Because it’s the most important topic ever, I’ll get y’all up to speed on my latest hair colour, while also providing a bit of a “tour de restaurant patios”.
First up, at Loloan Lobby Bar, you can see that the hair is kind of rose gold (and also windswept, and also my makeup is quite faded, but oh well).
We biked over to the Loloan that Tuesday for dinner, and partook of their new summer menu. It was very good!
Then a couple weeks later, behold the blonde look at our anniversary dinner (32 years married, 36 together) chez The Odd Duck.
I now I understand why Jean commented on how their patio lacked charm—I hadn’t realized til looking at these pictures how much of the street view he was seeing! My view was pretty different…
… because the canvas did block the streetscape for me. (Also note Jean’s weight loss, hey?) We’ll have to trade seats next time to be fair.
Regardless of charm or lack thereof, we both really enjoyed the meal. They know their food, and their wine, at The Odd Duck.
I ended up selecting a semi-permanent colour called light golden brown to dye my hair. I was quite happy with the result. You can pretty much see it in the photo below (along with more faded makeup—I’m really bad about reapplying makeup) from our dinner at Arlo, in Ottawa, last week.
Arlo also had excellent food! It’s been a good run. This isn’t even a complete list.
A couple days after our anniversary dinner, we biked over to Babylon Wine Sisters to meet some friends for vino and a meal. Less elaborate than these other places, but still très bon. And perfect weather for it.
And our other big dinner in Ottawa, at Fairouz Cafe, was also fantastic and creative. Halloumi cheese with cappuccino cream, dates, and figs; duck confit flatbread; babaganoush with shaved truffle!
And between meals…
we did a few other things. The Friday before leaving for Ottawa, we went to see Something Rotten in Stratford. Lordy, that was funny! It’s set in the time of Shakespeare. Two brothers are trying to compete with him as playwrights. With the help of a soothsayer, they come up with the idea of producing the world’s first musical!
It ends up mocking / paying tribute to numerous musicals, as well as various Shakespearean plays, and it’s all just delightful.
As for the trip to Ottawa, that went well! It was very hot and humid, but we managed by doing our longer walks more in the morning, and spending afternoons in cooler museums or drinking iced beverages. Our hotel, the Sonder Rideau, was very spacious and well-equipped, and located right downtown, so that was all good. We visited KIN Winery, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, and Rockcliffe Park. If you’d like more details and photos, I’ve posted them here: Ottawa 2024.
The poop scoop
I and fellow activists have not been successful in saving the Ontario Wastewater Surveillance Program, but there have been some minor accomplishments:
- Quite a few media articles about it, in The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, CBC, CTV News, the Tyee. The Health Minister got asked about it at a media scrum, which seemed to make her cranky. It’s definitely something, as other program cancellations have gone mostly unremarked.
- The cities of Ottawa and London have come up with funding to continue the program, in a somewhat reduced capacity, for 2 or 3 more months. (Peterborough and Windsor might also have cobbled something together; not as sure here.)
- The Federal government has given official statements that confirm the Ontario government has been lying about the reason for cancelling it (their claim was that the Federal government was taking it over):
- The Federal program does not duplicate what the Ontario one did.
- The Federal expansion will not result in a system as comprehensive as Ontario’s was.
- Ontario did not consult or collaborate with the Federal government on coordinating wastewater testing programs.
I personally got a flurry of email responses about this in recent days, from the Mayor of Waterloo, the Chair of Waterloo Region, and my Federal MP, Bardish Chagger.
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