Wednesday, March 28, 2012

28th March 2012

Hi Everyone :)

Firstly GREAT news, my sister received her Paddy's day card from us. The reason this is such important news is that the card came with its own green mustache on a lollipop stick! This means she could use it at all Paddy events, so not only is it decorative but extremely useful aswell.  She sent me a photo of her in mid-use of it and if I knew how to upload pictures it would be on here. I think she should tour Ireland with mustache in hand and have herself photographed everywhere!!! :)

I was Skyping with my Mum this morning where we had a lovely long chat, she has to go to her friend Ruth's house as she does not have a laptop/computer - basically denial!!  Anyway lovely Ruth is my Mum's techno chum, she's older than my Mum but is a computer genius and puts all the rest of us to shame, so come on my family hurry up and get going with the computer. My Auntie Jenny is just as bad (my Mums sister) she actually has a computer in her house but doesn't like to use it so hand writes a letter to me. If I am really honest, it was kind of cool to get a hand written letter, I think its a lost art. Personally everyone who gets a letter from me ever will vouch that emails from me are much better because of Spellcheck!! what can I say, I'm a child of the 70's where teaching was practically non existent and all the dopey teachers we did have were trying to be your friend, so in short I never learnt the basics.

Well we have had the most excellent weather bathed in 25 degree sunshine, it lasted for about 6 days and was awesome and unlike when this happened in England its a taste for Summer and whats to come so its very exciting. At all of the houses we have Patios in the back with no garden fencing so its just all one big garden and Patio/terrace at the front, it turns out that nobody ever uses the back unless a lot of family come or neighbours, personally with no fencing how can you ever not have the neighbours everyone will just wander in!? Anyhow they much prefer to use the front Patio so that they can chat to everyone that walks up and down the road and to also nose as everyone else. There is no such thing as shyness in the whole of Canada, everyone and I mean everyone just strikes up conversations with you. Our first G&T binge was on a boiling hot day with our house owners and neighbours which was great this also spilled over into the next day aswell, but I have to say Tash and are still finding this particular concept hard.  We have a terrific bunch of neighbours who collect us at 5.15 prompt as everyone finishes work early on a Friday where we all go off to the pub, its an Irish pub called The Coach and Four. When you first get in there you could do with a pair of those headphones that chaps wear to park the planes, after about 3 glasses of wine you don't seem to notice the din so much, after 7 you are also one of them!! Now its a thing in Canada that one cannot get nibbles anywhere so crisps, peanuts out of the question. The net result of this is that if you are a nibbler you get as pissed as a parrot because its just drink which is something I simply cannot do, ergo since we've been going I've been blotto each week. Mike is laughing his head off as its usually him.  I don't know what I'm going to do, I mean one wants to join in with the troops and all that, but there is going to come a point where they are going to get me a sponsor from AA to accompany me :(

Other news is that Tasha has started work for a wedding events firm. it was really quick one day last week she went to the event fair got chatting to the owner, next thing you  know he creates a job for her and boom, she's in!!!!  Its only her 2nd day of training but she is really enjoying it. I think she is in for the posh weddings which are held right next door in the Marina. She is going to talk to the wedding cake lady to see if she will be prepared to meet with me as I am finding it quite hard to understand all the Canadian ingredients for cakes, who knows she might even let me shadow her. This way I can get valuable experience seeing the cake industry as a business.

I have joined an Aqua fit class, I have a pass and everything. Now you must understand that everything takes all eternity here, so the filling out of a pass would be a 5 Min's job, nah its more like 30 and in short I would have missed my class so they let me in and pay later. When I returned to pay 1.5 hours later having done hair and make up he didn't have a clue who I was!! Cheeky boy!! Suffice to say the class is great fun everyone is so friendly I have made quite a few chummlies, they are mainly a lot older than me but tremendously good fun.

Tomorrow Mikes chum Rob is coming for dinner, so I am preparing for this meal. I have got lots of wines (all Canadian) and something called Canadian Ice Wine which i think is a bit like a chilled port or sherry. I have absolutely no idea when we are supposed to drink it so I'm hoping Rob will tell us. Therefore my next post will be a report on this enormous event!!!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Oakville March 2012

Well I've left it almost a month to post again as I thought I would give Oakville a good explore first. We were really glad to be out of the apartment as its was a little cramped to say the least. The house is small but in the best location ever, I still cant get over trotting out 20 paces to the Lakeshore! Most mornings Tasha and I go for a walk round the marina and harbour. Its magical and I cant imagine ever tiring of it.

Well the owners of this house are a lovely couple and we get on very well with them, its a shame really that they don't live next door or something. They now own a fabulous B&B in Port Delousi which is like a Canadian Henley.

Tasha and I have a car now so we go zooping off somewhere most days. I have to say somewhere because most of the time I don't have the first idea where we are going? Poor Tasha I keep yelling left/right with no real idea of where we are. Honestly to say I am a member of 'Where the f**krwe tribe' has to be the understatement of the century!!!!!. Apparently I have now started to navigate alone in the malls, I always get lost and Tasha is a nervous wreck by the time shes found me. Its most unsettling as I could be gone for days when she gets a job :( The problem is everywhere looks the same, there are no reference points for me to go by unlike old Blighty.  As Tasha tells everyone she knew the problem was bad but nothing like as bad as the real thing :(

Anyway suffice to say we have now done most of the malls, they are excellent all of them, unfortunately I couldn't tell you which one I like better as I cant remember, but I do know they are all good. The place I do love the most is Oakville town itself its really fantastic and has everything you ever need.  There is a Melonhead which is a child's hairdressing salon where they get to sit in planes and spaceships to get their hair cut, a psychic reading shop, great butcher/fishmonger, restaurants, clothes shops honestly the list is endless.

We have been to Niagara Falls in the day and night, god in heaven its awesome. For some reason you feel compelled to throw yourself over and into the falls, I don't know why but its weird. We have not been on the maid of the mist boat as that doesn't start until Easter.

We have been to Buffalo basically for no other reason than because we can :) its about 1.5 hours away and means we drive into America, what we didn't realise is that we would be held at Customs for 1.5 hours as we did not have the green card that a plane gives you! So had to wait a-g-e-s. Anyway when you get to the Galleria its all duty free for us so its work a visit, that's unless your with The Nationwide then its total crap because they stop your card as a safety measure!!!! But get out before nightfall as that seems to be when the Gangsters shop!

Tasha has joined a gym and is doing all sorts of classes, well being a goddess does mean upkeep. I have joined a Aqua class and am the youngest by at least 500 years, they are very sweet and I'm amazed everyone keeps up, well that's what I thought but Tasha said that all they were doing was getting in the middle and talking, the teacher loved us as we were the only 2 people listening to her!!! However now I've been here a month I am resolved to join other things now in Oakville, at the moment its something called Spring Break which basically means everyone is off. Personally I think its an extended Paddy's Day celebration with a couple extra thrown in for hangover purposes!

Just had to interrupt the flow because my lovely neighbour Yvonne has just skyped me, I miss her sooooooooo much. Skyping is a bitter sweet thing really as you are overjoyed to see family and friends then really sad when its all over :( But I have been able to speak to Sam and see Layla and Harvey each week which has meant the world to me. I've also Skyped with Campbells and Mothies which have been hilarious are they are usually 14 bottles of fizz down and its late afternoon for us so its really funny.

Anyway bye for now will start to blog much more regularly from now on....