Hi folks!
A belated update on our Friday house concert at Brookside Cottage (hey, we've been busy!).
After our previous week's MacDonald Bridge delay, we decided to start of very early (especially on a Friday) to give ourselves time for traffic jams getting out of the city. Turns out we were a bit over-enthusiastic, though, because we got to Hubbards in no time at all -- and before our host, Maggie, had said she'd be home! So we did a little toodle through town -- a very sweet, picturesque place, for sure!
We drove in to Brookside Cottage, which is, indeed a brook-side cottage! We wish we'd gone there before it got dark, to see it in all its glory. Maggie had given us excellent directions (much better than MapQuest, which would have had us going north of Enfield, about an hour and a half the wrong way!), and as we came around the final corner, she had a sign for "Brookside Cottage" all done up in sparkly lights, just to be sure. We parked the car and then headed across the footbridge -- also done up in sparkly lights -- to the sweet little cottage.
Inside, Maggie, mom Pat and cousin Sally were cooking up a storm -- it was everything my real estate agent would have loved: the smell of cinnamon and cookies baking. What a welcome! Since we were about two hours early, we had lots of time to get set up and get to know everyone -- including Pumpkin, the cat who spent much of her time hiding under Maggie's bed, but did make a few appearances. All three of these women have had some great adventures, it seems -- Maggie is quite the world traveller, and Pat has joined her on an expedition to the Antarctic, while Sally has toured much of our own continent on her motorbike since retiring. They all had a great sense of humour and were tons of fun to spend time with!
It was a small but mighty "crowd" -- ten people, though I don't think there would have been much more room in there, it was pretty cosy! Maggie's original thought had been to present house concerts in the summer time, with artists performing on the porch, but silly us, we were there in November. :-) But that's just fine with us -- a smaller group means we can get to know everybody better!
Once again, though, it felt like we were following Taylor's ghost. We were Maggie's first house concert at the Cottage, but Taylor was supposed to play there in October, four days after she was killed. It really hammers things home, sometimes... we have to enjoy all these moments while they're here!
Ah yes, and the obligatory food and beverage report: Maggie et al had brewed up some lovely mulled wine, plus laid out a lovely spread of veggies and dips, oven-fresh cookies, etc. Guest Prisca brought a large Toblerone to share (mm-mmm!), Bob and Julia some mini chocolate-covered cheesecakes, and somebody else (sorry, forget who!) brought chocolate brownies. Decadent! We tried to save ourselves for after the show, though couldn't help a few nibbles at intermission...
After finally being able to enjoy a glass of that yummy-smelling mulled wine, we packed up our stuff, bid adieu to our host(s), and headed back to Hali. Unloaded the instruments at Mom's (still not home from her babysitting duties), and headed around the corner to Freeman's, where the kitchen is open until 5am -- our kind of place! We wanted to try some of the local suds, but they're renovating, so the only pump operating was Rickard's Red, sigh... I had a three-cheese penne with spinach salad, both of which were very good (except that I forgot to ask for no bacon, so had to fling bacon bits at my sweetie), and Don had the "Hot Little Italian" -- yes, with my permission! :-) It was another penne dish, but chock full of spicy italian sausage.
Alrighty, I've got to go over to Tarah & Daniel's house to look after Lilly and Wyatt now (feel sorry for me? don't think so...), so the rest of the weekend will be reported on later. (But yes, there was "the" cake -- not the same as "the" bread, since my mother makes it!).
Thanks, as always, for reading!
Alyssa
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
What we've been doing on our Halifax vacation...
Hello folks!
OK, yes, the rumours are true -- although it's probably the worst-kept secret in showbiz. The Brights are, indeed, well on their way to being The Brights for real and for true -- we are now officially engaged. :-)
In fact, the worst-kept secret kind of made itself made by being the worst-kept secret. At dinner with my family, Don let it slip we were trying to figure out where to get married. Ears were perked, champagne was poured, all was good. :-) So, the following morning, we broke it to the kidlets. Wyatt, of course, could have cared less... Lilly immediately shut the door to the hallway and started practising walking in a straight line with a bouquet full of flowers. So we might not know where or when or whatever... but apparently our flower girl is sorted out. ;-)
So... other than that... my Ontario cousin, Chris, was in Hali on business, so we had a grand family dinner at Tarah and Daniel's on Monday night! Funny how we have to go to a different province to see each other, aiyaiyai! But we had a great visit, and... ooh, perhaps a few too many bottles of wine between us all. Hey, it was the beginning of our time off, with family we love -- what the heck?
Tuesday morning, I took my nephew Wyatt to kindermusik. While he absolutely adores music (and has a great sense of rhythm), the greatest draw for him was the mosque being built next door! This boy is definitely going to be a crane operator when he grows up. Although he was equally as fascinated with the garbage pick-up on the way home: "someday, Wyatt ride on garbage truck!!!" Tuesdays are usually Wyatt's "special days" with Grammie -- this week, it was special day with Auntie Lyssy, and we made the most of it. :-)
After a fun day with my nephew, we headed west to Lunenburg, to visit with our friends Bob and Julia. We headed to the Tin Fish restaurant for dinner -- lovely food! -- where their friend Paul was playing, with his wife Eilidh and daughter were also visiting. A lovely evening. We stayed at Bob & Julia's beautiful house overlooking the sea, and stayed up into the wee hours catching up on everything. In the not-so-wee hours the next day, we headed back into Hali, through the drizzle and fog.
Wednesday night, we were on our own, and headed down to Quinpool to have dinner at the FANTASTIC "It's All Greek to Me". Cheezy name, yes, but the food and the service are INCREDIBLE!!! (It was all we could do to not sneak back there tonight.) Yes, I like food and wine. Yes, this is an amazing restaurant. Trust me. Go. :-)
Thursdays are usually Lilly's special days with Grammie -- which means I got her this week. She woke us up very gently this morning (she could teach grammie a few lessons in this department -- oops! did I use my outside voice?!?), with a whisper and a snuggle, and then she went to get Grammie to bring us coffee. I have obviously trained this child well!!!
Once coffee was administered, it was down to the kitchen to paint some ornaments for the Solstice tree. It's a running gag that there are to be no holiday decorations put up until after Sunday (my birthday), so she waxed eloquent on all the stores that have ignored the rule, plus the fact that her parents have put up a wreath already. It's fun that she's at the age where teasing is possible.
Her mom and dad were out looking at prospective schools for her for next year -- yikes, is she that old already?!? Her favourite so far is the Shambhala school, where they put on shows. Yup, my niece the showgirl, who'd-a thunk? (They also have a teeter-totter, which came a close second!)
Then it was a late visit to the bookstore (who can resist?), and dinner around the corner. It's now 10pm and we feel like it's 3am -- is that all the time with the kids, or are we finally feeling the effects of the champagne from the other day? Probably both...
Well, we're off to early slumber-land. Yes, believe it or not... Tomorrow is our final Nova Scotia show at Brookside Cottage -- so we'll need our beauty sleep. :-)
Thanks, as always, for reading,
Alyssa
OK, yes, the rumours are true -- although it's probably the worst-kept secret in showbiz. The Brights are, indeed, well on their way to being The Brights for real and for true -- we are now officially engaged. :-)
In fact, the worst-kept secret kind of made itself made by being the worst-kept secret. At dinner with my family, Don let it slip we were trying to figure out where to get married. Ears were perked, champagne was poured, all was good. :-) So, the following morning, we broke it to the kidlets. Wyatt, of course, could have cared less... Lilly immediately shut the door to the hallway and started practising walking in a straight line with a bouquet full of flowers. So we might not know where or when or whatever... but apparently our flower girl is sorted out. ;-)
So... other than that... my Ontario cousin, Chris, was in Hali on business, so we had a grand family dinner at Tarah and Daniel's on Monday night! Funny how we have to go to a different province to see each other, aiyaiyai! But we had a great visit, and... ooh, perhaps a few too many bottles of wine between us all. Hey, it was the beginning of our time off, with family we love -- what the heck?
Tuesday morning, I took my nephew Wyatt to kindermusik. While he absolutely adores music (and has a great sense of rhythm), the greatest draw for him was the mosque being built next door! This boy is definitely going to be a crane operator when he grows up. Although he was equally as fascinated with the garbage pick-up on the way home: "someday, Wyatt ride on garbage truck!!!" Tuesdays are usually Wyatt's "special days" with Grammie -- this week, it was special day with Auntie Lyssy, and we made the most of it. :-)
After a fun day with my nephew, we headed west to Lunenburg, to visit with our friends Bob and Julia. We headed to the Tin Fish restaurant for dinner -- lovely food! -- where their friend Paul was playing, with his wife Eilidh and daughter were also visiting. A lovely evening. We stayed at Bob & Julia's beautiful house overlooking the sea, and stayed up into the wee hours catching up on everything. In the not-so-wee hours the next day, we headed back into Hali, through the drizzle and fog.
Wednesday night, we were on our own, and headed down to Quinpool to have dinner at the FANTASTIC "It's All Greek to Me". Cheezy name, yes, but the food and the service are INCREDIBLE!!! (It was all we could do to not sneak back there tonight.) Yes, I like food and wine. Yes, this is an amazing restaurant. Trust me. Go. :-)
Thursdays are usually Lilly's special days with Grammie -- which means I got her this week. She woke us up very gently this morning (she could teach grammie a few lessons in this department -- oops! did I use my outside voice?!?), with a whisper and a snuggle, and then she went to get Grammie to bring us coffee. I have obviously trained this child well!!!
Once coffee was administered, it was down to the kitchen to paint some ornaments for the Solstice tree. It's a running gag that there are to be no holiday decorations put up until after Sunday (my birthday), so she waxed eloquent on all the stores that have ignored the rule, plus the fact that her parents have put up a wreath already. It's fun that she's at the age where teasing is possible.
Her mom and dad were out looking at prospective schools for her for next year -- yikes, is she that old already?!? Her favourite so far is the Shambhala school, where they put on shows. Yup, my niece the showgirl, who'd-a thunk? (They also have a teeter-totter, which came a close second!)
Then it was a late visit to the bookstore (who can resist?), and dinner around the corner. It's now 10pm and we feel like it's 3am -- is that all the time with the kids, or are we finally feeling the effects of the champagne from the other day? Probably both...
Well, we're off to early slumber-land. Yes, believe it or not... Tomorrow is our final Nova Scotia show at Brookside Cottage -- so we'll need our beauty sleep. :-)
Thanks, as always, for reading,
Alyssa
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Belatedly blogging about Sunday
Hello folks and folkettes,
We've been away from the computer for a couple of days (gasp, sputter... yes, really!), so we're very sorry to have not reported on our Halifax CD Release concert yet! (I'm sure 0.2% of you felt your lives were incomplete, right?)
We had a great time, and MaryAnn has created a great space at The Company House -- not to mention, the walls are painted my favourite colour! (Uh, red, for those of you who haven't noticed...) Our friend David Francey had already been singing its praises -- he sure wasn't wrong! MaryAnn and her staff are very welcoming, and helped get us settled and set up. And she has one heck of a sound person in Dexter -- we were SOOO impressed with him! He creates the neatest stage I've ever seen (not easy, with the two of us and our gazillions of instruments), and brought the sounds up really quickly. Not to mention the cello actually sounded like a cello (let me tell you, that's depressingly rare!), we could hear ourselves and each other perfectly, and the volume levels were actually human.
We got a little nervous at 2:55, when there were only three other people in the bar for our 3:00 show, but... as my brother-in-law Daniel says, Haligonians seem to work on "island time", so by 3:10, the place was much more full (phew!). I have to say, it's probably the largest number of minors that have ever been in this bar -- Lilly and Wyatt came, of course, but many of Tarah & Daniel's friends also brought their kids. They all did very well, especially as we neared their dinner time -- no meltdowns that we heard, but we did hear a very enthusiastic "YAY!!!" from young Max after every song. We need Max at every show, it does wonders for the ego.
The grown-ups did very well, too. :-) We saw Michael Loveridge for the first time since we played Mersey House about two years ago -- looking mighty fine, too! Plus a bunch of folks who we'd met on our April tour, and a few complete newcomers -- we're not positive where some of them heard of us, but it's great that (good) word is spreading. Word of mouth is always the best publicity, bar none, and we very much appreciate all the recommendations people give us.
And, of course, the obligatory food and beverage report... We headed back to Tarah & Daniel's after the concert for dinner with the kids. Some very yummy chili, washed down with red plonk-in-a-box.
That's it for now! We'll report back on what we've been doing on the intervening days off shortly. Hope you're all having a great Wednesday.
Alyssa
We've been away from the computer for a couple of days (gasp, sputter... yes, really!), so we're very sorry to have not reported on our Halifax CD Release concert yet! (I'm sure 0.2% of you felt your lives were incomplete, right?)
We had a great time, and MaryAnn has created a great space at The Company House -- not to mention, the walls are painted my favourite colour! (Uh, red, for those of you who haven't noticed...) Our friend David Francey had already been singing its praises -- he sure wasn't wrong! MaryAnn and her staff are very welcoming, and helped get us settled and set up. And she has one heck of a sound person in Dexter -- we were SOOO impressed with him! He creates the neatest stage I've ever seen (not easy, with the two of us and our gazillions of instruments), and brought the sounds up really quickly. Not to mention the cello actually sounded like a cello (let me tell you, that's depressingly rare!), we could hear ourselves and each other perfectly, and the volume levels were actually human.
We got a little nervous at 2:55, when there were only three other people in the bar for our 3:00 show, but... as my brother-in-law Daniel says, Haligonians seem to work on "island time", so by 3:10, the place was much more full (phew!). I have to say, it's probably the largest number of minors that have ever been in this bar -- Lilly and Wyatt came, of course, but many of Tarah & Daniel's friends also brought their kids. They all did very well, especially as we neared their dinner time -- no meltdowns that we heard, but we did hear a very enthusiastic "YAY!!!" from young Max after every song. We need Max at every show, it does wonders for the ego.
The grown-ups did very well, too. :-) We saw Michael Loveridge for the first time since we played Mersey House about two years ago -- looking mighty fine, too! Plus a bunch of folks who we'd met on our April tour, and a few complete newcomers -- we're not positive where some of them heard of us, but it's great that (good) word is spreading. Word of mouth is always the best publicity, bar none, and we very much appreciate all the recommendations people give us.
And, of course, the obligatory food and beverage report... We headed back to Tarah & Daniel's after the concert for dinner with the kids. Some very yummy chili, washed down with red plonk-in-a-box.
That's it for now! We'll report back on what we've been doing on the intervening days off shortly. Hope you're all having a great Wednesday.
Alyssa
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