp up, hammock out and a delicious dinner cooked - hoorah. The loons were calling, the mosquitos were low in numbers, and Jasper happy to cosy up by the campfire. Life is good.

216/365 Thursday night and the packings done.

2011-08-09T07:02:00.000-07:00

P wants to make sure he doesn't forget his new toy - snorkel and goggles for exploring the lakes of Algonquin Park. After a mad scramble of packing we collapsed in the hammocks with G&T's and then an early night before the ridiculously early start in the morning....

215/365 New arrivals

2011-08-04T07:11:00.000-07:00

This cheeky chappy and his missus have started nest-building in the tree just in front of our house. So so pretty, and also most considerate in that they are very vocal when around, making photos easy!

Much as I love Greedy McBeaky, as feathered neighbours go I don't think theres much of a contest in the beauty stakes, and these new friends also don't wake us at 5am with their mad-cawing.

Fingers-crossed for baby birdies soon.

214/365 Planning

2011-08-04T07:01:00.000-07:00

Trip planning sucks. The initial excitement of choosing dates and debating ideas soon fades with the hours spent trawling through websites, on hold to booking agents etc. As we get closer to our next canoe-expedition, P has taken over with his food planning - spreadsheet ahoy!

Hopefully the effort now will result in far more interesting posts and photos later on!

213/365 Holiday Mondays

2011-08-04T04:54:00.001-07:00

We had a whole day planned out - walk dog, get in hammocks, only leave hammocks for food.

Well, a slight diversion for pancakes with M and N first - great way to start the day....then a whole two minutes in the hammocks before a text comes in and the whole day swings round from concentrated relaxation to messing about on boats!

P was up first, and disappeared up the river with his intrepid guide Rune. Apparently he was a natural and threw himseld in with gusto, trapezing with grace and even filling R with enough confidence for him to get the Spinniker out and up the speed.

Sadly I am a girl. And at a distance those boats all look fairly similar, and I took photos (and video!) of the wrong one! Anyway, here is a piccie of them closer to shore:

I was up next and surprised myself by really enjoying the trapezing - loving it in fact. I was a little concerned that it would feel much like the worst bits of abseiling, where you lean backwards and feel like you'll just keep going into nothingness. In reality I actually felt more connected to the boat standing on the side leaning out backwards than I did sat down!

Paul did a much better job of spectatoring than I, and you can jsut about make me out in this one...

Honestly - it is me!

And one final shot, just to show off the shiny sail.

A fab day all round, thanks Rune!

212/365 Farms and scrabble

2011-08-03T06:31:00.000-07:00

Off to the Agriculture Museum for the annual knit-out this afternoon. Apparently it is the 6th year its been going, but the first time I've made it. Worked on the crazy cabled sweater for an hour or so, and had a brief wander round to see the animals....

....from there on to dinner, ice-cream and then coffee and scrabble before the evenings concert. My scrabble performance was very sad, not on my game at all.....although I did get 'bacon' and 'egg' on consecutive turns, which I still argue should be worth bonus points!

211/365 Ambient noise....

2011-08-03T06:22:00.001-07:00

(Saturday.....so far behind yet again!)

A relaxing afternoon on the Island, reading books, eating cheese and listening to the sounds of summer....chipmunks squeaking and the wind in the trees....

The ambient noise in the evening was masterfully incorporated into the percussion performance at the Remic Rapids. Goose calls, the flow of the river, all mixed in with the music and atmosphere. Some memorable pieces - rhythms played on stones and the magic of wind wands. (Including the big plastic tubes we used to muck about with as children, making a horrendous wailing. Strangely they seemed so much more tuneful played this evening, by professionals!).

210/365 Trollhunter

2011-07-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

Off again on the bikes, this time to the cinema for a troll film - and what a corker. Part Blair Witch, part Where the Wild Things Are, mostly just itself - Troll Hunter was definitely a hit with us. Even accounting for my attack of motion sickness part way through due to the wobbly camera work. A good year for films this year, particularly films at The Mayfair.

(Oh, and Karen - our friend went to see Rubber for the second time last week!)

209/365 Have bike will travel

2011-07-30T09:13:00.001-07:00

This summer has been beautiful (ignoring the 41 degree day that is!). Slightly on the humid side for my liking on occasion, but now that I have accepted that its cooler to be out cycling than to lie on the sofa, things have improved dramatically....

...tonight our jaunt was back to the Sandy Hill Bar for a relaxing evening with friends before everyone jets off in different directions for summer adventures. Looking forward to adding to my burgeoning wall of postcards (hint hint) and also to enjoying some trips myself. Not so many postcard buying options in the middle of lakes however, maybe I'll make my own....hmmm....there's an idea. Changes of clothes may be optional on the camping-packing list, but Crayons and felt-tips are essential don't you think?!

208/365 An encounter with a Kraken

2011-07-30T08:50:00.000-07:00

Work was fine, no dangerous encounters on the way home (kept my eyes peeled for hipsters, all safe. No zombie joggers out in the heat either).

Then - disaster! The Kraken hit, and hit hard (*):

It appears that if you mix up two usually well-behaved ladies with a day of hot weather and a bottle of rum, there is an inherent risk that you will end up with two very giggly ladies with numb knees (well mine were numb anyway!). I think this may have been what concerned P most about me having so much free time - a decent into afternoon drinking.

For now the Kraken has been hidden in the cupboard, and my partner in crime has jetted off to tour Europe....so P may be safe at least until she returns....I'm sensible enough to realise that venturing into Kraken infested waters alone is not safe for anyone.

(*) 'Hitting hard' actually consisted of two much diluted cocktails, I am as ever a cheap cheap date.

207/365 Danger everywhere

2011-07-27T18:00:00.001-07:00

A girl needs to be on her toes at all times....

206/365 Daytripping

2011-07-27T17:48:00.001-07:00

Today I went on a day trip.
To a tip.
Well technically it is a composting and landfill facility, but that doesn't rhyme.

Learnt many an interesting fact, most of which I have since filed away in a safe place in my brain, so you will have to make do with those I remember:

* People in Gatineau can be trusted to produce a higher class of compostable waste than those in Toronto who have been allowed to place their organic material in plastic bags because seeking out (compostable) alternatives is far too complicated.

* Some people think that their compost bin is an appropriate place to dispose of engine parts and dead cats. (I am pretty sure these were distinct cases and not the same person, but who knows).

* A local man has been trained in the art of falconry, and will be flying his falcon in the landfill to scare off the gulls. If this is not successful they will grade up to a hawk. The final stage in this environmental arms race is bald eagle - watch out gulls.

* Poison parsnip exists and you should stay away from it.

* School buses are cool. Uncomfortable but very cool.

For info on the facility itself check here. A most informative and enjoyable tour.

205/365 Sundays are for music....

2011-07-27T17:22:00.000-07:00

Treble musical brownie points for us today. First stop was Rideau Hall grounds for a free concert as part of Chamberfest. On offer was an hour of beautiful harmonies from the Borealis String Quartet. Perfect accompaniment to our scones and iced coffee.

A quick dog walk and then off to the National Gallery, for a concert by Jesse Stewart, who set up camp in the abstract gallery, using Voice of Fire as his backdrop. If you have never heard a waterphone played (and you probably have, just weren't aware that's what it was), make sure you do. Eerie. Combined with drums, beaters, and a multitude of gizmos that are well beyond my musical knowledge - fantastic. My knees were vibrating. (That's a good thing!). Sadly no photos....

Yes, only the third event of the day is recorded pictorially, and from the picture you would think there were only a handful of people out enjoying the offerings of the Piknic Electronic this week.....

the crowd (~150) were mostly hidden up in the shade, but enjoying the music nonetheless. I admit to being most skeptical about the appeal of this event, but yet again Dr.H proved me wrong. Worth the cycle for the people watching alone, and I actually enjoyed the music much more than expected too. Will definitely venture back again before summer draws to a close.

Oh, and great views of a scaffolding-less parliament on the way home too.

204/365 Jam-packed Saturday

2011-07-24T06:53:00.000-07:00

A day filled with dressing up. Strange animals in the park this morning with a penchant for sugar-snap peas.

Then theatre in the park - much drama over The Fan, with a hodge-podge of period drama, slapstick and a spot of panto mixed in. Very entertaining.

203/365: Back in the swing of things....

2011-07-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

The camera is back - hoorah! New lens and a thorough clean. Shame it was such a palaver getting it sorted, but at least I didn't have to buy my third camera in two years (I dropped number 1 in a lake whilst getting out of a canoe, could have happened to anyone).

Anyway, today I got the cooking bug, the house seemed so cool in comparison to Thursday's 41 (with the humidex, think it maxed at about 36 without). Yes, 33 seemed like a very reasonable temperature to be baking in:

Delicious. A Hugh Fearnley Wittingstall recipe - Polenta and Asparagus Tart.

I think Paul is gradually morphing into HF-W. Not a bad thing, and definitely an improvement on Jamie Oliver, who he got compared to when we first arrived in Canada. Must be the dimples.

MIA

2011-07-13T05:50:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

I'm afraid the lack of camera combined with three days of camping over the weekend have led to a tail off in blogging.....I will be back (try to stifle your moans, you don't have to read it!) but rather than list the photos I wish I'd been able to take, for now I'll just jump in when I've got something to say until I'm back on my photographic feet once again....

xxx

185/365 The rocks are back!

2011-07-07T05:02:00.000-07:00

After a sweaty cycle out to Trailhead in search of new hiking boots (hoorah!), we stopped off at Westboro beach for a picnic. Disappointing. Looks like I'm definitely a Mooney's Bay girl, just wasn't impressed by Westboro at all, mainly due to proximity to the road I suppose.

Anyway, we didn't stop long and everything was made up for by the discovery that the rocks sculptures are back at Remic Rapids:

I love this spot and when I passed a couple of weeks back the water was still so high that Mr. Ceprano hadn't got started yet. But he seems to be back with gusto now, and I'll be returning to see the work as he develops it over the summer.

Right, my camera is off in the post for repair this morning (after much wrangling with Panasonic), so no photos for a little while. I'm planning on taking an old film one with me on this weekends camping trip though so pictures will emerge eventually.

184/365 Healthy dinners

2011-07-07T04:55:00.000-07:00

Salad season just keeps getting better. For lunch salad leftovers: pants-en-ella (an Italian dish I keep forgetting the name of - basically grilled tomatoes, red peppers, olives and ciabbatta) and a couscousy-kedgeree with boiled eggs and artichoke hearts. For dinner broccoli frittata with heaps of veg and a green salad.....

We eat so healthy and we walk a fair bit. Both of us have commented on feeling healthier and fitter, wonder if its time to take another trip to the nature museum and check out how many turkeys I'm clocking in at now!

183/365 Monday bugs

2011-07-04T16:26:00.000-07:00

Another day another bug. This one fascinated me with his shiny bronze shell and tri-horned antennae.

Off for an early picnic this evening, and on our return home we found a young couple having their photo taken in our back-yard. Apparently the spot next to the bins is suitable picturesque for engagement piccies (taken by a professional photographer). Can't see it myself!

182/365 Caterpillars

2011-07-04T16:25:00.001-07:00

A gypsy moth caterpillar. One of 30 odd all on one tree on the island. Sadly I don't think many survived the heat today, maybe I should have shared my ice-cream.

181/365 Scissors at the ready (Saturday).

2011-07-04T16:20:00.000-07:00

Last shift volunteering at Jazzfest this evening, but before that I got the scissors out and started work on a new top. Pieces are all ready now, but need to get myself some interfacing before I proceed.....are my sewing skills up to it? Time will tell.

Also finished this book, which is a victory in itself as I've had a bit of a readers-block issue of late. As for the book, it was recommended in the Guardian 2010 read-list thingamy, and frankly was a tad disappointing. Some interesting comments on aging and priorities, but in the end a little soap-opera-y. At least it got me reading again though which can only be a good thing.

Jazz shift went very well. I was informed by a member of the public that I am "surprisingly polite and enthusiastic". He wouldn't confirm whether this was surprising as a Brit or as a volunteer. I'll take the compliment though!

180/365 Happy Birthday Canada

2011-07-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

Hoorah. Canada is 124 today, and looking really rather good on it from where I spent the day sitting.

I spent the afternoon hanging out in Confederation park with friends and knitting. A couple of good concerts to while away the hours, strawberries to munch on as well as sweet potato fries - oh so lovely.

Particularly enjoyed Ohbijou who lulled me into a trance like state, and Coeur de Pirate who brought so much fun and spark to her performance.

Right, off to wach some fireworks before bed now. Happy Birthday Canada. Sleep tight. x

179/365 Red carpets

2011-07-01T18:20:00.000-07:00

On our dog walk in the morning we met two lovely ladies who wanted to know which gate at the GGs they should go through in order to give them the best chance of getting good views of the royal visitors.

It was 7:30am.

The gates didn't open til 1:15pm.

Hmmmmmm.....

Although geographically speaking I was pretty close to Will and Kate at various points to day, I didn't seem them. Had I not been at work I probably would have headed to their walk around just to view the spectacle. But instead I spent much of my three hour shift trying most unsuccessfully to untangle a ball of yarn.

Here's a red carpet for you though, very nice it was too.

Far more exciting than the royals was an evening in the park, watching an eclectic mix of dance acts. We were guided from one act to the next by a very enthusiastic and oh so slightly batty woman in tutus and a shower cap:

My favourites were the box dance (3 very athletic dancers, manipulating giant wooden boxes to music, think you may have to be there!), and a Native inspired rhythmic dance.
Fab.

178/365 Whoop whoop for Wednesdays.

2011-06-29T18:59:00.000-07:00

A whoop for blogging on the actual day today. Caught up again, we'll see how long that lasts.

Another whoop for the baby salamanders spotted (by Paul) on our walk this morning. After he'd pointed out two in quick succession, he had the cheek to tell me that I 'just aren't a good salamander spotter'. The cheek of the man! Granted the only one I did find first was dead. Anyhow, I think it is one of the slender salamanders, but will endeavour to find out more.

And a final whoop for corn on the cob tasting this evening. We sampled herby oven-baked, and then boiled with a sample of flavoured butters.

After a very scientific study of two hungry adults, I can report 100% agreement on the outcome. The final consensus was a preference for the texture on the baked corn, and the flavour of the lime-chilli powder-garlic butter. If anyone would like to offer funding for further indepth research, I can be contacted in the usual ways, but have a preference for postcards. x

177/365 Tuesday and I'm back on the needles

2011-06-29T18:54:00.001-07:00

Knitting mojo hit today, sadly not with any of the projects I should be working on, but as a good friend of mine keeps reminding me, we knit because we enjoy it, it shouldn't feel like hard work. So, here is the progress on a shawlette scarfy number. the pattern is called Trillian and after seeing two of my colleaguey-friends working on these I finally caved and joined in....

....not that I generally wear scarfette-shawly things, but that has never stopped me before.

In other news, the postal strike is over. I'm not taking sides - but I am very happy to be reconnected with envelopes and stamps, and will be back letter writing pronto. And happily the first delivery included a little something from the parental-ships - hoorah!

176/365 Monday flew by....

2011-06-29T18:44:00.000-07:00

....and yet again I failed to take a photo til back from Jazzfest again. Back on the main-gate again, which I enjoy both for its view of the stage and the banter with festival customers. I have never been so popular as I am with the older generation of jazz-goer. It must be the accent (cos it sure as hell isn't anything else in that t-shirt!).

Anyway, today's photographic treat is of photographic potential:

The chemicals in the 'dark room', patiently awaiting our use.....I'm feeling some project ideas developing (b-dum ching!)......watch this space (but feel free to go about your daily business in the meantime, it may be a while before these plans come to fruition!).

175/365 Cake update

2011-06-27T06:13:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have been concerned about the lack of cake mentioned in recent weeks. Rest assured that although the housework may not have been done, and the craft projects are lagging behind targets, the cake is still getting eaten. I have never managed to keep going with a New Year's resolution with such dedication before. I'm so very proud.

Yesterday P and I whipped up a Victoria Sponge for the work party (complete with homemade raspberry jam). While we were there we also got to try everyone else's contributions (well it would have been rude not to!), including the amazing Mole cake - a chocolate/banana/raspberry and cream mountain. There's another one to add to the repertoire at a later date.

174/365 Look whats growing!

2011-06-27T06:05:00.000-07:00

Woop woop! There must be enough for at least half a sandwich!

KD Lang was fabidosey at Jazzfest, complete with accordion accompaniment (got to love an accordion). And, as it was my second shift I was trusted out interacting with the public - silly bananas! Also honored with the position of standing in a muddy hole to make sure none of the patrons tripped over......I did an expert job and may make myself a badge to recognize this new skill....hmmm.....

173/365 Red lame and leopard print

2011-06-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

(That should be pronounced larm-ay, can't work out how to do accents on here. )

I wish I had a photo to show Mr. Elvis Costello strumming one of his five thousand guitars whilst wearing a shiny red jacket and leopard print fedora. Sadly photography is banned at the festival, and whilst most people were ignoring this ruling, as I was wearing my volunteer pass I thought it was best if I behaved myself....Anyway, he was fab indeed. I'm not a die hard fan and so couldn't sing along to quite as many as the rest of the crowd, but the rain held off (the only two rain free hours of the day!) and he definitely put on a great show.

So my photo today is of the view of parliament when I got home and walked the dog, still humming '(I don't want to go to) Chelsea'.

(Sorry to end on a sad note, but we think Junior McBeaky may not have made it. We saw him in a garden up the street last night and he didn't look too well, although the adults were still on patrol. Poor love. x)

172/365 Gratutious chest shot

2011-06-25T13:14:00.001-07:00

Yes, in an effort to boost readership I have resorted to the old age technique of taking photos of my chest, pretty stunning hey? Well, this is the flattering fitted look you get when you insist on ordering a 'large' volunteer freebie shirt. When will I ever learn? Ho hum, 'twill make a good nightshirt.

Anyway, jazzfest is here, and Friday night was my first shift. And it was also a ridiculously rainy day with thunderstorms starting at around 6:30pm. My shift started at 7pm. Eek. Thankfully for the most part it was dry though, with the downpour we feared all evening kicking in during the encore. And frankly by that stage I'd had about all I wanted of Mr. Robert Plant. I'm sure if you are a fan it was a good gig, but afraid I found it a bit M.O.R. And the 'planters' weren't half litter-louts! Blimey O'Reilly.

3 more shifts to go and the forecast is looking soggy! Hopefully I'll get some great musical experiences out of it though, time will tell.

171/365 Beaky Junior

2011-06-22T18:49:00.000-07:00

We have been invaded! Greedy McBeaky Junior has taken shelter on the balcony, sadly he seems to have left the nest before he can fly, and for some reason his response was to hop up all our stairs and nestle up to the watering can.

The whole McBeaky clan is now camped out at various vantage points in the backyard, waiting to caw maniacally whenever we venture near the backdoor. There were some menacing swoops when I went out to leave a towel and grub too - ungrateful bunch!

Now its dark things seem to have quietened down, I'm hoping Junior makes it through the night. I'm a sucker for big blue eyes.

(Also went to see the Governor General inspect the ceremonial guard this morning, photos on flickr).

170/365 Ducks are a paddling.

2011-06-22T09:03:00.001-07:00

No, sadly it isn't quite the return of guess the duck, sorry to those of you who have been waiting with baited breath. But a duck photo to keep you going in the meantime, these two lovely ladies have decided that the top of the waterfall is the perfect place to paddle and look for tasty treats - extreme paddling indeed.

169/365 On a school night?

2011-06-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

Late nights were few and far between back in England. Midnight only existed when nerves about the following days lessons meant I couldn't get to sleep.
However, midnight on a Monday night crawled round this week and we were still out enjoying jazz, how things change.

(Although, as I am writing this on Wednesday I can attest to the fact that although I may have more of them, I still can't cope with burning the candle at both ends.....Tuesday morning was grumpy-town! Yes I know midnight isn't late in most people's worlds, but I'm a 10pm to bed girl. The show was definitely worth it though).

168/365 Weekends are made of this....

2011-06-20T06:29:00.000-07:00

Pancakes.
Paddle.
Peace.
Perfect.

167/365 Stress

2011-06-20T06:19:00.000-07:00

You're lying in your hammock, the birds are tweeting, the annoyingly loud jet-skier has buzzed off, you've got your Pernod in reach, your book is getting gripping.....and then you realise your knitting is just out of reach.

Bottoms.

166/365 Turtle power

2011-06-18T05:55:00.000-07:00

165/365 My bouche is amused.

2011-06-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

Apparently this is sliced radish with some kind of sauce and a vegetarian caviar on top.
Some thoughts (well two anyway):

* What on earth do you make vegetarian caviar from?
* Do you think they realised how much this looks like a bloodshot eyeball when they made it?

164/365 Night swimming

2011-06-16T05:24:00.001-07:00

Well, strictly speaking it was evening swimming, but still in the water as sun was setting so I think it counts.

Cycled to Mooney's Bay this evening, and straight into the water for a couple of laps with swallows sweeping overhead and ducklings paddling on the shore. Sounds peaceful and idyllic, but when you add in the evenings dragon boat-race practice it was far from it, atmospheric though.

Post swim we picnicked on the sand on home made bread and fake-chicken salad, with a flask of coffee to wash it down (no, not lashings and lashings of ginger beer, this is starting to sound a tad Enid Blyton isn't it?!).

Expecting the bike ride home to be an unwelcome slog we were surprised to find that our legs seemed fresh after the swim. Which added to the fun of the ride which included a haunting orange full moon, bats out for dinner (one with faulty eco-location bumping the front of my bike!), a frog chorus and a speedy diversion off the path as a fallen tree loomed up ahead of us (it wasn't there on the way out!).

Best of all were the fireflies though, flashing at least three different colours as they bobbed about in the tall grasses to the side of the path. Magical.

Sadly our camera skills weren't up to capturing them, so here is the cheeky gull who kept a very beady eye on us during our picnic. Apparently the aroma of my home-made bread works on birdies as well as swimmers. x

163/365 Keep at arms length

2011-06-14T17:35:00.000-07:00

My sister and her other half took some corking arm-length shots while they were here. Somehow she manages to remember to smile and look relaxed whereas generally I am too busy concentrating on not dropping the camera and whether I have my finger on the right button.

Anyway, despite successfully managing to cut off all three heads in this one, I like it. Jasper decided that he wanted to watch the rowers on our post picnic wander this evening, strange dog.

162/365 Underappreciated

2011-06-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

Some animals are under appreciated, or even thought of negatively. Now maybe if I had had my precious garden rooted up, or if Jasper had had a smelly encounter, I may think of them differently. For now though, I have much love for the skunk.

That is all.

161/365 Some days are better than others....

2011-06-13T05:55:00.000-07:00

....and today was a good one.

My view for much of the day:

which was entertaining enough with Paul cadging a lift from Karen when he could, especially when heading uphill.

However, the day was also filled with picnics, river swimming (or paddling in my case), pirate ships, dragon boats, farmers markets, stumbling on concerts in the park, mariokart winning (woop woop!), cricket watching, scone eating, delicious dining out.....smiling. Fab.

160/365 Wandering the streets

2011-06-13T05:49:00.000-07:00

People are different.

That is not big news to anyone I'm sure, but today emphasized some of the differences.

P, T and I spent the afternoon mesmerised by handmade books and typesettings. Drooling may be a better word.

S fell in love with a Ferrari, and another car I can't remember the name of, whilst K eyed up motorbikes although most of these fell short of her standards.

I fell in love with a bug.

I have been called 'special' by several people this weekend, and I am shoosing to take it as a compliment.

159/365 Ribs ribs ribs

2011-06-11T06:10:00.000-07:00

I'm not completely sure, but I think we finally found an activity that the visitors approved of:

158/365 You do win friends with salad

2011-06-11T05:51:00.000-07:00

Yummy yummy salad season. On offer this evening:
Rocket, Sweet Potato and Grilled Mozzarella salad, with a honey and thyme dressing.
Panzella - grilled peppers, tomatoes and ciabatta in an olive oil and garlic dressing.
Deep fried courgette and onion cakes with Mint yoghurt.

Tasty tasty tasty (and much less greasy than it looks in the photo, food photography is not my strong point).

157/365 Rainy days, eventually

2011-06-09T05:26:00.000-07:00

Hot, muggy, hot and muggy, all day long.....then THUNDERSTORM! Hoorah! Torrential rain, hail (apparently), and how the wind blowed.....then it cleared and finally it was comfortable enough to venture outside again.

Apparently there was a good chance of views of the Northern lights, but we only got to see the lights in the carpark as it clouded up. We'll try again tomorrow - one day we'll get to see them, one day.

156/365 And off they go....

2011-06-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

And I can safely say, that at least for the first two minutes they were on the right side of the road!

I was a space cadet today, no idea why, wiped out. I did manage to install my cat though, and make a Mary Poppins egg costume. So creatively a good one, just zonked. Lets hope for a kick of energy tomorrow. x

155/365 Monday breakfasts

2011-06-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

I can safely say that since K and S arrived my intake of poached eggs has rocketed, and I am nothing but happy about this situation. I still haven't sampled one of S's masterpieces, maybe I'll get to do that at the weekend.....but for now Hamie's were a treat indeed.

A pottering day for me, while the guests headed to the beach by bicycle. It was Hot indeed (and yes, that is capitalised on purpose).

Caught up with friends in the afternoon and an epic Mariokart evening. I won!!!!!! (it has taken over 12 years for me to beat P at this, although it may have something to do with him not playing for a long long time. But hey, a victory is a victory!).

154/365 The obligatory poutine trip...

2011-06-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

Every set of visitors we have, we end up taking for Poutine, its become a tradition. Strangely, not everyone seems as enamoured with this Canadian delicacy as we are, as can be seen by this shot:

I would like to make it clear that, despite how it may seem from the faces she's pulling in many of the posts in the last week, K does appear to be enjoying herself - honest!

153/365 Intrepid explorers....

2011-06-06T07:23:00.000-07:00

Who'd have thought that my sister would be a better canoe steerer than me, having practised on pub crawls in Norwich of all places! Her and S were determined to find a turtle today, after our repeated tales of the monster from the depths seen here last year. Despite repeated explorations of the lake edges they were unsuccessful. Thankfully there were more smores to ease the pain.....somehow I don't think that any of us will have toned up over the weekend despite all the paddling!

152/365 Catching up - Friday

2011-06-06T07:16:00.000-07:00

Off to a cottage for the weekend, and the forecast foretold rain rain and more rain for Saturday and Sunday. We descided to make the best of it and were in the canoe and pedalo pronto on arrival. Jasper still is not fond of the getting in and out of the canoe, but is very happy once he is being paddled around, maybe campooing with him will work after all.

An evening filled with Flux, BBQ salmon, and smores on the campfire. Not too shabby at all. If only all Fridays were like this. x

151/365 A difference of opinion....

2011-06-03T06:28:00.000-07:00

Off to the cinema this evening. Paul and I are semi regular at the Mayfair so we thought we'd take our visitors so they could enjoy it as much as we do. Maybe we should have picked a different film?

This is the 'before' shot, but frankly, K only looked more disappointed afterwards, and S more bemused.....

Our ratings?
P gave it 5 stars,
4 from me (slightly too many exploding heads for my tastes),
K gave it 0. (although she did stay awake for the whole film!)
S? He described it as 'off the scale', but sadly I don't think he meant in the positive direction!

I'll leave you with a fabulous old joke told over a pint of Strongbow before the film....

'What's the difference between a buffalo and a bison?'
'You can't wash your hands in a buffalo.'

.......oops. I'd only had two sips of cider! And apparently I am morphing into my Dad as I grow older and I struggled even to get this mixed-up version out as I was giggling and in tears.

I'll get my coat.

150/365 Bears!

2011-06-02T05:52:00.000-07:00

The brilliant thing about having visitors is that it inspires you to explore. We've prided ourselves on being far more active than we ever were in England, but the little kick of having to entertain is always welcome, so today we crammed in all we could.

The four of us started with a whirlwind tour of the areas supermarkets, in search of cheap carrots. This accomplished we headed over to Quebec and made our way to Parc Omega to find us some (semi)-wild life. Turns out it finds you!

The checklist of critters seen? Wapitis, White-tailed deer, raccoon, Reindeer, Ibex, Wild boar (and babies), Bison (and babies), Groundhog, Black Bears (and baby), Timberwolves (and babies), Arctic Wolves and Coyotes. I think that's it. Oh and a new bird for me (Bobolink, awesome name), and both yellow and black swallowtail butterflies.

After an afternoon of spotting and being slobbered on to varying degrees, we wandered round the last section on foot, spending an amazing ten minutes observing mummy and baby bear tussle from the safety of the boardwalk above. Baby bear wanted to climb the tree, mummy bear was not amused.

To top off the day, a ferry ride across the river back to Ontario, and three out of four of us cooled off with a swim before we chowed down on fab BBQ. (You can guess for yourselves who didn't want to get their toes cold!).

Definitely a fab day all round. Hoorah!

PS. I have started a creative challenge, but am blogging about it elsewhere, if you're interested in that kind of thing, head here.

149/365 Ice cream - woop woop!

2011-06-01T05:49:00.000-07:00

K and S went sight-seeing in the hot HOT heat today, and were pretty wiped out on their return - the solution, ice-cream of course!

From left to right,
P with a choco-coffee flavour (it had a better name than that but I can't remember!)
Me with an italian named treat, again can't rememember. It was cream and rose water flavoured and so so delicious. My new favourite, til the next one!
S with banana flavoured - and boy was it banana flavoured.
And K with a rum fantasy, which would have got me drunk had I had the whole thing.

For some reason I'm the only one with ice-cream on my nose......but in my defence S was the first to dribble!

148/365 Look what has arrived!

2011-05-31T06:57:00.000-07:00

Hoorah! And so far they have behaved themselves very well, I even got breakfast cooked for me - hoorah once more!

They're off exploring on their own tomorrow, fingers crossed they find their way home again!

147/365 Race weekend

2011-05-29T12:27:00.001-07:00

We live pretty much on the race route for the Ottawa Marathon, which I forget. That is until the cheering stations start warming up at 7:30 and we get hits of the eighties blared round the neighbourhood during our lie in. Ho hum, if you can't beat them join them as they say (the cheerers that is, not the runners, don't be silly!).

Our dog walk this morning took us round from about the 17km mark to the 20km mark, and we saw some of the 'elite' runners heading back to the start, and the erm....not so elite runners pacing it out at the back. Most seemed in very good humour though, although they had only just reached halfway so not sure how much longer that would last.

I dabbled with the idea of running a marathon once. Got over it!

An afternoon playing Euchre in the park and dinner with friends made for a fabulous Sunday, helped by the sun making an appearance.

Anyway, my photo is not my favourite one of the day, that honour goes to one sent me by my daddy-o. My sister and 4 elephant hawk moths they caught in the back garden - makes me smile! As you can tell, the younger siblings are much more stylish than me, W manages to co-ordinate her nail polish, dressing gown and wildlife in this ensemble - my socks don't even match!

Sister number two arrives tomorrow - Canada you have been warned! ;)

146/365 Battle of the bands.

2011-05-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

You may or may not remember my mentioning watching the Taiko players at the Chinatown festival a week or so ago.
We loved the performance so much that we signed up for a workshop, and at the end of the session we were split into two groups and told to compose our own pieces - P and I were put in opposite teams - battle of the bands commenced.

Here are he and the boys.

And me and my team.

I'll leave the judging up to you. In my defence though I demonstrated a much greater sense of rythm all morning, it just went for a coffee break during the performance.

Great morning, highly reccomended. Website here.

145/365 Finished!

2011-05-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

Its only taken me since last November. Ok so I took quite a while off when I couldn't face another granny square, and another break when I ran out of black yarn....but its done!

And the bloody dog has already claimed it!

Apologies to knitting/crocheting buddies who will have seen me celebrating the completing of this project everywhere....but for those of you not bored yet, there are 335 squares. Yes 335. And I actually made more than that as apparently I can't count green squares accurately.
It measures about 3 1/3 feet across, and just under 6 feet tall.

And it is the last Mario project I will be making for a wee while.

But I love it. And hopefully P will too (he'd better do, its big enough to roll up a body in if not!).

144/365 Recycling in action

2011-05-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

I gained posession of those beautiful wellies recently, as N has grown out of them. Sadly they are too small for my clown-esque footsies, but I have reinvented one as a herb planter, adding some compost and mint for fresh smelling toes.

More recycling to follow, found a fab wooden box that someone had put out for the binmen yesterday, our house is turning into a reclamation yard at the moment.

143/365 Wednesday night at the pictures.

2011-05-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

They may not be Wells-next-to-the-sea chips, and they definitely aren't my Mum's homemade chips, but there is a lot to be said for a large coffee cup of chips.

They did sit a little heavily, but as T and I had a three seater sofa between us at the cinema (P opted for an armchair, he's too good for us it seems!), we had room to get comfy. The film (Small Town Murder Songs) was dark and moody, perfect Wednesday night fare. Especially the soundtrack by the fab Bruce Peninsula who we'd seen at the folk festival before.

A cycle home by starlight ended a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Especially for a Wednesday.

142/365 Jasper's personal trainer.

2011-05-25T14:08:00.000-07:00

(Oops...a post for Tuesday, late yet again!)

So, Jasper is apparently now on a stricter diet, with smaller portions of his food and less tidbits too.

I say 'apparently' because P and I are pretty rubbish at human diets, let alone doggy ones. He doesn't beg, he rarely whines for food, but he is just too cute to leave treatless.

Thank heavens then for his new personal dietitian and trainer, Greedy McBeaky.

As summer has finally arrived (well, at least a dry Spring anyhow), Jasper prefers to eat his meals al fresco. His grub is served on the back porch where he can watch squirrels whilst he eats. Lovely.

But if he doesn't eat fast enough, or leaves any in his bowl - Mr. McBeaky swoops in and gobbles down the rest, therefore limiting his portions.

Not content with his dietitian role, he has also taken to hanging out on the porch so that Jasper races out there to chase him away - helping those calories burn off too.

I'm expecting him to turn up with exercise equipment in the next week, maybe get Jasper lifting weights or on the treadmill. I'll keep you posted.

141/365 Odd

2011-05-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling odd all day. Not sure if it was the late night last night, a little too much to drink, the polleny air at the moment or a combination of all of these factors. Never mind, it'll pass. And I did finish another sock today so that makes two for the holiday weekend - not quite a pair though!

140/365 Stained glass bug wings

2011-05-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

are pretty.

A bike ride to a yarn store with T to browse and buy more loveliness, followed by soup and sandwich in a nice new cafe that I have managed to forget the name of. Nice though.

Some herb and tomato plant shopping at Parkdale market, and then more cycling home. Remarkably active for a Sunday afternoon, but thoroughly enjoyable.

Now watching the rain out the window and debating when we make a dash for it to get to the house-warming, feels all too nice and dry in here.

I say tom-ar-toe, and everyone else says tom-ay-toe, dum de dum.

139 b) Saturday saved!

2011-05-22T06:53:00.000-07:00

Thankyou Tara! Not a photo taken by me, but it is a photo of me (and P), so I'm counting it. Hoorah.

And also thanks to T for managing to take a photo which doesn't show the large amount of my dinner I had managed to dribble down my front. Very artistically shot.

So there we go, Saturday was 7 hours at work, then a fine fine BBQ in the sunshine with friends. Not too shabby.

And cupcakes too.

139/365 FAIL!

2011-05-22T06:16:00.000-07:00

I didn't take any photos today - agh!!!!! 139 days into a project and I failed to take any pictures. Fail fail fail......hmm, photos were however taken of me, so lets see if this situation can be at least partly remedied. Help!

138/365 Friday and a storm is approaching.

2011-05-22T06:11:00.000-07:00

An impromptu evening out for Korean food, and en route we spotted this storm a brewing over the river - and me without my brolly. Thankfully it just looked spectacular and didn't swing our way. That's some rain storm there.

The evening included another sweater request from a friend, who wanted to know if it was easy to incorporate pictures into knitting. When asked what he would like represented in stitches, his reply left me speechless...

"I don't know, maybe a cat. Or Colin Farrel with a beard like in Miami Vice".

Hmm....apparently it wasn't the Sake distorting my hearing. We'll see how this project progresses!

137/365 Dedication

2011-05-19T17:57:00.000-07:00

A return to the tulip festival this afternoon, and in the International Tent it was India day. Here we encountered this man, who is a professional embroiderer.

He embroiders on Pashminas, you know the fancy pants silky neckscarf doobreys for sale everywhere nowadays.

Now I have dabbled with embroidery before. I stitched on some napkins as Christmas presents for two sets of friends last year. It took hours!

Yesterday I bemoaned the fact that I didn't manage to finish my latest sweater in time to wear it to work today. Thus far this sweater has taken me about a fortnight, working on it intermittently with other projects.

What's my point?

Well, this man works on the same project for THREE YEARS!

Check out the intricacy of his current piece:

The photo doesn't do it justice believe me, it was beautiful. Here's one of his previous ones, again excuse the photography, the richness of the colours was so striking in reality.

Dedication indeed. I do love an unexpected crafting encounter, especially one so inspirational.

To finish the day an impromptu picnic with M and N, and hammock time - hoorah! The sun finally peeked out this afternoon, and I am looking forward to many more afternoons in parks and evenings on the porch. x

136/365 Wednesday is for....

2011-05-19T17:43:00.000-07:00

....erm, more cake?

So little to report, oh deary me. Here is the cake baked this afternoon and eaten with friends. On the top are a wonky haunted house and a turkey. I have no idea why, they were the first two non-christmassy cutters out of the cupboard, and the cake was in dire need of icing sugar to cover up for its slightly over-baked-ness.

In other news, I spent 15 minutes pushing N on the swing this morning, which he adored and giggled throughout. He then spent zero minutes pushing me on the swing. Zero! Yes, I realise he is only 2. But this is far too reminiscent of childhood arguments over the sharing of the swing in the back garden as children. I'm taking a stopwatch next time and keeping note - when he's big enough I'm claiming my time back, with interest!

Ho hum. Maybe thursday will be cakeless and interesting, only time will tell!

135/365 Tuesday is for cake and flowers

2011-05-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

The cake is German Chocolate cake, with coconut and rum, from Memories cafe which I had not been to before. This situation will now be remedied I can assure you.

The flowers are bright red tulips in a garden on my walk home. They make me think of jesters and I love them.

That is all. x

134/365 Disturbing image follows

2011-05-16T16:20:00.000-07:00

Sir Corkival has returned to us, and unfortunately, despite the fact that I was only being jovial at the end of the previous post on this matter.....the squirrels actually got him.

And chewed off his face.

We found the brave soldier, still clutching his sword and shield like the brave poppet he is, at the bottom of a tree this morning.

Please spare a thought for Sir Corky during his recovery period. We hope to see him return to his post on the mantelpiece as soon as he has undergone his face transplant surgery.

133/365 Chinatown excursion

2011-05-16T16:07:00.000-07:00

The rain held off on Sunday afternoon, so we hiked over to Chinatown for their 'remixed' festival. For the most part this consisted of art-work by locals, displayed in the stores along Somerset. You could wander into the supermarket and find photos of China Street scenes, or into the travel agents to view cartoon birds.

Or, into the laundrette to watch a man play his own compositions on the keyboard, with a microphone held up on a yellow pages, who bumped his head on the overhanging pipe whenever he got carried away. Which was quite often in the song about racism during the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

I'm not really selling that well, it was actually great.

We managed to catch the end of the Taiko drumming display (awesome, more on that in a couple of weeks), and then after wandering the town, settled in Raw Sugar Cafe for a pint and a game of draughts.

No clear winner, although the first game was called off after I pulled the classic 'Oh, look a man in a squirrel hat' distraction and swiped some of Paul's pieces while he turned to look.

After Pho at a local eatery (very tasty) we finished the evening at the IMOO improv gig. Cello, percussion and bassoon with electronic jiggery pokery. Brilliant.

So good I got distracted and knit the same row on my sweater twice. That's recommendation indeed!

132/365 Suggestions for rainy day activities

2011-05-14T17:28:00.001-07:00

Things to do on rainy Saturdays:

Eat.
Start with breakfast, how about raspberries on muesli stirred up with natural yoghurt. For elevenses share some frangipane tarts from the local bakery with a hot cup of coffee.
Follow that with a goats cheese and salad sandwich for lunch, with some kettle chips on the side.
Peckish in the afternoon? More bread and cheese will help that, especially if served with some cranberry compote.
Pop some homemade maple syrup flapjacks in the oven for that early evening nibble. For dinner fry up some asparagus and sliced veggie-burger and serve with left over potato salad and some Dijon mustard......
Supper? Undecided yet but there is plenty of ice-cream in the freezer.

On rainy days its best to hunker down like a hobbit and try your best to squeeze in as many meals as you can. It is a well known fact that calories on the weekend don't count. And definitely not if its raining too.

Honest. Fact.

131/365 A tentative yarn-bombing

2011-05-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

Don't know what yarnbombing is? Check out the wiki page here, or have a look at some fab images here.

My first effort was as part of Winterlude in 2010, where our knitted pieces were sewn onto trees as cosies:

After keeping my knitted wares to myself for the last year, this week a crocheted piece ventured forth. For the last couple of days we've been watching the progress of a miniature fort, built of twigs, that has appeared by a stretch of the Rideau River we pass every morning.

Feeling that no fort is complete without a knight to guard it, this morning Sir Corkival Knight took up this valiant task:

I was hoping that on my next pass there may have been more additions to the scene, maybe a roof to the structure, or a flag flying. But by 2pm this afternoon Sir Corky had gone a wandering. I like to think he met his true love and they floated off down the river together to live happily ever after.

He was probably kidnapped by an evil squirrel.

130/365 Royal tulips

2011-05-13T11:46:00.001-07:00

I did not get up to watch the royal wedding. I think it was on around 5am here and I rarely relish getting up that early for any reason. To be fair I doubt I would have watched it had I been in England either. Don't get me wrong, I don't wish them any harm. But to be honest I find it difficult to get excited about any nuptials, so those of strangers come pretty far down the list. I'm not girlie, I don't care how she looked in her dress, and spotting the outfits sported by the Beckhams and the other 'celebrities' is not my cup of tea.

Strangely, I am entertained by spotting bizarre tributes to the knot-tying, be it the royal wedding sick bags, or this little wonder at the Tulip festival this week:

Truly marvellous don't you think?! Just consider yourselves lucky that I couldn't get the side with Princess Di holding a baby Will in the same shot.....

I'll leave you with some actual tulips to cleanse your palate: