Hi Everyone

Today it is Boxingday and my mother and I are still at Jackie and Douglas in Shelburne what turned out to be quiet an adventure to get there. But I will start at the beginning. On Monday morning December 19 very early, my sister, brother-in-law and my mother went to Schiphol, Amsterdam airport, they arrive in plenty of time and had planned to have breakfast together before the departure of my Mom once she was checked in. Because the ticket is bought online she first needs to get a boarding pass. So she got the boarding pass and then it tuned out she needed a visa, not so much for Canada but for the States. She has no direct flight and will make a stop for about 4.5 hours in Boston. And Yes .... for those few hours you need a visa...those Americans .....So on to the computer where you could buy the visa which is not easy to figure out, and turns out to be about half an hour later they have finally got a visa and it is time to check in.... But then the number of the visa does not show up in the computer ... aaahhhhh. So on to another desk where a friendly lady helps them to check in so finally they are done. But now so much time has passed that it is already time to go through Customs and board the plane instead of sitting down and have breakfast or a coffee together before Mom leaves for Canada. I am very happy that my sister and brother-in-law were there because if my mother had to do this all by herself I do not know whether she would be in time to time board the plane. The rest of her journey continues without problems, in Bosten someone is waiting for her who helps her with switch planes and after more than 20 hours on the road I picked her up at the Halifax airport. By the time we got hoe and all the excitement is over, the fatigue takes over and it's time to go to bed. We open the suitcase and it looks like have been playing ball with it at the airports, everything is messed up .... But No, the US Customs had left a neat form behind that they had taken the freedom to view the contents of the suitcase.

The next morning I still have to go in for a few hours at work but in the afternoon we make a small tour in the area and my mother looks does not know where to look there is too much to see. What surprised her the most is the space and the different types of housing and it is also funny to see my surroundings where I am used to buy know trough her eyes. The next day we are taking a large tour through the Annapolis Valley where we ended up in a nice furniture/home decoration store to enjoy a very nice lunch. That evening we eat the lobster and crab that I had gotten from a colleague, something my mother never had eaten and enjoyed immensely.

On Thursday we are going for coffee at Anna and George (the people who make tofu) My mother still has to get a little bit used to speak English again, it has been at least 8 years since she had spoken it last. But she is doing pretty good and we are having such a good time that we ended up staying for lunch as well. But after that is time to say goodbye we still have some errands to run before we leave for Shelburne the next day. Also at the shops, my mother does not know where to look because many shops are way bigger the once in her hometown.

The following morning when we woke up everything was white, it had started to snow that night and it's still snowing when hit the road for Shelburne. But the roads are clear enough and it starts melting already, but does it looks like a Christmas card maybe we'll have a White Christmas this year? Later, we turn on a road which has not been cleaned yet so I take it slow and whill my mom my is taking pictures, I'm focusing on the road. But then I slide somewhat to the left and while I try to correct the slipping of the car we turn to the right and before we now we ended in a deep ditch next to the road.... Phffffffffff. It all went so fast .... but everything is okay we are not hurt and the car seems to be okay. I climb out of the car to see the damage and I see we ended almost 9 feet below the road ... small trees and bushes had stopped our gliding any further. When I am standing beside the road to make a phone call, two cars stop to ask if everything is alright. One of the two has a phone book in the car and we look for the number of a tow trucker in the neighborhood. After I have called I walk back down to my mother who is still in car and tell that we have to wait until help comes but it is better to in the car to stay where it is still warm. I go up to stand along the road and wait because we are not really visible from the road. While I wait almost every car stops to ask if I need help .... And I hear that there I am not the only one in the ditch, apparently another car ended there as well. After 15 minutes the tow truck is there and after helping my mom out of the car he starts pulling the car up. ... but somehow the cable snaps ...but after some help from passing truck he drags the car on the road again. While we are working on my car another one close to us starts slipping and ends up in an 45 ° angles on the edge of the road. Anyway, the damage considering is not bad, I lost the grill, a part of the bumper and a signallight. At the back is the bumper damaged but it seems that the motor is not damaged and I decide to continue our trip to the place of destination. The next day as Douglas and I take a closer look at the damage it shows that we have had been very lucky, the bumper was covering the exhaust. By the heat of the exhaust the inside of the bumper had started to melt what easy could have turned in to a fire can, we must have had a guardian angel with us the whole way.

But it's good to see Jackie and Douglas and we have a good time, on Christmas day we tackle some gifts under the Christmas tree from, on one way or the other Santa knew that we would be here. And that night we have a traditional Christmas dinner with Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing. But as they say 'time flies when you're having fun' in a few days we are going back to Wolfville, but I'll write more about that the next time ... hopefully without further accidents.

Till next time, Gabriëlle