Category Archives: Celebrations

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

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…enjoying a slightly revised Dublin Coddle

Kevin made this wonderful stew/soup for dinner tonight. The original recipe calls for a different type of sausage that is not browned ahead of time. Kevin used a mild Italian sausage which he sliced and browned. He also added peas and he used my homemade chicken stock.

It was perfect on this very wintery cold evening.

Here is a recipe similar to what Kevin made.

https://www.allrecipes.com/dublin-coddle-irish-sausage-and-potato-stew-recipe-7185428

This recipe calls for stout but we left it out. It would, however add another nice dimension to the dish.

A Week of Cultural Experiences

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…from a visit to the ROM to an art opening at the Abbozzo Gallery and finally to a concert at Koerner Hall to celebrate International Women’s Day

Early in the week my friend and I and her two grandchildren and her daughter spent a few hours at the museum checking out the dinosaurs and the stuffed animal displays before heading to the playroom.

On Friday, Kevin and I joined our friends, Laurie and Phil and our daughter, Andrea and daughter-in-law, Josie at the Abbozzo Gallery for the opening of Richard A. Jacobson’ show, r|age. The theme was on age and aging and embracing the inevitable. It was a very interesting show and being able to meet the artist is always a bonus.

On Sunday, my friend Liz and I went to Koerner Hall to see the International Women’s Day Celebration. The concert featured three indigenous women from Canada. All three are award winning solo artists.

Shawnee Kish was the first presenter and her genre is alternative country.

Amanda Rhéaume was accompanied by a Métis fiddle player. Her music tells stories of Métis resistance and resilience.

Tia Wood was the youngest of the three presenters. In her 20s Tia left her home on the Rez in central Alberta to follow her dreams in Los Angeles. She developed an enormous social following as a creator.

Here are some of the songs put out by these artists.

Shawnee Kish

https://open.spotify.com/track/0D2DxT4D6SLe4a19HlzcgI?si=yccWvjw4SpS8ncEyTAAJxQ

Amanda Rhéaume

https://open.spotify.com/track/71ALgRSQ1neaZmRT2Ivj0P?si=ZqM-pbQjTzOZSsX_zZkpwQ

Tia Wood

https://open.spotify.com/track/6abgej5aQVjWvSFydjqo6o?si=8flK5kM2RU6uUQ-ArW-i1g

One Word Sunday – Surprise

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…thanks to Debbie for hosting One Word Sunday https://travelwithintent.com/challenge-and-theme-updates/

So surprised to see us again
Hard at work to make her Papa a special cake
The finished cake
Always popular with the kids

Enjoying Music With Friends on Valentine’s Day

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…at the Rex

Last week friends, Phil and Laurie invited us to join them to hear their favourite alternative jazz band, the Neon Eagle. What a treat, they were fantastic!

The following video was not from today’s performance but the venue is the same and it will give you some idea of the music we experienced. https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=bVu4Qxn1_ls&si=sdIgkzH7TH8OJvE_

Wishing You All Love, Hope and Good Health in the NewYear

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…and time with family and friends

Kevin and I still have some family and friends to visit before this holiday season is officially over. Sadly it may not happen until January because this terrible flu that’s going around has affected these same people we had planned to visit.

Apart from that it’s been a busy and productive season. Christmas Eve was quiet and Kevin and I exchanged a few gifts, enjoyed some light snacks and watched some Christmas movies. The next day we had Andrea and Josie over for dinner. I prepared the turkey and the stuffing before they arrived. After opening a few more gifts everyone pitched in and helped prepared the side dishes. We sat down to an absolutely lovely meal of roast turkey, a rice stuffing, cranberry and orange relish, green beans with almonds, Brussels sprouts with bacon and mashed potatoes. For dessert we had ice-cream topped with our homemade Rumtopf.

A Busy Time of Year

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…from writing cards to making soup for the unhoused

This year I sent out over 75 Christmas cards. For the last three years my husband, Kevin designed our Cards and had them printed through a printing company. Last year we went through a postal strike so most of our cards didn’t arrive to their destinations till well after Christmas.

This season both Kevin and I donated our time, energy and money to support our communities and individuals who aren’t as fortunate as we are. A good friend of mine has given three Ukrainian families an opportunity to work in her home. It’s an arrangement that has been beneficial at both ends, especially after C suffered from a stroke last year. These amazing women helped her with cleaning the house, doing her cooking and preparing meals.

A couple of other friends have also used these women to clean their homes. They left Ukraine when the war broke out while their husbands stayed behind to fight. This Christmas, C and her husband put out the call for new items so that these women and their children could have a Christmas. I spent a day shopping for presents and two more days sorting and wrapping gifts.

Kevin has always wanted to make soup for the unhoused. Another friend, B has been working with the unhoused for a number of years now and told me about a project where people can come every Friday and pick up food and clothing. Right now tables are set up on the street and people line up to pick up a hot meal, some groceries and warm articles of clothing.

This past week Kevin made a huge pot of soup that made about 30 servings. I helped him take the soup to the drop off and I stayed to serve it up. Another woman had also made soup so there was plenty for everyone and there were lots of trays of other hot foods like tortellini and other pastas. It was bitter cold but I didn’t really feel it until the soup ran out.

Today, after shopping for ingredients, I finally got around to making bags of Party Mix and dozens of chocolate cookies for my Christmas plates that I hand out to my neighbours. I’m hoping to make more cookies tomorrow.