It’s been a busy week with lunches with friends, a volunteer Christmas lunch at the Inn, an open house, discovering a new brewery and Christmas dinners with old friends.
….and I still managed to lose six pounds.
Christmas Tables
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Tag Archives: decorations
Temperatures are Still Below Normal
….so the snow is still on the ground
Earlier in the week we experienced a snow storm that broke all kinds of records for November 12th. Usually when snow falls this early it doesn’t last more than a day but there was a lot of it and the seasonal temperatures are well below normal. The seasons are all confused. There are still leaves on the trees but today many of them decided it was time to come down. It’s quite strange seeing leaves on top of snow.
The snow certainly has put some people in the Christmas spirit and decorations are starting to appear in the city.
Happy Hallowe’en
….a wet night but that didn’t deter the trick or treaters
The weather for Hallowe’en was suppose to be so bad that there were parts of the country that were talking about postponing Hallowe’en night. Here in Toronto it was decided to leave Hallowe’en as is. We all have memories of going out on rainy and sometimes snowy nights to fill our bags with sugary treats. Back in the 50s crepe paper costumes were all the rage and I remember wearing one on a very wet night. Needless to say the costume fell apart and I was covered in dye that bled from the costume.
We never get a lot of children coming to our door. We are at the bottom of the street and many of our neighbours don’t turn on the lights or are purposely out for the evening. There are about five houses that always make an effort to decorate the yard and/or put out a Jack o Lantern. This year was no exception but it rained very heavily for most of the day and well into the evening. There were brief periods of time when the rain subsided but it kept returning and later in the evening the winds really started to kick up.
The surprise this evening was that the children and their parents came out in droves. Many carried umbrellas, some were driven from house to house but most of the children walked. At first it seemed like Hallowe’en night was going to be a bust but at about 6:45 small groups of kids of all ages started to appear at the door.
Normally we only get 15 to 25 visitors on Hallowe’en but tonight we had a record number of 62. I ran out of chips (56 bags) and only had 6 chocolate bars out of 120 left over. The only downside is that there is no candy to munch on for the next few days, especially since we don’t have any young children living at home any more. In hindsight it’s probably a good thing.
Here are a few photos of some of the decorations in the neighbourhood.
Our pumpkin this year was a happy fellow and some of the kids allowed me take their photos.
Our granddaughter is posing next to her father’s amazing pumpkin. She was suppose to dress up as Belle and that’s why the pumpkin was carved in the Beast’s likeness. As you can see Winnie had other ideas and wore her Owlette costume from last year. My theory is that because her father dressed up as Spiderman she also had to wear a super hero costume.
You can see that it also rained in Hamilton but that didn’t keep Winnie from bringing in this large haul of goodies.
Day Nine – Hallowe’en Decorations
…thanks to Granny Shot It for hosting the Eleven Day Hallowe’en Challenge
A Photo a Week Challenge – Open Topic
…thanks to Nancy Merrill for hosting A Photo a Week Challenge
I’ve chosen pumpkins and gourds for my subject matter this week. Of course I couldn’t keep it to one photo. On our way home from closing the cottage last week we stopped at a local farmer’s pumpkin sale. Not only did he have pumpkins but to be different from Walmart he was also offering a large variety of gourds. Now gourds are not edible but they make for fine decorations inside and outside your home. We really appreciated all the effort he made to make a creative and beautiful displays of his products.
Hallowe’en Challenge – Day 5
….thanks to Granny Shot It for hosting the Eleven Day Hallowe’en Photo Challenge
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?
Christmas at the Inn
….popcorn chains, Scrooge, Christmas cake and the Winter Witch
When the staff at Montgomery’s Inn put on a Christmas market they go all out. Weeks in advance the volunteers have been making Christmas cakes and gingerbread cookies. The walls were adorned with original paintings of Christmas Past, Present and Future and strings of popcorn and evergreen boughs were lovingly placed in the window wells and over the hearth of the fireplace.
On the day of the market the vendors set up their tables with more Christmas decorations and the Inn’s Winter Witch handed out cookies to the children. It’s a wonderful market and the community came out by the hundreds to support their local heritage museum.
Hallowe’en on Sixth Street
….yesterday started out grey and wet but by late afternoon the rain ceased and the children arrived in their glorious costumes
We never get many children at our door but yesterday, despite a wet start to the day, we saw a relatively large number for the bottom of Sixth St.. I say bottom because so many families don’t venture those few extra steps into our block mainly because so few doors are open.
Before it got too dark I walked up the street to see how the neighbours decorated their doorways. Here’s a small sampling of what I saw. By the way we had 38 trick or treaters come to our door.
Halloween at the Zoo
….it started out chilly but when the sun came out the layers came off
Going to the zoo during the week on Halloween had its perks. There was lots of parking, the line-up to get into the zoo was very short and we didn’t have to push through crowds of people to see the pandas. The downside is that a lot of the refreshment stands and rest areas were closed. The mono-rail wasn’t operating and some of the animal enclosures were closed.
We arrived late morning and we needed to bundle up to stay warm. Out came the hats, gloves and scarves. As soon as we entered the grounds we could see that staff had made an effort to decorate for Halloween.
Our first destination was the panda pavilion. The pandas are on loan here from China and the original two successfully mated to produce two cubs. The young cubs are already two years old and are almost the same size as their parents. In March, Toronto will have to say good-bye to the pandas when they move to Calgary. I was thrilled that I was able to get so close to get some great shots.
As we walked from the Giant Panda Experience towards the Polar Bears and then to the African Savanna, the sun came out and we shed our hats, gloves and scarves. The pathways are beautifully laid out as they wind through forests of orange, gold and red. There were many interesting animals along the way but this post would be far too long if I mentioned them all. I’ll save that for another day.
