Wednesday, December 31st - Happy New Year's Eve!

Conditions at 4:50 am: clear and COLD - it's currently -16' but feels more like -24' with the wind.
Expected later: more of the same  moving only a couple of degrees to -12' later

The family got away just in time  to miss the sudden plunge in temperatures. Yesterday was the same, very

First test drive

cold that we are just not used to yet.   After spending the early part of the afternoon at the pool on Monday, everyone converged at the airport to try for a direct flight at 5:45 p.m.. No such luck. There was a flight leaving for Montreal at 6:30 and Greg, Meg and James were able to get on that one. The next option was one to Halifax around 8:00.  Patti and Tristen made that one and had planned to stay  over till the wee hours of the morning to get back to Toronto. Fortunately for them, they got to Halifax just in time to sprint through the terminal and catch a flight to Montreal. They didn't get home that night but the other three did. Fortunately for Patti and Tristen there's a crew centre in Montreal where they could get comfy on some nice couches in a locked, private room, with a TV to entertain them until time to go to sleep.  It was definitely worth getting that far and saved a hotel room. They were catching a flight at 5:30 the next morning so a hotel room would have surely been a bit of a waste of money for such a short time.  Finally later in the morning I got a text message advising that all people, dogs and suitcases were where they are supposed to be.

Just a little twisted at the airport!

It seemed like they had just gotten here and it was time to  leave again. Realistically there wasn't a lot for the kids to do. There's no snow, and it was muddy part of the time they were here so playing outside wasn't really very much fun. But then they were all pretty much plugged into electronic devices for a large part of the time, so they didn't mind. At least it gave them something to do. Next year, we'll all be in Williamsburg where there will be lots to do, no matter what your interests are.

No big plans for New Years Eve tonight. Very low key - snacks and a couple of drinks with great friends - does it really get any better than that anyway? I think not.




Happy New Year everyone, see you in 2015 (aka Friday!)

Monday, December 29th - an early end to our christmas visit

Conditions at 6:15 am: -1'
Expected later: -2'  with a mix of sun and cloud and maybe a few flurries, before the colder air moves in later in the week

It's been a combination of busy and relaxing over the past couple of days. The weather has been mostly wet so outdoor activities have been non-existent.

We had our turkey dinner on Friday evening. I had invited an elderly lady who lives down the road but she had company and wasn't sure she could make it. We had given her a time but we turned out being way behind schedule. It all worked our because in the end, she arrived, expecting us to be all finished, and we were just eating when she arrived. We had a lovely visit with her and she mentioned several times how grateful she was for the invitation. We really need to make a point of inviting her a little more often.

Saturday was busy as we were expecting company in the evening. Mike from work, his wife Willow and daughter Lilian came over for supper.  We set everything up in the craft room upstairs in the garage (they knew that's where they would be eating) and it worked very well. There was much more room for 10 people up there than there would have been in the house. Lilian really liked the dog and the kids enjoyed keeping her entertained as well.  A good time was had by all, I think, although there was a huge pile of dishes, for the second night in a row.

Sunday was a little more relaxed as the only plans we had were to take in a movie in the afternoon.  James and I went to see "Unbroken", based on a true story and it was quite good, while Patti and the other two kids went to see the new "Night at the Museum".  They also enjoyed their choice. Before leaving town we stopped at the grocery store and picked up a couple of things we needed.  Then it was home to set up our supper. We put together a cheese tray with all the various cheeses Patti brought from Europe, as well as some shrimp, pate, crackers and steamed mussels.  We filled our plates then went into the living room to watch a couple of kids movies that were Christmas themed. A pretty relaxing way to end the weekend.

This morning, Patti is looking at flights and they're pretty full for the rest of the week so they're going to try to get out this afternoon.  That's the trouble with traveling this time of year - so is everyone else. We've decided to do something different about that next year. We're booking a resort in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. We can all drive there, a day for the Ontario folks, two for us, but that's okay. No worries about catching flights, as long as the weather cooperates, of course.  We'll have lots to do while we're there and there's even an indoor pool and hot tub for those who would just like to relax. There seems to be something for everyone - history for those into that sort of thing, Luray Caverns to explore for the adventurous, and an outlet mall with 120 stores for those in the group who love to shop! It will definitely be a different Christmas vacation next year.

Friday, December 26th - Happy Boxing Day!

Conditions at 7:00 am: 4'
Expected later: sun but moving down to 2' - quite a change from the 14' we experienced on Christmas Day. We did receive some rain but I don't think it was anywhere near what they had predicted.

The worst of the rain, for us, came in Charlottetown just as we were picking everyone up at the airport. It was barely raining when we left home at 4:45 but by the time we got to town it was really pouring. Everyone was soaked by the time we got in to vehicles. Poor Greg was near drowned, waiting for the skychecked bags! We were fortunate  everybody was able to make the same flight - you just never are sure when it's standby. But the odds were in our favour being  it was the actual day.

As everyone dried out or put on drier clothes, we put some appetizers in the oven and pulled out the cheese and veggie trays I had put together earlier in the day. As we nibbled, we opened presents. Lloyd and I were extremely spoiled with a huge basket of goodies that Patti has put together during her travels over the past few months - cheeses, pates, exotic mustards, wines and champaign from France, Geneva, and various other spots that are on my bucket list, that she's flown to over the last little while. Needless to say we look forward to sampling over the next little while.

Everyone was very happy with their gifts, and the look on James face when he opened up the ceremonial dagger for his kilt kit, was priceless. He loved it, and a while later, I was out in the kitchen and he came out and gave me another big hug and another thank you, Grandma. I have to enjoy these moments, as soon it won't be cool to do that, but I hope that's not for a very long time. The younger two were pleased with their robes I had made for them, as well as various other little things. Everyone did very well. Lloyd was happy with his gifts and really liked the warm sweater I got him last week at Roots. I also got him a small binding machine for putting together documents and he said he was wondering the other day how much they cost, so timing was great on that one. I'm getting a remote starter for my car but I also received an electric throw to put over me when I'm watching TV cause I always seem to be cold, no matter how warm the room might be. The man knows me too well!

It had been a busy day so it was off to bed fairly early for some of us - me at least. No idea how late it was for the others but they can sleep in this morning as there's nothing going on for the rest of the day - just our turkey dinner later but that's about it.

I would be remiss if I didn't thank the Van Gaals for a lovely time on Christmas Eve. We were treated to delicious homemade lasagna, salad and sweet treats. Three out of four of the kids were home, but we did talk to Caitlin on her phone via facetime. The Baird family was there, along with their little grandson Austin. It was a lot of fun having a small child there, it really made it enjoyable as little kids really do add something to all the Christmas excitement, even though he's a little too young to fully appreciate it all yet.  Just wait till next year!

Happy Boxing Day everyone, hope you all had a great Christmas and enjoy the upcoming weekend!

Wednesday, December 24th - One more sleep!!!

Conditions at 5:15 am: -1 and overcast
Expected later: the temperature will gradually go up and we should start getting rain this evening, that will be heavy into tomorrow along with strong winds, and temperatures will rise to anywhere from 12 to 14'
Perhaps we should be celebrating Easter instead of Christmas. The 25th is certainly going to feel more like that.

Hopefully the weather won't impact air travel tomorrow. One more sleep till all my babies get here. I can't wait to see them. It's been a long time. I saw James in the summer but Meg and Tristen I only saw for a few short hours back in the spring, on my way back from Victoria.

Other than some cleaning and making up beds, I'm all ready for Christmas. The presents are wrapped and under the tree, the cookies are baked, the turkey is in the fridge and the liquor stock is full. Time to bring on the holidays!

Half a day at work this morning, while Lloyd sleeps, and then I'm off till Monday morning. I'm picking up the last few things at the grocery store on  my way to work this morning (gotta love those stores that are open 24 hrs a day), then Lloyd will pick everything up from my car at 8:00 and bring it all home. It will be much faster doing it that way, rather than waiting till noon. I imagine things will be a little crazy by that time and I'd just as soon miss all that, thank you very much.

This evening Lloyd and I will be attending the Salvation Army Christmas Eve service, which is being combined with the Baptist Church and held in the Ballroom at the Delta. Then when it's over, it's off to the VanGaals for their annual Christmas Eve event. We're very fortunate to have good friends who include us in their holiday celebrations.

So, since I really have nothing else to report, a very  
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU, 
who have hung in there for yet, another year and continue to read my drivel.
 We'll connect again on Friday morning, as I'm getting ready for our Christmas Feast!

Monday, December 22nd - two great reasons to celebrate today!

Conditions at5:30 am: overcast and -3', feeling a little more like -6'
Expected later: -2 with a chance of some flurries throughout the day

As mentioned in the title, there are two really great causes for celebration today.

1) Grandson James is 14 today - how is this possible?
2) The longest day of the year has passed so today the days will start getting longer - spring must be just around the corner.

Hope you have a really great day today James. Some years they're finished school for the holidays on his birthday but this year he'll be able to celebrate with his friends at school.

It was a somewhat productive weekend. Friday was pizza night as it was our last chance to get together (or so we thought) before the holiday craziness starts. I picked up the pies on my way home and the rest of the crew convened at our house for beer/wine and pizza - always a great way to start the weekend.

I worked on a few little projects around the house on Saturday morning while Lloyd was sleeping. Before he went to bed, we spent a few minutes working on a shopping list for the  grocery store. I came up with a cunning plan while he was sleeping. Someone in the VanGaal family had to go to the airport to pick up Meghan (1) at 11:30. Brenda and I chatted and decided it might be to both our advantage to go into town to get groceries later in the evening, when the crowds had gone home. By the time we were done planning and all parties had been consulted, it was decided that  I would pick Brenda up on my way into town, and drop Lloyd off at their house. Then the guys would go into town for a beer and when we were done our shopping we would join them. It worked just too well.  We left the VanGaals at 8:30, went into town, shopped at two different grocery stores and ended back at the bar at 10:00 pm - just a perfect amount of time to have a beer and a snack and then they could leave for the airport.  It looked good on paper, and it actually worked really well - assuming the flight arrived on time! When we got home and put the groceries away, it was around midnight. A great end to a productive day.

Sunday was even busier. I had to package up the cookies for the lady at work, as well as some for the staff, as it's my turn to bring in the treats (we're taking turns every day this week).  I also had to make some peanut butter balls to go with all of them.  Lloyd was working out in the garage. Around mid afternoon I realized I needed more chocolate chips. I made the decision to go up to Morell, and Lloyd decided to go with me to take a break.  We got what we needed and headed home, but first we took a couple of little side trips to check out where some of the roads went in that area.

We had just gotten home when a car drove into the yard. It was our friends Jens and Linda. They had been

here earlier and we weren't home but on their way to Mount Stewart, passed us on the road. So they came back, and with them was a beautiful Poinsettia. They stopped by to wish us Merry Christmas.  They came in for coffee and spent a little while visiting. It was really nice to see them and we had a pleasant rest of the afternoon.

The rest of the day was spent pretty much just relaxing, as the laundry was washing and drying.  We're pretty much ready for Christmas, except I still have cleaning to do, but still time for that. Lloyd has been working out in the bunky and has made some improvements out  there. It's looking pretty good now. There were holes in the walls where we had taken out the kitchen area, but now those are covered nicely with beaded pine boards with trim along the top. Then he made a base for the second bed to sit on. Now it's all ready for anyone who might want to sleep out there. I know Lloyd will sleep out there the mornings he comes home from work, while our company is here. It's quiet for him and everyone else doesn't have to be tip-toeing around the house - a win-win for all concerned!

Christmas Countdowns at WiddlyTinks.com

Friday, December 19th - only 5 more days to HO HO HO

Conditions at 5:30 am: 0' with very light snow falling
Expected later: 2' and up to 1 cm of snow

Our mild weather is still continuing but now there is a chance of a bad weather, either heavy rain or snow, on Christmas Day in southern Ontario area, and maybe here as well. This could impact flights coming out of Toronto. But it's too early yet to panic. They've been wrong before and they aren't really sure just what's expected, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Yesterday was spent picking up gift boxes at the $ store to facilitate wrapping those hard to wrap items. I also have to package up cookies for the lady at work on Monday. Sunday may well be a wrapping day.  Then the flyers came out. Now it's time to go through and make my grocery list for the holidays. Now we're getting down to the crunch.  Of course if we get a big storm and the family can't get here, we'll be inviting all the neighbours in for something to eat! But I'm confident it will all work out.

Lloyd isn't sure yet just what days he'll have off and he may well be working some extra hours. We don't know for  sure, as no one has told him anything definite, so we'll just have to wait on that too. We'll plan all our meals for 4:00 in the afternoon in case he has to go to work every night, but hopefully that won't happen.


Other than getting everything ready, not a lot is going on. Brenda has been busy at home as well, so we've not had much chance to get together. Meghan(1) is arriving on Saturday so they're hoping to have most things done by then. I think some of the baking will be saved for Meg to help with and I'm sure she won't mind that. That's one disadvantage of living so far away from Patti and the kids, we can't get together to do those kinds of things. But I'm sure there will be some quality time with the kids in the kitchen while they're here.

We've recently acquired a colour copier to use for a while, that will also do double sided documents. I have a few thing I need to print, some of those being three years worth of blogs. I'm going to spend the next little while making sure they are all up to date and formatted so they can be printed. It will be nice to have those finished.  I also have some recipes I'd like to print off and put together. We'll be making good use of this piece of equipment over the next little while.

Christmas Countdowns at WiddlyTinks.com

Wednesday, December 17th - Little more than a week to go

Conditions at 4:30 am: overcast and -2 with absolutely no wind at all
Expected later: moving up to 1' and a chance of showers this afternoon, then rain overnight

It's still pretty mild for this time of year but I'm not complaining. I have to admit it makes life so much easier when you're running around trying to get things done - no slippery roads and not so cold getting in and out of the car. And we're not even going to talk about the price of gas. It's been insanely dropping over the past couple of weeks and as of yesterday, we're paying 99.9 cents per litre - pretty good compared to the $1.36 we were paying not so long ago. Doesn't it just figure - this year the family has chosen to fly down when the price of gas is the lowest it's been in years, and there's no snow! But all of that could change in a weeks time. Right now the weather network is predicting 5 to 10 cm of snow for Monday, so well see - it might be a white Christmas after all.

Helping write Christmas Cards

Christmas plans are coming together. I have most of my gifts now assembled under the tree, all waiting to be wrapped. Other than a couple of little things I still need to buy, I think I'm almost done.  The baking is done, although I could probably use a few more cookies. The cards are in the mail,  e-cards have been sent to those I can't find addresses for, so I think we're in good shape. All that's left is some grocery shopping and cleaning the house, and I still have a whole weekend left. What is wrong with this picture??? I must be overlooking something really important!

Talked to Patti yesterday afternoon and apparently she won tickets to see "One Direction" on the radio yesterday morning. Needless to say, Meghan was beside herself with excitement. That will be a pretty awesome birthday gift for her, come August, when the concert takes place.

Tonight is the Montessori School's annual Winter Play. This year they're doing Lion King, and Tristen is one of the Lions. Watch for photos in coming days. Once again I'm sure Patti has worked her magic in the costume department. I know they will have costumes from the last time they did this play, but  she's never happy with just using the old costumes. She'll likely have made a few changes. Good luck tonight kids!

Christmas Countdowns at WiddlyTinks.com

Monday, December 15th - what an insane weekend

Conditions at 5:15 am- overcast and 1'
Expected later: a  mix of sun and cloud and 2' with a small chance of either showers or flurries

Some of our weather has been a bit unseasonable but Saturday really took the prize. I spent part of the morning out in the garage cleaning up my craft room from doing Christmas cards.  I was going to do some other projects but the sun was streaming in the window and I thought I should really go outside. Oh my gosh, when I did, I was totally surprised to find the temperature was around 7' or 8 ' and with the sun it felt much warmer. I was outside with just a long sleeved shirt on and I was very comfortable. It was like a beautiful spring day!   I brought a planter outside to put Christmas greenery in, something Brenda and I do each year

 and we had talked about maybe going out on Saturday afternoon to look for stuff to decorate with.  So I took a walk around the yard and found a couple of small trees that have been damaged and will need to be cut down in the spring, but still had some green branches. I took my trimmers and a bucket out with me and after traipsing around the back field and the flower beds in front I was almost finished. Then after I went inside, I saw that Brenda had called.  I went and picked her up and we headed out  to pick up some more colourful branches and things to add to it. We came back here and she helped me finish off mine. Then she was off home to start on hers. I'm quite pleased with the results but I do need a large bow to finish it off.  I'll pick one up at lunch today.All in all a beautiful day to be outside.

The back wall is one massive waterfall

When that was done, it was time to grab a bite to eat then get ready for the Christmas party. We both got dressed up in our finest party wear, despite the fact that we were probably going to be overdressed for the occasion (I was right!) but I like to think we got dressed up for each other, rather than for everyone else.  I wore a sequined and beaded top and dress pants and Lloyd wore his suit and tie. It's been a long time since we dressed up to go out together so it was kind of nice.  Our party was at the Claddagh Oyster House at the Old Dublin Pub and it was really nice. The space itself is lovely and a good time was had by all. We had passed appetizers first as we all sat and socialized before we had our meal. We had both ordered the steak and it was cooked perfectly, or in our case, undercooked perfectly as we both like it blue, which grosses out most people.  The steaks were quite large and it was a lot of food, so much so, that I couldn't finish it and I didn't have dessert. Now that's a lot of food.  After dinner, we were all welcome to go upstairs to the pub, but we headed home instead.  Lloyd had worked the night before and didn't have a huge amount of sleep so he was starting to fade. All in all, it was a really nice evening.

Sunday wasn't quite as warm but it was still pretty mild in the morning. I headed out to the craft room quite early and spent most of the day out there working on a couple of projects that I'm pleased to say are finished. More on that at a later date! I came inside around 4:00 and the rest of the day was spent watching Christmas movies on TV, a glass (or two) of wine and some cheese, crackers, hummus, etc for snacking as we watched, and that ended up being supper.

All in all an enjoyable, and productive weekend.  And speaking of productive, I just went in to update something and learned that this is my 1,000th post! Wow, that's a lot of drivel about not much of anything!

Friday, December 12th - it's not looking like a white Christmas, but that could certainly change

Conditions at 5:30 am: 6' with patches of fog
Expected later: 7' and a slight chance of more showers

Well, after buckets and buckets of rain on Wednesday, Thursday turned out to be a pretty dandy day. While some parts of the island didn't fare too well, our end wasn't really too bad. On Thursday morning, as I was driving into town, the morning show host on the radio was talking about the sad state of the roads. While our area wasn't too bad, the west end of the island really was hit with heavy flooding that washed out several roads and covered multiple bridges, compromising their underlying structure in some cases. I was driving along Grafton Street in front of Holland College and there was water across the road. Unfortunately you were into the middle of it before you realized it was almost a foot deep. I just got through and was glad to not run into any more spots like that, as it was still raining quite heavily.

Then part way through the morning the rain stopped and the sun came out and warmed everything up to a
balmy 10'.  It was indeed a glorious afternoon. I talked to Patti at lunch time and it was -4' and snowing in southern Ontario. So sorry!

The only snowflakes in sight in our area were the plastic ones on the windows. But we know that could soon change.

Brenda and I had a lovely evening on Wednesday. It was the series finale of Republic of Doyle. I hadn't been watching it but she'd seen quite a number of episodes. We decided we may as well get together to watch and make an event out of it. So I put together some snacks for us - fresh veggies and hummus, warm sausage rolls dipped in Thai sweet chili sauce, along with a glass of wine. We followed that with tea and fresh baked cookies (okay, they were a day old).  All in all a really pleasant evening.

Thursday morning, Lloyd mentioned to me that we have a week of timeshare that we need to use before the end of May, 2015, or we'll lose it. What to do  and where to go. I spent part of the morning checking on air fares to various points of interest that we would both like to visit. Trouble is, even with our discount through our connection with Air Canada, it was still going to be very pricey. So I looked at things within driving distance and, gosh, why did I not think  of this before? I've ALWAYS wanted to visit Nantucket Island and Martha's Vineyard.  Turns out, upon further investigation, there are two resorts on Nantucket, but neither was available, which wasn't surprising. Instead we opted to book into a resort in Hyannis, which, coincidentally, happens to have ferries that run to both islands.  End of discussion - book it! So the 7th of May we will be motoring south!  Can't wait - it's a long time dream come true.

Christmas Countdowns at WiddlyTinks.com

Wednesday, December 10th - it was a festive sight

Conditions at 5:30 am: 3' heading for a high of 6' later with LOTS of rain - maybe up to 60 to 100 mm with high winds up to 90 km/hr

Brenda and Bernie were coming home from New Brunswick on Monday afternoon and had to pick up her school bus. Fortunately I'd seen in the paper that morning that it was the Christmas open house at Fanningbank, the Lieutenant Governors residence in downtown Charlottetown. The timing worked perfectly with me picking her up at her bus when I was done work, so we could drive over together. I was surprised to learn that she'd never been inside. And even more surprised (although I shouldn't have been) that she had a much more personal connection. Turns out she drives the esteemed resident's granddaughter to school every day. So after being introduced, she had something personal to add to the greeting. 

The house is impressive on the outside and even more so inside, especially all decked out for the holidays. I took some photos with my phone but they certainly don't begin to display it's beauty.

Just inside the front door, where you are greeted with a massive double staircase, to the left is a beautifully appointed sitting room, with huge trees on either side of the working fireplaces.

It seems that every horizontal surface was treated to holiday decorations.

What I wouldn't give to have a dining room like this for the holidays!

The large tree in the dining room was decorated with dried orange slices.

Something we found interesting on a sign inside the residence:

Could this explain the origin of 'Fort Augustus?'

Last night I did some laundry and baked  some cookies I just had to try.They were a spritz cookie but what makes these different is the addition of Pomegranate Molasses, which I just happened to have in my fridge. They also contain a bit of grated orange zest and they turned out quite well, I think, but I'll have to get Lloyd's opinion They're a pretty red in colour but have a tart flavour to them rather than the usual sweet we associate with Christmas cookies. I'll be making these again. 

Christmas Countdowns at WiddlyTinks.com

Monday, December 8th - anothe successful dinner.

Conditions at 5:30 am: -9 that feels more like -14 with the wind, and a light dusting of new snow on the ground
Expected later: mix of sun and cloud and a high of -5'

What a great weekend!
It all started with pizza on Friday night with the VanGaals. They were going to New Brunswick for the weekend for a family Christmas celebration and Brenda wanted to try making a cake that I've made a couple of times in the past and she really enjoyed. I had all the ingredients we needed at my house so we picked up pizza on the way home (she was in town on Friday afternoon and needed a ride back) and we all converged at our house for wine, beer and pizza. What a great way to start the weekend.

Lloyd had taken Friday night off so there was no rush for him to go to bed. After eating, Bernie went home and Brenda and I started in on the cake. It's not a difficult recipe but a bit time consuming so as we waited for our filling to chill, and the cake layers to cool, we watched some TV.
Once final assembly was complete, and the cake was put in the fridge to set overnight, she was off home.

Saturday morning I was up early with a bit of a to-do list. Lloyd was also up early and we set to work. I had more to do than I had expected and it was great that he was here (I always underestimate home long things sometimes take). One thing added to my list was baking rolls - 7 dozen to be exact. I had come across a recipe to make yeast rolls in half an hour. Sounded impossible so I tried a test batch first thing and they actually worked out well. So that took up a bit of my morning that I hadn't planned for. But it was all good and Lloyd  had time for a short nap and I had time for a quick hot bath before we had to leave. Then it was time to load up and head to the fire hall.  The vegetables were all peeled and chopped, thanks to Lloyd who did all that on Friday afternoon. The stuffed pork roasts were ready to go into the oven at the fire hall and the turkeys were roasting in the oven at home.

After unloading everything at the hall, and dragging it all upstairs, Lloyd returned home to debone the turkeys once they were cooked, and pack the meat into a large roasting pan, and make the gravy. I tended to the veggies, coleslaw and rolls. Brenda arrived shortly after I got there and we got everything organized.

Everything went very smoothly and the guests all thoroughly enjoyed their meal. We served Sticky Date Pudding with Toffee Sauce for dessert and a number of people asked "What was that dessert - it was absolutely delicious".

Guess we might get this gig again next year!

It was cold out when we got home, but not frigid, so we left everything in the car and the back of the truck. Brenda had tea with us and picked up her cake to take with her in the morning.Sunday morning we set about bringing in all the dirty pots and pans and trays, from the car and truck and washing them all up and putting everything away. Once that was done it was time for something to eat.  Fortunately for us, there was lots of leftovers so no amount of cooking need be done this week.  We sat and watched a Christmas themed movie while we ate, then Lloyd headed out to the garage to work for a while. I used the opportunity of him and the dog being outside to wash the kitchen floor that had gotten pretty grungy over the previous two days. When he came in he headed up for a short nap and I tidied up in the living room area and put some stuff away that had been hanging around in piles on all the horizontal surfaces around the place - books, magazines, pieces of paper, etc.

When he got up from his nap, we pretty much spent the rest of the day and evening reading. Then a light supper, some more reading then off to bed. A very relaxing day after a fairly hectic week - just perfect!

Friday, December 5th - it was a lovely day

Conditions at 5:45 am: breezy and -11'
Expected later: sunny and -5

We had a lovely time on Thursday. The Salvation Army took all of it's employees out for lunch at the Rodd Charlottetown. This year spouses were also invited, which was a really nice gesture on their part. I took a double lunch hour so I wouldn't have to rush back.

We were the first to arrive in the banquet room, which was decorated beautifully for the holidays. I'd been in there before, as our admin group hosted our administrative professionals day event there several years ago. (Gosh have I really been here long enough to refer to something that happened 'several years ago"?)

It was a lovely spot for a holiday lunch. The buffet was set up in the front lobby and featured a huge selection of various salads as well as hot veggies and turkey with all the trimmings - very nice. I really could have used a nap after lunch, rather than returning to my desk. Lloyd, on the other hand, was really ready for a nap as he'd worked all night. He slept for about an hour when he finished work, then was wide awake. He had a few errands to do in town then it was over to Toyota to pick me up.  Fortunately, because we'd had such a big lunch, there was no need for him to get up to make supper, so he had just woken up when I got home. Then after watching the news, it was back to bed for him.

My evening was busy making several batches of sticky date pudding, for Saturday's firefighters Christmas party on Saturday evening. This morning they are well wrapped and in a cold area to hold until tomorrow night. We're actually in pretty good shape for this event. Lloyd is off tonight so will be home all day tomorrow, as will I. He's going to peel and chop the vegetables today and get those ready. Then tomorrow we just have to make the stuffing for the turkey, stuff and roll the pork roasts and make the sauce for the dessert. Easy peasy! 

Wednesday, December 3rd - a great time was had by all

 Conditions at 4:35 am: overcast but calm and -5'
Expected later today: 9' and rain

It was very cold yesterday. At least it certainly felt that way after the 12' sunny day we had on Monday.

Strange up and down weather we're having. It was below freezing all day yesterday but that was a good thing for some. When I was on my way home last night from Community School I saw large pieces of farm machinery in the Van Gaals field harvesting soy beans. The conditions were pretty much perfect - everything frozen to allow the equipment onto the fields so the hope was to get as much of the crop off before it turns mild and rains again today.


It was our last night for school and therefore, our pot luck. There was a vast variety of items to be chosen from. Unfortunately our table was called last so some pots were empty but there was still plenty to go around. A very tasty variety I might add.  When the meal was finished we were entertained by the guitar class (only one student made it to the end of the session) and a very large contingent of fiddlers. Vince's class proves to be the most popular one every year. 

Prior to eating, everyone had the opportunity to view the rugs that our class made as well as the quilting classes projects were on display in the library for all to see. The quilters were very busy and had some pretty impressive wares to display. All in all a lovely evening.

Two great examples of ways to use photos in your quilts - beautiful

Some of the braided rugs

Two guitars strumming

Many fiddlers fiddling

 I was even lucky enough to win a door prize and came home with a lovely Christmas ornament.  I think that's the first time I've ever won something.

I had taken some cupcakes for dessert and had a few left over so dropped in for tea at the Van Gaals on my way home. Of course you're always welcomed with open arms, especially when you bring treats! 

Monday, December 1st - a productive, of not exciting weekend

 December 1st - only 21 more  days and the days will start getting longer - spring is just around the corner!

Conditions at 5:10 am: overcast and 9'
Expected later: 10' and maybe a few showers

The warm temperatures are making short work of last week's snowfall. Much more should be gone by the end of the day, especially if we get some rain.

The weather really didn't matter too much this weekend. I picked up a couple of pizzas on Friday after work and dropped in to the Van Gaals. What a great way to end the week - good company, a glass of wine and a meal that no one had to slave over. It was a nice evening. Great suggestion, Bernie.

Saturday morning I was up relatively early and started in baking more cookies. I pretty much spent the whole day doing that so now I think I'm finished. I have enough in the freezer for the lady I'm doing a tray for, as well as ourselves.

Sunday was nice and sunny and after my morning coffee I headed out to the craft room. I had snowpants to be shortened for someone at work, as well as a couple of pairs of Lloyd's pants that needed mending. After that it was on to Christmas cards. I managed to keep myself occupied out there till well after 2:30.  It was a great day. At one point Lloyd came upstairs bearing a tray laden down with cups of hot tea, cheese, crackers, salami slices and some cookies ( the few that are not in the freezer), so a big thank you for your thoughtfulness.  I still have a bit of work to do on my cards but that requires a computer. My desktop in the craft room is somewhat ailing and needs a new part. Lloyd will pick it up on Tuesday morning after work so Wednesday evening I should be set to go.

Tuesday if our final community school class. It's time to put our efforts on display and enjoy a pot luck supper with everyone. I will bring my rug to put on display, after which I will have to take it all apart and re-stitch it. It seems I was a little over zealous when I was stitching and pulled the threads too tightly so now it won't lie flat. At least I won't have to do the braiding again. It's just a matter of pulling out the stitching and re-doing it. Oh well, as I always say, there's nothing like doing something wrong, to learn how to do it right! 

Got a text message from Patti this morning. She just returned from a flight to Geneva and a TV chef from Toronto was on the flight. Apparently he wasn't fond of the chicken pot pie that her airline served. She wasn't sure that's what it was, but that's what the catering report claimed it to be.   Everyone's a critic!   Guess he would know.

Friday, November 28th - it was quite a ride - for November!

Conditions at 5:45: overcast and -3
Expected later: -1 and maybe a few flurries

Well, as we thought might happen, yesterday was a snow day for all the school kids (and bus drivers!)
It started late in the evening and by the time Lloyd got up to go to work at midnight, there was probably close to 15 cms of snow on the ground. The up side was that it wasn't very windy so the snow stayed put. By the time I got up at 5:00 it had rained some so the snow on the ground was compacted a bit and was very heavy and wet. There were icy patches under the slush on the road so driving was a little treacherous in spots. But I took my time and went in the back way so there was virtually no traffic. I picked up a couple of coffees and muffins and dropped in to see Lloyd before heading to work. The streets in town were in much better condition and just got better as the rain started again and continued. By lunch time the roads were bare and wet but then it started snowing and really blowing this time. When I got back from lunch I feared the drive home might be a challenge.I had an hour owed to me so decided this might be a great day to take it. Of course, by the time I left work at 4:00 it had stopped snowing, but the highway was snow covered in spots and the wind was very high. There were times a gust would hit the car and it was a bit of a struggle to stay in your own lane for a few seconds. I was glad that it was still daylight when I got home and that I made it safe and sound. The first few times driving in winter weather are a bit of a learning experience from the year before. But each time we head out, it's easier. The snow should be gone by the end of the next few days as warmer temperatures are on the way. The western part of the island got hit by old man winter much harder than we did, so for that we're grateful. We're not even going to talk about New Brunswick which was really battered, and many thousands of people were still without power as of 6:00 last evening.

Other than the weather, not a lot to talk about at the moment. I have a sewing project for my boss to finish tonight then I can get back on track with my own tasks.  I spent most of last evening working out in the craft room on a couple of things. My computer out there has been giving me some trouble of late, so I had the IT guy come out and look at it before he went off to dreamland. He knows what's wrong but whether or not he has a spare part to fix it, remains to be seen. With any luck, that will get fixed sooner rather than later.

The downstairs of the garage is slowly taking shape. There are racks on the walls with wrenches and screw drivers hanging about and it's all starting to look ever so organized. The cabinets he's built are holding a multitude of tools and equipment so there will soon be no excuse when I ask him to build me something! 

Wednesday, November 26th - what a difference a day can make!

Conditions at 5:15 am: 6', overcast with a light wind
Expected later: temperatures staying the same with a mix of sun and cloud in the morning, but look out!

What a strange 48 hours coming our way. The temperature yesterday was a very balmy 15' in the sunshine. It was glorious. I saw several bikes out on the highway and Brenda even saw a convertible go past her house with the top down! Awesome weather for the 26th of November, now officially less than one month to Christmas. But watch out. We're expecting anywhere from 15 to 25 cms of snow to fall in the next 36 hours or so. It's all okay though. We have a shed full of wood, a new snowblower and the snow tires are on the vehicles - BRING IT ON!

We know it's not going to hang around too long as we are expecting warmer temperatures in the next few days so we'll see what happens. Still nothing compared to what Buffalo experienced last week, so we should count ourselves in luck. Can't say I've seen a snow day in November since I've been here, but there's always a first time, and I'm sure it's happened in the past.

Other than the weather, not a lot going on. The Christmas lights are on the outside of the house, and there's even a small tree in front of the front door. Old Scrooge McDenny put them all up on Monday when I was at work. Then he asked if we had any of those electric candles to put in the upstairs windows. Okay, who is this person and what have they done with Lloyd??? Old Mr. Bah Humbug himself.  Seems he's mellowing slightly in his old age, or perhaps it's just that after 25 years, he's finally learned that he might as well join it, he can't fight it! When he was in Newfoundland his sisters told him to expect all the decorations to be up when he got back. They all seem to know me a little too well!

Always the good sport!

I picked up some embellishments yesterday for our Christmas cards and that will be next on my list of things to work on. I like doing those in the craft room because I can spread everything out all over the place and just work on it a little at a time. I have the photos printed but couldn't decide what I wanted to do with them but I finally figured that out yesterday. That's half the battle, coming up with a design. Of course the internet helps tremendously with that. Being as it's now officially less than one month away, I'd better get busy.

The two older kids had a busy weekend. They were skating in Oshawa and James took away another silver medal. Meg  also skated well but came away empty handed. No worries, the season is just getting underway, and we all know how tenacious that little girl can be!

Monday, November 24th - it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Conditions at 5:30 am:  a calm 1', that will see sunshine this morning, possibly turning to rain this afternoon. The crazy thing is the temperature, that will rise to 8'  this afternoon, then 11' this evening and to 13' overnight


It's starting to look a lot like Christmas around here. It all started with Friday night. In the afternoon I was looking forward to just going home and vegging for the night. Lloyd  hadn't had a lot of sleep in the morning so he was headed off to bed by 6:30.   Once he was gone to bed, I decided I might as well attend the Christmas centre piece event at the East River Fire Department. It's a fund raiser and I decided at the last second to attend. I almost backed out as I went out to get in the car. It was snowing quite hard and I thought, what on earth am I doing. I headed down the very snow covered road and it wasn't stopping. But by the time I got to the corner, it was eased off quite a bit, so I suppose it was just an isolated flurry.  There was a good turn out at the fire hall and a good time was had by all. Fortunately there are people there with great ideas and a keen eye for design so they were most invaluable. Because it was last minute I was at a loss as to what kind of container to bring. A quick scan of the top of the kitchen cupboards revealed an old copper tea pot and lid. It worked perfectly. 

Saturday was a pretty quiet day. It was cold and windy outside so I managed to keep myself occupied inside where it was nice and toasty warm.  Laundry and sorting out some of the Christmas stuff managed to fill the day. Lloyd was out in the garage for part of the day and then a nap in the afternoon.  He did manage to get the snow tires put on both vehicles.  It was something to see, the vehicles actually inside the garage. It's great that there's a place to do these jobs inside now.

Sunday was a little nicer although I wasn't so sure at first.  The snow plow went down the road twice before 6:00 am so I wasn't sure what I was going to wake up to. The ground was covered in snow but it wasn't really too bad, just a couple of cms.  The sun was shining and it turned out to be a pretty nice day. I spent the morning baking cookies and putting them in the freezer before anyone else got into them prematurely!  The afternoon was spent putting the decorations on the tree and a few things here and there. Now I have lots of tidying up and putting away to do but that will get done. I also did a fair bit of work on my braided rug project. I only have one  more class so decided I'd better get at it. It's coming along nicely though still a fair bit to do. But now it looks like it's manageable and I might actually get it finished in time for our pot luck, when our projects go on display, next week. I do work best under pressure!

Friday, November 21st - just when we got our routine in place...

Conditions at 2:30 am: clear and -1' with lots of bright stars and a light dusting of snow, that must have been there at midnight, judging by the tire tracks Lloyd left when he went to work
Expected later: a mix of sun and clouds and the temperature pretty much staying the same throughout the day

The past couple of weeks, one of our favorite shows, Grey's Anatomy, has been coming on early on Wednesday night. With Lloyd gone to bed by 7:00, Brenda would come over after and we would open up a bottle of wine, get our chosen snacks for the evening and park ourselves in front of the TV from 8:00 till 9:00.  Now, just when we've gotten our routine established, it's off the air until the 29th of January. Seriously???  Now we have to go through the whole process again of finding a great excuse to meet up and indulge just a little. No worries, though, as I'm sure we'll come up with something to get us through the next couple of months and a cold, snowy winter.

I've been diligently working on my community school project. We have one class left and I'm a long way from being finished. So I've come up with a brilliant plan. I spend my lunch hours upstairs at work, in the boardroom. I have a lovely large table and quiet space all to myself. I take my lunch and eat it as I work, and at the same time, I watch something on my ipad.  It's working out quite nicely for me.  Gives me something to do at lunch without going outside in the cold!

Have I mentioned the Camino de Santiago? I first learned about it a couple of years ago and have seen a

movie and a documentary about it. Then recently a woman came to community school to share her experience walking the route, by herself, at the age of 67. How inspiring it that?  So I've done a tiny bit of research and have lots more to do, but I would really like to do this roughly 800 km walk, across part of France and Spain, sometime in the next 2 or 3 years. The lady we spoke with told us it took her 5 weeks to complete. I'd love to do it sooner, rather than later but fear that job commitments would never allow me to take that much time off at once. I may just have to wait until I turn 65 and am retired but we'll see. Obviously I need to do a a bit  lot of training and conditioning before I undertook something like that. I've done it before for the 60 km Breast Cancer walk so I'm sure I can do it again, if I put my mind to it. I've been doing all kinds of reading and came across this basic information:


The Camino de Santiago or the Way of St. James is a spiritual journey that pilgrims of all faiths and

backgrounds have traversed for over a thousand years. The pilgrimage originally began at one’s doorstep, though modern trekkers today would find that rather difficult, particularly American pilgrims needing to cross the Atlantic. While there are a number of established routes leading to Santiago from all directions, the most popular is the Camino Frances, which crosses the Pyrenees Mountains along the Spanish-French border starting in St. Jean Pied de Port.

This Camino route covers 800 kilometers that traverses an idyllic northern Spanish countryside. By

following the yellow painted arrows marking the road, a pilgrim can expect to walk 12-15 miles a day to reach the next town for the night. At this pace, a pilgrim can reach the Cathedral de Santiago in 6 to 8 weeks time to attend the Pilgrim's Mass held at noon each day. Some take more time, others less. 


Some choose to travel by bike, and some have done the Camino on horseback. Along the way travelers encounter albergues, refugios and casa rurals that cater specifically to the thousands of pilgrims of all ages that take this journey each year,

immersing themselves in the local food, culture and history dedicated to this experience.

Pilgrims walk the Camino for various reasons. Some to seek penance, others enlightenment, and still others for a sense of adventure, yet all progress toward the Cathedral in Santiago where it is believed the remains of the apostle St. James are held. 

Most pilgrims choose to carry a scallop shell with them to symbolize their journey in honor of St. James. According to legend, scallop shells are said the have covered St. James’ body after it was found on the shores of the Galician coast. Another, perhaps more useful symbol is a walking stick to aid a weary pilgrim on his or her journey. 

Most pilgrims also carry a document called the credencial, purchased for a few euros from a Spanish tourist agency, a church on the route or from their church back home. The credencial is a pass which gives access to inexpensive, sometimes free, overnight accommodation in refugios along the trail. Also known as the "pilgrim's passport", the credencial is stamped with the official St. James stamp of each town or refugio at which the pilgrim has stayed. It provides walking pilgrims with a record of where they ate or slept, but also serves as proof to the Pilgrim's Office in Santiago that the journey is accomplished according to an official route. The credencial is available at refugios, tourist offices, some local parish houses, and outside Spain, through the national St. James organisation of that country. The stamped credencial is also necessary if the pilgrim wants to obtain a compostela, a certificate of completion of the pilgrimage.

Regardless of whether a pilgrim’s journey begins for religious, spiritual or cultural reasons, the meditative nature of the Camino offers the perfect landscape in which to dedicate contemplation. Pilgrims follow the path amidst the villages, towns, rivers, mountains and fertile valleys that have changed the lives of millions of pilgrims who walked before them.

This will be a huge undertaking and will require a lot of preparation, but I really want to have this experience. It's very high on my bucket list!

Wednesday, November 19th - November is passing by much too quickly!

Conditions at 5:30 am: -4' that feel more like -12'
Expected later: 0' that will feel more like -7' with the 40 km hour winds that will gust up to 68 km

Quite a change from yesterday morning. I went outside to put something in the garbage bin and it was absolutely balmy. The temperature outside at 5:15 am was 14'.  Course it gradually dropped all day to about 4' by the end of the work day. We had bit of rain throughout the day so needless to say, all our snow is gone.  Strange weather indeed. But we should be grateful we don't live in Buffalo, New York where they saw upwards of 100 cms of snow. That lake affect gets them every time. And just in case you've forgotten from last year, what exactly does 100 cms of snow look like? This photo was taken in Buffalo yesterday. Good thing the ladies in Ontario did their shopping excursion to Buffalo a few weeks ago.

Can't say I'm looking forward to the management part of that kind of snow but at least we'll be able to ski!
Good thing it's not quite that bad in Ontario. The Dennisons are in the cold as their furnace broke down yesterday. The fellow should be round today to fix it but in the meantime, it's likely mighty chilli. Good thing they have two gas burning fireplaces. That will help a lot, I'm sure. Their weather yesterday was very cold and windy and it appears there's snow on the ground. Not a great time for the furnace to give up.

Other than our peculiar weather, not a lot is going on at the moment. We had our second last community school class last night. One more week before our pot luck and our crafted items go on display.  I'd really better get my butt in gear and get my rug finished before then. Last night they took information on what was needed for the pot luck. I waited till the other three girls in my group had made their choices on the sign up sheet so I wouldn't have to decide. Our little group is required to bring two casseroles, 1 salad and 1 dessert. By the time the list got to me the only thing left was 1 dessert so I'll have to decided what to bring. The cake I made last weekend for our get together was a huge success so I might make one of those. If you slice it thinly you can easily get 16 small pieces from it or 12 better pieces.  I'll have to think about that one.

Monday, November 17th - the garage has been officially christened!

Conditions at 5:30: overcast and 1'
Expected later: rain throughout the day and slowly increasing to a low overnight of 9'

It was a pretty busy weekend. Friday evening Brenda met me in town and we went out for some supper. We enjoyed the Red Water Rustic Grill where we shared an appetizer and dessert, washed down with a beer. It had started snowing earlier in the day and the driving was a little tricky by 5:00 so I was glad I didn't have to head home yet. The nice part of the restaurant location, is when you're finished eating, you just wander through the underground pedway that brings you right up into the Confederation Centre. No muss, no fuss, no snow!

The production of Jesus Christ Superstar was very well done. We both thoroughly enjoyed it. For a relatively new local theatre company, they did a tremendous job. I'll never look at the fellow who reports on the news in quite the same way again. Who knew he had such a great voice!

Our drive home was much better as the snow had pretty much stopped. The worst part of the road was from Fort Augustus to home, and fortunately it's not a great distance. I stayed up till Lloyd got up to go to work, then I was wide awake. After watching something on TV I finally headed off to bed a little after midnight.

Saturday morning I was meeting Lloyd in town at Canadian Tire. I needed to pick up a couple of things and he wanted to chat with them about the snow blower I purchased last Saturday. Turns out it was on sale this week in the flyer for $150.00 off the regular price. They didn't hesitate to refund that amount to us. That was a nice little bonus, so Lloyd promptly found  a new drill that he thought he should have to use up that new found money!


After work, I picked up some veggies, and last minute things needed for our party on Sunday.  Then it was

home to put together the cake I wanted to make, as it needed to set in the fridge overnight.  Lloyd was working in the garage, cleaning up stuff. After supper he headed back out there for a bit while I cleaned up the dishes, and that was it for the night.

Sunday we were up bright and early. I had things to do for the party, gathering everything together to take out to the garage. In the afternoon Lloyd and I trucked everything out there, chairs, dishes, etc, etc. We had invited about 18 people but not everyone could make it. We ended up with a group of 12, which was fine as that's exactly how many I could sit around the table.  We were very pleased that our friend Jackie arrived with some freshly caught oysters and clams to temp our taste buds. They were mighty delicious and those who like them, really enjoyed them.

By all accounts, I think the evening was a success. We were a little disappointed that some of the others didn't make it, as the idea was to say Thank You to them, but we can always get together another time. In fact, the area worked so well, we're thinking maybe we should do something for New Years.  It's the perfect spot for it. We had chairs, and a bar set up downstairs but the numbers being lower, we didn't use that space but I can see it getting used another time. All in all, a great night with great friends! Thanks once again, to all of you.

But an extra big thank you needs to go to the ladies who did all the dishes. That was not meant to be part of the evening, but on the other hand, I'm extremely grateful to all of you, and you know who you are!

You may notice the small tree in the back ground. Yesterday was Patti's birthday, which also happened to be the day of the Toronto Santa Claus Parade. That was always the signal for us to start the Christmas Season, much to some people's dismay. So now that the parade is over, it's official the beginning of the festivities!  

Friday, November 14th - Happy Birthday Patti!

Conditions at 5:20 am: overcast and 2'
Expected later: 4' and a mix of rain and maybe some snow.

Yesterday the phone was still ringing off the hook at work, as the radio was advising us to expect upwards of 10 cm of snow today. That has since been scaled back, at least as far as the weather network is concerned. So it's anyone's guess what will appear. I doubt it will be too severe. Certainly not enough to cancel our little get together on Sunday, that's for sure.

Lloyd arrived home on Wednesday evening, a little later than scheduled as the flight was delayed, but he was here by 5:20 so not bad at all. He had to work that night and it was a pretty long one as he hadn't had much sleep. But he should be back on track today. He had a great visit with family and was very glad that he went.

Tonight I'm excited to be going to the Confed Centre to see a production of Jesus Christ Superstar, with
Brenda. She had the album growing up but has never seen it performed live. I have to say it is, by far, my favorite stage play. But that may be part nostalgia.

As I was growing up, attending any type of live theatrical production was not something our family ever did. When I was in college, I had the opportunity to go to the O'keefe Centre (now named something else) with some other students to see Jesus Christ Superstar. This would have been when it first came out, around 1973. I knew a couple of the songs but I still remember being overwhelmed as the live orchestration of the familiar tunes washed over me in the darkness. Such powerful emotions, I had never experienced.  That's when I fell in love with live theatre. I have since seen productions of the same play numerous times and enjoyed then all. So I'm really looking forward to tonight's show.

I'm working tomorrow then spending the afternoon getting ready for our guests on Sunday. Lots to look forward to this weekend.

Before I forget, a big Happy 40th  Birthday to Patti on Sunday. Hope you have a great day, wherever  you end up spending it!

Wednesday, November 12th - later today will be welcome home, Lloyd

Conditions at 5:30 am: 5' and with some fog patches. It was supposed to go down below 0' but that didn't  happened.
Expected later: 10' and showers

It's been pretty quiet out here on the hill. Monday was crazy busy, again, at work  but we got through, despite being several staff short. Some had thought ahead and taken Monday as a vacation day as we also had Tuesday off. I didn't as I had no real reason to take the day off.

I had thought Lloyd was coming home on Thursday, but he called me on Monday morning to advise he was actually coming home on Wednesday afternoon.  Ooops - good thing I mentioned it in the blog, or I would have left town on Wednesday without giving it a thought that he would need picking up.

Tuesday was a pretty quiet day, and I have to say I took advantage of it. Not necessarily the best advantage, as I did finish a book I was reading and also watched a couple of episodes of a series on Netflix. I did get some constructive things done as well, but not nearly as much as I should have. I did do some cleaning, and some arranging out in the craft room, I baked a batch of Christmas Cookies and put them in the freezer, and that's about it. 

Patti called me early in the evening. She had sent me some photos via email and she thought she should check up on me as she didn't get any response. She'd forgotten that we have the day off so I wasn't sitting in front of a computer all day. We chatted for a bit about things going on at her house, with lots of drama the past few days - shopping in  Buffalo, lost dog, lost passport...

She was on her way to a Speed Skating meeting and James was going to practice. He usually doesn't go on Tuesday because of Cadets but he's had lots of cadet activity in the previous 24 hours so there was no Cadets on Tuesday night.. The cadets are involved in the Remembrance Day ceremonies in Guelph starting the night before.

The cadets do a 12 hour vigil from 7 pm Nov 10th to 7 am Nov 11th at the cenotaph in Guelph. They do an hour each but James was an alternate and ended up doing two shifts -  from 1-2 am and 4-5 am. She didn't get a photo of him at the cenotaph but these are the cadets that were doing the last shift this morning when she got there to pick him up.

Guess which ones is James? Much easier than "Where's Waldo!!

Monday, November 10th - ooops - I really need to learn how to read a calander.

Conditions at 5:30 am: 2' that feels more like -1' - especially with the heavy frost on the vehicles this morning. But the moon and stars are brilliant this morning
Expected later: 8' and sunny - not a bad day at all

Well, apparently I was a little premature with my anniversary wishes on Friday and totally messed with the heads of those involved. Our friends anniversary isn't until THIS Thursday, not last Thursday. So while I thought I was sending late wishes, I was a week early. I had poor Brenda second guessing herself about the date. She was pretty sure it wasn't till this week but then she had to really think about it. Sorry about that guys, and all the best this week!

What a crazy few days of weather we had. Lloyd left on Friday morning, and was fortunate to make all his planned flights. You just never know when you fly standby. But all went well and he arrived on time.  By the time I got home on Friday evening, it was raining a little but extremely windy. We had winds in the 80 km range and it was a challenge.  All night long you could hear the wind howling and things banging around outside. We lost several large chunks of branches off the trees in the front yard, but that's typical when we get those high winds. 

It continued into Saturday morning. I was up early and headed into town to drop off some recycling and get to Canadian Tire when they opened. I picked up Lloyd's new toys. All he needs now is some snow. He also had a rain check for a new bench sander and they also had that in stock so now he has two new things to play with when he gets home.We're very fortunate to have a neighbour who comes by with his big tractor and snowblower but that doesn't help with the snow around the house, and now that we have the garage, we need to keep the snow clear between there and the wood shed. This will make his life a whole lot easier. If we have any winter guests who insist on sleeping in the bunky, they won't have to crawl on their hands and knees on top of the deep snow banks to get to their bed this year!

The winds continued throughout the day and only subsided by late evening. There was a function at the Rec Centre on Saturday evening and it was much calmer when we left there around 9:30.  It had been very cold on Saturday but Sunday was promising to be much improved. And it was. I was outside in the morning and it was pleasant to be out there with much milder temperatures and the wind finally gone. I filled up my wood supply for the week and brought some things out to the craft room.   I even managed to bake some fruit cake while I puttered about. Now I can say I've at least started some Christmas baking!

Brenda and I had made plans to go into town to the Craft Fair at the Confed Centre on Sunday afternoon. She picked me up after lunch and we headed into town, stopping first to pick up my car. Then we made our way downtown to the  craft show. All that shopping worked up an appetite so our next stop was  the Old Triangle for  some nachos and a beer. This left us with just enough time to head over to the liquor store to bottle some wine, as we were both running low. With our cases of wine in tow, we parted company and headed home. Now all the vehicles are in the right places and all is good.

It's going to be a strange week, with a day off on Tuesday. But we'll work with it. Lloyd will be home sometime Thursday afternoon, if all goes well. I have a few more little jobs I hope to get done while he's away. 

Friday, November 7th - Happy Rainy Friday

Conditions at 5:30 am: a wet and rainy 8' that feels slightly more like 5'
Expected later: more rain and a high of 13'



First,  belated Anniversary wishes to our good friends Brenda and Bernie. I knew it was coming up but 
didn't check the calendar until this morning, when I realized I missed it! Sorry about that guys. Hope you did something interesting.  I should have at least called last night to give you my best wishes.

Hooray, it's Friday! I can say that because I have the weekend off. Then we work Monday and have Tuesday off. Not a bad week. Lloyd is off this morning to Newfoundland. Hopefully his flights will go as we hope they will. With any luck he'll be having lunch on the rock.  As for me, I have a long list of things I hope to accomplish while he's away. Some will be preparations for our little party we're hosting when he gets back and some will be Christmas stuff. It will be here before you know it. We also have a catering job at the beginning of December so we also have to do some planning for that as well. 

I was contacted by the wife of one of the fellows at work to see if I might do some Christmas baking for her. I might try and get some of that stuff done while he's away as well. Then I can hide it all before he gets back, so there will still be some when the holidays get here!

He has the balcony on the garage all closed in now. The wall is up and the openings are ready for the windows to be installed.  He's got them filled in with plastic at the moment until he gets back. There are two very large windows and when I went upstairs last night, to look out, they will work very nicely. It's not as open but now it's a really cozy space. The best part is now I don't have to find somewhere to store my chairs and huge cushions for the winter. They can just stay put. I have the infrared heater up there that I used to heat last year. I can put that out there to turn on if we want to sit out there and we can actually use it all year long now. Sitting up there with a hot chocolate infused with some Bailey's and watching the snow flakes gently fall sounds like another great way to pass the winter.

Wednesday, November 4th - Yes, people, winter is really going to come again this year!

Conditions at 6:35 am: 6' and overcast
Expected later:  mainly cloudy and 13' with a slight chance of showers

Well, what a day we had on Monday. There was some snow in New Brunswick over the weekend, which spurred a lot of islanders into action.  Our phone started ringing at 7:30 and litterally rang non-stop all day long. It was insane. I really didn't get any other work done throughout the course of the day. It was a huge wake up I suppose for some folks to discover that there was snow in the region. Everyone wanted to get their winter tires put on right away.  I didn't tell them that the temperature is supposed to go back up to 13' or better later in the week.. It was an exhausting day by the time it was over. I suppose I can only look at the bright side of things and view it as job security! 
Tuesday was much better, but the sun came out and it didn't seem quite so bleak, although the clouds were in and out all day. The panic had subsided somewhat.   Oh well, we need those crazy days every now and again to really make us appreciate the slow ones.

One of the business managers came to me yesterday and advised that today was take your kid to school day. So his 14 year old daughter is coming in today and he wondered if I had any filing she might be able to do. Do I have filing!  But I feel bad making the poor girl tackle that huge job for the day.  That seems more like some kind of punishment. Of course most of the files are her dad's, but I'm sure we'll be able to find some other jobs for her to do besides that miserable task - tempting as it is to have someone do all of it for me.  But that's just not right. 

Not a lot going on this week.  Lloyd is trying to get as much done as he can before he leaves for Newfoundland on Friday morning.  We've planned a little get together in the garage shortly after he gets back. I thought he was back sooner than he actually will be, so it will be quite tight, as there won't be a lot of time when he returns.  We've invited all those folks who had a hand in the planning and/or construction of the garage.  Just a little "Thanks for your help".  We know one fellow will be away, but I think most everyone else should be around.   Hopefully we don't have a snow storm that day.  It could happen. It's going to be on the 16th of November - Patti's birthday. I'd invite her  to join us but she's off to London England that weekend.  Poor baby!

Hard to believe it's finally come from this:

To this:

There's still work to be done but it will eventually get done. At least now we both have a great space to work in. Not bad for a bunch of amateurs!