It seemed like a good idea to take a trip back to Canada in January for a visit so that’s just what I did… I flew out via Heathrow on Friday morning a couple of weeks ago and got to Alliston Friday evening just in time for dinner (including maple and walnut ice cream for dessert!)  Here are some of the things that I got up to during my week there:

• Saturday – After a walk around the track that Mom and Dad frequent on a regular basis (at Warden’s Park next to the township of Adjala offices), we headed to Scarborough to visit Janet.  It was nice to see her and be all together and I am very happy to say that the visit included a trip to Swiss Chalet for lunch!
• Sunday – Mum was on duty for both church services so Dad and I met her there for the later one.  In the afternoon we had a lovely visit with Pat, Ewart and their cats Sam and Sylvester.  One of the highlights was that Pat served me a glass of Root Beer – I don’t get to have one of those very often!
• Monday – A visit to the track in the morning was followed by the first trip of the visit into Tim Hortons where we treated ourselves not only to drinks but also to a box of timbits.  After some lunch at home, Mum and I went back into town for a shopping trip to Mark’s and Walmart.
• Tuesday – After our (almost) daily track walk, we headed north to Barrie.  Mum took some things to a jewellers there for adjustment then we went to the Georgian Mall first for lunch at the Sunset Grill and then to shop.  I particularly enjoyed trips into the two great Canadian establishments of Roots and The Bay!
• Wednesday – Track walk followed by Tim Hortons in the morning – are you seeing a pattern here…? I had a Dairy Queen Blizzard for lunch (mint chocolate Oreo) followed by some errands around town with Mum including recycling textiles, trips to the drugstore, the bank, the British shop and Zehrs grocery store (to search for some treats to bring home!)  We picked up Subway for our dinner before heading home – it was neat to see the different options on offer in Canada compared to what we can get in the UK.  I had the “Great Canadian Club”!
• Thursday – We went to St. Jacob’s market – it’s about a 2 hour drive from Alliston but we stopped at Misty Meadow’s Market in Conn on the way there.  We perused the offerings of the market and Mum bought me my birthday present – a periodic table chopping board!  I’d admired it on the last trip there and had regretted not getting it so I am very pleased with my gift!  After we’d taken in the market stales, we went to Anna Mae’s for lunch.  Here I was able to tick off both poutine and peanut butter pie from my list of “Canadian food to enjoy while in Canada”!  It was a strange misty day so we missed out on the views of the farms across the fields that we had enjoyed in April but the driving was good and the company was excellent so there were no complaints from me.
• Friday – On Friday our track walk was followed by a trip to the charity shop in Alliston to take some things we’d sorted at home over the course of the week.  After lunch, I said goodbye to Mum and Dad (this is always hard….) and headed to Oakville to meet up with the chemistry girls.  Nada and I had dinner with Katrina and her family and after dinner we went to see Nadine at the arena where her daughter Alyssa was competing in a figure skating completion.  It was really neat to see her skating live – I’ve watched the live stream of her competitions when I get a chance but you can’t appreciate the speed of the skating and the height of the jumps compared to watching it live.
• Saturday – The catch up with Katrina and her family continued in the morning with a walk to the shops and lunch with Katrina.  I was happy to be able to watch Owen play the first period of his hockey game before saying goodbye and setting off for the airport…  That went fast!

Surprisingly the weather enabled us to get out and about more than we had expected too – the temperature hovered around 0C and it was dry.  And although it was overcast most of the time I was there, I’ll take that in the winter in Canada anytime! It was lovely to see everyone – I like this formula of quick winter trips to Canada.  They might be becoming an annual thing!