A Bit O' Culcha

August was a bit of a stressful month for me and my family as I had some problems with my house in Leeds. I hope things are now on their way to being sorted out but would like to start this month's blog by thanking my parents for their ongoing support and assistance as well as Chris for his sound counsel. Anne, Charlotte, Janet, Jess, Jude, Peter and Rose have also been great in offering both practical help and emotional support - thank you. It has been greatly appreciated. Note to self - being an overseas landlord is not the easiest when things don't go quite as smoothly as you'd hope. Anyway, I really hope this particular drama will be fully resolved soon although I suspect the efforts to recoup my financial losses may drag on somewhat. You would not believe what chaos can ensue all because of a little puddy cat!

Anyway, September has proven to be a better month all round. The tail end of summer appears to be petering out and the days are becoming crisper and chillier - I'm back in socks once more! Before the autumn weather descended, however, I was able to enjoy a couple of foodie treats. The first being a day at Supperworks, a kind of communal kitchen whereby you pay a fixed amount, all the ingredients and recipes are provided and you batch cook your meals for the month. I had got a coupon to try this out and had great fun cooking away knowing that I had zero cleaning up to do!

I'm not sure if the North American trend for food trucks has hit the rest of the world yet but it's the latest gastro-trend on this side of the pond. We're not talking the local chip or ice cream van parking on the corner but rather gourmet catering delivered out of the back of a truck. Many of the trucks have something of a cult following and people track the trucks' whereabouts using social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter. A few weeks ago the trucks decided to get together and had a foodie pow wow at the Distillery District, close to my building. The lines of people queuing up for bison burgers, cupcakes and various types of tacos were huge. I settled on a quinoa salad made with lime, avocado, black beans, tomatoes and chili - it was delicious!

Also in my local area was one of my favorite Toronto festivals, Buskerfest. Buskers from all over the world attend the event in aid of Epilepsy Toronto and perform there acts over three days. This year there were skateboarders jumping through hoops, contortionists, clowns and acrobats to entertain. For a few donated bucks, it really is a fun event...and the face painting's pretty good, too.

The Distillery District borders an area of Toronto called the Portlands, which is currently sparking something of a controversy here in Toronto due to the plans proposed by our current mayor and his brother (aka Tweedledum and Tweedledee). However, I trundled off to this part of town, currently occupied by film studios, docks and the city dump to see one of the most spectacular theatrical events I've ever seen. Cirque du Soleil is one of Canada's gifts to the world of entertainment and I was delighted to see Totem, their new production, along with two of my friends. The company combine the very best of circus performance with the most amazing sets, costumes, lighting and music. I loved every second.

Culture has been high on the agenda of late as September is the month that TIFF hits Toronto. TIFF is the Toronto International Film Festival and a highlight of many movie makers' and movie stars' year. The city goes crazy with celebrities, red carpet premieres and paparazzi everywhere. This year I decided not to volunteer due to work commitments and because I had a visitor, Jude, here. However, we saw a number of films - my favourite being Salmon Fishing in the Yemen starring Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt and Kristin Scott Thomas although The Lady about Aung San Suu Kyi was excellent, too.

We also managed to catch a few celebrities as they opened their various movies. I swooned over George Clooney and, for the second time in my life, found myself two feet away from one of my movie-star pin ups. I'm sure he smiled when I yelled out in a very high-pitched voice, "George, I love you!"

On that note, I shall sign off. With thoughts of Gorgeous George lingering I'm sure to have sweet dreams tonight!