Tea. Toast. & Trivia.

S4 E11: Graciela Gonçalves Da Silva on Building Deeper Connections Through Art Graciela Gonçalves Da Silva “I learned to share silences, paying attention to things that I did not understand, and there was no chance to ask, but just being there was enough to enjoy it. This was deeper than any words I wished to use. Life was suddenly filled with humble adventures. Welcome to Tea, Toast and Trivia. Thank you for listening in.  I am you host, Rebecca Budd, and I am looking forward to sharing this moment with you. I am beyond thrilled that I am travelling virtually to Los Angeles where I am meeting up with Argentine artist, Graciela Gonçalves Da Silva Since 2004, Graciela has been developing images for graphic design, animation, videogames, comics, and toys. She has always felt comfortable expressing things through characters. She says that drawing is like breathing. One day she decided to go out and draw on the streets, and she has never stopped. I invite you to put the kettle on and add to this exciting con

Season 4 Episode 10: Marcelle Glock on The Wood Fired Ceramic Tradition Part 2 Welcome to Tea Toast & Trivia. Thank you for listening in. I am your host Rebecca Budd, and I am looking forward to sharing this moment with you Today, I am heading back to Mudge Island, located within the scenic Gulf Islands, between Vancouver Island and Gabriola Island.   Marcelle Glock, ceramist, and I are continuing the discussion on the wood fired ceramic tradition. You will recall that Marcelle’s pottery and sculptures sit in private collections around the world. Her artwork encompasses stoneware, raku, and local wild terra-cotta.  Marcelle forms clay into extraordinary artworks – from functional to sculptural, wearable and oracle.  She imbues each piece with a primal reverence toward the natural world. I invite you to put the kettle on and add to this exciting conversation on Tea Toast & Trivia. And a special thank you, Marcelle, for sharing your insights, your journey, and your connection to

S4 E9:   Stephanie Ladouceur on Staying the Course  Welcome to Tea, Toast and Trivia. Thank you for listening in. We live in a world that demands our time and energy.  These are precious and scarce resources.  There is only so much time and we have only so much energy.   Time to check in with my wellness coach, Stephanie from Bold Moves, for an energy boast and a great conversation on coaching for health and fitness. So put the kettle on and add to our discussion on Tea Toast & Trivia.  I am your host Rebecca Budd and I’m looking forward to sharing this moment with you. Thank you for joining Stephanie and me on Tea Toast & Trivia.  A special shout-out to Stephanie who keeps me focused and inspired by her dedication and enthusiasm for health and fitness. One last thought comes from Winnie-the-Pooh: “A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise.” A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh Until next time, dear friends, keep safe and be well! Music by Pastis

Season 4 Episode 8: Irena Stropnik on Adventures in Hockey Welcome to Tea, Toast and Trivia. Thank you for listening in. Today, I am delighted that my dear friend, Irena Stropnik, has joined Tea Toast & Trivia to bridge the 972 kilometers, between Calgary and Vancouver. If you are taking a road trip it would take 11 hours and 46 minutes via the Trans-Canada Highway.  I promise it would be an unforgettable, breathtaking journey for you would be traveling through the majestic Canadian Rockies. Irena and I will be discussing Hockey, which is defined as a game played on an ice rink by two opposing teams of six skaters each who try to knock a flat round puck into the opponents’ goal with angled sticks. Hockey is one of the most popular sports in Canada. This will be an exciting discussion so put the kettle on and add to the conversation. Meet the Russian Babushkas Playing Ice Hockey Thank you for joining Irena and me on Tea Toast & Trivia. And a special thank you, Irena, for sharing your thoughts and

S4 E7: Travelling to Cango Caves, South Africa with Roberta Eaton Cheadle Welcome to Tea, Toast and Trivia. Thank you for listening in. Living in the reality of Covid-19, travel has been curtailed, internationally as well as domestically. Even though travel is coming back slowly, there are places that I will never visit in my lifetime.   Over the past months, I have found that travel is possible through the alchemy of technology. Welcome to a new podcast series on Tea Toast & Trivia – “The Virtual Journey” which will explore new horizons through the eyes of a friend.  As Marcel Proust reminds me, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” I am thrilled that Roberta Eaton Cheadle, aka Robbie, has invited me to South Africa, which is approximately 16,000 kilometres, as the crow flies, from Vancouver Canada.  I have crossed an ocean and entered the southern hemisphere. I invite you to put the kettle on and join the conversation on Tea To

S4 E 6: Cary Hubbard on Cary’s Garage and the Project Car Revival “This channel is dedicated to my love of Vehicles. Cars, Truck, and Motorcycles. I love cars from all corners of the globe! I will review cars in my current collection and take you along as I work on them and get them fixed up.” Cary Hubbard, Cary’s Garage  Welcome to Tea Toast & Trivia. Thank you for listening in! I am your host Rebecca Budd, and I am looking forward to sharing this moment with you. My father loved cars!  When I was a child, our family outings were to car dealerships and car expositions. With that in mind, you can imagine my excitement when Tim Price from Off Center & Not Even introduced me to Cary Hubbard from Cary’s Garage.  Cary joined me for a discussion about cars, trucks, cars, and more cars. On January 2nd, I tuned into Cary’s Garage YouTube channel for the first episode of Project Z Car Revival.  Cary picked up a 1980 Datsun 280ZX that he is going to get back on the road. This is going

S4 E5:  Shehanne Moore and Dave Astor on Reading the Classics “A classic is the term given to any book which comes to represent the whole universe, a book on a par with ancient talismans.” Italo Calvino, Why Read the Classics? Welcome to Tea, Toast and Trivia. Thank you for listening in. Shehanne Moore from Dundee Scotland, and David Astor from Montclair, New Jersey have joined me in connecting three times zones within seconds to bring you a discussion on “What is a classic? Why should we read classics? And what classics should we read? Shehanne, also known as Shey, is a published author and publisher under Black Wolf Books, a small royalty paying publisher, presently taking submissions by invitation only. Dave Astor is an author, journalist, blogger, and writer of the award-winning weekly “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column for Baristanet.com.  He is a National Society of Newspaper Columnists board member. Shey and Dave are avid readers and have great insights to share. This promises to be an ex

S4 E4: Cathy Derksen on Navigating the Process of Transformation Welcome to Tea Toast & Trivia. Thank you for listening in. I am your host Rebecca Budd, and I am looking forward to sharing this moment with you. I am delighted and thrilled that Wealth and Success Coach, Cathy Derksen has joined me on Tea Toast & Trivia for a discussion on how envisioning and planning are essential in navigating the process of personal transformation. Cathy is a four-time Amazon #1 best-selling author, coach, and mentor whose career is dedicated to helping women tap into their own greatness. She believes that we owe it to ourselves and each other to create lives that fill us with genuine joy.  How do we define success?  What benchmarks do we choose to measure success?  Does success lead to happiness and well-being?  These are the questions that we will explore today. I invite you to put the kettle on and add to this exciting discussion on Tea Toast & Trivia. Listeners, thank you for joining Cathy

S4 E3: Carol Taylor on Tasting Life and Celebrating Food. Welcome to Tea Toast & Trivia. Thank you for listening in! I am your host Rebecca Budd, and I am looking forward to sharing this moment with you.  I am delighted and thrilled that my friend and food blogger, Carol Taylor and I are connecting Thailand and Canada to discuss food, travel, and celebrations. Carol is an amazing food blogger who shares authentic recipes and tips on how to shop local for fresh, natural ingredients.  As a strong advocate for our environment, Carol believes that we can all make a difference.  She says that change starts with us – from within ourselves and our homes.  I invite you to put the kettle on and add to this exciting conversation on Tea Toast & Trivia.  Thank you for joining Carol and me on Tea Toast & Trivia. And a special thank you, Carol, for sharing your love food, celebration, community, and the environment.   You have inspired me, and I know that you have inspired oth

Season 4 Episode 2: A Huge Thank You and Welcome to 2022 A few weeks ago I received an invitation via e-mail from Anchor to upload video files via Anchor that will come through as a video on the Spotify platform. Your account has now been enabled for Video Podcasts. For step-by-step instructions on publishing your first Video Podcast episode, check out our how-to guide.” Technology continues to find ways in which to bring us together as a global community. Over the past months, we have learned to work, study, and connect within a virtual environment. I recall the exact moment when I pressed the publish button for my first blog post in 2010. I felt that same sense of anticipation and trepidation when I published my first podcast in 2019. And now, in 2022, I have accepted Anchor’s invitation to post a Video Podcast. The length is less than two minutes long. It is my thank you for your support and encouragement of life-affirming conversations. January is the month for beginnings! As Meister Eckhart once wrote: B

Season 4 Episode 1:  Happy New Year with Liz Humphreys and Elisabeth Van Der Meer Welcome to Tea, Toast, and Trivia! Thank you for listening in! Happy New Year! We have entered the Year 2022. I am your host, Rebecca Budd. Thank you for listening in to this special podcast to bid a fond farewell to 2021 and offer a warm hello to the incoming 2022, a new year of possibilities and opportunities. Liz Humphreys from Edinburgh, Scotland, and Elisabeth Van Der Meer from Porvoo, Finland have joined me today for a celebration of New Year traditions that bring us together as a global community. Happy New Year, Liz and Elisabeth! Exciting news coming to you on our next adventure that will take us back to Russia. Stay tuned for more information. So put the kettle on and add to this exciting conversation on Tea Toast & Trivia. Thank you, Liz, for your willingness to take on this massive project, #WarAndPeade2022, and for your invitation to once again enter the world of Russian Literature. Thank you, Elisabeth, fo

Season 3 Episode 52:  Is There A Santa Claus? Welcome to Tea Toast & Trivia. Thank you for listening in! I am your host, Rebecca Budd. I look forward to sharing this moment with you. December 24th Christmas Eve has arrived.  With the last-minute shopping completed, we ready our hearts for this special evening anticipated since the beginning of December.  All the plans have been made, the gifts have been wrapped and the baking completed. All of December has been in anticipation of Christmas Day.  And yet, as I look back, it was Christmas Eve that held the magic.  The lights of the Christmas tree flickered, spreading a warmth around us as we sipped hot chocolate and waited for Santa Claus to arrive. Is there a Santa Claus? There is reliable confirmation that dates to 1897, when eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote her famous letter. You may recall that it all began when Virginia asked her father, Dr. Philip O’Hanlon, whether there really was a Santa Claus.  Her father’s answe

“For there is no friend like a sister in calm or stormy weather; To cheer one on the tedious way, to fetch one if one goes astray, to lift one if one totters down, to strengthen whilst one stands.” Christina Rossetti Welcome to Tea, Toast and Trivia. Thank you for listening in. I am your host, Rebecca Budd, and I am looking forward to sharing this moment with you. It happens to all of us. Some time in our life we come to know that we will never read all the books that are on our “to read” shelves. My sister, Sarah, hosts The Book Dialogue podcast, which records our unscripted discussions on the books we read, which is our way of expanding our reading compacity. Sarah is a voracious reader and I confess that I must run to keep up with her. The Book Dialogue podcast has been on a recent hiatus, while Sarah completed her MBA studies.  Good news, Sarah received her MBA with distinction.   And more good news is that The Book Dialogue will be back on schedule in 2022.    But in the mea

Season 3 Episode 50: Debby Gies on Being an Eclectic Memoirist and Conversationalist Welcome to Tea, Toast and Trivia. Thank you for listening in. I am your host, Rebecca Budd, and I am looking forward to sharing this moment with you. I am delighted that blogger and non-fiction writer, Debby Gies and I are connecting Toronto and Vancouver, Canada. Debby is a Canadian author, writing under the pen name of D.G. Kaye. She writes about life, matters of the heart and women’s issues. Her intent is to inspire others by sharing her stories about events she has encountered, and the lessons that have come along with them. Debby is an empathetic fashionista and shopper extraordinaire who loves to laugh. She is an eclectic memoirist and conversationalist who writes to empower by sharing slices of life.  Her blog is a wide-ranging mix of randomness, where you will find anything from writing tips to tales from the past, to travel tips, book reviews, and author interviews. I invite you to put the kettle on and add to t

S3E49: Liz Humphreys, Elisabeth Van Der Meer and Mandy Henderson on Farewell to the #KaramazovReadalong and Welcome #WarAndPeace2022 Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.” Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov Welcome to Tea, Toast and Trivia. Thank you for listening in. I am your host, Rebecca Budd, and I am looking forward to sharing this moment with you. The #KaramazovReadalong has reached the end of the journey which started on August 27, 2021. Today, we are saying a farewell to The Karamazov Brothers by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Liz Humphreys from Edinburgh, Scotland, and Elisabeth Van Der Meer from Porvoo, Finland have joined me to look back on what we have learned and look forward to what may come. We have a special guest, Mandy Henderson, from Christchurch, New Zealand who has

S3 E48: Yvonne Thevenot on Mentorship Within a Changing Global World Welcome to Tea Toast & Trivia. Thank you for listening in. I am your host, Rebecca Budd, and I am looking forward to sharing this moment with you. I am delighted and thrilled that my friend and Business Strategist, Yvonne Thevenot and I are connecting Toronto and Vancouver to discuss change management and mentorship within an evolving business world that spans the globe. Yvonne is a certified change expert and business transformation specialist who employs a client-focused, and people-centric approach to strategic change.  As an executive mentor and thought partner, she creates a space that invites a rich and fulfilling dialogue. She is a passionate change agent whose work creates more confident and capable employees. Her goal is to foster a creative and innovative spirit vital to thrive within a dynamic environment I invite you to put the kettle on and add to this exciting conversation on Tea Toast & Trivia. Thank you for joini

Season 3 Episode 47:  Margaret Lindsay Holton on Listening, Repeating, Inventing, Creating ‘Write because you must — respect your body and your brain. Listen carefully. Music helps. Repeat slowly. Then, riff. Invent. Create. Keep trying. Give and Take. Engage. Flow. Grow. And Go.’ Margaret Lindsay Holton Welcome to Tea, Toast and Trivia. Thank you for listening in. I am you host, Rebecca Budd, and I am looking forward to sharing this moment with you. I am beyond thrilled that I am travelling virtually to the southern shore of Lake Ontario where I will meet up with Canadian Artist & Author: Margaret Lindsay Holton MLH) at her fabulous ‘open-loft’ 2-storey studio on the Lake Ontario waterfront Lindsay is a self-taught, born and bred Canadian artist, author, and filmmaker from Southern Ontario. She was voted ‘Arts Person of the Year’ by City of Burlington’s BEST Committee in May 2017, and an ‘Alumni of Influence’ by the University of Toronto in 2018. Thank you for sharing this moment with Lindsay and me

Season 3 Episode 46: Jean-Jacques Fournier on Poetic Interest, Inspiration and Evolution Welcome to Tea Toast & Trivia! Thank you for listening in. I am your host, Rebecca Budd, and I am looking forward to sharing this moment with you. I am delighted and thrilled that my dear friend and poet, Jean-Jacques Fournier, is with me today to share insights on the publication of his 17th book of poems, Poetry in Brief – a day in a life –.  This collection of short poems comes in a pocket-size-book edition and an e-book version. In a recent e-mail discussion, Jean-Jacques wrote these words: “You asking me about my poetic interest, inspiration and its evolution, etc., that instilled the need for me to write in this medium. These are things I haven’t profoundly thought about in years. Despite the adage of old memories being more readily available than newer ones, as we get older, regardless one must awaken the possessive demons that try to prevent memory’s disclosures.” Jean-Jacques started writing in earnest w

S3 E45: Marcelle Glock, Ceramist on the Wood Fired Ceramic Tradition Welcome to Tea Toast & Trivia. Thank you for listening in. I am your host Rebecca Budd, and I am looking forward to sharing this moment with you. Today, I am heading over to Mudge Island, located within the scenic Gulf Islands, between Vancouver Island and Gabriola Island.   I am delighted and thrilled to meet up with Marcelle Glock, Ceramist to discuss the wood fired ceramic tradition. Marcelle is a remarkable artist. Her pottery and sculptures sit in private collections around the world. Her artwork encompasses stoneware, raku, and local wild terra-cotta.  Marcelle forms clay into extraordinary artworks – from functional to sculptural, wearable and oracle.  She imbues each piece with a primal reverence toward the natural world. I invite you to put the kettle on and add to this exciting conversation on Tea Toast & Trivia. Thank you for joining Marcelle and me on Tea Toast & Trivia. This conversation has

Season 3 Episode 44: Legends & Traditions Welcome to Tea Toast & Trivia. Thank you for listening in. I am your host, Rebecca Budd, and I am looking forward to sharing this moment with you. Happy Halloween! On the days of October 31 and November 1, we are celebrating traditions that have come to use through the centuries.  The ancients who commemorated the Celtic Festival of Samhain would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts, marking the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or “darker-half” of the year. All Saints Day originated with Pope Gregory III, in around 731 when he designated November 1st as a time to honour all saints. Soon, as is the way with legends and traditions, All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain.  What was first known as All Hallows Eve, became Halloween, a day where activities like trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns, festive gatherings, donning costumes and eating treats have entertained us over the years. I am pos