Spinning All Ways

Colombia - In Conclusion

2012-02-05T11:16:00.000-08:00

I'm glad I went, happy I've seen it, but I'm not in love with it. It's true, I didn't fall in love. Some times I do, like the first time I saw Rome. Bogota was gritty, urban and edgy. Of course the Caribbean coast was beautiful and gorgeous and I did love the wonderful eco lodge we stayed at, but that love pretty much stopped at the landward gates of the property where the dust, dirt and poverty of the local town began. Cartegena was lovely and it's history part of the puzzle of the growth of the new world.

I was astounded by the expense of things in Colombia. Granted we were not staying in hostels nor strictly eating street food, but even so. The local's lunch place we ate at in Cartegena was similar in cost to a Canadian lunch - about $15 Canadian dollars each for the set lunch with bottled water. A t-shirt bought on the street was $13 Canadian dollars and a bottle of Colombia's Ron Medellin 8 year old rum was $30 Canadian dollars. If you plan to travel to Colombia expect to carry a lot of cash. No where accepts anything but. It is almost as if their national bank hasn't really kept up with the times because the largest denomination bill appears to be the 50,000 which is around $25 Canadian dollars.

Colombia's national air carrier Avianca is excellent. Both our flights were on time, boarding was smooth and the air craft had in flight entertaintment, telephones, power plugs and seats that recline much farther than Air Canada's!

People by and large were friendly and helpful. Speaking even a little bit of Spanish was very imporant because very few people had even a little bit of English. I'm really glad I worked with DeUna, a Colombian travel company. They were really helpful and everything they suggested worked out very well. Their guides were excellent as were their drivers. Because credit cards are not popular in Colombia you may be asked to make a direct cash deposit from your bank account to the travel company or hotel. DeUna did set it up so we could pay by credit card as long as we were willing to pay the 7% credit card commission. This payment issue is another really good reason to go through a travel company. It simply isn't reasonable to carry around the amount of cash required to pay for some of the lovely hotels, and they don't take credit cards. I'd had this experience before in Sicily, so I was more prepared than most, but it still came as a surprise.

All in all, I confirmed my love of the Carribean ocean and my desire to eat exceptional food. We already have flights booked for Rome in April 2012.

The Long Road Home

2012-01-31T20:31:00.000-08:00

As you might expect, the actual travel portion of travel isn't always fun. The only truely frightening moment was when we were passing through Colombia migration, yes. that's right. Migration. They filter you before you leave the country. We'd already gotten our tax exemption certificate and droped off our suitcases. For some reason my brand new Canadian passport with it's Colombia entry and tax exemption stamps wasn't good. After an extremely stressful 10 minutes during which I planned my life in Colombia and tried to remember where I'd put the Canadian embassy emergency contact numbers.... I got my third Colombia stamp in my passport with no questions and no discussion. The secondary screening was weird - just at the gate there was a scrum of passengers and uniformed officers. We had to undergo more security screening including an unexpected and sudden pat down by a female military officer. it was quite comforting to step onto the aircraft and were greeted and seated.

Our night flight was uneventful. Arriving in Toronto was a bit strained but smooth. Not even any questions about visitng farms, bringing back seeds or souvenirs. I'm very glad we broke our journey in Vancouver beacause we are both very jet lagged.

Zebra Coffee Shop

2012-01-29T17:04:00.000-08:00

After all the souvenir shopping our dogs were barking so we slumped into a couple seats at the Zebra coffee shop. I recommend it to anyone coming to Cartagena. The cafe con leche were lovely lattes. Plus the people watching was excellent.

Souvenir Shopping

2012-01-29T16:54:00.000-08:00

As most tourists do, we like to return with something to remember the journey. Lately we've tried to limit ourselves to comestibles like liquor, spices and perfume. But, i just can't resist the lure of the tacky trade.

I just love bags- especially multi-media bags!

This, this was not tacky. Mompox a small community nearish to Cartegana is well known for its silver filigree work, and this piece was highly covetable. Also very expensive.

The shops just went on and on...

Sarah's Blue Period

2012-01-29T16:46:00.000-08:00

I was married in a periwinkle blue silk dress. I've got a thing for blue. There is a blue here that I deeply love. it isn't just one blue, its blue with blue with blue, with a little bit of other colours under it.

Street Food & Lunch

2012-01-29T16:43:00.000-08:00

I'm a foodie so it should come as no surprise that I try lots of food stuffs that I see other people trying. Today was no exception.

This was the coconut guy by our hotel. First you drink the coconut water, then you hand the coconut back and he hacks it in half with a machete and scoops out the fresh squidgy coconut meat for you.

We liked it so much we got some coconut water for later. It comes in little baggies almost impossible to get out.

We turned around and followed the lady with the beautiful dress... ahem... and she was stopping to get some shave ice. How lovely!

I had a tamarind shave ice and Chris had a coca shave ice. Delish.

We decided we'd try Getsemini for lunch, and when we smelled and then spied what was on offer at this restaurant we dove in with gusto.

That is a kilo of langostinos drenched in butter and garlic after we'd had our way with them. Oh, and some shrimp rice, coconut rice, fried plantain and salad to round things out.

Cartagena People

2012-01-29T07:53:00.000-08:00

Like many tourist towns there is a lot on view here. Some of it seems specifically for the tourists (t-shirts, jewelery, horse drawn carriages). Other parts of the street life seem geared at the locals. Last night we watched a waiter from a very high end restaurant walk out into a square that our bar over looked and buy an ice cream sandwich from one of the vendors.

After all the walking we asked for a restaurant recommendation from Edgar our guide. I'm so glad we did! This restaurant was great, local food made right by the ladies in the open kitchen. Plus the cute waiter made excellent pina coladas.

Whenever we travel and stumble across a barbershop Chris gets a hair cut. The hair cut isn't the point, its about the experience. This barbershop was right beside our luncheon restaurant. Each of the men in the chairs had a lovely lady observing and ordering just the right cut. And, just in case you might need her, in the corner of the shop was a notary who advertised everything from baptismal to wedding certificates.

Cartegana Architecture

2012-01-29T07:40:00.000-08:00

Our guide for the morning, Edgar, was wonderful. He answered all my questions thoughtfully. I have never had a personal tour guide before. Having Edgar tour us around added enormously to our enjoyment and understanding of this town.

I am unable to do justice to the lovely streets and alleys, but the gist of it is this. By fiat only the rich could have houses more than one story until after the colony declared Independence. Then the 'republican' style included multi-story homes with beautiful balconies, humongous doors and servants or slave quarters.

Cartagena Walking Tour - Coconut Thirst

2012-01-29T07:32:00.000-08:00

After walking for a few hours we were understanably thirsty. I'd been wanting to try the coconut water for a while and with a captive guide and translator I was able to make my demands!

It was delicious and refreshing. Enough to keep going to the next historical stop on the itinerary.

Cartegana Walking Tour - the Fort

2012-01-29T07:28:00.000-08:00

We walked right through Getsemini (yes, named after the hill in Jerusalem) and up to the fort that formerly protected Cartegena from and landward invasion. The town was protected from the sea side by its defensive walls, coral reef and cannons. The military engineering of the fort and it's surroundings remains impressive. Each aspect of the fort was designed with defensibility in mind. At the time (1640-1720's) Cartegena was the key to the Spanish treasure chest, a town with a lot of money in gold and jewels. The French did succeed in taking the fort and town once, the English failed miserably. Pirates, corsairs and buccaneers were constant threats.

This is the lower cistern which would fill with water during the rainy season and see the garrison through any siege. Both the City of Cartegena and the fort were designed to withstand multi day sieges. Only after more than a 6 month siege was Cartegena taken back by the Spanish after the colony declared Independence in 1811. For that, the city was awarded the moniker "Heroica".

We are discussing the range of the cannons which would have fired from the part of the fort to protect the town.

Each part of the fort could be defended or destroyed if taken, by the cannon emplacements on the apex of the hill. If the top of the fort was taken, the retreating solders would light the stores of gunpowder buried in the tunnels under the hill and blow the whole lot to smithereens. The fort was never taken after the final outer battlements were built.

Cartegena Walking Tour Getsemini

2012-01-29T07:09:00.000-08:00

We started our old town Cartegena walking tour at the old gates of the city, 3 arches now occupied by book and craft sellers. We processed across to Getsemini, the former 'low class' portion of old town Cartegana. Homes there now sell for $400,000 US.

Cartegena - Anthony Bourdain Strikes!

2012-01-28T05:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we endured the interminable drive from the wonderful eco lodge to our downtown Old Town Cartegena hotel. Last time I managed to sleep through most of it, this time I was awake. Cattle ranching seems to be a common occupation. At each check point, of which there were many less this drive, folks would appear hawking everything from coca cola, to cookies, to apparently themselves. How else to explain the ladies who had nothing?

After our arrival and long awaited bathroom break, we wandered out into the town. Eventually we found ourselves hungry for more than fruit snacks. I tried twice to find the euro bistro recommended by our oracle (Lonely Planet) but failed miserably. We then wandered around seeking out that rarest of species, a restaurant that wasn't empty, wasn't full, yet had good food at good prices. What we found was La Cervicheria. Somewhere deep in my hind brain I must have remembered this place. After we were seated and received our menus I was greeted by a screen shot from the Anthony Bourdain travel and food show which caused our journey to Colombia. "As seen on TV"! And the food was good.

Snorkelling

2012-01-28T05:38:00.003-08:00

After three days of blustering from the change of the moon (so the locals tell us) the winds died down after lunch and the sea calmedenough that I could see through it. Ah Ha! I can go swimming again. In point offact what I really enjoy is snorkeling, which for me means hanging face downin the warm water breathing through a snorkel, looking through a mask at theamazing sea life. Today’s highlights; two (yes, two) eels, one blue withwhite spots making it stand out a bit from it’s rocky home, the other abeautiful intense green, which caused it to completely blend in with it’s weedsurrounded home (it wasn’t until it poked it’s toothy snout out at me that Ieven knew it was there); a puffer fish (a beige and red camo patterned it’sskin and I swear algae was growing on it); a sea urchin; a conch lookingthingy the size of my fist; a small ray; and last but not least a sea slugwhich moved surprisingly quickly. My only sacrifice was the skin on the palmsof my hands which due to constant immersion has begun to flake off a bit. Smallprice to pay really. Part of what makes snorkeling so enjoyable here is thediversity and density of the sea life. If you just hang out in the water,you’ll see something. It also helps that the water is warm, pretty much skintemperature so you never feel at all chilled. The water and sea life are a bigattraction to this part of the world. This is the third time I’ve swum in theCaribbean and I think I’m going to keep coming back whenever I can. I only wishthat I could have taken photos of all the sea life to attach to this post. I must add at this juncture that Chris took all the photos and was only inspired to do so when I was wearing my thong bikini - not for publication. Chris strenuously objects to this point!

Medusa

2012-01-28T05:38:00.001-08:00

In Spanish as well as Italian, jellyfish travel under themuch more descriptive moniker of ‘medusa’. Her headful of spiteful, poisonoussnakes strikes me as a very apt way to name a jellyfish. We’ve been hear foralmost a week now. In the first 3 days the water was smooth, with gentle wavesand the snorkelling right off the beach was great. With the change of the moon,the weather and so the state of the water changed. The sea is choppy and thesand has been stirred up so much that there really isn’t much to be seen. Istill love swimming in the ocean and spend as much time as possible in theocean floating, swimming, lounging. Yesterday after some hammock time I was hotand in need of a float. Christopher had conquered his own hammock suffering itto support him and his computer so he could work and hang. I mention thisbecause when I came screaming up out of the water running along the beachtowards him it excuses what felt like a rather slow reaction time. As soon as Ihit the medusa I knew it. I never saw a thing, I was just starting a slowbreast stroke out into the waves when; “WHAM!” intense stinging on my face,back and right arm. Having had a few medusa run ins as a child swimming in theAtlantic I was familiar with the sensation, but oh, this was much worse. Chriscame to my rescue at the freshwater shower peeling pieces of tentacle off me.The stinging went on. Happily the gardener and odd jobs man was within shoutingdistance and took me over to the kitchen where he ordered vinegar and warmwater. I was very dubious about the warm water, but it did help. For the firstfew hours where I’d been stung was a very angry red spreading out from raisewhite welts. Happily it wasn’t the kind of medusa than can kill with its sting.Apparently there is one around here that necessitates a visit to the hospital.The day after I have only small red lines where Chris pulled the tentacles offme. As I write this I am looking longingly out at the beautiful Caribbeanwaters and thinking about swimming in the pool. The gardener said if you can’tsee through the water, don’t swim in it. Good advice I think that I willtake. The next day at the tide mark wefound the carcasses of a few of the little blighters. No wonder I didn’t spotthem. Not only are they small, but they are also completely transparent, withjust a slight blue tinge to the tentacles. In the first photo you see the side of my shoe for scale.

Island of Garbage

2012-01-28T05:36:00.000-08:00

On our way back from the snorkel tour we swung past thisvery strange sight. A tiny island covered in multi-story houses. The residentssay they live there because there’s no mosquitos. With beautiful carribeanwaters all around, and two other islands near by they can escape their selfimposed urban exile fairly easily. The island has electricity, satellite TV, aschool and reportedly, a restaurant. The islands residents are expanding their domainby adding garbage to the edges of the island. If you’ve seen Kevin Costner’sWaterworld, you have a pretty good idea of the concept. It is like some imaginativefuture fiction story to see an island as populated as a urban high rise out inthe middle of a chain of palm lined islets. I suspect you, dear reader, arewondering as we did where the drinking water comes from and where the effluviagoes… I think the fresh water comes by boat in large plastic containers as Ispied a few boats with what looked like water jugs aboard. The other matter…I’ll leave to your imagination.

Reef eco system

2012-01-28T05:35:00.000-08:00

We took the opportunity to travel away from the eco lodgewith some teachers who were scouting out locations for ‘schools without walls’.I know we have a similar program in Whitehorse, but I was surprised that suchexist here in Colombia. We travelled by motor boat to see some of the mostbeautiful reefs that I’ve ever seen. It was like snorkeling in a very well caredfor aquarium. We saw all the fish that appeared in Finding Nemo and more. Iwish I could tell you their names and the names of the types of coral we saw,suffice to say it was amazing. Unfortunately, we were on the quick highlightsversion of the tour so we were only on the reef about a half an hour. Fromthere we went into a mangrove lined inlet. There we saw the fish in theirearliest, youngest stages. The lesson is if you don’t preserve the mangroves,you can’t have the reef fish. Students are being taught to respect the entireeco system and to see the linkages between the large and the small. It was verysurprising to snorkel in the mangroves and see how the roots trapped soil andprovided anchorage fro not just oysters, but also barnacles, sea anemones anduntold schools of minuscule fish like confetti.

Guacamaya Attack!

2012-01-28T05:34:00.003-08:00

The resident parrot took a dislike to the gardener andattacked him this morning as he was going about his business. Who knows whybirds to what they do sometimes.

Hammock Effect

2012-01-28T05:34:00.001-08:00

One of our fellow guests was Paulo, a biologist fromMedellin who works in the herbarium at the University of , well, we’ll go withMedellin as I didn’t catch the name of the institution. He has learned bothFrench and English and was told by his instructors to seek out Canadians tospeak to because he could practise both. In point of fact, his Frenchinstructors told him if he could understand the french spoken by a Quebecois hecould understand any French anywhere. We had to disappoint him on the Frenchfront, but were happy to oblige with our English. He hopes to attend graduateschool in the USA and we encouraged him to consider the University of Alaska inFairbanks for its programming and generosity of grants. I was saddened to hearhow both the US and Canadian embassies treat applicants for student visas – notwell. One of our conversations petered out we decided because of the hammockeffect. The hammock causes such a degree of laziness and sloth it becomesdifficult to even carry on a conversation.

To the Bat Cave Robin!

2012-01-28T05:33:00.001-08:00

I should not be surprised but the bugs also come with bats,lots and lots of bats. They look a lotlike the little brown bats we have in the Yukon. I know that there are at leasttwo distinct types here, the fruit bats and the bug bats. The bug bats seem tobe the ones that hand out with us in the buildings. The fruit bats have theirown specialized home in a massive tree just at the front of the property thatalso serves as a cellular antenna. When you can’t get reception, stand underthe big tree and it seems to come in loud and clear. Our first days here the batswere fairly quiet during the days, occassonally a few would come out and hangout on the walls, likely because of the excessive heat in the rafters wherethey prefer to sleep. In the last few days the bats have become much moreactive in the day times. This has coincided with a change in the weather. Nolonger are the seas glassy calm, and the wind subtle. The winds have picked upand with them the seas, the bats and the bugs.

If I was a Pirate Queen

2012-01-28T05:32:00.003-08:00

I’ve always had a bit of a yen to be a pirate queen. Eversince I first saw the label on Anne Bonnie Rum I’ve wanted to be that womanwith the big smile, sword, pantaloons and shiny earing. This would be my lair,although I think I’d include rum with my lair. I’ve told the resident parrotthat he’d be welcome on my adventures and I think he really liked the idea. Hecertainly seems to like my yellow dress, whenever I wear it he always makes apoint of greeting me. We took a video ofhis antics and hope you find him as charming as we did.

What day is it again?

2012-01-28T05:32:00.001-08:00

Chris succeeded in extending our stay here in the eco lodge,and really I have no idea what day it is. The calm just settles in on you. The inspiration for this post isphytoplankton. One of the excursions offered by the lodge is to go to asheltered lagoon on a moonless night to experience the glow of phytoplankton. As a child in Nova Scotia I experienced theglow under a moonless sky maybe twice. It was nothing compared to this. I wishthat we’d been able to take a photograph, words are just not enough. If youhave seen the movie Avatar, there is a special effect that looks very much likethe glow that surrounds your fings, your paddle and outlines every fish andfrog that zips along through the water. It is like having your own personalsilent pyrotechnics.

Cartagena to Sanguare Riserva Naturale

2012-01-28T05:31:00.003-08:00

We flew from Bogota to Cartegana on Aviancia, Colombia’snational airline. Air Canada and West Jet could learn a thing or two abouteffective people moving from these folks. Check in was swift and problem freeeven though we ‘no hablo espanol”. Instead of boarding from an elevated walkwayafter you pass through the gates you find yourselves stuffed onto a bus, thebus did get us to the airplane and we all mobbed aboard. Yes, we all hadassigned seats, but you just can’t keep people from rushing the doors I guess.The flight was smooth, the landing the same. Once we collected our baggage and– excellent innovation – had it checked against our baggage tags we were outinto the carribean heat. There waiting for us was our driver ready to take usto our next destination.

We managed to findenough Spanish to communicate that we were starving for lunch and he dropped usoff at a very nice restaurant. After a reviving seafood meal we were back inthe car for what turned out to be a three and a half hour drive into the boondocks of the coast. Despite it being the back of beyond the roads were welltravelled and very well policed. Chris counted no less than 7 military orpolice check stops. Each time with a jaunty honk our driver breezed through.There were also 4 toll booths, although I suspect the money didn’t go to keepingup the road as a number of times we grounded out in the late model Chevy sedansupplied for the journey. Just when Chris thought we were gonners and the veryrespectable man driving the car was actually some sort of odd kidnapper, we“arrived” in San Onofre. Talk about rural. Our ride to the eco lodge did notturn out to be the nice new Ford 4 door 4x4 but a rather venerable Toyota witha rather small cab. I was just grateful that I’m short. I can’t imagine tryingto squeeze a tall person in…All in all, it would be much better to arrive hereby boat or float plane.

The Eco lodge is everything that the propaganda for Caribbeanholidays advertises but doesn’t deliver. This place delivers on all those whitesand, private beach, hammock dreams. Our first night we had the whole place toourselves. I walked down the beach toget a cup of coffee and when I returned, mine were still the only foot printson the beach. The folks running thisplace are really wonderful, friendly and sweet. We hobble along on a fewSpanish words and phrases and exchange vocabulary with them daily, mostly aboutthe very tasty food. Margarita and hersister Viviane seem to run the place with other folks cooking, cleaning andheaving luggage about. They do a great job.

The food is good. Home cooked with love. Our daily snack hasbeen a freshly made ice cream or gelato, different each day. All day long thereis fresh hot coffee, fresh coconut and lumps of sugar cane for those nibblymoments. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are hot and lovingly prepared.Specialities have been the bbq fish and plantain cakes; the desserts andinteresting salads. With each meal is fresh juice made with local fruits. Myfavourite has been the mango pineapple, although the guanabana was also prettyawesome.

So far the only minor sour note are the bugs. Yes, I hearyou, it is an eco lodge. We did come expecting bugs, but expecting and meetingare two different things. The massive spider on the beach was a real shockerbecause I’d been blithely walking around barefoot. No longer. That damn spider made herself invisible undera leaf – check the photo if you don’t believe me. The massive black insectoidscurrying around our room as we closed the blinds took a long time to die aftermassive blows from Christopher’s dress shoe – delivered by Sarah I may add. Inevery relationship one person has to be the designated bug killer – in oursthat is Sarah. The sole of the shoe hada nasty wet smearing of bug guts that I suspect are permanent now. We shouldhave had a clue about the bugs when the welcoming safety briefing included amassive jar with a collection of foot long centipedes. We were told they aren’taround this time of year, but they do like wet clothing, so don’t leave any inyour room. Then there was the reassuring pantomime about how to check yourshoes for dangerous denizens – what ever you do, don’t reach inside! But don’tlet the insects put you off. This place is as lovely as they get. The water iswarm like a bath tub, the fish are small, beautiful and non-threatening and Ieven saw a small turtle swimming around in the weeds at our beach.

We took a short guided jaunt on a kayak through themangroves into a lagoon this afternoon. The water in the mangrove lagoon is sowarm that phytoplankton bloom there. At night you can see your every paddlestroke glowing with them. We plan tospend entire days laying in a hammock on the beach reading novels and coolingoff occasionally in the ocean.

The resident parrot, who despite living here for 12 years isnameless, has an entertainingrelationship with the pair of dogs who also live here. The parrot lives tosteal food. At lunch he managed to make away with a dumpling but the dog leaptinto the air, startling the parrot to the ground, whereupon the dog ate the dumpling.The dog would probably have eaten the parrot too, but one of the staff calledher off. The male dog arrived late onthe scene and was set to guard the parrot. All very entertaining to us.

Oh! Before I forget, among the bugs are the most beautifulbutterflies, all colours, all sizes. I swear I even saw a blue morpho thisafternoon. And at night there are fire flies. I’ve never seen a fire fly before– they really are special. And the stars! Wow. They are almost as amazing asthe stars over Texas which is really saying something.

Chris had to remind me about last night’s episode when hethought there was a bat in our room. There are many bats around eating bugs andwe think a few of them miss calculate and smash into the screens of our room.We think that because of the screaming and bashing noises they made a few timesin the night. This gives you context for the scream that erupted from thebathroom when Chris had to answer the call of nature. He woke me up to dealwith a massive bug. Well, it wasn’t a bug, it was a frog and it lives in thetoilet tank because this is the dry season.

Bogotá in Review

2012-01-28T05:31:00.001-08:00

We were content to leave Bogota after only 3 days. We’d seenwhat we wanted, eaten satisfactorily and largely enjoyed ourselves. It’s a city, and like most cities has lotsgoing on, but for us the streets were rather discouraging to walk and notspeaking Spanish was a big impediment. Would I go back? Probably not. Iwasn’t endeared to the city the way I’ve fallen for others (notably Rome). 3days was enough.

Bogota Botanical Garden

2012-01-17T20:26:00.000-08:00

Bogota Jardin Botanico Jose Celestino Mutis

Bogota's botanical garden is lovely. Chris and I visit botanical gardens around the world wherever we find them. So far we have been most impressed by those in Canada. This one in Bogota is very recognizably English in style and execution. They have a beautiful rose garden, a palm garden, a medicinal garden and a glass house with 4 different ecozones.

For Our Bridge Engineer

The cab ride back was a revelation. Unfortunately we don't have any photos because we were so busy staring at the world around us. The cabbie took us around the outside of Bogota into the mountains to escape the rush hour traffic. The views were amazing, the jungle and hills were spectacular. Just when I began to worry that we were very off the beaten track, suddenly we were back in the city and literally at the end of the street we were staying on. The very street we'd walked to (what we thought) was the end of last night.

Colombian Cuisine

2012-01-17T17:26:00.000-08:00

Today was our cooking class. We had two guides, Stephan and Nicole. Our instructor was Claudia, who has been cooking wholesome vegetarian traditional Colombia food for 20 years. We were back at the fruit market first thing this morning which was lovely because the wholesale flower sellers were out in picturesque force. After yesterday's visit Chris and I had particular missions - we wanted spices, honey and anything else small, light and dry. We succeeded in getting some spices. We hope they make it back without disaster. One of the spices is the fruit and seed of a very strange fruit used here to make a bright red sauce. We also got some hot chocolate balls - just add milk and you get strange Colombian hot chocolate.

During our lesson we made amaranth soup, deep fried fritters, salad and mashed potatoes. The potatoes were the star of the meal as they were a special Colombian variety only grown in the Andean highlands. They were indeed delicious. I can't say that I am thrilled with Colombian cooking so far. It seems that many Colombian's aren't either because most of the 'fine' restaurants are, yes, you guess it, Italian.

After our cooking lesson and lunch our guide Stephan stayed with us to take us to assist us with a money changing adventure. It was an adventure, not for the unilingual English speaker. The money changer we used just happened to be in the Emerald mall. Yes, a mall where all the vendors sell emeralds. This was a lucky chance as I had it in mind that I wanted an emerald. Well, not at the prices they were charging. I probably could have shopped around an haggled lots and still not felt like I was getting a deal. So, I decided that I didn't want an emerald for the prices they were charging.

Stephan treated us to some chicha, which is an indigenous type of rot gut. The stuff is like a sourdough starter, you get to add more new ingredients to the pot when you take out some chicha for your party. Chris found it interesting. I couldn't stomach it. The live yeast was very lively on the tongue. I think, like ripe cheese, one could get accostomed to it.

Bicycle Bogota

2012-01-16T13:43:00.000-08:00

As part of our Colombian adventure I decided that I'd like to see the City of Bogota by bicycle. So we did. I thought it would be a short highlights sort of thing, maybe a couple hours. Five and a half hours later we're finally back at our hotel. It was EPIC. Grafiti, crazy traffic, lots of interesting things to see. Let's see if I can do the highlights... the two founding plazas, one occupied by horse carts as part of a protest, the fruit market (which has meat, bread, etc.) a coffee shop and roaster. At the fruit market we tried all kinds of strange fruits, some were fabulous, others not so much. There are a few photos of me with a sour puss face. From there through a dogdy red light district, then the formerly nice district (1950's), then the abortion district, the bull fighting ring and indepedence park. In there somewhere we went to a beautiful cemetery as well.

We fell in with a fun crowd, a few folks from Germany, an Israeli and a couple gals from Argentina. No whiners, everyone was game. I would have to say that the experience was something else.

How Cool - Colombia

2012-01-15T21:03:00.000-08:00

First Class flights are really very nice. I enjoyed my pod, as did Chris. However, there is nothing to make up for a red eye flight except a good sleep. We checked into the Sheraton in the Toronto airport for 6 hours. It was well worth it. We had enough energy to dance while waiting for our Bogota bound flight which was 1.5 hours late.

Some fun on the flight - a few Canadian Senators were headed to Bogota as well. It being a small world, one of the senators ( Joan Fraser ) is friend of a friend of ours mother. Harder to say than to comprehend. Chris was quite friendly and introduced himself.

We're here, in our hotel room ready for bed. The customs was a breeze. Our driver was waiting with a sign just outside the exit and our driver got us smoothly to our hotel. All good news. Chris admitted to some anxiety after we arrived safely. He really is game - I don't know if I'd go along on some of my hair brained schemes.

Enroute to Colombia

2012-01-14T19:27:00.000-08:00

After a few hiccups at home - caused by too much to do and not enough time - we're dong the hurry up and wait dance with our ever irritating partner - Air Canada. Sigh. Our routing is good, but the timing between flights not so much. So far, we've only done the flight from Whitehorse to Vancouver and they already managed to 'mis place' a piece of my luggage. Never fear faithful readers, it was recovered with only a modicum of fuss. The soothing effects of a stiff drink after such an experience aren't to be dismissed.

Chris was, I think, rather pleased to be seated across the isle from our relatively new territorial Premier. After some pleasantries Chris managed to foist a business card off on him. As for myself, I managed to sleep through most of it. I've been thinking about the distinction that some make between a traveller and a tourist. Rather like the distinction between art and craft - many care deeply, others see it as semantics. I think that I am a bit of both. I like a modicum of tourist infrastructure but not too many fellow travellers. I hope that Colombia is our kind of perfect.

Colombia, home of latin dance

2012-01-11T22:39:00.000-08:00

Chris and I have been taking dancing classes in preparation for our trip. We've got a video showing how well we're doing. Check us out!

Blame Anthony Bourdain

2012-01-11T10:24:00.000-08:00

When people ask; "Why Colombia?" I tell them its because of Anthony Bourdain. He did a "No Reservations" show on Colombia that made me want to go there. His potty mouthed irreverent style really struck a chord with us. After that show I started asking folks if they'd been to Colombia and a surprising number of them had, and (more interesting to me) enjoyed themselves. Maybe it all started with Romancing the Stone...

The last of Christmas

2012-01-09T16:15:00.000-08:00

A few final photos of our wonderful pets and tree. The cat, Murphy decided he was interested in eating the christmas lights. The dog, Isla, was subjected to the antlers for our enjoyment, and now yours!

Beautiful Steps

2012-01-09T12:26:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted a Persian carpet, and now I have one! Chris spotted it at a store in Vancouver, the I Found Gallery. I was looking for clothes and jewelery. Chris noticed the sign; "40% off all carpets"really liked this one and took a photo of it so we could follow up later. You can find them on etsy.com
I spent an hour or so yesterday whacking the dirt out of the carpet and it is just lovely to have in our house.

Whirl Wind

2012-01-09T09:43:00.001-08:00

For many folks the Christmas holiday season is a time of frantic feeling with travel and family obligations. We like holidays at home, so we tend to put our traveling off until January. It's a good time to be away from the long dark of Whitehorse. It does mean that no sooner is the shine off the 12th day of Christmas when I am seeking out summer clothes and suitcases. It really is quite fun. We're off to Colombia this weekend and while I feel fairly prepared, not everything is in the suitcase yet.

Israeli Latkes

2011-12-31T11:54:00.000-08:00

A number of years ago now, Chris and I travelled to San Diego in California for our winter get away. There is a public space there which includes an "international village". Little buildings which are occupied by expat groups from around the world. The highlight is the Sunday afternoon snacking. Guess what the American house served? Yes, hot dogs. The Israelis were serving latkes, lovely ones. I asked for the recipie and here it is;
2 lbs potatoes, shredded/grated
1 onion, shredded/grated
2 eggs
salt & pepper
1/4c matzo meal or flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
non-stick cooking spray
1. Pre heat the oven to 425.
2. mix all the ingredients in a large bowl
3. scoop latke mix out using a 1/4c measure squashing the mix into the cup to form a circular mound when you put it on the baking tray.
4. bake for 15 minutes then turn and bake 10 minutes more.
Serve!
They were so good that half were gone by the time I got the camera out.

Family Holidays

2011-12-31T11:48:00.000-08:00

My nephew Luca and his dad, Drew flew back to Vancouver last evening. It was lovely haveing them both for the holidays. Photos to follow.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T15:20:00.001-08:00

Santa came and left us all presents. He made sure to eat the cookie and drink the milk we left him too. Good times were had by all.

The Tree - A holiday hang over

2011-12-23T12:17:00.000-08:00

In order to fit in with the general Christmas starts early trend, and to defeat the darkness, we always put up (or light up depending on whether we took the lights down) our out door Christmas lights. The tree and interior decorations always wait until after the 20th, which is Chris' birthday. Usually by then we have an idea of where we are getting our tree. This year we've drawn a blank. It could be a very serious Charlie Brown tree. time will tell.

The Shortest Day

2011-12-22T14:37:00.000-08:00

It is time to be thankful that the days from now on will be longer. The creeping back of the light doesn't usually mean much until February, but it is still nice to know that the longest night is over again this year.

Skied To Work

2011-11-16T09:40:00.000-08:00

It was admittedly a show off thing to do. It didn't go as well as planned. I usually take 30 minutes to walk to work. It took 50 minutes to ski to work into the teeth of a particularly nasty north wind breaking trail the whole way. Not the fun and speedy adventure I'd hoped for.

Basement Built Ins

2011-11-01T20:56:00.000-07:00

Chris and I have used every room in our 3 bedroom home for 1, home office, 2, sewing room, 3 bedroom. So, we had our excellent cabinet maker create a built in double sized murphy bed and shelves for our downstairs room. The guest room is most times Chris' boardroom, so multi purpose was important. Our cabinet maker Marc Berube was rather fed up with working with poplar so built it out of birch. In retrospect he agrees with us that it would have looked even nicer built out of poplar. Still, all and all a lovely piece of furniture. And no, we are never leaving this house!

Last Ride

2011-10-27T15:49:00.000-07:00

For weeks now I've been thinking it was the last day for riding my bike. Then the sun would come out, the roads would dry and I'd ride off again. Last night I ended up riding home from a quilting class in the snow! This morning the roads and sidewalks were coated with ice.

Sarah's Jamie Oliver Coleslaw

2011-10-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

One of the local organic farmers Mom was a smart cookie and put a notice in the Garage Sales section of the paper to 'yard sale' organic produce. I swung by on Africa and picked up a few local specialties. Purple cabbage, baby carrots, spring onions and 2 kinds of turnip. The carrots, cabbage and onions became the best coleslaw ever! So simple the ingredients really get to sing.

pet update

2011-10-07T09:43:00.001-07:00

The dog seems to be doing pretty well. We hope to find out today if she can do stairs. The cats continue their odd relationship - occassionally loving, sometimes at war.

Wine Flights

2011-09-30T21:22:00.000-07:00

I can't remember if it is vertical or horizontal wine tasting flight(google tells me it is a version of horizontal) but we tasted two of our apricot wines this evening side by side. Joe's wine from St.Laszlo Estate Winery was our favourite. It's the sexy home brew style unlabelled one in the photo. If you are any where near the Similkameen Valley drop in on Joe at St.Laszlo's and tell him Sarah and Chris from the Yukon sent you.

Staying the Course

2011-09-23T23:02:00.000-07:00

Yes'm we are still here in B.C. We had a long relaxing stay in the southern Oakanagan valley. We'd recommend the Casa Dela Mia Oro to all and sundry. We didn't even get to half of the wineries between Osoyoos and Oliver. Each had things to recommend it. On our way back to Chilliwack we almost didn't make it because of the wineries, fruit stands and thai food. Also the super slow trucks. Highway 97 is not for those in a rush.

If you are ever in the Similkameen Valley or near Keremeos you MUST stop in at the Thai food restaurant - I am a verifiable food freak and that thai food was some of the best ever.

20km diet

2011-09-15T20:14:00.000-07:00

Well we didn't make the 40k bike ride because I got a nasty flat and I figured my patch wouldn't last. We got about 20K all told. However, we did manage a lovely meal with ingredients all from within 20K of our location, including the wine! I did cheat a bit and use salt, pepper and olive oil from much farther away. The results? Delicious. Wish we'd had company to share it with us.

Dry Hiking

2011-09-15T14:53:00.000-07:00

Don't go grocery shopping hungry

2011-09-15T14:49:00.000-07:00

"Let's pick up something for lunch", I said to my husband. Well, you can see the result of a grocery shop and a few fruit stands between the grocery store and our condo. Bon Apetito!

Puppy Heaven

2011-09-13T10:40:00.001-07:00

Isla is really enjoying this holiday, lots of new people, new dogs and a lake right here.

Golden Mile

2011-09-13T10:33:00.000-07:00

Last evening we drove the 20k from Osyoos to Oliver. Much easier than the bike earlier in the day. Not that we biked to Oliver, we biked to vinyards before Oliver. Anyway, it's called the Golden Mile because of a narrowing of the valley and it's former gold production that produces some lovely fruit, including nectarines and grapes. We stopped at Panorama Fruit Stand for some nectarines; "here, take more. take some peaches too". $2 for a 5lb bag of fresh, ripe, juicy, real fruit.

There is a hiking trail that snakes behind some of the orchards and vineyards which starts at the Tinhorn Creek vineyard and hits an abandoned town and old gold stamp mill.

Nephews

2011-09-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

Because parents all have diffferent ideas about whether it is ok to post photos of their children, I won't post photos of our very cute little nephews. Last week we took Wendy, Robyn and Murdoc (the nephew) out for a meal at a neat spot near the Fraser River to early celebratge Wendy's birthday. On Saturday past Drew came down to Osoyoos and we all went to the model train display here in Osoyoos. What fun! both our nephews like trains which I think is part of their English heritage. I've got a few train twitchers in my family tree that is for sure.

Nk'Mip & Burrowing Owl

2011-09-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

It's been a slice of heaven here in Osoyoos. The weather has been hot, the peaches are ripe and there are so many wineries we probably won't get to them all. Yesterday we did a roundabout bike to Nk'Mip winery (say 'inkaneep'). A lovely tasting with Joan and a fabulous lunch out on the patio overlooking the vineyards and lake. We bought a whole case of wine, then looked at each other and said; "that's not going to fit on the bikes!" We road home, then drove back up for our booze.

Today we were more adventurous and decided to bike to the wineries on the Black Sage Road. Well, actually, we'd thought to go farther, but succumbed to the first set of winery signs off highway 97. As a cyclist highway 97 isn't bad, but it ain't great. So, we ended up at Burrowing Owl winery. Again, we had a lovely tasting, went for lunch on the spectacular deck and bought a case of wine. Burrowing Owl ships for a very reasonable price, so we will happily await the arrival of our wines in Whitehorse.

It was not the best day to dilly dally because by the time we left the winery it was 35 degrees in the shade. I had to stop twice to run through sprinklers (thanks orcharidsts). By the time we got back to the condo, I was a crispy critter. I road onto the sand of the beach, doffed my helmet and dove into the lake. Unfortunately Christopher's cell phone was in my pocket. Sigh. I thought it was a special waterproof contractor's cell phone. It is a contractor's cell phone, but it is shockproof, not waterproof. We hope to resurrect it with liberal application of heat and dry rice.

Tomorrow I'm very much looking forward to the Road 13 Vintner's Dinner. We got tickets because of a cancellation - their rainy day is our sunshine.

Isla is doing well, gets in the water of Osoyoos Lake at least twice a day and has many local admirers (human and dog).

K-os

2011-09-10T20:12:00.000-07:00

We are at tinhorn creek vineyards listening to k-os
Tres fun

Isla's Beauty Photos

2011-09-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

Isla is doing well healing her broken leg.

All Cheese, All the Time

2011-09-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought, an all cheese meal! We started with fondue to celebrate the acquisition of our new to us fondue pot. Then a sizzling pan full of halumi also known as saganaki (sp?) once it's cooked and spritzed with lemon and sprinkled with salt.

Renovation Stand Still

2011-09-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

I cannot force myself to utter the words "done" or "finished", but we are probably at the place we'll be with the renovations for the next while. As you can see it is a livably space with lots of lovely light, both natural and artificial.
You can see the fantastic Art of Nicole Bauberger adorning our walls. Fortunately we already owned these.
I've told a number of folks about the furniture; we spent the furniture budget on our dog Isla's surgery. What did we have before? Old, stained and worn out student furniture. As a well employed professional I thought it was time to invest in some grown up furniture so we got rid of the old student stuff. The irony is we are now again sitting on student furniture. The yard sale scores mentioned earlier. Thinking about it, it is far better to spend money on a loved one than on material things. We did have some nice pieces, the two asian trunks in the photo. They don't necessarily both fit in the room, but hey, I wasn't in this to win decorating awards.

My Mom's a Republican!

2011-09-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

I don't know how I could have live so long without discovering the truth about my Mom; she's a Republican?! Gadzukes. I love her dearly and call her regularly, but I said to her; "if you tell me you belong to the Tea Party, I'm not calling any more". She got rather quiet after that. Sigh. Happily I'm an independant soul, so while this news is surprising, it hasn't shattered my world.

Republicans for Voldemort Unite!

My Cat Likes To Hide In Boxes

2011-08-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

As a child one of my favourite picture books was titled "My Cat Likes To Hide In Boxes". As an adult I have cats who do exactly that. This is also an example of a cat disdaining the polyester mat in the window in favour of the aran wool sweater in the box.

Surgery Furniture

2011-08-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

Well, since we spent a large amount of un-budgeted for money on Isla's surgery we don't have money for furniture. Heading into this renovation we got rid of the too big stained couch and we'd earlier gotten rid of it's companion chair. All with thoughts of getting new furniture that would suit our newly renovated space. Well, that's not going to happen. So yesterday when Chris and I were heading out for a walk and we ran into one of my colleages from work who is a yardsaleista extrodinaire and she mentioned that she'd seen some furniture on her explorations we turned right back around and got the truck, a map, cash, and the yard sale list.
We are now the proud owners of a new to us couch, 4 kitchen chairs and a stool. Total cost? $65+labour and maybe some other bits and pieces. The couch I already sanded and finished with danish oil. The cushions are in really good shape, we just don't like the colour of the covers. For now, we'll fix that with a drape of fabric. Later I might re-cover the cushions with some charcoal grey wool. The stool I need to get some new foam and fabric to give it a new seat. The kitchen chairs I'm not sure if I'll strip and re-finish, or just leave as is.
Isla's health is good. Her broken leg is healing well. She still isn't allowed to move for the next 8 weeks. We hope at the end she'll be ok emotinally.

Autumn Bounty

2011-08-28T20:40:00.000-07:00

The garden beds have produced enough lettuce and leafy greens over the last months to keep us happily in salad. Today we roasted a turkey that didn't fit in the freezer and accompanied it with fresh garden potatoes, beets & beet greens. Lovely to have after all the time of watching it grow.

Isla's OK

2011-08-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

Isla was operated on yesterday by a orthopedic vetirinary surgen who was able to put her broken bone back together with a few screws and pins. There was some concern that she might lose her leg because of possible nerve damage. Happily there wasn't any nerve damage, she was just in a lot of pain. Chris is visiting with her now in the vet's surgery in Calgary.

Isla Broke her leg

2011-08-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Isla slammed into a hole returning a fetch and broke her leg. Unfortunately she broke it in a way and a place that requires surgery. She just arrived in Calgary with Christopher after a sleepless night here in Whitehorse. Wish her well.

Cats know Quality

2011-08-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

It has always been my thesis that cats will choose to nap on the nicest thing available. I call this the 'cat nap test'. If I'm unsure about the fibre content of a sweater for example (where this test is almost 100% accurate) I will lay out the questioned sweater on the bed along with a few other choice garmets of known fibre content. The cat nap test will tell me which has the most expensieve fibre. My new to me danish modern chair I can now report has wool upholstery based on the latest results of the 'cat nap test'.

Measles, Mumps & Rubella

2011-08-10T12:52:00.000-07:00

So, almost two weeks ago I had a booster for measles, mumps and rubella. Short version of the story is that I had a bad reaction. I ended up in the emergency room where I was given a shot of 'epi' along with a nice walloping dose of benedryl. I'm pissed that the public health nurses didn't mention that 1 in 4 women get stiff swollen joints and that 1 in 20 people get a rash. I got a lovely all over itchy rash and my knees swelled up so much I couldn't bend them. i try and console myself with the fact that I am now completely immune to measles, mumps and rubella. The rash has been tamed by large doses of benedryl, the swollen knees are starting to reduce, either due to the well known healing effects of time and rest or the walloping dosss of ibuprofen and acetaminophen. All the bed rest has been very good for my sore back. Now I just need to get back to work and my exercise regime ...

Latest Pics - The Waiting Game

2011-08-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

We are both impatient to move in and exhausted. Unfortunately the delays caused by Frederick Robert of Beauvais flooring mean our painter has other work and so the waiting continues...

We hope Paul will be able to come through for us. We have to be patient and not move furniture etc in until the floors have cured. We are moving into the kitchen finally.

Dad has headed South again and managed to put the back deck back together, hang the new front door and do the upstairs trim and baseboards. Our fabulous friend Eric Roche from Locksmith Services put in a new door handle and keyless deadbolt system.

Sarah's work early in the summer has paid off to build a beautiful garden beside the new shack.

Are we there yet?

2011-08-06T10:12:00.000-07:00

It seems to me that we've been 'almost done' for a very long time. I'm exhausted and finished mentally. I've hurt my back twice in this process which makes everything just that little bit less fun. Frankly, I don't think we will ever be done. We are just going to move back in and say; "f**k it". The equivilant of planning a journey to Florida and stopping in Georgia or even Massechussets.

Finishing the Floor

2011-07-31T11:41:00.000-07:00

Here we go - Chris has the camera, so photos later, but I am cleaning the floors for the umpteenth time (the cleaner they are the nicer the finish will look - see the footprints post). I tested the waterbased top coat last night and it looks good. We were worried that the cabernet red oil based stain might not be dry enough, but I think it is. Yes, I know, Oil and Water don't mix! In the modern wood finishes world they've made really good progress with water based finishes. As long as the oil is dry, the waterbased Varathane will look great. Wish me luck.

Footprints in the floor

2011-07-31T11:38:00.000-07:00

Rats! despite all our best efforts at shoes off and clean feet there are some subtle footprints in the finish. Sigh. I think I know who's feet they are and I'll do a Cinderella type event at the kitchen party. It is heartwarming in a way to know that our friends will always be with us.

Some Progress At Last

2011-07-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

After basically being held captive by an overly busy tradesmen, we have taken over the reigns of the floor refinishing and worked hard (Dad especially, Chris Sarah and Darrin also) for several days. We just could not wait any longer.

We are appreciative that Frederic has agreed to focus on finishing the backsplash and the stair tiles and has not taken offense at our taking over the floor refinishing. Sarah and Chris spent the day yesterday with oil induced headaches and managed to paint our way into a corner (sorry no pics of that one;-)

Bruce has gone with our friends Eric and Angela to Haines for a well deserved break to try his hands at Sockeye fishing and a little celebrating at the Haines Southeast Alasks State Fair.

Chris is heading to fish camp on Saturday to visit with his Grandma May (also a well deserved break). Sarah is going to have some Sarah time and look after cats. Perhaps she will start the Varathane coats on Sunday.

Frederic has some more to go on the backsplash and we hope that will be complete soon.

Another week goes by

2011-07-24T17:32:00.001-07:00

Another week goes by and we are still living in the Kleenex box in the front yard. I try very hard to live by that classic addage; "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all". It's been hampering my blog posts. We are still waiting for the floors to be refinished. I beleive it is fair to say that we are all tired of waiting. Today we all pitched in on the sanding. Even our super neighbour Darrin who is building his own home pitched in. It was good to get something accomplished. We are still left with quite a few bits and pieces to finish before the project is done. In addition to the flooring, there's the baseboards, door trim, painting, backsplash, and of course the ultimate clean.

Floors and other tiny steps

2011-07-17T22:56:00.001-07:00

A start has been made on refinishing the upstairs floors. Today we moved in our new fridge, which was rather filthy due to it's time in the garage. I spent an hour cleaning it an it almost looks new. Sigh. I even managed to find the kick place for the bottom so it looks pretty good. I also installed the kick plate on the dishwasher. That looks pretty finished now too. Chris fixed one of the pieces of trim around the new window because it had bowed out. We sat in the love shack and conemplated the lay out of things. We made a list of all the things left to do. Really I'd have rather made a list of the things done. Another big sigh. As my Nana would always close her letters; "at least we've got our health".

Its been a week

2011-07-13T20:13:00.000-07:00

Well, its been a week with not much action. There's been a slow down. We spent the weekend at the Atlin Arts and Music Festival that was a great time. The love shack is looking good. Its got the house wrap and a couple windows.

Decisions & Repercussions

2011-07-06T18:27:00.000-07:00

It is amazing to me how small choices at one stage can result in big problems at others. Maybe not big problems, but problems. At the very biginning of this project Chris and I knew that there would be a problem finishing the end of the wall that supports our lovley new granite bar. We talked about it and considered a variety of options. In the end we elected to cover it with wood that matches our cabinetry. Our wonderful cabinet maker Mark has executed a lovely wood cap for the space. That's what's pictured here. What we didn't consider is the air return. With forced air heating (very common here out west) not only do you have the vents providing warm air, but you have other vents that 'return' the air to the furnace system. As I understand it the purpose is to keep the air circulating throughtout the house. Anyway, in the wall we took out there was an air return. When we shortened the wall part of that air return duct ended up in the floor. We did not forsee just how difficult it would be to deal with it. Pictured here is the lovely grate made by our metal working wizard of an ex-neighbour Joe. Tada!

Also today the plumbing got finished.

Tuesdays

2011-07-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

Frederick has now installed the tile along the stairs... still to go

1.) Grouting and sealing of the stair tiles
2.) Tiling, grouting and sealing the backsplash
3.) Re-finish the upstairs laminate floors

The process is slow because of how busy Frederick is. Here's hoping for the end of next week.

Mark our fabulous cabinet maker came by to do more fine tuning on drawers and the custom cap at the end of the bar.

Dad worked more on the roof of the love shack and it looks fabulous.

Don is coming tomorrow to finish the bathroom plumbing.

Dare I say it?

2011-07-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

I feel we are nearing the end of the kitchen renovation. The heated floors in the kitchen are wired up and working. The tile edging along the stairs is coming along. The pulls on the cabinets are on and more decisions made. It is at the end of the project that you see how earlier choices affect finishing details. A spot we knew would be a problem is a problem despite our best efforts.

The love shack has all the roof parts installed and we've consulted with our fabulous electrician about wiring and such.

Love Shackn'

2011-07-03T19:27:00.000-07:00

We've had a wonderful Canada Day weekend. Thankfully there was rain predicted so everyone was in town and around to help out and hang out and keep us company. I think this love shack will look fabulous. It will have a wrap around porch and at least one porch swing. There could be a hammock too.

Mid-Century Modern Yard Sale Classic

2011-07-03T16:51:00.000-07:00

Check out this neat chair I got at a yard sale on Saturday. As a kid I remember visiting family friends who had an entire dining room suite in this style. I remember thinking at the time; "this is so old fashioned". Now I think that it was the last era when affordable furniture was quality furniture. Today's affordable furniture is just junk. Made of 'fantastic plastic' as my mom would say.

This classic piece even has the "Made in Denmark" stamp on the bottom.

Canada Day Pics

2011-07-01T23:55:00.001-07:00

More Canada Day Pics...

Busy Canada Day

2011-07-01T23:46:00.001-07:00

The beam went up on the Love Shack today with help from friends and family. Sarah made sure we all had proper sustenance and painted the trim on the Shed. One side of rafters and headers is up with more work to get it done. Frederic started the prep for the stairs and finished grouting the kitchen floor. Pics of beams, headers, etc included for the benefit of our consulting engineer Drew (AKA Drewpy Drawers/ Sippy Cup) Alway. This way he can make sure the boys aren't colouring too far outside the lines of safety... Thanks Drew!

Sicilian Tiles & Plumbing

2011-06-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

Our old friend Joe Z. dropped by to check out the renos and give us expert opinions on what to do for the custom sized metal grills we need. Joe is a master metalworker, soccer fanatic and good friend. Today our plumbing happened in the bathroom. A little more and it should be done tomorrow. It looks lovely with only one small mistake our tiler will have to correct. The kitchen tiles are all down. Next the grout for them. Bruce bailed on our friend Darrin for the day to prep the stairs for tiling the sides. Then the backsplash will happen at the same time as the floors are refinished. The final stretch?

Pottering in the Garden

2011-06-27T22:43:00.000-07:00

Our gardens are looking really good. One of our local garden suppliers dropped by a couple birch trees for the last garden bed and admired our little bit of Eden. I beleive I am justifiably proud of our garden. We put just the right amount of thought and work to get the lush green crowd of flowers, fruits and trees that I adore. Over the weekend Chris and I put the plastic on the greenhouse frames for one of our raised beds in the backyard. We want to achieve ripe Windsor Broad beans and the only way to get that in the Yukon is a green house. Our nights are so cool that beans often won't set pods and pods they do set wither. Weird, but true. The 6mm plastic will hopefully keep just enough heat over the night to bring the beans to a harvestable state.

Everybody Must Get Ston(ed)...

2011-06-27T22:31:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that we've got a lot of stone tile in our renovation. Today Fredrick Robert of Beauvais Flooring completed the bathroom tile work by grouting and then sealing the honed slate bathtub surround and the heated limestone floor. The tile in install continued in the kitchen. We are now at the decision point of the kitchen floor installation. We have some Sicilian tiles brought by hand from Modica Sicily by ourselves in 2008. We very much want to include them in this project. In fact that is how we ended up with so much stone - it looks really nice with the Sicilian tile. Every renovation has to start somewhere. Our next post will show you what we decided.

Where are we?

2011-06-24T17:42:00.000-07:00

Today was a day off from work on the house. Chris put together a fabulous cedar lawn chair for me to sit in (i've buggered up my back a bit). Some of you may be wondering, if the kitchen is being worked on, where am I cooking. Well, here it is in all it's dirty glory - my trailer kitchen. We sleep thre too. It is rather like being in a kleenex box, you can't see in by you can hear everything and its kinda small. The upside is that I really enjoy the dawn chorus of our local birds. It is always started by a robin and then the rest of the Yukon bird life chirps in.

We've also had a lot of butterflies this past couple of weeks. I thought there was some butterfly resurgence. I was informed that a local elementary school raises the butterflies from larve and releases them on the last day of school. I think they are just lovely and it is satisfying to me how many of them enjoy the flowers in my garden.

Longest Day

2011-06-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

We have long days this time of year in the Yukon. It starts on December 22nd with a smidgen more daylight and it culminates today with just a smidgen of darkness. It is one of the best parts atou living this far north. Our compensation for those long dark winter nights are these long bright summer days.

Today the tiling moved forward. The infloor heating works in the bathroom. The infloor heating got laid down today in the kitchen. We've discussed design and look and all sorts of things for the kitchen tiling. Time will tell how it looks.

After a long day out at our friend Darrin's place Bruce rose to the challenge and cut the lumber for the walls of our backyard shack. Here go the walls!

Monday's Activities

2011-06-21T12:49:00.000-07:00

We had a flurry of activity in the house on Monday. Our cabinet maker Mark Berube (The Wood Shop) installed a few more doors and did some more fine tuning. We are so glad we went custom. Don (Tak Tar Plumbing) was a star fitting us into his busy schedule to hook up the dishwasher and install the kitchen sink. Dad did help Don but also kept a close eye on him. Frederick (Beauvais Flooring) laid the first layer of the kitchen floor.

Monday will be a slow day with Dad going to help out our friend Darrin Sinclair at thier beautiful new house. Frederic will come back to lay the second layer of in-floor heating and Shannon our electrician may stop by to hook up the bathroom electric floor.

Beam, the sequel

2011-06-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

So. We already have a beam up in our kitchen. There is a plan afoot to put up the walls and roof on the back-yard shack. That apparently requires another beam, but much bigger. And not available in Whitehorse. So. The photos are Chris and Eric using our friend Darrin's chainsaw mill to cut the beam to size.

Puppy Photos

2011-06-21T11:26:00.000-07:00

We realized it's been a while since we posted a new puppy photo of our girl. She is growing by leaps and bounds. She had a fetching break through when we were in the garden this weekend. She realized if she brings back the ball I'll keep throwing it.

Rain, Rain Go Away!

2011-06-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

This is the rainiest spring/summer I can remeber here in the Yukon. Now, that isn't that long, but other folks with lots of years in agree. We haven't had to water the lawns or the gardens for, oh, I can't remember how long. Speaking of how long, the grass is out of control. With all the rain I can't get it cut. Shaggy grass makes everything look a little more unkempt.

Friends of ours were over last evening to assist with the chain saw mill and we were talking about how lush the garden looks now compared to how it looks in the spring. I don't clean the garden out in the fall because I like how the snow forms irregular shapes on what is left of my garden. I also like when little birds, chickadees and red polls eat the seeds left on the dry stems. The consequence is that in the spring it looks like our garden has been sprayed with some sort of chemical defoliant. Until that is our perrenials start pushing up and I take that radical step to clean everthing out.

Star Lights and more tiling

2011-06-16T21:44:00.000-07:00

In January Chris and I were in San Jose del Cabo. We ate out at a fantastic restaurant that had a chandelier made up of bent iron and marbles. The iron was bent to form a multi-armed star. I could count the points and tell you what kind of star, but the point is (pun intended) they are very cool. We had been in Cabo for a while and hadn't really bought anything other than food. We decided it would be worth trying to find these stars and try and get them back to our place in Whitehorse. We were flying West Jet and those folks really are nice. They helped me find a place to put the large star that I took as a carry on. It got to our place unharmed. It also created a great deal of curiosity among our fellow passengers.

I did think I'd wire them up, but I didn't. Our electrician did, and I'm really happy with Shannon Moffatt's work. Bruce did the design work - deciding to put the stars with their centres at the same level. An excellent decision don't you think?

Our bathroom continues to get better and better. Here's Fredric Robert of Beauvais Flooring at work buttering the limestone for the floor. There's already a thingame to heat the stone installed.

In other news air tight solutions(Ryan Osborne and his boys) finished their work today in the attic with some 2lb foam insulation to create a vapour barrier. The rest of the area they used 1/2 pound foam equallying R50 in our attic. Already the house feels warmer.

Things are looking Great

2011-06-15T17:03:00.000-07:00

So much is going on at the house. The painter has done a lovely and swift job putting colour on our walls. Our electrician came back to hang the lights and install the switch boxes. The tiler is slaving away in the bathroom getting the tile surrounding the tub just right. I just love professionals. We've had the best possible team working with us, for us. I'm just so glad.

And I can't forget the core member of our construction team, my father in law Bruce who has been the spare hands and craftsy mastermind on many parts of this project.

Chris has reminded me that we also had our ceiling vaccumed out. What that means is that the spray foam insulaiton can be extruded into our attic space tomorrow.

Today Tiling, then maybe tomorrow the world?

2011-06-13T19:21:00.000-07:00

I'm still waiting for world domination. Even world domination of the renovation market would be nice. Sigh. We have had more progress, awesome - the tiling is coming! Fredrick Robert of Beauvais Flooring is doing a lot of work for us. Here he is in action...

We can't wait until we get to see the tile in place. Soon we hope to see the lights hung. I know it is hard to show off, but we've had a huge amount of electrical work done. The backbone stuff just isn't sexy. Our friends were over admiring the cabinets and I forced them to see our uber-sexy new electrical pannel. It was rather under whelming.

Time Out

2011-06-13T12:00:00.001-07:00

Chris was co-facilitating the Little Salmon Carmacks General Assembly this weekend and I attended the Kluane Bluegrass Festival. More news later about today's progress.

Granite Countertops

2011-06-10T19:36:00.000-07:00

Here's some photos of the lovely cabinets and granite countertops being installed. They look so good that the installer - Sid of SidRock fame wants a photo for his album. I'm really pleased with our choice. It's hard to look at a small sample and imagine it in place. But wow! Did we choose well?!

We did make a change to our backsplash. After our painter had the first coat of our accent wall on we decided we like the colour so much we'd change the backsplash. The tiles I found on ebay, which are really pretty, don't go with the paint colour. Yes, I know, I hear you saying it; "paint is cheep, tile is expensive". This is true, but what the heck, Chris was never happy with the backsplash tiles and we think the floor tiles will look nice on the back splash. If they don't not a big deal, we can always change it!

Return to Cabinetry

2011-06-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

Our flights were long and hot. I absolutely hate the Airbus 320's. I'm a boeing gal all the way. Both Chris and i were stuck in middle seats because our itineraries weren't linked. Happily we were both surrounded by slender quiet types. When we got back it was to a fabulously green and blossom filled garden and visible progress in the kitchen. Our cabinetry is in! And doesn't it look handsome? The ceilings have now been painted by our fabulous painter Paul (English Heritage).

Renovation Vacation

2011-06-06T10:37:00.000-07:00

I traveled to Ottawa for a course and Chris was able to join me for a few days. His first time in our nation's capital. we've had fabulous weather and have ridden our bicycles all over the wonderful bicycle paths on both the Ottawa and Gatineau sides of the river.

Renovation Stage Cabinets!

2011-06-06T10:32:00.001-07:00

no photos of the cabinets in place as of yet. Will post when I've got 'em. Meanwhile, the beam hiding our new electrical work has been suitably and lovingly distressed. there has also been a bit of ribbing about the Vancouver Canuks run at the Stanley Cup...

Progress Report

2011-05-31T13:57:00.000-07:00

Progress continues because of great tradespeople. Dad is barely able to keep ahead. Our drywaller Tracey has done an outstanding job getting the ceilings mudded, taped and sprayed. unfortunately Chris went to the Yukon Archives this morning and missed out on some great spray action photos. You'll see photos of the new ceilings attached. Dad patched the last hole in the kitchen floor and installed the kitchen fan. Sad news... the Sears 'shop vac' packed it in... drywall dust is hard on everything. Dad didn't use instructions and put the new one together... we'll see how that goes.

The first load of three of the custom cabinets from Marc at the Wood Shop is here. Paul Wadsworth our painter is coming tonight and tomorrow to be ready for Marc to install cabinets on Thursday.

Hopefully our tiler Frederic will begin soon.

The Latest and Greatest

2011-05-29T16:37:00.000-07:00

One thing about living in your driveway is that friends and neighbours seem to stop by more often. See our friend Megan cuddling by the fire with Isla... she even got a camera shot in of her Dad Eric.

You can see the toll the renos (and wifeand puppy!) are taking on Chris. Isla is now tilting the scales at 25lbs. That said, our electrician Shannon has gotten us power back and we have passed two inspections. Just final checking and installs to go...

The beam that divides the kitchen and living room area is now up with much effort from friends, family and tradespeople.

The second coat of drywall is on and the ceilings are taped, mudded and ready for spray. Drywall is expected to be done on Wednesday with the primer coat of paint and ceiling paint that day. Cabinet install begins (fingers crossed) on Thurs and Friday.

About Cleanup... Dad has done a stellar job this trip of embracing our need for a clean work site every day. I even caught him cleaning his room! Who says you can't teach old dogs new tricks!

Spring in 7 days

2011-05-27T19:19:00.001-07:00

Well, spring is almost over. Summer weather is here along with long grass, big bugs and blossoms on our flowers, shrubs and trees. Spring never lasts more than the blink of an eye here in the north with our long days. Last weekend we had a few days of torrential down pours. Within hours the trees had flushed out in new fresh spring greens.

In other Reno News

2011-05-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

The dry waller Tracy came today. It is amazing how quickly it all starts to look like real progress. I love the layers that we've uncovered during this work. Under our cork floor was the mid-90's linoleum, under that the original 70's lino with the classic harvest gold colour theme. With all the black mold bleached into submission the whole upstairs of the house smells _way_ better.

You can see some of our snazzy light fixtures that we bought at a new local store called Bella Home Decor. The owner, also a Sarah, loves birds. The chandelier we have was over her cash register. I suspect she'll be missing it...