Seasons greeting

First of all we want to wish you a Merry Christmas (a little bit late, sorry!) and a Happy New Year!!
So what happened on the other side of the ocean the last month: my mom came over for a 2 week visit. We had a great time! And did of course a lot of shopping. Her first words at the airport were "Den Delhaize is hier" She brought tons of goodies like chocolate, beer for olli, candy for me, horse stuff for Elmo, ... She even brought "Sinterklaas" with her from Belgium.
Mom is already blending in with our Canadian friends. She went shopping with Bonnie (Nicole's mom) and they went for dinner with the family while we were at Olli's Christmas party. We are already looking forward to her next visit! (olli already ran out of "Verboden Vrucht"). And thanks again for all the gifts!
Last time I talked about our first dressage show. Unfortunately the show was cancelled... Not enough participants... Dressage is not very popular over here. But hopefully we will have our first real show in March. Date TBA soon.
We have heard that it snowed a lot in Belgium! Not a lot of snow here in Cochrane. And temperatures are not too bad either. Normally around -8, -15. On sunday we even reached 4 degrees! It felt like summer!!
We celebrated Christmas evening at home. Olli made a wonderful diner for me. Bell pepper soup to start, maple salmon with carrot mashed potatoes and carrot-mango salad and strawberries with chocolate to top it off! It was amazing! I have a secret master cook in the house ;)
On Christmas day we were invited to Bonnie's house. She made us a wonderful meal again! It is always so much fun to hang out with the Brooks family!
In Canada it's a tradition you give cookies to your friends around Christmas time. Monty (the lady where Elmo is boarded) made us a huge plate with homemade goodies. So to return the favour we made her something real Belgian: vlaai and broodpudding. The first time we made it and it turned out delicious!!!

My mom enjoying a giant plate of Canadian King Crab.

An image we really wanted to share with you. Perfect snowflakes!

Our first batch of 'Broodpudding" and 'Vlaai'. Speculoos and Peperkoek donations are always welcome.

Winter Wonderland

Yes, winter has arrived in Cochrane! It started snowing last Monday night. I wasn't really looking forward to Tuesday morning because I knew the traffic was going to be horrible. (it always is when it's the first snow)
Got up at 4:30 and there was already more then 10 cm of snow on the ground. Drove out of the garage and there I was, stuck on the street... (we live on a hill and I couldn't get up the hill). This happens when you don't buy a 4WD... Olli to the rescue!! But no luck... We took Olli's car to bring me to the C-train. No luck either. So we had 2 cars on the street and not one of them was able to get up the hill.
Luckily at around 7, our neighbourhood comes alive and 2 friendly neighbours gave me a push up the hill!
We had light snow for 3 days and temperatures are still between -15 and -25. On Tuesday we go to a low of -30... And as I write this update it's still snowing and another 5 cm is expected...
What exciting things are coming up? My mom is coming over again next Sunday, for 2 weeks. So we are both looking forward to her arrival. And Elmo and me will have our first dressage show, also next Sunday!

Panorama of snowy Cochrane



Even Elmo is doing well in this cold

Let the real Canadian life begin!!

Today was my first day at my new job!
I work as a CAD Technician (this means making drawings, calculations, interpret field notes, ....) for Stewart Weir. So I swapped the Tideway Rollingstone for an office in downtown Calgary.
Let us say that is not very practical when it comes to taxes to work for a Belgian employer and to live in Canada... So I made the decision... Instead of working for the offshore oil and gas, I work for the Alberta oil and gas now!
This means no more travelling, no more 6 weeks on but unfortunately no more 6 weeks off... More time for Elmo (and getting ready for the dressage show season next year) And the start of the real Canadian life!
But I have to admit I will miss the ship and the crew... It was the coolest job I ever did!



Tideway Rollingstone


Tideway Rollingstone


Me and my 8 survey screens. Ah, good times!

Farewell my dear equine friend...

On the 28th of September, Athena, one of my horses back home, died of colic. Completely unexpected... She was 20 years old.
Farewell my dear Athy, you were an amazing horse! Thanks for all the fantastic times together. You will be missed...