We have been in Canada since Nov 5th 2005 and I decided to reflect on what is different in our lives now compared to the time of BC (Before Canada ).

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1. We have more of a social life now, infact I would say we have a pretty full social life. This is due to having more time for socialising than being financially better off. It only takes me 13-18 minutes to get to and from work so weekends seem longer because I can mow the lawn etc before the weekend.
2. We are financially better off. Although the tax system isn't that much different we do manage to qualify for a rebate each year which does help. We also realised some of our capital in the UK house when we moved here. Plus I am in a reasonably well paid job (which I was in the UK). Our daughters are now working, so they contribute to the house in the form of 'weekly board' payments. It isn't a huge amount but it does help.
3. We have a much larger house which allows us to escape from each other when tensions are high, this was especially difficult in the UK. Teenagers need retreats (as do their parents) when the stresses of life make them unbearable (teenagers and their parents)
4. We have much less stress driving to and from work/shopping etc. Road rage is a very rare feeling for me now. In the UK I used to rant and rage at other drivers but here there is no point. So what if it delays me by 1-2 minutes
5. Clothes shopping choice is limited, and the quality of lingerie can be lacking. I know this drives the girls batty.
6. The TV is for the most part pretty bloody awful. However I am not sure how the British TV is now. When we left it was quickly detoriating in reality shows and Britains Worst .... We do have quite a library of DVD's now especially after hacking into our player and setting it to Multi Region so it can play any DVD's from UK or North America.
7. Health: Well there are a couple of health reflections; I have put on alot of weight since arriving and that is really all down to a much more seditary lifestyle, I calculated in the UK I would walk about 30km per week during my commute, walking the dog etc but here in Canada were we have more immediate access to the great outdoors and some hiking trails I do much less walking.  So this coming year is a great excuse for getting fit (again), I want to go hiking and canoeing in the Summer of 2009 and to do that without killing myself I will need to lose weight.  In the UK you should never moan about the cost of prescriptions, in Canada unless you are really destitute or have medical insurance with your employment you pay more like the true cost of the drug. Luckily I have good medical coverage and my 3 months prescription for Anti inflammatory is about $10. Getting family GP is a struggle in New Brunswick due to the lack of Doctors, however when you get one they seem to have more time to spend talking about your's and the family health rather than our experience in the UK. Sit for a couple of hours in an overcrowded waiting room, rush in, shove a prescription in your hand and thank you very much.
8. I have ran out of things to list for now.

So where does this leave us coming into our fourth year in Canada?

I think we are in a much better position for 2009 than if we had been in the UK. I know I am much happier, more relaxed and look forward to 2009. But then as a soldier home was always were my suitcase was. The girls have had much more of a challenge settling down and settling in. I would like to think they are all in a better position to settle down this coming year. I am not sure where Kathryn and Gemma will finally land, and as a parent I have realised that I shouldn't expect them to stay around us. We didn't stay around our parents while starting our lives so why should they?

Merry Christmas to you all!

Plus best wishes for 2009 and lets hope it is better than 2008. Not that 2008 has been a particularly bad year, but I thought 2009 would need some encouragement.

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The Christmas presents have been opened, the turkey (half), potatoes, parsnips, sausage meat stuffing, paxo stuffing, brussel sprouts, and cauliflower have been eaten. After watching the Vicar of Dibley on BBC Canada we had a little Christmas pudding just to top it all off.

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Outside is cold after the freezing rain last night. The drive is like an ice-rink and the wind means the temperature has a significant windchill so we will not be venturing out today. After the double G&T and half bottle of wine I am not sure how far I could wander .

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Below is a photo of our Christmas Tree before the presents were unwrapped. This is for Gemma who is currently in the UK staying with her Boyfriend and his family until Jan 8th 2009.

This is the one from the back garden which I despatched with the Chainsaw (in 20 seconds). I had some great presents this year, infact one of my best years for David type presents.

Engineers compass, telescopic hiking walking staff, express compact battery charger, lock knife with firestriker, severa; shirts, couple of pair of chinos, DVD(Poirot) and a complete suprise combined Christmas Birthday present from Kathryn of a Garmin GPS . I am looking forward to trying out all my presents over the next few months and on into summer.

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Oyster Event this Christmas Break.

1. Kathryn brought home a dozen oysters, oyster knife and a cooked lobster. That became our Christmas eve supper. I managed to push the Oyster knife right though my left hand it didn't break the skin on the back of my hand, but it did push up the skin between the knuckles..... it made Kathryn turn postively pale. I was a little shocked and just pulled it out, then as a man toughed it out with washing and putting on a plaster. See photo of entry wound below

No casualty dept for me. However I did wake up about 5am this morning and my hand was throbbing. I started to wonder how much of the Oyster's bodily fluids made it into my hand, and was Oyster bodily fluids poisonous? Oh well it's nearly 24 hours and it still looks the right colour if a little stiff between the knuckles.

Well it hit us and we received 60cm+, with drifting big winds 40-55mph. I can honestly say that the Snowblower was the best $1300 I have ever put on a credit card .  Also we all had a snow day because the snowplough didn't come through until late afternoon.

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When we awoke there was no power and it had been off since midnight so after clearing the drive (I took me 2 hours with the snowblower!). I set up the Generator and powered up for the fridge/freezer plus some lighting. The Woodstove kept us warm and I pulled out the emergency camping stove for cooking on. The only struggle was water (no power = no well pump, which is 220v and Generator only produces 120v) so washing was minimal, and we adopted the toilet flushing rule of "if it's yellow, let it mellow. if it's brown flush it down". I do have a store of water in the camping water store (probably about 20 litres), but I haven't changed it since the summer ---very plasticy taste.. eeergh.

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Power was returned to us about 6:30pmish. On the whole we were well prepared for the power outage and could last 2-3 days without much problem, apart from washing. The power for the fridge/freezer was for convience and moral building rather than absolutely essential. Plus it gave us light in the early evening (sunset about 4:45pm) We could have put everything from the fridge / freezer into the garage, where the temperature was about -5c. 

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So we are back on line and happy to say we survived the first big snow storm of the winter. I will be tuning up the preparation kit ready for the next one.

The weathernetwork is predicting our first big snowstorm for this afternoon and tonight. It will be producing about 25-35cm of snow. They have also forecast snow for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Pah I have my new Ferrari Red Snowblower and have no worries about 35-50cm of snow so 'Let it Snow'

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We have about 10cm of lying snow at the moment and it is frozen so new snow will mean >>> Ski Season is here <<< I can see a Ski or perhaps Snowshoeing session in the afternoon after the Christmas Dinner.

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It was verryyyyyyyyyyyyyy cold this morning, we have a thermometer outside the Kitchen window so I peeped at it through bleary eyes and WOW -28c. So here it the evidence in an undoctored photograph.

Well it has been a bit hectic since my last post, weather fluctuating, snow, minus 20c temperatures then lots of rain. I used the Snowblower came in with a big smile on my face (the whole drive only took me 15 minutes) and then it rained overnight and washed away all the snow anyway . It gave the girls a good laugh anyway.

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I cut a christmas tree with the chainsaw..... another labour saving device. It usually took me 20 minutes of sawing to cut down a tree. Yesterday it must have taken longer to start up the Chainsaw than it did to cut the tree down. Oh well it was fun and the tree looks great in the lounge (red and gold decorations this year). I will get a photo tomorrow and post it.

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Anyone want to buy a piano? We have a 1925 Sherlock Manning upright babygrand for sale in excellent condition (so we have been told, the appraiser said we shouldn't accept anything less than $1,000, but for the right buyer we will haggle ).

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I have booked my christmas break off this year (for the first time since arriving). I will be off from Christmas eve until January 5th 2009

Chilly day today!

The wind in the night woke me up and I was up early to drive to Saint John. I took Brenda over to the ferry so she could get to Nova Scotia for some surgery. (She comes from NS and is still registered with the Healthcare there).

The ignition key to the Snowblower arrived today  and I started the snowblower in the garage and decided it was toooooo cold at -29c to go out and test drive the red mean machine. Bring on the next snow storm (weatherchannel makes out there will be some more over the next few days).

I will try to make sure we get some video of my snowblower escapade.

Julie has finished the Christmas Craft Fair 2nd leg show today and all in all she has had a good show this year. Takings up by 50% and a significant increase in stock turnover. She reduced prices slightly, and added a new range of scarves.... My dream is to retire and become a kept man....  One day perhaps who knows. Below is a couple of photos of Julie's booth/stand.

It is neater than it looks on this photo honetsly

Julie had a few customer from last years show telling her how much they liked her wraps or bags. It really made her happy that people were using her creations.

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The Weather Network got it wrong...3cm of snow has turned into, well it has snowed and snowed all day today so probably 20cm.

I had to shovel (again) because I still don't have a ignition key from Sears, apparently it takes 8 days by UPS.... Royal Mail (or whatever they call themselves these days) is obviously not as bad as I thought.

After a busy work week during which I had to clear the first 10-15cm of snow off the drive, run a two day workshop and start to bring the wood into the garage (in between snowfalls, freezing rain and sub zero temperatures), the weekend is finally over and I can rest by getting back to work.

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Julie is busy sewing more scarves, wraps, handbags etc for the December show, I have been busy putting the garden furniture away, winterising the lawn mower, strimmer and stacking fire wood.

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Christmas party season has started with the Aliant one (my workplace) with a Casino night on Friday where I MC'd the event and it went pretty well. Kathryn won a $20 gift token for Chapters and a $5 Tim Hortons token. Kathryn then had her work party on Saturday night, which by all accounts sounded fun with the police being called and the hotel management shutting the bar and party 1 hour early   oh well I suppose that happens with young people. I would never do anything like that

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Gemma has flown back to the UK to stay with Jay and his family until 8th of Jan 2009! So we will be down to three for Christmas, which looks like it will be a white one.  I have turned down her room thermostat (I estimate it will save me $300 for the 6 weeks) and Julie has reduced our Milk purchase by 3 gallons.  Seriously though it will be very different without Gemma here for Christmas. (I know she will read this so I better be nice).

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Sandy Wood and his Pick Up truck helped me bring home my new Craftsman (TM/MC) 1150 Series Torque Power Dual-stage 27" Mid-frame Snowblower arrived on Friday and isn't it a thing of beauty! All shiny and new, it will almost be a shame to get it dirty in the snow, but I think I can overcome that feeling

Typically after two days of reading the manual I found it didn't have the ignition key. I called the help line and they are sending one out (should arrive in 5-8 days) so lets pray for no snow until the key arrives. I will get one of the girls to take some photos during the first snowfall where I use it so you can have an action photo

We are back after our "road trip' to Boston. On the way down we discovered the Bangor Shopping Malls! All the shops needed to satisfy the 'retail starved' Girls (and I enjoyed it too). So we stopped over in Bangor Maine on Friday night and continued the drive down to Boston on Saturday, arriving at 6pm. Total drive time of about 8.5 hours.

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Boston in November is a pretty chilly place, even with the sun shining, we walked around the central park and gardens .... brrr .  We visited the Boston Aquarium on Sunday. It was well worth the visit, some great aquarium exhibits, but a trifle pricey for only 4 hours of entertainment ($80). Gemma took lots of photos so here are a few to enthrall you.

Beautiful Jellyfish eh?

This is a poisonous Lion Fish (I believe)

Finally Myrtle the 500lb Turtle!

Monday was more sight seeing around the Natural History Musuem with the same number of photos of Dead things. Some more dead than others, below is the skull of a Triceratops

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Then finally that Monday evening something slightly younger in the form of Tina Turner  She put on a fantastic show and the girls had a great time (Tina still turns heads and has an 'attitude' ). We all really enjoyed her show and she was professional and in amazing shape for a veteran of the music industry.

Final photo from the concert.

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We are all home and back into the work groove,k with Gemma looking forward to leaving us for the UK later next week. Ah well at least I will not have to drive her into the early morning shifts, plus we should have more milk about.

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It snowed today and tomorrow we have -10c with windchill forecasted. It looks like Home Depot have not been able to provide me with the ordered snowblower.Something about supplier failure and first come first served.... I better sharpen the shovels and get the girls on some advanced snow shovelling training.

Friday afternoon we are off to the US of A for a long weekend trip. The destination is Boston via Bangor, Maine (yes I can hear the old song ).

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As a parent one of the amazing (and happy) things happened when Julie and I announced we were going to Boston to see Tina Turner in concert..... Both Kathryn and Gemma wanted to come along. How many 21 and 18 year olds want to go to a concert with their middle aged parents?  It wasn't because Dad was paying, they volunteered to contribute. Anyway whatever I am pleased they want to come along and I am sure we will have a good time. Fingers crossed that Tina Turner delivers a great concert.

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The only downside is the current US Dollar / Canadian Dollar exchange rate is very poor (I think the CAD $ is at around 87c US). Luckily we have already paid for the concert and hotel rooms a couple of months ago. Plus the petrol prices dropped again today.  85c a Litre  so the cost of driving down will not be too bad. The trip will give me chance to really check out the gas guzzling nature of my new Ford Escape.

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I will let you know how the trip goes and get some photos for the entry. Who knows maybe Tina will pose for me

We have been here in Canada three years now and it seems to have flown by. Every now and then we still get those 'wow I'm living in Canada' moments. The beautiful clear skies and with the night sky the millions of visible stars still amaze me. In fact I have been known to stay out after BBQ and go around to the drive, layback on the bonnet of the car and just stare at the stars. (smiling stupidly).

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We can now apply for Canada citizenship and we will be doing that in the new year. The cost is $200 each and it takes 15  to 18 months. Apparently 185,000 people became citizens last year. We have to take a test (see link) and if we pass then hey presto we can vote in a general election.

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Julie has a booth / stand at the Fredericton annual christmas craft fair. She has had a bumper show! Selling as much in this one show as she sold in two last year. Below is a photo of her wearing one of her new popular scarf line. She makes only one of each type / colour combination so you will never meet anyone wearing the same as you (apparently this is really important if you are a women).

Another one of Julie using her sales patter to make a sale of a Wrap.

With a bit of luck I can retire in a couple of years

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Gemma is flying back to the UK to visit her Boyfriend and family for Christmas. She flies out on November 28th and she doesn't come back until 8th January 2009. Christmas will seem strange without her.  Working at Macdonalds has made a big difference in her character as she learns team working skills, plus getting her own money . She has developed into a fine young woman. Kathryn is studying on her own steam and seems to be settling more and Julie's business idea and quality work seems to have hit a sweet spot!  We know more people now than ever before.

I am very proud of all my girls 

Well another year is nearly past since we arrived in Canada and true to our tradition we have held our annual Whelbourn Bonfire Night party.

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Sorry no photos to show you as Gemma is struggling with a cold and didn't pick up the camera. I was too busy trying to remember my old Artillery drills while lighting the fireworks, much to the amusement of the record crowd (71). Yes 71 and I think it was a great success, it was a dry cold clear evening and the big bonfire was welcomed source of heat. I chose the wood for the bonfire more carefully than the previous two bonfires and so I had less flying embers. (no old fir tree's with small branches or dead needles).

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While recovering this Sunday we drove to Home Depot (a DIY store like a big Wickes or Homebase) and WOW Petrol was down in price again to 96.8cents per litre.  We traded in our old external christmas lights for 50% of nice new LED type christmas lights. We also brought some new lights for Julie's Stand at the Christmas Craft Fair (she sold one of her new scarve's last night for $25) to help improve the look of the stand by adding more light.

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Most of the day was spent cleaning up and lazing around recovering from our Saturday night party. The clocks went back last night so we are now back to four hour difference with the UK.

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PS I saw our first snow today, just a few flakes but still it was snow. Hopefully the snow blower will be delivered in November before any major snowfall.

Yes I know it should say Petrol but the word Gas just seems to come out of my mouth first these days.

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At last petrol prices below a dollar a litre I saw it today at 96.9 cents a litre(good job as I just brought a Ford Escape). I wonder if there will be a rush to buy more gas guzzlers and save GM and Chrysler fortunes. Hey perhaps the whole North American economy will bounce back... perhaps not. 

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One thing I have noticed is the rush of TV commercials for high mileage cars being built in GM and Chrysler plants - They all suddenly seemed to be able to do 50MPG without a major redesign  

"Conspiracy theory"... I knew they had the technology to deliver higher mileage cars, but they were in league with the oil industry (high revenues and profits) and government (high tax revenue if we buy more gas)..... Baa, Baa... The public are sheep to be shorn (or fleeced) of their hard earned money!

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Again we have been reassured that the Canadian economy has been cushioned from the worst of the credit crunch by the conserative lending practices of the banks in Canada..... So I can tell the girls that it is a good job the banking system here is 20 years behind the UK's approach to banking  (they have complained about difficulty setting up direct debits / inter bank transfers and the general banking hours, etc...)

For those of you who are unaware, in my last entry I was discussing shopping for a new car in Canada. I described how people actually drive around the car lot and look at cars without actually getting out of the one they are in!. Also I had leased a car (Ford Escape) for the first three years as a way of building a credit history. Well the Ford Escape was going back to Ford and I was looking for a new car to replace it.

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I have successfully purchase a car, if some what unimaginative. Yes you guessed it a Ford Escape . A nice 2009 XLT model with towing eye and all other modcons, in an Julie approved colour "Bright Sunfire Red".  Obligatory Photos below

Parked on the drive in the autumn afternoon sunshine.

Mactaquac Trails Carpark

All shiny and new complete with the new car smell

My Ford Escape is leased, and the three years is completed this November. So I am in the market for a replacement!

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This Sunday morning after dropping Gemma off at MacDonalds I toured the car dealerships to look for something interesting.

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Shopping for a new car seems to be in vogue on Sunday mornings, the world and his wife were out. The prefered method of shopping is to drive into the car dealer's car park where all the new / pre-owned (not second hand) cars are parked in rows. Then proceed to cruise around the rows of cars, looking, without even getting out of your car! Not me, I am the weirdo who parks up, and then walks around the huge car lot, peering through the windows, checking the mileage, warranty and colours.

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Anyway I have asked the same Ford dealer to test drive the new Ford Escape and I have my eye on a nifty looking Mitsubishi Outlander.... Yeah I know gas guzzling SUV's are not fashionable. But when the snow comes this winter, I would like to have a 4 wheel drive guzzler.

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I will update you on my great shopping expedition later this week.

We had a great Thanksgiving day dinner, sharing it with our new extended family of other Newcomers to Fredericton. It was quite a gathering at Ceri's home:

• Ceri, Jason and their three kids Owen, Ethan and little Ellie
• Wendy, Sean and their young son Oliver
• David and Alex and their daughter Dannicke
• Then our mob, although Gemma joined later in the day as she was working hard at her day job in MacDonalds. so hard infact she was awarded employee of the month, promoted and given a payrise! (Proud Dad here)

I like Thankgiving day it gives us another opportunity to eat a full turkey dinner besides Christmas . Seriously, we gave thanks for another year of safe, relatively happy and interesting lives.  It was a great family occassion.

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I then dashed over to Halifax to join the proposal team and present to the Nova Scotia Dept of Health for a project to develop solutions to improve Surgery Wait Times and Patient Access. Lots of hard work and long hours but we had a successful presentation. So fingers crossed and we will win the business. The down side is I would be spending alot of time in Halifax over the winter.

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Arrived home last night and I am looking forward to another weekend of winter preparations. I am considering sweeping the chimney myself if the chimney sweep cannot confirm an actual date. (It is getting colder in the evenings and I resent having to spend money on Electricity to heat the house). More outdoor work to do in readiness for winter. Lots of leaves to rake this weekend too as they have all started to drop.

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Final thought, next week the forecast is that we will have freezing rain on Thursday , Ice rink driving..... time to think about getting the Winter Tyres on Julie's Ford Focus.

It has been terrifying watching the financial crisis growing across the globe.  I really feel for anyone who is coming up to retirement and have had to watch the value of their investments plummet.

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Around the world the banks are being taken into public ownership in order to save economies. I remember all those times the banks made huge profits and awarded great big bonus'es to their trading staff. They managed to work on the financial crisis when the UK crashed out of the ERM --- yes they made 100's of millions selling the Pound short. Well this time they are firmly in the middle but still the public will end up paying.  There should be no bonuses or pay rises for 3-5 years to ensure payback. If they don't like it let them all seek employment in alternative financial institutions as they have done such a great job.

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For the last two years I have been forecasting a smaller version of the crisis for the UK and Eire based on the crazy lending patterns and the meteoric rise in house prices.   In Canada we have been cushioned by their old fashioned lending practices (purely by luck I think).

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In the Daily Telegraph today they touch on the subject of England's population density and the fact that UK population is growing faster than ever since records began. They forecast that the population density will be 405 people for every Km2 Predictably here in New Brunswick the population density is 6.5 people for every Km2.  I am not suprised I was so stressed in the UK, experiments on overcrowded animals show huge increases in stress as the density increases.

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Oh well it is Thanksgiving and I will be saying a prayer at the dinner table for those with pension funds in the global markets and for lower population density.

Well we bit the bullet and hit the Home Depot to talk to the seasonal guys about snow blowers. We came away with an advanced order for an Ariens 1130DLE at a total cost of $1524.37  .... I liked shovelling but if I am away this winter I need to know the girls can dig themselves out and the snow blower had it's own headlight  The long range forecast is predicting another snowy winter.

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Below are several photos of the maple tree in our back garden (by me)and some fungi photos taken by Gemma.

This summer has been pretty damp so fungi seemed to be growing on every fallen tree, here are a collection of photo's taken by Gemma on one walk about Mactaquac Park (Beaver Trail).

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving day and we are sharing a Turkey Dinner with two other families. Then on Tuesday I am flying to Halifax to prepare to present a project proposal to Nova Scotia Dept of Health. If we win then I will be flying backwards and forwards between Fredericton and Halifax leaving Monday coming home on Friday on a little Beechcraft aeroplane. I flew on one the other month and took a photo down the plane during the flight. If you haven't flown in a small aircraft before I thought you might find it interesting.

Yes they have started using a four letter word on the weather channel  and this is in a North America where the bleepers / frosted out pictures are used to screen out nipples and any bad language.

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This morning they were announcing SNOW!!! for Yukon and Northern Ontario.

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memo to self .... Purchase Snowblower and sod the fact that shovelling snow is good for the soul. After last year my soul is full of all the goodness it needs

Hurricane Kyle or as it was Tropical Storm Kyle made landfall last night and, well nothing much happened last night apart from a lot of rain.

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So we are all safe, no loss of power and at least we were prepared, because of course the worst moments are when the weather men tell you there is no hurricane coming and no one prepares.... ain't that right Micheal Fish (for those of you who are old enough to remember)