It's been a good year...

..."the tide abides for, tarrieth for no man, stays no man, tide nor time tarrieth no man". As my number of years increases, I'm ever more conscious of this truth. Time once went slowly for me (and most younger people), but now it just evaporates, whether I seize it or not. 

I say it's been a good year, but honestly, it's been sobering and reflective as well. More than ever, more of my friends are retiring, slowing down, seem unhappy, and even worse. I enter 2019 with a plan to retire from my present job of 30 years. Like many though, as the day approaches the uncertainty and second guessing rises as well. Recent financial advice suggested that one should work as long as one is able. To me, that is shocking advice that overly equates happiness with financial "freedom"...this is not in line with my thinking and consequently, sent me into a tailspin. My temporal philosophy suggests than none of us are getting out alive. Therefore, it makes sense to me to retire asap as long as you can make ends meet somehow. Therefore, contrary to popular wisdom, I plan on bailing in July 2019. No, all of the financial "ducks" won't be fully in order but in my experience, it's often better to regret the things you do rather than regret the things you didn't do.

Also in the good year department, Christmas was a win again this year. We were blessed with good food, good friends, laughter, and celebration...

  The other 2018 highlight is of course, the new to me camper. It has me longing unhealthily for winter to cease. :)

Happy New Year !!!

Belated Happy New Year 2016

It's often the same old song with me; I never take time to write, even though I kind of enjoy it. Once again I've blinked and the entire Christmas Season is over. Again this year we stayed put and it was nice. The normal crowd of friends showed up for dinner and again Debbie delivered. Here's the beginning of the spread...

Time to get the feedbag on...

Of course in our abode there's not enough room at the table so some spilled into adjacent rooms and into the basement...

Once that all settled, it was time to break out the dessert and coffee...

This time they moved a little slower and with less motivation...fed up you see  :)

Not exactly a white Christmas with 12c and sun, but the old Camper soaked it up...

Indeed God blessed us... everyone. There was even dessert and coffee for breakfast the next day...

A few days later on Dec 30th, we finally got the obligatory winter blast, wherein I got to break out my Christmas present...

All is well, and the new year is upon us all...here's to 2016 !!

Christmas 2014

We were fortunate to have another Merry Christmas...lots of family, food, friends, and fun. Overall, Christmas conjures up such vivid thoughts, feelings, memories, and emotions, but I wouldn't miss any of it for the world. The only thing I really often miss at this time of year is immediate family. It's sad that we can't get together more, but there's always next year...below are some photos of what we did get up to...

I guess I shouldn't be so hasty to put Christmas in the past. After all, today is only day 5 of the 12 Days of Christmas. Again, my old High School motto must prevail: Carpe Diem !! Merry Christmas everyone !!

A Christmas Story

I guess I must confess I'm a bit devoid of "culture" and by most estimates, don't get "out" much. For example, I've been living in Halifax for over 25 years yet I've never gone to Neptune Theatre. All that changed Saturday night when we took in their presentation of "A Christmas Story". I wondered how one of my favorite movies would translate to live theatre and I was not disappointed. They did a wonderful job and it was so enjoyable...I may have to go back...Motorists wise...Simoniz !!

Christ in Christmas?

Ok it's December 1st, time to begin unleashing the Christmas revelry. Unfriend me now while there's still time :)

Not trying to be controversial, and I realize that speaking your mind is also a 2-edged sword...the tongue is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison yada yada yada...

First up; I have to confess, the cliche phrase "Keep Christ in Christmas" makes me want to vomit. I don't know much, but I'm pretty sure that the real, true "Christ" will not be "kept" in Christmas or in any other day. Chase him down, and you'll likely discover he expects not to be "kept", but to be distributed, widely on the other 364 days as well. As a matter of fact, he might just chase you down, and me too. What if folk followed the many of Jesus' real admonitions and instructions throughout the year with the same zeal with which they unleash the overtly annoying "It's not Happy Holidays, It's Merry Christmas" drivel. (yuck!). Any day off is a Happy Holiday in my book, but I digress...Here's three of his instructions to get ya going:

1. "Do unto others..." 

2. "Come unto me, and I will give you rest". 

3. "Feed my sheep".

None of this seems too unreasonable so far does it? Charles Dickens summed it up much better than I ever could with the scolding of Ebeneezer Scrooge by the Ghost of Christmas present: "So it is true of the Child born in Bethlehem. He does not live in men's hearts one day of the year, but in all days of the year. You have chosen not to seek Him in your heart. Therefore, you will come with me and seek Him in the hearts of men of good will."

We shouldn't wait for a Ghost to shock us into accepting the gift of Christ...it probably won't happen...Food for thought ? Oh yeah, and I hope you have a Merry Christmas, &/or a Happy Holidays...

Belated Happy New Year

We're beyond the first week of January already, WOW ! We all stayed put this Christmas season. Not too busy, but lots of food,fun, and celebration. Christmas morning was quiet but nice...

I think everyone was a little more tired than excited, the by-product of growing up I'm afraid...

 We all headed out to a homeless shelter to help serve Christmas Dinner to some friends in need. It's good to have the strength to help. We even made it back home in time to put our own feedbag on...

Alas, the boys and their friends had to sit at a separate table. They got over it though.

Switching to New Years, I remember a tradition from home where folk went to church on New Year's Eve to "ring in the new year". Thankfully, a bunch of "young adults" have handsomely resurrected this practice with a service called "Arise". Joel and James were in the thick of things, playing guitar, drums, singing etc. 

I'm glad to see that the new generation is picking up the ball where us "older" folks have so often failed. God help my generation and our collective complacency, Amen.

(above Photo by Ibimina Koko, and I stole it without his permission)

Christmas Root Beer 2012

I've rambled on about this before, and normally it's a last minute thing. HomeMade Root Beer needs a full week or so to carbonate properly. In previous years, I often got around to making it just in time. This year I had it ready by December 1st or so. The downside (isn't there always one?) of course is that the first batch is almost all gone. No big problem, I'll make another one.

Fortunately, a good friend gifted me with a nice green milk crate of 16 large reusable bottles. That made the second batch a much easier undertaking since the extra bottles meant I didn't have to wait for the first batch...not that I had to wait long :)

 

I did have a slight issue with the bigger bottles though; see the red circle in the picture above, where the bottle is touching the metal shank of the capper. I was a little hesitant to apply pressure, thinking it might smash said precious bottle. I got around it by using a different capper (it pays to have more than one of most things) that did not have that block of wood attached to the base. I could have removed the block, but that's work :)

 Anyway, the first batch is all but gone, and the second will be ready to drink by the weekend. My prediction is that at the rate it's being inhaled, I'll need a third batch before Christmas day, not a bad problem since I'm one of the guilty parties...belch !!

The old standard was HIRES Brand extract, but that seems to have vanished. For the last few years, all I've been able to find is this ROYAL Brand. However, it seems to taste just as good. This year it's gone up to about 6 dollars a bottle. Add a bag of sugar, yeast, and bottle caps, and the cost is between 10 and 15 dollars.That;s not really "cheap" when decent President's Choice Draft Root Beer can be had for 50 cents a litre. Then again, it's not about the money  :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!

 

Christmas 2011

Christmas on a Sunday made for a busy day. Dinner turned into Supper, but it was nice nonetheless...

VW Ornament...

Obligatory food line...

My portion...

Friends too (note HomeMade RootBeer)...

Calypso Carol...

This is fast becoming my favorite Christmas Carol...embedding is disabled, but click through to YouTube to watch and listen...

See him lying on a bed of straw;
draughty stable with an open door,
Mary cradling the babe she bore;
The prince of glory is his name.
Refrain
Oh, now carry me to Bethlehem
to see the Lord appear to men;
Just as poor as was the stable then,
The prince of glory when he came.
Star of silver sweep across the skies,
show where Jesus in the manger lies.
Shepherds swiftly from your stupor rise
to see the Saviour of the world.
Refrain
Oh, now carry me to Bethlehem
to see the Lord appear to men;
Just as poor as was the stable then,
The prince of glory when he came.
Mine are riches from thy poverty,
From thine innocence, eternity;
Mine, forgiveness by thy death for me,
Child of sorrow for my joy.
Refrain
Oh, now carry me to Bethlehem
to see the Lord appear to men;
Just as poor as was the stable then,
The prince of glory when he came.
Angels, sing agan the song you sang,
bring God's glory to the heart of man;
Sing the Bethl'hem's little baby can
be salvation to the soul.
Refrain
Oh, now carry me to Bethlehem
to see the Lord appear to men;
Just as poor as was the stable then,
The prince of glory when he came.

A Keurig Khristmas

This year we flirted with disaster and decided to mess with one of the most sacred and coveted processes; the making of the mighty cup of COFFEE. It began with an instant double volley. Debbie bought me a Keurig Mini B30 one cupper, and I got her the larger B60 model. Dualing Christmas presents if you will. I was skeptical, since we're both sort of Coffee-Snobs. While we don't (yet) roast our own, but we DO grind our own beans. The price of the individual K-cups is not cheap, but there are deals to be had, and the clincher for me was when I discovered the My K-Cup reusable filter, meaning no more total reliance on those oft-pricey K-Cups. It's only been 5 days so I'm not sure if it's a novelty thing, but we sure love these things. I had both coffee and English Breakfast tea this morning. Yes there are Tea K-Cups, as well as Cocoa / Hot Chocolate. The cost is in the 40 cents per cup range; not cheap but with our regular pot, I notice we throw lots of coffee down the drain so I'm not sure we were getting off much cheaper. One thing I can say though, these things make a consistent cup of coffee at 192 F. The larger model can adjust the temperature, as well as cup size (no bra jokes please). Anyway, drop by for a cup...

The B60 for the Kitchen

The B30, for my office :)

How a K-Cup does it

The reusable filter

I haven't tried the Kahlua yet...

Scrooge...

Debbie sneaked out of town for the night, so me and the boys took advantage and went to see the new Scrooge movie with Jim Carrey. They did a great job is this remake. Imax 3D made it even better. Of course I'm biased and a bit of a Scrooge nut. So far I've seen the following versions starring:

Sir Seymour Hicks, 1935
Reginald Owen, 1938
Alastair Sim, 1951
Albert Finney, 1970
Rich Little, 1978
Henry Winkler, 1979
Mickey's Christmas Carol, 1983
George C Scott, 1984
Muppet Christmas Carol, 1992
Jack Palance, 1997
All Dogs Christmas Carol, 1998
Patrick Stewart, 1999

...from Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotional

What time is Christmas this year? You find the answer in four statements the angel said to the shepherds at the first Christmas (Luke 2:10-14).

1. Its time to release your fears! The first thing the angel said was, Do not be afraid! Fear is your greatest barrier to knowing God and fulfilling his purposes for your life. Fear is a self-imposed prison that keeps you from living the life God intends for you. So whatever you are afraid of - Christmas is the time to let it go. The Bible contains 365 "Fear nots - one for every day of the year! Its time to stop worrying and start worshipping. Stop tensing up and start trusting God

2. Its time to renew your faith! Next, the angel said I bring you good news with great joy, and it is for everyone! The Good News of Jesus keeps getting better because the bad news of the world keeps getting worse. The Good News is that God loves you, he created you for a purpose, you can know God personally by trusting in Jesus, and he wants you to spend eternity with him. God has really long range plans for your life! Christmas is time to come back to God.

3. Its time to receive forgiveness! Next the angel said, Today a Savior has been born for you; He is Christ the Lord! If our greatest need was education, God would have sent a teacher. If our greatest need was health, he would have sent a doctor. If our greatest need was financial, he would have sent an economist. But our greatest need is forgiveness, so God sent a Savior. It doesnt matter what wrong youve done, Jesus paid for it on the cross. Accept his forgiveness.

4. Its time to rebuild relationships! Finally the angel said, Peace on earth, and goodwill to all people. Once youve accepted Gods forgiveness, He wants you to forgive everyone else. Who do you need to offer forgiveness to this Christmas? Its time to make peace!

...had just settled down for a long winter's...

Not yet, but almost. Christmas Eve has only a few minutes left. The kids are indeed nestled in their beds, and we'll soon be following suit. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night...

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Longfellow 1864 (I heard The Bells on Christmas Day)

School Christmas Concert

We took in the elementary school Christmas Concert last night. The theme was "Christmas in England", a clever way of preserving some of the more traditional "elements" that tend to get sidetracked by the politically "correct" fervor of the oversensitive. (how's that for a mouthful). Since anything Christmas still delights my child-like disposition to no end, I was thrilled to see the children from the various grades belting out Once in Royal David's City, Joy to the world, and other "Christ-in-Christmas" selections. May God bless them...everyone !!