Regina

Another week has passed and we have returned to Erin and Kristian's place in Regina. We completed last week at Layne & Tiffany's in Mankota—thanks folks. On Sunday, we drove over to Bengough where we enjoyed gathering with many long time friends, and met some new people. The congregation provided a sumptuous pot luck—those folks know pot luck!

Aunt Grace, just turned 98! 

In the afternoon, we visited Aunt Grace at the Health Centre, and were fortunate to catch up with Joanne, who was there visiting her mother also. We then toured through some familiar locations in Ogema before completing the tour in Regina. I have got back to work on the stairs, and have almost completed that project. Wendy has continued with her illness, and on Thursday finally gave in to the notion of getting some medical attention. She has bronchitis, and is now on antibiotics and is using a puffer to help clear and cure her airways. She continues to cough too much, but is gradually feeling some better. As the week ended, we began celebrating Erin's birthday. I built an ice cream cake to order—this time it was peanut butter ice cream on the lower layer, with grape jelly as the topping. It tastes delicious. Astrid and Liam came over Friday evening for the cake ceremony and to play many games of Fast Track in teams. Shawn also came by when he got off work. Tonight, we continued the celebration with supper at Olive Garden where all of us ate too much and enjoyed the feast a great deal. I have advised Erin that as we get older, even celebrations take longer, and using a whole week to celebrate a birthday is not out of the question! It was another no good, very bad week in the markets as the continuing strength of the USA economy has prompted the FED to issue warnings of further rate hikes, despite inflation data showing continuing improvement. Sigh! We also close the week with heightened concerns over the situation for family and friends in the Fraser Canyon, the Okanagan, and Yellowknife. Our old home town has now completed an evacuation, and the fires lurk a mere 15km from town. The relatives in North Bend are on evacuation alert and some have lost homes there already. Likewise, in the Okanagan, the wild fires have taken homes and businesses and many thousands have evacuated. The world of sports seems a bit distant at times of peril like this. Riders continue to flounder—sigh! Jays remain in the playoff hunt, but we expect them to be challenging for top spot in their division—c'mon guys! 

Erica writes, "Eric and I returned home; then I spent the week in La Ronge and Melfort. Eric had some meetings at the U of S to get ready to teach a class this fall and winter. Eric and I had a lazy, recovery day on Saturday."

With Kristian's return home, things have returned mostly to normal at their place, aside from the grandparents residing in the basement!

Happy Birthday Erin!

Wendy's illness has made it a fairly low-key week, but we still celebrated Erin's birthday! Maybe we can get some golf in next week! 

Travis, Joanna and the dogs are holding the fort in Thunder Bay. We have frequent contact with them, and look forward to returning there. In the meantime, we remain thankful that they are available to manage any issues that may come up. 

And that's enough for this week.