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Hello friends! How lovely to slip into this room, ablaze with Christmas lights, candles and the ever present wonderhearth to keep us all cozy. It's been a snowy day here in southern ontario, but gorgeous too, in the way that first snows of the season can be.

I had a quick visit out to Vancouver Island last week to see my brother & dad. The visit was great. Met my dad's new rescue dog - she's an inquisitive cheerful little soul and proving to be great company for him - despite her snoring! My brother is weathering his cancer treatment well and his bloodwork shows good response to treatment at this point. We had lots of good talks & walks together. I squeezed in some Xmas shopping at the Salt Spring craft show which was good. I didn't manage to connect with SomeGal, but now that I have her info, I hope to give her a call soon on a quiet evening. My airtravels back & forth were troubled though with late departures, missed connections and cancelled flights - but yesterday I got an apology e-mail from WestJet with a 20% off coupon for my next trip anywhere, so that was a pleasant surprise.

Back at work today - 8 new referrals waiting for me ... seems I was missed! So it will be extra busy the next few days getting caught up - but that's usually the way, isn't it, after even a brief vacation! Nice to be home though.
 
Carolla said:
Hello friends! How lovely to slip into this room, ablaze with Christmas lights, candles and the ever present wonderhearth to keep us all cozy. It's been a snowy day here in southern ontario, but gorgeous too, in the way that first snows of the season can be.
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Weird thing is that storm basically stayed in a fairly narrow (I saw 200km wide in one source) band centred on the GTA. We got nothing here in London and apparently K-W (or maybe a bit West of there) was the boundary.
 
We got a moderate amount here. Worst problem was that there was ice on the road surfaces underneath the couple of inches. The salters were out last night before the snow started; they may have inadvertently made it worse. We had a Blue Christmas service tonight, which was nice, but a bit sparse largely because of the weather. The holidays always seem to stir up all sorts of crap in me, so it was good for me to go (also, I supplied half the goodies, with a purchased fruitcake and two dozen homemade mince tarts). I never seem to stop baking this time of year, and very little of it stays in the house.
 
I LOVE mine tarts Bette! Any leftovers??? Glad you got to the service & hope it settled some of the Kringle Krap.
 
Homemade mince tarts? Lemme at em! Mom always used store bought. One of the few things she never baked herself that I recall.
 
Mendalla said:

Weird thing is that storm basically stayed in a fairly narrow (I saw 200km wide in one source) band centred on the GTA. We got nothing here in London and apparently K-W (or maybe a bit West of there) was the boundary.
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Apparently the weather system moving across the Maritimes has also been something of a hit-or-miss. It can be raining quite heavily on one side of the river and you don't need your windshield wipers on the other. Heavy flooding in some areas - but this city hasn't had any reported. (Apparently heavy rain on frozen ground needs some place to go and some streams and rivers were blocked with ice.)
 
BetteTheRed said:
We got a moderate amount here. Worst problem was that there was ice on the road surfaces underneath the couple of inches. The salters were out last night before the snow started; they may have inadvertently made it worse. We had a Blue Christmas service tonight, which was nice, but a bit sparse largely because of the weather. The holidays always seem to stir up all sorts of crap in me, so it was good for me to go (also, I supplied half the goodies, with a purchased fruitcake and two dozen homemade mince tarts). I never seem to stop baking this time of year, and very little of it stays in the house.
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I love homemade mince tarts. Do you put meat in yours? My mother always tried to have venison for hers. I used to turn the handle on the meat-grinder for her - apples went through easily, meat - well, I had to put a bit of strength into turning that handle.
 
Often, I cheat, and buy PC mincemeat. I have made my own in years past, using green tomatoes some years. No meat, but I do use suet.

And my pastry is rather to die for, thanks to a great old recipe, and fast, cool hands. Enjoy! (I go back to making butter tarts after Xmas.)
 
Making excellent pastry is an art I think Bette - I'm envious! I did manage to make some that was decent recently - it was gluten free too! I used to to make a 'rustic' pie - the kind where you lay the rolled dough on the parchment, then pile all the filling (pear & cranberry in this case) into the centre of it, next folding up the edges of the dough around it, brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with sugar & bake. I was pretty proud of how it turned out for a first try (y)
 
crazyheart said:
@ChemGal are you sick? I haven't seen you for couple of days.
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I'm tired out and have been having more attacks than usual. Nothing that's taken me to the ER yet. My hand is sore. Nerve pain from further up my arm. I got rid of it for a while with pills and a topical med, but it comes back when it wears off. Not sure if it's HAE swelling as there isn't anything majorly visible.
I'm still around, mostly reading and at a slower pace.
 
Taking it easy is a good thing to do ChemGal.

I've puttered around all day ... the tree is up and decorated, and the house is all decorated too. Had the Xmas music playing loudly, singing along. I even got outside to hang some big ornaments in a spruce tree in my garden. Finished some knitting while watching "The Hundred Foot Journey" - if you haven't seen it - I do highly recommend it.
Soon off to bed. Church in the morning, candle-light service in the evening, wrapping in the afternoon ... nice weekend.
 
Being housebound gets really boring. I convinced Chemguy to drive around so we could look at Christmas lights. I had suggested going for a walk to look at them a while ago, I think it was a good thing we ended up doing it by vehicle! Not all that many lights, but with driving we could cover good ground to see quite a few houses that did really nice displays.
 
The tree is decorated and looks cheerful in the corner of the livingroom. Just a bit of tidying to do and I will be ready for company - but I'm always ready for drop-in even if you catch me in my housecoat and with newspapers on the floor and an empty cup on the coffee table and the cat's climbing apparatus by the window.
In our Room - I have a birch log crackling in the fire place and the coffee on. What's for breakfast? Seelerman was flipping through the TV channels and found someone making whole wheat bannock, adding cranberries. We tried the recipe and it is good. So have some bannock. I've also cut up some cheese, and set out a pretty bowl of strawberries (cut up and frozen last summer), and some bananas. I like to slice my banana into a bowl of juicy strawberries and eat it with a spoon.
Church today will centre around the Sunday School pageant. Unfortunately Seelergirl has another commitment and I don't expect Grandson will be there - although I've offered to take him. He will be with his father Christmas eve and will miss that service too. Oh dear, how much of Advent and Christmas will he miss?
 
Hi everyone - I just spent the past 90 minutes or so catching up here :) @ChemGal I hope today finds you better; @Seeler I hope your service went well and that maybe your grandson surprised you with a visit; @Tabitha I hope you are doing ok; @crazyheart I hope Mr. Crazy is feeling better - bladder infections can really have a big impact. @Pinga good luck with work - sounds challenging. I know I've missed people - but I read everyone's posts carefully.

I spent six days in Germany this past week/last week. My nephew is doing a year abroad through his university so I went to visit him - I thought it was to make sure he wasn't homesick but I think he saw it as a way to get hot sauce,, his winter jacket and skates (Ummm....explain to me why someone would go to Germany for a year without a winter jacket and only one sweater?!). Had a nice visit - we've drifted apart the last few years so I was hoping we would "bond" - we had a nice visit but they weren't super long and I find him hard to read (a couple of times I wondered if he would have preferred me to have not come, so I asked and he said he was happy I was there). Got to go to three Christmas markets - they really are something else - gluhwine flows freely (It's a mulled, hot wine) and we got to try some neat local German food. The area he is in is not touristy and people often didn't speak English and didn't take kindly to an "outsider" - very different then when I was in Bonn for business. We went to a really cool palace in Lugwigsburg (sp) - the "modern" part was from the late 1700s! We also went to the Ritter Sport factory :)

We are also renovating our condo - it's happening fast for renovations but I can't wait for it to be over! The lion's share of the work will be done on Friday with finishing touches the following Monday and Tuesday. A friend is coming on Saturday to organize our new kitchen and we have hired someone to help clean (drywall and concrete dust is so insidious!). It's really looking good though!

My Uncle had a tumble while I was away and I think it was hard on him that there was no one to intervene on his behalf. Some of the work the OT did has really made a big difference. I am still frustrated by the lack of communication though between the various services as well as with the family (e.g., I asked if they would put a flag on his wheelchair to indicate to approach on his left side and they did and it was making a big difference but the sign has fallen off, but no one fixed it). I think he has been glad to have me back and I'll see a lot of him this week and then his kids are coming for a few days over Christmas.

I got the "airplane plague" and it's been a doozy but I am definitely on the mend. It probably didn't help that on the way home my first two planes broke down and my last leg was cancelled - ahhhh air travel - the most inconvenient convenient form of travel!

Last night dh and I went to Upper Canada Village (a historical village along the St Lawrence river - much like the historical village in Calgary) - they light it up for Christmas and it was super beautiful.

Wishing you all peace and love
 
upper Canada village would be lovely to visit with lights and setting. There is a local historical village that we used to take the kids to when they were younger. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/for...ht-from-ottawa-for-foreign-trainees-1.2870289

I took my Dad out for a late lunch and my oldestson joined us, which made my Dad thrilled. We then went for a short visit to Mom's niche in the columbarium.
Found out Dad had two shelves full of food in an upright freezer from when he cooked. Threw out a bunch of freezer burned food, and then purged his freezer in the kitchen fridge. The house cleaner will clean stuff, but of course, doesn't like to throw things away. Dad has taken a while to get out of his habits of buying 10 loaves of bread on sale, and then storing them for later use.

Also conversed and talked through some issues with my lovely niece who wishes so much for perfection with him. Hoping tha with me being home and off over christmas that I will channel some positive energy back into the relationships.
 
Pinga said:
upper Canada village would be lovely to visit with lights and setting. There is a local historical village that we used to take the kids to when they were younger.
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Doon? Oddly enough, we never went there for Christmas nor have I been to Fanshawe here in London for their Christmas, either.

Off to K-W today for estate stuff. It's been a month since the memorial so time to get on with the hard work. Should be pretty routine as estates go (not that I've ever been an executor before but from my reading I don't see any obvious complications). Then I've just got a couple days before heading South for a Christmas vacation.

 
Kings Landing - outside Fredericton. Created when many centuries old homes and other buildings had to be located when a huge hydro-electric dam flood a large part of the river valley. I've visited many times over the past 40 years since I moved back to NB. Old houses, shops (blacksmith, carpenter, etc.) school, general store, lumber mill, grist mill, a working farm, two churches (where services are still held), a theatre-in-a-barn, and a first-rate restaurant where you can order turn-of-the-century meals at modern day prices. Great place. But it was better years ago when almost every household had a few animals (cows, pigs, horses, oxen, chickens) - children could find and pick up a litter of kittens in a manger - carpenters actually made wooden toys for the children who spent days with their parents 'living' in each of the houses. And the blacksmith shoe-ed horses. I think that now they only hire about half the staff and this past year the saw mill was closed for repairs.

Upper Canada Village - on the St. Laurence River. I believe it was created when the Seaway forced changes to the waterway, flooding many farms and villages. Like Kings Landing I think when I visited it a few years ago it was showing its age. One thing I liked and had never seen before was the working woolen mill where wool from the sheep was processed, spun and woven into cloth. Very interesting.

Fort William in Thunder Bay - a replica of the trading post that one time existed nearby. Seelerman and I actually went as part of the crew and helped paddle a Voyagers' canoe while the guide told us the history. Visited a recreation of an Indian village outside the stockade, and the many buildings inside - soldiers barracks, officers quarters, storage rooms, canoe factory where people in period clothing and using period tools were actually making a birch bark canoe. Very interesting, very authentic feeling. Our only complaint was that it covers a large area and took hours to see, and there was no place where we could buy food except the shop/restaurant in the Welcome building at the entrance. We would have stayed longer and saw more if we hadn't gotten so hungry - and by the time we got to the exit and the Welcome building it was too late to go back in.

and the pioneer village in Edmonton - we liked the way it was set up with every turn bringing you into a new decade or period - up to almost the present time (electric lights, automobiles). But it didn't have the authentic feeling of Fort William. At Fort William the native buildings were made of birchbark - in Edmonton they were canvas instead of hides. The York Boat, although real and old and needing protection, could only be viewed from a distance - not experienced.

Each and every one of these pioneer villages offers a unique experience of the beginnings of our country - interesting - history coming alive. Well worth the visits.
 
Seeler said:
and the pioneer village in Edmonton - we liked the way it was set up with every turn bringing you into a new decade or period - up to almost the present time (electric lights, automobiles). But it didn't have the authentic feeling of Fort William. At Fort William the native buildings were made of birchbark - in Edmonton they were canvas instead of hides. The York Boat, although real and old and needing protection, could only be viewed from a distance - not experienced.
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That reminds me of something I saw in Ottawa. I've never heard of the Pioneer Village here. There is Fort Edmonton Park, and a Ukrainian Village in a town that is within reasonable driving distance to go visit for the day.
 
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