News Update

Another week has passed on the sunny shores of Lake Superior in my hometown. The hot, sunny weather has even caused us to get the A/C going—not something we expect in May! We completed our tour around Lake Superior on Sunday and Monday, driving into Thunder Bay on Monday evening. The delay at the border was over an hour; I guess there's no reason to expect that a lot of folks will be returning on Victoria Day! Why would we open four lanes through customs when two should be enough for anyone! Anyway, it was another scenic drive along the south shore of Lake Superior—much different landscape than the north shore. There were mostly sandy formations with lots of trees and beautiful beaches.

We experienced another mixed week in the markets. One great day, and several poor days. In the end, I posted another 0.2% gain amid hopes (dreams?) of better times that we hope lie ahead. It has been frustrating to see how some obscure European countries seem to hold the whole world on tenterhooks.

I've got the garden going now, and we're ready for bedding plants to go in. Some continue to caution against a late frost, but we're going for it! The new lawn is struggling in the hot, dry conditions, and I'm struggling to keep it watered. Some grass is evident, but I'm afraid I may have waited too late to seed. This stuff likes to germinate slowly in cooler conditions, so I may have to overseed in the Fall to get a good growth.

Wendy has been busy making arrangements for the family reunion in early July. I think she has it all under control now. Kristian will be travelling with us in late June, while Erin and Trav will both be flying out to Kelowna later. Eric/A and the boys will be driving out as well, and continuing out to the Island afterward.

Kristian and I even got to a real golf course this week, but only to practice on the putting green. He also got his replacement hearing aid after Sadie ate one a while back. Erin continues to have busy times at work, but these mainly happen at the beginning and ending of the day, so it makes for a long day. She manages to sleep through the Blue Jay game most evenings!

Trav is only feigning an interest in the Stanley Cup playoffs now that his Penguins have been knocked out, but I'm cheering mightily for Chicago to win it all, and they started on the right foot with a win in game one tonight.

And that's about it for this week.

Congratulations Cindy!

Another week has passed and we have wandered from the shore of Lake Superior and my hometown, eastward along the lake, then south, past the shores of Lakes Huron and Michigan and down to Lansing MI. It is the occasion of my baby sister graduating from law school. And she is graduating Magna Cum Laude, instead of Lawdy How Come? I am very proud! Soon she will take up her assignment as Law Clerk for a federal judge in Baltimore; again, congratulations are in order! And, at some future point, she will even figure out how to complete her application for Obamacare! Even in these slightly more enlightened days, it is still an 18-page document to fill in (or out, seems to mean the same thing!). Of course, factual correctness requires me to note that few of the improvements of Obamacare have yet become active. Even when they do, very little is changing in the tragedy that is healthcare in the USofA... however, that's a rant I often contemplate, but have yet to write! At any rate, she will also deserve further congratulations if she ever completes that successfully; some people take a course on how to effectively complete health care forms!

We have enjoyed a beautiful trip down here. We drove along Superior for about 800 clicks the first day and, after negotiating the border crossing, stopped for the night in northern Michigan at a small place called St. Ignace. It is beautiful there. We were right on the shore of Lake Huron, and our room had only some 50 metres of lawn between us and the beach. Then, on Friday, we completed the trip down through Michigan to Auburn Hills (suburb of Detroit, at the end of Lake Erie). We're located about halfway between the Palace of Auburn Hills (Pistons) and the Silverdome (Lions, although someone tells me the Lions have moved to a new home now.) sports complexes. Tom & Mariette, Viggo & Nancy are also here, so it's good to spend time with them.

We enjoyed the open house at the Thomas M. Cooley law school, where Cindy took her training, and then enjoyed a family banquet at a local restaurant specializing in Indian food. BK would be impressed! Thank you, Daniel & Cindy. It was good to share in the joy of the occasion with you, and the families involved.

Today, we took a short drive west to Lansing, where the main campus of Michigan State University is, for the graduation ceremony. It was another great affair, and I honoured the event with the purchase of a new sports coat. I contend that it is a rather denigrating comment on society that I can become 'socially acceptable' through the purchase of a used jacket from Value Village! (Wendy insists that I not mention the price was $9.99)

Otherwise, it was another terrible week on the markets. There was a slight recovery on Friday just to keep the suckers biting, I suppose. I managed only one sale for the week, and thus have gained another 0.2% on the portfolio, but I also have some holdings that will need some substantial improvements before they can sell. So, it's tough going these days.

Wendy was quite busy with trip preparations, and organizing things at home before we left. Now, she's the full-time navigator, and despite a couple of mishaps with maps, has managed to get us here!

Erin and Kristian are holding down the home fort. Kristian had a small disaster this week, as Sadie (the dog) ate one of his hearing aids. That has now been replaced, but the earpiece is not fitting right, so he's in some discomfort. He is enjoying 'golfball', as he calls it. I take him out with his new clubs—he can barely carry them—across the street to the school yard and he hits my shag tube of balls (24). He's doing well, and it's a delight each time he comes to say, "Papa, golfball." Eric/A and the boys are down from Kenora for this long weekend, so there is plenty of company.

Trav continues as per usual with work, private contracting, and life. He has taken the better route, whether through wisdom or good luck, of avoiding investing in these troubled markets.

And that's about it for this week.

God bless you, Auntie!

It has been quite a week on the shore of Lake Superior, in my hometown. On both sides of our family we have lost loved ones. On the Krogsgaard side, Sue rushed home from Zambia on the occasion of her mother's passing out in BC. On the Ulrich side, we lost the last of my mother's generation as her sister, my beloved Auntie, passed on in her 97th year.

Aunt Mary has always just been Auntie to me. As a child, I guess I didn't realize there were other people who were aunts and uncles. She was always a special person in my youth (while we grew up just a few miles away), and I'll never forget how she could make frikadeller (meatballs) with new potatoes and parsley gravy!

After mom's passing, just over thirty-six years ago, Auntie kind of took her place. Not just the physical resemblance, but also the character traits allowed her to take that role for me. So, I doted on her a bit, and was able to give and receive the love that I was missing from my mother. We tried to take in a stop in Moose Jaw every time we were in Saskatchewan, and I shall miss our visits. We would always make her guess who we were, and she would complain about how she couldn't see, and we would drop hints. Finally she would figure it out, oh, the one from Thunder Bay (I should have written that with the h missing, as she said it!), and then she would greet us and tell us our birthdates and anniversary and the names and birthdates of all our children, and ask how they were.

She was spectacularly interested in other people, but for herself, she just wanted to go home. So, for her, this is a blessing. But for us, it is an inestimable loss.

Otherwise things have continued with pretty much the same routines. Investments have been scary as the stock market thinks it's a roller coaster! I made good money in the first three days, and lost most of it in the last two! In the end, I was up 0.1% to 10.4% total. I have continued work with lawn and garden. This week, I got my rain barrel installed with a diverter to collect water from the roof just in time for a shower on Thursday to fill it up! The seed is starting to germinate on the front lawn. The back lawn is lush and demanding regular cutting. On Friday evening, we had a special treat as Dave, Heather and Ariadne arrived from southern Ontario. Ariadne is a new friend from Mexico where she is an English prof at the University. Dave & Heather are old friends since our childhood. It was great to spend some time with them, and send them on their way on Saturday.

Wendy keeps busy. This week provided encouraging news as her hospitalized friend has rallied, and, it now appears, will be released from the hospital. We don't know whether she will return home, or to a care facility. She still must return to the hospital three times per week for dialysis and blood work. Today was very special for me, as Wendy came out and practiced golf along with me at a local course.

Erin and Kristian have continued with work and school, respectively. Both are doing well. Kristian enjoyed getting his first set of golf clubs this week. We enjoy his attempts to use them in the school yard across the street.

Trav continues as per usual with work, and is also concentrating a lot of time on a new friend.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. It's been a nice week, with a few showers to help me with the watering of the newly seeded lawn. I have also done a bit more work on the garden, including some seeding as the soil is warming up. I am hoping the strawberries come back, but see no evidence of that yet. The rhubarb is ready for a first picking, so we will be getting back into rhubarb crisp soon! I pulled out a couple of stumps in the back yard, but that's a lot like work! It was a terrible, no good, very bad week on the markets as fear of debt in Europe seem to panic the investors. As a result, I was only able to make one sale, and only posted a 0.2% gain. We hope for resolution in the UK election over the weekend, and a more settled feeling overall, so the buyers will return to the markets. Economic news in both Canada and the US support the view that the recovery from the recession is progressing. The oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico initially pushed oil prices higher, but now fear has panicked prices about $10 lower.

Wendy seems to keep busy with a variety of activities. She did up quite a bit of baking this week. We always need some for Thursday evenings when we host our small group. She was also able to supply some to our next door neighbours who lost husband/father/grandfather this week. She continues to provide taxi service and other care for Kristian.

Kristian is progressing well at school and day care. He continues to produce longer sentences, and is very talkative. We understand some of it! Erin is quite busy at work, and looks forward to a promotion there in the next few months.

Trav is quite occupied with the travails of his Penguins in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Their current series is not going easily, but they're in good shape. He is taking additional training at work, so he will be able to operate their new Swiss-embroidery machines.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. Springlike weather has taken over with showers the last half of the week. We can certainly use the rain, as the forest fire hazard was extreme before this came along. I spent half of the week working in Kenora, and it may have been just as well as the markets were crazy with worries over the Greek debt issues and the Goldman misdeeds. However, I did sell the gold stocks I had been stuck in (thank you, Lord!); that was not only a great relief, but also a great benefit to my portfolio. In total I managed to gain 0.8% to improve to 10.1% overall. I worked on a data project up in Kenora. That seemed to go very well, and they've asked me to assist them more in the future. I drove up on Wednesday morning, and back this afternoon.

I can't say too much about life back at home, but all seems to have gone well. Wendy has been quite occupied with medical and dental appointments, and caring for her friend in the hospital.

Erin and Kristian have had a good week. Since Erica was down for part of the week, they even got to go over to her hotel and enjoy the pool. Kristian seems to be really getting used to the water, and paddling around much more comfortably. I think he got a fright in Florida, and it's taken a while to overcome it.

Travis had a usual workweek for the first part of the week, and now he's off for a weekend in Duluth, Minnesota.

And that's about it for this week.