Category Archives: Odds & Sods

I don’t know what to put here.

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Where do I begin?

It has been over a month since I posted. There are quite a few circumstances for why I haven’t been here, including taking possession of a new house, organizing contractors and making living arrangements for the next several months, as well as my grandmother breaking her shoulder in a fall that will dramatically change how she is cared for from now on. All of these reasons however are overshadowed by the loss of my Dad, suddenly, about three weeks ago.

I’ve been struggling about what to post. Words cannot sum everything my Dad means to me or how I’ve been feeling. It’s too difficult for me to make my feelings public right now.

Part of me thinks this is a good place to end this blog. It’s been a struggle for me to maintain for some time now, but sometimes I still have ideas and want to write. I haven’t completely decided my way forward.

For now, I think I will put my blog on hiatus, to give myself the freedom and space to deal with what’s going on in my life; to process everything that’s happened and to ruminate on what comes next. Chris and I took possession of our new house last week and have been spending time there working on exterior clean up and meeting our lovely new neighbours. Our next steps involve finalizing our renovation plans and getting the work underway. Stepping back from my blog is one way I can give myself the space I need to cope.

I hope, dear reader, that you will forgive me for taking the break, and come back in the future should I decide to keep this site alive. Thank you very much for your support.

Space Jam

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I have a confession to make. I’m totally obsessed with Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield’s absolutely fascinating Twitter feed, where he’s posting phenomenal, incredible photos of our planet taken every day from his unique vantage point at the international space station.

As a communications professional, I think Hadfield is single-handedly renewing (at least Canadian) interest in space exploration and study, and connecting with people back home in a profound new way we’ve never seen before, through the power of social media. Now maybe the interest is partially fueled by the Canadian media, who are also in love with Hadfield, but regardless, I think we can all be very proud to have one of our own up there, showing us how beautiful and special our home truly is.

And as if his exuberant joy and affable personality isn’t enough, the man is also a talented musician and singer! He recently collaborated with the Barenaked Ladies and the Wexford Gleeks to record their Space Jam: ‘I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing)’ song. Just beautiful.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

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So… remember that news I was mentioning last weekend?

Um… yeah… well…

We bought a new house! And we just sold our current house!

Chris & Sarah's new house

Chris & Sarah’s new house

What a whirlwind the last three weeks have been. Long-time readers of my blog will know that Chris and I have been debating what to do with our little bungalow for quite some time. In a nutshell for those who’ve started following more recently, we live in an area of Toronto that is very high demand for redevelopment. Without getting into all the nuances, we’ve been trying to decide if our longer term plan would be to rebuild where we are, or try to move somewhere else more suited to our needs. We’ve been watching the market, which in some respects has been softening lately. Finally this past autumn we decided to do our due diligence and have a look at what’s out there.

We weren’t feeling too thrilled about what we saw. Admittedly we were looking very casually and being quite picky. We felt like it was mostly an exercise in covering our bases, making sure that staying where we are and rebuilding is really what was right for us. But just after we got back from the holidays we went to see a place that had been on the market for quite some time, over in the east side of the city, located on a ravine. And we immediately fell for the place, so we decided to make an offer.

Home inspection day however was our chance to take a sober second look, and it revealed some pretty major and immediate work that needs to be done. Nothing wrong structurally but big expenses like a new roof, new heating/cooling, new gutters, new siding, major ivy abatement work, removal of a very large, mostly dead tree that’s a danger to the house, and perhaps most disappointingly, the need to re-renovate the recently completed renovations, which are of very poor quality and often times incorrectly done. Such a disappointment and a waste. It would have been better if they had left the place in its previous state.

View of some of the decking.

View of some of the decking.

But despite all this, there are many pluses. We’ll be so much closer to work — a 20 minute bike ride to work (a BIKE ride!!), and when the weather isn’t so great, we’re on a very well served bus route and very close to subway and streetcar routes. We’ll be closer to many of our friends, and right next to the Don Valley parklands, Evergreen Brickworks and so many other amenities. The property is on a dead-end street with lots of street parking, and there are no houses across the street from us. And, all in a location that feels very cottage-like! We are so excited!

More deck!

More deck!

One thing that I may be sacrificing is veggie gardening space. I suspect that when we take out the big dead tree in the back we will be able to get a raised bed or two back there, but lighting is definitely not as good as where we are now. We also might be able to put a couple of beds in the front after removing some decorative fencing and flagstone, and trim the tree out front. I really wont be sure how viable things are until I see it in the spring/summer when the trees leaf out. But the copious amount of rear decking means I’ll probably be able to make a lot of container gardening work for me.

So I’m definitely mourning the loss of my gardens, and the years worth of soil amending and building up I’ve been doing. And all that garlic I planted in the fall. Sob! But… it’s a small price to pay for all the new awesome. We have lots of exciting ideas for turning this lovely property into the best it can be, and now that we’ve sold our current home, we can start looking into getting plans in place for renovations. We take possession in early April. We can’t wait!

I can ski. I’m a skier!

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Happy New Year!

This new year I learned something new. I learned to ski!

About to learn to ski for first time!

About to learn to ski for first time!

Chris is a pretty seasoned skier; he learned how in university and has been skiing ever since. He goes on a major “guys” vacation every year to places like Whistler, Utah, Lake Tahoe, etc. But this holiday a bunch of us decided to go to Vermont, and it would be a chance for me to take some lessons and give it a try. Have I mentioned that I’m 35 years old and I’ve virtually never skied? I have a vague recollection of going to Talisman in Ontario when I was maybe 12 or something, but I don’t really remember much about it.

GoPros!

Cass & Chris outfitted with GoPro cameras, which means there’s video of me cartwheeling down the mountainside.

Porter now flies a direct flight to Burlington, Vermont, and its just over an hour flight. We spent a couple days, including New Years, in Burlington before heading to our B&B in Waterbury and hitting the slopes. We spent two days at Stowe, then took a day off because it was -27°C (almost a record breaker), before heading to Mad River Glen. On our last day we spent the morning at Bolton Valley.

I was fortunate enough to get what was supposed to be a group lesson as a private lesson at Stowe — the “learn how to put on your skis, how to ride a chairlift and how to stop” kind of lesson. That was really great and I didn’t have to feel like a dork because there was no one else in the class to compare with. The second lesson I took wasn’t as great, as I was paired up with an 8-year-old who kept falling down on every turn down the bunny hill. After a while I bailed on the lesson and decided I just needed to practice and build my confidence because I had the basics.

Looking up at Stowe

Looking up at Stowe from the base of Spruce Peak

By the afternoon of day two I was (sort of) ready to try out a long green run called the Toll Road on the big hill across the highway, and to send Chris away from babysitting me so he could do some “real” skiing before we left the resort.

Sarah Learns to Ski from Sarah Mulholland on Vimeo.

So I got on the gondola and headed over to the chairlift across the way. I ended up alone on the lift, so I had lots of time to psych myself out! By the time I got to the top I was pretty freaked out — it was unbelievably cold and windy up there, and trails went off in every direction. I had wanted to take some photos on my phone but I could barely operate my fingers long enough outside my mittens to turn on a ski tracking app on the phone (so at least I have proof that I did it!). And I did! My hands were shaking every time I stopped to check my map, and sometimes I wasn’t even sure I was on the right trail. It took me over an hour to get 5km down the mountain, but I did it!

Top Vista Peak at Bolton Valley

Top Vista Peak at Bolton Valley

Mad River Glen is a unique resort that’s cooperatively owned, making it pretty anti-corporate and very community-oriented. It’s entirely natural snow, and their tag line is “Ski it if You Can” which maybe says a lot about it. It’s generally considered one of the most challenging places to ski in the east. I certainly had issues! I had a pretty rough go of it on my first attempt, so much so that I was ready to give up afterwards. But after warming up, getting some food and letting my frustration cool off, I took it again, and did not too badly. The next day at Bolton Valley, a fairly small and easy resort, I didn’t fall at all! Of course there’s no video of that because Chris was off doing his own thing, but my ski track app says I was hitting speeds as high as 50km! Not bad for a newbie!

Chris & Sarah

Ski buffs!

I’m pretty damn proud of myself for trying something entirely new that was very scary. I mean, it’s not like I bounce that well anymore! I enjoyed it so much that I’d like to get my own skis and do it again soon so that I can practice some more, so Chris and I might hit a couple of the hills around Ontario later this winter, if things get cold again and we get more snow. It’s not usually Chris’s thing to ski locally as he’s kind of spoiled on real mountains, and our local runs aren’t that challenging for him, but I think he’s happy to humour me, and its something we can do together. And Vermont isn’t that far away either, thanks to Porter!

 

Hunting

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Hello my neglected little blog.

Where have I been? I’ve been having quite the autumn. For several weeks I felt like I was in an angry, unhappy, depressed, grumpy spiral. I was kind of hating my job (I know, who doesn’t at one time or another?), feeling a bit bored (with no creative projects on the go and no real inspiration to start any) and generally hating the daily grind of living and working in a gritty city like Toronto. It’s a struggle I have periodically wherein I feel stuck — stuck in a topped-out job, stuck in the city, wanting something more fulfilling but not really knowing how to make a significant change.

I was at the end of my rope when a couple of family health-related crises (yes, that’s intended to be plural) over the last week threw everything into perspective again. Without going into any details, everyone is fine and on the mend. The optimist in me recognizes that the whole thing has forcibly jerked me back to a healthier, stronger mental frame of mind.

I’m planning some extended weekends over the next while to give myself some much needed time away from the office to catch up on some stuff around the house, have a cooking day or two when I can stock up on freezer meals for busy days ahead, and to work on some creative projects in prep for the holidays. I cannot wait. I also hope to use some of this time to be closer to my family. I like to believe I’ll be able to add some food content to my blog soon.

In the meantime, I heard about the film The Fruit Hunters on the CBC’s Metro Morning yesterday and the trailer looks fascinating. Despite my love of food, I am the farthest thing from being a fruit junkie, and this documentary is all about being fruit-obsessed. Watching the people featured in the film crack open such exotic foods that I’ve never seen or heard of before has me very curious. It’s screening this weekend in Richmond Hill at the Reel Asian Film Festival. I just might try to check it out.

The Fruit Hunters – Official Trailer : in theaters November 23, 2012 from EyeSteelFilm on Vimeo.

For the love of beer

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Because of the meds I’m on to treat my rheumatoid arthritis, I’ve pretty much backed off drinking completely, although I do still indulge in a beer once in a while. If you’re a regular reader of my blog you already know that Chris and I adore craft beer (have I mentioned he’s working on a project to convert a freezer into his new keg fridge? A story for another post!). We went all the way to Madison Wisconsin last summer to buy kegs of New Glarus Belgian Red and Raspberry Tart to serve at our wedding, for instance. Having to give up beer almost  entirely has not been easy, but its been almost a year and I’m used to it now.

I’ve just started watching this documentary, For the Love of Beer, all about the women of the [American] craft beer world, and it’s quite good. I’m watching it while I work out so I’m not finished it yet, but it’s making me yearn for the good old days when I could drink all I wanted in a sitting. Sigh. (It also makes me want to go back to Portland!) But I guess from a glass-half-full perspective, when I do pour myself a pint, that baby is oh-so-sweet. If anything, I’ve become even more of a snob about my beer, because if I’m going to break the fast, it better be worth it. Enjoy!

Rain!!

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Lots and lots of rain. Finally. Hooray!

Gloomy Friday

The view from one of the windows in at the office.

Just listening to the rain fall outside my office. Giant puddles are forming in the construction site next door. My garden is soaking it up at home. Finally. Maybe those deep cracks in my raised beds will finally close up.

Arctic Circle, here we come!

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T-36 days until Chris and I leave for Tromsø, Norway, 350 kilometres above the Arctic Circle! 24 hour sunlight anyone?

This is our honeymoon finally, but it’s also a chance for me to visit my friend Guro in her home country. Guro lived with me as an exchange student when we were both in high school in 1992, and I have yet to visit her in her homeland… OMG I just realized that that was 20 years ago! Sheesh! Holy crap that makes me feel old.

We will be there nearly three full weeks, and the first two will be spent exploring Tromsø and Bergen, and then we’ll take the Norway in a Nutshell train tour to Oslo, where we will meet up with Guro and her family (she’s married and has two kids now of course), who live in Tønsberg, south of Oslo. We’ll stay there for a few days and then we’ll head to her home town of Stavanger, on the southwest coast, where her Dad still lives on their family farm.

My parents are kind of like her adoptive parents, and they made the trip last year, so we have a good idea of what to expect. We finally booked our flights last week and now we’re working on figuring out the smaller details. I’m so excited!

R & R

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Penny & Rainman

After two very very hectic weeks of work and work-related commitments, I’m enjoying the beloved porch at my family home on the farm, near Stratford, Ontario. I kind of have the day to myself; my Dad and husband are installing a new fence for the horses (pictured in part above) and they apparently don’t need my help, so Luna and I are hanging out here. I took my Grandma to the farmers’ market this morning (got myself some wild leeks, asparagus, radishes, summer sausage and kielbasa) and tonight I’ll be hanging with my mom for Mother’s Day (unfortunately she has to work all weekend).

The weekend isn’t 100% work free however. I’m prepping to teach a couple workshops next month, with Akimbo — Beginner and Advanced blogging. I’m very excited about it and a little nervous, but as are my Virgoan tendencies I’ll probably be over prepared, which is never a bad thing. I fully recognize that my own blog has been less than stellar of late, but interestingly enough these workshops have become an opportunity to brush up and research methods to keep blogging creative and interesting. It’s also forcing me to climb even further down the rabbit hole that is WordPress, to learn more about the platform in order for me to baptize a whole new congregation into the WordPress religion.

Finally, of note in the photo above is the distinct lack of barn. The farm is undergoing some very serious hardscaping lately. I mentioned a while back that our beloved, 103-year-old barn came down this spring, and along with that the barn bank was removed, and the two large manure tanks were filled in. The new fence for the horses covers territory it didn’t previously (and was also necessary due to some very risky escapes undertaken by the nags last year). The place is looking quite a bit different, and I’m constantly fretting about what will happen in the future, to this chunk of land that has been in my family for 170 years. This place, this 100-acres, is where my heart truly lies.

Taking it national baby!

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Chris & Sarah's Wedding

Our love of craft beer has made Canada’s national newspaper! We’re featured on the cover of the Life section of today’s Globe and Mail for our (possibly obsessive) beer run to Madison, Wisconsin last summer, to bring home kegs of New Glarus beer (Belgian Red and Raspberry Tart to be exact) for our wedding last fall. Check out the article here!

Chris & Sarah's Wedding

New Glarus Belgian Red, in hand, for the toast

Oh the irony that I can’t indulge these days. I’m feeling the loss even more acutely now that the weather is warming up. Hard to believe that it’s been 5 months since I thoroughly enjoyed a few good beers. I’ve had a partial glass and a few sips now and then, but I’ve stuck pretty closely to my rheumatologist’s orders to avoid alcohol. Not sure how well my resolve will hold as the mercury rises though. (For those of you just tuning in, I’m on some pretty hefty drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis that I was diagnosed with last November, and I have to avoid alcohol due to the stress on my liver).