Cheers and Jeers

Cheers to Ocean Spray. At Easter dinner, I was unhappy with the quality of a can of whole berry sauce (not enough berries!). I wrote online to the company and they replied within a couple of days, addressing my concerns, and not with a form letter. They also sent me coupons for two free replacement cans in the mail! Great reaction, and I will of course continue to buy their products.
Jeers to Hallmark.com, who I contacted about the fact that you can't purchase anything from their U.S. site without a U.S. address credit card - not even e-cards, which don't require any effort at all (they will allow the free ones to anybody, so why not accept payment for the others?). I wrote suggesting that they rethink this policy. The reply was generic and didn't address the point of my letter at all:
"Thank you for contacting Hallmark. Premium E-cards must be paid for with a credit card from a U.S. bank and with a U.S. billing address. Our free E-Cards, however, can be sent to any valid email address anywhere in the world from any valid email address anywhere in the world. We apologize for any inconvenience. Thanks,Hallmark Consumer Care"
Now, I obviously already knew this. It's why I was writing to them! This is unfortunately typical of the "customer care" you get at a lot of websites.
Guess I will keep sending free e-cards, if they don't want my money.

Easter

Had a nice weekend, with dinner at Janet's & Jay's on Saturday. Turkey, ham, and all the fixings, and they were GOOD! Kyle was able to join us, which was very nice, but it seemed odd to have Easter without Sheila. We also missed Brian and Matt, who were ill.

My Mom and Jay have a chat before dinner.

Carolyn baked several of her famous pies. I think Iain had three pieces of the cherry.

Janet is a great hostess, and took care of everything! She even made a birthday cake for Pam, who turned another year on Saturday.

James gives Mason a ride while Iain carves the turkey. Poor little guy wasn't feeling great, unfortunately.

Myles relaxes with a brewski. Janet is bustling in the background (wearing stripes).

I really did intend to take more pictures, but I admit to feeling a bit self-conscious with my camera. I know some people don't like having a camera on them all the time. So, there are no shots of us playing Guitar Hero. I'll tell you right now, I was not a hero - got booed off the stage (I really thought I could do Enter Sandman - but it's harder than it looks!).

Road Trip 2

Sunday afternoon we visited with Sheila and Kyle; Iain's wonderful mom treated us to lunch at Milestones at the Pinecrest mall - one of the few restaurants where Iain can rely on being served a perfectly cooked steak. I enjoyed the red curry chicken, followed by white chocolate cheese cake!

I'm not sure what Kyle was doing in this picture, but on the left you can see what remains of the giant chocolate cookie which was Sheila's dessert. I don't think she expected a "cookie" to be quite so large. Iain's desssert was the butterscotch pot (with actual scotch whiskey added); it got his approval.

Road Trip

A week ago Sunday, Iain and I took a little spin up by the cottage, to see a gentleman who makes canoe yokes. Iain's canoe is coming along really well now. The inside is epoxied and scraped. This photo was taken before the gunnels going on. The finish will look a whole lot nicer when the final product is varnished.The man at Slipstream, who makes the yokes, has a friendly (once you are introduced, that is) old doggie, whose picture I had to take.

On the way home we stopped at the Granary in Eganville for some comfort food. They serve a beer which is a full litre, in a glass so large that Iain's (at present) bum elbow gave him a little trouble. He is not holding it extra close to the camera - it is really that big!

I drove home, just to be on the safe side.

Proof that spring is here!

Mr. Robin dropped in!

And then Chippy came for a snack:
Not very trusting, but eventually overcome by the peanut allure.
...and it was yummy!

Hockey in the Gan

Here are a few shots from the Gananoque tourney last weekend, which the Rusty Blades won this year. Fun old-timers hockey.

This is Iain on a rush down the ice:

Here he's in front of the net waiting for a chance:

And here is the whole winning team:

Lots of fun!

See my pretty little flower?

Don't ask what it is, I have NO idea. It is blooming on one of my houseplants - one I received in a basket some time ago - and I just had to post it because it is so pretty!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Who is the most spoiled girl? I AM! Iain took me to a fabulous dinner at Perspectives at the Brookstreet Hotel last night, as a special Valentine's treat for our 20th anniversary year. Dinner was preceded by martinis at the Options Bar, which is a nice relaxing spot; they make a pretty good martini, though Iain makes the best at home.
Since my phone doesn't have a flash, and it is the only camera I had on me, I don't have any pictures of the lovely meal, but if you would like to see the menu, you can find it here. I had the ostrich and the guinea fowl with lamb; Iain chose the skate and the rack of lamb (we wanted to taste-test each other's, of course!). Not on the menu are a one-bite appetizer sent out by the chef: duck, goat cheese, and pineapple chutney on a piece of toasted bagel; incredibly good.
We chose a Kenwood Pinot Noir 2006 from California to accompany the meal, and chased it with coffee (which they also do right).
The dessert deserves extra comment. Three little items, all so different, and all so good. The sweetest and richest was the walnut/apple cake; the chocolate pudding was wonderfully smooth; and the sorbet was sharp and sour - a grapefruit flavour. I just made the rounds among them until I could manage no more.
We had a great time: excellent service, a nice atmosphere, and the best company at my table I could ask for, too.

And that's the month that was.....

Wow. It's February. Where the heck did January go, anyway?

Well, for starters I spent the first three weeks waiting for the Curves place to reopen after being destroyed by the same devastating fire that hit Deslaurier Custom Cabinets and four other businesses. They have moved to a spot just up the street from where I work, which is so handy I LOVE IT! So I am back getting some exercise again, at least a few days a week.

We have had some nice outings over the last month: a fun time at the Rotor's where we saw lots of friends we hadn't seen for a long time; trying to figure out the Mystery Meal at church (watching Lisa eat her spagetti with her fingers was....interesting); and an evening celebrating Mac & Sherry turning 60. Whenever possible, though, we have been laying low: reading, doing needlework (me), canoe building (Iain), and exploring Little Big Planet (both of us).

It hasn't been the busiest month ever, but it has had lots of those cozy twosome on the couch moments; and that makes it a good one.

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!