pork and beans meets tikka misala
scenes from a rare subway ride
my carbonation of choice
two eyes and a tail
creme brulee at Saturday's wedding
‘House of Fielding’ Category
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The Instagram Parade
April 30, 2012 by Gail
Posted in cameraphone, Food + Drink, Urban Life, Xena & Beano | | No Comments
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Photobooth Monday
April 23, 2012 by Gail
The House of Fielding on a chilly Monday evening
You know what comes after a Mega-Shooting Weekend, two weekends in a row? Hardcore Editing Week, that’s what. I’m buried up to my eyeballs in RAW files waiting to be processed. So while you are probably disappointed in Old Man Winter making an unexpected return to the GTA, I’m not! (I half-Bixi’ed, half-walked home in that windy mess, too.) I will be planted in this very spot at the computer screen for days and nights to come.
Posted in Gail at Large, Xena & Beano | | 5 Comments
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Tortilla: Take One
March 26, 2012 by Gail
here goes ...
Would I ever turn down an offer of homemade tortilla? Absolutely not! Especially from a native Spaniard, offering to cook it for me. If I could, I would drink sangria and eat tapas every single day.
I really miss my neighbourhood La Bodega in Vancouver! (*music warning–don’t click unless you’re ready for Spanish guitar through your speakers*) I used to eat there often. I don’t understand how a city the size of Toronto doesn’t have more Spanish restaurants. Or Cuban restaurants, for that matter. I have yet to find an equivalent to Havana on Commercial Drive. I’ve only ever eaten at two Spanish restaurants here, on the Danforth and in Kensington Market. The prices made me gasp. Why is it so much more expensive?
Anyway, the only thing to do is to make the food you want at home, which is entirely possible. However, this first attempt at tortilla was thwarted by a sudden heat swing that was too far to the hot side…
a watched pan never heats up fast enough ...
... so then you turn up the heat and it burns!
“This is the worst tortilla I’ve ever made,” he said. Nevermind, not a total loss — it was all eaten in the end. We will try again later.
We had a Food Inspector at the table, too:
Posted in Critters + Creatures, Food + Drink, Xena & Beano | | No Comments
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Flat Stanley’s Last Day In Toronto
March 26, 2012 by Gail
Flat Stanley’s going to be mailed off today back to Megan, my 8-year old niece in BC. He’s had some adventures around town, in Hamilton, and is ready to return west to the Grade 2 classroom. Unfortunately, he was completely forgotten three times this past weekend and missed out on the Humber Bay Arch Bridge trip, the Red Moon Collective monthly jam, and brunch yesterday. We won’t tell him that he’ll be missing out on a basketball game tonight — sorry, Stanley! — but all good things must come to an end, and Toronto will still be here should he decide to visit again.
These last pictures are of the Neighbourhood Watch (Xena), showing Stanley her perch post on the tall chair by the front window. Nothing gets by Xena!
Posted in cameraphone, Critters + Creatures, Xena & Beano | | No Comments
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Flat Stanley v2.0 Meets Xena
March 22, 2012 by Gail
Thanks to the miracle of modern technology (ahem, email), Flat Stanley’s disappearing act at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum has resulted in a cloning effort known as scanning and creating a JPEG. This JPEG was transformed into Stanley version 2.0 with the assistance of a full-colour laser printer, cardboard, and a glue stick.
Xena was crowned Head Inspector, Quality Control Division, for this
product launchauspicious occasion. She did finally approve Stanley v2.0 after some intensive sniffing.
More of the cat-vs-character encounter below:
Posted in Critters + Creatures, Xena & Beano | | 1 Comment
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We Miss You, Beano!
March 15, 2012 by Gail
Oh, how I miss that little face always waiting for me. It’s been a year since his passing, but he left behind a Beano-sized hole. Probably bigger than Beano-size. Xena’s an exceptionally affectionate kitty towards everyone, but Beano was picky about his humans and had a really big personality for such a little cat. (Hugh had a big personality, too, but he was a big cat.) The tuxedo cats are greatly missed at the House of Fielding!
Posted in Critters + Creatures, Xena & Beano | | 3 Comments
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Hospital Runs, Leaky Tires, Laundromats, and Locking Myself Out (Again)
February 24, 2012 by Gail
eerily empty dog park
Some days are longer than others (especially for me — I never go to bed or wake up at the same time), but Thursday was extra long. And random.
It began within an hour of sunrise, when I picked up a patient to bring to the hospital for blood tests and chemo. Thankfully, that hospital happens to be in my own neighbourhood — rather important to this story — because that’s when I noticed a rumbling/rattling sound. The patient heard it, too, and I knew I had to investigate it pretty quickly if her treatment finished in time for me to take her back home.
I dropped her off, noticed I was nearly out of gas, and headed to the cheapest station on the west side. Enroute, I stopped to have a look at the tires and saw that the rear passenger’s side tire was dangerously flat. I was torn whether to go in the opposite direction to the gas station where I get free air (I know, paying for air is ridiculous which is why I go there) or to the closer, cheap gas station where I’d have to pay for air. You know what? Proximity won. I didn’t think driving on a nearly-flat tire was a good idea and I’d be paying more than 50c in fuel just to reach the other station.
I thought I’d solved the problem by putting air in my tire. I wish! The rattling sound did go away, but soon I had another problem on my hands.
The chemo treatment was slated to be finished around the time I get ready to go to work, so I bumped everything forward and got ready earlier to drive the patient home if she was done in time. I got the call at the latest time I could leave, and I dashed out the door a little too quickly, grabbing the WRONG KEYS on the way out. I grabbed the spare car keys, not my main set of keys with the apartment keys and car keys together. I discovered this when I tried to lock the front door and realized that I had no key, then came the sinking feeling when I realized I’d locked the apartment door behind me.
I couldn’t do anything right away, the patient was waiting for me. I carried on to the hospital trying to figure out what to do, and decided I’d try and get in myself. The patient thought that was pretty funny, and I promised her I’d let her know how things went once our paths crossed again.
After I dropped her off I headed straight to the hardware store, remembering when this happened before and how I was able to get in. At least I had my wallet and phone with me and wasn’t locked in the basement! Ever the optimist, that’s me.
I ran into the local hardware store (without buying a parking voucher, now that’s tempting fate!) and bought a tool that most closely resembled what the Albanian guy used to get me into my apartment. The hardware shop owner also thought it was pretty funny that I was planning to break into my own place.
“If I don’t come back for another tool,” I said, “you’ll know I was successful!”
And I was! I was also elated that I didn’t have to drag anyone else into this mess or hire a locksmith, or spend more than five bucks plus change to get myself back in.
What a morning. I hadn’t even gone to work yet!
On the way to the streetcar stop, I passed by my car. The tire I’d just pumped up was flat again! What the…? That’s not even a slow leak, that was full-to-flat in a couple of hours. There was nothing I could do until I finished work, so I carried on and decided to deal with this later. The forecast calls for a snowstorm in the early morning, so I knew I’d better hurry up and get this problem fixed as the weather has a nasty way of tying up mechanics.
On the walk home, I spotted this vanity plate:
they don't call 'em vanity plates for nothin'
Before I reached the house I checked the tire again, and no, it hadn’t miraculously filled back up again. That would’ve been nice, wouldn’t it?
Instead I took it to the professionals to figure it out.
my TV-watching is confined to airport lounges and the mechanics -- where it's all in Portuguese
With the mechanics, I had to no idea what the problem was or how much it would cost to fix it. Thankfully, it turned out to be a seal in the tire rim that needed replacing, Less than $30 later, I was on my way again. Another problem out of the way.
Then I got rather ambitious with what was left of my day: launder everything? There was only one way I could do it:
trying not to be hypnotized by the dryers
After throwing everything into bags and the car, I just squeaked in under the deadline for the last wash of the night (10pm). Mission accomplished!
And that, folks, was Thursday…
Posted in House of Fielding, Raconteurism, Volunteering/Charity | 2 Comments
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The Editing Cave Is Warm
January 14, 2012 by Gail
sunny but cold
The region’s in a deep-freeze, currently, but I’m burrowed deeply in my editing cave in front of a warm computer and wearing a pair of knock-off Mukluks that are doing a good job of keeping my feet warm.
Brrrrrr….
sunny but cold
I also have a cat who loves to snuggle, in case the Mukluks fail me.
sun worshipper
Posted in House of Fielding, Xena & Beano | No Comments
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Came Home In Autumn, Woke Up To Winter
January 13, 2012 by Gail
hello snow
There’s a skylight right over my bed, so I know what the weather is like as soon as I open my eyes. It’s a far cry from yesterday, when I was driving a patient in the early morning — it was pouring rain then and continued into the evening.
Not today. The walk home is going to be messy!
Xena checking out the new white world
Posted in cameraphone, Xena & Beano | No Comments
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Xena Wishes All You Humans A Merry Christmas
December 24, 2011 by Gail
Xena's observation tower
In case you’re watching for Santa, Xena’s taken it upon herself to monitor the situation from my attic flat.
Xena's observation tower
This is the closest I got to a Xena portrait:
those bells are annoying me!
Merry Christmas, Silly Humans
Time to hit the road! For those with the password, my whereabouts can be found at the Where page.
Posted in Critters + Creatures, Xena & Beano | No Comments
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