Propeller

 Linking up with Marg at The Intrepid Reader

Weekend Coffee Share
Sunday Salon

January 2025 - Toronto ON

The Well Toronto ON

Saturday and the rain and warm temperatures (high of 10C) had washed away the dusting of snow that we had. By mid afternoon it looked like an early spring day.

Exactly how I felt this morning.

We are planning on leaving next week to escape our Canadian winter. We will drive to Palm Springs CA for 22 days, Las Vegas NV for 21 and then San Diego CA for 8 days.

I completed our Vacant Home Tax 2024 Declaration Form. The Vacant Home Tax (VHT) program requires homeowners in Toronto to let the City know if their property is occupied or vacant every year by making a declaration. The goal of the program is to increase the supply of housing by encouraging owners of vacant residential properties to sell them or rent them out. Owners who choose to keep their properties vacant are subject to a tax, with the revenue being allocated to affordable housing initiatives.

I cleaned the vacuum that was the unfortunate victim of a wine bottle blowing its cork in the pantry. Luckily, it was confirmed to the pantry.

Watered the plants, washed the kitchen floor and made the pastry for dinner.

I filled out the AWAY instructions for the office/Steve, provided T with her details. 

I cleared the fridge of Xmas leftovers, gravy, turkey and extra tourtiere filling were frozen.

I prepared some blog posts, headers and updates in preparation for the new year. I continued updating our 2024 Recap.

We finished a carton of egg nog, I think the first time ever!

Sunday we were fogged in as the temperature was 4 C at 7 AM, going to 7 C, with rain in the forecast. We had a rather lazy day.

Monday I went out for some odds and sods. John used the simulator.

When I opened the blueberries for breakfast I am used to seeing English and French (it's the law) on packaging, I was surprised to also see German!! For you, Iris.

Telus just installed a huge monitor with an ad featuring winter animals, it is so cute.

I spoke with Telus customer service for coverage in the US. I spoke to an agent, Miguel, who realized I was not happy with his offer of $90 per phone per month for US phone use. He escalated to a "loyalty" manager as I waited patiently on hold for about 20 minutes. I then spoke to Edlyn (in the Philippines as I later learned) and she gave me an amazing offer by adding the US/MEX plan to our accounts for no additional cost! 

I booked John's pedicure for Thursday.

I deposited my $20 cheque that I received from Rakuten for the last couple of months. It is the only "shopping" cash back I find worth using.

Tuesday New Year's Eve we booked a trip to Portugal in April! I booked our flights separately so I could use some points and a travel credit. Madeira has always been on my bucket list.

We have been to Portugal before, in 2001, however, we spent our time in the Algarve.

We went to The Well for lunch. 

Walking along Front St. 

As you can see the streets are bone dry and snow free.

The Well. Click here for a video tour of this impressive building.

We spent some time in Indigo, a bookstore chain. This Indigo is huge and it was packed!!!

WTF??? Valentine's Day cards!!!!!!!!!!

We went in circles finding Lulu Bar, we had not seen The Well from Wellington Street which is lined with restaurants.

I snapped this once that table cleared. It was quiet when we arrived at 12:30, however they got busier as the afternoon wore on. Our server mentioned that they were doing a seafood platter from 2 PM for New Year's.

Lulu Bar brings a fresh taste of the Pacific Ocean and the many regions that touch it right to The Well in Toronto. Drawing influence from Asia, Hawaii, California, and British Columbia, the Frank Architecture & Interiors-designed restaurant transports you right to a beach house. 

Originally founded in Calgary in 2019, Lulu Bar's second location in Toronto offers many of the same Pacific-inspired dishes as its Western counterpart. 

The restaurant's menu also draws inspiration from Chef Joseph Sokoloff's time in Indonesia and Vietnam during his childhood. 

I decided on two small dishes.

FRIED COCONUT SQUID pineapple, pickled jalapeño,  crispy garlic, coriander. This was delicious!! Even John tried the octopus.

SALT & PEPPER PORK BELLY chili lime, toasted rice  dipping sauce. This was very good, but I wouldn't order it again, as we have pork belly often.

John had GRILLED HALIBUT turmeric, coconut hot & sour,  stir fried greens, charred brioche.

They substituted the brioche (gluten) with rice. Also proclaimed delicious.

We will definitely go back! We will do "luuper" lunch/supper for their Honolulu Happy Hour from 2-5 and share some plates.

Unzipped is coming along, click on the link for photos from 2018 and 2024.

Once home we hunkered down for New Year's Eve. By 8 PM we were not hungry so we changed the menu to cheeses and crackers!

We watched the ball fall in Times Square for a few minutes.

New Year's Eve in Times Square in the rain??? No thank you. ✅that off our bucket list in 2002, right after 9/11.

2024 CROSSWORD FINAL and set up 2025.

Wednesday NEW YEAR'S DAY was a lazy day.

What a start to a new year!

Jimmy Carter was like, "2025, nah, I'm good."

At least 15 killed on Bourbon Street in New Orleans after driver intentionally slams truck into crowd; dozens injured

Five killed and hundreds arrested in Germany after New Year's Eve chaos

One person is dead and seven others were hurt after a Tesla Cybertruck caught fire and exploded near the covered entrance of Trump International Hotel Las Vegas Wednesday morning.

At least 10 wounded in mass shooting outside Queens nightclub.

Montenegro mourns after gunman kills at least 12 people before shooting himself.

Thursday started out as a miserable, cold, extremely windy morning as John went for a pedicure. He convinced me not to go out in the morning. 

So I finished the filing, sorted out papers (garbage/shredding). I sorted more of the freezers.

I'm almost finished sorting and backing up 2024 photos.

By noon, however, the sun had come out so we hustled to the bank to get American cash (ouch) and a gift (wine) for our financial advisor.

Friday we were taken to lunch at Miku by our financial advisor. 

ABURI Restaurants’ first East Coast location is in Toronto’s Harbourfront at Bay and Queen’s Quay. With over 7000 square feet, a raw bar, sushi bar, and large patio, Miku brings contemporary upscale design to the Southern Financial District.

We started with Spicy Sesame Edamame  chili garlic tamari soy, crispy shallots and miso soup.

Three of us had Miku Select a selection of traditional and Aburi nigiri and oshi, 10 pieces

John had Niku Udon *stir-fry style  braised beef, sliced Japanese wagyu, nappa cabbage, shiitake mushroom, spinach, onsen tamago, pea tendrils. And he had a dark Sapporo!

Onsen tamago, or "hot spring eggs", are a Japanese dish of eggs that are gently cooked in hot water until the whites are soft and custard-like, and the yolks are firm but still runny. The name comes from the hot springs and spas in Japan, or onsen.

We shared two desserts.

Green Tea Opera  - green tea génoise, matcha buttercream, dark chocolate ganache, adzuki bean cream, hazelnut wafer, kuromitsu purée, matcha ice cream

Valrhona Dark Chocolate Fondant - hojicha cream, jasmine tea jelly, roasted berries, jasmine tea ice cream

COOKING

Saturday tourtiere, gravy, beans

Sunday roast beef, roast potatoes, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, gravy

Monday leftover roast beef stew - we had found the meat a little tough which was disappointing

Tuesday out to lunch - crab and shrimps cheeses pate crackers

Wednesday New Year crab and shrimp with Beefsteak Charlie's dip. I did the crab in the crockpot on the STEAM function, perfect!!

Thursday shrimp curry using frozen curry sauce and coconut milk. More fridge/freezer cleaning. We were surprised that we enjoyed the shrimp in curry.

Friday out to lunch steak frites moved to Saturday ( I know, shocker, Andrew!). Cheeses and pate on toast.

WATCHING

The Devil's Own 1997 A police officer uncovers the real identity of his house-guest, an I.R.A. terrorist in hiding. Another oldie that we had seen before. Oh my, Brad Pitt was so young!

A Perfect Plan 2020 Four notorious thieves wake up in a fortified warehouse and are forced by a cunning master thief to plan and commit an extraordinary diamond heist.

Bean 1997 The bumbling Mr. Bean travels to America when he is given the responsibility of bringing a highly valuable painting to a Los Angeles museum. It has the famous turkey scene!!

The Untouchables 1987 During Prohibition, Treasury agent Eliot Ness sets out to stop ruthless Chicago gangster Al Capone, and assembles a small, incorruptible team to help him. Kevin Costner.

Clear and Present Danger 1994 CIA Analyst Jack Ryan is drawn into an illegal war fought by the US government against a Colombian drug cartel.

Airport 77 1977 Art thieves hijack a 747, hit fog and crash into the ocean, trapping them and the passengers under one hundred feet of water. What a plane, if only flying was like that today.

Leonard Cohen If It Be Your Life 2024 A cinematic celebration of Leonard Cohen's music, life, and legacy through the eyes of his son Adam and tribute performances by musical icons.

Airport 75 1974 A 747 in flight collides with a small plane, and is rendered pilotless. Somehow the control tower must get a pilot aboard so the jet can land. We could have skipped the unnecessary, tug your heart strings scene with the guitar playing nun! 

 

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 1967 A White couple's attitudes are challenged when their daughter introduces them to her Black fiancé.

Molly's Game 2017 The true story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game and became an FBI target. Filmed in Toronto. Very good.

ON THIS DAY (OTD)

I decided I'd do an OTD post weekly, linking back to the current week from another year.

ON THIS DAY (OTD) my weekly blog post from this week in 2012 - Nicaragua.

READING

2024 BOOKS READ = 115

The library app says I borrowed 178 books this year. But that would include magazines, cookbooks, and books I didn't read or finish.

The Close was a great last book of the year! 

First book of 2025.

Don't Let Her In a new author to me, Joanne Ryan. There is quite a bit going on in this quiet neighborhood and the neighbors all have dysfunction going on in their lives and homes. Not a bad storyline with some good twists but there were some typos.

The Happy Family  was a little show moving and disbelieving, and it was hard to take main character's wishy washy attitude. 

Weekend Roundup

Welcome to The Weekend Roundup...hosted by Tom The Back Roads Traveler

1. Starts with "A"
2. A Favorite
3. AROUND - Chosen by Tom

Starts with A (BIGGEST/SMALLEST/LONGEST/SHORTEST/OLDEST/FIRST)

ADVENTURE FIRST hot AIR balloon ride for us - Sedona ARIZONA

FAVOURITE

ADULT

AROUND
Birmingham England

Stirling Castle and Dunfermline Abbey Scotland

THROWBACK THURSDAY #TBT

First posted June 2010

Repost December 2024

We had been to Stirling Castle in 2001, however we went back in 2010.

The one thing that had stuck out in my memory was the King's Knot.

View from the castle.

The palace was built for King James V and his second queen, Marie of Guise, around 1540. It is one of the most remarkable Renaissance buildings not just in Scotland but the whole of Britain. Indeed, it is now the country’s most complete example of a palace of its era.

That is the Wallace monument in the distance.

The gardens were perfect.

It is a beautiful castle to visit and they had some interesting exhibits on display. I particularly liked The Great Kitchens which had a short video explaining where all the food would come from and how it would be cooked and stored.

Some entertainment in the Grand Hall.

Dunfermline is a large town in the west of Fife. It was once the capital of Scotland and it's a great place to visit if you're interested in history. Dunfermline's heritage quarter includes the 12th century abbey which is the final resting place of Robert the Bruce and the burial site of 11 other Scottish kings and queens. You can also step back in time in The Royal Palace, Abbot House and St Margaret's Cave. The famous philanthophist Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline.

Dunfermline Abbey is a Church of Scotland Parish Church. The church occupies the site of the ancient chancel and transepts of a large medieval Benedictine abbey, which was sacked in 1560 during the Scottish Reformation and permitted to fall into disrepair. Part of the old abbey church continued in use at that time and some parts of the abbey infrastructure still remain. Dunfermline Abbey is one of Scotland's most important cultural sites.

The Benedictine Abbey of the Holy Trinity and St Margaret, was founded in 1128 by King David I of Scotland, but the monastic establishment was based on an earlier foundation dating back to the reign of his father King Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, i. e. "Malcolm III" or "Malcolm Canmore" (regnat 1058-93), and his queen, St Margaret of Scotland. At its head was the Abbot of Dunfermline, the first of which was Geoffrey of Canterbury, former Prior of Christ Church, Canterbury, the Kent monastery that probably supplied Dunfermline's first monks. At the peak of its power it controlled four burghs, three courts of regality, and a large portfolio of lands from Moray in the north south to Berwickshire.

I was happy, John less so, that there were a couple of weddings.

We drove over to the Wallace Monument but decided at the last minute not to visit it as we had been there before.

Photos from 2001! Sadly, pre-digital.

On our previous visit we saw the statue of Braveheart as Mel Gibson and it made us laugh. I’ve since learned the following:

In 1997, a statue of Gibson as "William Wallace" was placed outside the Wallace Monument near Stirling, Scotland. The statue, which includes the word "Braveheart" on Wallace's shield, the work of sculptor Tom Church, was the cause of much controversy and one local resident stated that it was wrong to "desecrate the main memorial to Wallace with a lump of crap". In 1998 the statue was vandalised by someone who smashed the face in with a hammer. After repairs were made, the statue was encased in a cage at night to prevent further vandalism. This only incited more calls for the statue to be removed as it then appeared that the Gibson/Wallace figure is imprisoned. The statue was removed from the site in 2008 to make way for a new restaurant and reception to the visitors' centre.


Day 16 Edinburgh to Melrose/Carlisle.
Melrose and a Pig with Bagpipes