Black belt gradings, gelato, Girl Guides, friends and food in Toronto

What a whirlwind visit! Wheh! I wish I could fit more in... but alas, t'was not possible. Fantastic to see friends and family. GG's organized a whole luncheon around my visit - Marika you are fabulous!

Thank you to Debbie who got me free passage on VIA between Toronto and Montreal. Collecting points really does add up. It was great to meet some of her family and put some faces to the names and stories she`s been telling me. They very generously let me stay overnight with them and regaled us all with song, stories, explanations of how to throw a boomerang properly, the basics of bee keeping and much more. Her uncle Wolf even serenaded our departure with some wonderful bag pipe music. What a talented family you have Debbie. It was a delightful visit.

Attila schemed with Shireen to arrange a surprise meeting my first night in. It was wonderful to see you babe! That gorgeous redish shawl you spent a month and half making is stunning! I can't believe you made that for me! And the bowl you made from last year's show is very happy to find it's brother plate. lol. 

Fiona you threw the most wonderful dinner get together I could have asked for! The food was delicious and it was just great to see so many of my dear friends take time out of their busy lives (even with kids!) to come and visit.

Yay Fiona! You fed me! lol. Thank you!  "Fed/nourished me" spiritually, emotionally, mentally. I have the most wonderful, down to earth and genuine friends. I'm very lucky.  (The food was actually spectacular as well... but then, this is Fi we are talking about!)

Denise, we missed having you at your own birthday, but we knew you were there in spirit. Hope you got all our positive birthday wishes. Bowie and Hendrix were your proxy and made sure everyone had some of your cake.

 Avi the new look suits you. Very excited about all the wonderful and positive updates. And very happy that you will be taking walks with me here in my back yard very soon.  My wonderful niece Bowie definitely pulls off the princess look very nicely. She and Avi had a fabulous conversation about magic. I think he is now her new favourite person. lol.

Yuriko and Mohammad, baby Cameron is beautiful! Running a busy and successful restaurant on Queen street AND starting a family - wow - you guys don't kid around. lol. Effie and Senan... sounds like what you did too... everything seemed to happen the same year. I'm so glad you were able to make it down to visit. Baby Thomas is not so small a baby anymore, and Alene has just blossomed!

Jenny and Jason, congrats on the newest addition to the family. Elizabeth is just beautiful and Katherine will no doubt be a wonderful older sister. We really MUST plot out that "farm" in Fiji sometime... lol.

Rob! How long has it been?!! Ages! Wonderful to finally catch up a bit, Bart rocks!

Shireen you are now a Nidan! Very, very proud of you.
All your hard work and discipline has paid off.

Senay, you look fabulous as usual and I felt totally pumped and uplifted by our conversation. Many good things coming to us moving forward... yesss! Loved your business idea - thanks so much for sharing it. I can't wait to move forward on that... and other PAX and Abraham related things.

Rob and Bart making a splash. Rob took me for gelato and we had a great time catching up. I wish I could have stayed longer as there was just so much to talk about!  So great to see them both!

 
Thank you to my mom who put up with me crashing at her place while I came and went, came and went non stop from the second I got in until I left. Great to spend some time with my family, even being able to go up to Rice lake and visit my grandparents. They are selling the cottage so it may very well be the last time I see the place.

My mom and Zserbo.  I named her after one of my favourite Hungarian desserts, zserbo; it's a  pastry with homemade apricot jam and freshly crushed walnuts in the middle. The top has a light layer of semi-sweet Belgian chocolate. Wow it's good!

I  must say I am not a big fan of hairy pets in the house... so I wasn`t too keen on Zserbo. But to my utter amazement.... she grew on me.  My brother and mom are pretty surprised she likes me so much since I gave her such a hard time in the beginning. But I must admit... she`s a pretty fantastic dog. 

My grandmother Katimama with Attila.  Aka: the little one.

Yeah...6`7`` and he`s the `little one.` I`m only 6`, but the firstborn... therefore... the boss. lol.

My grandparents and I enjoying some together time.

My dad and I hanging out and getting some fresh air before returning to make a dent in the feast he prepared.

It was very nice to have felt so loved, appreciated and... well... loved. Already missing you all.... so come and visit me already! lol

Annapolis Royal and Peggy's Cove with Shireen in Nova Scotia

My dear childhood friend, Shireen, and I spent a week traveling around Annapolis Royal and Peggy`s Cove in Nova Scotia. It was beautiful!

It was also the first time since we were kids that we were able to coordinate this much time together. What a great way of catching up!

We spent a lot of time photographing the different areas, knitting and chatting while sitting on those long bus rides. lol. Yeah, now there's a sexy sight. Two young things knitting up a storm on the back seat of a bus. It's actually very sexy.

The B&B`s were great. People super friendly. In Annapolis Royal, a local couple even adopted us and drove us around to all the different wharfs and coves as we didn`t have a car. They then showed us their blueberry fields and let us pick to our heart`s content. (They farm blueberries and beans.) What nice folks!

There is a highly recommended graveyard tour in the area which was very well presented. Annapolis Royal has Canada`s oldest cemetery, and of course, Acadian`s have their roots in the area so it made for a really educational and interesting tour.  Apparently the word `Cajun` is actually derived from `Acadian` as Cajuns are actually Acadians who made their way South.

Shireen showed me some new knitting techniques and I showed her the EU (Continental) way of knitting. She also gave me some great tips and advice for the camera I was using; a Canon 5D - a gift from her actually.
 

I made my first hat and shrug. The shrug ended up getting unravelled only to be started again last night because the dimensions ended up not working for me... ah well.. practice makes perfect. The hat worked out great however and my mom is now happily wearing it to keep warm.

Building "Bullwinkle." Oh yes... we did name our inukshuk after the cartoon character. We felt that  "Rocky" was a little too obvious. 

Shireen chilling on the boulders. This place sang to her soul. I hadn't seen her this peaceful in years.

We also did a little stop in Moncton, NB to go see Hopewell Cape/Rocks. Even the second time it was just as amazing to see. Luckily the weather was pretty good... lots of sun during most of the trip... we even got a tan!

Apparently Annapolis is quite warm in the winter... rarely ever snowing and it has the warmest waters North of the Carolinas... hmmmm... maybe I moved to the wrong place...? lol

Check out some of my photos!

Nova Scotia`s Peggys Cove |

Nova Scotia`s Annapolis Royal |

Sweatshops, bath bombs, meditation pillows and red sand in P.E.I

My friend Avi came to visit for a week. It was wonderful and so great to see him. We went to lovely Prince Edward Island for a couple of days. It was beautiful, especially the ocean side.  P.E.I was really easy to drive around... nearly impossible to get lost... just pick a coastal road and eventually you'll come to the Confederation bridge. The longest bridge in the world crossing the Atlantic ocean and connects P.E.I to New Brunswick.  We had a blast.

Debbie and I have been making bath bombs, flax filled pillows/meditation cushions, foot soaks, iron on transfers for funky T-shirt creations, cat treats and many more things. It's been an interesting experiment.  This life is going to make a good screenplay some day.  Totally bizarre in some respects and amusing in others.

Organic flax filled meditation cushions (or dream pillows) infused with lavender.  I'm holding bags of flax, and have several cotton sheets to work with.

It's official; the sweatshop is open for business.

And after many hours and trial and error... with more error than not... we have the finished product. Aren't they cute? The are double sewn with organic cotton to reduce the possibility of tearing, I have also created a pretty out (and completely removable, thus easily washable) outer covering. You can choose your own stylish cushion. Also, they double as hot packs, cold packs, travel pillows, sleep aids, and serve as cushioning for sacred spaces and revered objects.

I have to tell you, it feels really cooling and wonderful to put your head on one of these babies. Lavender mixed with flax is such a fabulous combination.