7th April Still settling

Hello everyone. We've been here just over 4 weeks - which isn't long, and each week seems to have raced by. I think we're in a different time zone in more ways than one! We made an offer on a 2nd condo which has just failed so we're hoping it'll be 3rd time lucky. The other Carillion couples are all sorted including one pair who've bought a house! Anyway, the last condo didn't feel right so I wasn't surprised it didn't go through. The good news is that Eamonn's bought a car, a Hyundai Santa Fe, not the prettiest but it's higher on the road for visibility and I find it much easier to get in and out of - very important! He collects it next week. 

These lovely birthday flowers came from Michael this week and give some welcoming colour to our apartment. AND my stash of Corrie programmes that Gemma's recorded has just arrived! It was like being wrapped in my favourite blanket eating warm custard!! I'm resisting the urge to watch them all in one go.

This is a very Catholic country and daily mass is broadcast on tv every afternoon, live from St. Basil's parish church in the heart of the University district, downtown. I went there for mass (not the broadcast one) with Mel one day and we had a very pleasant walk after, spotting some more street art. We stumbled across 'Crepesagogo' (you can check their website), an authentic French creperie where they serve sweet and savoury crepes in a paper bag - it is really hard to find places which use actual crockery and cutlery; a few coffee shops will supply you with a real mug if you ask. I get fed up drinking out of waxed cardboard! But the crepes were yummy.  On the subject of mass we tried another local church on Sunday, St. Gabriel's, run by the Passionist Fathers. It was a modern, friendly, family church with good music. There was to be a mission too which we decided to go back for in the evening. I don't usually pay much attention to these at home but our interest was caught. Also, this mission was being recorded for broadcast on national tv here in Holy Week so we sat at the back! There were 2 very good speakers: Fr. Senior spoke on St.Paul's hope for the future. He described the Church, with all its failings, as a wounded body, like that of the crucified Christ. His overriding theme was that, as Paul said, '..without love I am nothing.' There was music sung by a small male choir which we could join in with and the second speaker was a Notre Dame sister, Sr. Melanie Svoboda who spoke on Pain and Suffering. She was a very cheerful, warm speaker: she explained that pain, of whatever type, is universal and shows that we can never be in complete control of our lives and it is through suffering that we learn to serve others.She reminded us to look for the essential goodness in daily life, the little things that please us in nature, people, music, etc. Her three tips for sustaining hope were: to stay close to hopeful people, to receive the eucharist which provides bread for our journey and to pray, in order to stay close to God. She herself has been diagnosed with a very serious auto immune disorder which means she may not live more than 5 years but you really couldn't tell she was ill. Because this was being recorded there were lengthy pauses while sound was being checked etc so we all sat patiently enjoying the atmosphere and watched the snow come down outside! Luckily it didn't settle. We weren't able to go back for part 2 of the mission on Monday night so I'll make sure to watch it on the 18th. I think it'll be available on YouTube too so I'll send the link when I find it. Here endeth the lesson. Well, not quite. I managed to get to see 'Of Gods and Men', a wonderfully made film based on a true story. I do recommend it if you haven't seen it yet, it says many important things, including how we should take care of each other in these difficult times. 

I haven't mentioned the 'Man in the Ceiling', have I? An important feature of condo life is obviously safety and my first experience of MiC was when they were testing the fire alarms. A young male voice boomed at me via the speaker above informing me that this was just a test and apologised for the inconvenience. Fine. Then at 12.15 am last Saturday morning there was a screeching alarm shattering our sleep while MiC advised us that the lifts were not running due to a fire alarm in the mall below. It was being dealt with so we calmed down and tried to go back to sleep but of course we couldn't because we knew that MiC would be back to tell us that all was ok so he'd wake us again! Which of course he did an hour later. No doubt we'll hear more of him from time to time.

 Having had a tedious few days of apartment, car, insurance and printer hunting we made sure to have a little outing after mass on Sunday. We went to an area called Scarborough Bluffs, a lakeside district where there are sandy cliffs. So much land is pretty flat here so this was a bit different. They look as  thought they could collapse at any time they're so sandy but there are houses right on the edge. We saw plenty of little tell tale holes so we look forward to going back to see the sand martins when they arrive. There is a restaurant and pub there which had just opened for the season so we had a very tasty, filling brunch in the Dogfish Pub. No need for Sunday lunch after that. Mmm. Spring is still taking its time arriving but we saw a little clump of tight daffodils. (Also the square opposite our apartment has been planted up so perhaps the cascade and fountain will be running soon too). Along the shore here are 'Floating Houses' which are exactly that, not quite house boats, more house that boat I'd say.

    I wasn't keen on exploring the wilder parts having read this notice:

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They are very keen on our Royal Family here and have a little item in the news about Kate and Wills everyday. CTV will be broadcasting coverage of the wedding from 3am. I shall probably get in position on the sofa from about 5.

The news is also full of election campaign coverage. I can't imagine how they'll fill the schedules after the election! This is the 4th election since 2004, that's the beauty of coalitions for you. The PM, Stephen Harper, made a fool of himself trying to limit the press to only 4 questions a day and made them stand behind a little barrier. It sounds like someone on his team doesn't understand how to keep the media onside - literally. That rule didn't last 5 minutes as they kept asking what was his reason for the limit and he realised they wouldn't be reporting anything important to him if this continued. The party leaders are zipping across this enormous country dealing with gaffes and skeletons in cupboards just the same as at home. It's curious hearing about the Bloc Quebecois who are the separatist movement. Many ordinary Canadians are concerned that their vote might result in a coalition government which would include a party that wants to break up the country so how could it sit in a Federal Government? Hmmm.

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While browsing a second hand bookshop I found a book of Canadian words and sayings so I thought I'd drop some in now again. This week's choice is:

Eagles may soar but beavers don't get sucked into jet engines.

You decide what it means!

Eamonn's doing fine at work, revelling in his 15 minute drive in and 30 minute drive home and I manage to fill my time pretty well but will really enjoy putting a little home together. Say a little prayer that we get fixed up soon! Many thanks and love to all.  

 PS.

I do love it when I see a comment  and hope I see a new little face or two soon. I know you're there but I like to see you!