October has been a whirlwind! Where did the time go?

I have been having a super busy fall. There have certainly been some great moments....and then some others that were not so great. Some high points - the U2 concert and the Rogers Centre. What a fantastic concert. I figure you've got to go all out at least once and blow your dough on a ticket to see the really big.....shewwwwww! Anyway, it did live up to the hype. Joe and I loved it. We took in the Cirque du Soleil show down at the Portlands. Ovo is truly magical. Nonsensical words....music woven throughout... death defying high wire acts, trapeze, pretzel people (I mean how do they contort themselves like that) and wonderful lighting. Then it was on to Boys in the Photograph at the Royal Alex. Erica Peck played the part of Mary. You might remember her from We Will Rock You as Scaramouche. Good show. Innovative staging. Now I am looking forward to My Mothers Lesbian Wiccan Wedding next month!
Okay...so I mentioned some not so great. Spending 5 hours in the hospital emergency with my daughter was not so great. She was hit by a car but thankfully is okay! Whew. When does this parenting thing get easy?! Anyway...live love...love life. (As Joe would say.)

Weekend at the Cottage in Muskoka!

Headed out again but this time just a few hours to the north of Toronto to Diane's cottage in beautiful Gravenhurst.

Suzanne & Dave were there for the week and invited Joe and I to join them for the weekend. It just happened to be Diane's birthday on Saturday so she and Ed came up too. Lots of fun was had by all. Canoeing (well Joe...lots of dunking of course!) Good tunes (supplied by Dave on various guitars & bass guitars as well as a fantastic music library on his laptop!) And the hot tub was wonderful under the stars at night! Lots of good food, chocolate martinis (did me in but I only have myself to blame) and reading material. (There is a full fledged library there!)


Only one casualty...and it wasn't from Diane trying to bash the pinata.
Guess who? What would a summer be without an injury sustained from the Adventure Guy!

Thanks for having us! We had a blast. Same time next year?

East Coast Road Trip

Joe and I loaded up his mid-life crisis red hot convertible and hit the road for the east coast. We had a couple of destinations in mind. But took an unexpected side trip to Prescott. Said mid-life crisis car decided to drop its muffler (well disconnect some pipe from some other pipe well...what do I know about exhaust systems!) Anyway we were extremely fortunate and ended up at West End Motors on King Street West and met Glenn who fixed up the exhaust pipe in no time at all. Terrific guy. He turned us on to the Cowpaddy Boys, a motorcycle club that is all about helping others. Cool guys! Thanks Glenn for helping us on our way.

First stop on the tour - PEI - to visit my sister and her family. We had a terrific time listening to a local band, eating oysters, clams, lobster (well Joe..not me!) and checking out my nephew's new house renovations. Lots of work...been there done that! We even spent a day in my sister's pool (oh you unpredictable summer weather you!) and had a lot of laughs trying to "belly up" and I mean belly....to their floating bar. Lots and lots of fun. A good time was had by all. Thanks Kathie & Rob.

We then headed off to Grand Manan Island to go whale watching. It is a lovely (small) island with some amazing cliffs and some great places to stay like the Marathon Inn and the Surfside Motel and tasty eats at the Compass Rose and Galloways. We went whale watching with Whales N Sails and after four hours of aimlessly drifting in the fog....the sun came out, the tide turned and......thar she blows! We saw Great Fin Whales and Minke Whales. Lots of dolphins, porpoises, seals & puffins.

Back on the road we crossed at St. Stephen (chocolate capital of Canada - Ganong!) into Calais, Maine and then through the White Mountains to Gorham, New Hampshire. I have made this trip many times with gal pal Sandi to her timeshare in East Stoneham, Maine (Stephen King country). I love the White Mountains! We had the top down....the tunes blasting.... and Mother Nature decided enough is enough and dumped what seemed like 100 buckets of water on us before we got the roof back up (nowhere to pull over...no shoulders.) Anyway, I guess she figured the joke was over and the sun came out again, we took the top down, dried off and had an uneventful drive home.

I have created a picture gallery but unfortunately did not manage to label all the pics...so you'll just have to guess where I was. Cheers!

Muskoka Run June 2009

Inside joke with pals... Tamis & Dean!

Taking a break in Bala after some hair raising curves!

My "hog" and my sweetie! Who could ask for more?

On the town with the Curves gals!

Had a blast last night with the gals from Curves. Checked out Trattoria 328 (Dupont & Spadina) - the restaurant my daughter Caitlin manages for Lorenzo (an amazing chef). Fantastic pastas, seafood and wood-oven pizzas (smoked salmon, grilled chicken). Wonderful tiramizu (specially made by Lorenzo). Anyway... lots of laughs (and red wine). Definitely looking forward to dining on the patio when the weather warms up!

April Fool's Day!

Yummy...yummy pie! Lovely, lovely Fauxberry pie! You could serve it cold but it is best served warm! Right Suzanne & Dave! Gotcha.... April Fool's. This is no ordinary pie. Instead of tasting sweet icing & a chocolate filling you encounter mashed potatoes & ground beef. Yup... it's a rogue "Shepherd's Pie". Really fools you though.... as Suzanne and Dave found out. They thought the icing was.... "play dough?!!!" until they realized it was mashed potatoes. Hmmmm...what tasty treat can I cook up next year! (Check out the Ticking Time Bomb calendar for the recipe!)