New Flower (December 28, 2019) – Red Speckled Poinsettia
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Category Archives: Christmas
Christmas Lights After Dark
….I’m guilty of not putting up my Christmas lights this year….yet
Thank goodness that my neighbours had the energy to put out their decorations and string lights in front of their homes. So far I’ve only managed a wreath on my door and I purchased an outdoor arrangement that I placed on my new post by the front stairs. Unfortunately the winds have been so strong that it’s been blown over three times and the last fall completely shattered the container.
Here are a few homes that I managed to photograph a few days ago. I would have posted sooner but I was having issues with adding photographs taken with my new iPhone. Fortunately that’s been settled.
Silent Sunday – December 15, 2019
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Sunday Trees – 422
…thanks to Becca Givens for hosting Sunday Trees
There’s a hot debate going on again about Christmas Trees. Fake or real? Clearly this one is fake and will end up in our landfill sites where it will take eons to decompose. Closer to home the business association has opted for real trees. As soon as the trees are cut new saplings are planted, farmers are making an income from these trees and when we’re done with them they are completely compostable. They also smell great.
In Search of the Perfect Tree
….an outing with the family
Last weekend my husband and I drove to Hamilton to our daughter’s house where I picked up her family and we drove about 15 minutes north of the city to a Christmas tree farm. It was most definitely a farm with ducks, goats, cows, rabbits and a donkey.
We came fully prepared to cut down our own tree but as we explored the grounds we couldn’t find anything small enough to fit into our homes. My son-on-law always gets the biggest tree because their home has high ceilings but I was instructed to come back with a very small tree that would fit on a table. All the trees were over 10 feet tall and we could see that people had been cutting trees from the top. The only tree that we all liked had signs around it telling people NOT to cut it down.
We enjoyed the walk through the property so not all was lost but we were disappointed in the selection. We got back in our cars and headed up north for a few more kilometres, back to the tree farm we went to last year. We weren’t sure that it would still be open because the owners are into their eighties and told us last year that that would be their last year selling trees. Luckily for us they decided to open for at least one more year. The pickings were great and we all found our perfect tree.
We drove back to Hamilton with our treasures inside and on top of the cars. Back at Gaelan’s house we were treated to a wonderful lunch and afterwards Winnie and I decorated Christmas cookies.
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
….the trees on the street are in place and the store owners have started to decorate them 
The Lakeshore Santa Claus Parade is this Saturday so I’m sure there will a lot more decorations. Stay tuned.
Silent Sunday – December 1, 2019
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Friendly Friday Photo Challenge – Electric
…thanks to Snow for hosting this week’s Friendly Friday Photo Challenge
Electric Guitar
Electric Lights
Distorted City Lights
Electric Scooter
Electrical Box
Battery Operated Electric Lanterns
Electric Car
One More Christmas Celebration
….just when I thought I was done
I mentioned in one of my recent posts about Christmas that a very good friend of ours who almost always spends Christmas Eve with us couldn’t come over this past year. My daughter arranged for the three of us to get together last week for lunch.
I packed up all the gifts that I had for her, put them in my car and then headed out for Montgomery’s Inn where I volunteered to help put up an art show. I’ve never done a professional exhibit before and I found it exciting helping the artist decide where and how to hang her work. The artist’s name is Sharon McManus and I will probably share more about her work after the official opening this Saturday.
When we finished hanging all the pieces I made my way to Arlene’s place. We met in her condo where she still had up all her Christmas decorations, including her white tree that she’s had since the 60s.
Andrea arrived soon after and we all went down the street to the local Sushi restaurant. We toasted in the New Year with a little saki and warmed our tummies with a bowl of ramen.
When we went back to the condo and Arlene opened her gifts. She loves Henkel Trocken and it’s become a tradition to place a bottle in her Christmas stocking. 
Before we left she made us coffee and we shared a muffin and some cookies. Andrea also taught her how to use her camera on her phone so we played around posing for pictures.
I think this is pretty much the end of our Christmas season, although my niece and her husband celebrated Orthodox Christmas a couple of days ago.
There are still a few remnants of Christmas around the neighbourhoods and some of the lights will stay up well past Valentine’s Day but for the most part the decorations are starting to come down and the greenery is starting to whither. Some people are sad that the holiday season is now over. As for me I’m looking forward to some rest and returning to a more normal routine of eating. How about you?
The Third Day of Christmas Celebrations Amidst a Plumbing Disaster
…..on Boxing Day the sewer started backing up into the basement
Soon after doing the laundry we noticed that water was coming up through the sewer drain in the basement. Luckily it was only a large puddle around the drain and it was easily soaked up with rags but soon after when someone showered it happened again. We decided to carefully ration the water until we could get a plumber to the house. We called the next morning but because it wasn’t an immediate emergency we had to wait one more day before the plumber could get to our house.
On the 28th a camera and a plumbing snake were lowered into the drain. At 41 feet the camera came across the problem. The clay pipe at the Y junction had collapsed and only a small area was letting water get through. That meant that paper and some ‘matter’ was building up at the break and water was having a hard time passing through. Plumber Joe was able to clear the blockage but it was only a temporary fix. The pipe had to be removed and replaced. There was only one problem; the broken pipe was in the middle of my neighbour’s driveway and her car was sitting on top of it.
Now that might not seem like a huge problem but the car hadn’t been moved in almost two years and no amount of pushing would move it back the three feet we needed to get to the problem. We tried calling CAA but they didn’t show up and when I called they said that our coverage didn’t cover moving the neighbour’s car. Now what?
The next morning we figured out why we couldn’t put the car into neutral. Newer cars are all controlled by the electrical system and since the battery was completely dead we needed to give the car a boost. Eureka! We got the car started and backed it up the three feet that we needed. Unfortunately by the time we called our plumber back he was already on another job and couldn’t come till Monday, Dec. 31.
Our third day of Christmas was suppose to happen on the 28th but due to a miscommunication my sister’s family was planning on arriving on the 29th. At the time I thought the plumbing was going to be fixed on that day so I wasn’t too anxious about having eight adults and a baby in the house. When they arrived I explained the situation and asked them to use the bathroom sparingly. In the end we decided to go out for dinner instead of eating at home. Before we left we opened more gifts and phoned the restaurant to make sure that they could accommodate our large group.
In the end it turned out that the restaurant was a good option all around. There were no dishes for me to wash (couldn’t run the dishwasher), everyone was able to order according to their dietary needs and likes, we arrived after the rush, the service was great and we were able to spend time talking to one another without worrying about our plumbing problem. My sister and her family all live out of town and my nephew had flown in from California. If we hadn’t gotten together that day it probably wouldn’t have happened. Thanks for small blessings.
Mama Cormier 