News Update

This week begins on the shore of the Colorado River, on the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon-Spectacular!

It is a spectacular sight which we're seeing for the first time. We spend the day at the Canyon, and then retire to Williams AZ for the night. On Monday we drove to California. It showed 41° as we drove across the desert, and we were certainly glad to have the AC in good working order. We actually caught up with Rob, Sharon, Tony & Lisa as the Palm Springs airport; we look forward to visiting with Tony & Lisa when we get back to Canada. Rob & Sharon toured us around Hemet, including the 25th Anniversary re-release of Forrest Gump! Thank you dear Aunt and Uncle! We look forward to getting back to Hemet next Saturday. After some rest, and a lot of conversation, we headed south on Wednesday. We met our contacts at the San Diego airport, and then followed them south into Mexico and finally to Ojos Negros.

Rocky Hills near Ojos Negros

Thursday saw us back and forth to Ensenada, picking up groceries and supplies. Friday and Saturday, we were working at the site. Wendy took charge of the painting area, and I worked on construction of the roof trusses and the gable ends.

Priming all the wall panels

The heat was oppressive and we both took a little too much sun as well, but excellent progress was made and we're ready for the bigger team to arrive tomorrow (Sunday). 

Eric and Erica closed off this week in Regina. Eric had a conference on single session therapy where he learned to fix all your problems in 60 minutes or less. This reminds me of a Bob Newhart sketch, “Stop it!” Anyway, they made a weekend of it, visiting with Erin and Kristian. Liam was off work and Kristian was off school so they took in a tour of Stonehall Castle - the only medieval castle in Canada. The building is circa 1920’s, but the current owner has spent 13 years and millions of dollars to renovate it into a 1620’s castle. They all enjoyed the tour! Haaken has applied for a few more jobs including one in Victoria. Eric/A will travel out there in a few weeks to see a presentation of his work and figure out where he will go from there. Please pray for guidance and for the right job for Haaken. He heard that the studio in Kelowna is interested. They are going to have him do some testing to see if he is a good fit for them. He will hear more this week. So pray that this process goes well for him.

Kristian is holding up as his arm heals. We look forward to hearing of progress on that. It seems their neighbour across the back lawn has moved, so that may improve their yard usage depending on what the new occupants are like. Of course they also had the pleasure of hosting the Baileys toward the end of the week.

Travis and Joanna are holding down the fort in Thunder Bay. They celebrated with Andrew as he graduated from high school. Congratulations Andrew! Congratulations all of you! Joanna proved her heart and worth as she intervened in the aid and rescue of a women who fell and broke her leg at an event they were attending. Yay Joanna!

And that's about enough for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed and taken us farther from home! Tonight we're in Albuquerque, so we need to remember to avoid that left turn! We began the week in Lawrence KS where we enjoyed the excellent BnB of Aunt Helen, and the company of friends and family. Thank you! On Tuesday, we drove down to Stillwater OK where we enjoyed the hospitality of Jack & Joanne, and Steve & Jenny—thank you all! I got to take his 1946 Harley for a short cruise–I've never even seen a motorcycle with a hand shifter before! It was a bit of strange on the weight and balance as well! I also got to take my best girl for a drive in both a '29 Ford and a '35 Chev.

1929 Ford Model A

Both vehicles were a delight to drive around a few blocks. Of course, we got in lots of reminiscing about Zambia, and were able to solve all the problems there once again!! They had suffered a loss, as Jack's brother recently passed away, so we shared condolences as well. On Thursday, we drove over Okeene OK and reconnected with part of the Calder family who we also know from Zambia. Rod is currently away in South Africa, but Sue and Josh were there, so we caught up with them, and remembered many shared memories and made a few more! Thank you for your kindnesses. This morning we enjoyed breakfast, and then got back on the road west.

Got to drive on Route 66!

I missed one turn, so we put on a few extra clicks, but still made good time and rolled into Albuquerque in time for a nice supper. It's been a rich week, and although the markets teetered over news from the middle east, I managed a good week and made quota. The Jays have managed to win a couple of games—from Boston no less! Yay Jays! The Riders played in Ottawa behind their backup QB. Their QB is looking at several weeks to overcome the headshot from game 1. Anyway, the offence played very well, but the defence was sorely deficient and they lost again. Let's go Riders! 

The Bailey's got their roof rebuilt and re-shingled just in time for the rain.

New Shingles brought Rain!

There were quite a few boards that needed to be replaced once they got the old shingles off. It sounds like it was a good thing they got it done this year. Now they just need to pay the bill—yikes! Erica had a meeting in Regina and was able to swing by Moose Jaw on the way home and have a visit with Liam. He is living the life of a paid actor! Next weekend he has training to become a paid camp worker. Haaken has applied for a few more jobs. Some places indicate they are interested in diversity and hiring individuals with disabilities so they have been talking about how to accomplish that.

Kristian had a crash and burn week. He fell at school, breaking his radius and bending his ulna. So, he's in a plaster cast for a couple of weeks and then they hope to switch to the lighter fireglass version. He's been quite a trooper through all this.

Tough break, buddy!

Papa and Uncle Dave signed the cast!

The big event of the week, probably the year, in Thunder Bay was Joanna's birthday celebration. We managed an early occasion to mark the event, but it was official this week as she celebrated the 20th anniversary of her 30th Birthday! Congrats all around!

Happy Birthday!

And that's about enough for this week. 

Happy Father's Day!

Another week has passed and we've begun our early summer tour of western North America. We left Thunder Bay on Thursday, and are now on the flooding shores of the Missouri River in Lawrence, Kansas. But there's a bit of a story to that transition. First off, we completed a few more kitchen renovations, so the island is all ready except for the counter top. 

Island—also Barn Door in background.

Then, we put things away, including the live trap—it'd be hard to call it a "live trap" if we were leaving the poor critter to starve! Wendy got one last car wash, and we headed out on Thursday morning. Our trip has not gone as expected. Our first surprise was as the weather warmed up and we put on the AC—no cool! That was not cool! We're getting that fixed here in Lawrence, to the tune of $200 or so! Wendy had booked us in to a bnb in Minneapolis, but that didn't turn out as expected. We arrived at the location to discover that the owner was not there. Fortunately, another guest just happened to be in the house, so he, somewhat reluctantly, let us in. Turns out he's a student who has travelled from Germany to meet his internet girlfriend. He was a nice young man, and, for sure, saved our day. The bnb had promised to send us an email with the check-in instructions—that never happened. The bnb had promised to provide a fully stocked kitchen and fridge for all our eating needs—that did not happen. The bnb had boasted, "No mobile service—no problem!" Turns out that was incorrect as well. We finally found his phone number, and began making inquiries. "Oh, the food? Yeah, I've cancelled that offer." Not a good surprise. "Oh, towels? Yeah, I'll be right over with those." He finally put some wet towels in the dryer at 4am, but since the dryer was so overloaded, they were not dry in the morning, sigh! "Oh, and breakfast? No, that's not provided either." Puts quite a different colour on bnb! "Oh, TP? There should be TP." Yes, I agreed there should be TP, but there wasn't. We ate out that evening, and bought groceries for breakfast. Somehow, he forgot to offer reimbursement for that as well. On Friday, we headed south again. Wendy used her trusty GasBuddy app to find us a deal on fuel. Hey, it was only 50 km off our course, but at least it was west, so we could then head straight south to Lawrence, right? Wrong! All the roads took us back to Kansas City! The result was we saved $2.40 on Fuel, and spent $2.25 on tolls! But hey, fuel for $2.09 a gallon is pretty good! And, best of all, we arrived at a superior bnb here in Lawrence—meals, towels, TP, everything! Thank you, Aunt Helen! Today, I went golfing with Larry. The regular course I've been golfing here for years has had some great upgrades. It was a nice experience. I turned in 93 for my first game of the year. The markets have returned to troubled. The world economy is suffering a lot under Trump's trade wars, and the US economy is pulling back as well as his tariffs really bite the US consumer. I managed a green week, but not up to quota. A bigger prize was from my dear children who provided me a bench sander for Father's Day. I've long wanted one, even tried to buy one on line (but that's another story!), and now I have one!

Producing dust like never before!

A couple of sports seasons have come to an end. I was delighted to see St Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup, and the Toronto Raptors win the NBA championship. The Blue Jays continue their mostly sad-sack season, but now, the football season has begun! The Riders lost their first game in Hamilton, but more ominously, lost their QB to a headshot on the third play of the game. Go Riders! 

"Eric is playing love the rainy nights on his iPhone. It’s a rainy day here in PA, but we got out to enjoy the street fair anyway. We stopped by a local women’s clothing store and I was pleasantly surprised to find a couple of items that fit me and were on sale! Bonus! (Yes, Dad, another new outfit.) Eric also got a new rain coat as the one he was wearing had a big hole in the side and we found one half price. Liam had an interview and received an offer to work at The Quest camp in August and his employer in Moose Jaw has granted him a leave so he can accept. Haaken continues to work on his portfolio. He has applied to two jobs and is preparing to apply for a third. He would appreciate prayers for his job search."

Erin and Kristian had a good week in Regina. Kristian had a sleepover at Omarion's, and got to hold the new baby sister, Ariana.

with Ariana

He had a PD day on Friday, so no classes that day. The school year is definitely playing out at this point.

Trav and Joanna bought a new pergola for their back deck. They had an assembly party, and have it all in place with their deck sofa. 

Mmmm, comfy!

Makes for a very comfortable set up there. Their new cockatiel seems to be settling in well. 

Dr. Bunsen

And that's about enough for this week. 

News Update

It's been a week of beautiful weather here on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. Today hit 30°, and that's where I draw the line—just getting too hot! I've managed to get out to the golf course a couple of times, but it seems I'm just getting older, not better! I took some time for a bit of a diversion this week and got the old Cougar out. That's always fun!

Took my best girl out for ice cream!

I've pretty much got the garage cleaned for now, and have returned to work on the renovations and a couple of woodworking projects. With the expected sunny days, I watered my dandelions, and am expecting a good kill rate. The critter has not been back, so the trap sits in place, unoccupied. I'll have to put it away when we head south next week. Wendy has been pushing hard on the kitchen. She has moved a lot of stuff back into the cupboards, and also unpacked other stuff that has been waiting in storage downstairs. She has been working on the painting, staining, and finishing. It's really looking great in the new kitchen.

I like how this is turning out!

I expect we'll wait until after our summer trip to get the countertop for the island; in the meanwhile, a couple of countertop remnants make it quite serviceable. Tonight we were out for a musical event featuring the women's barbershop chorus and other local musical talent—it was very well done. Trump has been traveling this week, but he's still launched a few broadside tweets. However, GOP senators have been expressing some resistance to his tariff wars, and that seems to have brought some moderation, so we had a good week on the markets. Friday was more poor economic news in the US as the jobs report was dismal. However, it's at the point where bad news is good news for the market, as it is seen as assuring the FED will push a rate cut to try to moderate the damage. This weekend, he dropped his tariff threats against Mexican goods, so we look forward to starting next week positively as well. The NHL playoffs are nearing their conclusion, and the Blues are ahead 3-2, with game six in St Louis tomorrow. Raptors are a surprising 3-1 leader in the NBA finals; I hope they finish that off in Toronto on Monday. Blue Jays continue to play sub-par baseball. The young guys show signs of potential, but also signs of inexperience. 

Erica has a date for her Telehealth session. It's set for 7pm, June 20th. She'll be explaining her Lipedema journey to people across Saskatchewan. We pray that this will be successful in getting a good attendance, and that it will help more women who are dealing with this disease. Eric/A have started to settle into a more casual pace as their busy seasons come to an end. They have begun scraping 100 years of paint from the front deck pillars. They hope to have them ready for painting by the time the paint sales come on in mid-June.

Paint Prep in PA

Liam continues to work in Moose Jaw. He is also considering working up at Quest Camp for August. Haaken is in his final term at Victoria College. He is getting his portfolio together to apply for animation jobs. We pray for a workplace for him where he can use his gift, and where people have an understanding of autism. 

Erin and Kristian have enjoyed a quieter week. Work was still really busy for Erin because they're currently short-staffed with Gayle away. Erin has had to learn some new stuff like how to post fleet sales to rental companies. Kristian is preparing a presentation on Golf for his class at school. He has grandly titled it Everything about Golf—I wish I could attend and get that information myself! Kristian also got to go swimming and to the Lawson Fieldhouse. End of year activities have already started. 

Travis and Joanna are looking at the purchase of a cockatoo. They plan to pick it up tomorrow. It is even bigger than Beaker—woe is me, and my toes! They have also been working on enhancements to their house and yard. They've installed a small set of patio blocks so they could move their barbecue down to the lawn, thus freeing up some deck space. They're also thinking about getting a pergola to provide some additional privacy. 

And that's about enough for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been beautiful, and I've got out to practice golf three days. Wendy has continued work on the island, and has chosen the shade of teal for the main colour. We haven't bought the countertop for that, so I applied some of our old counter as a temporary measure and as a test case so we can check on sizes for the eating bar part.

Checking out Island Options

I have continued work in the garage; that's progressing as well. I even had the Cougar running today! We've had some company this week as Bram has graduated from the University. May and Rose stayed with us for a couple of nights. May and Bram were here for supper last night, before they headed west early this morning. Lloyd and Pam were over for supper this evening, and we expect them for church tomorrow. Hay-fever season has arrived for me, and I didn't anticipate it properly, and my Reactine has not caught up with it yet. The losing period for the markets has extended to a sixth week as Trump opened a new trade war with Mexico. As a result, May has been a write-off, and I've even fallen behind my planned pace for the year-to-date. The preseason has begun in football, and the Riders dropped their opener in Calgary. Baseball season continues; the Blue Jays provide entertainment, but not many wins. Stanley Cup final continues; the Bruins won tonight to take a 2-1 lead. I'm even paying a bit of attention to the NBA these days as the Toronto Raptors are playing in the final series.

Eric’s office has been experiencing some turmoil as one of their counsellors is diagnosed with cancer. He would appreciate your prayers for Marlene. On the upside, Eric got some sanding done on the back room. He installed (stuck it in the window) the air conditioner so they can sleep in comfort! Liam informs us that he is dating a girl from Briercrest. I’m not sure why he thinks he is allowed to date as he hasn’t reached 30 yet. Haaken has been posting some of his work on an art site linked to his LinkedIn account. So if you are Linked In with him you can see it. Otherwise check out haakenbailey.artstation.com. June is Lipedema month and the newly formed association is working on possibly doing a webcast! Erica may be sharing her story across Saskatchewan. We’ll let you know more once plans are finalized.

Erin has had a busy and difficult week as a co-worker lost her father and has been off work. She was already covering for her boss who is also away! Then, she got a call from Kristian's teacher that he has not been working up to expectations. She's hoping for a relaxation-break this weekend. Today, they went to Mosaic with Shawn and the kids. They were able to visit the pavilions of Scotland, Africa, China, Ukraine, Hungary, Philippines and Greece, but then Kristian ran out of energy. Still, it was a good day. Kristian also seems to be stuffed up from seasonal allergies.

Trav and Joanna have been working over here several days. Joanna is suffering with seasonal hay-fever as well, and she is not getting the relief she needs through her medications.

That's about enough for this week.