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Allow me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. It feels a bit like the holiday has crept up this year and is suddenly upon us. Being focused on work, with only a few strategic shopping trips for presents and with other positive things on our minds, the lead up found us preoccupied until finally we opened our presents tonight and are able to sit back and reflect on the holiday.
I know it's the usual topic at this time, but more than ever, "family" is on the top of our minds this year. We'll be visiting my parents this holiday season, which is something we weren't able to do last year. Also, we already looking forward to next year as our family will be enjoying an addition. Our first child is due this spring, so when we sit down to Christmas Dinner (on Boxing Day, actually) my wife will be eating turkey for two.
Food and family is also coming together with a nice treat that was dropped off by our cousins this morning -- sausages. However, they're not just any sausages. Our cousins inherited the recipe from my great grandfather and a butcher (in Milton, I believe) has made up a batch based on the three kinds that were once a mainstay with my paternal grandmother's parents when they ran a butcher shop in North York, back in the the Depression. They'd immigrated from Scotland in the early part of the last century and landed in Winnipeg. Not liking it there, my great grandmother had pushed to return to Scotland but a cousin of hers in Toronto suggested that they come there and give Canada a second chance. They did, and they liked it enough to stay and set up a butcher shop.
They ran it through the '20s and lasted through the Depression in the '30s, but then both passed away in the spring of 1940. My grandmother was recently married then, and took over the butcher shop. Her sister, who'd been born in Canada, also married within a month of their passing and moved to Brampton, which was a long way away in those days.
Our child's due date will therefore be almost exactly 70 years on and I think it's amazing that we can both look to the future and share in that connection with the past. No word yet on whether we are expecting a son or a daughter, but we'll be finding out by the time we both start back at work in the new year.Labels: holidays
posted by Ian at 10:45 PM -
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It's been another Hallowe'en night spent at home watching the classics on the television and basking in the glow of the jack o'lantern. I hope that each of you out there have had a safe and spooky night.Labels: holidays
posted by Ian at 11:23 PM -
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 I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season and getting the opportunity to share the season with loved ones and friends. Most of all, I hope Santa gets you everything on your list this year. Merry Christmas, everyone. Labels: holidays
posted by Ian at 10:29 PM -
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 Just a quick little note to wish you all a Happy Hallowe'en this evening as you take in the spookiest and creepiest of nights. Usually my jack o'lanterns end up looking much the same each year as I tend to favour the same old design, but this year I tried to change it up a bit. I didn't use any markers to plan out the cuts beforehand though, and I think it ended up looking a bit sad or frightened itself. Perhaps it is more reflective of this year's economic scares than the usual, run-of-the mill terror. Labels: holidays
posted by Ian at 8:09 PM -
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E.A. MacDonald with turkey on the block, 17 October, 1908.I felt like finding a thematic shot from the National Archives in honour of the holiday. This poor old bird no doubt became the Thanksgiving feast on an Ontario table almost one hundred years ago this week. Once the above deed's been done, you might be interested in what to do for the next step. Turns out that there's a good collection of stuffing recipes at Stuffing.ca, for anyone looking for ways to round out their meal. My favourite memories of Thanksgiving were the dinners at my grandparents' place, not with turkey but rather a freshly shot goose -- and the ringing sound from the bowl that served as a spittoon to receive any buckshot that turned up while you were feasting on the bird. What are your favourite Thanksgiving recipes or memories? Labels: holidays, nostalgia
posted by Ian at 11:01 PM -
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Colonial table setting at MacDonald Farm, New Brunswick.As times have gotten tough lately, and the news is full of upsets in the markets and the decline of world economies, somehow we've found ourselves stopping almost daily over the last few months, to be grateful for what we have and how things have gone for us. In 2008, we've so far passed through our first year of marriage, added a new sister-in-law to the family, and we moved across the country in order to break into a larger job market. Overall, we're faring better quantifiably than we were down east. We might be cynical, and generally grumpy most of the time, but we're definitely thankful for the modest living we have, with no shortage of daily reminders that not everyone is so lucky these days. But I hope that everyone out there also gets a moment's respite from slumping stock markets, sub prime shocks, food safety anxieties, electioneering shenanigans and... Have a happy Thanksgiving weekend. You deserve it, Canada. Labels: holidays
posted by Ian at 10:04 PM -
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A lot of folks are trying to get people ready for 2008 being a rather drastic year for the world economy, but there was a pretty noteworthy indicator today. On the first business day of the new year, oil hit a record $100 bucks a barrel, today.
Folks might want to consider "driving less" as one of their New Year's resolutions.Labels: economy, holidays, natural resources, oil
posted by Ian at 7:31 PM -
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 I know it's already Boxing Day, and I've been a bit amiss in blog posting these last couple of weeks. The holidays tend to keep one busy. We enjoyed ours in Miramichi, New Brunswick, with a wonderful Canada Goose on the table for dinner. I just wanted to make sure that you were all wished well for the Christmas season and that I may share my hopes with you for a blessed and fortuitous New Year. Labels: holidays
posted by Ian at 9:10 PM -
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 Today marks Remembrance Day across the nation. Naturally, I attended our local service here in Halifax, held at the Grand Parade as it is each year.  For such a chilly day, we had a strong turn out. Halifax has a long history as a military town, since it hosts the largets of Canada's two naval ports and most of the young men and women who went overseas to fight in the wars passed through here on their way to Europe.  While it may be a navy town, all branches were represented. Seconds before the two minutes of silence, there was a flypast by one of our local CH-124 Sea King helicopters.  For more photos of this morning's event, I've also published a second post at my personal, local Halifax site, Latenight - Halifax. Please feel free to view them. To see services in other parts of Canada, I'll try to post links to those I find. And once again, thank you to our veterans and those who have taken arms and joined in the struggles throughout our history, in the effort to keep us safe and free. Labels: Halifax, holidays, National Defence, national pride, Nova Scotia
posted by Ian at 3:16 PM -
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 I hope you all have a safe and spooky Hallowe'en -- full of candy, frights and fun. Labels: holidays
posted by Ian at 9:09 PM -
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Men dressed in drag for Halloween, circa 1950
Standish Hotel, Hull, Quebec.With Hallowe'en fast approaching next week, I thought I'd try to find something for the occasion. The above photo is from a Hallowe'en bash at the Standish Hotel in Hull, Quebec, around 1950. The hotel had carried acts like the Ink Spots, and Elvis, but from what I gather, it was demolished to make room for the new Department of Indian Affairs building (see comments, Stageleft). Labels: holidays, lifestyle, nostalgia, Quebec
posted by Ian at 2:52 PM -
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I hope everyone enjoyed this Thanksgiving. With the holiday weekend coming to an end and us having returned home from familial visitations, I'll get right back on the blogging horse very soon.Labels: holidays
posted by Ian at 10:41 PM -
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 Get out the tuna fish candy canes and catnip-laced eggnog; it's Catmas. I came upon this special date while perusing the Adventures of Accordian Guy in the 21st Century.
It seems that they've declared the first Friday in October to be a sort of national blog-your-cat day so here it goes: the feline to the left is ours, as some of you may know. His name's Napster and he'll be two years old in January.
We're saving this photo in case he ever declares his political candidacy in an election.Labels: holidays, offbeat
posted by Ian at 8:59 PM -
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