So that was Christmas, and what did you do?

Well, that was quite a ride - literally for much of the time. Here's an abridged version of what I've been doing instead of updating here.

I mentioned last time, a family party in Moncton NB that went on till the wee small hours. Well, after a few hours of couch-kip, we picked up "Grandma", my mother-in law and brought her back here for the holidays. The plan was that my sister-in-law would follow down on Xmas day with her two sons and dog, stay for OUR big party on the 27th, then head back, probably taking Grandma (let's call her "G" for short) back with her, on the 28th.

"G" has had a rough year by anybody's standards. She lost her husband of 50 odd years last February and, although they were, by then, already in separate nursing homes, it was quite traumatic for her and all the extended family. But this lady has, let me tell you, spunk by the bucketload. No one who knows her has seen her brighter, happier, more active, than these last months. Then, back in the summer, following a long tradition that goes back to the dawn of the aged, she fell out of bed and broke herself quite badly. Wrists (1), hips (1), egos (1) confidence (0). She was in the hospital for a spell and everybody thought that, at the very least, the good times were over.

Not a bit of it! The "G" that toured our new house and lot, made jokes and told stories was, if anything, even brighter than the one I had last seen, before the fall.

So, of course, someone else had to get in some trouble. Sis-in-law (let's call her "D") had brand new winter tyres on her Honda when she set off from Riverview NB loaded up with family and Xmas stuff around lunch time on Christmas Day. On the highway, just before Truro NS (that's about half way, 90 minutes to go), BANG, a blow out.

Now for those of non-North American persuasion, I will have to explain the "donut". No, it's nothing to do with the Simpsons. It's what passes for a spare wheel in these parts. As long as I've been here, I have failed to understand why in Europe, where cars are traditionally small, roads of mixed quality and space at a premium, all cars have always come with 5 identical wheels, 4 on the road and one in the boot (trunk) just in case while here, where cars are traditionally huge, trunks spacious and roads (especially in Canada) generally pretty smooth, you get 4 wheels and an apology. The apology for a spare wheel is known "affectionately" as the "donut". It's much smaller than the others, has the advantage of taking up much less room but the DISadvantage of being all but useless as a means of keeping your vehicle off the ground, let alone mobile. You are supposed to put on the donut and limp no further than necessary to the nearest service area and buy a new REAL tyre. On Christmas Day. In rural Nova Scotia. Right.

What you ACTUALLY do is (unless you want to brave 150 km of highway followed by our bobsleigh run of a street with now't but a Boston Cream betwixt you and the tarmac) limp to the nearest service station (they're called "Irving's" here, like saying "Hoover" for "vacuum"), park inconspicuously at the back and call your destination on your trusty (and suddenly worth its weight in gold) cellphone.

So it was that I spent Christmas afternoon driving to Truro and back. That was OK though, roads were quiet, I had a new CD to play on the way and chats to have on the way back; I enjoyed it.

So we had a late Christmas dinner for (I think) 10, played "Wii" bowling, boxing and golf for a few hours, allocated sleeping spaces and turned out the lights. Boxing Day continued in like vein but with some serious garage-arranging thrown in. Have I mentioned, we have a HUGE garage. It's a garage in the same sense that London is a village; that is to say, no sense at all.

To us, it's party room, sound studio, extra bed room if needed AND a place to keep the lawnmower but definitely NOT the garage. I've said before that this is a small town but, even so, when you go around, as my wife had been, inviting everybody you meet (or even pass) to "come over on the 27th., the door's open", you just better be ready.

More family arrived, brother-in-law "E", his girlfriend, his son and his son's friend (invited at the party in Moncton the week before) some in a TOYota Yaris that made it up the road better than some snow ploughs I've seen. The weather, an ever present factor in all this, kept most of the others away. A few neighbours ventured out to join us but anyone who had to drive thought better of it.

The party was, if I say so myself as shouldn't, magnificent. Live (real) garage band playing almost constantly with revolving line-up of family, friends and friends of family. So good was the party, in fact, that Friday was officially cancelled. Cancelled, that is for everyone except "E" and the Yaris party who, making the mistake of watching the weather channel, saw that another storm was coming in and decided to race it home. They won, but this was still the WRONG CHOICE. They should have stayed and helped us revive the party because, the storm, the tyre (remember the three and a half wheeler? It's still out back at the Truro Irving even as I write this) and some other logistics had conspired to keep everybody else here until the weather and the holiday hours conjoined to make a window of escape.

We (that is, my wife & I) had a show to do on Sunday. We were booked to play at a Xmas party for a drugstore chain on Dec16th but, weather again, it was postponed to the 30th. So now, with all the extra people around, we expanded the band. Eldest daughter was drafted as an extra voice and friend of son of departed "E" as and allrounder - guitar, bass, vocals. My old "Snail" taiwanese Gibson copy of a " 6 & 4" double neck, known around here as "THOR" even came out of retirement. So more rehearsals were in order. In two days, Friday & Saturday, we knocked a set list into shape and prepared for the big day.

More weather! All the while we were doing this, we were also waiting for the call saying "sorry, postponed again" but no - Sunday evening, two cars, loads of gear, four folks, of we trot to Oak Island (famous buried treasure place, by the way) to entertain the PharmaTroops.

We go there, convinced we'd never get back, did the show (and have been hearing good things ever since, that's nice), DID get back OK, but WIRED. Two hours or so of garage based decompression time and we were ready to cancel Monday.

New Year's Eve, as you can imagine was anticlimactic. The weather prognosis was getting even worse so a 2am squad set off for Moncton leaving only 5 (I think) left.

A low-key game of (would you believe) Scrabble (TM) and that was that. More driving to get everybody back home over the next two days and here it is Thursday, Jan 3rd 2008 already.

In the interest of speed, I'm not even going to proof read this yet - just get it out there.

Tomorrow, I hope to get on with other matters; questions and the like
Oh, the weather? Cold, clear, no storms for at least a week and a THAW at the weekend. Hoodathunkit?