my mosaic of the year

I stole this from another blog. And they stole it from someone else, and so on, and so on.

The concept:
1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. Using only the first page of results, pick one image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

The questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food? right now?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. What is your dream vacation?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. What is one word that describes you?
12. What is your flickr name?

My results are above. What's yours?

christmas cookie baking

this year mike hosted the christmas cookie baking at his house and we actually managed to get a lot of people in the same house! with kids! wow! the actual baking didn't go over well since mike and caroline's oven was broken. i made a non-bake white chocolate peppermint bark, which was surprisingly easy to do. i also decorated my first gingerbread house. it was harder than i thought it would be!



in conclusion, it was a good time and i hope we can do it again next year.

The best books I’ve read this year

i tried to come up with 10 but i couldn't. i have read a lot of books that i DIDN'T like this year....but here are the ones i enjoyed and would recommend. if you have any suggestions for good books you have read this year please send them along, i would be interested.

The Book of Negroes – Lawrence Hill
The Omnivore’s Dilemma – Michael Pollan
The Road – Cormac McCarthy
The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
The Pillars of the Earth – Ken Follett (re-read)
The Mists of Avalon – Marion Zimmer Bradley
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – J.K. Rowling

schneider's bush

last weekend we did our first ski of the year at schneider's bush. as usual, we got lost somewhere along the tangle of trails and had to retrace our steps in order to find old baldy! this prompted me to finish something that i started last winter, a map of the ski trails in schneider's bush! in order to create the map i used a map that i found on the internet circa 1995, and tried to superimpose the trails onto an air photo, which makes it easier to determine where you actually are. i also edited some of the trails based on memory and my knowledge of the site. if you think this map needs tweaking, let me know. i will probably upload a revised version later in the season once i have a chance to check out if these trails still exist or if new trails need to be added!

species still at risk despite my efforts :(

i found out today that all 3 of the baby peregrine falcons that i helped to band this summer have been killed. these three birds were born on the side of a residential building in toronto and were the pride and joy of the members of the building on which they decided to make their home.

the first year of life is usually the most difficult for young falcons. first year mortality for peregrine falcons has been estimated to be as high as 75%. many peregrine falcons die while learning to fly as they can fall off the buildings before they are ready for flight. one of these birds died as a result of a collision with a building (they often fly into windows when attacking prey), and the other two were involved in air collisions with planes at the Toronto Airport. below is a picture of the 3 birds the day they were banded. those are my gloves in the picture.

it saddens me that these brave young birds are gone. i hope that the parents are able to breed successfully again next year and that i will be able to assist in the banding of their new offspring.


Picture by Mathew Rossi, you can read more about it here

christmas alternatives

i have been doing some thinking lately about christmas. i guess it has come up a lot in family conversations and due to the "failing" economy (there are so many people at the mall i haven't noticed this fail at all but oh well).

there are a number of alternative ideas out there about christmas, a few examples of less consumer driven celebrations include "Buy Nothing Christmas" and "Buy Handmade".

These sound like good ideas and they do appeal to me in some sense, but in my experience, these things only work for some people. i am a huge advocate of making gifts and or giving more personal gifts (ie. time, skills) to people, but not very many people actually appreciate the effort put into these gifts. there's nothing worse then spending 2 weeks knitting a scarf for someone (and spending $40 on wool) and having them toss it aside and never wear it. one year i tried to come up with very specific gift certificates for each of my friends detailing things that we would do together as part of my gift. i lovingly crafted small scrolls of paper with gold calligraphy. and not one person redeemed the gift certifcate. well, maybe no one wants to spend time with me!

this christmas some people in my extended family have opted for a secret santa using Elfster. we will still be buying gifts, but as we are buying for only one person, we are certainly reducing some of the consumerism. honestly, i love christmas and i have no problems with christmas shopping, but i do have problems coming up with gifts ideas just for the sake of giving a gift. sometimes i have great ideas for something that i know someone will love and i like to act on that, but buying yet another book that won't be read or dvd that collects dust on a shelf seems rather pointless.

one idea that i read about was a gift swap, in which people have a party and bring things that they have received that they don't need but may be appropriate for other people(basically regifts). for example, last year i got 2 copies of a cd (that i love) but i wasn't able to return the extra copy. so i have a great cd, still in plastic wrap, that i can do nothing with. it would be great to barter/trade some of these things with other people for things that they might have that i could use as gifts. this would reduce consumption, as no money would change hands. at the end of the swap, anything left over could be donated to a charity. i was thinking it would also be fun to ask everyone to bring a food item that could be donated to the food bank. this would really be a party that would make me feel good about christmas. does anyone else have a box of "regifts" they want to swap????

wrath of the lich king

got the new expansion for WOW and its pretty good. there has been a lot of hype and i actually have to wait to log in now, which is unusual for my server. i was looking forward to some good playing time this week but when i went to install the game on my second computer i realized that it is a DVD and i only have a CD reader on my computer so i can't install it. and since i have already upgraded my account on my main computer, it means that i can't play wow at all from Aurora! shock and horror! maybe tonight i will try to set up some sort of network so that i can get it installed. or else i may die of withdrawal, or be left behind while everyone else in my guild hits 80! oh, and here is a cute comic. cats like wow too.

happy halloween

i likely won't make it home until all the kids have passed by, but Happy Halloween anyhow!



P.S. i love the puking pumpkin!

cute fruit

normally i find stuff like this cheesy, but alex sent me this website icanhascheezburger.com and i think it is pretty funny. i absolutely love this picture.

bad friend = me?

i've been going through a phase of thinking i am a bad friend, but i think i seem to have higher standards and expectations for myself than i do for my friends? not sure why i always feel like i need to be the one to keep in contact, the one to follow up and make plans with people. in reality, it should be a mutual thing. i do feel for the most part that i take on a lot of the responsibilities for keeping the friendships alive. i really do value my relationships, but sometimes it is difficult and tiring trying to keep in touch and be the best friend that i can be, and i feel that i fail most of the time. i know i haven't been putting a lot of effort into things lately and i have been using my location (Aurora) as an excuse for not making plans. i also feel that as we are growing older people are "coupling off" and don't need to spend as much time doing friend-type things as they used to. that may work for some of us, but for me, its not cutting it.
since i have always been about quality not quantity when it comes to friends, i should really get my butt in gear and get my friendships back on track to the level that i want them to be at. i may need to lean on people in the months to come and i want to know that they have my back.

baby news from Australia

my friend peter and his wife marie-laure just had a baby girl (their first)! they are currently living in Australia so it may be a while before we get to see her in person. alex and i are still talking about going to Australia for 2 weeks in September/October so we may get to visit her then. but in the meantime, welcome to Elodie Tamika Petric. she's so cute!! congratulations to you guys! and because it is peter's baby i have to post this funny cartoon as well.

a barcode for all plant species?

i have recently been reading articles about the collection and cataloguing of DNA of plants and animals for use in identification. this seems futuristic, but they are predicting that this may be a reality in the next 5 years or so. canadian scientists are actually compiling this data as i write this. the project is called the International Barcode of Life. so i wonder, in 5 years, will traditional botany be obsolete or will people like me still be the ones that study plants and use these "hand-helds" in the field? if you think this is interesting, check out this article. another cool canadian site where you can learn more is BOLNET. and i want to point out that lots of this stuff is happening in GUELPH!!!!

X-Files: I Want to Believe

i am going to see the x-files movie next week. i have an unrequieted crush on mulder. its been a while since i watched x-files but i am thinking of hauling out the VCR (gasp!!) this weekend and watching the first x-files movie. i can't really remember much of it except for the big ship coming out of the ice at the end. so i hope its a good movie, although i can't see it being too popular since most people don't even know what x-files is nowadays.

ps. scully has nice hair
pss. i think i saw them KISS in the trailer HOLY SNAP! (finally)

world of warcraft: should i quit or not???

i have been thinking of quitting wow, since i haven't been playing in a while. i got really bored once i got both my characters to 70. i guess i mainly stopped playing because the people i played with stopped. i don't really want to quit and delete my characters though, i spent a lot of time and money getting them up to the highest level. it just feels sometimes like i have hit a plateau as i don't want to spend all of my time doing dungeons and trying to get better gear. i need to find someone to play with or give it up for good. know anyone who wants to play with me??

canada day at the cottage

we spent a very relaxing extra long weekend at the cottage. we haven't been up there since may so it was great to start organizing and setting up our little cabin. we managed to get both bedrooms painted, and i did some cleaning and organizing. we really need to get our bathroom functional though. last time we were there we ripped out the nasty shower and now we have nothing but a hole in the floor! we are planning on replacing the vanity as well, so i am going to go shopping and see if i can't find all the things we need before we go up again at the end of July. i love the cottage, and i love it even more now that we have set up the wicked firepit.


for some reason Alex didn't take any pics of the bedrooms or bathroom in our cottage before we did the renos (?) so i don't have any!!! BOOOOO! so you'll just have to take my word that it sucked. and now it is better.

return from Guana

we came, we saw, we celebrated, it was amazing. now if only we could go back sooner!
Guana was a beautiful place, the perfect place for Will and Liz to start off their new lives as a married couple. and we were so happy to be a part of it!

although we had some mishaps arriving AND departing, we did end up on Guana with our luggage at the appointed time and were able to partake of all of the wonderful activities that the island had to offer, as well as enjoy fantastic food and drink.

we hiked many of the trails on the island despite the 31 degree weather, went snorkeling (i saw my first shark) and also managed to play settlers (I am Queen of Guana).

peregrine falcons

last week i helped to capture and band some baby peregrine falcons in toronto. i took this short video of my co-worker john in a standoff with the mama, after we had removed the babies from the nest.

goodbye fat

thanks to sparkpeople i have lost almost 15 pounds. i say almost as i am still 2 pounds away from my goal. i took some pictures of my fat self to get myself motivated to lose weight. i also watched a lot of X-Weighted and Last 10 Pounds Bootcamp. it's been hard work but it's so worth it. last night i put on a pair of jeans that i haven't worn for almost 2 years. WOOHOOO!!! i think i am going to try to lose 5 more pounds after i reach my first goal, and then i will be golden! learning to maintain without gaining will be my next challenge!

going to Guana Island

alex's friend will and his lovely fiancee liz are getting married in June, the day after our wedding anniversary. this special event will be held on Guana Island, in the British Virgin Islands. Needless to say we are going there with cameras in hand, ready to soak up the sun. they are planning it all on pretty short notice so we are going to book the flights this week and we will be there in 4 weeks. we are pretty excited, and it seems like a great way to spend our second wedding anniversary.

oh yeah, forgot to mention....they are renting the whole island for the wedding. pretty sweet!

some overdue photos

i went to a few prescribed burns this spring in the hamilton area. here is a before and after pic. I made a movie as well but blogger doesn't seem to want to upload it.

job interviews over

well, i finished my three job interviews and now i wait until the end of may for the fate of my career to be decided. i still can't believe that the interviews finally came. it was almost a year ago when i heard that the jobs were being posted. wow.
i have absolutely no idea how i did, the interviews (especially the first) were really difficult. cross your fingers for me.
i feel like i need some serious downtime/fun sometime soon. today is my birthday but its a bit of a downer because it is the middle of the week, i have no one to take me to lunch, and i don't even have any beer or wine to drink. maybe i should go buy some. but drinking alone on your birthday is even more sad then not drinking so maybe i won't. plus it is the worst kind of gray day out there right now. not even sun on my birthday. sad.
there is a long weekend coming up fast and i still have no firmed up plans. as usual in May, it can be quite weather dependent. we might go to the cottage, we might go canoeing, but there is no way in hell we are staying home because i don't want alex to work all weekend. any ideas?

happy earth day!!

i've been pretty busy in the field lately and i have a lot of things to share, i just need to locate my card reader and/or camera cable. technical difficulties. anyhow, yesterday we had an earth day celebration at work and we cleaned up the parking lot. we ended up with 11 bags of garbage and 4 bags of recycling. thats a heck of a lot for this small area! i recommended everyone do something to celebrate earth day today, even if it is something small.

ps. i am wearing my first skirt of the year today!

pss. garbage pickup yesterday reinforced my commitment to my ban on plastic water bottles, as that was about 90% of what we picked up for recycling!!!

its salamander time!

SALAMANDRE (by Sarah Harmer)
Salamandre, Salamandre
Il faut m'aider comprendre
Touts les mysteres de la foret,
la carte secrete, l'arbre d'oree
Patientement, je vous attends,
Salamandre.

Salamandre, Salamandre,
Tout les deux, ensemble.
Ma solitude et mon ennui
ont disparu pendant la nuit.
Ca fait si longue ma vit soit lente,
Salamandre.

C'est vrai, un jour je serais roi.
Toute la France attend a moi.
Toutes mes paroles deviendront loi.
Mais maintenant, mon seul ami,
Venez-vite, je vous en prie,
Ma Salamandre.

Salamandre, Salamandre,
la nuit s'approche, je pense.
La lune sera notre chandelle--
Bienvenue, ma vie nouvelle.
Nos aventures nous attends,
Ma Salamandre

I'll put up more pics once i get out there!

earth hour

its earth hour tonight. won't be that much different than a normal night at our house. we generally only have the one light in the basement turned on. but i will turn it off tonight, and make sure the outside lights are off too. have fun in the dark!

more greening

one of my new year's resolutions this year was to try to eliminate my consumption of plastic bags. i haven't been able to completely break free, but i think i am down to at least a 90% reduction in my consumption. the hardest bags to eliminate are the places where you need really large ones, and the unprepared times, like last minute grocery shopping when i haven't had time to go home first to get the cloth bags. i have been carrying a cloth bag in my car all of the time, which has helped a lot but i am really interested in getting some small nylon folding bags. i have heard of these but i haven't actually seen them anywhere. you can get them on keychains i think. (i have seen them online but ordering them sort of defeats the purpose). the other problem is my other half. his consumption of plastic bags is still at 100%. if i can get some of these small nylon ones i might be able to convince him to change.

the second new years resolution was to use more environmentally friendly products and eat more organic food. so far i have been able to eliminate harmful cleaning products and switch to some organic food but of course since i am not living at home i have to eat what is prepared for me. any food that i buy for my lunches, etc. is now about 75% organic. still a ways to go. i also have not been able to make the switch to safe hygiene products ie. soap, shampoo, as i am trying to finish using those that we have already purchased. it might take a while as it takes me about 3-4 months to go through a small bottle of shampoo. again, the other half is a problem as he seems to love his PertPlus even though it makes his hair all dry. hopefully if i ever move back home i can work on that as well. i think by the time summer rolls around i should be able to make the switch. if you have any suggestions for good products, let me know.

i find it interesting trying to think of more ways to become green, when i already do a lot of great green things. i like being able to fit my philosophy into my lifestyle. so many people live as if being green will actually make life harder, but you don't have to see it like that. once you develop new habits you wonder why you didn't do things that way before.

**********UPDATE*************

i forgot to write that i have also given up drinking/buying bottled water. whats in the tap is good enough for me!! this is due to a few reasons, 1) because of the enormous amount of waste produced by plastic bottles, both here and in other countries that we have visited, 2) the environmental cost of bottled water to groundwater, etc., 3) i drink less phthalates which has to be good, since plastic bottles can leach this crap into the water, 4) its a waste of money! maybe you can consider making the switch, ask for tap water or bring your own bottle.

the hawk concert

ohh good concert.
highlight: yummy music
lowlight: standing for 3 hours (ouch my feet!)

hawksley played a great set, letting people shout out their favorites so he could play em, with a little help from us in remembering the lyrics. but i have to say, he is not as sexy as last time. mr. workman has put on quite a few pounds since the last time i saw him at the starlight. last time he wore this sexy leather belt / jock strap thingy that we couldn't stop staring at. this time he wore a jacket buttoned up to cover his bulging pot belly. hawksley, dude, let me help you with your diet! someone has to keep the dream alive and the libido kicking!

and i bought an awesome shirt at the concert but it is a little too small so hopefully i will be able to shed that last 8 pounds and i can wear it.


Great concert. Hawksley, i miss the leather jock strappy thing. Get in shape sweetie so you can wear it again!!

no more pee pee dance???

alex has informed me that as of this moment WE HAVE A WORKING TOILET IN THE BASEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

---dramatic pause----

i know that might not seem that exciting to other people but i have been waiting for this day for about......4 months now. no more having to climb 2 flights of stairs in order to wash hands, relieve myself, check my hair, etc. JOY JOY JOY. it looks like the bathroom will be in working order by tomorrow afternoon!!! and apparently the guy is finally putting up the light fixtures that i bought about 5 months ago. i can barely contain myself. i almost want to drive home this second just to worship at my running faucet!! but i guess i have to wait until friday, by which time i am sure alex will have christened all of the new fixtures.

in other news, i believe both of my arms are broken from shoveling approximately 9 feet of snow from my driveway (collectively) over the last 4 days. the worst was the 3 foot deep pile left by the plough at the end of the driveway. the rest was fluffy fairy dust compared to that pile of rocks. we now have the potential for two magnificent snow forts, one at each end of the driveway (front and back). anyone want to come over and play? i have also completely buried my neighbours basement windows, front porch and back door. guess he can only get out the side until spring (sorry Bill).

i'm about ready for spring.

sometimes oatmeal makes me want to puke

but you know, i eat it anyways. i wonder what it is about things like that. i mean, i like the idea of eating oatmeal, it's all good for you and stuff, but sometimes the taste or the consistency really makes me gag. seems like a lot of things in life are like that lately. like wanting to be really happy for a friend but at the same time being really jealous. the reality is never as easy as the fantasy. and on that note, i guess i will go finish eating what's in the bowl....

hawksley concert at starlight

i picked up some tickets for the upcoming hawksley concert at starlight in waterloo. i saw the hawk there once before and it was amazing. i could practically feel his spit on my face. so i am going to go and see him there again. ohhhh only 3 weeks away!

piss on old man winter

last weekends winterfest was a bit of a bust. since when does it rain in the middle of february? friday night was freezing cold and despite several delays and misadventures of some of the crew, we did eventually arrive and dig ourselves a trail into the cottage. saturday was a bit of a lazy day as we spent most of it waiting for people to arrive. we did play a totally wicked game of slush hockey, but since i was playing i don't have any pics. here are some of us clearing the rink.

later we set up a game of Settlers of Catan: Cities and Knights, which took on average 3-4 hours to complete. we spent a lot of time inside playing with the babies, though we did take Claire for a spin on the ice rink and she loved it.

Here is Claire doing the sign for "more".

we ate like kings all weekend thanks to everyone's culinary expertise and of course the addition of cheese to every meal.

JC making two types of bacon!

sunday was a total crap day with pouring rain and ice, quite similar to when we were at the cottage over christmas. the road turned to slush and ice and everyone high-tailed it out of there except for a few stalwart souls who stayed to help us finish drinking the beer and eating ourselves sick. i cross my fingers that old man winter gets his act together for next year cause i really wanted to go tobogganing!

anthropologie

this gorgeous catalogue got delivered to Gina's place and i fell instantly in love. if anyone knows where i can find an anthropologie store please oh please tell me. i keep looking at the pages and drooling. i love the reconstructed blouse and the cork oak skirt, but mostly i love this.

job job job applications

i just sent off three job applications for a permanent job with the mnr. i really really really really hope i get one of them! keep your fingers crossed for me! here is a pic of my friend JC as a real mnr employee! i want to be there too!

WINTERFEST this weekend!

We are doing our annual WINTERFEST at the cottage this weekend. This year we have more people coming than ever before. It should be awesome. Here is a little video that Alex filmed a while back. Hopefully we can get some more footage this year!

bathroom still not done

i am so mad that the bathroom is still not finished. everything is in place but we have no plumbing and no trim. we are having a lot of problems getting our contractor to finish, as we have already paid him all the money. it will only take him 2 days. i just can't stand it anymore!

and i also have to hire a new cleaning person, as ours no longer wants to drive to KW. so i have lined up 3 places that use environmentally friendly products and i have to meet with them and see which one i like best. it is so hard dealing with all of this stuff when i am not living at home! i hope i get to move back soon!

this weekend i have a list of "to dos" for the bathroom:
- finish grouting the floor
- sand and paint the areas that i patched with compound
- paint 1 last coat inside the windowwell

and maybe call the contractor and give him a piece of my mind. i am upset mostly because i actually like the contractor and i can't believe he is screwing us like this! Anyway, this is what it looks like now, but take note that there is no water so the sink and toilet don't work. And there is no trim either.

between the beautifuls

the new hawksley cd is out finally! i have been listening to it at work. my fave song so far (or i guess the one that has been stuck in my head) is called september lily. i also like oh you delicate heart. the actual truth is that i don't really think hawksley can write a bad song :)
sarah slean is also coming out with a new cd soon, called The Baroness. her last one turned me off a bit but i will probably listen to the new one and see if it is worth buying.

hitting the slopes

we took a little 3 day trip to Jay Peak with a bunch of friends. time to hit the slopes, eat, and dance to the ukelele. alex and i hit the road thursday night and drove through Montreal. i haven't been there since i finished my masters! at about 11:30pm our friends called and asked us to pick up some breakfast provisions, so we raided the nearest gas station for some supplies and arrived at Jay around 12:30am. upon arrival we were serenaded by the sweet ukelele playing a rendition of Madonna's "Like a Prayer". classic.

day 1 of skiing was freezing cold and a bit of an adjustment. i was using my new skis and boots for the first time. the weather was brutally cold, windy and the air was filled with blowing snow. just going up the lift was a crazy adventure in itself. alex decided that his boots were too small, and all in all we didn't actually do much skiing the first day. my one and only wipeout of the day produced a lovely bruise.

day 2 we had much nicer weather, alex rented a bigger pair of boots, and i finally got my gear adjusted. we spent the morning trying out all the blue runs, and then alex went off to do some more advanced skiing while i took it easy for the rest of the afternoon.

it was a fun "family weekend" with the friends, and it was great to see all the ottawa peeps that we don't get to see that often. here is a video of the ukelele singalong.

on the way home we stopped at St Hubert and i had the most digustingly huge chicken poutine with cheese curds that i have ever eaten. mmm gravy.

wiiiiiiiiiiii

i bought alex a wii for his birthday. it's so fun! i need to find us some more games though. i wonder if this will break my wow addiction? highly unlikely! i also ordered the Amazing Race boardgame from the internet. i can't wait to try it out!

alex's thirsty thirty

for alex's birthday last weekend i organized a round of brewery tours/tastings, followed by dinner at a pub. it is pretty difficult to plan fun group activities in the winter, but i think that a good time was had by all. i am going to post the schedule of events so that people can see what we did, and will also comment on the beers that we tasted. i think i have discovered some new favorites!

WHAT I PLANNED
2:30pm
Brick Brewery – Red Baron Lounge
181 King Street South
Waterloo, ON N2J 1P7
$5 per person, closes at 3pm.

3:30pm
F&M Brewery
#135 - 355 Elmira Road
Guelph ON
519-824-1194
Tour takes 15 mins, $5 per person includes samples.

4:30pm
Wellington Brewery
950 Woodlawn Road West
Guelph ON
519-837-2337
Tour must be booked at least a week in advance, costs $10.
We were there for samples only.

5:15pm
Grand River Brewing
295 Ainslie Street
Cambridge, Ontario
519-620-3233
No tour available, but we can get samples.

6:30pm
Lion Brewery Restaurant (Malt Room)
59 King Street North
Waterloo ON
519-886-3350
Dinner and more beer tasting (pay as you drink

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED!
2:30
we arrived at the Red Baron Lounge after getting slightly lost, and realizing it is only about 3 blocks from our house :). this place is run by Brick Brewery, and it was definately the best place we visited. for $5 you can sample 8 different beers, and they serve them in nice glasses in a lounge with tables and chairs. the place is only open from 12-3. in terms of beer quality, portions and price, this place was fantastic. i will probably go here again, especially since i can walk here. 8 small glasses of beer here is about equal to 2 pints, and all of the beer i had was really good. my fave was the J.P. Brickman Pilsner.

we got into a bit of a rush, as we only had 1/2 hour to drink our 8 samples. i was DD so i kept it to three, and then we headed to Guelph for our next stop.

3:40
we arrived slightly late at the F&M Brewery in Guelph. it is located in a industrial looking plaza near the west end of Guelph. at F&M we met up with the rest of our friends. we had a tour of the brewery which took approximately 15 mins, and then we were given samples. it didn't seem to be that organized, in that the number of samples given was very low, no one seemed to be in charge of pouring the samples, and i'm not sure that everyone even HAD samples. but they did provide us with snacks, so that was cool. the tour and samples cost $5 each, but i think they should charge less. also, we had to drink out of small plastic cups, which wasn't as nice. the staff was definately enthusiastic, and it was one of the only places that actually offers tours.

4:30
we drove just around the corner to the Wellington Brewery (also in Guelph). there was a bit of a kerfuffle, as i had phoned them to inquire about tours and they told me you need to book at least a week in advance. i am not that organized :) and so we were only there for tastings. unfortunately, only 1 person was on the premises and she was unaware that we were coming. it worked out ok though, as it wasn't busy in there. were were escorted into the lounge where we had 5 free samples (i think they normally do a tour here and charge $10). we all liked the welly logo, should have bought some t-shirts or a glass from the gift shop. alex looks a lot like the duke of wellington, he posed with him to our delight! they gave alex a free plastic cup with a lot more than a sample since it was his birthday! we then had a short tour of the brewery. i suddenly realized we were WAY behind schedule, so i herded people to the door so we could head to our next stop.

5:45
We arrived at Grand River Brewing slightly later than anticipated. this brewery is housed in the old Galt Knife Factory. i was actually very disappointed in this brewery. i had difficultly when trying to arrange a tour, i found the contact person at the brewery was not very accomodating. when we arrived, the tour operator told us it was "too late" and we could not have any samples. as we drove there specifically to visit the brewery, and we were expected, i was hoping that they would stay open even 10-15 mins later to accomodate us. we were sent away without tasting any of their brews, but we did leave with a sour taste in our mouths! i think it is a new place though, so hopefully they can improve their customer service and work out the kinks.

6:30
We arrived at the Lion Brewery Restaurant in the Huether Hotel in Waterloo. This was our final stop for the evening. This place serves a number of beers made on the premises and at the nearby Gold Crown Brewery. we ordered a number of pitchers of Huether's Premium Lager, Adlys Ale, Wuerzburger Lager and Black and Tan. Adlys Ale was my favorite. we enjoyed these brews with our dinner, and toasted to alex's 30th birthday.

organizing this tour was a good experience, though i did have to do a lot of detective work on the internet, and phoning around to learn the real deal. a number of breweries in the area do NOT offer tours, and so it is best to phone ahead in order to determine if they offer tours or tastings, and what the cost might be. i also found that we had to get started fairly early, as most places were closed by 6 on Saturday, and Brick closed at 3! a great resource for organizing something similar is the Ontario Craft Brewers website. they provide listings of breweries and contact information as well as a list of brewery events.

cheers!

bathroom blues

well, since we hired a floor contractor that sucked major @ss the bathroom is still not completed. i was very frustrated because i wanted it finished for christmas. so we ended up firing our floor guy and i laid the tiles and grouted it myself (which is what i wanted to do in the first place). so yeah, BIG setback. our regular contractor Craig (who is awesome btw) is coming by this week to finish up the bathroom. i can't wait! i hope that when i get home friday night it will all be DONE! and then i will post some pics. also i think he is going to be installing our new light fixtures and stuff all around the house, so i can't wait to go home cause i think it will be all pretty and new looking. JOY!

the quest for the ultimate butter chicken recipe

for the last 4-5 years i have been trying to find and make a really good butter chicken. most of the time i make it, it ends up tasting like tomato sauce, no matter what recipe i try. i am getting absolutely desperate. i really don't want to have to set up a speeddial to the nearest indian takeout every time i get this craving. last night i tried another recipe and although alex said it tasted good, it still wasn't the butter chicken that i've been searching for. i am going to start surfing some indian websites and hopefully i can find a better recipe. i have exhausted all of my cookbooks and the ones at the local library to no avail! i will let you know if i find the perfect recipe that will satisfy this craving.

more skiing

we hit the "slopes" at Schneider's Bush again this weekend, this time with Bronwen and Graham. the snow was pretty sticky, which actually helped because everything just seemed to move more slowly. i found it a lot less "dangerous" than the last time. as we arrived we saw Joel and Tara pulling away, and when we got home Joanne called and asked us if we wanted to go skiing! guess everyone was doing it yesterday!

shelfari

i just found an awesome website called shelfari where you can keep track of the books that you own and have read, as well as looking for suggestions for new books. i even have a shelf that i can put on my blog!