Penguins, Pot & Other Stuff

Yes, twice.  Was lucky enough to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner on two occasions this year.  Seemed like nothing was going to be happening at first so I suggested to Paulo & Jeannine we have a nice turkey dinner in honor of the occasion.  I buy the turkey and Jeannine cooks it.  She put together a lovely meal for all of us which we had on Saturday.  Poor girl was so tired but she still managed to put out a fantastic spread.  Thank you Jeanine!

 

Of course, within hours of coming up with the Saturday dinner plan, Brother Mike called to invite me to Sunday dinner with his family!  Made sure I had nothing to eat after that Saturday feast so that I could really enjoy the next one.  I wasn’t disappointed!  Along with Brother Mike’s family, Cindy’s parents were there along with her sister.  Even Cassandra’s boyfriend Trevor made an appearance.  And to top it off, after dinner there were homemade desserts from a family friend.  Delicious, simply delicious!

 

Even before the dinner though, we got together to visit Mom at the nursing home.  Brothers Mike & Joe were there along with Sisters Dianne & June.  Those 2 cute nieces, Nicole & Danielle, also graced us with their presence.  Was nice to have such a group together visiting dear Mom.  Happy Thanksgiving to all and if you have any leftovers, well, there is lots of room in my freezer!

 

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Every once in a while, Dickhead surprises me with an offer of lunch on him.  Now, yours truly is always springing for the tab with so many people.  He must see this and figure that if he buys me lunch, the acid of my tongue will lessen in intensity.  Poor deluded boy!

 

Anyway, met him today at Jackson Square.  Tried to get Paulo to come along so that the lunch would cost Dickhead even more.  Unfortunately, he could not make it.  Ordered the usual: The Works from New York Fries.  Simply delicious!  We sat at the food court and caught up on things.  All in all, an enjoyable time.  Then, off to the Farmer’s Market.  Charles came along (okay, just this one time) and offered to help.  It was nice having my Man Friday providing assistance.  Some sausages, a steak and some potatoes.  Dinner will be taken care of for the next couple of days.

Thanks Dickhead, an enjoyable afternoon.  The next time though, don’t wait so long between feeds!

Yes, took place yesterday at a lovely banquet hall in Hamilton: Michelangelo’s.  I think this was the fifth one and I have been to all of them.  Brought Jeannine & Paulo along.  We were met there by Brother Joseph & Lady Kathryn and Sister Dianne & Jim.  A lovely table of seven-which was good for us because most tables had eight people so with that one opening, there was more food for the rest of us.  And excellent food it was!

 

Hors d’oeuvres were served before the meal.  Then, some fresh buns with creamy butter.  Antepaste (not sure of the spelling) was brought out as a premeal appetizer-cold cuts with cheese & pickled vegetables.  Then, a healthy portion of lasagna which was followed by a roast beef dinner that included vegetables & potato.  There was also enough wine to keep everyone happy.  Simply delicious!  Then came dessert: sherbet & fruit with, of course, hot coffee.  I actually skipped on the desert because I was feeling a bit chilled.  The hot coffee though helped with that.

 

As usual, it was nice to see so much of the old Maltese crowd: friends of Mom and Dad.  There are still quite a few around.  Also good to see some of the kids I grew up with.  Lots of those!  There were even a couple of bottoms I had changed & diapered as a babysitter a long time ago.  The conversation was good and everyone enjoyed dancing to the DJ.  A great evening for all!

 

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It was a spur of the moment thing.  The lovely Trish gave me a call and suggested we head out to Port Dover for some perch.  Was only there once before this year; with Brother Mike to check out some fishing possibilities.  We had footlongs at Arbors but that’s just not the same as a perch dinner!  Off we went.

 

Was a nice day although there wasn’t as much sunshine as I would have liked.  It wasn’t very crowded so we had lots of room to enjoy ourselves.  Trish insisted we split a footlong before the main event.  Who am I to argue?  After that, it was off to Knechtel’s for the perch.  Delicious!  Came with french fries & coleslaw.  We were both quite satisfied and figured it was time to head towards the pier.  The walk would do us both some good.  Trish found a bench to relax on while I tilted back and grabbed a quick catnap.  So relaxing!

 

Then, almost at the same time, we decided we both needed-ice cream!  I had a scoop of mocha chocolate almond ice cream while Trish went with a combination cone consisting of Funky Monkey & Birthday Ice Creams.  Looked delicious!  Eventually though it was time to go home.  A quick stop at Tim Horton’s for a cup of the good stuff and off we went.  All in all, a very enjoyable day!

As mentioned in another thread, a very important event!  As soon as I got back from fishing with Brother Mike & Herb, I had to get ready for dinner at the Keg.  Terry, my neighbor & friend in the apartment above mine, had organized a gathering at the restaurant for friends to get together and eat some good food while enjoying each other’s company.  I was escorted by the lovely Trish the Dish.  Of course, Paulo and his crew were invited but he gracefully declined to attend.  Too bad, it was a great spread!

 

Started with a delicious salad & appetizer (bacon wrapped scallops).  Then the main course: a blue cheese fillet with garlic cloves, mashed potatoes & a baked tomato.  Just the thing for a hungry boy back from hard work on the fishing boat!  After that, a cup of hot coffee and some Billy Miner pie for dessert.  Truly sumptuous!  Thank goodness we don’t do this every weekend.  The old tummy is big enough as it is already!

 

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Headed out fishing today with Brother Mike & Herb.  Went to Waterford for a few hours.  This time we spent our fishing in relative luxury.  Brother Mike brought a propane barbecue and actually cooked up some hot dogs for lunch! Right on the boat! Yes, it’s true.  Everyone thought we were going to catch a few fish because we were in a huge pond with all kinds of weed/waterlily cover.  The weather was great and the water was calm.  After 4 hours of fishing-not one fish!

 

Even with that though we had a great time.  Herb offered a few suggestions, based on his vast boating knowledge & experience, on what I could do to improve the pontoon boat.  Guess what?  They actually made sense!  While out there on the water, we were able to use both the gas motor & the electric trolling motor.  Actually killed the battery on the electric.  She’s charging up right now on the $10 battery charger I bought on Kijiji.  We’ll see how that goes!

 

After 4 hours of fishing in luxury, it was time to head back.  After all, I had a very important event to get back for.  You’ll read all about it in my next thread.

 

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I’ve made every one.  Each Labor Day weekend the International Village sponsors the event. Did you know Hamilton is the home of the largest mustard processing facility in the world?  Dunn Mustard is another sponsor along with CHCH TV.

 Some good food: ribs/chicken, Chinese, Caribbean, Corn on the Cobb, chip wagon french fries & ice cream.  I met Paulo, Jeannine, Kaleb & Nana (Jeannine’s mother) for some chow.  I had the rib/chicken combo which was delicious.  Some nice Jazz being played in the background.  Dessert was a delicious strawberry sundae.  Good food, good weather & good people.  A very enjoyable evening.

 

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It was kind of a last-minute thing but Sister Dianne & hubby Jim invited the family over for a BBQ yesterday.  Sort of an after-the-fact celebration of Jim’s birthday which was earlier in the week.  A good turnout although Sister June had to unfortunately cancel because of a migraine she was dealing with.  Oh well, more food for the rest of us!

 

Even though it wasn’t the best weather, everyone stayed outside for the entire afternoon.  Jim cooked up hot dogs & chicken which tasted so so good.  There were salads & buns and, of course, a delicious dessert Sister Dianne put together-blueberry surprise!  Too bad Herb wasn’t there; blueberries are his favorite.  Sister Dianne’s place is looking really good-Jim has put a lot of work into it.  So nice to spend time with so many nice people.

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It’s a yearly tradition.  The lovely Trish & I load up to spend a day at the CNE.  Today was the day.  Once we landed, off to the food building-our favorite spot.  I usually have a goat roti but I wasn’t in the mood for one today.  Instead, something called the Lumberjack Special: french fries, cheese curds, beef gravy, 2 sausages & one egg.  Simply delicious!

 

Then, we started to walk the grounds.  I could tell Trish wasn’t feeling very well.  She told me she was having problems with a migraine and didn’t feel too good.  She thought maybe it would pass with time (& ice cream) but nothing seemed to help.  We did check out the International Building where I bought myself a new hoodie.  This one will be special.  It commemorates the Canadian Armed Forces involvement in D-Day at Juno Beach.  I always admire the fighting men of any nation.  True heroes!

 

By 7 PM (well before we were originally planning on coming home) Trish was really not feeling very well.  She wasn’t hungry and she didn’t want to really do much of anything besides sit down in the shade to rest.  Even though I insisted we go home, Trish didn’t want to let me down.  Enough of that!  After assuring me she could handle the drive home, off we went.  After all, Trish & I can always go again next week!

 

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Got an invitation from Dickhead (okay, he was being nice so I’ll call him Charles for now) the other day.  He was inviting the gang-that includes Paulo, Jeannine, Kaleb & Trish-to an annual potluck barbecue they host every year at Christie’s Conservation Area.  Yesterday was the day.  We loaded up in the van (under very dark, brooding skies) and made our way out there with a delicious vegetable tray & pumpernickel bread thing with dip.

 

Five minutes before arriving, the skies opened up.  A steady rain.  Do I spend the $18 to get us in the park?  Would hate to have to turn around shortly after to go home.  I work hard for my money!  What the heck, in we went.  Found the festivities and unloaded.  Wouldn’t you know it, 10 minutes later and the rain had stopped.  We actually got a little bit of sun!  Charles & Liz greeted us and we went through the introductions.  Their daughter Jenny was there and it seemed that most of the people who had showed up were friends of hers.  I felt very old all of a sudden!

 

Trish, the lovely dish that she is, decided to become busy.  Not only was she my official photographer, she also offered to handle the barbecue duties.  What a talented girl!  It was quite the spread with various burgers, sausages, hot dogs & little skewers of delicious meets.  Of course, numerous salads and other goodies made a great complement.  Also, delicious desserts!  I tried to get Kaleb to go swimming or to join the other kids in various activities but-no way!  He wanted to spend his time with either myself or Charles.

 

We stayed for a few hours and then decided to head home.  Trish had some bingo playing to do!  A great time.  Thanks Liz & Charles!

 

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