Random Stuff

Some random photos from the past couple of weeks.

I love the smell of freshly baked bread, wish I could include it in this blog post. I let the bread machine do all the mixing then I bake the dough in the oven. This bread has a mixture of white and wholewheat flour, oats, chia seeds, flax, bran, and pumpkin seeds. My grandson said it was "so soft that a baby could eat it".

I gatecrashed a wedding last week.... yes, I said gatecrashed. YoungerSon's best friend was tying the knot and YoungerSon and his Bride couldn't be at the ceremony, only at the after-party, so I showed up instead, along with the mum of the best man. It was at the historic Enoch Turner School House in downtown Toronto. Photo taken before most of the guests arrived.

The new Mr and Mrs signing the register. I cried of course. I always cry at weddings and everyone laughs at me. But I've been fond of this young man ever since the kids were all young, and he deserves to be happy.

Fireworks at Markham Fair at the end of September. The camera has a firework setting and I hadn't used it before. Not bad eh?

Finally, a visit to the cardiac doctor in Newmarket. This is the view from his office window looking west along Davis Drive, snapped while I was waiting for the doc to arrive. The brown traffic lanes along the centre are for buses only.

Wedding in the Sunshine

Last Friday was a hot sunny day, almost too hot to be ouside in the sun, but a beautiful day for a wedding.   My DIL's lovely sister and her handsome new husband.

The wedding was at Dyment's Farm.... a working farm that hosts weddings, corporate events, private parties, Halloween pumpkins.... the perfect location high up on the Niagara Escarpment overlooking the city of Hamilton and Lake Ontario in the distance.

My grandies were a very important part of the family celebration. Isaac and Max carried the rings and Emma was joined by two other little girls to scatter white rose petals in the bride's path.

She wore a string of pearls that my auntie gave me when I was around 10 years old. Not sure if they are real or not, but I hope so!

The bride arrives with the proud Mum and Dad.

The view across the fields from where the wedding took place. There was a slight breeze, and the sound of birdsong in the air. A few misty clouds blew across the sky during the wedding ceremony, cooling the effect of the bright sun.... perfect!

The happy bride..... ready to party! 

And the handsome bridegroom. 

 The first dance.

Not my picture, but borrowed from the Dyment Farm web page. Three large barns around a central courtyard with a fire pit, chairs, and tables with umbrellas. The bar and dance hall are to the left, central barn is where the appetisers and then the buffet dinner are served, and to the right is the dining barn. 

Not shown..... the chip and poutine truck!

Not my picture, this is the dining barn. 

The food was yummy.... roast beef, chicken, loads of salads and assorted veggies, garlic mashed potatoes, tasty gravy. And for dessert, assorted fruit pies and a Tower of Butter Tarts!
SORRY..... The previous 2 pictures may not show. For more info. go to the farm web site.

Easter Bonnets

In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it,
You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade.
I'll be all in clover and when they look you over,
I'll be the proudest fellow in the Easter Parade.

I think that was Judy Garland's song wasn't it? I remember my mother humming it every Easter.
Well, I'm not wearing an Easter Bonnet today, but here are some fancy creations that I saw in the BeauChapeau hat shop in the up-market tourist town of Niagara-on-the-Lake last week.

I don't think I've ever been in an actual hat shop before. Well, not since I was a little girl and used to go with my dad to the nearby "big town" every year to buy a new trilby. Sorry boys, I didn't take any photos of the male oriented hats. Lots of ball caps, fedoras, cowboy hats, Tilleys, even a black velvet top hat! Men looked so good when everyone wore hats. (Especially those gentlemen with a little bald spot! You know who you are....)

But the ladies hats were truly fabulous! Every colour and style you can imagine. And pretty pricey too. I love the look of a hat, it completes an stylish outfit.

I bought a fancy wedding hat complete with ribbons and feathers when YoungerSon got married (WOW that was ten years ago!) but didn't have the nerve to wear it, as none of the guests was wearing a hat. A hat is not so much a tradition here in Canada as it is in England. But I'm invited to a wedding in June.... will I be brave enough to bring my wedding hat out of storage? We'll see........

Colours of Fall and an Anniversary

Autumn.... my favourite time of year. This is Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. We have our thanksgiving celebrations while the weather is still sunny, not like our cousins south of the border who wait until almost the end of November when it can be cold and rainy, and even snowy some years.
This Thanksgiving weekend has been full of glorious sunshine and blue skies, something that I am definitely thankful for.
I love the colours of autumn, the golds and reds and yellows. The leaves are late turning this year, but there's still lots of colour around. These photos need no explanations.

And an Anniversary!
Congratulations are due to YoungerSon and The Bride. Eight years ago they were married in front of friends and family in a beautiful wedding ceremony at the Royal Botanical Gardens. The sun shone that day too. Now their family consists of three energetic little children (two boys and a girl), a bouncy golden doodle (TessaDog), living in a house that they have made some crazy construction changes to and made their own. And they are still smiling!

Congratulations! May you always be as happy as you are now.

Waving the Flag

Rule Brittania! Brittania rule the waves!
Britons never, never, never shall be slaves!

I and a group of other ex-pat Brits waved the flag this week at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's version of the Last Night of the Proms, a musical party of all things British.

The Promenade Concerts started in England in 1895, and have continued since then, with classical and pops music presented in concert halls all over Britain.
But the culminating concert, the Last Night of the Proms, takes place at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and always features the pieces of music that bring tears to the eyes of Brits living abroad, such as Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance (features Land of Hope and Glory), Fantasia on British Sea Songs (includes Rule Brittania!), and the hymn, Jerusalem.

Are you sniffling yet, ex-pats? Just a little bit?

We couldn't make it all the way to London, so we decided to attend the Canadian version. When we arrived at Roy Thomson Hall, the 48th Highlanders of Canada Pipes and Drums were in full voice with Scotland the Brave.

Once inside the concert hall, the crowd began to fill the 2630 seats, with many of the concert-goers clutching a flag.... mostly Union Jacks, but some Scottish, Welsh and English flags too. After all, this is a flag-waving extravaganza, if you don't have a flag to wave at this event, you're in the minority!
If you didn't have a flag, not to worry, they were selling them in the lobby, so there was no excuse!

And the guests of honour were Will and Kate (well, Will and Kate wannabe's actually). And of course, the orchestra played the appropriate wedding music.... Mendelssohn's Wedding March, and Sammy Kahn's Love and Marriage.

Arranged on the next level above the orchestra were the members of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.
(Sorry about the blurry photos, you'll have to click to enlarge Will and Kate.)
Maestro Bramwell Tovey was scheduled to conduct the concert, but unfortunately he had to cancel due to the sudden death of his mother, so Maestro Grant Llewellyn took over at short notice, and he was marvellous. Funny, personable and entertaining. A great afternoon at the Symphony!

--oo--0--oo--

My volunteer job often has me taking tickets and showing people to their seats at my local Theatre and Arts and Culture Centre, where some great concerts take place. Last night was no exception. The opening artist was Ian Kelly, a singer-songwriter from Montreal.... he was awesome.
And the main act of the evening was Meaghan Smith, Canadian singer-songwriter and Juno Award winner... wow, could she sing! And she's gorgeous too. Accompanied by her guitarist husband (who she calls her husBAND, cos he makes up the whole band!) she sang her way through her latest CD... great stuff. I sold CDs and merchandise for her at intermission, and she gave me a copy of her CD.... I can't wait to listen to it!

The Royal Wedding

I struggled out of bed bleary eyed this morning at 5:30am, and joined the millions of people round the world sitting in front of TV sets to watch the Event of the Century (well, the century so far anyway!) . My personal invitation to the Royal Wedding must have got lost in the mail, so I made myself comfy on the couch with a hot coffee and a toasted buttered hot cross bun.

The bride was stunning in such a beautiful wedding dress, simple but oh so elegant. And the groom... so handsome in the dress uniform of the Irish Guards. They certainly are a good looking couple.

The best part of the wedding.... the moment when Will put the ring on her finger and it wouldn't go on smoothly. When my parents married back in 1941, my father had the same problem.... the ring wouldn't go on. The minister's whispered advice: "Spit on it! Spit on it!" Desperate times require desperate measures. Luckily, Will didn't have to resort to that.

Another great moment was of course the eagerly anticipated Royal Kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, but what really brought a lump to my throat was the flypast of three WWII fighter planes from the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, a Hurricane, a Spitfire and a Lancaster. It made me proud to be British!

I watched it all on CTV... but why oh why did they invite Tracy Ullman to be part of the commentary? She just didn't project the right spirit at all. Oh well, just my opinion, I'm sure lots of people liked her inane comments. I think she'd had too much bubbly.
(Royal Kiss Picture from CTV News)

The Wedding - a few more pics.

The Bride's bouquet... orange calla lilies...

and the bridesmaids carried an assortment in autumn colours.

The bridesmaids were stunning in their gorgeous dresses.... three friends of the Bride and the Bride's sister....

.... and the groomsmen looked pretty good too. OlderSon was Best Man, and the other three handsome young men are friends of both the Bride and Groom.

Guests were invited to sign the engagement portrait.

And of course, the Wedding Cakes! The round one was a three tier chocolate cake provided by the reception venue. The Bride and Groom decoration on top came from the wedding cake of the Bride's great aunt who passed away earlier this year.
The square cake was my homemade fruit cake decorated by Susan. Both cakes were served at the late night buffet.

The Wedding!

On a scale of 1 to 10 for weddings, that one was absolutely, definitely, and without a doubt, a 10!

Everything went according to plan. Wedding guests arrived from UK and Newfoundland on time. The weather co-operated with sunshine/clouds and a chilly breeze but NO RAIN! We seem to have been eating, drinking, and celebrating for weeks.

The Bride arrived with her mum and dad.

The ceremony was at the Royal Botanical Gardens, in a courtyard surrounded by flowers.

OlderSon (who was a very efficient and handsome Best Man), me, my newest daughter-in-law, and YoungerSon. We all look so happy! No, I didn't wear my wedding hat.... I thought about it, but, well, I decided it just didn't go with the outfit.

And the first son-in-law for the Bride's family.

Of course, enjoying ice-cold Champagne in the stretch Hummer... and a picnic of ham buns and Nutribars, thoughtfully packed by the Bride's mum to stave off hunger between the wedding and the reception.

We haven't seen any of the photographer's pictures yet, but he was full of interesting poses for the wedding party.....

.... especially this one! The bridesmaids were gorgeous.

The first dance at the reception.

And after that the party got really wild.

And now the newlyweds are enjoying sunny Portugal for a couple of weeks.

Ahhhh... it's all over. But what a super time we all had. My UK and Newfoundland guests have gone home. We are trying to get back to normal, whatever that is. Happy memories!

Wedding Cake Update

Canadian wedding cakes are usually sponge cake or chocolate cake, but I wanted to provide a traditional oldfashioned fruit cake, the sort seen at weddings in the UK.

and so..... the ingredients....

mix it all together...

bake for two and a half hours making the whole house smell delicious.....

douse well with sherry and cover with marzipan.....

and then take the three cakes to Susan for her expertise in decorating... remember Susan? The cake is currently in the back of my car ready for transportation to the reception.

Tell you all about the wedding next week!