BATHROOM INSPIRATION

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IMPERIAL ROLLS WITH VERMICELLI NOODLES AND SALAD AND VIETNAMESE COFFEE SERVED UNDERGROUND ON PARC AT LUO'S RESTAURANT

LOTS OF 5.6/5.7 SELF BELAYS!

LAST SKI OF THE YEAR AT CAP ST. JACQUES WITH FIRE AND ROASTING MARSHMALLOWS TO FINISH

PINTO BEAN QUINOA SALAD: a riot of colour

4 CATS: DEER IN GOLD

MY NEW NESPRESSO FOAMER AND CAPPUCCINO

I SUCCEEDED TO CLIMB THESE TWO 5.8 ROUTES TODAY!

EASTER MORNING

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CARIBBEAN ISLANDS : DUMMIES GUIDE 101

The Caribbean islands are an array of histories and locations that can be confusing and mind boggling. This blog will seek to highlight a few differences and comprehensively list the places I want to see next!

There seems to be three general political groupings. The Caribbean community (CARICOM),  The Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) and outermost regions. 

ECOCONSCIOUS: Dominica's Jungle Bay, St. John's Concordia Eco-Concordia Eco-Resorts, 

SNORKELLING: Grenadines' Tobago Cays marine park,

DREAMS: Sapphire Kite Tours, 

VIENNA TO FRANKFURT 2016

VIENNA


SALZBURG

GEOGRAPHY, AND HOW TO KNOW YOUR WORLD A LITTLE BETTER

When I was a kid, my brother was always better than me in geography (and history, and basketball and many other things, but I digress). It was clear to me that there was a big world out there, but I didn't always remember where things were. I was always trying to learn the capitals and countries and where they were in the world, but it was vague notion, and I often failed to really grasp the world at large. I knew places that I knew people from. US, Mexico, Romania, Colombia, Ecuador, Burkina Faso. Most of them were missionaries and the made the world a little nearer. Fast forward to today and the world is feeling a lot smaller, but I still have to learn and relearn where everything is and what that means on this planet that seems a lot smaller than it did over 30 years ago.

So, with the Iron Curtain falling, and regained independence for some and border shifting, google tells me there are 196 countries in the world. Canada has gone from 10 provinces and 2 territories to 10 and 3. The US has not adopted Puerto Rico, but many think it should bring up the count to 51 states. My parents took us through midwestern US and down to Mexico and Florida, and I have travelled to a couple of other continents since then and have a little more idea of the world. Still, I would be hard pressed to point out on a blank map  more than 25 countries that I am sure of (it was so much easier to find USSR and Yugoslavia, but I am learning! Even this week, I met a couple of people travelling from Qatar. Its airline has a ton of advertising, from soccer jerseys to my beloved Botanical Gardens, but when I looked up where it was in the Middle East, I couldn't believe how tiny it was! In fact, wikipedia says it had the highest GDP per capita in the world last year. That little fact, all from the search for where it was in the world.

I was taught that there are five continents in the world but others say that there are up to seven. The difference is in splitting or lumping together North and South America (N. America gets the Caribbean and Central America) and Europe and Asia. That gives N. America 23 countries, S. America 12,  Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica.

The largest to smallest land masses are Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antartica, Europe and Australia. The island countries in between can be grouped geographically with a neighbouring continental landmass. Australia is consider a landmass, not actually an island.

Here is a list of countries by continents.

To give you a fighting chance, here is the number by continent:
AFRICA 54
ASIA  44
EUROPE 47
NORTH AMERICA (INCLUDES CENTRAL AND CARIBBEAN) 23
OCEANIA 14
SOUTH AMERICA 12

Here is my list of countries I know:

I live in Canada. I often visit the U.S.A. and have made it three times to Mexico. I love to visit Europe and have been to the U.K., France, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, Monaco, Vatican City, and Greece. My brother was born in Colombia and lived in Kazakhstan. My uncle, aunt, and cousins lived in Burkina Faso. I worked in Nigeria. I visited a friend in China. I have vacationed in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. My girlfriends have been  from Malaysia, Algeria, India, Lebanon, Thailand, and Australia. I have worked with people from Ghana, Mauritius, Ethiopia, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Phillipines, Oman, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., Bahrain, Bosnia, Greece, Croatia, Jamaica, South Africa, Congo, El Salvador, Russia, Guyana and Iran. My climbing partners have from Belarus, Australia, and Guyana. Countries too familiar from the news, often because of tragedy: Afghanistan, Haiti, Syria, South Africa, Somalia, Ukraine, Serbia, Albania,  Burma, Kuwait, Rwanda, Sudan, Eritrea, Puerto Rico, Barbados. There are a lot of places I still hope to visit, but until then, I keep learning geography as a way to learn about history, current events, and ecology.

EUROPE 2017 ?

MILANO - COMO - LAKE GARDA (VERONA) - LEICHTENSTEIN - ST GALLEN - LAKE KONSTANZ  - TÜBINGEN - STUTTGART- BADEN BADEN  - STRASBOURG

OZ

Did you know that the land of Oz was invented by Frank Baum in Chicago, from the label of a filing drawer?

WHY I AM KEEPING MY FITBIT

I am not sure my fitbit works that well (I racked up a lot of steps shovelling the other day) , but it does motivate me in two important ways. First, it is impossible to get 10, 000 steps without a little extra exercise in addition to my largely sedentary day. Second, I don't get enough sleep. Here is this week's report:

Weekly Overview

You averaged 6hrs 32min of sleep per night this week. A good night's rest is important for your alertness during the day and for keeping you healthy. It is recommended that you get between 7 and 9 hrs of sleep a night. You get 28min less than that and your sleep times have gone down by 15% since last week. If you can, try to get some more rest.                 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Exercise more. Sleep more. Accountability to my health. That is worth the price.

GUSTAV KLIMT

Klimt was born 1862 and died 1918 (of the flu age 55) in Vienna, a member of the Vienna Seccession, inspired by Byzantium with his Gold paintings. Famous for The Kiss, Judith (Belvedere, Vienna) and Portrait of Adele Block-Bauer (Neue Galerie, NYC). Painted Burgtheatre, and ceilings of the Great Hall of the University of Vienna (latter destroyed in 1945), including Medicine, Philosophy and Jurisprudence.

The Kiss

(but check out Praise to Joy - This Kiss for the Whole World) of Beethoven's Frieze in Vienna's Sucessionist  Building

Judith

Buchenwald (German for Beech Forest)

THE DEFINITION OF JOY

My friend and I were talking about the difference between happiness and joy. I recalled having that clarified by the great author C.S. Lewis, so I looked it up.  This is what he said:

"Joy must be sharply distinguished both from Happiness and Pleasure. Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic, and one only, in common with them; the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again … I doubt whether anyone who has tasted it would ever, if both were in his power, exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. But then Joy is never in our power and Pleasure often is.”

Theopedia defines joy as a person or thing that provides a source of happiness.

Today, my joys are my daughter, snow, coffee, dear friends, Calico and Nancy Drew, leftovers, Klimt paintings, rivers, and rock climbing.

What is your joy?

SCHAHRIAR AND SCHEHERAZADE

Once upon a time in the kingdom of Persia began one of the best stories ever told.

A king named Schahriar discovers his wife is cheating on him, and he kills her, and resolves never to trust a woman again. Every day he takes a new wife, and after every wedding night ends, he beheads her. This goes on for three years until he marries Scheherazade, the beautiful daughter of his top adviser. Knowing full well his gruesome habits, she volunteers herself, after a thousand women have met their death. Instead of accepting the same fate as the others, this queen does something different. She has a servant wake her before dawn. Then she wakes the king, and starts telling a story so compelling that it transfixes the king. He listens until the height of suspense, and spares her life to hear the conclusion of the story that she promises to tell the next morning. Each morning she starts another story,  and she ends each story with a cliffhanger, each night for a thousand and one nights, until he falls in love with her, and she lives a long life. We have Scheherazade to thank for tales like Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, and The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. I wish I had her power, but I am glad not to have to!

ARMCHAIR TRAVELOGUE: SEATTLE

LOVE HAPPENS, a romance starring always loveable slightly obnoxious Jennifer Aniston as Eloise, a sesquipedalialist florist who writes words like QUIDNUNC and POPPYSMIC behind hotel paintings,  and the slightly awkward occasionally desirable Aaron Eckhart, is set in Seattle. Unlike most films set in a city, this one really showcases it. Here are the highlights I noticed:

Rain, a common reality in any West Coast city
Farmer's  Market
Mount Rainier
Monorail
Water St. Café
Seattle Needle
Rogue Wave concert at Qwest field
Gum Wall
Troll
Poet corner

A PATH TO EQUALITY

"A few hours of mountain climbing turn a rascal and a saint into two pretty similar creatures. Fatigue is the shortest way to Equality and Fraternity -- and, in the end, Liberty will surrender to sleep."

Friedrich Nietzsche

ALL THINGS SWEDISH

Stockholm syndrome
Ikea
H & M
Smorgasbord
Swedish chef muppet
Swedish fish
Swedish berries
Swedish meatballs
Swedish noir like The Girl with the dragon tattoo trilogy by Stieg Larsson
Nobel prizes and dynamite (same guy!)
ABBA
Absolut vodka and Akvavit
Glögg
Pippi Longstockings
Vikings
Ingmar Bergman
Zipper
3 point seatbelts
Greta Garbo
Adjustable spanner
Turbo engines for SAAB
Ultrasound
GPS
Gamma Knife for neurosurgery
Björn Borg
Aviici
Ingrid Bergman
Safety match
Propeller
Ball bearing
Swedish massage
Swedish spa
Ombudsman
Moped
Rutabaga
Lingonberry
Gravlax
Gauntlet
Tetrapack
Fartlet  "speed play" - type of training run based on undefined intervals (jog a block, sprint a block)
World's first pacemaker
Snaps
Celsius
Blowtorch
Volvo
Ericsson telecom
Linneaus
Seldinger technique (radiologist, 1953)

MERIT BADGES

It's been a good 3 weeks with a fitbit and I have enjoyed the badges that come with distance and elevation. So when I found this book You Can Do It! at the library, I remember the badges I earned at Pioneer Girls (my church's version of Girl Guides), and I think we should give ourselves more badges in life!

Some inspirational quotes:

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.
J. W. Goethe

All serious daring starts from within.
Eudora Welty

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
Seneca

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Eleanor Roosevelt

If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased.
Katherine Hepburn

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
Mohandas K. Gandhi

The only certainty about writing and trying to be a writer is that it has to be done, not dreamed of or planned and never written.
Janet Frame

Nothing lasts except beauty - and I shall create that.
Thomas Wolfe

Impossibilities are merely things which we have not yet learned.
Charles W. Chestnutt

As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
Nelson Mandela

If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.
Napoleon

Nothing will work unless you do.
Maya Angelou

Order is the shape upon which beauty depends.
Pearl S. Buck

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.
William James

What do we live for if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?
It is never too late to be what you might have been.
George Eliot

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
Henry David Thoreau

MATH MAGIC WITH SQUARE ONE

I don't know how I missed this show, because it was clearly in the era of tv that I watched. My daughter wanted to show me an episode on youtube, and it was hilarious and educational!

This is a "magic" trick they played. Try it yourself and amaze your friends and family!

Take a number, any number.
Add 5.
Multiply by 2.
Subtract 4.
Divide by two.
Subtract the original number from the total.

The answer will always be three!

VALENTINE'S PACKAGE

Every year my girlfriend, like absolute clockwork, sends me (and my daughter, and formerly, my husband) a Valentine's Day package. It is a collection of pretty and funny, and it's all very generous and fun. It is usually decorated with a bunch of stickers and colours and often includes a mixed CD. This year's theme was Minions!

Here are the contents of this year's box:

LULLABY LYRICS

Keith Green

Oh Lord, you're beautiful.
Your face is all I seek.
For when your eyes are on this child,
your grace abounds to me.

Jimmie Davis

You are my sunshine,
my only sunshine.
You make me happy
when skies are grey.

You'll never know dear
how much I love you.
Please don't take
my sunshine away.

Le petit monde étoilé de Flonflon

Rose, rose, belle rose,
Violette, la coquette,
Sympathique (si petite) marguerite,
Jolie, jolie dahlia.

Jay Livingston (sung by Doris Day)

When I was just a little girl,
I asked my mother,
what would I be.
Will I be pretty,
will I be rich?
Here's what she said to me,

Que sera, sera.
Whatever will be, will be.
The future's not ours to see.
Que sera, sera.

When I grew up,
and fell in love,
I asked my sweetheart,
what lies ahead.
Will we have rainbows,
day after day,
here's what he said to me,

Que sera, sera.
Whatever will be, will be.
The future's not ours to see.
Que sera, sera.

Now I have children of mine own
they ask their mother,
what will they be.
Will I be handsome,
will I be rich,
I tell them tenderly,

Que sera, sera.
Whatever will be, will be.
The future's not ours to see.
Que sera, sera.

The Overtones

Good-night sweetheart, well it's time to go.
Good-night sweetheart, well it's time to go.
I'd hate to leave you but I really must say,
Good-night sweetheart, good-night sweetheart.
Good-night.

(To the tune of For She's a Jolly Good Fellow!)

Rebecca, Rebecca, Rebecca.
Rebecca, Rebecca, Rebecca.
Rebecca, Rebecca, Rebecca!
Rebecca, Rebecca, Rebecca.

(Not sure where the tune is from) Play here:
I love you, I love you, C- F- F- A- F- F
I love you my dear.  A- (high) C-  (high) C- Bflat- G
I love you, I love you, B flat- A- A- F- (high) C- (high) C
I love you my dear. A- F- F- A- G-

Fais Dodo (Colas) Rebecca

Fais dodo, Rebecca (Colas), ma petite fille (mon petit frère).
Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo.
Maman est en haut
Qui fait des gâteaux
Papa est en bas
Qui fait du chocolat
Fais dodo Rebecca, ma petite fille
Fais dodo t'auras du lolo

Gene Autry (poem original Dr. Brewster Higley)

Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Home, home on the Range;
Where the deer and the antelope play;
Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Where the air is so pure and the zephyrs so free
And the breezes so balmy and light
That I would not exchange my home on the range
For all of the cities so bright

Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

How often at night when the heavens are bright
With the light of the glittering stars
I stand there amazed and I ask as I gaze
Does their glory exceed that of ours?

Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day...

The Riddle Song

I gave my love a cherry
That had no stone
I gave my love a chicken
That had no bone
I gave my love a story
That had no end
I gave my love a baby
Got no cryin'

How can there be a cherry
That has no stone
How can there be a chicken
That has no bone
How can there be a story
That has no end
How can there be a baby
With no cryin'

Well, a cherry when it's blooming
It has no stone
A chicken when it's pippin'
It has no bone
The story of I love you
It has no end
A baby when it's sleeping
Has no crying

Hush Little Baby

Hush little baby, don't say a word,
Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird.

And if that mockingbird won't sing,
Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring.

And if that diamond ring turns to brass,
Papa's gonna buy you a looking glass.

And if that looking glass gets broke,
Papa's gonna buy you a billy goat.

And if that billy goat won't pull,
Papa's gonna buy you a cart and bull.

And if that cart and bull turn over,
Papa's gonna buy you a dog named Rover.

And if that dog named Rover won't bark,
Papa's gonna buy you a horse and cart.

And if that horse and cart fall down,
You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town!

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

Baa, baa, black sheep

Have you any wool?

Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.

One for the master,

And one for the dame,

And one for the little boy

Who lives down the lane.

SPINACH QUICHE

HAPPINESS IS A DINNER YOU CAN PUT A FACE TO

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR (YEAR OF THE MONKEY)

I have dreamed of these dumplings since I ate them in Xian ten years ago. I didn't remember that I had a picture! The ducks were stuffed with duck! Missing is a pumpkin shaped one! Unparalleled. 

DAOU TAKE OUT WITH HOMEGROWN DESSERT

Pita, hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, pizza zaatar, tabouli, coleslaw, olives, rice 

Peanut cookies and DQ cupcake

CEVICHE, IN THE PLATEAU

Ceviche is a gem of a place serving Peruvian food for an affordable price.

My first ceviche: mixed seafood, veggies and lulo (a fruit that makes a delicious juice). The basis is lemon, red onion and cilantro. Unique. Wonderful. Perfect!

Fried palm hearts and plantains (tostones platter) with coleslaw (where does that come from?)

Saffron rice; buttery deliciousness!

Dulce de Leche dessert. Whipped cream that looks like meringue. Definitely did not have room, but it was delicious!

CLEMENTINE CAFÉ, 1490 SHERBROOKE OUEST

My friend and I had just finished visiting the Museum of Fine Arts Exhibit on Pompeii, and we were hungry. We looked at a few lunch menus on Sherbrooke, and this one took us in. Butternut squash soup, cappuccino and a unique take on Lasagne Bolognese, the latter ending up to be my favourite. It was made of overcooked spaghetti, which should have been the beginning of a bad review, but it is not! Somehow, bound together with egg, the baked meat sauce topped with cheese was delicious. The soup was boring and the cappuccino ordinary, but adequate, especially for a café. Still, the highlight of being wow'd by leftover pasta is the forefront of my memory. I would go back, and try another lunch menu here.

BELAY COURSE AT ALLEZ-UP

Tonight, I came one step closer to an independent climber. I took a three hour course to relearn how to tie on and belay. It was a great activity, and entirely necessary! After a twenty year hiatus, I still had muscle memory of bad habits!

I met a nice group of beginners, and a couple of work colleagues, so I hope this weekend I can get back and get my accreditation card. Then I can climb on!

Here are the basics I learned:

Communication patterns (climber to belayer)

Climbing: climb on!,  Départ: Départ assuré

Take: take on!(break), À sec: Sec assuré

Lower: lowering!, Descends-Moi: Descente assuré

Check the top rope is not tangled. Climber has end closest to wall.

Five points of harness to check - hip strap, 2 leg straps, front loops, rear clip

Figure of Eight knot: Give yourself a length of rope from left shoulder to hand, grab a loop in left hand, loop above and put rope through to form a pretzel. Thread from bottom to top loop, and start threading along the pretzel shape, from the bottom, creating a space to the right. The bottom of the pretzel should have the rope exiting to the harness from above. Tighten by pulling kitty-corner. Give yourself a fist at the harness, and at least a fist left of rope at the end.



Belay - use ATC with teeth to the ground. Thread right side with a loop of rope. Put the carabiner through both rope and atc loops. Then attach to the belay loop at the front of the harness, and lock.

To safely belay, always have one hand below ATC, and grip with thumb overlapping. Grab with left hand at eye level, and don't take too much slack at any one time with the right. If the climber falls, break down with right and get left below as soon as possible. To lower, keep left hand below ATC, gripped, and feed rope through it with right from below.

Climbing! Climb on!

ADDENDUM:
On the first day, we got accredited! We also learned that shoelaces need to be checked too!
Interesting tidbits from the security officer, Andrew: shoulder dislocation is one of the most common climbing injuries!