Grey Friday

In the USA, Black Friday is the day after their Thanksgiving.  It's traditionally the beginning of the Christmas holiday shopping season in the USA.

Shoppers look for deep discounts in prices.  Black Friday is supposed to be when the stores make a big part of their annual profit.  Their income would go to from 'in the red' to 'in the black'.  Shoppers typically wait in line for long hours before going into a shopping frenzy once they finally get inside the store of their choice.

I don't think that really happened here in Winterpeg yesterday.  The reports I heard on TV and radio suggested our home-grown copy of Black Friday was just 'ho-hum'.  Sure, there were a few good deals, especially at the electronics stores, but not crazy deep discounts like in the States.

Myself, I checked out a few favourite stores on-line for any specials.  There were some great deals but none of 'things' on sale were items that I wanted or needed.  It was just another Grey Friday to me.

The Ups and Downs

That's been our recent weather. After the pseudo-storm last week, we've been enjoying some great weather. The next few days are supposed to be warm, with highs above zero. Then, back to rain and snow and cooler temperatures.

The warm days will give me the chance to shovel some snow off the deck to make it easier for the dogs to go outside during the day. Also, to empty the compost pail for the last time this winter. It's too difficult to continue taking out the compost during the winter months. Not worth the chance of a fall, stumbling through the deep snow to the back corner of the yard where we have the two compost bins.

Remembrance Day here was quiet. We didn't attend any of the local services, limiting ourselves to watching some on the TV and the Web. We did observe a two minute silence about the right time that morning. I thought of some of my relatives who fought in the war. Some died for their country; others fortunately made it home again.

Later in the week, on Friday evening, we went to our favourite sushi place, here in Charleswood. A lovely restaurant called Asahi. Their food is a cut above most sushi places and their service is always excellent. It was a nice break for me from preparing the evening meal during the week. Marg does the kitchen work on the weekend or we go out somewhere. Last night she made some delicious chicken fajitas. The mutts were very happy to get some of the tasty leftovers.

And so it begins ...

Winter is here. As a Colorado Low moves into Manitoba, the first few cm's of snow are already on the ground. Today, the forecast says "Snow at times heavy and blowing snow. Amount 15 cm. Wind north-east 30 km/h, gusting to 50. High minus 2."

Tonight, the forecast is pretty much the same. Tomorrow, the snow will taper off to only a few cm's.

I thought I'd document this first winter storm with my camera. Yesterday, there was no snow. This morning, here's what it looked like, from my front door, looking across the street.

I'm expecting the snow to be at or above the back bumper of my Ford Escape by tomorrow afternoon. I'm also hoping that my snow removal company will clear the driveway by tomorrow night.

Remembrance Day

Canadians have fought in wars since 1899, when troops were sent to South Africa to fight in the second Boer War on behalf of the British.  More than 1.7 million of our country's soldiers served in World War I, World War II and the Korean War.  At least 13,500 served in the war in Afghanistan.

Many others have also been deployed to peacekeeping operations or deployments in countries such as Cambodia, Egypt, Cyprus, Syria, The Persian Gulf, The Balkans, Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, East Timor, Ethiopia, and Eritrea.

On November 11, we remember the soldiers who died for us in these wars and peacekeeping missions.

A Man and His Dog

An anonymous dog lover once penned the following words. "She is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog.  You are her life, her love, her leader. She will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of her heart. You owe it to her to be worthy of such devotion".

When I first read these words recently, I immediately thought of my bouvier, Holly. I've had since she was a wee pup, seen here chewing on a stick.

We've been together now for six years. She's only been away from her home once, for one week when she was placed in a kennel while I was on holiday, a week that was extremely hard on her because she is such a creature of habit. She is used to doing certain things at specific times of the day and in certain places, not least of which is sleeping beside me at night.

I worried about her every day we were apart. When I picked her up, she seemed totally stressed out. It took several days before she returned to normal.

George Elliot said "animals are such agreeable friends ... they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms".

More Big Boom

Marg managed to squeeze us in to another sold-out crowd at Celebrations last night for another viewing of "The Big Boom Theory". We shared a long table with seven of Marg's friends. The show and dinner were quite good. The popularity of the Celebrations show reflects that of the TV series, "The Big Bang Theory". And, the coffee was very good!