#WeekendCoffeeShare – In Which I Played Tour Guide

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Dale | 20 Comments

Good evening my Blogger Friends! It’s Sunday evening and I am in no mood for coffee. Red wine for me!

First things first, however. Thank you Emily from Nerd in the Brain for hosting our Coffee Talk! For anyone wanting to join in on the fun, just click on the coffee cup above and you’ll be directed to her site where you can add your link or click on the link and read other stories.

Now, without further ado… My week. Oy! What a fantabulous week! No, I shall not talk about my water woes other than to say that one issue has been fixed and one has been diagnosed – not in the manner in which I would prefer… Next subject!

If we were having coffee, or frankly, it is Sunday night, so, if you want that hot beverage spiked, just say so, I’ve got a lovely collection of liqueurs that could be added. I might even be able to whip up some cream as a topping, should you wish! I, on the other hand, shall go and get myself a nice glass of wine. I also have white or rosé, should you prefer!

If we were sharing a nice beverage, I would tell you that I had a most wonderful week with Alison. Who is Alison, you ask? Would you imagine? Last September, I went to Tuscany for almost three weeks. The first week was a cooking week with Cook in Tuscany and where I met Alison. I wrote part of my story here. (I’ve got a few posts still to go to bring it all up to speed – yeah, yeah, I know. Way late! Anyway.) Well, as happens when you spend a full week with a group (we were 14 in all), friendships form. We exchanged emails and quite a few of us are now Facebook friends. Alison asked me if I was serious when I said, should you come to visit Montreal, let me know. I responded absolutely!

She said cool… She’d be in Montreal from Tuesday, April 18th, till Saturday, April 22nd. I offered my home for her to stay in but she is very allergic to cats and I’ve two of them. She was very content to stay in an AirBnB in downtown Montreal and I was happy to go pick her up daily so we could do the tourist thing.

Alison really wanted to see our Montreal Symphony Orchestra and had asked me to look into buying tickets. Then Punta Cana happened and I got all involved in the passport thing and the trip itself and…. When she texted me saying, “So? Where are we sitting?” I had to sheepishly admit I had failed at purchasing them. I did manage to get us tickets for the first night but we’d not be sitting together. She said what did it matter? It’s not like we are going to talk while the music is playing… she had a point. I had never been to our new Symphony House so I didn’t know what the seating was like. There were some seats behind the musicians but I didn’t dare take them. I should have. It’s not like I could see the faces of anyone way up in the balcony!

Picked up Alison at the airport at 5pm, drove through the traffic to bring her to her apartment. She changed and we made our way down to the “Quartier des Spectacles” in Montreal, parked and attempted to find something decent to eat. Problem was it was also a hockey night so all restaurants were filled to the rim. Ended up eating two steamies and greasy fries at Lafleur! Sheesh. Quite the beginning!

We made our way to the new (well, new to me, but open since 2011) MSO Symphony Hall to enjoy the concert Brel Symphonique. Fans of Jacques Brel were treated to interpretation by mostly Québécois singers. We were not disappointed. Alison’s goal was to hear the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and she found the 81 members for this concert amazing. I was not disappointed because I love Jacques Brel’s music and I found that the 10 artists did a wonderful job interpreting his songs along with the wonderful orchestration by the MSO.

Alison and me

The musicians are arriving

The final bows

As Alison had been up since very early, she was ready to hit the hay for the next day of adventures!

Wednesday morning, I picked her up and we made our way to St. Joseph’s Oratory. We explored every floor, nook and cranny that we could. Of course, once we were ready to go, it started to rain, so we didn’t take a picture of the oratory from the street! Alison didn’t believe me when I told her that you could always find at least one person climbing the steps on their knees…

The Votive Chappel

Virgin Mary, originally outside, now next to the mountain rock

View from Observation deck

Altar of main Chapel

We worked up our hunger (it was near 2:00 pm!) so we made our way to Côte-des-Neiges Street and into McCarold’s Irish Pub for a delicious burger and fries.

My son’s friend was coming to do some of the plumbing – no, we’re not talking about my water woes! – and I wanted to be there when he did so we made our way to my house. A tour of the mess and then we just sat and chitchatted. And eventually got hungry so I made a vegetable & tortellini “Stoup” and heated up a frozen baguette. Voilà! Supper is served. Alison was my expert stirrer…

On Thursday, we drove around the different boroughs of Montreal so I could show Alison the “Stairs of Montreal” and we wound up in Little Italy and the Jean-Talon Market. It is such a fabulous place in summer but does remain open year-round (maybe 1/5 to 1/4 of it?) We then made our way to Outremont, which has a totally different vibe, drove up Mount Royal, walked around Beaver Lake then made our way to the Camilien Houde Promontory to see a view of Montreal. Though not raining, it was sort of clear… Oh! And as I drove around to the front of the entrance of Mount Royal where there are statues and, in the summer, the Tam-Tam players, I kept wondering why there were so many cops! I sent Alison out to take some pics while I stayed in the car, illegally parked, and she came back stating there was quite the scent around the place. D’oh! It was 420 – Weed Day!

Flower Shop

Taste!

Colours

Parking aids

Beaver Lake

Waiting for Summer

Posing for treats

Montreal – view enhanced

420 – Weed Day!

All that walking around made us hungry, so we made our way to Old Montreal. We had a show at the Notre Dame Basilica (Aura) at 6 pm so we figured we’d have time to walk around and admire the old buildings and whatnot after lunch. We ate outside in a heated terrasse (yes, I spell it the French way because we say it the French way!) I wanted to bring Alison to the Jardin Nelson but it was closed for the day. Grrr. So we went to Le Fripon. No regrets! After a delicious pizza, we made our way to the Basilica and enjoyed the Aura light show. Truly beautiful. A tad pricey for the amount of time we spent there, I have to admit but there was still no regret at having watched the light show.

Lunch at Le Fripon

Notre Dame de Bonsecours

Jardin Nelson – where I wanted to eat!

Château Ramsay

Alison and the Basilica

Altar Notre Dame Basilica

One of many Images

Ceiling of Basilica

I had never seen these two statues and the plaque explaining them…. They are so representative of the English-French thing that we have going on in our province!

English Pug

Story of 2 statues

French Poodle

Not yet hungry, we decided to go have a drink. I decided we should go to Crescent Street where there are so many happening places. I was telling her about Winnie’s and Margo and how she was THE bartender for years, knowing many Montreal writers and such but that she had taken her retirement and… bloody hell! Who is at Winnie’s? Margo! Unknowingly, it was the 50th anniversary of the club and it was Bartenders Alumni Night! Score! What a perfect ending to a perfect day. We decided to stay and have a late supper. Introduced Alison to poutine, to boot…

So now it is Friday. Our last full day to do stuff. And I’m expecting a plumber to come and check out the mess – but we’re not talking about that, right? As well, I have an 80th birthday cake to make for a friend of mine so my time is kinda wack. I pick up Alison at 10:30 and off we go to the Biodome or Biosphere. This was originally the American pavilion during Expo 67. It was a spectacular sight then and in 1976, the outside walls (or membrane) caught fire but the original structure remained intact. The Biodome became a natural museum and is most interesting. I figured it was close enough to my house so we would be able to get to my house quickly should said plumber call. There are a few halls closed for preparation of Montreal’s 375 birthday celebration so price is cut in half. I’m jiggy wid it… We enter one of the rooms for a 360º presentation but 2/3 of the screens are blank. Not good. I go out and advise the people in charge and they come and fix it. In the meantime, we go to see other interesting things on the planet, global warming and such and make our way back to the original hall for the next presentation in English. Very interesting and as we leave, my phone rings and it’s my son telling me the plumber is there. Sigh. So much for him calling first…

Living Wall

Biodome (or Biosphere)

We decided to lunch on my leftover stoup and, once the plumbing done, made our way back to Montreal. It was a bleary day. (Seriously, Alison was so not lucky weather-wise!) We decide to take in the Chagall exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Park the car, make our way there and I find it weird there is no one at the reception. Wait in line at the VIP line only to be told that the museum closes at 5 pm. It was 4:50. Ugh. Only on Wednesdays is the museum open until 9 PM. Dammit. A lovely woman tells us, hey, if you want to, across the street at the Bourgie Hall, you can have a concert and a private tour of the exhibition. Well. We immediately crossed over and paid the fee. Oh my goodness! What a score! We had the most wonderful guide Elena (Elaina? Elayna?) who knew her stuff. It was a speedy tour, to be sure, and just whetted my appetite to return before it is gone.

: Chagall

: Violinist with Green Face

: Ballet Costume

: Blue Circus

: Tapestry with Chagall Images

: Alison, Elena, Me

After that, we settled into our seats in the converted church and enjoyed – well, I cannot lie, I am not a fan of Stravinsky but still. The first half was a Stravinsky piano piece for four hands and the second was a piano duet for two pianos by Francis Poulenc. The pianists were James Anagnoson and Leslie Kinton, celebrating 40 years of playing together!

Stravinsky for 4 hands

Poulenc Duet

They did a bang-up job! By the end of the concert, it was almost 8 PM so we were hungry and I brought Alison to the Gay Village and my most favourite restaurant, Mozza Pâtes et Passions. There is no place like it. I told Alison she must go to the bathroom. And to bring her phone with her… 😉

Bathroom at Mozza

The next morning I had to go to a work meeting from 9:30 till 11:00, rush home to meet the foundation guy – no, we’re still not talking water woes – then finish the cake for my friend Martin B. I picked up Alison around 1:30 and drove her to the airport. Our five-day-extravaganza had come to an end already.

I cannot believe how many things we did in such a short time! It was a blast and I was told I was a good tour guide. Phew!

I hope I’ve not rambled on way too long. It took me almost three days to write this thing as the weather has finally turned (doesn’t that figure, Alison?) so I did come in and out of the house between raking and stuff to write this!

Oh. My bad. I almost forgot all the goodies Alison brought me as a thank you. Sheesh. She spoiled me with Louisiana hot sauces, an apron and a bottle of wine! All products from her home State of Louisiana. Spoiled rotten, I tell ya!

Thanks to any of you who stuck it out and read the whole shebang!

See you next week! I can promise you it will be way less exciting!

Lotsa love,

Dale

xoxo

#Weekend Coffee Share – Sunshine, Water Woes, Birthdays and Easter

Posted on April 16, 2017 by Dale | 32 Comments

Hello my friends! Welcome to this weekend’s Coffee Share! I did mention two weeks ago that I could not play with you last weekend as I was… sigh… “stuck” in Punta Cana! 😉

There was access to WiFi but, let’s face it, other than sharing my Instagram photos, there was no gathering of thoughts and such!

First, let me thank the lovely Emily for hosting this shindig! Just click on the box above if you want to join along and add your link!

Without further ado…

If we were having coffee, I’d share that I had a most relaxing and wonderful time in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (I specify, because so many think this is in Mexico!) The weather was perfect, the beaches wonderful, the food excellent. Check-in was a nightmare and totally disorganised. We got there for noon but didn’t get checked in until 12:50 where we were told our room would not be ready until 3:00 pm but to go ahead and eat and drink (now that we had our bracelets). Check-in was so long the guy at the counter ordered us two beers while waiting! Once checked in, we went to the dining room. Which wasn’t open until 1:00. 10 minutes to wait. Let’s just say not a grand debut to our week… Things looked up immediately after, though!

Only thing I would complain about, and this pains me greatly to say, were the Russian guests. Oh my gosh. The rudest, most pushy and disagreeable sort they were in general. I don’t like to generalise but here, I must. There were constant looks of shock and disgust by all other guests every time one of them pushed their way into the food line. If all were going in one direction, they inserted themselves and pushed in the opposite! Every. Single. Time. At one point, there was no one in front of me, I was making my way and two botox, bubble-lipped, boob-implanted-barbie dolls planted themselves in front of me, facing me. Wrong direction. I waited for them to move out of the way and nope. They practically ploughed me over. Ridiculous. It does not give one the urge to go visit their country; as ambassadors, they suck! On a positive note, here are a few pics!

Above the clouds

Moon, a different angle

Under the tiki hut

Any angle

Driftwood

Wedded bliss

Lined up

Favourite bartenders

Full moon

Peacock finally off the roof

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you the morning after I arrived home, I walked into my dining room and saw this:

I poked the hole and let out the water. Then let out a wail. This is my favourite room that Mick and I had redone the year he died. Where was the water coming from? I called my cousin Marc, who just happens to work in construction, to ask him if he was free in the next few days to come and assess the damage. He said he would come the next day (Good Friday).

My son also advised me that he didn’t know what happened, but that he did not have an accident with my car while I was away…

He did use it to get to and from work as he was working two jobs. In good faith, I am willing to admit that it does look like someone backed into the door. Dammit. Another thing to fix.

Good Friday came along. Just so happens to be my birthday. Oh no, no fuss, please! I can’t handle more right now! Marc came by before lunch and cut away at the ceiling, trying to find the source of the wet. He determined it came from the boys’ bathroom shower. Seems there is a joint that has been dripping for a good while.

Ceiling in dining room

Boys’ bathroom

I had also noticed that the carpet in the basement was wet. It had been a bit before I left and I figured someone had spilled something. However, now it was wet halfway across the room and on the other side! Oh for Pete’s sake! Stop already!

Trying to find the source

Marc determined that there must be a crack in my foundation. Bloody hell. On Monday I shall be calling my insurance company. It appears there is work to be done before I can put this Mothaf*** for sale.

As I refuse to end this post on a negative note. Just not my style, I tell you, I shall finish with this:

My sister, Lisa, made supper and my most favouritestiest spice cake for my birthday. So nice!

Never too old

While having the last of our coffee (or really, should I not deserve something stronger by now? I would tell you that Zeke and I took a nice walk yesterday and I was thrilled to see that I finally had a crocus!

Crocus!

And today, is Easter. And I had to work. It was the first official event of the new golf season for our members. A lovely Easter brunch. Everyone was in a grand mood. It was nice to work with more of the regulars who didn’t work with me during the winter events. After the event and the cleanup, we all sat down and ate a nice meal together and I got to take home a bouquet of tulips.

On that note, my friends, thank you for sharing some of your time with me (I promise I will be catching up on your Weekend Coffee Shares as well!)

Happy Easter! Happy Passover!

Lotsa love,

Dale

#WeekendCoffeeShare – Sugar Shack, Taxes

Posted on April 1, 2017 by Dale | 28 Comments

Welcome dear friends, to another epsisode of Weekend Coffee Share or If we were having coffee… hosted by the lovely Emily over at Nerd in the Brain. To join in on the fun, just click on the box above which will bring you to her site and the linkup!

If we were having coffee, cappuccino, lattè, tea or whatever your heart desires (we are quite accommodating over here at Casa Rogerson/MacIsaac) I would say, please do come in, make yourself comfortable and let’s get our chat on!

I would tell you my week started with a nice visit from Tonia who managed to get a weekend away from basic training (she started week 1o this week!) Kudos to this woman who joined the military at age 50 and is whupping a lot of 20-somethings’ butts!! Thank goodness for Facebook and me seeing her post Saturday night that she was waiting for one of her friends at the Starbucks – a whole two minutes from my house! I, of course, messaged her and made arrangements to pick her up the next morning. It was wonderful hearing about all her exploits of running with a bazillion pounds on her back and being considered one of the Bad Asses of Training!

I would tell you that following my coffee with Tonia, my friend Martin picked me up so we could join a bunch of his friends to partake in a fabulous Quebec tradition called the Sugar Shack or rather, Cabane à sucre, en français. Yes, I know they do something sorta similar in Vermont and such but over here, it is a feast. Not for the lettuce crowd is all I can say… Over here, you get to sample the down-to-earth true Québécois fare. Stick-to-your-gut eats made for the working man (and woman, of course!) This is a traditional spring-time affair. It’s time to celebrate when the sap from our sugar maples is flowing and maple syrup becomes the nectar of the gods (at least to us!)

The feast is basically the same, no matter which Shack you go to. It is a very traditional meal. Of course there are places like Le Pied de Cochon that are out-of-this-world-crazy and zero anything to do with tradition. The waiting list is ridiculous to get in, and yes, one day I will try it! But even there, the seating is always the same. Long tables that you share with other groups or families. Rustic decor – if there are no wooden seats, bare beams, wood walls… hightail it outta there! It’s not authentic! You do not want some place that is all shiny and white and pristine. Oh, and expect mud. Lots of mud outside. These place are always set deep in the woods to be close to their trees and definitely do not include asphalt.

That said, there is nothing like having the standards. We went to the Érablière Charbonneu, listed in the top five. Do click on the link. I stupidly didn’t take any pictures of the food. D’oh!

Side view of the Cabane

Cute hanging lamps

Cool bottle of maple syrup

My grandmother had chairs like this

They all start off with pickled beets and pickles (either sweet or salty) and coleslaw, cretons (a fatty, delicious pork spread) with hot bread, followed by delicious pea soup. Then comes the smorgasbord of stuff: fluffy plain omelette, ham (regular and/or smoked), sausages cooked in maple syrup, bacon, “oreilles de crisse” (deep-fried pork jowels), bacon, baked beans, meat pie, ragoût de boulettes (pork meatballs in brown gravy), roasted potatoes. And all served with the Cabane’s own maple syrup – poured liberally over whatever one likes. All very, ahem, “light” and “low-calorie” fare. NOT! This is obviously a once-per-year treat… or in my case, it had been over ten years since my last visit.

Now, that said, the BEST part – the reason Sugar Shacks came into existence, in the first place, was to boil down the sugar water until it becomes syrup. Boil it down further and it becomes super thick… pour it onto snow and it hardens and becomes taffy. Oh man… slurp! Most Cabanes will have their taffy station set up outside with a roof to protect the pourers from the elements. In this case, the taffy was in a separate little shack complete with fireplace. Lucky for the employees! I took a photo of my stick but didn’t realise it was totally out of focus… Must be a result of the overeating that you always promise yourself you will NOT do but cannot help yourself…

Pour the syrup

Keeping warm

Monday’s coffee with Andrea turned into breakfast as neither one of us had eaten. That was a nice treat! We have determined that we are due for a girls’ get outta town something like a spa or a visit to Quebec City just for the day or whatever. That will definitely be something we’ll be planning.

Tuesday I had to go visit the accountant. Thank goodness for Raffi, my accountant. For years I used to do my own taxes. Then Mick started his company and things got too complicated for moi. So, thanks to Armen (Mick’s business partner), he was introduced to Raffi. And since he was doing Mick’s taxes, it was nothing to add mine. Now the company is finally closed though there are still a few issues to iron out. It is so long and complicated to close a company after death and I’m still getting invoices to pay taxes and stuff for Mick. More than two years later! Hopefully this is the last year to deal with this…

Wednesday and Thursday I worked at the golf club. The banquets themselves went really well but I swear, I feel like a part-time mover sometimes! We had to reorganise the room on Wednesday evening for Thursday’s event and then on Thursday, after the event, we had to move all the tables and chairs to line against the walls in the restaurant and all onto the dance floor in the banquet room. Somehow I found the energy to make not one but two chicken thigh meals – oops… forgot to take pictures to torment you with 😉 Needless to say, I deserved a nice, hot bath by Wednesday evening… A massage would have been nice but, alas…

Yesterday I managed to do all my laundry and vacuum the upper floor… the rest of the day, I must admit I pretty much faffed: read Friday Fictioneer submissions and comments to my own story, chatted on-line with friends, watched some boob tube… and then… oy! Besides, it was eldest’s 19th birthday party and he was expecting friends. Why the hell should I bother cleaning the floor BEFORE they come in? I escaped the house and caught the 10:10 viewing of Beauty and the Beast. Needless to say, I have a variety of tunes totally stuck in my head since… I figured if I caught the later showing, the party would have moved on to another venue by the time I got home.

Wrong.

It was in full swing at 12:30 a.m. And. I came home to THIS.

Needless to say, I am not pleased. I admit I may have snarled at him, grabbed myself a beer and gone up to my room, slamming the door (yes, I know, totally childish, but I figured it was better than taking a swing at him… 😉 ) to watch an episode of something on Netflix on my iPad…

After the quiet returned to my house, I’d say about 2:45 am or so, I also turned off my light and was asleep by 3-ish. Up and at ’em today as I had an appointment to have my hair dyed and cut. This short hair business is more work than when it’s long!! Not bothering to share a photo. First because, it’s basically the same thing, maybe a tad shorter than last time and second, because the picture I took, looks like shite!

I shan’t be playing with you next week as I shall be toasting my buns in the sun in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic! I’ll tell all a ya’all about it the following week! Now, they said my passport would be delivered by Monday…. I am leaving on Wednesday….

Omigosh! I have just realised it is April 1st! Somehow I have to find a way to write as I’m participating in Camp Na No! Oh Lordy…

I think I’ve kept you more than long enough, eh? Time to turn the keyboard over to you! Do tell me, how have you been?

Have a marvellous week and we’ll see ya soon!

Lotsa love,

Dale

#WeekendCoffeeShare – Spring Walk, Paperwork, Breakfasts & More Snow?

Posted on March 25, 2017 by Dale | 27 Comments

Hello my friends and welcome. Please do come in. You’ll have to stamp your feet to remove the snow. Yes. Curse, cuss, swear, sigh. We got more snow last night. Hello? First day of Spring was Monday? Remember, Ma Nature? Oh well, welcome to Spring in Quebec!

So, if we were having coffee, or tea, or some other beverage, we would complain a bit about yesterday’s snowfall. It is what one does when one is done with it. I, for one, am done with it. No, no, don’t try. You can’t convince me how pretty it is. It really is, isn’t? I don’t care. Come back next Winter.

OK… getting ahead of myself.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you what an absolutely beautifully, gorgeous day we had on Monday! Oh my! First day of spring and the sky was blue, the clouds were white, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the snow was melting! Zeke and I were way overdue for one of our super long walks and man… oh man… did we ever take one!

That 10.9 km is 6.8 miles… just sayin’…

I had decided I wanted to make my way to the St. Lawrence River so we could watch the ice pieces float by and hopefully catch some wildlife. We did so and we ended up all the way into the Old Boucherville section. What a walk! Leaving my house, we walked along Industrial Boulevard to Fort St-Louis. Those who are on Instagram got pretty much a play-by-play of my walk!

And there were honest-to-goodness buds on the trees. Really! Considering last Wednesday’s snowstorm, who’d a thunk?

Crossing the tracks, we walked along a road that runs parallel to the highway until we reached the overpass to the river’s edge. I always stop and admire this house. It speaks to me!

We continued on, past the ever-present construction until we reached Marie-Victorin. This street/boulevard goes through at least six towns (I will have to verify that one!) running the length of the St.Lawrence River. Boucherville, Varennes, Verchères each have their special cachet that I shall have to share with you further!

A little Haiku

Reflections

Loons

From my home town, we get to see the various Boucherville Islands that are now a Provincial Park and we can access via mini ferry (holding bicycles and people only) during the summer season.

Dock to the ferry

Visitor

Zeke – I’ll just wait here

I started taking a bunch of pictures of many of the old houses and realised that I shall share them with you on another post. They deserve to be front and centre! However, I do think it worthwhile to share our big Paroisse Ste-Famille, where I was baptised many a moon ago…

Paroisse Ste-Famille

Shining in the sun

We walked around the little streets, snapping pictures of old houses and I was struck by the gold of the hedge that seemed to pop out of nowhere.

By now I’m wishing I had someone I could call to pick us up and take us the rest of the way home! We were both pooped and decided our evening was going to be one of vegging on the couch!

Tuesday was paperwork day. I realised my passport was due to expire by June of this year and decided to bring it in directly to the passport office. I mean, come on, what if someone comes into my life, sweeps me off my feet and wants to take my on a trip of a lifetime! I must be ready! Of course, reading all about Cady Luck Leedy’s story about HER passport woes is what really made me look at mine in the first place! The whole sweeping off my feet thing is more of a, well, okay, I’ll admit it, a girl can dream, right? I was shocked and pleasantly surprised that the whole thing took a mere one hour and fifteen minutes from beginning to end. How do you like them apples? To think I was going to set my alarm at stupid o’clock to wait in line for the doors to open at 7:30 am. Pfft…. I got there at 11:30 and was in my car by 1:00 pm. And that’s because I did some window-shopping on my way back to my car. Pretty darn good, let me tell you!

As I had sold my car for scrap, I also had to go the S.A.A.Q. (DMV for ya’all) to register the transaction to no longer be liable for the hunk-a-junk. And, lucky me, I got $165 back for the registration! Woot!

On Wednesday, I had breakfast with my youngest sister. Always nice to break the fast with her. Actually, am overdue for breakfast with second sister as well… Hmmm… will have to make arrangements. My mom, Yvon and their grandson arrived at 1:00 pm to visit the apartment my sisters had found for them. It was a big moment and we all (sisters) hoped that Mom and Yvon would fall in love with it (or at least in good like) and agree that it was the place to move to. For those of you who read my Friday Fictioneers this week, you will note it was totally based on this happening! They not only liked it, they signed the lease for June 1st! Wonderful. Now we will all be within 15 minutes of each other. It will definitely take a load off my mother’s shoulders. Of course now we have the lovely prospect of moving them from a house to a 3 1/2 apartment. That will be so much fun. Not.

Nothing much I feel the need to share for Thursday but Friday – yesterday. Well. We’ve come full circle to the beginning of this tale. I must repeat. What in the name of hell is up with Mother Nature? Oh man! That snow is pretty. To be sure. If it were elsewhere. I will admit that Zeke and I enjoyed taking a walk in it and of course I had to take a couple of pictures. Cool the different effects of no flash and flash and a little fun with PicMonkey…

No flash but street light

Flash

I would have sent this out earlier but this afternoon we all went bowling for my niece’s volleyball team. What is it about bowling that is so much fun? Almost the whole family participated and a good laugh was had by all. Now, I’m not one to toot my own horn but I did have to ask for a printout of my scores because man oh man… I was on fire!

Action shots

Uh huh… yeah…

I think I have gone on long enough. We must have gone from coffee to water to wine by now, eh? I hope you enjoyed my little tour of Boucherville and my sharing of my week’s stuff. Now, it’s your turn. Tell me how your week was!

Thank you to our lovely hostess Emily of Nerd in the Brain for hosting this weekly coffee gig. You can click on her name to make your way to her blog where you can find the link to add your coffee talk, should you like! (I haven’t figure out yet how to get the link working on my blog as yet. Mostly because I’ve not really tried!)

Have a marvellous week and see ya’all next week!

Lotsa love,

Dale

#WeekendCoffeeShare – Snowstorms, Work, and Hello Kitty

Posted on March 19, 2017 by Dale | 44 Comments

Hello, my friends. Welcome to this week’s coffee share where I am so late it is Sunday and it is five o’clock in the early evening and I’ve had just about enough coffee for my day. I have decided to splurge on a nice Kilkenny beer. However, please do not be shy, should you want a coffee or tea or hot chocolate, I will be more than happy to provide. There is also wine and some limoncello and aranciacello left so, those are options as well. I don’t want to ruin your appetite, so I am only offering some delicious Miss Vicky’s lime and black pepper chips.

I cannot believe I forgot to mention my Skype session with my friend Raye over in Portland, Oregon, last Tuesday. Should have been mentioned in our last coffee share. She is very special to me and we were way overdue. That said, we have decided that we are going to try for a monthly get-together! Should be wonderful indeed.

OK. So back to business! This week started off with work at the Golf Club. Monday was a nice day. We were basically there to set up for a trade show on Tuesday. A very physical day. Tuesday’s group people very nice. Their show ended at around 3:00 pm and we were able to start setting up for Wednesday’s event. The snow started slowly round noon. I had been there since 9:00 a.m and by 5:45, I was sent home. as they had called in another woman to help with the set up. To justify her being there from 4:00 pm, it was considered best I should leave. Lucky me! By then, the snow was becoming quite the mess. This was the road leaving the golf club, towards the highway…

Took me almost one hour to get home… a usual 15-minute drive. I consider myself lucky as I did get home. My boss and co-worker never made it! The boss got so disoriented leaving the club, he was driving towards the highway, through the golf course! When he realised he had no idea where he was, he got out of his car and walked back to the club, where he stayed to sleep. My poor co-worker managed to get to the highway but got off (probably near my house!) and parked her car in a gas station and slept in her car! I wish I had known because I would have gone to pick her up and bring her to my house…

Needless to say, all activities at the club were cancelled on Wednesday. I got a call at 7:30 telling me to stay home. This was another trade show and people were coming from far and wide so no choice but to cancel. Only person who did not get a snow day was Iain! Here are his steps out of the house!

After sitting at my desk watching the snow accumulate on the windows, Zeke and I decided there was some shoveling to do. Some. I have two teenagers. Just had to leave some for them, right?

Depending on the regions, there was up to 75cm (2.4 feet) total snowfall. Though I live on the “sunny side” of the street, it also happens to be the “gusty side”! I usually have six steps going down to my driveway. There were none to be seen.

This is fun

I’ll just watch you work

Only the top part was done

More views to give an idea…

Each of the boys did a section and even the neighbour’s son helped out… To think that two days later, there would be so much melted, is crazy!

I also got an order for a Hello Kitty cake for a two year old. So Friday night I baked the cakes and Saturday, I put it all together and decorated it. I had a dinner date with a friend Saturday night, so I offered to deliver it on my way. Otherwise, the client would have picked it up Sunday morning. Admittedly, depending on how late Saturday was, I wasn’t sure I wanted to have to be out and about at 9:30 am!

I have to admit, I was quite pleased with the end result.

Another Creation

Zeke and I went for a nice walk before I had to get ready for my outing. It was a glorious day but I underestimated the coldness. That sun was shining something fierce so I was fooled into thinking the temps were warmer than they were! As I had changed coats for one that is lighter, I had no gloves stashed in the pockets. Poor Zeke ended up with a much shorter walk! Will make it up to him this week!

Upon our return home, I notice a humongous icicle hanging from the now-detached gutter. Sigh… there is always something, isn’t there?

I have taken up way too much of your time but I do appreciate your stopping by! Have a marvellous week and find joy in the small things!

Lotsa love,

Dale

#WeekendCoffeeShare – Milestones, Letting Go and Fun Stuff

Posted on March 11, 2017 by Dale | 54 Comments

Good early afternoon! I slept in this morning as my son had a party and I hung around with the (how cool that they even want me to?) last stragglers till 3:30 this morning! Eldest basically tried to kick me out of my own house and, not to accommodate him but because it worked out for me, I went hung out with Tina, Liz & Peter (old friends of Tina’s), Emma and Luciano (Tina’s daughter and son-in-law). It had been a while since our last get-together so was nice to catch up. I brought a bottle of my aranciacello (orangecello) and that was a big enough hit, I may just have to sell some!

When I got home, the remaining four friends (and one girlfriend, sitting quietly by watching them) were playing a serious game of beer pong. Let’s just say I was very happy no one was driving as they were feeling no pain whatsoever. Nice guys, I have to say. Very polite. They think I’m “chill” so I’m “allowed” to stick around! And when Iain told them I made booze… well! My “chill points” went up! I happened to have an already open bottle of limoncello so gave them each a small shot. Now one of them wants me to teach him how to make it.

Needless to say, my coffee is strong this morning! Care for a cup? Would you prefer tea? It’s bloody cold today: -17ºC (1ºF), but with a windchill of -25ºC (-13ºF) so, I’m sure you want something hot! Now that you’re all settled in, let me catch you up on my week.

I worked at the Golf Club on Tuesday and Wednesday. Was nice to see some of my coworkers. On Tuesday we set up for Wednesday’s event. I know I’m supposed to be a waitress but frankly, sometimes I feel like a mover! Man do we schlep around tables and chairs! I definitely could feel it in my muscles the next days! Wednesday’s group was members of some landscaping companies. A truly friendly sort which is so pleasant to deal with. Would that they all were!

Tuesday morning, my son needed my car to pass his driver’s test. Good thing his appointment was at 10:30 as I was only working at 12:30. However. We got to the DMV (SAAQ, for us Quebeckers) and I waited patiently. For 10 minutes. What? Seems son forgot a paper proving he had passed his driver’s courses. “But, it’s okay, Mom, they gave me an appointment for 1:30 so we’re good!”

Um. No, dear. I am working at 12:30! Now what? Luckily Iain’s godfather, my brother-in-law, Sébastien, was on spring break! I called my sister, asking for her hubby, and all was arranged. We would drive over to their house, I would take one of their cars (Tracy was working at 1:00, otherwise she would have taken my place) and leave mine as Iain had practiced with my car and was allowed to use it for his test. Sheesh.

Off I go to work, waiting patiently and I get a text. “I failed”. Awwww… poor kid. I’m feeling so bad for him and he doesn’t respond to my “what happened?” Sébastien calls me to tell me he’s stopping by the club to change cars and says: “By the way, your son passed.” Little shit. Not only did he pass, he got 91%! So proud of him (after wanting to smack him…)

Wednesday was a glorious day. It was 10ºC (50ºF). I finished work at 3:30, got home, picked up my camera bag and Zeke went nuts. Don’t even have to say the word “walk” – though that gets him going too! Off we went. On our way to what we call Teletubbie Park, I could see signs of life. Yes! All those folks over the pond in England and such showing off their snowdrops and such… so not fair! OK… we don’t have much in our frigid clime but look! I see tulips shooting up! It’s the little things, ya know?

Tulips!

Towards the park. Nothing Zeke likes better than to be off leash and given the opportunity to sniff and run at will. Once we got over one of the little hills, I could see the baseball diamond had three dogs running around. Of course Zeke wanted to go play. Being a mean mom, I said no. I didn’t know the dogs and people and I was already having trouble choosing where to put my feet as the ground was very soft and wet. I did not want to make my way there.

Oh look! Friends!

What? No? Why?

Look of longing

We turn to leave and I see, in the bluest of skies, the moon. Tried my best!

Not a speck, the moon!

On Thursday morning, I got a little… ok, more than a little, emotional. After Mick died, two years ago, I had to get rid of his beloved F-150 truck. Much as it was really cool to drive it and get double-takes when other drivers realised a woman was driving it, it cost a fortune to run. So I changed it for my Escape, which I love. I kept my old Pontiac Sunfire for the boys. They both would be driving soon – or so I thought. For two years that car sat in my driveway. In the beginning, Iain would ask me to go practice driving with him. Then he didn’t. Then, he didn’t seem to be in any rush to get his bloody permit. What IS it with today’s youth? I could not wait to get that puppy in my hands and be independent and drive all over! Anyway. I kept telling him to at least start it every couple of weeks. Didn’t do it. After paying for the registration and insurance for two years for nothing, I had had it. I called an environment company that pays you for your junk and tows it away. It was no longer safe to drive anyway. When I think of how much I could have gotten for it had I sold it two years ago. Whatever. Won’t go there.

Looks good still

Off to the heap

I cannot lie. I shed more than a tear. Not for the car itself. Matter of fact, I was pissed at Mick for convincing me to get it in the first place way back in 2003 because I wanted something else. He was good at getting his way. I did learn to love that thing and it was a little bomb that got me to wherever I needed to go. But it is so weird. I felt like it was yet another little piece of Mick gone from my life.

By Friday, I was more than ready to go for lunch with Michèle. We share the gift of the gab, I tell you! We sat in that Louis XIV restaurant in St. Bruno from 12:30 till 3:50! Good grief! It’s a lovely little bistro where you can bring your own wine. Delicious. We each had a tartare, her the salmon, me the beef. Then we splurged on a piece of white cake with strawberry sauce on top. Perfection. I brought her a bottle of each of my ‘cellos – which she forgot at the restaurant! She was beside herself. Thankfully, she had left it on the floor beside her chair. The restaurant was full of supper diners when she went back (because when she called, they said they did not see it). All the tables but ours were full. She walked up to her chair, bent down and voilà! The bag was there! Relief, you say?

So… I think I’ve been at this long enough. Luch (Luciano) should be here any second now to pick up a bottle of each ‘cello, I really must take my shower and finish my strawberry crumble as my sister has invited me and our sister and hubs over for dinner. Adults only – even though 5 out of the 8 kids are already adults. And for those of you who read Friday Fictioneers… NO!! Not THAT kind of adult party!

Oh! And before I forget! As promised, the recipe for the limoncello is this one! I do the 40-day version and depending on the fruit (more limes, less grapefruit, a few less oranges) I’ll play with the sugar levels as well…

Have a great week, my friends! I wish you much happiness, smiles, laughter and love!

Dale

xox

Oh! Before I forget! Thank you, Emily, from Nerd in the Brain for hosting this weekly get-together! If you want to play with us, just click on the here and add your link!

#Weekend Coffee Share – March 4, 2017

Posted on March 5, 2017 by Dale | 31 Comments

Well hello friends, do come in. It is freezing outside today. I swear, when Mother Nature has teased us with temps like 14°C, it is way not cool to, a few days later, drop down to -18°C but feels like -21°C! Welcome to March in Montreal…

So, I should think a warm beverage is in order. Would you like an espresso, cappuccino, lattè, good straight up filtered? Maybe a little splash of somethin’, somethin’? It’s Saturday, why not? Of course, if you prefer tea I’ve quite the selection as well, Earl Grey, Orange Pekoe, Breakfast, green and 5-6 herbals, should you prefer. Please, it is no trouble. The kettle goes on, voilà!

Alrighty, now that we are comfy on the couch, let’s chat. How has your week been? Busy? Relaxed? A little of both?

If we were having coffee, I’d say it has been mostly a nice week, starting with Sunday night at the Oscar’s – yes, in my home, on my couch, alone. But that was okay. I actually enjoyed this year’s and apart from that Kimmel and the tourists bit, didn’t find it boring or too long. The tourists… five minute would have been enough! This year I only saw two of the movies. I am promising myself – for realz this time, that next year, I will do better! Mind you, the two that I did see were La La Land and Fences – for which Viola totally deserved her Oscar!

If we were having coffee, and you happened to be here last week, you know that I foolishly attempted to go shopping at Ikea. On a Saturday afternoon. Wrong!! So… take two! I went on Monday and bought 18 bottles! And some candles. All those baths I was taking when I was really sick put a serious dent in my candle inventory. Oh, and of course, I did absolutely have to buy those bloody cinnamon raisin rolls that they ensure we sniff all through the store… Decided to do a Costco/grocery/gas run and on my way through the back way was teased with a fabulous setting sun. Parked my car, zipped out and snapped a few pictures. Oh, where I was parked, I kinda blocked anyone from passing! When I realised a woman was behind me, I smiled sheepishly (she smiled back) and hopped back into my car!

Sun settomg dpwm

Fluff on Fire

Got home and bottled my lemon and orange nectar….

I cannot tell you how disappointed I am that my orangecello did not even have the slightest tint of orange. Sigh. Can only tell them apart by scent – HUGE difference – and by the labels I will be putting on them!

Iain and I had been talking about making grapefruit cello and I wanted to make some lime so, these fruit I picked up, along with the alcohol and now, two new batches are blending to do their thing!

Think I’ll be making some sorbets or salads, or juicing them and freezing for later use.

While I was out gallivanting, I had a lovely blade roast cooking away with, of all things, pepperoncini. (Thank you Facebook!) It smelled so good when I got home! Plain old potatoes to soak up the juices and some GI Joe Cabbage (brussels sprouts to the regular folk) sautéed with Serrano ham, shallots and apples. Iain and I enjoyed immensely.

So that brings us to Tuesday. Fat Tuesday. Mardi Gras. Pancake Day! Only. I had brined a chicken the night before so I really had to cook it. But, come on, we’re supposed to have pancakes for supper! Well, not wanting to disappoint anyone, I served both. The option to use my fabulous gravy (no, really, you know when you make something and dang if it doesn’t surpass your expectations? This was the case on Tuesday…) or maple syrup. Made no never mind to me, ‘sall I can say! There were sugar snap peas for that veggie element but… didn’t bother asking them to pose for the camera…

Crêpes

Roasted Chicken

Gravy!!

Wednesday, Wednesday… what did I do Wednesday. Oh yes! Wrote my Friday Fictioneers, went on a coffee date. Determined after one coffee that it was lovely to meet you, but move along. Ugh. I hate this dating thing. It’s exhausting. I know I haven’t really told you anything at all but I was on some dating sites. I am no longer. It was fun for a while. Now? Not so much!

How could I forget! I finished reading “Swimming Lessons”, by Claire Fuller. What a fabulous book. So very original. I definitely recommend it! I have now started on “The Gift” by Louise Jensen, like Claire, this is her second book. It it’s as good as her first one “The Sister”, I shall not be disappointed.

Thursday came along and I saw my friend (through Mick) Leonard was on-line so we chatted a bit. I asked him when we were going to finally get together and have a beer and catch up on stuff. He said he was meeting his buddy Steve (usually my “date” when we go see Leonard do stand-up) to watch the hockey game and that I was more than welcome to join them. I asked him if he was sure I would not intrude on their “Guy-Time”! Was told I would never… We met at the Irish Embassy Pub on Bishop Street downtown. Let me tell you, when there is a home game, ya gotta leave early because traffic is intense! It ended up taking me a good 40 minutes, which was pretty darn good. However. Parking was a whole ‘nother kettle of fish! After going around the blocks a few times, and just missing one – blast you, guy who cut in front of me! May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your nether regions! So, I gave up and decided to go to Mick’s old favourite inside parking three blocks over. First time I ever end up on the top floor! Eesh. Hustle my way to join the gents. See scads of empty parking spaces. Pump fist up at the gods of parking but decide it’s a waste of time and keep walking. Later find out that two streets over on the other side, there is indoor parking five bucks cheaper! Sigh. Had a great evening with these two jokers. They tag-teamed against me occasionally. Buggers! Habs were losing 1-0 when Leonard decided he was done and left us. Good thing too. Not five minutes later, the Habs tied the game! I told Steve, had we known all we had to do was get rid of Lenny, we would have sooner… With six seconds left in the game, we beat Nashville and our beloved PK Subban. Was kinda nice to see the fans cheering him on despite his wearing a different jersey. His ex-teammates weren’t so enthused…

A nice Irish stew and a couple of Kilkenny Pints and lots of great conversation. It was one of the first times I had the chance to have such a great conversation with Steve. He is a good man, lots of responsibilities but has the most wonderful mantra every morning: Today I will try to be the best husband, father, brother, son, employer I can be. Some days, no matter how hard you try, you do not succeed fully but come the next day, the slate is clean and you can start over. I like that.

On Friday, I was very proud of my eldest son. I drove him to the SAAQ (DMV, for the Americans) so that he would not have to get up so early. 15 minute car ride vs. 1+ hour bus ride. Came home and pfaffed around for a bit. The whole gang was home for dinner – on a Friday night!! I still had some chicken left-over with that fab gravy so I made us some hot-chicken sandwiches. Went to the convenience store for some crappy McCain fries to bake and go with. (I did not have a potato in the house.) Seriously, those fries are the worst. No matter how long I cooked them, they would not get crispy. Note to self: Don’t buy ’em again!

So this Saturday, we were supposed to get a group of us together to participate in the Illuminart going on in Montreal. Sadly, one of our gang hurt her leg and hip and could not walk for any distance. That made it easier for one to decide to cocoon in his home all day. That left Julie and me. They were calling for “freeze-your-butt-off” temps and neither one of us was that enthusiastic to go in those conditions! So we opted for dinner and a movie!

There is this great little Korean restaurant with amazingly reasonable prices and fantastic-tasting food. Julie had never been and I’ve now been three times. Mon Ami (My Friend) restaurant… How cute a name is that? Their Bibimbap is delicious and they tell me their fried chicken is the bomb – maybe next time! There was a line-up at 7:30 pm but we didn’t have to wait too long. It was so hard to choose what to eat as everything looks good! I’m hoping the next time I go, my dinner partner wants to join me in their BBQ platter that cooks on a hot plate in front of you…

Mon Ami on Ste.Catherine – their photo

We had time to have a coffee before our movie. We went to see “Hidden Figures” and both of us loved it.

Oh my goodness. We’re on our third cup already and I’ve totally gobbled up way too much of your time! Thank you for sharing this time with me! I hope I managed to keep you entertained and that I did not torment you too much with the food pics 😉 I wish for you a most fabulous Sunday and week ahead!

Thank you to Emily from Nerd in the Brain for hosting this shindig – I have to find out why I am not get notifications for the coffee shares but do for other posts… Hmmm…

If you’d like to join in, just click on the coffee share box at the top and you will be brought over to Emily’s blog.

Lotsa Love,

Dale

#Weekend Coffee Share – Nostalgia and Get-Togethers

Posted on February 26, 2017 by Dale | 38 Comments

I confess I started this post Friday night and will finish Sunday because Saturday morning I have a brunch with three girlfriends and in the evening, dinner with two other girlfriends! Hah! I should call it Girlfriend Saturday! Or All Girls Outings or Girls’ Galas or Dames’ Day!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that, although still not 100%, now that I’m on day three of antibiotics, I am feeling loads better and should no longer be in danger of spreading this to you. So, please do come in. We can even share the couch without you having to worry! I’ve fresh banana-chocolate chip muffins fresh out of the oven, should you feel peckish.

Seriously. Thank you, to my former neighbour Dr. Fhum for hooking me up with her clinic so I could see a doctor. Now, “finally” I had been sufficiently sick long enough for the doctor to see something. Sheesh. Without going into gory details, suffice to say my sinuses were very inflamed and my throat was badly irritated. Weird, considering I have hardly coughed in the last 17 days. Yes, you read that right 17 days… And I am not the only one. Seems to me, every day, another friend is announcing on Facebook that they are so sick… Harsh season, to be sure!

K. ’nuff said about that.

If we were having coffee, I would share that I was feeling particularly nostalgic Friday night. Boys were both out, I was still not feeling up to going out, wasn’t in the mood to watch TV, tired of Facebooking, so somehow I ended up reading some of my earlier posts. I realised my blogging had changed. Last summer I practically disappeared, not being able to organise my time with the new job and totally frazzled. Since the end of the golf season, I have been down to writing a Friday Fictioneers on Wednesday, a Coffee Share on Saturday or Sunday, an occasional random post and maybe re-blogging something that has resonated with me, now and again. Not quite the way I planned it but then, I shall not chastise myself. I was where I was and am now where I am!The The “Dale Posts,” as Eric, wonderful blogger who happens to read moi, called them shall make a comeback. A good while ago, he let me know that he missed them. The types of comments I received when I did such posts were meaningful and touching. Different bloggers commented on those ones too. Quite a few of them I miss. They, like me, may be blogging less or are just too busy to read all the blogs they follow (guilty as charged!) Weekend Coffee Share is actually more like a Dale post so I feel I have not completely disappeared…

K. ’nuff said about that too!

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you I had a lovely brunch with three wonderful women, Danielle (I went to high school with her), Guylaine and Lynda, both friends made through our absent mate, Isabelle (also a high school friend). We met between 9:30 and 10:00 at CIBO and sat and talked and laughed and ate and talked and commiserated, going through gallons of coffee until 2:00 PM! Talk about catching up. I love connecting with female friends. It is a whole different dynamic than when men are around. And no, that doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy activities that include the men!! There is something to hearing about another’s situation that reminds you that you are not alone.

Lynda, Guylaine, Danielle and me

We went our separate ways and I, foolishly, thought I would go to Ikea to pick up more bottles for my limoncello and orangecello. Hah! What a joke!! I couldn’t find a single parking space. What was I thinking, going to Ikea on a Saturday afternoon! I kept on driving until I arrived home. Monday will be a much better day to go there…

Just as I was thinking I’d bring Zeke for a short walk around the block before leaving for my dinner date, the skies opened to torrential (I may exaggerate, but just a bit) rains! Holy moly. It became dark as night and the rain was slanting at an impressive angle. So much for my leaving early to shop around Dix30 before meeting the ladies. This is one of those new style open shopping centres where all doors lead to outside. You have to walk miles to get from one store to the other one you just happened to want to have to go to. That or drive and find a new parking spot. I loathe these places. Yet, they have lovely fire pits scattered here or there that are in winter – and which burning bright even in this crazy rain – so if you wanted to, you could take a break during your trek and enjoy the heat.

However, not today, thanks. I did give myself extra time to drive there as the highway to get there is dark and unlit and frankly, was not relaxing at all. Driving ’round and ’round, I finally found a spot. My lovely Siena, Tuscan souvenir umbrella was too fragile for the crazy wind and now has a broken arm? spoke? whatchamacallit? from my short walk from the parking space to the ZIBO restaurant. Dang. Hoping the rain had kept people away, I was soon set straight. We were told the restaurant reserves 15% of its tables for walk-ins so not to worry, a drink at the bar to wait would not be too long. Of course there was no room at the bar. France soon arrived and a couple sitting at a longish table in front of the bar gave us their spot. Just as the place was cleared, our glasses of wine ordered, Jocelyne arrived. Hmmm… Only two seats but we chose to stand anyway. Maybe five minutes later three spots opened up at the bar. Yes! Barely comfortable, our doohickey started to buzz and light up, telling us our table was ready. Well now… you call that a 45-minute wait? It was barely 15… No complaints from us, that is sure.

We had a most lovely time despite the very large party happening behind me. After my fourth look behind at being bumped into and Jocelyne’s comment about children being allowed to run around the tables, the mother finally understood and made her ragamuffins sit their butts down and stop disturbing the other patrons. That group left not too soon after and the staff immediately set up for another, even bigger, group. Some people… this totally stiff, zero sense of humour guy was putting bouquets of balloons on the table and as he passed by Jocelyne, she put out her hand, saying “Oh, thank you”. He looked at her with such a look, turned away and continued decorating. We looked at each other and burst out laughing. Really? Dude! Did you truly think she was serious? Man… some people really need to get a life!

France, me, Jocelyne

A delicious meal, good glass of wine and great company. How better to spend a Saturday night? We looked out the window and our shoulders fell. It looked like slush was falling from the sky. Not rain, not snow. Slush! Ugh. We went out separate ways and I meandered into Indigo book store. How cool that this place closes at 10:00 pm! I managed to resist buying any books. No, seriously, you’ve no idea. It’s soooo hard!

While perusing the shelves, I did come upon this display. The top book, Swimming Lessons, by Claire Fuller, is the one I am half-way through right now. For those who don’t participate in Friday Fictioneers, she is one of the writers. I love that I exchange with published authors. So many of them in the group. Maybe one will rub off on me? It is funny how much of a sense of pride I feel when someone I “know” is successful! I am adoring this book. It is the second one I read of hers. The first being “Our Endless Numbered Days”, which was fantastic. I highly recommend both books.

Oh dear! Look at the time! I’ve kept you way too long as it is!

Before I go, thank you Emily, for hosting this lovely gathering of people, sharing their stuff!

CIBO and ZIBO…. hah…

#Weekend Coffee Share – Mid-February Edition

Posted on February 18, 2017 by Dale | 58 Comments

Before I even start my share, thank you to Emily from Nerd in the Brain Blog for her first, of many, hosting duties! I think we are going to have much fun! If you want to join in, just click on the image above, and you will be brought over to Emily’s home, where you can join in.

If we were having coffee… oh look, it’s noon! Would you prefer something else? It is Saturday, you know, you can have whatever you’d like. I had a late start so I’m on my second coffee. This cold that has been hounding me since last Thursday makes it taste a little wonky but it’ll do. I fear I have caught that two-week bug I keep hearing about. I ended up finally going to the doctor’s on Thursday, knowing full well that it was “too soon” for her to see if there is an infection or not so I got a prescription for an x-ray for my sinuses for next week if I feel the need… yeah. Well. I’ll be fine.

If we were having coffee, you would see that I got a new ‘do on Tuesday! Yes, it was time. Valentine’s Day Present no. 1. I don’t like to keep the same hairstyle for too long (something a former hairdresser of mine told me. I asked him his opinion on women, age and length of hair and his response was: What ages a woman is keeping the same hairstyle for years on end. Somehow I got an image of Rachel from Another World and knew exactly what he meant! Thanks, Joseph. I follow your advice, though I no longer have you as coiffeur. You are downtown and I haven’t worked downtown in ohmigosh! 20 years!) So, here’s the new look. Will never obtain the same look as the hairdresser does and it will take a week before I can do anything with it (usually does after having it long for so long!) I happened to have been feeling rather well that day so I didn’t cancel my appointment (though I warned Françoise that I was still sick – she told me to come in anyway). I paid for it by feeling worse then horrible by Thursday – which is why I finally relented and went to see the doctor. Anyway.

Professionally coiffed

Short hair = more curls

Reality

Valentine’s Day present no. 2 was flowers to me from me with all my love… Then my eldest felt guilty that I had bought him some Kinder Surprise, so he picked up sushi and chocolate for me!

Light green to match my kitchen

Gift from my son

And how could I forget! There is a Tim Horton’s (THE coffee shop all over Canada – but don’t tell them, I am not in love with their coffee) beside the hairdresser and I hadn’t had my coffee yet, so I picked up a cup. Dye job lasts a good 45 minutes so…. As I left the salon, Martine, one of the hairdressers calls to me: Hey, you want me to throw out your coffee? To my “yes” she said, wait, let’s roll up the rim. Well, I’ll be darned. I got a free cup of coffee! So I brought said winning empty cup and got myself another for the drive home.

Guess what?

Maybe I should have bought a lottery ticket…

On Wednesday, we got quite the snowstorm. I’d go so far as to call it a blizzard. Man oh man! Bummer for the school kids that it started after they all got to school. Buahahaha! It was over just in time for them to come home too!

View from my bedroom window

As a result from all this snow, rain, more snow, my Tempo (winter tent-like-thing for cars) is buckling under the weight. Because I have been so sick, I didn’t think of telling the boys to remove some. Too late. The damage is done. We’ll have to replace some screws – again. Like the first year after Mick passed away. This was HIS department!! Sigh.

Almost hidden

What’s left to be removed

Mountain

Undone!

Oh! And before I forget, I finished reading our very own Trent McDonald’s book of short stories, Seasons of Imagination. A most wonderful collection of short stories. Some of them really stayed with me and I almost wished they would go on (though they were complete stories in and of themselves…) Worth picking up, I tell you!

Oh. My. God! I am awful. How could I forget to thank my sister for going out of her way to buy me meds from the pharmacy, and bring me her left-over chicken noodle soup! Thank you, Lisa. You always come through in times of need! I love you, Sister! xoxoxo

I think I’ve taken up enough of your time for today. I wish for you all a most wonderful day!

Always, with lotsa love!

Dale

#WeekendCoffeeShare – Time I Write More!

Posted on February 11, 2017 by Dale | 54 Comments

If we were having coffee, I would suggest you remain in your quarters and I in mine as I am suffering from quite the head cold. I thought I had managed to avoid falling in the flu/cold trap, having stayed away from all who have succumbed, but apparently I didn’t need to be in an afflicted one’s presence to get it. I cannot even blame my co-worker Jimmy as my sore throat started the day before we worked together on Thursday. Besides, Jimmy’s always coughing. Oh well. I will ride it out.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I so wish my eldest would get his friggen driver’s license (what is with today’s youth?) so that I could send him off to the store to get me something to help me breathe instead of having to go out there – here’s where I wish I had a significant other who gave a damn… Again, oh well. I am resilient, will go out there, bundled up, and get what needs getting. Please note, I am not complaining. Much.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you how happy I am that Thursday’s banquet participants did NOT eat all the soup as we co-workers were able to bring home the left-overs. Score! What better to eat than soup (yeah, yeah, should be chicken noodle, but whatever) when one is ill? There were six, I’ve already eaten one!

As I haven’t written a coffee share in a little while, I shall cheat a tad and move back to last Thursday (February 2nd) and share what I’ve been up to. On Thursday, I was very sad to have to attend my friend, Richard’s funeral. He was a lovely man: father, fiancé, 2-dan black-belt in karate (which is where I met him) and good buddy of Mick’s. If there is a heaven, then the two of them are already sharing a beer and reminiscing about their time on earth.

Richard holding wood for Iain

Richard Valérie Cassandre

On Friday, I participated in a Skype session with Rochelle Wisoff-Fields and Sarah Potter, two lovely ladies I have met in the Blogosphere. Both published authors, both have become good friends. One over in Belton, Missouri, the other, way over in East Sussex, England. How cool is it that we can chat, and see each other when we are so far apart? I’ve read all of their books and will read anything more they ever write. They’ve both been a positive influence in my writing and my dream is to one day count myself one of them, as in, a published author. Guess I better get writing, eh?

Rochelle, FF Facilitator, Friend, Mentor

Sarah Potter

Saturday was long-time friend Dany’s birthday so, as they (Dany & Giselle) had to cancel their New Year’s Eve Party due to the lovely flu, they decided to celebrate Dany’s birthday with the same gang invited originally. What a fun time we had. Great to have a garage that is warm and clear enough to use! I don’t usually like to repeat what foods I bring but I made an exception in this case. Dany had so enjoyed it over a year and a half ago at Martin’s party that I remade it. Duck carpaccio (I prefer prosciutto) with pear, topped with Meyer lemon curd and cured red onions. Oh my. A symphony in the mouth – Dany’s words!

Dany’s birthday cake

The whole gang

Duck prosciutto, pear, cured red onions, Meyer lemon curd

Duck prosciutto assembled

Then on Sunday, I was invited for dinner at the Hébert’s, my departed friend, Roxanne’s parents, Renée and Michel. I was so happy her sister, Linda, and brother and sister-in-law, Michel and Christine joined. I stupidly did not take a picture of the gang so I’ll just have to invite them over to my place for another get-together! I hadn’t seen them since Roxie’s death – well, not Michel and Christine, these two I joined for the viewing of Purple Rain after Prince’s death. I offered to bring dessert which was an “Old-Fashioned Silver Cake” that I served with warmed four-berry compote and a dusting of icing sugar. ‘Twas a hit and such an easy-peasy cake to make that I shall definitely remake it!

If we were having coffee, I’d say, I have to thank Janet for encouraging me to write more. Janet is also a friend found in the blogosphere that I connected with. She is a chef, writer, artist that I admire a LOT. During this morning’s FB Messenger session, I was telling her about last Friday’s Skype session and that I was hoping that hanging around real published authors would rub off on me. She said, maybe stop reading as much and give some time to writing. Whaaaaat? Of course. I knew that. I guess I have been thinking about it more than doing it. So here I am. After all my computer issues in November, my NaNoWriMo got cut short. Nothing stopping me from going back to writing down my stories, right?

So that’s it for today’s coffee share. I am planning on participating more. This week is hostess Diana’s (Part-Time Monster) last week hosting her baby. I didn’t realise this has been going on since 2014! To read more stories, click on the coffee cup above. Starting next week, we will be found on Emily’s blog Nerd in the Brain (Don’t you just love that title?)

I have been slowly been feeling more and more stuffed up so I think I shall make myself a nice hot toddy with some lemon, honey, ginger and a shot of gin. If nothing else, I will care less about feeling so miserable!