Gingerbread House Making

This year we had Carter's friend Luca and Callie's friend Anya over to make gingerbread houses. Although it is easier to just buy a kit, I bought a mould from Lee Valley several years ago and I much prefer to use it. The best thing about it is that there is no wasteful packaging. The kits come with all sorts of plastic and cardboard bits that really aren't necessary. The other good thing is that we get to pick our toppings. It only takes one evening to make all of the parts and set everything up and the houses are the perfect size.

I made four sets of parts this year. One for each builder. This way the kids visiting get to take their house home when they are done. Luca seemed very proud of his when his Dad came to pick him up. Callie did an excellent job on her house. (The one on the left.) The only trouble with it and unfortunately all the houses was that we got very heavy candy this year. The trick to gingerbread house making is to decorate before you build so once the parts are loaded with candy it can be tricky to assemble. I had about a half dozen soup cans with each house as support while the icing dried.

Christmas Tree Hunting

The title of this post could also be "Christmas Tree Hunting But Not Finding". Last year was the first year we got a real Christmas tree and although it was a bit difficult for Callie to take the tree down when we were done, she did enjoy having a real tree and agreed to a real one this year as well. There are several tree farms relatively near us so we picked the one at Aldor Acres and went on our hunt. It was the last weekend in November and although the farm was open it only had the trees it had grown itself. It's a relatively small farm so it trucks additional trees in to meet demand.

We did our best to find a tree and there were several hundred to choose from. Each family member managed to find at least one tree they liked but the difficulty was finding one everyone liked. Carter wanted big, I wanted a fir, Callie wanted a friendly looking tree she could name. After about an hour of searching we decided we weren't going to find one. We still took some time out for cooking marshmallows, playing in the hay stack, petting the bunnies. We decided we would try out the nursery near us once they had their Christmas Tree lot set up.

The Christmas Tree lot didn't disappoint. I think those lots get their trees from professional farms rather than the local farmers that just plant some trees. They are pruned much more consistently and the price is very reasonable. In the end we chose a Norman Fir and Callie named it Norman. He was a great looking tree however he didn't seem to have a scent. I think we'll try out a Noble Fir again next year.

Now I just have to figure out what kind of woodworking project I will make out of him now that Christmas is done.

A Trip to Britannia Mines

In December Callie had a field trip to Britannia Mines. Kerry has taken her class many times however I had only ever seen the outside of it as it is on the way to Whistler and is a prominent set of buildings on the side of the highway. Callie really enjoys it when I get to go on her field trips so when she brought the permission slip home I knew I didn't have any choice but to volunteer to chaperone. This was a bus trip since it's such a long drive so I didn't have to take our car.

The mine was a copper mine up until the mid 70's and was handed over to the province mostly intact. The province acted quickly to preserve what the could and a more recent renovation has brought it up to a caliber that rivals any other historic site we have in BC. The province doesn't have a long history and much of it was built with wood so very few things have survived. This location however has much of the original equipment and buildings. They've also added some mining equipment from other areas such as the giant mine truck at the entrance.

The highlight for me was getting to take the mine train into one of the mine shafts. If you are claustrophobic this would not be the field trip for you. It's all very safe and they only take you a few hundred feet in but you can't help but think of the millions of pounds of rock sitting over your head. The tour inside was great with a short train ride to a spot where the guide shows you the different mining techniques that existed throughout the history of the mine. He even turns on the air hammer drill which was deafening in such as small space.

Callie's favourite part was panning for gold and other gems. The mine itself was principally a copper mine but they have included a few gold panning troughs as a fun activity. The best part was that even though it was December and we were outside, the water is heated so you don't get cold at all. The trough is mostly sand but they've seeded it with gold, pyrite and various minerals. Callie and I had a bag of minerals and about 7 flecks of gold. Not enough to get rich but still fun.

The trip had to fit into a day trip from school so we only got to stay for a few hours. I think I would like to come back in the summer and explore more of the buildings. This was an excellent attraction.

Aldor Acres Pumpkin Patch

We took our annual pilgrimage to the pumpkin patch at Aldor Acres with the Kilden's this year. This was a very hot summer so the pumpkins were ready much earlier than normal. This isn't really a big deal for us though because although the experience of Aldor Acres is amazing, we're not about to purchase our pumpkins there because they charge by the width. It's much cheaper to buy our pumpkins at Superstore and just get a small one from the pumpkin patch.

There were several new pumpkin picture boards but not many of them have four heads. The kids like to take turns being the various portions of the picture. Carter enjoys being the corn and the scare crow and Callie and Kristen just fill in the extra spots. It's very difficult to have all of them smiling and looking at the same time. There is usually at least one of them talking and often another looking at each other behind the board.

The petting zoo will always be known as the place that Callie got bit by a turkey. I'm not surprised that they haven't had turkeys for a few years now. The goats can be quite the handful as well. The bigger ones are not shy about going after you if you have food in your hands so you have to watch yourself the entire time. In this picture Uncle Corey appears to be kissing the goat. I'm not sure exactly which tactic he's attempting to employ with that move.

The bunnies are another fun spot. Callie spends the whole time picking each one up to pet them. We usually have to do a bit coaxing to get Carter to pet one but he is getting better. The toughest part is getting them into the barn where the bunnies are. Kristen and Carter are both afraid of the singing pig. (It's a mechanical pig that plays the banjo.) I think they are getting over that fear though because when we were about to leave they said they wanted to go see the singing pig which turned out to be a trick. They ran right by him to spend more time in the hay bales with the bunnies.

The weather was excellent and the pumpkin patch gets better every year. I hope the family that runs it passes it on to the next generation. It was so busy when we got there I think there were about 100 people in line. This was at 2:00p well after the morning rush so it's a steady stream of people the entire time. We were happy to get our pumpkin and goat fix for another year.

Thanksgiving in Oliver

We had a somewhat unconventional Thanksgiving this year. We had planned on staying home for a quiet long weekend however Barb and Reg had volunteered to help the Silver Sage Winery run their table at a wine tasting event for the weekend. They got the weekends mixed up and it fell on the same weekend as the advance polls for the election. Rather than leave Silver Sage without any help Kerry volunteered to help. She had to get her servers license in advance and was rewarded with a case of Silver Sage Pino Blanc for her troubles. Well worth the effort.

The highlight of the weekend for Callie and Carter was getting to go for a ride in Barb and Reg's new Miata. Reg had one a few years ago but it was a standard so Barb couldn't drive it. They found an automatic they liked and bought it. This was also very good for me because now they needed another parking space in the garage which meant they had no place for the trailer. Now I get a trailer for doing my wood purchases and gardening tasks in the spring.

Wilson

In early September we had to say goodbye to our amazing dog Wilson. We found out in July that he had a tumour in his spleen and surgery kept him with us for a few more weeks but he had a cancer that was in the blood and it spread quickly. Rather than dwelling on the end I thought I would highlight some of the great memories we had of him.

1) Picking him up from Salmon Arm and watching him experience grass for the first time at rest stops. During the ride home he rode on the arm rest of the car door.
2) His first hair cut where Kerry cut his bangs a bit crooked.
3) Chasing him around the dining room table at our town house whenever we needed to get him to do something. He was very fast and cornered great.
4) His fear of the saxophone playing Santa Clause. He hated every year that we brought that thing out.

5) His ability to destroy every toy we got him except for a baby pooh bear that he slept with for all his puppy days. (He eventually turned on him. Not sure what happened between the two of them.)
6) His poor looking self whenever he got a bath and his happiness afterwards as he ran around spraying everyone getting dry.
7) Our trip to Seattle to get Callie's crib where when Kerry accidentally got his nose caught in the automatic window on the passenger side.
8) His pink belly when he laid on his back and his terrible looking ID tattooed there.

9) The day of destruction when he pulled every shoe we owned out of the closet and tipped over our plants.
10) The time we didn't realize his puppy feet were not strong enough to walk on pavement during his first walk at Canada place. He hated the leash from that day forward.
11) His need to wear a cone whenever he had a cut or irritation because he would chew his own leg off without it.
12) His first snowfall and the huge balls of snow that would stick to him whenever he was in the snow.

13) His soft fir that was different from any other Bichon we knew.
14) The sound of his collar everywhere he went.
15) His warm body in between Kerry and I at bed time. He always moved to the end of the bed after about 10 minutes so he could get some rest without us crushing him.
16) His love of sitting in Callie's baby swing.
17) Uncle Corey and Uncle Ronnie having to use a golf club to get him out from under the bed before they left for work.
18) The time he chewed the bottom of our box spring and found a way to hide inside of it.
19) His love of chewing plastic water bottles.

20) Taking him on all of our local hikes.
21) The time he had a birthday party with his cousin's Captain, Hanna and Spencer and all of them wore birthday hats.
22) His love of giving Captain 'special hugs'... from on top of him... from the back...
23) His joy of sitting on top of the couch overtop of your head.
24) Whenever he would dig in the garden and come in with a black beard.
25) That time we rebuilt our deck and he was somehow able to walk on the joists.
26) His contentment when he slept in a warm hamper of clothes.

27) When Callie would dress him up in hats.
28) Holding him like a people with his arms wrapped around your neck.
29) His bed on the landing of the stairs.
30) His spot in the window behind the curtain in the living room.
31) The way he would race out the back door whenever we let him outside so that he could ensure the backyard was free from creatures.
32) Watching TV with him by my side.
33) When Captain taught him to bark.
34) When he would bark at the news paper carrier every time he came up the walk.

35) His blue Wilson blanket on the back of the couch.
36) The fact that he remains the name of our home WIFI network.
37) The way he licked the utensils in the dish washer.
38) His love of toilet paper rolls.
39) Always having to keep plates where he could not get them unless you wanted him to clean up your ice cream bowl.
40) The fact that he was always there.

Thanks Wilson.

The Eclipse - A Bad Time to Memorize Your Camera

If you know the exact time to plan for a once in a lifetime opportunity you should probably do so. Unfortunately I did not. I knew full well when the 'Super Moon / Blood Moon / Full eclipse' was going to happen and I should have taken the time to memorize every operation of my camera but I never got around to it and by the time the eclipse was upon us I was in the dark trying to figure out where the buttons were without being able to see them. If I had memorized their operation so I could do it with my eyes closed, it would have been a much less stressful event.

I did get to see the eclipse itself and it was amazing. The temperature was perfect for nighttime viewing and the sky was crystal clear. There were several eclipses this past year but none with such clear skies for us. We didn't get to see it enter the eclipse since the moon was below the horizon however we did get to see it in full eclipse and as it left the earth's shadow. For the next celestial event I will be prepared to get some better pictures.