Hanging in Woodstock

We had planned to head home today but Heather asked us to stay one more day. She and Tom had to work today and the plumber was scheduled to come by to connect the water softener. Coming from Sudbury, with its water coming from lakes nestled in the extremely old Canadian Shield, hard water is not a concern. Down here, with the water supply provided by wells drilled into limestone, water softeners seem to be mandatory.

The plumber arrived fairly early and set to work. He knew Sudbury quite well, having spent many summer visits at a friend's camp located on West Bay of Lake Wahnapitei. He set to work and was finished in no time. The only mishap occurred when he was soldering a pipe and set off the new high tech talking smoke alarms. We paid him with a blank cheque Tom left and he was on his way.

We spent the rest of the day napping and watching TV. While Woodstock wasn't getting hit, just 30 miles away London was being inundated by a major snowstorm. Schools and businesses were closed and the people were trying to shovel out from under more snow than they received all last winter. A big low pressure system over Quebec was driving the cold weather all the way down to Florida.

After Heather and Tom got home, we had a supper of perogies that Zofia had made for us. Then, braving huge fluffy snowflakes, Tom and I headed out looking for the right kind of salt for the water softener system. We found lots of salt, but not the kind specified in the owner's manual. We returned empty handed, but Tom went out again alone and found what he needed.

Before we went to bed, Heather broached the idea of bringing Sandy's parents down for Christmas. It sounds like a good idea and I hope we can persuade Jan and Harry to join us.