cider comes but once a year

It is cold, I woke up at 7:30, still dark out and there was a definite chill in the air, we spoke to Deb in Australia over breakfast and it is 24 degrees with the air con on. We finally got a message from George and it is -12, so extremes rule in our family now. We filled, corked and secured 300 bottles of cider today in Jacqueline's cold, nay arctic, cellar with freezing cold cider all over our hands. In order to get the syphon to work from the barrel mike had to suck up pints of the golden nectar, needless to say he swallowed a good percentage of it and at 10 in the morning was next best thing to alcohol abuse and with the added issues of the obligatory 3 hour lunch with our 84 year old hostess Mike's alcohol levels were way up and probably illegal. We took a look at Beema in the Marina this afternoon to see if the electric supply had been reset and relieved to report all heaters were alight and she was as warm as toast and quite beautiful despite looking like a neglected marsh boat. The brac water in the Marina transforms any white surface into a green slimy hue and Beema is mostly white so put your imaginations to work on that. It was choir night and we had the annual....prend la gallette....this is custard pie with two favours baked inside that you share with your mates and family to celebrate the return of the three kings from Jesus's stable. If you are lucky enough to get a favour and probably have broken a tooth in the process you are presented with a paper crown to wear and in our case have your photo taken looking very silly and guess what .....I won....so I will be looking through all the papers to see if I made the news. Georgina skyped tonight they are both well and it is -21 in Calgary, far too cold for me .........