Boxing Day ; Overcast, +9° C.
This morning we left our suite at 11:30 AM and drove north on the Saanich Peninsula towards the ferry terminal and airport, to Sidney, about a forty minute drive. Before reaching Sidney I stopped at an Esso station in Saanichton to refill the minivan with fuel, our first refill since Hope, almost four weeks ago. OOOPS … I haven’t been paying attention to the fuel gauge, I guess.
We arrived in Sidney in time to have lunch before attending a theatre performance. Lunch was excellent, at a Vietnamese restaurant called Sea Breeze. The theatre performance was a Christmas gift from me to Joanne. A play entitled “Cinderella The Panto”, performed by The Peninsula Players in the Charlie White Theatre at the Mary Winspear Centre. While the play was entertaining … I completely misunderstood the concept beforehand.
A week ago I had been fascinated by the Wonderheads Christmas Carol masks and puppetry wordless interpretation of Charles Dickens classic Christmas play. When I saw an ad for Cinderella The Panto, I misunderstood the theatre’s definition of “pantomime”, a word I understood to mean wordless / silent performance using physicality to express / communicate. Like Wonderheads, or Marcel Marceau, or any other “mime”. I love mime !
“Panto” is a British concept of theatre, usually employed around the Christmas season. Cinderella The Panto is a British “classic” example of “panto” theatre performance. But it’s not “silent” as per my understanding. From Wikipedia ;
Pantomime (informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking countries, especially during the Christmas and New Year season. Modern pantomime includes songs, gags, slapstick comedy and dancing. It generally combines gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or folk tale. Pantomime is a participatory form of theatre, in which the audience is encouraged and expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers.
This musical version of Cinderella was a cast of half adults and half children. It was … a lot of silliness. And the audience, about half children, were delighted. The children in the audience were more than eager and willing to “participate”, especially to “cheer” or “boo” when appropriate. Fairy Godmother … YAAAAAYYYYY, Cinderella’s mother and two (cross dressed large men) sisters … BOOOOO ! Much of my entertainment during the play was to watch the overly excited little girl seated in front of me. Perhaps her parents fed her too much sugar for breakfast ? HA HA HA !
We had decided to bring Apollo with us. Being alone in the car for an hour while we had lunch, followed by about 2 ½ hours alone in the car again while we attended the play, seemed to be a lesser evil than spending five or more hours alone in our suite.
Very good dog, Apollo !
Friday ; Overcast, very light rain briefly around 6 PM, +8 C.
I made pancakes again this morning. The first time / last time I used this cheap, unknown brand pancake mix, the pancakes were … tasteless ! So today I added an egg, milk, kefir yogurt, mixed berries, and cinnamon sugar. Well … that was better !
At 3 PM we headed out to Hillside Mall for … <sigh> … Wal-Martin’. At least we’re now getting into and out of the mall parking lot and into and out of and around inside the store with less confusion. In and out in an hour and a half !
Saturday ; Sunny during the day, very light rain starting around 6 PM, +9° C.
Late this morning we went for a long walk around the James Bay neighbourhood to run errands ; Red Barn Market, James Bay Veterinary Clinic, Thrifty Foods, James Bay Community Closet Thrift Store, Pharmasave.
I waited outside Red Barn Market and Thrifty Foods while Joanne shopped inside. Yes, yes … Apollo is still a chick magnet, young and old, even when he needs a hair trim. HA HA HA !
In the afternoon we gave Apollo a hair trim, somewhat difficult with only scissors, and a nail trim. He was very patient and co-operative. Well done, Apollo, good dog !
Sunday ; Overcast, occasional very light rain, +8 C.
We slept late, had a couple of leisurely walks with Apollo, planned and scheduled some restaurant meals and other outings in January, I worked on 2025 financial planning, from 6 PM to 7 PM we went to the fitness centre / swimming pool / hot tub / sauna for exercises and relaxing. The hotel is quite busy this week, somewhat surprising given that this hotel, and we assume all nearby hotels, triple their room rates from December 20 to January 5 !
Monday ; Overcast, occasional very light rain, +8 C.
After morning routines and early walk with Apollo we headed out at noon for an afternoon of errands. First stop was FrontRunners Shoe Store where we … <sigh> … returned Joanne’s expensive new shoes. She tried them for a few days, indoors only, and they are not the solution to her Achilles tendonitis problem. Then it was off to the upscale suburb of View Royal, for shopping and a dog bath in Eagle Creek Village, a small shopping mall that we have been to before.
First stop in Eagle Creek Village was Dollar Tree. Then IDA pharmacy to look for my chosen deodorant (Ivory brand) that I can no longer find in Wal-Mart, Shoppers Drug Mart, Pharmasave, Thrifty Foods, or any other mainstream pharmacy or grocery store. WOO-HOO … IDA Pharmacy had it !
Next we went into Quality Foods, a large supermarket with a large cafeteria style restaurant, to have lunch first, then shop for groceries. Finally … the “highlight of the day”. A bath for Apollo at Bosley’s Pet Foods self-serve dog wash. HA HA HA … maybe it was our highlight of the day, but it didn’t seem to be his.
We were impressed with Bosley’s dog wash station. Reasonably priced, easy to use, good selection of shampoos, aprons to wear, towels to dry the dog, and an industrial strength blow dryer. HA HA HA … Apollo did not like the dryer. We had brought his blankie along, so when we were finished bathing and partially drying him Joanne wrapped him in his blankie and cuddled him all the way home to our suite.
He was patient and tolerant throughout the ordeal. Good dog, Apollo !
He and I napped after arriving back home around 4:30 PM. Our evening walk at 6 PM was across the front of the B.C. Legislature Building to check out this week’s public tour schedules and next week’s Parliamentary Dining Room’s menu. HMPH … it wasn’t posted yet.
This evening Joanne did some planning of outings ; Victoria’s fabled Chinatown, restaurants, foreign art films, etc.
<sniff sniff> Good … Apollo no longer stinks like a wet dog all the time. HA HA HA !
It was my turn to make supper tonight. I made an excellent Eggs Benedict concoction putting avocado slices and Salt Spring Island Cheese Farm’s goat cheese with smoked salmon and capers, on toasted English muffins, topped with fried eggs and Hollandaise sauce. Very well done, Daniel !
New Year’s Eve ; Thin overcast, 6° C.
DARN ! I woke up this morning with a head cold. What a lousy ending to what has been a good year.
So … our early walk with Apollo was to James Bay Pharmasave to buy cold medications. I had hoped that a long, leisurely walk and some fresh air would make me feel somewhat better. It didn’t ! Oh, well … hopefully the drugs will !
I was a bit slow and lethargic this afternoon. I had a long nap, that helped. As did some drugs ! HA HA HA ! Yesterday, with Joanne’s encouragement I bought what I needed to make myself a batch of overnight oatmeal for breakfasts. That’s a staple of mine at home, and I have been missing it. This afternoon Joanne helped me prepare a batch. And she helped me pluck the inside of Apollo’s ears, thus completing his grooming ; nails trimmed, hair trimmed, bathed, ears plucked. He looks good and smells good. For now ! That won’t last ! HA HA HA !
I now carry an HDMI cable in my laptop bag for use while travelling. Today I configured our suite’s TV to my laptop. I want to stream a movie on CBC Gem tomorrow.
What a joy it is to walk a dog in the dark, in an urban neighbourhood ! <sarcasm> Just tonight, for example, Apollo and his nose scored … a chicken wing bone (F*** !) and … wait for it … a dead squirrel ! I got bit wrestling the chicken wing bone out of his mouth ! ! ! <Apollo thinking … MINE !> I used a dog waste bag to pick up the dead squirrel and deposit it in a trash can. We only discovered the dead squirrel behind the tree when I used a flashlight to see what was so interesting for him to be sniffing that he failed to notice a 75 to 85 lb. Alaskan Malamute walking past us. <shaking my head>
Yeah … sure … you’re a good dog, Apollo. <rolling my eyes>
I was under the impression that there was to be fireworks over Victoria’s Inner Harbour at 9 PM and again at midnight. So … at 8:45 PM we left our suite (with Apollo) to walk a block and half to the Inner Harbour to watch the fireworks show. Which … did not happen ! HUH ? Perhaps I read something incorrectly ? Nevertheless, we walked leisurely all around the Inner Harbour area for about an hour before returning to our suite to warm up over a cup of tea. The initial plan was to have some Forbidden Fruits Pomme Desirée ice wine, but … my head / face was hurting, and I was somewhat filled up with drugs, which is probably incompatible with drinking ice wine.
We went out again at 11:45 PM, unsure of what to expect at the Inner Harbour. The night was now cold and windy. We walked to the front of the Parliament Building, where many people were, apparently waiting for something to happen at midnight. We knew it was midnight when we began to see fireworks far off in the distance, way over on the far side of the Upper Harbour, from a casino in Esquimalt, I think.
2024 was a good year for us ! We expect more of the same for 2025. For us ! Perhaps not for the entire world. Certainly not for our neighbours to the south.
New Year’s Day ; HAPPY NEW YEAR !
HA HA HA ! I just remembered … when we owned pet food & supply stores in Ottawa, “Happy New Year” was an inside joke euphemism for us. It meant … “you’re fired” ! HA HA HA <SNORT> HA HA ! No, no … it’s too long and convoluted a story to explain ! Perhaps the short version moral of the story is … “don’t steal from your employer between Christmas and New Year’s !”
Overcast, occasional very light rain, 6° C.
Recently I bought a box of ready to use puff pastry dough, difficult to find in Canadian stores, although it was readily available in Portugal and Mexico, especially around Christmas time. Joanne gave me a round of brie cheese as a Christmas gift. First thing this morning I prepared and baked “brie en croute” / brie cheese and dates in puff pastry for breakfast. The dates worked well with brie cheese. YUMMY ! Well done, Daniel !
Day two of having a cold. I felt really miserable upon waking this morning. I had a cup of tea … and drugs … while preparing the brie en croute. That helped a lot, although not immediately.
I spent most of the day puttering with year end investment analysis and new year financial planning. Well … and napping ! And streaming a movie on CBC Gem.
In the evening, over a special New Year’s dinner Joanne prepared, we watched the movie “The Descendants” on CBC Gem. It was excellent !
DSK
