Farewell to 2021

December came in a blur, in spite of the return of restrictions amidst the sudden rise of the Omicron variant. A third COVID booster shot became an urgent priority, and we got ours just before Christmas.

Christmas itself was a quiet affair yet again, with a few phone calls and video chats rather than travel and a multitude of visits. We did manage to get together for a brief Coxmas, after being extremely careful and with everyone taking rapid tests prior to leaving home. The first such gathering without Anne brought perhaps a new tradition, with takeout Chinese food for dinner rather than the usual turkey feast.   

We spent the lead up to New Year's enjoying mild weather and a quiet week at home whilst powering through seasons of Game of Thrones. We made a nice pot if mulled wine and also enjoyed a fine Spanish riserva as well from the Douro Valley, a place we hope to travel to when the pandemic ends.

A decidedly crappy 2021 was finally drawing to a close, bringing high hopes for a better 2022.

Went for a drive and surprised the Schitt out of Jane

Happy 21-12!

TimBiebs!

Just another Christmas in the South

Game of Thrones marathon for New Year's

Some delicious wine for New Year's Eve

Good to go!

Jane chats with Dave from afar

The Saga Continues....

Four months after an explosion rocked our village, destroyed buildings and displaced a lot of people....sadly not a lot has changed.  People are still displaced, businesses and roads are still closed, and the powers-that-be seem no closer to figuring out the source or a solution.

Some "lucky" people have been allowed back in their homes and businesses for a brief visit, escorted by security, insurance reps and trained crews to winterize things before that too becomes another problem. They have very recently demolished a few buildings right at the site of the blast, allowing them to further explore what happened and what is happening underneath.

Let us hope the New Year brings some answers and some relief for these folks.

Demolition begins

What's left of MJ's Pizza

An intersection forever changed

The basement under the former Pogue

Test wells under the former new hotel

Wheatley Winter Sale

With COVID persisting and another year of no art shows, we relied again on visitors to the studio store. Luckily, before Omicron reared its ugly head, our village organized a Winter Sale for a number of vendors in the general area, where people could travel to various artists in a local circuit on one particular day for a physically distanced shopping experience.

Overall the day went well, and the weather was mercifully pleasant for early December. We also let another vendor use our garage, in a win-win for vendors and customers, who could then patronize two vendors in one stop. A bit muddy perhaps, but otherwise a good day!

We also continued to travel to Tillsonburg as often as possible, to work on the empty house and help John get the place ready to sell. On one particular early morning departure, we were even favoured with a glorious sunrise over Lake Erie to escort us eastward.

Dave was gradually adjusting to life in assisted living, and celebrated his 84th birthday in his new surroundings. We hadn't been able to visit as often as we would have liked, as we were forced to choose between visits or working on the house.....but the holidays were approaching and we had high hopes for a festive get-together.

The Big Day is finally here

The Open....Doors?

Open Air Christmas Shopping

Seaside Jewels set up in the Man-Garage

December sunrise over Lake Erie

Happy 84th Birthday, Dave!

Autumn Activities

It's that time of year, where we try to enjoy the fall weather while getting stuff done that needs doing before winter.....all while running back and forth to Tillsonburg and/or London to visit with Jane's dad.

I climbed the willow tree to take down a good sized branch that was starting to hang onto power line - since I couldn't reach the end on the line, I just cut it off at the tree....likely saving myself future headaches as well. Having said that, pretty soon we are going to need professional help to tame the willow! 

I also broke the cardinal rule of climbing ladders and hanging out in trees when Jane wasn't home to call 911. In my defence, she has been spending a fair bit of time at her dad's, and I still have to get stuff done.

We discovered a small crack in the Juke windshield....which rapidly got larger. We were pleasantly surprised to learn of a mobile service that will come right to your house and replace the windshield....or at a parking lot in London, for example, if you're on the road a lot! What a painless and affordable option....and he even had a cool A-Team van!

Our new fridge arrived - we'd been getting by with a loaner since July - along with a new dishwasher. We had been without a working dishwasher for about three years and had been hand-washing, but figured since we were ordering a fridge, we might as well get both. 

We also found a few viable evenings to enjoy some retro-movie nights on the back deck, while the decent weather still holds.

Jane's dad spent a few weeks in the hospital, but came out directly into a respite/retirement home, which was good. Of course it also meant we inherited a new furry friend, Pebbles. She's quite the character, but has fit right in.

With Wheatley still shut down, we've been having to find other takeout or dining options. Friends put us on to The Garage in Merlin, which has a nice patio, good broasted chicken, and even better prices. We were also supposed to meet those same friends at the Merlin Legion one night and drove all the way there, only for Jane to realize they meant the Comber Legion.....so we took a raincheck and ate at The Garage again instead!

As of the end of October, they are still investigating the source of the gas leak and explosion, and nothing has changed for all the displaced residents and businesses.   :(

Up I go...

I came, I saw.....ed.....

The end result - a broken limb

Reading in the hammock

A little light reading on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Chairs are for company....right???

Harvesting our brussels sprouts

Our new guest Pebbles

In with the new....

....and out with the old!

Amityville Horror on the big screen

That time I rode down to The Campbell!

Cape Fear by firelight

Awaiting dinner on the patio at The Garage

The Goonies

Lost Boys

Red Dawn

Thanksgiving Dinner!

Windshield replacement....at a mall in London!

Bin-ge and Purge

Recent decluttering elsewhere and decent fall weather prompted us to get a 20 cubic yard junk bin for the week - between the house and outbuildings, there was plenty of junk to rid ourselves of.....including a lot of junk in the barn that was never ours in the first place. 

We have the bin for the week, but there's a lot of rain coming up in the forecast....so basically we spent the entire weekend stuffing the bin and burning in the burn barrel. We also took the time to more or less maximize our space, by stuffing each nook and cranny before loading more junk behind it.

All that work also meant some takeout food to maximize productivity - in this case (and because Wheatley's restaurants are all still shut down after the gas explosion), that meant broasted chicken from the 18 Wheeler.

Friday morning bin drop....

Friday night start

Saturday

Sunday afternoon - getting close!

Gotta stay below the lip!

Burning cardboard, paper and scrap wood