Wednesday

I conducted two retirement planning sessions today. The client makes yummy stuff and they sent me home with a goodie bag! Yay!

My health card and driver's license expire this month. I got reminders for them in May and figured I'd better take care of them today while I had a chance. I thought a Wednesday afternoon would be fairly quiet.

I went to the ServiceOntario office at Bay/College ... they have a joint office there. It was packed and I waited about an hour to get my health card renewed. I expected to get put back in line for my driver's license for another hour wait. But the woman was able to do both of them at the same time. Yay!

I should get them in the mail in the next four weeks or so.

And I don't have to worry about them for another five years.

Tuesday

I conducted three retirement planning sessions this afternoon at the airport.

Gord flew to London today from the same terminal I was in.

I looked out the window of the meeting room I setting up for the last session and there was his plane ...

What a coincidence!

I waved good-bye as his plane took off ... do ya think he waved back?

Good luck, Gord!

Gord is flying to Jersey Islands (between England and France) this afternoon for the Commonwealth Veteran Fencing Championships (he fences on Sunday).

Here he is in his sabre outfit at the Commonwealth Veteran Fencing Championships two summers ago when they were held in Toronto.

Monday

I had three retirement planning sessions to conduct today. The first one was at 7:30am so I had to get up at 5:45am so I could get there at 7:00am to set up.

And you know I'm not a morning person!

I got home about 3:00. I took KC for a stroll and then had a nap. I was fading and needed one.

Since my nap, I've been stuffed up and sneezing. My throat was a bit sore when I woke up this morning so I knew something was coming. I've taken some cold meds and am ready to go to sleep ... but it's too early so I'm trying to stay awake a couple more hours so I'll sleep through the night.

Book ~ "A Lion Called Christian" (2008) Anthony Bourke and John Rendall

From Amazon ~ In 2008, an extraordinary two-minute film clip appeared on YouTube and immediately became an international phenomenon. It captures the moving reunion of two young men and their pet lion, Christian, after they had left him in Africa with Born Free’s George Adamson to introduce him into his rightful home in the wild.

A Lion Called Christian tells the remarkable story of how Anthony "Ace" Bourke and John Rendall, visitors to London from Australia in 1969, bought the boisterous lion cub in the pet department of Harrods. For several months, the three of them shared a flat above a furniture shop on London’s King’s Road, where the charismatic and intelligent Christian quickly became a local celebrity, cruising the streets in the back of a Bentley, popping in for lunch at a local restaurant, even posing for a fashion advertisement. But the lion cub was growing up--fast--and soon even the walled church garden where he went for exercise wasn’t large enough for him. How could Ace and John avoid having to send Christian to a zoo for the rest of his life? A coincidental meeting with English actors Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers, stars of the hit film Born Free, led to Christian being flown to Kenya and placed under the expert care of “the father of lions” George Adamson. Incredibly, when Ace and John returned to Kenya to see Christian a year later, they received a loving welcome from their lion, who was by then fully integrated into Africa and a life with other lions.

Originally published in 1971, and now fully revised and updated with more than 50 photographs of Christian from cuddly cub in London to magnificent lion in Africa, A Lion Called Christian is a touching and uplifting true story of an indelible human-animal bond. It is destined to become one of the great classics of animal literature.

I heard about Christian a couple months ago ... Oprah had Ace and John on her show after all the YouTube buzz.

If you love kitties and animals, you like this book.

It's a quick read (I started it yesterday).

Christian eventually became a 500 pound lion!

And you've got to watch this video!

Corso Italia Festival

Gord and I missed the Taste of Little Italy (which we enjoy) this year ... that had been a busy weekend.

We'd never been to the Corso Italia Festival so we checked it out this afternoon.

We took the Dufferin bus to St. Clair Avenue W and walked from the beginning to the end of the festival.

It's a different vibe than the Taste of Little Italy ... stores with sales racks on the sidewalk, rides for kids, banks pushing credit cards, food carts, etc. There were only two bands playing.

We didn't find it had a fun atmosphere.

So we walked east along St. Clair Avenue W to Yonge Street (a 5.5km walk) and stopped in a couple pubs when we got to Yonge Street (there weren't really any before that).

We won't be checking out the Corso Italia Festival next year.

Book ~ "Trigger City" (2009) Sean Chercover

It was so nice out this morning so I sat outside and finished this book.

From Amazon ~ When Isaac Richmond, a retired army colonel, asks Chicago PI Ray Dudgeon to look into his daughter's murder, Dudgeon, who's still recovering from the injuries he sustained in Big City, Bad Blood, reluctantly agrees to take the $50,000 case in this engrossing follow-up. Joan Richmond's death looks straightforward: a deranged co-worker, Steven Zhang, shot her in her home and then committed suicide. Never one to accept the simplest answer, Dudgeon starts digging and discovers that Joan's former employer was Hawk River, a military contract company under congressional investigation. Steve's widow soon reveals her husband's ties to China, and Dudgeon realizes that Joan's murder could lead back to both the Department of Homeland Security and some ruthless military contractors.

I enjoyed Big City, Bad Blood but it had been over a year since I'd read it so it took me a while to remember the background and characters.

It took me a couple chapters to get into this book ... I found it a bit cold.

And as a Canadian, I don't know all the agencies in the States so some of that didn't make sense.

But I eventually got into the story and enjoyed it.

Saturday Photo Hunt

Did you play?

This week's theme is pink.

I saw this cement truck in the parking lot of the grocery store in October.

It was pink in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Camera Critters

Did you play?

Byron is an expert at snoozing ... here he is yesterday.

Dish cloth

I finished a dish cloth tonight while watching Ghost Town.


Use cotton yarn.

Cast on 4 stitches.

Knit 2, YO, Knit to end.

Turn work.

Knit 2, YO, Knit to end.

Turn work.

Keep doing this over and over and over and over and over until there are 56 stitches.

Knit 1, K2tog, YO, K1, K2tog, knit to end.

Turn work.

Knit 1, K2tog, YO, K1, K2tog, knit to end.

Turn work.

Keep doing this over and over and over and over and over.

Cast off the final 4 stitches.

Connie Adam - Fencing at 80

From guest blogger, Gord. I hope I have this much spirit as I get older!

One can never say "Oh, I can’t do that. I'm too old!"

Should I ever hear that, I would let them know about Constance (Connie) Adam from Great Britain.

Two years ago, the Commonwealth Veteran Fencing Championships came to Toronto and I took part. There was a competitor meet and greet BBQ in Thornhill and that’s where I met Connie. She was sitting at the same table as myself and a few others and looked to be perhaps in her early 70s. A friend of hers came over and asked her how her knee transplant went and which one she had done.

I loved her answer ... " I had them both done. The doctor wanted to do one last year and one this year and I told him I just didn't have the time for that and told him I wanted them both done!"

I was impressed.

Here is this senior who went through a double knee transplant and a year later jumps on a plane to Canada to fence.

I was even more impressed to learn that she was competing in all three weapons ( foil, epee and sabre) which is three days in a row of competition. She's tough.

My competition was on the Sunday and I went Saturday for my equipment check and had an opportunity to watch her fence. With her new knees, she didn't move well but she had a very fast hand. Over that weekend for the individual over 70s group and team events, she took home a gold, silver and two bronze medals.

Very impressive.

Even more impressive is that she was 79 at the time!

I read that she took up the sport at 59 after her husband passed away. She said, "I wanted to do something to keep me fit and went along to one of these 'have a go' days.

"I was thinking about doing archery but I thought I'd try fencing and after having a go, I thought 'I could do this if I work at it.'" She admits that she "just got hooked".

I know the feeling. The sport hooked me in a big way too.

A couple of months ago, she won two bronze at the European Championships and was presented with an "Inspirational Sportswoman" award when she returned home.

This year, the Commonwealth Veteran Fencing Championships are being held in St Helier, Jersey Island, and yes, Connie, now 81, is going to be there. And once again entered in all three weapons.

I hope to meet her again and see her fence.

Goes to show that indeed, you are never too old!!

For an interesting article on Connie, click here.

Tryst

We were heading home and passed by a party going on at Tryst.

There was a $10 cover charge (we weren't planning on staying long enough to justify paying it). Gord told the bouncer that we were old and only wanted to have a drink so they let us in for free. Ha!

Rum 'n Cokes were only $4. The bartender gave me two drinks, I gave her $10 and she moved on ... no change. Since drinks were so cheap, I let it go because usually a rum 'n Coke is way more at a place like this.

There was techno-crap playing and we danced a bit.


We ordered another drink from the same bartender ... a rum 'n Coke for me and a beer for Gord.

This time I gave her $20 and she gave me $5 back and walked away. There's no way a beer cost $11!

So I called her on it.

As she leaned on the counter to tell me that I was mistaken and she'd given me back all my change, she palmed $4 (two toonies) onto it ... as if it had been there all along, which we all know it wasn't.

Needless to say, I didn't give her a tip.

In that kind of an atmosphere, I bet she makes a lot of $$ scamming people like that.

Milestones

After the Jays game, Gord and I had supper at Miletones.

I started with World Inspired Dips with Grilled Naan and Ciabatta Toasts (served with an assortment of inspired dips, Ciabatta toasts, red tortilla chips and warm naan bread for dipping Red Pepper Hummus, Black Olive Tapenade & Italian Bruschetta):


It was yummy! I don't like the Black Olive Tapenade so they gave me extra Red Pepper Hummus instead.

Gord started with the Crispy Honey Phyllo Shrimp (crispy coated shrimp lightly fried & served with honey chipotle glaze for dipping).

My main dish was the Red Curry Chicken Bowl (chicken, red peppers, green onions simmered in Thai red curry coconut cream, fragrant jasmine rice, steamed Asian greens):

It was delicious!

Gord had the Portobello Mushroom Chicken (double breast, with sliced Portobello mushrooms sautéed in olive oil with plenty of fresh basil, roasted garlic and reduced reggiano cream served over capellini).

Toronto Blue Jays 5, Tampa Bay Rays 0

Gord and I spent this afternoon at the Blue Jays game ... they beat Tampa Bay 5 - 0. Yay!

We sat in the 500 level, third row, between third base and home. Great seats!

In honour of Canada Day, the Jays wore red uniforms.

The stands were a seat of red and white.

Here's Gord and I ...

And there's the CN Tower ...

At the end ...

The first one

Here are my tomato plants ... they have been loving the rain and sun we've been having.

And here's the first sign that the tomatoes are starting ...

Happy blogoversary to me!

Wow!

It's been four years since I started this blog.

3418 posts!

I've gotten to know a lot of great people.

Thanks for letting me into your lives!

The Canadian Book Challenge 3

From Canada Day to Canada Day, can you read and review at least 13 Canadian books?

Starting July 1st, 2009, and ending July 1st, 2010, Canadians and non-Canadians are challenged to read 13 or more Canadian books.

Pick fiction, pick nonfiction, pick poetry, graphic novels, picture books, plays, etc. -- if it's Canadian and if it's a book, it's in.

For more info, click here.