Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri

I didn't know quite what to expect with this movie.  I enjoy Frances McDormand's acting (re Fargo).  I also knew she won Best Actress at the Golden Globes. The day I went to view the movie, the Oscar nominations came out and she again was up for Best Actress, and the movie nominations included Best Supporting Actor (x 2), Best Original Music Score, Best Screenplay and Best Editing.  It is a Black Comedy centred around the rape and murder of Mildred's (McDormand) daughter.  Mildred became a Vigilante.  Not a subject I would think I would enjoy, but enjoy I did.  You never knew what was going to happen in the next minute.  Thus, the movie was over before I knew it.  Woody Harrelson was excellent and Sam Rockwell beyond superb in their rolls.  I was glad I saw the movie and give it 4 out of 5 Stars.

Paddington 2

Over the Christmas season I watched the first Paddington Movie to see if it would be appropriate for three years olds to watch.  My plan was to watch for a bit, then choose a program that was age appropriate for ME.  I enjoyed it so much, to my surprise, that I watched it right to the end and didn't want it to end.  So when the second movie came out, I was anxious to see it.
The movie theatre was almost empty for a Saturday afternoon matinee.  Bad for the theatre, good for me.  Paddington 2 was just as endearing as the first movie.  You cannot help but fall in love with the polite little bear.  I also applaud the roles that Sally Hawkins and Hugh Bonneville play.  The story is a little complicated for three year olds but I don't think that would matter too much.  It was fixed, I discovered, at a six year old level as the six year old I attended the movie with was happily putting all the pieces together and making total sense of the movie.  And, apparently, there were a few people that left having shed a wee tear or two at the end.  It is an endearing sequence to the first movie and excellent entertainment for the whole family.  I give it 5 out of 5 Stars!

Christmas Again

Just realized that I neglected to insert the First Christmas Dinner I had in the year 2017.  It was special because:
1.  It was with my family
2.  It was the first Christmas Henrik Hoefs joined the table

It will probably be the last year Henrik will be standing on the dinner table.

And here is the crew.  We also had Chloe, the au pair,  joining the celebrations.  This all took place at the end of November, a couple of days prior to the departure of my family, on their "adventure" trailer trip down Vancouver way.

January 7, 2018

I must be Canadian as I keep talking about the weather.  It IS changing.  We used to get ice fog when it was -30 or -40 but we didn't get ordinary fog.  This was my view this morning.  Where is Haeckel Hill? Where is the end of my street?  In the last two days we must have had at least 45 cm of snow.  I shovelled my driveway 4 times one day and then again the next morning.  It was fun to see the buzz of all the neighbours out shovelling on Saturday morning though.  How much snow did we get ... I got stuck backing out of my driveway onto the street.  Of course my street is one of the last to be cleared so driving it, being pulled into one tire track, then another, is challenging.

January 2018

Almost a week of -30 with windchills taking the temperature down to -49 then ...  This was the temperature on January 3rd.  Sheesh ... no wonder people are getting the flu.   I just don't want it to go above freezing (like we had earlier).  Too messy with the melting snow.  In fact, during the cold snap we had NO snow so that made shovelling easy.

Pot Luck

Had a real pot luck at Joan's.  That means no planning at all ... could be all salads or all desserts.  As it turned out it was a little bit of everything so it worked out perfectly.  I know it looks like we are standing in a hotel lobby with those beautiful windows in the background, but in fact, that is Joan'a living room.  Think she picked a good apartment to live in. 

Good-bye 2017

The last day of December started out with flashing lights on the street.  The firemen were at a house only three houses away from me.  

Cody, living just down the street and out of eyeshot of the excitement but still in view of lights flashing texted me and I gave her a blow by blow of the happenings on our street.  Turns out not much was happening but it is always exciting to see the fire engines ... as long as it is NOT as my house.

From there, I met my friend Sue and went out for a brunch - guess where.  The brunches are not quite as good as they used to be but you can't beat the view.  Air North was just loading and departed while we ate.  Don't see Sue often, so it was great to catch up with her.

The day was beautiful to look at from the restaurant window.  Not quite so beautiful when we went outside to the truck.  The wind immediately froze my forehead like a brain freeze (except I didn't enjoy the ice-cream that goes with a brain freeze).  -44 with the windchill.  It was a cool one in the city.