Day 197 - Spain. Wine.

Next Spring we will be touring the wine country in Spain. I am looking forward to sampling Spanish wines; the selection of Spanish wines in NS is lacking. The 2004 Campo Viejo Reserva is a favourite 'go to' wine for me in local food establishments (if it is carried). A bit pricey as a house wine but only moderately marked up in several restaurants, it is a great value wine for the money. If you go out for a 'fancy meal with fancy meat' (lol) this is a good choice. This Reserva is made entirely from fruit sourced in Rioja. 85% Temparanillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo.

Day 196 - Snowflake

Day 195 - Window Light

Day 194 - Learning Thriller dance

My niece Abbey is obsessed with Michael Jackson. She is teaching herself the choreography for all his videos.

Day 193 - Snow on steps

There was more snow in Bear River over the holidays than in Amherst or Halifax.

Day 192 - Christmas dinner...

...the aftermath. Mother in law Gloria cooks a mean Christmas dinner.

Day 191 - Santa and Rudolf

Day 190 - Ornament

Day 189 - The Mall

Braved the malls this afternoon to gather stocking stuffers. The crowds weren't too bad and the lines were tolerable.

Day 188 - Ornament

Day 187 - Running Snoopy

Although our Christmas tree more or less has a modern look we still hang a few sentimental favourites. More times than not these end up at the back of the tree :-). 'Running snoopy' is still my all time favourite, he always stays front and center.

Day 186 - Nutcracker

I went home Saturday night to see my nieces performing in the Nutcracker at ARHS school. A fantastic performance all around, very enjoyable.

Day 185 - Star

Tonight we put up our Christmas Tree. There is something magical about decorating a tree. Glitter, shine, nostalgia, fun - our tree has it all. Our colour theme is derived from our star.

Day 184 - Crema

Black Cat beans produce rich creamy smooth delicious yummy crema.

Day 183 - Lines

Day 182 - Lifesavers

The Lifesavers Storybook has always been a popular candy treat at Christmas time. My favourite growing up was the rum and butter flavour (hmm...). I would devour the entire book on Christmas day, even the crappy Pep-O-Mints, then run around the house like a maniac. Good times! All I could find today was a crappy 'funbook', which don't have the same cool storybook presentation or variety of flavours. Boo-urns!

Day 181 - (Nearly) half way celebration

I am 6 months into this photo a day project. For all you math geeks out there I realize the official mid way point is still a few days out. I decided to celebrate today because, well, it is Monday and I felt like some Prosecco. Six more months to go.

Day 180 - Toffifee

Toffifee has always been my favourite Christmas candy. A crunchy hazelnut in a caramel cup topped with chocolate. Mmm. I can easily stuff my face with a tray of these.

Day 179 - Portafilter baskets

Day 178 - Train

Day 177 - Web of Steel

Day 176 - Morning walk along waterfront

I had a nice walk along the waterfront this morning. The sky was awash in pink.

Day 175 - White stuff

Day 174 - CD

Day 173 - Hand

Day 172 - Rooster walks by restaurant

Day 171 - Hint of pink and yellow

Day 170 - Vents

Day 169 - A light dusting

The light this morning was much nicer on the second half of my trek. Lack of clouds makes a big difference in the morning.

Day 168 - Walk in darkness

My hour long walk to work each morning is now ambled mostly in darkness. Same coming home. The wind was a bit brutish and then it snowed. People complained, people complained about complaining. Usual December 1 in Canada stuff. I will miss morning light.

Day 167 - All that glitters

Day 166 - Movember

Tomorrow marks the last day of Movember, the time of year when men grow a moustache to raise money for prostate cancer awareness and research. Funds raised in Canada go to Prostate Cancer Canada. I snagged a shot of Mo grower Ian (@Porcelainduck) over coffee at Uncommon Grounds. Ian is on the team from the Hub. Fun fact 1: Movember originated in 2003 over beers in Melbourne, Australia. The guys felt it was time to bring the moustache back and used their new looks to raise money. Fun fact 2: Mo is Australian slang for moustache.

Day 165 - Kevin turns 40

My buddy Kevin and his wife Helma hosted a birthday party at the Tidal Bore Rafting Park cottages. Kevin turned 40.

Day 164 - Heat

I am addicted to chili flakes, I put them in everything.

Day 163 - Beaujolais Nouveau

Happy thanksgiving to our American neighbours! For an excellent wine pairing with turkey dinner I would recommend this year's Beaujolais Nouveau. Released each year on the third Thursday of November, Beajolais Nouveau is a fruit filled lightweight with very little tannin, which makes for an easy sipping wine (though very fruity). This year's release is getting much hype as the best vintage in many years. We usually use ours in Sangria. They do not last long so get them while they last!

Day 162 - Tip of the Day

Have you ever had Tim Horton's coffee spill all over your car/self while driving? Not only is it unsafe it is very messy. Here is a tip for guaranteed spill-free coffee while driving. Instead of flipping the tab up and pinning it (which doesn't work half the time anyhow...$%&@#!) turn it downwards into the cup, so that it rests against the side of the cup. You can still easily drink from the cup and the tab lid acts as an effective splash barrier. No more spills! It works really well. Thanks for coworker Joan for the tip.

Day 161 - Lights, rain drops

Day 160 - Pro

Day 159 - Reflection

Day 158 - Statsraad Lehmkuhl

This morning I took a stroll along the waterfront. I was pleased to see docked alongside Murphy's the Statsraad Lehmkuhl, a Norwegian naval training vessel. This tall ship, the world's largest three-masted barque, is on her way back to Norway, and will tie up alongside Murphy's for a few days.

Day 157 - Olympic torch

Today on my walk to work I was happy to see the olympic torch relay run by my route. It was nice to see the expression on the runner's face, it was obviously a thrilling moment for her.

Fun fact: Though the Olympic Flame is normally carried by runners is has been transported many ways over the years: boat, airplane, horseback, under water via divers, camel, ski jumpers, skaters and by canoe. My favorite mode of travel was in 1976 when the flame was transformed to a radio signal then beamed via satellite to Canada, where it triggered a laser beam to relight the flame. That's right, lasers! Well at least the Montreal Olympics had one cool legacy.

Day 156 - Morning stroll along Sydney boardwalk

I had meetings in Sydney today. This morning was a gorgeous day for a walk along the boardwalk next to my hotel. There was nary a jogger, walker or dog in sight.

Day 155 - Get your ducks in a row

I dropped by Public Gardens in the morning before heading to Cape Breton. I noticed these ducks lined up before heading into the water so I snapped a pic.

Fun Fact: One theory of the origin of the expression 'get your ducks in a row' is that mother ducks corral their young into manageable straight lines before heading into water or traveling over land. The idea of getting one's team or group into alignment would be similar to a mother duck getting her literal ducks in a row. The other theory involves manual alignment of bowling pins. In the early days of bowling the short, fat pins were called 'ducks'. I prefer the mother duck theory.

Day 154 - Morning Ferry

Day 153 - Chinese Lantern Plant

It was a great mild morning walk to work today. It felt like spring. Along the way I spotted these orange mini paper lantern looking things. Thanks to some help from twitter followers it was identified as Chinese Lantern Plant, aka Physalis Alkekengi.

Fun fact: Apparently the orange berry inside the orange lantern shaped flower makes a great jelly.

Further investigation: According to Government of Canada the immature fruits contain solanine which can cause gastroenteritis and diarrhea in children. However the mature fruits are edible.

Day 152 - Candles

I had a quiet day today. Watched a few movies, listened to tunes and read for awhile. I didn't step outside once. So I grabbed a quick shot of some candles burning.

Day 151 - More Leaves

Day 150 - Footsteps in the frost

A quiet frost lay over the grass this morning on my walk to work.

Day 149 - Altocumulus clouds

On my way to sushi I snapped a shot of these Altocumulus clouds with my Iphone. I only had my 50mm lens on my 'big camera' so the iphone had to do. Thanks to @BlueThistle for the cloud identification. Fun fact: Altocumulus clouds often are seen preceding a cold front and their presence can signal the onset of thunderstorm. Hopefully that doesn't happen tonight.