This is another texture experiment, on a wee tulip that was coming up in the garden of our wonderful 120-acre estate property (before we’d seen Abaco – then – bye bye gorgeous property!).
I will have to get some pink from around town here for you for another Pink Saturday. I am sure I can find some!
Well, the view from the front veranda, at least!
The ocean is across the street, and these houses are in front of us on the same side of the street.
These are one I don’t know the name of (it is too small on the house – but it is cool that all of the houses are named here), and Casa Luisa on the right.
And this would be a piece of Casa Luisa, then Jolie’s house on the left and Erica and Dewey’s porch railing on the right.
And this is — wait a minute!
What’s HE doing here??
Ah, lunch break! Some excuse! Get back to work!
Which of these three do you think is most Rudi, most professional but friendly?
Thoughts? Which would you choose?
We stayed in Toronto Airport’s Sheraton, which was amazingly AT our WestJet gate in the morning. No driving, no parking, no walking for miles. Incredible!
We knew something was up when we saw these folks:
And we had a special line to get into, with smiling, happy people, who chatted with one another and enjoyed the pretty ladies dancing and dancing (to Caribbean music, like Cuban, but no matter).
And the press sign-in. And a guy from tourism from the Bahamas.
Turns out that when I booked this particular flight into Freeport, desperately trying to avoid Nassau’s airport, I didn’t know it was the inaugural flight for WestJet, bringing the first Canadians into FPO in history!! There was much excitement to follow!
And at the gate they had laid out a Canadian breakfast for us – Tim Hortons coffee, tea, cookies, juices! When was the last time your airline did that for you?
And these guys were performing on steel drums, and the ladies came over and danced, danced, danced again! And of course, they had chosen a gate on the sunny side of the terminal.
And this lady had some scissors –
(Yes, I jiggled the camera on purpose. YOU try holding a bird in a carrier and a carry-on suitcase and a cookie and an orange juice and taking photos!)
And these folks got happy – the first officer, head flight attendant, Bahamas guy, captain, our flight attendant at the rear (where they park babies and animals).
And, still reeling from the lack of sleep, the terror the bird had to go through in security, the cookie and oj and the music and dancing, we got into the line to pre-board (that was cool), got our little WestJet present and got onto the plane, got the animals settled and waited for take-off and our champagne and oj.
Next chapter – the flight and on-landing.
We’re at the hotel, leaving in the morning and are a bit exhausted at this point. But we wanted to say adios, and we will check in from the other side.
(This is Calgary, but we can pretend!)
We’re packing, yes frantically. Frantically packing.
But I still took the time out of my day to paint you this picture for Pink Saturday. Why? Because we love you. (Bonus points for anyone who can tell me from where that phrase was stolen.)
Rudi is speaking at the Autism One conference in Toronto today. He was at the airport to fly out at 9:00 am, and will return home on a train almost at midnight. A long day, and a day I could have used his help running errands (mostly because it is rainy and he is not a weenie like I am, going in and out of stores and driving all over this land).
Hearing aid batteries, hair goop, pack, drop off the cable tv stuff, go to the camera store, pack, do some mailings, pack, pull out Christmas cards and gifts to give to Mary so they can be delivered and mailed on time, and PACK. Anyone want to come over and make me some tea and give me a massage with essential oils and soft music playing in the background?
We need a photo of Rudi and me (individually) for something special, let’s just say a larger banner/poster sort of thing.
This is an older one, and a kinda strange smile, but Rudi looks pretty good in it. Professional enough, like a nice guy.
But it isn’t loved by all. What do you think? Shall we use this, or should I take a new (and of course, a better) photo?
What do you think? I’d love to hear!
Susan and Harvey met us for lunch on Monday, and did us a massive favour, taking STUFF to the shipping place. I love our STUFF. And we love Susan and Harvey too. sniff…
This funny man likes to take things in by inverting his head.
Silly burd.
Well, a few generations.
This is Oma, actually overgroetmoeder (the next grandmother over) with her new-ish great granddaughter Isla (pronounced “I-la”), daughter of Jan and Becky. And Jan is pronounced “Yan.” Isn’t Dutch fun?
Isla is four months old, and she appears to be a Sulphur. Hang onto your hats, Jan and Becky!!
In the autumn…
And with textures. I just can’t help playing with them!
We got home from Victoria at about 1:00 am today, and our etheric bodies are about halfway across the country at this point, not quite in Ottawa. Can you spell exhausted?
That’s the airport in Calgary. And I’ve just been reading in Spanish, so I keep wanting to type en espanol…
How DO you make a tilde?
Anyway, we picked up sandwiches at Ralph’s for the weird flight back to Ottawa – an hour to Calgary then sit, for FOUR HOURS! Then into Ottawa at midnight.
And spotted at Ralph’s (and anyone who knows Rudi will attest to this)…
It will be nice to get home, see the animals and sleep in our own bed tonight. And yes, we totally miss Rudi’s mom and dad already.
Very tiny.
We met two of our excellent students for lunch downtown on Tuesday. Amanda’s boyfriend has a friend who opened this great burger place – so great that in the voting for the best burgers in Victoria, where the Pink Bicycle was not listed (it was too new), it still won just on the write-in votes. And their burgers were delicious! Rudi and I shared a lamb and blue cheese, and Kelsey had the ahi tuna with truffles fries — WOW!! I’d do those again in a heartbeat!
It was good to see Lisa and Amanda again.
Around the corner from the Pink Bicycle was a Dutch bakery, where I bought a few things marzipan, and a cupcakery, Pink Sugar, where the cupcakes were a total disappointment. The dough on some were more like pancake dough, and the frosting not exciting at all. We have two to go still, and no drive to finish them off. Sad. The place wasn’t busy, unlike Flirt in Edmonton. Maybe that should have been a clue.
At the end of the afternoon we paid a visit to Amanda’s lovely boat in the Victoria harbour, and met her beautiful kitty Bill. Amanda plans to sail the world one day in the not-too-distant future!
I think you all deserve to see more of this little town.
This is the road from the Verspoor’s house to Sidney – and in the background you can see Salt Spring Island, an entire different island that you can take a ferry to, and which we will do one day.
This is a dangerous store – Muffet and Louisa, and I knew there was no way we should let Kelsey go in here. But Yolande took her, and we had to pick them up and there she stood with tears in her eyes coveting a lovely Japanese knife, $120, and it could almost cut through steel. So she decided her sister Meghan could pay half (as a belated birthday present), and she will pay half and – volia! Knife. It has other kitchen things too, and I walked away with a new whisk since mine at home is a family (read: Kelsey) embarassment. There’s also a garden shop and a cafe here.
This is adorable, and perfect for Sidney. It is a two-movie theatre in town.
This is the bike shop and Chef on the Run. Check their menu and prices – pretty affordable. We like to call up and order their healthier items (no pig) and have dinner delivered to Rudi’s mom and dad and sister from time to time. It is a nice surprise. http://members.shaw.ca/chef5/menu.html
Chinese medicine –
And Qi Gong –
This is a charity store, kind of like the Salvation Army, whose profits go to animals. There is a big focus on animals here, including the little bit silly “Reigning Cats & Dogs,” which has everything for animals, including costumes.
This is the Landmark, the former condos closest to the water, and the Pier, the new condos closest to the water. Imagine being a waterfront owner in the Landmark when the city fathers granted the Pier people the building permit?
This is Pier One, where we had dinner this evening. It is kind of the old standby for Rudi’s parents. Sadly, we are so full at this point that Rudi, Eric, Kelsey and I just had appetizers for dinner.
This statue is great, and is indicative of Sidney. A man and his loving dog, or a loving man and his dog… and interestingly, as we left Pier One tonight I met a man who had rescued a little Mexican dog, Sheila, and she was with him. He’s rescued over 400 dogs in six years. Wonderful!
This is a nice women’s clothing store and a realtor.
And Sidney Natural Foods and the Starbucks and a Bank of Montreal -
And buskers with their pup:
Isn’t this a nice location for a condo? I think I could handle it, with a nice natural gas fireplace for the grey days…
This is the Beacon Pub, at the end of Beacon Avenue (the main drag to the water in Sidney). This group of stores also includes a papery. I can’t go in there with my wallet.
And the marina.
The Pier, condos overlooking the water.
I think I like these better. I used to picture my mom in one of these…
This is the ice cream store, and diner (never been in here)!
We drove around a bit, and on a corner of a little neighbourhood found an old-fashioned corner store!
And last but not least – Ralph’s. He’s Dutch and he makes a helluva sandwich.
TOO MUCH CAKE.
TOO MUCH FOOD.
I am full to overflowing, and we have to go eat again tomorrow. I am never eating again.
This was the before-dinner cake.
The candles were blown out in order of seniority. First was Papa:
Next came Janny:
Then our hero:
And then young Eric:
After this Kelsey made a full gourmet meal and we ate it. She also baked a cake with fresh fruit… but we decided to hold off until tomorrow. I sit here with my stomach on my lap. No photos – sorry!
I still am not even slightly hungry. We ate nine hours ago.
We went with the family, lots of family, to the Marina Restaurant in Oak Bay, at the marina. Convenient, eh?
I thought I’d introduce you to those assembled. First, we have Frederike and Les’s son, Alexander. He is smart, working on his master’s now in something most likely related to computers.
Next we have Rudi’s mom, Frieda, Mama, Oma.
Then I thought we could get a shot of Rudi and his dad (Geo, Opa, Papa). This was a bit of a challenge. Check this face on Papa:
So Rudolf grabs him and says hey! Smile for the camera! Seems this might work…
Oops. No joy. Maybe tomorrow, since they both celebrate their birthdays on… October 19th!
This is Om Moritz (Om is Uncle in Dutch). He is Mama’s baby brother (he is only 90). We’re happy he could come with us today – After the last time we took him out to dine (April) he got pneumonia, then in the hospital he had C. dificile. This outing today was his first since then! He’s pretty cool, and has a great sense of humour. He’s the computer geek in the family (excluding Alexander).
This is our hero Rudolf, looking like he almost has a birthday tomorrow, with his cousin Jenny, who is from Calgary and who flew in for these festivities… and who was born on October 19th!
And Rudi’s brother Dr. Eric Verspoor, who was just awarded a Chair. We aren’t sure if it is leather or upholstered, but it is in Zoology and at the University of Aberdeen. We’re very proud of him. And he has a birthday tomorrow, which is… October 19th!
This is Bud, married to Jenny, who came in from Calgary for this massive celebration.
This is the very serious Dr. Leslie Dawn, professor of art at Lethbridge University in Alberta. Can I get a straight face out of anyone? A simple smile? Not likely…
Not even from my own child, not a pretty smile??
Here is Rudi’s baby sister, Yolande, chatting with Kelsey.
Rudi was kind enough, knowing I might want to show you some of the food from this magnificent buffet (one of the best and largest I have ever experienced) did an attractive plating, just for this photo.
This is Kelsey’s dessert plate. You would NOT want to see my dessert plate. And sadly, I couldn’t eat the pastry from the two different lemon tarts/lemon bars. I had to eat the lemon from them. I snuck home the three cookies I had taken – a gingersnap, sugar and a Linzer torte cookie. I barely finished the trifle and pumpkin pie and rice pudding and whipped cream and…
Anyway, here is Kelsey’s dessert plate. As I had said.
Okay, one of Kelsey and me. I hate this, shooting photographers, but Bud grabbed my camera and shot us.
Full to overflowing, we went outside for some fresh air, and to check out the boats in the marina. They keep the boats that are for sale along the dock closest to the restaurant, and it is fun window shopping. But we didn’t find anything we liked more than ours.
We were interested to see what was making people gather in certain spots along the docks, so we checked it out. These folks kayaked over to look, too.
And lo and behold! The harbour seals had come in to see if the folks on the docks had gone into a special store on site, and bought them fish. (Isn’t it great that they don’t feed them white bread and other yuck that would harm them?)
Well, at 1:10 am Ottawa time, Kelsey landed.
She’s camera shy after travelling or trying to travel 12 or more hours.
Today we do a massive brunch with 12 people at least, so stay tuned for more. More of Sidney? More of family? More people born on October 19th (and one is a female relative!)? We will see!
I wish I were feeling in the pink! But there is fog, dense fog, and although the visibility for landing is two miles at present, Kelsey lands here in 90 minutes from Calgary, and if this ceiling falls, we (and she) will play the waiting game.
But these hydrangeas were blue, and as the fall weather arrived they’ve been shifting colours and drying up to leave for the winter. But I loved the colours.
Wish us the best! If all goes well we’ll be sitting in one of my favourite tearooms at 3:00 pm Victoria time.
UPDATE: Oh, this is just amazing.
I texted Kelsey to see if she was still waiting in Calgary, since the flight was delayed 20 minutes.
She was in bed in Ottawa!
LOOOONG story, but now she will be here late tonight.
The good news – she WILL be here, and we still get to go to the tearoom, though it will be with Rudi’s mom and dad and sis. Kelsey misses out. But we make out!
So after Rudi ran into the two lads, we collectively agreed to meet at the former Italian Bakery (now a cafe with gelato) for an away chat before we went home for the home chats. I know you’ll recognize the guy on the left and in the middle, and the one on the right is… can you guess? Rudi’s baby brother, Eric! If you’re lucky you will have heard some of the Sulphur stories that the Silica likes to share to illustrate that wonderful constitutional type.
We headed from the Safeway (you see, I am still giving you the Sidney tour):
to the cafe, passing my ultimate favourite home furnishings store on earth (so far), The House Dressing Company. When I live in Sidney they are doing my entire house.
We walked past a bus (their public transportation is pretty great here):
And we settled down for a snack. Papa read the paper while waiting for his apple turnover.
Rudolf was pensive as he waited for his Golden Carrot Ginger soup, with rye bread.
And Eric smiled as he knew he was being shot from the side… waiting for his latte and blueberry muffin.
So, do you see Verspoor in him? Or more Kann? 
(That’s Rudi’s mom’s side.)
I see the blue eyes, the crinkles when he smiles (crowsfeet sound so negative!) like Rudi. But this one is a social butterfly! When he is here we get stories galore of the amazing times they had growing up, he visits his sister and an uncle and goes for walks with his dad, he has cooked dinner one night, cleaned up totally after dinner on another.
When we are here we relax, visit Sidney, take Rudi’s mom for sushi, visit Sidney, work on computer projects, are responsible for dessert and some dinners, we do help clean up and set up for dinner, Rudolf gardens and I hand him things, we drink tea, see Rudi’s sister once at a family dinner, maybe an uncle once too (an uncle I didn’t even know existed until our last visit in April!). Rudi is much quieter and less social.
And both ways of being work great. It is interesting to see a mom and dad with their adult kids, and how they love different aspects of each, how old hurts are resolved and worked through and how relationships transform. And how a Sulphur’s sense of humour never dies, even when he’s all grown up and has just been awarded a Chair in Zoology from the University of Aberdeen.
Yesterday we sat in Vancouver’s airport, freezing and damping our buns off. The temps weren’t horrible, but the dampness was. We were anxious to get on our way.
The flight from Vancouver to Victoria’s airport (which is actually in Sidney, just across the highway on the other side of town) was 14 minutes. Usually it is a gorgeous ride where you fly over the Gulf islands, look at the homes and farms and boats and seaplanes and the trees just beginning to wear their autumn colours – and I love to shoot some photos in the process
I had been recently reading on a photography forum recently about flight attendants telling people not to take photos on take-off and landing (and from Vancouver to Victoria that sums up the entire flight!), as camera are considered electrical equipment and can interfere with avionics. Now, I know that is bunk. But darned if the flight attendant didn’t come over and tell me to turn off the camera. Sheesh!
So we landed sans photos. I didn’t know that was possible.
And today we made our first trip into Sidney. It was a grey day, is supposed to be a bit overcast for the rest of the week, but it was warm enough that we just needed a light jacket. And I shot some of Sidney for you – just a little bit of the main drag, Beacon Avenue, from the middle up, and only some of it. I hope to get some shots from the middle down to the ocean next.
We started in the BMO parking lot, and saw a mural reminiscent of Chemanius, BC (where the whole town is filled with great murals) That was a surprise in a bank parking lot.
The corner of Fifth and Beacon, I think… but we went from there left up Beacon, didn’t do the right side at all. There is one of the two Starbucks, a cafe, travel agency, Swiss bistro, Lilaberry. I love Lilaberry – gorgeous accessories for the home, great gifts and cards, some period enamelware and more.
Looking beyond you can see a bunch more stores (but we didn’t turn right!) and the first set of condos, the original and only, which looked over the water, Landmark. And a gallery (blue awning) beneath it. But – look more to the left and you see someone who talked someone into letting them build MORE condos, MORE on the water! And they are quite gorgeous. And, I am sure, quite a surprise for those who lived in the Landmark when the construction began!
You can see how the line of shops and restaurants and galleries and condos just peters out – that’s because it hits ocean. Inside passage, but ocean. Here you see on the right, next to Starbucks, Sidney Natural Food, out health food store. A wonderful store beside that where I have gotten great felted slippers and earrings and gifts, like Mary’s Lampe Berger. And then more shops.
Then we went to Lunn’s. Now, we could sit there and have tea and chat all day with a good friend, or with Rudi’s mom and sister, Yolande. Not with Rudi around, but with them. Lunn’s is owned by a woman whose brother teaches at Carleton University in Ottawa and he will not open a branch in Ottawa. 
But if he did, I’d be larger.
Lunn’s makes candy…
And pastries, cakes, breads, and VERY dangerously — ginger tarts, loaded with candied ginger!
Now, Rudi’s mom and I adore ginger tarts. And I have been known to try to take home a dozen, to get to Vancover airport hearing them call to me, and arriving in Ottawa with just FOUR! The sirens, the temptresses! I bought none today. I am woman, I am strong.
Rudolf (as he is known here) is in the back of Lunn’s picking up six apple turnovers. They are very good here, and we were tasked with bringing home a baguette and dessert. Rudi’s mom always charges me with dessert. You can see there is a cafeteria-style back, with teas and sandwiches and desserts, and people grab what they’d like and go sit at the tables in the front and meet friends and chat and catch up on the news of the day.
This is good to know for future reference (we DO have a chef arriving here in two days) -
Wait! Wasn’t I supposed to be showing you the outside of Sidney? I digress…
Here is another bunch of shops. That’s Tanner’s Books on the left – and Tanner is responsible for making Sidney what it is today. I will tell you that store another time. Then there’s a realtor, and a haircutter.
This is an eye store (I guess they sell eyes, so that’s pretty unique, and a great men’s store (their other shop is in Hamilton, Bermuda) and then Cameron Rose – lovely for cards and gifts, and we needed a pile of birthday cards! After that is the camera store…
These young ladies had gotten something tasty at either Starbucks or Lunn’s (I vote for Lunn’s, as you might be able to have guessed) and were sitting near another gallery.
Two more book stores…
And Beacon Books, and our hero window shopping.
The former Italian Bakery is where we went after meeting up with two fellows on the street. But the row of shops perpendicular to the street is fun to browse.
We were leaving Home Hardware heading to the Safeway, and…
Rudolf spotted two fellows…
More later tonight or in the morning!!
I adore Sidney-by-the-Sea, just north of Victoria, British Columbia in Canada. It is one of my all-time favourite towns, and when we come to visit I try to go once a day. And today we have gone twice so far.
We went first to get some of the groceries that we need in our apartment in Rudi’s mom’s and dad’s house – coffee Haagen-Dazs, granola and yogurt, etc. And second because I didn’t pack a toothbrush. Rudi offered to loan me his, but I declined.
Maybe I will shoot you some close-ups of the shops, tea store, bakeries, book stores (Sidney has the second most books stores, new and used, on earth!), a tiny movie theatre, great restaurants, little shops, the health food store… and there is more!
But we’re really tired right now. We slept from midnight to 5:00 a.m., left for the airport at 6:00 a.m., and flew and flew and sat and waited and ate, and fit in an iced cappucino too. Now it is later in our bodies than it is in reality, so I promise to show you more tomorrow.
Isn’t this the cutest thing you’ve ever seen that you can stick a cake on?? I love this!
It was in a cute little cafe in Ottawa, called Raw Sugar. I had a nice mango juice there. I WANT THE CAKE STAND!!
Because Kelsey had to work Sunday, and has to work on the actual Thanksgiving Monday, Rudi and I, and Mary and Mara, went to La Piazza to enjoy the holiday meal together with Kelsey.
Kelsey had bought some lovely flowers for our table!
Mara and Rudi –
And Mary and me –
When you have Thanksgiving at an Italian restaurant, you don’t always get the traditional meal of turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, etc.
Mara had manicotti, and I am not sure about the presentation!
Rudi had the stuffed shells, and in this photo his broccoli had already disappeared down his gullet. Wait, does he have a gullet, or do only turkeys have gullets?
Kelsey made Mary some stuffed peppers, since she’s vegan and can never eat off the menu. These had raisins and rice pilaf and more.
And I, somehow following in my mother’s footsteps, had the veal piccata with a massive salad (it pays to know the chef), and their salad dressing is delivious!
Ms. Chef had saved herself this lovely prime ribby cut of steak -
Not a cranberry in sight!
But I had brought one of the desserts, a pumpkin pie and vanilla ice cream. Kelsey called from the restaurant around noon and asked me to make a pie. Rudi and I ran around Ottawa looking for the ingredients and Breyer’s vanilla, which in years past has generally been sold out. But I pulled it off, and arrived at La Piazza with a steaming hot pumpkin pie!
And, due to the non-vegan content of the pie, Kelsey had made some white peach and blueberry crisps for Mary (though we got to take one home for breakfast) -
It was a lovely evening with two of our beloved daughters, Kelsey and Mara -
and we dearly seriously badly missed Meghan and Maya.
Hope all you Canadians have a lovely Thanksgiving with those you most love.
The Asian Festival happened to coincide with the celebration of Francis of Assisi, in the Anglican church. And in his honour the animals are blessed. So those of us shooting the Asian Festival headed over to the nearest church to see the furry beasts. (No feathers present that day.)
Check out the eyes on this cutie.
I love this laugh!
Welcoming the animals and their humans…
And getting the list of names…
I shot these guys before the fun (the altercation) took place!
This beauty wasn’t at the blessing, but don’t ya just adore Maine Coons? I do.
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.
This photo makes me hungry…
and excited, because I know that, within one week, I will be sitting at the table on Cordova Bay Road or Blvd. or whatever, in Victoria, BC, enjoying the afternoon tea at Adrienne’s Tea Garden. And that I will get to share it with at least one daughter, and possibly two of our College’s students.
Stay tuned!
Look at this guy -
He has a pen, ready to take notes.
He has a headset, listening to one of Steven Decker’s chats.
He’s got his computer, editing out the extraneous from Steven’s pearls.
He’s just so – 2009.
This silly naked Grey, Timou, is giving me a kiss. He may be afraid of a whole bunch of things, but he trusts lips implicitly. Come on over and get a kiss!
We may have to buy a turkey, since Timou’s too skinny for a meal. He actually loves turkey! And chicken, lamb and beef. And he loves eggy, too. Silly cannibalistic man.
By the way, Thanksgiving is in four days! (At least it is up here in the frozen north!)
For the final day of our four-day extravaganza with David Trattles, we hit the Asian Festival in Ottawa’s Chinatown. The weather was alternately cloudy, sunny and rainy, but we managed to get some photos.
An interesting mural spotted en route -
As lovely women danced, we cursed the grotesque background!
Happily, we got to shoot them practicing, too.
I love how her irises match her coat.
Making me hungry…
Of course the Japanese women were the most exquisite.
(Yes, I am biased!)
A proud dad!
Face painting…
The scary monster!
I love Hurro Kitty!
Are they adorable?
The children were just too cute.
The only drawback of the day was that there was no time for sashimi. Sigh…
It was really good.
We got there on time, at 6:30, since some of us fall asleep really early.
The three of us elected to have the Chef’s Tasting Menu. That means anything the kitchen wants to send out that night, five courses, and we chose to have the wine that would accompany each course. This was amusing, since we’re not drinkers (well, Rudi and I aren’t) and they did notice and subtract the cost of one of our wine groups. We maybe had an ounce or an ounce and a half with each of the five course.
The server was lovely, he called Kelsey “chef” throughout and took her into the kitchen at the end of the evening. He described the first course, a great crab apple and beet soup, cold, with roasted walnuts. But weirdly, Kelsey heard that the soup had blood in it (and this was before she began drinking) so didn’t enjoy it as much as she might have if she didn’t have the preconceived delusion!
These next two photos are from Beckta’s website, I am borrowing: www.beckta.com
I don’t remember the second course, but it was good. The third was a homemade pasta on a butternut squash puree, and that’s the one Rudi loved. The fourth was a duck, and on grits (and I love grits). And the fifth was dessert. There was a caramel popcorn ice cream that we wanted to take home in a half gallon size, and the caramel popcorn was alongside. The flavour was rich, deep, amazing.
There were more dessert items too, but you know, when you have alcohol and you’re not a drinker, you just don’t remember all the details. And since I didn’t shoot the food (I read on a food site how much people hate when diners do that, and I didn’t want to ruin the Beckta experience) and didn’t take notes, I can’t tell you what we had. I know we spent $420 for the meal for three. And was it worth it? Yeah. For Kelsey’s high school graduation and birthday, and to enjoy this level of food, yes. To show Kelsey what a well-run kitchen can produce? Yes. To have that caramel popcorn ice cream? Yup!
So the first course was
we’ve promised to take Kelsey to a great French restaurant. It was Le Jardin, in the Byward Market, and when Rudi and I went the food was not only superb, the waiter was amazing. He’d look at you, and decide which of the menu items would most resonate with you. It seemed he sized us up similar to the way we’d look at a person’s constitutional type.
I had my first steak tartare there, and it was delicious! Even our sorbet courses were unique to us, and it was one of the most memorable meals I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying.
So logical that we’d want the chef daughter to see such a thing, to participate in such an event. However, since it was expensive we waited and then promised this for her high school graduation. Um, that was a few years ago. But when you know a chef you know they’re always busy, so you can’t take them to dinner. If they have off, it is on a Monday, and Ottawa restaurants are pretty much closed on Mondays.
And then I learned that Le Jardin has been closed since before we promised it to Kelsey!
What to do, what to do…
We’ll let you know how this goes. Beckta, in Ottawa, had the most superlative reviews, consistently, of any other restaurant in this city or beyond (Quebec, Chelsea, Gatineau, etc.). Owner Stephen Beckta and Chef Michael Moffat have, by all reports, created an environment that doesn’t just showcase its excellent food, but one in which people feel comfortable and to which they are happy to return. While the cost might prevent some from making this their neighbourhood go-to restaurant (and we happily have a lot of them here in Manotick), it is a place they return to, it is now a one-off visit.
And it is the kind of place Kelsey needs to work. Her head chef is less than inspirational, and not a leader, and that wreaks havoc in the kitchen.
Anyway, check out the menu, and I’ll report back on how tonight goes. Not sure I’ll be shooting the food, since this is too classy a place for that. But I am sure I’ll have something to share.
http://www.beckta.com/Menus/DinnerMenu/tabid/972/Default.aspx
The winners of the giveaway for the two books are:
Roxanne, for “Easy Does It.” Her comment was:
Hi Patty, looks like a great book, I would hope to read on how to clean the grates on my gas stove in a super quick fashion…. tooo many kids cooking meals and overflowing pots, and surprisingly no one wants to clean the grates after the mess and they become cooked on disaster zones.
And if Roxanne was a nice person she might look up the comments here and help out those who had a household problem but who didn’t win the book.
And to Gayle, for “The Heart’s Code.” She said:
My heart beats faster when I meet someone who warms me … and I stop, acknowledge, and give thanks for this moment of beholding. It is a surging forward to new experience which moves me and my heart in unison ; )
We hope you enjoy your books, ladies.
And in this episode, we weren’t allowed to look through the viewfinder of the camera. We were to guesstimate where we’d be shooting, press the shutter without benefit of framing the shot or satisfying our natural desire for order and balance. Just shoot – and have fun.
Okay, so here goes!
This is Dave, our instructor for the four-day workshop.
And miscellaneous people/things…
And I did a mini cellphone series (I did one in Tokyo once too) —
Isn’t she gorgeous??
For this, Dave said hold up the camera, shoot yourself, spin.
I was hanging out with Sue, a lovely woman who lives nearby, so we carpooled. Her assignment was to ask a dozen strangers to take their photo with her, and mine was to document the process! (I definitely liked my assignment better than Sue’s!)
At the Beaver Tail stand!
As I get ready to head out into Ottawa’s Byward Market with David Trattles, camera in hand, no rules in head, but with a sniffy nose and a pressured head and tender throat… I submit this little girl for Pink Saturday.
Why does this remind me of American Gothic? Well, maybe just some strange family… Perhaps because we are a strange family.
This is an assignment for the photo class tonight. I don’t love shooting myself!!
Rudi calls them hills since he was raised in Alberta and knows what real mountains are, and he scoffs at mere hills.
But that’s where our photo class was held on Saturday. We went down into this little valley with small waterfalls and a stream, and all the lovely colours of the season, and shot our hearts out. Here is one of the photos from that area – I like how the colour of the water is similar to glacial water, that great turquoise that shows how cold it is, and how loaded with minerals it is, too.
Hope you like it too.
Tomorrow evening I do a four-day course with David Trattles, social documentary journalist extraordinaire. The class is at the Canadian Geographic office, and they’re one of his clients. I’m really excited about it, although I have virtually no time to do this class. But I also couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Check him out at www.davidtrattles.com.
Maybe I’ll end up with more to share with you. The scariest part is that I have to show him some of my work. And I learned something about myself in the process of choosing photos — I am totally into shooting social documentary-type photos, and do it all the time! I just don’t do it in or around North America. Isn’t that weird? In Japan? That’s all I do! Holland? The same. At home? Nope! Weird!
I loved reading this book, “The Heart’s Code,” by Paul Pearsall PhD. I bought it several years ago, mentioned it in a class I was teaching that weekend and at lunch the same day a bunch of students zipped out and bought the rest of the copies at the local bookstore.
We always knew the heart was more than a pump – it is not mechanical and it holds far more than blood and valves. And when you transplant a heart, well, far more is transferred than just the meaty piece.
The back of this book says, “A fascinating synthesis of ancient wisdom, modern medicine, scientific research and personal experiences that proves that the human heart, not the brain, holds the secrets that link body, mind and spirit.
“You know that the heart loves and feels, but did you know that the heart also thinks, remembers, communicates with other hearts, helps regulate immunity, and contains stored information that continually pulses through your body?”
and more…
A good read, a fascinating read, yet somehow on reading it that you know this, on some deeper level.
To win this giveaway, leave a comment with a note about what makes your own heart beat faster!
This book is amazing, wonderful, a great resource.
It would do any home library proud!!
Tips like – adding a bit of honey to a fruit salad prepared in advance to keep the fruit from turning brown; putting a rubber band on either side of a cutting board to keep it from slip-sliding away; saving the colours of autumnal splendor by ironing fall leaves between two pieces of waxed paper… and so much more.
The categories/chapters are:
Do-it-yourself appliance care
Clever cleaning solutions
Looks like a million for pennies
Be a kitchen magician
Creative crafts for every occasion
Decorate like a pro
Fast & easy furniture fix-ups
Super gardening secrets
Feel your best for less
Insider’s guide to home improvement
Entertain with style
Wage war on dirty laundry
Expert advice for cutting clutter
Best bets for banishing pests
Top-notch tips for healthy pets
Money savers around the house
Make time for fun
Be your own mechanic
This book is packed full of great ideas and advice! And then I will call you if I have a grease spot on my shirt because I dropped the butter knife and caught it before it hit the ground, with my shirt. (Did that this week!) And you can be the go-to person with all the answers.
So – to win this book in the giveaway you need only to click on Comments and leave one, and tell me what will be the first thing you look up in this book? What is your most confounding household problem? (Um, I don’t think “my kids” qualifies, but I do understand, I do.)
Come back for giveaway #2, which will be posted later today. Winners will be chosen Sunday night, the 4th of October at 8pm EST. You may comment on both giveaways!
In honour of Kelsey’s birthday, I will have a giveaway or two for my loyal viewers.
In the meantime, Sandy asked and I found this really interesting old photo of the Elbow Reef Lighthouse at the entrance to Hope Town Harbour. This lighthouse almost didn’t get built at all, though. The locals on Elbow Cay and in Hope Town made a very good living from “wrecking,” since many an ocean voyage stopped short on all the reefs in and around the Abacos. And the rule was – first one to salvage the wreck got the spoils. It was a good living.
And then the Brits, who were running the place back in those days, decided that a lighthouse was in order to help ships navigate through the treacherous reefs, and to find their way safely. Well, that meant the end of a lucrative industry. So the locals argued, withheld water from the builders, but in 1864 it was finished, and has become quite the landmark.
Well, here is some history:
The lamp burns pressurized Kerosene oil with a wick and mantle. The Fresnel lenses concentrate the mantle’s light into a beam directed straight towards the horizon. The lenses and burner equipment, weighing 8,000lbs, float in a circular lubricated tub. This reduces friction so that the 700lbs of weight, when wound up to the top of the tower by hand, smoothly rotates the 4-ton apparatus once every 15 seconds. The lighthouse keeper on duty must wind up the weights every 2 hours in order for the red and white candy-striped lighthouse to be seen from 17 miles away.
It was more a technical perfection class than an art class, which was great, and sorely needed by yours truly. I ended up with more confidence in using my camera well, so perhaps that will show one day in my photos.
One of our exercises was panning, which is where you kind of stand solidly in one place, get ready for someone or something to pass in front of your camera and then to follow it with the camera, and pressing the shutter in the exact right spot as you do so. When done well, you will be able to see the panning motion, but some parts of the photo (race car, power boat, bicyclist, etc.) will be in perfect focus. In this case it is our instructor, Harry. What a guy! I didn’t count how many times he tirelessly went back and forth for the exercises for our benefit.
Well, maybe a second shot. I like to think that Harry was seriously speeding by and ended up only as this red flash. This is not panning – but it is very cool how the bicycle disappears completely and all that’s left is his shirt. This technique is blur motion, where you stay totally still and grab the moving object as it passes in front of you. It also has the feeling of motion, the background stays in focus though.
Okay, this is more how blur motion should look:
Yes, Harry wore red on purpose.
It has been twenty years since I last gave birth, but when I hold her in my arms I can remember the months she slept on my chest… having pretty much been dead at birth (as was I). Happy birthday Kelsey, and many, many more wonderful and healthy years.
And yesterday, opening her birthday bag of goodies…
while Rudi ran into the Motor Vehicles place to renew the registration on Kelsey’s new car (in Canada you do it on your birthday — if you’re organized, and if you have the $100 to pay the parking ticket that was $65 before you never paid it initially so the fines added up).
This is in Kemptville, this great little village south of our village of Manotick. Ottawa is full of villages, but the best part about Kemptville is that it is not in Ottawa, so they don’t have inane city councillors and laws or ordinances or any of the stupid things they try to push on us here.
Wait, that wasn’t a photo at all. That was a mini-rant. Sorry.
There it is. I liked it.
So Mary and I will be gone on Saturday at a photo course with Harry Nowell on Creative Fundamentals. It is a basic course, which is great to take with someone as hands-on as he is, and one I wanted to do with Mary before our holiday. www.harrynowell.com is his site, and he’s pretty creative, so this will be fun. I hope to have some shots for you that are reasonable! Stay tuned…
Or am I going down in textures flames here?
I think this looks like an old-world oil painting, old being the operative word. They’re Rudi’s cherry blossoms from our amazing property in 2007, so not old at all.
But I like this. A lot. Am I crazy? Let me know, I can take it! Is it time to stop playing with textures?
(Well, Mary and I have a photo class shortly, and on Saturday, so I probably will abandon them soon, for now.)
Okay, now to satisfy Jason’s curiosity, here’s the original. Which do you prefer?
from Flora Bella, and wonder what you think…
You’ve seen the Helleborus previously, or can scroll down for it.
And here is another variation of the theme:
I hope the textures show up. And I hope some of you will comment and let me know your thoughts!!
* you want some serious fun??
http://www.florabellacollection.com/
Here’s where we went last week when we had to go into the big city for some errands. This is one of the best ways to get me up and moving in the morning when we have boring tasks at hand –
This is the best gelato this side of Italy. The owner did go to Italy to learn this secret three-fold process for making this the smoothest, creamiest, lightest, most delicious gelato most people have ever enjoyed.
No, Rudi wasn’t eating two cones with three scoops each. One of them was mine. You line up at this loooong counter with all the flavours offered that day laid out before you. You can taste to your heart’s content before making the final decision(s). And then you can hang out, people watch, read the local press and slurp down the gelato.
Rudi’s decision was a Coffee (the only form in which he will consume the stuff) and Bacio (rich chocolate and hazelnut). It disappeared pretty quickly.
I tend to savour, and three scoops can last me from downtown Ottawa until we turn the corner into our street, considerably south of the city. And I also tend to look for the perfect blend of flavours… or something I love there… and I tend to get stuck on a flavour or two. I had the Toblerone Orange for a year maybe, then moved on to ginger, which has chunks of candied ginger in it. I have to say I am still in love with that one, and it is the first one I look for when we visit.
I was surprised how good the peanut butter and jam is, and then was sorry that I’d made the decision to do (in my three scoops) PB&J in the middle scoop, with scoops #1 and #3 another flavour, but the same flavour.
This time I fell in love with a coconut almond, which reminded me of the Almond Joy bars we can get in the US, and that I loved while there, and I put a Limoncello in the centre scoop. What a mistake! I loved that Limoncello, and next time have elevated it to scoops #1 and #3. I can’t wait to go again!
And no, this is not Green Monday… this is a building in Westboro.
I am surprised I remembered. In a week, it is easy for my mind to melt and leak out of my ear just enough that I don’t remember what I’d done last week, let alone what I ate for dinner last night.
And so something pink, again from the archives, of a unique flower in paradise.
True, it was Monday. We chose September 14th because it is the same date Rudi’s parents got married. They were celebrating their 64th as we celebrated our 12th. I think they had a head start! And the cool thing is that if not for WWII interrupting their lives for a bit, it might well have been their 69th or 74th anniversary.
Anyway, I knew August 18th wasn’t going to work for an anniversary – been there, done that, got the divorce papers.
So we agreed this year not to give each other gifts. To me, that means nothing big. I mean, I got a Canon 5D Mark II for my birthday in May, and though I traded in some valuable stuff (including my Canon 40D) that still added up to some serious brownie points.
But I can’t do no gifts myself, even when I’ve bought Rudi a close to… well, let’s just say pretty expensive, sailboat for an anniversary about two years ago. So you see those gladiolas up there? They were the flowers I bought him, along with an assortment of chocolate bars and a card. And I got two lovely and loving cards from Rudi. It is nice to have cards, and the camera of my dreams, but Rudi truly is my gift. And he is a gift to many.
So, we went to Burger King for lunch (we were out and had to grab something) and went on about our work once we were home. And an hour later there was a knock at the door. A gorgeous young woman stood there with an armful of sushi, dessert, a card addressed to her “loving mom and dad” and a bouquet of deep magenta roses. The sushi was great, the flowers beautiful, but we most enjoyed Kelsey’s time, which is precious to us since she has so little of it.
It was a great anniversary! And thank you Karen for your good wishes too.
Friend/student/graduate Carla sent me an article from the NY Times last week, which described an amazing explosion in interest in Obento, or Bento, in North America – and for kids’ lunches.
Bento is a very popular way to pack a meal in Japan, and it is as delicious as it is beautiful. It comes in a “Bento box,” which can be as simple as a paper box or as elaborate as a decorative lacquer box, which various dividers inside. It allows a great deal of creativity in packing a lunch, with some rice in one part, pickles in another, fish or meat in another and fruit in another. And it isn’t the huge North American quantity thing, it is a taste, just enough to make a delicious and varied meal.
This is one Bento I enjoyed at Homeopathy Japan a few years ago. You can see the variety and colours of the tasty offerings. And it was delicious!
North American moms, always searching for an outlet for their creative energy, are excited about Bento, buying segmented lunch boxes for their kids and filling them with goodies to be discovered at when their children pop the top.
Check out this gorgeous black lacquer Bento at www.jbox.com:
http://www.jbox.com/TOPPROD/BN#BENTO264
And the Hello Kitty version in red:
http://www.jbox.com/TOPPROD/BN#BENTO242
And in the US there now are sites like laptoplunches.com, bringing Bento into the classroom and promoting no-waste lunches, ecologically sound, but also fun to eat and fun for the moms to fill! They also sell them on the site, at retailers al over the world and have a great newsletter!
Check these out meals, in Laptop Lunches Bento boxes!
I spent way too much time looking at Bento boxes, dreaming of the possibilities, getting very hungry looking at the photos, and deciding that the next time we’re in Japan I am going to buy two beautiful lacquer Bento box. I don’t know why, we really don’t have a purpose for them in our lives right now… but I think I will decide we need them for when we’re on the boat!
I was reading a blog today that mentioned Pink Saturday, and since it sounded cool, I looked into it further. A woman with a blog called Plum Bush Cottage is where the blogster I was reading had first come across it. And it was originated by How Sweet the Sound, another blog. If you have a moment, check the post for a pink something one Saturday at Plum Bush:
http://plumbushcottage.blogspot.com/2009/08/lets-join-beverly-at-how-sweet-sound.html
Anyway, I don’t have much that is pink, but I do have a few things, but maybe if I can maintain any kind of consistency I can look for pink things for Pink Saturday and post them here. My first submission is a Helleborus, a flower that erupts in these parts through the late and light dusting of snow at the end of winter. As a flower, it is lovely, the colours are not strong, it is not flamboyant, but subtle.
And Helleborus as a remedy?
Here are some notes on the mental state from Roger Morrison’s Desktop Guide, and keep in mind that this disease often comes on following a brain injury or concussion.
Stupefaction and mental dullness.
Mind slow, answers slowly and with great effort.
Memory weak, can hardly remember what was said to him.
Mind is completely blank with almost no thoughts passing.
Concentration difficult.
Mental dullness with headache.
Guilty feelings and remorse. Even suicidal feelings because of his poor performance.
Depression.
Apathy and indifference.
Anguished state; cannot comprehend what is happening; begs for help. Wild, whirling sensation in the brain.
Must concentrate continuously on his activity or “his hands forget what they were doing.”
La Piazza is a restaurant in Manotick (a village incorporated into the city of Ottawa) featuring traditional Italian fare. It actually surprises me that is it always packed, since the menu is akin to Mama Leone’s in New York City in the 50’s. In fact, Kelsey (who is the sous chef at La Piazza) once was worried that she didn’t know the recipes fully (in case something were to happen to the head chef, who has diabetes and one lung). I just handed her the Mama Leone’s cookbook that I’d stolen from my mother, a gift from her brother Jack.
We stopped in to deliver mail to the now-emancipated youngest daughter, who doesn’t like having her picture taken.
And we did get some nice hugs.
Last night we had to dinner Rudi’s eldest daughter and her husband. This is Jonathan and Jennifer.
And we thought it would be fun to call Rudi’s mom and dad and sister on Skype. Since they weren’t online we gave them a call and asked them to get into Skype. Apparently, it had signed out somehow and Yolande couldn’t figure out how to log in again.
After many minutes of suggestions from our end of the phone, Rudi’s mom pushed a button and voila! We connected. And her explanation for why she had done it? “I was always attracted to that button!
It worked, unlike taking a photo of the computer monitor!
Okay, in our effort to cleanse ourselves of things, sometimes books are included. And in this case a brand-new, never-opened, never-read (though we should have read it) book is in the offing!
Do you know what hydrosols are? Well, according to one reviewer, this book puts aromatherapy in its safest form and at the disposal of every interested enthusiast. The author, Suzanne Catty, is the former president of the Canadian Federation of Aromatherapists, and she is the world’s foremost researcher on hydrosols. Her book offers the specifics of 67 hydrosols and formulas for 50 health concerns, and it includes a section on animals!
The winner of this incredible book has to promise to provide me with the great recipes in the back, if I have occasion to need them.
To win, just tell me in a Comment below your absolute favourite fragrance or smell in the whole wide world! And I will tell you some of mine.
Rudi will pick a winner this weekend, and we will ship you off this amazing book.
I love these three white-haired people.
Rudi is showing something to his mom and dad in Dutch, and at the same time he’s asking them questions about their life, their stories of WWII, and secretly recording them. He will be writing their stories for the children who love them too.
They have some amazing stories to tell. Maybe we can share some of them with you all in the future.
I am happy to report that I have, and that I love them and that I have been on a search for them from the first moment they tantalized my taste buds. (And I confess I have no idea how to make an “e” with an accent mark!)
Friend Marla in Santa Barbara, California made sure we had them on a visit in 2008. She likened them to creme brulee that could be eaten with your hands… maybe, but not quite.
We (and I use the term “we” pretty loosely) devoured a bunch of them at her house and then went to Renaud’s to make sure I had enough to take back to Ottawa. I like to expose Kelsey to new flavours (I feel it is my duty as the mother of a chef) and I love to treat the staff at the college/clinic too. And the good news is that no one fell as deeply in love with them as I did! So I took them back and ate them all myself.
That was the last one of the bunch. I figured I’d better shoot it before it disappeared.
I thought it would be wonderful to make these myself, but was discouraged by the fancy French recipes (they originated in Bordeaux) that called for copper molds, which had to be prepped with beeswax, and all the troublesome instructions.
Lo and behold, I searched on recipes this morning and found something a tad more sane and simple! Check it out -
http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2005/10/caneles.php
I’ll let you know if I try them. The main problem is the mold again – though this one can be silicone, I’d need to go searching. And I can be expensive in a kitchen store.
This is what we did today…
That’s Bernie with Rudi. Bernie is a sweetie who is the Canadian dealer for the Odin and he helped us this morning before he left for his mom’s 96th birthday party in Toronto.
Once she is out of the water that’s it for this year. She went today to the marina that installed her new gas tank in the spring. However they didn’t bother to make sure that the gas went from the tank to the motor. So now they get to right their wrong.
It was a lovely day to take her out, though a tad crisp. It was more like an Indian Summer morning, which warmed into a gorgeous afternoon. While the guys worked on dropping the mast and readying her for the road (the beauty of a trailer-sailer!) I finished reading Janet Evanovich’s “Finger-Lickin’ Fifteen.” How I love reading about Stephanie Plum and her adventures in, of all places, Trenton, New Jersey!
The Nepean Sailing Club is the closest one to our wee sailing club at Lac Deschenes, and it offers the ramp for the putting in and taking out. It is a pretty amazing facility, with a restaurant/bar on the second floor of the big clubhouse, decks up top for eating while enjoying the view, and boats, mostly sailboats. It is where Rudi and I took our sailing courses. It is a bit different than Lac Deschenes…
Compare the above with the moorings at Lac Deschenes:
http://photokunstler.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/a-day-of-sailing/
And I only shot one section of Nepean. It is vast, with masts! Sorry. Couldn’t resist.
I had a headache from being up so early in the morning (7:00 am) and reading and sleeping in the car, so I headed to the restaurant for some sandwiches. On my way there I came across a guardian on the sidewalk. He didn’t let me pass until I’d shot him.
I’ve never been this close to a groundhog before, and he was pretty cool.
Thus ends our summer of attempting to sail! Our poor boat won’t see the water again until about April or May 2010, when it is dragged from Ohio to Florida and Rudi and a captain do the Atlantic crossing. And you won’t get photos of that from me! Maybe Rudi will shoot some for you though – I bought (traded in my previous point-and-shoot camera for) a very cool Canon D10 yesterday. It is an underwater camera. Not that Rudi will be shooting from underwater on his Atlantic crossing – God forbid! But he can get it wet in the ocean spray and it will be fine, and it will be fun to see what he can capture.
At the instruction of Executive Chef Kelsey I began cooking and prepping for this event almost four days in advance. I made the amazing beef stock (which was so very aromatic and gorgeous and delicious that it was a struggle not to drink it through a straw). I began marinating the cucumber salad, made from Mary’s garden-fresh cukes. I made dessert, a blueberry granita, and got it into the freezer. Made the deviled eggs, left out the butter to soften for the fresh Italian olive bread. Prepared the spinach salad. Bought Italian olives stuffed with garlic. And I bought all of the ingredients for the braciole so Kelsey could get to work on it yesterday.
So when she wouldn’t answer her cell phone all morning, then afternoon, to give me an ETA I wasn’t worried, until maybe 2:00 pm and dinner was scheduled for 4:00 pm. And then 3:00 pm…
She walked in the door at 3:15 or so, and I was getting out the beef to work on making the braciole at the time. Rudi had gone out in search of a meat tenderizer (pounding thing) because I had thrown mine away seven weeks ago in the move to the new house. Duh!
She complained about our organic beef because it didn’t look like the little steaks they use in her restaurant. Between the two of us she got everything made and ready to go into the oven before 4:00!
The oven was heating to 450F and we were ready to make sure this show got on the road and…
Our guests called, they’d be late. What was 30 minutes turned into an hour. The oven was turned off, food put back into the fridge. And we waited. It was 25C, a gentle breeze, sun, a perfect day, so I began to set the patio table for the meal.
They arrived with their great ginger noodles (a staple at these family gatherings) and tempeh-stuffed red peppers. We ate everything but the braciole as it was put back into the oven to finally cook, and were literally too stuffed to enjoy it fully. The kids reclined their chairs (we were dining al fresco) and lay there, digesting. A lone vespa stopped by a few times to see if there might be something he’d be interested in, and thankfully there wasn’t.
Dessert was great (or so I was told, though my taste buds agreed), a blueberry granita that I found on a NJ website. NJ makes the best tomatoes on earth and cultivated blueberries. Canada has wild blueberries, and the flavour cannot be compared (meaning Canada wins this round).
And what a lovely and great recipe!
Blueberry Granita
Make a simple syrup with 1 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup of water. Cook over the burner on the stove until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is totally clear, about five minutes.
Add the juice of one lime and about two tablespoons of snipped mint.
In the food processor, smoosh six cups of blueberries, preferably wild. Add in the syrup, process, and pour into a 9″ by 13″ pan. Freeze!
About five minutes before serving (more or less, depending on the temperature of the house) remove it from the freezer and let it sit on the counter. When ready, shave it with a fork to pull up all the frozen goodness, and serve in beautiful glasses (these are my mom’s sherry glasses, though she never really drank sherry, or anything) with a sprig of mint for garnish! Eat carefully if you use blueberries – you know what those drips will do to a pair of beige pants, or Mary now does!
And you can try this with any fruit. I am doing freestone peaches next – wanna join me?
* this recipe is the real one, mine a loose interpretation: http://www.jerseytomatovine.com/?p=223
This isn’t funny anymore.
When you see this:
And this:
It is not a good sign.
Despite having a fully charged battery, it discharged while we were not on the boat. We don’t know why, but now suspect a problem with the electrical system. Rudi had to use the external battery booster to start the motor, then we had to motor on a day where the winds were designed for sailing!
He’s going to try leaving the battery with the terminals removed now, to see if that helps this confusing discharge for the next time, if there is a next time. There is work to be done, and she needs to be pulled out of the water soon and taken to the marina and then to the US dealer who will keep her over the winter.
So our sailing woes may be coming to a premature conclusion.
Executive Chef Kelsey needs beef stock for the beef braciole that she’s making for an extended family dinner on Monday. So she put me, her Sous, to work in advance.
I was commanded to find meaty beef bones, not the ones picked clean, but to ask the butcher for bones left after the different cuts had been prepared. So off to the supermarket Rudi and I went. The butcher took us around the corner to the normal beef section and showed us some bones with meat, not the marrow bones (not enough meat) and a few other varieties.
I chose some rib-looking ones, with three nice chunks of bone and meat on them. Then off for the onions and celery and pretzels (right now I am preferring those to Nat-m). We had fresh carrots at home, and all the seasoning we’d need – rosemary, thyme, fresh garlic, sage.
The orders from on high said to put them in the oven at 400 degrees and cook the crap out of them. That was good advice – surely we didn’t want the crap in our stock. Cook them to within an inch of their little lives, until they began to caramelize. And so I did.
Once done, I dumped the works into a stock pot and deglazed the pan over the stovetop flame with a good red wine. It was immaculate afterwards – I could have put it back in with the other baking sheets if I wasn’t worried about what future cookies or jelly rolls might taste like, so I washed it before I put it away (I admit I did such a good job cleaning off the bits while deglazing because Chef was on her way, and I wanted to impress her, but she arrived afterwards… oh well). After dumping the deglazing juices into the pot, and three cups of water and a touch more wine, everything began to smell wonderful. And it still does. Chef tells me to simmer this stuff for six hours… and so it continues to cook.
Freezing the stock in ice cube trays allows us to easily pop some stock into any recipe – that’s an old trick. And speaking of old dogs (we were?) – you can teach them. This is the first time I have made stock without merely boiling some meat or bones in water until it turned grey. The aroma in my house at the moment is way better than grey.
One interesting aspect of this dinner we are cooking is how it tends to progress. I call Chef and ask what she’d like to make. I am given the list of ingredients for her portion. Somehow the Sous is ending up with making the stock, deviled egg (because we have fresh dill from Mary’s garden), fresh cucumber salad (because we have fresh cucumber and dill from Mary’s garden), a big salad, maybe Asian cole slaw… or not. And blueberry granita for dessert. That ought to satisfy the vegan guest, sans braciole and eggs, and she will bring a few dishes to add to the mix as well.
After this dinner the attendees will disperse, for points east, west, south… one daughter is absent from this collective gathering, and she will be deeply missed. Meghan is already west and somehow unconsciously knowing you can’t come home again. So she’s not, not this time. But maybe I can get some shots of the other three for you. If Chef gives me a break from the kitchen.
At the Bank of Canada in Ottawa there is a beautiful heritage building inside a lovely glass landscaped area, but with two new-fangled office towers flanking it. I had seen the building-in-building concept in Toronto. I can’t remember the name, but it is near the Movenpick restaurant. I asked the student/patient we ran into at the end of the day, and she remembered that it was… near the Movenpick restaurant! Maybe someone can let us all know. It is nicely done in Toronto, and the location has occasionally been used in movie and television.
It is no less attractive in Ottawa, and it was a surprise. You just don’t tend to expect buildings-in-buildings (unless you live in Toronto). I will attempt to describe it to you.
The heritage building is behind the glass, and you don’t get a sense of the depth but you can see the smooth sandy colour. It now houses the Currency Museum, which I’d always imagined would have been at the Canadian Mint (which is still looking for loads, millions, in missing gold, so please call them if you happen to run across it).
And it is a really nice building – window boxes and all.
And the glass and steel that surrounds it.
Today we were downtown for about eight hours, you can have a look at one of the really amazing views that captivated me for quite a while. There were a few of them, so perhaps I can share more. We don’t get to the big city too often, and most of the time when we are above a city it is in a plane, and the views are about nil at 35,000 feet! So this was great fun.
This is Ottawa’s Parliament building, a gothic-style building that is quite lovely inside. Most amazing is that the bulk of it burned to the ground (except the library) in 1916 when a fire started on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River and travelled across on the logs from the logging operation there. It is surprising to me that it is so exceptional as it stands today. It would have been fascinating to see it way back when.
See the corners of the mouth the tiniest bit raised?
The crinkles on the corner of the eye?
* sexy alert below
Rudi is listening and talking to Steven. They’ve been doing this weekly since 1997. Today I asked Steven to talk to him a very long time so he wouldn’t drag me to the boat. It is like being in a blast furnace outside, and just the act of getting to the boat from shore is overwhelmingly uncomfortable right now.
We tried yesterday but the battery had gone dead because a switch was left on that drained the battery (same as leaving on the lights in the car). Poor Venetia and her kids!! We’d invited them for a sail and they’d brought wonderful melty Starbucks snacks, too. So we all went out for ice cream, and that was fine with me (it was the second time yesterday!). Sitting on a still boat on still waters in the sweltering heat was not even slightly fun!
* Rudi’s shirt is open, but if I posted a photo from another angle you might pass out from the sexiness of it all…
two nights ago, and we both jumped up to go outside to see it, it was so gorgeous!
And – lo and behold, we saw something else, two somethings, and they were landing in the field just across the street (but through woods and in a place where there is no road – that would have been interesting for the chase vehicles!). Otherwise you’d see more photos.
This is pretty common in Ottawa, spring, summer, fall and winter. Amazing (to me), because at altitude it would be way colder than on the ground, yet sometimes you will see a balloon drift past on an icy day. This week, though, it would be harder since you’ve got the fire on board, and it has been in the 90s with humidity. Toasty.
They just get a little help! A nice assistant to pass the lenses.
Friend Mary and I met Jim and Jessie at the Ottawa Tulip Festival this past May. They’re from Scotland, the most beautiful country on earth, though they’ve lived here for decades.
Here’s Jim, hard at work!
And they included someone who never is in photos – me!
Here I am at the wheel of our boat (it is our boat now, because I really like it!). I’m wearing my hat that says “Skipper.”
And one with Rudi and me! That’s even more rare than one with me alone.
Guess which one is our real height?
This?
Or this?
We invited three wonderful friends to sail with us on Friday – Jason (who runs our clinic), Venetia (who runs our college) and Frances (who runs our pharmacy). Sadly, Frances couldn’t make it.
It was a breezy day, loads of wind, and more wind than I’d ever experienced before… which mostly made itself known in the dinghy ride over to the boat! Wet!! You can see some whitecaps and the spray as Rudi and Jason make their way.
Venetia, even though she is off for the day, conducts some business on her cell phone!
And Jason helps load the “stuff” onto the boat – gasoline, picnic lunch, safety gear, etc.
Ah, there’s Venetia, off the phone and blowing in the wind!
And the very happy sailor (who is out again today!) – Rudi! I let him drive the boat sometimes.
Kim Rosenberg!!
Rudi picked – number four! (That was you, Kim.)
Congratulations, Kim. We will pop the book in the mail for you on Monday.
have more than two legs!
They come and tell me their woes…
And then I work out their remedies. They wait, patiently. Sometimes they nap.
PS – Take a look at the book he was checking out, Catherine Diodati’s Vaccine Guide for Dogs and Cats.
See that coloured stuff between the white?
That’s called “sky.” And this summer we have seen it three times. With sun, too. It’s been pretty sad.
We’re hoping to see it on Friday, since we are taking our reception guy, Jason, and our registrar (for the college), Venetia, sailing. Maybe. If there is more of the above.
Or whatever you call it when your boat actually moves!
We found that the old battery was kaput, so bought and installed a new one and the Yamaha actually turned over! YAY! And I’d invited our youngest, Kelsey, to join us. She said no. Then called my cell phone en route and asked directions to the boat.
She brought a friend, Mark. And they spent a lot of the time hanging on the bow getting some vitamin D.
Hey! Pay attention! I am trying to take your picture!
A happy man, his boat finally cutting through the river at top speed!
And Kelsey holds on for dear life…
Turnabout is fair play — Kelsey took the wheel!
And Mark had to hold on…
When the day was over (and we did sail, and we motored and it was wonderful!), I was left behind as Rudi rushed Kelsey and Mark to shore so they could meet friends to share food. And – I got to bob, and bob, and bob…
I feel we need an update here –
When we bought this house in 2008 I wasn’t totally excited about it. Well, I was off and on, I liked designing my own kitchen and picking the woods for the cupboards and floors (maple and bamboo) and choosing the tiles and countertops (quartz, since granite has carcinogenic properties) and sinks and new appliances.
But it was downsizing. And while I knew full well that with zero kids left at home square footage and acreage wasn’t a priority, I didn’t like the concept of moving to a place where there were other people around us. Like stuck to our walls.
So I was negative sometimes, and if you go as far back as the construction photos for this place you will see I called it “the hole.”
We closed on it in November 2008, and moved into it in June 2009. I now have come to like it. I love my kitchen. I love my bathroom. I love the light, the windows. The neighbours are wonderful! The ones on our left live in Italy, the ones two down (we are in a row of four) in Viet Nam and Yellowknife, the ones across the street in the Maritimes for the summer… and it has been fine being here. One walks Maggie when we are out (like trying to make the boat’s engine start) and everyone looks after everyone else and their property. We overlook a vast wild space buffering us from a golf course. As I’d said once before, there is a lighter energy here. Our last house literally made me sick, but it was hard letting it go.
So I won’t call this “the hole” anymore. It is our house, for now. Rudi has gotten rid of the grass in the front yard, landscaped beautifully, and is working on ensuring the back yard is maintenance-free as well. This house affords us the freedom to do what we want – think, write, read, shoot, study, research, travel, etc. And that’s what Rudi’s wanted all along!
An adventure in which our hero comes to the rescue. And those are the very best kinds of adventures!
We went to the boat today. The boat is lovely. It sails great and it motors great, when it is moving. It sits well too, I guess, on its mooring and waiting for us to visit. And since this was a lovely day – and one of the only lovely days that we will have this summer (or so we’ve been told – we decided it was time to see the boat. Together. (Usually I stay home while Rudi visits her.)
So off we went, gorgeous sky, clouds, sun, gentle breeze – the works.
We got to the sailing club, the very down-to-earth and homey one next door to the fru one, which is next door to the even more fru-fru one. Rudi backed the car to the water’s edge, and unloaded the things we’d take out to the boat – safety kit, drinks, snacks, battery (which had been trickle-charging, since it didn’t seem to be holding a charge), jackets, solar inflator for the dinghy, the dinghy, and more.
He got the dinghy inflated…
and we loaded on a bunch of the stuff – not the least of which was me, with my precious camera. I spent the time making sure the camera stayed dry, happily sitting on the backpack (since the Zodiac has no seats) and motoring out to the boat.
Now, our boat is the third, if you count left to right. The first boat is identical to ours – an Odin 820. Then there is another sailboat, and ours. You can see here how much rain we have had (like daily for eight weeks) since the dock is submerged. This is about as deep as it gets in the spring when everything melts and fills the Ottawa River… and so the club waits to put in the dock until the water levels drop a bit. Well, they dropped in the spring, and went back up in the summer. Oh well, hard to use the dock when it is under water.
So I got on the boat, helped pull off the things that we’d brought out the first trip, and Rudi went back for more. He returned quickly and hopped on the boat with me, and we planned to start cleaning it – though I was getting a bit tired (read: sick) of bobbing around. I am not a bobber.
I also shot the Odin beside us. Could I shoot our boat as we approached it from the dinghy? Of course not! I had to hold on for my life. But you can see this lovely boat, 28′ and sleeps maybe six and has a wee kitchen area. I like it because it motors almost as well as a motorboat, and it also sails as well as a sailboat (for Rudi) and it has a great sleeping area, two actually, and a real head. So I bought it for Rudi for his birthday two years ago from the dealer. He will sail it (with a captain) to the Bahamas within the year. I will fly across.
So we cleaned up, and I expressed a need to be moving and not bobbing. Rudi tested the Yamaha and it started up fine, so he tied the dinghy to the mooring ball and released the boat. And we drifted away. And he tried to start the Yamaha again.
The Yamaha had decided that the one time was enough, and that the battery didn’t have enough energy to turn its little motor. So Rudi tried and tried, checked everything you could possibly check… and no go.
Meanwhile, we’re drifting into away from shore.
So, in part one our hero strips down, dives off the boat and into the Ottawa River. He swam to the dinghy, released it from the mooring and hopped aboard.
In part two he steered the dinghy over to the boat and grabbed the lines to pull it back to the mooring, all with a 3hp Evinrude 2-stroke and his bare muscles.
We had to offload the boat back into the dinghy. We took half of the stuff and me and my precious camera. I had to lie across some of the stuff and on the wet floor, which made me wonder for the seventeenth time why I had worn white pants. They now have black streaks across them. And we headed to shore.
Halfway to shore and fighting a crosswind – the dinghy came to a halt.
Oh my. This is almost too much fun, eh?
Our hero, happily, had brought the oar (required as part of the safety kit) and rowed us back to dry land. It was a damp ride. But we think we know now another (of the 100000) places the dinghy leaks, and we can patch it! So that’s a bonus.
The important part – my camera remained dry. We remained wet. And Rudi found out he’d not turned the fuel line “on” all the way on the dinghy. So he motored back to the boat to get his glasses (for driving), my cellphone and our jackets. We were going to pick up a battery at the Chandlery nearby, but they don’t have batteries. We took that as a sign to head home, stop for ice cream and try another day. Our Skipper is asleep in a chair as I write this. See? Too much fun.
By the way – that last photo? That is Geo, Rudi’s dad. Somehow he must have taken possession of Rudi’s body, because when I called Rudi over to take a look he couldn’t deny it. Amazing. (And yes, the photo is not straight. Neither was I.)
Ps: Here is our boat – at the two minute mark it will start sailing.
http://www.odin-marine.com/index.php?dz=43
And some interiors, although ours is stained a rich cherry.
http://www.odin-marine.com/index.php?dz=41
And this wasn’t the television show that Rudi enjoys so well. It is a book, the first novel of Ninni Holmqvist, a Swedish author known originally for her short stories. Friend Judy mailed me this from Cape Cod after she’d read it. I read maybe one novel a year, so this was to be it for 2009!
I wanted it to have a Phosphorus ending… I started reading in bed on Thursday around 11:00 pm, and put it down Friday at noon. I spent some time between those hours sleeping as well. I guess I couldn’t put it down.
The book is written (very, very well) in the first person. Dorrit Weger has turned 50, and the story begins as she is being checked into the Second Reserve Bank Unit for biological material.
You see, she is dispensable. Women 50 and over, and men over 60, who are not contributing to society in traditional ways are placed in a lovely apartment in the Unit. They have everything they might need – wonderful food and restaurants and cafes, a shopping area with stores and boutiques, wonderful gardens and parks and lawns (albeit under a glass enclosure, since the Unit is sealed from the outside) in perpetual spring and summer.
Because Dorrit has never married, never had children and doesn’t have a job that is indispensable, she becomes part of a new society of people whose needs are met in almost every way, as they live out their later years serving society in a new way. They participate in medical and psychological experiments to add to the world’s collective knowledge and they become organ donors for the “indispensable.”
A very interesting read, that brings up loads of interesting questions…
Let me know if you’d like to borrow it. Judy was gracious enough to send it to me, I will send it to anyone who’d like to read it next. Just leave a comment in the Comments section, let me know you’d like it, and tell me the last novel you read!
I know this tall guy, about, well almost 6′2″ (he says I keep trying to make him taller, since he thinks he is only 6′1 1/2″) and he sits like this all the time. Makes me crazy. I can cross my legs, but that’s about it.
How about you? Send in your photos!
Okay, we have a submission! Friend Karen says she will see my challenge and raise me one!
and here’s the challenge:
Really!
But for some reason it is starting to look like one.
Maybe it is all the incredibly bounty we’ve enjoyed this summer… or the fact that I eat the things I make before ever having the three seconds it might take to shoot them. Take my cardamom-pistachio ice cream with white cherries – that was amazing! But – sorry. If my ice cream is ready after dark it won’t get photographed. I won’t use a flash, and I do need to make it disappear. Fast.
I didn’t shoot the great strawberry sorbet that friend Jason made. I just devoured it. But Jason shot it, and it really is worth checking out! http://thedaysarepacked.wordpress.com/2009/07/26/strawberry-chocolate-sorbet/
And today he brought me some apple cinnamon sorbet that he and his lovely daughter made last night. What a guy! I am taking applications for him — he is single, a wonderful cook, baker, father, human being. Please send letters of interest to me and I give you all consideration!
Friend Mary shared some of her bounty with us a few days ago. You know how it is better to have a friend with a swimming pool than it is to have a pool of your own? Well, it is really good to have a friend with a garden, and specifically a lot of zucchini, than it is to have a lot of your own zucchini. And Mary brought zucchini, kale and three colours of Swiss chard. We learned that my parrot could eat a small zucchini (almost) on his own!
By the way, the organic purple carrots were amazing! Sweet, mild, absolutely delicious! It was quite a surprise to see their orangey centers, and then to steam them and see the little bit of water in the pot turn deep indigo! Totally yummy! I’d definitely recommend them if you have the opportunity!
Look how confident, commanding… possessive!
The other sous chef at daughter Kelsey’s restaurant had gone fishing, and he’d put fresh stuffed (with risotto, white wine and fennel) trout (is that a trout?) on the menu on Sunday. We had it for dinner last night. From Rudi’s grill. “Rudi’s” is the operative word here.
And notice his grill is not of the huge, amazing and massive stainless steel variety? Real men don’t need big grills. They have nothing to prove.
He is amazing. Intense. Focussed. Self-directed. Brilliant. Creative. Gorgeous (I think!).
This is Rudolf, working on a cartoon depicting the four bodies while waiting to chat via Skype and iChat with the man he has chatted with once a week (or more) since 1997, Steven in California.
Our weather has been horrific for about 6-7 weeks, maybe more, with rain virtually every single day. Rudi’s daughter Alexa is visiting from Vancouver, where the weather has been beyond perfection. VANCOUVER GOT OUR WEATHER!! Alexa even said so. It was so nice she didn’t want to leave. And that is unfair, Vancouver is supposed to be grey with rain, and we are supposed to be sweltering with heat and humidity.
Anyway, this morning we went to the Metcalfe Farmer’s Market to pick up our 1/8 of an organic cow from one of Rudi’s patients. We’d lost about that much when the installer for Rogers, our internet/phone/television service, unplugged our freezer and never plugged it back in. About a week later I went in the basement, where the freezer is, and the stench blew me away. There was a pool of blood under the freezer from our melted, and now rotting, beef. I just came upstairs and waited for Rudi to come home and clean it up. I couldn’t stomach it.
(Anyone want to ask us if we like Rogers now?)
At some point while we were at the Market we heard someone yell – “the sun is out!!!!” And indeed, it was. And still is. There are some clouds, well, a lot of clouds, but the ceiling is higher and the sun does peek out from time to time. The Market was crowded, people actually were lining up for a broccoli ($2 and huge). We did too!
And we stopped at the local, organic stand and picked up some zucchini and — purple carrots!! How could we resist?
We’ve been overdosing on local strawberries. Rudi has brought home a quart every few days on his way home from work, or when we’re driving from A to B I will see a stand and yell, “Pull over!”
They get bigger and bigger and sweeter as the season goes on. Amazing.
The other day as we were detouring around Manotick we spotted another farm stand, and picked up the fresh raspberries and Saskatoon berries. Then we bought organic cherries at the supermarket, the very last bag they had.
I think I will be making Pioneer Woman's upside-down cobblers with them, since they need the touch of sweetness. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/07/individual-raspberry-cobblers/
this is only a test.
(How many of you remember that sentence?)
I am curious to see why the colour is lost or muted when I post a photo to this blog, so I will test with another one of the peck of peppers (non-pickled). At first glance I am not excited – taking it from Aperture or Bridge and exporting to the desktop is fine. Then I insert it into this post, and I can see it is already losing colour as I hit the publish key. Sheesh!!
Now THAT is interesting!
And I fixed some in the following post – half are reproduced here fine now, the other half are NOT. I will continue to research.
Friend Mary and I decided to take a workshop this May (or during what was supposed to be spring) with a local pro photog, Garry Black (www.garryblack.com). It was supposed to have been two weekends, all day (and one day beginning around 5:30 am) and three nights.
The night classes were fine, they were held indoors, but on the second one the woman next to me decided to cough, hack, do a bronchitis/pneumonia thing all over my tubercular self. Result – I was sick by the following weekend. Of course my resistance was low since it was absolutely freezing out, I mean, we’d get bundled up and I’d even be sure to put my down jacket in the car and mitts and a scarf!! And tea, hot tea in a travel mug. And off we’d go, for hours in the rain, drizzle, mist, not a blue sky or fluffy white cloud to be found.
We sucked it all up. After all, this is what real photographers have to do, right? And we wanted to improve our skills, so of course this was important to get through. On my birthday, May 17th, we were at Upper Canada Village (think Williamsburg in the US but more natural and cozy and real) and my nose was running, I was coughing, wondering why I wasn’t at home in front of a nice warm fire… in May!! This was May. This was insane.
Anyway, we started our weekends with a trip to Ottawa’s very famous tulip festival, early one Saturday morning. Have I mentioned that I am not a morning person? It was good to be there early though, since by 10:00 am every human within a 50 km radius of Ottawa had descended upon these poor tulips all with cameras, and many with kids, in hand. A few smart parents dressed the kids to coordinate with the tulips too!
As you can see, there were tulips everywhere.
And old photographers never die, they just find an assistant to push them around! This lovely couple was from Fife in Scotland, and we had a great chat with them.
We also walked to the Arboretum of the Experimental Farm, which had some great magnolia trees and buds and dogs and people. Just after we arrived the heavens opened up to bless us with a frigid rain shower. We retreated to our cars and took off for the lunch meeting location – a Tim Hortons.
And whaddya think – Georgia O’Keefe?
Then we went to Dow’s Lake, which has a great series of rocks and waterfalls and is particularly amazing during the spring run-off. Our trip was no exception. However, shooting white misty water and spray and white misty skies and grey rock wasn’t the most exciting photo experience we’d had. I didn’t even include any of those shots to share with you, I notice as I look into my folder of photos I’d set aside for this blog. Well, maybe one.
We did get into the Byward Market at some point, where we were supposed to do some shooting on the first weekend. Mary and I enjoyed that, the vendors were out (freezing) and the class was called off due to freezing and sniffling and whining… so we walked to the car and I shot a few things and we put on the heater and SMILED.
And I share with you only the veggies.
The following weekend was just as lovely. Amazing to lose the month of May (and later June and half of July) to unseasonably cold temperatures and rain, rain and rain. Guess it is all that global warming, eh?
We needed to be indoors, so we went to Ottawa’s National Gallery and then to the Aviation Museum on the Saturday. My birthday was Sunday, as was the Upper Canada Village trip on the St. Lawrence Seaway, about an hour south of Ottawa.
The National Gallery is lovely, on the Ottawa River and gorgeous glass, and a lot of great interior spaces. On a dark day with no light coming in through the windows, we pushed our ISO and did the best we could.
And we found a wee one, looking around for parents who weren’t there!
We parked right across the street from the Gallery, silly, but we didn’t know there was underground parking… so when the torrential rains came… We had to run. But before it got hairy I did like the colours in this set of businesses nearby.
We spent the rest of the day with the airplanes at the National Aviation Museum in Ottawa! Weird for me, since I don’t know the British or Canadian planes very well. There was one Cessna 150, the plane I had flown and soloed in, so that was nice to see. And an amazing Messerschmidt bullet holes and all, a German-built plane that took off like a rocket, used up all its fuel, sort of glided back to earth (like a rock)… not too many were successful in either direction, and they lost a lot of pilots.
It is harder to shoot in even darker light, no tripods allowed, the planes all smooshed together and then bad ceiling lighting, metal framing and people, people, people, but I got a few shots. One of my assignments was red (you can see that in the peck of peppers) and another was repetition, but the glass block/monster face graphic was for fun.
I am surprised I didn’t add a few more photos into the blog folder to share with you all. Well, maybe another time!
The second Sunday of this adventure, my birthday, found us at Upper Canada Village. The British army was in town (redcoats) to “protect” the village, there was a great big birthday cake with a Union Jack in icing (only child Patty thought it was for her, but it was Queen Victoria’s birthday too), we had sarsparilla (good for what ails ya) and we were supposed to meet for lunch at noon at the nicer restaurant in the village. I was ready at 10:30. Most others showed up by 11:30 since the weather was so bad, and we enjoyed an excellent lunch that I ended up taking home because I’d put pepper on my chicken and it got on my raw and sore throat… and the resultant choking and coughing was more than my classmates could bear. I got all warmed up until it was time to venture forth again and check out the village some more.
I do love Windsor chairs, and Shaker design too, so these chairs are so simple… so beautiful.
PS – That 5:30 am class meeting? Cancelled due to inclement weather! There IS a photography god!!
But this is what it looked like at out last house on the river at about 6:00 am. I shot this because I never really get to see this time of day.
PPS – I am surprised at how desaturated the photos are once I post them – if anyone knows how to cure that, please let me know. For example, those peppers are red red red red! But not on this blog once they are posted. Hmmm…
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Left to right –
Rudi’s dad, Geo; Frederike’s son, Alexander; she who is usually the photographer; the bearded one; Frieda, Rudi’s mom; Rudi’s baby sister, going incognito, Yolande; Rudi’s big sister, Frederike; Frieda’s baby brother, Moritz.
We take off Friday back to Ottawa. I was looking back on the post I have here on this blog from last year, April 24th too, we leave Victoria and leave behind awful weather, and land in Ottawa’s glorious sun and warmth!
Well, this year the weather is great on both coasts, so We had a lovely day driving on some new roads today on a final whirl through town.
We sat in Vancouver’s airport on our way here waiting for the flight to Victoria. About ten minutes before boarding our plane, I realized why I’d felt so light and free leaving the plane – I’d left my coats on my seat!
Rudi and the gate supervisor set out on a search of the airport to see where they might have been taken. She called every number she had, and they finally located it – on the plane, which was now boarding! The coats were passed up to the front of the plane, and thank goodness Rudi’s legs are 3/4 of his body because he got back just in time to board our plane!
Rudi’s mom and dad live a block from the water, an inland passage and technically the Pacific. It is a bit cooler closer to the water, and seems a bit hazy most of the time. But the weather has been so warm the sailors have been out in force.
A man outstanding in his field, following his own path, alone.
On the way to brunch at Frederike’s, Rudi’s older sister’s, and were happy to see Washington State’s Olympic Mountains, which are easily visible heading south into Victoria proper on a good day.
The man I love. I have many photos similar to this one – I call it “The Patient Man.”
This was a glorious week! We got to have tea, afternoon tea and high tea, Monday and Wednesday, at Adrienne’s Tea Garden. I love Adrienne’s and the owner, Fay is wonderful!
On Monday we took our Victorian students, Lisa and Amanda, and I forgot to take a photo of the humans! But I did shoot the tea. Sheesh! You can see where my loyalties lie! And on Wednesday we took the family.
And on our drive today we had a sandwich out by the water, checked out a daffodil farm, and enjoyed the view from here.
Rudi was born in Indonesia, but raised for the largest chunk of his formative years in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, just south of Edmonton. Since Meghan (my firstborn) lives in Edmonton now, and since we have some wonderful students and grads there (including Meghan), and since I had not wrapped my arms around her in two years, we made a stop on our way to the west coast, for just 26 hours!
There was no real accessible Welcome sign, so Nick and I had to settle for the luggage cart!
And I know, I know, I see my daughter for the first time in a while, so why are there cupcake photos? Well, I love cupcakes, and search for amazingly excellent ones. Been quite disappointed in Ottawa so far, and in Montreal (one place – even sold mouldy cupcakes!!). So Meghan, knowing my bent, took me straight to Flirt cupcakes on Whyte Ave in Edmonton.
WOW. They were excellent. I could hardly choose. Since I am not a chocolate fan, my cakes were all white. Since Rudi was there with his “overindulgence is bad” face, we ordered only three, for Meghan and me to split. And, like the good only-child mother I am, I chose one flavour with coconut, which she doesn’t like, and I knew I would get to eat it all myself! BAD mother!
We settled on a mocha that was as good as coffee Haagen-Dazs, a mint that was perfect, and a lemon with coconut. ALL were excellent, and Flirt ought to be proud of their (organic!) offerings!! I wish we could have had more, but, well, you know, Rudi…
Meghan works at the amazing West Edmonton Mall, huge and there isn’t likely anything you need that can’t be found there (other than quiet and privacy). At the movie theatre is the most amazing thing – a massive dragon, 30 feet? And every 20 minutes it turns on, moves, looks right into your eyes in a menacing glare, and then — blows FIRE!
I couldn’t believe it, and was waiting to shoot it breathing fire. Well, it breathed fire all right! I almost peed my pants! My first thought was – “My camera lens will melt!!” it was that close! It does this twice, it is HOT, and I was shaking, literally shaking, for some minutes after, too! So my shots are lousy of the fire-breathing, but you can go on You Tube and search and find some great videos.
The next morning, we were excited to meet with our College folks for a nice breakfast chat.
That’s Marlaina, Rudi, Tammie and Lauri.
And here you’ve got Meghan, Laura, Tessa and Louise.
And my first baby:
If you want to see photos of the chicken coop where Rudi was raised for a time, send me a note. We visited Wetaskiwin, shot some blasts from the past, then returned to Edmonton for a lunch with Meghan before our flight to Vancouver, then Victoria.
I have to share these. The night before we left for Victoria we went to the Restaurant International, where Kelsey (my baby) was the Executive Chef for the evening. It was their last service before graduation, and they were cooking Kelsey’s menu. Everything was phenomenal, form the amuse bouche to dessert. I didn’t even shoot it all! But here are a few shots to whet your appetite, and one of the Chef with friend Mary.
If you want any recipes – let me know! I have connections with the chef!
Okay, let’s get this show on the road! We left Hope Town, were home six weeks and then headed to Victoria BC. So – let’s finish up the Hope Town photos.
Here is Rudi, standing on the covered porch outside our kitchen in our home in Abaco.
This bird, we were told it was a member of the heron family (a Gaulin?) sat on our property the entire time we were there with our builder, and never flew off. I got close, took loads of photos, he never flinched. Maybe Timou will have a friend!
This is about what our view will be from the ground. Now – build a ground floor, put the house on top of that and you are looking over the trees at the Atlantic.
Our beach, sort of private (count the people!) across from the house. Rudi is there with Flat Nick. Long story! Maybe I will do a Flat Nick post sometime.
Another in the heron family! We were leaving a bonfire meal on Tahiti Beach to which we were very graciously invited, and this little bugger (or huge bugger) was standing in the road enjoying his crab sashimi. We got quite close and he didn’t budge! Eventually he took his huge wings and headed to a nearby lawn.
Too too too soon, we were headed back to Canada. Susan and Harvey saw us off – those who had an early flight.
Hope Town Harbour is even more gorgeous, if that is possible, in the early morning hours.
And the saddest site of all, if you’re headed west…
We flew into Nassau, and it was a nice layover. We went to Compass Point for a very good breakfast. It was interesting to see people all lining up for the chairs on the concrete path around the pool. No one was in the ocean. All of these lounge chairs were filled by 10am.
The colour of the water will never cease to amaze me. I just expect to be aquamarine when I pull out my feet or arms. But it doesn’t stick!
After breakfast we ordered some tea (more to kill another hour than anything), then got back to the airport for the flight back to Canada. Not calling it home anymore!
Paula is a student of our College. She is totally in love with Lee, and vice versa.
Paula and Lee were at Winter School 2008, and they loved Hope Town. When their first choice of location in which to marry one another seemed not to be possible, they thought – why not get married at Winter School 2009? And why not make it a surprise for those who will be attending?
And so they did. As folks landed in Hope Town, or as they arrived at their rentals, an invitation awaited. And the surprise was wonderful! So was the wedding, from the ceremony performed by Vernon Malone to the dinner prepared by the Lodge’s head chef Ferrell, to the cake – as you know, created by pastry chef Kent Lebouttelier, to the music of the wonderful Estin Sawyer… it was perfect.
Here are a few shots for your enjoyment. Aren’t they gorgeous?
And – the very best part of all (besides the hallowed union of two into one) — cake!
Okay, we really were in Hope Town for Winter School. A week of sun and learning, kindred spirits and listening to – Rudi!
The venue was the Hope Town Harbour Lodge, in a lovely room called “Ray’s Place.” Tom Hazel runs the Lodge, and takes good care of us on the breaks in class, with wonderful fruit and freshly-baked muffins.
And – everyone seemed to be listening intently!
That’s Gayle, Aleks and Bonnie above.
And below – Melinda and Wendy.
And, last but never least, Lisa, Susan, Donna, CoCo and Gudula. Look at them! Rapt attention!
More Hope Town happenings!
The school, this is the adorable elementary school in Hope Town. They needed an elementary school teacher, just until the end of this year (I heard). It took everything in me not to stay and help out! I have a degree in that stuff, everything kindergarten to grade 8! And they needed me. And I could have stayed. And not returned to cold and snow…
Highlight! Highlight! Highlight!
May I say that the highlight of this trip was meeting fellow food/cake lover and pastry chef extraordinaire, Kent Leboutellier! She is great, besides being a sweetheart and very open to letting Paula (a student of our College – more on her later) and I watch her make a wedding cake for a Saturday wedding at the Hope Town Harbour Lodge.
And what great fun it was! Fondant no longer totally freaks me out, though I probably won’t be making any or using it in the near future. Okay, it still scares me.
But not Kent – she is brave!
More on Kent’s cakes later!
In the meantime, her husband, Boot, runs their Tomato Paste business, adorable cottages on the water and nicely secluded that they rent to visitors to the island. http://www.tomatopastehopetown.com/
And Boot also restores wood boats – here is a gorgeous and magnificent original Abaco dinghy -
Meanwhile, back at home we found a wee visitor to the house we were renting. Geckos and lizards and things are great to have around, since they will eat the bugs in your house for you! Rudi appreciated them, and a big fat spider, in his room in New Guinea.
But I thought this guy would be happier outside – so I took him out on Kelsey’s sneaker. No, he came back. He liked the house! (we did too!)
And here is a shot of Kelsey and Monica with Flat Nicholas.
Now, Flat Nick has been with us for several months. He is the creation of my nephew, Nicholas, after his class read a book about Flat Stanley.
As I was shooting Nick with a coconut one day, a woman stopped by and asked me if he was a Flat Stanley. Her grandskid had to make one too!
So Nick has been to a lot of places with us, and seen all kinds of weather, but he is often seen with these two pretty girls!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! I have a brisket in the Crock Pot and the aromas are wafting through the house…
Capt. Jack’s is the local watering hole, and one of the more affordable eateries in town. Kelsey spent last year’s visit here eating cole slaw, since she determined theirs to be the best on the island (she did a cole slaw tour). And Susan discovered a drink here whose name we keep forgetting – Loose Woman? No, a Bushwhacker.
You can just pull up your boat and hop into the dining room.
All over these cays are curly tail lizards. They can be huge, brazen, social. We have one on our rental property that stands on the first step to the house, not budging when we climb those steps.
This one was in town though, sunning himself on the hot cement.
We have our Winter School at the Hope Town Harbour Lodge, which is a great central location with wonderful space for things like weddings and meetings. We use Ray’s Place, which is a smaller room with big windows and screens overlooking the harbour.
It’s pretty hard to pay attention to Rudi sometimes…
We attended a champagne brunch at the Lodge too, a benefit for the Hope Town Volunteer Fire Rescue. We really loved one of the paintings that was up for silent auction, and after we met the woman who was bidding against us, somehow she stopped bidding – I guess she was kindly noticing we were more enthused about it than she.
It is a great watercolour of guys going out to get conch, one of the staple industries in these waters.
We’re into Day 2 of Winter School now, so this photo of Rudi prepping in the long and golden afternoon light is a bit out of time, but his dedication to sharing truth and wisdom never waivers.
Our faithful steed this visit is a golf cart from JR’s Carts. Junior runs the marina at Sea Spray on a souther part of this cay. Kelsey begs us to buy a forward-facing back seat when we live here…
I was out shooting in the sunset while waiting (im)patiently for Kelsey and Monica’s ferry to hit Hope Town. Their flight had been cancelled the day before in Ottawa by West Jet for weather (though it was gorgeous in Ottawa and Toronto, and definitely wonderful in Nassau). Then Abaco Air FORGOT them in Nassau, but helped to get them on a Sky Bahamas flight later.
They arrived on the very last ferry – Kelsey refusing to be photographed until the next morning.
Glad the Albury Ferry can navigate at dark!
We took the girls to Tahiti Beach, which is at the southern-most tip of this little cay. No seaglass there, really, but the shelling was fine, and they searched for quite a while while the good husband sat and waited.
Well, we’re off to class now. Stay tuned for the gelato series (Hope Town Coffee House) and a surprise wedding!!
When we drive our rental golf cart up to the edge of town (since carts and vehicular traffic is not allowed through Hope Town, unless there is a good reason), I like to look at the assortment of carts and imagine which kind we will buy when we’re here more full time. Yamaha is kind of a given, and I recently saw this cart, which looks so versatile to me it captured my heart! The back can be seating for two or a utility space.
Further into town is a house called, “The Jib,” and it is at the split between the high road and the low road, splitting them like the bow of a ship. I like to take the camera there because it has red-orange flower bushes and they often are filled with butterflies looking for the tasty nectar.
This time I thought I had a butterfly sitting on a twig totally still. I was happy, but then thrilled when I realized it was a hummingbird!
Last Thursday, since it has been announced that the water on our cay would be off for most of the day, I thought it might be a good time to rent a boat and head to Guana Cay, where we could check out Nippers, and look for Angie, from NJ but on our hchautism email group.
I called friends Chris and Mira, and asked if they’d like to come. They didn’t jump at the chance, because they’d been out earlier in the week and either the sea was a mess or the boat was. But they agreed, and Chris rented the boat – this time an Albury 20′.
Now, the Alburys are here, they are boatbuilders and they run the ferries that take us around the cays. And my goodness! I can confess that I have lost my lunch, breakfast, whatever, on every boat I’ve been on our of the river, other than the ferries (Albury and BC Ferries). And oh my goodness! That Albury 20′ was heaven. It was gliding across the magnificent Sea of Abaco, and I not only kept in breakfast, I had lunch and made it home very happy and proud of myself! And very happy there are Alburys.
So, before we went to Guana, we headed to Fowl Cay, which is a protected park area with reef that draws snorkelers from everywhere. We picked a mooring ball, and everyone on board other than Chris and Mira’s son Connor (8.5 months) went out. I took a few photos and tried to enjoy the rocking, back and forth and back and forth and back and forth…
Rudi was happy to go out – they found a massive grouper, about 30 pounds, and a barracuda just hanging, and parrotfish and more. No one had an underwater camera.
And the colours are real, the Sea is just mind-blowing.
The Happy Snorkeler:
We headed to Guana Cay and Nippers when the dive boats all left, with the tide going out. Nippers is a beach bar, with a gorgeous piece of beach. It is famous for its Sunday Pig Roasts and Barefoot Man concerts. We were very happy to be there on a day when 1000 people were NOT there.
It was funny, we docked the boat and walked up to the road, and this old van stopped and asked if we were headed to Nippers, and offered us a ride. Told us to ask the bartender to call him and he’d give us a ride back to the dock, too. And we were trying to figure out how much to tip him… when I realized it was Johnny, owner of Nippers!
Here’s Nippers:
And Rudi at Nippers:
And Johnny’s piece of heaven, that he is good enough to share:
We stopped in Hope Town to pick up some of Vernon’s bread, and to get a few things. I found Almond Joys! I love them, and we don’t have them in Canada.
We spotted a curly tail in the heat of the sun, baking on the sidewalk outside Harbour View grocery store, and headed home.
We’re in a rental house, maybe owned by a doctor from Princeton? Maybe he knows House.
Anyway, we aren’t in a scenic location, though the property is great. We’re down the street and over one from where our house will be built.
In this photo you can look way way forward and see the Atlantic Ocean. Our house will be all the way at the end, one block left, and looking right over the Atlantic up close and personal.
Hope Town is known for its gorgeous candy-striped lighthouse at the entrance to the harbour. Maybe we’ll share some history one day.
This set of two photos has to be called “the good husband.” Here he is on Tahiti Beach, helping me look for seaglass. Tahiti Beach is at the far end of Elbow Cay, right across from Tiloo to the south and Lubbers Quarters to the west. At low tide you feel as if you can just walk across, with s short swim, to Lubbers. We’ve been told that swim would be very difficult, so we just look across.
At low tide Tahiti Beach is wonderful. The Atlantic crashes in on the east, there are conchs and starfish to “rescue” by throwing them back into the deeper water. And not much seaglass. But there is at least one good husband.
Friend Janet has asked why there were no photos of me in Abaco. There never is a picture of the photographer! So I sent her one of my sandy foot from 2008, shot at Tahiti Beach last year. And yesterday, as we were leaving Tahiti Beach, I snapped the 2009 version of my sandy foot. Here I am in Abaco.
When we got home last night after a visit with Chris and his friend and family, the sun was beginning to set. Cozy Corner looked ablaze, and the pool a cool contrast.
Are these shades of blue.
We landed in Nassau, zipped over to the Odyssey terminal and met Jevon for our Abaco Air flight in a great Aero Commander. I flew right seat, having been a private pilot in my past life.
It was a great flight, about an hour, and clear on top at 5500′into Marsh Harbour.
We jumped on a taxi to head to the last ferry with Chris, whom I’d met on the Abaco Forum. He was visiting Hope Town for the first time with his wife, Mira, and his 8-month-old son, Connor. Now you all know I’m not into kids, but Connor is gorgeous! I will get his photo for you while we’re here. Meantime, this was Chris shooting his family as the sun set and we waited for the ferry to get going.
On the ferry I was surprised to see a strange snack… A ham fun kit! ????
After church on Sunday we had lunch at the Abaco Inn. The weather has been chilly – 58F today, and the seas were choppy. Two cold fronts left Florida to converge near us tonight, and from that point the weather will just get better and better.
The Abaco Inn has a great gazebo on site. And as we were eating Vernon Malone (descendant of Wyannie Malone, the woman who founded Hope Town, and lay minister) came into the restaurant, met a man and woman, and took them down to the gazebo for their wedding! The bridge later commented on the Abaco Forum that when Vernon marries you, you definitely know you’re married! Cool. I like weddings. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have one in Hope Town, maybe on a beach… with Vernon.
Have you ever heard of the book, Flat Stanley? Well, apparently my half-nephew’s class was reading it, and the kids were given the task of creating a flat themselves. So Nicholas’s is “Flat Nick.” And Flat Nick has been with us for several months, spending Christmas and coming to the Abacos. Sometime in the spring Flat Nick will go back to Nicholas in New Jersey with all the photos of his adventures, and the mileage he has traveled! In this shot Flat Nick is checking out the beach, but he still has on his sweater because of the cool winds.
After having so many BAD cupcakes, I wanted to make some of my own. I needed an occasion, so I chose to make a bunch for the office and for Kelsey, and used the excuse of our up-coming trip to Hope Town.
Vanilla organic cake, wild blueberries thrown in for good measure, and an amazing lemon buttercream frosting. I was most proud when daughter/chef Kelsey asked where I’d bought them, not believing I’d made them myself! And – on Lenox.
Maybe I will call this series – Cupcakes with Lenox.
Why not? I inherited enough of my mom’s Lenox china, which was from Trenton, NJ by the way. All I need are – cupcakes!
I call that one – Vanilla.
And this one? Guess.
I am truly a vanilla lover. Sadly, still in search of the perfect vanilla cupcake.
These were from a place in Ottawa that supposedly is wonderful. Well, their cupcakes really were NOT. sniff.
But while I can’t eat them (I actually gave away the ones I had bought!) – I can try to shoot them, before they escape.
The search continues…
This is a gorgeous location, owned by U Vic, high on a hill overlooking the “Victoria” Airport, in Sidney. The ‘rents love it, and we go often on visits here. And this time we celebrated a few birthdays there.
Rudi’s much beloved youngest, Alexa, came over from Vancouver on the 7am ferry to join us, with her love and hero (a real hero), Ryan.
Ryan saved Alexa’s life. Long story, but trust that he is a hero.
Rudi was busy blowing out the candles on his dad’s birthday slice, while Geo posed for the camera!
And there were two birthday slices, for the two birthday boys.
Rudolf’s sister Frederike with Alexa -
And my favourite shot of Rudi’s parents. I have this same photo from every year, and Rudi’s son Eric has the exact same one. There is something pretty special about it.
Forgive me for not being too wordy or to picturey, but I flew in with a very awake and screaming nerve in a molar, and it got progressively worse over the first few days we were here.
The tooth has been pulled as of this morning, so the pain is gone, but sleeping all day doesn’t amount to much in terms of photography!
More later on our graduates and students that we got to visit with on Monday!
But I will try. I know some of you care about this. And tomorrow my molar will be pulled and it should be uphill from there.
Ottawa and Quebec were lovely on take-off, in the autumn:
Though a bit foggy through the dirty airplane window.
This trip we landed first in Vancouver to visit Rudi’s lovely daughter Alexa and her beau, Ryan. We had a great dinner with them, slept in a wonderful B&B and left in the morning for my very favourite town in the world, Sidney-by-the-Sea.
We were third in our line for the ferry, and we were headed for the fourth level. To give you an idea of the size of that thing, you can imagine the three decks beneath us filled with RVs, busses, trucks, tractor trailers and more!
The ferry ride is less than two hours, $14 if you walk on and $75 for the two of us with the rental car. It takes you through all of the Gulf Islands to Vancouver Island, where we get off just north of wonderful Sidney.
I loved seeing a seaplane flying through the islands, and we learned that on our next trip we could take a seaplane rather than the ferry. I am most definitely up for that! In this photo the seaplane is TINY. But it’s the thought that counts.
We’re off to Sidney now, 10km from the parents’ house, to pick up Meghan’s (my daughter) special Empress Tea from Janet’s Teas, and to take Oma to the bank, the pharmacy and to pick up Rudi’s sister Yolande from her condo.
We really lucked out on the flight from Chicago to LAX! I’d asked the desk agent in Ottawa if he could find us seats that were more forward than the ones we were originally assigned, and he did. We didn’t know what 17AB meant, but it turns out that on a 767-300 for American Airlines it is exceptional!
It is a set of two seats in their own little room, almost, with the screen for movies and loads of leg room, and a curtain to close off the rest of the plane. It is almost across from the galley, and is reserved (unless they need it) for the flight attendants on international flights, for a rest. Embroidered pillows, comforters and all. Here’s Rudi enjoying our flying room!
Since we’d landed at rush hour (which in LA is 3-8pm) we went to the nearby Whole Foods for some food and shopping. WOW! The largest in North America, and it was beyond exceptional. I had to get a photo of it! And here are Steven. Marla and Rudi on the windy evening – who thought I wanted to shoot them!
We woke to a lovely breakfast of fresh pineapple, and I had some Greek yogurt I’d bought at Whole Foods. Then the party started!
Marla heard we’d never had a canelle, so she sent Rudi and Steven for a little walk (a “few blocks” in Santa Barbara takes about 40 minutes!) and they returned with this delectable pastry – it was gorgeous!
Then out came the almond croissants and pain au chocolat:
And then out came the cupcakes, from a very special cupcake-only place, Sweet Buttercup. For a good time, vicariously, do visit their website! www.sweetbuttercup.com
Marla and I spent the afternoon walking down State Street, which is a lovely street filled with all kinds of wonderful stores. I was excited to spot the guy that I’d seen on You Tube, walking down the street with his dog on a leash. On the dog was a cat, and on the cat was a rat. VERY cool!
And lastly, I shot down a side street off State, looking north so you could chesk this view:
And the weather was gorgeous. Perfect since we’d have about seven weeks of rain and clouds in Ottawa this summer.
We took our staff to the spa last week. They absolutely deserved it – and they deserve it weekly!
Venetia, Frances and I had massages to start the day. The boys probably explored the pools and sauna. The spa is Le Nordik, in Chelsea, Quebec, just 20 minutes outside of Ottawa.
Then we (the ladies) explored the pools and the sauna and had tea in the relaxation room. Then we went for lunch. I took some shots – but the food was truly unremarkable, so forget the photos. The restaurant isn’t worth it.
Here are Frances and Venetia relaxing by the hot pool (and if you look closely, you can see Jason and Rudi above them, by the outdoor fire):
(You can click on photos to enlarge them.)
And deep in conversation:
The boyz – doing one of the things they do best, by the fire on a cloudy day:
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