O'Canada

O'Canada, Our home and native land,

True patriot love, in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,

The true North strong and free.

From far and wide, O'Canada,

We stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free;

O'Canada we stand on guard for thee.

O'Canada we stand on guard for thee.

It's not our native land, but we have called Canada our home for the past 2 years - and it has been a privilege to do so. I have sung the anthem above every morning in school with the same pride as any Canadian. This is a truly wonderful country.

We felt it was out pleasurable duty to try to see as much of the country (and indeed the whole continent) as we could while we were here, and I am pleased to say that I think we succeeded. I have managed to visit 7 Canadian provinces, missing only the praries and the Arctic north - not too bad for 24 months!

I have constantly been struck by the friendliness and pleasantness of the Canadians I have met every day, and I know that some of the people that I have been fortunate enough to meet here will now be lifelong friends.

As much as I love England, and am looking forward to our return, a piece of my heart will forever now be in Canada, and I will look back on this 2 year period in my life with much fondness.

So, what will I miss...? In no particular order: A perfect climate - hot Summers, dramatic snowy winters, epic thunderstorms - skiing, the snowblower, vast skies, long straight roads, our big car, Tim Hortons (especially the Breakfast Sandwiches and Iced Capps), the laid-back atmosphere in schools (compared to the too-often stressed one in the UK), our giant beer-fridge (and our tax-free alcohol-allowance to fill it!), everything being bilingual (my French has really improved while I've been here), the native wildlife - the thrill of seeing hummingbirds in the garden, porcupines, skunks and raccoons in the street, and coyotes and beavers on the Base - Dollarama, fresh Ontario produce on roadside stalls (especially the squash in Autumn), maple syrup being tapped in the Spring, maple trees in Autumn, campsites with firepits, the crystal-clear water in the Great Lakes, the Mounties Musical Ride.....

I'm quite certain that I will think of many many more during the day, but I fear that our internet is about to be cut off as we move out of the house tomorrow. This blog will continue when I am no longer a Brit abroad...

So long Canada, and thanks for everything.

From one Extreme to Another

We are currently enjoying some wonderful Summer weather. The temperature is hovering around the late 20s and the dramatic 'thunderstorm season' seems to have passed now, taking any uncomfortable humidity with it.

I can't help thinking that Canada enjoys what is - for me - the 'perfect climate'. It has wonderful Summers and wonderful Winters too. I'll concede that I have missed the beautiful English Springtime - Canada seems to lurch quickly from Winter to Summer, with a short period of dullness in between - but I'm really going to miss the 'proper' snowy Winters here (particularly when we're in the middle of a grey January in the UK) and the 'proper' sunny Summers where you can mindlessly throw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt every day for months without worrying about the weather forecast.

At its most extreme we have experienced a nearly 80 degree centigrade range in temperature here. It can reach minus 40 degrees (although this is rare in Ontario, more common on the Praries) and the Summer heat can peak at plus 40 degrees (again rare, but all too possible).

Last Winter was a loooong one here. Our last snowfall was on April 13th (the first one having been last November!), but here we are, 3 months later, wearing shorts and sunglasses.

I've been enjoying looking back through some photos this week, and have been particularly fascinated by remembering back to certain places in different seasons. Here are just a few:

Chez nous, last Summer (late Summer I'd guess, looking at the maple tree next door!)

The house in Winter. Note the great walls of snow... I shovelled that there. Well, until we mastered the petrol-driven snowblower, which brought yet more excitements!

Me, cycling down the Trillium Trail last week, enjoying the lingering warmth of the evening sun.

The same trail in January. I XC-skiied down it then.

Relaxing on Wasaga Beach last weekend. We both swam in Georgian Bay; it was beautiful.

Just as beautiful, Wasaga Beach in Winter. We both skiied on Georgian Bay, and clambered over the frozen waves.

Awesome!

Yes, the Winter can bring its problems (driving in freezing rainstorms or white-out blizzards was none too fun...) but by and large the country is well-equipped to deal with it and life goes on. I like that about it. All part of the typically laid-back Canadian attitude.

Canadian weather, eh? I love it!

The Cookie Project - Part 4

And so begins the long and sad process of saying goodbye to our friends here in Canada. The end of the school term was a particularly bittersweet moment for me. I felt the inevitable relief of a teacher - having been dealing with classes of increasingly hot, fractious and unwilling-to-work children, the idea of sending them all home to their parents for 2 months was a very attractive one. However, I have also had a fantastic time teaching here, in particular at St Paul's Catholic Elementary School in nearby Alliston. This is the school where I have done the vast majority of my supply teaching over the last year, teaching in all of the 11 classes and also often teaching French (tres drole!). Over the year I have got to know the children really well, and also the wonderful staff. I'd like to hope that my popularity at St Paul's had something to do with me being a capable teacher, but I suspect it also had something to do with my blatant attempts to gain favour by regularly bringing tins of cookies into the staffroom... If there's one thing that schools across the world have in common it's the appetites of the staff for baked goods!


During my final week I wanted to bring in one last batch of cookies to say thank you to my friends there, so chose a new recipe from Martha's 'Cookies' - Lime Meltaways. This was my first attempt at this kind of dough, one where you roll it into a cylinder, refrigerate (or freeze) and then slice and cook. The process was strangely satisfying, especially when you get to speedily slice the cookies; it's great to be able to get them from fridge to oven within minutes. I felt that it's the kind of thing that you should always keep in the fridge for when the craving for freash cookies strikes.

The finished cookies are a citrussy shortbread and have, as their name suggests, a melting texture. They are delicate and elegant, and not too sweet. I had also made a batch of my favourite chocolate chip cookies (using the recipe on the back of the Chipits chocolate chips packet) and it was interesting to see how the two tins of cookies disappeared... those in desperate need of a quick sugar rush went straight for the chocolate, but the cookie connoisseurs took the time to appreciate the quiet appeal of these lime meltaways. I felt that I had managed to please all-comers, and will definitely be making these shortbreads again. I can visualise serving them as after-dinner petit-fours with coffee. If only I ever had elegant dinner parties...

As an aside, I was asked to come along to the St Paul's staff end-of-term lunch. I was surprised and delighted to be presented with a lovely goodbye gift from the staff, a wonderful book called 'Anita Stewart's Canada'. It is not just a recipe book, but full of tales behind the hugely varied cuisine that this great country calls its own. I have since been reading about Anita Stewart and she too has a blog, all about her latest book tour across Canada.

Here's what the staff had written inside the book for me: "God must have looked down at St Paul's School and thought 'something's missing', so He sent us Kate; someone who could fill any one of our shoes with ease, someone who was talented, and so willing to share, someone funny (cause He knows we love to laugh), and someone who knew just how much we loved home-baked cookies!!"

What a wonderful gift. I'll miss everyone there so much and will think of St Paul's every time I cook from this book.