Some winter blues are glorious like the sunny blue skies that we had last Wednesday. I went out for a walk and sat down in one of the Muskoka chairs to soak in the warm sunshine, daydream, and observe nature. It was quiet and blissful by the lake.

On my left, several seagulls took off and glided in the air. On my right, two Canada geese swam and a few ducks dipped in the calm harbour. The shimmering lights in the water prompted me to reflect on the first month of 2020.

January was a fun and enriching month. My extended family had a big get-together to celebrate a few family birthdays and the Lunar New Year. My friends and I met on several dates for coffee and lunch catch-ups. We’ve figured out how to embrace winter!

In between these social gatherings, I completed all my health goals and enjoyed plenty of leisure activities (8 art exhibits, 1 wildlife photography exhibit, 4 blog posts, 6 books, 31 French and 31 Spanish online sessions, 3.5 movies, and 3 recitals). I’m grateful for such a great month and an amazing start to the new year.

In case you’re curious, below are more details. I keep track of the data for my own benefit.

Arts

One of the advantages of living near the centre of a big city is the access to cultural events year round. I continue to be amazed by the quantity and quality of new art exhibits I can view for free. In January, I saw eight interesting exhibits:

• Anxious Audience by American artist Rashid Johnson.
• Black Diamond by Toronto-based artist Krystal Ball.
• Blues Klair by Belgian artist Vincent Meessen.
• Loop: An interactive light and sound installation with six giant wheels. Visitors sit down inside the wheel (zoetrope), pump the bar, and make the image cylinder turn to display the hand-drawn black and white animations.
• Feels: An installation of carved acrylic pendants in gold and turquoise colours by Emma Piirtoniemi.
• Hold Everything Dear: A contemporary exhibit by Hajra Waheed.
• Ingenuous Purpose: An exhibition featuring beautiful dog blankets and hangings made by the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre (KDCC) Sewing Group in Whitehorse.
• What we found after you left: A contemporary exhibit by Naeem Mohaiemen.

Blogs

I made a few changes to my blog, including new header image, new tag line, updated Travel page, updated Wellness page, and added Award-free and Copyright notices on the right side bar. I also wrote four posts and hosted the first Wellness Weekend 2020 link-up:

• What Are Your Plans for 2020?
• My 10 Favourite Experiences in Ecuador
• Hiking to Peguche Waterfall (#WW2020 first link-up)
• Papallacta Hot Springs: A Delightful Stay

Books

I enjoyed reading six books which took my imagination from places in Canada to the United States, across the Atlantic to the United Kingdom and then India:

• 26 Knots by Bindu Suresh.
• Starlight by Richard Wagamese.
• Bone Black by Carol Rose GoldenEagle.
• The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein.
• The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary.
• A Delhi Obsession by M.G. Vassanji.

Health

I met all my health goals, felt great, and slept well in January:

• Greeted every new day with a smile.
• Meditated 15 minutes daily.
• Made 26 outdoor walks, average 8 km (5 miles) each walk.
• Completed 13 strength workouts in the gym, one hour each.
• Attended 9 yoga classes, one hour each.
• Went swimming 5 times, one hour each.
• Had 4 full rest days.

Languages

I continue learning French and Spanish lessons on Duolingo, about 30 minutes every day. It’s a good exercise for my brain!

Movies

My neighbour friends and I resumed our movie nights after the holidays. We enjoyed watching the first three movies and did not like the fourth one so we ended our evening half way through it:

• Judy starring Renee Zellweger.
• Gemini Man starring Will Smith.
• Harriet starring Cynthia Erivo.
• The Lighthouse starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson.

Music

I enjoyed three excellent concerts, each was about one hour in duration:

• Sonatas for piano and violin by Beethoven performed by James Parker, piano and Mark Fewer, violin.
• Solo piano recital by Brazilian musician Andre Mehmari.
• Solo piano recital by Toronto-based musician Bryn Blackwood.

Similar to Travel

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019 exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum took my friend and I to exotic places visually. The amazing exhibition showcases all-new photographs from around the world reveal striking wildlife, breathtaking landscapes, and the remarkable beauty of our natural world.

After our museum visit, we walked to the new Eataly store. It’s a bustling Italian marketplace with three restaurants, nine take-away counters, and a cooking school. In the full market, we found hundreds of culinary delights imported from Italy. We agreed to return here for our next coffee and lunch meet-up.

So that was my January. How was yours? What good things happened? I’d love to hear your comments.

Copyright © 2021 natalietheexplorer.home.blog – All rights reserved.

Hello December and goodbye November! November is the cool month sandwiched between glorious October and festive December. My response to the cool temperatures in November is to go for colours, lights, music, and sunshine whenever the sun appears. Books provide a good escape, too. Let me share my highlights with you and I invite you to tell me yours.

November 2019

Arts

I visited four free and colourful art exhibits with my family and friends in November:

• The Chrysanthemum flower show was flowers and art in one.
• The Day of the Dead festival showed a lot of orange flowers and several ofrendas.
• The unveiling of the Annual Christmas window display at the Bay was eye-catching. The Bay is a major department store here.
• The Cavalcade of Lights event at City Hall was dazzling.

Blogging

I wrote six blog posts to capture the highlights of my fun adventures in October and November. The theme seems to be hiking on trails or walking in the gardens, partly because Autumn is the best season for these activities and partly because I enjoy walking and nature:

• October Wrap-Up
• Have you heard about the Float’em Garden?
• Hiking the Attikamek Trail
• Agawa Canyon: From Rail to Trail
• 5 Fun Activities for the Holidays
• 7 Tidbits about Chrysanthemums

Books

Six very good books in different genres, written by authors from Canada, Mexico, the UK, and the USA kept me entertained:

• The Suspect, a crime fiction novel by Fiona Barton.
• The Bookshop on the Shore, a romance novel by Jenny Colgan.
• Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, a social drama fiction novel by Gail Honeyman.
• Full Disclosure, a crime fiction novel by Beverley McLachlin who was the former Chief Justice of Canada, the first woman to hold that position.
• Dual Citizens, a social drama fiction novel by Alix Ohlin.
• The Black Jersey, a crime fiction novel by Jorge Zepeda Patterson, translated by Achy Obejas.

Concerts

I enjoyed listening to three wonderful classical concerts performed by the following talented musicians:

• Lisa Tahara, piano and Brenna Hardy-Kavanagh, violin
• Ryan Phelps, piano
• Jean-Luc Therrien, piano, Michael Perry, violin, and Mai Tategami, violin

Family

My family and I visited the Day of the Dead (Dia de Los Muertos) festival where we saw several colourful ofrendas on display. While most of the ofrendas were for people who passed away, the Ofrenda dedicated to the Bees, created by Jade Leyva, was environmentally focused.

The piece is designed to raise awareness and pay tribute to the untold millions of bees that have died in recent years due to herbicide and pesticide. Bees sustain food system and ensure food security. Their rapid decline is threatening the future of all species, including the human race.

Friendship

My friends and I went to see the Christmas window display at the Bay downtown. The theme changes every year. This year includes traditional holiday music while smart robots make snow angels, wrap gift boxes, print Santa’s list, etc. There are five to six extra large windows where passers-by can see the actions and bright objects. It’s really fun to watch.

Health

I completed thirteen strengthening workouts in the gym, five swimming sessions, and seven yoga classes. Each session lasts one hour. I also meditated 15 minutes daily and walked outdoors six days per week. On weekdays I usually walk 8 km (5 miles), and on Saturday 3 km (about 2 miles).

Home

In lieu of travelling in November, I work on a few home projects to get ready for the holidays. I tidy up my home room by room, put out some winter decorations, update my calendar with a small number of social events, bake a cake, make donations, and write greeting cards. I’m pleased with my progress at the moment and will continue to tackle more home projects in December for a fresh start on January 1.

Learning

I continued my daily French and Spanish lessons on Duolingo. Some of my other new learning include fun facts about chrysanthemums, how cycling teams work while they compete at the Tour de France, and how to bake a Second World War ration cake.

Movies

Unlike the above amazing arts, books, and concerts, the three movies that I watched were not so great. The Farewell was the most interesting out of the three:

• Can You Keep a Secret?
• For Love or Money?
• The Farewell

Overall

November was a very good and productive month. I continued my health and leisure activities and got organized for the holiday season. I look forward to enjoying Christmas and New Year with my family and friends.

The holiday lights and Christmas trees are everywhere in the city centre now. The temperature is hovering at freezing point, give or take a couple of degrees Celsius. We’re expecting snow today. So it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

How was your November? What good things happened? I’d love to hear your comments.

Copyright © 2021 natalietheexplorer.home.blog – All rights reserved.

Hello November and goodbye October! October was a beautiful month with gorgeous autumn foliage everywhere I looked, an extra-special Thanksgiving, a trip to Sault Ste Marie and Agawa Canyon, and plenty of leisure activities. Let me share my highlights and I invite you to tell me yours.

October 2019

Arts

I viewed many interesting artworks at the Community Film and Art Festival, Nuit Blanche event, and Toronto Biennial of Art event. However, my favourite artwork in October was Mother Nature’s autumn foliage palette, from various shades of green to light yellow, to golden, to orange, red, and stunning crimson.

Blogging

I wrote five blog posts in October and used my phone to take all the blog photos which turned out better than I expected:

• September Wrap-Up
• Happy 3 Years of Blogging
• A Whale of A Time in Victoria
• On Nature’s Edge in Tofino
• Hiking the Tonquin Trail

Books

I enjoyed reading six books in different genres. I had read The Old Man and the Sea a long time ago and re-read it. The book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953. It’s an impressive novella to me because the writer packed a powerful story with vivid descriptions in under 100 pages.

• The Endless Beach – a romance novel by Jenny Colgan.
• All Things Consoled – a memoir by Elizabeth Hay.
• The Old Man and the Sea – a novella by Ernest Hemingway.
• Elevation – a science fiction novel by Stephen King.
• Happy People Read & Drink Coffee – a romance novel by Agnès Martin Lugand, translated from the French by Sandra Smith.
• Kingdom of the Blind – a crime fiction novel by Louise Penny.

Concerts

I attended seven amazing classical concerts, some with my friends. The performers are all award winners at international competitions. They played wonderful music composed by Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Edgar, Rachmaninoff, Schumann, and more:

• David Potvin, piano.
• The Bedford Trio: Alessia Disimino (violin), Andrew Ascenzo (cello), and Jialiang Zhu (piano).
• Tristan Savella, piano.
• Peter Stoll, bass clarinet, and string quartet.
• Younggun Kim, piano.
• Timothy Ying, violin and Lydia Wong, piano.
• The Ezra Duo: Jacob Clewell, viola and Sasha Bult-Ito, piano.

Family

My family had an extra-special Thanksgiving dinner this year as my uncle and aunt came to visit us from Montreal. Aside from a delicious meal, I enjoyed every bit of the pumpkin pies that we had for dessert. Pumpkins are another sure sign of autumn here.

Friendship

I met my friends at some of the concerts mentioned above. On a nice autumn day, we went for a walk to check out the newly opened Garrison Crossing bridge. It’s the first stainless steel bridge in Canada.

Spanning over two rail corridors within the core of downtown, the full bridge required two separate installations. The first and north end of the bridge is 52-metres-long. The second and south end of the bridge is 29-metres-long. I like that the bridge is for pedestrians and cyclists only.

Health

I completed twelve strengthening workouts in the gym, four swimming sessions, and nine yoga classes. I also meditated and walked outdoors 5 to 8 km (or 3 to 5 miles) every day. October was the perfect time for outdoor walks as temperatures were cooler and autumn foliage provided gorgeous scenery.

Learning

Some of what I learned include my daily French and Spanish lessons on Duolingo, Garrison Crossing bridge construction, the history of Sault Ste Marie Canal, how the locks work at the Canal, and Agawa Canyon.

Movies

I watched four movies and liked Red Joan and Toy Story 4 the most:

• Alladin
• Toy Story 4 – surprisingly good for a sequel.
• Stuber
• Red Joan – based on a true story of Joan Stanley, who was exposed as the KGB’s longest-serving British spy.

Travel

My family and I travelled to Sault Ste Marie, a city located in northern Ontario. We did a few hikes in Sault Ste Marie, and took the train from Sault Ste Marie to Agawa Canyon where we did more hiking.

When we exited Sault Ste Marie airport, we saw a green Welcome sign on the left and a glimpse of colourful autumn foliage on the right. I’ll share more details in a future post.

Overall

Every day in October was amazing. I look forward to enjoying November with my family and friends, continuing my health and leisure activities, and plotting new adventures.

How was your October? What good things happened? I’d love to hear your comments.

Copyright © 2021 natalietheexplorer.home.blog – All rights reserved.

Hello September and goodbye August! August was a lot of fun with family, friends, and enriching leisure activities. The weather was pleasant so I spent more time outdoors in August than in July. Let me share my highlights and I invite you to tell me yours.

AUGUST 2019

Arts

I went to see five art exhibitions in Toronto and visited one new-to-me art gallery in Kingston:

• The Museum of Broken Relationships exhibition caught my attention because I had passed by the Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb, Croatia. The exhibition was more interesting and less sad than I thought.
• The Brain Project 2019 showcased fifty brain sculptures designed by artists, celebrities, and researchers to raise brain health awareness and to advance research on dementia and aging #noblankbrains.
• The Art of Zhen (Truth) Shan (Compassion) Ren (Tolerance) International Exhibition is a collection of over 60 paintings. It has toured about 300 cities in over 50 countries.
• The 17th Annual Canada International Children’s Art Festival showcased many colourful and impressive artworks. Most of them were created by 7 or 8-year old artists.
• The Into The Clouds installation by FriendsWithYou displayed the adorable Little Cloud and three friends. I liked both the installation and its location in the beautiful Allen Lambert Galleria.

Blogging

I wrote four blog posts to document my fun experiences at home, in Heidelberg (Germany), and in Regina (Saskatchewan, Canada):

• July Wrap-Up
• Heidelberg Castle with Friends
• Postcard from Regina
• Fit N Fun Walk: Toronto Music Garden

Books

I enjoyed reading seven good novels. The authors’ biographies are also interesting in case you want to look them up:

• The Moroccan Girl by Charles Cumming
• The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schaffhausen
• Crimson Lake by Candice Fox
• Less by Andrew Sean Greer
• The Next Person You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
• And Then You Were Gone by R. J. Jacobs
• Call Me Evie by J.P. Pomare

Concerts

I attended nine outdoor concerts. The music and vocals were fantastic, especially the first four artists listed below:

• Ammoye
• Alana Bridgewater
• Jordan John
• Avery Raquel
• The Arsenals at Island Soul festival
• The Recipee band at Island Soul festival
• Susie Vinnick Trio
• Elinor Frey & Phoebe Carrai: Duoletto violoncello
• Toronto’s All-Star Big Band: Dance music from the 50s

Family

We had two big family gatherings in August, one was to celebrate my nephew’s new home and the other was to celebrate a few birthdays in my family clan. We were glad to see family members visiting us from the USA. It was so nice to share meals, talk, and do fun activities together in person. Some of our good eats came from the weekly farmer’s market. How lucky we were to have plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables! They were as delicious as they looked.

Friendship

I went out six times with my friends for coffee and some of the concerts I mentioned above. My family and I also met and dined out with our friends in Kingston when we were there for a few days.

Health

I completed 14 strength workouts in the gym, 8 yoga classes, and 4 swimming sessions. I also meditated and walked every day. One of the very enjoyable walks was on the beautiful Toronto Islands.

Learning

I enjoyed learning new words from my daily French and Spanish lessons. I learned about the artists and/ or the projects from the art exhibitions that I viewed, the authors of the books I read, the actors and musicians at the shows I attended, popular songs in the 50s, and the history behind some of the places that I visited this month.

Movies

I watched only three movies because it was more fun to be outdoors:

• Long Shot (comedy)
• Stockholm (drama)
• Idiocracy (comedy)

Travel

My family took a six-day trip to Kingston which is located about 2.5 hours by train east of Toronto. In typical Natalie the Explorer style, I walked to explore some of the historic sights in Kingston. For arts, I visited the Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queen’s University. I’ll share some of my discoveries in a later post.

OVERALL

August was incredibly fun and enriching. I look forward to September when I’m expecting more relatives visiting us, a trip to Vancouver Island, and lots of leisure activities.

How was your August? What good things happened? I’d love to hear your comments.

Copyright © 2021 natalietheexplorer.home.blog – All rights reserved.

Hello August and goodbye July! July was a fun summer month filled with warm days, plenty of leisure activities, a family trip to Regina, and a blogger meeting. Let me share my July highlights with you and I invite you to tell me yours.

JULY 2019

ARTS

I visited the 58th Toronto Outdoor Art Fair where over 300 artists participated and displayed their arts for sale over three days. It’s a wonderful annual event to see so much artistic talent in one location.

On one of my outdoor walks, I saw the Ordinary Men sculpture exhibit by Thomas J. Price who lives and works in London, UK. This is his first solo exhibition in Canada. His sculpture ranges in size from small busts to monumental bronze statues.

BLOGGING

I had a fun walk along Toronto’s waterfront with my new blogger friend Joanne (My Life Lived Full). I wrote about where we explored and what we had for lunch here. We saw a number of interesting public art installations during our 5 km walk.

BOOKS

I read five fine books in July. Although there is a lot of human suffering, especially in the first three novels, all of them show human resilience, love, and all have a hopeful or happy ending:

• I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.
• The Kite Runner also by Khaled Hosseini.
• Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez (translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman).
• Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan.

CONCERTS

I attended five outdoor concerts in July. Simply great music of different genres and powerful vocals heard in an urban setting on warm summer days. I always feel so fortunate to have easy access to these free events:

• Jordan John & Denis Keldie
• Sara Dell
• The Métis Fiddler Quartet
• Tyler Yarema & Allison Young
• Joanna Majoko

FAMILY

My family clan held a get-together in July. It took place on the weekend that we had a heat wave so we were all thankful for air-conditioning. As usual, we enjoyed good food and fun conversations. I love chatting with my siblings, nieces, and nephews. Our next gathering will be in August.

FRIENDS

I did a gym workout with one of my friends and met two other friends by the farmer’s market for coffee catch-ups in Toronto. I also had fun catching up with our family friends in Regina when we were there.

HEALTH

In July, I meditated and walked daily. I also completed seven yoga classes, fourteen workouts in the gym, and four swimming sessions. On warm and humid days I tried to do my physical activities early in the morning before it became too hot. I missed two instructor-led yoga classes when I was away and made up for them by practicing the yoga poses by myself.

LEARNING

I did my French and Spanish lessons every day in July. There is always something new to learn, from the daily language lessons that I take on Duolingo, to what I learn from my health and leisure pursuits.

MOVIES

I enjoyed watching the new Spider-man Far from Home movie in the theatre, and two in-flight movies The Mule and How To Train The Dragon II.

TRAVEL

My family went on a trip to Regina in Saskatchewan. Regina is about 3 to 3.5 hours west of Toronto by plane. We spent some time catching up with our friends and enjoyed our visit to the beautifully landscaped Wascana Park surrounding a 120-hectare lake located in the heart of Regina. More on this trip in a future post.

OVERALL

I enjoyed July very much. It was a summer month packed with fun activities with family and friends. If anything, it went by a bit too fast for a month of thirty-one days.

How was your July? What good things happened? I’d love to hear your comments.

Copyright © 2021 natalietheexplorer.home.blog – All rights reserved.

JUNE 2019

Hello July and goodbye June! June was an enriching month in so many ways. I spent half of the month in Canada and the other half in Malta and Germany. Let me share my June highlights with you and I invite you to tell me yours.

ARTS

At home, I viewed various art exhibits at the Luminato festival. Admission was free. Here’s a sample of Kristian Spreen’s Compositions exhibit with her pretty glass and underglaze art work. The vases were displayed behind enclosed glass windows with spot lighting so my photo had shadows in it.

When I was in Valletta, there was a show of beautiful (and likely very expensive) cars in St. George’s Square, to mark the 90th anniversary of auto sales in the city. I enjoy examining the car designs as I think they are another form of art.

The quantity of high quality visual arts that I saw really skyrocketed in June, thanks to my trip to Malta and Germany. I’ve shared my Malta highlights here, and plan to write about my time in Germany soon.

BLOGGING

My gradual transition from Blogger to WordPress has been good so far. I wrote four posts in June, two of them were on Blogger, and two on WordPress. I’m also redirecting readers from my blog on Blogger to WordPress.

I hope my change of blogging platform gives my blog readers a ‘like or better’ experience. If you’re following my blog, thank you. If you have my blog on your blog roll, please update it with its new URL. I greatly appreciate your support and patience.

A friendly reminder that the next Wellness Wednesday link up is on July 10. The optional prompt is Family. Please feel free to join in on the fun.

BOOKS

In June, I finished two books (Persepolis, and Oversharing) before going to Malta and Germany. That brought the total number of books that I’ve enjoyed reading to thirty-two so far for this year. I’ve picked up a few more books from the library for my summer reading.

CONCERTS

I attended four terrific outdoor concerts performed by Jordan John, Sandra Bouza, Denis Keldie, and Montreal’s Les Voix Humaines viol quartet. Admissions to these events were free. Toronto has an amazing number of free concerts in the summer. I try to make time to attend at least one every week.

The concerts I go to are casual where the audience can see the musicians up close. They are not the high-end productions in big arenas that cost a lot of money. Nevertheless, the music and vocals are superb.

When I was in Munich, coincidentally the outdoor Stadtgründungfest was on at Marienplatz, the main square in Munich, to celebrate the city’s 861st birthday. Marienplatz was packed with people enjoying the dancing, live music, and food and drinks at the on-site beer garden.

FAMILY

My family clan got together at the end of June to celebrate various good news in the family (birthdays, school graduation, new home, and new summer jobs). A lot of fun conversations and good food. We’ve arranged to meet again in July.

FRIENDS

I managed to have two meet-ups with my friends in June. One of them took place in Stuttgart, Germany, and the other was in Toronto. Both are longtime friends. I’m grateful to have enduring friendships regardless of the distance or time lapse.

HEALTH

In June, I did my daily meditation and walked outdoors every day. While at home, I worked out in the gym seven times, attended five yoga classes, and got in three swimming sessions.

I brought my resistance band with me for my strengthening exercises when I was away from home. I also used local ‘fitness amenities’ in Malta and Germany. Some are man-made like the stairs in Valletta, the swimming pool in my hostel, and some are natural resources great for swimming like the Blue Lagoon in Comino, and the lakes in Bavaria region in Germany. They were good reminders for me to continue my exercises to stay fit, and that one can do exercises without a gym membership! You know the saying ‘When in Rome…’.

LEARNING

I completed my daily online French and Spanish lessons in June even when I was in Malta and Germany. I spend about 15 minutes on each language and have been consistent with my learning activities. I view them as my brain exercises and they’re fun to do.

One other obvious learning source is from my travel. A new destination awakes my senses and provides ample of practical learning opportunities. For example, I learned to book a shared shuttle service from and to Malta airport, to take public buses and ferries in Malta, to ride regional trains and intercity trains in Germany, and to learn about the history of the various sights that I visit.

MOVIES

I saw five movies (one at home and four in-flight). In order of preference, they are Green Book, If Beale Street Could Talk, Captain Marvel, Spider-man Into the Spider-verse, and Isn’t It Romantic.

TRAVEL

My trip to Malta and Germany went smoothly from beginning to end. It was great catching up with my cousins and longtime friend in person. The weather was sunny and warm every day that I was there. This is another enriching and fulfilling trip that I treasure very much.

OVERALL

June was a wonderful month for me. I’m grateful for all the good things that happened. I’m enjoying July and the summer fun that comes with it. July has started off with a bang, thanks to Canada Day celebrations and fireworks on July 1st.

How was your June? What good things happened? I’d love to hear your comments.

Copyright © 2021 natalietheexplorer.home.blog – All rights reserved.