THE RED HAT TOUR(no this is not a retirment club)

The first stop on the "I told you I'd wear it" tour of 2005/06 was Kinver Edge eh.

BA FLIGHT 0092
(Image by Peter Lewis)
Christmas was fantastic but like all good things it came to an end. My flight to London left Toronto on the evening of the 27th but with a rather disturbing delay.

The flight was about to take off after a long taxi to the head of the runway. The engines were powered and ready to go. The lights were turned down in the cabins as usual. The plane retreats from the runway and begins a long return journey to the airport. The pilot turns on the intercom, informing his passengers that we're returning to the terminal to confirm some details. I return to my music. Jamming my headphones on, I ask the passagers next to me to keep me informed of any updates.

Twenty minutes pass. The plane has since stopped at the terminal. My digital entertainment is interrupted by the opening and closing of the overhead luggage compartments in my cabin, where flight attendants crowd the aisles in my cabin rapidly searching for.....

"What's going on", I asked the man next to me. "A passanger was removed from the plane," he said. "What did he look like?" I asked. "He was a young man" he replied, as though he were searching for words he couldn't find. A few minutes pass and the flight attendants seemed to be satisfied with their findings or lack of. I decide to press my fellow passanger for further details. "What did he look like?" I asked again, thinking this man was likely being all politically correct. After a long description, including all but the colour of his shoe laces, I'm told be was likely Muslim.

About an hour and a quarter late, we leave Toronto. Priviledged enough to sit at an emergency exit I asked the flight attendant sitting opposite what the deal was while on the taxi to Heathrow Terminal 4.

Turns out the women sitting next to this young man was a metropolitian policewoman. She figured something was up. Word made its way to the pilot, who had the final say on the matter, and he was off the plane. Woman in the right place at the right time? She seemed to be on to something as the passanger had no checked in luggage. The flight attendant told me that in his 18 years on the job he has never experienced any instance remotely similar or been made aware of similar situations from colleagues.

We don't know what might have happened on the flight if he hadn't been removed. Perhaps nothing but then perhaps he was headed for London for a public display of self-combustion. Either way we will never know.

CHRISTMAS DAY

Brent won't snoop under the tree anymore... If it hadn't been Chrismtas he would have been buried alive!And this is how we will remember it.."These are the best peeled potatoes I have ever tasted!!"Led Zeppelin did a Christmas album, didn't they?You'll never guess...

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without egg nog (rum) and coffee (Irish Cream).

Blayne rescues Callum

There may have been no room in the inn but the wisemen were ok with that

VIC...for Victory apparently
Laura and Dad have made this attempt at building a snowman.
They reckon it's better, but Brent and I are not prepared to give up the Christmas Eve snowman building competition yet.
Place your votes in the appropriate comment boxes below.
Anyhow off to Grandma's for Christmas Eve dinner.
Let the voting commence!!!!!

O'BEAST the OBESE SNOWMANThis is O'beast, the snowman my brother and I made this morning (Christmas Eve). I had to get some help because he was a bit too heavy to roll by myself. I don't recall snowman-making being that tough as a child!

O'beast has a carrot nose, cat leash lips, nuts for eyes and buttons.

(Brent and O'beast the Obese Snowman)

SIMCOE LIGHTS

When I was really young we would always go to Simcoe to see the Christmas lights. Some of them have been there since my parents were kids. After about 15 years of not going this year we made it. We left Aunt Marjorie's and headed straight for Simcoe Thursday evening.
Can you guess where Canada is on this representation of the globe?

This is one of the old decoration sets. Apparently there was a barn fire in the summer where many of the decorations were stored. Few survived.... but these stoned looking elves survived.

VISITING AUNT MARJORIE'S FARM
On our way out to the sticks there was some pretty nasty snow drifts. Because the wind can travel for acres without anything to stop it, it picks up strength and bring the snow with it.
We had a good visit at Leo and Marjorie's. They and my parents recalled the blizzards of 1977-78. They were so bad that the road you see before you couldn't even be tackled with a Chelsea tractor!!! Leo spent the night with the neighbour two doors down because he couldn't make it far.
(the barn)
His son had to go out to the barn to milk the cows and but he couldn't see the barn from the house.... if he couldn't find his way back Marjorie was ready to shout so he could hear his way back.
My mom in the nearby town had to get the bus back from high school early. What should take 20 minutes took an hour with a pupil sticking his head out the door to tell the bus driver where the telephone poles were as they were buried and it was too snowy to see them.

CHRISTMAS KITTIES

Believe it or not these cats are not particularly bothered that we dress them up in these pet clothes. In fact all 4 of them will walk around the house wearing them for hours on end.

ALL CHAVED UP

My brother and I decided to go for a stroll around the neighbourhood to see how Canadians decorate for the holidays. I think you might agree this is a bit more elegant than British Chavy equivalents.
I thought this house was particularly nicely decorated but it would probably still be my favourite decorated house even if it just had a spotlight on it!!
It was a good walk with some light snowfall and a majority of shoveled sidewalks!!

This is the road I used to walk to school on. We noticed that at the school the flag was flying at half-mast. Wayne Gretzky's mom died last night and with the Gretzkys being local celebrities (particularly in this neighbourhood) all the flags in the city are flying at half-mast.

FOR PETE...(I promised)

I told you I would sit on Santa's knee!! We had a good chat Sanata and I. Apparently Santa has lots of older visitors during the festive season. The oldest were 85 year old twins who every year get their photo taken on Santa's knee together!! I asked Santa to pay off my student loan but because the exchange rate from the North Pole isn't in his favour this year he said the only thing he could do was attempt magic on the interest rate.

I also enjoyed a chat this morning with my Grade 3 teacher, Mr Gardiner. He seems to be at the mall early in the morning with the rest of the mall walkers. He was the teacher who took me from having a reputation as a retarded unpopular student to an intelligent unpopular student!!

Grandma also took me shopping for a Christmas present. I got myself a nice new purse (Thank you!!). It was a good day at the mall.

NEVER TOO OLD FOR LEGO
When I was a kid there were 3 things I really enjoyed doing at Grandma and Papa's house (after trashing my Aunt's 1970's Barbie Camper). 1... play dress up with clothes that were 10 sizes too big 2... bash the keys on Grandma's piano, while pretending I knew what I was doing 3... playing with the Lego!! So that's exactly what I did when at my grandparents' yesterday. I got Grandpa to go and find it in the basement storage! It's just the best toy ever. But then Brent turned up on the scene and he stole all the red blocks I wanted... some things never change eh.

APPS MILL AT CHRISTMAS TIME

Yesterday we went to my favourite place for a walk. It doesn’t matter what time of year it is Apps Mill is always gorgeous. I have really fond memories of going there as a child. We used to go several times a year when I was in elementary school on class trips. For reasons unknown to me, everyone would moan and complain about going but I always looked forward to it.

I haven’t been to Apps Mill in over 7 years. Every time my family and I would come over, no matter what the time of year, an excuse as to why we shouldn’t go to Apps Mill always developed but this time they caved!This is my favourite place in conservation area. Because of all the trees it’s really dark and quiet in here. All you can hear is the sound of the creek babbling passed.

Despite waking up at 4 in the morning yesterday I was bursting with energy and tried to persuade my little (?) brother to skip with me. He wasn’t having any of it but decided throwing snow at me was a better way to pass the time.My favourite visit to Apps Mill was in grade 4, in the spring. We were allowed to go into White Man’s Creek with nets and fish out anything we could. The water was freezing and it filled our boots but when your 10 years old you don’t really care. On the other side of the Creek the current was really strong and it was very hard to stand up in let alone walk in. I don’t know about Canada but in England teachers are very reluctant to take pupils on class trips for safety reasons and the fear that teachers will be blamed for not accounting for all the dangers. Even though it was a wonder that no one was swept away, my teacher didn’t seem bothered!We decided to sit and admire the view over White Mans Creek from a conveniently placed bench. I positioned myself on my brother’s lap to defrost my bum. From where Mom and I were sitting we had a good view of Frank and Jesse.

Yesterday’s visit was good fun, with all the old memories that the place holds for my dad (who used to go to day camp there as a kid -they stopped the day camp in 1971) and I, and with all the snow it felt like Christmas (finally!).

I wonder if issues relating to political correctness have been powerful enough to have the name of the creek changed?

I'M HERE!!!!

I was really lucky on Friday. My flight went smoothly and I made it back in Brantford on time if not ahead of schedule. Travelling is mainly about 1 thing and 1 thing only.. waiting.... To leave Ealing, to get on at the right underground train, to get to Hatton Cross, to get a bus to Heathrow Airport, to find out where to check in, to check in, to get through the metal detectors, to get on the plane, for the plane to take off, for the plane to land, for the plane to empty, to get through customs, to get my luggage, to get my ground transportation and to get back to Brantford.
But I made it here and it was all worth it. I hadn't seen my parents house but unlike the taxi driver I knew exactly where it was.

All going well this will be a fantastic Christmas.

(Victoria Monument outside Buckingham Palace)LONDON IN DECEMBER

Despite plans to be more organised and get some work done I decided to go and explore London solo yesterday. It was nice to go and explore by myself... could go wherever I wanted!! So where did I go?(Buckingham Palace from St. James Park)
Where I always go actually but it was good fun to do it myself. Well actually I lie. I went into Harrods to see how the other half lives as they say. Then I went to where I normally go. From Knightsbridge I took the tube to Green Park, where I walked through the park to Buckingham Palace, but not before seeing the Christmas lights at the Ritz. I took a few pictures of Canadian contributions running between Green Park and Buckingham Palace... it appeared the Queen was in. Then I saw the perfect stereotype. Small groups of well dressed and very posh people making their way through the park and not heading for the same place or at the same time. I think the top hats sum it up!!Then I walked down the Mall to Westminster via St. James Park, where I got this rather different view of Buckingham Palace. Looks as though it's central to a swamp! From Westminster I took this photograph of the pathetic Christmas tree outside the parliament buildings and got the Jubilee line back to Piccadilly line back to South Ealing.

So tomorrow I'm off . With luck the blizzards won't stop me from making my destination. Next stop....