Coffee House

  Linking up at Marg at The Intrepid Reader

Weekend Coffee Share

Sunday Salon

Sunday Post

July 2022 - St. Mary's ON

December 2022 - Toronto ON

We slept in until 9 and had bacon and tomato sandwiches for breakfast. We had bought this new to us round bacon at Farm Boy. I love Farm Boy because they are a Canadian company.

Our building was having a warm coat drive so John took a winter jacket and some sweaters down.

My new cushion covers.

We ordered and received a wireless keyboard for the smart TV and John got it set up.

Monday I met my BFF for lunch. 

Union Station had some new displays.

This exhibit shares the heartbreaking story of a young boy named Chanie Wenjack. Chanie’s death sparked national attention and marked the first inquest into the treatment of Indigenous children in residential schools. His story, tragically, is like so many stories of Indigenous children in this country who were sent to residential school and didn’t make it home.

We went back to WVRST in Union Station, where service is self-serve so we can sit and take our time without any servers hanging over us. We had the same thing as last time.

Then we strolled over to the Royal York underground through Union Station.

The new concourse is starting to look occupied and busy. What a change from that dark and dingy space.

The Royal York hotel has transformed part of its main floor into "Gingerbread Lane," and you'll feel like you're wandering through Candy Land. The life-sized lane took 6 days to set up and consists of about 8500 gingerbread bricks and 12 different types of candy.

The bricks are glued together using royal icing, and, while the lane is 90% edible, you'll have to refrain from eating it. As you wander down the cookie-filled path, you can breathe in the sweet smell of gingerbread that will put you in the Christmas spirit.

The bricks stretch all the way up to the ceiling, and there are twinkly windows that look like storefronts along the lane. The windows have festive scenes of gifts and more gingerbread and are surrounded by decorative cookies.

Tuesday we did all the paperwork to change the car and condo insurance to another company.

Wednesday John took the car to get his snow tires on...more on that.

Friday I went to get a hair cut and John planned on picking up some groceries.

While on the bus I got a message from John that he had a flat tire. Our garage is under major renovations so we immediately assumed a nail. I said I would pick up what we needed as we didn't know how long a fix/repair would take.

On Front St. I came across this.

The slogan of “Women, Life, Freedom” is reverberated across the globe after the brutal killing of Mahsa Jina Amini, a young Kurdish woman, while in custody of the Islamic State’s “Morality Police.” The slogan first coined by Kurdish feminist fighters in Rojava (Northern Syria) in 2014, now is embraced by millions worldwide who demand basic human rights, dignity, justice, democracy, and freedom. In recent decades new feminist movements are resurging with radical and creative ideas to stand against the rise of authoritarian patriarchal racist colonialist capitalist structures of power.

John then messaged that the service club (Hyundai) had come immediately and put on the spare so he was heading to the dealership to get a new tire. It turned out it was the valve, obviously when they put on the snow tires they didn't check the valves. 

Problem solved, I was on my way to get groceries and John messaged he would go to Farm Boy instead. YAY me!

Scotiabank decorations.

Union Station

This installation by Anishinaabe artist Emily Kewageshig depicts four figures who walk ahead into the future, striving forward with ways of being and existing. The painting symbolizes the importance of culture transitioning throughout time and history. Kewageshig created the imagery to display how life is cyclical: it shifts, changes, and adapts in cycles in order to preserve knowledge and allow for continuity of future generations. Kewageshig ties this piece back to her homelands by using naturally found materials to ground the art piece and create a direct connection to where she comes from. The artist encourages viewers to recognize the history that is rooted in the land that we reside on, and to encourage viewers to Walk with Us on this journey, while imagining a future of togetherness.

Royal York.

COOKING

Saturday John requested chili.

Sunday roast pork, roast potatoes, Brussel sprouts and mashed cauliflower. My best ever crackling!

Monday leftover steak with poutine

Tuesday I baked a banana pineapple coconut bread. We had bananas that were too ripe and I had leftover pineapple in the freezer.

I also made guacamole for lunch. Avocados were 6 for $5 at Farm Boy and I had left two out to ripen.

I had leftover pork so decided on a combination of pork spring rolls but wanted the rice paper wraps oven fried in this manner like samosas. I am terrible wrapping rice paper but they turned out to be tasty. There was enough pork left for Wednesday lunch sandwiches.

Fried chicken thighs and salad with tomatoes and beets (Farm Boy). This chicken was very good, I marinated in buttermilk first. I would lower the air fryer temperature to 350 next time.

Thursday I made chicken and rice soup for lunch, the rice was a package a friend had given me to try, so one more thing gone.

Chips beans and eggs

I bought these (new to me) beans at Farm Boy because they are Canadian made and also they are marked as gluten free.

Friday steak peppers, onions and mushrooms

WATCHING

I watched The Wonder, set in The Irish Midlands in 1862, the story follows a young girl who stops eating but remains miraculously alive and well. English nurse Lib Wright is brought to a tiny village to observe eleven-year old Anna O'Donnell. Tourists and pilgrims mass to witness the girl who is said to have survived without food for months. It is based on the book by Emma Donoghue, not a favourite author of mine.

It circles around questions of control — via church, state and men — and vulnerable bodies in peril.

I watched the series The Empress, a 2022 Austrian historical drama series based on the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria.

Lesson Plan After a teacher tragically dies, his friend, who happens to be a former cop, takes over his old job in hopes of catching the people responsible for his murder.

One of the best movies we've seen recently - Stillwater is a 2021 American crime drama film. It stars Matt Damon as an unemployed oil-rig worker from Oklahoma who sets out with a French woman (Camille Cottin) to prove his convicted daughter's (Abigail Breslin) innocence.

Another good movie was The Swimmers, a 2022 biographical drama film. The film stars real-life sisters Nathalie Issa and Manal Issa. The Swimmers had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2022.
The plot follows the life story of teenage Olympian refugee, Yusra Mardini, who, with her sister Sara, swam alongside a sinking dinghy of refugees to lighten it, eventually helping it reach safety across the Aegean Sea. Subsequent struggles as a refugee are vividly depicted, but Mardini's swimming career sees her reaching the Rio Olympics as a member of the Refugee Olympic Team. 
In a footnote it is revealed that Yusra's sister Sarah, who had returned to Lesbos as part of voluntary efforts to assist incoming refugees, had been arrested and faced charges carrying potentially long-term prison sentences if convicted.

READING

I read Heads in Beds  the title continues A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality. There have been comparisons of Heads in Beds to Kitchen Confidential and that’s fair. Tomsky gives us the secrets of the hospitality industry, from tips about tipping to how to get the contents of the minibar for free. We get lowdown on the behind the scenes roles played by staff. There are tips on how to avoid same day cancellations (good to know!). 

I started The Woman Upstairs.