Tuesday 30 December 2014

Views of a "PK"

   I do not consider myself a religious person but each Christmas I like to sing carols so I try to get to a carol service wherever I am. Being in Canada, and with an Anglican priest as my friend's mother-in-law I tagged along with her. I had a few surprises in store. I knew the priest was a woman which was the first thing I had to take into account. I am a "PK" which is known here as a "priest's kid." A PK is a kid brought up in the church but has shied away from it. My father was an Anglican priest who always said he would turn Catholic as soon as they ordained women! Fortunately he did not live to see
this happen. Having got over the first step we were off and running. The carols were lovely but the lessons surprised me a little. I had been brought up with the good old King James version of the bible and thought I knew the lessons backwards having heard them so often. What was being used sounded to me like the New English version which as a fusty, old traditionalist I did not enjoy. This service was combined with communion so I watched carefully to see what would be done Imagine my surprise once again as a woman went up and gave the wine during the communion. Even though I am not a churchgoer I could not but remember my father who I suppose had instilled all the old ideas into me. The service was very informal and chatty which I was not used to. Even though everything was so different I am really very glad I went.    
After the service everyone went down to the basement to have coffee and refreshments. I sat and chatted to some people I already knew and met some new people who were all very friendly and welcoming. Gale never misses a chance to tease me about church so we all had a good laugh as well!

Celebrating Christmas before the 25th


   There was so much going on before Christmas. The first was a concert at the high school with a donation of food and money for the Food Bank. There was singing, dancing, music and drama. For me the most fascinating item was with the choir. They had a girl keeping the beat with her hands and a plastic cup. She was so talented.

   One Saturday we went to Ottawa to the theatre. I saw the Nutcracker ballet being performed by the Alberta Ballet Company. It was beautiful and as I had never seen it before, only Swan Lake and the Firebird, I was mesmerized throughout. We also went Christmas shopping and Lyndsay walked my feet off. She has much more stamina than I do!!!
   The following Sunday evening Lyndsay and I went to a Ladies Night at the Home Depot. We decorated a wine glass, made a snowman decoration for the tree out of a light bulb and made a beautiful ribbon wreath. It was the first time they had done anything like that and it was a lot of fun. Only one small problem Lyndsay and I did not understand the directions properly and made our wreath out of small ribbon bows while everyone else used large ribbon bows!! Never mind I think ours worked out as well, if not better, than the others.

The quilt guild I belong to had their Christmas lunch in the Masonic hall where I
members of the Eastern Star who had cooked the lunch for us. I remember my mother telling me she belonged to Eastern Star in Scotland when I was small.
   The municipality gave a Christmas dinner for the volunteers in Eganville The meal was delicious and the entertainment hilarious. All the firefighters were up on the dance floor dancing to the song "YMCA," it was a lot of fun!


   At the food bank we were very busy handing out the Christmas boxes which we had packed up a day or so before. About eighty families are cared for at the Eganville branch. People called us the little Christmas Elves!

Thursday 11 December 2014

Driving in Canada, Part Two


   Oh dear, driving in Canada is not really me! The other day I set out to take Stacey into the next town to her life guard course. Gale brought her car over and I told her yes of course I could find the way. I had written down the directions to the pool from the entrance to the town so I thought I was set having said only the day before how well everything was sign posted. No, No, No!!

   I got in and set off. Turning to Stacey I said, "It is straight all the way, right?" She agreed and off we went, driving straight, chatting and
laughing all the way. Never thought to look at the road signs! The road just kept on going and it never crossed my mind it was taking us rather a long time to get to our destination. All of a sudden Stacey tells me are almost at a town way out of our route. She called Gale and told her we were lost. I backed up and found the crossroad with a road sign to where we were supposed to be going. We were so late and the I am told if she misses this class she would be put out of the course. I felt so guilty and set off on a further seventy kilometre trip that should have been only forty three from the beginning.
 
   I found my way into the town and we were to meet Gale at a set point. To make things worse Stacey's phone battery was almost dead. We got there, were met and Gale drove the rest of the way. I felt such a twit and so guilty but fortunately they understood and let her in. I have never driven so far in my entire life and was very glad to see Gale at the parking lot of the restaurant where we had agreed to meet.  I do not think Gale will ever let me drive anywhere ouside the village and as the weather gets worse I am not sure I even want to try!

Winter is on the way


I got  so excited at the first snow but had no idea it could be so beautiful. Winter is on it's way, as the snow is now staying put. The real winter woollies have come out and all the fleece lined "everythings." I was out walking in the snow the other day and it was crunching quietly under my boots, I think it was only a couple of inches deep. The temperature was under freezing and Gale was saying to me, "This is snowball snow." I took her at her word and was not going to try it as my hands were already freezing, inside my gloves!

We have some bird feeders up now outside the kitchen window and it is really
wonderful to see all the different birds that come visiting. We borrowed a bird book from Gale and have identified the Black and White Warbler and the Hairy Woodpecker. We have also seen Chickadees and one Blue Jay. Most of the Blue Jays are going to our neighbor who obviously has something better to offer than we have! I am hoping at least one squirrel will come to visit. Actually we were very lucky any birds come at all as Smithy, the white cat, used to like to curl up on the stool under the feeders. Now there is some snow is on the stool he is not so interested!
At last my wanted visitor came to see us at the the bird feeders, a cute little squirrel. He came trotting through the snow and tried out all the feeders to find his favourite. I love to see the black squirrels here in Canada and they all seem to be so nice and chubby. Needless to say the birds were not impressed with our new visitor and have boycotted us a bit. I hope they will come back when they get hungry. I think the squirrel is less of a threat than "Smithy" who they will not see again until all the snow has gone!

Sunday 9 November 2014

Driving in Canada


   Driving in Canada is an experience and a half. Having roads with no pot holes is new, also having roads that go on for ever. After driving on an island thirty seven miles long and at the widest fifteen miles, you can imagine how different it all is here. It is amazing to me the way the roads seem to keep on going for long distances, and driving through the countryside is beautiful.
                                                                      

   Before I came to Canada my friend Lyndsay told me, "If you drive on the highway you have to go at one hundred or one hundred and twenty kilometres an hour." My response was, "You must be kidding!" I was used to going at a maximum of eighty and felt that if I drove over that I would lose control of the car. Of course I was still reckoning with potholes and the traffic I was used to, bumper to bumper. Everyone doing their own thing no matter what the law really meant! Since being here and driving in the country I can see how driving could certainly be considered a pleasure.


 
My friend Gale has been taking me driving for practice. I am having a few problems on these smooth, empty roads staying within the speed limit. It seems rather difficult for me to judge the speed I am going so we have rather a lot of what my father used to call "kangaroo petrol." Poor Gale, she is one of the most patient people I have ever known and has now got used to my style of driving, at least I think she has, as she still comes in the car with me!

Thursday 6 November 2014

First snow


   The first snow came and went. I am not an early riser so when Lyndsay came in to get me up I wondered what had happened. She told me to get dressed fast and come down to see the snow. I looked out of my bedroom window and was so excited, everything was covered in beautiful, white snow. I grabbed the camera, put on my "Michelin tyre" coat and rushed out of the door. It was gorgeous, I have not seen snow for a long time and intended to enjoy it. The first picture I took was the house which still had the Halloween decorations on it.


   Following me out of the door like my little shadow was Socks. He was not impressed at all. He padded slowly over the snow and was in a big hurry to get back inside. It was still snowing lightly and I was fascinated to see the snow flakes on Sock's shiny, black fur. I can not wait to see his reaction when it really snows hard and is quite deep. 

 

   I must have been a sight to behold standing in the middle of the road looking in all directions. The views everywhere you could see were so enthralling. Unfortunately this snow did not last. It was very interesting to me to be standing out when it was still snowing, the sun was shining and the snow had begun to melt and drip down from the roof onto the ground. I am waiting for the real snow to arrive but have to admit I am not in too much of a hurry!
                                                               


Sunday 2 November 2014

HALLOWEEN

  


 

It was my first Halloween in Canada and I was geared up for anything, even the cold! I had been told that people would come round even if it snowed. Only rain dampens the spirits, but even then there are vehicles for that type of weather. Halloween goes on no matter what!
We had been decorating the outside of the house for at least a week adding new decorations as we got them. We went tootling round the neighbourhood looking at what everyone else had to offer. By four o'clock we were ready for the first group of little ones. The candy was in the cauldron and everything was switched on. I wore half of my costume as Lyndsay said it was too scary for the young ones.
The cats were outside and could not understand what was going on. We just hoped sharp claws did not come into contact with the blown up characters we had out in the front. Socks looked just like the light decoration I had in my bedroom window. Unfortunately he was not very impressed with the proceedings.


 
As the evening wore on more interesting characters came our way. It was really wonderful to see how many parents had also dressed up for the occasion. I put on my hood and eyes and stood waiting, then I heard a little voice ask, "Is that a real person?" I had to turn up my hood a couple of times as the little ones were scared. On the post outside we had a bell that I made the children press and laughed as they jumped backwards away from the snake that touched their finger. Next to me was a motion acting spider that crawled up and down while its eyes shone red. One little boy came in the same costume as mine, he was not scared of anything.

 I think the best decoration we had was the skeleton trying to get out of the grave. Our neighbours down the road had gone all out and even had a  bloody corpse in a coffin. I had a lot of fun but later in the evening it started to get cold so we abandoned our posts, switched off the lights and retreated indoors for a hot drink to chase away the chills. Our plan now is to think up something really original for next year. Any ideas?

Encounter with a skunk

  
We went to Ottawa on a lovely sunny day as Lyndsay had a doctor's appointment and we had decided to make a day of it. We drove around for about half an hour trying to find the office. Finally we had to ask, and it was in a shopping centre with no address! The appointment was on time and we got out fast. Where to go first, shopping, window shopping or just marching round the shops looking at everything. We went into Pier ! and went mad with all the Halloween paraphanalia at half price. I needed to go to a bank ATM machine so we stopped at the nearest bank.
   
    Lyndsay said she had problems with the truck driving through the machines
so she parked and I got out. I walked round to the outside ATM and stopped suddenly when I was called. I had heard a woman shout "skunk" but took no notice. Lyndsay started to yell my name so I stopped and looked round. She was also telling me about a skunk. I turned round and there was a big, beautiful skunk coming my way. I backed off a little but was mesmorised as I had never seen such a big skunk up close before. I looked at the skunk and the skunk looked at me. Obviously he or she was not in the mood to come too close so scuttled off out of the parking place.
  
   Lyndsay came over and wondered where I was going. After telling her I was going to the ATM machine she looked at me astounded. After thirty years in Curacao where there were vey few, if any, ATM machines inside banks I thought I knew what I was doing. We both had a good laugh and I went inside. It is going to take me a while to get acclimatized to some of the things everyone here takes for granted. I felt a bit of a twit but as the story got told to the family everyone saw the funny side.

Wednesday 29 October 2014

Pre Halloween Activities

   Halloween is big in Canada and I think the adults have more fun than the
Lyndsay and the grim reaper
children! I took part in a few pre Halloween activities . The first one was a visit to Hugli's Blueberry Farm for some annual fun. The first thing we did was take a truck to the Haunted House. It was really scary and at one point we were literally walking in pitch black hanging on to the sides of the wall. The ground was uneven and even a bit squishy in places. I was with Lyndsay and I kept grabbing a hand and asking, "Is that you?" Fortunately it was. Lyndsay did not fare so well, she was in front of me and being rather short she kept grabbing at something and it turned out to be the backside of the fellow in front! All this time things were jumping out at you and screaming.



   After that we were off to the cornfield maze. We seemed to walk for ages to find the centre graveyard. In places the corn was at least eight feet high and nothing much could be seen except by the faint light coming from the perimeter. It had been raining and the ground was a bit muddy in places as well as having hills. here also people were jumping out at you. I was so involved with looking where I was going that I did not see someone standing very still right next to
Remember "It"
me. I screeched and jumped backwards. Oh, was I embarrassed when a voice said, "I am not part of this." I felt such an idiot and rushed on as fast as I could. We wended our way around but could not find the way out. At one point we found a gate saying "Emergency exit." You can imagine what we did! Taking tickets for the maze was a rather scary clown who did not speak. It was a lot of fun and after that we were starving and went into Pembroke for dinner at Kelsey's


  

 
   As I am part of the food bank crew I was asked to help take money at a children's Halloween party whose revenue was being given to the food bank. I got myself a sort of kiddy costume, which the adults recognized at once, and spent a couple of hours there with Gail, who runs the food bank. Characters dressed as Elsa from Frozen and Spiderman turned up for photo ops. It was so lovely to see the little children's faces when talking to these characters who they were so sure were real.




Tuesday 28 October 2014

You will never believe this


  

You will never believe this, I went to a pumpkin drop! The pumpkin was 1,576 pounds and was judged the second largest pumpkin in Ontario. People were gathering from one thirty to see the drop at two o'clock. This is an annual event in Eganville and takes place in the car park of a supermarket. I have never seen such an enormous pumpkin. Unfortunately they are not edible at that size, they are "bred" for competition only.

                                                                                                                                                                 
 
   The pumpkin arrived a couple of days before the event and was stored on a cart in the car park. It was hoisted up by a crane, sat perched in a sling like mechanism way up in the air, with a rope attached to the bottom to release it when ready. Some children were invited to come over and help pull the rope. During the activity there was a raffle taking place, with proceeds going to the Eganville food bank. Just before the drop all ticket stubs were put in a plastic bag and then into the pumpkin, through the hole that had been cut in it to remove the seeds. Champion pumpkin growers do not share their pumpkin seeds with anyone, which is to be understood.

 
 
      The MC, and the people standing around to see the drop all counted down from ten. Then the children and one hefty man tugged the rope hard. Splat!!! The pumpkin hit the ground with giant force and broke into dozens of different sized pieces. Everyone rushed over to see it and take a piece home if they would like to. I settled for picking a piece up, my goodness was my piece heavy. I had no idea that pumpkins could be so weighty. It  was fun to watch, even if it was a bit chilly and drizzling with rain.  All told it was a really interesting experience.

 

Sunday 26 October 2014

I love Autumn

What a beauty, the tree not me!
   I have never seen an Autumn like this one, my first in Canada. When I arrived and was travelling along the road to Eganville, one of the first things that struck me was the abundance of trees. Now I have seen how the trees change it is amazing.  My friend Bev took me in the car around Lake Clear and the views were stunning, the leaves on the trees were all colours of yellow, orange and red. Looking over the lake the view was nothing less than gorgeous.


The famous tree
   Driving along to Renfrew one day, for shopping, I saw a tree that was literally half green and half orange/red. "I must get a picture of that," I told Lyndsay, and on the way back we stopped. I took pictures from the road but with my limited zoom I was not satisfied. Lyndsay suggested that as there were no cows in the field we go across and get a close up. I scrambled forwards through the fence and into the field. We plodded through the long grass and cowpats till we were near enough to get a good view. I posed by the tree and Lyndsay took a couple of shots. Great , then we plodded back to the fence and I tried to get through again. I am not the most agile of creatures so I decided to back out as I thought it would be easier. I grabbed a piece of wire as I scrambled through, and Lyndsay yelled at me.What was all the fuss, I thought. Uh, Oh! I had only grabbed the electric wire, which usually has hopped up static electricity running through it to zap the cows! Fortunately for all concerned it was not on. Another of my little adventures.

On the road to Lake Clear
  
   The weather was beautiful and I enjoyed it all tremendously as I went about everywhere collecting different colour leaves to press, for the pictures I am making. Autumn is almost finished now, and the next thing to look forward to, with trepidation I may add, is Winter. I hope it does not snow before Halloween, keep your fingers crossed!