February 13, 2026 - Toronto ON
SATURDAY
Amazon couldn't deliver until Wednesday drove John to brave the cold weather to go to Best Buy to get a couple of new HDMI cables as he was having trouble with his TV connection. He said everybody was complaining about the cold.
This seems to have solved the problem. Our cables were at 15 years old!
He also ensured the TV firmware was up to date.
UPDATE - no, the receiver is not working. Called Bell - they did diagnostics, sure, and nothing is wrong. We'll see...
What with Super Bowl and the Olympics John was glued to the TV.
We started yet another charity bag, I am getting rid of those big bulky winter sweaters that I never wear because they are too hot to wear inside and too heavy/not needed under our winter coats.
I must be getting spring fever as I have an urge to declutter and tidy up everywhere. Books have gathered under the coffee table, I just feel like there is too much "stuff" around even in the fridge!
Everything needs a shake up including me!
This cold freeze isn't helping, it's not inspiring me to go out. I have a list a mile long of things I want to check out.
SUNDAY
We had another extreme cold warning! I baked some cranberry scones, I am loving this idea of freezing them, unbaked, and just making the amount we want.
I had an abbreviated chat with my friend as her daughter called from Milan, where she is filming the Olympics for CBC.
We are still hunkering down in this cold weather spell, but it will soon be over.
I decided to work on my spice drawer, refilling, and managed to clean out 4 containers that were duplicates.
I did some plant mothering, trying to be a better parent. I even moved that big tree to clean behind it.
I booked a suite for some family company in July.
I continue to dust from the installation of the track lights last week!
I finished this round of shredding, including tax files.
I received confirmation that the unrequested Amex (Belair) travel protection is cancelled, $1,500 saved.
We paid for the tracking lighting $3,000. I guess I should think of it as being offset by the above.
Sometimes when I am writing this recap I think we've done nothing, but then I realize how much reading and researching on topics of interest we do. And then all the average everyday chores that get done.
Speaking of which,
Jinjer of The Intrepid Angeleno brought up "What’s an analog bag? People are buying special bags just to lug their analog hobbies from room to room or from upstairs to downstairs. Books, journals, coloring books, knitting projects, painting projects, etc. They want to have a nice bag for this in case they want to bring these things to work with them or to a doctor appointment or to the park while their kids play, etc."
I have a couple of analog bags, Jinjer won't approve as she doesn't like tote bags or baskets!
Lunch - oops we had already dived in before a photo so we fancied it up with some nachos!
We found this to be a little sweet, better after we added hot sauce!
John requested a martini.
MONDAY
I continued with my manic spring clean. When I get this way, every nook and cranny will be cleaned and sorted.
I did my kitchen shelves, including my cookbooks. Obsolete manuals were tossed. Printed recipes tossed. A set of wooden salad servers - who needs 3 sets? Why am I missing a bowl lid?
Even the pen holder got a clean out.
Decluttered 1 cookbook, 1 Christmas lantern, 1 portable coffee. water jug (promotional).
I rearranged a couple of spaces, without spending a penny.
The hall, with new lights, the camel, from Egypt, was hiding on the top of the bar, now I hope it doesn't get broken!
The bar now has the tray that was in the hall, my mother's cocktail stick collection and the Guinness mirror that must be at least 60 years old, was also my mother's.
The bar tray is now on the coffee table.
TUESDAY
Continuing on my manic cleaning, I sorted the 2 travel boxes and discarded any American loyalty grocery cards (won't be going there any time soon), expired IDs, travel loyalty cards, and now have more shredding to do!!
I started deleting online contacts, I'm almost through the Cs finished!
I linked my Uber account to Aeroplan (Air Canada), may as well earn those points where I can. So did John.
I also requested missing frequent flyer points for our Phuket to Bangkok flight that we booked and it was approved! And I got my points for Thai Bangkok to Chiang Mai although tour booked it, yay me!
I guess my frenzy is rubbing off on John. He started work on the grout using the Clorox Foamer that seems to do a good job. Ordered more along with Black Diamond grout cleaner from Amazon.
I froze the 3 avocados I bought that we didn't use on the weekend. I will attempt to grow a houseplant from the pit.
WEDNESDAY
We had a day out of the deep freeze, it was 1C!
We poked in the bookstore. The new look of books.
We haven't been to Canoe in a long time. We were going in 2024 for Christmas lunch but cancelled as we didn't like the fixed menu. Back in 2019 we were supposed to go with a friend (??) but "they" had the flu.
Canoe is on the 54th floor of the TD Centre and the view is amazing even on a cloudy day.
None of these buildings were here in the 90s! The two matching white towers is typically where I go to Winners and the $ store if I am going to Longo's.
The 2016 post shows the two white towers under construction.
Winterlicious menu for today's lunch. What will we pick???
Heirloom beet salad with hazelnuts and maple cherry vinaigrette for both of us
7 oz flat iron, charred broccolini, triple-cooked chips, sauce Diane for John. He didn't care for the sauce.
Atlantic salmon, cauliflower, fennel, Pernod cream sauce. The skin was so crispy! Yum!!
Chocolate tart, blood orange and cream cheese. DELICIOUS
Pavlova, mulled cranberry and rosemary. Good too.
We only managed two Winterlicious this time, nothing else appealed to us.
Black and Blue wins for appetizer choices and John's steak.
Canoe wins on atmosphere and desserts!
Roundhouse, Railroad Museum, Gardiner.
Island Airport.
Lake Ontario
THURSDAY
Would you believe I was on the bus when the driver and some passengers spotted a pair of coyotes strolling along the ice between Lakeshore and Ontario Place, and I was on the wrong side of the bus!
I went to Longo's, $ Store and Winners.
Cleaned up and backed up 2025 photos.
FRIDAY
I went to the Eaton Centre, I wanted to exchange the 4,700 Thai bhat we brought home, I got $200, I'll put it in the cash fund.
Heading downtown.
New display in Union Station.
Lunar new year in the Eaton Centre
The Eaton Centre renovations are almost complete, there is still some working being done on the escalators. I wanted to see the new Eataly.
.
It is much smaller than their flagship at Bay and Bloor. Click on Eataly in the labels/tags below this post if you want to see that location.
I don't usually walk on this level, too fancy labels for me. I had the feeling of walking through a Las Vegas Casino fashion mall, I think the sunlight contributed to that ambiance.
It is family day on Monday and there was no school today so people were checking out the Olympic sports setup.
Hockey
John had an appointment and then went to Costco's. Our supplies are low, especially meat.
$45 for these two prime roasts, John cut it into four pieces. Ham is a favourite here.
He also got smoked meat for lunches, steaks, chicken thighs.
I did some more administrivia, sorting through various papers, sending cards, paying the house taxes.
I flipped through the magazines below and highlighted some recipes.
As i said it is a long weekend and Valentine's Day, we have our menu sorted.
LOCAL NEWS
This deserves a headline!!
Toronto's Eglinton Crosstown LRT Opens After 15 Years of Delays!
COOKING
We've done a good job of eating from our pantry/freezer since we came home at the end of December. We did do a market trip for steaks and we are out now. We have done weekly fruit/vegetable shops.
The pulled pork served us a couple of lunches as well.
MENU
Saturday chicken quarters, carrots and turnips and roast potatoes
Monday leftover pulled pork
Tuesday lamb stew (including rogue vegetables, one shallot, mushrooms, snow peas and leftover turnips/carrots)
Wednesday lunch out
Thursday soup
Friday steak scored potatoes
NEW RECIPES ADDED TO MY RECIPE BOX
WATCHING
We finished the third season of Narcos.
We also watched a Spanish mini-series
Bank Under Siege which we enjoyed, but we always like a good heist!
The plot explores the Assault on the Central Bank of Barcelona in May 1981, three months after the 23-F coup d'Ă©tat attempt, as a group of 11 robbers took over 200 hostages and demanded the liberation of putschist general Antonio Tejero and three of his collaborators.
New word to me - A putschist is a person who participates in or supports a putsch, which is a sudden, often violent, and illegal attempt to overthrow a government. Deriving from German, it refers to an individual involved in a coup d'Ă©tat or a swift revolt. They are sometimes called conspirators, rebels, or insurrectionists.
Memory of a Killer When hitman Angelo is hit with early onset Alzheimer's, his worlds collide, putting his family in danger. Very interesting. Filmed here in Toronto.
I mentioned we are watching the latest MasterChef Canada. It was the 100th episode so they had to bake a special cake chosen at random. I knew most of them thanks to the British Bake-Offs I have watched over the years, but not this one; The Brooklyn Blackout Cake is a legendary, intensely chocolatey dessert featuring layers of moist devil's food cake filled with rich chocolate pudding and covered in a thick layer of chocolate frosting and cake crumbs. Originating from the now-defunct Ebinger Baking Company in Brooklyn during World War II, it was named to honor the city's mandatory blackout drills.
I binge-watched part of season 3 of The Gilded Age. Time to find something new to knit or maybe start those embroidery kits.
I finished season 1 of The Traitors UK, and really enjoyed it, those are tough challenges! I didn't think I would bother with season 2 as I wondered how they could change it up, but I did start and it is perfect kitchen/cooking entertainment.
READING
The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin List by Sunday, March 29th.
I read
Great Expectations, I don't think I've ever read it before, and I'm sorry to say, that it bored me.
I am going ahead and reading Passing by Nella Larsen. I was very surprised when I went to borrow it at the library and saw that I already had it on my wish list! This also applies for Black History Month. I finished
Passing, a fascinating exploration of race and identity.
First published in 1929, Larsen's brilliant examination of the various ways in which we all seek to "pass," is as timely as ever.
Larsen herself was light enough to pass and married white in order to better herself in society. As a white woman, she was able to publish Passing, Quicksand, and one other little read novel, but after the truth about her race came out, she was denied publication of her other works; additionally, her marriage ended in a bitter divorce. The migration of African Americans to northern cities had only begun in this era, and Larsen's opportunities were limited. She lived the rest of her life employed as a nurse in a Harlem hospital, living as a negro rather than white.
Animal Farm, I had read years ago, but it was fun to re-read.
The Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children was the first official orphanage, built in the 1920's, to care for at risk kids who were black. It was built, because white home care institutions would not accept black children in need.
I managed to get a 7-day loan of
Mother Mary Comes to Me, mother-daughter dynamics are always difficult to read about.
A raw and deeply moving memoir from the legendary author of The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness that traces the complex relationship with her mother, Mary Roy, a fierce and formidable force who shaped Arundhati’s life both as a woman and a writer.
WHAT ELSE I READ
MAGAZINES
There is no shortage of chicken ideas! I pinned many! There are even ideas for rotisserie chickens. And there are no ads, unlike the Italia magazine. Wait a minute, it IS in Italian!!
