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Bonbons, christmas crackers, Fanningbank, London, PEI, Tom Smith
As we enter into December the year 2023 comes to an end and I for one will be happy to see it go. It was for both Will and I a difficult year with many worries about Will’s health. But all that now is in the past and hope that it remains there. I really do not know what 2024 will bring for us, I have some engagement for April with the early return of the cruise ships on 8 April, that is really early, even the Spring Lobster fishing season will not be open until 3 weeks later. In the meantime it’s the holiday season and was invited at one reception / cocktail at Government House, home of the Lieutenant Governor of PEI. Upon arrival in the great park of the residence, hundreds of crows were perched on branches of trees, making quite a racket, the crows are native to the forest in the area, where they live and at dusk they gather, it looked like the set of the movie The Birds. On the same night the Provincial Legislature rose for the Holiday break, so the LG had to go to Province House to give her assent to the Legislators to go on vacation. I told her jokingly that it was too early and she should refuse to let them go. In PEI the Legislature sits only about 70 days a year, this is the shortest legislative sitting calendar in all of Canada.
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Decorations at Gorvernment House at Fanningbank Estate, Official Residence of the Lieutenant Governor of PEI.
Weather wise, it has been cold and now warm, no snow, another weird Winter it looks like, despite the weather guy saying it will be a normal one, what does that mean?
Monday, our Nick is going to the Vet Dentist for a cleaning, want to make sure all is ok with his teeth. I do not like that procedure for animals but at the same time I do not like him to be uncomfortable. His blindness causes a lot of confusion outside the house and I do watch him on walks to make sure nothing scares him. Often the wind can cause him to jerk back.
Next week is Will’s Bday, it will probably be quiet, he always tells me that he does not want anything, it’s not a big one he says. I will still acknowledge his anniversary in some fashion. Yesterday I got some Xmas cards, I always look for something different, this year at the bookstore I found cards made in the UK and I really like the look of them. The greetings are also more elegant and not commercial or over the top. I am very uncomfortable this year in particular with wishing peace on Earth, seems so out of place and fatuous to say so, given the major wars on going now.
This fellow on Instagram brings little snippets of knowledge everyday and I find him quite fun. Today it was about the invention of the Xmas Cracker you find on tables for Christmas dinner or lunch. The Christmas cracker was invented by London-based confectioner and baker Tom Smith (1823 – 1869) who set up shop in Goswell Road, Clerkenwell in the 1840s. Smith produced candies of all kinds was looking for a new product. He travelled to Paris and saw this BonBon made of sugared Almonds individually wrapped in colourful paper with a message printed for the Season or Festival it represented. He brought back the idea to England and produced BonBon for Christmas, it was a big hit. But then once the holiday was past, his sales plummeted. So he had to come up with new ideas. One night sitting at home in front of the fire, a log cracked loudly, he had the idea that he could put his sugared almonds wrapped in paper into a device which he called Cosaque. The word cosaque in french referred to the Russian riders the Cossacks who cracked their whips, the noise is similar to logs cracking on a fire. By pulling on them the cracker splits with a loud cracking noise spilling its contents everywhere. It was an instant hit with the public but everyone else called them crackers and thus the traditional Christmas cracker was born. When he died his three sons continued the business and improved the cracker which are bought to this day for Christmas dinner. I already have mine for our table made by the Tom Smith company.
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