Winter Weary

 It's been an interesting winter thus far, on many fronts.

With President Trump taking office in late January, the political climate has been rife with turmoil surrounding punitive tariffs threatening to be imposed on Canada, along with notions of annexing Canada as the 51st State, buying Greenland and taking back the Panama Canal. 

Tension further rose during the recent Four Nations Face Off, with Canada and the USA squaring off directly in the round robin (US won) and again in the finals (Canada won!!!). Anthems were booed. Three fights in the opening nine seconds....of an international hockey game. This was one of the those moments in history when a sporting event was much more than a sporting event.

We journeyed to Barrie and Orillia through a break in the winter weather, to attend a book signing for two great friends, and squeeze in a round of visits with friends and family. While the roads were relatively bare, they definitely had a record amount of snowfall.

Back at home, we had far less snow, but still the most we have had in several years. As always down here, with snow comes drifting and whiteouts....and often freezing either on top or underneath the little snow we do get. We even got a few days of "polar vortex" as the first true test of the heat pump and auxiliary coil - we got down to -30 C, and other than a steep hydro bill, all was good. On the whole, we keep the house noticeably warmer and it's still cheaper overall than oil!

We had a nice night out in Chatham, starting with drinks at the Elephant's Nest followed by dinner at Mamma Maria's. We crossed the street to attend the "Hyprov" show at the Capitol Theatre, with a hypnotist putting people under before Colin Mochrie led them through some hilarious improv. 

After another stop at the same bar, this time with live music added, we took a U-Ride back to our motel before heading onto London the next morning.....bringing Dave back for a five-day visit starting with the Eagles crushing the Chiefs in Superbowl LIX! His home was in lockdown, so he was very glad to get out for a few days to enjoy some company and cats, and eat some different foods.

Jane started "designing her feelings" and promoting her designs on Redbubble and other places, featured on items like t-shirts, mugs and pins. The new side hustle looks promising!

We voted early for the provincial election, and promptly treated ourselves to brisket tacos and poutine at Renny's! We also met friends at the Comber Legion the week before for a nice perch dinner for Valentine's Day.

On the feline front, we made several visits to the Vet with both Momma and Vincent. Momma ended up with several meds and a soft cone, which she embraced as a travel pillow. Vincent had six teeth pulled and was not pleased with his experience. Between them we had five different medications to manage.

Winter appears to be waning, and perhaps that is Spring we can feel in the air?

Winter in Orillia!

Winter in Wheatley

First real winter test of the heat pump

We even have snowbanks!

Night Out in Chatham

Treating ourselves to Renny's after voting!

Another year of trading recycled Valentine's cards

A few of Jane's early designs

Repping Flag Day!

Vincent less than impressed following dental surgery

Momma embraces the soft cone!

Jane cuddling with the big boys!

Happy New Year 2024-2025

After some medical issues in mid-December, we enjoyed a quiet Christmas at home, following some family visits further afield during better travelling weather in late November. We watched a full slate of the "usual" holiday movies - Scrooge (the 1951 version), The Grinch (original cartoon version), Christmas Chronicles, Klaus, A Boy Called Christmas, Noelle, One Magic Christmas, Serendipity and The Holiday. It was another green Christmas here with mild weather and a few dandelions.

We headed off for Coxmas and enjoyed a lovely second Christmas, complete with the customary Chinese food dinner and the annual Chip Choosing competition, wherein we each bring a bag of Lay's salt and vinegar chips and then hold a "blind" taste-off to eliminate one bag each round. John managed to win again, so for the third straight year since inception, the trophy shall stay in the London area. We enjoyed fires on the back deck with Dave, with unseasonably mild weather (+12 C!) accompanied by the World Juniors and NFL.

This year's festive streaming service was Disney Plus, so back home for New Year's we plowed through a number of Marvel franchises for the annual "marathon" - mainly X-Men, Avengers and Moon Knight - with lots of Modern Family in there for breaks. For food, we opted for the usual sporadic grazing on appetizers and snacks rather than actual meals. New Year's Eve was also green, though considerably more soggy than Christmas.

Bring on 2025 - a year sure to bring many political and cultural changes both at home and south of the border, some highly anticipated concerts and sporting events, at least one wedding (no, not ours), and an epic trip to celebrate our 25th anniversary together. 

Happy New Year to all!

Another Green Christmas

The Chip Gauntlet is thrown down!

Mike's bowl is the first one out!

....and then there were two....

The Trophy stays at home!

November Notes

 In spite of a beautiful November in terms of weather, the inevitable winter prep has begun. I also found a few odd chores around the yard that needing my attention, while conditions were still favourable.

I raised the existing walkway, which was slowly sinking into the clay, and began adding new pavers to also extend it out in the increasingly wet area between the stairs and the car. I also pulled a lot of weeds and other plants and put cloth and gravel down around the new heat pump....which was technically installed in a garden.

Meanwhile, inside the house Jane discovered a "make work" project. We bought a new cabinet for the kitchen pantry, so we decided to take the opportunity to paint this very small room before installing the new cabinet. That led to....removing wallpaper.....then removing the old panelling.....then moving and replacing the old light....and miscellaneous demo. Still no paint. Still no cabinet.

So now we're left with exposed walls consisting of some plaster, some drywall, some bare insulation, some metal....yeah. We're waiting for some local plaster specialists to come and do their thing before we paint, and assemble that darned cabinet that started this whole mess.

We also opened the studio and hosted visitors for a day as part of the Wheatley Winter Sale.

In and around this, we managed to squeeze in a few overdue visits to eastern Ontario and Grand Bend before the snow truly flies.

Empty pantry

And during tear-down!

A bit of everything behind the walls

Funky new light fixture!

Gravel around the new heat pump

Raising and extending the walkway

Welcome!

Wheatley Winter Sale

Iceland 2024 - Part III

For our last two full days, we opted for some relatively local touring. We set off early to visit Seljalandsfoss and Gljufrabui, which can get quite busy later in the day. While it was fairly quiet when we got there, everything near the waterfall was coated in a layer of ice, from freezing spray. We chose not to do the walk behind the waterfall, since the stairs and slopes were more than a tad treacherous.

Walking down to Gljufrabui, there was some more ice around the entrance to the cave. However, once we carefully picked our way through, inside the cave was wet but not icy. More surprisingly, we had the entire cave to ourselves for almost half an hour!

We drove a bit west and then explored Road 26 to the north, where it ended at the volcanic plains under the creepy facade of Hekla. The beautiful landscape changed gradually until suddenly there was no vegetation or signs of life. Apparently Hekla erupted several times between 1970-2000, leaving the area a desolate and decidedly lunar wasteland. An F-Road did head eastward and into the interior, but we chose not to follow in our little (albeit 4x4) car.

Back at the apartment, we made a nice dinner and then waited until dark to drive the short distance outside of town to enjoy another light show. We could have walked, but it was nice to have the car to stay warm in between aurorae.

The weather continued to grace us during what could have been a very rainy time of year. While the nights fell to slightly below zero, every day of the trip was sunny with daytime highs between 7-10 C.

Friday was another driving day, as we returned to Gluggafoss - the "Window Waterfall" - where the river tumbles into a cave and created a "window" partway down from which it re-emerges sideways. With more time today than during the jeep tour, we did the steep hike up to the top of the waterfall, then continued to follow the river up two more hills to see more waterfalls and enjoy the commanding view of the plains and ocean to the south.  

Backtracking on the Ring Road, we took Road 32 north until a single-lane bridge crossed a large river, and we met up with yesterday's Road 26. Returning across the bridge, we took a slow (20 km/h) and very rough and rocky Road 332 about 7 km in to see the stunning Haifoss waterfall. The windchill was brutal, or we may have done the hike down into the valley itself. We settled for the view from above.

Bidding farewell to the Borg apartments on Saturday morning, we grabbed coffee at the N1 and hit the road. Our luck persisted and we enjoyed a sunny drive all the way. There was some snow on top of the mountain pass just west of Hveragerdi, but thankfully the road itself was bare and dry. The suburbs of Reykjavik were also mercifully tame, as we passed through on our way to the airport.

With time to spare, we ducked down Road 44 to visit the Bridge between Continents, where the Eurasian and North American plates visibly diverge. From there, we grabbed a few more snack souvenirs at the Bonus in Njardvik, topped up the fuel tank, and returned the car without issue. 

Our flight left at 330pm with an interesting cast of characters seated around us. We lucked out again, as the gentleman beside us was able to move to sit with his wife, leaving us with an empty seat and room to spread out. Favourable winds saw us back in Hamilton a full half-hour early, and the customs and baggage collection process was also quick.

The only hiccup was the last hour of the drive home, squinting in the dark through a thunderstorm as fatigue and jet lag took its toll. We grabbed Pizza Hut to go in Tilbury and arrived home to happy cats. We relaxed and reflected on just how much adventure we packed into less than a week in Iceland!

An icy Seljalandsfoss in early morning

Gljufrabui cave waterfall

Northern Lights over Hvolsvollur

Worth staying up!

Gluggafoss

About to hike the trail up the right side....

The view ascending and Eyjafjallajokull glacier

More waterfalls above!

Start of F225 into Landmannalaugar

F-Roads diverge under Hekla volcano

Haifoss

Heading for the airport

The Bridge between Continents

And so do we!!!

Downtown Toronto on approach into Hamilton

Iceland three years in a row!

Iceland 2024 - Part II

We relocated to Hvolsvollur to a rented apartment for the remainder of our stay. On Tuesday, we had booked a super-jeep tour of the interior with Midgard Adventures, conveniently located a few blocks away. We had a wonderful driver/guide and she started us off with a drive along a black sand beach near Landeyjahofn. The seas were angry and the wea

The tour began in earnest as we ventured inland on Road 249, which turned into F249 and then the real fun began! F-Roads are rough gravel and rock "roads" which only 4x4 vehicles can travel, which often include several unbridged river crossings. We followed F249 up the river valley and into stunning Thorsmork to a summer camp. We hiked up steep Valahnukur for a scenic panorama of the valley and glaciers on either side, Myrdalsjokull to the left and Eyjafjallajokull to the right.

After a picnic lunch at the base of the hill, we started back, stopping for another hike into gorgeous Stakkholtsgja canyon, one of the filming locations for Game of Thrones. Our guide also took us to a secret troll cave, where we hiked up and in and then down into the cave. On our way back to town, she made one final stop at Gluggafoss waterfall before returning us to the Midgard base camp. We stayed and enjoyed an incredible burger and some local smoked salmon and craft beer.

The next day, we caught the ferry to the Westman Islands off the south coast, and made a chilly ascent up the Eldfell volcano. In 1973, this one erupted and buried much of Heimaey town in lava. At the base, we walked the lava field with maps showing the various buildings buried thirty feet below our feet. We also enjoyed a delicious lunch at Voruhusid in town before walking back to the ferry terminal.

After another long and tiring day, we returned to the apartment to make dinner and relax for the evening, with an eye on the skies for more Northern Lights! With few TV channels to choose from, we found a Polish station playing rock and pop videos from the 70's, 80's and 90's to entertain us as we charged our devices and recharged our own batteries. 

Midgard Super-jeep!

River crossing following F249 into Thorsmork

Stunning Thorsmork valley and Myrdalsjokull glacier

Walking back down Valahnukur

Hike into Stakkholtsgja canyon

Emerging from a troll cave!

Borg Apartments in Hvolsvollur

Catching the electric ferry....

...to the Westman Islands!

Part of Heimaey town buried under lava

Hiking Eldfell volcano

Waiting to catch the ferry back to the "mainland"