August Long Weekend

Had a wonderful long weekend.  We spent Friday & Saturday at Anne & Al's cottage in the county.  Went to Sandbanks Provincial Park on Saturday, it was quite busy.  The waves were great but it was not particularly hot and it was too windy for the umbrellas, hence sitting in the shade.

Upon leaving the beach, Lizzy announced that we had to find a chip wagon.  She was in the mood for chips which made us all hungry.  Not too far up the road we found a fabulous chip wagon called Urban Herb on the Curb.  They had seasoned fries and sweet potato fries which were delicious.  The chips were served up with mayonnaise sauces, even a horse radish one!  Well worth the stop!

There was also a movie marathon of Harry Potter.  We almost made it to the end of #6.  I think I will have to go and buy the set.  Everyone really enjoyed watching the movies.

But unfortunately on Saturday, something broke in the septic tank.  The neighbour came over and told Al.  Anne and Al spent all day fixing the problem.  But they were all cleaned up by the time we came back from the beach.

Hugh, the boys and I headed back to Toronto on Sunday.  Detta stayed with Anne, Al and the girls till Tuesday.  She had a great time going out for Thai food, kayaking and shopping.  We spent the rest of the weekend just lying around and relaxing.

Lisa's Wedding

Yesterday, Detta and I headed up to Kath's again. We didn't go quite as early this time. Today we started working on decorations for the sides of the pews in the church. It took some time to actually figure out what would look good. And then more time to work out the logistics of the whole thing, like tying it to the pews and having it hang properly. No this is not Lisa's wedding bouquet but one of the pew decorations though in this picture it is not completed.

For dinner, we went to the Village Inn in Bowmanville. It was very good. I have in the past few months rediscovered a meal, I loved as a child, roast beef sandwich au jus. It has different names in different restaurants but is basically a roast beef sandwich you can dip in a thin or thick beef gravy. The Village Inn had very thick gravy so I also dipped my most excellent fries in it also.

After dinner, we went to the movies. Anne and Lizzy met us there plus another friend of Kath's. We saw Julie & Julia. It was so good, Meryl Streep is such an excellent actress.

Today I headed back to Kath's. By lunch I had finished with the glue guns. So all the pew decorations are finished. Lisa and her mum can put the finishing touches on them when they go to the church on Wednesday. I got home and jumped in the pool with Donovan. It was so nice. I haven't spent that much time in our pool all summer. We are now going to have hot chocolate (I might add some coffee to mine for the caffeine).

Lunch at Alexander's - July 23, 2009

Today we had a very slow start to the day. Detta slept in. Patricia took us to meet Valerie, Barbara and the girls in Craigavon. We then drove to Markethill and had lunch at Alexanders. It is a lovely cafe. I love the cafes over here in Northern Ireland. The food is good and the cafes are so nice. Anyways I had a brie with grapes and cranberry sauce. It was delicious. Detta had a ham and coleslaw sandwich. The desserts were gorgeous. Detta had a piece of chocolate cake. It was decorated so beautifully. I had a maltzer square. Patricia makes them also, it was good but I actually prefer Patricia's.

Afterwards Barbara dropped Detta and I off at my cousin Alan's house. We weren't there very long and it started to pour with rain, just bucketing down. So we didn't go out, we ended up having a great chat. Detta surfed the internet. Then Detta helped Alan make a white sauce, almost exactly how I make mine. We had that with chicken and rice. It was really good, I would have never thought of using the white sauce for anything other than macaroni and cheese.

Alan drove Detta and I back to Lisburn and we went to the movies. We saw Transformers, again. But it was just as good the second time. I haven't been to a movie theatre in the UK in many years. I forgot about the salted and sweet popcorn. I had salted, Detta had sweet!

Busy Week

Joan and Tom popped around last Sunday on their motorbikes. Joan looks very flash on her bike. I have no desire whatsoever to get on a motorbike again. I think Joan is very brave especially in Canada.

While out in the garden I discovered that the baby pigeons were still hanging around. They were found under the shrubs or on the floppy cedar tree. I haven't seen them for the rest of the week though.

Work passed by quickly, two new jobs were posted at Seneca forLibrary Technicians but you have to be a full time employee to apply for them. I don't expect they will replace their jobs once the new jobs are filled. A cost saving approach by Seneca to stretch the work amongst its employees. I did apply for a job at the Ontario Legistlature and another one at Baycrest so we will have to see what happens with those. I am thinking of appling for a Radiation Protection Technician at OPG, you only need a high school diploma to apply. I am not quite sure if I would be suited to this job though.

The children and I went to see Land of the Lost last night. It was very funny and gross. The children loved it. I especially like the mosquito part and the dinosaur's brain the size of a walnut.

Detta and I had a busy day today. I wanted to get some more yarn for a scarf I am knitting, it is silk and seaweed. We dropped by Anne's house to pick her up to borrow her sewing machine. Her kitchen has been totally removed at the moment. Andrew and a buddy are doing it this coming week. We drove downtown with Anne, stopped by and bought some fried rice Chinese buns to eat plus a few for Hugh - Curried Beef and BBQ Pork. The bakery is called the Yung Sing Bakery and it is on Baldwin Street. Excellent food and service. The first time I went there, was when I worked for Sick Kids hospital in 1986. I would walk over at lunch time have a fried rice bun and a vegetable spring roll.

We went to see Alex at her store but the Much Music channel were getting ready for their awards ceremony at the City TV building and it was crazy. We found Alex and Detta is taller than Alex now. We went out for crepes, they were so good. I had dark chocolate and strawberries, Detta had dark chocolate and ice cream, oh yes I had cream also. Yummy. We left there to go to Romni wool shop but I didn't end up buying any more, one they didn't have and two the ball I had weighed 100 grams. We drove back to Anne's and stopped by for Lizzie. The traffic was terrible, College St and Bloor were closed!! Lizzie's flat is very nice and then we went to Anne's. I was so exhausted from all the driving. Anyways I am home now, enjoying my new office. Anne lent me her yellow ball for sitting on but I need to put a bit more air in.

Bunny Ears

I finished the hat for Al's Niece's daughter. It is supposed to be called Bunny Tail but I prefer Bunny Ears. I am going to put pink ribbons around the ears which can be removed if neccessary. I have started on a baby layette from an old pattern book of Mum's. Except I think the gauge is wrong so it is a bit larger than it should be. I am undecided as to whether I should rip it out.

Had a lovely visit with Joan. Detta and I saw her garden which is looking great. I need to do some planting but I have come down with a cold and have a wickedly sore throat, runny nose and tiredness.

Hugh and I went to the movies with Anne last night. We went to see Star Trek, it was my second time but well worth it. Got the wrong theatre but we still made it in time to the next theatre.

17 Again

Detta and I just came from seeing '17 Again'. Very cute movie.

Dinner

Hugh and I had a great dinner last night with my sisters, Anne and Joan and their respective partners, Al and Tom. It was a clam bake but as we learned a clam bake is not baked clams! It had clams, mussels, shrimp, cherizo and frankfurters. It was delicious. There was also dessert of crème caramel. I am not a big fan of it myself but everyone else thought it was delicious.

Hugh bought a new barbeque. It only cost $99.00 from HomeDepot. Last year it sold for $350 so there are some good deals out there. Hugh is testing it out right now with some bbq chicken and ribs. Unfortunately I had a great lunch at Scrambles with Kath and am too full to have anything. But then again, Detta and I are off the to movies to see '17 again'. I don't even think I will have popcorn (unbelievable I know) but I may take a piece of fruit.

Kath has started knitting the cutest baby cardigan for a girl at her school. You can't quite see the colours, in this photo. The trim is fushia and bright green and the stripes are orange and yellow. I have the same wool so I am going to knit a matching hat. I did finish one of the other baby hats and another has all the ends sewn in. While Kath and I were out we stopped by the cute wool shop on Queen St E called The Purple Purl. Kath bought me a pattern for baby sneakers. I am also going to knit this girl a pair of matching sneakers for her baby. It was a lovely shop and nice seats for just coming in, knitting and chatting. There is also a cappuccino bar and good stuff to eat.

I tried a rib and they are delicious. The freezer has finished defrosting so I just need to give a good wipe down and Bob's your uncle.