Christmas deer

Coming home from our Christmas Day walk we "met" this little fellow, out looking for his own dinner. 

A Cranbrook Christmas

We went for a nice walk after opening our gifts and prior to dinner (hoping to work off a few calories before we loaded ourselves up with more.) It was a gorgeous day, only -3 and and sunny.

The lake was crowded with people, kids with new sleighs, toboggans, Crazy-Carpets, GT snowracers, snowboards and snowtubes. There was a fire at the top of the hill and the aroma of the burning wood was better than any perfume. The laughs and screams of the kids (and adults) coming down the hill echoed through the air, and the frantic bark of the dogs as they raced down the hill after their owners made Gypsy's ear perk up with curiosity.

The lake was busy with a kind soul clearing off a new rink with his (probably) new quad....saving a ton of time instead of everyone having to do it the "old fashioned" way, with shovels. There are 2 rinks, one for hockey and one for general skating, but almost everyone had a hockey stick in hand, after all, this is Canada eh? Anyone can join in, the more the merrier. This is a very typical small town Christmas Day.

On Christmas Day

"I saw 3 ships come sailing in, on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day, I saw three ships come sailing in, on Christmas Day in the morning.

"And all 3 ships had gifts for me, gifts for me, gifts for me, yes all three ships had gifts for me, on Christmas Day in the morning."

A new blanket (sheepskin on one side) a new pull-toy and a Beneful lamb dinner (of which I was only given a spoonful as my mistress refuses to let me have "junk" food.) She also made me wear this ribbon all morning.
 

http://dandilion

 

By the way....

I don't want anyone to think that I am pretending to say that I wrote the "Old Lady" post below. I found it in my Grandmothers things, I don't know if she wrote it or not, she was a pretty prolific writer and very talented as well, but she was also a "Collector" of things that caught her fancy, as am I.

Who IS that strange old lady?

A very weird thing has happened. A strange old lady has moved into my house. I have no idea who she is, where she came from, or how she got in. I certainly did not invite her. All I know is that one day she wasn't there, and the next day she was.

She is a clever old lady, and manages to keep out of sight for the most part, but whenever I pass a mirror I get a glimpse of her. And whenever I look in the mirror to check my appearance, there she is, hogging the whole thing, completely obliterating my gorgeous face and body. This is very rude. I have tried yelling at her, but she mimics me and yells back.

I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I think she is stealing money from me. I withdraw $100, and in a day or 2, it's all gone. I certainly don't spend money THAT fast, so I can only conclude that the old lady is pilfering from me.

You'd think she'd use some of that money to buy wrinkle cream. Lord knows she needs it. And money isn't the only thing she is stealing; food seems to disappear at an alarming rate-especially the good stuff like ice-cream and cookies. I can't seem to keep the stuff in the house anymore.

She must have a real sweet tooth, but she'd better watch it because she is really packing on the pounds. I suspect that she realizes this, and to make herself feel better she is tampering with my scale to make me think that I am putting on weight too.

For an old lady she is really quite childish. She likes to play nasty games like going into my closets when I am not home and altering my clothes so that they don't fit. And she messes with my files and papers so that I can't find anything.

She also fiddles with my VCR that that it doesn't record what I have carefully and correctly programmed.

She has found other imaginative ways to annoy me. She gets into my mail and newspapers before I do and blurs the print so that I can't read it. She has done something really sinister to the volume on my TV and radio, now all I hear is mumbles and whispers.

She has done other things-like make my stairs steeper, my vacuum cleaner heavier and all my knobs and faucetts harder to turn. She has even applied glue to the lids of jars making it almost impossible for me to open them. Is that any way to repay my hospitality?

She has taken the fun out of shopping for clothes.

When I try something on, she stands in front of the dressing room mirror and monopolizes it. She looks TOTALLY ridiculous in some of those outfits, plus, she keeps me from seeing how great they look on me.

Just when I thought she couldn't get any meaner, she proved me wrong. She followed me when I went to get my picture taken for my new driver's licence, and JUST as the shutter clicked, she jumped in front of me!

No one is going to believe that the picture of that old lady is me....

testing

just a test

 

Jenny & Leo Part 3. Read parts 1 & 2 First!

Leo Bishop made his money the "old fashioned" way. He worked hard for it, saved it, and eventually in 1917 he bought a flour mill. This became Bishop Milling Company and it was the finest small mill in all of Canada. It had a milling capacity of 180 barrels daily and the elevator storage capacity was 70,000 bushels of Northern wheat. He was a very sucessful businessman and this enabled him to take his hockey team, The Battleford Millers, to Japan.

On the 8th Day of Christmas

On the 8th Day of Christmas I watched "Eight Below". A Disney movie, true story, very predictable, I've seen a dozen shows just like it, but I still sobbed and blubbered at the end. Dog movies....they always get me. 

The 7th Day of Christmas

As I was digging through a closet, looking for a box to wrap a gift in (you know how it is!) I came across 7 old Hardy Boy books. I had forgotten all about them. I was such a Hardy Boy fan back in the day...Nancy Drew had nothing on The Boys! I read one this afternoon in about 20 minutes, but you know? It was still pretty entertaining. It was no DaVinci Code, but it was a pleasant little visit to my past on an otherwise boring afternoon. 

The 6th Day of Christmas

Every Christmas since my boys were born, my mother would make them an ornament. As they grew up, she tried to make one that had something to do with a special event that had happened that year. When Scott went to Albuquerque for the balloon festival (as an exchange student) she made a Santa in a hot air balloon, when Shane graduated from high school she made him a Santa in a Grad Cap and a "Hallelujah" sign above his head (those of you who know Shane know that it was indeed a BIG deal!) When Scott discovered hockey and became a Boston fan, that was incorporated into his ornament, and of course the year Shane turned 16 involved a car and the words "Christmas is for dreaming". The year we went to the Bahamas brought ornaments with sea-shells, and when Shane first moved out, his ornament had a golden key on it. Years of Carebears, toy ducks, rocking horses and soldiers. The first snowman and the first attempt at making gingerbread men. When the Christmas parcel arrived, it was a huge deal to "open the ornament" and to find a spot for it on the tree. I sure miss my mom. Every ornament has their name and the year embroidered on it somewhere. Here are 6 of my favorites.

The 5th Day of Christmas

On the fifth day of Christmas, my True Love said to me: "Take down those paper lanterns, the dog is going crazy..." (I hung the 5 lanterns up and as the dog cruised down the hallway she spotted them and proceeded to bark her self silly for at least 20 minutes) 

The 4th Day of Christmas

On the 4th day of Christmas, my True Love asked of me....please do some baking...(you Americans and Aussies may not recognize the most delicious treat ever, the famous Canadian Nanaimo Bar on the left side...google it and you'll see, it's as Canadian as hockey) 

The 3rd day of Christmas

Yikes, after having no internet and being so busy at work, I have missed The Days of Christmas 3 through 8! So here they are, quickly! Three fuzzy looking, but pretty shrubs... 

Leo & Jenny Part 2. Read part 1 below first.

Francis Leo Bishop was born in Ontario in 1881. Not much is known about his life as a child, but when he was older he moved to Battleford, Saskatchewan. He and his brother Hub, were huge hockey fans and Hub was a scout for men's hockey as well as for woman's baseball. The Regina Pats still give the "Hub Bishop" award to the most sportsmanlike player. In 1934 Leo and Hub took the first Canadian Hockey Team, The Battleford Millers, to Japan, to play exhibition games. They played 8 games, the last one before the Emperor of Japan, who presented Hub and Leo each with a "Yokohama" Doll, a samurai warrior in a glass case. I am lucky enough to have Leo's, however Hub's has vanished into the mists of time.

A young Japanese man by the name of Toshihiko Shoji saw the games being played and while he had never seen hockey before, he was enthralled by the sport and fashioned himself a stick from a bent tree branch. He encouraged other locals to play as well and he started local teams. In the 1935-36 Olympics he was on the Japanese Hockey Team...exhibition only as hockey wasn't an Olympic sport back then. He eventually went to Manchurian College and became a Doctor. Where did Leo and Hub get the money that it would have cost to take this trip to Japan? Especially in the 1930's...a time of horrendous poverty? 

Jenny and Leo~ A Story of Love. Part 1.

You know how it is when you are little and you visit your Grandparents and you see the same pictures on the wall for years and years, the same ornaments in the china cabinet, the same doo-dads and baubles on dressers and end tables? Sometimes they fascinate you and you ask your Grandma where they came from and sometimes even what they are, and sometimes the answer amazes you and you remember it throughout your childhood and into your adulthood. Everytime you visit you want to see these things and to be told the story once more. Then the years go by and all of a sudden you realize that you are now the holder of the story, and if it isn't shared, then it will die with you. It's a bit of pressure, really, knowing that all that is left is what is in your heart, and you want to tell the story properly and have other people be touched by it too. Such is the story of Jenny and Leo, and I am the holder of all that remains....a yellowed and brittle 4 leaf clover in a frame, with a faded notation that reads : "4 Leaf Clover from Mrs Bishop. June 13 1939"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leo was a part of my family from my earliest memories, but only until I was eight. Lots of people claim that children have no solid memories much before the ages of 5 or 6, but I can remember things from when I was 2. Thus, I can claim to have 6 years of memories of Leo Bishop...off and on mind you as we only visited during the summer. We would go to The Sunrise Hacienda....a huge, huge house, even to my little eyes, that sat on a chunk of land at the very end of Ten Mile Point in Victoria. The road to get there was narrow and the trees were huge and almost met at the top, creating a sort of green tunnel...dark and mysterious. I called it "The Secret Road to Grandma's House" although the official name was McAnaly Road. At the end of the road was "the house" and the ocean. The land was filled with gravelled paths that wound their way to secret spots with benches that overlooked the water. There were ponds and little waterfalls and tiny pools filled with goldfish and salamanders. In retrospect, I suppose it was worth millions even then, but to an only child, it was a secret land, and I also suppose that this is where I got my love of fantasy....Narnia, The Littles, all that sort of thing.

My mother would read me the books and I would then run out to play on the grounds, imagining I was in one of those magical places. When I was finished playing, or was called for dinner, I'd run into the house and jump on the Magic Stairs and race down the long hallway, past doors and rooms that I wasn't allowed into, until I came to the end room where I would knock and wait for a "Come in" and then I'd climb up on the big mysterious bed and tell my beloved Uncle Leo my adventures of the day. He would listen intently and then he would smile and send me on my way. Again, in retrospect, the Magic Stairs were not magic, it was a chair that rode up the stairs on rails, as Leo could not go up and down stairs anymore. That was a pretty modern invention for the early 1960's. His bed was not so mysterious once I realized it was a hospital bed, and he'd send me on my way because he was tired, but he would still listen to my stories and show me some magic items of his own.

When I was 8, he passed away and his was the first funeral I ever went to. I remember my mom telling me that he would look like he was sleeping, and I remember thinking that he did indeed look exactly he like he was.

But who was this man? Francis Leo Bishop? I called him "Uncle" but he wasn't. My Grandmother lived with him for many years, but they were not married, and that simply wasn't done in the 50's. Where did he get all his money from, and who was the beautiful woman in the picture? All I knew was that her name was Jenny.

Computer Woes

I was trying to get a new template for my blog, and I was also trying to put some "links" in the link area and I totally screwed things up and I thought I lost all my archives, which made me very sad as all my Africa adventures were there. But I seem to have corrected that part, however the links will not be attempted again. At least not by me...maybe one of my more literate friends can help me out over Christmas (Rhiannon? Dani? Coral?) As well, we had no internet for a bit and work is INSANE so I have fallen behind in my posts. Today I am determined to get some Christmas decorations up in the house and presents wrapped.

During that last doozy of a windstorm in Victoria, a tree crashed through my Dad and Maria's bedroom window!! Thank God they were not in there at the time, so no one was hurt, however quite a mess was left behind. The "window folks" will be able to do all the repairs, there was no structural damage. **whew**

Merry Christmas To You!

Happy Holidays Everybody...the sooner it's over, the sooner I can take these things off!! 

On the Second Day of Christmas

On the Second Day of Christmas my True Love gave to me....Two misplaced ducks....brrr.... 

The First Day of Christmas

The First Day of Christmas my True Love gave to me....a dog staring up a pine tree. 

The First Day of Christmas

Tomorrow is the First Day of Christmas, and I hope my True Love untangles the Christmas lights and puts them up. Even the dog was discouraged at the sight of them. 

Customer Service.

I just read an interesting story on a friend of mine's blog about the state of customer service, and how, with such an abundance of jobs available, customer service is not of the calibre it used to be. Basically, jobs are a dime a dozen and employees can pretty much pick and choose where they want to work. This is from a friend who lives in a large city, but even here in Cranbrook we are having the same troubles.

My biggest "peeve" is the Real Canadian Superstore and I won't even begin to tell my tales of woe from there, although the latest was the Mandarin Orange Episode (Hmm, sounds like a Robert Ludlum book) And as a matter of fact, I WILL tell that story: We bought a box of oranges, and they seal them up nowadays so that you can't possibly tell how many are in a box, or how many moldy ones there are. And we ALL know about moldy Mandarins. So you sniff the openings in the box, hoping to NOT get a whiff of mold (mould?) All these folks standing there, sniffing boxes of oranges....it's like a gang of street kids sniffing glue. Anyhow, I sniffed to my satisfaction and nary a scent of off-orange so I happily took my treasure home and opened it only to find seven revolting oranges. One was so green and hairy that I thought perhaps it was beginning to move, one was just "mooshy" and brown and the other 5 were a combination of mold, "moosh" and other assorted icky problems. ***sigh***

I made Steven pick out the 7 bad ones and wash the others (ewww, cross contamination!) and I took the box and the 7 bad ones back. I was very polite (really, I really was) and when the woman at the service desk looked at me crossly (I had interrupted her personal conversation with her co-worker) I said, trying to be humerous as I help up the box: "I bet you can guess why I'm here!" She looked blankly at me, so I sighed inwardly and explained about my 7 bad oranges. And she said: "So? What do you want? Seven new oranges?" in a most sarcastic way. I said: "Actually, yes I do. Should I get them from bulk and bring them to you?" She nodded, so I got my seven and showed them to her and headed on my way. But I have to tell you, I put EIGHT in the bag. My small way of getting a bit of revenge for yet another Real Superstore Mis-adventure.

Oh, but the purpose of this post was to tell of 2 small companies that provided excellent service to us recently, and moreso, it was sight unseen.

Steven bought one of those "soaker hoses" last year (Sept 2005) at the (gee..guess where?) Real Canadian Superstore. It was an after summer clearance sale and I think we paid $12.00 or so, I believe it was 70% off. Anyhow, it was put away until this summer of 2006 and he used it 2 or 3 times when all of a sudden the tiny holes where the water was supposed to slowly "ooze" out of, seemed to open up and water was spurting out like mini geysers, shooting in all sorts of directions. The material was obviously old. So he took it back to the Superstore, needless to say it was a wasted trip and I won't even go into the details. (He still had the receipt and the wrapping that the hose came in, he saves EVERYTHING and I get so annoyed, but it was certainly a good thing that he did) (His shed that he keeps all this stuff in will be an archeologists delight some year, some post-apocolyptic professor will be able to weed through the layers of receipts and learn how Man in 2006 lived) Anyhow, he saw the 1-800 number on the hose wrapping and phoned it, with me chattering in the background saying things like: "It's a US number, it's over a year old, blah, blah...waste of time..." and after he talked to a woman, she took our address and Fed-Exed us a brand new hose...better and longer than the other one, since the other one was an old model that they don't make anymore. Now how is THAT for good service from a small comapny?

Then, story #2, we put a new range hood in above our stove a few months ago, bought it at Canadian Tire, and the otehr day the light wouldn't work. It wasn't the bulb, it was something in the switch that was broken. So, Steven phoned Canadian Tire and got the usual runaround, we didn't have the receipt in this case, but they were less then helpful in even finding a replacement switch (that Steven had fully expected to pay for and replace himself) So, he Googled the range hood company and phoned their 1-800 #, barely got the story out of his mouth when the fellow asked him his address and said he'd have a replacement switch on the way to us ASAP, no charge. That company was Broan, in case you are thinking of buying any range things.

So there is hope yet, not a lot, but there are still a few folks out there who pride themselves on their work and stand behind their product.

Christmas is for the birds.

And for the deer, and the lonely little coyote that stands in the path and barks at me and Gypsy, trying to look tough but dashing away as we approach. Today I went up to Idlewild laden with pinecones covered with peanut butter and coated with wild bird seed, a little garland and a few red ornaments. There was a lot of deer tracks around the tree, so I hope they come back and help themselves to a little treat. 

Snowflake

I am pleased at how this one turned out, hard to believe that snowflakes really DO look like this. I'm sure my neighbour was wondering if he should call someone as he was watching me concentrate on taking close-up pictures of the railing on the sundeck in -20 weather!! 

Snowflake.

Hmm. I tried to take a picture of a "real" snowflake on the hood of the truck, but it was cold and the camera just didn't want to focus on it properly.