News Update

It has been a week of grieving in Canada as we lost a fine political leader, a man widely respected by citizens of all backgrounds. So much so, that the Prime Minister accorded the unprecedented honour of a state funeral for Jack Layton. Jack's closing remarks to Canadians are remembered on the photo: "Love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic, and we'll change the world."

Finally, we are back on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We passed the week here after driving down from Kenora on Monday. I've been catching up on garden and lawns; the weeds have taken advantage of my absence to grow in a wide variety of locations and at a prodigious rate. I've been battling them all week—taking no prisoners, but like the Gaddafi loyalists, there still remain many to root out! The back lawn will take a few cuts to get back in shape, while the front one is pretty much the right length already—thank you, Travis. The garden is producing tomatoes, beet greens, beans and spinach—thank you, Erin. I've managed a a couple of sessions of golf practice during the week with Erin & Kristian. The markets have remained pretty crazy, but I managed to have a great week and recover a bit from the earlier losses. I am hoping that things settle down for the remainder of the year so I will be able to predict things better. Riders took advantage of the week off to fire two of their coaches. We hope they will also use the time to learn how to play football!

Wendy returned to work at Wal-Mart; she definitely found the full shifts on her feet to make for a long day. She has also been catching up on paperwork over household finances as well as the church books. Still, we did manage to get out for a breakfast date yesterday—a nice treat.

Erin celebrated her birthday last week with her first set of golf clubs. She played a few times in Regina, and really enjoyed it, so she was glad to get the set for her birthday and has been practicing and playing this week. Kristian enjoys that as well.

Trav has been working to establish an office for his newly funded business venture. He has picked out a location, and will now continue with the selection of furnishings and equipment. Joanna continues to be busy, but we did enjoy having them over last evening along with Andrew.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed and finds us on the shore of Winnipeg River in Kenora. We are enjoying a few days with Eric/A and the boys as we wend our way homewards. We have enjoyed a good week with family and friends. Tonight we enjoyed a games evening of Settlers of Catan, and Mexican Train. I got out golfing with Rick & Carolyn last Sunday, and again with Kerry on Wednesday. Then we drove to Kenora on Thursday. The markets have continued to be in crash mode, so it's been a tough week there, and I've 'enjoyed' further losses. I keep thinking and hoping that it's going to turn around, but it's been heading downward since the end of March, so the guys who follow the nostrum, "Sell in May and go away," have been the winners this year. Some progress was made at 55 Laird as the excavation dirt was hauled away, and fresh fill was delivered. Then it was time to call upon Tim and the handy Bobcat—they made short work of filling the trench. Tim also re-landscaped along the back wall to direct water away from there.

Wendy keeps busy where ever she is. Today she's pruning trees and engaging in her ongoing war with the Kenora thistles (not those Kenora Thistles!).

Kristian was the highlight of most occasions in Regina. Now he's having a great time playing with his cousins here. He continues to video chat effectively with his mom back home and even remembered to wish her a happy birthday this week. All too soon, the trip will be over. We have enjoyed having him travel with us. Erin is taking care of things back home since she flew back on Sunday. She has been picking beans and tomatoes as they are ready in the garden.

Trav & Joanna supplied the celebratory birthday pizza (Tropical Chicken from BP) for Erin on Thursday evening. I'm guessing that Trav will try to catch up with lawn mowing this weekend in anticipation of our arrival!!

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Wascana. We began the week with sad news as we learned of the passing of our friend, Mal, in Dauphin; the memorial service is scheduled for Sept 10th, and we plan to attend. This was compounded as we learned of the marriage breakup of dear friends. The weather has continued to be very nice, and I've been able to get out golfing with Erin & Kristian a couple of times. The markets have been incredibly volatile, and even set a record for gains and losses on consecutive days. I managed to make a good gain overall, although I have two-thirds in cash in view of the difficult markets. The Riders lost another game last evening, and to add to the pain it was at home against Calgary! We keep waiting for changes to be made in hopes of an improvement—after all, at 1-6 there's not too much worse to anticipate! Work has continued on the repairs at Dad's house, and the basement wall is looking great with its new coating, weeping tile and sump pump. Backfill will probably happen next week. We enjoyed nice evenings out at Bernard & Joan's, Barb & Ed's and at Rick & Carolyn's; it was good go visit with them and catch up on their lives. This evening we enjoyed the Canadian wedding reception for cousin Jesse and his new bride, Carly, down in Milestone.

Wendy keeps busy with housework, shopping and visiting. She also has been renegotiating her work shifts as we look to begin the trip home next week.

Erin & Kristian are both with us, although Erin is scheduled to fly back to TBay tomorrow. They have been enjoying getting out golfing, as well as spending time with the family and friends in Regina.

Trav is back home, taking care of the dog, house, garden and lawns. In his spare time, he's also continuing his work and developing the plan for his own business now that funding has been approved. Joanna is keeping busy with her work this week. She's been trying to cut back a bit on hours to get a bit of a rest break as well. We've been able to video chat with them a couple of times.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Wascana in the Queen City of the Prairies. We are continuing our sojourn at Wendy's dad's place. It's been a good week. The weather has been lovely, and when it got too hot we just stayed indoors in air-conditioned comfort. The markets have continued to flounder, although I, unfortunately, jumped on the first positive move after the debt ceiling was adjusted and got tagged with some losses. I need to make some recovery of my own now. It's been a tough time as the markets have headed steadily downward since April, and this week they've been accelerating the losses with multiple hundreds of points in the red! This weekend we've been excavating one basement wall on Dad's house to replace the weeping tile and get rid of the clay that's been forcing that wall to crack. I'm feeling tired and sore tonight. The Riders had a game last night, but it was a poor showing as they lost to the BC Lions and fell to 1 and 5. I think it may be time to bring in some different players who know how to play this game!

Wendy has been occupied all week with feeding the crew that has included Erica and the boys since they got in Wednesday night. One of the motorbikes packed it in about three hours west of here, so Erica & Liam arrived on the bus. Then Eric took the other bike home and has now returned with a truck to haul the other one and the rest of the family home. Dave arrived home Friday night, so it's a full house.

Erin has been taking care of things back home in TBay, but she arrived about noon today, so Trav & Joanna are taking care of Sadie and the house, and (I hope) the lawns. My information is that the lawns were not mown when Erin left this morning, so I hope that got done today. Kristian has been with us all week, but has maintained regular and frequent contact with mom via his iPod Touch! He really communicates well using that medium. He went golfing with me one day. His first action on an actual golf course. We did nine holes on the putting green, but when I asked him if he wanted to go on the course, he said he did. I didn't know how much he'd play before he got tired of carrying clubs and making many hits per hole! But he persisted through every stroke of nine holes with no gimmies. And he wanted to do another nine holes on the putting green on the way out! So, we did that too!

Trav was here at the start of the week, and when it came time to head home, his flight was delayed so he was able to spend another night with us all here. He's now back at work and taking care of things in TBay. He also got a positive response to his grant application, so that was great news as he begins to set up his business later this year.

And that's about enough for this week.