Ottawa!!

Here's a little surprise that makes me chuckle every time I walk over it. I've seen a few more around the city.

One of the biggest shocks coming home is how much my old neighbourhood has changed. There are so many older homes being torn down and monster homes replacing them. A few of the new buildings try to fit into the look of the area but most tend to stick out like a sore thumb. Take this home for example. When I left it had just been torn down. The last memory I have of it is like this.

Now it's a three story duplex that towers over it's neighbour. I have no problem with duplexes but it would have been nice if the developer had tried to match the style of the area and not stacked it so high. It's very intimidating.
This is one of the few cases where the little house that stood there before wasn't much to look at and I wasn't really sad that it was being torn down... just that the replacement looks more like it belongs downtown.

Last weekend we went took part in Ottawa Doors Open. We went to the Canadian Conservation Institute. This sits on top of the entrance to the industrial looking building. It was really neat to see the art work and artifacts that the scientists and restoration teams were working on. No pictures allowed inside though.

Tom and I did a bit of patio laying. We did the bit in front of the steps. Hard but satisfying work. 

Mum and I went to the Parkdale market for food and moss. 

This stall looks just like a fruit and veg store in Sydney. sigh. 

The main difference is how drastically the price of fresh veggies and fruit changes from Aus to Canada. It is sooo expensive in Sydney. This amount of food would easily have been closing in or over $100 in our local shop. Totally crazy. 

My summer wardrobe begins to expand. 

I had a baking urge as well. Recently one of my favourite food blogs looked into a reliable and easy lemon meringue pie recipe. I decided to put it to the test.  The filling was amazing, smooth, a little bit tart, and very simple compared to some methods I've tried.  I also gave making pastry a go, not bad but not perfect.

Here's a fun tip from the blog. Sprinkle fine donut, cake or bread crumbs over the cool filling to absorb and weeping or liquid from the meringue. 

It worked quite well I might add. 

Mmmm, fluffy meringue. I was happy to find that the recipe maker shared my love of massive amounts of this fluffy topping. 

All browned and ready to eat. 

Definitely my best pie made yet. It didn't last long. mmmm.

The seasons last fiddle heads. 

It took about 3 days of walking past Parma before I remembered to look for my painting. I managed to miss it completely thanks to my tendency to look across the street. I'm quite pleased with how it looks on display.