So a bit of a background then...

I have been wanting to see a moose in it's own environment for a very long time.

When we went to Sun Valley earlier this year, my clients saw a moose while out driving one day and this was a run down of the conversation...

ME: I've heard that people see the odd moose around here
CLIENT: Yeah, we saw one yesterday (showing absolutely no emotion of any sort)
ME: YOU SAW A MOOSE??!!!
CLIENT: Yeah
ME: Where??!!
CLIENT: While we were out driving, it was by the road
ME: You saw a moose??!!
CLIENT: When are the boys due for a feed?
ME: You really saw a moose??!!
CLIENT: Is there any spare toilet paper downstairs?
ME: What road? You saw a moose??!!
CLIENT: Excuse me while I watch this paint dry....

Well, OK so the last bit didn't really happen although it may well have given the chance.

I even suffered the Toronto Zoo last year so I could see a moose in captivity. Unfortunately it was hiding that day. I have several photos of moose that I found stuffed and mounted on various walls around Ontario.

But today I saw a fair dinkum real moose eating grass on the side of the road, but of course have no photo of this one as I was driving.

I'm not sure anything else of any importance happened today. (Did I mention I saw a moose?)

I drove from Toronto to North Bay - which just happens to be the home of the Dionne Quints! What a fluke! But it appears the museum is closed at this time of the year.

But it doesn't matter any more because I saw a moose.

Today...

The thrill of the hunt

I returned to the point of my earlier crocodile hunt the other day and to my delight I was successful in the capture of a couple of very nice specimens.

I was only going to catch a ring. But... I turned out I had to wrestle with a bracelet as well... sorry Mr Bank Man - but it had to be done.

And of course thank you Mr Kieselstein-Cord - I like your style!

Better late than never

I have been lucky enough over the last few months to have had a few visits from a little kitchen fairy bearing food parcels (for the sad and suffering - if I may say so myself!).

Jane has turned up several times with such delights as veggie lasagna, sweet potato soup, vodka sauce and pasta, apple crumble etc. But the Piece De Resistance would have to have been the rhubarb crumble. And I hope that makes it worthwhile having spent $10 on rhubarb! It was mighty fine and I'd come again if I knew it were on the menu - although a little warning may be needed.

(Belated) thanks very much kitchen fairy - come visiting in London any time you need a new kitchen to work in!

Time to smell the roses

I've just arrived in Toronto and made it to Pam's place. She is not here and I have the place to myself until her flatmate gets home. I am listening to Leonard Cohen and playing on my computer, the doors are open and there is a light breeze. It's overcast and cooler then NY.

AND A CAT JUST WANDERED BY ME AND STARTED EATING FROM A BOWL UNDER THE TABLE!!!!

It doesn't get too much better then this! Pam and Isaac have a new cat and I'm already in love with him. I am guessing he is a he as he is enormous and looks like a boy cat.

But I feel more relaxed and ready to enjoy a wind down after 12 weeks of madness. I have absolutely loved being in the same city as Jane. It is so different being in the same place for 3 months rather then our usual 1-2 week intensive visits. This way we could chill out and not feel like we ought to be doing something all the time or of course we could do something if we felt so inclined.

It's been very nice and was very sad to say goodbye this morning...

I want one of those!!

I wish I could have one in my kitchen...

One heck of a gator-crasher
ITN - Wednesday, April 23 02:25 pm

A Florida woman got the fright of her life when she found an eight-foot alligator in her kitchen.

Sandra Frosti, 69, came across the uninvited guest at her home in Oldsmar, just north of Tampa.

She said: "I heard a noise from the kitchen, and was much too loud to have been my cat, so I went to check it out. Much to my surprise, a very large alligator was in my kitchen."

Ms Frosti phoned the police, who called in a wildlife expert to remove the 200 pound reptile.

It's thought the gator came from a nearby pond, and across Ms Frosti's back lawn before breaking in through a screen door.

"He looked awfully well fed. The police seem to think he was checking out my cat," Ms Frosti said.

Crocodile hunting in New York

Today I went croc hunting and found more crocs then you can poke a stick at!

I found a shop called Kieselstein-Cord which seems to specialise in things crocodilian. Although the nice man in the shop seemed to think they were alligators.

I was in a state of absolute bliss - almost too excited actually - I was sweating and doing very quick calculations of my credit card and then my mortgage after finding out the price of one piece...

But I was able to plan a small purchase - I must remember to go back on Wednesday to pick it up...