Greebo, I'm ho-ome!

I have been a truant little blogger, haven't I? It's amazing how fast two weeks can go by when every night is filled up with one plan or another... it starts with getting onto a plane in one city, and then before you know it you're back in that same airport, heading back off that plane again.

Anyway... I managed to make it out of Ottawa right before the -42 (-34 plus the windchill) temperatures hit, which was kind of a plus - especially when I landed in London to bright sunny skies and mild temperatures, and considerably more sun than rain, despite what the King's Cross "Due to today's inclement weather..." safety announcements would've had you believe (I had to sit there for 3.5 hours... its amazing how well that message sticks in your head after that length of time!)

This last week in Ottawa was really great - back from the ski trip on Sunday night; 2 nights hanging at home; skating on the canal and then dinner/drinks at the 4th Avenue Wine Bar on Wednesday; sushi and more drinks on Thursday with (another) Mike and his wife Lee (thinking about going to China? read Mike's blog first!); and then more drinks and dinner at Pub Italia with Tiff and Jeff, who had come to stay for the weekend. And of course in the midst of all this, there had to be time made for some shopping, and some housekeeping, so as to make things tidy for our weekend house guests.

On Saturday we went for brunch, then went skating on the Rideau Canal with Tiff, Jeff, and Mike's friends Aaron and Kelley, who also came to crash with us for the weekend. The weather was really warm though (actually cracked positive digits, I think) so the ice was a little more smooshy than we would've liked - especially after the snow flurries that kept coming and going while we were skating - big fluffy flakes that piled up deep and turned miss "I'm too hot to wear my coat" Tiffany into a skating snowman - the photos are pretty funny. Now if only I could get them off my camera, I might actually show them to you! :) (for once that nagging feeling that I had left something behind was justified - I left the camera's usb cord in Ottawa).

Saturday night we hosted an engagement party at the pub where Mike's family has been going for brunch almost every week in the winters (in the summers we all head out to the cottage instead). It was such a great turn out - so many friends came that we barely had time to talk to everyone! I loved having our different groups of friends meet each other too - its funny how we end up meeting people with similar interests but from totally different social circles... so when we get to hook up Lee the singer who needs to make a new CD with Chris who can do freelance work mastering music recordings for publication (for lack of a better word) on CD, everything just seems that much better... in another small-world example with some friends not at the party, my friend Amelia met her boyfriend Dan in Toronto, and years ago Dan used to work with our friend Andrew whom we know from skiing. Six degrees of separation, anyone? :)
Again, there are lots of good photos from the party, but they're still trapped on my camera... maybe its time I just invested in one of those USB key/SD card reader thingies.

Sunday was spent recovering from the party, with help from Tiff's yummy baked French Toast (hers was much better than the one Jen and I made at the Knitting Weekend - it looked much more like a bread pudding though, so I'm not sure we could've convinced you English girls about the suitability of it as a breakfast food!). The week ended with Sunday dinner at Dave and Tara's (thanks for the yummy curry Tara!), and then Monday spent packing before climbing on the plane...

wow. somehow I'm not surprised that the week flew by so quickly!

not much knitting was accomplished over the week (what, you're surprised?!), but I did block the brown cardigan that I finished right before leaving the UK... photos and more info once I get a chance to take photos of it with my phone