Our Chinese Room

One of the bedrooms here is painted a dark red and has Chinese decorations on the wall.

Each of the characters on the above picture have several different meanings.  Perhaps it could be translated "calm, peace, amiable" or maybe "justice, harmony & ease".  Anyway we spend a lot of time in this room.  We have our computers set up here so I hope it is peaceful.

To top off the Chinese decorations there is a picture of a medieval queen (not chinese) with a knight kneeling at her feet and a quilt on the bed with the Sunbonnet Sue pattern.  Nothing like a little variety.

It was just another week here in Dartmouth, although we went out for dinner after the temple on Saturday.  There is a fish and chip shop across from the temple and we had heard that it was good.  Bob really enjoyed his fish and I was happy with a hamburger and chips.  When we were in Scotland we went to a fish and chip place that was billed as the best in the world and had pictures of many celebrities who had eaten there (including Princess Diana).  Bob thought this place in Cole Harbour was many times better than the Scotland one.

There was a baptism in the ward on Saturday night for the husband of a member.  Bob attended that and Nathan talked at it.

There were skaters on the lake behind our house this week.  Some were playing hockey.  One boy was out with a bucket and a mop.  I don't know if he was flooding the rink or cleaning it off.

Weather Again

Terrible to talk about the weather all the time, but it is the only thing that changes here and it changes often.  Last Friday morning it was cloudy but above zero and at noon we heard that all the schools were closing.  Shortly thereafter the storm hit - a blizzard. The wind howled and it snowed for a couple of hours.  Then it poured rain.  It rained until about 8 p.m. and since then it has steadily gotten colder.  Last night it was 20 degrees below Celsius and today with the wind chill it is about -40.

Our week followed its usual path.  On Monday we cleaned, did laundry and shopped.  Tuesday we were at Tara's for a couple of hours.  The young elders came for supper that night and then we did home teaching.
Wednesday we were at the Temple and in the evening at Nathans.  Thursday and Friday evening we were at the Temple.  On Friday evening the only male workers that made it there were the temple presidency and the missionaries.  A few more of the ladies came, including one lady who must be about 10 years older than I am.
Saturday we were at the temple again.  The last session was canceled because of lack of patrons.

Saturday was Robbie Burns day. There were many celebrations that night.  The pipe band that Orson and Liam belong to sponsored a Robbie Burns dinner and Orson, Liam, Tara and Nathan attended.  Bob and I stayed with the little boys.

Sunday evening we stayed with Liam, Keaton and Lochlan while Tara and Nathan went with Orson to a fireside.  We may get fired from babysitting because Lochlan climbed up on the table and fell off landing on his back and bonking his head.

Another Storm

Yesterday we came out of the Temple about 2:00 pm and there were ice crystals in the air.  A half hour later the snow was coming down and the wind was howling.  It was so bad that the Malls were shut down.  Around 7:00 pm the lights in the house started flickering but we did not lose our power.  About 8:00 p.m. the snow stopped and a while later the wind stopped.

We are lucky to have a neighbour who has a huge snowblower.  He clears the top of our driveway after the snowplows block it.  Today he made a few passes up and down our driveway.

The sun is now trying to come out.  The following picture was taken today.

Storming in Halifax

This morning at 8:30 a.m. there was not a trace of snow here.  The following picture was taken at 9:30 a.m.

We got home from church about 2:15 and it had cleared up a bit.  Bob shoveled the driveway.


Now it is 4:00 p.m. and the driveway and sidewalks are covered with snow again.

Last week was fairly quiet.  We had a little snow, a little rain, a little sun and not very much wind.

Last Sunday church was changed to 11:00 a.m. from 9:00 a.m.  That suits me very well.  Nathan and family came and had supper with us that evening.

Monday we cleaned, did laundry and shopped for groceries.  Tuesday we went and played with Keaton and Lochlan.  Wednesday evening Bob got a haircut and while he was at the barbers, I visited Nathan .  The rest of the week was our regular Temple schedule, although we did have a teaching appointment on Thursday afternoon before we went to the Temple.

There was bad news about the cost of living here.  This month electrical rates have gone up about 5% and water rates up 25%.  The house is heated by fuel oil and it costs us about $400 per month.  I had thought that it must be for two months, but they filled the tank again this month and charged another $400.

They have this darn by-law in the Halifax Regional Area where you are not allowed to park on the streets overnight from 15th Dec to 15 March.  In the first couple of days it was in effect they took in about $20,000 a night in fines.  We don't have a double driveway, so we have to arrange with the Hepplers about who parks where (depending on who is leaving first the next day).  Well we were late getting home on Thursday night and Larry didn't want to wait up for us and left his car on the street.  What are the odds that the only time he parked on the street he got a $50.00 ticket?  Yep, 100%.

A Quiet Beginning to the New Year

The Temple was closed on New Year's Eve and New Year's day, but there was a youth conference with youth from across the Maritimes and some from Maine so the Temple was opened Saturday morning for the ones who traveled longer distances.  We had about 40 youth doing baptisms.  Then we did the laundry and cleaned the Temple.

New Year's Eve we went to stay with Nathan's children so he and Tara could go out.  However, Keaton got sick and Nathan and Tara stayed home.

We stayed with Nathan's children on New Years Day so he could perform his first marriage.  After the marriage there was a reception and then the bride got baptised.  It was a long day for Nathan especially because of his bad shoulder which caused him a lot of pain.