On a warmer day, I’m sure the Ross Bay beach would have been packed. There was loads of room for kids to run on the rocks, and to hunt for sea glass and driftwood. Lots of locals were sitting on the sea wall with coffees, watching the adventurous surfers.
Phew finally Wednesday! (Or, phew, Wednesday already if that’s how you’re feeling).
Our visit to Sidney by the Sea was one of those random flukes that happen while traveling that turn out to be the highlight of the whole trip. We had planned a week on Vancouver Island. I had a week’s worth of vacation to use up at work. After 2 years of COVID, I was going a little stir crazy. Sidney turned out to be the perfect small town for two or three nights – and filled with no fewer than 6 bookshops!
I’ve managed to miss Wednesday this week, so we’ll reset on Thursday instead! Yesterday I had my first day as a substitute teacher in Nova Scotia, and my first day back in the classroom since pre-Covid. That experience definitely warrants a Thursday reset. Middle school is a wild place…
I’ve been lucky enough to get to visit many of Canada’s best and brightest cities, but I am of the opinion that St.…
It’s nearly Canadian Thanksgiving, and this weekend is a ten kilometer run I’ve been training for, so lots of reasons to eat good food. This whole roasted cauliflower is calling my name and (since clearly I’m on a cauliflower kick) this cheese curry pie was delicious this week.
The UK has several schemes to allow Canadians to spend more time in the country than a regular tourist would. Youth in Canada have particular benefits, as many countries around the world have agreements with Canada to allow youth to travel and work. However, these are often for limited periods (1-2 years) and of course restricted to the young (sigh).
Several months ago, I began looking into how I could obtain the right to live and work in the UK in the longer term. I am a bit notorious in my family for wanting to keep every single option open, and this seemed like one more possibility that could be made available to me.
We came through Hurricane Fiona with just a few downed branches and a brief 6 hours without power. Others were not so lucky, including this woman whose house was destroyed while her booze survived the storm.
When I was small, I loved going to bookstores and libraries in other towns. I didn’t think it at all inappropriate to bring a notebook and a pencil in with me, locate books I would like to read and -rather than buying them- write down their titles and authors to borrow from my local library later on. I’m now told this behaviour was somewhat questionable – though I’m not sure I’d agree.
It’s Wednesday and perhaps you also need a little midweek reset. Last night I went with my choir to sing for seniors and was serenaded by a very elderly man with a walker (who had a surprisingly nice tenor voice). Meanwhile, we’re waiting for a hurricane which may or may not be a tropical storm. Given Nova Scotia’s tendency to lose power, I’ll be hanging out here charging my phone.
In the meantime, we have a game in our house where we try to identify the things people like/find fun (my mom always wins- she’s the optimist, and has the most interest in… stuff).
Nonetheless, in an effort to get better at the game, here are 7 things I am liking/finding fun this week:
I finished this book about the history of ballet which was surprisingly interesting. In it, the author talks about the rise of ballet in pop music and pop culture. So it was funny when discussing Taylor Swift to come upon her music video that features classical ballet dancers.
We made these cookies (without the chocolate) this week which are nice to have in the freezer.
I’m constantly house hunting (with next to no success), but recently viewed a house that I not only attempted (and failed) to buy, but was just dying to clean up. Swedish death cleaning was clearly needed.
I’d like to find any reason to be in the Netherlands just to be able to stay in this boutique hotel.
It’s become fall all of a sudden (despite the calendar saying it’s summer) and I’ve been back to constantly using my electric heating pad. If you live alone or are constantly cold, this is the best invention since… I don’t know what. I’ve also been living in this sweater.
Happy Wednesday!