Christmas 2017 blew past like a . . . well, like a gale. Literally.
Santa brought quite a little storm on Christmas Day, with gusts of winds at hurricane force, and it left one-quarter of our province's homes without electricity. There have been many stories in the news of how people coped. Some used their barbecues to finish cooking their turkeys. One family used their large toaster oven, powered by a generator, to cook a large chicken.
What didn't make the news was how people without barbecues and generators managed, but I'm sure there were ruined meals in some homes. I count our family extremely lucky that we didn't lose our power, and everything went smoothly in the cooking department.
In fact, we had two Christmas dinners. Due to the storm, some of our company couldn't make it on December 25, so we had an instant replay the next day for them.
It was wonderful to see family and have a good visit with them. Our families are small but spread out, so we don't get together very often.
*****
I'm happy to report my poetry muse came right back as soon as the stress wore off. As I popped yet another Belgian chocolate in my mouth, these lines wandered in the front door of my mind and couldn't find their way back out, so I'm letting them make themselves at home on the good furniture (hahaha, when you have cats there isn't any good furniture) and stay awhile. Sing them to the tune of "Deck the Halls," my friends:
Eat the sweets with gay abandon
Fa la la la la, la la, la la
Eat 'til I'm no longer standing
Fa la la la la, la la, la la
Buy new pants; the old won't fit me
Fa la la, la la la, la, la, la
Heart attack is going to get me
Fa la la la la, la la, la, laaaaaaaaaaaa
*****
That is all for today. Except, we must have a picture. Possibly more than one.
I can't decide which of the following more precisely illustrates how I am feeling after all the food and treats.
This one?
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Happy, happy hippo |
Or this one?
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Sleepy, sleepy sloth |
Tomorrow we go out of town to visit our daughter and her family. So, despite wanting to just sit on the couch and read one of my new books, I'm off to do some more cooking and baking to take with us.
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We will be seeing the Donkey Grandsons, ages three and one |
I am starting to look forward to going back to work next week just to get some ding-dang rest.
But it's been worth the work. And now we gird ourselves for the two coldest months of the year here. We are off to a fantastic start; it was minus 15 Celsius today and minus 29 Celsius last night (with the wind chill factored in).
January, here we come.
Have a restful weekend, my bloggy friends. Do you have plans for New Year's Eve? I do. I'm going to get some sleep :)
One last picture. This is the real me. Not a hippo, not a sloth, just a donkey.
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Donkey Selfie :) |
Eat the sweets with gay abandon has me singing with you.
ReplyDeleteLOVE it.
You are so very right about the 'no good furniture' thing. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Enjoy yourself with your daughter and family (a command I know you will obey) and stay warm and safe.
We are back from our visit and I'm happy to tell you I obeyed your command :)
DeleteStay COOL if you can, EC. Put your chocolate in the fridge :)
Love the lyrics. Describe Christmas eating perfectly. Safe travels. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marie. We're back safely and we did enjoy :)
Delete-29C?? How in the blue blazes do you people survive? I start throwing on extra layers when our temperatures get down to 17C or 18C, which is 62F and 64F, quite warm for you I'd say. Yesterday we were supposed to get 39C-40C which s 102F to 104F, thankfully we only got to 37.8 which is about 99F and still too hot for me. I like 25C and can put up with 27C and more than that I get uncomfortably sweaty.
ReplyDeleteI love the long haired baby donkeys. I feel like the Hippo though with all the Christmas goodies.
LOVE the song :)
17C or 18C is just perfect as far as I am concerned. I don't know how you folks get through the heat. We can bundle up in layers but how do you manage when you can't take off any more clothing??
DeleteI love those little hairy beasts, too :)
I was thinking of you when we heard about the storm out East.....so glad you had no problems. Not a nice Christmas present for many though. Hope everyone has their hydro back by now.
ReplyDeleteI DID sing it...I love it....and it's sadly so true.
As one gent in the paper said, they threw out their turkey after two hours of no power (for safety) and it wasn't that big a deal, but what about less fortunate folks whose turkey was provided through community help and didn't have an alternative meal? It would be pretty disheartening. I don't know if that's being addressed by any organization or not. I hope so.
DeleteI love that hippo photo! I'm sorry the weather took a turn for the worse but, as you said, you're all used to it!
ReplyDeleteWait now, we might be used to it, but it doesn't mean we like it! :)
DeleteFortunate that you didn't have storm damage. We heard about the storm and you can only wish the people safety.It's a tough time for linemen to get out in miserable weather and miss Christmas dinner.
ReplyDeleteSafety is definitely the most important thing with any storm, you're right.
DeleteI'm trying to train the cat not to rip the furniture. When I see his claws out on the couch or John's chair, I say "Don't rip!" and snap my fingers. It kinda works. A little.
ReplyDeleteBriana brought some Christmas cookies home from her visit with her mom. They have Hello Kitty's face on them. She says it's printed on rice paper, but I've never heard of that before, so I don't know what to believe...
I wish we could take some of that precipitation off of your hands; it looks like we're back in the dry winter pattern that made for the worst drought in modern history here, before last year's soggy winter and spring. I've been watering Zsuzs' potted garden in the back yard, and it's almost January...
I hope you have a nice new year's celebration, however you like to celebrate it.
-Doug in Oakland
I really, really hope you folks get some gentle, continuous precipitation. You've been having a rough time for too long.
DeleteHave a happy celebration yourself, Doug.
HAHA! I always enjoy your posts. That last 'selfie' made me smile :) How wonderful that you got to spend time with family. More than once :) It can be tiring, that's for sure. We are experiencing the same cold with the wind chill factored in. And the next few days will continue this way. We've also been fortunate that we haven't lost any power at any point. I hope we continue to be lucky! Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Martha :) Our temperature moderated today - only minus 9C. It feels downright warm after the more severe cold!
DeleteWishing you the best in the new year!
ReplyDeleteThank you, e - I hope your 2018 is much better than 2017 was. One day at a time; just keep swimming . . .
DeleteHi Jenny,
ReplyDeleteA stormy Christmas day and social family replay, the next day. The next day, aka Boxing Day, is often my favourite day. It seemed you savoured your time together. That makes me glad.
Belgian chocolate is the secret to poetry rejuvenation. I've been to Belgium and now I know why everybody was talking in rhymes in some sort of weird French.
Wishing you, my kind friend, a most peaceful weekend and here's to a much better 2018 for all of us.
Nice animal photos. I thought the last one looks more like a camel :)
Penny's human dad,
Gary
It's quite hard to get a good look at the last picture due to the perspective, isn't it?!
DeleteThank you for dropping by, Gary, and I really hope 2018 is better for you. Take care, my friend.
I love your lyrics. I am the hippo. I've hardly budged all week.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
But you're happy, right? :)
DeleteI moved a lot but I ate a lot more than I needed to.
I like the hippo.
ReplyDeleteIt's more pleasant looking than some hippos!
DeleteHi Jenny, I hope all is well with you.
ReplyDeleteHi Terry! I checked your blog just yesterday, wondering if you'd posted and I missed it :)
DeleteGood to hear from you - I'm well and I hope the same is true for you.
I'm so glad your muse is back - you made me laugh! You've expressed my view of the holidays perfectly. I've put all the leftover goodies into the freezer, and I hope that'll keep me out of them at least for a little while. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteFortunately a lot of things that ended up in our house can't be frozen!
DeletePerhaps not so fortunately after all. Amazing how a person can sabotage herself ...
Happy New Year to you, Diane!
Well done...I could not come up with a good lyric for 2017. I knew what I wanted but I couldn't find the time to make it happen. Or write a blog post. Or anything. Big fat lazy chicken walking. Get away from me with your generator operated toaster ovens folks. I bite.
ReplyDeleteHahaha! A bitey chicken! There's only so much time, especially at the holidays. And some of that time should be time to do nothing. I hope you had some of that.
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