spending the day with ralph

One of the best things about being on vacation is simply not having to do anything. The luxury of time, truly sweet. Yesterday I took the entire day and did a puzzle with The Thornbirds playing in the background. The Thornbirds is an 8 or 9 hour miniseries so it lends itself well to a full day of puzzling (provided that you start with a decent sized puzzle). I can't remember the last time I simply sat for that long doing something enjoyable and unnecessary. And it's been ages since I watched that show. You can't go far wrong spending a day with Father Ralph. (And yes Mom if you're reading this, I know, I know, but deep down I still choose not to believe.) I probably should have done some laundry, or bought the new wiper blades I need for my car but vacations have nothing to do with should and besides, it's Christmas.

merry christmas

Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light.

We just got back from taking a tour of the lights. Even though there isn't any snow it is looking mighty Christmas-y around here. There is laughter and music, family and food. So many gifts, so much to celebrate. Christmas is here. Thank Heaven. May all the joys of the season find us.

playing with fire

Let me start this post by saying that no one got hurt and house is fine. Ok, now we've got that sorted out, I called 9-1-1 for the very first time this evening because my outdoor Christmas lights caught fire. It's been a couple of hours now and my heart beat has finally returned to normal.

I was in the kitchen cooking dinner and I kept thinking that I could smell something burning. I checked the pan in the oven and it was fine. I looked under the skillet on the stovetop and figured that it must be a little piece of something caught under the burner. I kept on cooking but the smell persisted.

After a few minutes I noticed that the light above the stove was flickering. I thought that maybe the fan in the exhaust hood was shaking it around. I turned around and the lights in the kitchen were flickering. I looked out the kitchen window and the tree in the front yard was engulfed in smoke. I could see a flame down by the ground where the lights were plugged into a buried cable. With great eloquence I walked into the livingroom and said to Kendra "I think the Christmas lights are on fire."

Remembering electric safety from years ago I grabbed some rubber soled flip-flops and a pair of oven mits and headed outside to try and unplug the cable from the end that wasn't on fire. It worked but there was so much smoke. The smoke dissipated pretty quickly but there was smoke coming out of the ground and I know that fire can travel underground so I decided to call 9-1-1.

I've never called 9-1-1 before. For some reason I flashed back to elementary school lectures on how important it was never to call 9-1-1 unless it was really, really important. I figured this counted. I talked to the dispatcher who asked a few questions and said the firemen were on their way. Sirens blazing they came.

By the time they got to the house I was pretty sure that everything was okay but I was still really glad to see them. They took a look at the plug, fried, and showed me where the plug had arched and melted the contacts. They checked around and pronounced it all good. Apparently the heavy rain is a pretty common cause of Christmas light fires. I am just thankful that the tree didn't catch fire (or the house for that matter.) Many thanks to the fine men of the White Rock Fire Dept.

Here's what I learned about Christmas light safety:

1. Heavy rain can cause outdoor lights to spark. The safest option is to unplug the lights if it rains a lot. (One of the firemen said that he'd noticed his own lights smoking yesterday.)
2. Using a longer extension cord than needed for the job can increase the risk of fire. Lots of cable = lots of resistance. Resistancce means heat and heat can cause fire.
   
3. If you are using a long cable make sure you stretch it out. A long cable lying wrapped generates even more heat. Apparently you can wrap an extension cord tightly around the leg of a wooden chair and there's enough heat that the leg will catch on fire.

In the end it was a very minor incident for which I am very thankful. The firemen are all lovely. I hope to never see them again.

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Becky, Matt, Wendy, Howard, Kristal, Kendra, Debbie, Dan, Claire, Marieka & Bob
Originally uploaded by flickrloon.

I feel like Christmas sneaked up on me this year. It was still just November when I left for England and now suddenly Christmas is less than two weeks away. I think ExpressPost and I are going to be very good friends this season.

Our small group from church had a Christmas potluck last night. The food was AMAZING. We should definitely do this more often. What a great way to get into the season. In the photo ready to eat are:
Back row - Wendy, Howard, Kendra, Claire & Bob
Front row - Becky, Matt, Kristal, Debbie, Daniel & Marieke

home again, home again (jiggety-jig)

Countryside, Uffcolm
Originally uploaded by flickrloon.

I would say that I'm back state-side except that I'm in Canada. I think we need a cool term like that of our very own. Anyway you put it I'm home and it's good to be here.

I had an amazing time in England. I think I'm still in history overload, kindof like sugar shock for the brain. I'm still in the process of adjusting to Pacific time (must stop doing the time conversion in my head, must stop waking up at 2am) so this isn't going to be the "all the really good stories from my trip" post but it is the one with the photos.

My parents let me have my Christmas present early and although I used to swear that I would never turn my back on film, I have fully embraced the digital dark side and there is no going back. I took a LOT of photos, but here's the link to a select few (20 of them to be precise):

Claire's trip to England, short version

More stories to come once I catch up with myself.