Sunday, November 06, 2005
Last of the pumpkin stuff (we promise)!
Well hello - back from Edmonton, which was chilly but had no snow. Apparently, there was quite a bit of snow here on the ground in Calgary this morning, but by the time we made it back down here from the provincial capital, most of it had melted.
However, the cool temperatures aren't doing a lot for the pumpkins. We're now running an experiment to see just what happens if you leave them out in the frost and snow. This experiment is currently running on the deck, as we figured that the neighbours might get the city by-law officers to come and fine us for leaving decomposing vegetable matter on the front steps!
This was how they looked midweek...with little snowy hats...
And this is how they look after another couple of days at sub-zero...
Anyway, its been a busy week since last Sunday. Sunday night started off with a small halloween party - yes, Sunday night does seem like a slightly strange choice for a party, but if we'd had it on Saturday, Geri and Christine wouldn't have been able to come - so Sunday it was. We did a little bit in the way of decoration...
Here's a view of the table, with a very fetching orange plastic table cloth...
And pumpkins in their full glory...
This one has a bit of a Darth Vader theme going...
And here are a few of the lights that we couldn't resist buying in the Co-op...
They didn't come out so well in the photograph, but basically, they are strings of small white lights that have 'scary' Halloween type shades. The ones we got came with witches on broomsticks, green frankenstein monster heads, coffins, skeletons, and our favourite - bleeding mummies!
We had the usual starters (i.e. chips and dips) supplemented with vegetable pakoras, which we found in the Co-op. Then we had marinaded chicken skewers, marinaded steak, steamed string beans, rice and peanut sauce. Sounds like a weird combination, but there wasn't a huge heap left, so I think it was all okay. We finished off with a beautiful banoffee pie supplied by the HERBs. For entertainment, Mr White then decided that we should do some bobbing for apples in the sink...! For the record, I managed to extract an apple in 7 seconds; Mr White took 50 seconds... I think he might need some practice!
There was also a little bit of dressing up by the small people who came - Hannah was very pretty as a pink poodle, while Ben was a scarily mobile Tigger...
Next day was Halloween itself - and as mentioned previously, there were some pretty neat neighbourhood decorations...
We liked this one - witch loses control of broomstick and crashes into lawn...
Or how about, man minding his own business on park bench has head turned into a pumpkin...
Or barfing pumpkin anyone??
Mr White was busy getting his Edmonton talk finalised over the next couple of days; in fact, he was so busy that he had got 2 new playstation games in the post, and hadn't even opened them. So, on Wednesday, he did the three hour drive to Edmonton, got a reasonable night's sleep, and then started the meet and greet process on Thursday morning with several of the surgeons who work up there. On Thursday night, he went to dinner with some of the guys, and then came and met me off the bus. I have to say that the bus (The Red Arrow) is great. It left Calgary at 6pm, stopped in Red Deer for 10 mins, and then arrived in Edmonton at about 9.30pm. It has plenty of legroom, a power socket at every seat so that you can plug in a lap-top if you feel like it (I didn't!), reclining seats, free tea/coffee/soft drinks and a toilet on board. Someone did suggest that I should fly up to Edmonton, but to be honest, I think the bus was a lot less hassle. I showed up at the bus station 15 minutes before it left; I would have had to be at the airport an hour before departure: the bus has no security checks; airport security checks are a pain in the butt: the bus leaves you in to the centre of Edmonton; the airport is 30 minutes from the city centre, necessitating a $45 taxi ride into the city on top of the airfare. The bus was $50 one-way and in my opinion, you couldn't beat it. (Well, actually you could - the province is dithering about whether or not to put in a high speed rail link between Edmonton and Calgary, and I think that would be the best option all round. However, Alberta is a province in love with the automobile, and I'm not sure what it will take to convince the government/population that a train would be a good idea - maybe if oil hits $100 a barrel, people won't be so keen to drive for 3 hours to get from one city to the other?).
Anyway, the hotel we were staying in was great - I think it might once have been some sort of university accommodation - the name says it all - 'Campus Tower', but it has obviously been refurbished quite extensively to make it fit for grown-ups(!!). It was right on the edge of the university grounds, and overlooked a lot of the building that is going on at the University of Alberta. We had a 'Queen Suite', which actually was a suite, with a separate sitting area, bathroom, fully equipped kitchenette and bedroom - all very spacious.
Living room...
Kitchenette...
Bedroom - looking out towards kitchen...
And all of that for $130 (about £60) per night. The hotel itself didn't have a restaurant, but there were plenty of places to eat that were within easy walking distance.
On Friday night, after J had done his talk and spoken to yet more surgeons and was absolutely pooped, we wandered down into the Old Strathcona region of town, and went to Murietta's for an early dinner. Saturday was spent looking around Edmonton a bit (as well as a very very small bit of the West Edmonton Mall - think massively expanded Castle Court with casino, waterpark, hotel, full sized ice rink, performing sealions(!) and you might be close). It seems like a reasonable city - not drastically different from Calgary - despite what people in Calgary will tell you. Its quite funny - Calgary people look down on Edmonton, saying it is a more 'working class' city, whereas Edmonton folk will tell you that Calgary is full of yuppy upstarts who have no culture. Calgarians will tell you that they have warmer winters than Edmonton because of the warm Chinook winds, but Edmontonians will tell you that it is easier to garden up there because they don't get surprise frosts in August... who knows??
However, our feeling is that they have more things in common than they would like to think,
Anyway, it snowed down here this weekend (we're told) and didn't snow up there - much to the glee of the Edmontonians we met.
So there you go - a potted summary of last week's excitement and travels. Not much excitement coming up in the next week (I hope), except that we're thinking that the White/Brietmeyer winter curry evening is a bit overdue, and as such should be held this upcoming weekend. Thinking of going with a Thai theme, rather than Indian...?
More later...
P
However, the cool temperatures aren't doing a lot for the pumpkins. We're now running an experiment to see just what happens if you leave them out in the frost and snow. This experiment is currently running on the deck, as we figured that the neighbours might get the city by-law officers to come and fine us for leaving decomposing vegetable matter on the front steps!
This was how they looked midweek...with little snowy hats...
And this is how they look after another couple of days at sub-zero...
Anyway, its been a busy week since last Sunday. Sunday night started off with a small halloween party - yes, Sunday night does seem like a slightly strange choice for a party, but if we'd had it on Saturday, Geri and Christine wouldn't have been able to come - so Sunday it was. We did a little bit in the way of decoration...
Here's a view of the table, with a very fetching orange plastic table cloth...
And pumpkins in their full glory...
This one has a bit of a Darth Vader theme going...
And here are a few of the lights that we couldn't resist buying in the Co-op...
They didn't come out so well in the photograph, but basically, they are strings of small white lights that have 'scary' Halloween type shades. The ones we got came with witches on broomsticks, green frankenstein monster heads, coffins, skeletons, and our favourite - bleeding mummies!
We had the usual starters (i.e. chips and dips) supplemented with vegetable pakoras, which we found in the Co-op. Then we had marinaded chicken skewers, marinaded steak, steamed string beans, rice and peanut sauce. Sounds like a weird combination, but there wasn't a huge heap left, so I think it was all okay. We finished off with a beautiful banoffee pie supplied by the HERBs. For entertainment, Mr White then decided that we should do some bobbing for apples in the sink...! For the record, I managed to extract an apple in 7 seconds; Mr White took 50 seconds... I think he might need some practice!
There was also a little bit of dressing up by the small people who came - Hannah was very pretty as a pink poodle, while Ben was a scarily mobile Tigger...
Next day was Halloween itself - and as mentioned previously, there were some pretty neat neighbourhood decorations...
We liked this one - witch loses control of broomstick and crashes into lawn...
Or how about, man minding his own business on park bench has head turned into a pumpkin...
Or barfing pumpkin anyone??
Mr White was busy getting his Edmonton talk finalised over the next couple of days; in fact, he was so busy that he had got 2 new playstation games in the post, and hadn't even opened them. So, on Wednesday, he did the three hour drive to Edmonton, got a reasonable night's sleep, and then started the meet and greet process on Thursday morning with several of the surgeons who work up there. On Thursday night, he went to dinner with some of the guys, and then came and met me off the bus. I have to say that the bus (The Red Arrow) is great. It left Calgary at 6pm, stopped in Red Deer for 10 mins, and then arrived in Edmonton at about 9.30pm. It has plenty of legroom, a power socket at every seat so that you can plug in a lap-top if you feel like it (I didn't!), reclining seats, free tea/coffee/soft drinks and a toilet on board. Someone did suggest that I should fly up to Edmonton, but to be honest, I think the bus was a lot less hassle. I showed up at the bus station 15 minutes before it left; I would have had to be at the airport an hour before departure: the bus has no security checks; airport security checks are a pain in the butt: the bus leaves you in to the centre of Edmonton; the airport is 30 minutes from the city centre, necessitating a $45 taxi ride into the city on top of the airfare. The bus was $50 one-way and in my opinion, you couldn't beat it. (Well, actually you could - the province is dithering about whether or not to put in a high speed rail link between Edmonton and Calgary, and I think that would be the best option all round. However, Alberta is a province in love with the automobile, and I'm not sure what it will take to convince the government/population that a train would be a good idea - maybe if oil hits $100 a barrel, people won't be so keen to drive for 3 hours to get from one city to the other?).
Anyway, the hotel we were staying in was great - I think it might once have been some sort of university accommodation - the name says it all - 'Campus Tower', but it has obviously been refurbished quite extensively to make it fit for grown-ups(!!). It was right on the edge of the university grounds, and overlooked a lot of the building that is going on at the University of Alberta. We had a 'Queen Suite', which actually was a suite, with a separate sitting area, bathroom, fully equipped kitchenette and bedroom - all very spacious.
Living room...
Kitchenette...
Bedroom - looking out towards kitchen...
And all of that for $130 (about £60) per night. The hotel itself didn't have a restaurant, but there were plenty of places to eat that were within easy walking distance.
On Friday night, after J had done his talk and spoken to yet more surgeons and was absolutely pooped, we wandered down into the Old Strathcona region of town, and went to Murietta's for an early dinner. Saturday was spent looking around Edmonton a bit (as well as a very very small bit of the West Edmonton Mall - think massively expanded Castle Court with casino, waterpark, hotel, full sized ice rink, performing sealions(!) and you might be close). It seems like a reasonable city - not drastically different from Calgary - despite what people in Calgary will tell you. Its quite funny - Calgary people look down on Edmonton, saying it is a more 'working class' city, whereas Edmonton folk will tell you that Calgary is full of yuppy upstarts who have no culture. Calgarians will tell you that they have warmer winters than Edmonton because of the warm Chinook winds, but Edmontonians will tell you that it is easier to garden up there because they don't get surprise frosts in August... who knows??
However, our feeling is that they have more things in common than they would like to think,
Anyway, it snowed down here this weekend (we're told) and didn't snow up there - much to the glee of the Edmontonians we met.
So there you go - a potted summary of last week's excitement and travels. Not much excitement coming up in the next week (I hope), except that we're thinking that the White/Brietmeyer winter curry evening is a bit overdue, and as such should be held this upcoming weekend. Thinking of going with a Thai theme, rather than Indian...?
More later...
P
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