Goodbye Mom, I Miss you and Love You.

Squirrel foster parents for 27 days

 One sunny day in mid-September, Lisa spied a tiny squirrel in our front yard and when Christos went down to investigate it was clear the little squirrel was far too young and small to be one his own and was desperate for aid as it tried to hide itself in Christos' jeans! We soon discovered that another juvenile squirrel was nearby as another couple had found a similar beast. A tragedy must have befallen their squirrel family rendering them orphans.

So we took the two desperate animals upstairs to the third floor deck and built them a home of a cardboard box (initially with a heating pad which was later removed) with issues of the London Review of Books (no low brow squirrels for us) as the floor. Food and water were regularly provided and it seems grapes and corn were the favourites. For four weeks the "guys" as we called them got bigger and stronger although it was soon clear that "Noir" (the black one) was dominant to "the Gris" (the grey one). 

They cuddled together at night for warmth, groomed each other

and scampered about the deck as they got stronger, often playing some sort of wrestling game with each other it seemed. 

When we returned from a brief visit to Victoria, Noir had advanced to the point where he could climb out from the deck and was starting to explore. 

After 27 days it all came to an end. 

The good news is that Noir is big enough to be on his own and has apparently moved out and made a new nest nearby for himself (we suspect under the neighbour's roof). 

The bad news is that Gris passed away on day 27. 

Around noon, Gris managed to get up to the deck railing for the first time (following Noir) but unfortunately he fell into the neighbour's second floor deck and ultimately down into her backyard. 

He survived all that and was soon our front of our house scampering desperately around .... Christos tried to catch him in a box but he was too fast and clearly having none of it. 

Eventually he scurried away into one of the other neighbours' backyards and we went off to shop for dinner, hoping to catch him later when he was tired out. We returned in the afternoon and Christos went searching for him but at 5pm he discovered his tiny body at the base of the tree in our neighbour's backyard; Gris had made it all the way to the neighbour's backyard but could not get to our deck from the tree and we suspect he just ran out of steam eventually or fell and could not get up after one too many tries.

While it was quite sad and tears have been shed for the tiny little bugger, we both revel in the fact that Gris got 27 days he would never have had (with mate cuddles, corn, grapes and sun on the body) and that Noir seems to have made it (he has already been back once on the deck for corn and climbs like a squirrel twice his size!), at least for the first lap of life in this cruel world.

Goodbye Gris and Good Luck Noir!!!!

Farewell and so long Lumpy Limpy ...

At the beginning of the summer, we encountered a lone raccoon in our back yard one morning. His gait was marked with a limp, his ear nicked from a long ago squabble and he bore the other marks of a long life of adventures in the concrete jungle. He made a hasty departure from our backyard when we first met.

When we next saw him we realized that "Lumpy-Limpy" (as we now called him) spent his days sleeping nearby, usually taking up a position on the deck next to ours but one floor down (which our neighbour never uses) or wedged under an eavestrough of a further neighbour. It became clear that he was an older fellow without a family and did not have it soft at all .... So we had to adopt him!

We started serving him a bit of old fruit and vegetables, soon discovering that he would only eat soft things such as banana, mango and avocado (bad teeth?) and soon we had a normal routine of meeting him every other day or so in the backyard and giving him a snack. 

Sometimes he would hear us while we were getting ready to head out on a bike ride and his face would suddenly appear through the bushes with a hopeful glint in his eye! Other times we would find him waiting for us in a chair or at the back door. 

He never rummaged through the trash or caused other problems (some juvenile raccoons once got into a plastic bag of empty beer cans, we wonder if they had hang overs later!) and while he grew accustomed to us he still kept his distance.

Sadly we think his time has likely come. We check on his two sleeping spots every morning from the third floor deck and have not seen him since late July. There has been no sign of him in the backyard and the occasional pieces of banana offered in early August were left untouched. 

We will miss Lumpy-Limpy.

First we take London, then we take Berlin!

Between marketing and a conference, Lisa had a full four days of work scheduled in London in mid-November and with Christos having just resigned from Canstar (one year's budget was all Canstar started with in mid-2018, the money was all gone!) we decided to tack on an additional trip, a long weekend in Berlin visiting our friend Ferdinand whom we had not seen in a decade!

We travelled on Sunday, catching the early morning flight from Toronto that lands late at night in London, with Lisa front of the bus and Christos sadly not! As we always travel light, and Lisa had an express pass for customs, we were soon whisked to our lovely hotel in Mayfair, the Langham.

We grabbed a quick pint at a nearby pub and then opted for room service dinner and inane TV before drifting off to sleep for our first night abroad.

The next morning, Lisa was up bright and early for work while Christos, still feeling the effects of jetlag, slept in till noon. While Lisa toiled, Christos started with a full service stop at the barbershop before wandering from Mayfair to Marylebone, Oxford Street and back again over three hours.

With the sun setting it was time for tea back at the Langham. Christos had his first pot alone before Lisa joined him and a second pot was brewed. After tea and a brief rest, Lisa was off to a corporate dinner while Christos enjoyed Udon Noodle soup and green tea (costing 20 pounds!) at a nearby Japanese restaurant.

Christos encountered a guitar toting busker after dinner and was treated to a personal performance of "American Pie" lifting his spirits and setting the tone for the rest of the travels. Lisa and Christas were finally reunited around 10PM after Lisa's corporate dinner was done.

The next day was fortuitous for the both of us as Lisa had a meeting cancel and while she was up early, she was back at the hotel by 10AM! We packed up our bags after two nights at the Langham and hopped in a cab to take us to our new hotel for the next three nights, the Sea Containers.

After a disappointing burger lunch, we retired for an afternoon nap (it was also a rainy day) before a walk across Black Friar's bridge over the Thames and a visit to the Blacklock City (the same brand of restaurant Christos had visited with his mom six weeks prior but a different location) for a wonderful dinner of "skinny chops" and sides. While Lisa had a full schedule the next day, that did not stop us from visiting "Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese" and the "Black Friar's pub" after dinner on the way back top the hotel, finally getting in to bed some time after 11PM.

Fortunately, Lisa's start was not as early the next day and after a hasty wakeup she still made her 10AM meeting with time to spare. While Lisa was working, Christos set off on a walking tour with the first stop being Borough Market for a yummy breakfast bun of sausage, bacon and egg. The HMS Belfast, a museum ship, was the next stop on the stroll where a full hour was spent touring (well worth the 17 pound admission price) before heading to the iconic Tower Bridge (having never actually crossed it before) to cross the Thames.

Once on the other side of the river, Christos strolled past the Tower of London (not even considering the outrageous entry fee having visited the place with Lisa previously) and set his sights on Sir John Soane's museum where he and his mom had previously managed to arrive on a day the museum is closed.

An hour or so was spent at the museum enjoying both the nooks and crannies filled with antique as well as the main show of a series of Hogarth paintings known as "A Rake's Progress".

Next on the agenda was a walk over to Fortnum and Mason's to shop for goodies for Ferd and Co in Berlin. Christos loaded up on tea and chocolates as gifts before heading out seeking a spot for dinner.

As he was in a tony part of town, Christos passed Farlows, an upmarket fishing store with tackle and tweed in the window, so he stopped in.

It was just before 6PM and the place was about to close for the day but was hosting an information session, complete with nibbles and beverages, on luxury fishing trips to exotic locales including Zambia (where First Quantum has operations) and of course Canada!

Christos bought a holiday card ("Chistmas Fishes") while listening to the presentation and after 40 minutes (and much nibbling and imbibing) it was off to find a proper dinner which in this case happened to be fish and chips at the Admiralty Pub in Trafalgar Square.

Our final full day in London (Thursday) saw Lisa working once more while Christos went out for a four hour trek through Mayfair with stops at Pre (for breakfast), Sharps Pixley (where they gave him a lovely book on gold for free), Williams & Son (seeking a replacement hat to the last one he purchased here, sadly they no longer make the style sought), the David Aaron gallery (where for a lousy 2000 pounds one could own a 1200BC statuette of Bastet!), Purdey's (more hat seeking), the Houses of Parliament (just a walk by) and finally a visit to Apsley House, once the home of Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington, and now a museum to his life and times.

With the tour complete, Lisa and Christos met up around 5PM , rested a bit and then headed off for dinner at "Indian City" which was quite good (London really is a great place for Indian food). After dinner we revisited Black Friar's Pub for a few pints before heading back to the hotel and indulging in late night cocktails as we celebrated Lisa being done work for the time being and our upcoming visit to Berlin slated to commence the next day!

We caught an 11ish flight to Berlin and met Ferd, accompanied by Lilly, at the airport.

He soon whisked us to his apartment where we had a lovely soup for lunch before taking us to our lovely hotel, the Sir Savigny, where Lisa and Christos relaxed for a bit before heading off to meet Ferd and Lilly at a local Austrian place called "Josl" where we dined on dumplings, cabbage and other Germanic goodies.

After dinner, Lisa and Christos enjoyed beer and fries at the hotel restaurant called the Butcher before finally turning in for bed.

The next day was Saturday and we made a full day of it. We met Ferd at our hotel for lunch before heading out to for a long walking tour of Berlin.

We stopped at the "Hollow Tooth" remains of the Kaiser Wilhelm Church and thought on the tragedy of the Christmas Market Massacre whose victims were commemorated nearby.

Next it was off to the Bendlerblock to visit the German Resistance Memorial Center and to see the spot where they shot Stauffenberg and several other participants in the July 20 1944 Coup attempt on the Nazis.

After the heaviness of the Bendlerblock, it was time for some lighter fare and so our final stop on the tour was the Berlin Museum which has some nice pieces but pales compared to the Prado.

After an hour at the museum it was now dark and we wandered through a darkened Tiergarten until we made it to the Brandenburg Gate . We milled about with the other tourists for a few minutes before hopping in a cab for the trip back to Charlottenburg. Having spent the day with Ferd, we opted to part ways this evening and Lisa and I dined alone at Dicke Wirtin on large portions of traditional German food such as schnitzel and cabbage. A very decent meal although certainly not amazing!

After dinner, we opted for a lovely bath back at the hotel as we had popped into Lush earlier int he day and grabbed a bath bomb. After a long day of walking through Berlin, a soak in the tub (with cold beer in hand) was the perfect way to end the day.

Our Sunday started with cappuccinos from the Cafe Aedes across the street. The cafe had once been a favoured haunt of Ferd's and a picture of Ferd from a decade ago hangs on one of the walls.

Once we were caffeinated, and with a little breakfast in our bellies, it was off to visit Ferd at his place where we had a low key day of cooking and family time planned.  Christos made a bolognese sauce, without celery as it the Germans seem not to stock it, for later consumption and we settled in to play a board game amongst the three of us. Later in the afternoon, Clara had to go to her mom's house so we said our goodbyes and Lisa and I headed back to the hotel for a couple hours rest before dinner.

Dinner with Ferd was at 7PM at a local Latin American restaurant (nothing special) followed by drinks out and much chit chat before we made our way back to the hotel for bed.

Our final day in Berlin was a wet and rainy Monday. Ferd had things to attend to during the day so Lisa and Christos opted for a limited wander and visited several antique shops in the neighbourhood; Lisa ended up buying a lovely change purse from a different era. In the evening, we met Ferd, had a couple drinks at the bar and then dined at a local German place (Ferd and Christos both enjoyed goose leg, Lisa had a less satisfactory meatloaf) before we said our penultimate goodbyes. Tuesday morning we met Ferd and Dorte in the lobby of the hotel and were driven to the airport before saying our final adieus.

London with Mom!

While this blog is devoted to the adventures of Lisa and Christos as a pair, on occasion one of the pair has their own adventures or adventures with others! In this particular case, Christos' mom (Barbara) was in England for a holiday during which Lisa had work obligations on the West Coast so off Christos went for an extra long weekend with Mom in London!

Christos arrived on Saturday morning on the bumpy red-eye flight and took the tube to Paddington Station. Given the glorious weather, it was then time for a stroll through Mayfair and other boroughs on the way to the Strand Palace Hotel, our domicile for the next four evenings.

A brief stop in Mayfair at Purdey's resulted in a lovely new Autumn / Winter tweed coat before Christos made it to the rendezvous with Mama.

After copious hugs and kisses the two of us headed out for a walk through Covent Garden and beyond to Camden for a late afternoon visit to the madness that is the Camden Market. We grabbed a pint and enjoyed the atmosphere before hopping in a cab back to the hotel. After a brief rest it was off to a French Restaurant in Soho for dinner for two. Dinner was good but not great and the escargots were definitely the highlight (not to mention the most expensive thing we had; $50 for a dozen!).

The next day (Sunday) it was off for a walk to Borough Market which unfortunately is closed on Sundays! Now that we were on the south side of the Thames, we opted for breakfast at a local hole in the wall before taking a lovely stroll over to the Imperial War Museum for a visit.

Mom had initially been reluctant to visit the IWM (military history not really being her cup of tea), but she soon warmed up to the place. It just oozes too much history and has many interactive experiences. We toured the WWII area extensively after which Christos bought a new shemag as Lisa had immediately absconded with the one he purchased on the last visit!

Then we hopped in an uber to take us across the Thames to the National Gallery. We spent a good deal of time wandering the halls, drinking in the art as best we could. Of course, Christos purchased a handful of dish towels of various famous prints. Then it was next door to the National Portrait Gallery which we once more toured for quite some time, and Christos bought more dish towels, before heading back to the hotel.

After a brief rest it was off for Sunday night roast at the renowned Blacklock in Soho. Dinner was at 5:45PM, a late seating for traditional Sunday roast, and the basement dining hall was packed with diners. After a ten minute wait with the occasional jostling we sat down and ordered the Sunday roast dinner for two.


It was amazing!!! Charcoal cooked lamb, pork and roast beef sliced up and piled high on a plate with yorkshire pudding, duck fat fried potatoes and garnish greens supporting the whole affair. I highly recommend the restaurant to carnivores in London on a Sunday night.

After a very fulsome dinner we opted for a slow stroll back to the hotel with several stops for pints and merriment on the way.

London's pub scene nightlife is European in flair and makes Toronto's bar scene look listless and weak by comparison. At each establishment Christos would have a pint of Guinness while Barbara sipped a half pint of the local lager. Some silliness may have ensued but nothing dangerous and we made it back to the hotel at a decent hour.

Monday off we went for a long (10km+) stroll to Kensington and Chelsea with the main attraction being a visit to the Victoria and Albert museum. We spent quite a bit of time at the museum before heading off on a renewed wander with stops on highbrow Jermyn Street and some shopping at one of my favourites, the amazing Fortnum and Mason.

In the late afternoon we stopped by Covent Garden and spent some time enjoying the buskers and a pint nearby. That evening we opted for excellent Indian food nearby the hotel. With our bellies full of spicy goodness we retired for the evening knowing that we had but one more day together to tour fair London.

Tuesday involved a significant visit to the British Museum as well as more wanderings including a stop at the Twinings Tea Store on the Strand, founded in 1706 as a tea house, and a quick visit to a WeWork workspace (WeWork being the business implosion story of the time).

I can't quite recall what dinner was but I do recall we hit quite a few pubs after dinner including the Black Friar, with its wonderful art deco pieces, and Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, one of London's oldest drinking establishments!

Wednesday was a shortened day with more wandering and pints before we parted, Mom for an overnight at the airport and Christos for a flight back to Toronto.

East Coasting

Christos' company had a little discovery in Newfoundland so off we flew to Deer Lake on a Sunday night for a trip to Newfoundland!

We arrived late at night, picked up our rental car and drove to Aare's for a late dinner before bed.

The next morning we awoke to a fresh Newfoundland day and breakfasted on fare we had brought from the St. Lawrence farmer's market.

We noted that Aare had stocked up on firewood, soda water and coffee in anticipation of our arrival. Even so, we still required a quick trip into town to stock up on beer and wine ....

Later that afternoon it was off for an "easy" hike on the Bottle Cove trail, one of the OBIEC trails we had hiked before.

The hike started innocuously enough with an open sunny sky and wonderful ocean views over ground we had been on before.

We passed a sign indicating a four kilometre loop hike and kept going.

At some point we may have diverged from the easy trail as we soon found ourselves well past four kilometres and the trail still going forward.

Then the ascent began and it just kept going.

Higher and steeper on a trail that was still marked but became thinner and thinner!


So we followed it and soon found ourselves in ever steeper terrain but with wonderful views as compensation (not to mention a good sweat on our bodies!).

We finally reached the end of the trail where it looped around at the top of a hill, offering more amazing views, before descending back down the way we ascended.

On the way back down we suddenly started noticing patches of chanterelle mushrooms and began gathering them up as we had steak dinner (Belgian Blue!) planned for dinner.

All told we must have found at least a half dozen patches of chanterelles and perhaps 350g in total of the fresh fungi (which sell in Toronto for around $80 a kilo) found their way into our possession and ultimately our bellies before the end of the night!

After our wonderful steak and mushroom sauce dinner it was time to partake of our other favourite Newfoundland activity, sitting by the firepit!

As the fire raged we drank beer and wine until the wee hours, indulging in scintillating conversation (or so it seemed at the time) until we were incapable of doing so any more. Then sleep.

The next day the weather was a bit cloudier, as were our consciousnesses, so we opted for a more relaxed day of board games and downtime before dinner and another round of late night festivities around the firepit, although this one more tempered by the knowledge that we were off to Buchans the next day.

The next morning it was a quick goodbye to Aare before we piled into the rental car for the three and a half hour drive to Buchans. After a stop at the lovely "Eddy's Restaurant" for breakfast and socks, we arrived in Millertown before noon and checked in at the Lakeshore Inn before Christos met Bob at the coreshack at 1PM.

Christos and Bob went out to visit the trenches Canstar had recently completed and returned to Millertown in time for dinner for the three of us at the Lakeshore Inn.

After dinner, the three of us went over to visit Charlie and Dianne (two prospectors who work on occasion for Canstar), where we all socialized for a few hours, with much conversation on the Buchans Camp and its history, before we made it back to our lodgings sometime in the wee hours.

The next morning we grabbed coffee and a light bite at the Lakeshore Inn before heading off on the road back to Deer Lake and the flight home.

Around noon we grabbed a full breakfast at Eddy's, and with the weather looking good and our flight not until 7pm, we decided that we had enough time to stop at the Alexander Murray trail for the first hike we have ever had in Newfoundland without Aare!

We cleared the eight kilometre hike in good time, including a visit to the amazing waterfall we had skipped the first time when we hiked the trail with Aare in June, and made it to the Deer Lake airport for our flight back to Toronto.

Elora Gorgeous!

A friend of Christos' was very generous and gave us a gift certificate for an evening at the Elora Mill and Spa which included a picnic hike in the Elora gorge and a beer tasting at the nearby Elora brewery! So we borrowed Alex&Sal's car and drove out on a Thursday morning to Elora, arriving around noon just as the clouds settled in!

The Mill is a lovely restored building that sits on top of a gorgeous waterfall (the Elora gorge) and provides good food and excellent service.

After checking in, we grabbed the fully packed picnic backpack they provided, adding a bottle of white wine on our own initiative, and set off for the footpath around the Gorge.

A few minutes into our hike, the rain started and we settled in to the shade of a mighty tree as most of the other hikers scampered away. Only a couple of university students remained, ensconced across the river from us in a small cave.

With the rain coming down, we decided to open the wine and realized that while we had an opener, we had no glasses!

So the university students were treated to the view of us passing a bottle of Pinot Grigio back and forth to pass the time while the rains kept us in place.

Finally the rain broke (and our bottle of wine was empty) so we headed back to the Mill for a bit of relaxation before it was off for 4PM beer tasting.

The beer was decent but nothing special but the shirts were nice so we bought them (including one for Aare in Newfoundland).

With a few brews in us we did a little shopping, Lisa bought a lovely dress and Christos bought some gift cards made of seed paper.


Next it was time for dinner, which was good but not outstanding, while watching the sun set over the gorge.


After dinner we shared some wine on our room's terrace overlooking the gorge and watched a little TV before heading off for a good night's sleep!

The next day it was lovely out and we grabbed coffee but not breakfast at the Mill before heading out for another stroll which resulted in more shopping (lavender goodies from NEOB) before we made it back to the spa for our afternoon pedicures!

With our feet refreshed it was time to head back to Toronto on a Friday afternoon for the weekend!