So, where was I, oh yeah, the dull days of winter up north here in Canada. Although we are not really that far north like places like Thunder Bay and Sudbury and further north into the Artic Circle. Brrr cold. We spend much of today inside - the weather is supposed to turn nasty tonite and into Sunday. The snow has just started in Acton (we seem to be in a snow belt) and tomorrow it will change to freezing rain - you don't want to be outside with that going on. For some much needed colour I have taken a picture of Ann's watercolour paint pallet. To take the picture I had to get into her light and she was not amused! Oh well, good art means suffering.

We continue our Friday night curling at the Acton Curling Club where we have been losing (except for one game) but still having a lot of fun. The game is a nice way to meet other people and get some excercise and I highly recommend trying the game out.

I have continued as a photographer at SNAP Halton Hills (A free community event newspaper) and have gotten another cover page - this one features four of our local mailpersons as they get ready to take children's letters to Santa as part of the Acton Santa Claus Parade.

Christmas and Kevin's birthday are fast approaching and we have a couple of parties planned - including Ann's Sobeys Christmas party at the Acton Legion. I have also purchased tickets to the play "White Christmas" at the Sony Centre in Toronto just before Christmas. Ann loves the old movie musicals and usually wraps Christmas presents while watching this movie over and over.

I will go back and look at some of my older pictures the weather turns blah. I read in our local paper how the water in Fairy Lake had started to freeze and there was a thin layer of ice on which a group of ducks and geese had tried to land with varying levels of success. The swan pictured above was seen at the Humber River Park at Lake Ontario. We used to have several swans in Fairy Lake but I have not seen them the last couple of years.

We have had great visits to the Bruce Peninsula area of Ontario. The water in Georgian Bay at the BP National Park has amazing colours and was crisp and cool even in July. The Bruce Trail which starts in Niagara Falls passes through this park and beside this beach.

And what a great time we had in the pleasure capital of the world - Las Vegas, Nevada. The desert city is booming and the casinos and entertainment is amazing. We got very little sleep as we joined friends for a four day adventure in and around Vegas. Ann and I also renewed our wedding vows at a drive through wedding chapel. We were excited to watch Cirque du Soleil at the Bellagio Casino - it was a weird and wonderful show.

The Acton BIA merchants put on an old fashioned Christmas in Acton's downtown area. Leathertown Ambassador Erin stands in front of the Acton Citizens Band. The band played Christmas songs in the Parkette at the corner of Main and Mill Streets (Highway 7 & 25). They also had hot chocolate. Up at the MacKinnon Funeral Home they had Santa and a horse drawn carriage for people to ride in, they also had hot cider.

I picked up a new cell phone - the Samsun SPH-m610 and have started to figure out how to work the thing. Unlike my other camera this one has both a 2 MP camera and a video recorder. I took the picture of Kevin and Erin with the phone and use it as my screensaver now. I look recording more of life with the phone - I am sure this makes my kids happy too (not)!