London - Day 1

Today was pretty much a continuation of yesterday since our attempts to sleep on the flight went unfulfilled except for a few minutes here or there.  Can you believe they serve a full dinner on a flight that leaves at midnight!?  The flight was uneventful in a good way.  Our landing and takeoff were some of the smoothest I'd ever felt.  After grabbing our bag we proceeded to the Tube and the short trip to our West end hotel.  Benny(owner of Benny's B&B) was there to greet us and bring us up to our top floor room.  The area where our hotel is is a nice, quiet suburb of London recommended to us by friends.  Its about a half hour Tube ride into central London.  Our room is small and sparse but clean and the bed is comfortable.  It was now 1200pm London time but only 7am Ottawa time so we decided to catch a few zzz's before heading out.  It was really hard to get up but we managed to be out the door again by 3pm.

First stop iconic Buckingham Palace!  We didn't see the Queen but there were a few guards standing out front.  We then walked down The Mall, a long tree lined boulevard where processions from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace go.  As we walked it started to rain.  We had raincoats so we were still able to walk around for quite a bit without getting too soggy.  We walked through Leicester square, Trafalgar square, Piccadilly circus and even came across Saville Row.  Along the way we noticed how well dressed Londoners are and also how many people were out and about despite the rain.  We had dinner at a small cafe just off the main drag.  Reuben had a chicken and mushroom pie with chips(fries) and I had spaghetti and salad.  We both enjoyed our meals including the price tag:-)

To get out of the rain, we thought we would check out the British Museum which is free.  We hoped it would be open after 6pm and it was but only because it was a Friday night.  So we lucked out.  We saw many ancient artifacts, a cool clock/watch exhibit and a Japanese history exhibit.

After all this walking around on not very much sleep we thought we should end the day with a pint at the local pub so we hoped on the Tube back to our hotel, had our pint and are both ready to hit the hay, for real!

Great Britain 2012

Our journey begins on a late night in early October.  We decided to pack really light this time and so with 1 checked bag and 2 backpacks we arrived at the Ottawa airport the prescribed 3 hours prior to departure.  We are now ensconced on(in?) a green leather loveseat/divan(as, perhaps, the British would say) facing the tarmac and the large piece of metal that's going to take us to Great Britain for our ten day adventure.
Our itinerary is as follows; London (2.5 days, 3 nights), bus to Southampton, rent car and drive to Bath via Stonehenge, overnight in Bath, drive to Cornwall, overnight in Polperro, drive to Southampton, overnight in Southampton with our cousins, train to Edinburgh, Edinburgh(3 days, 2 nights), final night at the Glasgow airport hotel to catch a 7am flight via Copenhagen and Toronto to home.
Sound exhausting?  Yes. But oh so worth it!

Next book club book

This is my Saturday. Read a chapter...do some chores...read a chapter...do some chores.

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Onlineness

If you post something on yoir blog or on Facebook or on Twitter and noone ever comments on it or brings it up when you see them. Then what is the point of posting it at all. Should everything we post have significance to other people or is it ok if you are the only one listening to yourself? What is so alluring about the publish/share button?

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New Book

I started reading this book, so far so good!

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award

I accidently orded 50 boxes of 5000 staples and one of the profs got such a kick out of it, that he made me this award:)

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Vancouver

On our way home from Hawaii, we had a 7 hour layover in Vancouver. Recently, our friends had moved to Abbotsford (near Vancouver) and we hadn't seen them in 4 months or met their new baby. Other friends were in Langley (near Vancouver) visiting family for Christmas. We landed in Vancouver at 7am. At about 8:30am, I think, it's a little hazy since it was 2 hours earlier for us and we had pulled an all-nighter on the plane, our friends pulled into the arrivals area of the airport and we hopped in. Thankfully, our luggage was transferred onto our connecting flight so we didn't have to worry about it in the interim. We headed towards the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park stopping at a cafe for breakfast on the way. I was starving so the breakfast sandwich, coffee and biscotti I ate really hit the spot.

Sorry, that I look so goofy. I had forgotton my toque in the car and it was cool and rainy so I borrowed Reuben's.

Really cool dolphin show.
Gemma wasn't feeling very well. Um....I think that's why she looks stunned but maybe it's cause I was holding her and she thought I was a little strange.
Experiencing a 4D movie. I thought it would be dumb but it was actually really cool.

When I was younger, the toucan was my favourite bird. I think these are Macaws.
Gemma and Opa.

Watching the belugas.

Reuben with his head in a bubble underneath an aquarium. I forget what other kind of animal was in the aquarium.
Jellyfish are really amazing.

Inspiration

That is wallpaper back there....not a real bookshelf!! Isn't it awesome? It reminds me of used bookstores that I love wandering around in. I wonder if I could do this in my craft room/study?

Surprise from Reuben

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Guest Room painting

I finally managed to take a picture of our guest room. I took it with my cellphone which is why it's so grainy but you get the idea. I wanted to centre that Ikea print first but then it would've been another few weeks before I got a picture up here.
The quilt on the bed is the one my sister made us for a wedding gift. The curtains are new and the little bedside lamp is new as well. The room has been such a mishmash of stuff ever since we moved in over 3 years ago that it's nice to have it a bit more coordinating now.
Did I go a little overboard with the green? As you might now, it's my favourite colour.

My amazing productivity

This is how I spend the small window of time that I have between getting home from work and starting to make dinner. Anyone else addicted to watching "Parenthood"?

Bits and Bites

Renovation update: undercabinet lighting installed and functioning. It lends a lovely ambiance to the kitchen. I tried to get a picture when my countertop was clean but it was nearly impossible. I'm fairly knit-picky about keeping things neat and tidy but at the end of the week when the amount of plastic containers that need washing piles up; it's so hard. Washing plastic containers is one of my least favourite jobs. That and cleaning the bathtub/shower. I don't think I posted pictures of our backsplash either but there it is. I love it!

Recently, we went out for dinner and beets were heavily incorporated into both of our meals. We loved them so I thought I should try cooking with them. They were surprisingly easy and most definitely delicious! I roasted them tossed in olive oil, sea salt and pepper along with some baby potatoes.

Book Club Update

Our book club is still ongoing. We've read 2 books since my last update.

"The Grapes of Wrath" was the book that I picked. I'd always wanted to read this book and my dad recommended reading it. It was quite a long book but very interesting as it describes a family travelling from Oklahoma to California after they lost their farm during the Great Depression. Handbills were sent across the nation from California claiming there would be jobs for anyone who wanted work. When they arrive, though, they find that work is scarce and the pay is even lower. I enjoyed this book and the discussion the has come from it. Given the current economic climate in the States and the government's attempts to solve the problem, there has been the comparison to the government's decisions to relieving the Great Depression and how their policies could have prolonged the Depression rather than relieving it.

Reuben's turn was next and he picked "Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson. This book is written from the perspective of a Calvinist minister in his 70s writing letters of reflection to his 7 yr old son. It wasn't too easy to get into and was quite confusing at times. But there are great passages of theological reflection and moral debate. We ended up having a good size group come out for the discussion, which is always nice.

Fish and Alfredo

2 haddock fish fillets
tri-colour rotini pasta
Classico Alfredo sauce
1 medium-sized fresh zucchini from your garden, chopped into bite size pieces

Thaw haddock fillets by placing them in a sealed bag in a sink full of cool water for half an hour because you didn't plan far enough in advance to thaw them properly in the fridge(is this bad for them? I'm not sure). Place in glass baking dish. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with cajun seasoning, to taste.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. When ready, cook fillets for 10 minutes or until ready.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in boiling water. Saute zucchini in frying pan. When cooked through, add Alfredo sauce to frying pan, to heat. Combine pasta with sauce in frying pan and heat through. Serve with fish.

A Birthday Supper

Cranberry Apple Stuffed Pork Loin
Roasted Potatoes
Roasted Brussel Sprouts (pre-brined and post-tossed with balsamic vinegar)
Green Beans

Dairy-free Pumpkin Cake with Streusel Topping

Steak, Acorn Squash and Spinach

Using what I had in the house to cobble together dinner last night.

1 grilling steak
1 acorn squash
2 cups uncooked baby spinach

Thaw frozen steak ...toss on the bbq ...grill to perfection.
Preheat oven to 350F. Cut acorn squash in half and place cut side down on baking sheet. Bake in oven for 30 min. Take out, turn over and place 1/8 c. butter and 1 tbsp brown sugar, salt and pepper into the cavity of each squash half. Return to oven and bake for another 20 min.
Place spinach in pan of water on stove. Bring water to boil and simmer until spinach is sufficiently wilted. Drain.

Serves 2.

Grilled BBQ Chicken and Grape Sandwich

2 red seedless grape clusters
2 (5-oz)boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c. hot wing sauce (I used Diana sauce)
4 sandwich rolls (I used pitas cause that's what we had)
1/2 c. finely chopped celery
1/2 c. crumbled blue cheese (we used brie, which was good but probably didn't add quite as much flavour as blue cheese would have)
2/3 c. light mayonnaise
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice (used bottled lemon juice)
Bibb lettuce leaves

1. Preheat grill to medium (300F to 350F). Grill grape clusters 15 minutes or until slightly soft. (only took 10 min on our grill)
2. Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Grill 5 minutes per side or until an instant read thermometer registers 165F. Remove from grill. Thinly slice or shred chicken and place in a medium bowl. Add wing sauce; toss to coat. Let cool.
3. Brush rolls with oil and place on grill, cut side down. Grill until just toasted.
4. In a medium bowl combine celery, blue cheese, mayonnaise, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Spread blue cheese mixture on cut side of rolls. Layer bottom halves of rolls evenly with chicken, grapes and lettuce. Cover with top halves of rolls, and serve.

Serves 4.

Recipe on a card picked up at the grocery store.

Thanksgiving 2010

On Saturday, we met up with my sister, Diana and her family. This is my nephew, Micah, he's turning 1 at the end of this month.



Here, Reuben is listening to Hadassah describe their camping pictures with Nethaneil looking on.

In the afternoon, we went with Reuben's family to Dundas Peak. Here is Reuben defying any fear of heights any of us might have.

Apple Scones

2 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. butter or margarine
1 shredded apple
1/2 c. milk

milk for brushing tops
sugar for sprinkling
cinnamon for sprinkling

Measure flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt into large bowl. Cut in butter until crumbly.

Add shredded apple and milk. Stir to form soft dough. Turn out on lightly floured surface. Knead gently 8-10 times. Pat into two 6 inch(15 cm) circles. Place on greassed baking sheet. Brush tops with milk. Sprinkle with sugar then with cinnamon. Score each top into 6 pie shaped wedges. Bake in 425 degree F oven for 15 min until browned and risen. Serve warm with butter. Yield: 12 scones.

from Company's Coming Muffins & More.

Walking for Hawaii continued

I haven't been faithfully updating this blog but, surprisingly, we have been faithfully walking for the past 3 weeks. I think we have walked 5 out of 7 nights each week for a minimum of 25 to 30 minutes sometimes more.
It has been fun thinking of new places to walk. Usually, we need to run some sort of errand and if it's within walking distance we walk instead of take the car. It turns out that Shopper's Drug Mart is only 12 minutes away and carrying a bag of milk home adds to the strength training!:)

While in Nova Scotia this past weekend, we hiked a trail out to Cape Split. It took us 2.5 hrs to get to the end and 2 hrs to get back.

It was long and tiring but the view at the end was definitely worth it! If you ever get the chance, don't chicken out! Do it!