winter hike

I've discovered one of the advantages to this cross country relationship thing - on Christmas, when everyone else is running around madly trying to see both sides of the family in a 48 hour period, we got a day off! Granted we missed seeing my family over the holidays (though I did celebrate with them last weekend before leaving Sydney!) but it meant boxing day we were free to do what we wanted. So off we went for a winter hike. I am all decked out in my new snow jacket and pants (gifts from Peter) and borrowed Steph's Sorels. (Peter did get me a pair of those too but we are going to double check the size before I wear them outside!). These snaps are taken on a Bruce Trail leg which runs through Hockely Valley, a ski resort about 10minutes drive from our home.

The Adams Family

Almost all of the Adams family - my sibs, Dad, cousins, Aunts and Uncles

ten of Granddad's thirteen Grandkids - the only two grandsons are Mark and Joel

Mark, Dad and Joel having coffee before the funeral

More Fond Farm Farewells

having coffee before the funeral - Emma, Kel W and Brooke

Brooke and Mark - now wearing clothes

moi, ready for farewells

the boys (Mark hidden on the left and Joel face on on the right) scrubbing up

Fond Farm Farewells

Where first Mum went to school...

Joel, Dad and Uncle Donald on the way up to first Mum's first home in Megan - confused much?!

Emma, Brooke and Kelly Wilko on the same hill!

My darling Granddad was diagnosed with cancer three weeks before I was due to hit Sydney for my Dec 08 trip. At first it didn't look that serious, but then as more tests were done it become increasingly so. After a couple of days in Sydney immediately after I got here (attending two different weddings - photos to come!), I, along with Brooke and Emma (in the same car) and Mark and Chloe (in convoy) headed up to the family farm in Dorrigo to see Granddad. We were able to spend a few days with him (Joel and Kelly headed up from Hawks Nest to join us) as a family which was great. Not that he wanted for visitors - at 80+ with two wives and healthy farm sized families there were plenty of visitors! Granddad passed away the day after we left to return to Sydney, quietly with family by his side.
We were in Dorrigo the following week for the funeral - here are some snaps from the country life. It was sad, he was an amazing man (until a week or so before he passed he was still running his large farm, driving the tractors and keeping tabs on his 200 head of beef cattle) and had provided a link to my first Mum, his eldest daughter, who passed away over 20 years ago. I didn't know this, but Granddad was a Mason and the final rites at his gravesite ended with “So Mote It Be”.

note the moon tan!! - next to Mum (who swears she hasn't shrunk!) more obvious on the legs here - with baby brother Mark

snow rise

so the sun rose over an icy vista today, as the mercury hovered around minus 4
yes it really is that cold! and needless to say it's an indoors kind of lifestyle, having two stories plus a basement in the house is a blessing and will be very good for spreading out as things get colder
below is what our home looks like now, compare it to this shot, from September
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbzomurJWu2ERRIqjFJuuEWr9LzRdQnXKX7nIw7YDri_ZA5iyojQI0LD46uhkeBB_jtou0IVpELRinz2rnqaL3hltn44YAlDDuVX6WdyGas6KgXCFjOq_TFs4FXozu2_fVT6tTIjCpi0JQ/s1600-h/sydney+farewell+hobart+first+12+days+047.jpg for how things used to

this winter weather is predicted to last all week, so i am wishing even harder that Santa will bring me a treadmill so I can at least do some exercise. I'm all for a winter stroll but when you're looking at minus 5 and colder with wind chill it's really not pleasant! We do run out and do errands but it's totally a drive EVERYWHERE situation

this is our street, after the snow mobile had been through and cleared the roads

snow storm

so I gave a great talk in Toronto this afternoon at the Astrology Toronto Inc, then Peter and I went to have Lebanese on the way home. (all you can eat Buffet for $11!)

We left Mississauga around 8pm for the 45min drive home and finally got home just before 11pm. I experienced my very first snow storm whilst we were half way up Caledon Mountain, on the main highway into Orangeville from Toronto. Tonight I have learned that cars need more traction while travelling up hills and that snow on the road (which having fallen right after rain and created the whole black ice situation) drastically reduces traction. Our little car was spinning it's wheels, like the majority of the other cars on the road. Every second car was pulling over to the right (remember driving occurs on the opposite side of the road to where Ozzies drive!). We managed to turn the car around (not much traction required for going down hills!) and then onto a side road, hoping to use the extra traction from fresh snow on the less travelled road to get us home. We made good progress until we came to another hill and then our little car become the little engine that couldn't.

We pulled, or rather slid, off to the side into a safe nook (not under powerlines!!) and phoned Miss Hummer + Hubby and Pooch to see if they could come rescue us. They could and we settled in to wait.

I didn't have the camera with me, but photos above are of our front yard when we got home. Even Peter said he had never driven in conditions like this before (and he's lived in or near Toronto all of his 41 years) - needless to say the snow tires, which Peter usually puts on the car late November, will go on this week!!

hawaii part two

just on sunset..

choosing what to eat (notice the first bottle of vino already half full)

more dinner snaps (I so have NOT figured out how to think backwards and put these posts up in order, so go down to the first Hawaii post and read from the bottom up!)

hawaii snaps - blast from the past

our FAVOURITE restaurant. Can't recall the name of it now, but arrived for a pre dinner cocktail at 5pm and left sometime after 10pm.... two bottles of wine and a couple of cocktails/ beers later..... oh yeah the food was FABULOUS too....

just after snorkelling -

A monk seal beached itself off the snorkelling beach.....

cocktail hour on the balcony of our apartment....

this was the closest beach to our apartment at the Kapalua resort. About a five minute walk, and we were in Piscean ocean heaven. The water was warm, the tide gentle, and once you'd found a way through the shallows that didn't involve walking on coral, you were free to float around tanning the afternoon away. We'd pour a drink, wander down to the beach, sipping along the way, and swim with a holiday buzz.

the view from where we stayed

from August 08...

so before Peter whisked me away to the Great White North, we spent a gorgeous, sunny, warm and decadent week together in Hawaii. Going through his camera (and the blog) this morning, I resalised that I hadn't yet posted any snaps from then up here yet. So pour yourself a cocktail, fasten your sarong and sit back, relax and enjoy this tropical getaway.....

Faces

so you don't all forget what we look like! Here is Peter working at home this morning and me doing the same - note how well dressed Peter is and I am still looking like I just rolled out of bed! The 'work outfit' (and hairdo) of a freelancer! Peter is selecting music for the school's halloween dance this Friday at which he's DJ-ing. And fielding calls about school stuff on the phone. I was between emails and Skype chats!

Snow shoes

Snow and Shoes No I haven’t yet got snow shoes – though the time is fast approaching when I will! Last Tuesday we had our first snow flurries during the day – it was wet, cold and miserable! I had of course booked myself in for my first appointment with a new chiropractor that day, which required a thirty minute walk downtown in the midst of it all. About half way there my little toes were numb and frozen. I reflect on the shoes I was wearing – see below. They are my favorites! But I realized that since I bought them while on a summer holiday in Positano Italy last year, they may not be the best shoes for a Canadian winter! Peter dutifully played knight in shining armor (or is amore?!) and picked me up between appointments after my chiropractor treatment and drove me home so my toes could defrost! Once I got back, I headed straight to the Sears catalogue (view it all online at http://www.sears.ca/ ) and ordered myself a pair of women’s riding boots. For $80 CAD I got a pair of leather boots, insulated with all the fancy lining and extra warm stuff required for snow wear. They arrived two days later. I paid the extra for delivery and didn’t leave the house again until they showed up. Well not really, but only because Wednesday was warmer. I did however immediately retire my Italian leather shoes and instead spent Wednesday out and about in jeans and sneakers (Seinfeld here we come!)

Eating Jumpers OR What's a Sloppy Joe?

Saturday night Peter served up Sloppy Joe’s for dinner. For us Aussies a sloppy joe conjures images of comfy jumpers and warm woollies. But here in Canada, a Sloppy Joe is something you eat. Here’s a look –

Basically it’s mince meat with sloppy joe seasoning throughout, kind of like taco seasoning, but with a different flavor, served between bread or a hamburger bun. We went the whole cholesterol angle and had oven bake chips with it as well. Tomato Sauce the essential added extra. It was quite tasty!

PS we had the kids this weekend and so food was lighter teenage friendly fare! We really do eat well, most of the time!

It's a dogs life, introducing Maddie

So we have been dog sitting this past week, for Peter's sister Stephanie (who is holidaying in a retirement home - long story!)

I never thought I would be a small dog person, but I am head over heels. We've only had one slip up (touch wood) with toilet stuff and I am thoroughly enjoying the company of a little creature at home during the days. Maddie is about six years old and in generally good health, though she had some teeth problems a while back. As a result, they were all removed, hence her very cute tongue which is pretty much always lolling out the side of her mouth. She loves cuddles and is never happier than when she is cuddled up in someone's lap (which makes working a bit of a challenge!)

She is a total Princesse as you can see from her dog bowls which Steph bought over for us while we dog sit. Maddie is a Bichon Frise and will be with us until Friday night.....

She pretty much sleeps most of the time, unless of course she is lapping up water (which she loves). Maddie sleeps on the floor in our bedroom at night and mostly on whoever has left clothes on the floor during the day.

fall, hiking

SO Monday after the Thanksgiving pig out Peter and I dragged ourselves out for a hike (after of course, filling up on leftovers!). We hiked part of the Bruce Trail, which is a 700km walk that covers most of the Niagara Escarpment and the Bruce Peninsula, as far as I can gather, mostly though Ontario. I didn't take my camera on the walk (wish I did - not five minutes in we were by a stunning lake which could have been right out off Cradle Mountain in Tassie), but these snaps are of the neighbours trees, which i see each morning outside the kitchen window. Tuesday morning was super windy and many of these spectacuarly coloured leaves are now on the ground. The smell reminds me of childhood winters in St.Ives, when the leaves of the maple trees would fall. The colours here seem richer, more vibrant, but they still need raking and are still just as much fun to trample through, crunching underfoot.

First Thanksgiving

So Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving (yes it's around six weeks earlier than Thanksgiving in the US and has nothing to do with Indians!) I cooked a fabulous turkey (if I do say so myself) - i did some brining thing where you soak it overnight in a salt/ water/ herb mix to moisten and add flavour. I baked pumpkin pie (thinking it was part of the main meal - not the desert!) so of course I made toblerone cheesecake too for sweets! (It is a North American delight with Oreo cookie crumb base, and peanut butter and cool whip in the cheesecake mix itself!) We also had ham and loads of vegie dishes. Needless to say Peter and I have been enjoying turkey sandwhiches and super all week - tonight we had ham casserole (who knew there was such a thing!). Leftovers are keeping us well feed - and helping stock the freezer!

We had some of Peter's family over for dinner on Sunday night and then Monday was a public holiday/ vege out day. Though we did manage a walk (more fall snaps to follow). So Thanksgiving meal is basically the same kind of food as Christmas, though with cooler weather, here the meats are served hot right from the oven salads are scarce as warm vegie dishes are needed. Pumpkin pie was a part of it - basically like a baked pumpkin custard - super sweet and totally delish! (Yup made that too, though was super easy as the pie base is bought ready to go as is the pumpkin mashed up - they really have thought of everything!)

new office

here is my new workspace, at my new home - all set up after a mamoth day of DIY furniture building. We managed it without fighting!!!!!!!! (I recommend such jobs for those still in the honeymoon phase!)
So this is where I am writing my columns (still weekly in MORE in the UK, plus monthly on speakonlytome.com, as well as regularly in WellBeing). Starting to get into the networking, meeting people groove here to build up a local astro client base too.