Home again, Home again, Jiggidy jig!

My vacation was lovely. What a blessing to have thoughtful children and their mates.

It was a gastronomic fiesta for me. I ate as much ethnic food as I could: mornings were as simple and as wonderful as a good coffee and a croissant from the French bakery across the street from my Airbnb.  And it was such a treat to find fresh strawberries (NL strawberries won't be ripe until mid July) and cheap 'n' juicy mangos. 

Lunches were simple affairs (such as this Vietnamese Ban Mi and fresh beet/ginger/carrot/orange juice; and dinners were amazing and varied and I was never disappointed. 

Japanese Sushi 

Vietnamese

Tibetan 

Cuban

Turkish

Our Turkish feast was the most amazing of all! My daughter's partner is Turkish; Sat night his dad and step-mom took us all out to the best Turkish restaurant in Toronto area, Anatolia. This is now my favorite food:  lots of rich tomato sauces, yogurt and garlic, tender meats, and drizzles of melted butter & garlic over everything. Oh my goodness! If you've never eaten it, I urge you to try. 


The second half of my trip was Halifax/Dartmouth in NS, home of another daughter. While there, we had an extremely successful shopping trip at Value Village ..... made even better with my 30% off coupon. It was like that particular VV was waiting for my return and had stored up almost all the things on my list! What a good little thrift shop? 


Then later that day, we headed to a food truck festival. We rode the bus from Dartmouth to Halifax which is such a novelty for me.  We were some of the first to arrive so got our food fairly quickly. Then we plunked ourselves on the grass and munched to our mutual delight. 

Four of us shared the most wonderful mini-donuts (far L) in such flavors as Strawberry Shortcake, Lemon Cream Pie, Maple Bacon and Coconut.

We also ate butter chicken poutine (top R), samosas, gourmet grilled cheese, tacos galore AND mini glasses of local craft beer (another reason I loved taking the bus)! 

The rain during the rest of my trip gave my daughter and I plenty of time to catch up with each other and with Netflix. Thankfully, with all the walking I did, I didn't gain any extra weight. And as glad as I was to return home to my own bed, I shall miss the awesome variety of foods that I got to eat. 

Cheers! And happy vacation and/or good eating to you!

The Moon in June is a big Balloon ....

Happy June everybody. For me, June is just that much closer to sunshine and warmth and outdoor living. Newfoundland can be challenging in regards to sunshine and warmth; but slowly, oh so slowly, it's happening.

Life on The Rock has not been an easy transition for me. Not the weather though: I can take the weather because although the lack of sunshine sometimes affects my mood, my outlook on life is NOT determined by Mother Nature. However, my Norman Rockwell vision of family life is far from true; my family is probably the largest challenge in my life. (Their picture is in the dictionary under the word "disfunctional"! Hahaha!) Sign! It was so much easier to love them all when I was thousands of miles away. 

As well, returning as a 62 yr old single female is socially challenging. I've not had a lot of luck meeting new friends, most of the old ones are busy with their families and routines, and you don't get invited to a lot of events when you don't have a mate. However, my bestie has been wonderful and inviting and supportative; my relationship with my sister is growing wonderfully, and my youngest daughter tries to meet up with me weekly. (Her working long shifts and my willingness to dog sit her dachshund Jack has also helped.)

But challenges aside, this is where I've chosen to be; and I shall persevere and continue to seek (and find) alternative sources of enjoyment. It helps that I like my own company. (And thank you for your blogs.)

Man in the Mountain

Weather permitting, I'll be heading out with a new hiking group tomorrow; beginning with an easy hike, they work up to the more rigorous ones such as the Man in the Mountain trail which overlooks Corner Brook and the Bay of Islands. 



But the "piece de resistance" and a long time dream of mine is to hike Gros Morne Mountain, a day-long return hike and very challenging trail. At the top, you look down over Western Brook Pond and the fjord and further out into Gros Morne National Park.

The west coast of Newfoundland has so many beautiful trails and fantastic vistas. And you're almost always bound to see some sort of wildlife. Just last Sat as my sister and I were drinking along the bay to my dad's house, we stopped and joined a huge group of people watching a Mama and baby whale feeding and flipping in the bay! It's amazing here!

There'll be lots of good food, laughter,
walking and catching up.

But my biggest excitement lately is my upcoming trip to Toronto and then Halifax next week to visit my other two daughters. It's so satisfying to know that they are looking forward to seeing me as much as I'm looking forward to seeing them. I'm also excited for Toronto's much warmer temperatures. Corner Brook is extremely limited when it comes to ethnic foods, so that's high on the agenda. And an extra special treat for me is going to my Korean daughter's graduation from college: she lived with me for 3 years: I taught her acceptance and confidence, and she taught me to love Korean food ..... and zombies! I just adore her. 

Today I'm fortunate:  I'm off in an hour, there's sunshine and Grandma has to take the grand-doggie for a walk. 

Have a wonderful weekend!