…. a new challenge
Once a week Sue, from A Word in Your Ear will dip into her old English Oxford dictionary and pick a word on the page that it falls open at. The challenge is to post a photograph, poem, story – whatever the genre you like best to describe what that word means to you.
This week’s word is ‘dog’.
This is my favourite picture of my daughter’s basset hound, Lucy.
Frances loves the water and dives to retrieve her frisbee.
Frances posing for a picture?
….. and it was a great running and walking day
Last night we picked up our son from the train station. Well actually, we parked the car and waited for him in a pub near by. Union Station in downtown Toronto is currently undergoing renovation and it’s difficult to find a place to park and pick up people from the train station at the best of times.
Our son, B, has been living and working in the Netherlands for the last 9 months. He had an opportunity to attend a conference of sorts in Montreal for 3 days and he decided to extend his stay for an extra 4 days and come to Toronto to reconnect with family, friends and business associates.
I’ve really missed B and it’s great seeing him again, even if it is only for a short time. While he was sharing his plans for the next year or so I found myself feeling a little melancholy. His plans of course didn’t involve moving back to Canada anytime soon. When the plate of fries arrived at our table I found myself indulging way more than I had planned. Usually I’m satisfied with a taste or two and then I can stop. Last night I probably ate as many fries as my husband and my son. That darn emotional eating…. it got the better of me last night. Those were the first fries I’ve had in over 6 months and they weren’t that good.
Today was a new day and I was determined to have a better food day. It was also the cross country city finals for all elementary schools in Toronto today. We had 33 students who qualified to go the city finals. It was my job to walk back and forth from the start line to the finish line for each race and take pictures and keep track of where the students finished. I did this for 5 races and walked over 6000 steps (according to my pedometer) before I had to return to school.
The ‘bunny’ that lead the kids through the cross country trail.
The students did really well. One of our grade 2 boys placed first, one grade five boy placed second and two of our grade 3 girls placed 4th and 8th.
Tonight I left work a little bit earlier than I normally do. When I got home my husband wasn’t back from a business meeting north of the city and it was still daylight so I decided to take Frances for a long walk. We started off on our normal route but I added a few extensions along the way. When we were about 3/4 of the way home it started to rain so I ran the last 1k. A year ago this wouldn’t have been possible. Today it felt perfectly normal and it didn’t hurt or leave me breathless.
I checked the distance on the computer when I got home. On top of the 6700 steps I had walked earlier in the day, our walk added another 4k. It felt pretty good even though I did get wet. I made a great salad for dinner and now I feel rejuvenated. So all in all it was a great running day for the kids and a great walking and running day for me. I need to do this more often.
Cheers!
…. one by one farmers’ markets are shutting down for the season
The day started with the a cool breeze and sunshine. My husband and I decided to check out the farmers’ market in the Junction. We had never been there and it would be our only opportunity to pay it a visit. The market was due to close later today.
As soon as Frances saw us preparing to leave she assumed we were going for our usual walk. We couldn’t disappoint her so we bundled up and fastened her into her Buddy belt. We ended up doing the usual route and gave her a good workout before heading back to the house. By the time we returned we decided that our plan to bike to the market wasn’t doable because the market was only open for another hour and a half.
So we took the car. The day progressively became cloudier and cooler. Parking in the Junction wasn’t a problem but we did have to ask someone where the market was located. Luckily we were close.
Caught on camera at the Junction Farmers’ Market
The market proved to be interesting. It wasn’t huge but it had some interesting vendors. We bought spinach, pears, vegetarian samosas, pepper jelly, radish relish, humus and homemade crackers.
We walked back to the car and unloaded our purchases and then walked to The Bean Cafe. We enjoyed a couple of cappuccinos and I must admit we each enjoyed a vegan oatmeal pumpkin cookie. (picture below)
On our way home we picked up our daughter, G, who needed to do some work at our house. She told us about the pumpkin butter she had made and it inspired me to do something with the leftover squash I had cooked last weekend.
K quickly found a recipe on line for squash butter. Actually there are quite a few. The one I chose is pretty close to the one my daughter used, the exception being that it called for any winter squash. Now when my sister brought me the squash she had no idea what the variety was. She called it horse squash because it grew in the horse pasture on their farm.
After researching the different varieties of winter squash I’ve decided that the squash my sister gifted me was a kabocha squash.
Here’s the link for the recipe that I altered slightly.
Kabocha Squash Maple Butter
6 cups of cooked squash (any type works but the orange varieties have a nicer colour)
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. vanilla
juice from 1 lemon
zest from the lemon
1. Puree the squash with an immersion blender.
2. Place it in a large pot and add the remaining ingredients.
3. Cook it for 20 minutes, stirring often, or until it reaches the consistency you like.
4. Taste and add more sweetner (syrup, sugar or brown sugar) if you like it sweeter.
5. Place in sterilized jars and seal. I didn’t put this in a waterbath. These jars will need to be refrigerated and used up within 3 weeks or you can freeze them.
My finished product isn’t very pretty. When you add the spices to the light yellow flesh of the kabocha squash it turns a pea soup greenish colour. Squashes with an orange flesh might be more appealing but then my husband said that pumpkin pie isn’t exactly ‘pretty’ either. However, it has a wonder flavour and would be great on toast and we dipped apple slices into it. Yummy!
….. summer left by the back door
It seems like yesterday when we were experiencing warm sunny days. I was still wearing my sandals to work and by noon sweaters and jackets were abandoned because of warm temperatures.
Today, cold winds and grey skies firmly established that summer is no more and that winter is not far behind. On our daily walk we now step over smashed walnuts and chestnuts and push through multi-coloured fallen leaves. The dog’s tail is picking up burrs and she’s finding the most disgusting things to roll in.
It’s the colours of autumn that I am enchanted with. The red of the sumac leaves against purple wild flowers and fading green to yellow grasses excites my senses and makes me want to get out my paints and play with colour washes.
Today, on our walk, I purposely looked for colours from foliage not often photographed when one thinks of autumn. The soft textures of tall grasses and milkweed pods to the spiky thorns of burrs and seed pods is like a magnet for my imagination and camera lens.
Enjoy!
My husband and Frances. They were always ahead of me because I stopped so often to take pictures.
…. and I reached my goal Saturday morning!
Some of the best times in life are those that are not planned and just happen as the day progresses.
The only thing that I had planned for the weekend was cleaning the house and getting some of my son’s belongings from the apartment he had shared with his girlfriend.
My husband and daughter number one, A, took care of the latter job while I started on the first. As it turned out retrieving my son’s belongings didn’t take long at all and my daughter called to arrange for me to meet her and my husband for breakfast.
As I was driving to the designated location for nourishment, A called me and asked if I would pick up her partner, J from the house so that she could join us for breakfast. The four of us ended up having a delicious meal in a very funky and popular yet unpretensious location.
I announced to my family that I had reached my goal that morning and my husband joked about celebrating by eating whatever I wanted. I wasn’t tempted. I ordered an omelet with cheese and herbs, a small side salad and a delicious cup of Americano. No potatoes, no toast.
As we were sitting in the booth (comfortably by the way even though it was pretty small) we talked about the large bag of pears my husband received from one of his clients. He wanted to make pear butter and put it in jars (there were so many pears).
The discussion soon turned to how we could all get involved and maybe we could pick up some tomatoes and make sauce as well. Hmmm….we had no idea how time consuming this would be.
The girls and I headed for the hardware store to pick up more jars, a food grinder and a propane burner to cook the sauce outside. We couldn’t find everything we needed in the first store so we decided to drive to a famous Italian store on St. Claire that catered to the Italian community, specializing in kitchen supplies. They had everything we needed except the jars and the pots were pretty expensive so we decided to continue our quest and we headed west. So far we had only purchased the food grinder.
After numerous discussions back and forth on our phones with K we decided to buy the propane burner at Canadian Tire where they were on sale. This particular model included the pot. Actually it was advertised as a turkey deep fryer. Guess how we’re preparing our turkey this Thanksgiving.
Unfortunately the first store had sold out but the Canadian Tire close to the house had 9 of them in stock. Back in the car. We made a couple of detours and stopped in a small cheese store where they make their own fresh ricotta everyday. What a treat! It was so fresh that it was still warm. The second detour was another cheese store. Have I ever told you that I love cheese.
We finally had all the supplies we needed for making the pear butter. In the meantime K picked up a bushel of plum tomatoes (another project for another day).
It was mid afternoon before we actually started making the pear butter. Turns out I had to make another trip to buy star anise, lemons and fresh ginger. It took us about 4 hours to cut up the pears, cook them, grind them and then cook them some more.
Pear butter after 45 minutes.
The actual cooking time for the butter to reduce was about 2 hours. As it cooked the sauce went from this light yellow to an amber and after processing it in jars it turned a pink colour.
After 2 hours.
For the recipe go to:
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pear_butter/
The final product. Delicious on ricotta cheese and toast.
After supper we were ready to put the pear butter into jars. We got the water bath ready and K volunteered to watch the last step so that the girls and I could go for a long walk with Frances. The rain that was forecast for the day was over by the afternoon and the wind blew the clouds over the city and to the east. An interesting sky.
The girls and I walked for about 45 minutes. We passed a house where the owner was selling fresh vegetables from his driveway and A and J bought a bag full of corn, potatoes and cheddar cauliflower. When we got home the girls packed up their goodies, including jars of pear butter and I drove them home.
The best part of the day was spending it with my husband, my daughter and her partner. None of this had been preplanned. It was an adventure and even though it was a lot of work it was very rewarding. What about those tomatoes you ask? Well that’s another story for tomorrow.
Frances guarding the tomatoes for Sunday’s sauce.
…. signs that summer is almost over
Late Sunday morning as I wandered down to the beach with Frances I was taken aback by the isolation. It was after all the Sunday of the the last long weekend in the summer. It was the Labour Day Weekend.
I expected people to be lapping up the last rays of summer, playing with their summer toys, using up the gas in their motor boat or sea-do, going out for one last sail. The conditions were perfect. Where was everyone?
The only signs that human beings used the beach were the unused beach chairs. Some looked like they were waiting to be used momentarily, neatly lined up, facing the water or arranged in a circle for imminent conversation.
Others were already folded and stacked, ready to be put away until next summer. While some looked as though they hadn’t been used in a very long time as beach grasses reached up through the slats and around the legs. Peeling paint and blistering wood scar the surfaces, resulting from years of exposure to the blazing sun, the drifting sands blown about by the off shore winds, to say nothing of the rain and snow.
Is this the end of summer? For many it is, as they head back to school, back to their 9 to 5 jobs. For others it is the best time of summer, the shoulder of summer. For those lucky few I envy you, for you have some of the best days yet to come. Get out there and use those chairs. They await you.
….we decided to walk extra far today instead of doing our usual run.
I got ready for my walk/run today without the usual coaxing from my husband. Instead I had to light a fire under him to get us moving today.
When we got to the rugby pitch we decided to forego the run and walk further along the path than we would normally. Frances was not pleased. She kept pulling toward the pitch and then toward the lake but we persevered and moved on.
This is what Frances wanted to do today. We did let her have a short swim at the beach in Marie Curtis Park before we turned around to come home.
We walked past an area in Toronto where the homes sit on the lake. Some are the original little cottages that were built there almost 100 years ago and others are massive monster homes that have slowly been replacing the cottage-like dwellings. I can’t blame people for tearing down some of the older homes. Property values on the lake are through the roof. I do have a problem with homes that don’t fit into the neighbourhood because of poor design or little regard for the vernacular of the neighbourhood.
The Old Cottages…..
Anyway the walk was long and Frances was not a happy puppy. When I got home I went to gmap-pedometer and mapped out our route. We walked 8.75 km. It seemed longer for some reason.
I’m leaving for the cottage today or early tomorrow morning so I won’t be posting for a few days. I’m looking forward to my long walks on the beach and through the woods and getting in a few last swims before the end of summer. Can you believe it’s almost September? Boo-hoo!!!
…..replaced by monster homes like this!
The old places definitely need work but the new monster homes have so little character.
Some of the renovations are stunning and I’ve included some of my favourites. They still have that cottage feel and look but are obviously larger and have more modern amenities. They’re also beautifully landscaped. You be the judge.
….. more fun things from the cottage
After 23 years, I finally got my staircase to the second floor. No more ladder. Hooray!
My cousin and his girlfriend spent 3 days at the cottage with us. PW helped the guys with building the staircase while M helped with the meals.
After the staircase was finished K and I had time to enjoy the beach.
Our crazy dog, Frances. loves to chase and retrieve her yellow frisbee. Unfortunately if the frisbee is right side up it sinks in the water. NO problem. Frances dives for it until she finds it and then surfaces and brings it back to shore.
PW and I continue to experiment with our cameras. On Sunday a little caterpillar joined us on the picnic table. It was tricky taking his picture because he was constantly moving. These were taken with my Lumix Panasonic DMC-FH1 on the macro zoom setting.
…. running
After writing my blog this morning I set the table for my guests, put on my running shoes and headed out the door. The sun was shining but the clouds in the distance were ominous. I wish I had brought my camera with me.
Frances was nowhere in sight this morning so I headed out without her. I walked to the rugby pitch in a nice steady pace. When I arrived at the college grounds I saw that the rugby pitch was actually being used for rugby this morning. So instead of running around the pitch I stayed on the path and ran a different route.
I decided that I would run as far as I could before switching back to walking. I was surprised how long I was able to run. When I got back into to the neighbourhoods I walked for 3 blocks and then ran the remaining distance home.
I have admit that I was a little disappointed when I tracked the distance on the computer. I ran about 1.2 km without stopping and then another .8 km on the last stretch home. When I walked in the door I noticed that my guests were still sleeping and Frances finally emerged from her bed.
I buckled Frances into her harness and set out again. This time I walked to Rotary Park and added another 1.5 km for a total distance of 4.6 km of walking and running.
I stopped at my friend, M’s house for a chat and a coffee before heading home to check on P and M. While sitting on her front porch the clouds opened up and the rain fell again. This happened all day off and on. I was glad I got my run in when I did.
Looking forward to another run tomorrow.
…. so many things to be thankful for, but the best is that “there are no more cancer cells to kill” according to K’s doctor.
The day started off with a 1/2 pound weight loss on the scale and I can now say I’m officially down 13 pounds. Not as much as I had hoped for but I’ll take it.
I took the day off work to be with K for his first day of chemo in this last round. He rode his bike to the hospital and I drove to school to drop off a few things that needed to be dealt with today. When I got to the hospital my husband had already had his blood work done and the doctor decided to wait for me before she shared the good news.
All K’s organs are normal again, the lymph nodes have shrunk significantly and there are only a few small nodules here and there that don’t seem be a concern. We couldn’t believe it when she told us that this would be the last round because there were no more cancer cells to kill.
Apparently there is no permanent cure for CLL but K’s quality of life should be significantly better for some time to come. After this round it will take him about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks to feel better. We are over the moon with joy. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
I didn’t get out for a walk this morning with Frances but I did go for a long one after dinner tonight. I love the route we take and I brought my camera to share with you what we see on our walks. These are 2 more things that I’m thankful for: being able to walk 5 to 6 km and love it and for living in one of the most beautiful areas in Toronto.
Life is good! Enjoy every minute of it.
Mama Cormier 