Spring changes around the Seidlitz house

Hi everyone,

I see that I haven't posted since December - oops! Lots of things have happened since we finished our bathroom renovation. 

The first big event was the birth of a little great niece in the end of December. Wendy went out to Pembroke to help and was absolutely thrilled to be around a baby again! 

At New Years, Parker's girlfriend Jaclyn dropped by to ring in 2022. 

Maddy was happy to start playing with her new soccer balls (two different sizes, but she adores the large one). Maddy turned 11 in February and enjoyed her once yearly eating at the table.

Valentines day saw Parker and Jaclyn get together for an official photoshoot (with me as the photographer).

Wendy and I went to Toronto for a short vacation during the February break week. We hit the Art Gallery of Ontario, went out to dinner with several friends two nights in a row, and stayed in an apartment that overlooked the Island Airport (so I could watch airplanes). Wendy was also able to go to the new Chick-fil-A, and we went to Krispy Kreme on our way home.

Seidlitz Powder sign in Kiehl's (Yorkdale Mall)

Art Gallery of Ontario

In March, Wendy and Adam went skiing with our niece and family in the Kitchener area. We also went for dinner with the family while my sister was visiting (on her way home from Pembroke, before heading back to BC). The restaurant we went to was directly across the lake from Justin Bieber's house. 

Parker finished his real estate course and is now licensed as a real estate agent. He continues to work with Fair Square (previously called Purple Bricks) and hopes to learn as many aspects of the business as possible. 

One of the students in my program recently wrote a series of articles after interviews with people all relating to the topic of "I am not my illness". She published it online the night before my birthday. The link to the story is pasted below.

https://healthydebate.ca/2022/04/topic/thyroid-cancer-remission-professor/

Wendy and I are planning a few trips this year (pending the pandemic). We are going with friends (Terry and Theresa) to Newfoundland in July, and are going to Disney World in mid-December (likely with Parker and his girlfriend, plus our friends Mel and Murray). A couple of days before Disney, Wendy and I plan to go to a concert - Andrea Bocelli at Madison Square Gardens in New York City! We will likely go out to dinner and wander around the city before we head to Florida from there.

For me, the winter term has just ended and marking is now the focus for the next several weeks. After that, I am teaching two courses in the spring term (May to mid June), so there won't be much rest for a while. The spring flowers are just out and the weather is warming up. We went to Dairy Queen the other day to get Blizzards for dessert - since it was so warm and since my family were experiencing an April blizzard in Manitoba. 

I will try to post again soon, as we are having some new people move into our house this weekend (a young couple from Ukraine). Will tell you all about how it is going once they arrive.

Quebec city

Wendy and I are currently in Quebec city while Wendy attends a conference. We flew from YTZ (Billy Bishop airport / Toronto City Centre) on Porter airlines. 

Luckily, we took the GO train - there was a marathon on that completely closed the Lakeshore and caused traffic chaos. Everyone at the airport was upset and rushed (is that a Toronto thing...?) except us.

The new tunnel to the airport was very convenient and was quite a pleasant way to get there. Barely a 5 min walk on moving sidewalks. 

The flight was fast and the fall colours were beautiful as we arrived in Quebec. On leaving the airport it started to snow! Winter seems closer here than at home. 

View from our hotel

Wendy with her poster

Dinner at the Parmesan

Night scene

On my first day of exploration, I tracked down a geocache. This one is a cannonball that supposedly landed here during the war of 1759. The tree grew around it and it is still where it landed. 

First geocache I found in Quebec 

The shopping was typically touristy, with some fashion I don't really get...

This is not far from our hotel, so I had to take a picture for our friend Penny who finds many such art pieces around Toronto.

Today I walked around the Plains of Abraham. This is one of the Martello towers overlooking the river.

Martello tower

 Here is a selfie showing some of the fall colours.

I went into the Musée national des beaux-art du Quebec and spent several hours wandering the collections. The Fernand Leduc exposition confirmed that I really don't resonate with modern art very well. The piece below didn't do anything for me.

This one, appearing like a plain white canvas was actually more intriguing when you got closer. It has a very subtle graphic pattern that has been painted over with white such that you can only see from very close. Clever, but not something I would use to decorate around.

Not just white! 

 Part of the museum is in an old prison.  Here are some cells.

From inside a cell

The Jean-Paul Riopelle exposition was interesting, but not really my style either.

This one was complex and included sand and cinders in the composition. I was captivated by this piece for quite a while.

Ok, he lost me on the point to this piece...

There was a turret that you could ascend and it housed some wood art by David Moore. Beautiful gallery setting and interesting sculptures in wood.

View from turret 

This piece, "the penalty" by Alfred Laliberte, struck a chord with me for some reason. It looked to me like it represented a painful burden.

I was most impressed by the decorative stained glass treatment for the fire cabinets.

I'll post some more pictures in the coming days as these are only ones taken with my phone. I have hundreds more on my real camera.

No hot air in Ottawa

I expected that all the usual hot air in Ottawa would translate into somewhat higher temperatures, but no such luck.  It is darned cold here! 

Wendy and I are in Ottawa for Wendy's work conference, so I am out and about checking out the city until she is done.

We went to a Scottish pub for dinner - I tried a Scottish Stout

Winterlude is on, so the ice sculptures are unbelievable

I hit the National Aviation and Space Museum and the National War Museum yesterday. I also went through the Ottawa Art Gallery this morning (a few interesting Group of Seven paintings) and plan on going with Wendy to the National Art Gallery tomorrow.

Skating on the canal is popular, but not for me! 

These are just a few photos I took with my cell phone - more to come when I download from my real camera at home.