This morning the wind is howling and it's a chilly 9' but that wind is making it feel more like -18'. That's pretty chilly for this time of year in this area. I suppose part of the problem is we've had such unseasonably nice weather for so long that to plunge us right into this is just downright mean on the part of Mother Nature!
Yesterday morning Lloyd and neighbour Frank left at 5:00 with just a light skiff of snow on the ground. Fast forward two hours to 7:00 when I left and it was a whole different story. There was probably 3" of snow on the ground. It had started snowing really hard and kept it up right after he left. The roads were pretty slippery out this way and the highway wasn't much better. It hadn't seen a plow yet and at least one vehicle on my way to work hadn't slowed down for the road conditions. There was a utility trailer of some sort overturned in the middle of the road. My concern was what if the roads got worse the further I went and the guys were having to drive through that. But as I neared town, the snow became less and less and there was very little snow the further west you traveled so I was happy to see that. It did stop snowing and the sun came out and melted a lot of it away. We still have some on the ground at home but not really much left on the roads.
I talked to Lloyd around 4:30 yesterday which would have been 3:30 where they were and they had just stopped for gas and were on the road just outside of Montreal. My calculations should have put them at their destinations a little before midnight but I haven't heard yet. I'm sure I'll hear from him today. He's going to have a busy time while he's there catching up with everyone. I'm sure the time will probably fly by for him and hopefully the weather will cooperate for the trip home.
Not much else is new - just trying to keep warm. I have a lot of things I have to get done before I leave for Toronto and this week will be a good time to tackle some of the things on that list. Tonight there's a dinner at the Rec Centre so not much will be accomplished tonight but I'll have a bit of time in the morning and I have a project to do while I'm at work tomorrow. Then I'll see how productive the rest of the weekend will be.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Wednesday, November 28th - The Class of 2012 complete
It's a chilly -8' this morning and we're warming all the way up to 1' later today. There is a possibility that we might receive from 5 to 15 cm of snow by tomorrow. Lloyd's leaving for Toronto at 5:00 tomorrow morning so let's hope it's not too bad for driving.
We had our potluck last night and what a feast it was. As usual there was WAY too much food but a good time was had by all. We were missing two girls from our cooking class. Lesa was going to be arriving late as it was but she was also not feeling well, so didn't make it at all, and Heather and her husband had tickets for a concert in town last night, so also couldn't be with us. We missed them both at our last opportunity to get together. Everyone seems okay with the fact that we're not teaching the class again next year. I'm sure some of our paths will cross in other classes next year. We'll see what they are offering and then decide what class we're going to take.
We finally got everyone together for a group picture.
The instructors are only required to bring rolls to the potluck but Brenda made some really great biscuits and I made cupcakes. I decided to get a bit creative and made some poinsettias and snowflakes out of fondant a few days before so they had time to dry out a little. I couldn't find a poinsettia cookie cutter so devised my own out of a star. I cut out two stars and laid them on top of each other. The results turned out not too badly. I'll make those again.
We were entertained after dinner by the guitar class (only one student played)
and a large fiddle class (13 played in this one).
This was the 10th year of the Donagh Community School so hats off to the folks who put so much time and effort into organizing it each year. It is truly appreciated.
Yesterday Lloyd rented a gizmo to dig trenches so that he can run wiring from the house to the garage to the bunky. Next door neighbour Frank is coming over today with a tractor to fill in the trenches that now contain the wiring. Next step will be to hook everything up but that will have to wait till he gets back.
We had our potluck last night and what a feast it was. As usual there was WAY too much food but a good time was had by all. We were missing two girls from our cooking class. Lesa was going to be arriving late as it was but she was also not feeling well, so didn't make it at all, and Heather and her husband had tickets for a concert in town last night, so also couldn't be with us. We missed them both at our last opportunity to get together. Everyone seems okay with the fact that we're not teaching the class again next year. I'm sure some of our paths will cross in other classes next year. We'll see what they are offering and then decide what class we're going to take.
We finally got everyone together for a group picture.
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| Donagh Community School Class of 2012 |
The instructors are only required to bring rolls to the potluck but Brenda made some really great biscuits and I made cupcakes. I decided to get a bit creative and made some poinsettias and snowflakes out of fondant a few days before so they had time to dry out a little. I couldn't find a poinsettia cookie cutter so devised my own out of a star. I cut out two stars and laid them on top of each other. The results turned out not too badly. I'll make those again.
We were entertained after dinner by the guitar class (only one student played)
and a large fiddle class (13 played in this one).
This was the 10th year of the Donagh Community School so hats off to the folks who put so much time and effort into organizing it each year. It is truly appreciated.
Yesterday Lloyd rented a gizmo to dig trenches so that he can run wiring from the house to the garage to the bunky. Next door neighbour Frank is coming over today with a tractor to fill in the trenches that now contain the wiring. Next step will be to hook everything up but that will have to wait till he gets back.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Monday, November 26th - Winter is definitely coming
Judging the by the amount of wind and cold on the weekend, winter is definitely on the way - just not yet. After our string of nice sunny days and mild temperatures, we had rain on Saturday, although still quite mild but that certainly changed on Sunday. We woke to strong winds and much colder temperatures. But the sun came out in the afternoon so it didn't look quite so cold. Lloyd had planned to put the Tyvek wrap on the building but needless to say, it was much too breezy for that. Hopefully it will die down some this week.
This morning is still very breezy and the temperature of -2' feels like -10. But the sky is clear and lots of bright stars can be seen so no precipitation is expected today, but maybe later in the week.
I worked on Saturday, then did a few errands in town. It was a pretty quiet evening - just some supper and a bit of TV. Sunday morning was a little busier as I worked on some French Macarons for my close friends and family (those who like the orange/chocolate flavour combination - and you know who you are!). Basically just a puttering around kind of day, doing odd jobs that needed doing. We had a fundraising spaghetti supper in the afternoon at the Rec Centre that Brenda and I have become the chief spaghetti cookers for. This year Brenda was also the chief sauce maker and she received a lot of compliments on her sauce. Be careful, you just might work yourself into a full time position! The crowd was down a bit from last year but did starting filing in a little later. For a while it was looking like it was only going to be a hand full of people show up, but that turned out not the be the case in the end. The crowd may have been down a bit because it was Grey Cup Day so they'll have to make a note of that when planning next year. But all in all, a good day as we were back home by 6:15.
I have to admit I wasn't out to the garage at all this weekend, and I was away last weekend so it's been two weeks since I was last out there. Of course it's dark when I leave for work in the morning and dark when I get home, so not a lot goes on during the week. It's soon going to be closed in completely but I still have some wood to stack. No time this past weekend but hopefully, next weekend will be better.(okay, I could have made time but.... see weather notes above!) Lloyd got the waterproof membrane put on the floor area of the little balcony so that's finished. Now he just has to close up the two large openings on the front and the tyvek on the outside and that just may be all that gets done this year, but it's come a long way in a short time. He's hoping to get the electricity run this week so that he can work out there if he wants to over the winter. We do tend to have mild spells from time to time and it would be nice to be able to take advantage of that.
Bernie loaned us a large piece of scaffolding on wheels that made it easier to get to the higher areas. The funniest sight is my trusty little lawn tractor pulling this huge piece of equipment. It takes a bit of effort but it gets the job done. I knew she wouldn't let us down!
And here's how the building is looking now - slowly getting there but still quite functional for winter storage, even at this point. Once the openings are closed in, it will be a mighty useful space.
This morning is still very breezy and the temperature of -2' feels like -10. But the sky is clear and lots of bright stars can be seen so no precipitation is expected today, but maybe later in the week.
I worked on Saturday, then did a few errands in town. It was a pretty quiet evening - just some supper and a bit of TV. Sunday morning was a little busier as I worked on some French Macarons for my close friends and family (those who like the orange/chocolate flavour combination - and you know who you are!). Basically just a puttering around kind of day, doing odd jobs that needed doing. We had a fundraising spaghetti supper in the afternoon at the Rec Centre that Brenda and I have become the chief spaghetti cookers for. This year Brenda was also the chief sauce maker and she received a lot of compliments on her sauce. Be careful, you just might work yourself into a full time position! The crowd was down a bit from last year but did starting filing in a little later. For a while it was looking like it was only going to be a hand full of people show up, but that turned out not the be the case in the end. The crowd may have been down a bit because it was Grey Cup Day so they'll have to make a note of that when planning next year. But all in all, a good day as we were back home by 6:15.
I have to admit I wasn't out to the garage at all this weekend, and I was away last weekend so it's been two weeks since I was last out there. Of course it's dark when I leave for work in the morning and dark when I get home, so not a lot goes on during the week. It's soon going to be closed in completely but I still have some wood to stack. No time this past weekend but hopefully, next weekend will be better.(okay, I could have made time but.... see weather notes above!) Lloyd got the waterproof membrane put on the floor area of the little balcony so that's finished. Now he just has to close up the two large openings on the front and the tyvek on the outside and that just may be all that gets done this year, but it's come a long way in a short time. He's hoping to get the electricity run this week so that he can work out there if he wants to over the winter. We do tend to have mild spells from time to time and it would be nice to be able to take advantage of that.
Bernie loaned us a large piece of scaffolding on wheels that made it easier to get to the higher areas. The funniest sight is my trusty little lawn tractor pulling this huge piece of equipment. It takes a bit of effort but it gets the job done. I knew she wouldn't let us down!
And here's how the building is looking now - slowly getting there but still quite functional for winter storage, even at this point. Once the openings are closed in, it will be a mighty useful space.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Friday, November 23rd - and still the nice weather continues - for now
It's a balmy 6' outside this morning and we should reach a sunny high of 10' later this afternoon - a perfect day to be outside, once again. The last couple of days have been gorgeous and much progress has been made on the building. The top is now complete and today he's working on the little inset balcony area. The roof is covered as are the two ends so thanks to the weather this week real progress has been made. This should allow him to be prepared to go to Ontario some time next week. While he's away, I'll use that time to sort and get the house somewhat ready for Christmas. By the time he gets back, it should almost be time for me to fly to Toronto. The time is going by so fast! But then December is always like that.
Yesterday I found the listing for my friend's house that's for sale in Guelph. They did an amazing job with the virtual tour - check it out:
Halifax part 3: Before we left on Sunday morning, and after we had dropped Ange at church, we spent some time touring the area known in Halifax as the Hydrostone neighbourhood. This area was re-built after the Halifax Explosion. The houses are all in rows with lanes running between the back of each row of houses for parking, garbage collection, etc. In between the rows of houses at the front, on each street is a very wide grassy green space. There are a number of rows of these houses and were made with a special man made material known as hydrostone. Some still remain in their original form but many have since be covered with siding and other materials. Those that have been left and maintained have a real interesting quality to them. At one end of the area, are two rows of building that are shops of all sorts and by the time we left it was filled with people. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning and the area was very well utilized by the locals. We went into a little patisserie and had coffee and a pastry then walked through and toured the little shops. What a pleasant way to spend a Sunday morning.
Yesterday I found the listing for my friend's house that's for sale in Guelph. They did an amazing job with the virtual tour - check it out:
As I watched the video, I know that others will see an absolutely gorgeous house, but I see something else in that video:
- I see countless parties with good friends,
- I see Jana and I up till the wee hours working on Scott's parents scrapbook at the dining room table ( just one more page!),
- I see people hovering around the stove waiting for the mini burgers we prepared along with countless other dishes for a massive fundraiser we put together in a couple of weeks, for the local Children's Foundation,
- I see starry nights sitting out on the balcony drinking wine, (and Scott being dismayed at how some people guzzled what was a very expensive and beautiful wine)
- I see the kids playing in the pool or jumping in the bouncy castle or sliding down the inflatable slide (the little kids during the evening, the bigger kids after the little ones had gone home),
- I see a table set for 26 people as we had the after Christmas parties every January with all the staff,
- I see many hours spent in Jana's kitchen with Kay and Jackie as we prepped for the summer BBQ,
- I see Maple Lodge Farms setting up the big BBQ's in the driveway and roasting 100 half chickens for the same BBQ,
- I see Scott, Ryan and Kristi setting up the bar for numerous parties outside on the patio
- I see Lloyd's apartment that was his home away from home for quite some time while he worked to be able to join me on the island
- I see Frank Balnar sitting at the bar in the kitchen before dinner at numerous gatherings - after Christmas, dinner with their friends from Vancouver - holding court with all the staff
- I see Scott playing the part of bartender at all the functions as he skillfully mixed drinks (here, you've got to try this one)
- I see Kristi running experiments for a school project that involved drinking either copious amounts, or carefully measured out ounces, of wine and then using a breathalyzer to determine our level of intoxication
- I see the same experiment run the second time because of an equipment malfunction the first time
- I see Sarah spending countless hours on the bricks in the hallway
- I see a huge, real Christmas tree in the downstairs family room that reached up two stories tall
I see many things when I look at that video, and when the house is sold, it seems like another chapter of my life will be coming to a close.
Halifax part 3: Before we left on Sunday morning, and after we had dropped Ange at church, we spent some time touring the area known in Halifax as the Hydrostone neighbourhood. This area was re-built after the Halifax Explosion. The houses are all in rows with lanes running between the back of each row of houses for parking, garbage collection, etc. In between the rows of houses at the front, on each street is a very wide grassy green space. There are a number of rows of these houses and were made with a special man made material known as hydrostone. Some still remain in their original form but many have since be covered with siding and other materials. Those that have been left and maintained have a real interesting quality to them. At one end of the area, are two rows of building that are shops of all sorts and by the time we left it was filled with people. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning and the area was very well utilized by the locals. We went into a little patisserie and had coffee and a pastry then walked through and toured the little shops. What a pleasant way to spend a Sunday morning.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Wednesday, November 21st - last cooking class and Halifax Part 2
It's a chilly 0' at 5:00 am but we should warm up to 7' later with some sunshine. Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous - very mild and sunny. When I went out for lunch I truly wished I'd had the day to spend at home puttering around outside. But such is life!
Last night was our final cooking class. We made caramel and chocolate covered apples with festive sprinkles. Some of the class brought in samples of Christmas favorites along with the recipe. Besides various cookies we enjoyed a fluffy fruit salad and a creamy crab dip. Needless to say a feast was had by all. Our apples turned out okay but the caramels were a little thick when they were melted as was the chocolate so they were very well coated. But they got the idea. We made some chocolate candy cane bark with the left over chocolate that turned out not too badly. Now all that is left is our pot luck next week.
Halifax part 2: (click on the photos to enlarge and view details)
On Sunday morning we met Brenda's aunt Ange for breakfast before dropping her off at church. We went to Streak and Stein and had a nice meal and a lovely chat.
Before we dropped her off at church, we visited a cemetery that has the graves of the some of the victims of the Titanic sinking.
There are row upon row of stones that initially only contained the date of death and a number.
Over time the victims have been identified and some of the families have chosen to add the name or a new grave marker.
In come cases, in spite of the person being identified, there still remains no name. The option to add the name was strictly at the families' doing so possibly in some cases there is no family remaining to do that.
It was quite a moving experience to walk through the rows in the sunshine and view the graves of those lost, especially those of young sailors and in some cases, whole families. It started me thinking.
Today so many people opt for cremation instead of burial (me included) and I know this is probably the most environmentally friendly option, rather than taking up floor space in a cemetery somewhere. But on the other hand, once you're gone, you're really gone with no physical record that you were ever here
I know there's a paper trail to say that you lived, got married, died, etc but nothing tangible. It brought to mind a conversation we had in the car many years ago when Patti was still in school. We were talking about cremation and after thinking about it her question was "But where do people go to miss you?" We laughed and talked about the memories still being alive but now I wonder if she had a valid point?
All those people, in that cemetery, were someone's family member. Even if they only have a number, there is still something that marks the fact that they were here. Something to think about.
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| Shamus adding the finishing touches to his apple |
Halifax part 2: (click on the photos to enlarge and view details)
On Sunday morning we met Brenda's aunt Ange for breakfast before dropping her off at church. We went to Streak and Stein and had a nice meal and a lovely chat.
Before we dropped her off at church, we visited a cemetery that has the graves of the some of the victims of the Titanic sinking.
There are row upon row of stones that initially only contained the date of death and a number.
Over time the victims have been identified and some of the families have chosen to add the name or a new grave marker.
In come cases, in spite of the person being identified, there still remains no name. The option to add the name was strictly at the families' doing so possibly in some cases there is no family remaining to do that.
It was quite a moving experience to walk through the rows in the sunshine and view the graves of those lost, especially those of young sailors and in some cases, whole families. It started me thinking.
Today so many people opt for cremation instead of burial (me included) and I know this is probably the most environmentally friendly option, rather than taking up floor space in a cemetery somewhere. But on the other hand, once you're gone, you're really gone with no physical record that you were ever here
I know there's a paper trail to say that you lived, got married, died, etc but nothing tangible. It brought to mind a conversation we had in the car many years ago when Patti was still in school. We were talking about cremation and after thinking about it her question was "But where do people go to miss you?" We laughed and talked about the memories still being alive but now I wonder if she had a valid point?
All those people, in that cemetery, were someone's family member. Even if they only have a number, there is still something that marks the fact that they were here. Something to think about.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Monday, November 19th - what a great Jesse Cook weekend!
This morning it's bright stars in a clear, dark sky and -2' but we should reach a sunny 5' later. Pretty much a carbon copy of what we had in Halifax all weekend.
The weekend started out with packing on Friday evening and getting ready to go, and celebrating Patti's birthday by sharing some chocolate cake and ice cream! (Many years ago, when Patti was a teenager, we lived in an apartment building beside a large shopping mall. The three of us would be sitting watching TV and the two of them would start - Lloyd would whisper "Chocolate Cake" to which Patti would reply "Ice Cream". This would then entail a trip to the store for said items so the three of us could enjoy 'chocolate cake and ice cream' - this happened quite frequently!) So in honour of Patti's birthday we enjoyed 'chocolate cake and ice cream'.
Saturday morning bright and early I picked up Brenda and we headed down the road to the boat that was sailing at 6:30. One little glitch - after I got to her place I realized I'd forgotten the folder with all the confirmation stuff in it, so a quick trip back to my place before heading down the road. Once we headed down the road we almost (literally) ran into a traffic jam. What is this? Who the heck has a convoy of vehicles coming up the Monahan Road at 5:30 in the morning? Turns out it was Bernie's hunting friend and his buddies heading for a farmers corn field in an attempt to bag some ducks and/or geese. As we passed the vehicles Brenda recognized the truck so she called his cell phone and inquired just why they were causing such gridlock at that hour of the morning??? After a bit of fun with that, we continued on our way.
Made it to the boat in lots of time and got in line with the other 3 or 4 cars that were waiting. Once on the boat, we ran into a lady that Brenda knew many years ago, so a bit of time was spent catching up with her. Then it was into the restaurant area where we enjoyed "The Islander" breakfast, which I'm told is the islander thing to do when taking the ferry - 2 eggs, bacon, home fries, toast and coffee. It was quite good, enjoyed along with the daily paper. It also saved us from wasting valuable shopping time eating breakfast upon our arrival.
The weather for driving to Halifax alternated between a light drizzle, overcast and then some sun - not really a bad day. At this time of year, it could have been much worse. As we got to town we decided to check out a shopping area called Dartmouth Crossing. It's basically a large shopping mall but without a roof.
It's kind of ironic really, because it's re-creating the downtown shopping experience outside of town, when that's what they had all along, before building the big indoor malls that have destroyed many downtown areas. We got there a couple of minutes before the stores opened and there were a couple we wanted to check out. Good thing we got there when we did because when we finished shopping the two stores at one end, the parking lot in the centre was packed when we came out. We found a few items for Christmas gifts for various people so that was a good thing but time to move on.
Next stop was the farmer's market. It was located at the seaport and in a large warehouse. It's huge and has lots of really interesting vendors. We had lots of things to sample, including several wineries. Needless to say, not just produce was purchased at this stop!
A short drive further down the road was a craft sale we'd seen online. There were lots of lovely things but neither of us won the lottery the night before, so pretty much everything there was WAY out of our price range. But it was nice to look.
By now we were starting to get a bit hungry and it was late enough that we could check into the hotel. We hadn't realized that the Santa Claus Parade was taking place on Saturday through the downtown at 6:00 pm so it was good that we had strategically booked a hotel that was almost precisely half way between the restaurant and the concert venue. We'd be able to walk everywhere we needed to go.
After parking the car out back, checking in and changing into our good jean (as opposed to our traveling and shopping jeans!) we headed out for our evening on the town. The hotel wasn't fancy by any means but it was comfortable and the location turned out to be perfect.
We headed down to Barrington Street, on foot, where we had reservations for 5:30 at Chives, a local restaurant owned by Chef Craig Flinn, who used to be on The Inn Chef with Michael Smith a million years ago. After checking out several shops along the way we realized it was only 5:00 and the streets were beginning to be lined with people and lawn chairs, and police had closed off the street and were working on towing away those cars that were still in the way. Good thing we walked! So we went into Chives and they were very accommodating and let us change our reservation to 5:00. Good thing too, because we were starting to get cold and more than a little hungry. We really hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast on the boat.
Chef Craig wasn't there but his fellow chef was. What a treat. We enjoyed our meal immensely. We started out by sharing an appetizer of SMOKED SALMON BRUSCHETTA - Local smoked salmon, lemon ricotta cheese, grilled garlic crostini, pickled red onions & crispy capers, and fresh cut chives. Two large pieces that were perfect for sharing.
Then the main course. I had the BRAISED NOVA SCOTIA LAMB DU JOUR
Roasted squash risotto, market vegetables, sherry lamb jus reduction, and pumpkin seeds.
Brenda enjoyed LOBSTER CRUSTED HADDOCK with new garden vegetable hodge podge and lemon fennel salad. Both dishes were beautifully prepared and presented.
The menu made a couple of suggestions for complementary wines with each that made it an easy choice.
For dessert we shared a decadent slice of Flourless Chocolate Cake, with Cinnamon Ice Cream, Port Poached Pears and White and Dark Chocolate sauces. YUMMMMM.
After coffee and tea we waddled out onto the street only to find it clogged with hundreds of parade watchers enjoying the festivities in full swing. It became obvious very quickly that we needed to change our walking route so headed over to University Avenue to avoid the crowds and make our way up to Dalhousie's concert hall.
We made the right decision to walk because a number of people arrived at the concert late due to difficulties in finding a parking spot due to the close proximity to the parade.
As usual, Jesse did not disappoint. I've seen him a number of times now and this was by far the most high energy show I've seen with the greatest degree of audience participation. I suppose it was helped by the fact that one of the fellows who plays with him, Chris Church, is from Halifax and they really welcomed him back home. It was an amazing show with lots of favorite tunes and some new voices. He featured an unknown (to us, anyway) female singer from Toronto. Emma Lee was wonderful and Brenda bought her CD at the break. We really enjoyed listening to it on the way home but more on that later.
When it was all over, we walked back to the hotel. It was cold but not windy, so it wasn't really so bad. A warm cup of tea upon our arrival made all the difference and after so much walking all day we were glad to finally get off our feet for the day.
See you Wednesday.
To be continued.....
The weekend started out with packing on Friday evening and getting ready to go, and celebrating Patti's birthday by sharing some chocolate cake and ice cream! (Many years ago, when Patti was a teenager, we lived in an apartment building beside a large shopping mall. The three of us would be sitting watching TV and the two of them would start - Lloyd would whisper "Chocolate Cake" to which Patti would reply "Ice Cream". This would then entail a trip to the store for said items so the three of us could enjoy 'chocolate cake and ice cream' - this happened quite frequently!) So in honour of Patti's birthday we enjoyed 'chocolate cake and ice cream'.
Saturday morning bright and early I picked up Brenda and we headed down the road to the boat that was sailing at 6:30. One little glitch - after I got to her place I realized I'd forgotten the folder with all the confirmation stuff in it, so a quick trip back to my place before heading down the road. Once we headed down the road we almost (literally) ran into a traffic jam. What is this? Who the heck has a convoy of vehicles coming up the Monahan Road at 5:30 in the morning? Turns out it was Bernie's hunting friend and his buddies heading for a farmers corn field in an attempt to bag some ducks and/or geese. As we passed the vehicles Brenda recognized the truck so she called his cell phone and inquired just why they were causing such gridlock at that hour of the morning??? After a bit of fun with that, we continued on our way.
Made it to the boat in lots of time and got in line with the other 3 or 4 cars that were waiting. Once on the boat, we ran into a lady that Brenda knew many years ago, so a bit of time was spent catching up with her. Then it was into the restaurant area where we enjoyed "The Islander" breakfast, which I'm told is the islander thing to do when taking the ferry - 2 eggs, bacon, home fries, toast and coffee. It was quite good, enjoyed along with the daily paper. It also saved us from wasting valuable shopping time eating breakfast upon our arrival.
It's kind of ironic really, because it's re-creating the downtown shopping experience outside of town, when that's what they had all along, before building the big indoor malls that have destroyed many downtown areas. We got there a couple of minutes before the stores opened and there were a couple we wanted to check out. Good thing we got there when we did because when we finished shopping the two stores at one end, the parking lot in the centre was packed when we came out. We found a few items for Christmas gifts for various people so that was a good thing but time to move on.
A short drive further down the road was a craft sale we'd seen online. There were lots of lovely things but neither of us won the lottery the night before, so pretty much everything there was WAY out of our price range. But it was nice to look.
By now we were starting to get a bit hungry and it was late enough that we could check into the hotel. We hadn't realized that the Santa Claus Parade was taking place on Saturday through the downtown at 6:00 pm so it was good that we had strategically booked a hotel that was almost precisely half way between the restaurant and the concert venue. We'd be able to walk everywhere we needed to go.
After parking the car out back, checking in and changing into our good jean (as opposed to our traveling and shopping jeans!) we headed out for our evening on the town. The hotel wasn't fancy by any means but it was comfortable and the location turned out to be perfect.
Chef Craig wasn't there but his fellow chef was. What a treat. We enjoyed our meal immensely. We started out by sharing an appetizer of SMOKED SALMON BRUSCHETTA - Local smoked salmon, lemon ricotta cheese, grilled garlic crostini, pickled red onions & crispy capers, and fresh cut chives. Two large pieces that were perfect for sharing.
Then the main course. I had the BRAISED NOVA SCOTIA LAMB DU JOUR
Roasted squash risotto, market vegetables, sherry lamb jus reduction, and pumpkin seeds.
The menu made a couple of suggestions for complementary wines with each that made it an easy choice.
For dessert we shared a decadent slice of Flourless Chocolate Cake, with Cinnamon Ice Cream, Port Poached Pears and White and Dark Chocolate sauces. YUMMMMM.
After coffee and tea we waddled out onto the street only to find it clogged with hundreds of parade watchers enjoying the festivities in full swing. It became obvious very quickly that we needed to change our walking route so headed over to University Avenue to avoid the crowds and make our way up to Dalhousie's concert hall.
We made the right decision to walk because a number of people arrived at the concert late due to difficulties in finding a parking spot due to the close proximity to the parade.
When it was all over, we walked back to the hotel. It was cold but not windy, so it wasn't really so bad. A warm cup of tea upon our arrival made all the difference and after so much walking all day we were glad to finally get off our feet for the day.
See you Wednesday.
To be continued.....
Friday, November 16, 2012
Friday, November 16th - Happy Birthday, Patti!
Out here on the coast we're enjoying great weather for this time of year. It's a little cooler than it was earlier in the week but still pretty nice for mid November. Looking ahead, it should stay this way for at least the next week. Hopefully Patti is enjoying a nice day today too, for her birthday. Be careful when you light all those candles!!!
The bad news is Lloyd is finished his construction job and doesn't yet have another to go to. The good news is, he now has time to get his building finished, or at least as finished as it's going to be this fall. It's still not completely closed in as yet so the next weeks nice weather will suit that purpose nicely. When he gets that finished, he's going to head to Ontario for a week or so, to pick up the rest of his 'stuff' that's still in Guelph. We figure at this point he may as well just wait till after Christmas and then start looking again for work, unless something happens to come along in the meantime.
He'll just get home and then it will be my turn. The kids school play is taking place on December 19th this year so I'm flying up that day and staying until Patti and James (and Meadow) and I leave to drive here on the 23rd. I'm not sure what day the others are planning on flying down but we should all reconnect sometime on Christmas Eve here on the island. That will give me a brief chance to drop in on a few folks for coffee (you know who you are, so get the coffee ready!!). I'll plan my schedule over the next month. I'll also have to make sure I'm all ready for Christmas before I leave as there will be no time when I get back. In fact we'll be going out to cut down the tree when as soon as we get here so it will be really last minute on Christmas Eve, but I suppose that's what the pioneers did - and that's what this will be - a pioneer Christmas, partly in honour of James' fascination with the War of 1812. So everything for our dinner will have to be locally sourced. That will mean lots of root vegetables and a locally raised turkey. We can handle that. James has requested Grouse for Christmas and a local hunter friend is looking into that for us.
Brenda called the other night to advise that they received some pork that had just been butchered. So she and Lloyd got together last night to try their hand at some homemade breakfast sausage. It went very well and the results were great. They just made a small batch but plan to get together again after Christmas some weekend and we'll all make a big batch of several types. Now we'll have great tasting sausages with no additives.
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| Happy Birthday, Patti! |
He'll just get home and then it will be my turn. The kids school play is taking place on December 19th this year so I'm flying up that day and staying until Patti and James (and Meadow) and I leave to drive here on the 23rd. I'm not sure what day the others are planning on flying down but we should all reconnect sometime on Christmas Eve here on the island. That will give me a brief chance to drop in on a few folks for coffee (you know who you are, so get the coffee ready!!). I'll plan my schedule over the next month. I'll also have to make sure I'm all ready for Christmas before I leave as there will be no time when I get back. In fact we'll be going out to cut down the tree when as soon as we get here so it will be really last minute on Christmas Eve, but I suppose that's what the pioneers did - and that's what this will be - a pioneer Christmas, partly in honour of James' fascination with the War of 1812. So everything for our dinner will have to be locally sourced. That will mean lots of root vegetables and a locally raised turkey. We can handle that. James has requested Grouse for Christmas and a local hunter friend is looking into that for us.
Brenda called the other night to advise that they received some pork that had just been butchered. So she and Lloyd got together last night to try their hand at some homemade breakfast sausage. It went very well and the results were great. They just made a small batch but plan to get together again after Christmas some weekend and we'll all make a big batch of several types. Now we'll have great tasting sausages with no additives.
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| The initial mix of meat and spices |
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| "The Pisquid Sausage Company" |
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| The finished product |
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