Year Two Day One - Mountain Bike

Dear all, 

What can I say, "I love to blog' and two weeks away was enough: I am back on my quest to seek out unusual things and will do so for at least one more year. Why not; blogging is fun and it gives me a good excuse to whisk Darren away on daily excursions, cook ludicrously fabulous dinners and do unusual things as often as possible. 

Today, whilst on a weekend break up to Owen Sound, we popped into Jolley's Alternative Wheels (http://www.alternativewheels.com ) with the sole objective of coming home with a second hand bike. 

As you can see, we found great success in the store and I picked up a second hand Mountain Bike (Darren is a massive fan and is keen to get out on the magnificent trails that surround Collingwood). Darren is extremely knowledgeable about bikes which is very handy as I am not; I rode a bike for years in Japan and London but I anything that stretches past changing gear is way beyond me. 

I had yet to ever be on the trails and as we set off, I was overwhelmed at how extensive the trail system was and how well they are maintained. 

http://www.ontariotrailsmap.com/ontariotrails.html?cat=5&icon=cycling.png#

As you can see from the photos, they go on for MILES. And virtually no one in sight. It was blissful. We are having a mini heat wave ( sadly to disappear tomorrow.. ) so it was perfect for a long bike ride and we had a wonderful afternoon making it up to Craigleith. We stopped for a quick break at the park on the lake at Craigleith where I [foolishly?] dipped my toe in the water. Yep, I won't be going in swimming for a week or two. 

I also tried to master the art of 'taking photo's whilst in charge of a bicycle'; very difficult I might add and I wouldn't recommend it if your camera is of any significant value. Darren managed to intervene before I lost my beloved Blackberry to the forest. 

Darren is quite an accomplished cyclist so was keen to make good headway; I had managed to become accustomed to the gears and was hot on his tail. 

I am so pleased with my bike; it will hopefully become my primary form of transport during the summer months ( good to cut down on gas; holy moly it's getting pricey) and excited to be able to go on extended  cycling trips with Darren. 

It's an exciting start to year two!

**Note to all

Any tips or suggestions for unusual tasks are greatly appreciated. 

Day Three Hundred and Sixty Five - Last Day of the Year

Dear all

It's the last day of the 'blogging' year so Darren and I thought we would hop in the car and speed down to Toronto to visit Deidre, Vince and Bella in their new pad. They live in the beautiful, Toronto Beeches, somewhere I have never been before and was keen to explore the area.

http://www.thetorontobeaches.com/

We had a lovely lovely afternoon with D, V and B. We got to see the new house, the old house and stopped in at the glorious South of Temperance for dinner (It gets better and better!).

Bella was on great form; she took us on a tour of the local area, showed me her extensive sticker collection and was adamant that she could drive and wanted to borrow Darren's car in exchange for her toy hamster ( a good trade). She is going to go far that girl!

Our dinner was wonderful, as always. This time we sampled some of their fabulous apps; the chipotle wings, bean tip, famous fish tacos and bruschetta naan. It was all exquisite and wonderful to spend some time with Deidre, Vince and little Bella.

So, that's the end of the first chapter.. and the start of another! I am currently plotting 'Phase Two' of my assault on the blogging World: It has only just begun!

In conclusion, here are some of the things I have learned from writing the blog:

1. Blogging is brilliantly life changing.

2. There are many unusual things in the world.

3. I love cooking. I love food and I love experimenting in the kitchen ( but am monitoring my portion control)

4. Darren is a genius ( and an inspiration to the blog from start to finish)

5. Collingwood is an amazing place to live

6. I love Canada and hope I can stay here, paint glorious pictures and continue to live my wonderful life here.

7. My spelling is not getting better with age.

8. I have the best boyfriend in the world.

9. Life couldn't be better

10. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me writing the blog and hopefully enjoyed reading it!

And in other news [to be continued...]

1. Here is my latest Cornish pic.. Jessie and Saffy on the cliffs at Perranporth!

2. Darren realized today that the tree in the middle of our lawn is a MAGNOLIA TREE!!!! Check out the buds about to bloom, it's going to be incredible!

And the last shot: Darren and I under the Magnolia Tree!

Day Three Hundred and Sixty Four - Dry Walling

Dear all

Today I decided to enhance my life skills and learn the sacred art of Dry Walling. I was very fortunate to have heard about 'Ladies Night' at The Collingwood, Rona so signed myself up and today was the day!

It so happened that there was a number of workshops that I was able to attend so first up, I learnt how to make a Robin's Bird Box ( very useful, especially due to the volume of Robins in the area).

Here are several pictures from the session; I felt surprisingly comfortable when handed my own power drill and excelled during the class, finishing about 10 minutes before anyone else.

I attribute my skills to all the work last year with Darren and Bob at the cottage. I took the power tool in hand with great authority and polished the screws off in no time; with not a wonky corner, weird 'malfunctioning' drill sound or rogue screw poking through the wall in sight.

Once I had finished my bird box, I moved onto the Recycling station and lecture on bath room fans( sadly, a little dull but it did spark my interest slightly with the 'paint' recycling program).

And then came the drying walling! I was very excited about this section ( so was Darren, he was keen for me to learn the craft)

In reality, it was a very short course and we only got to do a very small amount of work with the 'mud' but was a great introduction and I am keen to get scraping; I even got my own tool to take home!

The grand finale saw a raffle and guess what: I won first Prize! A massive cart of gardening goodies ( YAYYY!!) including planter [full of annuals], some grass seed [worth $50] that apparently grows anywhere, even on concrete.... and other bags of gardening gold (weed killer, grass seen, various apparatus). I was ecstatic!

And in other news:

1. My Cornish picture is finished. Now onto the next!

Day Three Hundred and Sixty Three - Tandoori Burgers

Dear all,

Darren was keen to give the BBQ a good workout so we decided to have an impromptu feast and picked out a beauty from Ted's BBQ bible; Ted's Tandoori Chicken Burgers.

I had an hour or so to prepare everything after scouring the shops for Naan Bread ( Cwood was all out of Naan!) so got to work on the burgers, adding all the ingredients into a large bowl, mixing it all together and then leaving it in the fridge for an hour to 'marinade'.

Ted asked for some wild and wonderful ingredients as always; ground chicken, Ted's Tandoori bbq seasoning (2 tsp salt, 1/4 cup paprika, 2 tbs cumin, 1 tbs smoked paprika, 1 tbs cayenne, 1 tbs coriander, 1 tbs cardamom, 1 tbs cinnamon, 1 tbs black pepper, 1 tbs brown sugar and 1 tsp ground cloves: absolutely amazing!) garlic, green chillies, ginger, yogurt, oil, lemon juice and fresh coriander ( cilantro) but it looked and smelt pretty good as it entered the fridge and we were excited as to how they would taste.

Darren then stepped in to save the day and started on the Tandoori BBQ sauce. He heated oil in a saucepan over high heat then added the tandoori burger seasoning and stirred it continuously to release the flavors. The smell was outstanding as he added red chillies [diced], garlic and onion and then let it cook down a little.

He then added apple cider vinegar, ketchup and honey ( and a little of Ted's pineapple rum grilling sauce for good measure) and let it simmer down for 10 minutes.

Darren then popped it in the blender and pureed the sauce to remove any particles. It smelt incredible; a really unusual smelt but extremely evocative and made me want to dance around and sing.

I was getting various other things ready in the background ( garlic bread, Caesar salad,pasta salad and brushcetta.. i.e. waaaay to much for 5 people!). I had also boiled up a [very] large pot of potatoes in order to make Ted's planked 'Potato burgers', another rather rash experiment but I was excited to give it a try.

Once cooked, I mashed up the potato, added butter and garlic ( you could also add milk, cream or sour cream) and then left them to cool. Once cooled down a little, I added fresh parsley and chives and formed the potatoes in balls that we then placed on the [soaked] cedar plank. As an after thought, Darren sprinkled some Parmesan on top to beef them up a little. We then formed the chicken burgers into patties and we were good to go!

While the burgers were firing up on the Weber, everyone grazed on the mountain of snacks I had prepared ( still having issues with portion control....). Anna, Dave and Nadia had come around to sample the BBQ fare; it was the first time Dave and Nadia had seen the new place and everyone was revelling in the joyous sectional and it multi-faceted comfort levels.

The meal turned out to be a total success! Both sets of burgers were delicious and Darren's sauce was incredible! We just had a little too much for 5 people... but Darren is gently coaching me to cook with a more realistic idea of what people will eat.

Here are the chicken burgers and the Naan ( also brushed with oil and warmed on the BBQ) and the potato burgers. We decided the potato burgers needed a little something; maybe some orgasmic onion seasoning and a ton more butter added during the first blend but they were very tasty and worth a try is anyone is interesting in a meat-free BBQ snack.

Here are Nad, Anna and Dave after our tandoori feast; it was a great evening and the first of many to come over the summer months ( hurray!)

And in other news:

1 I have finished D's alien ( it's taken from the alien he has on his phone)

2. And a couple of pictures that are nearly finished; the Cornish coastline and a crab apple

3. My new favorite band: http://www.fosterthepeople.com/

I can't stop dancing to 'Pumped up Kicks'! Darren discovered them the other day and we love them!

Day Three Hundred and Sixty Two - Oprah

Dear all

Karla, Jenny and I made an amusing discovery the other day: I had never seen an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show. I didn't really think anything of it, but Jenny and Karla were literally aghast by the news and we immediately scoured our diaries in order to schedule my inaugural viewing.

We were trying to organize the Oprah-Marathon for ages but things kept on getting in the way (moving house, new floor boards, Hawaii, Easter, painting naked people, etc etc), so I thought I would squeeze in a quick peak at the O channel before my official year was up.

I had caught wind of the fact that Oprah was bidding farewell to daytime TV and calling it a day after 25 years, 25 seasons [starting on September 8th 1986: my 9th birthday!), the final episode being aired on 25th May 2001. As most of you will know, Oprah is one the most powerful people in show business with her show proving to be a powerful conduit for content aired penetrating deep into American populace. http://www.oprah.com. You've made it big, if you get on Oprah.

I watched the show where Shirley Maclaine was interviewed by Oprah, primarily to promote her new book, 'I'm over all that', but she was also obliged to undergo the famous Oprah-cross-examination of her private life after which they managed to squeeze in an intense debate about the existence of UFOs. All good wholesome fun.

I was a particular fan of the section about Oprah's hair and fashion through the ages. Below are a few examples; a wonderful display of the drastic changes in fashion trends over the last 25 years!

1. Her and Liz are clearly loving that hair spray!

2. Ahhh, the 80's.

3. Early 90's sees an edgier look.

4. Late 90's Boho Chic.

5. The 2000's: sleek and sexy.

6. 2001 and looking pretty good.

And in other news:

1. I have finished a landscape *phew*; a farm in a corn field. I am now very inspired to paint more; please feel free to send me photos you would like me to paint!

2. What a joy! Andrea, a lovely, lovely girl from Switzerland who I met at The Inn a couple of years ago, was back in Canada for a week. I managed to meet up with her in [ the newly refurbished] Duncan's where we had a lovely catch up! Here is Andrea with her friend Paul.