long distance phone call

….despite the crazy weather

Spending time with my adult children is the best way to celebrate Mother’s Day. Unfortunately this year two of my three children are out of the country so having them all together was impossible. The day, however, was close to perfect.

It started with breakfast in bed, made lovingly by my husband; strawberries and yogurt, a feta and spinach omelet, bacon, toasted baguette and great coffee. Later in the morning I got a long distance phone call from my son who lives in Rotterdam. It was so nice hearing his voice and catching up on all the news in his life. I could have talked much longer but my husband and I were invited for a special lunch at our youngest daughter’s apartment.

Lunch at G’s and B’s place was relaxed and informal. We had a smorgasbord of cured meats, cheese, fresh bread, a citrus fennel salad and a rapini pesto with olives. After lunch the weather had cleared and the sun started to peak through the clouds so we decided to take the dogs, Lucy and Frances for a long walk through Sherwood Park.

My son-in-law and the girls.

The weather held out for our walk and actually started to warm up. Earlier in the day we experienced rain showers, gusty winds, cold temperatures and on the drive to the apartment we drove through a torrent of hail. When we returned to the apartment we stopped at Dufflet’s (situated just below the apartment) to pick up a couple of tarts to share and enjoy with our coffee.

On the drive home the weather changed again. The temperature dropped, the wind picked up and it rained heavily. Just before arriving home it started to hail again and people on the street were covering their faces and running to find some kind of cover.

When we arrived home I got back in my car and went shopping. I needed to buy some things for school but that particular store closed as I drove up. At that point I decided to check out Marshall’s and boy am I glad I did. I needed a new spring coat that I could wear with dresses and skirts. I found that perfect coat plus 2 skirts, a short one and a long one and 3 summer tops.

When I got home my oldest daughter ‘skyped’ me from Argentina. Like her brother it was so nice to hear her voice but also to see her face. We had a few problems with the video portion of our exchange and we had a couple of laughs when the screen froze on a silly expression or when it started to loop over and over again. My day was perfect. I had a special moment with each of my children. Thank you, all! Love you!

Me with my youngest daughter, G at her apartment.

P.S. …..and Cochran won Survivor. How perfect is that?

……ouch!

The day started out nice and sunny and it was warm enough to enjoy our morning coffee and breakfast on the deck. I made breakfast today. I made a vegetable hash with shredded Brussels sprouts, chopped kale and diced shallots. I sauteed the vegetables in olive oil and seasoned them with salt and pepper and then near the end I splashed some balsamic vinegar over it. I plated the hash and then topped it with a couple of fried eggs. It was surprisingly good! Oh I almost forgot, I also added a little bit of diced Polish sausage to the mix.

While I was checking my FaceBook page this morning my young cousin sent me a message and asked if I was going to be home. I told him I was about to get ready to go out but I would wait for his phone call. I really like this relationship that I’ve developed with my 21 year old cousin from Germany. Some of you may remember that I met him for the first time last August when he arrived in Toronto with his girlfriend, Marie. Toronto was their last stop over before heading to New York to catch a plane back to Germany. They had spent almost an entire year in Canada but most of their time was spent out west. Anyway we spent a great 10 days together and ever since he phones me regularly (about every 6 weeks) and keeps me updated on his studies and how the family is doing.

We talked for about an hour (he has a great phone plan) before we said our farewells. At this point in the morning I was still in my pyjamas and hadn’t made breakfast. K and Frances went for their morning walk without me and I was still on the phone when they returned.

After breakfast, which was more like brunch (again) we decided to take the bikes out again and do our vegetable shopping for the week. This time we headed west, along the Lakeshore Trail to a vegetable wholesaler in Mississauga. I had no muscle or joint pain after yesterday’s 17 kilometre bike ride but when I sat on the seat I realized that not all parts of my body were pain free. Ouch, ouch, ouch!

I rode through the discomfort and after awhile I was able to block it out and enjoy the ride through the Humber College grounds, along Lake Promenade, over Marie Curtis Park and past the old Arsenal Grounds where ammunition was manufactured and stored during WWII.

When we left the house it was a bit overcast but the ride to Lanzarotta’s was dry and quite warm. So warm, in fact, that I had to stop and remove one layer of clothing. The quality of fruits and vegetables at this place is always so good. I don’t mind spending more for some of the produce because I know that it won’t spoil the minute we get home.

We bought quite a bit. We didn’t let the fact that we were on our bikes keep us from stocking up on this beautiful produce. Our panniers hold quite a lot.

I love my pannier. So pretty on my new red bike.

The trip home was a little more difficult because we were riding into the wind, which had picked up considerably. It was so windy that there were a couple of kite boarders out on the lake. You know that summer is just around the corner when you see sailboats, windsurfers and kite boarders on the water. I had to stop and take a picture. They were pretty far away but I was able to capture some of the action.

Can you imagine how cold that water must be? Only last week we were still experiencing temperatures as low as freezing.

When we got home I got into the car and headed over to Costco to pick up a few things that we couldn’t buy on our bike trip.

I made dinner tonight. Come to think of it I’ve done a lot of cooking today. I baked the fish that we purchased yesterday, made lemony smashed red potatoes and made a killer salad. I don’t know why we don’t eat more fish. It was delicious.

By the way, when I got back from shopping my husband had been on g-map pedometer and figured out that we rode for 14 kilometres today. That’s a total of 31 kilometres on the bike this weekend. Wow!