Library Swoon

Image courtesy of Things She Loves.

Meet the Fockers

Mom and Doug invited Erik and I over for dinner to meet the Fockers, as my mother likes to say. She prepared this lovely cheese tray (which was quite quickly devoured)...



...which naturally pleased us greatly...






The Guinness was a-flowing (how Christmas-y?)



...as talks turned very serious.



Not in the kitchen though. We were busy touching this gorgeous leg ;)



...picking a perfect wine...



...topping it all off with a dab of butter...






...and timing it all just so.



It was all glitz and glamour in the kitchen...






...until it was time to kick back with a glass of wine.




A little taste of England (the Harrod's bag I brought back for Mom last summer)



...and a dabble of Christmas decor



...to go with this Buddha, naturally.





I whipped up some gravy (my only contribution of the night, mind)...




...to go on this leg of lamb.



Thanks for a great night. Twas spectacular.

First Day with my Nikon

For Christmas and my birthday and for every birthday that follows the one that just past ;) my father gave me a Nikon 5100 camera. I was beside myself...an adult camera that is all mine. I clumsily turned it on and gave it a whirl before collapsing into bed on my second night home.

In honour of my father, here is a motto that's been serving him for years...



The rest are just some shots of the Christmas decor and some things I found around his house...















I was one happy camper, indeed.

Running in a Winter Wonderland

A long flight (with a three hour layover in Newark where the security guard at the airport actually SWORE at me) is best ended with a long sleep. This said long sleep is best greeted with a long run. So at the crack of dawn on the 18th of December, I was hitting the pavement rather hard, loving the little bit of snow that seemed to fall juuuust for me overnight. I couldn't resist taking my camera (the Blue Beast of course!) and snapping some of Canada's splendour...

Watching the sunrise in my home country made me feel so warm and wholesome. There is something so magical about OUTSIDE, isn't there?






Ah...and the Skyway Bridge ;) Some things just scream, "You're HOME!"

Winter Wonderland

Before the Christmas break, Erik and I went on a little tour of Hyde Park to see the Winter Wonderland. It was a bit of a crapshoot, considering they made us wait in a HUGE crowd of people to even get IN, but the beer market was sort of worth it. London is hilarious: it's the only place I know where two or three completely, distinctly different worlds can be smooshed together into one place and somehow do it congruently. Well done, London.

Here's the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square (apparently it's a big deal).

Wellington Arch

At last...the Winter Wonderland.

This place doubles as a fair, so we just had to tour the supremely cheesy rides that litter the place as we made our way out...

I'd say a great (midway) day all around.

Weather

According to this website, tomorrow the sun will rise in London at 8:06 am and set at 4:04 pm. Seriously? Less than 8 hours of light? How will I make it through to spring?

I'm Back

Well hello.

It's been far, far too long. This is the plight of the not-oft-read blogger: unless we make a career out of writing, something, at some point, will inevitably get in the way.

I've been working, applying, writing (things other than this), planning, hoping, flying, visiting, worrying, eating, gorging, drinking, signing up, and flying again. We go back to school tomorrow and I start my AQ course on January 11, the same day the results come out for the Year 11 exams they wrote in November. It's going to be a busy month, thinks I.

I have a hundred pictures to share and will get to it as soon as possible.

I have stories, too. And notes on the bebes (who are the light of the world) and pictures of sunrises. For now, however, I should go to bed. Tomorrow is a new, exciting day.