Well, I think we're just about ready to go. Leaving for Venezuela tomorrow and I'm pretty much all packed. A Herculean feat of packing too - considering that I need clothes for a wedding, jaunting round the city, trekking in the jungle, and the beach, I thought I did very well to fit everything into a single suitcase.
I will, of course, be writing the usual travelogue. I picked up a wireless keyboard for my Palm several weeks ago, thinking I was all organised...then discovered, while trying to get it up and running this week, that it's incompatible with my Palm's OS. Feh. So it looks like I'm going to have to resort to pen and paper, as in ye olden dayes.
No idea what internet access may be like while I'm there. However, if I am able, I'll post little updates to this blog from time to time. So stay tuned!
29 June 2007
28 June 2007
I Got Me a Cleaning Man!
This spring, I decided I wanted to try having cleaners come in to do my housework periodically. I can't afford (and don't really need) a weekly service, so was thinking about having someone in once a month, just to help with big jobs like dusting and doing the floors.
After a bit of research, I decided to try a new company here in the city. They're an environmental service, only using natural cleaning products, etc. More importantly from my perspective, however, they pay a decent wage and have ethical labour practices - thus helping to assuage my middle-class guilt. (This, of course, being spurred on by Jan Wong's series "Maid in Canada" in the Globe & Mail last year.) That said, they are quite reasonably priced, at $25 per cleaner, per hour.
So I had them come in this morning for a first clean. The hippyish young fella who started the company turned up, with a young woman in tow. They spent the morning mostly doing the ground floor of the house, and did a reasonable job. Not perfect - they missed some dusting, along with things like the top of the fridge and (oddly) the kitchen sink. But generally speaking, it was pretty good. I'd say they did about 70% of what I'd ideally have liked, and that's probably good enough. I'm not looking to never lift a finger around the house again - merely to get some help with the crummiest jobs. And that they did. I think I'll hire them again, maybe for three monthly cleanings to start - and we'll see how we get on from there.
After a bit of research, I decided to try a new company here in the city. They're an environmental service, only using natural cleaning products, etc. More importantly from my perspective, however, they pay a decent wage and have ethical labour practices - thus helping to assuage my middle-class guilt. (This, of course, being spurred on by Jan Wong's series "Maid in Canada" in the Globe & Mail last year.) That said, they are quite reasonably priced, at $25 per cleaner, per hour.
So I had them come in this morning for a first clean. The hippyish young fella who started the company turned up, with a young woman in tow. They spent the morning mostly doing the ground floor of the house, and did a reasonable job. Not perfect - they missed some dusting, along with things like the top of the fridge and (oddly) the kitchen sink. But generally speaking, it was pretty good. I'd say they did about 70% of what I'd ideally have liked, and that's probably good enough. I'm not looking to never lift a finger around the house again - merely to get some help with the crummiest jobs. And that they did. I think I'll hire them again, maybe for three monthly cleanings to start - and we'll see how we get on from there.
26 June 2007
Menu
This is the menu I calligraphed for my sister-in-law's wedding last weekend. Click on the image to enlarge it - I scanned it at high resolution so the detail could be seen (it's big).
The bride wanted a little Irish influence in her German-themed wedding, to reflect her own heritage. So she asked me to do her menu and placecards in Uncial script (the same hand in which the Book of Kells and other great Irish medieval manuscripts were written). In the end, to keep things legible, I decided to use a combination of Uncial and sans-serif Roman caps.
I did a large-size original, then reduced it and had it colour-copied onto letter-size Artoz pink bond paper. The original copy was done on A3-size white layout paper, in brown walnut ink. I used 1" and 3/4" Brause broad-edged pens for the Uncial script, and a Perry & Co. Indent pointed pen (no. 2301 EF) for the Roman caps.
While I made some spacing and centering flubs, all in all I'm very pleased with how the menu turned out. One for the portfolio, for sure!
The bride wanted a little Irish influence in her German-themed wedding, to reflect her own heritage. So she asked me to do her menu and placecards in Uncial script (the same hand in which the Book of Kells and other great Irish medieval manuscripts were written). In the end, to keep things legible, I decided to use a combination of Uncial and sans-serif Roman caps.
I did a large-size original, then reduced it and had it colour-copied onto letter-size Artoz pink bond paper. The original copy was done on A3-size white layout paper, in brown walnut ink. I used 1" and 3/4" Brause broad-edged pens for the Uncial script, and a Perry & Co. Indent pointed pen (no. 2301 EF) for the Roman caps.
While I made some spacing and centering flubs, all in all I'm very pleased with how the menu turned out. One for the portfolio, for sure!
22 June 2007
Hellooo?
*blows dust off blog*
I've had a crazy week and a half, thus the lack of blogging. To wit:
- Went to New York City (yes, again) last weekend, to see a certain band play because I am an obsessed little fangirl.
- Have been busy preparing for the wedding of L. and M., which takes place tomorrow. I calligraphed their placecards and menus (will scan some of the work in due course, to post here), and assisted in various other ways; A. is one of the groomsmen. The rehearsal is taking place even as I write, with the rehearsal dinner to follow later this evening. The ceremony is tomorrow, in the city, with the reception down at Domaine de Grand Pré, so we'll be overnight in the Valley tomorrow night. All that is to be followed by a post-wedding BBQ hosted by my in-laws, which we'll need to pitch in and help with - so there's a packed weekend ahead.
- no sooner will that be over, than we need to gear up for the Venezuela trip - for which we're departing tomorrow week. Argh.
- *edit* And just to add - over two and a half weeks on, there is STILL NO SIGN of our builders, who are due to work on our shed. @!$%!!!&*@!!! They're faffing about with building permits at the moment - which obviously they couldn't bother to sort out before the date they claimed they'd start work. Arrrrgh x 672.
More anon...
I've had a crazy week and a half, thus the lack of blogging. To wit:
- Went to New York City (yes, again) last weekend, to see a certain band play because I am an obsessed little fangirl.
- Have been busy preparing for the wedding of L. and M., which takes place tomorrow. I calligraphed their placecards and menus (will scan some of the work in due course, to post here), and assisted in various other ways; A. is one of the groomsmen. The rehearsal is taking place even as I write, with the rehearsal dinner to follow later this evening. The ceremony is tomorrow, in the city, with the reception down at Domaine de Grand Pré, so we'll be overnight in the Valley tomorrow night. All that is to be followed by a post-wedding BBQ hosted by my in-laws, which we'll need to pitch in and help with - so there's a packed weekend ahead.
- no sooner will that be over, than we need to gear up for the Venezuela trip - for which we're departing tomorrow week. Argh.
- *edit* And just to add - over two and a half weeks on, there is STILL NO SIGN of our builders, who are due to work on our shed. @!$%!!!&*@!!! They're faffing about with building permits at the moment - which obviously they couldn't bother to sort out before the date they claimed they'd start work. Arrrrgh x 672.
More anon...
10 June 2007
Gardening Day
Finally got to the garden centres today, to buy some seedling plants. Most were things for our deck containers - with the construction work (and relaying of our lawn to come) the flower beds will be a bit of a washout this year.
For the kitchen container garden on the front deck, we got a bunch of different salad leaves, herbs (parsley, basil, chives, coriander), strawberries, tomatoes and peppers (red, yellow, green and white!). Oh, and a pumpkin, because A. always likes to try growing odd things.
For the planters on the main deck, I got an assortment of salvia, geraniums and nasturtiums, as well as some ground cover (the name of which I now forget, but it produces small white flowers). Also picked up a foxglove to try under the maple tree - my efforts to grow some from seed last year having failed.
At least the flowering shrubs can be counted on, as always. The lilac tree is in full bloom at the moment - after last year's disappointing display, this year it's glorious. And all the rhododendons are coming on now too - they should be fully out within the week.
Recently I discovered the craziest thing. After coddling some lilies of the valley these last two years, in the front garden, I was wandering around behind the house yesterday...and discovered loads of them, blooming all over the place, under the trees. I can't believe I've lived here almost three years and never noticed them. God, I'm ridiculously unobservant sometimes.
For the kitchen container garden on the front deck, we got a bunch of different salad leaves, herbs (parsley, basil, chives, coriander), strawberries, tomatoes and peppers (red, yellow, green and white!). Oh, and a pumpkin, because A. always likes to try growing odd things.
For the planters on the main deck, I got an assortment of salvia, geraniums and nasturtiums, as well as some ground cover (the name of which I now forget, but it produces small white flowers). Also picked up a foxglove to try under the maple tree - my efforts to grow some from seed last year having failed.
At least the flowering shrubs can be counted on, as always. The lilac tree is in full bloom at the moment - after last year's disappointing display, this year it's glorious. And all the rhododendons are coming on now too - they should be fully out within the week.
Recently I discovered the craziest thing. After coddling some lilies of the valley these last two years, in the front garden, I was wandering around behind the house yesterday...and discovered loads of them, blooming all over the place, under the trees. I can't believe I've lived here almost three years and never noticed them. God, I'm ridiculously unobservant sometimes.
Floor Redone
The flooring guys returned yesterday and finished the floor upstairs. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.
Before, the wood floor of our hallway landing was covered in multiple coats of old paint, the most recent of which was a dull tan colour:
Friday afternoon, the guys brought in a big belt sander and spent about three hours sanding off all that paint. As you can see in this picture, underneath the tan was a reddish-brown colour:
In the end, nearly everything came off, revealing the original boards beneath - which we thought were pine, but are more likely just fir (which makes sense, in an older Nova Scotia house). Three coats of oil varnish and a buffing later, they came up a treat:
Not bad, eh? Certainly 100% better than before! I'm really glad we had this job done - that floor paint has bugged me ever since we first bought this house.
Before, the wood floor of our hallway landing was covered in multiple coats of old paint, the most recent of which was a dull tan colour:
Friday afternoon, the guys brought in a big belt sander and spent about three hours sanding off all that paint. As you can see in this picture, underneath the tan was a reddish-brown colour:
In the end, nearly everything came off, revealing the original boards beneath - which we thought were pine, but are more likely just fir (which makes sense, in an older Nova Scotia house). Three coats of oil varnish and a buffing later, they came up a treat:
Not bad, eh? Certainly 100% better than before! I'm really glad we had this job done - that floor paint has bugged me ever since we first bought this house.
08 June 2007
Summer Morning
Walking to work this morning, it felt like the first real day of summer to me. The sun finally came out, it was warm enough not to need a coat, and the leaves are now fully out on most of the trees. Strolling past the tidy houses of the South End, with their flower gardens and manicured lawns, is quite delightful on days like this.
I tried to notice and enjoy it all, because the forecast for the next four days is all grey gloom and showers again. *sigh*
I tried to notice and enjoy it all, because the forecast for the next four days is all grey gloom and showers again. *sigh*
07 June 2007
Workmen...Gah
What is it about workmen, that they end up driving you completely crazy? We've had three different home renovation jobs on the go for the past two weeks now, and none of the workmen we hired showed up when they said they would. Drives me mental.
Job #1: replacing a rotten beam beneath the deck, just under the front door. Since it was a relatively small, but uncomfortable job (who wants to crawl in the dirt underneath a house?), we initially only found one builder willing to give a quotation for the work. Cost? $4,000. ?!?!?!? Eventually, through my sister-in-law, we found someone else, who does this kind of odd construction work in his spare time. His bill was only $400 - but he showed up to do the work over a week after he said he would.
Job #2: replacing the foundation of our old shed. At the moment, it's basically balanced on a couple of old beams, which have begun to shift and wobble. Unless we do something, the shed itself will eventually collapse. As it's also in a slightly weird location, we're going to have the whole structure lifted, moved a few feet to align it with our lot line, then set it down again on a proper, poured concrete foundation. Again, we only found one builder willing to quote - I won't tell you how much it's going to cost because I'm still in shock, frankly. So these guys were meant to show up Monday...but we've yet to see them. I wouldn't mind so much, except that we had to totally empty the shed in preparation - and in consequence, my dining room is currently packed to the rafters with things like lawnmowers, bicycles and garden tools. The snowblower is out on the deck, covered by a tarp (which is hardly secure).
Job #3: re-finishing the old wood floor upstairs on the hallway landing. Might as well get all the messy jobs done at once, right? The landing upstairs has a painted floor - it's the only bit of wood floor in the house that's not been properly refinished. The flooring guys were scheduled to start this morning. When they hadn't shown up by noon, A. rang them. Apparently they'd 'forgotten'. *rolls eyes* However, at least they appeared after lunch and started work. Today they sanded off all the old paint, and applied the first coat of varnish - there's two coats still to come, and I'll post pictures when the job gets finished. Which I hope will be by Saturday - but given how things have been going, who knows?
Job #1: replacing a rotten beam beneath the deck, just under the front door. Since it was a relatively small, but uncomfortable job (who wants to crawl in the dirt underneath a house?), we initially only found one builder willing to give a quotation for the work. Cost? $4,000. ?!?!?!? Eventually, through my sister-in-law, we found someone else, who does this kind of odd construction work in his spare time. His bill was only $400 - but he showed up to do the work over a week after he said he would.
Job #2: replacing the foundation of our old shed. At the moment, it's basically balanced on a couple of old beams, which have begun to shift and wobble. Unless we do something, the shed itself will eventually collapse. As it's also in a slightly weird location, we're going to have the whole structure lifted, moved a few feet to align it with our lot line, then set it down again on a proper, poured concrete foundation. Again, we only found one builder willing to quote - I won't tell you how much it's going to cost because I'm still in shock, frankly. So these guys were meant to show up Monday...but we've yet to see them. I wouldn't mind so much, except that we had to totally empty the shed in preparation - and in consequence, my dining room is currently packed to the rafters with things like lawnmowers, bicycles and garden tools. The snowblower is out on the deck, covered by a tarp (which is hardly secure).
Job #3: re-finishing the old wood floor upstairs on the hallway landing. Might as well get all the messy jobs done at once, right? The landing upstairs has a painted floor - it's the only bit of wood floor in the house that's not been properly refinished. The flooring guys were scheduled to start this morning. When they hadn't shown up by noon, A. rang them. Apparently they'd 'forgotten'. *rolls eyes* However, at least they appeared after lunch and started work. Today they sanded off all the old paint, and applied the first coat of varnish - there's two coats still to come, and I'll post pictures when the job gets finished. Which I hope will be by Saturday - but given how things have been going, who knows?
05 June 2007
03 June 2007
Venezuela Bound
So...this summer, A. and I are taking our first 'real' holiday in three years. We're off to Venezuela from 30 June to 12 July. Our friends C. and P. are getting married in Caracas - he's Canadian, she's Venezuelan, but they both live in London at the moment. It seemed like the perfect excuse for a vacation - and when will we have an excuse to go to South America again?
That said, ever since we committed to the trip about two months ago, I've been getting a bit worried. Venezuela isn't the safest country in the world at the moment - so we're following C. and P.'s recommendations for places to stay and things to do. There will be a small Canadian/British contingent at this wedding, so I imagine we'll end up banding together and travelling around, both for frugality's and security's sake.
The itinerary at the moment is:
The Los Roques islands look stunning. All the islands of the archipelago constitute a national marine park, so there is next to no development - no hotels, no restaurants, no shops. Only one island has accommodation, and this is all in 'posadas', which it seems are a bit like B&Bs (we're staying at one called 'La Gaviota', which has been fully booked by C. and P.). Days are to be spent visiting different islands by boat, sunbathing, snorkeling/scuba diving, fishing, kitesailing, etc. Sounds like heaven.
Still trying to decide what we'll do for the three days we have in-between wedding ceremonies. There's not really enough to keep us busy in Caracas for that time (not to mention that the city is probably the most dangerous place in the whole country, crime- and social unrest-wise), so we wanted to get out and explore a bit. Initially, I'd hoped we could visit Angel Falls; seemed silly to go all the way there and not see the world's highest waterfall. However, it's a long haul from Caracas, deep in the Amazon jungle. I then found out that vaccination against yellow fever is strongly recommended for travel everywhere in the country beyond the northern coastal areas. After doing some research, I decided for various medical reasons that I didn't want to be vaccinated for yellow fever...so this has put the kibosh on Angel Falls as a destination, unfortunately. It may be just as well, however. It seems that all but the most expensive organised tours to the Falls are very, very basic - involving a day-long boat trip each way from the nearest town, jungle trekking, and two nights of camping (in hammocks). Given that I don't deal with insect life very well, I can't say I was too thrilled at the thought of open-air jungle camping. I'm a bit too much of a princess for that sort of thing, I guess!
So, I've got the Lonely Planet guide and have been doing a little research into alternative destinations, on the northern coast. I was quite interested in the city of Coro, which is apparently very historic (and is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site). However, I think we may now look at spending some time in Henri Pittier National Park. It's only a few hours' drive from Caracas, and has quite a range of geographical zones - deciduous forest, rain forest, cloud forest, and Caribbean coastline. This lodge, located in the park, is apparently highly recommended - I've sent them an email today to see if they have vacancy for the time we'd like to visit. If they do, we'll probably book - ideally, we want our whole stay organised for us, so we don't need to be concerned about security issues. The fact that they have English-speaking staff is key, as our Spanish is non-existent.
So that is the plan. We depart four weeks from today!
That said, ever since we committed to the trip about two months ago, I've been getting a bit worried. Venezuela isn't the safest country in the world at the moment - so we're following C. and P.'s recommendations for places to stay and things to do. There will be a small Canadian/British contingent at this wedding, so I imagine we'll end up banding together and travelling around, both for frugality's and security's sake.
The itinerary at the moment is:
- arrive the evening of 30 June. We're all booked in at the Hotel Paseo Las Mercedes (which is apparently in a very good, safe neighbourhood).
- free time in Caracas, 1-2 July (P. is planning a couple of little excursions around the city, to keep us entertained)
- wedding no. 1 (civil ceremony), 3 July
- out-of-town trip (location to be determined - see below), 4-6 July
- wedding no. 2 (church ceremony - the 'real' wedding), 7 July
- free day in Caracas, 8 July. Less than a mile from our hotel is the Centro Sambil - the largest mall in South America. Heh heh.
- to the beach, 9-11 July. We're off to the Los Roques Archipelago.
- depart Venezuela evening of 11 July, for overnight flight back to Toronto.
The Los Roques islands look stunning. All the islands of the archipelago constitute a national marine park, so there is next to no development - no hotels, no restaurants, no shops. Only one island has accommodation, and this is all in 'posadas', which it seems are a bit like B&Bs (we're staying at one called 'La Gaviota', which has been fully booked by C. and P.). Days are to be spent visiting different islands by boat, sunbathing, snorkeling/scuba diving, fishing, kitesailing, etc. Sounds like heaven.
Still trying to decide what we'll do for the three days we have in-between wedding ceremonies. There's not really enough to keep us busy in Caracas for that time (not to mention that the city is probably the most dangerous place in the whole country, crime- and social unrest-wise), so we wanted to get out and explore a bit. Initially, I'd hoped we could visit Angel Falls; seemed silly to go all the way there and not see the world's highest waterfall. However, it's a long haul from Caracas, deep in the Amazon jungle. I then found out that vaccination against yellow fever is strongly recommended for travel everywhere in the country beyond the northern coastal areas. After doing some research, I decided for various medical reasons that I didn't want to be vaccinated for yellow fever...so this has put the kibosh on Angel Falls as a destination, unfortunately. It may be just as well, however. It seems that all but the most expensive organised tours to the Falls are very, very basic - involving a day-long boat trip each way from the nearest town, jungle trekking, and two nights of camping (in hammocks). Given that I don't deal with insect life very well, I can't say I was too thrilled at the thought of open-air jungle camping. I'm a bit too much of a princess for that sort of thing, I guess!
So, I've got the Lonely Planet guide and have been doing a little research into alternative destinations, on the northern coast. I was quite interested in the city of Coro, which is apparently very historic (and is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site). However, I think we may now look at spending some time in Henri Pittier National Park. It's only a few hours' drive from Caracas, and has quite a range of geographical zones - deciduous forest, rain forest, cloud forest, and Caribbean coastline. This lodge, located in the park, is apparently highly recommended - I've sent them an email today to see if they have vacancy for the time we'd like to visit. If they do, we'll probably book - ideally, we want our whole stay organised for us, so we don't need to be concerned about security issues. The fact that they have English-speaking staff is key, as our Spanish is non-existent.
So that is the plan. We depart four weeks from today!
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