Spring was nice.....

After reading a the Spring 'happies' friend who lives much further south of here, I realize that I have yet to
post later Spring.  Early Spring was in Toronto, but later Spring was spent on Treasure Island near St. Pete's.


 Mike and I stayed with friends for a week at their timeshare.  It was only days after the BP oil rig blew, so we spent a lot of time watching the television and wondering what would happen to all the fabulous wildlife we saw while there
  This fellow was just half a km down the beach from where we were staying.  The Sand Sculpture festival had been held a few weeks before our arrival, but the handsome devil was in pretty good shape yet.

  Not having been in that part of Florida for about thirty years, we went back to Tarpon Springs--a one time sleepy sponge fishing town; but no more.  They have made it into the uber-Greek tourist Town: I thought that I was back in Cyprus, apart from the 'mercan accents.  We did have the best-ever Greek lunch--He and She and Mike had roast lamb, and I had the Grouper. We shared some baklava for dessert. The town was the site for the movie "Beyond the 12 Mile Reef" starring the recently departed Tony Curtis.  Hence there is this statue to the divers as well as a harbour filled with sponge boats.

crawdads, this would be a meal for one--we shared

As usual we feasted on the native food--Greek in Tarpon Springs, but closer to St. Petersburg we found a bayou-side restaurant that specialized in Cajun food and British beer.  It seems the mine host was an ex-pat, and his wife a lass from Louisiana.  Great setting, good drinks and interesting food.  The oysters were only grudgingly shared by me with Michael.

We haven't been sitting around waiting. (Part One)

Just because we have been waiting to hear from the powers that be in NZ, does not mean we have been sitting around on our hands.  Although the time has frequently dragged, there are still many things to do and places to go. Events in the parish have kept me occupied and Mike and I have been sampling some of the entertainment that Ontario offers.

Doing my parish rounds, I get to go to interesting and exotic places.  Newbury is home to one of the hospitals, Four Counties General, where I sometimses visit parishioners. As you can see, it is "In the Heart of Skunks' Misery".  The area of Skunks’ Misery is "of the most significant remnant forests in the Carolinian Life Zone and is noted for its diversity of upland and wetland plant communities (some globally rare), as well as its animal and plant inhabitants."  For a quick read of its history, and supposed source(s) of its name, I recommend you read the brief article found at www.ttlt.ca/skunksmisery/SkunksMisery-Volume-One.pdf.pdf
On my way to the Church of the Redeemer, Highgate.  I take the road through Moraviantown, a First Nations reservation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravian_47,_Ontario.   Due to the high 'sin tax' on cigarettes, some members of the First Nations have begun to sell cigarettes from the protection of the reservation.  I particularly like the ingenuity of Honest Ed  in accepting the other well-recognized, if not legislatedly legal, tender of Canada.

During March we took the opportunity of a deal offered through the King Edward Hotel in Toronto for a two night 'getaway'.  It was super--included with the price were two tickets to see the King Tut display at the Art Gallery of Ontario.  We took the opportunity of going to see the musical 'Jersey Boys' as well.  It was a great evening there, and the weather was unnexpected balmy--high 'teens and low twenties for the week.  We wandered around Toronto without jacket or sweaters, what a treat for March. 

We stopped first to see Yvan and his housemates, including 'Kali" who thankfully has her own Terrarium.

The weather was so fine, we got off the bus early and walked to the Gallery, finding all sorts of interesting things as we ambled.  We found a pavement labyrinth beside the playground.

The Back of the AGO

The Sharp Centre for Design (The Ontario College of Art and Design)

After lunch and a browse through China town, we went back to the hotel for a nap, watched a film crew working there, then went out for dinner with Benny Boo who had been one of our two exchange students from Belgium several years ago. 

The next morning we had lunch with a long-time friend, (who was still jet lagged from returning the day before from a business trip to Japan) and returned to reality in Petrolia.

The following week the weather, although cooler, was still very Spring-like, so Mike took the opportunity to dig up the parsnips he had planted the previous season.  Although there were a lot of them we shared them with family and friends, and they certainly did not hang about long.-- We had parsnips baked, boiled with carrots then mashed, in curries and in stews.