• Personal

    We love kids…

    One of the great joys of the Salamanders team is the kids…We think that it’s the quiet atmosphere of our home away from home that has kids enjoying our surroundings. We have no televisions and our music is soft, so folks are able to enjoy quiet conversation that includes the young ‘uns. Ok, so once and a while a wee one will act out but most of the time, we are blessed with children who sit and enjoy our food along with their parents and grandparents. It’s not that we believe that “well-behaved” kids should act like smaller adults: frankly, folks, we have had more adults acting out than their…

  • Events,  Update

    Lights Out at Salamanders

    The idea of a large scale switch off was coined and developed in 2006 as an initiative in Australia to engage the public on the issue of climate change. Originally called “The Big Flick,” the very first Earth Hour was March 31, 2007 at 7:30 pm, local time. In October of that year, San Francisco, California followed suit. 2008 was the first year that Earth Hour was held internationally. Earth Hour 2008 was celebrated on all seven continents. Landmarks all around the world turned off their non-essential lighting for Earth Hour, including: –  Sydney Opera House (Sydney, Australia); –  Empire State Building (New York City); –  Sears Tower (now Willis…

  • History,  Holiday,  Informative

    St. Patrick’s Day, Part Two

    Seeing as tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, we thought you might like some fun facts about the day. We could be wearing blue instead of green. His colour was “Saint Patrick’s blue,” which was a pale shade. Green began being associated with St. Patrick because he used the shamrock to explain the Trinity to pagans. Its popularity was bolstered by the Irish independence movement in the late 18th century. St. Patrick’s Day parades did not originate in Ireland. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was in Boston, Mass on March 18, 1737, followed by the New York parade, which first took place in 1762. The first parade in Ireland was…

  • Holiday,  Informative

    The Feast of St. Patrick

    St. Patrick’s Day or “the day of the Festival of Patrick” is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional date of Saint Patrick. St. Paddy is, of course, the patron saint of Ireland since about the 5th Century (a real old guy). Now it has come to pass that St. Patrick’s Day has developed a number of symbols over the years: *  There is the traditional Wearing of the Green on that day (you know, as per The Emerald Isle); *  There is the Celtic Cross (check the movie Gangs of New York for a rather violent explanation); *  Leprechauns, rainbows and pots of gold at…

  • History,  Personal

    Salamanders: What’s in a Name?

    Ahem, now hear this: Wikipedia says that “Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by a lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All present-day Salamander families are grouped together under the scientific name Urodela” (gesundheit!). “Salamander diversity is most abundant in the Northern Hemisphere and most species are found in the Holarctic ecozone, with some species present in the Neotropical zone.” Well ok, so much for that. Meanwhile, if you like watching cooking shows on the tube, especially those that are set in restaurants, you may have people…

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