Again so much time has passed........

.......since last I wrote. Sorry!

Hallowe'en has been and gone. It's a big thing over here. I have managed to pretty much avoid it in one way or another all these years, but it is such a major event here in Canada that both girls had only one lesson in school and the rest of the day was party/film/competitions etc.. In the evening there had been organised a party for the children - I said they could go as long as they didn't chose horrid, scarey outfits. Lizzie put in her order for a homemade Batman costume ("I like it that you make these things for me, Mummy and you don't go out and buy them!" Nothing like pressure!), fortunately with her own black leggings and a black poloneck of mine and a little bit of handiwork here and there, I managed to come up with something passable. Lexi chose a black cat - I breathed a sigh of relief, that costume was done in no time!

There were all sorts of games at the party, some really gross, you know the type - hand in a large covered box into various bowls of jelly/spaghetti etc and being told they are blood and guts etc. Fab! One of the games involved turning one's mother into a mummy - we came second!

Richard had been in Atlanta for a few days, he returned on the Friday, we went out that night to a lovely dinner party and then the next morning straight off to Calgary to see Richard off to the UK. This was the first weekend in November - as he had to fly from Calgary, which is a bit of a drive away (not by Canadian standards, but I reckon I am still in Brit mode when it comes to long distance driving - although driving on the right hand side of the road is pretty automatic now), we decided to make a weekend of it. We all drove up there with him and stayed the weekend mooching about doing nice family stuff, eating nice grub (always pretty much top of my priority list!) and seeing the sights. As you will see, there is a tower in Calgary, it's fairly high and the views from it are super. We all went up to have a look (elevator - no stairs - shame, that would have tired the sprogs out nicely) and the children and I were over to the glass floor overhang as soon as we saw it. Moments later I noticed Richard rooted at the join of solid floor and glass unable to move forward! My husband, the pilot, has vertigo! Oh how I laughed and took the mick for far too long (and then lovingly shoved him forwards so he had to step out onto it!). Makes me smile now just to think of it! Henry, particularly had simply no fear and loved looking down on the "toy cars"!

At the end of the weekend, Richard flew to the UK and I drove the children home - thank goodness there is a DVD player in the car. He managed to take a bag full of Christmas pressies with him and did a whistle stop tour of various friends and family and (boy am I envious of this) met my new little nephew who was born as I was driving home from the airport!

A few days later it was Bonfire Night - clearly not a night celebrated in Canada, but here in Ralston we had an excellent time. It was a shame Richard missed it. There was a stonking bonfire (planted in which was a silhouette of a fort/castle built I think, by the workshop chaps it was a really nice touch). SSAFA organised grub and drink for everyone -yum, November 5th wouldn't be the same without Gluhwein. There was a rather spectacular ending to the evening, as somehow, the grass caught alight and within 20 mins or so there was a faintly alarming, pretty large spread of fire across the prairie. The fire chaps however, did in the end arrive - much to Harry's delight. Seeing the fire engines was definitely the highlight of his evening!

The temperature has started to drop a little now and evidence of that is the deer that keep appearing in the village. They seem to be rather tame - well, at least I was able to get about 8 feet away from a stag the other day. Shame I didn't have my camera with me.

Here, Armistice Day is a day when many Canadians are given the day off work/school to reflect and show their respects. It was no different for our children, they had the day off school and we attended an outdoor service here on the base complete with helecopter showering the parade with poppies from above. Afterwards there was lunch in the mess.

Late the following Friday, Richard returned home from the UK tired and jetlagged, but with the knowledge that he needed to be on the ice at 8am the next morning for the BFBS Hockey Tournament. All the teams here (and there are quite a few - comprising the chaps from various units) spend the day playing in this tournament. As we are the closest possible house to the rink, we came and went throughout the day as Richard's team played. Richard played well and scored a goal but I don't know how he stayed upright on such little sleep.

The children thought the tournament was great as it meant they could eat as they pleased from the concession stand - greasy burgers, hot dogs and chips galore! Yuck.

That's all for now. Bye! x