The Travels of the Agnew Family

The temperature rose again. It actually was warming when we got up this morning than it had been yesterday. Yup, it melted all the snow.


Look ma, no snow (it was gone by the end of the day) and the house is decorated for Christmas.

It's that time again ... Santa Claus parade time. Ed and Victor had started working on a float representing the local airport but unfortunately they hit some snags and the project was canceled. Guess there's always next year.

Anne and Victor came for dinner and we walked down to the parade. It's your typical small town parade --- a few floats, some horses and dogs, cheerleaders and few decorated vehicles advertising local business --- and of course Santa. Lots of people come down to watch the parade and everyone has a good time.


Firetrucks start the parade (think all the local trucks are in the parade so it could be really interesting if they got a call during the parade). Followed by the Tim Horton's truck with lots of volunteers handing out hot chocolate.


My favourite "float" this year. The mixer part was spinning.


You've got to love the light bulb in Rudolph's nose.

November has been an interesting month at least weather wise.

November 18

Zaph got tired of waiting for Ed while Ed took photos of the snow so he continued his walk. The snow started falling but we thought (hoped it wouldn't be too bad).

The snow continued blizzard fashion. Some snow in November is very normal, blizzards in November not so much.

November 21

By time the snow had stopped we had over two feet of snow on the lawn and much more piled on the side of the driveway. The county roads had stayed opened but the schools buses didn't run. Can't complain though as we didn't even come close to the over 6 feet of snow that Buffalo got. Gotta love lake effect snow.

As the snow was fresh I decided Zaph could go for a walk without his boots. Bad idea. We were just in front of the house when he slipped on the ice. One of his rear paws went up in the air and stayed there. My poor buddy had hurt his foot or ankle. Every mat we own was put into service to make a path from the garage door to the area rug in family room as Zaph was having trouble on the hard wood floors. It look like a discount rug store had exploded. His boot was put on the sore paw and it seemed to help him walk --- think it worked a bit like a tensor bandage. Luckily dogs heal quickly and by Monday he was back to his old self.

Now it's here, now it's gone. The temperatures rose, the rain came and the snow melted.

November 25

Only a little bit of snow was left on the front lawn and the back yard was empty of snow. This was a good thing as Ed and I had put off closing the hot tub. We had been enjoying using the tub and were hoping that we could keep it open to December. We took advantage of the warm weather (over 10C, 50F) and closed the tub for the season.


Zaph moping on the kitchen floor. Think he may have been missing the snow. For some reason he's been enjoying eating the snow this year. Sometimes he'd ask to go out just to eat the fresh snow.

November 28

Well Zaph can cheer up as it snowed again. This time only 3 or 4 inches.

Last night it started snowing and this is the result.

Enough snow to shovel but not enough to get the snow blower out. The cold winds from the northwest are picking up water as they travel over the warm lakes and drop the snow on us. As long as it stays below seasonal temperatures we'll be getting snow. The farmers aren't very happy as there is still a lot of corn on the fields. Harvesting is a couple of weeks behind schedule due to all the rain.




Zaph has been enjoying the snow. Not sure why but he loves eating it. He'll go out side and sit in the snow and start chowing down.

I think I'm turning into a hermit. All this cold wet weather is keeping me in doors. The only good result is Ed's been getting some really good dinners. I've been trying new recipes Indian-Spiced Stuffed Eggplant, Ethiopian Cabbage Potato Carrots (Atakilt Wat), and Shrimp with Polenta . Yes, they were all very good especially the Shrimp and Polenta.

Today we remember. Over the past couple of years we have stood in the rain and the snow for the Remembrance Day Ceremony. Today was different --- no precipitation. In fact we had a bit of sun and it was around 8 degrees C (in the high 40s F). The need for Remembrance Day was brought home this year with the death of two Canadian soldiers on Canadian soil. The ceremony was also very different this year. Legion members presided over the ceremony but a high school band, trumpeter and several students were included in the program. I think there were several hundred people in attendance including several classes from the local school.


My father.

It warmed up a bit after the snow and we were able to finish getting ready for winter. The leaves are raked. The barbecue, smoker, garden ornaments and lawn furniture are packed away in the shed. The Miata and Rob's TR6 are snuggled together in the garage for the winter. I've even gone as far as pulling the winter boots and coats out of storage.


After fourteen years of being "coat free", Zaph is now the owner of a bright red raincoat. It's been raining a lot this fall and Zaph's mom and dad think life will be easier if Zaph returns home from a walk in the rain a little dryer than a drowned rat. It's taken a few days, but Zaph appears to be adjusting to the coat and doesn't mind wearing it --- I think that means enough people have complemented him on his coat.

Today is "pottery setup day". This means Ed and I drive down to Kitchener to Jack and Lori's house to help Lori organize her pottery for the Frederick Street Art Walk. Ed actually went on tour for the first couple of hours visiting all of his favourite stores --- Princess Auto, Henry's Cameras, TSC, etc. When he returned he was drafted into grinding, moving tables, setting up lights, etc. He's actually quite good at arranging the pottery into an esthetically pleasing display.


We forgot to bring a camera with us, so here's a picture of some of Lori's pots that Jack posted on Facebook.

After a short cool fall, it looks like winter has arrived.


This is what we woke up to. Luckily it all melted by noon.