Thursday 19th May: The nest is ready and visitors have arrived!

Hello everyone, it's good to be back in touch again.We had a frantic time getting this apartment ready, not just for us, but for our first visitors too. In all, we made 6 trips to Ikea and, in 2 weeks, Eamonn put together 2 sofas, one ottoman, one dining table, 4 dining chairs, 3 storage cabinets for the sitting room, a side table, 2 double beds (one with drawers), 4 bedside cabinets, a stool and a chest of drawers. Being flat-packs of course this generated a mountain of packing material and cardboard which had to be taken down to the refuse area. Eamonn's hands now have plenty of time to recover. By the way, for those of you thinking of coming there are also 2 guest suites in the building if we couldn't fit you in! Our guest bedroom is what you'd call cosy but the bed is very comfortable.

It took a few days to get the tv and internet organised but we were sorted by the time Gemma and Andy arrived. We're now enjoying British tv via the internet thanks to considerable electronic wizardry; I have been on a marathon Corrie catch-up and am nearly there. Gemma has kept me supplied with discs and now I can get the rest from the internet. She and Andy arrived last Saturday with a peculiar assortment of items that we requested, and a surprise copy of the BBC's Royal Wedding DVD and a commemorative Hello magazine! They have been out and about but both have been here before which helps. We all watched Eurovision live on Saturday afternoon while they got over their jet lag, praying Ireland wouldn't win!

Gemma likes being useful

Glen Gould - pianist

Spring has finally come, there are tulips everywhere and suddenly everything is green, but there's been a lot of rain which is disappointing for Gemma and Andy but they have dodged it well and the sun is now out and we're looking forward to a bright Bank Holiday weekend here - Monday is Victoria Day and Gemma's birthday. Eamonn's taking a couple of days off to make it a long weekend too so we have some ideas for going further afield. We're also meeting friends from home at a baseball match tomorrow: Toronto Blue Jays versus Houston Astros. The prairie states are now getting high temperatures and wild fires following floods because of rain and snow melt. This continent must be a weather man's dream but it sounds like a tough region to live in.

At last I've found myself a very good hairdresser after dreading the search. She trained in London (at Vidal Sassoon's) and was really friendly and helpful, suggesting a local dentist and giving advice on registering with a GP. So to celebrate I bought 2 pairs of shoes and 2 more cushions!

In the week before we moved I went on a tour of an Inuit art exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario and a Railway Heritage walk in town with the Newcomers Club. Both were very interesting and there were several Brits on the walk which involved visiting a brewery (!) and of course we had to sample some at 11.30 in the morning! I have been back to the AGO yesterday with Gemma and Andy and I love it. I can see I'll be spending lots of time there, especially in the winter!

 

Last night we all went bowling with our young friends Orla and Harvey. We all had a good laugh and managed not to pull any muscles. That'll be another activity we'll probably do more of in the winter. Eamonn did very well! We still haven't tried the gym and pool downstairs yet but we will!  

Have a look at our little pad, we'll be delighted to have more visitors! 

Spot the Bear!