Month: September 2019

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Christmas in Winter Hill, by Melody Carlson, 2019, Revell (Baker Publishing Group)

I almost wanted to move to Winter Hill at some points while I read!  But then the protagonist was plunged into heartbreaking problems and I felt that life was not perfect there after all.

It was a nice little escape for me though, from my own stuff!  Easy to read and only 164 pages long, perfect for the season leading up to Christmas when you want to get in the mood but not get bogged down in something long and involved.

Although Winter Hill is a fictional town located in eastern Washington, it sounds quite bit like a real town there that my brother and his family visit every October during our Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.  I’ve heard that they put on quite a Christmas experience and my husband and I have often thought it would be fun to go!

In the story Krista and her eight year old daughter move here from Phoenix Arizona two weeks before the American Thanksgiving which falls in November.  Krista is coming to begin her new job of city manager.  The town has never had one before.  She is surprised to find that the whole town puts on a big Christmas celebration starting from the Thanksgiving Weekend and running right to Christmas and she is expected to be involved!

Krista has had a series of disappointing experiences that have soured her feelings about Christmas, but she does hope for a nice Christmas for her daughter.  However, in her new role as city manager she runs into some tricky situations that put her in a tight spot and it looks like yet another Christmas will be ruined in a big way for both of them!

Will she be irredeemably plunged into further disillusionment or will things turn out better in the end?  Krista does have a faith in God and prays and hopes and strives to do what she sees as the best thing to do.

Personally I found the story charming and I would definitely read more of Melody Carlson’s books.  I love Christmas celebrations and also have a Christian faith.  Some people who don’t feel this way may find it offensive, but then I suppose they would not read it to begin with.

Themes in the book are single motherhood, professional workplace relationships, romance, family, American holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas), small town America, faith and hope.

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Fish & Chips on the Waterfront

A walk on the seawall in Nanaimo, and seafood at a floating restaurant; my idea of a good time!  Last Sunday I had some time to myself so I took the dog for a long leisurely stroll, drinking in the restorative ocean breeze and the scenery of the bay and the islands.

  • Fish and Chips
    Trollers Nanaimo

Float planes come and go over yachts and rowboats. All kinds of people saunter by, many with delicious-looking ice cream cones in hand.  I took pictures of some of the beautiful flowers beside the lagoon and sat on a bench a while.

  • At Trollers Nanaimo
    Oysters and Fries

I walked some more and would have gone farther but my dog was done so I brought him back to the car and went to Trollers.  I had a hankering for their deep fried oysters! 

A good time to go at 2 pm when it’s not too busy.  Last time I went there it was suppertime and there was a long wait plus they ran out of the salmon that I had ordered.  But  they replaced a piece of the salmon with a deep fried oyster, and I remembered how delicious that was!  This time the wait was only about 10 minutes.  Five plump oysters, a bit of coleslaw and lots of fries with a bottle of Pure Leaf ice tea for $21. I was savouring my solitary meal and quietude when a couple of tourists joined me at the other end of the large table.  Before long another couple joined us as well.  The man, who had retired from a broadcasting career before they recently moved to Nanaimo, proceeded to interview the rest of us.  Well if it didn’t turn out that his wife and the other man had been classmates in Alberta when they were kids!  So they all knew a lot of people in common.  Already being in a melancholy reflective mood, it made me feel all the more alone, missing old friends 😪.  But it was nice listening to them. 

By the time I had downed the third oyster I was full but still enjoying the meal.  I had to leave the last few fries though, as I was on grease overload by then.  The talkative man didn’t want me to leave, but I was ready to go home to my husband, who would be glad to have me back after his own quiet rest time.