5C's Que Pasa

This was a sunset shot taken last Wednesday, the 16th. On the left about halfway through the photo horizontally and just about the hills there is a plane taking off. You can also see that the lake is slowly unthawing.

I had to come up with something to try and ‘mask’ Colin’s inversion machine. Way back when, those were our Christmas stockings.  We did however try and fill them with our gifts as well.

I love our Santa tree topper. Hmm I might have posted this before.

Our dining room table display.

I started some Christmas cookie baking this past Thursday. My gosh. Has it really been that long.  It takes forever to cream the butter and the sugar and then the dough becomes so thick as you add flour, etc. Thank goodness I had Colin to take over when I just could not stir anymore. Ones’ body certainly changes as we age.

We ended up with close to nine dozen cranberry chocolate chip cookies. More baking to come.

Is this a newer version of the ugly Christmas sweater?

Just another wee corner of decor. I no longer have any blossoms on any of my cacti.

This is our Christmas tree from the RV. It has traveled with us for twenty Christmases. The various penguins and two mice have been packed away and are happy to be out.  It sits to the far right of our front window bay.

The two tall white tubes are called heat tubes and have a small fan at the top.  They are hung four or five inches from the ceiling and they suck the hot ceiling air and push the air down out the bottom, creating more even heating in the house. We decided to wrap the red garland around them to create a more festive look.

Not having a mantle I used the buffet to create an area to display some of my ornaments. Colin tends to hang out here in the morning playing. These photos were taken shortly after we put the tree up end of November, hence no snow nor frozen lake.

On the far right.

Middle.

Left side.

My late afternoon hangout area. Looking pretty white out there. A book, some wine and Christmas carols, what more can I want? Chocolate!

A Christmas movie that you might want to check out, filmed here in Canada.

We quite enjoyed it. Ed Asner plays Santa.

We all need to make an effort to stop the climb of the virus. It is up to each and everyone of us.

Just a few chuckles.

This young couple from Alberta worked so hard to winterize their unit. Lots of staples and clamps holding things together.

You will see that there are many ways to try and stay warm. Interesting entry steps.

These people have decided to keep their living room slide out in. They also hung a heavy blanket between the front seats and the rest of the unit. It must be dark in there but so far they are warm.

Someone did a great job insulating this unit. I noticed today that they have since had a large propane tank added to provide heat.  Actually several units have done this.

This 45 footer from Alberta has done nothing to protect his unit from the cold but it does appear that he plans to do some off roading.

Can you imagine going to the grocery store with all that hanging off your back end?

This Class A from Quebec put a sheet of black plastic along its front end. They also gathered up leaves ( I took these photos four weeks ago ) and stuffed plastic garbage bags with the leaves and placed them along the underside of the unit. I can only assume to block the wind. Now a month later the leaves have decomposed and the bags are limp with lots of space for the cold wind to circulate under the unit.

Many from Alberta and BC staying in this section of condos. Studio units rent for $1050.00/month, 1 bedrooms rent for $1450.00 and the 2 bedroom units rent out at $1650.00 monthly.

This park rental unit has been rented for the winter by someone from Alberta.

Someone from Saskatchewan has rented this park model home. No RV but still away from the cold prairie winter – sort of! These rent on average of about $1500.00 per month. Yet another has been rented by someone from Manitoba.

People from the Northwest Territories and  Manitoba in this area of condos. At this point there are at least 15 more condo units open.

RV sites rent for $770.00 per month. These folks put up a few tarps.

I don’t think that putting something at only the front is going to help. But they do have their red shovel ready.

This fellow from BC did a great job winterizing his unit.

As did his neighbour from Manitoba.

Another good job.

This unit from Ontario feels they don’t need to do any winter prep.

Another RV from the prairies, ready for anything, complete with Christmas lights.

Hopefully the foam board will help.

No winter prep but I do love these decorations.

Colin called me over to the window. I quickly snapped this shot. My camera is always in hand on the Isla or at my side. Now we have a few cameras set around the house.

Fortunately Colin was able to zoom in with his camera. Is that a coyote? What is the difference between a wolf and a coyote? We are pretty sure it was a coyote.  Colin said that he had heard them howling at 1AM.

Beautiful creature. It was very far out crossing the lake, from the golf course towards the highway. Definitely another first. However it does look like the two wolves that Colin had photographed in a home back in October.  Yes pure wolves, living in a home.

Later we noticed quite a few tracks in the snow out on the lake. Yesterday we had other tracks very close to the shore, just a few inches from our beach. Those went from as far as I could see to the right and all the way the left towards the golf  course.

We even spied an eagle though the falling show, way over next to the rail trail.

Even when it wasn’t snowing it was pretty.

Time to share another small Christmas display.

Our doxie angels, Carmeh and Caeli, plus angel creations made by a friend long ago.

No snow yesterday, the 14th, but we did get a tiny sunset.

This was taken on the Isla last Saturday, the 12th. Simply stunning.

I took this on December 12th, 2017.

Today I did not take photos other than with my eyes except for this one. I liked how the snow was sticking to the fence and of course the berries.

It is a work in progress.

It was about 3.30PM when I took this facing south. Snowing and dark. I am wondering if the lake is starting to thaw yet again or if that is just the snow on top that is melting.

Meanwhile to the north there was a strange yellowish light in the sky with a light snow falling.

Well since March 25th……

We remain on lockdown until January 8th but are quite happy staying in our own home, the fireplace is on most of the day, we have a beautiful view, lots of our own lights to enjoy inside & out and music, either Colin playing or our Christmas carols – in French mostly.

Our version of a sunrise this last Thursday, the 10th. As you can see the lake was thawing again.

When the music captures me, I tend to do some conducting of both the orchestra and the choir, singing all the while. It has taken me a while this December to let loose but I am finally there. What can I say, I love Christmas and music.

Saturday we had a frozen body of water again.

Colin’s early Christmas gift arrived late Friday so we were playing with it Saturday. It was a 338 foot string of 500 LED lights. They were the same brand as the larger tree lights but that was 1000 LED lights on an 83 foot string. I could not get that same set so I ordered the longer string with less lights. Great decision.

It actually was an involved set up and so no photos were taken. Fortunately there was no wind so the cold was tolerable. Colin used bungee cords to hold the light strand at the top of the fence post and a U type of hook to hold it down at the landscape tie. At the end we had many extra feet of lights so we went around the shed several times 🙂

We also managed to decorate the golf cart with a nine foot battery operated light set. Have not tried it  out yet but I know that it will be fun,

Taken while outside. Can you see us in the window?  Where did all those presents come from?  Colin is really enjoying Christmas, he is like a little kid, counting the gifts under the tree every day. Sometimes there is a new one, sometimes not. He put all of mine out over a week ago.  I am keeping him guessing.

We spent the rest of the afternoon making spinach balls. A very tedious 2.5 hour process. I haven’t made these since 2005 when I made 20 dozen. We were in Acapulco that winter. Yesterday I only made 10.5 dozen. The majority are in the freezer. The balls are basically a mix of spinach, stuffing, eggs, butter and spices. Worth waiting 15 years for, just like we waited 20 years for eggnog. Life is good under lockdown – as long as I don’t run out of wine.

Our new lights addition. Here along the shed.

Isn’t this great? So many Christmas trees.

The lights on the tree are brighter because they are much closer together. I have an idea on how to better wrap the tree with these lights. Hopefully not for many winters to come.

Colin has his inversion table inside. During the day I have it covered with a giant red stocking.

Love my Christmas decor this year. Its not the Isla and my million fairy lights but it is special in its own way. As I have mentioned before, so many firsts for us this winter.

We could not wait any longer. Last night was the great unveiling of our first ever Christmas cake. Why oh why did I cut such large pieces? It isn’t going to last long at this rate.

It was so yummy and very moist and I really want to eat it all right now! I served it with some of the left over cherry brandy. We need to enjoy every morsel as this will not travel well to the Isla. How many years will it be before we make this again?

Unique way to decorate your mask. I think I would put tiny bells on mine if I was decorating it. Love the sequin hat.

Aren’t we all so very fortunate.

Have fun with this.  I am Peppy Dancer, rather apropos I think.