Christmas Road Trip...

...two days on the road, one night in Montreal then finally into Whitby...without any weather to contend with.
I slept most of the way as I just finished 8 days of painting and 3 hours in ER having my finger sewn back together (thus the slow typing, sorry! read it sloooowly!)

The 10 days in Ontario were a whirlwind of; Tina Turner concert (thanks to Sara and Amanda), a day of hunting bargins in TO with Barb, dinner in Whitby with the "boys", 2 days of scouring TO's Queen St for the perfect drapery fabric (thanks to Bec and Sara, it was found), checking out as many restaurants as possible...



a pizza Christmas dinner with my kids,








a crazy bunch!

roast beef dinner with Mom & Dad, an evening at the cottage with Steve & Nancy, then some time with Kristen, Rick and Jack...and finally running ahead of TO's worst storm of the year!
Our thanks to everyone for the hospitality and good fun. (so much so, I took few pics!)

Back home and another storm kept us inside for 2 days...so Brian took the opportunity to install the custom made pot rack in the kitchen...it took two guys & some Moosehead to determine placement!





...the pot rack and designer/welder!


...a tree to make Charlie Brown proud!


10lbs of lobster arrive to thrill Corrine!

Merry Christmas to all...and a grrrrreat New Year!

A Day for a Road Trip...

...and away from house chores...'cause no one else is working here!

Jim and I did a run to Moncton just for a play day...and what a nice city! Great stores and shops to mosey around in...for those who like that sort of thing. (The banker has a preference for window shopping, whereas I prefer to buy things!)

We have now come to the conclusion that we have very different tastes in decor as well as what is a reasonable price for items. Thus we came home with a pillow top for our 15-year old mattress (can't agree on a real mattress) and a few kitchen tools ('cause a KitchenAid stand mixer is toooooo pricey...and "isn't there a hand mixer cheaper somewhere?")

We were on the roads coming home in the dark and the fog...and here's why we are extra careful...

...this was sent to me by our friend Gwen. These guys are HUGE! Locals are surprised I've yet to see a moose, but I'm not sure I'm that anxious to do so!

We had 20lbs of lobster delivered on Saturday night, so we were boiling up the rosy reds till 1:00 a.m. and then spent Sunday morning cracking, cleaning and freezing the meat for winter chowders etc. The kitchen reeks of the task and they make a mess in the kitchen, but the banker seems to like the work (one bite for him, one for the freezer!)


I have bought the paint for the dining room and living room and now just waiting for "Jr" Sampson to come round to help apply it to the walls. And if we can keep the momentum...the guest room and halls? I'm afraid if I wait too long, more "stuff" will appear in the rooms reducing the motivation to clear them for the work!

And speaking of "Jr" and his nickname (he is 75 years old!) nicknames (as well as -ies) are very common here. Chicky is Johnny Mo's wife and has a sister Honey (who delivers the mail) and a brother, Boo-Boo. Our carpenter Steve has a helper named Toe and a son called Buck. This caused us to raise the question...what are our nicknames? So Jim is now refered to as Miiiiiiiisterrrrr Kennnnnnnedy, apparently after a WWF wrestler and he's not sure why (feel free to send your comments!)...me? ...I'm not even going to ask what they name me!!


click to play (you can fast forward to 1:00 for the "meat of the show"!