On The Tear and Eating a Lot

My childhood friend, Frény, arrived from Australia on Sunday after a very long couple of flights from Sydney. The flight was on time and I met her at the airport. You can read about how we originally met and some of our antics here.

We've kept in touch over the years via Facebook and I last saw her when she visited Canada in 2010 (as outlined in the above link).

She rested on Monday morning while I went to stitching. Afterwards we got her a SIM card with a Canadian phone number and lots of data, then headed to the GO station to get her a Presto pass for upcoming public transit/Metrolinx trips.

Later on we met her long-time friend, Gloria, at a wonderful northern Indian restaurant in Aurora for supper. It was their first get-together in 44 years!

The meal was delicious. The biryani was the best I've ever had. My freezer is full of leftover chicken tikka, chicken biryani, and butter chicken.

The next morning we were up before 5 (!) to get her onto the GO Train to Oakville to have breakfast and catch up with another friend, Richard. I picked her up at the GO station on her return in the afternoon; we both had to have a nap after such an early morning (and her still dealing with all the hours of travel across many time zones). 

For supper, we both enjoyed barg, delicious, seasoned, tender steak and salad at Oshawa's finest Persian restaurant, Cyrus, on Ritson Rd S, just north of the 401. 

Cyrus is basically a take-out joint but they do provide tables if you want to eat the food there. The hosts are very amiable and thrilled that we so enjoyed their cooking. 

Afterwards, I took Frény to my Tuesday evening craft group (Whitby Spinners) and we chatted away about many topics*** until about 8:45, when we headed back home.  Frény had to pack for an early flight to Edmonton this morning and we both hit the sack early again.

We were up this morning at 4am (!!) to grab some coffee and get on the 5:10 GO Train into The Big City. I accompanied Frény to make sure she would be able to find the UP Express train to take her to the airport. I had never even seen the train platform so it was good for me to see it and file the location away for future reference and travel. From Whitby on the GO Train and with Presto and senior discount, it's about $12 to get to the airport. It takes a bit more time but if the flight isn't TOO early in the morning, it's a comfortable and easy way to get to YYZ.

I came home, had a bit more coffee and climbed into bed for a couple of hours. I have an appointment at 4 this afternoon so have set my alarm for 3:30pm so I don't fall asleep or forget about it. 

I have no concrete plans for tomorrow. Friday, Frény returns from her whirlwind trip to Edmonton. Then Saturday morning we'll (NOT GET UP EARLY and) head to Sarnia where she will spend the next three weeks visiting with family and other friends in other locales. There, I'll bid farewell to Frény for this trip to Canada, visit my family while I'm in the area, veg out on Sunday and head back home on Monday.

*** some of the topics we discussed last night included looking at the Wee County Yarns website that Annie told us about. Last year they had a mystery Advent knitting kit for a scarf with medieval figures. I'm quite intrigued at the colourful design using 20g mini-skeins of Kinross 4ply (fingering weight) in 12 different colours. 

It will be interesting to see what they have planned for their 2024 Advent mystery knitalong.

Another topic was advent gifts for kids. One cool thing on Amazon were Pandora-style Advent calendar bracelets. 

We also discussed sun protection and Alexa brought out sleeves that she bought and a Rashguard pullover, long-sleeve shirt. 

This morning I ordered a pair of the sleeves for use when I'm gardening and want sun protection but don't want to use stitcky sunscreen or wear a long-sleeved shirt.