Hi, everyone!
On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I woke up to the sounds of leaf blowers and loaders. The town had come to pick up our leaves again! It was fun to watch the town crew blow and scrape all the leaf piles into the middle of the street, then scoop them up to put them in the dump truck! Once that was done, Grandma said we could put up the new string of lights on the apple trees. Because the strings blend into the background in the gap between the last two trees, I helped Grandma tie red ribbons on them. That should keep anybody from walking into them!
Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in October, so Uncle David’s family didn’t have time off to celebrate our Thanksgiving on Thursday. They came down on Friday, instead! We all got together for pizza on Friday evening, but Aunt Kara was planning our Thanksgiving dinner for Saturday evening. That Saturday was a very busy day! First thing, the recyclers came to pick up our old refrigerator. I said “Goodbye” from the window!
Then I went to church with Grandma and Grandpa to decorate the sanctuary Christmas tree in memory of Uncle Bill. Uncle David and Bill and Karin came to help, too! Guess what? Nobody knew where the tree and window decorations were! It’s a good thing Grandma keeps the bird ornaments at home! She found the raffia and the burlap for the bottom of the tree, so we managed to make the tree look pretty, anyway! Karin put a star at the top and Bill put on Uncle Bill’s bird ornament.
When we got to Uncle Steven and Aunt Kara’s house for dinner, there was a lot of cooking going on! Joe-san and Nancy-san were already there! I got a chance to hang out with my cousins while they played Switch games. Thomas really enjoyed having his juice in a fancy glass! Chip and Mocha got along pretty well, especially when they were both being held and petted!
Sunday was the first day of December and the first day of Advent! There was a big snowstorm too! Uncle David and his family had to drive home to Ottawa through very messy weather, but they got home safely. I started my reverse Advent calendar. Every day I put some item that the local food bank needs in my Advent box. On Christmas Eve, Grandma and Grandpa will take my collection to church with them, to get picked up for the food bank.
Monday was the first night the apple tree lights turned on. I was happy to see that they looked nicely arranged! Grandma says she smiles every time she sees them!
By Tuesday, somebody found the lights and star for the church Christmas tree! They found the decorations for the windows behind the tree, so Grandma and Grandpa went back to church to finish decorating. Grandpa bought a special piece of beef as a holiday treat. I helped Grandma cut it up into steaks to put in the freezer.
Grandpa decided last Saturday was a good day to go get our Christmas tree! Uncle Steven and Thomas followed us out in their car to get theirs, too! I made sure to tell Allen Franke-san how good the squash we bought from him at the Fairport Farmer’s market tasted! Grandma and Grandpa and I looked at three Fraser fir trees and chose a fat one! Uncle Steven and Thomas had to measure the trees to make sure which one would fit. They ended up choosing another of the three we had been looking at!
I watched our tree being baled and put in the car. There was lots of room left over! Then I made sure Thomas saw his tree being baled and put in his car.
When we got home with our tree, Grandma said it was just cold enough for my snow bath! She helped me roll around in the snow, then we brushed the snow out of my fur.
After that, I dried off with a towel, a hair dryer, and a nap in the sunshine! Then Grandma combed out my fur and mane again!
On Sunday, it started warming up. Today, the snow is melting and slushy. I’m glad I got my snow bath when I did! Now I’m ready for the rest of the holiday adventures!
Love,
Lion-san