Beach Streetfest

Part of the Beach Jazzfest is the streetfest on Queen Street. We took Vincent to his second streetfest and this year he really got into the music. Vincent's favorites were covers of Bill Withers "Use Me Up" and any Blues or Keyboard songs that were played. He particularly liked Big Rude Jake (last above) and Michael Pickett.

Vincent Loves Dad's Computer

We gave Vincent a mouse and a keyboard but he quickly figured out if he plays with Dad's things happen on the screen. He has great fun changing all Dad's programs and views. Oh well it is one way to learn where those commands are one never uses, until now.

Mommy My Clothes Are Tight!

Vincent thinks his clothes are a little small. Perhaps it is time for Mom to go shopping.

Mommy: My Clothes Are Too Small!

Vincent thinks his clothes are a little tight. Perhaps it is time for Mom to go shopping.

Trumpeter Swan

It was 1886 when the last native Cignus buccinator in Ontario was roasted and served with a nice glass of port. In 1982 a biologist from the department of natural resources reintroduced them by bringing some eggs from Alberta to be hatched a raised by mute swans. Being from Alberta they do not know how to migrate south (to the oil soaked gulf) so they remain in and around Burlington where they are cared for in the winter by the swan lady of Burlington. They are now breeding in the wild and all are tagged in the fall and can be tracked on the Internet. Bird number C17 along with a few friends showed up at the beach recently. Hope they don't learn to migrate to the gulf this year.

Heading Down the Stairs,

Vincent has been heading up the stairs for a while now but in the past couple of weeks he has learned to go down them. Only one litte tumble near the bottom so far.

Little Daredevil !

Vincent is becoming a little daredevil as he gets more confident climbing onto the chairs and now standing on them. Perhaps more disconcerting is the fact he likes the danger. This means a sudden blood pressure rise for Mom and Dad. We will have to send Vincent to safety school. Any other suggestions as to how to stop this behaviour are welcome.

Finding Hot Peppers for the BBQ

Chilies Jamaica and Habanero

Chilies Guajillo and Chipotle

Chilies Piquin and Cascabel

Chilies Pulla and Passilla

Perolla Mexican Grocery Store. It reminded Luisa of the Dominican Republic Grocery Stores.

Vincent, Luisa and I needed some not so easy to find hot peppers for the BBQ recipes and all it took was a trip to Kensington Market where fresh and dried peppers were in abundance. We stocked up on all kinds so prepare your taste buds and come on over for some spicy BBQ. The only challange is to remember which is which but this post should help.

Beach Breakfast

Nothing like starting a day off better than a breakfast of fresh Monsieur Plante from the cool waters of Lake Ontario. A M. Plante (as known in Rouyn-Noranda) is also known as barbotte or catfish. This ring-billed gull "Larus delawarensis" is more commonly known as a dump duck "Anas quisquillae". In the old days, they used to be seen hanging around Harvey's looking for fries. Harvey's changed from fresh cut to the frozen variety of freedom fries so the problem was solved for Harvey's. Nowadays these birds can be found at any of the better street vendors, just be sure you are wearing a hat.

Norton Comes to the Beach

The neighbours sewer needed an emergency repair so it was Norton to the rescue. It seems that the city owned tree roots blocked the pipe under the street (city owned) and the sewer backed up into the house. Final word was it was not the city's liability so the insurance company had to pay (CAA insurance) afterwhich they cancelled the neighbours policy. I wonder what Kramer would say about that. The entire episode stinks but Norton is used to that.

Pamper Absorbance Test

Uncle Bob wanted to know if a pamper held more water than a sham wow so he decided to test it out on one of Vincent's new pampers. The conclusion was that yes a pamper holds more water but the sham wow lasts longer. All you need to do this test at home is a pool, a pool noodle, Vincent, a pamper, a sham wow and a bucket. Vincent made Uncle Bob pay the price for the test as you can see.