Little Bits and Pieces

It was five degrees yesterday at 8.30am, which concerns me becuase it is only fall and not even winter yet.  The days have been pretty cool - getting up to about 12 degrees.  We have not had the heating on in the house yet though (just tested it once) because inside is pretty warm.  Every now and then I need to put the fireplace on for a bit to warm up but that's about it.   It was raining today on and off but luckily it held off at the right times, so we were able to ride to school.  Riding every day has been a lot of fun - Jack's confidence has been growing and now he is doing all sorts of little tricks on his bike like riding with one hand and also riding standing up. 

Troy went to help out a new friend with some home repairs today.  What a shame for him because today Jack and I came across a fox on our way to school!  It was pretty cool to see one and man they can dash!  They seem really interested in everything going on around them as it stopped and stared at us for a while.  I was madly trying to rack my brain about what the Lonely Planet Guide said about foxes....do they attack?  Do they have rabies?  Are you supposed to make fierce fox noises to scare it away?  What if it sounds like a mating call??  What IS a mating call?  Are you supposed to run away from them or stand your ground?  Are you means to run straight or zigzag?  Are you supposed to stop, drop & roll?????  My mind was in a panic and I couldn't think straight, obviously.   Anyhow, all that went through my mind in the 2.3 seconds the fox stared at us.  Then it took off.  Phew.  So I have officially battled and defeated an encounter with a fox.  Seems I did the right thing and just stared with a panic-stricken face!!!!

We are waiting to hear back from Jack's school whether he can be put up into Grade One.  The request has to go to the Superintendent or something so we feel really important.   We have been doing extra work at home with Jack with his reading and writing.  All I can say is... Teachers need to be paid more AND people who home school their children need their head read! 

I went to a Book Club last week.  Lovenia invited me to go along as it is a very informal and relaxed book club which has been going for a few years with some of the local ladies.  I was a bit apprehensive at first because I have heard some horror-stories about some book clubs, but Lovenia assured me that all the ladies were lovely and easy-going.  It is called 'Chapters and Cheers' and you have to take a bottle of wine and a book or two that you have read and enjoyed.  We arrived and I was immediately put at ease.  There were about 20 ladies who are obviously all great friends.  We all sat around drinking wine and having nibblies for about an hour - you can imagine the noise!  There were about 15 conversations going at once and there was screeching and laughter and cackling.  I LOVED IT.    Anyhow, after the hour of mayhem I was beginning to wonder if we actually did anything with the books.  Shortly after that, we all assembled at the dining room table where one by one, you say what type of wine you bought (there is a $20 limit) and a little about the book/s you have brought along.   Then, everyone gets to swap books and you take home somebody elses bottle of wine!  How wonderful.  I am hooked and can't wait for the next meeting.  I am definitely going to start a similar style book club when I get home!!!!

Troy has work tomorrow.  The Firey's at the hall each take turn cooking dinner for the crew and because Troy cannot really cook all that well (I think it's just a put on so he doesn't have to cook EVER), I have been sending sweets and treats to work.   I enjoy it because as you all know, I love to cook and bake.  The Cranberry and White Chocolate Biscuits (cookies) went down a treat.  Tomorrow, he's taking Chocolate Cake.  I made scones for Troy to take to Bob's house last week when he went to do some paving and they were like rock cakes!!  I think it has to do with the consistency of the Canadian Cream.  Over here, the consistency of it is like milk......so when I made my scones with the lemonade and cream....well it seems there was not enough air in the mixture.  Well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.  

Because the weather is bloody freezing, I have cracked out the porridge!  Yay.  The only nice thing about the cool weather is enjoying porridge in the morning.

Pretty sure it is about to snow!!!!

Today I did the most UN-AUSTRALIAN thing.......Or at least Un-Queenslander.....I mowed the lawn in Jeans, shoes, shirt, and a thick jumper!!!! Thats right, I didn't even work up a sweat!!! In fact I wanted to have GLOVES on as well but I knew Erin would give me shit about it!.....GOD!!! the pain I go through just so people don't point and laugh at me.  Anyway I rolled the sleeves over my fingers so they didn't have to touch the freezing cold bars.  After I had finished the lawn I went back inside to find Erin has put the fireplace on!!!!! Inside the house was a balmy 21degrees without the fire, I just mowed the lawn at about 0 degrees.....plus OR minus 13 or so degrees!!! I don't know what I am going to do about her Propane guzzling habits!!

I also learned that a thick knitted jumper worn above does not cut it when it is windy or you are riding your bike to the park, another thing Erin was quick to point out....and laugh of course!

The front Maple Tree still has all of its leaves but they have just started to wilt and change colour, so I am sure this means that it will snow in the next few days.....I will keep you posted!!

Last thing, it seams my rugby league career might be over due to some eligibility issues.....something about not being a resident or having relatives born here, even though I never played a rugby league game until I got over here!!! I havn't given up though, but just incase....I have secured some ICE HOCKEY gear, so on Thursday morning I "hit the ice" so to speak!! just for kicks though, there will be no Canadian XIII in the pipeline for gumby skaters from Aussie! Come to think of it I don't even know how many skaters are on the ice at any one time???? I think it is 5 plus the goalie, I better do some study!

Cycling & Our Cottage Experience

Our bike ride with Bob and Candice on Saturday was a wonderful day.  We really enjoyed the ride through the parkland and along the lake.  Jack had a ball on the 'tag-along' bike which attaches to Troy's bike and allows him to enjoy the ride on Troy's cycling power. 
Here are some pics of the day.

 Candice made a wonderful dinner which topped off a great day!

 Jack and Bob with a hand-carved raccoon!

This is a gorgeous little house with a beautiful maple tree turning red.  The photo doesn't do it justice.

On Sunday, we left Toronto and drove to Loon Lake, which is about 2.5hrs north eastish.  A Fire Chief named Doug and his wife Sue invited us to make use of their cottage and we are so glad they gave us this opportunity.  The drive alone was spectacular with all the trees changing colour.  We saw so many different shades of green, yellow, orange, red, brown and almost black!  The scenery is something I have only ever seen in posters etc so to see and smell it all was something I will never forget. 

The cottage itself was just gorgeous.  Aussies have a different definition of cottage to Canadians -- it was a bloody nice house!  4 bedrooms, deck, jetty and everything!  The view over the lake was so nice and relaxing.  The trees across the lake were also putting on a lovely display which seemed to change colour every day we were there.

The first night we arrived was f-f-f-f-freezing so Troy made a fire and we settled in for the night.  Doug and Sue have everything you can imagine at the cottage, so we made good use of the board games and DVD's!   Such a quiet and relaxing setting.  They also have one of those really flash u-beaut wine bottle openers like Dad has so we are guessing they like their wine!

The weather was a little drizzly at times but we made the most of our opportunity and went canoeing (I think they whole lake heard me screeching, "sit down Jack and STAY STILL!).  I knew for sure there were ice particles in the water.  We also went fishing in their boat.  We all caught little fish using worms (ewww).  The time just flew by so quickly.

 Jack took this picture of Troy and me!

 Jack was allowed to have a little turn of steering the boat - unfortunately he has his mum's boating skills....



I continue to enjoy my time at the Cat Shelter.   We have been lucky to have had a lot of adoptions recently, so I was happy to see a few of my favourites find good homes.  I am currently doing three shifts each week (a couple of hours each shift).   I have officially been 'broken in' and 'rated' by the coordinators as a "keeper" which basically means they love me (it's not hard).  I find it funny that they think I am so special when all I really do is what I am asked to do, plus a little extra of whatever I see needs doing (like redoing name tags and charts).  They think I am being helpful but everyone who knows me knows that it is an OCD illness....I met my first polydactyl cat yesterday - for those of you who didn't know what that was........it's a cat with too many toes!  FREAKY.  I was sucked in and if this cat doesn't find a home, she will definitely be coming home to Townsville with us.  Don't tell Troy though.

I also started a stability-ball pilates class on Thursdays with Barbie across the road.  Our first class was really good and the next eight weeks should definitely do wonders to banish the fat gods.   For those of you who have been concerned about my beaver tail intake, I am happy to report that I have not had a beaver tail for about 4 weeks!  har!  Take that, fat gods.  I won't mention the amount of crap we ate at the cottage though.

Ok that's all for now!   Hope you are all well and happy.  It's apparently going to get down to about 5degrees over the next couple of days, so if I can pry myself away from the fireplace I will try to do these blogs a little more regularly.   Take care, Erin xxxxx

Off to the Cottage

Hey Everyone,

Just a quick note to say we are off to a Cottage on Loon Lake, Near Haliburton.  We will be out of contact until Wednesday at this stage.  We didn't really get up to much this week, mainly because Erin was too embarrassed to be seen around me.  We finished Bob's back patio on Tuesday, one of his neighbours said I look like a Raccoon.  When I meet people now the first thing I say is "How ya going, I broke my nose".  Yesterday Bob and his neighbour Candice took us for a bike ride down on lake shore about 45 mins to the West of his house.  There was an old Estate there that has been preserved by the City, it has a pet cemetry there with proper carved out headstones for all the pets that the family had over the years in the early 1900s.

Anyway we are supposed to be packing for the trip so I better help. Ha Ha Ha :)

The Canadian Wolverines

We visited Kingston, which is approximately 2.5hrs east of Toronto.  It was the venue of the International Rugby League match between the Canadian Wolverines and the USA Tomohawks.   Troy was recently selected as part of the run-on side for the Wolverines as a winger.   Here is a little amateur footage of the Wolverines trial match (to select the representative team):

Canadian Rugby League Trial game

The game was on Sunday lunchtime and the weather gods were very kind to us with a lovely sunny day - this brought a fairly decent crowd to watch the event.  Rugby League does not have a good following here in Canada.  Most people have never heard of it, let alone watched a game.  Some Canadian's are familiar with Rugby Union though.  USA have more experience than Canada as they have a fairly good competition with approximately 12 teams in the comp.  Canada is not so lucky, the game against USA on Sunday was the second game they had ever really played as a team (and Troy's first real game).

Troy played really well.  I was very glad he was not in the front line cause some of those USA boys were BIG BIG boys!   The Canadian crowd were groaning and gasping when the players were hitting - I don't think they are used to seeing such big body hits without the protective gear of the gridiron boys!   I was fairly amused to hear people talking in the stands about the game (they clearly have little idea of Rugby League, but nice of them to show up to support it!).  One guy was telling another guy that most games end up with a score line around 60! 

After a pretty average first half, USA had the lead with 22-4.  

I thought this was Troy making a break! but turns out it was another player on his team oops!!

After a much improved second half, the Canadian Wolverines had clawed their way back to 22-16!  With two minutes until full time, Troy got the ball and made an excellent run to gain some much needed metres.  Unfortunately, the forearm (swinging forearm, Troy tells me) from a USA tackler (third man in, the cheating pricks.., Troy tells me) smashed Troy across the bridge of his nose resulting in copious amounts of gushing blood and a broken nose!  He had to leave the field immediately in the final dying moments of the game.   Unfortunately, the Canadian Wolverines lost by six points. 

Here is a picture of Troy after he had reset his nose (himself).  He said it sounded like a really heavy crack:

The bleeding finally stopped after 2.5 hours!  This is how it looked then.

But then Troy sneezed and the blood started GUSHING again!  We had to stop the car and pull over to control the bleeding!  ewwwwww.

We got back to Toronto late Sunday night.   This is the sight I got when we woke up on Monday morning:

Needless to say, Troy is a little sore and sorry today!  Yvonne, please don't freak out - it's worse than it looks.  Ha ha ha.  Oh and he has hurt his wrist, but that doesn't look anywhere near as freaky as his face, so that's not important!

So it looks like Troy's modelling days are over.  He's not sure he has put his nose back in correctly, so we will see how it looks when the swelling goes down a little.

On a positive note, Ice Hockey starts tomorrow!  Let the fun begin!

The weather is really starting to get cool here.  It was 10 degrees until about 10am this morning.  The sun is still nice and warm though, so it's not too bad outside....it's just the chilly wind that rips through you.

Jack at school and Ottawa

Well Jack started school last Tuesday.  He is in Senior Kindegarden at Princess Margaret Junior School in the afternoon class which goes from 12.50 to 3.20pm.   Our neighbour told us to prepare ourselves for a multicultural school and described the first day a bit like a U.N. meeting.  He was right!  There are three kids in his class who don't even speak one word of english.  So far, Jack seems to enjoy it and has made a friend who "doesn't have white hair like me, he has black hair.  And he doesn't have skin like me, he has brown skin".  I have since discovered that his name is Selim and I think he is Somalian.  Jack said he is his best friend so that's great.   It will be a wonderful experience for Jack to socialise and learn in a multicultural environment.  Each day we ride our bikes to school for drop off and pick up.  It is a shame it is only a half day of school as are hoping Jack can enter the last term of grade one upon our return to Australia.  We have some concerns that 2.5hrs of schooling will not be enough to keep Jack at the level he needs to be, however his teacher is wonderful and understands our situation we will speak with her after a week or so to see how Jack is getting on.

On the weekend, we went to Ottawa (Canada's capital).  A firefighter friend named Pat recently returned from an Australian Exchange and invited Troy to participate in the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Memorial March.  We travelled out to Ottawa on Friday afternoon for the weekend.   It is an absolutely gorgeous city with many old and historic buildings.   The architecture was breathtaking!

On Friday night, we ventured out to the markets and had dinner at an Irish Pub (one of about five Irish Pubs).   Earlier in the day our cabbie told us about a 'Light Show' at Parliament Hill that night.  So after dinner, we wandered back toward Parliament Hill to see this light show.  Well, one word.... WOW.  The light show was actually presented ON Parliament house.  It provided a lot of historic information and entertainment all about Canada.   The effects and music were so clever and we were captivated for the 30 minute show!

On Saturday, we ventured out to play tourists for the day.  After some more shopping, we visited the Canadian Gallery of Civilisation which is actually on the other side of the river in Quebec (one side of the river is Ontario).  That was pretty interesting and it had a great kids area with interactive displays for Jack to expel some energy!

We did a LOT of walking that day. 

This was one area which had Jack captivated!  The locks are used to allow boats to pass from one lake to another.  We got to see a small boat pass through a couple of these gates.  It is NOT a quick process but Jack was insistent..... things you do for kids :)
After an early dinner at a Scottish Pub (we had to even things up between the Irish and Scottish), we called it a night.  Troy went to meet Pat and the other Firefighters at the 'meet and greet' and  tried to fly the Aussie flag (so to speak) at the pub.  He has found a beer that he really likes here called "Moosehead".  I think it is because when you drink a few too many you feel like you have been hit with a Moosehead! 

On Sunday morning, the Memorial March took place at Parliament Hill.  Firefighters from all over Canada come to Ottawa each year to pay their respects to the firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty or as a result of a work-related illness (mainly cancer).
It was a very moving ceremony and something we will always remember.  We both commented on how it would be good if Australia had something like that.  Families and members of the public were able to participate and pay their respects for the work and dedication of the firefighters.

We drove home to Toronto late Sunday and took the scenic route through the country side.  We have come to dislike the highways, expressways and freeways.  Actually, we have grown a dislike to congested traffic areas in general!  We try to avoid it as much as possible and usually we have the luxury of having time on our side, so we go the slightly longer but more scenic and enjoyable route.  The countryside was lovely and we were able to see that some trees are starting to turn some beautiful shades of orange and red, so fall is just around the corner!  Jack slept most of the way, woke up and skulled a chocolate milk and then puked it all up!  ha ha what a memorable journey!

Sorry it has been a while since we have shared our adventures with you.

As I mentioned in our last blog, we were invited for a swim and dinner at Bob's house (a Firey from Troy's hall).  His renovation and restoration of his home has so far taken him 9 years but who's counting?  It's worth it cause his home is just gorgeous.  He still has some further work to do, but he is now feeling much more optimistic about it as he has a new Aussie mate with heaps of time on his hands to help him!

Bob also has five cats and Jack and I had a heap of fun meeting them.  We took a bag of cat treats with us as an ice breaker.  We needn't have bothered, they are so friendly!  One cat named Peaches reminded me of our old cat Chad as he likes to spend his time doing a neighbourhood patrol.  He seems to be the Sheriff in town and all the humans should feel very thankful that he allows them to reside in his neighbourhood.

We went to the "Ex" which is similar to the Brisbane Ekka.  It was a great day.  We caught the "GO" train to the Ex and it has three level which impressed Jack.  He spent the majority of the day going on all the different rides (again, insisting on doing it all by himself).  There was a roller coaster that he asked to go on but he didn't meet the height requirement to go unattended.  So I bailed immediately (just looking at it made my head spin) so Troy was the lucky candidate!   We also saw a huge sandcastle building competition which was mind-blowing!!

The food was also great at the Ex and I was delighted to find.....a BEAVER TAIL stand!  Mmmm mmmmm.  Seriously, I think I am an addict.  Anyhow, after I ate a WHOLE beaver tail myself, I was feeling a tad lazy and mellow.  This didn't last long as the evil fat gods were lurking and plotting against me.  Troy had estimated that we had to catch the return train on time to ensure we would be back home in time for footy training.  So we wandered (ok I waddled) to the train station to see....our train arriving at our station and we were about three platforms away.  So Troy starts running like an olympic sprinter with Jack flung over his shoulder and I had no choice but to take a stand against the fat gods and sprint after him - up and down stairs mind you!!!  So then I discovered that a whole beaver tail is not so great just prior to a run.  :(  Fat gods win.

On Saturday, Troy played a trial game for selection into the Canadian Rugby League side.  He is still unsure what position he was supposed to be playing, but he had a good game and ended up a little sore and sorry for himself.  No injuries though (don't panic Yvonne)!  Thank god for the mouthguard though!  He found out yesterday that he has been selected into the Canadian Wolverines squad which will play against the USA on 17 September!  Trust Troy to get into a national team when he isn't really part of that nation!   It's a great achievement though considering he doesn't play rugby league and he was competing with others who have played both League and Union.  *sigh* I thought I was going to get a year off from patching up gravel rash and cuts.....He was concerned that his shirt was too tight, but I told him it was fine :)

The weather here has been really cold the past few days.  At times, it has been about 10-15 degrees during the daytime (eek) so I am starting to get a little concerned about what we have coming up.  Today was especially miserable but nothing stops Jack from having fun....