Penguins Rule!

 Too many not to post!

Midway Cafe 41

 Linking up with Marg at The Intrepid Reader

Weekend Coffee Share
Sunday Salon

April 2025 - Toronto ON

San Diego CA

Saturday what a miserable day as we headed out at 9!

We thoroughly enjoyed Little Canada and its new destinations.

Preparations for a new destination Little Arctic.

Lunch was provided (Elizabeth, Steve, Georgina) at Jack Astor's and the food was surprisingly good. John had a cheeseburger and I had the tuna poke bowl.

We made a quick stop at T&T for some vegetables. Prices amaze me. At Longo's one bunch of scallions can be $2 while here I got three bunches for $1.68!!

Sunday lots of chores were done. The new water cooler was drained as it is being returned this week, it leaks all the time!

I sat down around 5, after prepping dinner and indulged myself in catching up on some of my guilty shows.

Interesting local news - our neighbourhood is to be home to a new event venue that is set to be potentially even more impressive due to its record as the largest of its kind on the planet!

Dubbed the Pavilion, the complex is designed specifically for the new Cirque du Soleil production, Ovo, which debuts in the city this spring.

Monday John's birthday. He packed up the water cooler and returned it to Walmart.

It seems my Christmas cactus that I rescued from the disposal room in June 2024 produced a flower and I missed it until it fell off!

 I ran out to pick up a couple of things for him. 

I also picked up sushi for lunch.

Lion sumomaki - shrimp tempura, crispy sweet potato strings, cucumber, teriyaki sauce, red masago, spicy light mayo, Japanese mayo.

Tuna Lover - 13 pieces Maki: 4 Tokyo  Hosomaki: 6 Spicy Tekka  Nigiri: 3 Maguro

I also picked up an Italian wine and gluten free dessert for him. And an orchid, inspired by our Alice in Bloomland visit last week.

Tuesday and what is that I see outside??? SUNSHINE!! Oh, wait, it's April Fools Day!

UPDATE this exactly our Tuesday and Wednesday!

AND  it is supposed to be 18 C on Thursday?!?!?!?!

Tuesday's Signs from our winter road trip.

We caught the 11:20 bus downtown for a 12:30 lunch reservation at Joey King's. It was John's choice for his birthday lunch as we had enjoyed it in December.

We were early so we went to the bank to convert the leftover US cash to Euros and get some more Euros. I'll make another trip to get some more Euros.

Lunch at Joey King. Our server was Ellie.

I had the same as last time, steak and salmon sushi, really good. John had the steak frites but says he will have mine the next time with tuna. Creme brulee cheesecake was on the menu! We had this for the first time last month in Las Vegas at The Yardhouse.

We had some billing issues that should be sorted out shortly that have been sorted.

After lunch we went into Telus to exchange our phones as "Now that your 2-year term is coming up, you can either return your phone to TELUS in good working condition by 04/12/2025".

Richard, our go-to guy, was working!!

Since there is no way I was buying out the phone we both upgraded and John got a Galaxy watch as well, I had no interest in the watch.

So of course, we had to order new phone cases. 

We received our Federal election vote by mail as we will be away on Election Day, so we completed and mailed those.

John worked on getting our phones set up as we liked them.

Wednesday morning we did some administrivia, banking and tidying up.

I found a great self-guided walking tour for Lisbon but to print would take up too much paper as there were so many photos. I searched for about an hour at this and that way of doing it. I only wanted to print what I was interested in and finally found a workaround.

I had planned on going up to Bloor to get some fabric, but it was so cold out with a forecast of heavy rain, that I changed my plans and stayed underground. I picked up some $ store mini toiletries for travel.

John used the golf simulator.

On my way home, I noticed a police car sitting up next to the Red Canoe, then I realized the canoe had been destroyed by fire! I had written about this piece of Canadian art a few years ago.

Photo from CBC.

I ordered our new (more expensive) water cooler to replace the defective returned one.

Thursday we had plans to go out as it was supposed to be 18 C but it was a foggy morning that cleared up at 10 so we took the streetcar to Bathurst.

John in his springlike attire.

Where we had coffee and lunch at Nord Lyon.Everything is made in-house.

Slightly stuffed, we walked to the AGO.

New - beside MEC.

Well, finally, it was spring today...

This is ending on April 6 so I wanted to see it. The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century, click on the link for my detailed post.

A couple of teasers, my detailed post provides more information.

We walked through Chinatown before waiting forever for a streetcar, however, it was gorgeous out so we didn't care.

Mini watermelons!

John bought me a present at the museum!

And in other Toronto news here's what is happening with Union Station's never-ending construction!

Friday I wanted to get some more material so I could finally make those extra cushions for our room. It was back to my winter coat when I left at 9:30!! I went to Fabricland at Yonge and Bloor.

Got what I wanted and caught the 11:40 home.

COOKING

I came across this site that you can list what you do have in the freezer/pantry and it will spit out some recipes for you SuperCook.

Saturday delicious chicken stew using the rest of the rotisserie chicken, it covered Sunday lunch as well.

Sunday shrimp and haddock ceviche, Thai mango salad. John said he would try ceviche if I made it at home. So I did, considering there is no cooking it takes a long time to do! It turned out well.

I would try this aguachile recipe next time.

Monday John's B'day - a favourite of his, spaghetti and homemade meatballs/sauce with garlic toast.

Tuesday lunch out. T&T pork dumplings with my sauce

Wednesday curry chicken

Thursday ham and potato cabbage au gratin

Friday steak frites with dipping sauce Australian wine 

WATCHING

Inferno   When Robert Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia, he teams up with Dr. Sienna Brooks and they race across Europe together against the clock to foil a deadly global plot.

Holland 2025 Nicole Kidman A woman's picture-perfect life in quaint Holland, Michigan crumbles, when she and a friend uncover a twisted secret in their midst.

We watched our usual recorded series and streaming shows.

I am (very) late to the party, I started Call the Midwife!!! "I could murder a Dubonnet!"

I'm also catching up on the latest British Bakeoff and Bollywed.

READING

One eRead Canada One eRead/Un Livrel Canada brings readers together with unlimited access to the book for the month of April so that all Canadians can read along at the same time! Read the ebook in English or French, or listen to the audiobook in French.

This month's read is Valid which I borrowed from the library. 

Set in a disturbingly transfigured Montreal in the year 2050, Valid is a monologue delivered over the span of eight hours by Christelle, a seventy-year-old trans woman forced to live as a man in order to survive. Speaking to her captor, an ever–more powerful AI, she turns the tables and mounts her own revolution by showing her truest self. Part autofiction, part dystopic speculation on an all-too-possible future characterized by corporate power, ecological collapse, and political havoc, Valid is an ambitious work that is as much philosophical as it is confessional.

After the Eclipse while I enjoyed her writing I did find myself saying hurry up!! I did figure out who it was when he first appeared, his manner was off-putting.