Saturday, July 30

News Update

It's been a beautiful week on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been great, albeit a little too hot for me. We've enjoyed a good week of activities and are beginning to plan the next phase of developments and renovations on the house and yard. Wendy got some of our artwork hung; we're finally getting to enjoy those again. The markets have continued to run well. The TSX was up nearly 4% for the month, and I almost gained double my quota, so I was able to cover for some of the shortfalls I experienced earlier. The Riders suffered a comprehensive beating Friday night in Montreal; c'mon Riders! We hope Durant is back soon, but truly that is not their only problem. The Jays, on the other hand, have continued to play well, and, with today's win, have advanced to first place in their division. That was much fun to watch! I've managed to get out to the golf course a couple of times, and I especially enjoyed today's golf with Wendy and Kristian. We need to go more often! 

The Baileys are home from Estonia, a little tired, but glad to have had that experience. They enjoyed  seeing the young people sharing their faith, and experiencing a new culture. The found Estonia to be very beautiful, and in some ways very familiar. It also has very old places. The old town in Tallinn was fascinating with the bulk of the exterior city wall and turrets in good condition. Home again in Prince Albert, most of them are enjoying house-sitting for friends who have central air! Haaken is batching at home while the rest enjoy the more favourable accommodation! They enjoyed a wonderful visit with Bonnie (nee McMillan) this week as she was touring Saskatchewan. Liam continues to struggle with his stomach issues and has another doctor's appointment in the coming week.

Erin finds it pretty quiet around home these days since Kristian is down here. Kristian has been taking touch typing lessons this summer. He enjoys using his laptop from home even more now that it has a new battery. We had a picnic at the marina on Friday evening, but there were spider webs around, and possibly spiders, so he was pretty wary of that! Erin scored a new set of wheels this week, in her case it was just a pair as she bought a new bicycle! Grandma has renewed her efforts to get Kristian comfortable riding a bike here! 

Travis and Joanna have completed the paper work, so the process of moving into the new place has begun. They prepared a barbecue picnic for my birthday supper today, and we enjoyed that on the deck. They've taken one truck load of stuff over to the new place. I hope to have a trailer available for them to use next weekend which should accomplish most of the move. They've also been shopping for some additional equipment, furnishings and utensils for their new home. We shall miss them. 

And that's about enough for one week. 

Saturday, July 23

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been distressingly hot, and we have spent most of the week inside the house as the outdoor temperatures ran to the mid-thirties! We have had a couple of thunderstorms, but have not heard of any particular damage in our area related to those. Kristian has been suffering with runny eyes and stuffy nose; we now have him on Benadryl, but we're not seeing much improvement. He is working on typing lessons this summer, and enjoying playing with his cousins and Minnie. I have been working on the lawns and garden, and the weeds are taking a beating! We've been enjoying rhubarb crisp, and another picking is available. The combination of sun and rain have the lawns looking better than expected, but I'm having to mow them too often! The US markets are hitting record levels, and we're following just enough to make for another good week for me. April and June did not meet quota, so I'm working to catch up on that shortfall. The Blue Jays are playing pretty well (Sorry, not today!), and are currently in a playoff position and challenging for the divisional lead. The Riders took down the #1 team in the league last night behind backup QB Mitchell Gale—yay Riders! That gives them their first win of the season, and renews the hopes of Rider fans everywhere! 

The Baileys continue their sojourn in Estonia. They have relocated from Tartu back to Talinn, as they prepare to come home. They are having a good and busy time.

Erin has suffered from migraines again this week. We hope some remedy will be found to relieve this. Otherwise, summer in Saskatchewan continues to be hot and that has spawned a few violent storms with massive hailstones reported, and even a tornado or two touching down. Yikes! Then, on Friday, Husky announced that their pipeline had sprung a leak and dropped a significant amount of petro-products into the North Saskatchewan River. North Battleford has had to shut down its drinking water collection from the river. Today, we're informed that the booms have failed to contain the oil, and Prince Albert's drinking water is also threatened. 

Kristian, Matt Murray and the Cup!

Bucket List Item: checked off!
Trav and Joanna were very busy on Tuesday coordinating Matt Murray's day with the Stanley Cup. Some of the payoffs were great pictures with the cup! Gemma has had a couple of wedding celebrations to work, and Andrew has worked some of that as well. The big news has to be the completion of the purchase for their new place! They will be taking possession next month. The house looks ready to move in, so there should not be much in the way of renovations needed.

House for: Travis, Joanna, Gemma, Andrew

And that's about it for this week!

Saturday, July 16

Home Again!

Another week has passed and we have finally managed to get home! We left Regina on Wednesday,
Kristian & Grandma vs T-Rex!
spent Wednesday and Thursday nights in Winnipeg, and drove the final leg to Thunder Bay on Friday. However, the week was more eventful than the brief write-up makes it seem. The Baileys arrived in town on Tuesday in anticipation of their departure for Estonia on Wednesday morning, so we migrated over to Dad's place where Bern, Alicia and Logan put us up for the night. Thanks! Meanwhile Erin was hosting the Baileys. We joined them at the airport on Wednesday morning as they began their trip to Europe. The meeting was brief, but we were able to send them on their way with our best wishes. The parking fee at the Regina airport was a shocker—eight dollars! Yikes! Then we packed up Kristian and headed east for a lovely stay with Tom & Mariette in Winnipeg. Board and room were generous, but Tom was not so kind on the course, as he took it to me at Teulon Golf Course on Thursday! Kristian and Wendy enjoyed a nice tour with Mariette through the new dinosaur exhibit at Assiniboine Park Zoo. Thanks for the nice stay in Winnipeg. Today, we have been surveying our next projects around home. Wendy did some shopping and I did some weeding. The rhubarb needs picking and the potatoes are doing well, but that's the limit of my garden this year. The markets were very helpful this week, and I am already at quota for the month of July, so I can attempt to make up for the lack in May! MLB has been in all-star break, but the Jays have returned to action again, but are failing to return to action in winning mode! Let's go Jays! The Riders played BC tonight and continued to struggle, even more so after Darian Durant fell to injury in the first half. There were encouraging signs for sure. Still, it's disappointing to see them falling to 0-3 in this rebuilding season. Let's go Riders! 

As mentioned, the Baileys have flown to Estonia and have taken up residence in Tartu for the next few weeks. Eric & Erica will provide some of the supervision and leadership with the group. 

Erin is home alone after we took Kristian with us to Thunder Bay. Now, she'll have no one to mess up the house, so she'll have a wonderful time with summer house cleaning!! 

Trav & Joanna had big news this week as their bid for a house has been accepted. There remains work to do on the conditions, but we'll be watching that with them in the coming weeks. Otherwise, our house and yard are looking pretty good, so thanks for taking care of things while we were gone! They have been very busy with their usual work, and this week took on a special project—coordinating and photographing Matt Murray's day with the Stanley Cup! That is set to take place on Tuesday; we are all looking forward to that! 

And that's about enough for this week. 

Saturday, July 9

News Update

Another week has passed, and I have wandered away from the shore of Lake Wascana for a while, but I have returned to it this evening. The big event of the week was the annual Pryder Cup between friends in Bismarck and Dauphin. As has become the norm, the golfers hail from farther afield to contest the event, but the camaraderie is as warm as ever! This year's event was in Bismarck. I drove down to Weyburn on Wednesday, left the car at Kal-Tire for servicing, and rode south with Kerry. We met up with the crew at Washburn Thursday at noon, and played the first round of the competition there. The original Canada vs USA format has been abridged several times due to the availability of participants, and this year it took the form of veterans vs youth. The young guys took the first round, opening up a two-point lead after the stroke play event at Painted Woods. On Friday morning at Prairie West, the old guys roared back to take a one-point lead, only to see that lost in the afternoon scramble matches at Riverwood and Friday ended with the youth holding a slim one-point lead. It was left to the Saturday rounds at Hawk Tree to determine the outcome. Once again the Vets won in the morning to tie up the affair, but the kids took it to us in the afternoon to close out a 2-point win. It was great fun. I drove back home this evening, arriving just before midnight. It's good to be home away from home at Erin's. The week has not gone well for me in the markets either, although I did end in the green, but short of my quota. The Riders are green, but they also fell short, in overtime, to another green team—the Edmonton Eskimos. The Jays are blue, but they went on a tear prior to the All-Star break and have improved their position considerably. 

The big news this week from the Bailey household is that Haaken passed his Learner's exam toward his Driver's Licence. Yay Haaken! Now both boys are practicing for their driving exam. A friend is having a costume party with a Lord of the Rings theme this weekend, so Liam has been working on an Aragorn costume. He also showed off his culinary skills by making Lasagna for the family on Friday night. The boys are exchanging and rearranging their rooms, so the apartment is a bit of a disaster at present! Eric and Erica have been working, and preparing for the trip to Estonia that begins next week. 

Erin and Kristian continue to take care of us. While I was away, Kristian trained Grandma on using the smartphone app to do GeoCaching. They found two caches, and also spent time at the Regent Park pool. 

Travis and Joanna hosted her mom this week, and celebrated their anniversary most of the week as well. It seemed they were eating out at special spots on both sides of the border several times. We look forward to getting back there in another week. 

And that's about it for this week. 

Saturday, July 2

News Update

Another week has passed and we have returned to the shore of Lake Wascana in the middle of the prairies. It bears repeating that we enjoyed a great time in Yellowknife! On Sunday we drove from High Level down to Edmonton and enjoyed the evening and night with Scott and Dolly—thanks very much! On Monday we continued to Sylvan Lake where we were introduced to Jim and Carol's new home—nice place guys; we enjoyed the largest and coolest bedroom in the place! Finally on Tuesday, we headed eastward to Regina, where we are comfortably ensconced with Erin and Kristian—thanks for your hospitality! So, we've enjoyed another blessed week. I had a shorter week in the markets due to the Canada Day holiday, and there was still turmoil due to the Brexit vote, but finally we got some bounce-back and I made some good recovery. However, the month ended well short of my target, so I'll have to pick up the pace in July! I enjoyed golf games on Friday and Saturday. On Friday, I played Tor Hill with Dale; that was just okay, as has seemed to have become my norm lately! It shouldn't take 90 strokes to get around a golf course! Today, I enjoyed golf with Kristian, Erin and Wendy—that was a lot of fun! The Riders have begun their season, but it was not a good start for them either. They'll need to improve in July! Finally, the Jays have dropped off lately. All told, I'm expecting a broad range of improvements this month! 
Liam's Awards
Liam finished his exams and closed the books on grade 10! He won several awards for his year's work, including a $700 scholarship for his ministry achievements. Congratulations Liam! He's back home for the summer. He saw the doctor about his stomach issues and one initial thought was that it might be his gall bladder. The doctor wants to see the results from the tests done in Moose Jaw, and then may need more tests. In the meantime he is on some medication for when his stomach is upset. Haaken came down with a nasty cough this week, so he's been consulting with a doctor as well. He's on medication to clear the congestion from his lungs. Erica was out of town for a few days for an audit and enjoyed being out in the field once again. Eric continues to hold down the fort at home and work. 

GeoCach#1
Lotsa stuff in there! 
Kristian completed his school year on Wednesday. Kristian, Wendy and I got out for some golf practice on Thursday. We introduced Kristian to the hobby of GeoCaching, and he was an instant enthusiast! He kept locating new sites "nearby", and leading us to them. It was amazing how quickly he caught on, and how effectively he navigated the tiny maps on our iPhones! Erin has been dealing with another infection in her hand, but it is showing good improvement. 

Travis, Joanna, Gemma and Andrew continue to hold down the home base. Gemma and Andrew have taken turns cycling Joanna into the ground, or pavement, as the case may be. Otherwise life and business seems to be continuing pretty much as usual, and the photography facet of their operation continues to expand. 

And that's about it for this week.