Stone Soup

My son has developed an interest in gardening this year and brought me some of his cucumbers and jalapeno peppers today. I sliced them thinly and covered them with seasoned rice vinegar and Presto! Sweet cucumber salad.


Left to marinate for an hour this simple dish is delicious as a salad all by itself. I enjoy the sweet tangy fresh taste. Left to marinate a little longer, they soften a little but retain much of their crispness. Good in salads and sandwiches.

This is a shot I took while learning the digital macro setting on my camera. Can you see the ant traveling down the stamen towards the nectar? I didn't even know I had captured this until later when I viewed the photo on my computer.

Finally I have organized the pictures of Ottawa. It was a wonderful city to visit, so clean and attractive. Montreal, when I got there, was slightly shabby in comparison to Ottawa. The weather was hot and very humid as you can see by the haze in the picture above.

I enjoyed shopping in all the high end shops--well, it was more like browsing, I didn't buy much--on Spark Street; the street is closed to traffic, paved with cobblestones and lined with outdoor cafes and pubs. Spent most of the days on my feet, visiting the National Art Gallery, so beautiful inside and out. So beautiful I returned to have breakfast on their balcony with a great view the following morning. Saw the Renoir Landscape exhibit here but wasn't allowed to take pictures. Sorry! Also visited the Museum of Civilization in Hull, the Chateau Laurier, a historic hotel with pleasant patio and a great view of the Rideau Canal, Parliament Buildings and the city of Hull across the river. Saw a fantastic sunset here and had a light dinner.

Dined one evening at a cafe along the Rideau Canal in the National Art Center; excellent prime rib with pinot noir and pleasant view of boats along the canal and beautiful people strolling along the sidewalks. There were no performances in the center while I was there. I also saw the National Library, the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister's residence on Sussex Drive and Rideau Hall where the governor general lives across the street. I suppose I lingered too long at Rideau Hall because a guard came out and looked disturbed. I left quickly so he didn't have to chase me off the property.

I enjoyed every minute of Ottawa!

Here is the link to my blog over at Blogger.com When I set it up it was going to be a food and recipe blog. Now I am not so sure. Haven't been creating much in the kitchen lately. I may change the name. I will post in both places for now and see how it goes. Things are quite different over there, but everything workswell. When you create a post it is automatically saved as a draft, so supposedly one never looses a post, as just happened to me here. I had to rewrite this one. The first disappeared when I switched to view html source.

PersonalDNA Your True Self Revealed - Fast Fun Free Personality Tests

This one is traveling around Y360, it takes about 10 minutes to complete and I think hits a few nails on the head. If you would like to give it a try for yourself, click here.

Here is me, warts and all. If you would like to leave a comment let me know how accurate you think it is, I'd appreciate it. Imagine, at 57 years old, I am still trying to figure out who/what I am. If you do one and post it, I'll be happy to give feedback if I can.

Hover your mouse over the squares to see how I scored.

My complete results are here.

I am still working on the Ottawa pictures, they take forever to upload. I should have the post up later today or tomorrow. I think Yahoo problems are still present; I have new ones now. I just looked at the wedding pictures in one of my posts below and many of them are not showing up. Also notice my page background takes a while to load; it used to be instant. Is it my laptop, Yahoo or Webshots? I have a blog with google and am seriously considering moving over there. It has taken Yahoo way too long to come up with a stable version...then again I would miss it here. I love the friendly atmosphere, I am comfortable here. Maybe time to move on or at least run a duplicate blog simultaneously. (Well, here is the simultaneous blog, Google)


As I sit here at my computer, I see the lady in #27 across from me shut her door and go for a power walk. I have been here 2 1/2 years and she does this twice every day. What consistency, what dedication. One of these days I might join her...but first we would have to say hello, wouldn't we.

There are some people in this complex I still have never spoken to. Like the young sales rep across in #28. Sometimes she has a live-in bf, sometimes she is alone. She keeps to herself. She never waters her lawn. Someone in her family has cancer right now. I know this but I have never spoken to her. Toronto is like that, you live next to people and never speak to them, yet go for a walk along the beach a few blocks away and everyone you pass says hello.

I was downtown shopping for bargains before my vacation (the summer sales have begun). I think I spent more time snapping than spending, because I came home with few bags. Have you ever made a purchase just to get a bag you liked? I did it that day but can't find the bag now. Certain lingerie stores, book stores have bags I like to use to carry my lunch to work, when I remember to make one.

Here are some photos of that afternoon and some fab Toronto buildings. Hope you like them.




Yes, I know it's a little campy but I can't resist adding this song.



My neighbour has just returned from her walk. She hadn't locked her door, just opened it and walked in when she returned. She must feel safe enough. She is. I was watching the house and would have called the police, or Mike next door, if anyone entered. But she didn't know that.