Random Autumn theme.

About 8 days ago it very much looked like Summer was over as temperature fell all of a sudden to near zero C. The Condo corp decided overnight to shut off the A/C system and put on the heat, we can individually shut it off in our units and this is what we did. Then the following day the warm or hot weather came back with a vengeance, we face South and have strong sunshine until 3PM. The building was extremely warm around 29C inside, so we opened all the windows in the hope that the heat would escape. I say in the hope because it made little difference really. However the trees having had a dose of  cold weather and then hot turned all shades of red. The grocery store has an abundance of squash of all kinds and pumpkins too. Funny thing the cashier wanted to name the various squash I had bought, they are all 0.99 cents each but she has to enter them by name, Butternut, Sweet meat, Pepper, etc...

 Pepper and Butternut Squash

The blue grey squash is called a sweet meat squash sitting on top of my terra cotta pumpkin bought 20 years ago at the Drake Hotel Flower Shop in Chicago.


We also started to cook in the Fall fashion recipe, lots of varieties of apples right now on offer. I bought Braeburn Apples to make an apple cake. The puppies love it when we cook, they sit and watch always in hope that maybe just maybe we will drop something or will offer a tasting to them, they are eternally patient.

Demi-tasse coffee cups bought in June in Dresden, love those ironic faces.

We also had the Annual Canadian Army Run (marathon) and a parade of the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry Regiment who are celebrating their Centennial. The Regiment PPCLI was created through a generous donation of $2 million dollars in 1914 by Hamilton Gault a very wealthy businessman. In todays dollars it is a fantastic fortune to give. Princess Patricia was the daughter of Prince Arthur Duke of Connaught and brother of King-Emperor George V, she was also the grand-daughter of Queen Victoria.  Prince Arthur was the Governor General of Canada at that time.

Then in October of 1914 Le Royal 22ième Régiment de Quebec was created with a generous financial gift by Montreal businessman Arthur Mignault. The Regiment is stationed at the Quebec Citadel on Cap Diamant, the Summer Residence of the Governor General. Canada did not have an army in 1914 we had a small militia of 3000 men. But within months an army of half a million men was raised or 10% of the population of the country.

Being on the Rideau Canal in the centre of the Capital we cannot miss the Army run and the other events year round. The parade of the PPCLI from Lansdowne Park to Cartier Square was a recreation of the event which took place in 1914 when the soldiers arrived in Ottawa by train. The Driveway as it was then known was the Official entrance into the Capital.

Automne, Autunno, Autumn

We were able to have dinner outside from 21 June to 31 August this year, a short period of time but we love this tradition of dining on our terrace looking at the Rideau Canal.

Since 1 September the weather has been sunny but cool and in the evening chilly. The days are noticeably shorter now so we are slowly moving towards Autumn.

The word Autumn in English comes from old French Automne and it seems that prior to the 16th century the word Harvest was much in use since most people lived on the land and Harvest meant that time of the year, Season, when most food is harvested. Only as of the 16th century when more people moved to Cities and learnt to read and write did the word Autumn gain prominence.

With Autumn new activities take place, Thanksgiving falls on Sunday 13 October, meaning that we decorate with various types of coloured corn, pumpkins and a variety of squashes. Last year I found a pumpkin which was a bluish silver colour, a heritage variety. There is a lot of so called Heritage vegetables on the markets now and many people love this new choice. Just outside Ottawa, the Gatineau Park has spectacular colours and it is wonderful to drive up into the hills and on a sunny day see the multi-coloured trees.

Of course many will cook a turkey and have the traditional stuffing and vegetables, potatoes, brussels sprouts, carrot, turnip and squash. I do not know what we will do. It all depends who is in town during this long weekend.

We are booked for our cruise in November from Rome to Seville, with stops in Sorrento, Trapani, Barcelona, Valencia, Gibraltar, then across the Strait of Gibraltar and along the Guadalquivir river to Seville. We also plan a side trip to Granada. This cruise is to celebrate our 35 Anniversary. We had such a great cruise last year from Amsterdam to St-Petersburg and Stockholm through the Baltic Sea. This will be our gift to each other and a wonderful way to celebrate. AZAMARA is tailoring the cruise for our anniversary and giving us little extras to make it memorable.

This will be our second cruise with AZAMARA, smaller ships, called mid-size with 700 passengers and higher level of amenities and service. The food was excellent and the wine list impressive, I also liked the fact that they poured drinks not measure them, so you got a nice stiff drink to make any sailor proud. We have never been on the super-size ships carrying thousands of passengers and I do not think we would like it. Also from a point of safety, I prefer a smaller ship. We were also able to dock in town where larger cruise ships had to dock often far away in sea ports. One final point that sold me on AZAMARA was the number of Canadians on crew on board, a nice touch.

Azamara Quest

Autumn

We have so far had a very nice Autumn in Ottawa, lots of sunshine and the morning air is crisp at 6 C.
The trees have changed colour and with the sunshine it makes for a festive look all around. The walk to work in the morning is pleasant walking to work down quiet streets. Only the last portion about 3 blocks do I enter the central office district.  It is true that the streets in Ottawa are very clean and the sidewalks even which is a good thing given the number of old people in our neighbourhood.

The view from our kitchen window.

Along the Queen Elizabeth Drive

The Rideau Canal water level has already been lowered by 2 meters leaving just enough water so that come winter freeze the Canal will become the longest skating rink in the world.