Turtle!

My daughter, who lives in Guelph, enjoys running in the evening - after a long day of working in her home office... She often runs on a path by the river.

Recently she sent us this photo of a large turtle crawling along next to her path...

Now that isn't something we have ever encountered in our yard.

Fried Cabbage - and Egg Noodles

My daughter was a vegetarian for many years. She still rarely cooks meat. Her eating habits are so different from mine that I always find it interesting to hear what she had for supper. Fried egg on a bed of kale is a perennial favorite... 

She recently mentioned a simple supper she had made: fried cabbage mixed with cooked egg noodles. The recipe she used referred to it as "comfort food." (I'm not sure what that means... For me, "comfort food" has to have chocolate in it!)

When I tried the recipe myself, it was certainly filling and satisfying!

I used half a small cabbage, sliced in strips - and a small onion, similarly cut...

I fried the cabbage and onion slowly in several tablespoons of olive oil... Eventually (in half an hour to forty-five minutes) they caramelized.

Impatient to eat, I served them just as they were beginning to turn brown. They could have been cooked a little longer.

To the caramelized cabbage, I added the cooked egg noodles. The result is surprisingly delicious!

Online I discovered that there are a lot of variations to this popular East European dish. My daughter's recipe didn't mention onions - just chopped cabbage. But an online search for "fried cabbage and pasta" brings up a surprisingly large number of variations for Haluski.

Cottage cheese, cherry tomatoes, cooked sausage, and even dumplings are mentioned. Some recipes say to fry the cabbage in butter...

A very simple, versatile - and popular - dish.

Almonte: Flowers... and Turtles Sunning in the River

Now that spring run-off is over, Almonte's river is lower every time we visit...

These rocks  would be submerged in spring, when more water runs through the dam.

In one part of the river, Terry noticed two turtles sunning on some rocks. They must have been happy to find a place to rest and enjoy the sun, all the while keeping their eyes open for food floating by in the river...

Walking around town, we couldn't help but notice that more stores were open...

Flowers made everything more festive...

And - good news for visitors - the public bathrooms in old city hall were open!

Slowly life is returning to normal!

Outdoor Pots of Flowers

Going through old photographs, I came across this one from 1999, of me sitting on the front steps of our house, surrounded by pots of plants...

I especially like the colorful geraniums.

That was a year or two before our renovation, that changed the look of the front of our house.

I haven't had potted plants outdoors for years... I didn't want to have to worry about watering them if Terry and I went away for a few days here and there...

But this year, it doesn't look like we're traveling far!

In those days, when cooler fall weather came, I'd take the plants to school, where I had large sunny windows in my classroom. I'd let them winter, then put them outdoors the following spring.

Day Trip to Montebello

Last week, Terry suggested a day trip to Montebello, a village in Quebec...

The scenery en route was lovely as we drove next to the Ottawa River, which separates Ontario and Quebecc.

We stopped at a river view point along the way.

A freight train passing near the road surprised us. We weren't aware that trains still traveled on the north side of the river.

The village of Montebello is famous in our part of the country for its large 90-year-old log hotel. This time we didn't go into the grounds, but we did stop at the former train station nearby - which now houses a gift shop that specializes in chocolate.

Terry got some...

After a brief stay, we continued along the back roads until we crossed back into Ontario at the bridge in Hawksbury.

We would have stopped for a meal along the way - but the trip was so last-minute that we had already made our supper plans...

We also didn't know how many restaurants or cafes would be open and serving food en route.

We were surprised to see quite a few.

Margaret's Favorite Teacher

My mother loved school as a child - which propelled her to want to become a teacher.

She was only 9 when her family arrived in Canada in 1928... Her introduction to Canadian education was in a one-room country school.

Here's a picture of her at the time, at the bottom left of the picture.

A few years later, she attended Oliver School in Edmonton, where she met a teacher she would never forget - her grade 8 teacher, Mrs. McNallie, who inspired her, against all odds, to pursue a teaching career herself.

Fifty years later, she was thrilled to meet up with Mrs. McNallie again - on July 2, 1984 in Edmonton.

From left to right: my aunt Zilla (the wife of my mother's older brother,  the oldest child in the photo above), my mother's sister Lydia ( two years older than my mom, also in the photo above), Mrs. McNallie and my mother - who was thrilled to meet her favorite teacher again - after so many years!

Happy Canada Day!

Today is Canada Day! This year there will be no large celebrations on Parliament Hill here in Ottawa, the nation's capital - because of the pandemic...

In normal years, festivities continue all day. Free buses bring people downtown. Many are dressed in red and white, the colors of Canada's flag...

Another tradition is Canada flag stickers stuck on faces... or arms!

Not sure why my youngest son looks annoyed in this photo taken downtown on Canada Day when he was young... Maybe he was hot and tired after walking around...

Once, when he was even younger, we lost him in the crowds! That caused panic!

Fortunately, he was just a few steps ahead of us.

We didn't take the kids downtown on Canada Day for quite a few years after that scare.

Canada Day memories!!