Gifts

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather continues to surprise with temperatures consistently above zero, and several days of rain. We hope things dry out before it turns cold again. We celebrated Christmas on Wednesday with Travis, Joanna, Eanok(our Korean student), Gemma & Jonas. Wendy prepared her usual feast of roast beast and all the trimmings—thank you! We also enjoyed chatting and following along with the celebrations in Saskatchewan. Wendy got a new puzzle, and has started work on those 1000 pieces! Thanks to my wife and children, I got a new laptop. At least it's new to me—it's a refurbished 2020 MacBook Air, replacing my 2013 MacBook Pro. The old machine just won't quit, but the keyboard has. 

abused keyboard!

I must drag my left hand too much as many keys on that end are worn through, but more seriously the H and P keys have decided that they won't work at all! So, I've managed by typing witin and letting autocorrect add the h, then I type hiccus and let autocorrect insert the p. Then, I copy the h and p into notepad and I can go and get them whenever they are needed! Not elegant, but it worked. Now, I will add a bluetooth keyboard to the old laptop and turn it into a desktop computer! I also received various other gifts, including golf balls, socks, a tree ornament, lighted gloves and a carpenter's pen.Wendy's big/little gift was Kali who is an exhausting little fur ball! Fortunately, Kali has been sleeping longer, and even through the night, so that is easing the exhaustion. The markets were only open for three days and the volumes were thin. We continue to operate under the chaos of President-elect Musk and his transition team. This week, he has begun a war between the MAGAs and the Tech Bros. Both factions agree that they want to prevent immigration, but in fact, the MAGAs mainly want to ensure that no brown people get in while the Tech Bros are happy to accept any colour as long as they're good software engineers! Grab your popcorn! Most of the sporting world is on specialized scheduling over the holidays so we focus on special events. The world junior hockey championship is on and we're cheering on team Canada. #7-Jayhawks won their game and improved their ranking. College football playoffs resume around New Year's next week. All three of my NHL teams played today and they all lost. 

Eric/A hosted the entire Team Bailey for Christmas in Prince Albert. That's Liam in red at the back, then Eric, Haaken, Mercedes, Kiersten, Greg across the scene and Erica in front. 

Erica writes, "We had a pretty wonderful week with Greg, Kiersten, Haaken and Liam all home. Then, as an added bonus, Mercedes was able to come up for a short visit. We went out to Elkhorn resort and hiked their groomed and some less-groomed trails. Then, we had a wonderful meal, care of my Mom and Dad (thank you so much!) We finished off the week celebrating our 31st anniversary."

Erin and Kristian had a quiet Christmas and Boxing Day with several Lego projects assembled, and the Harry Potter series attacked. 

Vegging out in Regina

We opened presents over at Travis and Joanna's on Christmas Eve. They did take some time off, and we were glad to have them join us for Christmas dinner. They brought Marigold along and we enjoyed watching the dogs play as well. Then, we closed the evening with a FastTrack tournament. Fun times! 

And that's a farewell for 2024. See you next year! 

Arrivals

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We enjoyed above zero temperatures early in the week and the driveway melted and dried off. It has turned cold again this weekend, but we're promised above zero weather again next week. No new snow has arrived, so my snowblower has remained on the sidelines. It's the season of advent, but also of holidays and family coming home to celebrate. We have already enjoyed some Christmas parties with the various groups we are part of, and we look forward to more family times here this year. However, we will miss out on connections with our Saskatchewan family. The USA is already experiencing the beginning of the Musk/Trump chaos as they conspired to interfere in the feverish legislative activity to fund the government down there. We have plenty of sound and fury in government ourselves, but at least we don't have unelected billionaires trying to govern via text messaging! Combined with the FED rate setting program, there were an abundance of things to bother the markets, and we have now endured three weeks of difficult markets with only the Nasdaq in the green for the month. My guy, #27-Koe, not only made the curling playoffs in Swift Current, he went on to beat #4-Jacobs for the championship. As a result, his world ranking has improved to #15. My gal, #5-Einarson, did not make the playoffs which were won by #8-Schwaller from Switzerland. My hockey teams are thriving at present, although only Oilers won today. Football is into the playoffs with the favoured teams having an easy time of it today. #5-Horns beat #12-Clemson fairly easily, but it was closer than I expected. In basketball, #8-Jayhawks won this week, but play again tomorrow before the new rankings will be voted.

Gingerbread Village

Erica writes, "The season festivities continue. We have celebrated more with friends and coworkers. My office has been doing festive things every day this week including making gingerbread houses on Friday.  I was up in La Ronge for three days so I missed part of it, but we still had fun. Liam arrived on Thursday and as I type this we are in Saskatoon waiting for Haaken’s plane to land. Greg and Kiersten arrive on Sunday. It will be a very full house—how wonderful! Eric finished grading papers for his class and now he just needs to finish grading the final exam. He has next semester off, which will be a nice break. I got my stitches out this week. My right hand is feeling pretty good. It is noticeably more free of stiffness than my left hand."

Lego Projects

Erin has been sick most of the week and even missed several days of work. She's hoping to recover over the weekend. Kristian got his new lego kit, and, moments later, had it built and added to his collection. He also installed a Christmas tree on the cat tree. 

Christmas on the Cat Tree

Marigold visting Kali

Travis and Joanna remain very busy as they try to get as much product out before Christmas as possible. Still, Travis flew down to Ottawa to bring home his newest dog—a pretty little Pomeranian named Marigold. Joanna has had extra time at work trying to fill orders there as well. And Gemma & Jonas came home this week—busy times. 

Gemma meets Marigold

And that's enough for this week. 

Frozen

Blowing Snow!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The temperatures dropped into frigid values midweek, in the minus twenties, but, thankfully we recovered to melting temperatures this weekend, and Wendy was able to get out for a walk with Cali today. I had an infected toe last week, but a course of antibiotics and regular cleaning and dressing have it pretty nearly healed over. Wendy keeps busy with her music; I have had my final preparation for the Cantata scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Otherwise, we have hunkered down with the little dog while winter moved in outdoors, and were thankful for a warm, comfortable place to live. We got a dump of fresh snow early in the week, but the snowblower was up to the assignment. Yesterday, we had a volunteer opportunity, packing Christmas shipments at the Children's Aid Society. The markets are running in troubled fashion as they try to weigh the strength of the economy against what the FED might do next week. Pundits assure us that the FED will cut 0.25%, but I'm taking a wait and see approach. The curling event this week is in Swift Current and enough international teams have declined the invitation to allow #27-Koe in—they're doing well so far. #4-Einarson has missed the playoffs on the women's side. In hockey, all of my teams are doing a bit better. Leafs and Oilers are solidly in playoff positions, and Pens are close. Bowl season has begun in football, but Longhorns' loss last week dropped them down to #5, so they will play Clemson in the first round. #10-Kansas was dropped further than I expected in the new rankings in basketball, but they responded with a strong win today. 

Eric writes, "It's been busy: Monday, Erica had band practice, Tuesday, she had a Women of Rotary meeting. Wednesday and Thursday, she was in Saskatoon and on Friday, we had another office Christmas party. Today, she and the neighbour have been shopping. I had meetings Monday and Tuesday. On Thursday, I supervised the final exam for my class. Today, I wrapped some gifts and rested as I have not been feeling well. Tomorrow, life gets busy again with church, the Rotary Christmas brunch followed by the PACMA Christmas party and a jam session. Busy! Fun, but busy!"

Kristian assures us that not much new is happening in Regina. He located a Lego set on line. He has made the purchase, and is awaiting the delivery. Erin is off to an office Christmas party this evening, but otherwise the week has been mundane. 

Travis and Joanna continue to recover from their illness, and to catch up on work. They have pumped out an amazing amount of product on the PuckShots side recently. Last evening, we enjoyed getting over for Pizza and Cards evening with the dogs. Cali and the boys had a busy time and all slept soundly afterwards. They have purchased another dog, Marigold, who should be delivered next week. 

Coming soon: Marigold

And that's enough for this week! 

Concerts!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. Winter continues to move in; this week we received a bit more snow, not really enough for the snowblower, but I wanted to give it a try anyway! Last night, we got more snow, but now it is above zero and has been raining all morning, so this became be quite a mess by the time the rain ended and I finally got at it. I'm pretty sure the snowblower did not like pumping out that slushy stuff! We had our Silver Sound concert on Sunday. Wendy is singing tenor in the top left of the choir, I am in the centre of the top right area. We enjoy this choir a great deal, and plan to rejoin in January aiming toward a Mothers' Day weekend concert. Wendy had another concert on Wednesday evening with the Sweet Adelines choir—you can see her in the third row, right side.

Sweet Adelines Xmas Concert

She has another set for next Monday, and I am continuing to practice for the Cantata which is scheduled for Dec 15th. The market indices set new records again this week as some of Trump's more egregious cabinet choices are being rejected by the Senate, so folks are encouraged. The big economic fears centre around his rhetoric on deportation, tariffs and deconstruction of the civil service. I continue with my "wait and see" approach. In the world of sports, the Grand Slam of Curling ended with both #1 teams prevailing. Homan is having another phenomenal season on the women's side, and that Mouat team from Scotland is just amazing as well. In the NHL, the Leafs have ascended to first place in their division, Oilers and Pens have moved into a playoff position, so we keep cheering and hoping. My #1-Jayhawks suffered their first loss of the basketball season, so they may get dropped when the new rankings are published. In football, #2-Texas played #5-Georgia in the conference championship game this afternoon and acquitted themselves well, but lost in overtime. I still expect them to be highly placed in the college football playoffs. I won't be surprised if they win it all, but they've got to open up their playbook in the scoring zone—cannot continue to settle for FGs. 

...and presents under the tree...

Erica writes, "I had carpal tunnel surgery on Wednesday. Now, I have to figure out how to do everything left-handed while my right hand heals. Thank goodness for voice to text applications. Eric taught his final class of the semester and now he’s busy marking papers. We are slowly getting the house ready for company as all three boys and one girl will be home for Christmas."

Erin and Kristian continue to wait and cope in Regina. The wintry blast has been severe in Saskatchewan so far this season, with very cold temperatures as well as several blizzards. This weekend the weather has turned nice, the sun is shining, and the snow is melting—vive la différence! Earlier in the week, she suffered RAV4 failure as the battery inexplicably died. At least it's eligible for replacement under warranty, but it is a reminder of how much these modern vehicles and their computers rely on a very well functioning battery! We had a similar failure with ours where it just suddenly would not do anything, not even shift into neutral for towing! Kristian is completing his drug trial, but has signed up for a continuation of the treatments, so he'll remain in the trial for some extended time. Still nothing on the employment front for him. 

Travis and Joanna continue to recover, albeit slowly. As a result, we haven't been seeing them as neither they nor we wish to have us participate in this virus. They do summon the energy to get the boys out for walks from time to time. They are also needing to reserve some energy for the photo shoots that continue to be booked. Get well, guys! Gemma continues with an adventurous and educational posting on Vancouver Island. 

And that's enough for this week. 

Winter!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has turned decidedly colder, as we remained below zero most days this week. We also have received our first skiff of snow—not enough to shovel, but enough to see it in the grass, so we are convinced of the changing season. We are in the final throes of preparation for our Silver Sound concert which is scheduled for tomorrow. I plan to post a YouTube link of the concert once it is ready. Wendy has two more concerts with her Sweet Adelines chorus, and I have joined another choir for a cantata: Touched by a Child, Touched by a King; that one is on YouTube as well. Then, we have tickets for a Steve Bell concert in the middle of December—busy, musical times. We love it! Kali continues to mature and cause mischief, keeping Wendy very busy. The markets have completed another excellent month, and I remain on quota for an excellent year—thanks Uncle Joe. We got a further taste of the chaos associated with the new guy as he posted threats of tariffs on Canadian and Mexican products. That crashed USA markets for a day, but then, sensibly, folks recalled that he's not taking over for a couple of months, and that he seldom follows through on his threats. Mexico is the USA's biggest trading partner, and we're pretty high up on the list as well. 25% tariffs would be a tough pill for Americans to swallow on all those food stuffs and manufactured goods. The initial conclusion is that Trump likes tariffs because he can rake in that tax money in a targeted way while using carve outs to exempt his corporate friends and the other rich folk from having to pay it. In the world of sports, I managed to get out for my first curling practice, yesterday. That went okay, I didn't fall down, or experience any pain, and I had a team invite me to join them! Still no pain today, so I plan to keep at it. The curling event this week is the National in St Johns. My guy, #22-Koe is, as I feared, too far down to get an invitation, so my new favourite team is #8-McEwen who made the playoffs. My gal, #5-Einarson also made the playoffs, but both lost in the semi-finals. It will be #1-Mouat vs #5-Jacobs in the Men's final, and #1-Homan vs #6-Hasselborg in the Women's final. In basketball, my #1-Jayhawks continued their winning ways, moving to 7-0 on the season—Rock Chalk! College football is closing the regular season with conference championship games; #3-Longhorns prevailed today over their interstate rival #20-Aggies. My Sooners lost to LSU. In hockey, my teams are performing a bit better. Leafs have moved near the top of their division, Oilers are about in the middle of the pack and Pens are still vying for the #1 draft pick! 

Eric wrote,"We haven't erected the snow shed as it has been cold. The car enjoys when we go to work and it gets to sit in the underground parking. This week was the calm before the storm. On Friday, the local professional association (SK Branch of CACFT held its AGM in Saskatoon. I have stepped down from being president (staying available as VP to assist the new president). We stayed overnight as Erica had her regional Christmas party for work Saturday night. We used the opportunity to finish some Christmas shopping in Saskatoon." 
Erica added, "We spent some time Christmas shopping and managed to get clothes for both of us, but I guess the rest of the family is out of luck this year!"

Erin wrote, "Nothing really new in Regina. The weather has been pretty gross. The RAV is wonderful, but other drivers aren’t so great, so it takes way too long to get to work and then back home, stuck behind them. Long days, but we relax at the end. I'm thankful it’s American Thanksgiving as there’s extra football to help the relaxation inside at night 😊 Kristian’s still sleeping today, as he was up late doing chores. Machining classes don't start until August, so he’ll still need to find something to do until then. For one of our hangouts, he gave in and watched some F1 with me. I taught him to like Ferrari. Then, I gave in and watched some Cobra Kai with him. We’re pretty boring this week, but mostly keeping warm, at least. "

Happy 43rd Travis!

This was Trav's birthday week, although I told him that he's too young to celebrate for a full week! On Monday evening, we went out for Novemburger (local fundraiser for United Way) at Outlaws. The burgers were great—first time there for us. Wendy prepared a birthday cake for his actual birthday on Wednesday, but by then Trav had fallen ill, so they decided they shouldn't pass that along to us. They stopped by to pick up the cake & ice cream, and let us sing happy birthday to him. Joanna has joined Trav in the illness brigade, and they are still not feeling well. 

That's about enough for this week! 

Wizard Card

Facial hair so much lighter now.

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather continues its slow descent toward winter. Most nights see freezing temperatures and daytime highs struggle to reach double digits. There is still no snow here, but we did have a big dump (88mm, about 3.5") of rain on Tuesday. Otherwise, the days have been pleasant and we've been able to get out for walks with Kali. She is gradually building up her comfortable walking range; those 10cm legs take a lot of steps to get anywhere!

Happy Birthday, Rauni!

Wendy took Kali to visit Rauni for her 93rd birthday. She was delighted by the visit and to get acquainted with Kali. We both continue to be busy with music as we have choral presentations coming up in December. Yesterday, our routines were interrupted by a plumbing emergency. The shower control had failed. I discovered a replacement cartridge among my plumbing supplies, so the shut down was not lengthy. When I reported to Home Depot, they informed me that these cartridges were a free replacement, so I gathered that they have been seeing lots of such failures! The chaos of Trump is already being felt in the USA, despite that he won't take office until January 20th. He has been making wild picks for his various government officials—an accused rapist and sexual predator for Attorney General?! Fortunately, the Senate played the Wizard card and over-trumped that one, but dangerous candidates remain! The markets have been a bit wild, but remain buoyant and we continue to test record highs. This is producing another good month of gains—thanks, Uncle Joe. The world of sports is rolling out plenty of surprises, not as I expect and hope. The Oilers, Pens and Leafs which I follow in the NHL are performing well below expectations. The Grey Cup was won by Toronto in a pleasing upset of Winnipeg. At least Jayhawks keep winning, and retain their #1 ranking. Today, #3-Texas and my unranked Sooners played. Texas had an easy time of it against unranked Kentucky, while OU was up against perennial powerhouse #7-Alabama. Surprisingly, the Sooners put up a great fight and won that game—they are now qualified for a bowl game!

Erica writes, "The snow has arrived and our carport is still in its box, not doing its job of keeping the snow off our car! Our neighbour helped us out by shovelling our driveway and walk—good neighbours! Mystery Train (the girl band I’m in) played at a few care homes these past two weeks. Today, we played at a seniors' condo. There was a lot of dancing and singing along. At one point, we said we were going to do a more modern song—from the 1970s! Maybe not so modern after all. It has been fun and I’ve learned some more keyboard parts to play as well. Eric has brought up the Christmas Tree box and cleared a space, so I guess we will be putting that up this weekend. I got a call for carpal surgery on December 5 so this week included appointments with the surgeon and a pre-op with my doctor. The procedure is about 10 minutes and done with local anesthetic so nothing to worry about (mom!). No news from the rest of the clan."

Not much news out of Regina, except that the snow has arrived with a vengeance, and more is coming this weekend. No developments on Kristian's potential employment, but he did some fancy electrical work this week to repair an LED pot light downstairs, and he's thinking about taking more training. Erin is doing a bit of posting work from home this weekend, but unfortunately she's getting some help from Elly—LOL. 

Big help from Elly

Travis and Joanna are very (make that extremely) busy as the postal strike has them reconsidering shipping options. Some orders had already been sent, and now may need to be redone completely. We did have them stop by for soup one evening, but no time for games. They also came by today, but that was mainly to visit Kali! Travis and I also take some time to commiserate over our NHL teams as he also follows the Pens, Leafs and Oilers. 

And that's about it for this week. 

Trumpy

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has remained nice and we have enjoyed that.

On Neighbour's lawn!

Wendy and Kali get out regularly for constitutional walks on the lawns. However, Kali continues to experience some failures on her indoors programming! And her sleep pattern (getting up very early in the morning) is quite a problem. Wendy is finding it exhausting! Today, we went for her first long walk. Kali made it for the first 500m, but then wanted to be carried! Meanwhile, Trumpiness is already being felt south of the border as he makes his suggestions for cabinet level appointments. A few of them are raising eyebrows on both sides of the aisle. We shall have to wait and see whether the Republican senators remain true to their constitutional oath or if they give in to the MAGA threats. They have already been told that they will lose their jobs that they don’t knuckle under to Trump. I have to start focusing on what might happen next year, as there are only two months left of the Biden gravy train. Fortunately, the markets continued to post gains during the last Trump term, so that part may be okay. This week was a bit shaky as the combination of solid economic data and fear of the Trump chaos led the FED and investors to pull back their bets on further rate cuts and the soft landing. In fact, some are suggesting the Trump recession could begin in 2026, and some as early as next summer. In his first term, the markets continued to thrive, so, I'm still hoping. In the world of sports, the Grey Cup game goes tomorrow. The Riders are out, and I'm expecting the Bombers to beat Toronto. The Canadian Open of Curling ended on Sunday with Homan bringing home the gold for us, while Gushue was outcurled by the Scots as Mouat brushed up an easy win on the men's side. This week in curling there's the European Championships, so our event in Red Deer is lacking some lustre. #22-Koe, defending champion there, is trying to pick up some points to raise his ranking. So far this season, his refurbished team with a changing lineup has not been challenging for championships and is steadily dropping in the rankings. In the NHL, Oilers are playing a bit better; all three of my teams play today, and since two of them play each other some one has to win—Pens and Leafs won. In college football, #3-Texas had a rather tougher time winning than I was expecting. My unranked Sooners had the week off. In basketball, #1-KU Jayhawks rock chalked up another win today. 

Eric & Erica are musing about putting up their Shed-in-a-Box. I sent them some videos so that should clog up their browsers with a lot more videos and advertisements! They went shopping for some hooks to hang the guitars, but Eric bought a 6-string Uke (Guitar/Ukelele), so that was the end of work for today. Erica writes, "This week Eric and I have been talking about retirement and plans and investments, so we consulted our financial advisor, aka Dad! He gave us some advice… hopefully it’s sound. Eric is nesting in preparation for the kids coming home. He’s cleared out the dining room and hung up some of the guitars to give us more floor space. We are hoping to get the garage-in-a-box up, but it didn’t happen on Saturday. We are both on for worship team this Sunday. We had a quick chat with Haaken. He is progressing on his book. We suggested sticky notes to organize his thoughts and he says that has been helpful."

Erin had another productive week at work. It's looking like she has the new protocols pretty much nailed down—congratulations!

Yowsah! 

Kristian continues to wait for his employment call. I really thought when the folks at Franks began to inquire further, that his hiring was imminent. He got his haircut this week, and added some non-natural coloration—that's bound to help attract employers! 

Travis & Joanna remain very busy by design. Bucket Decals keeps perking, and PuckShots is ramping up. Still, they took time to host us for lovely supper and games night featuring stuffed pork chops and scalloped potatoes—delicious! Thank you very much! 

And that's about it for this week. 

Trumped!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been very nice, although we've had a few showers and some windy days—that's Fall here.  We have caught up on things here and completed a number of appointments as we settle in to these familiar routines. 

New dog, or new cat?

Wendy is spending a lot of time with the new dog, Kali, who seems to be fitting in well. For a tiny dog, she surely is a busy creature! I had chiropractor and dentist appointments early in the week. We are both back into choir practices as we prepare for Christmas concerts in early December. We're also on the worship team this Sunday, so we've been rehearsing for that—we do enjoy singing. I continue to recover from my back injury, and I am finally getting close to 40%—about peak performance these years! I am back to exercising and planning my reentry into curling. I've taken down the screens from the windows and Wendy has cleaned those in preparation for winter storage. We love our new windows. Clearly, a lot of people believed Trump's lies about the situation in USA, and refused to vote for an incumbent administration, or maybe it was because she was a woman. As a result, we now face the daunting prospect of another Trump administration. Last time around, he actually lost 3 million jobs and raised unemployment to as high as 14%, all while adding 7 trillion to the USA national debt. Under Biden, the USA economy is currently the best among the top industrialized countries, unemployment is at 50 year lows, and inflation is down to about 2% although the national debt keeps climbing. The FED cut the lending rate again this week, and the markets continue to roar higher, making a new record high for the fiftieth time this year. So, another good week of gains for me, thanks Uncle Joe. Playoffs are highlighted in the sporting world. Riders lost to the Bombers in the Western final while Toronto beat Montreal in the East. The Grey Cup game is next Sunday in Vancouver. In college football, #5-Texas had an easy time of it over unranked Florida. My unranked Sooners played #24-Missouri and put up a good showing, losing in the final minute. Basketball is underway; I got to attend a KU win last week, and to watch their win last night. RCJH! In the NHL, my teams are not doing well in the early going, but at least the Leafs are winning over half of their games. C'mon Oilers, Penguins! Curling this week featured the Canadian Open. My guy, #19-Koe did not make the playoffs, and at #19, he is at risk of not even being allowed to play in these top level tournaments, since only the top 16 are in automatically. #1-Mouat will play #3-Gushue in the final. On the women's side, my gal, #4-Einarson made the playoffs, but has lost out. #1-Homan will play #2-Tirinzoni in that final. 

Erica writes, "This weekend I’m in Edmonton with 'the girls' and visiting with cousin, Margaret. We have plans to see the farmers market, the Rocky Mountain Food Festival and the Deadmonton Haunted House. Plus, we might do some shopping. Eric is busy fitting in hockey games with his card hockey league. I’m hoping we get the carport up soon. It’s getting cooler and snow is in the forecast."

Erin and Kristian are waiting to hear back on his job application—nothing yet. He has been emailing with Patti (support person with DHHS), and made more applications. Erin continues to gain comfort in her new job—she's about a week ahead of schedule on the current monthend reporting. They got some snow last week, which made for icy roads, but it has melted away, and all is dry again. Kristian is trying to get his mom into the Lego construction hobby, so he bought her a lovely project. 

Not your father's Lego!

I think he helped her!

Travis and Joanna remain very busy with Bucket Decals, and are getting more and more photoshoots scheduled for Puck Shots. We barely got to see them this week. Andrew was home from Toronto for a visit, but otherwise, their other boys (their dogs) are doing fine. 

And that's about enough for this week. 

Arriving home!

Another week as passed and we have completed our journey south and returned to the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. Our quick trip got us as far south as Stillwater OK where we enjoyed a visit with Jack Bayles and family—thanks! We celebrated his 88th birthday and enjoyed our time there.

Happy #88, Dr. Jack Bayles!

Then, we began the long trip north. I got to enjoy a Jayhawk game in Lawrence—thanks Marti! And, we prevailed upon the hosting of Aunt Helen again—thank you!

The Crew in Lawrence

On Wednesday evening, we enjoyed our first Pizza and Praise evening with our friends in Lawrence—it was tasty and we enjoyed the singing! Then, on Thursday morning, we packed up to continue the trip home. The temperatures ranged from +32° in Stillwater to -3° in Minneapolis—can we stand it?! We spent Thursday night in Minneapolis, and then journeyed northward through some significant snowfall. Fortunately, the snow petered out before we reached Duluth, and we have returned home to fall weather (9°), but no snow here in Thunder Bay. We were planning a more extensive trip, but that didn't work out this time. Maybe there will be a later time! We got home Friday evening, and enjoyed a good night's sleep until 11am—I thought I was tired! Wendy has set upon laundry catch up and preparation for another arrival. The markets were troubled all week by various news items. Strong economic data in the USA caused investors to fear there may be no more FED rate cuts. This drove equities down. Weak USA jobs data on Friday finally gave us some recovery, despite that it was probably caused by the twin hurricanes and the Boeing strike. Also, concerns over the election are playing into market sentiment. We hope this gets settled next week! I only achieved about half of my quota in October, so I need a good November! It's football playoffs this weekend. Toronto prevailed in the east and will meet Montreal in the eastern final. Riders beat BC in the west, and advanced to play Winnipeg in the western final. Go Riders, Go! Oilers, Pens and Leafs all won their games one night this week—I'd like to see more nights like that! Oilers have lost their top star, McDavid, to an injury. He'll be out a few weeks at least. Sooners easily won their game this week. #6-Texas had the week off. #3-Gushue dropped his final two games and failed to get a medal at the Pan Continental curling event. #1-Homan did us proud, going undefeated to bring home the gold on the women's side. The big cash spiel in Edmonton sees #20-Koe advancing to the playoffs in the Saville Grand Prix. The Dodgers blew out the Yankees in five games to win the World Series!

Erica writes, "Happy Halloween! Eric had the treatment on his left eye on Monday. He spent most of the week in a dark room, catching up on sleep. On Thursday, he was feeling well enough to teach his class. We had an uneventful Halloween—fewer than 20 trick or treaters."

Kristian has been trying to work with the DHHS folks in his job search, but has not heard back from them this week. Finally, after more enquiries from Frank's business, declaring their interest in him, he has completed his application there. Now, we wait to see how that all plays out. Good luck! 

Bucket Decals completed October with a new record for most orders ever: 227, breaking the old record of 222 from 2021. Congratulations! Joanna had to get a molar extracted this week. It was abscessed, and may have been contributing to her sinus issues. We hope she finds improvement once the surgery heals.

Kali has arrived!

They completed delivery of the Yorkshire Monster this afternoon. Wendy has named her, KaLita, or Kali for short, and short, she is! 

And that's about it for this week. 

Tap your heels three times...

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown, but we are wandering, and currently in Lawrence, Kansas. We are enjoying the hospitality of cousin Marti and Aunt Helen. Thank you very much! We closed off our activities in Thunder Bay on Monday. I got in one more session with Dr. Barb, and my back is continuing to recover from the fencing incident. Wendy had a final choir practice in the evening. We had a smooth drive down to Minneapolis on Tuesday and continued down here on Wednesday. While the weather back home has turned decidedly cooler with highs some days failing to make double digits, the weather here has varied from lovely to hot, and usually with a significant wind—is this Saskatchewan?! On Thursday, it got as high as 32°, but retreated to the low 20s on Friday, so Larry and I got in a golf game. That was a lot of fun, but a lot of swinging as well. I scored +20, higher than I either like or expect—I guess I'll have to go again! We closed off the week this evening with a lovely singsong. Next week, we plan a further excursion down to Stillwater, and then a return home. The markets were troubled this week, and made little progress. The CFL ended their regular season, so we're ready for the playoffs. The Riders ended in second place in the west, so they'll host the semifinal game. The young season in the NHL is playing out with a usual set of surprises and disappointments. Oilers are playing a bit better, while Leafs and Pens are also playing only 50/50 hockey. My teams are letting me down so far, but we expect things to improve! Sooners lost another game today—soon their disappointment at not getting into the playoffs will be replaced by their despair of not even getting a bowl game! #5-Longhorns rebounded with an easy win. The curling event this week is in Penticton, and #20-Koe is there with his new player installed—they're doing pretty well. The bigger curling event starts tomorrow as the Continental Cup begins featuring the top eight curling countries from Austral-Asia and the Americas in both Mens and Womens divisions. #3-Brad Gushue and #1-Rachel Homan teams are representing us. Gold medal games are next Saturday. As expected, Dodgers and Yankees are contesting the baseball championship, with the Dodgers winning the first two games at home. It is now time for the Yankees to cue up the comeback! 

Erica writes, "We voted in the provincial election! Now we wait for election day to find out the results. Eric also managed to rig up our kayak storage system. We just need to pull out the kayaks to see if it works. This week was a pretty normal week, but on Friday, we joined some Rotary colleagues for the haunted corn maze. This included posing for photos with ghost sheets and a haunted church and house. It was fun." Eric is scheduled for his next eye appointment on Monday, with his good eye scheduled for work. Greg had an appointment with his surgical team in Thunder Bay on Tuesday. This included further surgery and many anxious hours. We had supper and a visit with Greg and Kiersten on Monday evening when they arrived in Thunder Bay, and have followed the rest of the events from a distance. They have returned to Kenora, where Greg continues his recovery. 

Greg and Kiersten

Erin and Kristian had another uneventful week in Regina. Well, truly it was less dramatic than last week. Kristian is pursuing his job application at Franks with the support of his friends at DHHS. We hope it works out for him. In the meantime, he's raking in the dough from his participation in the Drug Trial, however, that ends soon. Erin continues to gain comfort in her new role at VW. 

Travis and Joanna had a big week in Thunder Bay as they got another dog! This one is an unnamed Yorkie, and is about the size to be a plaything for the boys: Moxley and Darby. As fortune would have it, the Yorkie is destined to be Wendy's dog, so she'll provide the official name once she meets the beast. 

The Yorkshire Monster

And that's enough for this week!

Departure

Thanksgiving - 2024

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The week began with cool weather, but we're back in the 20s to close it out—nice! Bern & Alicia left this week and flew back to Regina. We were surely glad to have the visit! Thanks! As you may recall, I hurt my back working on the fence repairs. While that did have the benefit of ending the fence work, it has continued to inhibit my breathing and reaching ever since, so this week, I paid a visit to my local chiropractor, Dr. Barb. She inflicted considerable pain, but also achieved great relief. We are trying to clear up any remaining issues here in preparation for a short trip south next week. I have put the lawnmower and bikes away, and got out the snowblower and tuned it up. The best strategy I know to hold back the arrival of snow, is to be ready for it! Wendy has cleaned up her choir files, so she's ready to go also. We have our usual choir practices, and also preparation for the worship team for tomorrow, so lots of singing this week. The markets have been variable, but generally up, setting new records again this week as the USA economy continues to move forward—thanks, Uncle Joe! The sports scene continues to expand for me this time of year. The CFL season is nearing playoffs, but Riders have this week off. They have locked up second place, but still have a chance for first in the final week's action. Baseball is in the pennant series and I can feel mom's presence as the Dodgers and Yankees lead in their respective leagues. The Oilers have finally begun winning, but faced a formidable opponent this afternoon in Dallas and lost that one. The curling event this week is in Sault Ste Marie and included #3-Gushue and #16-Koe, both playing without their newly recruited seconds. Koe did not make the playoffs. #1-Texas finally got a legitimate challenge this week, and were pounded by #5-Georgia; those teams may trade places! Sooners have dropped out of the rankings, and got blown out again this week—they're just not very good this season. 

Looks great!

Erica writes, "The shed was completed on Monday, now, we are working on interior finishing. Today, we went to Canadian Tire to pick up rope and pool noodles to make a hanging apparatus for the kayaks. Unfortunately, there was only one pool noodle left, but a trip to the plumbing section got us some insulated pipe covers, so, we are going to try that. Liam left us on Monday and Moira Koops came for a visit on Tuesday. It was nice to catch up with her. Oh! Also, I played a gig with Mystery Train on Friday. It was a staff social event for the YWCA. We had a fun time!"

Erin and Kristian are doing fine in Regina. We keep waiting to hear of responses to his job applications, but he got invited to submit an application this week, so that is encouraging. Kristian had another appointment with the drug trial people on Thursday. They took another 11 vials of blood. They didn't have all their supplies ready, so, they had to call him back in, and thus he got paid twice! He also visited the audiologist to get his hearing aids repaired. Then, they toured the Audi dealership and the Toyota dealership, and a pet store where they saw baby rabbits—so, yeah, nothing much happened! 

Travis and Joanna have begun the season of Puck Shots as local hockey teams are booking photo shoots, and the parade to the rinks has begun again. They have been photographing about 100 teams in recent seasons, which, as you can imagine takes up a lot of time for them over the hockey season. Meanwhile, the Bucket Decals side is running hard in what is traditionally their best month. They visited us for Thanksgiving on Monday, and then stayed to play a bit of Fast Track. Gemma has now been posted for her practicum work with North Islands Midwifery in Port Hardy BC. Here is her posting note, you may have to expand it to read it: 

So proud! 

And that's enough for this week. 

Fall

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my home town. The weather has been fine, with seasonable highs from 15 to 20°. We are enjoying several outings with Bern & Alicia, and they have also taken the bikes out for a few rides on some of our excellent trails. Along with local visits to the Mission Island Marsh, and Hillcrest Park, we inspected Kakabeka Falls and the Flett Railway tunnel northwest of here one day, and hiked around the Sleeping Giant park on Sibley Peninsula, yesterday. It has been good to have their motivation to explore our touristy attractions which we residents so often fail to take advantage of. 

Fall Colours

Kakabeka Falls

Flett Tunnel—yeah, it's high, and about 200m long.
You can see the car at the far end.

Sea Lion—both sides

See Lions!

Hedge Trimming

We also have put Bern to work in the backyard, trimming the cedars and helping with the fence renovation. The latter action precipitated another fall—that of me, against a post I was trying to plumb! That hurt my back, and I'm still suffering from that; it also ended the fence repairs! At least we got the neighbours shed moved and the fence approximating straight! We had a sloppy week in the markets as CPI came in higher than expected so equity investors decided a 0.5% rate hike is no longer possible in November. Still, it was a green week as the strong USA economy pushed the indices to new record levels. In sports, the Grand Slam event ended with my gal #5-Einarson posting a big win over #1-Homan. On the men's side it was #1-Mouat with a surprisingly easy win over #2-Gushue. My men's team, #15-Koe has added a new player at second and looks to raise its ranking. As predicted, #1-Texas thrashed #18-Oklahoma in the annual Red River rivalry game. Riders hosted BC Lions tonight, and the win locked up second place for the Riders. We still have a chance for first place, but it's a slim one. Go Riders! The NHL regular season has begun, and all three of my teams (Oilers, Pens, Leafs) lost their opening game. In fact, none of them even scored a goal! Tonight, Leafs hosted the Pens, so someone had to win there—Leafs did! Oilers took on Chicago, but are still looking for their first win! 

Erica writes, "Liam’s home for the weekend and we are thankful. We hope to get the shed done—we will see! I have an appointment in February for Lipedema and skin removal on my arms in Bonn. So, pray that plans come together for that and that the surgery is successful. My pump arrived and I’ve been using it each night, alternating arms and legs. I’ve noticed a reduction in my pain and swelling so that’s good! Eric has a surgery date for his other eye on the 28th. That was sooner than we expected and we are glad! Greg has another procedure on his heart scheduled for the 21st—keep him in your prayers."

Kristian's bus pass finally arrived and he took advantage to get out for a meeting with his support group and to apply for three more jobs. We hope something comes through on the work front for him. He borrows his mom's car once in a while and goes shopping on his own—becoming uncomfortably independent! Work continues to go better and better for Erin as she works to perfect all aspects of her new assignment. 

Travis and Joanna are very busy this time of year. Joanna is also struggling to get back to full health. She thought she was all better last weekend, but is still fighting a cold and sore throat. It's the busiest time of year for Bucket Decals, so Travis has been pumping out the product! We had a lovely supper over there early in the week which was very nice—thanks folks! 

And that's enough for this week. 

Arrivals!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in our hometown. We have been working through medical appointments and fresh blood work with our doctors. So far, no big concerns are showing up, and that's a good thing at any age. The weather has changed to a bit more seasonable, and we have had frost on the local gardens. Bernard and Alicia arrived on Thursday; we are enjoying spending time with them. We have managed several games of Fast Track. Bernard helped with the fence repairs. Today, we ventured down to Grand Marais for a fun day along the lake. Otherwise, I had a dental appointment on Wednesday, and we had our usual choir practice on Thursday. The markets struggled most of the week in the face of global unease over the fighting in Ukraine and the Middle East, but, fortunately, the USA economy came to the rescue with blowout jobs numbers and we closed the week with some nice green—thanks Uncle Joe. Baseball has moved into the semi-finals in each league; there have already been some surprises. In college football, my #19-Sooners and the #2-Longhorns both have the week off to prepare for the Red River Rivalry game next weekend. Sad to say, I'm not expecting too much from the Sooners this season. The Riders had an important game tonight and managed a win in Edmonton to lock up a playoff spot. This week in curling is the first Grand Slam event of the season featuring the top 16 teams for both men and women. It will be #1-Mouat (Scotland) vs #4-Gushue in the men's final. It's two Canadian teams in the final in the women's final, as #1-Homan plays my gal, #11-Einarson. 

Erica writes, "I got my pump machine this week. It comes with pants that inflate intermittently to push fluid up my legs, and a jacket to push fluid up my arms. All together it looks like a costume for some comic book villain. We’ve been hauling sand to our back yard. We plan to level out a spot for the new shed. If the weather cooperates we plan to start building it this weekend. Liam has had several birthday celebrations with Mercedes this week. And he got another infusion of his medicine. We haven’t heard much from Greg, Kiersten or Haaken." 

Kristian continues with the slow process of his job hunt. He's expecting his bus pass, but everything about this effort seems to get delayed. Work continues to progress well for Erin. She's heading out for bowling tonight with some of her colleagues from work. 

Travis is very busy with work. He had a record month of orders in September, and October is continuing that trend. Joanna has been down all week with cough, congestion and sore throat—generally feeling yucky. She's finally feeling better and enjoyed the trip to Grand Marais today. 

Grand Marais Crew today!

And that's enough for this week. 

Summery Weather Continues

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The beautiful weather has continued into the Autumn and we're enjoying that. The lawns continue to grow, so I've been called upon to continue to mow! In anticipation of indoor times, I have begun an online video exercise series called ElderFit, although I am still managing enough outdoor activity so far. I have another fence section ready to go, and still many sections remain to be addressed later. Now, that the fence is basically repaired, I have found it handy to just do one section at a time. I have surveyed a challenging section where the neighbour's shed has fallen against my fence and pushed it well out of line. I will need to work with her to rearrange her shed before I can renovate that section of fence, but that probably won't happen this year. I played no golf this week, but I keep practicing the swing, which, I have determined (only took me about 60 years!), is the secret to effective play. We are into the Fall swing of activities, and once again, I see how easily I get myself trapped into too many scheduled things, sigh! The markets continued to see new record highs—I think the S&P500 has set over 40 record highs this year—thanks, Uncle Joe! As a result, September—historically the worst month for stocks, has turned in a very good gain. My #21-Sooners were penalized for their loss last week, but turned it around with a win today. #1-Longhorns kept their spotless record going despite losing their starting quarterback—young Mr. Manning is looking like he wants to keep the job. Curling is big this week with the top 16 Men's and Women's Teams in the country playing in Calgary. My guy, #5-Kevin Koe, lost out in the second round, while my gal, #3-Kerri Einarson, lost out in the first round. #1-Homan is the class of the women's field, but #10-Skrlik may give her a run for her 50K prize. On the men's side, #3-McEwen and #1-Gushue have advanced to the final, and, although my friend says to never bet against Gushue, I'm picking McEwen. At least the Riders came through for me with a win over Ottawa. That improves their chances of a home playoff game. NHL preseason games continue for another week, but, soon, the season will be on us. 

Sofa/Bed

Erica continued her 50th Birthday vacay in Costa Rica, and has now returned home, exhausted—but look who is trying out the new sofa! Who knew vacations were so tiring!? Eric continues his recovery from his recent eye surgery and things seem to be proceeding as expected on that front. They picked up a new sofa/bed in anticipation of the family Christmas gathering. Looks like it should do the job! Erica wrote, "Eric arrived back at home on Monday. His conference in Montana went well, and he enjoyed some adventure. He fit in an appointment with his eye specialist on the way. The specialist is happy with his progress and they will begin the process for his other eye. I returned very late Thursday night/Friday morning. The trip to Costa Rica was fun, challenging, very sweaty and at times relaxing. I faced a few fears—big ugly spiders, and heights. And, I met new friends in our travel group. It was really great, and I’m glad to be back home. Liam will be home next weekend. Nothing else to add from Greg, Kiersten and Haaken."

Hurray!

Big news out of Regina as Kristian was successful on his second driving test! Well done, young man! Now, to get a job as he continues his drive to adulthood. Erin's work continues to challenge and inspire, but she is pretty much in control of things at VW, even as she continues to be called back to help out at Toyota—don't be indispensable or you can't be promoted! 

Travis & Joanna are very busy, and now Joanna is also fighting a cold. Testing indicated a negative finding for Covid, so there is that! It's hard to have fun and games with them when they're short-staffed like this, so we look forward to her being on the mend! 

And that's enough for this week! 

And still more heat!

Another hot Summer week even as we move into Autumn! We ran up to 30° and beyond most days and it didn't cool off enough overnight either, so we ran our AC more than we have all Summer. It's cooler today, mid-twenties, so I took advantage to mow the lawn. I played golf on Monday, and puttered a bit in the shop through the week, but mostly, I remained indoors. The forecast is for more seasonable temperatures next week. Our expected daytime highs this time of year is only about 15°, which we find very comfortable. Wendy has begun her dental work under the new Federal Dental Program, and I am continuing my dental repairs. She continues with her Sweet Adelines, and we have both begun another session of rehearsals with Silver Sound Choir. That one runs until December 1st and concludes with our Christmas Show. I had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday to discuss a few issues including the pain in my upper back. She has assigned bloodwork to check on the need and efficacy of my current meds, and has approved my exercise program leading to more golf and curling! Yay! Only about another month of golf here, so we'd better start making plans to head south! Local curling will begin around Thanksgiving, and I'm planning to give it a try with my repaired back. The markets were pretty wild this week as traders speculated about what the FED would do on Wednesday, and then reacted and over-reacted to the actual 0.5% rate cut. Anyway, it made for a good week, and has turned an historically bad month in the markets into a nicely green one. #1-Texas and #15-Oklahoma were re-ranked after last weekend's wins in college football but the Sooners may be dropped some after their loss to #6-Tennessee today. The Riders put up a good offensive effort to beat Calgary this week and solidify their playoff position. Baseball is nearing the end of the regular season, so, soon, we'll all be Ser-i-es about baseball—well, not the Jays, they'll be serious about next season! Pre-season hockey has begun, and in a few weeks, we'll be back into the regular rhythm of the NHL. 

Erica writes, "I’ve spent the past week journeying across Costa Rica from the east coast to Montenegro with my “50” friends. We’ve seen a lot of wildlife and tropical forest and sweated ALOT! We met some new friends along with way with our tour group. It has been a good trip so far and we hope this continues next week. Eric had his follow up eye appointment and it is doing well. He is now in Montana for some training and touring around. Today he checked out Yellowstone park. Not much else to share." We have remained in contact with Eric as he travelled to Livingston, Montana for his workshop, and as he did some touristy stuff as well. 

Erin and Kristian remain fully engaged with her work and his drug trial. It seems there are frequently extra issues with his bloodwork, or potential side-effects to the meds, so he needs to get his licence so he can run himself around town to these appointments!! He takes the drivers test next Tuesday. 

Travis & Joanna keep very busy as usual. They did have us over for a pizza evening this week, so that was fun. 

And that's about it for this week. 

Struggling Forward!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been lovely with mid-twenties for daytime highs, and bright sunny days to enjoy. Wendy has pushed forward with weed work, and appears to be completing that job. The yard is looking good. I have been beset with aches and pains such that today, we even took covid tests again—negative, but why am I hurting? I certainly haven't been doing much physical work. I planned to complete the first two fence panels, and begin work on a third, but there was precious little progress on that front. I kept up with my golf practice swings, but no balls were hit this week—so, it's not that! I have a made a doctor appointment next week; we'll see what she suggests. On Wednesday, we attended the memorial for a dear friend who passed recently. That was a lovely chance to connect with many long time friends, of course, it was also a time to contract covid... we'll continue testing. On Thursday, we began choir practice again. We have nine songs (all new to me) to prepare for presentation in our Christmas Festival. The markets turned upward this week, and we staged a remarkable recovery such that we're back on quota for the month. Investors, apparently, have convinced themselves that the FED will cut the rates by 0.5% next week, and thus FOMO (fear of missing out) has motivated them to buy back in after selling for the first part of the month! "Prepare to be disappointed," is my mantra, when you're counting on the FED! #10-Einarson and #11-Koe both fell short in the curling playoffs last weekend, but Kevin at least improved his world rank. Riders have the week off to lick their wounds after back-to-back beatings by the Bombers. Blue Jays continue to play out the string, while trying to interfere with other teams who are struggling to make the playoffs. In college football, #2-LongHorns and #15-Sooners played well and won their games today, although, once again, the Horns were more impressive. 

Erica writes, "We enjoyed a weekend with Liam at the beginning of the week. Eric had his cross linking eye procedure on Tuesday. The first day he spent in the dark. The second evening he came out for a bit. By Thursday he could handle a couple hours teaching at the university. So far so good. I left him on Thursday to begin my epic girls trip to Costa Rica. Tina, Marina and I all turned 50 this year. We’ve made it to San Jose and today we headed for the east coast."

Kristian has received his upgraded resume, and continues to pursue applications for a job within walking distance of home. He received welcome news that the DHHS will provide a bus pass, so that may expand his search radius. Erin has had a hard week at work where she is not only completing the monthend at VW, but also called to help out back at Toyota—long days! Then, she also is called to attend to Kristian's travel to his drug trial appointments. 

We've enjoyed a couple of shared meals with Travis and Joanna. Of course, these also include some FastTrack games! Notably, the women won at FastTrack on Monday night—notable, because it's also rare!! Otherwise, they are keeping busy with work and their business. Soon, the emphasis will change from Bucket Decals to Puckshots as teams start to book their photoshoots. 

And that's enough for this week.