Christmas Wishes

I'm wishing this year that everyone will love their neighbour, and treat them with the kindness that love demands. Things are getting tough for a lot of people, and are going to get tougher in the new year. I'm resolving to help whoever I can, whenever I can, even if all I can offer is a smile.

God bless us, every one! A merry Christmas to all.

It's Baking Day, again....

News Flash: I have a day off today! Not that I will be spending all my time blogging and otherwise wasting time on the computer: no, today is my Baking Day, when the orange wreaths and gingerbread men make their appearances.

But really I am just SO HAPPY to have a day off, because work has been getting busier and busier, and that trend is not likely to change.

If you haven't received my Christmas card yet, it's because I haven't mailed them....they are (another) work in progress.

I hope you are in a better state of preparedness than I!

What's a little scoliosis among friends?

Well, a little scoliosis is what I have; just enough to give me life-long back problems, but not severe enough to require intervention through surgery (by the time it was discovered, I was already in my 20's, so bracing for correction wasn't an option).
However, if you suffer from this (or know someone who does) you will find this link interesting. Will is the son of friends Dave and Elaine Rotor, and his story leads one to think his name should be Will Power.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a lovely dinner on Friday night courtesy of Mom. Visiting was Ian (a nice guy, even if he does spell his name wrong) from New Zealand, an acquaintance of Rod's and Sheila's.

We also visited with Craig and Karen on Saturday, after a nice walk down Sparks Street(had to hit the Clinique special at Holt Renfrew) and a drive down the Parkway.

Lots of geese this weekend!

Our resident spider has been working on her egg sac daily, and today she had a nice bug feast. Happy Thanksgiving, beautiful little lady!

Thanksgiving dinner at Dodie's and Myles' place, attended by our little man Mason - who is gettng bigger and cuter all the time!

Today will be a relaxo day - just a bit of yard work and then a soft chair and good book! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Somebody came to visit!

Just thought these were so cute! Mr/Ms Raccoon paid us a visit Thursday morning. I'm sorry to say there were no treats available on our front porch, just some flowers, so our visitor was gone by the time we took this pic. We are hoping he/she has not taken up residence under said porch (or the back deck, for that matter).

This weekend will be a bit hectic, but enjoyable: my nephew Les is tieing the knot with his lady love Janice. Nuptials to take place at our cottage. Exciting! We are hoping the predictions of rain are exagerrated, but if not, well, we do have the gazebo!

Next increase: taxes

Anyone else unhappy with their property assessment? We saw a huge increase in our cottage property: up about 120% over the previous amount. We owe it all to having waterfront, or so I understand.

We love the place, but Iain will be more than happy to tell you about all of the work that needs to be done on the cottage and outbuildings! People seem to be desperate for waterfront, however, and that is driving the prices up in the valley.

If we get another algae bloom next year like we did this one, however, I may have to contest the assessment after all.

Completed Swing

Well, almost. The roof will go on next year, and we'll paint it then too, but it is ready to use. And Iain decided to try it out. But he won't let me put the picture here, because he doesn't like it.

Judy's Fish

Just have to show off another example of Judo Kuno's talents! Judy has a home near our cottage, where she is happy to try her hand at all sorts of creative pursuits. Above are two of her latest efforts. A friend of hers showed her a fish made from a large plastic soft drink bottle, and she decided to try to make them herself. I think she did a great job!

Grrr..Telus is making me very angry.

For my birthday, Iain bought me a lovely new phone from Telus, an LG Keybo. It's really nice, and I thought I'd be very happy with it, but I'm starting to wish I'd stuck with Bell.

I'd heard good things about Telus, and thought I'd give them a chance. Plus I like the ads: brightly coloured reptiles and meerkats bring a smile to my face.

When purchasing the phone, one of the questions I asked specifically was "Can I use Windows Messenger?" The answer was yes. They lied. Or, at least, they exaggerated.

After trying to download the damn program about 10 times (yeah, I know the definition of insanity) I finally gave up and called Customer Service. After getting dropped once and going the round of the automated system about three times, I finally got someone who knew the answer. The answer was kind of like this:

"Oh, well, the Keybo, they don’t have messenger for it just yet, it was supposed to be ready by end of August, but it isn’t out yet....I can’t give you a date, unfortunately."

And the email (which also refused to download)?

"Yes, unfortunately it is also not available yet."

And Telus Navigator, which is supposed to be available for short periods, or for a modest extra monthly fee?

"Actually, that isn’t available for the Pay and Talk."

But your website says it is.

"Unfortunately, it is not available."

So, it seems I own a phone which is supposed to have a number of very desirable features - but it doesn’t really have any of them.

So now I have to cool off and try to decide whether to go back and demand a refund, or just be patient. But I’m not happy.

Labour Day weekend always seems to end up being very, very busy. Why is that? Well, partly because it's Kyle's birthday on Friday, my birthday on Sunday, and my mom's birthday on the 3rd (and due to the busy schedule everyone has with the Renfrew fair, we had cake and prezzies for her this evening), and much celebrating must be done all round.

I'm happy to report that Iain spoiled me on the whole weekend, starting out with a raspberry mousse cake, suitably decorated for the occasion, on Friday night. Saturday we attended a couple of auction sales, at one of which I purchased a very decrepit (but usefully large) cocktail shaker. Saturday night we had the best prime rib roast ever, barbecued by Iain using the Weber and with the assistance of an interesting bit of technology supplied by Carl.

On Sunday we came home from the cottage, dropping Mom off and heading into Ottawa to see Kyle and Sheila. First however, a little shopping! Iain gifted me this little item, and I am still getting used to how to use it. Lots of bells and whistles to explore.

Sheila treated us to a great dinner and we hung out for the evening, heading back to Renfrew this morning. Today was rest and relaxation!

Just A Swingin'

As promised, pictures of Iain's swing-building. In the first photo, you can see the disassembled bits of the old swing off to the side. It was originally built by my dad back in the 70's, but the supports had rotted to the point where Iain couldn't repair them anymore. He used the metal components to make the new one, which is sturdy as the rock of Gibraltar due to the usual Fullerton over-engineering (he calls it that, not me - I like it just fine!). It was sad to lose the old one, but its day was truly done. Iain hopes to finish the work this weekend, but because it is mostly pressure-treated wood, we won't paint it until next year.

Eye Wear

My deep-end friend Wendy had a post the other day about her visit to her eye doctor, and since I work for optometrists I took a keen interest! For one thing, I noted that eye exams are much costlier in the city (our guys charge $85). The glasses sound slightly pricier as well, though it is hard to be sure when you don't know the exact type of lenses.

What interested me most was Dave's comment about intraocular lenses as a fix for presbyopia; so I talked to one of my bosses to get his take on them. He says this is mainly being done in the States right now, and the lens is much like a bifocal contact lens - concentric rings, with both powers present in the lens. Based on that, I think I'll be waiting for a better fix; I have tried the bifocal contacts and absolutely hate them. Bad vision all the time was my experience. I'll wait for a better lens. Meanwhile, there are lots of funky glasses to wear!

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Iain has been giving me a VERY hard time about not blogging lately, but I've just been having SO MUCH FUN puttering around the house on my week off! No, I'm not kidding. Seriously.

Here is a small pictorial tour of the last three weeks:

These are pictures of the well-developed mammatus clouds we saw on July 26.

We expected a devil of a storm, but just about everything went around us.

My new first-cousin-twice-removed, Taylor, new sister of Hope and daughter of Steph and Steve. She's 4 days old here - what a cutie!

Iain in fine form at the horseshoe tourney.

I have to admit to not taking many pictures the week of our holidays, especially since Iain started building the new two-seater swing, and got it half done! I WILL take a pic this weekend so you can admire his handiwork.

Our snowball bush

And I had to run outside and snap this photo just now, of our hydrangea. Only its second year in the back yard, and it is doing so well! Much better than our rose bushes, which I must have screwed up somehow...lots of green, no blooms :(

What am I?

I left my wildflower identification book at the cottage, and I forgot I'd taken these pictures there. Now, if I could show these to Irene G., she'd know what it is (and if she didn't, Iain says she'd make it up), but maybe someone else can tell me? Anyway, just posting them because (a) I haven't been taking time to post, lately, and it's something I like to do, and (2) I thought they were pretty!

Not only ripped off at the pumps...

Iain receives a newsletter/commentary from a BMO financial advisor, Frank Lambros. His latest missive, entitled "Uh Oh… The Price Is Still Wrong" points out that although the Canadian dollar has averaged a value of $.988 US over the last year, the price gap on goods between here and south of the 49th is still huge, averaging 18% (!!!!??)

Here' s his list:

So where is the extra cash going? I would assume straight into the pockets of the retaillers, but I wish I knew.

Whither has thou gone, nice weather?

As of tomorrow, Iain and I have 19 years of married life behind us. Strange how a lifetime flies by. So many memories, and changes. I think I want 19 more.
We're at the cottage, which we often are for our anniversary, and the weather is not cooperating as much as I'd like. It has been rainy and cold by turns. Yesterday seemed a good day to go for a drive, and we took a tour to Pembroke, where I haven't visited for years. For fun, we took some sideroads, and discovered that our map was sadly out-of-date, though we did find our way after a bit. This occasioned the purchase of a new map at the Canadian Tire.
New maps show all the roads, but they don't make very clear how good/bad they are. We ended up on Dore Bay Road, which devolved into a bush track. At the top of one very rocky and washed out hill, we paused to turn back. Fortunately a nice local man (and his truckful of camo-clad companions) happened along at just that moment. They knew the road, and we followed them to the end, where they sent us on in the right direction. We took some more interesting roads on the way home. Wildlife spotted: Marsh Hawk - and that's about it, except for numerous dogs, cattle, and a couple of domesticated turkeys out for a stroll. Some evidence of unseen wildlife: large logs with bark stripped by beavers (felled during the ice storm in April, they were obviously found food for the beavers).
Today is shaping up to be warm and mostly sunny, so we will be staying put.

Victoria Day Weekend...right....

We've had some cold Victoria Days in my life, but this is the first one where I remember snow actually accumulating on the ground! We drove home this morning through a virtual blizzard. It was when we saw these big flakes that we decided it was time to move out. Poor little hummingbirds!

And on the subject of "Why can't we all just get along?"...

Go here for a lovely presentation on how to do it!

Political Prayer

I got an email today from a friend who would like me to go to the Ontario Legislature's site to voice my opinion, as a Christian, on Dalton McGuinty's plan to remove the saying of the Lord's Prayer before legislature. I probably should do it, but I don't think my opinion is the one she would expect me to have, because I don't think they should be doing prayers before the house, and my reason is biblically based. In Matthew chapter 6 verse 5, Jesus tells his followers to not pray in public for show, but to do so privately. He didn't have much time for hypocrites, and this situation looks like politicians trying to look good with their constituents, not real concern for their need for God's guidance.

Hard at work

In his spare time, Iain is working away at the spare bedroom, which is becoming our dressing room.
He's securing the spacers for the drawers, in these pictures.
The backyard is alive with birds these days, mostly grackles, redwing blackbirds and mourning doves. The occasional squirrel visits as well.
Stitches is usually in one of the windows in the morning, watching them, but this afternoon she is relaxing in her favourite chair.

The Clothes Wall

So Wendy wondered if there would be pictures of the clothes wall, and I said "we'll see". So I'm posting the beginning of the project:

This is Iain after drawing lines on the wall to show where the shelves and drawers will go. Exciting, huh?

One of the walls supporting the shelves and drawers - just testing for fit. Looks good! Next thing to do is start gluing and screwing.

What's Happening on Harry

Since the Senators are out of the playoffs, I'm making do (quite nicely, actually) cheering for the Habs. The wonderful thing about hockey in the spring is that by the time it's all over you've seen so much of it you are glad to have done with it for a while. Hockey every night; at least there's always something entertaining on the telly, which is more than I can say for the rest of the schedule since the writers' strike. (If not for Lost and E.R., it's a total write-off, no pun intended)

We're outdoors quite a bit, enjoying the last of the warm weather, for a while at least. The forecast is for much cooler temperatures, starting tomorrow, and then warming back up to seasonal (around 15c) for a few weeks. This rush of summer has been beautiful, though.

Iain is transforming part of our spare bedroom into an open clothes storage space. There are no decent closets in the house, and this will be a huge improvement. We picked up the wood yesterday and made a start on it, and hopefully today will see some progress.

Get Fuzzy

I don't. Really. I wish it would go away.
There have to be better comic strips out there somewhere.

Nice Weather

It's warm outside! Yay!
This is turning into another busy month. Iain started his new job this week, so we are getting into the rhythm of the work week again. I'd really gotten used to the housework being done for me! Now that he's on the road several hours a day, I'm back to taking care of the bulk of it. I'd rather do it than have to do the driving he does. Anyway, it's the price we pay for living here instead of Ottawa.
Lots of church activities up to the middle of June, many of them involving baking. We have a meeting this month with another church, and then in May we're doing a tea & bake sale, and then our celebration service is at the end of May (with special music in the evening and a lunch afterward - more baking!).
It's all good, though. Good to be busy, and doing something worthwhile. Now that the nice weather is finally here, I'm not dragging my butt around so much. Spring gives a lift.

Valley Girl

Not everyone expects much from good ol' Renfrew County, but we do have some exceptional people living here with us hicks.

In the dark, again

So, did you sit with the lights out last night? We did, even though we were having a birthday party for Dodie (sshhh, don't tell anyone, but the b.d.girl is six-0h!). It was not all that unusual for us to sit by candlelight, as we've had to do it lots of times at the cottage (thank you hydro one for making us so green) but as the power is seldom out in Renfrew it was probably the first time we've done that since the ice storm.
Speaking of which, there is a call for freezing rain tonight, as a prelude to the rain coming Monday and Tuesday. At least it isn't snow!

Meet Mason

Easter gives us a chance to get together with family, and we were happy to get to meet the newest addition, Mason. He was born on January 22, and Pam and James have adapted to the roles of parents admirably.
Here's my mom holding him. It was a busy day, and he was very tired, but we enjoyed meeting him!

Hiss Boo Maxim

I just finished reading that Maxim magazine has published a list of the women they consider to be the unsexiest alive (presumably among celebrities). I don't know who at the magazine thought this was a good idea, but they must have a particularly cruel streak in them. Although I don't think terribly highly of the women they chose (when I think of them at all), I feel really sorry for them, because it's just a very mean thing to say; whether it's true or not is debatable and inconsequential. Once it's said, it hurts, immediately - and it was meant to.
In the past I've always just ignored Maxim and other "girlie" magazines, because, let's face it, no man above the age of 17 with an IQ in the triple digits bothers with them, unless he is totally useless with an actual human woman, and then, of course, is more to be pitied than reviled. Perhaps they're hoping that this "list" will grab some attention for them, and increase their circulation.
Way to go, guys - you just cornered the mean-drunk misogynist readership market!

Beating the Winter Blechs.

This just about sums it up for me.

The weather report this morning called for another six weeks of wintery weather. Blech. My pal Katrina loves winter, but I think, by they end of this, even she will have had enough, already!

The important thing is to try to keep busy. Iain has been getting more and more cabin fever, especially because of his non-employed status. Having no one to talk to except cats and online message buddies all day is driving him bonkers.

Last Saturday, though, we had the chance to visit with friends in Ottawa, and it was a nice diversion. Kim and Tim have great kids and are wonderful hosts. Tim cooked up a multi-course meal - while we all sat and watched him and Iain do all the work.

Iain taste-tests the fruity soup (apple, melon, pear - it was delicious). Tim was in fine form as chef.

Margaret listens in and checks out a photo album.

Kim samples a bite and something tickles Emily's funny bone.

We spent the night with Sheila, and she treated us to a nice brunch at Milestones the next day. We also dragged Iain through Ikea (he made every effort to be patient) before heading home.

I took the day off work to go to my Aunt Rachel's funeral, and it turned out to be a good idea, as I have been feeling under the weather all day...just very tired and headachy. We took a spin into the cottage since we were in the neighbourhood, and Iain waded through the above-the-knee snow to pick up the last of the vinyl collection that I'm moving to digital. The snow was deeper in some spots: Mom's garden fence, which stands over three feet, was invisible in some places.
When we got home, Iain made me a nice hot toddy, and I snoozed on the couch until Tim Brennan called to invite us out for supper. I couldn't work up the berries to go anywhere, so I sent Iain on his own. He just called, and is planning to stay there overnight, as a bottle of wine is being uncorked, so I should be able to get to bed early and get lots of rest. Hopefully that will eliminate whatever it is I'm fighting! I also hope to finish - or close to it - 'Shake Hands With The Devil', which I've been reading for a few weeks. I'm usually a slow reader, but this book is being more difficult than some. Dallaire writes in detail about the Rwanda mission, to the point where I can't keep track of all the different people, movements and organizations (UNAMIR, RDP, RGP, Interahamwe, DKNY - wait a minute, that's not right, is it? - but you get the idea). An interesting, sad, infuriating story, which casts the UN and all the power countries in a very poor light.

Incredibly snowy day...not safe to be on the roads! This is the view from our kitchen window. You can see the white-out conditions (imagine it at 90 kph).

Sad news for my family; my Aunt Rae passed away last night, after an illness that kept her in hospital for some time. My mom's younger sister, she was always a lively lady with a good attitude, and was no doubt happy to go see her Lord in person. Her granddaughter has made a Facebook "in memory" page; below is one of the pics I uploaded to it.
We'll miss you, Auntie Rae.

Juncoyard

I don't know if I mentioned it before, but for Christmas I was given one of those squirrel-proof bird feeders. The only problem is that a lot of the birds can't really figure it out either. Apart from a couple of chickadees, I've yet to see the perch getting any use. So, once or twice a week, I go out and clean the snow out of the food trough and sprinkle seeds on the ground beneath the feeder, and am rewarded by the attendance of a few birds: in this morning's instance, several juncos.
The feeder really does seem to be squirrel proof, however; the other day I saw a black (grey) squirrel climb the pole, reach out one paw to touch the clear plastic side of the feeder (much as if he thought he could just grab the seeds) and then turn back down the pole, without making any more effort.
March is here, and it has come in like a lamb - so you know what we can expect for the end of the month.

Happy Birthday Phantom!

I know, it is silly to wish happy birthday to your cat, especially when it's a date you chose yourself, not knowing the real date - but he is four years old, and huge now, as you can see. Isn't he gorgeous?

The Taste Emporium!

I've been meaning to mention that the "Taste Emporium" is back in business on main street Renfrew, for about a month now. Iain and I have stopped there for lunch a few times already, and we certainly recommend it highly. It's a lunch place - open from 10-4 - and the food is great. They also serve excellent teas and coffees, and the atmosphere is comfortable. So good to have them back!

Remember Halloween?

...and I promised to post a video of some of the goings-on? Well, I've finally done it. You can view the video here.

Snow What's New?

In honour of the fact that it is snowing yet again, I'm posting this pic taken when we are at the cottage for New Years. Iain and I were walking ahead of Dodie and Myles, when she snapped it.

Muffets are a treat

Today, some praise for the lowly Muffet. Canadians of a certain age remember the Johnny Bower ads, but when did you last see any advertising for this cereal? There are probably a lot of people out there who don't know about it - and that is a shame, because it is one of the most natural cereals available. Know what's in it? Whole wheat. That's it. No added anything, except some BHT in the paper wrap to keep it fresh. I don't know exactly what they do to the wheat to make it edible, mind you, but the result is lots of fibre and iron, and very little fat. Heat some water and pour it on to soften and warm the cereal, add a bit of milk and sugar (yeah, I know, but I like sugar!), and enjoy.
It's hard to find any info on Muffets. Quakeroats.ca has nothing about it. And yet, I found this bit of info on the web:
"Curiously, the most successful ready-to-eat breakfast cereal in 2006 is neither new nor reformulated, and its only front-panel health messages are “100-per-cent natural,” and “100-
per-cent whole grain.” And according to Jeff Schoo, director of Food for Mississauga, Ont.-based Pepsi-QTG Canada, sales of Muffets Shredded Wheat have grown without any incremental
consumer support."
It seems Muffets are prospering by all the attention given to whole-grain cereals in ads for their competitors. I'm just happy I spied the box on the shelf last time we shopped, because I'd never have thought of them otherwise.

Morning Nosh

Thank goodness for mourning doves. If it weren't for this guy, my feeder would be seeing very little action. Every morning, though, there he/she is, getting breakfast.

Home town eccentrics

Do you remember Hawkeye in M*A*S*H reading aloud from his hometown paper, and the items were quaintly humourous, or perhaps small-town weird? I was reminded of that today when I read the local Mercury. Renfrew is home to some interesting people.
One item was a 4x6 ad announcing the upcoming federal candidacy of a man who believes he is on a mission from God (and no, his name wasn't Jake or Elwood). I've been told he was involved in the last election as well, but didn't win, so I guess he's trying again. His campaign slogan is "I Am The Way", and this campaign is to fulfil a promise he made to God as a child. He's giving a speech later this month, and tickets are available at a local convenience store. I'm tempted to go, just out of curiosity - but I won't.
The other thing that caught my eye was an article about an erstwhile chef (and he really did make the most awesome carrot soup) who believes he has invented a perpetual motion machine he calls a Perepiteia. He doesn't actually live in Renfrew anymore, but has ties to the area, so they interviewed him for the local paper. He was also interviewed by The Toronto Star, and you can read it here. Personally, I can't follow any of the mechanics or science involved, and trying to watch the video made me very sleepy after two minutes.
But they are interesting people, for certain.

Hurling demo

Well, just in case you haven't ever seen hurling being played, here is a little instructional video!

Odds and ends from the holidays

Just going through my Christmas pics, and although it is a bit out of focus just had to post this one of my mom in her new leather jacket. She's 90+ years, and looks terrific.

We were at the cottage for a few days after Christmas, for a very relaxing time thanks to Dodie and Myles who invited us to stay with them. Jigsaw puzzling, reading, and board games with the New Years Eve crew filled most of our time - and of course hurling, the combination horseshoes/curling game I think I've mentioned before.

Another fun thing was taking pictures of the birds on the bottle feeder. The blue jays were heavy, so they had to hang on for dear life as the bottle spun whenever they landed. The chickadees were agile, as usual, and happy to pose, but the red-breasted nuthatch was impossible to get on film; this is the best shot I got!

Am I blue?

This is fun...I was sort of hoping I'd be a more interesting shade, but at least I'm not orange (which is an unfavourite of mine). Question: isn't it spelled 'spontaneous'? If so, the spellchecker doesn't do html.

You are most like: You are Blue
You are cool and soothing, with a hidden spontanious side. You are deeper than most people percieve, and you care a lot for those whom you surround yourself with.
Take this quiz: Which Crayola Box of 8 Color Are You?
Visit Toys For Your Blog.com for more blog quizzes

What I'm up to lately

I had a couple of days off due to some minor surgery, so I'm now finally finishing the dvd of the Kauffeldt reunion from this summer. Yahoo! It's so nice to get some projects finished, and others started.
One of my big winter projects is, as I've mentioned before, to move vinyl to digital, via the nice turntable Iain gave me at Christmas. I've only done a few songs as yet, but transferring all of the Paranoid album was very satisfying, for a start. Also a bit of Nik Kershaw (The Riddle) and The Friends of Mr. Cairo are done, but that's it - I've got a lot of work to do. It's all fun, though. Iain has fun with it too, mostly chuckling over my choices of music. To each his own!

Are you looking at me?

Sometimes, no matter how innocent you are, you will end up on somebody's hate list anyway. This happened to me yesterday at work, when a woman who'd had a discussion on the phone with another employee - and taken offense, mainly because she was wrong and didn't want to hear it - showed up at our office. I saw her, through the glass that fronts my work area, and she was looking at me with such dislike that if we were cartoon characters I'd have been impaled by the darts.
I was a little confused by this, because I had no idea who she was, or why she was there, but decided it best to avoid eye-contact with her from then on. When I talked to my co-workers about it later, we deduced she was suffering from mistaken identity and thought, for some reason, that I was the culprit who'd spoken to her on the phone originally. Unless she was just angry at everyone in the office, and I was a bit more sensitive to it because it caught me by surprise. Anyway, it was an interesting way to end the week (it's like people with attitude have to show up just before 5:00 on Friday).
When I related the story to Iain, later, his suggestion was that I could have given her a big, cheery wave 'hello', and a huge grin, but, as I explained to him, we are not allowed to taunt the patients, no matter how ugly they are.
In other news, a note on Virgil's Sodas. Iain has some spare time, now that he's an unemployed person, so he dropped a line to Farmboy to find out why there was so little of the bottled joy left on the shelf when we were at the Kanata store last. Turns out they only get it in seasonally or randomly, and it's best to phone ahead to see if it is available. So I can't promise you'll find it in any of their stores, but it is definitely worth the effort to look for it, trust me!

Bottled joy

One of the small pleasures of a trip into Ottawa from the wilds of Renfrew is the stop for groceries at the FarmBoy in Kanata. The fresh meats and choice fruits and vegetables, and the nice choice of cheeses and other deli goodies, make it well worth the time. Our most pleasant recent discovery there is Virgil's Cream Soda and Root Beer. Excellent beverages, the beautiful smooth taste of which my mere words cannot embrace. Do try them.

If you can't tell, i just finished a bottle of the wonderful Cream Soda, and am still in its thrall. I could drink another right now!

The Duck!

I was looking at the pictures I took at our office party/dinner just now, and it reminded me to recommend (highly) The Duck restaurant in Calabogie. Excellent food and service. The table was lovely - take a look.
Their specialty is, not surprisingly, duck, and that is what I had. Not being a person of large appetite, I had to refrain from eating as many of the appetizers as I would have liked. For dessert, we were each brought a sampler plate with all sorts of goodies: custard, chocolate mousse, a warm crepe wrapped around icecream and drizzled with sauce (it is now a couple of weeks later and I can't remember for certain, but I think there was chocolate, strawberry, and possibly maple?).
I really enjoy a good meal, and our bosses are the best guys to take us out to nice places to eat.