Rejuvenating the BBQ

Our BBQ is about nine years old. We have a gasline from our condo (so don't have to worry about propane tanks) and tend to BBQ a lot.

Today we bought a new grill, briquettes and the rack the briquettes sit on ... for the first time ever!

So as I was repotting the plants, Gord was cleaning out the BBQ. And that was quite a job!


And it was worth it!

Gord BBQed steaks for supper and they were soooo delicious!

Planting crops

I've been away with Sister Sarah on Victoria weekend the last couple of years.

One year I came home to find that Gord had bought me a couple of tomato plants. I love tomatoes ... he doesn't!

And that started his tradition while I was away.

Since I'm home this year, we went looking for plants together.

Here's Gord at our first stop, the garden centre at Canadian Tire:

After that, we went to the garden centre at Dominion.

We came home with:

* A peppermint plant (so Gord can make himself some mojitoes this summer)
* A beefsteak tomato plant
* A tiny Tim tomato plant
* Two brandywine tomato plants
* Two cherry yellow pear tomato plants
* A patio cherry tomato plant
* Two red start red bell peppers
* Two super shepherd sweet red peppers
* Two other red peppers of some kind (I threw out the label by mistake)

I replanted them and here they are on our terrace.

In addition, Sister Sarah had given Gord a Chia herb garden for Christmas. Instead of putting them in the pots, I planted them in the long green planter. There is chives, cilantro, dill, parsley and marjoram.

Hopefully everything grows!

Holiday weekend

It's a long weekend here in Canada.

And it is the first Victoria Day weekend I've spent at home here in Toronto in four years. Usually I hook up with Sister Sarah someplace. Last year, it was in St. John's, Newfoundland. But this year we did the South Caribbean cruise in February and I hung out with her a couple weeks later to celebrate her 40th birthday with her (she lives in Halifax).

Alas, it's a rainy weekend. We have errands to run (groceries, library, etc.). Probably a good time to catch up on some movies. It's been a couple months since I've been to a theatre to see a movie. And you know I love movies!

But there's nothing I really want to see. Looking ahead, though, I see The Strangers is coming out in a couple weeks. Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler are in it. It looks scary!

Scott has Toronto roots (he went to high school and university here) and is in one of my favourite movies of all time, Duets.

Liv has an interesting past. For the first ten or so years of her life, she thought one man (singer Todd Rundgren) was her dad until she figured out that another man (Steven Tyler of Aerosmith) was really her father. She noticed that she and Steven's daughter, Mia, looked enough alike to be twins. She confronted her mom, who admitted to the affair. I wonder how much contact she had with Rundgren after that (she took Tyler's last name a couple years later).

The Host, Toronto, ON

Yvette and I met for supper tonight at The Host, an Indian restaurant in Yorkville. She and I worked together about eight years ago and get together every couple of months for supper to catch up.

The food was excellent! We had Murgh Makhni (butter chicken), Chicken Biryani and Naan. Yvette also ordered Malai Matar Paneer (green peas and cottage cheese cooked in tomato and cashew blend). She finished off with a tea and mango sherbet.

Jas, our hostess

Teena and Yvette

When we left, a homeless guy came up to us asking for money. We said no. Then he asked us for some food so we gave him our leftovers. He was eating it as he walked away.

Foggy Dew, Toronto, ON

It was such a nice evening that Gord and I stopped off on the patio of the Foggy Dew for a pint or two of Keith's and Keith's Red.

Yes, it was a bit chilly but the sun was shining ... and that's all we needed!

Look who came to visit!

Remember Nova's dad, Grant?

He and Jasmine were our neighbours who moved to Nova Scotia last month.

Grant was in town this week getting training for his new job.

He spent the weekend in his condo. Grant's mom and sister came up for the weekend from Kingston, bringing along air mattresses and sleeping bags since all their furniture has been sent back east.

It was great to see him and I'm so glad that things are working out for them.

What a life!

Yep, our kids have got it made!

Here they are around noon.

KC is on Gord's pillow. Byron is in his spot. And Morgan is cuddling the clean laundry.

Book ~ "Tonight I Said Goodbye" (2005) Michael Koryta

From Goodreads ~ Investigator Wayne Weston is found dead of an apparent suicide in his upscale Cleveland suburban home. His wife and six-year-old daughter are now missing. The police think the former Marine murdered them. Hoping to exonerate his son, Weston's father hires PIs Lincoln Perry and Joe Pritchard.

Perry and Pritchard soon discover there is much more lying beneath the surface, including rumors of gambling debts, extortion, and a Russian mob that likes to wield baseball bats. But just when Perry and Pritchard believe they are making swift progress, a millionaire real estate tycoon and the FBI advise them to back off of the investigation.

Then without warning, another murder suddenly forces them to change direction in the case as they uncover a trail of deadly twists - but the most shocking secret of all has yet to be unraveled.

I had read A Welcome Grave, the third book in the series, last month and enjoyed it so wanted to go back and catch up with the first two.

As with A Welcome Grave, I enjoyed the writing style. It's fast paced, funny and sarcastic at times. I liked the characters, especially Lincoln and Joe. It's interesting to see how they have developed since I've read the third book.

The ending took a twist I hadn't expected, which was a nice surprise.

I'm looking forward to reading the next one (which is the second one)!

Saturday morning stroll

KC and I went for a long walk this morning.

We dropped some books off at the College Street library and then cut back through Trinity Bellwood Park.


There were lots of dogs in the doggy area (Dog Park was filmed there).

Camera sale

Black's is having a sale on digital cameras this week.

Remember the Olympus FE-130 I bought there last week?

It's $25 less this week.

I popped in this morning with my receipt and got $25 plus the tax credited to my VISA.

Whoohoo!

The kids today

Just cuz they're so cute!

Here's KC on our walk this morning. We walked around the CAMH grounds.

And here are Morgan and Byron in one of their usual spots this afternoon.

And then KC snuggled in!

1943 Guide to Hiring Women

The following is an excerpt from the July 1943 issue of Transportation Magazine. This was written for male supervisors of women in the work force during World War II.

According to Snopes.com, this is true! Scary!

Eleven Tips on Getting More Efficiency Out of Women Employees: There's no longer any question whether transit companies should hire women for jobs formerly held by men. The draft and manpower shortage has settled that point. The important things now are to select the most efficient women available and how to use them to the best advantage.

Here are eleven helpful tips on the subject from Western Properties:

1. Pick young married women. They usually have more of a sense of responsibility than their unmarried sisters, they're less likely to be flirtatious, they need the work or they wouldn't be doing it, they still have the pep and interest to work hard and to deal with the public efficiently.


2. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It's always well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy.


3. General experience indicates that "husky" girls - those who are just a little on the heavy side - are more even tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters.


4. Retain a physician to give each woman you hire a special physical examination - one covering female conditions. This step not only protects the property against the possibilities of lawsuit, but reveals whether the employee-to-be has any female weaknesses which would make her mentally or physically unfit for the job.


5. Stress at the outset the importance of time the fact that a minute or two lost here and there makes serious inroads on schedules. Until this point is gotten across, service is likely to be slowed up.


6. Give the female employee a definite day-long schedule of duties so that they'll keep busy without bothering the management for instructions every few minutes. Numerous properties say that women make excellent workers when they have their jobs cut out for them, but that they lack initiative in finding work themselves.


7. Whenever possible, let the inside employee change from one job to another at some time during the day. Women are inclined to be less nervous and happier with change.


8. Give every girl an adequate number of rest periods during the day. You have to make some allowances for feminine psychology. A girl has more confidence and is more efficient if she can keep her hair tidied, apply fresh lipstick and wash her hands several times a day.


9. Be tactful when issuing instructions or in making criticisms. Women are often sensitive; they can't shrug off harsh words the way men do. Never ridicule a woman - it breaks her spirit and cuts off her efficiency.


10. Be reasonably considerate about using strong language around women. Even though a girl's husband or father may swear vociferously, she'll grow to dislike a place of business where she hears too much of this.


11. Get enough size variety in operator's uniforms so that each girl can have a proper fit. This point can't be stressed too much in keeping women happy.

Book ~ "The Writing Diet" (2007) - Julia Cameron

From Amazon.com ~ Unlike so many diet books, this cheery addition to the self-help shelves wasn't written by a nutritionist or a fitness pro, but rather by a "creativity expert" who "accidentally stumbled upon a weight-loss secret that works" while teaching a creative "unblocking course." While this might sound like so much snake oil, the optimism and common-sense attitude of author Cameron are winning. Her system is both simple and inexpensive, promoting exercise, food journaling, and something called "morning pages," which are stream-of-consciousness passages dieters record after getting out of bed: "A day at a time, a page at a time, we become mindful, acutely attuned to our personal feelings." The second half of the book is filled with exercises, some more goofy than practical ("if your museum has a gift shop, buy yourself five postcards glorifying the body type you've got"), and stories detailing chronic overeaters paths' to weight loss success. These stories are sometimes inspiring, sometimes repetitive, but should motivate dieters to give writing a try.

Haley over at Cheaty Monkey recommended this book last month so I thought I'd check it out.

Definitely a different concept. It was an interesting read.

Before you snack/eat, you should question why you are eating and ask yourself four questions:

1. Am I hungry?
2. Is this what I want to eat?
3. Is this what I want to eat now?
4. Is there something I can eat instead?

There are lots of writing exercises to do to help you figure out why you do what you do in different situations.

I know why I eat/overeat. I enjoy the taste and sensation of food. And I do eat when I'm not hungry so I know I have to keep occupied and distracted. I tend to be fairly social which means eating out a lot where I don't make the right choices.

A lot of the book seemed to focus on sugar cravings and better ways to replace them. For me, I crave chicken wings and junk like that more than anything. Alas, an apple won't replace that.

For me, it's all or nothing. I'm either on track or I'm way off. I've got to learn that there is an in- between.

Comfy girl

Here's KC on the couch ... does she look comfy or what!?

The same but different

All three of our kids are still sleeping ... and all are curled up.

Morgan and KC are still in bed (so I haven't had a chance to make it yet).

Byron is in one of his spots on the back of the couch.

Yes, folks, we have lazy kids!

New camera

The button on my camera fell off yesterday so I couldn't take any pictures.

I wasn't pleased as I'd just bought it in June.

I took it back to Sony today to have it repaired. It could take up to three weeks.

Sigh!

I can't be without a camera for that long.

I bought an Olympus FE-130 this afternoon. It's small and can fit in my pocket (that's one thing I hate about my Sony camera ... it's big and bulky).

It wasn't that expensive ($150). I haven't used it yet but it seems pretty cool.

Nothing wrong with having two cameras, right?

Book ~ "No Time for Goodbye" (2007) - Linwood Barclay

From Goodreads ~ Fourteen-year-old Cynthia Bigge woke one morning to discover that her entire family, mother, father, brother had vanished. No note, no trace, no return. Ever. Now, twenty-five years later, she'll learn the devastating truth.

Sometimes better not to know ...

Cynthia is happily married with a young daughter, a new family. But the story of her old family isn't over. A strange car in the neighborhood, untraceable phone calls, ominous gifts, someone has returned to her hometown to finish what was started twenty-five years ago. And no one's innocence is guaranteed, not even her own. By the time Cynthia discovers her killer's shocking identity, it will again be too late ... even for goodbye.

I had really enjoyed Barclay's Zack Walker series earlier this year so was looking forward to reading his latest.

It's definitely a different tone (more serious) than the Walker series. It took me a bit to get into it but I'm glad I did as I enjoyed it.

I cared about the characters, especially Terry, who is the "voice" of the story.

I had the main plot figured out fairly quickly but it was interesting to see how Barclay got us there. But there's a surprise at the end I wasn't expecting.

So would I recommend this book? Yes!

Toronto Marlies 0, San Antonio Rampage 3

Though the Toronto Maple Leafs didn't make the playoffs this year, its farm team, the Toronto Marlies did.

This afternoon was game 6 in the first round with the San Antonio Rampage (Phoenix Coyotes' farm team). Toronto was leading the series but lost 3-0. So the deciding game will be tomorrow evening.

We live just north of the Ricoh Centre so walked down.

It's great hockey at great prices ... yet they never come close to selling out.

We bought cheap tickets ($12) and moved down a few rows when we got there as there were lots of empty seats.

During the first intermission, we moved to a lower section by the other net.

There were fights during the first and second periods.

Duke, our mascot:

Duke kicked the butt of San Antonio's mascot during the second intermission!

Gord towards the end of the game:

Books ~ "Chick Ink: 40 Stories of Tattoos--And the Women Who Wear Them" (2007) - Karen L. Hudson

From Amazon.com ~ That's what tattoos today are all about. Join the women of Chick Ink in this celebration of the tattoos that grace our bodies, tell our stories, and mark forever the significant moments of our lives. Because if you're a woman with a tattoo, you're woman enough for anything.

Interesting and fun book that tells the stories of why we women get tattoos. I didn't realize that parents still disapproved so much! My favourite story was by Michelle Swartz about her grandmother who got a red sportscar and a pig tattoo on her 80th birthday. You go, Girl!

I was drawn to this book because I have two tattoos. One is of two hearts with a purple flower on either side on my left shoulder that I got when I was 30 (it used to have my and my first husband's initials in the hearts which I've since had lasered out and touched up) and a sunflower that I got when I was 44 (October 2006).

I think tattoos are cools and will no doubt get more ink in the future.

There's no place like home

I flew home from Timmins this morning.

On another small propeller plane.

I got home around 1:00pm and started unpacking.

I don't remember packing a kitty, though!

It's so nice to be home again!