Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Monday, 25 April 2011
A Great Monday
We got up late, well, later than we get up in London where Lola is bouncing on the bed demanding attention...
After a delicious breakfast of sliced strawberries on warm, toasted hot cross buns we watched some great TV and jumped a cab to get further north than we had ever been in Toronto. I had used Living Social to get us half price massages at 3080 Yonge Street (we live near 1 Yonge Street!).
Two fabulous massages later, Wissy's even had hot stones, we were off to get some of the best food in Toronto.
A&W Burgers, yes I know, they make the best root beer and they make burgers! Wow! The really cool thing is that the burgers actually look like the pictures on the walls. Examine the pictures next time you are in McDonalds, this is a big deal. Oh and they had free wifi and onion rings to die for...
Next we walked, and walked, nearly two miles in the rain, all the way to Queens Quay West and our local Pizza Pizza for our FREE slices of pepperoni pizza courtesy of the Toronto Blue Jays pitching seven strike outs on Friday, Boom!
Luckily we live close and we are now contentedly warm on the sofa watching more Criminal Minds...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
After a delicious breakfast of sliced strawberries on warm, toasted hot cross buns we watched some great TV and jumped a cab to get further north than we had ever been in Toronto. I had used Living Social to get us half price massages at 3080 Yonge Street (we live near 1 Yonge Street!).
Two fabulous massages later, Wissy's even had hot stones, we were off to get some of the best food in Toronto.
A&W Burgers, yes I know, they make the best root beer and they make burgers! Wow! The really cool thing is that the burgers actually look like the pictures on the walls. Examine the pictures next time you are in McDonalds, this is a big deal. Oh and they had free wifi and onion rings to die for...
Next we walked, and walked, nearly two miles in the rain, all the way to Queens Quay West and our local Pizza Pizza for our FREE slices of pepperoni pizza courtesy of the Toronto Blue Jays pitching seven strike outs on Friday, Boom!
Luckily we live close and we are now contentedly warm on the sofa watching more Criminal Minds...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Photo Montage Again
The CN Tower emerges from the clouds
Wissy sits in the big read canoe in a park designed by Douglas Coupland
Me looking very small in a big red canoe
Wissy by the Beaver Dam
The giant fishing floats in front of the CN Tower
Where's Wissy?
The last row of the stadium
A happy 'last row of the stadium' smile
A camera above the 100's
Yes it is...
Easter art and craft time
Sunday, 24 April 2011
It's the weekend... (The Long Weekend!)
Well here we are, day three of the four day weekend. Toronto had the good grace to yet again defy the weathermen, although luckily this time in our favor, what was supposed to be a poor damp weekend turned into rainy Friday and a glorious sunny Saturday.
The weekend really started on Wednesday evening, we went and watched the Blue Jays again, this time from the 500 seats right at the top of the stadium, of course we were also in the back row, vertigo yikes, but actually this does give you a good view of the game and this also allays Wissys fears of being hit by a foul ball as you are so high even Bautista can't hit it that far. Blue Jays lost but it was a good close game again, although this had not broken the curse! (Every game Wissy had been to the Blue Jays lost). We left the stadium and feeling peckish and not willing to pay the exorbitant food prices popped into Shoeless for a lemonade and some Wings. Amanda leaving for vacation meant as we arrived there was a loud cheer and lemonade became beer... Oh Wednesday...
A quiet Thursday drifted by mostly filled with the anticipation of the four day weekend, which started late, the 7:07pm start to (another) Blue Jays game, wow, lots of excitement, with the Jays coming from behind to draw level in the 9th and then winning with a home run in the 11th inning, and yes, the Wissy curse was broken! Luckily the beer stayed at very sensible levels and so Saturday we woke up and enjoyed the bright sunlight, 21c with a nice breeze when last weekend we hid from snow...
Our Saturdays seem to involve walking, of course there was a tiny detour this weekend, we got caught behind some construction and added about 2 miles to our trek to the Magic Pony but as it meant finding a new park with a giant red canoe and massive fishing floats it was well worth while (see next photo montage). On the way home we visited Europe Bound, which is an outdoor store but looks like a jumble sale, and purchased a pair of Five Fingers for Wissy, so she can look like a freak like me. To round off a great day we had Dave over for supper and the new Dr Who, cliffhangers, beer and home made pizza made for another great evening.
Now what will Sunday and Monday bring, I know at the very least it will involve Drag Queens and Massages!
The weekend really started on Wednesday evening, we went and watched the Blue Jays again, this time from the 500 seats right at the top of the stadium, of course we were also in the back row, vertigo yikes, but actually this does give you a good view of the game and this also allays Wissys fears of being hit by a foul ball as you are so high even Bautista can't hit it that far. Blue Jays lost but it was a good close game again, although this had not broken the curse! (Every game Wissy had been to the Blue Jays lost). We left the stadium and feeling peckish and not willing to pay the exorbitant food prices popped into Shoeless for a lemonade and some Wings. Amanda leaving for vacation meant as we arrived there was a loud cheer and lemonade became beer... Oh Wednesday...
A quiet Thursday drifted by mostly filled with the anticipation of the four day weekend, which started late, the 7:07pm start to (another) Blue Jays game, wow, lots of excitement, with the Jays coming from behind to draw level in the 9th and then winning with a home run in the 11th inning, and yes, the Wissy curse was broken! Luckily the beer stayed at very sensible levels and so Saturday we woke up and enjoyed the bright sunlight, 21c with a nice breeze when last weekend we hid from snow...
Our Saturdays seem to involve walking, of course there was a tiny detour this weekend, we got caught behind some construction and added about 2 miles to our trek to the Magic Pony but as it meant finding a new park with a giant red canoe and massive fishing floats it was well worth while (see next photo montage). On the way home we visited Europe Bound, which is an outdoor store but looks like a jumble sale, and purchased a pair of Five Fingers for Wissy, so she can look like a freak like me. To round off a great day we had Dave over for supper and the new Dr Who, cliffhangers, beer and home made pizza made for another great evening.
Now what will Sunday and Monday bring, I know at the very least it will involve Drag Queens and Massages!
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Sofa time for Easter!
I am writing is on my lap on the sofa watching Big Bang Theory through the AppleTV, this is pretty cool and means I can be lazier than before...
Also I don't plan on moving until we are half way through season three...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Also I don't plan on moving until we are half way through season three...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Queens Quay W,Toronto,Canada
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Canadian Weather (Bah Humbug)
Now I know Canadians think it rains all of the time in the UK and I will accept that London may be slightly damper than Toronto but it was still snowing here at the weekend. I tried to pretend it was slightly icy rain but it was actually snow.
And this is the first country I have lived in where a poor choice of clothing can kill you, I know you could die in the UK if you were incredibly stupid and hung out all night in you underwear in mid winter but here not having a hat can mean death.
Basically, the point I am trying to make is, apparently we are on the same latitude as Rome, so where is the sun, or at least a temperature in Celsius in double figures?
And this is the first country I have lived in where a poor choice of clothing can kill you, I know you could die in the UK if you were incredibly stupid and hung out all night in you underwear in mid winter but here not having a hat can mean death.
Basically, the point I am trying to make is, apparently we are on the same latitude as Rome, so where is the sun, or at least a temperature in Celsius in double figures?
Friday, 15 April 2011
What a week!
So after all of the culture last weekend we went to have a quiet beer with Dave and some of his cycling buddies Sunday evening. Okay, maybe quiet is completely the wrong word, it was Woodys on Drag Queen night. It was a spectacular night of entertainment with lots of singing along and some incredible dancing in six inch high heels, dancing I couldn't of pulled off in my wannabe Justin Timberlake past! this sort of Sunday made Monday a little more tricky than normal but it was well worth it!
After an evening of rest we headed up to a BBQ with the same people, and after procuring a large quantity of Limes it was straight back into the party although slightly more civilised! I was making Mojito by the jug full, I helped Shana shuck some of the 90 oysters, watching Dave cook a BBQ full of sardines while I waited for the piece de resistance, although described by Harvey as 'an Elephants Dong' it was actually a salmon wrapped around scallops then all wrapped in banana leaves, absolutely divine and enough to easily feed the 20 people in attendance. Luckily we managed to get invites to Sunday again based solely on my ability to mix Mojito!
Wednesday, no rest this time, was our first Dinner party in the condo, with Wissy on Lasagna duty we had Patricia and Stephan round, apart from everything nearly stopping because I broke the corkscrew we yet again had great food, good wine and great company, I had to pinch myself as it is only Wednesday and I have already had too much fun this week!
Thursday was described as Beers with Engineers for Paul's leaving do, luckily this was much more interesting than it sounds and then we ended up in Frans diner on the hunt for dirty food, this is of course what happens when you eat healthy all week!
After an evening of rest we headed up to a BBQ with the same people, and after procuring a large quantity of Limes it was straight back into the party although slightly more civilised! I was making Mojito by the jug full, I helped Shana shuck some of the 90 oysters, watching Dave cook a BBQ full of sardines while I waited for the piece de resistance, although described by Harvey as 'an Elephants Dong' it was actually a salmon wrapped around scallops then all wrapped in banana leaves, absolutely divine and enough to easily feed the 20 people in attendance. Luckily we managed to get invites to Sunday again based solely on my ability to mix Mojito!
Wednesday, no rest this time, was our first Dinner party in the condo, with Wissy on Lasagna duty we had Patricia and Stephan round, apart from everything nearly stopping because I broke the corkscrew we yet again had great food, good wine and great company, I had to pinch myself as it is only Wednesday and I have already had too much fun this week!
Thursday was described as Beers with Engineers for Paul's leaving do, luckily this was much more interesting than it sounds and then we ended up in Frans diner on the hunt for dirty food, this is of course what happens when you eat healthy all week!
Sunday, 10 April 2011
The next photo montage...
I LOVE baseball and I live by the home of the Blue Jays
There are things bigger than me and my beard!
Coffee Juice and the Blue Jays Merchandise
More Coffee Shop Chillin' in the new hat
I'm going to rock down to, Crocker Avenue!
Tramlines and Skylines
Stain Boy
Jack Skellington is a man of many heads
Scary Wonka children
A Trip to the Boat and More (An eye witness account by Wissy)
So I went to visit Patricia on her boat for a cup of tea. The boat is lovely, it is inspiring to see that compact living is not as hard as imagined and you just have to be ruthless about the stuff you have. I would love to live like this for longer than a week at a time in the camper van but I have the Bennett gene which makes collecting easy and throwing out nigh on impossible.
Stephan calls on his way back to the boat - 'Do I want to stay for brunch?' - Yes Please!
After a quick discussion about the Blue Jays - my new found obsession - we were off to the Sky Dome for a 12:30 ish start/
Patricia, Stephan and I feeling like naughty kids bunking off school and my added guilt for cheating on my husband. We had $10 tickets for the 500's - yes those seats at the very top where the stoners sit - but as it was quiet we sneaked into the 100's, row 25 behind the home plate and so exciting!
The lady behind me caught a ball for her son so I probably got on TV too. Good game but sadly we lost though we still won the series against the Oakland A's. Now I feel jinxed as the Blue Jays have only lost two home games this season and I was at both. Do I stop going to games to save my team?
Our party moves on to Shoeless Joes where I repay Stephan with a jug of beer and thank Patricia and Stephan for keeping me from a Say Yes to the Dress marathon and for one of my best days in Toronto!
Stephan calls on his way back to the boat - 'Do I want to stay for brunch?' - Yes Please!
After a quick discussion about the Blue Jays - my new found obsession - we were off to the Sky Dome for a 12:30 ish start/
Patricia, Stephan and I feeling like naughty kids bunking off school and my added guilt for cheating on my husband. We had $10 tickets for the 500's - yes those seats at the very top where the stoners sit - but as it was quiet we sneaked into the 100's, row 25 behind the home plate and so exciting!
The lady behind me caught a ball for her son so I probably got on TV too. Good game but sadly we lost though we still won the series against the Oakland A's. Now I feel jinxed as the Blue Jays have only lost two home games this season and I was at both. Do I stop going to games to save my team?
Our party moves on to Shoeless Joes where I repay Stephan with a jug of beer and thank Patricia and Stephan for keeping me from a Say Yes to the Dress marathon and for one of my best days in Toronto!
A Saturday of walking and culture
It was sunny, this is a revelation, although the way the weather goes here we will be bored of this by July...
The plan was to experience more culture, so far culture had been limited to $5 cinema night so we had plenty of scope for improvement.
By 11 am we were well on our way, out to the TIFF Lightbox to see an exhibition of Tim Burton's work. It was very very good, lots of his work from all of his movies, doodles on cereal boxes and news papers and movie props. The man definitely has a vision, a universe in his head, and I am glad I experience through his movies and not as a reality! We weren't sure if we were supposed to take pictures but Wissy sneaked a few! We felt very stealthy but super cultured.
Next, a walk on Queen West, this is rapidly becoming a second home to us, it's a bit more 'us' than our downtown home, it is more real, has cafes, boutique shops and of course the fabulous Magic Pony, my favorite store in Toronto and the best (only) place to buy vinyl toys and knitted cactii. The only issue on Queen West is avoiding the signs for Vegan brunches and vegi meals, do I look like I survive without eating food with hooves and eyes?
By this point I had survived the day on last nights left over pasta and an espresso... we both needed food and after a detour through Crocker Avenue and Kensington Market (like Camden Market but with more graffiti) we were in Asian food heaven. The China Town in Toronto is less touristy than London, lots of bustle and stores full of vegetables I don't recognise and couldn't name. Luckily the interestingly named Golden Pineapple has portions which defeated us both - when and if we return I will also have the Taro milkshake with Tapioca!
After all of this excitement all that was left to do was pick up out tickets for the Yankees vs Blue Jays game on the 20th and a weary walk home...
The plan was to experience more culture, so far culture had been limited to $5 cinema night so we had plenty of scope for improvement.
By 11 am we were well on our way, out to the TIFF Lightbox to see an exhibition of Tim Burton's work. It was very very good, lots of his work from all of his movies, doodles on cereal boxes and news papers and movie props. The man definitely has a vision, a universe in his head, and I am glad I experience through his movies and not as a reality! We weren't sure if we were supposed to take pictures but Wissy sneaked a few! We felt very stealthy but super cultured.Next, a walk on Queen West, this is rapidly becoming a second home to us, it's a bit more 'us' than our downtown home, it is more real, has cafes, boutique shops and of course the fabulous Magic Pony, my favorite store in Toronto and the best (only) place to buy vinyl toys and knitted cactii. The only issue on Queen West is avoiding the signs for Vegan brunches and vegi meals, do I look like I survive without eating food with hooves and eyes?
By this point I had survived the day on last nights left over pasta and an espresso... we both needed food and after a detour through Crocker Avenue and Kensington Market (like Camden Market but with more graffiti) we were in Asian food heaven. The China Town in Toronto is less touristy than London, lots of bustle and stores full of vegetables I don't recognise and couldn't name. Luckily the interestingly named Golden Pineapple has portions which defeated us both - when and if we return I will also have the Taro milkshake with Tapioca!
After all of this excitement all that was left to do was pick up out tickets for the Yankees vs Blue Jays game on the 20th and a weary walk home...
Another week, Being a Geek and yes, more Baseball
Another week has flown by, work has been interesting - although mostly in a 'May you live in interesting times' sort of way rather than full on brain challenging work sort of way. I am almost defiantly nearly sort of committed to be being here in Canada until the 31st of August although I will be back for our birthdays in July... Wissy will be back guaranteed on the morning of the 2nd of July, absence from Lola and Babs beyond this date is just not possible!
I have spent most of the week being a geek and cataloguing all of the movies I have just moved on to our brand new hard disk, this is to be followed by arranging the 11,000 digital photos we have and finding album covers for the items iTunes has been unable to get, a thrill a minute you'll agree. Being a geek is just fun fun fun.
Luckily Wissy has done more interesting things, she made friends on Friday last week (although a little tipsy) with a couple in the local bar, so on Thursday she popped over to see them for a cup of tea. After introducing them to the delights of cling film poached eggs for brunch suddenly a decision was made and they were all off to the daytime baseball game! (Yes I was at work writing a 36 page document on Broadcast Management Reporting). Next thing I know, I get a call offering to cook for me, as long as I collect Wissy from the bar. She wasn't tipsy at this point but having documented all day I needed a drink so instead of home cooked food we got sliders and $4 beers, whoop whoop!
There are 162 baseball games in a season and now we are both obsessed we stayed in Friday night to catch the first game of the Los Angeles Angels series, more Hustle and Heart and a win and we slept well as the weekend promised good weather.
I have spent most of the week being a geek and cataloguing all of the movies I have just moved on to our brand new hard disk, this is to be followed by arranging the 11,000 digital photos we have and finding album covers for the items iTunes has been unable to get, a thrill a minute you'll agree. Being a geek is just fun fun fun.
Luckily Wissy has done more interesting things, she made friends on Friday last week (although a little tipsy) with a couple in the local bar, so on Thursday she popped over to see them for a cup of tea. After introducing them to the delights of cling film poached eggs for brunch suddenly a decision was made and they were all off to the daytime baseball game! (Yes I was at work writing a 36 page document on Broadcast Management Reporting). Next thing I know, I get a call offering to cook for me, as long as I collect Wissy from the bar. She wasn't tipsy at this point but having documented all day I needed a drink so instead of home cooked food we got sliders and $4 beers, whoop whoop!
There are 162 baseball games in a season and now we are both obsessed we stayed in Friday night to catch the first game of the Los Angeles Angels series, more Hustle and Heart and a win and we slept well as the weekend promised good weather.
Sunday, 3 April 2011
Opening weekend at the Baseball
After spending all summer last year watching baseball and with the condo being about 400 metres from the Rogers Centre - yes even closer than Twickenham when we are back home - I am now a baseball fan.
I had bought Wissy a Blue Jays T-shirt but this is not the same as being a fan...
Friday night was actual Opening Night, of course we couldn't get tickets but I live opposite a sports bar and so off we went, Shoeless Joes for some baseball fun. Note to self - do not play drinking games that involve taking a shot every time a homerun is scored, not when watching the Jays...
Wissy of course was being her normal gregarious self and now knows more people in the bar but she had not learnt much about baseball. A change of plan and scenery was required, Second game in the series I would teach her at home on the TV, with some help from the iPad lessons were learnt and we were ready.
So third game in the series against the Minnesota Twins, Jays are winning the series 2-0 and we were going to get to the ball park early to get hold of a Jose Bautista bobblehead (yes I am really 6 years old)
We arrived to late for the bobble heads but had good seats, once the game started Wissy managed to remember everything I had taught her. It was a good game early on, although the Jays were losing but Bautsta managed to score a home run, always good to see.
At the bottom of the ninth it was 4-3 to the twins and everyone was standing, amazing atmosphere, lots of tension, Wissy pulling the edge of my tshirt, two runners in scoring position, only one needed to tie and Bautista is at the plate again, 2 strikes, 4 balls and he is walked to first base, now we have the bases loaded and Adam Lind, a man who has been known to knock it out of the park is at bat, still more amazing tension, everyone still standing, very very loud cheering.
Unfortunately he hit a simple ball to first base and was run out but WHAT A GAME!
note - I know Dave won't believe me but this was an amazing spectacle.. Wissy wants more baseball already!
I had bought Wissy a Blue Jays T-shirt but this is not the same as being a fan...
Friday night was actual Opening Night, of course we couldn't get tickets but I live opposite a sports bar and so off we went, Shoeless Joes for some baseball fun. Note to self - do not play drinking games that involve taking a shot every time a homerun is scored, not when watching the Jays...
Wissy of course was being her normal gregarious self and now knows more people in the bar but she had not learnt much about baseball. A change of plan and scenery was required, Second game in the series I would teach her at home on the TV, with some help from the iPad lessons were learnt and we were ready.
So third game in the series against the Minnesota Twins, Jays are winning the series 2-0 and we were going to get to the ball park early to get hold of a Jose Bautista bobblehead (yes I am really 6 years old)
We arrived to late for the bobble heads but had good seats, once the game started Wissy managed to remember everything I had taught her. It was a good game early on, although the Jays were losing but Bautsta managed to score a home run, always good to see.
At the bottom of the ninth it was 4-3 to the twins and everyone was standing, amazing atmosphere, lots of tension, Wissy pulling the edge of my tshirt, two runners in scoring position, only one needed to tie and Bautista is at the plate again, 2 strikes, 4 balls and he is walked to first base, now we have the bases loaded and Adam Lind, a man who has been known to knock it out of the park is at bat, still more amazing tension, everyone still standing, very very loud cheering.
Unfortunately he hit a simple ball to first base and was run out but WHAT A GAME!
note - I know Dave won't believe me but this was an amazing spectacle.. Wissy wants more baseball already!
Friday, 1 April 2011
The ones we left behind
Uneventful week update:
While we got up to very little our furry friends back in Blighty are apparently causing havoc...
Wissy received a call from a Prep school informing us that Babs (AKA the Feral Devil cat) had been found and could we collect her, following this incident my mother confessed to Wissy that Lola had run away for a while in the local woods - although I think she was copying Copper and just off chasing deer there is a theory that both animals had made escape attempts trying to get back to us...
While we got up to very little our furry friends back in Blighty are apparently causing havoc...
Wissy received a call from a Prep school informing us that Babs (AKA the Feral Devil cat) had been found and could we collect her, following this incident my mother confessed to Wissy that Lola had run away for a while in the local woods - although I think she was copying Copper and just off chasing deer there is a theory that both animals had made escape attempts trying to get back to us...
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