George, my contractor,
spent Wednesday and Thursday 21st & 22nd December finishing up the various
bits that needed done. I got a new door put up on the downstairs
toilet although it will need a coat of paint but at least it is now a good
fit.
I also got my dining room
doors put on, banister rails fixed, one door window trim completed, all
doors now work properly, and my new automatic garage door installed so the
remote control now works. The vent in the office has also been moved
allowing me to get the last of my office furniture placed.
These are the dining room doors closed and
open taken from my office
On the left is a picture taken from the
sitting room so you can see the door on the right which leads upstairs. On
the right is my new blind which covers the window on the front door. A
similar one had been added to the window door in the sitting room
and this is the floor grill which has been
moved and now my last pedestal unit fits in and my other disk and CD
filing cabinet fits into the corner.
And so the house is now a
home and all that remains to do is to replace the external steps on one
side of the house and add an extra first step to the other steps but that
will now wait until Spring when the better weather arrives.
I spent Christmas and
Boxing Day in Toronto with Harold and Nola and their extended family and
had a great time. For boxing day there was prime rib roast, smoked
brisket, lobster, turkey, crab claws and lots more. A veritable feast :-)
Alex, their son-in-law, did the cooking and as he's the head chef and
catering manager at the Windsor Arms Hotel in Toronto the food was
excellent.
When I got back to Chatham
I was invited out on the Wednesday night for a dinner with George and his
family and I got to see his farm with loads of rabbits, ducks and geese. I
am told they have seven cats and two dogs so quite a place. Had an
excellent meal and so with all this eating it's likely time to go on a
diet :-)
When I got back I had a
letter in saying my vehicle license plate sticker needed to be renewed and
I found out I could do that online which saves a visit.
Looking back at all my
previous entries I can see that I have many people to thank for helping me
to get settled in Ontario. Larry of Ontario Business Immigration was
real good at advising me about what I had to do and how to do it to get my
work permits and place my application for permanent landed status. He also
took time out during his busy year to visit me at my home in Chatham and
we also had a meeting more recently in Guelph. Having had my medical
I'm now waiting to hear if my application has been successful. Not
sure how long this takes but not aware of having anything else to do so
hopefully a month or so into the new year I'll hear something.
Next year I'm intending to
be at the local Chatham Highland Games and also at Fergus. I also intend
to visit Moultrie in Georgia, likely in March when I'll also spend
a week visiting with Steve in Kentucky so | can also do some work on my
servers. On April 6th, 2006 I will be attending the Tartan Day Dinner in
Toronto.
I am hoping to do a major
project with Nova Scotia in Canada and Las Vegas in the USA next year so
am looking forward to bringing this together by the end of the first
quarter in the new year.
And so it just remains to
thank the many people that have emailed me to say they've enjoyed reading
my Canadian Journal.
I hope you all have a Very
Happy New Year and that 2006 will be a great year for you.
And here is my wall in the office with the
clan map up with surrounding pictures of Scotland |