Blog Princess G

Finding Words

2016-08-30T16:58:00.000-04:00

Something that I have started doing in the last year is writing poetry. I was struggling with a novel (my usual state) and decided to take a step back, to find some way of freeing up my thoughts and language. I've only written one poem in my life, in sonnet form. If you like you can search it out here in the deep recesses of my blog.

Since then, I've written a few prose poems. I'm freeing up, with the encouragement and amazingly insightful critiques of my writing group. Oh yes, I joined one of those too, and they are really special people, for whom eating and drinking is as important as writing and sharing. My kind of people.

Well, my poetry is for them right now. So here I'd like to share a poem by a true master, Pablo Neruda, inspired by my other passion, pottery. The English translation comes after the original Spanish.

EL ALFARERO

Todo tu cuerpo tiene
copa o dulzura destinada a mi.

Cuando subo la mano
encuentro en cada sitio una paloma
que me buscaba, como
si te hubieran, amor, hecho de arcilla
para mis propias manos de alfarero.

Tus rodillas. tus senos,
tu cintura
faltan en mi como en el hueco
de una tierra sedienta
de la que desprendieron
una forma,
y juntos
somos completos como un solo rio,
como una sola arena.The Potter

~~~~~

THE POTTER

Your whole body has
a fullness or a gentleness destined for me.

When I move my hand up
I find in each place a dove
that was seeking me, as
if they had, love, made you of clay
for my own potter's hands.

Your knees, your breasts,
your waist
are missing parts of me like the hollow
of a thirsty earth
from which they broke off
a form,
and together
we are complete like a single river,
like a single grain of sand.

RIP, Wonderful Wilder

2016-08-29T20:33:00.001-04:00

I just read that Gene Wilder passed away today. He was 83, older than I expected. For some reason I always supposed he wasn't much older than me, probably because the work of his I've mostly seen was from the 70s and 80s. I have the impression in later life, before he was assailed by Alzheimers, that he enjoyed a lovely retirement, playing the tennis he loved and visiting France or other favourite countries. Most of what I knew about this wonderful actor was through his late wife Gilda Radner's autobiography, It's Always Something (a line she used to great effect with her SNL character Roseanne Rosanneadanna, and a favourite line of mine). Anyway, in this memoir Gilda relates her battle with cancer, one she ultimately lost. She describes her initial attraction to Wilder, finding him funny, smart, athletic and handsome.

Yes, all those things. Those stunning blue eyes, that crazy hair. And the on-screen persona that veered between tender sweetness and barely contained hysteria that I found so irresistible.

According to his nephew's statement, Wilder didn't suffer the worst kind of Alzheimer's, but still he chose to keep his illness private, not wanting to deny his fans the memory of him at his best.

I loved The Silver Streak, and the not-so-well-known The Frisco Kid (with a very young Harrison Ford). One of my favourite films of all time is Young Frankenstein. It's beautifully filmed in black and white, wonderfully funny, with Wilder often playing his role quite straight, while the rest of the cast belongs on the vaudeville stage. What a contrast - thanks Mel Brooks!

I only saw The Producers a few years ago, well after discovering Young Frankenstein. One rather sexy afternoon, I watched it in bed with the man who introduced me to the film. Laughter is the best aphrodisiac. And Zero Mostel and Wilder were just... perfect.

There will have to be a tribute evening this coming Labour Day Weekend. I've got some delicious brisket from Montreal, a gift from some good friends. I think we'll steam that up and toast the wonderful Mr. Wilder.

Let's Start the Catching up, Shall we?

2016-08-18T14:19:00.001-04:00

My first instinct was to type, "How has it been two years since my last post?" But it feels at least that long. Life is short, but wide, and I've been living pretty widely. Pun intended.

I've missed blogging, so I might do a bit more of it. What have I been doing in the meantime? Lots of work, play, idleness, friendship, love, travel, food, books (I'm reading again!), gratitude, walking, tree-hugging, and working out (with an actual trainer!).

I tried things I always wanted to do as well. And one in particular really stuck: pottery. I've always loved holding and using one-of-a kind pieces, so it was with some excitement that I took a throwing class a year and a bit ago.

That very first class was telling. By the end of it I could prepare the clay and centre it on the wheel. That's about it. I could not make a decent shape for anything, although some of the people around me were already shaping cylinders. But I was already hooked: the smell and feel of the clay is so sensual. The dipping of the hands in the water, and the wonderful combination of strength and gentleness you need is constantly intriguing, and the pressure you need to do it changes so suddenly, but the moves have to be sinuous. I love the total focus, the sense of play, the primal quality of clay and the turning it into useful object. I love the MESS. What can I say - it's just one of the best feelings in the world.

The first few sessions I used the glazes that were available to us in the class. These were some of the results, most of which have gone on to be gifts. There were quite a few garlic pots made, and all the mugs had multiples too. They were small... kind of cute, best for coffee (shown) or hot chocolate.

I then made a sizable batch of large mugs in time for Christmas, but, as I had been well warned by my excellent teacher, "Don't get attached to anything." They didn't work out. *Full body shiver* and were all pitched. OUCH.

Onwards and upwards.

I purchased my own glazes and started testing combinations. I have so many of these little test tombstones now and I have them all in a row on a windowsill in my study, kind of like... an art installation! Yeah - that's it! Heh heh.

From those results came the latest batch. The bluey green is very pleasing and I'll be doing a range of pieces with this glaze combination.

I'm also trying some gesture sketching that then gets glazed over clear. The first experiment went well so now I want to do a range of those pieces.

The best part is, if I need a certain vessel, I can make it myself. I needed a second utensil holder by the oven, so there it is, and it compliments the original green Emile Henry one well.

So there you have it... my new pash!

Cottage Bouquet

2014-08-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

When we arrived at the cottage this year, a lovely bouquet of wild flowers greeted us. Thanks S and S!

As the light shifted swiftly in the late afternoon, I lost myself in taking photographs. The closer I got, the more magical it was. I was lost in detail... in a good way!

Eight Days on the Lake = Three Words: Too Much Happiness

2014-08-18T01:12:00.003-04:00

I have so many years of photographs, I thought this year I'd just edit some of the video I took. Here you go - there's even seven seconds of me, slinking out from behind the camera for a change.

Canada's cottage country... can't be beat.

Gosh, I Love Donkeys

2014-08-17T21:05:00.001-04:00

When I was five years old, we were living in Kuwait. I was sent home to London after school ended for the summer as I didn't seem to be faring well in the extreme heat. One day my aunt and her boyfriend took me to The Donkey Sanctuary in Devon, which has become a model for donkey sanctuaries around the world. It was founded in 1969 by Dr. Elisabeth Svendsen and you can read more about how it came to be right here. I still remember that visit, learning that donkeys were still being horribly overworked and badly treated in many parts of the world, including Britain. I learned that when they were admitted to the sanctuary, they were paired up with buddies, which not only offset loneliness but also helped keep the donkey calm if it had to have veterinary treatment; if their buddy was with them, they were more relaxed. I also remember one particular field where there was a miniature grey donkey, rather like the one below on the left, and a larger white one. We walked with them and I can still remember my arm over the larger white donkey and how rough and warm his back was.

Several years ago my mum and I visited The Donkey Sanctuary in Guelph, Ontario, which has been set up along the same lines as the one in Devon. It's a beautiful spot. The donkeys have so much room, and are excellently cared for by the staff and a slew of volunteers who do an excellent job as docents as well as more of the behind-the-scenes tasks.

Two friends and I were back this summer and it really is a special place. We hung out in the barnyard with some donkeys and even got to brush them. I knew their ears were big, but I was surprised at how lovely and furry they were, quite thick and rough. Check out those bangs!

All donkey sanctuaries need financial aid and support in other ways, like fostering donkeys on your property, sponsoring donkeys (I'm helping support Ruby who is just about a year old!), volunteering, and signing petitions, including this one that will be presented to the mayor of Santorini to ensure higher standards for the care of donkeys who act as taxis for the town.

A Treat for you

2014-08-17T20:30:00.002-04:00

If you don't know the music of Tom Sturdevant, as sung by Annie Sellick and the Hot Club of Nashville, then here you go. You're welcome.

Two Words: Chocolate Cupcakes

2014-08-17T20:02:00.000-04:00

Royal icing is so deceptively soft and voluptuous when first made. It always sort of surprises me that it hardens up in a very useful way. This particular batch was lavender, one of my favourite colours. And then there were cupcakes... devil's foodcake chocolate cupcakes! And there will be more this week and then a fortnight from now. I love making them. But I don't eat them. I'm gluten free and don't have a sweet tooth. Dark chocolate is my only sweet weakness. And baking is my zen.

Three Days in Prince Edward County

2014-08-15T21:30:00.003-04:00

This was a golden moment. The fabulous four were visiting Prince Edward County again, staying in the lakeside cottage that belongs to one of the party. We were touring around one day and a small general store had two piglets outside in a little pen. It turns out that the general store is run by local farmers, hence the pile of home-made pies for sale. I never got to the pies... I was squeeing too happily along with the piglets. There was one pink female piglet, one black male one. I asked permission to pick one up and was in heaven. So small and sausagey and firm. Look at those little trotters! Having a relaxed piglet laying on one's bosom is a pretty special feeling,

We had a joke that later I would be photographed cuddling a packet of bacon. We ate a lot of bacon that weekend.Sorry piglets.

We also had cocktails on the dock from where we watched a slow sunset. We visited our friend's friend's restored mill, a cidery, a country cemetary tucked away on a well-cared for rural slope (South Bay Cemetary, founded 1820), ate good meals in good company, and hung out with little Dudley, a sweet old doggy.

Five-Day Road Trip to Chicago

2014-08-14T23:17:00.005-04:00

It’s rare to find anyone that you really enjoy travelling with. It's rarer to find three such people. I am lucky to know three people who are not just easy to travel with, but are delightful and treasured friends of many years, and so, once again, the fabulous four hit the road for Chicago. Of course flying was considered but, with suggestions for locations of interest that could be experienced along the way, it was decided that we’d drive. The main purpose of the trip was to see the Tiffany glass exhibit at the Driehaus Museum. The only other time I was in Chicago was 2008. That was in middle of Hurricane Ike and for some reason I never found a decent place to eat. What we could only hope for this time was what we got: constant sunshine, mild temperatures, and the best food.

We set off from Toronto on Thursday morning, hitting the Detroit Institute of Fine Arts (above) by lunchtime. The Diego Rivera murals (above right), the Scarab Club (below), and so much more were very worth the trip.

Later that afternoon we visited a blog favourite, the Motawi Tileworks in Ann Arbor. We spent the night nearby after a very satisfying dinner at Zingerman's Roadhouse. I'd never heard of it before, but by the time I'd finished googling it after dinner, I felt like the last person in the world to discover it. It's a national treasure and I'm so jealous that their monthly bacon box, or whatever it's called, can only be shipped to U.S. locations. That night I was catching up on Twitter and noted that the great film director John Sayles was visiting the Detroit area, specifically the University of Michigan, at a symposium about his work among other events that also included screenings and the opening of his archive. I gnashed my teeth that I had missed this by a day. His impressive entourage for the visit included his life/work partner Maggie Renzi and actor David Strathairn (secret boyfriend!).

The next morning, before hitting the road, we decided the only logical place to eat breakfast was back at Zingerman's where I had the best breakfast of my life. Onions, potato, bacon and asparagus were sauteed together before being topped by a beautiful egg, and accompanied by the best gluten-free bread I've yet tasted. I'm still thinking of this breakfast.

We hit the road and I pondered that there seem to be only three types of highway billboards in Michigan: churches, personal injury lawyers and sex stores. One after the other we were exhorted: Injured? Call us! Jesus Saves! 50,000 Square Feet of Sex Toys! We pondered why the "50,000 Square Feet" was important as as selling feature. So when a billboard suddenly popped up advertising the Kalamzazoo Institute of Art's exhibition of Tiffany glass, it kind of stood out - big time. This is the joy of a road trip... the surprises.

Kalamazoo!!!

Kalamazoo was full of charming, clapboard houses and good people. The exhibit was excellent. It didn't just showcase stunning glass and jewellery, but also detailed the way Tiffany and his artisans worked and how the glass was treated and manipulated before being cut into different shapes.

By mid-day we were in Chicago. What a great city.

Our first stop was back at the 2nd Presbyterian Church that we first visited in 2008. There was a jumble sale in support of the church in progress and I picked up two lovely green platters made in Italy, for which they tried to charge me only a $1 each. Yeah. They got more than that. The volunteers were fantastic, taking us into the church and turning on the lights for us. Even the organist appeared and gave us an impromptu recital. Of course the main attraction was the stunning collection of Tiffany and Morris windows. The moment I stepped into the church my eyes got misty. These windows are so stunningly beautiful, and the church is so short of funds. They're trying hard to raise money to restore what they can, when they can. Oh, isn't there a sensitive millionnaire somewhere who'd like to save and restore these works of art? Below left you see up into a vaulted ceiling, and a small patch of restoration work in prrogress. Below right, patched carpet.

In the afternoon we arrived in Oak Park, revisited Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio and wandered the streets taking pictures of some of his other designed homes before realizing it had been a long time since breakfast at Zingerman's. In a pub in Oak Park that evening, I fell on a lamb shank like a slavering dog (well, not really, just kind of) and it was - again - delicious.

Tucked into my very comfy bed that night, I caught up on Twitter. John Sayles and Maggie Renzi, that fantastic director/producer partnership behind such great films, had visited the Diego Rivera murals the day after I had. Great minds... what can I say? ;)

Saturday started with perfection. Okay, the Richard H. Driehaus Museum isn't a home that William Morris would have loved, and normally a gilded age American home wouldn't be my sort of thing, but it happens to be the most beautiful home I've ever been in. My pictures don't do it justice. There isn't a square inch that isn't lovingly honed. There is the perfect balance between marble, wood and other materials. Just visit it. After a drool and some shopping in the giftstore (I indulged in every museum we visited), we headed off to the Loyola Museum of Art for an excellent and comprehensive Edward Gorey exhibit. Charming and whimsical. And I got a lovely print of my favourite Gorey illustration ever. It's just waiting to be mounted and hung. We had amazing burgers at Chef's Burger Bistro then headed off to Navy Pier for more of the Driehaus collection of Tiffany stained glass and more besides. Hot and tired after this, we did the only thing that you can do when you are hot and tired in a big city: find a cool, comfortable hotel bar. We escaped into the Bellwether Hotel where they took excellent care of us, serving us perfect tea and warm-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies with vanilla icecream. I think after that we could have handled anything. As it was all we had to do was step onto a boat for a Chicago Architecture Foundation river cruise. Sailing under the first bridge and seeing those well-loved towers soaring above me surprisingly brought tears to my eyes. Our excellent tour guide shared her extensive knowledge and it was so good to sit and absorb for an hour or so. After that the two ladies of the party hit Nordstroms on a flying visit (I bought clothes!) before an evening of food and laughs.

I checked Twitter again that night. Well.. look who had visited Zingerman's that day and had also returned.... for gelato. I thought of titling this blog post "My Trip to Michigan with John Sayles" but thought that would be borderline creepy. Heh heh.

On Sunday morning we drove through Riverside, a community designed by Frederick Law Olmstead who knew what he was doing. We saw a FLLW property that is for sale and very decrepit. Hello? Millionnaires? We visited the Art Institute of Chicago as the contermporary wing hadn't been open last time we'd visited. We had lunch in the treed and scenic courtyard and then saw the Viviane Maier photographic exhibit at the stunning Harold Washington Library (you can see the top floor atrium below), and the equally impressive Palmer Hotel with its glamorous, palm-festooned lobby and the shimmering, mosaiced Chicago Cultural Centre. Seriously... a great city. One of our party hadn't seen the Bean so we went to play there and at the wonderful outdoor concert shell, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, designed by Frank Gehry. We then had to find dinner. The place we'd planned on eating at was closed, so TripAdvisor came to the rescue and we ate at State and Lake Chicago Tavern which is located... at State and Lake. Such good food. This is where my friend started with Coalminer's Poutines (which included guanciale and a fried egg) and continued for his main course to consume the Butcher's Bigger Brother's Beef Brisket Bacon Burger on a Bun, which give you an idea why he was feeling he'd overdone it at the end of the meal. My baked wings were incredible. The best I've ever had. My mouth is still watering. We then headed into the sumptuous Chicago State Theatre for Eddie Izzard's show, which he's touring around, titled Force Majeure. Izzard was stylish, witty, eclectic, and the huge crowd couldn't get enough of him. He was doing three nights in Chicago alone!

The next day was a slowish drive all the way home to Toronto with a lunch stop off in Okemos, MI to see some more FLLW. I don't dream of living in a FLLW home, but there is something I find endlessly fascinating about his work.

It was a splended five days in June.

So What's Been Going on Around Here?

2014-08-14T18:20:00.001-04:00

Today the polar vortex seized Toronto and I shivered my way home in my summer get up, dreaming of hot soup. And as I flapped my arms to warm up in the kitchen while the kettle boiled after my chilly salad, I thought about my blog and how I haven’t really blogged this year at all, well… not to any significant extent.

After a long, cold brutal winter, we’ve had a cool and rainy summer. Now with the nip of fall in the air I feel the need to warm up by the heat given off by my aging laptop, to catch up with the blogosphere, to put into words the deeds I’ve done and the thoughts I’ve had.

Are we ready?

Would it sound more attractive if I promised pictures of food from my travels? Food like… THIS?

LOVE

2014-04-11T11:05:00.001-04:00

Pause

2014-03-29T19:19:00.001-04:00

Okay, everyone needs to stop talking about the endless winter.

Let's instead turn moments into celebrations.

What was I celebrating?

Not burning the candle at both ends and waking up under the world's best-loved duvet.

How did I celebrate?

Breakfast in bed. Topped with figs. In a martini glass.

In an hour, I'll light all the candles, turn off the electrics, and day dream through Earth Hour.

My Big Fat Cake Project 2014

2014-03-23T12:11:00.001-04:00

It was cake time again this week! Wondering what I"m blethering about? Check out the cakes we've done in the past at this blog post and - for more detail on how each came together - throughout this blog.

This time, I proposed to the team a pattern based on red. I've had a bit of a red obsession the last couple of years. We settled on William Morris's iconic Strawberry Thief pattern (see left), available as wall paper and fabric, and - er - featured on my newest handbag. It comes in different colourways, but red it was.

The first challenge was deciding what elements of this very dense pattern were going to be rendered, and how. Then, what other elements might be alluded to. Then we split up to do the pieces of icing decoration that could be created ahead of time. The last two weekends were spent on that.

Items like the birds and larger flowery/leafy elements were made with the colour flow technique. A royal icing outline is then flooded with a softer royal icing. More royal icing work is painted or piped on. The colours were tricky but we finally found a Wedgewoody sort of blue and green which were pleasing to our eyes. The green was moss green food colouring gel with a hint of black. The blue was cornflower blue, again with a hint of black.

On Thursday night, I stayed up and baked layers of chocolate cake, three layers at 18 inches square. My place smelt like heaven. On Friday morning, Laura and James showed up with their stuff and we began to assemble. The previous week James (the strong man of the group) had covered the cake board with lightly tinted fondant (so it wasn't glaringly white). We put a chocolately frosting between each layer, trimmed the edges, and then spread a thin coat over the entire cake to help the red rolled fondant stick to it. That was a big job, trying to manouveur the layers around without cracking them, and ditto for the large piece of fondant.

With our more complicated patterns in the past, we've used buttercream as a background which is like a frosting, soft and spreadable. But with fondant, which is pliable and which you roll out, we were able to place all the pieces gradually, and when we were pleased with the layout, to stick them down with dots of royal icing underneath, working like cement. We made fondant leaves and piped more royal icing to make stems, birds' legs, leaves, etc. Small three-dimensional fondant strawberries were placed at each corner, and a twisted rope of green and red fondant finished off the bottom of the cake. We waited till we were at the venue to apply the dark green ribbon around the base of the cake board. That Friday we worked from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

And once again, it was a calm and relaxed process. There's never any worries or tension. Thank you Laura and James for your collaboration once more! Eleven cakes later, we're pondering taking a break. Perhaps waiting for retirement to take on another? Who knows. What this space! Oh, and by the way - it tasted great! Moist and very, very chocolatey.

Winter Get-Away, Part Two

2014-02-20T22:48:00.002-05:00

The last three days of my much-needed winter break was a far cry from the gourmet weekend in Elora. This time I was with my parents celebrating my mother's birthday.

My mother is the world's easiest going person. She takes so much pleasure from everything in life that she doesn't have need for a bucket list or some such. Except for one particular dream.

However... a little back story first...

My mother's father was born in Italy but spent several years in the States as a young man, working in Alaska among other places. This was during Prohibition. When he headed back to Italy he met my grandmother and started his family. He brought back with him not only a New York-accented English, but also a love of Robert Service poems and the novels of Jack London, including Zanna Bianca (known in English as White Fang).

So my mother grew up with these influences and developed a love for and fascination with husky dogs. Dog sledding was something she dreamed of doing, and so this year, for her birthday, we surprised her with a trip to Haliburton. Now, when I say we surprised her, we gave her three weeks notice... because a girl needs to know she's properly outfitted!

Winterdance provides a fantastic dogsledding experience. They have 150 Siberian huskies and they love their dogs. The safety and well being of their dogs is paramount and this is evident in all they do and how happy and vigorous the dogs are. Haliburton is three hours north of Toronto, and Winterdance's trail is about half an hour further north. The guides could not have been more helpful and professional. Their very obvious love of the dogs and the care they took of us, the novice clients, was so impressive. Kevin, our fantastic main guide for the day, is also an artist, and you can see his remarkable work in wood here.

My dad rode with Kevin, and my mother rode in another sled with me as driver (she's a brave woman!). Seven more sleds of visitors and two more guide sleds made up the party. Nothing could have prepared me for how special this would be. I suppose I had a more dreamy idea of dog sledding, when in fact it was a vigorous and exciting activity. The sudden pull of the dogs took some getting used to, as they bounded forward excitedly every time we took off. Finding my feet on the narrow runners and learning how to use the all-important brake was a bit of a learning curve too. And for the driver, dog sledding is a work out. As we rode, Kevin told us that in the first month alone of sledding this winter, he lost 15 pounds, and it's not like he needs to. I found myself doffing layers. However the passengers got quite cold. If you plan to dogsled and just ride in the sled, you cannot wrap yourself up too warmly!

We had booked the half-day trip (by far the most popular) and it was perfect. The trails are stunning, sometimes dipping up into Algonquin Park. The land is totally remote, untouched, beautiful, haunting... we crossed a frozen lake, and drove through tree-covered ravines that soared up beside us. The snow had started to fall as we took off, and then began to fall in earnest in great, fat flakes. It was like something out of a film in my imagination - just a little more visceral.

When you drive a sled, you are part of the team, and it makes sense that when you come to inclines, you get off to walk with the dogs, and sometimes help push the sled up. It's invigorating to say the least! When the slope goes downwards, you must use the brake, to make the dogs pull the sled down, ensuring that the sled doesn't run forwards and risk hurting the team.

The dogs are remarkable. They love to pull. When they were getting into harness, one dog named Lily, identified as the queen of the kennel, began to howl. Within moments all 55 dogs were howling, the sound reverberating around the clearing and ringning in my ears. As soon as they had started the run, all was silence. We just heard the slight jingle of harness, the soft rush of the sled, and all else was silence.

Our lead dog was Willow, a small female. She was patient with me, just occasionally looking back as if to say, "Do you have any idea what you're doing?" Kevin warned us that if we didn't do our bit for the team, like getting off to push when the going got tough, they would just stop, sit down and look over their shoulders at you with the Stare of Death. Each dog was such an individual character. Willow's running mate was Albus, a big boy, unfixed, so I was warned to push him off her if he got amorous, but this was unexpected as she wasn't in heat. No kidding - he acted like she wasn't even there. Rainy, the middle dog, is Willow's sister, and apparently they're mortal enemies. They seem to harbour a powerful hate for each other but all the dogs are gentle and patient with people. After the first burst of energy was out of their system and we'd reached the halfway point, they took interest in us and wanted cuddles. I never learned the names of our two wheel dogs at the back. As they were being harnessed, such was the racket of howling, I couldn't hear what the guides said. But they did tell us that once we were on the trail, we only had to speak to the dogs in a conversational tone, as their ears were pointed back to pick up our sounds.

Here's handsome Albus, the big male dog who ran with our lead dog, Willow. Such a beautiful face... two beautiful faces (the other being my mum's). Secret surprise: I got a print made of this picture of her and Albus today and framed it so she'll open it on her actual birthday (tomorrow).

Pausing on the trail. The scenery took my breath away. My mother's lower legs are there, covered in a blanket.

The privy, tipi, and sign-in hut at the trailhead. In the picture beside it, you can almost make out Willow looking back to check on me!

Sisters and enemies: beautiful, blue-eyed Rainy, and Willow, our lead dog, with the softest fur ever. Look at her wonderful ears!

A half-way break for hot chocolate with marshmallows and home-made danishes (plus treats for the dogs) saw the sun come out... a bit blinding but very welcome. To the left are our wheel dogs, who were such good boys. They loved to pull so much! The one on the left had snow on his nose. During stops on the run, many dogs would push their faces into the snowbanks to cool off. Kevin told us that they're happiest running when it's minus 20 Celsius. This particular day was a bit too warm for them. On the right are the two lead dogs for the sled behind us. The sleepy guy on the left took the advantage of a stop to push his head between my legs and keep it wedged there. Oh haaaaaaiiiii.

The sun started to fade, it got colder, but no less beautiful.

We stayed two nights at a nearby resort, with the world's most comfortable beds. They were needed. I was zonked by about 8:30 on the evening after the dog sledding. A beautiful experience, and one that I wouldn't have wanted to miss.

I'm Pinning!

2014-02-20T09:36:00.001-05:00

Just saying... well, I'm not really pinning myself, although I've set up an account. But my images are now pinnable from my blog. Just hover your mouse over each image to see the Pinterest icon show up!

Winter Get-Away, Part One

2014-02-17T17:51:00.001-05:00

The long, cold, snowy winter continues, although the days are lengthening. We cling to the hope of spring. But in the meantime, a winter break was needed. So I tacked on some days and put together a five-day weekend. The first two days were spent in Elora, where the gang of four went to stay at Drew House. This is a B&B and offers gourmet weekends with cooking demonstrations by owner/chef/author Roger Dufau. We went for the works, as one of the party is an old friend of the Dufaus.

It was cold and sunny, and the heavy snowfall squeaked underfoot. Elora, famous for its stone buildings, its summer music festival and its real charm, was a haven of serenity for us out-of-towners.

Roger produced a Valentine's Day menu which, to be honest, I thought was impossible in three hours or so.

Beetroots and blue potatoes
Asparagus mimosa
Caesar salad
Chicken lasagne
Roasted steelhead with shrimps and scallops
Beef Bourgignon
Beefl Wellington
Vegetables
Black Forest Cake

Readers, he did it, unflappably and charmingly in his Basque French accent and assisted by his sous-chef François, a young culinary student. What a relief fron the overexcitable self-importance of most television chefs.

The 30-or-so crowd enjoyed the demonstration with wine they had brought and Roger's indescribably good sausage rolls. He made them in front of us as part of the demo and then, thank God, they only took ten minutes to cook in a roaring oven. It was, and this is saying something, the best part of the weekend. My friend Laura turned me and said, "We're making those."

"Yeah."

We start work on this year's big cake project very soon, and she suggested that at our first get together, when we start the colour-flow decorations, that we set aside a bit of time to try making the sausage rolls.

"Yeah."

The demonstration took place in the large coachhouse building of Drew House. Afterwards the food was set up on a buffet table we all sat together en famille and ate. So good. SO. GOOD. And such an interesting table of people! Later, after a bit of shopping in the little main street of Elora (I had bought raw chocolate there last fall and had to stock up again), we had cocktails at a beautiful farmhouse. This belongs to a friend of one of our gang of four, and Chef Roger and his charming wife Kathleen were of the party. Our hosts are avid collectors of photography and there were some stunning pieces of serious historical value. We then returned to the main house, where we had run of the place, and sat by the fire chatting and making new friends. I slept like a log in the pumpkin-hued bedroom, and then, in the morning, there was more lengthy discussion over breakfast, which featured eggs benedict. It seemed most of the previous day's demo participants had stayed overnight as well. It was hard to push our chairs back from the table as the conversation flew fast and furious. Finally we groaned our way back to the car and came home. I slept... more. That's pretty much all I had done all weekend: eat and sleep. Really wonderful time.

Roger and Kathleen create a very special atmosphere, deeply relaxing and friendly, warm and irresistible. Needless to say, we'll be back. Needless to say I took some pictures.

Beautiful Blossom

2014-02-14T14:16:00.003-05:00

(I think Bruce the Bat has a crush... appropriate for the day).

Christmas 2013

2014-02-09T16:48:00.001-05:00

Christmas was lovely. It was white.

It started, as usual, with sausage rolls and buttered panettone for breakfast as we opened presents. I will never get too old to lose the joy of giving and receiving presents... I mean - come on! The day ended with a different sort of Christmas dinner. I was bored with turkey and the other usuals, so after the soup, I served a festive Italian salad with arugula, goat cheese, pomegranates, and Soma's delicious lightly candied pecans chopped into it. The main course was a wild boar bolognese sauce over pasta. Gooooooood. For dessert, my mother made her traditional killer trifle. Mmmmm. I'd also made a big Christmas fruitcake a couple of weeks previously and my mother and I had a scream making little fondant figures for the top. The donkey looked like a giant rabbit originally. Joseph looked like Genghis Khan, so fierce he looked like he'd rather eat Baby Jesus than, you know, take care of him, and hide him from Herod, etc. Actually, he could have been Herod in disguise.

I bought this little wooden tree for my desk at work a couple of years ago. The yellow wooden star on the top disappeared quickly. I didn't want to use the tree with out it, so this year I looked for - and found - a lovely German-made, unpainted wooden star at Flatirons, the fantastic gift store on Jarvis, just north of the St. Lawrence Market. I painted it white and put it on the top, and it's much prettier and more delicate than the original. Score! And... it's staying at home.

Over Christmas break, I had some cosy nights in my big wing chair. Next you see the table setting for Christmas day. The snowball candles came from that same fabulous gift store in Apsley. And they burn really well. And there's a new shot of me trying out a new lipstick shade, Clinique's Plushest Punch. That sounds Christmassy! It's odd, I used to avoid red in makeup or clothing; now I embrace it in all things.

One Wacky Week

2014-02-09T16:03:00.001-05:00

December went by in a bit of a blur, and I realized how blurry it was when I noticed I hadn't posted once in my favourite month of the year, the one that features that little event called Christmas, when I get all weak-kneed and over-excitable.

The month started with a week that featured a whirlwhind trip to Boston and London via Iceland. Bruce the Bat and I put in five flights in five days. This was for my work and - even though I got very few pictures - as my friends know, there's always time to take pictures of Bruce. Obviously.

Monday morning started at 4 a.m. with a 7 a.m. flight to Boston for a photo shoot. Bruce hung out in the photographer's studio, one of his favourite things to do. That evening we flew to London with a three-hour wait in Iceland in the middle of the night. We got to London in the afternoon and I crashed for two hours because... you know.... SLEEP. That Bruce met my aunt and cousins and was a big hit. It was so fantastic to see them again - what a great and gorgeous family I have! They brought champagne which we drank on a picnic bench overlooking the Thames before gorging on excellent dim sum. My cousin Richard took the shot of Bruce with the empty bottle.

One insane day later, we were back in Iceland, but we were delayed due to storms over Britain. Big storms. Turbulence... you will never by my friend. We had to wait overnight for our next flight but the good folks at Keflavik Airport put us up in a hotel and fed us lots of Icelandic-type food. It was too overcast to see the northern lights and too bitterly cold to do anything but run down to the ocean, lose all possible ability to think straight as my brain froze, and run back to the hotel past some interestingly painted little houses. Back in my warm room, I finished reading the next Jane Austen book club book and perused the Icelandic bible. I lay in bed amusing myself by reading it out loud between mouthfuls of duty-free chocolate. I'm easily entertained.

Guess what? Bruce brought back a great souvenir for himself from Keflavik. Meet his new pal Olaf!

We landed in Toronto late on Friday evening.

Saturday was almost the craziest day of the week. In the morning I hightailed it to the St. Lawrence Market to buy my Christmas tree.. I had been aching for this moment, because... well... Christmas tree! And, as usual, I bought it from Jeff the Christmas tree guy, who was featured here. Thanks Jeff! Then it was off to St. Paul's for the big Toronto Star Carol Concert with a friend and the lovely Armenians. Then it was back to L'Espresso Bar Mercurio for the One-Off, Six Meeting, Limited Edition Jane Austen Book Club. But, the previous night, while disembarking the plane, someone had wetly sneezed on my neck and I woke up Sunday morning with a sore throat and a morning voice-over recording. At the studio I guzzled gallons of peppermint tea and tried to rise above my own voice. It seemed to go ok. Home again I unpacked, caught up on Coronation Street AND performed my cold-fighting ritual. The next day, Monday, I went into work feeling totally normal. Well... as normal as I ever can... heh heh. Weirdly, I had no jet lag. Bonus!

Oh Haiiiiii

2014-02-09T14:59:00.003-05:00

I woke up this morning under the newish, beloved duck-down duvet, slightly disoriented to discover there was nothing I had to do, and nowhere I had to be. It was almost disconcerting. ALMOST.

A couple of hours later and I lolled on the sofa, as the pot simmered with organic chicken, leeks, mushroom, marjoram, etc... My stomach grumbled in anticipation. I could hear it because I had no music on. I was relishing the quiet and the nothing.

Then I thought... da blog! It's a little behind. A LOT BEHIND. So, er, I'll go and type up some blog posts and resize a bajillion pictures.

Happy New Year!

2014-01-01T18:12:00.000-05:00

We will talk about this winter a different way from the last few. I've been slightly creeped out by how mild the last few years have been - be creeped out no more BPG!

Some of you may have heard of our ice storm that happened just before Christmas. It left many in our city without power for days, some over a week. Some wit tweeting online as "God" thundered (as much as anyone can in a tweet), "Toronto, do I even have to tell you why you're being punished?" Ha ha. Yes, our dreadful mayor is still around, but stripped of many of his powers, thank God for that at least.

I don't have a great mind for matching years to events, but I do recall thinking as 2012 wrapped up that it had been an excellent year, and I hoped 2013 would be as least as good. It was better, and so all I can do now is hope that 2014 is as good as either of those years. I will bring as much of my energy to play as I can to make it happen.

Anyway... a Happy New Year to all! May you be loved, warmed and delighted in 2014.

Unforgettable Day in NYC

2013-11-24T18:53:00.000-05:00

The first day of a two-day flying visit to NY turned into something worthy of a short story.

So I woke on the Tuesday at 4 a.m. to catch an early flight from the island in the company of two colleagues. We arrived in NY around 9 a.m. The hotel kindly had our rooms ready already so we could dump our stuff and head out for a big breakfast. Then we got to the photography studio. Then I got a message that my voice-over agent wanted a demo voice test that I could make on and send from my iPhone. But they needed it by 5:30 p.m. I figured I would be back at the hotel in plenty of time to make the deadline.

And then I got a message that I had a box seat for the opera that night (starting at 7 p.m.), but also that I would be meeting my boss.

I was in jeans...

I hightailed it to Macy's, flinging myself on the mercy of a couple of salespeople who were WONDERFUL. Armed with some new clothes and shoes I exited the store to find myself in rush hour and unable to find a cab. It was 5:10 p.m. My agent was hurrying me. I ducked into a doorway and held up the script, bellowing into my phone, trying to sound well-modulated and irresistible. Of course the script was to do with promoting tourism to the States. I e-mailed the test off, pointing out to the agent in my e-mail that the whistle sounds, car horns and sirens were all perfect ambient noise as I was in fact standing near 34 Street and Fifth Avenue. She found this very entertaining. I ran back to the hotel, got changed, rushed up to Lincoln Center, collapsed in my box seat (back row of the box thank goodness, so no-one could detect my breathlessness), and was swept up in the magnificence of Strauss's Die Frau Ohne Schatten. A totally wacky story line on paper made beautiful sense as it came to life on stage. I momentarily was swayed by sleep and remembered I had been up at 4 a.m. The opera was four hours long and kept me riveted. I collapsed into my bed near midnight.

And after a perfect sleep, I woke to the sound of a cello very sweetly playing. I couldn't make it out at first, but then realized it was an actual cello being played very near by. It turns out some sort of Italian youth orchestra was staying in the same little old hotel near Penn station.

A perfect day in NYC... IMO.

P.S. I got the voice over gig! :)

Quote of the Day (AKA "Nothing Much has Changed")

2013-11-24T16:17:00.000-05:00

"'Very true,' said Henry, 'and this is a very nice day; and we are taking a very nice walk; and you are two very nice young ladies. Oh, it is a very nice word, indeed! - it does for everything. Originally, perhaps, it was applied only to express neatness, propriety, delicacy, or refinement; - people were nice in their dresss, in their sentiments, or their choice. But now every commendation on every subject is comprised in that one word.'"

From Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Weather in the 'Hood

2013-11-24T16:12:00.003-05:00

I'm staving off colds and coughs with my should-be-patented-cold-killing-system and great snacks at work.

In the meantime, the weather has been fantastically schizophrenic, with blazing sun some days, as I wondered the Victorian warehouse-lined side streets of my 'hood, and crazily snowy for mere moments in between. The snow shot is from my living room window.