Kitty-approved quilt

Last Sunday was Sister Sarah and Joe's sixth wedding anniversary.

Joey surprised her yesterday with a handmade quilt with lots of kitties and mice. Sister Sarah has four cats.

It looks gorgeous!


It looks like Maggie likes it too!

Book ~ "Remember Me?" (2008) Sophie Kinsella

From Amazon ~ When twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, she’s in for a big surprise. Her teeth are perfect. Her body is toned. Her handbag is Vuitton. Having survived a car accident—in a Mercedes no less—Lexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, three years to be exact, and she’s about to find out just how much things have changed.

Somehow Lexi went from a twenty-five-year-old working girl to a corporate big shot with a sleek new loft, a personal assistant, a carb-free diet, and a set of glamorous new friends. And who is this gorgeous husband—who also happens to be a multimillionaire? With her mind still stuck three years in reverse, Lexi greets this brave new world determined to be the person she … well, seems to be. That is, until an adorably disheveled architect drops the biggest bombshell of all.

Suddenly Lexi is scrambling to catch her balance. Her new life, it turns out, comes complete with secrets, schemes and intrigue. How on earth did all this happen? Will she ever remember? And what will happen when she does?

A quick fun read! And that's what exactly you expect from a Kinsella novel. So I'd recommend it if that's what you are looking for.

I liked Lexi before and after her accident. And I liked the rest of the characters too, though her mom and sister were a bit annoying. The happy ending wasn't a big surprise.

Wouldn't it be wacky to wake up and find that you've lost the last three years of your life?

Are you a smart shopper?

I saw this over at Sue's ...

Are you a smart shopper?


My Quiz Result:You are a smart shopper. Emotions do not control your shopping. You may not be a store-owner's delight, but your self-esteem is very high.


Take this quiz: Are you a smart shopper?

"S" dish cloth

I knit a dish cloth tonight.


Measurements: 8 inches x 8 inches
Size US 7 (4.5 mm) knitting needles

Cast on 37 stitches.

Row 1: K1, P1 to end
Row 2: K1, P1 to end
Row 3: K1, P1 to end
Row 4: K1, P1 to end
Row 5: K1, P1 to end
Row 6: K4, P to last 4 sts., K4
Knit across all even rows
Row 7: k4, p6, k4, p2, k8, p9, k4
Row 9: k4, p6, k4, p1, k10, p8, k4
Row 11: k4, p6, k16, p7, k4
Row 13: k4, p6, k8, p3, k6, p6, k4
Row 15: k4, p6, k7, p5, k5, p6, k4
Row 17: k4, p6, k6, p6, k5, p6, k4
Row 19: k4, p6, k4, p8, k5, p6, k4
Row 21: k4, p6, k4, p7, k6, p6, k4
Row 23: k4, p15, k8, p6, k4
Row 25: k4, p13, k9, p7, k4
Row 27: k4, p11, k9, p9, k4
Row 29: k4, p10, k8, p11, k4
Row 31: k4, p8, k8, p13, k4
Row 33: k4, p7, k7, p15, k4
Row 35: k4, p6, k6, p7, k4, p6, k4
Row 37: k4, p6, k6, p6, k5, p6, k4
Row 39: k4, p6, k6, p5, k6, p6, k4
Row 41: k4, p6, k17, p6, k4
Row 43: k4, p7, k16, p6, k4
Row 45: k4, p8, k10, p1, k4, p6, k4
Row 47: k4, p10, k7, p2, k4, p6, k4
Row 49: k4, p29, k4
Row 49: K4, P to last 4 sts., K4
Row 50: K4, K to last 4 sts., K4
Row 51: K1, P1 to end
Row 52: K1, P1 to end
Row 53: K1, P1 to end
Row 54: K1, P1 to end
Row 55: K1, P1 to end
Bind off all stitches.

Book ~ "Chasing Elvis" (2004) Glenn P. Marcel

From Invisible College Press ~ Elvis died in 1977, or did he?

n 1982 an Elvis impersonator clumsily robs a bank and incredibly all of the evidence points to the supposedly deceased Elvis as being the robber. A detective hot on the trail of the robber is convinced that he is chasing Elvis but is killed in an accidental car crash near Moscow, TN, leaving behind a five-year-old daughter. Twenty years later, the daughter is a tabloid reporter for Weird Magazine, a shameless, check-out counter rag. She is assigned to cover an Elvis Festival in Moscow, discovers her father's notes and quickly stumbles onto the Elvis-robber's trail.

What she discovers in rural Tennessee just may be the news story of the young century.

This book had promise. I enjoyed the author's writing style. It was quick and snappy. But that's the only thing I enjoyed about this book.

There were a few totally different story lines and it's not 'til you get to the end that you see how they are connected. It all falls into place too conveniently.

I didn't like any of the characters. They were way too quirky to be believable. For example, Bennie is a drug addicted nympho rich kid who is turning tricks for loser Freddy. She's dumb dumb dumb! Her friend, Lannie, isn't much better. There's no sorrow when Lannie's mother dies of cancer ... Bennie and Lannie are more interested in the mom's possessions.

Someone obviously didn't do a very good job in proofreading this book because there were typos and lots and lots of sloppy punctuation ... they need to learn about quotation marks. Very annoying.

Is Elvis the bankrobber? I'd love to tell you so you wouldn't waste your time reading this book but I don't want to spoil the ending if you do read it.

Supporting Young Driver Law Change

For more info and to sign the petition, click here.

Toronto Blue Jays 6, Tampa Bay Rays 4

I went to the Blue Jays game tonight with Pat, Jen, Darlene and Angie.

Rather than sit in the stands, we had a table against the window at the Hard Rock Cafe. It's an annual event for us.

Me, Pat and Jen

Darlene and Angie

Darlene, Angie, Jen, Pat and I

We had a shooter called Liquid Cocaine. Yum!

Darlene and Angie

Me and Pat

Jen had a hot fudge brownie sundae instead of a shooter

Darlene and I live in the same 'hood so we stopped at the Bungalow for a drink (Darlene had never been). Her margarita excited her!

Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival started tonight and there is a gala in the space at our gym, 99 Sudbury.


It was quite elegant leaving the gym this morning on the red carpet!

Granite Brewery, Toronto, ON

Gord loves beer.

After seeing Tropic Thunder, we went to Granite Brewery (Eglinton/Mount Pleasant).

We tried a few of the drafts on tap. I liked the Ringwood Ale the best and Gord like the Peculiar.


In fact, he liked the Peculiar so much that he bought a growler of it.

Tropic Thunder

Gord and I saw Tropic Thunder this afternoon.

A group of self-absorbed actors sets out to make the most expensive war film. After ballooning costs force the studio to cancel the movie, the frustrated director refuses to stop shooting, leading his cast into the jungles of Southeast Asia, where they encounter real bad guys. (Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Steve Coogan, Jay Baruchel)

Wacky movie! Lots of action! Gory in some parts.

Tom Cruise has an interesting part, especially at the end.

We enjoyed it ... it was worth the price of admission.

Toronto Blue Jays 5, Minnesota Twins 4

I got an email last week from the Blue Jays offering me four free tickets for tonight since I subscribe to their enewsletter.

Shah!

Gord invited Roger and Matt, two guys he works with, to come with us.

We met at Gabby's for supper before the game.

Gord and Roger

Gord, Roger and Matt

The view from our free seats in section 140

Gord, Roger and Matt

There weren't many people at the game tonight (just over 24,000) so we moved to section 129.

The CN Tower from our new seats

A much better view of the game!

Gord, Roger and Matt

They started closing the dome in the seventh inning, we suspect because of annoying flies.


The Blue Jays won in the eleventh inning. Yay!

Hey dog lovers!

You should check out a new site called Nat Geo Dogs from the National Geographic Channel (NGC)!

The site features full-length and short-form videos from the hundreds of hours of dog programming available on the National Geographic Channel. Members of the community will have the ability to rate and comment on the featured videos.

There are videos from Dog Whisperer with Cesar Milan, Dogtown, the new series about the Best Friends Sanctuary in Utah, Dogs with Jobs and other specials that have been produced by the channel.

You can create a profile, upload and share pictures, invite comments from friends, share stories of your dogs or post information and other thoughts on the forums.

And it's free to join!

Introducing Charlie

Kim and Charlie are our new neighbours ... they moved in in May. They live in Grant, Jasmine and Nova's old condo.

Kim broke her foot last night so I took Charlie for a couple walks today.


Charlie is a Labradoodle and will be two in December.

She's a great dog ... very hyper and friendly!

High Park

Gord and I took KC over to walk around High Park for a couple hours.

We checked out the zoo.

The capybaras are new since KC and I were there a couple weeks ago.


The baby buffalo has gotten bigger.


This guy was feeding the animals carrots and apples (with the zookeeper's permission). The animals all knew him and came running when they saw him.

Book ~ "A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs, and Me" (2003) Jon Katz

From Goodreads ~ Sometimes, change comes on four legs.

 In his popular and widely praised Running to the Mountain, Jon Katz wrote of the strength and support he found in the massive forms of his two yellow Labrador retrievers, Julius and Stanley. When the Labs were six and seven, a breeder who’d read his book contacted Katz to say she had a dog that was meant for him - a two-year-old border collie named Devon, well bred but high-strung and homeless. Katz already had a full canine complement - but, as he writes, “Change loves me. . . . It comes in all forms. . . . Sometimes, change comes on four legs.” 

Shortly thereafter he brought Devon home. A Dog Year shows how a man discovered much about himself through one dog (and then another), whose temperament seemed as different from his own as day from night. It is a story of trust and understanding, of life and death, of continuity and change. It is by turns insightful, hilarious, and deeply moving.

I enjoyed reading Katz's Dog Days: Dispatches from Bedlam Farm last month so thought I'd check out some more of his books.

This book takes place before he moves from New Jersey to Bedlam Farm and is his first experience with border collies.

I enjoy Katz's writing style and love reading stories about animals. And I enjoyed this book.

I just read some reviews of this book and some readers found him a bit harsh and cold in his decisions to have Stanley and Julius put down. Difficult decisions to make but he didn't want his dogs to suffer.

Interesting way to turn 50

I read More this afternoon. I like this magazine because it's directed at women over the age of 40.

There was an interesting article called "Thanks giving ~ The lost art of letter writing can help you celebrate the big five-o."

Melanie in Toronto was turning 50 and wanted to do something to mark this milestone.

So what she did was write genuine thank you letters to 50 people who had been important to her. She didn't limit the list to people whose impact had been obviously positive. She'd learned valuable things from relationships that hadn't worked and it was important for her to thank those people (this included her ex-husband).

She picked 10 people per decade. There was only one person she couldn't find the address for so she's hanging onto this letter in case she eventually tracks this person down.

She heard back from 2/3 of the recipients.

I'll be turning 50 in four years so that's probably why I found it an interesting approach.

I'm not sure if I could come up with 50 people to send thank you letters to. Could you?

Book ~ "I've Got a Home in Glory Land" (2008) Karolyn Smardz Frost

From Amazon.com ~ In 1985, archeologists in downtown Toronto discovered what would become the most highly publicized dig in Canadian history: the remains of a house belonging to former slaves Thornton and Lucie Blackburn, who, as it turns out, were key figures in the Underground Railroad.

Fleeing Louisville, KY, in 1831 shortly before Lucie was to be sold down the river, the Blackburns used forged documents to cross the Ohio River and eventually make their way to Detroit. They built a life in the "nominally Free Territory of Michigan," until Thornton was recognized and arrested, along with Lucie. Before they could be convicted and returned to slavery, though, the first racial uprising in Detroit, a crowd of friends and abolitionists who marched on the jail, gave them the opportunity to escape. Fleeing to Toronto, Thornton's case established the promise of the Underground Railroad: Canada's refusal to turn the former slaves over to Michigan's governor established Canada as a haven for escaped slaves (so long as they weren't wanted for capital crimes).

Frost spent years researching this story, as attested to by 100-plus pages of notes. Unfortunately, the voices and personalities of the Blackburns themselves remain sketchy; Frost fills in numerous chinks in their story, using first-hand accounts from others in similar situations, but it still feels like the Blackburns have, once again, evaded capture.

Though I've lived in Toronto for more than 20 years, I hadn't heard about the Blackburns until I read about this book in the Toronto Star.

It's definitely an interesting story and I would like to learn more. And if I get a chance, I'd like to go look for Thornton's grave at the Toronto Necropolis and Crematorium.

The book, though, provides a lot of details ... way more details than I needed so I found the book for the most part hard to read. I kept at it because of the story.

Chillaxin'

The last couple of days we have been out and about so we laid low today.

A lot of the planes in the air show fly right over our condo. Very LOUD but very cool!


We have a swingy love seat on our terrace. I spent most of the afternoon laying on it and reading. Here's my view of the world ...

Happy Labour Day!