Christmas 2014

Merry Christmas 2014

The wonderful thing about hosting friends and family is not having to travel, and putting on one’s very best for people we care about, and even a few who just need a place to be on Christmas. The other side of that, of course, is that Bob and I work like galley servants for several days leading up to, and through Boxing Day. You’re always cooking, cleaning, washing dishes, taking something out, putting something away, and also trying to make it look effortless while engaging in chatter with the guests. Other than all that, it’s a piece of cake!

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New Members

Family members can post content Congratulations to Marisa and Shawn on their gorgeous wedding in Ocho Rios! How could you ask for a more perfect evening? We are going to go through our photos and post a collection of people’s thoughts here. Welcome also to Ivor and Serene Seepersaud, and to Donna Karran to the Seepersaud family web site. You can create your own stories if you wish, and perhaps you ought to give it…

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Summer 2014

The Larisa Grove back yard in full bloom

It was a very hectic spring at our home. On May 1, the Ontario government tabled its 2014-15 Budget, and on May 2, one of the opposition parties said they would not support it. The Opposition Party, the Conservatives, didn’t support any government bill, so that meant that a vote on the Budget would result in the fall of the government. This was not unexpected. On Friday May 2nd, the Premier called an election for June 12th, and we were off and running!

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Tired of Winter

Want to trade humidity for cold? Winter in Canada began with an ice storm in December, and has just not let up at all! While we did not lose our electricity in the ice storm, this unremitting cold is ensuring that we suffer in a uniquely Canadian winter fashion. Aside from Bob fighting off a head cold, on Friday, the blower motor in the furnace had a bearing fail. Following a grinding sound, the furnace…

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Christmas 2013

Christmas holidays 2013

The 2013-14 Christmas Holiday Season is now officially in the history books. Over the January 11-12 weekend, we carefully dismantled the decorations and adornments in the house, labelled everything in its box, stored it back downstairs, and then cleaned and vacuumed. All traces of Christmas 2013 are now in storage. As always, the Christmas tree was last to go, its lights signaling the festive season until the very last minute as the Christmas music CDs get one last play while the takedown tasks are done.

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Winter 13-14

Winter of 2013-14

We were all looking forward to a relaxing Christmas this year. Bob had a very long autumn sitting at Queen’s Park, with more than the usual amount of travel and committee work. Bob’s big personal thrill of the year came when he was not only the starting goaltender in a hockey game against the Toronto Maple Leaf Old-Timers, but also delivered the Province’s greetings at the same time. Then came the big ice storm of December 2013. A major weather system carried a huge mass of wet air up from the Gulf of Mexico through the heart of North America before colliding with a mass of cold air coming down from the arctic, and Toronto was frozen solid.

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Kitchen Garden 2013

New theme and kitchen garden

This summer, as with most years in our home, our dinner guests will dine on ingredients grown steps from the dinner table, and often harvested and prepared just for that one meal. Today, I harvested my first lot of garlic, shown in the picture opposite. I will have to let them dry out a bit, and then we are ready to cook with our very own garlic. This is a species of locally-grown and harvested garlic. It will take a few weeks for the garlic to cure, however.

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