2009 photo-retro

2009 has been a year of ups and downs - as are most years - here's a photo retrospective of my year... something on the decade to come some time in January...

Snow... there was lots of snow this year - starting in January, loads of it in February and then again in December...

February saw flowers arrive at the office for me! First time I've ever had that happen!

February also saw my first professional football match - Liverpool vs Real Madrid - in Madrid, Spain.

While there I managed to take in some of the sights... including this art exhibit in the 'crystal palace'.

...and the cow parade that was all over the city...

In March I went on holiday with my love, Tom, to Edinburgh... this is on the way up to Arthur's Seat.

A view of the city with the castle in the distance...

Tom and I at Edinburgh Castle

Tom and I on the Royal Yacht Britannia

In May I happened upon a fun fair in Hampstead Heath with a few friends after we went there for a picnic

In June I went on a weekend away with my love to Brighton - went to the pier and rode the rides...

We also went on an afternoon fishing trip where a nice man took this fab photo of us!

In August we went to Thorpe Park where we rode the (better than Brighton) rides

We had an amazing day!

In August I celebrated yet another birthday with great friends!

In October I went to Ukraine for my second professional football match - England vs Ukraine World Cup Qualifier - this is St Michael's Cathedral in Kiev - see previous post for more on that...

And finally I celebrated Christmas afternoon with my love and his family in North London.

By evening I had a fever of 102.5F, was told I had swine flu and spent the last week of the year in bed. Now here is New Year's Eve and I'm still not well enough to go to work - or go out :( So it'll be a night in with the telly... Here's to a great year gone and a better one to come!

Happy New Year to you and yours!

Fall in Montreal

So here I am, stuck for another three weeks (no! I'm not counting!)... I've been staying with a friend at her mother's house in Otterburn Park (see previous posts on that), the thing is, this is a HOUSE, which means lots of cleaning and tons of yard work.

I've been enjoying it mostly, but that 's probably because I don't feel entirely obliged to do it. I'm sure I'd be way less gung-ho if it was my OWN yard. Anyway, last weekend the three of us headed outside (thankfully the weather was nice) to rake the leaves.

a BIG pile of leaves

with the bag to give it a little perspective...

I'd already done 17 bags at hallowe'en and this past weekend the three of us managed to bag another 35!!! And we still have half the yard to do! We're hoping for good weather this weekend to get it all done. Anyway, I took a few pictures. Now I'm wishing I'd thought of shooting the 35 bags lined up on the road for collection, but oh well... Maybe we'll have just as many this weekend and I can show you that.

some pretty leaves (still on the tree)

some more pretty leaves... maybe these will be in the bag this weekend!

There's something about being out in the country that makes me want to take lots of pictures. I wish I had a macro lens though to get really close up. I can dream...

In other news... in exactly three weeks my flight to London will be in the air, or just taking off... I'm really excited but also kind of scared, but in the same way I was before going to Korea... so it's ok. If I don't like it I can always come home OR go back to Korea, right? Right.

More to come, as soon as I have anything... maybe I'll tell you all about the glamourous life of a telephone market researcher... on second thought, maybe not...

Happy Hallowe'en

It's fright night!!! oooh.... scary.

This year I'm having the most different hallowe'en experience that I can remember. Instead of dressing up and going out (or trick-or-treating as I did many moons ago) I'm staying in. I'm the designated candy passer-outer this year.

I volunteered for the job actually. I did this a few years ago with a friend in the city and it was fun to see all the kiddies dressed up and begging for a sugar high. So, to make sure that the little 'uns come to the house, I organized myself and decorated outside. It's not the graveyard-haunted house-scary amazing kind of look that I would want, but I think it's a good job, given my short notice... and limited funds.

the front of the house

As you can see there are big orange bags - I filled them all with leaves yesterday... what a workout!!! - and there are faces drawn on all of them. I did most of them but Bilal did a couple and so did Alexia. Here's a close-up:

My homage to Kiss! (not really...just came out that way!)

The other day I made a bunch of ghosts with Bilal - they're hanging on the front porch. I also got some of that fake spider web stuff and put it up, rather haphazardly I must admit...

the ghosts and spider webs...

I also carved the jack-o-lantern... it was fun, but not as fun as I remember it being when I was a kid. The best part, I think, is toasting and eating the seeds after.

"before"

his guts... poor guy...

"after"

The seeds turned out okay, but there weren't very many for suck a large pumpkin... This could very well be my last Hallowe'en in Canada... maybe... so I think it's good that I'm staying home this year... who knows when I'll ever have the little munchkins come 'round to my house again? I'll take pictures of them (with parental permission) and post them if I can...

Happy Hallowe'en Everyone!!