Christmas Day

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Day ... I've put more on Facebook, because it's easier, so if you've been on Facebook, you'll have seen these, but it's a different crowd here. Most of you know the cast of characters and the pictures, for the most part, need no explanation, but there are a couple that I felt required it.

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Gryper prepared for the guests in his own special way .

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I would have liked this picture to be clearer, but I took it with a telephoto and no flash, so this is as good as it gets.

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Gavin was watching Cameron and as soon as Cam looked away, Gavin grabbed his beer and casually sat there with it till it was noticed.

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The following three pictures are photos of framed pictures we received. We were thrilled. I can only imagine the difficulty of taking pictures of four kids when the younger two both have autism. I think they did a great job.

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After a long exhasting day, Mya fell asleep under the dining room table.

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We had a wind storm here on Dec 28, during which we had about eight trees blow over, and the tops of quite a few balsam trees were blown off too.

This spruce fell right across the sailboat, and after removing it, Ken found that there was no apparent damage to the boat. We lost our electricity for 27 hours and our phones have been out now for 26 hours and they still are.

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There were other guests there, I just didn't get any pictures that wre good. I'll be watching the others' blogs for some.

The Dinner Party

We're hosting a dinner party for some of our friends. I've been planning the meal for ages and I'm really excited. Today I'll be doing most of the preparation. I know I'll get asked to post the menu, so here goes.


Appetizers


Brie with Cranberries & Thyme baked in Buttered Puff Pastry

Pumpernickel Bread with a Roasted Red Pepper Dip


Main Course


Salad of Mixed Greens, Cranberries & Almonds with Maple Balsamic Dressing

Potatoes Mashed with Sour Cream Green Onions and Thyme

Roasted Root Vegetables

Rutabaga, Carrots and Pears mashed with Butter and Ginger

Cornish Hens with a stuffing of Barley Cous Cous and Dried Fruits
roasted with a Port & Spice Glaze


Dessert

Warm Molten Chocolate Cakes

Shortbread Ice Cream

Handmade Chocolate Truffles

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The names all sound pretty jazzy (which I worked at), I'm salivating just thinking about it. I have only made the salad and the truffles before, all of the other recipes are new to me.

I've wanted to try making the molten chocolate cakes for a long time. They are individual cakes with a special batter that when baked just enough the warm centre of chocolate sort of oozes out. The ice cream I made on Thursday and I've renamed it because when I tasted it, it tasted exactly like shortbread cookies. Absolutely heavenly.

My fiddle

We had some company last night and I was asked how my violin is progressing. Then I was asked to bring it out. As I was putting stuff away just now, I was looking at it and thought, I should take a picture of this. It's not done, but jeez it's starting to look like a violin.

It's not glued or anything, cause there's some trimming that'll have to be done first. It does all fit together properly, it's just that I didn't have enough hands to hold it in place and take the picture.

Better get back to carving the insides.

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Clear and -26º Celsius (-15º Fahrenheit)

Last night on the news, they said that the moon was closest to earth than it had been in a long time because of the shape of her orbit around the earth. It was a little over 350,000km away as it passed over the northern hemisphere, about 30,000km closer than usual. I didn't stay up to watch how big it appeared in the night sky, but when I got up, before sunrise, it was still clear and bright (and a wee bit chilly). I got this picture through the trees.

It was really very beautiful, but I didn't stay out long in my "jammies" at that temperature.

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We're Getting Whacked This Year

I keep on about the snow, but jeez we're getting hit hard this year. Ken's lost track of how many times he's blown out the driveway already. Look at how deep the snow is on the path to the outhouse. On the bright side, we didn't lose our power or phone this time!

The deck was cleared off on Sunday, this all fell between Sunday evening and Tuesday evening. It's 14 inches.

Guess what Ken's doing right now ... yup ... clearing snow.

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The Much Anticipated Dinner Party

After much planning, the big day finally arrived. The dinner party at CG's home was this past Saturday night. The dinner was delicious, the presentation was beautiful and the company was unbeatable!

When we arrived CG put out a wonderful Curried Crab Mousse that we all thoroughly enjoyed. We laughed and chatted while CG and the Mister put the finishing touches on supper.

The table was all set before we arrived. CG used the good china that she said she'd never use. It's over 100 years old from a friend of the Mister's mother. The glasses had pretty frosted leaves around the base of them. There was an elegant jug of water with lemon slices in it. The crystals of the chandelier sparkled in the light.

Here's the group just as we were starting our salad. FG's Mister proposed a lovely toast before we started to eat.

What dinner party with this room would be complete without a certain someone (NGU) having laughing uncontrollably about something. I don't remember what, I only remember that I promised not to put the video clip on here or facebook.


After supper we had tea and coffee in beautiful bone china tea cups that CG had gotten just for the occasion, which I stupidly forgot to photograph. All in all if was a terrific night and CG and the Mister did a wonderful job. Many thanks for having us there as part of it.

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Giant Icicle Update

Our giant icicle is growing, this was how it looked this morning ... HUGE!

This is how this area looks right now. We've had so much snow and it's not even November yet.

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Can't Resist The Snow Pix

We now have about thirteen inches of snow and it isn't even December yet! I think it looks so pretty when the lake hasn't frozen over yet. Don't get me wrong, I really don't like winter, but I have to admit, it really does look beautiful.

Since the snowstorm last weekend, this glacier has been slowly sliding down the valley line of the roof. I wouldn't want to be underneath it when this one falls! This picture is a little crooked because I had to lean over the deck railing to take it.

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Magical Snowy Fairyland

I was on my way to town yesterday and while I drove through a particularly windy part of the road, I felt like I had entered a magical, snowy fairyland. Since the snowstorm last Saturday night, we haven't had any wind and the snow has stayed on the trees. It was really heavy so the bows are weighed down in arches over the road.

I don't like winter, but I do have to admit, this looks beautiful. The picture barely does it justice.

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Ah, Crap, Winter's Coming

We had a snowstorm on Saturday night that resulted in our electricity being off for 21 hours. Our phone lines are still down. Bell says we should have them back by Tuesday night.

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Looks like winter is really going to come whether I like it or not!
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Rant

This morning, while engrossed in housewife drudgery, I had lots of time to ponder "stuff".

Unlike Mrs Gryper, I enjoy grocery shopping. I really love cooking. I'm not a big fan of housework. I don't have any negative vibes about dusting the living room, sweeping the floor or cleaning the kitchen, but I hate vacuuming! If you'll pardon the pun, vacuuming sucks.

It takes about an hour and a half to do through the house. It's not like I do it like Gryper and lift the legs of the bed and vacuum the bottom of them or anything weird like that. I don't dally, I just get it done. One of the really annoying things is that by the time it's done, and the vacuum is put away, there'll be a piece of fluff or something that'll sit out in the middle of the floor mocking me. Arrgh! Where the hell do they come from?

People kindly observe my fanatical "take your shoes off" obsession when they come in. Even the dog will stand on the door mat for an extra moment when her feet are wet.

Is there some weird little poltergeist who sneaks in and puts the bits of stuff in the cutlery tray (as I've already ranted about in another post) or dust bunny poop right in the middle of the floor immediately after you've already vacuumed there.

Too bad I'm not like CG whose idea of fun is to vacuum the house and have those vacuum "tracks" in the carpet.

Ah, well it's done for now ... till the house starts looking frowsy and I don't mind spending the hour and a half that I'll never get back again!

Meanwhile ... what is your favourite "chore" and your least favourite? Mine are: favourite baking and least favourite vacuuming.
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The Second Video

I couldn't get it to load on here, I did after a bunch of messing around get it on facebook, so check my page there for the second video.

Our Kitchen Party

Some of the Tone Deaf Daredevils got together this past weekend. We sang, we played, we laughed, we drank scotch and the dogs howled. I'm sure if the windows had been open, we'd have heard wolves howling in the distance.

Our good friends Mike, Karen, Michael and Pam were up for a visit on Sunday and Gryper and the Missus were here for the weekend.

Whenever this crowd is hear, we jam. The selection of instruments that have included the following: guitar, violin, flute, clarinet, sax (both alto and tenor), recorder, mandolin, voice, trombone, djembe (drum). There could be more, I can't remember.

I took the dogs outside for a few minutes and the guys all gathered around the music stand and began singing. I didn't get a clip of "You Don't Know Me", however, here our friend Michael and Gryper singing "King of the Road".

Clear Evening

Well here we are, the beginning of November. Where the heck did October go?? Tonight at supper we were talking about the clocks going back to EDT. It was a really clear evening so I went out after supper to look at the lake. It looked like this at 6:45pm and tomorrow it'll look like this at 5:45. Hrrumph .... pretty as this is, I like daylight savings time.

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Shibumi In The Panama

Our friends Mike & Karen are having an adventure on a very large sailboat right now. They're part of the crew of five people taking it from Ecuador, up and through the Panama Canal to some islands off the N/E corner of South America.

We spent the morning watching the locks at Miraflores for their boat ( I hoped they'd wave at the camera!). Gryper and the Missus have been following their trip to, but weren't able to watch this parts, so here are a couple of pix from the on-line cameras.

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Just before they entered the lock, the camera got moved, so we didn't get a good one of them coming in. They're the sailboat nearest the camera.

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Now they're travelling up towards the exit end of the lock. The water level is quite low.

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Here the water has come up and the locks are opening.

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Now they're travelling out of the lock headed east from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic.

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They have to be locked through again at Miraflores but there's no camera. Here they are (far right) just headed towards the next set.

Sharing

Gryper's actions a couple of weeks ago inspired this post. His actions made me think about how we share important things with those we care about.

Like in this picture, children sharing a special day. A birthday. Their friend feels really important and loved, and the guests learn very early the joy of sharing special times.

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Families sharing good times together, playing and having fun, makes everyone feel good, happy and loved. It's important to remember to share these silly games, even when we're adults.

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We raise a glass and share a "wee dram" to relax and enjoy each other's company after a busy day.

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We share work. In doing so we lighten each other's load in life. This make the job more fun and less tiresome.

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And finally we share a meal. I was so inspired watching Gryper share his meal with Muggins. He was so good, he didn't growl or start a fight, which surprised us all.

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Visits from the grandkids

Two weeks ago, Gryper & the Missus brought up Lex and Granddaughter I and Grandson III. It was great visit. The leaves were still in full colour and the sun was shining, so since we couldn't swim (Granddaughter I was furious), we went for a walk. This is a picture of the kids at the supper table. Granddaughter I giggled a lot, and they were both quite content to be at the table until everyone was finished.

This Saturday, Devon and Andrew brought up Grandson I and Grandson II till Sunday. During their visit, we played crokinole, laughed and ate a lot. The morning before they came up, I attempted to make Scottish tablet (which is like fudge only wayyyy better). It was an absolute success. We were all high on sugar. They brought Grandson II's new dirt bike and their Dad's dirt bike. They had a great time riding, but couldn't get too far on the trails because they were blocked, which made Granny very happy! Not knowing that in advance, I insisted that they take a little baggie with matches and some fire starter with them (you never know what might happen), which they thought was uproariously funny, but they were very co-operative. (I just bet I'll get trashed on facebook for it!)

Both weekends were so much fun, it was great having the whole bunch come up.

Autumn Scenes

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Here is another, more recent picture of the Village of Haliburton. This one was taken the week before Thanksgiving. A couple of days later, it rained. Between that and the strong wind, most of the leaves fell.

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Another view, but not a panorama.

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Thanksgiving weekend, is usually the date for taking the dock out. The lake is at its winter level, in the spring the rocky shoreline is all underwater.

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I was walking the dog yesterday and found these two leaves. I found this basswood leaf on the road and couldn't believe the size of it. Then I came across the oak leaf.

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Fall Colours

For some reason the pix won't go to a larger size if you click on them! Anyone know why??

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I was in town the Monday and the colours of the leaves were stunning. With rain predicted for several days this week, I was concerned that the best display would be over by the weekend, so I snapped some pictures. This is the first panorama that I've stitched together and am pleased with it. After looking at it, I realized there's still lots of green, so I'll check up there again next Monday.

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After I left the park, I was going past the elementary school and the kids ere just going back in from recess. I thought it was a beautiful playground for them to play in.

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