Category Archives: About Me

A Day of Learning to Ride a Bike, Trekking to Argos and Ending the Day at the Pub to Watch Arsenal Women Win the Championship

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Today started out slowly. We were waiting for our eldest daughter to arrive in London from Toronto before heading out for the day.

After Andrea arrived we took Sevin outside to practise learning how to ride her bike. She took a few spins of the driveway with her father close behind before we walked to Argos to pick up some pillows that we had ordered earlier in the day.

The walk to Argo’s was substantial and we stopped at a famous noodle house for a bite to eat. More about that tomorrow.

We also stopped at a Waitrose to pick up a few more groceries and decided to take a bus back home. We wanted to get back home in time to catch the UEFA Women’s Champions League at one of the local pubs.

After missing one bus because the driver didn’t stop, waiting for a second bus and then having to walk a ways we finally got home, put away the food and made our way to the pub with the whole family.

The first two pubs were packed and one didn’t allow children. We ended up in the pub closest to our flat and we got there in time to see Arsenal score the first and only point of the game. The pub erupted in cheers when the hometown team won the championship.

Sevin was delighted with the outcome and thoroughly enjoyed her pizza and chips.

A Trip to the Artist Run Gallery in Angel

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…yesterday we spent quite a bit of time in this lovely little gallery

The Bakery Art Run Gallery is situated on a small side street and is home to the work of 19 artists who curate the work themselves and is always manned by one the artists. On the day we went we met Natalie Kingdoms who specializes in silk screen printing using half tone dots. For more information about the gallery you can check out their website: https://thebakeryartgallery.com/

A Trip to Angel

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… with the 19 bus

Today we decided to do a little shopping and explore the area around the Angel Station. We stopped at Itsu for some lunch and enjoyed a hot noodle bowl.

We explored some very cool side streets with fun artist owned galleries and outdoor cafes before we ended up at Cass Art Supplies to purchase some sketchbooks.

Back in London

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…arrived this morning at 6:30 just in time for rush hour

The flight was only 6 1/2 hours but the drive from the airport took us almost two hours. After a two hour nap we took a walk from our flat (next to our son’s flat) to the local green grocer/mini market. We picked up a few essentials and when we got back we met up with Sevin who had just returned from school. She helped us put away our groceries and then we went next door where mama was preparing dinner for us.

Sevin entertained us with stories about her day at school. She is in reception which is like our senior kindergarten. Then she showed us her latest work of art.

Farewell to the Grand Old Oak

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…across the street

We have enjoyed this lovely oak for 47 years. On average oak trees can live for 150 to 300 years, depending on the variety and its environment. This tree clearly lived here long before we arrived.

In the last few years this oak was showing its age. Last summer a very large branch fell and took out the neighbours’ fence. It was becoming a liability. It was slated to come down this spring and the three day process ended this week.

When I got home later in the day this is what I found.

Word of the Day Challenge – Passenger

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https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2025/05/13/passenger/?_gl=1*vk3uzu*_gcl_au*NzkxNzE2MTA2LjE3NDAxNjk4ODU.

On the train from Edinburgh to London 2024
On the plane from Toronto to Calgary 2023
On the bus in Dublin 2022
Olive in the car on the ferry 2019
Winnie and Uncle Brendan on the train in Italy 2016

Serenity

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…this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge

Thank you to Egidio from Through Brazilian Eyes https://throughbrazilianeyes.com/lens-artists-challenge-348-serenity/

Serenity for me has always been looking over lake up at my cottage or enjoying a cup of coffee with a book on the deck.

When Dad lived with us he used to love going down to the park at the end of the our street and sitting on the bench or his walker and just enjoying the view of his ‘ocean’, which was actually Lake Ontario.

A Week of Art

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…enjoying other people’s art

Last Thursday I enjoyed a concert in the afternoon put on by the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto. They featured the tenor Asitha Tennekoon with pianist Steven Philcox and a string quartet. Here is short description of this man’s musical journey into opera.

https://www.amplifiedopera.com/asitha-tennekoon

After this very moving concert I walked over WAAC and took in the the show featuring photography for this year’s Contact Show.

On Saturday Kevin and I drove to the Better Living Building and spent a couple hours exploring the beautiful art at the Toronto Art Project. It was fun meeting artists that we followed on Instagram and conversing with new artists.

That’s me being secretly photographed while speaking with the artist

On Saturday Kevin and I continued our our art filled weekend and took the train into the city and enjoyed an afternoon listening to a big band group of young people , the Angela Pincente Orchestra at the famous Rex.

The Rex is Toronto’s oldest jazz club.https://www.therex.ca/events/angela-pincente-large-ensemble-9gmm4-txnft-w799d-h3m7j