Our Message Archive
Sunday December 28
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Our Christmas tree
We hope that you have all had as joyous and relaxing Christmas as we have. Ours started out green but turned white as the day went on. It has been very cold over the last few days so the snow is still holding on though there is not all that much of it.
We had our usual gathering on the 24th with Paul and Catherine, Ingrid, Mike and Alex, Kim and Glen, and Carl and Roxanne attending. A whole salmon, tourtière, and the usual array of salads, cookies and cakes were served and, of course, we played Town, River, Mountain with my brother Simon in Bracebridge and a Renfrew contingent joining us by Signal.
On Christmas morning, David, Ann and I made Eggs Benedict for breakfast — I was in charge of the Hollandaise and blew it the first time and had to redo it — and then opened presents with a Signal link to Renfrew. The rest of the day we spent relaxing and napping and playing with new toys. I found time to cook a small turkey for dinner finished off with a bûche de Noël from Gourmandises Avenue. We have plenty of leftovers to sustain us over the coming week.
As usual, we were invited to a number of social gatherings both in the lead up to and aftermath of Christmas. Last Saturday, we went to Carl and Roxanne's solstice party and the Thursday before that, we were at our biking friends Bob and Mary's annual walk around their neighbourhood to see the Christmas lights followed by cider and goodies in their condo. The day before that, we walked with the Roadents around the Armdale/Jollimore area followed by coffee and treats in the common room at Erika's condo. Ann came down with a cold a few days ago so we had to give our regrets to Susan and Dave's annual Boxing Day open house (but David went) and also to Linda and Kevin's puzzle day yesterday.
On the Friday before Christmas, we went to a performance of The Messiah by Symphony Nova Scotia with a couple of local choirs. It was conducted by Joel Tranquilla who is also the director of the choir at Grace United of which Ann is a member. Our friends Glen, Pauline, Martine and Blaise also planned to go so we arranged to meet at Chef in the Kitchen, a small Turkish restaurant close to the concert hall, beforehand. However, there were high winds and heavy rain that evening and, just before we were due to leave, the restaurant phoned to say that they had lost power. We quickly revised our plans to meet at the Resolutes Club instead. Then Martine called to say that she and Blaise had also lost power and they were going to help their daughter and infant grandchild instead, so Ann invited Marilyn to join us with one of their tickets. In the end, we enjoyed both dinner and the concert.
The Emera Oval is now open but we have only managed to go skating there once so far. Either rain, before Christmas, or cold, afterwards, has made it unpleasant and a hockey tournament at the RBC Centre also took away that option.
Today is my birthday so I have been allowed to do pretty much as I pleased all day. Ann cooked waffles for breakfast after which I opened my presents. Since then I have been relaxing and reading books that I have received. This evening we are going out for dinner at Da Zero Ristorante, and Italian place that we have not been to before.
Sunday December 14
An ornament on our tree, one of four birds that Ann got at a craft sale last year
We are now in the final countdown to Christmas. Ten days ago we made our almost-annual trip out to Hogan's U-pick Christmas Tree Farm in Mount Uniacke. "Almost" because they were not operating last year; but this year they were back in business and we had a nice chat with the owner, presumably Mr. Hogan, before venturing forth to find the perfect tree. As usual we found it only a few feet away from the house, then dutifully trudged around the whole field to ensure that it was, in fact, "the one." It is now installed and decorated in the usual spot in the corner of the living room by the piano.
There have also been the usual succession of Christmas concerts and get-togethers, though not quite as many as when we had four children living with us. Today, the Grace United choir, including Ann, of course, were the centre of attention at the Sunday Service. I went along to lend moral support, spending the hour beforehand, while the choir was practising, having a coffee and a fruit muffin at Two If By Sea. On Tuesday, Ann went with Carl and Roxanne to see a concert at the Halifax Public Library by the Chebucto Community Singers, which includes our biking friend Pauline, and the Military Wives Choir. This week we will be going to a gathering of our biking friends at Bob and Mary's and we will also be going to the annual performance of the Messiah. We also went out to lunch at the Resolutes Club with Kim, Glen, Ingrid, Mike and Alex last Saturday and, on Friday, Ann went to lunch with Cindy, Vicki and Cathy in honour of Vicki's birthday. To ensure that none of her time was wasted, Ann also went to meetings of the ABC and Ramblers Book Clubs.
There has been a lot of effort — though I freely admit that Ann has borne the brunt of it — acquiring and dispatching gifts. Ann has also made it a personal mission to prop up the Post Office in their hour of need by mailing Christmas cards, even to our immediate neighbours, rather than doing it by hand. A week ago Thursday, we went to a show at Viewpoint Gallery featuring photographs made into cards; we bought several, primarily of cute animals and birds in winter scenes, to aid Ann's project.
Although the weather has been pretty miserable lately — our phone weather apps like to call it "wintry mix"; there is some falling as I write this and it is forecast to last until the early hours tomorrow — we have managed to go walking in Shubie Park with the Roadents a couple of times and skating at the RBC Centre once. I had planned to play bridge with my friend Layton in Truro on Friday but, as I was about to leave, he texted to tell me that it had been cancelled due to a localized snow storm.