You know it's cold when....

...you're only second in line to get yer cheese.

You may recall on a market day a few weeks back, that I mentioned how the cheese stand was mobbed, and I wasn't about to stand there like a tree trunk for what looked like a solid 20 minutes to get a couple hunks of cheese.
Took my chances today and got lucky.
Mind you, not the easiest thing handling money, or cheese for that matter, when there's barely any feeling in your fingers.
Even the bike was making some whiny complaining noises. There was no way I was stopping to investigate, since the likely hood of my having run over an animal was slim, although it is conceivable that a small cat could have been stretched up over the derailleur.
At least that's what it sounded like.

We'll see what it's like when it's not minus six out.

Just thought I'd mention that.

It did seem somewhat colder when I made my first jaunt this morning for the regular shop, but I just figured it was all in my head, and I really didn't want to venture out again, but I had this idea that I wanted some salmon for dinner, and the market in Delden doesn't get fired up until after 1:00 p.m.

It's still a bit of a winter wonderland. Of course, all the Dutch folks are happy happy, since now they can go skating on the canals.

Silly buggers.


Seems it's the coldest winter in ten years.
Swell.
Nice of ole man Winter to wait until we decided to move to the Netherlands.




I do think it's rather neat the way the frost is hanging off the trees though, and it doesn't seem to want to go anywhere.
You'll notice that the sidewalks don't get touched, nor do the little side streets. I'm still waiting for a thaw dammit! Besides, I don't have a real snow shovel, just some crazy metal scraper thing with a long handle.
It's pitiful.
I'm guessing this guy ....


.....doesn't have a scraper for his windshield, and if you saw what they have in the stores when you ask for such a critter, you would completely get it. Pretty sure I could have used my credit card.



We've been avoiding that whole issue in the last few days by putting the car in the garage. Well worth the effort.

It would also seem they're not too concerned with "due diligence", or perhaps it's just not that easy to sue someone if you fall on their sidewalk. Not sure.

Now I should sum up the rest of the Holiday Report by adding that most of the rest of the time spent in Canada involved either resting or carousing. Usually resting as a result of carousing.

There were serious discussions concerning NFL pics....

food preparation...(somebody likes their crab legs)


Photo albums to be reviewed (somebody went to South Africa....she would be the one with the big grin)
and of course, games to be played..



It all went by way too fast.

Shop Time

There was some evaporated time when we were home that I spent in the garage, or as I would prefer to call it, My Shop and I figure I should throw some of it in here to keep everyone abreast of all the exciting happenings (*snort!*).

Whatever.

If you were thinking it's about that time of the day for a little nap and you need something to put you over the edge, read on.

You may recall that back in October I was mucking around with a tool cabinet that I had put together, since I have no such item and figure it might be nice to have after some 20 or so years of woodworking.
I ended up with the case, and not much else.




Needless to say it was still hanging in it's spot when I got home on the 19th. That's a good thing. (sorry Martha)

I only then had to take it down again to build a set of doors, and then remount it to fit the six drawers. It's mounted on French cleats
which are bolted to the wall, so even though it can be lifted off the cleats at any time, it's not going anywhere.



....and we end up with this....
and drawers that go in like this...

The shop will never been the neat and tidy space that you see in the magazines, but I will be working towards at least getting it a bit tidier. Cleaning up all the junk that's hanging over the window can't hurt, plus it's never ever had a coat of paint.
There are very few people on the planet who have any idea just how much stuff was in there when we first moved in, (you know who you are) so relatively speaking, I've been ahead of the game for quite some time now, it's just the finishing touches that I seem to struggle with.

That's pretty much it for today, I've since gone to have our third hour with Nico. He'll not be here next week, since Gabe will be in the UK. I declined the offer for having the whole three hours to myself, since my head is spinning at the moment as it is.

Back in La-La land.

I'll try and make this as painless as possible, since we've now gone to Canada and back to the Netherlands, and I haven't uttered a peep.


First of all, the flight overseas was basically uneventful. It was a 747 that was packed to the brim, and we were back in steerage in row 60.

Swell.

Fortunately I had the aisle, since there's bugger all to see over the Altantic anyway, and the guy at the window was not only nice and slim (Gabe can tell you all kinds of stories of sitting next to big fat smelly guys) but apparently had a bladder the size of a football, since he never once felt the need to head for the head. I wouldn't have minded anyway, since I'd rather get up and let someone out rather than have to basically tell a total stranger that I have a pitifully weak bladder, and then climb over two seats.

We had been checking the weather, and it did look a little grim. Just past Ottawa somewhere, our pilot Hans came on the blower and reassured us that they had in fact taken on extra fuel for the bit of circling that we'd be doing. We did that for the next 45 minutes, somewhere over the Kawartha Highlands. Good thinking (that extra fuel part) since it's tricky business to dead stick it into Trenton or wherever.

Pretty sure Gimli was out of the question.


I had managed to forgo booking a rental car since I couldn't seem to get a price that I liked, so the plan was to simply cab it home and sort that out later.
Not so. Seems we were one of many with that plan, as there was a supposed hour long wait for a car.
So fine...we rented a car and drove home, all the while managing to avoid the poor unfortunates spinning out all around us.
I say "poor unfortunates", when what I really mean to say is "complete idiots", since there seems to be no lack of dummies on the roads in a snow storm who are not equipped to handle the task.
(i.e., get a clue, and if not, at least get some snow tires!)


Seems that Canada had the first nation wide white Christmas since sometime back in the 70s.


Ugh.

It wasn't too long after I took this picture that I went out and got some fresh gas and a spark plug for ye olde snowblower which, after having to tighten one of the manifold bolts, (how in tarnation does something like that get loose?) ran as well can be expected. Next year it might need the carb rebuilt, but we'll see.

There were only going to be 21 mouths to feed on Christmas Eve, so that wasn't too much of a concern. I was no longer able to simply borrow extra chairs from my employer, so I tabled a motion to serve buffet style and it passed unopposed. Rather liberating actually, since I then didn't need to set up and then disassemble a second table. We had enough of those wooden TV trays to go around.

We had already been forewarned that a new puppy was hanging around, and he was a constant source of amusement.




Ok so, he doesn't really sleep like that, so here's another view.




He's cute* and his name is Kermit, which he almost knows. Or it could also be that he can be a stubborn little bugger.

Along with doggie comes doggie responsibilities, and I couldn't help take note of this unlikely pair.





Now I finally see the problem, he's not going to do anything, they're way too far from the hydrant!



Tomorrow, what really goes on in the garage.






*the one on the right.