CaptainOrange

Artists rendering of our Christmas tree Christmas(ish) Letter I make the season difficult. In some ways it is made that way for me and in others, I bear total responsibility: Moving Dad twice in November was more than either of us bargained for. We moved him once from his apartment into my Uncle David's house. Then we abruptly moved him from there to a great place on the riverbank--with a brief couple of days staying at my place in between. I was glad to help out in his time of discord and need. Also, he took me out for veggie burgers basically all the time :) Three (onion) Rings for the Elven Kings... In a similar vein, Merlin came to stay with us for a couple of weeks at the end of November. Some things about the visit were difficult, but on the whole, I was glad to get to know him a lot better and I managed to use him as an excuse to play a bunch of games and buy myself some new clothes. Win/Win! Merlin is a bit older looking than last time I saw him Once we had the house to our...

I played a lot of hacky sack when I was in university. Like so many of my activities, I'm afraid I did it to the point of obsession. My main partner for the game was Dave. We would find a patch of grass in a park and hack for hours at a time. He used to make fun of me for a particular behaviour that I would engage in as I played. Each time I passed the hacky sack to him, I would quickly grab a pinecone, or a small stick that was in the grass and toss it out of my zone of play, which I called my "spot." Clearing my spot was an obsessive activity that I engaged in every time I played the game. Dave said I reminded him of a squirrel--running round collecting things in the grass and organizing them. I just wanted my area to be clear of debris. Poor choice during partner's zoom call 25 years later, I was having a conversation with Wendy. I was trying to explain--yet another instance--of why I liked a particular piece of Lululemon clothing. I may have already told you abou...

Fair Warning. This blog post, while it is about life's most delicious beverage, will be handwritten and published as JPEGs. Also, I'm still (and increasingly) angry with Google and Blogger, but I'm still here... for the time being. This Post represents about 3 months of coffee testing--from November 13th, 2018 to February 15th, 2019. The project is only partially completed, but I wanted to be able to share it with you right now. Perhaps you will benefit from our tasting experience.

7:30am Got up and headed for the dive shop. My G+ crew will recognize this optimistic video clip. Headache and stuffiness better but not gone. I decided to give snorkelling rather (than scuba) a try. This was a good plan for a number of reasons. The first reason was that I did still find it difficult to clear my ears, particularly on ascent. It's not a very big deal snorkelling because you don't go to the same depths and therefore there is much less equalization pressure on your ear drum and sinus cavities. Leaving the Keys The other reason that I'm glad that I snorkelled instead is that I was violently sick to my stomach 25 minutes after getting in the water. If you are down at 30 or 40 feet at the time, this can become tricky. You probably remember that I had this same problem early on in Honduras. There is one small difference. I took anti-nausea medication in advance this time. It just didn't work. I don't know if it is because I am immune to this ...

Obligatory Back to School Photo Of course the biggest change this month is that Wendy and the girls all went back to school. Phew! I love them--you know I do, but I'm still happy when everyone gets back into the rhythm of school. I get a little more time to myself in the morning and things feel a little less rushed... for me. Everyone else, on the other hand is in quite a tizzy. Wendy is walking downtown every morning to the SPSD division office and trying to destroy the demons of chaos that threaten our children's educational existence. She has a host of new responsibilities this year and it has been a bit of a wild ride for her to try and get it together. She needs new challenges like the rest of us, so I figure it's all to the good. We hosted a pot-luck dinner party for her colleagues last night to try and help the team gel right at the start of the year. Father walking stalking children to school... Leora is trying to get the hang of her first year of high ...

I spent the entire day preparing a dinner for some of Wendy's work friends. It was also cleaning day and one of the invitees has cat allergies (needed to do an extra good job of vacuuming the furniture). The first thing I did was get a really good playlist going in iTunes. I prepped some materials for my dessert. I decided on a Greek style, which is to say it has no crust and is only a little sweet. I made a honey glaze and topped it with heart-shaped strawberries marinaded in lemon and sugar and a few mint leaves that are growing on our windowsill. Above is the salad that I made. It is an awesome recipe that Jodi introduced us to this winter. Celery, walnuts, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil. It's hearty, crunchy and zesty. Veggie lasagne was the main course. It's a modified version of a recipe from the Looneyspoons cook book (mine has a bunch of great mushrooms and fresh tomato). Apparently, it is out of pr...

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... There was Father's Day. Some time much, much later, I posted about it... I did a crappy job of honouring my own father this year. I guess that's part of the reason I've been reticent to make this post. Every time I think of how great my kids were I just can't start to type. Oh, well. Keeping it in just doesn't work for me. Dad, I'm sorry I was a jerk this year. I hope, with our long history, you can give me a pass on this one. Sour Cherry Crepe Don't let the disclaimer above take away from my fatherly pride. Leora will be 13 soon and Anwyn is 11. They have some mad skills in the kitchen. They are both talented (I compare them to myself at 25), but on this occasion, Leora made the crepes and did composition (she certainly has Wen's eye for design). Anwyn created the filling and acted as the prep cook. In the picture below, Leora shows her level of tolerance for my preoccupation with photography while...

I'm sick and tired. Literally. Sick with a cold, aches and nasty cough. Tired both because of said cold and because of my battle with garden pests. Chemicals would certainly make the job easier, but hand-to-hand seems so much more honourable. 16 on one leaf was the most I encountered. Smaller than these. At this time of year, caterpillars are our main foe. They particularly like our red current bush and Wendy's columbine. Last year they drove us to despair by consuming many baby bean plants and our beautifully maturing broccoli. I sent the girls in as a first line of defense. The insect hordes were as stars in the sky. Innumerable. Leora and Anwyn plucked as many as possible off the leaves, arms weary with exhaustion, and drowned them in a bucket of water. Hundreds from one bush. Then I sprayed the leaves to try and dislodge and discourage any too crafty to be caught. This morning I went out and counted another 150 or so plunging them to a watery death. Thank goodness I...

Flight went off without a hitch and Lee and Sandi were ready and waiting for us when we got off the plane. Ottawa has been a steady stream of incredible weather since we got here. The highs have been 34-36 with the humidex pushing us into the 40s. We've spent a LOT of time sitting by the pond and watching the very entertaining frogs and the even more entertaining children. Jaws Crepes Bassin (pond) Leora had been pining for crepes since her last visit to Ottawa and the following morning, we were all the beneficiaries of her crepe dreams. She and Anwyn  helped Sandi put together an absolutely superb breakfast. I didn't have to lift a finger. The coffee was strong and black and the crepes were beautiful AND tasty. On Monday we went to the Museum of Civilization . All museums could take a page from their book when it comes to children. I wanted to spend the whole day in that section, but was vetoed by Lee and Wendy. We took lunch in view of the parliament buildings ...