HAPPY NEW YEAR

I want to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year.  We will be at Axe Lake at their annual New Year's Eve party at Bob's party garage.  Davey is down with his tons and tons of ribs, chicken and sausages.  I will be bringing my usual and I am sure there will be lots of other stuff to eat.  I hear everyone is sick so no kisses or hugs for me.  I will just wave at everyone and air kiss them.  But I am sure that I have a bug in me right now just waiting to show it's ugly head.  I rarely get away from the holidays without something.

2012 was a good year for me but then again, every year is a good year for me.  It just seems to get better and better.  Life is what you make of it.  But I do have a few resolutions in my head that I will keep quiet but I will share one with you since I will be doing it with Andrew.  I will only drink on weekends - Joanne does this and has been doing it for sometime and it can't hurt.  So, starting January 1st, 2013 that is one of my resolutions.  (sure ok now in the cold weather but what about the hot summer when a nice cold beer is all that is in your mind...I am doomed).

Enjoy!!

OUR NEW TRAILER

What do we need with a trailer you might ask.  We will be parking it at a trailer park up the highway for the part of the spring, all summer and into November.  On a lake.  You live on a lake you might say.    Yes we do but we do need to get a way from it all once in a while.  When we are home we are always working but when we are at the camp grounds, we relax and fish and hunt and just relax and enjoy ourselves.
For the past 3 or 4 months I have searched Kajiji for Windsor, Sudbury, London and the Sault.  I know every trailer on those sites.  I found this one at Tilbury RV Sales and when we were in the neighbourhood we checked it out.  It is perfect.  Great condition for a 2000.  24 foot Jayco Quest.  We'll pick it up in April and bring it back home.  There are a few changes I want to make before we park it up the highway.  Can't wait!!!

HOME SWEET HOME

Another Christmas over and done with.  We headed to Windsor on the 18th to get in our eye doctor and dental appointments.  We both got new glasses and I also got a new pair of sunglasses - polarized of course.  My old ones were from about 3 prescriptions ago and I could no longer wear them and I needed another pair for fishing - so I could see to tie the line. They should arrive in the mail shortly.  And I had to have a filling replaced at the dentist.  After the cleaning they froze my mouth at about 2:30 and I swear the freezing didn't wear off until 9:30 that evening.  I had to drink a beer thru a straw!!!
We visited Jenn and Steve's new home - very modern but it suits them to a T.  I took some nice pictures of the lights in Amherstburg.  Very Christmasy.
Part of Christmas Eve was spent with Rick's kids and grandchildren.  The kids all got techy gifts - even little Jake who is about 4.  I got them a Twister game.  You should have seen their faces when they unwrapped it - duh where do you put the batteries?  Oh well, the grownups enjoyed it.  And I have no doubts that when all their batteries are dead they will enjoy a game of Twister with their parents.
I also volunteered at a French grade school to serve pancakes and sausages on December 21st.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  300 little kids all excited for Christmas.  It made me sad to remember the little ones who lost their lives in Newtown a week earlier.  Angels now.
Christmas day was spent with family, as it should be.  On boxing day we headed out before the storm to visit Susan in Listowel and then made the final trek home today.  Thank goodness for Ron who plowed our laneway - we had a big dumping of snow here this week.  Figures while we were away.
Tomorrow we will have some company from Windsor until after New Year's.  It will fulfill someone's bucket list - and the lake is frozen over for fun on the snowmobile.  Can't wait!!

See Ya Bye

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Wishing my family, friends and loyal readers a very Merry Christmas.  Hope Santa was good to you...

See Ya bye

TIS THE SEASON

We have been so busy that we haven't made the time to visit our neighbours and friends this holiday time.  It was suggested that we have a get together for some Christmas cocktails.  We invited a few friends over on Sunday nite (you can do that when you and all your friends are retired or in the off season like Ute).  7 o'clock was the anticipated start time but John and Linda and Ron and Marty showed up shortly after 6:30  Thank goodness I like to be ready and relaxing a good 1/2 hour before company starts to arrive.  I was ready.  Even my punch was made - I just had to add ice.  Around here everyone brings their own beverages to functions so I had to drink the majority of the punch.  No Problem.  We made partridge appetizers dipped in maple syrup, cheese and grapes, chips - Mary brought over meatballs in her home made bbq sauce (yummy) and Bob brought over escargots in garlic butter and Ute made a spinach cheese wrapped in puffed pastry.  There was also a goodie plate that went fast as well.  It was a lot of fun.  Next party is New Year's Eve at the usual spot.  Everyone had a good time and they were all gone by a decent hour.  My kind of party.
Linda always has beautiful nails and last nite was no exceptions.  She did them in a deep cherry red with single line of gold sparkle paint at the cuticle line.  I have never seen this done before and it was stunningly beautiful.  She said they reminded her of Christmas tree ornaments and they did!!  Well done Linda!!

See Ya Bye

MORE HOARE

I guess the elements are just perfect for Hoare Frost because it was everywhere this afternoon.  Very pretty but very cold.  You can feel it in the air and see it in the trees, especially on the pines.  It is like the needles are white - which they basically are being coated with the frost.  I managed to get some pictures walking back from the garage where I have been working my ass (sorry Mr. & Mrs. Barr) off.  We now have all the pieces cut.  We then assemble and finish them all.  A slow process but I find it fun.  The ice isn't thick enough for fishing yet so what else do we have to do?
The second picture is of a track I found on the mine side.  We have seen these large tracks before but I haven't been able to find a clear track to identify it.  If it is a wolf, he is a solitary one.  The smaller track is probably Boots'.  Maybe I can talk Rejean into putting up the trail cam to get a good look at the creature.  The black item is my camera case so that you can get an idea of the size.  Any ideas out there?
See Ya Bye

CHECK THIS BLOG OUT

I found this blog a while ago and view it every now and then but lately I find myself visiting the site regularly.  It is called Advanced Style by Ari Seth Cohen.  He roams the streets of New York taking pictures of stylish older men and women - usually women.  I am in awe of these ladies and how gorgeous they are in their funky and classic outfits.  And their words of wisdom...something we can all take to heart sometimes.
So if you have a few minutes please take a look - I think even you guys would get a kick out of some of these beautiful senior citizens.
AND he has published a coffee table type book with some of his work.  So I am not the only one who enjoys his work.

THURSDAY

I finally finished the last piece of wood for the ceiling - actually this is only 1/3 of the pieces we need.  Rejean and Ron went to the lumber yard this morning to get more!!.  We need 340 of these pieces.
I finished the first coat of varathane on these at 11am this morning.  I will start the second coat tomorrow and then sand them.  I don't know when the third and final coat will be done.  In the meantime we have to make over 200 more pieces.  Ron has volunteered to lend us a hand - should be a real production line going on in the garage.
This afternoon we headed off to Blind River to give blood.  They have stopped holding clinics in Thessalon because they just couldn't get enough units to make it worth their while. I got Curtis this time and he was very good.  Sometimes they have trouble finding a vein and then getting the blood to flow but he was excellent and he made it easy for me. He talked to me the whole time and found a vein right off the bat.  They were very grateful and gave us cookies and juice after.   Blind river is only about 45 minutes from us and there is a fresh cut french fry place right on the highway - guess what we had for dinner.  I couldn't finish mine - but they were good.  We saw a wolf on the ice on one of the lakes on the way there.  By the time I backed up and got the window rolled down, he was running off.  But nice to see.
I can't do my exercises tonite because you have to take it easy after giving blood so I am playing on the computer.
Tomorrow we head  into Thessalon for the Sinton fish fry and a visit with Sally.  Busy Busy Busy.
See Ya Bye

HOAR FROST

I had to go into town this afternoon - I had a ton of things to do including a doctor's appointment, a bank deposit, get a couple of keys made, get some pictures done at the drug store, return some boots at the Sears outlet and grocery shop.  Plus spend about 1/2 hour browsing at Forestland where I picked up a last minute gift.  But  as I was getting ready to go I noticed some frost forming on some trees around the house.  I knew it was a hoar frost so I took my camera with me - my first picture is taken at the foot of my lane way.  You can see it forming on the trees in the background.  Notice how sunny it is.  Now the next picture is probably about 5 minutes south on our highway just approaching Cummings Lake.  The frost was more noticeable in these pictures.  Cummings hasn't started to freeze but Tunnel has I was surprised to see.  As far as I could see it was frozen over and snow-covered.
And just another " hard to believe" fact about life up here,  when I was called into the doctor's office, she was sitting there waiting for me !!  I told her I had never seen that before and she laughed.  Try doing that in Windsor.

See Ya bye

WHAT'S UP

First off, we have snow up here.   Rejean blew snow this morning for the first time.  We needed it.
We are well underway in the garage working on the wood we need for the ceiling.  We need 340 of those suckers and then 340 of the larger pieces.  But we have a production line going.  Rejean has already planed the wood down to 5/8 of an inch thick then we cut it to length.  Rejean then planes down an edge so that it would be square then I routered it.  I pass it thru twice and sometimes a third time.  Rejean then sands it down - I really think he is checking my work - he has had to return a piece or two for another pass.  Quality Control I guess.  He cuts off the routered side and planes the left over piece for me to repeat the process.  I am actually working machinery and doing a good job if I do say so myself.  It will be well worth it when the finished product is installed.
See Ya Bye

ANOTHER PROJECT OFF THE LIST

We finished this this afternoon - our crown moulding over top of the bar.  It took a while to plane the wood to the proper thickness and then to set up the cutters for the profile we wanted.  Rejean stained the wood then my job was to varathane the pieces.  Turned out beautifully.  Next we work on the ceiling.  We have decided on a design and now we have to cut, finish, then construct and install 90 boxes to finish the coffered ceiling.  Should look great.

Let the fun begin...

A FUNNY GROWTH

I took this picture during hunting season and just got around to downloading it to the computer.  I just think it is a weird looking thing.  What do you think?

HOO HOO ARE YOU??

We were on our way over to John and Linda's on Sunday and I spotted this beauty right along side of the highway perched on a hydro pole.  I didn't have my camera with me so I turned around and headed back home to get it - what have I said before - Never Leave Home Without It.  Luckily for me he was still there by the time we got back and Rejean took this and a few more beautiful pictures of him.  He is a Barred Owl and he was beautiful.  You don't often see them in broad day light out in the open like this.  He was just looking for lunch - he was not bothered by us at all.  He kept his eyes on us the whole  time.  And he swivelled his head around completely when we first spotted him.  Amazing!!

You will notice I have the ability to post pictures again.  I had to buy extra storage in order to do this.  It was either that or delete some of my older posts but I just couldn't do that.  Every post is an event in one day in my life that I choose to share.  I can't erase those.

See Ya Bye