Stone Soup

A new fine dining estaruant has opened at the marina near my home; Craig, Glenn and Grace took me here for dinner on my birthday.

Our dinners were very enjoyable. Grace chose Asian Chicken with vegetables.

I enjoyed sirloin steak cooked to pink perfecton in a demi glace sauce with sweet little peppercorns and mashed potatoes.

Craig is vegetarian; there was only one selection on the entree list and it did not appeal to him so he chose an appetizer of savoury goat cheese cheesecake topped with tangy cranberries and a side of perfectly done asparagus with bernaise. I had a wee taste of the cheesecake and it was absolutely delicious.

Glenn said his dinner was tasty but just not enough! His selection was Duck Three Ways.. Thirty two dollars for this plate is kind of pricey, don't you think?

Meet my kids! Craig, Glenn and Grace. The flash on Grace's finger is her engagement ring. *s* She and Glenn have set the wedding date, May 30 2009. Plans are underway.

The restaurant opened a few weeks ago in April 2008. Decor is clean and modern, plenty of windows with view of Lake Ontario and the marina on Frenchman's Bay. Very pleasant view.

This restaurant offers hospitality to dogs...outside.

If you serve them, they will come.

We walked on the boardwalk after dinner and met this Chow who loved many pats and lots of attention...we obliged and showered him with it! Isn't he a dear?

There are many geese in the lake and ponds nearby. We noticed a nest in the distance and I zoomed my camera...not a very good shot but the best I could do with this camera. This is the first time I have come across a nest.

I love my kids! Thank you Craig, Glenn and Grace.

I found this photo on webshots...doesn't it make you want to climb up on his back wearing a gossamer white dress and let him fly you away with your hair blowing behind you? Such a fairy tale photo.

Mmmmm! Esra made me hungry this morning when I read her blog about cucumbers. You an read it here. She described a cold cucumber yogurt soup that she enjoys in the summer. I went searching for the recipe on the internet and found this one but it isn't soup. It is more like a thick creamy salad--I made it and just can't stop eating it. It is a good thing I made it with low fat yogurt. SO delicious, I hope many of you try it. My son came over for a taste and said it reminded him of tzatzikiwith walnuts...it isn't as garlicy as tzatziki though.

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, grated or chopped finely
2 cups yogurt, drained in a cheesecloth (I drained mine with coffee filters in a colander)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
Juice of 1 lemon (I grated the zest and added that too)
3 tbsp minced mint
¼ cup minced dill
Sea salt and cracked pepper
¼ cup toasted walnuts, chopped ( I used all of a small bag)

While the yogurt drained for about an hour, (Esra says you don't have to drain it but I didn't know that then) I sliced the cucumbers thinly, spread them on paper towels and salted them to draw the water out. !/2 hour later, I patted the cucumbers dry and chopped them finely.

Then combine the cucumber, yogurt, garlic, lemon, mint and dill. Season to taste with the salt and pepper. Stir in the walnuts. Serve with warmed pita.

I used way more walnuts than the recipe called for and I am glad I did...they balance the tangyness of the yogurt and lemon so nicely. Not sorry I drained the yogurt because as you can see it is quite wet still.

Thank you for whetting my appetite Esra! I will be eating this all summer!

After a visit to the optometrist a few weeks ago, I chose some new frames and I picked them up the other day. I have always come home with frames that were similar to my last frames but this time I made a real effort to choose something different. These are metal, like the last ones...oh oh...but they are a deep maroon colour, much darker than I have worn in many years. They are more square than I have ever worn too, and I kind of like the sides.

My health insurance doesn't cover everything on eyeglasses but every little bit helps. From $450 I will get back $200. I wear progressive bifocals, which freak me out when I go down stairs but for vanity's sake, they have to be progressive. I also got anti-glare which makes your lenses look thinner and anti-scratch. Pretty standard extras.

They also have sunshades that clip on by little magnets. Hmm...I wonder how long it will take me to misplace them!

Here is a tricky test...and a good one too since most of us reading this, blog almost daily or at least a few times a week. My mistake was #2. Have a go at it, click the image to take the test yourself!

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

Glenn brought me a couple of pieces of chocolate cake he made this week. He wants to loose some weight and can't do it with chocolate cake in the house so he brought it over to make Mom fat. I was happy to oblige him. As I munched, I mentioned I could use his help shoveling mulch into bags at the garden center. So I finished my cake and off we went.


Bag-your-own garden mulch is new to me. It was near closing when we arrived. Four girls stood around the cash doing nothing but I had to ask for service. I told one girl what I wanted, she pointed at the bags and asked me how many. I told her 4. She rang up $13 something with tax and we took the bags out to the mulch pile. While he was shoveling, Glenn noticed a sign that said $2.99 per bag (what I had been charged) or 5 bags $2.49 each. I could have had an extra bag free but the girl never pointed that out. I suppose I should have gone back into the garden center and made a complaint but I was tired.

Glenn did a good job packing those bags, they were so heavy! I couldn't manage them and was greatful he was there to help.

This week's Picture Perfect theme is Gossamer.

What a sight it was that greeted Bernadette and I last week when we left the theatre where we saw La Boheme. There are two high rise condos across the street, at least 22 floors, maybe more...they were draped in soft cloud. It seemed as if the sky had softly descended.

I am shameless...lifting this right off Cheri's page. If you don't know the answers just take a stab. And if you post the questions at your blog, nudge me and I will answer.

My name:

Where did we meet:

Take a stab at my middle name:

Do I smoke:

Do I drink:

When is my birthday:

What was your first impression of upon meeting me:

What is your impression of me now:

What's one of my favorite things to do:

What is one of my favorite movies:

What is the best feature about me:

Am I shy,outgoing,a rebel or a rule follower:

Do I have any special talents:

Would you call me preppy, average, sporty, punk, hippie, glam, nerdy, snobby, or something else (what):

What is my favorite food:

If there was one good nickname for me, what would it be:

What's your favorite memory of me:

What is my worst habit:

If you and I were stranded on a desert island, what one thing would I bring?

Name 3 interesting things you know about me:

If we had one night together, what would we do:

My sister Karen's cat Charlie, moved in with them a few years ago. They didn't choose Charlie, he chose them. It was winter and Charlie kept coming around their door; he seemed to have no home. After a few days, they started to feed him, outside. Then it was cold so they let him camp overnight in the garage but soon he was coming in every night. They couldn't let him in the house because of her other sick old cat...but good old persistant Charlie kept hanging around and eventually even sick old cat got used to him. Then sick old cat went to kitty heaven and Charlie finally became top cat for a while and took over Old Boots position on the sofa. Then Cinder came and I think I have blogged about this before.

Charlie likes to find warm pleasant places in the sun to relax in...and here he found one. He had to tip toe though the tulips to find exactly the right spot to lie in.

He is snoozing in her front garden where he can keep an eye on the house and the street while catching some warm rays.

From his sunny bed, Charlie also has a pretty good view of the tree and the birds who visit but for some reason do not care to hang around very long.

Perhaps they will get used to him too...just like everyone else at Karen's house did.

I was listening to CTV News tonight at 11:00 PM and they said that a McGill University research on 14,000 babies shows that breast-feeding increases the intelligence of your baby up to 7.5 points. This is the largest study ever done on intelligence related to breastfeeding.

Every Friday Mona posts a dare to photograph something and she sets the criteria. This week it must be something white and you must take the photo yourself. This week's dare is easy for me because I have lots of white accents in my home.

Here is a small collection of soft critters on my bed. The curly bear on the right has a tiny blanket that says Bestest Aunt. My niece, Melanie gave it to me.


Actually , there is lots of white in my bedroom.



And below is a candle sitting on a scarf on my dresser. It isn't a real candle, it's battery operated. I prefer the real ones but this is white and I will keep it until the battery runs out. These candles were given out to all 1200 employees in February at our yearly All Employee Communication Meeting...the candles represent Candlelighters an association to help children with cancer. All our Friday casual wear tax is going to Candlelighters this year and there are a number of other fundraisers for them in the pipeline.

Do you remember in 1969, when John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged a week-long 'bed-in' protest for peace at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal?

A 16-year old student, Gail Renard, managed to sneak in to the hotel, knocked on the door and asked John and Yoko if she could interview them for her school magazine. Security never was too tight around John, was it...and that eventually led to his death. But I digress...The Lennons agreed to the interview and even invited her to spend the rest of the week with them.

It was during this 'bed-in' that John recorded Give Peace a Chance and gave the Gail the hand written lyrics for the song, telling her that someday the piece of paper would be worth a lot of money.

That young girl, now a comedy writer and approaching her retirement years, is selling the lyrics at auction in July. They are expected to fetch $600,000. A nice little nest egg don't you think?

I am just sitting in the living room, feet up, laptop on my lap (oh I love wireless) watching the news while I check some blogs here and read my email. A segment on the news was about motor scooters and now I want one. I think the money I would save in gas would quickly pay for it. They start at $3,500 and go up to $10,000. I will look for the lower end scooter.

Well, maybe not too low end.

But one like below would do me nicely. My Honda Accord uses one grade above regular gas, and at $1.26 a litre, I think I need something less costly.

I will start looking for one. I could drive this (on dry days) from April to October and maybe even November. Of course, I will need a gas mask on the 401! Seriously, I am really thinking about getting one.

My eyes were a little better today...fewer episodes. Honestly, over the weekend I was sure I would have to go back to the opthamologist first thing Monday morning. Tonight, it seems to be clearing quite a bit...and I was on the computer all day too.

A bit of hopeful news...Lynda at work showed me an online update about the puppy I want to adopt...Biscuit's housebreaking is coming along. The foster is working on it with him. I haven't heard from the rescue people, they called my references and then I didn't hear any more. So, I left a voicemail today and also emailed the foster; she replied that the person doing the home visits has been sick and didn't let them know. I should be hearing from her soon. Soooo, please keep your fingers crossed for me. I want this dear little puppy.

I am just sitting in the living room, feet up, laptop on my lap (oh I love wireless) watching the news while I check some blogs here and read my email. A segment on the news was about motor scooters and now I want one. I think the money I would save in gas would quickly pay for it. They start at $3,500 and go up to $10,000. I will look for the lower end scooter.

Well, maybe not too low end.

But one like below would do me nicely. My Honda Accord uses one grade above regular gas, and at $1.26 a litre, I think I need something less costly.

I will start looking for one. I could drive this (on dry days) from April to October and maybe even November. Of course, I will need a gas mask on the 401! Seriously, I am really thinking about getting one.

My eyes were a little better today...fewer episodes. Honestly, over the weekend I was sure I would have to go back to the opthamologist first thing Monday morning. Tonight, it seems to be clearing quite a bit...and I was on the computer all day too.

A bit of hopeful news...Lynda at work showed me an online update about the puppy I want to adopt...Biscuit's housebreaking is coming along. The foster is working on it with him. I haven't heard from the rescue people, they called my references and then I didn't hear any more. So, I left a voicemail today and also emailed the foster; she replied that the person doing the home visits has been sick and didn't let them know. I should be hearing from her soon. Soooo, please keep your fingers crossed for me. I want this dear little puppy.

I had a bit of a scare this week. Back on Monday, the vision in my right eye, my only good eye, began to bother me. There was something dark just to the right of center vision and it was in one place but moving in place. It came and went in the morning, I thought it might be eyestrain, but by day end it was difficult to see through it. Of course, when something like this happens, we think the worst. I was lucky to get an appointment with an opthamologist for the next morning. He says it is aging! The vitreous is shrinking and the dark thing I see is the edge of my retina where it is pulling. Just to be sure the retina isn't detaching (he thinks it is not ) I will go back next week for an examination with my eye dialated. He says I will either get used to seeing through it or it will fall to the bottom and won't bother me as much. Trying to see around this dark thing is annoying.

Anyway, I am going to see an opera with Bernadette this afternoon and looking forward to it. It is something new, opera in a movie theatre, broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She says it is even better than live opera because the camera zooms in and you can see more detail. Also during intermission, they take you behind the curtain. I am looking forward to it!

Biscuit is a beagle who arrived in Ontario last Saturday from Kentucky via an Animal Rescue Organization. This is where they found a quick foster home for him....they are not a shelter but have a list of foster parents on call to accept puppies who were headed for the gas chamber. Biscuit was a stray who was picked up somewhere in Kentucky by Animal Services and the rule there is euthanasia after 3 days if a dog is not claimed. By providence, Biscuit escaped the gas chamber not once, but twice...and now he is here in Peterborough, Ontario.

I am driving to Peterborough to meet him tomorrow. I spent the evening filling out a 6 page adoption form, calling my 4 references to let them know they would be contacted, and emailing the agency and foster mother who is taking care of him. She says he is a gentle sweetheart who gets

along well with her other dogs, ignores the cat unless the other dogs are bothering her and then he joins in. He isn't housetrained yet...may not have been indoors much in his short life. He has been neutered and his shots are up to date.

Isn't he just a darling little dog? He weighs only 16 lbs but may put on a few more as he matures. I think he and I will be happy in my small condo. I am a tad worried about the house training but think I can handle it even though I am out all day...I will use a crate until he can be trusted.

Do you know a keyboard can have more germs than a toilet seat? After learning this I swabbed mine, at home and in the office, with disinfectant wipes.

I was reading about dirty keyboard solutions recently and read about a keyboard with a roach infestation. I am sure I would thrown it out but a cleaning method was offered instead. The biggest challenge is to remove the keyboard from your laptop. ( you have to unscrew many tiny screws underneath the laptop, then pry gently up being careful not to break the wires.) Then turn the keyboard upside down and submerge in a pan of pure isopropyl alcohol. This is the kind of alcohol used to clean heads of analog tape decks or vcrs. Swirl the keyboard in the alcohol, use a soft bristle toothbrush to clean between the keys, remove and cover again with fresh isopropyl alcohol soaking for 1/2 hour. Let dry for 24 hours, reattach keyboard...carefully.

I also heard that you can put the keyboard in the top rack of the dishwasher, run the cycle with no soap and let it heat dry. I have never tried this or the previous solution with isopropyl alcohol and do not know anyone who has. Let me know if you do!

The above seems a little extreme but maybe for extremely dirty keyboards one needs extreme cleaning. What I do is vacuum the keyboard occasionally and now, since learning about the toilet seat/keyboard comparison, I also wipe the keys with alcohol wipes.

Typing on a germy keyboard has to clog up your thinking--it is just bad feng shui!

What are three police cars doing in the parking lot as I leave the office today?

A young lady had arrived early for an interview this afternoon and was waiting in her car for the time to enter the building. Some men came up to her car, she rolled down her window a little and one of them said to her, "I have a gun. Get out of your car and give me your keys." They left with her car and can you imagine how devastated she must have been as she ran into the building for help.

The company I work for is located in what is considered a high crime area of Toronto but we have never had an such an incident in our parking lot. There are cameras everywhere, which I am sure will be very useful to the police.

What have I learned from this? We aren't safe anywhere. Always be suspicious of a stranger who walks up to your car. Never roll down your window, even an inch. Lean on your horn if they do not go away.

What would you do?

What are three police cars doing in the parking lot as I leave the office today?

A young lady had arrived early for an interview this afternoon and was waiting in her car for the time to enter the building. Some men came up to her car, she rolled down her window a little and one of them said to her, "I have a gun. Get out of your car and give me your keys." They left with her car and can you imagine how devastated she must have been as she ran into the building for help.

The company I work for is located in what is considered a high crime area of Toronto but we have never had an such an incident in our parking lot. There are cameras everywhere, which I am sure will be very useful to the police.

What have I learned from this? We aren't safe anywhere. Always be suspicious of a stranger who walks up to your car. Never roll down your window, even an inch. Lean on your horn if they do not go away.

What would you do?

Waiting for my first cup of coffee to drip. Yes, I am up late but yesterday morning I promised myself I would do this today...sleep in. ...be right back, the coffee is ready.

And now I am sipping coffee in bed with my laptop.

While I was waiting for the coffee I thought of what I was supposed to be doing today, attending the International Home Show downtown with a friend. We got our emails crossed and crossed again, I cancelled plans for the wrong day, now we are supposed to go tomorrow but I have other plans...oh gee, I will give her the tickets and she can go with someone else.

This friend was inspired, when she came for dinner one night, by by the lack of clutter here. I discovered a while later she had begun the job of clearing her own home of years of things she was storing. She donated to Good Will and advertised in Free Cycle and got rid of a huge amount of "things" that were cluttering up her life. She is enjoying the feeling of airy freedom she has created and it even takes way less time to clean the house.

Today, the final job. She is emptying her garage and will put back only what she absolutely needs. As she was telling me about it I found I was feeling inspired by her!. Downstairs pouring m ycoffee, I looked around and noticed "things" that were beginning to accumulate, on the counter, the top of the fridge and the chair....a little here and there. So, decluttering is the order of the day for me. I find that if I am not vigilant, it collects quickly and I feel muddled, unable to put my finger on what is wrong. To inspire me even further, the television is showing the staging of a home on HGTV. I love the before and after pictures. Perhaps I will take some of my own.