Visits and such... and such

Kayla and Brad are visiting, they are pretty cool folks! They are supposed to be flying out to Newfoundland tonight but we seem to be experiencing a tropical storm (depression?)... I'm wondering if their flight could get cancelled!

We had some fun yesterday showing Brad around, we drove to Glace Bay to check out a dog show (amazing!!) and we did some tourist stuff- stopped at the giant fiddle... Then last night we went to Rebecca and Aaron's and met some cool new peeps: Morningstar and Steven, and also Joe! Played a pretty hilarious game of guessing and ate some great food, drank some vino. They were kind enough to accomodate my inner veg without making me feel high maintenance. I had some very delicious oyster mushies, corn on the cob, blue and red potatoes, and salad (which was from our garden and theirs). Hope we all do it again!

PS- dog shows aren't really my thing as an ACTIVITY (as in, I would not enter my dog in one and get immersed in that culture per se, but I do like seeing all the different breeds done up for show. Neat-o.)

Some crazies doing the highland fling

I wish I knew what I was doing here...

A saluki- such a posh doggie!

This one was for Erin... hint hint!

An Italian greyhound- yep, that's full size!

Item one... done!

Got the tattoo! It wasn't nearly as bad as I had psyched myself up for. Didn't feel fantastic, not going to lie about it, but it was manageable. Took 2.5 hours. I think it looks pretty cool. Erin's is gorgeous too!

Stupid me forgot the battery for my camera, so any photos are courtesy of Erin and Becky.

I'll steal one of her pics (Erin's) just so my post isn't totally bare and sad. You don't mind, right friend?

We had a pretty stellar road trip to Truro- we left at 6am and we got home at 11pm. WHOA!

Highlights: Picnic basket, great chats, music, yummy foods, laughing during a tattoo, anticipation of a new experience and then experiencing the experience.

Lowlights: Needing to find restrooms because I'm not a camel, panic on the way up (me), Darlene's coffee.

On a totally different topic altogether...

Went out for dinner with two friends I haven't seen since just after high school. Crazy. We went to elementary school and part of junior high together. Had a really nice time and I think we'll do it again! I couldn't believe I was sitting there with the two of them and having a perfectly natural conversation like no time had passed. Life is so weird sometimes.

Also, speaking of old friends, Kayla is coming to visit this weekend from Alberta! I can't believe it. She is bringing her new man who I haven't met yet. We are invited to dinner at some new friends' place in Westmount, which I hope happens because they seem really cool and nice. Plus, I think Geoff and the fellow get along super well and that's awesome. I am also hoping Kayla and co. like dog shows. Hah!

La liste de seau?

Bucket list, that is. Think I need one. I will add to it as I think of stuff. I am having fear that I am frittering away my 20s, and I only have 16 months until I turn 30. I do not like. So...

Maybe I am being melancholy and sinister by spewing this on my public blog. So what. It's a blog, deal. Some of these are too abstract and need to be whittled down. It's a first draft, I suppose that's what you do.

Here she goes:

• Get a tattoo
• Get involved in animal (dog) rescue
• Go to Scotland (before 30)
• Go to France (before 30)
• Go back to NYC now that I can get into the smoky jazz bars
• Learn to ride a horse
• Help Geoff reach his goal of building a rammed earth house (and subsequently stop calling it a mud hut)
• Learn to take a decent picture
• Read 3/4 of the BBC book list. I would say all but admittedly some hold no interest for me
• Cough up the book idea
• Take a formal dog training course
• Go to an insane music festival
• Actually do something with librarians without borders and GO OVERSEAS
• Go to Africa (before 40). Could be combined with previous point.
• Learn to make the best chocolate mousse the world has ever seen. Or at least the best most people I know have eaten
• Bike the Cabot Trail
• See a ballet
• Make a difference in someone's life, by teaching them something or allowing them to open their mind to another point of view
• Get over my fear of heights (at least enough to climb a ladder)
• Make a beautiful, elaborate dress... For someone else
• Be a REAL, BEST, LOYAL friend to someone
• Accomplish something meaningful in my profession that I can be proud of
• Spend quality time with my family and enjoy it
• Publish something. Anything. Well... Something decent.

Ok. That's all I have for now. Spent.

Sheer delight

Geoff and I went on a hike to Cape Dauphin (Fairy Holes) yesterday, I had never been. What a cool spot! The end of the hike was a little tricky for me because of the height thing but I persevered. The dogs loved it. Although, Sola now has a swollen face, probably from so many fly bites. Followed the vet's advice and gave her some benadryll, so hopefully she will be tip-top in a few hours.

Luna going for a dip, hurrah!

Geoff picking chanterelles.

Then went to dinner at ma and pa's. Jim and Cathy were down for a visit, so it was nice to see them. Cathy is a riot. Mom made a whack of salads so I would have something veg to eat- how exciting!! There was a cabbage salad with lots of cilantro, couscous with veggies and chickpeas, and ratatouille. All of it was yummy of course!

After dinner I picked Erin up and we did our Irving coffee and chat. Feels good to do girly stuff. I am getting slightly nervous about the tattoo. Well not really, but I feel like I should be. I'm sure the adrenaline will totally kick in. Hah!

Four years of wedded... bliss ;)

It was our anniversary yesterday. Geoff suprised me with a bunch of candy and a super nice necklace. He seems to know me well.....

We just got back from the Chanterelle Inn which is on the Cabot Trail after North River, in St. Ann's Bay. Really beautiful spot, great local organic food and good service. The woodwork in the place is also all local and locally milled, and is pretty impressive, especially the staircase (which I unfortunately did not take a picture of). Also there was an Inn dog, Guy, who totally made my day. He's 11 and brought a tear to my eye, he was so sweet. Guy is a Vizsla, which is a Hungarian bird dog, so he's meant to stay really close to his "master"... So he would really lean into us and was really looking to please. What a great pup.

On the way back we almost ran out of gas, and not in the ooh-la-la way. In the "oh gawd we're in the middle of nowhere and we're going to have to walk 10kms to the nearest gas station" way. But we made it, 40kms after the gas light came on. Thank you Toyota.

All in all a great 4 year anniversary. I can't believe we've been married that long already. Whoa.

Oh. And yes we're total dorks and take pictures of ourselves in restaurants. In our defence there was hardly anyone around so not as embarrassing. :)

I'm the entertainer

This weekend was full of visitors!

Jeff and Leanne came on Friday from Ontario, they were visiting her family in Mabou and spent the night with us. We made a huge bbq scoff of stuffed mushrooms and salad from the garden, and steak (for everyone but me) and it was amazing. Erin also dropped by! Our house is conveniently located on her bike route :)

On Saturday Meg and Colin came at noon to stay the rest of the long weekend. We took a drive to East Bay and came home to make another huge veggie dinner (yay!). Colin is a chef so he is welcome to invade my kitchen to make veg delights anytime he feels like it. So we had a huge grilled veggie bake, fingerling potatoes in a yummy chive sauce, and a grilled veg salad. They also brought a huge whiskey cake from Glenora that we coated in strawberries. Mmmm.

That night we went to see the fireworks and some of the buskers.

Next day we went to the Fortress and to Kennington Cove, and then had a fire here outside.

Great weekend!

Behind the Fortress... Along the ruins trail. (Roooins? Ruuuuins.)

Me looking quite windblown. Nice day though.

A Geoff on the rocks, please.

Checking out some sights from the fortifications. We found out that we should be referred to as "tourons".

My favorite room in the King's Bastion. I should sleep in such a luxurious bed, no?

Chapel. I think weddings here would be kind of cool. But the second it got dark I would hightail it out of there. The whole place is definitely haunted.

Geoff serving up some dinner, mmm.

Nice picture even though Colin is trying to saw through our cheese grater with a chef's knife. heh.

Giving my Luna some lovin'.

Meg's bakin' some bake.