the Cat's Cupboard: Holiday in St. Lucia

the Cat's Cupboard: Holiday in St. Lucia

Holiday in St. Lucia

Here it is the week before Christmas and this blog has been silent since Thanksgiving. I will fill in the details for the past couple of months in a future blog. Today, I had more to write about our holiday in St. Lucia than I could fit in a tweet. After four gloriously sunny days, rain clouds rolled in over Smugglers Cove last night bringing us intermittent downpours throughout this Friday morning. The advantages are two-fold: it encourages us to take it easy after yesterday's exhaustive and exhausting tour of land and sea (more later), and the rain also brought out the land crabs. The tunnels that house these creatures have been intriguing us since our arrival and this morning we finally found them perched at the openings of their houses along the gardens and pathways of the resort. They range in size from 2-4 inches, grayish to bright orange. The slightest movement sends them dashing underground so it took a great deal of stealth to photograph them.

Smugglers Cove Resort and Spa is on the north west end close to Castries, the largest city. It is situated on an estate of 65 acres of well-kept gardens, six pools, and is self-contained within the cove with a sheltered sandy beach including a snorkeling reef. The all-inclusive services offer bars, lounge, band and stage, a large buffet restaurant for all three meals plus three table service restaurants for dinner reservations. The fresh fruits and vegetables are in endless supply. The dinner menus have been very good - my favourite so far being the 10 spice duckling at Cafe Asia. I had anticipated a lot of shellfish, which I love, but surprisingly that is not the case. The fish is barracuda, tilapia, mahi mahi, and other meaty fish. Chicken and pork dominate the menu, and I love the spices used. The water is luxuriously warm and buoyant for swimming even when the breakers are too rough for snorkeling or small boats. The heat and sun assist the sensation of slowly melting into a healing stupor as the day passes: breakfast, walkabout, beachwear before lunch, lounge chair and reading under a tree or umbrella before a swim in the sea, stroll up to the top pool for the swim up bar and a drink by the cascade fountain as the sun declines, shower and dress for dinner, drinks and entertainments, collapse in sleep to prepare for the next taxing day. All in glorious surroundings of flowering plants, palms, and birds. Too sweet.

We have been overwhelmed by the beauty of this little island nation. The flag is blue for sky and sea, I believe, with three triangles overlapping - the smaller for Petit Piton is yellow as the sun, the next largest for Gros Piton is black, and the largest for the tallest peak Morne Gimie is white. These colours represent the St. Lucians themselves. The land is lush with indigenous and imported plants, agriculture largely bananas for export to the UK, industry the production of rum and cocoa. The shore is a convolution of cliffs, bays and coves, perfect of the development of resorts, spas and hotels for the ever increasing tourist industry. We experienced most of this during Thursday's Land and Sea Tout. We hit the highlights in Castries and two fishing villages enroute south to Soufriere. We drove through rainforests as we crossed over mountain passes, stopping at breathtaking outlooks to take photos, buy fresh coconut and souvenirs. We drove into the volcano to survey the smoking sulphurous centre, visited waterfalls, and botanical gardens. When we arrived in the harbor at Soufriere, we boarded a boat which transported us to a secluded beach. A generous and delicious lunch awaited. On to a beach between Pitons where we snorkeled and sunned for awhile. As the sun descended, we boarded again for the final leg of the tour, a boatride back up the coast to Castries. On the way, we stopped at a bat cave, Marigot Bay, and the tunnel of love used in Pirates of the Caribbean. The tour began at 9 am and we arrived back at Smugglers Cove after 7 pm! What a fabulous day.

We had hoped to see a dear friend while here, 95-year-old Betty, our Thanksgiving guest for 10 or 12 years before she moved here permanently four years ago to join her daughter's family. They are a branch of the Devaux family that stretches back to the eighteenths century. We have been privileged to meet and be hosted by Betty's granddaughters. Her daughter Pam gifted us with a book by Robert Devaux OBE, her husband, an island historian. They Called Us Brigands is the saga of the freedom fighters at the end of the 18th century who inhabited the rainforests and mountains in the interior of the island, claiming their emancipation in opposition first to the French Aristocracy and the Royalist planters and later to the British conquerors who sought to reestablish slavery. Very interesting, putting the place names and the creole language into clear context. We also came away with Pam's homemade cookies and a jar of chutney. Thank you, Robert and Pam! Well, that was Tuesday at Gayle and Carlos' lovely home and clinic, where we met granddaughter Tracy as well as a number of great grandchildren and other family and friends. Gayle and Carlos are naturopaths who also produce in house the NatMed line of natural treatments and the Caribbean Blue Naturals cosmetic products. I am looking forward to trying the lovely soaps they gave us. On Saturday, we are invited to cocktail hour at Maran and Richard's where we hope that Betty will be able to join us. If not, I will print out and send the pictures I brought for her on my iPad and be happy with having met most of her wonderful family. Otherwise, this week is one to kick back and relax.

I did a bit of a spa day on Wednesday with a back and foot massage and facial. And tonight we plan a trip into Gros Islet for the Friday night street party that has been ongoing for 21 years or more. It is reputed to be a blast. I will have to work on staying alert long enough to get there. We leave Sunday morning, to arrive back in TO on Christmas Day at about 6 pm. Fortunately, the usual dinner bunch are occupied elsewhere this year. We are ordering in Thai for them on the 27th this time around. We will be at the big family gathering at Mom's on Boxing Day, thankful that we do not have to deal with jet lag after this trip. In the meantime, we wish all of you the best of Seasons Greetings whatever your mid-winter celebrations, and of course, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Thanksgiving Sunday Dinner

We hosted Thanksgiving Dinner on Sunday - Husband and I, our two daughters and their guys, our two grandchildren (7) and (2), two sisters, one brother-in-law, one niece, one great-nephew, one cousin about to join his wife and baby son in Moscow, and one neighbour friend. We switched the living and dining room furniture to accommodate everyone around the table. We had sun and shirtsleeve weather. So we visited outside and in the porch before and after dinner.

I had snacks/light lunch waiting at 2:00 pm: a bowl of seasonal fruit and a platter of dried fruit and nuts, a cheese and cracker board plus a variety of nachos and flatbread with antipasto, a plate of raw veggies, plus a stunning loaf-shaped pie with a chestnut mushroom onion sage and cranberry filling. Beer, wine, tonic, pellegrino, juice, limes etc for drinks.

Then for the dinner feast:
A 23.5 lb beautiful turkey, savory stuffing, gravy (proclaimed 'epic' this year)
Individual baked savory stuffings for vegetarian sister and daughter plus a large casserole of the delicious sweet stuffing for everyone (butternut squash, maple syrup, onion, sage, toasted pecans, dried cranberries, dried bread cubes, vegetable broth: yummy!)
Mashed potatoes
Sister's roasted veggies and tahini sauce, and her green beans and almonds
Daughter's new wonderful beet salad plus her kale recipe to which we added to my garden chard
Cousin's fab salad and dressing
Neighbour's little biscuits and butter
Other sister's pumpkin pies and whipped cream
Niece's lemon squares and incredible vegan hazelnut cookies

On Tuesday, I made broth from the carcass so the freezer is stocked and ready for soups and stews. Meanwhile, I don't have to cook for the rest of the week because there are so many leftovers. Well, Wednesday I did make my mom's easy leftover turkey casserole which we will finish tonight: layer turkey, leftover veggies, potato and/or stuffing; pour on the leftover gravy/broth and put in hot oven; when bubbling, unroll Pilsbury crescent roll dough and cover casserole; bake as per crescent roll directions. Husband and I just got over bad colds so I am all for an easy week. Otherwise everyone is fine, including our son's family out in Victoria. Mom is having a few health issues. But she is getting some physiotherapy this week and we hope she will be fine soon. Of course, she is 98. We also heard from our Thanksgiving friend who moved to live with her family in St. Lucia a few years back. She is 95, and still remembers to get in touch with us every year. We all have fond memories of sharing Thaksgiving with her. That is what Thanksgiving is for, isn't it? Sharing the bounty.

Thanksgiving prep

The first week of October was almost completely wiped out by a virulent cold that came on after I had an upper respiratory reaction to having the house sprayed for carpenter ants on October 1. All attempts other than pest control failed to get rid of them and they eat your house so we had to do something. At 9:00 a.m. we drove down to our old home town to see some dear friends. Twelve hours later, three times the necessary absence, we arrived home and by midnight my head was stuffed and my throat scratchy. Nonetheless, we went down to NOTL on Sunday to meet niece, grand nephews, and great grand nephew and niece for a tasting at Hillebrand and lunch at Corks. It was cold and rainy. I tried not to breathe on anyone. Otherwise a grand time was had by all. Monday was a complete write-off...down for the count.

On Tuesday night I took the postponed trial tango class at Blueheel dance studio. My teacher, CIro, was very good. I don't think he gets that I want to study tango not to be able to dance at parties, but to get moving and to study the form. Anyway, I signed up for four more private lessons and two practice sessions over the next two months. I hope he didn't get the cold.

For the rest of the week, I was too fuzzy-brained to do anything. I could not go near Mom, of course, and my granddaughter was sick too. No dance class for her on Thursday. I tried to shop late on Friday afternoon. However, I just spent hours in grid-locked traffic in this little burg. What the heck was going on? Holiday weekend traffic, I guess. That made it imperative for me to do a major shopping on Saturday. Well, this is how that day of Thanksgiving prep unfolded:

Started laundry
Showered and dressed.
Harvested the garden for butternut squash, tomatoes, sweet & hot peppers.
Drove to the market - argh! No cash. Off to the bank - Back to the market for tomatoes, Bosc & Bartlett pears, northern spies & gala apples.
Next stop, Bulk Barn for salted & plain roasted almonds, walnut pieces, a few licorice cigars & candy pumpkins, dried apricots & rolled oats.
Canadian Tire for sealer jar lids & cleaning products.
On to ECS Coffee for a variety of Tassimo cups & Koo loose teas.
QEW to Costco for the great deals on old cheddar, goat cheese & Brie plus a few other necessaries.
Last stop Longo's to pick up the turkey. Ordered 18-20 lbs but it came in at 23.5 lbs. Filled the cart with fruit and veg, crackers, ice cream, whipping cream, coffee cream and various other items indulged in only for holidays.
Came home to finish landry, put the groceries away, and had a cup of tea, feet up.
Took a break for an hour at Carrigan Arms, to say Happy Thanksgiving to buddies there (" No hugs! I may be contagious").
What did we have for dinner? Hmmmm. A freezer pizza and a bit of leftover chicken, I think.
Saturday night, I had a little burst of energy and actually cooked something - a pie baked in a loaf pan, filled with a mix of finely chopped onion, mushrooms, chestnuts, sage & cranberries. It turned out beautifully. I set it to cool in the sunporch and went to bed.

More to come...

Quick September Summary

It seems impossible that I have reached the end of my first month of real retirement. Not only did it pass disturbingly quickly but it was also a bit of a chilly vacuum. Most of that feeling springs from a kind of decompression that was necessary for me to go through in order to even begin to feel retired. And to the lousy weather that we have had this particular September - really more like November or mid-October at best. Still and all, it was also a busy month when I did have things to do, and often a lot of fun. Here is a brief run-down:

The month began with the Burlinton Rib Fest, chilly weather and a lot of rain. We skipped our usual Saturday outing as did the friends that have attended with us for years. That gave me extra time to prep the pulled pork and peach pies for the neighborhood Contra Rib Fest on the Sunday. Lots of people came and we made it through the feast on the Penney's front lawn before getting rained out with an evening downpour. Even that didn't put a damper on the event as people retreated to a number of porches and open garages. We hung out until the night chill and the mosquitoes drove us home. Monday afternoon was clear enough that we met a few friends for beer and cider down at the Rib Fest where we listened to Jack de Keyser's Blues Band.

I also registered my younger granddaughter for Modern (Limon) class at the Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre (CCDT) formerly the Canadian Children's Dance Ensemble. They've been around for 30 years so they have grown and are wonderfully professional. Thus I have begun my weekly pilgrimage to TO to lunch with my mom and to take my granddaughter to her class. We have established a routine: on our way she has a 6-inch plain Italian Subway sandwich, vegetarian with extra cheese, lettuce, cucumber and green peppers with a bit of salt and pepper and no sauce (not bad at all for a seven year-old!), chocolate milk and two cookie combo. If she needs something after class, there is a gelato place close-by. We have tried cabs and streetcar, but really, the fastest route is my car via the Gardiner and Parliament. So
as much as I love GOing and TTC, I may drive on Thursdays, especially in inclement weather. The timing is right for quick highway traffic and there is parking right in front. She is loving it and so am I.

During TIFF I was delighted to be taking in films with friends and sisters on school days. I saw seven films over three days: three on Monday, two on Tuesday and two on Friday. In order of seeing them with a brief review: 1) The Silver Cliff from Rio in Portuguese was good but did not have enough content in places - it would be better cut as a long short than as a feature; 2) Anonymous from England in English was fabulous, loved it; 3) Lena from The Netherlands in Dutch and Polish was excellent; 4) The Oranges from the US in English with fab cast was intriguing and hilarious, loved it too; 5) W.E. was Madonna's directorial debut about Wallace and Edward with excellent performances but something off about the pace of the story development which made it good but definitely not great; 6) Union Square from the US was a small budget indie starring Mira Sorvino and great little cast about the relationships between sisters and their families, excellent; 7) The Turin Horse from Hungary in Hungarian was not only a massive disappointment but quite possibly the worst film I have ever seen at TIFF, excruciatingly devoid of any story even though the programmer described the director as the maestro of storytelling, soundtrack like nails on a blackboard and we finally walked out after two hours and twenty minutes, something I never do. I love TIFF and finally became a member. Got a lovely mag in the mail with interesting film articles and a program of events giving me a list of too many things that I would love to do from the Grace Kelly exhibit to her movies to Hitchcock's films.

Since TIFF I haven't done much. I spend a lot of time with my feet up, TV on, playing solitaire. This is my way of decompressing. The miserable weather kept my gardening efforts to a minimum, but I did manage to harvest tomatoes enough for a batch of a secret family recipe for Tomato Marmalade. My grandmother and my mother made it every year. It has its own unique delicious taste. Mom was delighted to get a little jar. I also saw more of my sisters than I ever have in one month. I stayed with Jean a few nights, went to TIFF with Jean and Mary, visited Helen's new digs - I'll see Margaret at Thanksgiving and Evelyn the week after. Yay for sisters! We also started a new tradition of rotating family dinners, just the immediate family, with the first delicious one at Erin's. Our Victoria branch keeps in touch via phone and fb. Yay for family! My new freedom has also allowed for more time with friends: TIFF with Sandy, Val and Mavis and chats with Aileen and other neighbours. I even canvassed half the street for The Arthritis Society (something I put off to the last moment making it clear that this is not a task for me). And perhaps the most important bit, I tied off the tiny frays of the loose ends from work, completing and submitting long overdue reports. This gave me an excuse to drop into CALC and say hi to a bunch of folks there, and to enjoy Private Lives at the Royal Alex with Pam, a colleague, without any school pressure hanging over my head.

I bid September good-bye with new colour and cut at Atelier, and a pedi at Salon Soleil. When it turned out that my appointment for a free Tango trial at Blueheel Dance Studio had been double booked, I was disappointed but rebooked for early October. A whole new month stretches ahead, with fewer items on the calendar and adventures waiting to unfold.

Dancing Granddaughters

What greater joy for an arthritic old dancer grandmother than to have both granddaughters taking dance classes. One is thirteen, taking 5 classes a week, mostly ballet, way out on the west coast. I don't get to see her much but she reported today that she was so happy to be back in dance regardless of the aching legs she has after that first September class. How well do I remember that feeling - the agony of descending the stairs at school the morning after the first class, thighs afire. It is definitely good pain, though. You know you are alive and have once again connected with the ecstasy of dance. I can't wait to see the DVD of this years concert.

Closer to home, it was my great pleasure today to accompany granddaughter number 2 to her first modern dance class. I have enrolled her in Modern 1 at Canadian Children's Dance Theatre School so I know that the technique and teaching will be exemplary. It is the first indulgence of my retirement after going to TIFF on school days. I will come to town each Thursday to take her across town to the school and bring her home afterwards. The 30-40 minute trip each way will give us a chance to have a good visit. It was a bit of a gamble, since she wanted to take 'pop' dancing which I interpreted as the 'popping' done during hip hop. Too young for those classes. So I told her that Limon technique was very beautiful, with a lot of circular motion, fall and recover, suspend and release - kind of like a pendulum. Needn't have worried - she loved it and we had a good time on our travels. She will be ready to go back again next Thursday. I am so proud of my granddaughters and happy that we have dance in common.

TIFF Tuesday Sept 13

So we decided to see one film earlier in the day, skip an evening film and instead go to dinner after seeing W.E. And we had a really good day. Val went home Monday night, I stayed with my sister Jean, Sandy and Mavis stayed in a suite at Mom's retirement home. By the time I caught up with them at the Whole Foods cafe, they had a suggestion for our first film of the day - The Oranges. I managed to get tickets via my iPad while we had our coffee and croissants and off we went to Ryerson Theatre. What a treat. Absolutely fabulous! The cast included Hugh Laurie, Katherine Keener, Oliver Platt and Alison Janney - old favorites - plus several younger actors whose work I am less familiar with. They were all wonderful, the story was complex and a bit cringe-inducing but laugh out loud funny. Great script and direction.

Then we booted it on down to the Elgin theatre to see W.E. Hmmmm. Madonna is not a Barbra Streisand. I could not put my finger on it - something in the script, direction or cutting was just not quite right. Terrific visuals, great work by the cast especially by the two actors who played Wallace Simpson and her contemporary counterpart, Wally. Why was it good but not great? There was something about the back and forth in the first third that didn't work. What was the good doctor all about other than a nasty partner? Sandra dozed off a couple of times. Enough said.

We dropped in to say hi to Mom on our way to Sassafras where my sister Mary joined us. None of us spotted any stars. In fact, when we got there we were one of just a few full tables. But our waiter was delightful and the food was delicious. I had a 'badass' mojito, the lamb, and the peach dessert with coffee. We were given an amazing amuse bouche of watermelon, olive and watercress before and delicious chocolates after. Definitely worth the trip and the investment.

Home on the GO and baffed all day Wednesday.

TIFF Monday Sept 12

Very briefly as I need to sleep now - 1:30 today at Scotiabank we saw The Silver Cliff which was alright, interesting concept and I love slow moving pieces and portrait pieces, but really in the end simply too slow moving, or dwelt too long in a given scene. Walking in the empty airport for instance. Went on to the point of inducing sleep. Great work by the cast however. Then at 4:30 at The Wintergarden we saw Anonymous. Fabulous, simply fabulous. I would see it again in a minute. Finally, at 8:30 we saw Lena at AMC6. Another fabulous film. The sort of film that Silver Cliff hoped to be. Rich content and character development. Loved it!

We have tickets for W.E. directed by Maxonna at the Elgn at 2:30 Tuesday. Going to fill out the day first thing at the box office. more later...

Off to TIFF tomorrow

Two plum tartes and two peach pies are baked and cooling. One of the peach pies is for a friend who cannot eat lard so I used Crisco all vegetable shortening. But you know, it just doesn't make as good a crust as the Maple Leaf lard. I'm sorry, that is simply the truth. And Crisco has changed its formula or something. The crusts are too soft. They tear easily. So the pie fillings leak around the edges - gimme lard any day. But, here's the thing... I am off to TIFF tomorrow morning for a couple of days. So I think the neighbours are going to have to share in the pies while I am gone. It is just as well because I do want to lose some weight. But still, the peach pies are made with Loring peaches, my favourite.

Well, I will make it up by watching new movies for the next two days. My friends and I have tickets for 1:30 and 8:30 tomorrow. I am going in early to pick the tickets up at the box office and try to find a third film between these two. The first is The Silver Cliff, in Portuguese, from Rio. The evening film is Lena, in Dutch and Polish, from Amsterdam. We love the foreign language films but need a break from reading subtitles and hope to find an English language film starting at around 5.

Between times we will visit the Bell Light Box. My TIFF membership grants me entree to the Bell Blue Lounge (I think that is what it is called) so I hope my friends will be able to join me there for a drink. We will be having lunch with my mom first and seeing a couple of my sisters who may join us for the evening film. It is going to be fun as always! And it is going to be on school days this year - more fun for me.

First Week Not So Fabulous

OK, let's be honest here. The lazing about was more than that. It was fatigue, which was understandable, I'll grant you - my first real week off with nothing to do but what I will. But I did take a chill in the pouring rain at the contra-ribfest on Sunday. And that rain did go on! Suddenly fall weather: chilly, windy, rainy and grey all day everyday since Sunday. What kind of weather is that for my first week of retirement? Crying out loud. The first few days were so humid that my knees killed with arthritis. And sleeping with the windows open simply blew in the allergens from the squash leaves growing moldy in the garden under our bedroom window. So by midweek the lazing about in wooly socks and sweat shirt with lots of tea was really me fighting off a sinus infection and bit of a cold from allergies and bone deep chill. How great to see the sun come out last evening and the clouds finally part. Today I feel great and energized. I have put the cards away so I am not tempted to play my thousandth game of solitaire. I went to the market today and bought peaches, plums and corn warm in the sun. The slight agitation and anxiety that accompanied the lazing about may have to do with the few last strands of school stuff still waiting for my attention. I will get to them this weekend between making pies and tomato marmalade and going to the South Side Shuffle in Port Credit and packing for TIFF. I have tickets for Monday and a place to stay in town. Life is about to begin.

No Back to School for Me

Yesterday everyone went back to school. I did not. In fact, I slept in until 10:20 and after groggily making a cup of coffee, I sat and watched the last half hour of the Marilyn Denis Show. Then I watched Murdoch Mysteries and played solitaire until noon. I managed to get showered and dressed and was finally beginning to consider my To Do list by mid-afternoon. First: call the Canadian Children's Dance Theatre to find out how I can enrol my granddaughter for a class. Second: visit a neighbour to pick out a few films for our first day at TIFF next Monday. Hmmm. Dinner time. Cooked so much for the neighbourhood contra-ribfest that I really didn't feel like preparing food. At all. I put some potatoes on to boil and raced up to Longos for a BBQ chicken. We had it with the new potatoes, leftover green and yellow beans from the garden, leftover marinated salad and the last of the pies I had baked for the fest. The leftover pulled pork will do for tonight. Later, having tea in front of the TV, I got out my iPad and logged onto TIFF. I found out that, although I can buy up to 4 tickets per film on-line, most of those we chose are Off Sale. But if we get tickets for one of the evening performances, we can work backward from there and will probably end up at the box office taking our chances that morning. Checking my gmail, I was sad to learn that the Edible Arrangement I had sent to CALC for the Ed-Vance staff meeting had not arrived on time. It was waiting for the principal afterwards. That shop will hear about this from me. I did want to send a tasty little greeting to the staff to wish them a good year. Just so happy that I did not have to be there and could simply laze the day away.

Last 2 Days at CALC

I was happy to go back to CALC on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, to lend a hand to my replacement and help out a bit with registrations. It gave me a chance to share a few insights with the new VP regarding the way things work at the school and to share a few docs that she will need over the next few weeks. I had offered to come in for the entire week as I don't mind giving a little back. But I was really needed only for the two days. What a relief! As much as I enjoyed helping out, seeing some of the staff and students, and managing a bit of a visit with some colleagues, I went home exhausted at the end of the day. If I learned nothing else, the experience confirmed for me that my decision to retire had been the right decision, meaning both correct and best. I was so glad that I did not have to go in today or any day in the future. I slept in, watched CityLine and the Marilyn Denis Show while playing a lot of solitaire, and then went for a pedicure and got my hair cut. By the time I got home it was late afternoon. Just time to harvest the ripe tomatoes and tidy up the flower arrangements before going to get the seniors special at the fish and chips shop. Tonight, I kicked back in my recliner and watched movies on TV while I played another dozen hands or so of solitaire. Husband is busy in his office prepping his college classes for this fall. He starts on Tuesday. I don't. I almost felt retired today. Oh, wait. I forgot. I picked up some information on Tango lessons after my hair appointment. Yeah. I am retired.

Down Burst on Wednesday Night

You should have seen our back yard! We were in the sunporch night before last, closing windows against the rain, when a huge branch on our backdoor neighbour's butternut snapped off and crashed down through our next door neighbour's black walnut bringing two branches to land of their tips between our porch and the garden shed. No damage! But it will cost $100s to have them lowered safely to the ground and removed. Rght now they are leaning on the roof edge of the shed and entangled in the branches above with the butternut top spread out like a skirt on the ground. And of course, our backyard was littered with every kind of leaf and twig not to mention walnuts and butternuts. We paid granddaughter S a buck a bucket to pick them up and she quickly made three dollars. Having witnessed a tornado on Sunday, she was pretty upset when the wind came up and the branches crashed down. But the next day she was delighted with the money making cleanup scheme.

Tornado in Goderich

We were expecting my oldest daughter and her family to arrive today but were not sure when. So I went ahead and planned dinner to include them. I picked up a BBQ chicken and some artisan nacho chips from the supermarket to make things easy. We had PC vegetarian 'chicken' breasts in the freezer - she loves them - to top up the protein offering should they arrive in time to sit down and eat. While I was out husband got a call saying that they would not be leaving Goderich until after 6:30 pm. My son outlaw's family reunion was still going on. However, they would be coming to drop our granddaughter off for a week of day camp with us.

I called a neighbour over to join us for a before dinner drink and husband invited her to stay for the meal. While we sat out back the sky got dreadfully dark, not for the first time today, and then the wind began to roar through the treetops. The clouds were roiling and threatening but there was no thunder and very little rain. A little katydid landed on the table, blown from it's treetop perch and for half a minute I thought about capturing it for my bug-catching granddaughter to study. But I said, "I am glad they are waiting until later to come. Maybe it will have cleared up by then." Raindrops sent us into the sunporch. The phone rang. "Mom, have you been watching the news? A tornado just went by the place where we are staying in Goderich - we saw it go by! There are trees down everywhere and we are looking down over the cliff at the salt mine - it doesn't look good. All the power is out and there has been rain and hail. I am not sure when we will get to leave." "Stay safe" I said, "And text me updates."

I made the corn and peach chutney everyone likes so much with jalapeño and basil from the garden which we had as salsa with the nacho chips. I heated up the chicken and cooked up a few green and yellow beans. We had sliced and cherry tomatoes from the garden as well, some store cucumber (my vines were parched in July while we were away) and a small lentil salad from Costco (I thought I picked up the couscous salad but got the lentil by mistake). I made two peach and blueberry galettes today so we cut into one of them for dessert - yum, especially with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

A text message let us know that they were on their way after some delays getting out of Goderich. We checked the Weather Channel for news of the event - Good Grief! One man died and several had been injured. There was tremendous damage through the town, including the market square where the kids had been only hours earlier. They arrived at length, tired from the trauma of the day, with photos of uprooted trees and hail half the size of the palm of your hand. Granddaughter was carried in already sleeping. Her mom and brother stayed overnight while her dad went home to TO to feed their cat. It took awhile to settle our grandson down and it is now far too late for me to be up. We all have to get up early tomorrow morning for camp. I am going to sleep feeling sympathy for the people of Goderich and joy that our folks came through unscathed.

Blow winds, blow!

The rain started on Tuesday, coming in fits and starts but ending before the day was out to leave us a lovely evening. During the afternoon, daughter and I ventured out to find my sister's place north of the river. It was the disappearance of the Bangor Lodge welcome gate that had stumped me on my earlier search. It had come down after the demise of the old lodge. But a search on my maps app had provided me with the roads I needed to follow. It was still a rainy ride along the up and down and winding road but we found the place. My sister and her husband were at home after their golf game had been rained out. They have one of those great old Muskoka cottages: the main part built before 1930, with subsequent sleeping cabin and bunky having been incorporated at some later date. They have a great story about adding the master bedroom and arranging for rock beyond it to be blasted so they could install an en suite. They crossed their fingers and the only consequences were a few popped nails in the new drywall. It has that wonderful old cottage great room that spans the midst of the house with a huge fireplace on one wall and a sunroom on the opposite wall overlooking the lake. We sat there for a good chat with them and came back to clearing skies.

That night the wind began to blow and blew for two straight days, right out of the west and directly onto the cottage we are in. It made for some interesting water and skies as dark clouds scudded in above the waves and rain came down every few hours. Wednesday morning was then a lazy one as we all hung out in the cottage. The landlord and his family went back to the city for a couple of days so our granddaughter was on her own to draw, colour, read and play games. Her grandfather taught her to play Casino, a good card game for two. She drew a character from the Fantastic Five and created a card for her missing playmate. Thursday dawned a little brighter but the wind kept blowing and brought colder temperatures with it. By last night the sky had finally cleared and the wind calmed down enough for a campfire and the rituals of toasted marshmallows and s'mores. Our grandchildren built sandcastles and filled a toy dump truck while their dad got the fire bright enough for roasting. After dark, when the kids were all in bed we sat out and watched an almost full moon rise. I had hoped that the meteor showers would give us some falling stars, but to no avail. Finally, I was too tired to stay up but also found it very cold away from the fire pit. I went to bed with my socs on!

Muskoka Monday

Near idyllic. Rose early enough that the morning was still cool and the porch and dock still shady. My attempt with the unfamiliar coffeemaker resulted in coffee so strong it refused to be diluted by milk, but I managed to drink it anyway. The day began lazily, chatting, reading and watching the ducks on the water. At eleven I made the short drive to town dropping the garbage off along the way to pick up a few groceries we missed yesterday. After I left the supermarket, I thought I would pop in to say hi to my sister since I had no way of calling her. I found what I thought was the correct road but could not find the familiar landmark of Bangor Lodge, which no longer exists. I kept on until I reached Santa's Village at which point I turned back for the main road thinking I had mistaken the turn. However, when I came close to Port Carling I realized that I simply didn't know how to find her place so I turned around again and headed back to the cottage. When I arrived my grandson was down for his nap as was his grandfather. I had a bite to eat and my daughter and I read quietly until her partner arrived. He brought more groceries and we began to plan dinner. Then my granddaughter was back from an afternoon of play with the landlord's son. Our little guy woke up and there was a lot of hustle and bustle for awhile. At one point, he was drumming with two badminton rackets on the floor of the porch and under his instructions, I was drumming on a small blue plastic sand pail. Lots of fun and noise. Then I went in to make peach and corn salsa for the tortilla chips (leftover roasted corn, fresh peaches, fresh lime juice, salt, and our home-grown basil and chili peppers). The landlady brought us some potato and macaroni salads. We had lots of raw veggies including some tomatoes from our garden at home. The fresh cobs of corn were bbq'd along with PC portobello and Swiss burgers and we sat down to a feast. Afterward, daughter and granddaughter did the dishes, his dad got our grandson ready for bed, and husband and I just sat on at the table until the cat tried to make her escape. We leashed her and walked her about the place, down to the dock where the neighbor boy was trying to catch one of the mallards much to their amusement, a big dog came along and had to be gently shooed along home, and then the cat decided to explore the back reaches of the property. It got to the point where I was not going to be able to follow her any further. We brought her back into the house and I resumed my reading down on the dock facing the sunset and watching the water change from golden dapple to opalescent to silvery with a pink afterglow. Once the sun had truly set the air became chilly enough that I was glad to go into the house. We finished the evening playing games of Spot It and Block-us with our granddaughter until her bedtime followed by Carcassonne with her parents until 1:00 a.m. And that is just the half of it. There was fishing, drawing, painting, bug-catching, frog escapes, walks, and playing with toy trucks and balls as well. More than you would ever imagine could fit into one day. But it did.

A week in Muskoka

We are away again this week at a cottage that our daughter's family took on a little bay on Lake Muskoka just south of Bracebridge. I have now relaxed to the point of resembling a huge bowl of jello and with about the same amount of brain power. I think about calling one my sisters who is at her cottage on another part of this lake, but didn't bring her number and haven't managed to search my wallet in case I have it there. I promised a friend I would email her my cell number. She has a place close-by and is not likely to be here this week, but just in case she does come up it would be good if she could let me know. I would love to see her cottage but can't unless she can call me. And then there are the thanks I owe to our friends on Lake of Bays for the lovely time last weekend. Instead to sending them a note of gratitude, I stretch out for another rest and read another chapter of pulp fiction. Summertime and the livin' is easy and so is retirement.

Dad's birthday - August 5

Today, Friday, August 5, 2011, would have been my father's 97th birthday. What is special about it is that he passed away at the age of 67 with congestive heart failure. In March it will be 30 years that he has been gone. My mother has been on her own all that time. She will be 98 at the end of this month and is doing brilliantly. She told me today that their wedding breakfast was at her parents' home in Hamilton. Her three best girlfriends served. That was in 1939. They had been married 42 years when Dad died. He was a lovely man, hard-working, devoted and funny at times. Happy Birthday, Dad.

Beginning to get the feel of it

I danced a little hula around the dining room this morning, singing "I am beginning to feel it." "It" being "retired." Husband cracked up when he caught on. It seemed late again when I got up at 9:30 today. But last night I did not sleep solidly as I usually do. The night was punctuated by restlessness, coughing, a strange bird cry flying down the hydro cut, irritating fabric in my new pajama pantlegs, pain in my injured rotator cuff making comfort impossible, the Guernsey book calling to be finished which I managed by moving to the couch, the mantle clock striking 3:00 and then insisting on tick-tocking noticeably instead of silently. I returned to bed and slept from 3:30 to 9:30 - sort of. And yet when I did get up, I was elated by the lack of agenda, at least any outside agenda, dictating how I would spend my day. I had to look over a letter to be sent with the documents required for an audit of last year's medical expenses claim on our taxes. Other than that, I got the pot of beans put together by 11 to cook for 8 hours in a slow oven. As it turned out, they were not quite the right beans after all and cooked a little quickly so they were ready in 6 hours. I made us some toast for sandwiches at lunch - slicing half of a bright yellow tomato for mine. Past mid-afternoon I tackled the trimming of three shrubs in our front garden. It went quickly because I was not pruning them, just giving them a bit of a haircut. Nonetheless, by the time I finished I was hot and tired and ready to put my feet up. As I sat in my recliner, I sorted through bundles of receipts and statements and enjoyed a vodka and soda. Supper was simply a bowl of the baked brown beans with bread and butter, followed by sliced strawberries. Yum! Frittered away the rest of the evening playing solitaire while watching an old Video of Brigadoon. Van Johnson, Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. What could be better? A fat packet of receipts, summary statements and a fine cover letter is ready to send off to the Tax man, no great thanks to me (I did make encouraging and approving noises as well as find a couple of receipts and proof the letter). Oh, and alas, our daughter called and we told her that due to her dad's summer cold, we could not possibly come to the cottage tomorrow. It will have to wait until Saturday. Good thing. I'm not packed.

Midweek at home

Today dawned cooler after the rain, but still humid. Our air conditioner is not working the way it should so the house is stifling if we don't close it up before the day gets too warm. Husband came down with a terrible summer cold on the weekend and slept in this morning. I slept long too, getting up at 9:50 to sit in the sunporch with my coffee and read the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I have to say, it is a very compelling little book that I highly recommend. Once I finally got moving, i went shopping for butter and potatoes as well as the makings for Grandma Brady's Brown Beans recipe. It is a family secret so I can't share it here. But it calls for Thomson white pea beans and there are none to be had at any of the grocery or bulk food stores. I had to settle for Great Northern beans and hope that they do not doom the pot of beans to disaster. The original recipe calls for salt pork so I already have to tweak it for vegetarian tastes by using diced sweet onions and extra salt instead. I haven't made it for years and want to take it to the cottage we will share with daughter and grandchildren next week. If the summer cold has disappeared by Friday.

Home for a few days

A quick post tonight just to say that we are home for a few days. Husband has a summer cold which meant we left early from Lake of Bays. A good thing really as it took 4 hours to get back instead of the 5 it took going. We got home in time for me to harvest the garden and serve up a dinner of mixed greens salad with sweet pepper, cherry tomatoes and chevre; a sort of stew-like concoction of olive oil, sweet pepper, garlic, baby eggplant and tomatoes; green and yellow beans with butter, and some brown rice crackers. I cracked open a retirement gift bottle of real potato vodka to sip over ice with a bit of fresh lime. But my left shoulder is acting up, keeping me awake, so I am catching up on email etc with Run Silent Run Deep running in the background on TV. I think it really is time for bed. Yawn. Yup. Goodnight.

I just published this comment on Jack's obituary that I posted on this blog in February:
Here it is the end of July and I finally had the energy to edit this blog to get rid of the line breaks so I changed the tense on the announcement of the visitation and celebration as these events are now in the past. Jack gave me the gift of the proverbial bucket list. This led to my decision to retire from the TDSB two years prior than originally planned. I worked until July 8 and have been traveling since. But I am so looking forward to having my days to myself come September. Thanks, Jack.

I am reposting this comment to this new blog post as it explains the life-changing experience that led to my retirement. One of the first things I want to do is to begin writing more. Blogging will encourage that, I hope, although I have tried this a number of times and always ended up distracted by other work or interests to the point of neglecting the blog. After all, I have posted only one blog since and that too was in February. Silence since then.

So where to start. Perhaps the best thing to do is to start with today and backtrack when inspired by memory or photographs.

At the moment, I am sitting on the breezy screened-in deck at our friends' summer home on Lake of Bays. Gray and Marg, her sister Liz, Jo-Anne and Dave, Jan and I are having a break from swimming, kayaking and soaking up the sun as the afternoon wanes. The sounds of the water against the shore, the chorus of gulls and the rustle of the surrounding trees accompanies the quiet chatting in the porch. Last night, after a delicioius meal provided by Jo-Anne and Dave, we sat on the boathouse deck and watched a wonderful spectacle of fireworks above a nearby town. An astonishing flotilla of boats had gathered at that end of the bay and it was fun watching their lights as they gradually made their ways home. Before we turned in, we spent some time looking at the sky above the cottage where the milky way arched high above the shoreline so thick with stars it looked cloudy in places. We could point out a few constellations but disagreed about the flickering reddish point - the planet Mars, a satellite or a distant plane. I say it was Mars.

Morning in late February

Winter lingers here. On Friday we were to have had 20 cm of snow, which didn't materialize. However, that morning when the Bloor/Danforth subway broke clear of the earth to cross the Don Valley through the Bloor viaduct the weather was a sight to behold. A dense mist had pushed up the valley from Lake Ontario. It was filled with snowflakes flying before the wind. So instead of the brightness that snow usually reflects, the air itself seemed grey, suspending the subway car in an atmosphere dim and mournful. It lasted only a few minutes before the train plunged underground again. However, I could feel it with me for the rest of the day, making it difficult to clear my mind and fully focus on anything.

Jack is at rest

This is the obituary of our dearest friend, Jack. I have removed last names for family privacy. Those who know Jack will recognize him here. Those who do not should know that he was a wonderful friend. We will miss him always:

Jack passed away on Friday February 18. He was predeceased by wife Valerie and his father, Frank. And his faithful companion, Ebony. Survived by mother, Dorothy (Dolly), daughter Heather, son in law, Randy, son Craig, sister Connie, nephew Michael, nieces Alexandria and Marjorie (Jorie) and life long friend/brother Jan and his wife Catherine.

Jack was a great friend and a surrogate brother, uncle, father, and grandfather to many. He was a straightforward man and although he was happy with simple things, he was also very complex. His friendships span decades and the jobs he had over the years gave him the opportunity to meet different people from all walks of life. Many of them have remained close friends with Jack. He loved to camp and be outdoors. Jack was 'in touch' with nature and one of his favorite places to go was 'the valley' where he would walk and throw sticks for Ebony. He was crazy about animals and as well as having dogs and cats for pets, he also harboured snakes, lizards, and even spiders at times!

He loved his plants, both indoors and out and it was never a surprise to find some kind of a flower or unusual herb show up in one of his salads when you had dinner at his house. He was an avid coin collector and was searching out information on his ancestry and genealogy.
Jack loved music, especially rock and roll, and read science fiction voraciously. Jack's love for his family and friends and his passion for life will be missed by all of us who love him. Rest in peace.

There was a memorial visitation at Williams Funeral on Sunday February 20 from 2:00-5:00 pm. At a later date, there was be a celebration of Jack's life. In lieu of flowers, donations were made to the Y or to Animal Aid.

2010 Annual Letter

Herein find the dreaded annual letter. Enter at your own peril...
2009 ended with me submitting my M Ed thesis for publication. I had defended it Nov. 1, 2009, and it was accepted as written (but with a few minor edits). However, this was immediately followed by the gruelling process of preparing an application for the Vice-Principals pool for the Toronto District School Board. It was due and submitted January 15, the day before Jan's 65th birthday.
This meant that, while I managed to contact and gather together a wonderful roster of family and dear friends, because he chose to celebrate at home, the cake was a rather garish Costco creation – with thick colourful icing balloons on top. The weather cooperated so the sun porch was open to accommodate the crowd. No dinner – drinks & snacks & birthday cake. A good time was had by all.
The interview in March went well, and I made it into the VP pool. However, the school year ended without an appointment. Jan taught in May and June, so both of us were able to take the entire summer off, a rarity.
We had a great trip to England in perfect weather in July, while Ontario baked in heat waves. Although it was one week in London and one B&Bing the South West, full of cultural adventures, we still had some lovely visits with family and friends. Highlights included our trip to Salisbury to visit our cousin Sheila, her brother Brian and his wife Brenda. We toured and visited with Sheila during the day. Then off she went to prepare for the evening. Brian and Brenda visited while they fed us tea – our first taste of scones with strawberry preserves and clotted cream – yum! We ended the visit at a concert given by Sheila’s choir in a Wren designed country church. Sheila brought us to the train and we were off to London again.
We had a lovely evening with Erin’s friend Jamie & saw him again at the fantastic play, Money, presented by the theatre company he assists. We also shared a pint or two with our cousin Yvonne in the impressive neighbourhood where she works – looked like embassy row! We set off to B&B in a rented car and did not too badly with Jan driving and me navigating. After our first night in a (real!) castle, our travels included Tintagel. There we spent a delightful dinner at an old mill where we met up with nieces Joanne, Sandra, Kathy and Joanne’s dear friend Trish. Many adventures later, we arrived for our last afternoon in Oxford. There we visited Joanne at her home and met her cute dog, Ledaq(sp?).
Once back on this side of the pond, we spent a week at a cottage on a tiny lake in the Muskoka district which turned out to be a real treat. Jack came up, as did Meghan, Mike, Sophia and Karl. The weather was fantastic once again & the water fine. Jack taught Sophia to fish and she caught a BIG big-mouth bass. Truly grand.
We also had time to pop out to BC and surprise our friend Gloria for her 70th birthday party. We stayed with Zac, Cara and Fiona for those few nights, which gave us another memorable moment – a glorious day trip to Salt Spring Island market by ferry. We red-eyed back to get to Mom’s 97th birthday party.
Erin was working all summer so our visits with her were here and there. All good, her work led to a job offer this fall at Proctor& Gamble. A great new full-time job! And we did meet her new beau, Spencer.
The big surprise for me was an unexpected appointment to a VPship on Sept 7 – and I really haven’t come up for air yet. City Adult Learning Centre houses 2 high schools, the Adult one for 1800+ over 21 year-olds (new Canadians, upgrades, etc) and CALC Secondary Ed-Vance program for 600+ highly ‘at risk’ 18-21 year-olds. I am the new VP for Ed-Vance. It’s been a slice – every one of the students have had huge obstacles to overcome to get their 30 high school credits such as crushing poverty, legal issues, single parenthood, chronic truancy and every heartbreaking story imaginable. It is proving a powerful and rewarding challenge.
This fall Jan taught 3 days per week of very large classes of Psychology as usual. He is well and ticks along looking after the house, yard, car and books, leaving me to commute happily by GO and TTC. One nice thing about the new job at CALC is that there are no night events. However, I do have to stay to catch up for one night most weeks.
Well, that’s about it for this year. The snow came and stayed, so we had a bit of white for Christmas. And according to the walnut harvest and activity level of birds and squirrels scavenging in our back yard, it promises to be a snowy winter. And here we stay in our little house. So you always know where to find us.