6th March and the second picnic of the week

It is still winter, the temperature was -6 when we headed out with Jasper this morning. But by midday it was +8 with beautiful blue skies, and the people of Ottawa returned to the streets. There was a clown on the bus (well he had a clowns nose anyway); juggling on street corners; bustling in the market place - and five friends sharing a delicious picnic in the park.

We bought lunch at Whalesbone,sampling their sock-eye burgers, smoked salmon sandwiches and delicious chowder. Washed down with cream soda - smiles all round.

Picnics at this time of the year may not involve sunbathing and lazy games of Frisbee. All the better - the temperature today was perfect, there were no bugs and there is something fabulous about watching the steam rise from your hot fish chowder whilst sat in a park of melting snow. Bliss.

March the 5th - oops

Eek, a fail on day five....some evenings are for blogging and others are for falling asleep by the fire listening to songs with biscuit in the title....

March forth....

Lunch day - 6 of us for lunch today and broke away from soup for a change. I made tomato and herb crusted cod with creamy parmesan mash - lovely, well I thought so and it vanished pretty quickly.

This regular lunch date is a favourite day for so many reasons - good company, good deserts from Betsy and good knitting afterwards - but also a good reminder of the fact that I now cook for groups of people regularly. Cooking for two was a stretch of my talents back in England! So silly the mental barriers we put up - I could have been a contestant on 'Can't Cook, Won't Cook' back then, and just six months later I love cooking and even break away from the recipe books every now and again....

Although saying that we did have oven chips and fried eggs for dinner last night.....baby steps!

day three

Has spring arrived? I think its safe to say that it probably hasn't, but things have brightened and although its still -2ish first thing in the morning, we're hitting the heights of +4 or more by lunchtime. This new found warmth has led to a big rise in the wildlife spotting, although as things have been very sparse recently a big rise isn't all that dramatic.

I do now have regular bird visitors on the back porch, albeit cock-e-ney sparrows just like the ones back home. They've been joined by a dark-eyed junco today, and I also spotted male northern cardinals singing seductive tunes to their prospective lady friends. Apparently car-alarm impressions are very attractive in the world of bright red birdies.

Last night saw the second visit to our compost from Mr.Raccon, who seems very adept at toppling the wheelie bin over before climbing inside to forrage for tasty treats. Worryingly I sometimes struggle to open the child-proof fastenings to deposit our peelings and this opposable-thumbless creature seems to manage with very little bother. Based on the detritus left around the bin this morning it is safe to report that this furry friend is not a fan of cauliflower.

And as for us, the warmth has put a spring in our step, and we enjoyed homemade soup and a sandwich by the river at lunchtime. Best to make the most of the blue skies before the snow returns....

the second

A monumental day in my canadian story as today I earnt my first dollars - all 4 of them. I handed in photos to the canteen picturama, they collate 4x6 prints and then sell them at a gallery evening at $2 a pop. We went for sushi then headed to the overcrowded venue, to find I had sold one - and then another to my friend who purchased a prize picture of the taj mahal snow globe I bought back from India for Paul.....who knows maybe I clocked up a few more spondoolies after we headed to the pub.

Also today I added another string to my bow with my first spinning class. I have realised this week just how few of my friends actually know me, as without fail one after the other responded to this news with "spinnings one of the hardest exercise classes you can do you know" or words to that effect - even the knitters! No, I have not been working up a sweat on an exercise bike, but I have attempted spinning roving into yarn under the expert tuition of Caroline at Knit-knackers. She was very (very) patient, and I managed not to swear out loud when my thread snapped for the umpteenth time - success all round!

A hunky-dory day indeed.

merry march....

a challenge set to myself to blog every day in march - a simple target you may think, but this depends very much whether I decide just to ramble away inanely, or whether I decide to try and do something worth blogging about each day! time will tell....

Today I returned to the dentist of doom, and it wasn't quite so bad. More advice on how to turn my grotty Austin Powers English teeth into sparkling North American pearly whites, but less humiliation so a small success.

Sandwiching either side of my dentist trip was a double helping of DIY and organisation - at a friends apartment. Why I feel motivated to put together flat packed furniture in other people's homes I have no idea, but todays big achievement was single-handedly putting together an IKEA wardrobe - hooray!

Back home to get Paul's dinner on the table (Amy's special fusion cookery - tomato and feta soup followed by fake-beef, aubergine and pepper spring rolls) and greet him with a milkshake. Job done. x

In the merry month of February.....(in no particular order!)

* I became an Aunty, to two beautiful babies Lewis Austin and Megan Ann
* Paul discovered the wonders of Galvestone
* We visited Winterlude, slid down ice-slides, drank hot chocolate and viewed impressive ice and snow sculptures
* I had the dentist appointment of doom
* I went back to England and a Lawes became a Lissenden
* I witnessed an Eagle Owl pooping on a TV in a school hall
* I took part in the knitting olympics and won medals in sock hockey, aerial unwind, wip dancing and the junior olympics.
* I shared meals and cuppas with good friends
* I had a major hissy fit reminiscent of the legendary pass-the-parcel tantrum whilst ice-skating on the canal
* I cooked curries and stir-fries; halloumi and aubergine stacks with lemon and cumin oil; red onion tarte tatin; smoked mackerel pate; a victoria sponge and chocolate brownies.....yum
* We danced in a circle dance with first nation dancers at winterlude
* we spent many an evening falling asleep on the sofa by the fire, playing tiddly scrabble and watching the sopranos, kids in the hall and attenborough. x

some piccies.....