Love those cupcakes

Digging deep to make lemonade

 

I've thought long and hard about writing this post, whether indeed I should even be thinking of sharing any of what's been happening in this place that was always intended to be where I indulged in a bit of lighthearted rambling.  And particularly at a time when everyone is gearing up for the festivities.  I mean, do you really need to hear my troubles and woes?   But it might explain why I've been distracted, preoccupied of late and account for some absences along the way.  So I'm hoping I'm doing the right thing.

To say life has been a bit rocky at Cupcake Towers since returning from the polar bear adventure (you already know about the still missing cat) is a bit of an understatement. I'd had an inkling of something not quite right before the holiday.   Well, I'm now taking a little break from blogging as I face a stay in hospital for some radical surgery following a diagnosis of a rare form of malignant melanoma.

I know.

Bummer.

Scared as I am (scared? I'm petrified), I know I have to dig deep, maintain a resolve to beat this with help from the health professionals, curb my natural instincts and stay positive with the support of my lovely little family, close friends and colleagues.

And I will be back here soon.

Life's lemons, eh? 

Time to make a big jug of lemonade.

An old favourite

One of my Top Ten films (in my Top Five actually), which never fails to raise my spirits however low I'm feeling, is The Commitments.  It's a wonderful adaptation of Roddy Doyle's novel and I love everything about it, even all that effing and blinding, but especially the "Dublin Soul" soundtrack. I might just have to make space for another viewing over the weekend.  So, what do you load into the DVD player to cheer yourself up?

A taste of the season

One thing I look forward to at this time of year is the return of my favourite Gingerbread Latte.  So, tonight, whilst out shopping, we popped in for a snack and there it was on the menu.  It's a taste that makes me think Christmas isn't so far away.  (And it's a change from all the green tea I've been drinking recently).  I might just have to buy a bottle of gingerbread syrup and start making them at home. 

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Many thanks for all of your comments and e-mails about Billybob.  Sadly, he's still missing but we're hoping he'll show up soon.

AWOL

 
Billybob, the more adventurous of our two cats, hasn't been seen since Sunday afternoon.  We've searched the local area and posted leaflets through 400 or so letterboxes, which is probably about as much as we can do.  There have been some calls as a result and we've found out a little more about where he's been getting to on his jaunts.  He almost needed a passport.  Hopefully he'll turn up soon.

Planting for spring

The pots in the garden are looking past their best so, despite some lingering flowers, it seemed appropriate to pull out the summer bedding plants and plant the spring bulbs.

I bought these packs from Aldi on the way home from work one day.  I've never grown anemones and thought the corms (?) resembled the wrinkled little monkey nuts we used to eat as kids (though I'm not at all sure what they were).  The newly planted pots look bare but hopefully will provide splashes of colour beyond winter.

Latest read

I've posted before about not being able to devour books in the way I used to (I've no idea why that is but suspect the ageing process is playing its part) but I still can't resist buying them.  This is one I picked up in a charity shop and managed to read whilst on holiday in Canada recently.  It's a novel I've been meaning to read for some time but I have to say it was well worth the wait. 

It's the story of Quoyle, a likeable enough chap but one of life's losers with a big chin.  It starts off in New York where Quoyle eventually finds himself working in a temporary job as a journalist.  After a sequence of significant events, the scenery changes dramatically as Quoyle, with his two young daughters and aunt in tow, relocates to the family's ancestral home in a little town in Newfoundland to start a new life.   There's a new job on the local paper, writing about car crashes and the shipping news, but this part of the book is more than just a continuation of Quoyle's story as we find out how challenging life is for all of the residents of Killick Claw.    I liked the author's writing style in the book, and how Quoyle thinks in news headlines, though this probably won't appeal to everyone.  So, if you haven't already read it, I'd definitely recommend giving it a go.

End of the month

We road tested the pumpkin last night.  Tonight it will be placed outside the front door with a couple of other decorations to welcome little (and not so little) visitors hopeful of a treat or two.  I'm planning on watching the original Halloween film (the music is still scary even after many viewings) at some point with a bowl of homemade popcorn and probably any left over chocolate treats.

Whatever you have planned, enjoy this wonderfully autumnal last day of October and the rest of the weekend.

Images of Toronto (and beyond)

The final part of our polar bear adventure was a three day stay in Toronto which naturally included a trip to Niagara Falls.  I'd have to say I was expecting the Falls to be bigger but maybe it was just a case of everything after the bears being an anticlimax.

Wherever you're viewing from, the CN tower dominates the city's skyline.

 

 
 We went as high as we could.

No bears but these black squirrels were everywhere.

 

 

 
 Of course, there were loads of shops, both at street level and underground.  So, did I spend lots?  Er, do bears poo in the woods?

Here be more bears

Did you know?

• Polar bears aren't white, as you can see from the photographs (some of which I've pinched from the Husband).  Their fur is made up of hollow hairs which reflect light in much the same way that ice and snow do.
• Polar bears don't show up in infrared photographs because they retain such a high percentage of their body heat.  When photographed using infrared, only the bear's exhaled breath will register.
• Canada has the largest polar bear population in the world.
• Apart from breeding, polar bears are solitary, nomadic creatures and their lives are closely linked with ice conditions and the seasons.  In summer they dig dens right down to the permafrost to keep cool during the hotter weather.
• The body fat they accumulate during winter and spring seal hunting enables them to spend from July to October in a sort of "walking hibernation".
• Polar bears are at the top of their food chain so.................

 

Polar bears who venture too close to or even into the town of Churchill are tranquilised and whisked off to polar bear jail in special traps.

In jail, they're kept in the dark, given water only and then released once the ice has formed on the Hudson Bay.  Whilst we were there, 15 bears were being held.  Of course, they're not allowed visitors.
 
 Apart from polar bears, the tundra is home to lots of birds and other animals such as moose and caribou.  I was hoping to at least spot an arctic fox and a snowy owl but, despite seeing many different prints in the snow,  we only came across this red fox.

 

 

We couldn't leave Churchill without finding out about husky dog sledding .

 

 

And, of course, having a go.

 

It was great fun.  Maybe we should start training for the Iditerod.

  

Here be bears

We're just back from the most amazing polar bear adventure during which a total of eight adult bears were spotted out on the Canadian tundra. 

This first photograph was taken from the little plane which took us from Winnipeg to Churchill on the Hudson Bay and the so-called polar bear capital of the world.  The sprinkling of white glimpsed from the plane windows hinted at the colder temperatures to come.

 

Churchill is in the province of Manitoba, on the edge of the Arctic, and popular for viewing polar bears as at this time each year these magnificent animals gather around the small town and along the shoreline, awaiting the ice to form on the Bay and providing access to their favourite food source: seals.

Travel through the tundra is restricted to special vehicles, the tundra buggies, which are limited to using existing trails.  The buggies themselves are quite well equipped, in a basic and environmentally conscious way, for a day's viewing - they have to be as you can't actually walk around outside. For some rather obvious reasons!

This photograph shows one of the the first bears we spotted, walking close to a buggy "motel" where it's possible to experience round the clock viewing.

At this time of the year the bears are very hungry (though every one we saw looked in good shape) and even a bit of seaweed is worth a chew.

The aroma of hot soup and sandwiches coming from this buggy parked in front of ours was a bit too much for this big boy.

 A word of warning.  If you find yourself face to face with a polar bear, don't run.  And don't play dead.

More photographs to follow.