Hello everyone! Yes just over 3 months since we arrived - it really is going fast. I've already arranged my flight home for December 7th so I'll be able to get in the festive mood while Eamonn carries on for another 2 weeks in sub-zero temperatures. Aaah. By the way, Eamonn was invited to a Carillion 'do' in town to meet the directors from London but he couldn't work out why until he was asked to supply a photo of himself. The badly kept secret was that he was to receive an award for 30 years' service to the company! So well done him.During the last two weeks we've begun to develop a bit of a routine but it's still early days. Eamonn's fitting in a swim after work a few times a week and now - (FANFARE) - I have been for my first swim!! It sounds crazy because before we came I thought I'd jump out of bed and in to the pool almost every day but it's taken me a while to pluck up the courage. I am generally a bit spooked by swimming pools (I blame Miss. XXX at Squires Lane pool in the 60's - and believe me, I do remember her name!) and when I seriously thought about going I was suddenly quite nervous about the idea of being in a pool alone (- too many Midsomer Murders probably). But then again I didn't want to bump into anyone either so if there had been anyone there I would have come back up. It's only about 12 and a half metres but long enough for me and it's unused 90% of the time. Anyway, I set myself to swim for half an hour, trying to break it up with little bits of exercise. If anyone wants to give me some ideas for exercises to do in a pool please do as I can't remember much of my aquarobics classes. In case you're worrying, the pool has CCTV so the concierge can keep an eye on the pool area and you have to give her your key in exchange for the pool key so she'd notice if you didn't come back - eventually.
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| B & B and our car |
Another first: we've just had our first weekend away from Toronto! Last Saturday we went to Stratford, a pretty town, about 2 hours drive from here. They have a theatre festival throughout the summer so we decided to go and see 'The Merry Wives of Windsor'. Neither of us had seen it before and we really enjoyed the production. There are several theatres around the town which lies on the River Avon (pronounced Ahvon!) flowing into Lake Victoria, complete with swans. There are lovely gardens beside the river and interesting shops. I had a fabulous hot fudge sundae and Eamonn had a soft ice cream dipped in chocolate - yum! We stayed in a lovely B &B which I'm sure we'll use again.The owners were very friendly and helpful and we had a very comfortable stay. There is also a music festival in July so I hope we'll go back to enjoy that too. There's also the Shaw (as in G.B.) Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake so we may well stay over and see a play as well as being able to visit the Falls very early and at night.
Anyway, we wandered along the lake enjoying the sun and the scenery. We came across a wonderful flock of cedar waxwings. We were able to sit very close to them - so pretty.
I had another walk too with the Newcomers' Club on the Toronto Islands, This was also a beautiful day and there are lovely views of the city skyline from there but I really got a bit too much sun. There are 14 islands linked together which originally formed a peninsula which was broken up during a storm in the 1850s.
Lake Ontario on a windy day
A place nearby where we like walking is the cemetery. I know it sounds odd but it is huge and has so many trees which makes it great for birdwatching. It is beautifully landscaped and there are some lovely headstones too. I came across the grave of Olga Alexandrovna, the last Grand Duchess of Russia, sister of Tsar Nicholas II, niece of King Edward VII and cousin to our Queen! Her family escaped the revolution to Denmark in 1913 and she came to Ontario later, using her talent as an artist to provide an income for her family. You might like to read more about her on Wikipedia. We had a very fruitful walk there on Friday afternoon - Eamonn's early finish - before we met Orla and Harvey for our usual dinner at the pub! These are the birds we saw: female downy woodpecker, mourning doves (very appropriate), American goldfinches, red-winged blackbirds (they're everywhere), cardinals (amazing bright red), another flock of cedar waxwings and a Baltimore oriole! This one is bright orange and black; our B&B hosts said we were very lucky to have seen one of those. There are some lovely garden areas for cremated remains. I haven't seen this idea at home but it seems very attractive and practical. |
| The reverse of the Armenian War Memorial, by William Saroyan, American-Armenian author |
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| Armenian War Memorial |
The malls here can be interesting places at times. One Saturday we went shopping because it was very wet and of course they're great places to escape the weather. We've all seen how young teenage girls love to wander around these places and we kept seeing groups of them determinedly walking, up to 6 abreast, all wearing the same gear: tee-shirts, flip flops and hotpants. Just because it was temporarily unlike summer they were not going to adjust their dress! At the other extreme, I arrived early to a classy mall near here so sat and relaxed while I watched people drift by. The shops were not yet open but there seemed to be quite a lot of people with somewhere to go. Then I began to see these people pass me again and again. You see, these temperature- controlled malls are ideal places for elderly people to exercise. I have even seen people use the pillars for resistance work! Most malls house food courts - the bigger the mall the bigger the food court. This is an area that looks like a canteen, with many tables and chairs surrounded by a great variety of fast food outlets: burgers, pizza, chicken, sushi, endless options really. I have eaten in a few of these now and the food is fine but they're not the most relaxing of places, surrounded by so many fellow munchers!
Of course I miss many people and many things but one thing I must mention: milk. I do miss having milk delivered. Here they sell milk in large plastic bags. You get 3 bags to a pack, making 4 litres altogether, weighing as much as a child! We drink a lot of milk so we now buy it in bulk and Eamonn brings the bag on wheels to carry it from the supermarket next door. It then gets decanted into a jug in the fridge and there's a real technique to pouring from a plastic bag! We're getting better.
Canadian advice: Love many, trust few, always paddle your own canoe.
Thank you to our faithful readers, you're there somewhere!
Bye for now,
With love,
Mary and Eamonn xxx
