as i sat in my office researching what precautions the gallery took during world war II to protect the building and collections for a new learning session next year, i'm struck by sadness. i listen to bbc radio 4 all day when i'm here on my own and today all the news is about continued air strikes in gaza.

at a time of year when peace is the message we constantly hear, why, only two days after christmas (and yes, i know that neither of the religions recognise jesus as christ the saviour), have there been more casualities the palestinian territories since israel's last occupation of the territory in 1967?

i know it's incredibly complex and i'm not pretending to know what the solution is or who is wholly right or wrong (i don't anyone is in this case), but it makes me sad that a message of peace and goodwill to all can so quickly be forgotten.

i'm in the wrong business

so, a few weeks ago they did this feature in one of the weekend magazines about the best cheeses to get for christmas. i was really, really excited when i saw that one of them was gould's farmhouse cheddar that i could buy at my local marks and spencer! now, i don't ever buy cheese any more, but it's christmas and i have to be connected with this chees *somehow.*

anyway, it was a whopping £6.49 for one block of cheese so i'm thinking of driving out to the farm in somerset and getting them to take me on as a farmhand.

all things christmas

this is our lovely christmas house. i spent hours cutting out paper snowflakes the day i was off sick from work with my still never-ending cold. the icicle lights were hung twice because davoud didn't listen to me. but if you ask both of us about that story you'll get two very different versions...

and of course, our wee christmas tree. it's decorated mostly with knitted ornaments my grandma goodwin made and gave to me a couple of years ago. but there are a few other special ones too. the 'canadian, eh?' moose i think my mum and ron sent over the first christmas i was here, and the moose and penguin at the top of the tree commemorating last christmas when we were home in canada. i also made our little angel at the top last year out of a piece of cream coloured card and a gold pen. pretty talented, eh?

next year i envision a tree that hits the ceiling.

val, paul and rich were over for 'christmas' dinner last night. i made a traditional quebec christmas eve dish, reveillion tortiere, which is probably davoud's favourite meal ever. it only gets made at christmas and for his birthday because it involves pastry so therefore isn't very healthy! anyway, that's what christmas is all about: food, family and drink.

i'm off work tomorrow until saturday, so let the food and drink part of the festive season commence!

seamus christopher cranie

poppa pete and baby seamus (pronounced 'shamus'...and spelled that way too according to pete's niece)

i was lucky enough to be able to visit seamus christopher cranie, the newest addition to the circle of friends in liverpool, on friday afternoon. val picked me up early from work and we went to see the proud parents harriet and pete. they looked suprisingly rested and well adjusted...i'd be freaking if i had to look after something that small...like...forever.

momma harriet and well fed seamus

auntie val screaming louder than seamus. don't drop 'em!

nostalgia two - last christmas

it was a year ago today that davoud and i went home to canada for christmas. we were somewhere over the atlantic by this point i'm sure! i remember the night before we left i slept for about two hours and got up at 6 am because i was so excited. we flew home with val too, which was good fun.

anyway, i was just thinking about that as i read the cbc news story about the massive snowfall taking place in southern ontario and thinking 'man, i'm glad that didn't happen last year.' as much as i love the snow, it does create travel chaos.

nostalgia

last night i was thinking back to christmases past.

i was trying to remember the last 'kids' christmas i had. the christmases before my brother went to university when we would all stumble downstairs in the morning for breakfast - cinnamon buns and mandarins of course - and then go into the family room where a roaring fire and a tree load of presents would be waiting for us. stockings were always, always first. we even had stockings that i had made for the dog and cat. there would always be one final present that was extra special and i'll forever remember the year it was a computer. back when old desktops were cool and frogger was in vogue. grandma and grandad would be there for christmas dinner, inevitably arriving an hour later than we expected them.

and that was just the start.

there would be at least two days of christmases to follow where we would go stay with my dad and stepmum, see karen and wendy (and whoever they were dating at the time ;), grandma and grandpa, and any other relatives that happened to be around.

i guess i started thinking about all this because i was trying to feel festive. it just hasn't happened yet this year even though i've watched a couple films, made loads of crafts, starting the baking, put up the tree, and made paper snowflakes for the windows.

so today when i got home from work i put on the christmas carols whilst doing the baking and that seems to have done the trick. this year will be so very different from last when davoud and i were in canada with loads of snow and all the family. there will be no bbqs blowing over in the wind, no tobogganing or mad unwrapping of presents by nieces and nephews, but i suppose it's time to start with new traditions too. i just have to come up with a couple.

my canada includes wendel

i remember during the last quebec referendum wendel clark was playing for the nordiques and karen's boyfriend at the time had this bumper sticker on his car that said: my canada includes wendel.

i was thinking about that today whilst reading about the toronto maple leafs retiring number 17, wendel's jersey, and the habs retired number 33, patrick roy's jersey.

you might be wondering what a picture of a cat has to do with retiring hockey jerseys. well, i have a propensity for naming cats after hockey players. my much beloved cat in montreal was named dougie - partly because when i was discussing what to name my cat christine turned to me and said 'why don't you call it dougie?' promptly bursting out into laughter and looking at my dad, but more so after doug gilmour whose jersey is being retired in january. so when a cat wandered into our flat on thanksgiving drawn by the smell of turkey and kept coming back for more over the next few days, i decided to call it wendel.

wendel lives in the basement flat and still comes on occasion for a little visit. we have a box of food in the cupboard just in case and she likes trying to jump up on the table while we're eating dinner. i don't know what her/his real name is, but davoud and i still call the cat wendel.

maybe i'll get her a small wendel moustache for christmas...

canada v wales

i don't remotely follow rugby, but when i found out canada was playing wales on a friday night i decided it deserved my support with a trip to the pub. my very proud welsh friend rich and davoud (who also has a welsh last name) came along. i had to ask the manager to put the game on and they were very obliging.

i was holding out quite a lot of hope as almost up to the end of the first half canada was leading 6 to 5. last week they were absolutely clobbered by ireland, so i was pretty impressed by this. in the end we lost 34 to 13, but we held our own i'm proud to say. we made a breakaway try close to the end of the game and i was the sole person cheering quite loudly and attracting a bit of attention.

i really like watching rugby. it's like hockey on grass. loads of shoving, pushing, and the ball/puck either moves a foot or all the way down the pitch/ice. and the guys are really, really big.

why i hate bonfire night and who is snack banana

so it's bonfire night or guy fawkes night as some say in the uk today. i hate bonfire night. i don't think anyone really knows what it's about anymore, but now it consists on one big night of fireworks, which the city council pays for. and for the two weeks before and after 5 november, kids run around and set off fireworks whenever, however and at whomever they like. it's loud and people just go out and get pissed.

but this year i can see the fireworks from my window so that's pretty cool. what makes it better is that they're going off as i have barack obama's acceptance speech on in the background, so it feels like they're celebrating that too. the world feels different today and i'm not the only one who thinks so. just seeing some of the pictures in america celebrating is inspiring. they're *celebrating* a politician, something i have trouble conceiving of ever happening in canada or the uk for that matter.

i almost wore my canada pin today for fear that any stranger i might speak to would ask my opinion about it all because they thought i was an american. and it happened and i was still happy to offer it because i like politics and have followed this campaign from iowa back in january. the funniest moment today was when i was working with my group of young people at the gallery and one girl said that at school they can't pronounce 'you know, like, the guy who won's name.' so they call him snack banana.

hilarious.

4th annual uk/canuck thanksgiving

it was the last uk/canadian thanksgiving this year. it was a lovely gathering as always of about 17 of my nearest and dearest. however, i did predict in the morning that it was going to be *worst thanksgiving ever* that morning.

the fridge was too cold that night, i screwed up my mashed potatoes and generally was quite stressed about the lack of large pots and the fact that 17 people were coming over for dinner. davoud and i fought at least three times before 2pm and i cried for at least a half hour. i should note though that this wasn't as a result of the fighting, but just general homesickness. it's weird because i haven't felt 'homesick' in the strictest meaning of the word since i declared to the world i was going to be back in canada by september 09.

but it was good fun. most people had a seat at an actual table and the last crew left at about midnight when i kicked them out because i was tired. i'm looking forward to cooking thanksgiving for my own family, but not next year. next year i need some time off ;) i suppose i could bring dessert though...

trip pics

looloo in front of chex loulou

eglise st-sulpice

on our canal boat ride dogding buses in amsterdam

a replica dutch ship and the science museum in the background

davoud took many, many pictures of himself with my camera in amsterdam, but this was by far the funniest. he really had lost the plot.

party pics

lou, kel, paul, peter (back row) and val, davoud, me, harriet (front)

val and paul looking very scottish. somehow val managed to look really good in her tartan hat and wig!

the birthday boy

me and my balloon portrait. i got bored and started drawing people on them with a sharpie

chris supporting local brewery cains, which is going through some very tough times

a party and a trip

after a very intense week at school two weeks ago, we had davoud's 30th birthday party on saturday 20th september before flying to paris the next day. the theme was scotland primarily because davoud was scheduled to open a 30 year old bottle of lagavulin and we'd found the perfect gift for him to open on his 40th birthday: a bottle of 1978 ardbeg. oh, and i also bought him a very, very small piece of land in the highlands so he is now lord davoud davies. so help me...i think i'm going to regret that one for the rest of my life.

we then flew out to paris and then flew around it too. it was a whirlwind three days. davoud lived there for two years about five years back so there were many things he wanted to show me whilst we were there. we saw some wonderful art and were blessed with fabulous weather. i also got reaquainted with my love of all things croissant related.

amsterdam was much more relaxed and admittedly reminded me a bit of montreal. there were tree-lined streets, steps up to colourful houses, lots of bicycles and everyone just seemed much too laid-back for their own good. there were also canals and we had a very fun pedal boat ride around them one sunny afternoon. i successfully steered us clear of canal buses and other crazy boats. davoud just walked around the entire time saying 'yesh' like goldmember in austin powers. not as much museum going for us here, just the science museum, photography gallery and the world's *best* library.

you can check out davoud's photos on the flickr link in the favourites box at the right hand side of this page.

a wee look into the past

so my mum found these photos in her sewing basket, scanned them in and e-mailed them to me. in the name of silly photos a la meshaw falls hat picture, i thought i'd post them here. it also shows two of my favourite domestic duties and their very early beginnings:

1. cleaning the house

2. entertaining my friends

what's going on?

it's been almost a month since i've last updated and for this i apologise! time seems to be slipping away a bit faster than normal...

we had one last camping weekend in the cotswolds and had a really nice saturday, but on sunday the rain started again. it has once again been a washout of a summer but that's not really suprising is it? nevermind.

davoud as we left the campsite for our 10 mile walk

i also recently ran a 5km race in support of breast cancer since my step-sister was doing the 60 km walk in toronto for the weekend to end breast cancer. so a big thanks to everyone who sponsored me.

me looking quite special in my meshaw falls hat that i've had since i was about six or seven years old

i fear time is going to start going even faster over the next few weeks. i have a full week of school starting tomorrow until saturday. then it will be davoud's 30th birthday party that night and we fly off to paris/amsterdam the next day for 8 nights. i'm looking forward to this holiday immensely! but when i get back it will be go, go, go as i try and complete all of my assignments and struggle with a supremely busy schedule at work.

but what doesn't get done, just won't get done. the sky isn't going to come crashing in on my head either way. i'll be sure to post photos of our trip when we return!

canada boulevard

a picture taken with davoud's mobile phone camera, so a bit dark

my faithful readers will remember my outrage and sadness at the massacre of my very sacred canadian maples in front of the three graces at the pier head in liverpool. it was the place i went when i was homesick or want to see the water that connected me to the coast of canada.

well, some of them have finally been replanted! there are still more to come, but i am very happy that at least some of them are back. davoud and i walked down there on sunday night after our dinner out and i turned into a tree hugger. i had to give the first one i saw a nice big cuddle and then made sure to touch every single one as i walked down the boulevard. they've put in a new plaque and apparently will be having another rededication ceremony; i just hope i get invited.

camping in july

we went camping in the peak district at a very wonderful campsite ooooo three weeks ago. i know a very belated post, but they have in general been lacking of late. we had a really lovely one-night camping trip near longnor village. we lucked out with some really sunny and warm weather and went to my very favourite little town in the peaks, bakewell.

i love bakewell because of it's picturesque setting, little river, many pubs and general 'englishness.' on this very lucky saturday we also went to the farmer's market, craft market and discovered a very, very good whisky shop called 'the wee dram.' i can see more trips to bakewell in our future.

my liverpool (temporary) home

today marks the third anniversary of my move across the pond. i wasn't quite sure how long i'd be staying when i boarded the one-way flight considering that i didn't have a job at the other end and was relying on the kindness of my uncle bill to host me for a while.

i thought it was quite apt today that after davoud picked me up at work we went down to the seacombe ferry terminal. primarly to see if we could spot any of the tall ships docked at liverpool for the weekend whilst avoiding the throngs of people. but as i stood there i started to remember just how many people had entered and left the uk through this very port. sure, more than 100 years ago the two skyscrapers in the picture above weren't there, but the liver, port of liverpool and cunard buildings were.

my time to leave will be coming soon enough as i know a year will absolutely fly by - the last three have anyway! - and by that time i'll hopefully have a masters under by belt along with a few years museum experience, my wonderful man by my side, a whole host of experiences, new friends and several very nice bottles of whisky ;)

somehow i lost a week

so i thought it was the 7th of july yesterday, not the 14th meaning i lost a week somewhere along the line. it has been rather hectic at work the last couple of weeks since we opened a new permanent gallery and a temporary exhibition. there was a big fundraising dinner that transformed the main hall into what looked like a very posh wedding and i've been working the odd hours on weekends. it's summertime though, so it's all to be expected. i'm quite looking forward to a morning at my desk today to catch up on things truth be told.

val's sister janet is over visiting from canada and i saw them both very briefly yesterday, but they will be coming over for dinner on friday night with paul too. davoud's mum and brother are also coming for a visit this weekend so i'll be busy in the kitchen cooking dinner and baking cakes!

happy canada day? not really...

i woke up this morning feeling great. i had wonderful plans to wear red and white, my canadian maple leaf pin *all* day at work, listen to canadian music on my iPod and at work. when i got home i was going to throw on my roots canada t-shirt, toronto maple leaf socks and listen to the cbc.

it's not been going well lately. i'm too busy at work, struggling with the concept of a dissertation and wondering if i can do it alongside my coursework once school starts again in september, and arguing with my last letting agent which is over 30 days in returning my deposit of £500 to me and are generally a bunch of useless idiots. yes, that's right...$1000 canadian.

so admittedly i came home today feeling slightly morose and defeated. but i'm still listening to my canadian music, still wearing my canadian wardrobe because if i was back home...i'd be off work today!!! and as val texted me this morning, we should have the day off no matter what.

davoud had secured free tickets to the canada rocks gig in london that kathleen edwards was headlining, but we couldn't go...work got in the way. so this is my official cyber petition that all canadians living abroad should be given canada day off. it's my birth right, eh?