Countdown to Christmas

Every once in awhile the McGuffins get dressed up and enjoy entertaining their friends.  This year the Westbrooks, Dotzerts and Melodys joined us for a Chrissymas celebration followed by a splendid buffet at The White Carnation. 





We spent a day at the cottage fitting the cedar sink surround and the new drawer fronts.  The sink surround was like building a barrel and proved to be a challenging wood working project for Rob.  There are two door panels that hinge on either side to add to the front.  Rob was ever so relieved  to finally get things to fit.  The varnishing will be left until the spring.



Never ones to sit around we decided to re-do the bathrooms at the condo.  Both of the bathrooms received quite the face lifts with new countertops, sinks, taps, and paint.  In addition we have added new knobs to the cupboards and a splash of new accessories and colours.  What a difference it makes!  It felt good to be spending some time working on the condo.  Rob is now heavily into manufacturing drawer boxes for his dream shop.  At last count there were 16 new drawers being sanded and readied for their first coat of varnish.

On the 23rd of the month we joined Aimee, Craig, Ava, Landon, David, Linda, Sarah, Scott and last but not least Dude at a Christmas celebration in Brantford. 



 

 

 

On Christmas day we spent some time with mom and Santa at Huronview.  From there we drove to London where we joined Bob and Jan for a lovely dinner and overnight.  The next day we visited with Alison, Scott, Chase and Sherry in Exeter.   It is always fun to see what Santa has brought the kids.

Speaking of Santa he did in fact leave some things for us.  It would seem that he was into fitness this year as we received snow shoes, walking poles, a fitness mat and four pound weights!?!  Of course he may have seen how much chocolate and nuts were under the tree before he made his decision?? In addition Elvie (Land Vessel) did quite well with a new GPS and several guide books to the East Coast. 

The driftwood Christmas tree receives its first snow just in time for the holidays. 

 

We never get tired of the view out our bedroom patio door especially when it is snowing.







If You Can't Fly South.....Fly North

Our  cottage neighbours Doug and Jane have shares in an airplane that is kept in Stratford.  After this summer they decided to leave their sailboat Cyrano in Killarney and use the airplane to fly back and forth to the boat.   We were asked to join Doug for a trip in December to help winterize Cyrano.  Needless to say we jumped at the offer and met Doug at Sky Harbour Airport in Goderich. 

My first inclination was to hijack the plane and head south; however the captain told me to keep my hands and feet off of the controls.

The farther we flew north the more snow we saw on the ground.  In fact Killarney airport runway had not been ploughed and it made for an exciting landing but Doug handled things like a pro.  We hiked into town and spent about two hours working on the boat.  Doug does not have his night license so we had little time to spare before heading back to Goderich.

On our way  Doug flew us over the cottage.  It was great to see all of the sand on our point; however seeing the cottage was a bit of a challenge. 

It was very interesting to fly over Goderich and see the harbor and the town from the air even though it was getting late in the day and the light was poor for picture taking.  Doug dropped us off at Sky Harbour and we watched him take off for Stratford....a 20 minute trip in the airplane.  It had been an amazing day and once again we are reminded of the power of flight.  It takes a good 8 hours of driving,  close to 30 hours of sailing but just 1.5 hours of flying to get to Killarney.