I gave myself a good scare earlier this evening. I was down in the basement, trying to navigate around one of the bunny gates, when I tripped and fell. I'm fine - I landed on all fours, skinned my knee and got a big bump and bruise on my elbow. But afterwards I sat there and cried hysterically for about ten minutes, cursing myself for being so stupid and careless and panicking about what might have happened if I'd landed on my belly.
I've been meaning to write a long pregblog entry (and will soon), but this evening's episode is pretty typical of the bouts of (mainly groundless and irrational) fear I've been having the past six weeks or so. I've always heard that it's a pretty common experience among pregnant women, but that doesn't make it any less difficult. Gah. *exhales*
That's not to say there haven't been lots of good things too - next time, I'll be sure to blog about those. :-)
31 August 2008
27 August 2008
Paris Walks
When visiting a major city (particularly a historic one), I always try to sort myself out with a walking tour while I'm there. Not one of those generic-type tours where you find yourself part of a great horde, led by a guide with a lurid umbrella or gaily-coloured scarf on a stick, mind. I'm more interested in smaller tours that explore specific neighbourhoods, or historical events, or themes, in some depth. I find that on a good walking tour, I spend far more time looking around and appreciating my surroundings than I would if I had my nose buried in a guidebook half the time.
So this morning I found myself on the Paris Walks website. I discovered them during my last trip to the city in 2002, as a result of their affiliation with the absolutely excellent London Walks. On that particular trip, J. and I did a Paris Walks tour of the Père-Lachaise cemetery, and very enjoyable it was, too. This morning, I downloaded their brochure and schedule of walks for September, and damned if I don't want to do pretty near all of them!
If I do get to Paris next month, as planned, I'll definitely aim to do a couple of these. A two-hour stroll in some historic neighbourhood and a wonderful meal in an out-of-the-way bistro...what else would one require for a perfect day in Paris?
So this morning I found myself on the Paris Walks website. I discovered them during my last trip to the city in 2002, as a result of their affiliation with the absolutely excellent London Walks. On that particular trip, J. and I did a Paris Walks tour of the Père-Lachaise cemetery, and very enjoyable it was, too. This morning, I downloaded their brochure and schedule of walks for September, and damned if I don't want to do pretty near all of them!
If I do get to Paris next month, as planned, I'll definitely aim to do a couple of these. A two-hour stroll in some historic neighbourhood and a wonderful meal in an out-of-the-way bistro...what else would one require for a perfect day in Paris?
21 August 2008
We're DFL!
My friend J.'s aprocryphal Olympic blog, DFL, is back once again and reporting on last-place finishes in Beijing. And with only days left to go, I see that Canada is currently top of the DFL pops! Heh...there'll be handwringing in the national sporting press about that - I can see it now.
Mind, China is currently in second place - and as J. has noted, high numbers of DFL finishes seem to be typical of host nations. But time will tell whether the top spot will remain with our home and native land! :-D
Mind, China is currently in second place - and as J. has noted, high numbers of DFL finishes seem to be typical of host nations. But time will tell whether the top spot will remain with our home and native land! :-D
20 August 2008
European Holiday
Some months ago (back at the end of May, in fact), we booked a trip to Europe for the fall. We'd been planning this trip for a couple of months, ever since my sister-in-law L. and her husband M. moved to Luxembourg City earlier this year to take up new jobs in banking law. It has been four long years since I've been back to Europe, and a return is long overdue.
We have planned a two-week trip from 21 September - 5 October, flying with Condor (Lufthansa's charter wing) from Halifax to Frankfurt, direct! (Luckily for us, an awful lot of Germans seem to enjoy holidaying in Nova Scotia.) We arrive in Frankfurt very early on 22 September, and from there will take the TGV straight to Paris. I have never been on a high-speed train before, so that should be interesting. Our routing is direct, and will take us from the main station in Frankfurt to the Gare de l'Est in central Paris in under four hours.
In gay Paree, we have rented this apartment in the 4th arrondissement (a snip at 700 euro for the week!). As this will be my third trip there (and A.'s second), and we have already seen and done the big touristic sites, we are planning a very leisurely week of toodling about, sitting in cafes, strolling the boulevards, and doing whatever takes our fancy. For the last two nights, we will be joined by L. and M. (hence the rental of a slightly bigger apartment, with a pullout couch for them!). We'll all have a little time in Paris together, before heading up to Luxembourg City on 29 September. We'll stay with L. and M. for the following week. We don't have too many specific plans for this part of the trip - luckily, L. and M. have a car, so we will do some sightseeing around Luxembourg and probably in Belgium and Germany too, since they are so close by.
This will be my first trip to Europe in the autumn (I've always done springtime before - as a student, travelling anytime after the start of September was obviously a no-go). Happily, it is of course wine harvest time, and the Moselle Valley of Luxembourg is scattered with fine wineries where one may stop in for a tour and une petite dégustation. Unhappily, I can't enjoy a single drop, since I am with child. However, I've decided that I may instead just have to master the "swish'n'spit" method of wine tasting. Just because I can't drink the wine, doesn't mean I can't taste the wine, right?
This is shaping up to be an awfully good trip, I must say. However, I am all too aware that it is, of course, dependent on my good health and there being no major problems with my pregnancy before departure. Have an appointment with my GP in mid-September, so I guess I will know then for sure if I am truly able to get on that plane or not. Crossing my fingers - and have booked trip cancellation insurance, just in case the axe falls!
We have planned a two-week trip from 21 September - 5 October, flying with Condor (Lufthansa's charter wing) from Halifax to Frankfurt, direct! (Luckily for us, an awful lot of Germans seem to enjoy holidaying in Nova Scotia.) We arrive in Frankfurt very early on 22 September, and from there will take the TGV straight to Paris. I have never been on a high-speed train before, so that should be interesting. Our routing is direct, and will take us from the main station in Frankfurt to the Gare de l'Est in central Paris in under four hours.
In gay Paree, we have rented this apartment in the 4th arrondissement (a snip at 700 euro for the week!). As this will be my third trip there (and A.'s second), and we have already seen and done the big touristic sites, we are planning a very leisurely week of toodling about, sitting in cafes, strolling the boulevards, and doing whatever takes our fancy. For the last two nights, we will be joined by L. and M. (hence the rental of a slightly bigger apartment, with a pullout couch for them!). We'll all have a little time in Paris together, before heading up to Luxembourg City on 29 September. We'll stay with L. and M. for the following week. We don't have too many specific plans for this part of the trip - luckily, L. and M. have a car, so we will do some sightseeing around Luxembourg and probably in Belgium and Germany too, since they are so close by.
This will be my first trip to Europe in the autumn (I've always done springtime before - as a student, travelling anytime after the start of September was obviously a no-go). Happily, it is of course wine harvest time, and the Moselle Valley of Luxembourg is scattered with fine wineries where one may stop in for a tour and une petite dégustation. Unhappily, I can't enjoy a single drop, since I am with child. However, I've decided that I may instead just have to master the "swish'n'spit" method of wine tasting. Just because I can't drink the wine, doesn't mean I can't taste the wine, right?
This is shaping up to be an awfully good trip, I must say. However, I am all too aware that it is, of course, dependent on my good health and there being no major problems with my pregnancy before departure. Have an appointment with my GP in mid-September, so I guess I will know then for sure if I am truly able to get on that plane or not. Crossing my fingers - and have booked trip cancellation insurance, just in case the axe falls!
18 August 2008
Asia Trip Stuff
Finally. I've now written, sorted out and uploaded my travelogue and photos from my recent trip to Vietnam and Japan. The photos have joined the rest of my albums on Flickr; I need to figure out a satisfactory way to start importing those to Facebook, cos I can't be bothered uploading that many pics to two different locations!
I also made a couple of little videos, while in Japan. This one (not the best quality, unfortunately) is of a Shinto wedding procession. This one was taken on the Metro (subway). These two are of the Tokyo skyline at dusk - west and east. And last, I made a video tour of the bathroom in my apartment - just cos. You'll just have to watch and see!
09 August 2008
Kitchen Update
After a very slow couple of months (during which I began to wonder if this project was really going to get off the ground, or not), there have been quite a few developments over the past week, with regard to our kitchen renovation project.
We finally got our kitchen designer/neighbour to sit down with us last Saturday, and we asked some pretty frank questions about timelines. She assured us, however, that she'd checked with the suppliers and we should be able to start this job on schedule, by early October, and complete it before the holidays. Needless to say, with a baby on the way, completion has suddenly become much more critical. There is no way I am coming home from hospital with an infant if my home is still a building site - and I was prepared to delay the entire project by a couple of years, if required, to prevent this happening.
However, things are looking good. Last weekend, we reviewed three new floor-plan layouts that our designer had drawn up, and chose the one we liked best. The overall plan is to shift the working space into what is now the little pantry room, after the wall between it and the current kitchen gets knocked down. The new kitchen will be galley-shaped - I'd hoped we could do a U-shape, but it turns out we haven't enough space. But a galley is quite efficient, so I'm happy enough with that. The remaining space (where the sink and oven are located now) will become my desk/sewing area, and a peninsula/bar area with storage. It's a very nice plan, and I'm excited to see how it will turn out.
The next steps now are choosing a contractor and a cabinetmaker. Our neighbour is considering three contractors at the moment, and will be asking them to quote on the job very soon. Also over the next couple of weeks, I need to decide which of three local cabinetmakers to use - or whether to chuck all that in and go with an Ikea kitchen!
In the interests of getting started even earlier, I think we are going to plan to set up our "camp kitchen" at the beginning of September, down in the basement laundry room - where we will do our cooking and washing up while the work is being done upstairs. It already has a laundry washtub, with hot and cold running water, so we'll set up a table and chairs, our little bar fridge, the microwave, and a hotplate, which should keep us going for a little bit. Once that job is done, then there's no reason why demolition work can't begin. A. is thinking about doing this himself, with a couple of assistants; they will rip out the old cabinets, take out the old appliances for disposal/resale (we are only keeping our current dishwasher), tear up the tile flooring (we hope to save the wood flooring), then take down the walls. Whatever work we can do ourselves will of course save us money - plus, I think A. is quite looking forward to bashing things with a sledgehammer. ;-)
Originally, we had been looking at a start date of 5 October (the day we return from our holidays in Europe) for this job. But if we could get the demolition work done before we leave, then there's no reason why the contractor couldn't come in and start working while we are away (with our neighbour to supervise things - we will only be a phonecall or email away, after all).
So, things are definitely looking up. Very good to be able finally to start making some concrete plans. I will doubtless start a Renovation Diary here, chronicling the delays, cock-ups, and other woes we will inevitably encounter. But the end result will be totally worthwhile, I'm sure of it!
We finally got our kitchen designer/neighbour to sit down with us last Saturday, and we asked some pretty frank questions about timelines. She assured us, however, that she'd checked with the suppliers and we should be able to start this job on schedule, by early October, and complete it before the holidays. Needless to say, with a baby on the way, completion has suddenly become much more critical. There is no way I am coming home from hospital with an infant if my home is still a building site - and I was prepared to delay the entire project by a couple of years, if required, to prevent this happening.
However, things are looking good. Last weekend, we reviewed three new floor-plan layouts that our designer had drawn up, and chose the one we liked best. The overall plan is to shift the working space into what is now the little pantry room, after the wall between it and the current kitchen gets knocked down. The new kitchen will be galley-shaped - I'd hoped we could do a U-shape, but it turns out we haven't enough space. But a galley is quite efficient, so I'm happy enough with that. The remaining space (where the sink and oven are located now) will become my desk/sewing area, and a peninsula/bar area with storage. It's a very nice plan, and I'm excited to see how it will turn out.
The next steps now are choosing a contractor and a cabinetmaker. Our neighbour is considering three contractors at the moment, and will be asking them to quote on the job very soon. Also over the next couple of weeks, I need to decide which of three local cabinetmakers to use - or whether to chuck all that in and go with an Ikea kitchen!
In the interests of getting started even earlier, I think we are going to plan to set up our "camp kitchen" at the beginning of September, down in the basement laundry room - where we will do our cooking and washing up while the work is being done upstairs. It already has a laundry washtub, with hot and cold running water, so we'll set up a table and chairs, our little bar fridge, the microwave, and a hotplate, which should keep us going for a little bit. Once that job is done, then there's no reason why demolition work can't begin. A. is thinking about doing this himself, with a couple of assistants; they will rip out the old cabinets, take out the old appliances for disposal/resale (we are only keeping our current dishwasher), tear up the tile flooring (we hope to save the wood flooring), then take down the walls. Whatever work we can do ourselves will of course save us money - plus, I think A. is quite looking forward to bashing things with a sledgehammer. ;-)
Originally, we had been looking at a start date of 5 October (the day we return from our holidays in Europe) for this job. But if we could get the demolition work done before we leave, then there's no reason why the contractor couldn't come in and start working while we are away (with our neighbour to supervise things - we will only be a phonecall or email away, after all).
So, things are definitely looking up. Very good to be able finally to start making some concrete plans. I will doubtless start a Renovation Diary here, chronicling the delays, cock-ups, and other woes we will inevitably encounter. But the end result will be totally worthwhile, I'm sure of it!
02 August 2008
Am I Turning Into a Hippie?
You can be honest and just tell me, you know. It's OK.
I've finally signed up for one of those organic food box schemes, where you get fresh produce delivered to your home regularly. To start with, I've set up a standing order for the "Dogma Box" (in which all the produce is not only organic, but also local), to be delivered every second Saturday. I admit I'm more interested in the fact that the produce is local - though things should get interesting in the winter, when I imagine we'll be eating a lot of apples, spuds and other root vegetables.
But for now, I'm looking forward to enjoying a nice variety of local fruit and veg over the coming months. The service sells lots of other organic/local/ethical foodstuffs as well, which you can add to your order if you want. This week, I tried to add bread and pastries from Boulangerie La Vendeéne - certainly the best bakery here in the HRM - but my order got lost somehow. Ah well, next time.
Here is what we got, in this week's delivery:
While I could go and buy all this produce - and bread from La Vendeéne - at the Farmers' Market on any given weekend, this system is so much more convenient. I hardly ever manage to drag myself down to the Market early enough on a Saturday to beat the crowds. Having all this stuff brought to our house every two weeks will, I hope, compel me to eat more healthily as well as learn some new recipes and cooking methods. Otherwise, most of it will become very expensive food for our rabbits!
As for the hippie thing, even if having an organic food box delivery doesn't mean I have to start growing my hair and smelling of patchouli, I am well aware that it is, at the very least, high on the list of Stuff White People Like. Heh.
I've finally signed up for one of those organic food box schemes, where you get fresh produce delivered to your home regularly. To start with, I've set up a standing order for the "Dogma Box" (in which all the produce is not only organic, but also local), to be delivered every second Saturday. I admit I'm more interested in the fact that the produce is local - though things should get interesting in the winter, when I imagine we'll be eating a lot of apples, spuds and other root vegetables.
But for now, I'm looking forward to enjoying a nice variety of local fruit and veg over the coming months. The service sells lots of other organic/local/ethical foodstuffs as well, which you can add to your order if you want. This week, I tried to add bread and pastries from Boulangerie La Vendeéne - certainly the best bakery here in the HRM - but my order got lost somehow. Ah well, next time.
Here is what we got, in this week's delivery:
(l-r: carrots, beets, Swiss chard, turnip, new potatoes, tomatoes, a cucumber,
a yam, mushrooms and lettuce)
a yam, mushrooms and lettuce)
While I could go and buy all this produce - and bread from La Vendeéne - at the Farmers' Market on any given weekend, this system is so much more convenient. I hardly ever manage to drag myself down to the Market early enough on a Saturday to beat the crowds. Having all this stuff brought to our house every two weeks will, I hope, compel me to eat more healthily as well as learn some new recipes and cooking methods. Otherwise, most of it will become very expensive food for our rabbits!
As for the hippie thing, even if having an organic food box delivery doesn't mean I have to start growing my hair and smelling of patchouli, I am well aware that it is, at the very least, high on the list of Stuff White People Like. Heh.
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