Melting!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has remained mild, with melting each day and the streets and driveways clearing away the ice and snow. As a result, Kali has been taking us for walks each day, and returning home quite wet! Wendy keeps very busy with the two choirs and other business meetings. She completed her accounting project this week, submitted that, and got paid! Tonight, since it’s Valentine's Day, she took me out for Chinese food supper—sweet and yummy! The markets continue to be troubled as tariffs come and go, while threats of various kinds continue to be issued. The S&P500 remains in the red so far for the year. This week saw impressive numbers out of the USA government on both Jobs and Inflation, but investors are wondering whether they can believe anything coming from the Melon Felon. After all, when they gave him bad numbers, he fired the folks in charge! The Olympics are on and we are closely following our hockey and curling teams. Both men and women have moved into the medal round in hockey. Our curling teams are about half way through the round robin portion, and certainly have work to do to make the playoffs. In Basketball, #9-Jayhawks thrilled me with a win over previously undefeated #1-Arizona at home on Monday, but we got a reality check from #5-Iowa State on the road today! 

Erica writes, "I ended my job with MNP on Monday and flew up to Stony Rapids [only about 60 km south of the NWT border] to start my new job with Athabasca Health Authority. It was a week of meeting new people, making connections and trying to get all my tools and technology connected! It seems like a very friendly group of people, and the environment makes me feel like I’m back in Yellowknife. I have a housing unit so I can leave things there between visits. So far, I’m really glad for the change, even though it’s weird to be learning a new job again after 10 years of doing the same thing. Eric has been practising music, and is even looking at stepping in this week for Worship service as another leader is sick. There is ongoing changes in his job as his director is moving to a new role and there has been internal shuffling to meet the needs in the short term. I’m heading to Vancouver and Victoria this week for a Mom’s trip with Tina. We are going to visit our kids and have some fun. We leave late Saturday and are back next Sunday. Haaken has taken a few days off work to hang out with us.”

The mild weather has continued in Regina, so streets are clearing there as well. Kristian is surprised that there is not more traffic of muddy cars needing a cleaning. Maybe folks are thinking this is a false Spring, and worried about a return of stormy weather. Kristian’s uniform has arrived, so we’ll look forward to pictures next week. Erin finished both yearend and monthend this week! She was pretty pleased with that accomplishment, and we’re very proud. 

Travis has been commiserating through the Olympic games along with me. Joanna is feeling better, well actually, they both are. And the dogs—they have also recovered. Time for fresh haircuts! Or maybe that’s where they’re picking up the germs! 

And that’s enough for this week. 

…can Spring be far behind?

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The polar vortex has broken, and we have returned to single digit highs and even above freezing one day. Lots of slush on the streets as our salt loads take full effect—yuck! We had a couple of snowfalls with the change in temperature, so we were back on shovel/snowblower duty. Wendy keeps busy with her choir management duties, and has also spent a fair number of hours this week on her accounting project for a local business. She continues to recover from her cataract surgery but so far, she is disappointed with coordination of the vision between her new eyes. We had choir practice on Thursday morning—it’s quite a challenge to learn eleven new songs. I have been to the dentist twice this week as they prepare my new partial plate. I hope to have final fittings next week. The markets continue to fluctuate wildly with the chaotic activity of the Melon Felon. The USA economy is suffering a lot of job losses; we’re also losing jobs here. Some of this is because of the USA trade wars, some of it is due to changes in the job markets due to Artificial Intelligence applications. Crypto valuations have dropped about 50%, and even Gold pulled back almost 20%. So, it’s a tough environment in which to make investment decisions. The sporting world is turning a large part of its attention to the Winter Olympics. We’ll be cheering on Team Canada with particular attention to Hockey and Curling. The NHL is on hiatus; Pens headed to the break on a solid rally. Leafs and my Oilers are not playing so well, but at least the Oilers are in a solid playoff position at this point. My #11-Jayhawks keep winning, but they have some highly ranked opponents on the horizon including #1-Arizona next week! Last Sunday, it was my team, Kerri Einarson, who prevailed to win the Scotties. They executed a phenomenal angle-in hit and stick to tie the game in the final end, and then stole a point in the extra end to secure her fifth Canadian championship. 

Erica writes, We honoured two birthdays this week—Liam on the 4th and Haaken on the 7th. I’ve been working on wrapping up my work at MNP. I will be working this weekend, too, and I finish on Monday. The PA Raiders have clinched a playoff spot and we have clinched playoff seats! We are looking forward to some great playoff hockey.” 

Erin and Kristian are enjoying a break in the weather in Regina with temperatures surging well above zero. As a result of the warmer temperatures, Kristian has returned to his regularly scheduled work, but he’s still waiting for his uniform. Erin has been busily engaged in the year end reporting for 2025 at VW, but she also has a monthend report to do—busy times, but good times. The cats are coping well despite their servants being away all day at work! 

Travis and Joanna came over for a visit on Sunday evening. We played some FastTrack—that went well! The dogs seem to have come down with some kind of cough. They mentioned this on Sunday as the thinking behind not bringing any over for a visit with Kali, and it has persisted. The boys are fighting their way through the illness, and the Poms are being treated with antibiotics. At least Trav and Joanna seem to be doing okay, and are planning a warm vacation later on. That’s a nice thing to look forward to—we’re doing the same, but ours is called Summer! 

And that’s enough for this week. 

It’s a slippery game...

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The polar vortex has broken here, and we’re back looking at daytime highs in the single digits of frost. We have been threatened with more snow, but so far—nothing! And, after ninety-seven days, January is finally over!

Let the healing continue!

The big action here was Wendy’s cataract surgery—both eyes are done now. The painful part seems to be over, now we wait for the healing to be completed and vision to stabilize. She will continue to meet with her ophthalmologist to supervise the healing and to decide what to get for reading glasses. The markets ran badly all month as the Melon Felon kept things in a turmoil. Despite that, I got to quota this week, but then Thursday and Friday happened, so I fell short! The Trade War is wreaking havoc all around the world, and, while USA is suffering the most, we are not escaping scot free. The NHL is playing out their tightened schedule before the Olympic break. Oilers and Penguins are doing well. Leafs are in last place in their division. #14-Kansas was moved up again in the rankings. They played #13-BYU today, emerging victorious and raising the expectation for another rankings hike. My main preoccupation this week was Scotties Curling with three games most days! My favourite, Einarson, has fallen to the semi-final tomorrow afternoon where she will face Sturmay, hoping to advance against Lawes in the final. 

Erica writes, “Big news out of PA this week: I have accepted a new job with Athabasca Health Authority. I will be visiting Stony Rapids once a month and working from home the rest of the time. Eric and I meet tomorrow to review January and how far we got in our plans to make progress on the house… in summary, some progress was made, but not enough. Greg is back home in Kenora after a small stroke and surgery to repair. The doctors say he has a condition where his blood is too thick. We hope the new medications will help. I am making plans with my friend, Tina, for a mom’s trip to BC to see our kids. We leave on Valentines Day. Nothing to add from Liam.”

Erin and Kristian are handling the deep freeze in Regina. Kristian's diesel car managed to operate all week, so that was another positive. He got his first pay cheque this week—impressive! I recall my first official job where I was making about $2.50 an hour building machinery in Kipling—times have changed! My first paying job was stooking sheaves, and I made $3 a day, but I saw that as six boxes of .22 shells! 

Travis and Joanna are struggling through a long January with the rest of us. Now, we move on to the shortest month, and prospects improve! We’re now over a month past the shortest day, so we’re starting to enjoy the longer time of sunshine. 

And that’s about enough for this week. 

Polar Vortex

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. It has turned cold, very cold as a polar vortex has taken over the weather maps of the continent. Even here, south of the 49th, we’re feeling temperatures into the -30° range, with windchills into the -40° range. It’s supposed to break over this weekend. The frigid weather seems to keep the snow from falling, so we’re relieved from snow plow duty at least! Wendy has her regular business work for Sweet Adelines, and this week she added her yearly assignment of cleaning up the books for a local business. She enjoys that stuff! I worked on repairing the bed frame for the guest bedroom down stairs. The markets continued to flail in the face of the Melon Felon’s demand to take over Greenland. However, the TACO play eventuated as he backed off, and investors gained some confidence. Still, the S&P500 has suffered its worst two weeks in over two years, and I am suffering as well! In the NHL, my three teams struggle along. The Pens had a good week as they also slaughtered my Oilers in Edmonton—c’mon man! The Leafs hosted a former star who they had traded away, and suffered a solid beating! Scotties Curling has started, so I will be fully employed for the next week! Our local team has qualified again, so we cheering for her, but I’m expecting my usual favourite, Einarson, to be a strong contender. She has opened with two wins. The #19--Jayhawks were not rewarded to the level I thought they deserved, however, bit by bit! This week they won two road games which are always tough, and I expect a further positive move on the ranking. 

Erica writes, “It’s been a very cold week, but we’ve managed to stay alive. Eric has spent a few days back in the schools doing some counselling. I spent a bit of time this week helping our neighbour get medical and school records for her son; that has been interesting. Greg was in the hospital—we keep telling him to stay healthy and he keeps disobeying us. Parenting is tough! We’ve also been enjoying the Raider games in PA. They are having a good season. There is nothing new from Liam or Haaken.”

Kristian and Erin have hunkered down under the deep freeze in Regina. Kristian’s car could not manage to start some days despite being plugged in. That’s not a surprise with diesel cars. It was also too cold for his usual work of detailing vehicles, so he moved on to the assignment of doing the walk-around with customers who were dropping off their cars for service. He took note of all dings, scrapes and scratches with them. Today, he got a fresh haircut. 

Dude!

Travis and Joanna joined us for supper on Monday—that was nice! Their cars have misbehaved in the cold here, as both refused to start on Thursday.

Hey, it worked!

They live in an area where they are required to move their vehicles to a different side of the street each day to accommodate snow-clearing (which the city never does!), or else they will be ticketed (which the city rigorously does!).  They are running again now. Otherwise, work continues for both of them pretty much as usual. 

And that’s enough for this week! 

Another Wild Week!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been wild with temperatures up to +3° and running water in the streets followed by -20° and snow on top of the ice! Not good for walking or driving. I have been back to the dentist and they’re now making me a new partial plate to replace the one I got last Fall. It turns out, they ground it too thin, and a piece broke off, allowing food to migrate between the plate and the roof of my mouth—yeah, that’s not gonna work! Wendy’s Sweet Adeline choir restarted on Monday and Our Silver Sound Choir restarted on Thursday. We have a batch of new songs to prepare for the Spring Concert. I think the theme is Forever Young, so we have that song as well as When I’m Sixty-Four, Imagine and You’re My Best Friend. There are a total of eleven songs this season. We got some significant snowfall this week, but thanks to the shovels and snowblower, we got the driveway cleaned up. I started up the camper—I’m trying to run it each month through the winter. It ran fine and warmed up nicely, charging up the batteries properly as well. The markets whipsawed this week as folks questioned where the USA is going through all the turmoil. In hockey, my Oilers are in second place in their division, Pens are in third place in their division, and even the Leafs are only two points out of a playoff berth! The Jayhawks lost their ranking after last week’s action, but put up two impressive wins including taking down #2-Iowa State, this week. I’m expecting about a #16 ranking, but those voters often disappoint me! I’d like to see them get to single digits before March Madness—Rock Chalk boys! Curling continues to declare provincial champs as we near the Scotties and the Brier. My guy, #21-Koe, has repeated as Alberta Champions. The conclusion of the Players Championship was last Sunday. Two Scottish teams vied for the men’s championship with #5-Whyte defeating #10-Waddell. #2-Tirinzoni (Switzerland) beat my gal, #6-Einarson, for the women’s title. 

Erica writes, “This was a pretty typical week in the Bailey house for Erica. Eric has had a stressful week with changes at work and supporting teammates through trauma counselling. One thing we are trying to do is work on going through boxes. We made a pretty good dint into the middle room, but we still have boxes left there. This weekend, Eric and I are attending a sound mixing workshop. That’s about it for this week.”

Kristian has enjoyed his first week of work detailing vehicles at Taylor Toyota. One vehicle was all yellow with a SpongeBob licence plate—nice to have a sense of humour! It hasn’t been all fun, as he’s trying to get used to his work boots while being on his feet pretty much all day. He thinks the boots are okay; we hope it’s getting better. Erin failed to enjoy the snow hurricane there on Friday. One weather report I saw showed winds off 77 with gusts to 90! I could also do without that! She’s looking for a beach! 

Travis and Joanna keep busy enough. It’s a bit of a slower time for Bucket Decal orders, so that eases some pressure there. Joanna’s work is short staffed, so she’s had extra hours, which looks good on the pay cheque, but doesn’t feel so good on the weary bones! Travis came over one evening for supper, but Joanna just needed to rest. We look forward to resuming family meals on an even more regular basis. As least everyone seems to have recovered from the Flu, or whatever it was over Christmas. 

And that’s enough for this week. 

Passages

Another week has passed and we have returned to the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We opened the week in Regina, comfortably ensconced in Erin’s basement. On Monday, we celebrated the life of Don on Monday with a choir of enthusiastic singers providing great support for the family. On Tuesday, I managed a repair on a light fixture at Erin’s. Then, we enjoyed our traditional Western Pizza supper at Erin’s—yummy! Dave and Lynn joined us for that one. Liam drove over on Wednesday for a games night, during which Wendy and I decimated Liam and Kristian!! On Thursday, we drove over to Winnipeg. We enjoyed a visit with Bill & Angie in Brandon, and with Manas & Navie in Winnipeg. While leaving their place we had an accident as I slid into the vehicle in front of us while trying to stop at an intersection—that was unfortunate! Then, we continued on to Tom & Mariette’s for a delicious supper and a restful night—thanks folks! On Friday, we completed the trip home, arriving here about 6pm. It was a good trip, but it’s also good to be home! The markets continued their manic ways as the Melon Felon continues his mania. This week he invaded Venezuela and captured their president and his wife, and brought them to the USA where they’re being charged with various crimes. The real story is that he wants to control Venezuela’s oil, and sell it for his own profit! [you are quite correct, this is not normal behaviour] Of course this has roiled the price of oil, as Trump announced that USA oil companies had put forward $100 billion to help him with this. However, this story also fell apart as he met with a bunch of petroleum company executives on Friday, who informed him that there were no billions forthcoming, and that Venezuela was “uninvestable”.  Meanwhile the USA economy continues to suffer under his regime and jobs growth has been stunted compared to what Biden put up. Some think this will force the FED to cut lending rates even further, and the markets love that idea. In the world of sports, my #22-Jayhawks dropped in the rankings, and split their games this week—things are not going great! Many provinces are holding curling playdowns in preparations for the Brier and Scotties. The Grand Slam event this week is in Steinbach. True to form the international teams continue to show impressive quality. Two of our women’s teams qualified for the playoffs, and it will be my gal #10-Einarson playing #2-Tirinzoni in the final. None of our men’s teams qualified for the playoffs. It will be two Scottish teams in the final tomorrow, with #11-Waddell playing #5-Whyte. In hockey, my teams are doing a bit better. Pens and Oilers are in solid playoff positions just now. 

Erica writes, “We started the week celebrating Don Elsaesser’s life in Regina, and reconnecting with family. I spent the next two days in meetings in Saskatoon while Eric took care of things back home. Mystery Train had a gig on Friday night at the Army & Navy and we had a strong attendance of dancers right up to our last song at 11:30. It was a lot of fun. Life moves on. Also, I finished my latest Department Q book—book 10 in the series. It appears to be the end of the series.”

Erin took a day off, so we enjoyed spending the extra time with her. Then, she hosted the traditional Western Pizza Meal with Uncle Dave and Lynn. That was a good time. On Thursday, we left on our long drive home. Kristian applied for work at Taylor Toyota, and had an interview after we left on Thursday. He was offered a job there, and has accepted. He is scheduled to begin on Monday, washing and detailing cars. We’re happy to see this step forward for him. 

Travis and Joanna have been taking very good care of our little Kali while we were away—thanks guys! Still, she was excited to greet us on our return. 

Home again!

And that’s about enough for this week. 

Departures!

Happy New Year! 

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior, but we have traveled west to the shore of Lake Wascana, in the middle of the prairies. Our family has been leaving post-Christmas, returning to their own situations. Erin and Kristian flew out on Monday morning early—a 5AM flight requires a very early trip to the airport! Then, Eric, Erica, Haaken and Liam began the long drive west. They stopped in Winnipeg the first night, and then continued to Regina where Liam retrieved his car and drove to Caronport. The remainder drove home to Prince Albert. They took Haaken to Saskatoon on New Year’s Day, and he flew back to the warmer climes of Victoria. Our cousin, Don, passed on Christmas day, and I was honoured to be invited to sing at his Celebration of Life. We drove out on Wednesday to Winnipeg, and continued to Regina on Thursday, where we have moved back into our comfortable room in Erin’s basement. The markets have been very thin in recent weeks due to the holidays, but I had an excellent 2025 year, my second best ever at 29.3%, and, on Friday, we enjoyed a good start to 2026. In the world of sports, we’re enjoying Junior Championship hockey. Our guys have advanced to the playoffs and are scheduled to play Czechia in the semi-final tomorrow. Sweden plays Finland in the other semi, then the winners play the championship game on Monday. Go Canada, Go! In the NHL, my teams have been doing much better. Oilers are in first place, but they’ve lost the last two games. Pens have climbed into a playoff position, and Leafs are only 3 points out. Conference play has begun in Basketball. #17-KU traveled to Florida for their first game today, but fell short—sigh! Rock Chalk Jayhawks! 

Erica writes, “We returned home to PA after a week of Christmas with family. I’m told it was wonderful. Haaken and I were sick all week and spent most of the time in bed. I coughed hard enough to pull something in my side, and so, I spent the drive back medicated and snoozing! We rang in the New Year with our friends, Tina and Guido. Haaken flew back to Victoria on Thursday. So, it’s back to just Eric and me. We caught up with the PA Raiders on Friday night. Go Raiders Go! This weekend, we plan to head back south to Regina for Don Elsaesser’s celebration of life.”

Erin and Kristian flew home on Monday. They enjoyed first class treatment in the plane, but were so delayed out of Thunder Bay, they almost missed their connection in Toronto. Thankfully, the plane was held for them, and helpful staff came to escort them to the next gate and on board! Now, we’ve caught up with them in Regina. Kristian is back on the job of hunting for a job! We inquired at Costco today, and got the information on how to apply there. Most things are done on-line these days.

Kristian got a windshield cover for his car—that should protect from ice storms and fresh snow that would otherwise interfere with the start of the day. Erin got one also, but apparently you have to install them to make them effective—who knew?!

Travis and Joanna have taken over the care of our little dog. Joanna crocheted a Pom Cave for her little girls, but apparently it also fits Yorkies! 

Hey, that’s my Cave!

Kali has visited and stayed there before, so she easily makes herself at home. Joanna is another of the family who fell sick over Christmas, and now Gemma is under the weather as well, so she gets to have mommy take care of her! 

And that’s enough for this week. 

Family Time!

It’s Christmas time, and we are feeling very blessed as all the family have come home. Eric, Erica, Haaken and Liam arrived on Monday. Erin and Kristian on Wednesday. Gemma and Jonas flew up from Vancouver, so with Travis & Joanna living here, and also Andrew and Rosie, we’re just missing one grandson! Our house and hearts are full!

Blessing of Family

The weather has been consistently mild all week, but we did have some substantial dumps of snow. Fortunately, Haaken and Liam helped with the clearing of the driveway. We enjoyed a feast around the roast turkey with all the trimmings, as they say. Along a spaghetti supper, a charcuterie special, and assorted leftovers, we’ve pretty much been feasting all week long, .In addition to the presence of family, there were plenty of presents, with the central ones being Saskatchewan Roughriders Championship bling! The markets were thin and volatile this shortened trading week, and we expect more of the same next week. The sporting world adopts a specialized schedule around the holidays, and features some special events like the World Junior Hockey Championship, so I’m getting plenty of TV watching. The Grand Slam of Curling event ended on Sunday with the Swiss teams of Schwaller and Tirinzoni sweeping to the gold medals! In the NHL, the Oilers continue to play well, and have ascended to the top of their division, while Pens and Leafs have descended near the bottom of theirs—c’mon man! In Basketball, the #17-Jayhawks did not rise as I expected, but they put up another strong win, and are now set for the beginning of conference play. 

And that’s enough for this week! 

Storming!

A stormy week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We experienced one multi-day storm, and are currently in the throes of another! The shovels and the snowblower have been fully employed this week, along with Wendy and me. Wendy has enjoyed more of the shovelling as she likes heading out there early in the morning, while I try to gauge my participation by checking the forecast and at least waiting until after breakfast! We started the week with a pot luck with our small group from church, and then Wendy’s chorus sang in the Rotary Carol Festival. And, still on Sunday, we went over to Trav/Joanna’s place for a birthday celebration for Andrew. Wendy is very busy getting ready for Christmas. The Bailey family should arrive on Monday; the Ulrichs from Regina, on Christmas Eve. The markets remain troubled and I’m having trouble making money this month, however it has been a good year so far—bring on the Santa Claus Rally! In hockey, my Oilers are playing better and have risen to a playoff position. Pens have been blowing leads, and have fallen just out of the playoff lineup. Leafs are even further back. In college football, the playoffs have begun. My #8-Sooners lost to #9-Alabama, so that was like two losses! Now, my only remaining interest is in seeing Alabama lose! The Canadian Open is playing out in Saskatoon this week, as we see the strength of curling world wide. Of the top 16 women’s teams, we only had two Canadian teams, #1-Homan and #9-Einarson. Meanwhile, there are four Japanese teams, three from Korea, two Switzerlands and a partridge in a pear tree! At least our teams made it to the playoffs, although they have lost out now. Championship game tomorrow will be #2-Tirinizoni vs #10-Fujisawa. On the men’s side we had six entrants, but only two made the playoffs: #3-Jacobs and #23-Gushue, who only got to play by a sponsor's invite. But, like our gals, they lost out in the playoffs. Nothing but international teams left! Championship game tomorrow will be #5-Whyte vs #4-Schwaller. In basketball, the #17-Jayhawks rose in the rankings and won again, so I’m expecting another elevation. 

Erica has been ill part of the week, so we hope she’s on the mend. They are on their way here for a Christmas visit. They picked up Liam in Regina, and plan to meet Haaken’s flight in Winnipeg tonight. We’re looking forward to seeing them. 

Your Forklift Operator

Kristian had an eventful week as he took forklift training. He enjoyed it and it went well. He feels confident in operating a forklift now, so that’s nice addition to his resume. Erin has had a productive week at work. The downside was a winter storm that included freezing rain. It coated their cars and proved very difficult to remove. It also made the streets very icing and treacherous for driving. 

Travis and Joanna hosted Andrew’s birthday party last Sunday. We were pleased to take part and enjoy the pizza and birthday cake. Andrew and Rosie are doing well. Andrew is preparing for more exams. Rosie is building up her massage therapy clientele. 

Dog’s Xmas Pix

And that’s about enough for this week! 

Merry Christmas!

A little relief

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We began the week with a joyous Christmas Carolling at a local seniors’ residence. Kalli came along, and was a great hit even though she can’t sing a lick!

But she’s so cute!

The temperatures have moderated a little, but we also got some more snow. I even got the snowblower out one day, as Wendy had pushed the snow to the edges and I blew it up onto the lawns—worked okay. My choir practices are completed for now, but Wendy still is working with the Sweet Adelines’ stuff, especially on the business side. They have a Christmas Party coming up, and another Carol Festival tomorrow evening. We also have a small group potluck tomorrow as the festive season brings lots of special events. Preparations are underway hard here at the house as Wendy prepares for the arrival of the family for Christmas. This week, the tree came out and sprouted a star! Tonight, we enjoyed a special festival as Trav hosted us to a multi-band tribute evening at the Centre of the Arts. It was central bank week, and that brings lots of varying actions, messages and interpretations! BoC reflected on our surprisingly strong economy to hold the line as we added many jobs and lowered our unemployment rate. The FED noted economic weakness in the USA with job losses and a slowing economy by lowering their prime rate by 0.25% even as they acknowledged that inflation was up and rising, so many felt they should hold. As a result, investors swung wildly in both directions as the mood varied through the week. In curling, the Olympic play-in tournament ended with the final two teams qualifying on both sides to complete the 10-team fields. It was USA and China for the men; with Japan and USA for the women. The cash curling games are in Swift Current, this week. My guy, #30-Koe, has qualified for the playoffs. In the NHL, I had two of those special nights this week where all three teams I follow, played. Sadly, on both occasions only the Oilers won, but at least it was my Oilers who won! Today, the Pens took a 4-goal lead in the third only to cough it up and lose in OT, sigh! In basketball, my #19-Jayhawks rose in the rankings as expected and won a tough road game today in North Carolina, so I expect them to rise again. 

Erica writes, “We are wrapping gifts! This week was busy with several social events and training. So Saturday we decided to give our social batteries a recharge and stayed home wrapping presents. We got a dump of snow this week and our not-a-garage experienced some structural failure on one end. We will work on fixing it when it’s not minus 22! It’s still useable. I had the opportunity to move to a new job but decided that I am happy where I am! Which means continued MNP golf swag for Dad! That’s about it for this week. Next week Liam completes his exams. We hope those go well for him.”

Kristian says there was nothing new for him this week. Erin writes, “Financial statements were submitted yesterday morning. Now, I'm starting year end preparation along with regular work. It’s a busy job. Once one deadline passes, another is looming. Weekend naps are extra nice and needed lately. I just woke up from one, haha. Staff Christmas party was so good last week. I went out for supper with a friend last week, and taking my girls for lunch this week, and year end work supper coming up this week, too… I do like this season even though it’s so busy. Also, I need the extra pounds for the weather here. It’s gross. Oh, but I sent Kristian out for an errand last night and the Golf started—good little car!”

Big fans of ABBA for 50 years!

Travis and Joanna remain very busy, and combined with the extra seasonal busyness, it can be too much. Trav took us out to the tribute bands tonight, but Joanna didn’t feel she could afford the time. Anyway, it was great, Cher—just so so, Bee Gees—good and ABBA—very good! We had a great time—thanks guys! 

And that’s about it for this week. 

And getting colder...

Another week has passed on the shore Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has turned even colder with no day time highs above zero, and overnight lows approaching -20°. We have very little snow yet. We had our concert on Sunday afternoon with our Silver Sound choir—that was delightful and now we’re off for a month or so. Wendy had a concert with Sweet Adelines group on Monday evening—also delightful, and they continue practicing and having more concerts. 

Snug as a bug...

The new awning and the cover for the camper arrived. We have installed the awning on the wind-up pipe, but not on the camper. We installed the cover on the camper. Wendy has continued her preparations for the arrival of family later this month. She has bought a queen-sized bed, and is negotiating on two single beds. And there, she got one of those! The markets are not thriving these days. USA investors are fretting that sometimes bad news is just bad news, but they occasionally raise their hopes in the expectations of a FED rate cut. Canadian investors have decided that the economic news is too good as the jobs' report was very good and the unemployment rate fell. They fear the BoC may initiate a rate hike! International curling is in the spotlight this week as eight teams compete on both the women's and men’s sides in an attempt to earn one of two remaining spots at the Olympics. We are among the teams who have already qualified. In the NHL, I enjoyed a special night this week as Oilers, Pens and Leafs all won—small victories, I’m enjoying small victories! In football, the #8-Sooners held their position in the playoffs, while Texas rose to #13 only, and appear destined to miss the playoffs. In basketball, #21-KU rose into the rankings as expected, but lost to #5-UConn this week. Rock Chalk boys. Beat Mizzou!

Erica writes, “This week was a little less busy, which is good because I have been recovering from a cold. Eric had several meetings with FACT-SK, a group trying to bring regulation to therapy in Saskatchewan. We spent some time and money on Thursday and Friday finalizing our Christmas gifts and I think we are almost done, assuming Amazon delivers on time. Liam and Mercedes had a crazy trip to Victoria to pick up their friend Bella. They left Thursday and drove through the night. I am reminded of times Eric and I did something similar and Mom and Dad said we were nuts. I now understand Mom and Dad’s point of view.”—[smile!] Greg writes, “Grandpa would be proud, even though I didn’t get him. I stalked a Whitetail through 10km of bush yesterday, but he used an open swamp to lose me—it was snowing and super windy! It was so much fun!” I am proud, and I agree that the hunt is the fun part; once the animal falls, it’s hard work!

Erin and Kristian are working through their various opportunities and interests in Regina. Work is progressing well for Erin, and she has her staff Christmas Party tonight. Kristian’s new diesel VW is performing just fine despite the frigid temperatures. Kristian begins forklift training on the 18th. He has his training booklet already. There is also the prospect of employment as a forklift operator flowing directly from the training session if all goes well—very encouraging! 

Travis and Joanna keep very busy. Joanna has also had a bit of fight with a cold and sore throat. Wendy is feeling some of those symptoms as well. Rosie is expanding her client list in her massage work. Tonight, Trav came over with some pizza to help us with moving beds. Thanks! He didn’t bring any furry friends this time, although, confidentially, I doubt they would have been of any help!

And that’s about enough for this week. 

Baby, It’s Cold Outside!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been frosty, as befits the time of year. Daytime highs are rarely struggling above zero these days, and we’ve even received our first skiff of snow. I’ve done a bit more efforts covering the camper for the winter, but now Wendy has determined that we should buy a special cover for it, so that’s on the way. I’ve also ordered the replacement material for the awning. I’ve done a bit more work on the FastTrack boards, and Wendy is back to painting in the side entry. She has also bought a new bed for the extra bedroom downstairs as we prepare to host the family for Christmas this year—looking forward to that! It has been a busy week on the musical front as both Wendy’s chorus and ours are in final preparations for Christmas concerts. Our concert is tomorrow afternoon, while hers is Monday night. She will have a few more concerts, but our Silver Sound is now done for the season. In January, we’ll start preparing for a Spring concert. The USA markets have been bad all month as their economy struggles under the weight of Trump Tariffs. He seems to be relenting a bit under pressure from the populace, so we’ll hope for better times to come. Our PM, focused on building world-wide trade, has our economy doing better than expected. The Olympic curling trials have been running all week and I’ve been enjoying the coverage. #1-Homan came through as expected, and will represent us well. My gal, #9-Einarson made the playoffs, but surprisingly fell to #27-Black. Homan made quick work of her in the finals. On the men’s side, by guy, #31-Koe, performed very well, but in the end it was the usual suspects in the playoffs, with #2-Dunstone facing #3-Jacobs in the final, although Koe beat both of them! Jacobs won in two games and will represent us well. Hockey is disappointing so far as my Oilers and the Leafs play around .500, although both won today. The Pens are doing a bit better. In college football only the top twelve teams make the playoffs. The #16-Longhorns had a big win over the previously undefeated #3-Aggies, and may sneak into the playoffs yet. My #8-Sooners struggled against LSU, but eventually won it, so their playoff positioning should be secure. In Basketball, the Jayhawks have fallen from the top 25 rankings, but they had a great week with three wins including over #17-Tennessee, so they should bounce back up the rankings once again. 

Eric wrote, “It’s been a week of getting back into the swing of things. We had work all week, Erica went out of town for work one day. Eric had a few meetings around work and planning for the next year. We had a Christmas party Tuesday night that had fun things like a Jeopardy game between the tables. On Friday, Erica’s band played a gig. They had fun. Saturday, we went to the Raider’s game but they lost. We are doing music in church tomorrow."

A cover charge? They must be good!

Erin is not enjoying the impending winter, although they don’t have much snow in Regina yet. Kristian has accepted the nomination to the forklift training program, and now we wait to see if that comes to fruition. 

Travis and Joanna keep busy, and added a PuckShots assignment to their work this week. But the big event was Trav’s birthday on Thursday! We enjoyed the evening out with them to Wacky’s. Very loud, but good grub! Wendy and I provided some of the entertainment by taking in a Virtual Reality experience. It made Wendy nauseous, and provided laughs for the rest of the crew which included Andrew and Rosie. 

Who’s having a good time!

And that’s about it for this week. 

Still Green!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my home town. We have seen a few snowflakes, but it’s still green outside as befits the week where we celebrate the Grey Cup Championship! It happened last Sunday—we revelled in the Rider victory over Montreal! Our first championship since 2013. Yay Riders!

Riders win! Riders win! 

The usual events of the week—a lot of choir business for Wendy and music practices for both of us played out well. Our choir, Silver Sound, is in the final stages of preparation for our concert on October 30th. Wendy has returned her attention to our ten-year reno project—she is painting in the side entry. Yay! On Friday, she took our old friend, Rauni, out for a 94th birthday celebration! The markets have been terrible all month, and all indices remain in the red to this point. The difficulties lie in figuring out what the reality is with the USA economy, and then guessing what his Orangeness will do next. This week his personally installed “experts” tried to tell us that 119,000 jobs were created in September when all other indications were that much fewer jobs were created, and that it is likely that jobs were lost! This is what the experts have been reporting, but he didn’t like that, so he installed his own experts to tell him what he wanted to hear—yes, it does sound like North Korea! In college football, the reranking went pretty much as expected. Today, my #8-Sooners beat Missouri to maintain their playoff position, while #17-Longhorns blasted Arkansas to keep their faint playoff hopes alive. In basketball, #24-Jayhawks put up a spirited effort, but lost to #5-Duke. The big event for me now is the Olympic curling trials. #1-Homan is the clear favourite on the women’s side, but my favourite, #9-Einarson, will challenge. On the men’s side, #2-Dunstone and #3-Jacobs lead the way, but I’ll still be cheering for my longtime favourite, #29-Koe, who is probably playing in his last hurrah! #6-Epping is playing well, and of course #19-Gushue always plays tough! In hockey, my Oilers and the Leafs continue their mediocre play, while the Pens are struggling along under injury issues, but being quite successful. 

Erica writes, “After very little sleep and an early morning start, we made our way back from Belgrade to Prince Albert! We had a good trip, enjoyed some wonderful hospitality on our two-day side trip to Italy and a few driving adventures. The more we travel, the less foreign new places feel. We hope to spend some time living over seas, maybe for six months, when we retire, so we can do more traveling without the big flights. It’s getting harder to recover from the swelling the flight causes. And, as we were driving back to Belgrade from Montenegro, I marvelled at road signs that said Vienna and Budapest and thought if only we had time and money, we could just keep exploring. Elizabeta enjoyed seeing her daughter, a younger brother and brother in law and other family members. It had been over two decades, which is hard to imagine. And yet, that was the reality for my own grandparents and great grandparents who immigrated to Canada. It is good to be back in our own beds!” 

Erin and Kristian are continuing to enjoy the green in Regina as well. Erin spent the week with work-work-work! Kristian is working on his job applications, and has been offered an opportunity to train as a fork-lift operator—sounds like a good option. 

Travis and Joanna are still busy with work and four dogs! Trav also took on an extra contract to make me a new set of labels for the monitor station in the camper—you can see how it has deteriorated over the years. He made two sets, one with colour, one just black and white. I haven’t decided which set to use yet—Thanks! 

And that’s enough for this week. 

Grey Cup Weekend!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been lovely, and we’ve enjoyed taking Kali for walks and working in the yard preparing the camper for winter.

Just fits!

No extra room!

I managed to get the gates switched to outward opening, and they’re working properly, so the camper is now parked out back. All systems seem ready for the layoff, and it has electricity available. I also managed to get the generator working properly. It was running fine, but not putting out electricity. I had not heard of the concept of flashing the generator, but YouTube has, so I tried flashing it with my angle grinder, et voilà, we have current! I have also been working on the awning. We have only the mechanical parts for the awning, but we have worked on those, and we’re pretty much ready to apply new awning fabric, although I want warm weather for that, so it may wait until Spring. We keep working on our choir music, preparing for Christmas concerts coming at the end of the month. The markets continue to be difficult with the USA economic turmoil leaving all their indices in the red so far this month. The Continental Cup of curling ended on Sunday with #1-Homan coming through for us on the women’s side, while #1-Mouat prevented our sweep, overcoming #2-Dunstone in a shoot-out. College football featured big games for my teams as they try to get in position for the playoffs. My #11-Sooners travelled to #4-Alabama and rode four turnovers by their defence to victory. That’s like two wins: Sooners won, and Alabama lost! #10-Texas was also on the road, at #5-Georgia, but they were not up to the task. Now, we wait to see the new rankings. Of course the big football action is tomorrow in Winnipeg as the Riders face Montreal for the Grey Cup. Go Riders! In hockey, nothing much is changing as my Oilers continue to flounder, although they won tonight, The Leafs are really on a downer, while Pens are playing well, but losing some games late, sigh! In basketball, KU was dropped to #25 after last week’s action, but replied with two wins this week—Rock Chalk boys. 

Eric and Erica have spent the week touring Montenegro with their neighbours. They have enjoyed seeing them find their old neighbourhood that they left 36 years ago, and reuniting with family over there. 

Kristian called one day with an electrical problem. It was not straight-forward, but with the facility of FaceTime, we worked our way through it! Erin keeps busy with work. Kristian helps nicely around the house, and continues with his drug trial. He needs a job! Currently, he’s working with the DHH folks on his application for SAID funding. The cats are doing well. 

Travis and Joanna are busy with their work and the new dog. Trav brought Jasmine and Marigold over one day to get acquainted with Kali. That was a good visit. 

And that’s about it for this week. 

RIDERS!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. Temperatures continue to drop, and nearly every night is dropping below zero, and only a couple of days rising to double digits. We hear reports of snow at higher elevations away from the lake, but nothing here yet. As teased last week, I flew down to Toronto, and out to Niagara Falls on Tuesday morning to check out an RV. It checked out, so I made the purchase, completed the paperwork and headed for home. The trip went well despite the alarming levels of fuel use by the V10 Ford powering the one-ton unit.

Sleeping with the big rigs!

I overnighted at a truck stop just west of Sudbury—there were three campers, and about 30 semis! Then, I completed the trip on Wednesday, arriving here in time for supper. We are pleased with the condition of the vehicle, and Wendy is already planning a trip for next summer. It will facilitate travelling with the dog, and every night spent in the camper represents a tank of fuel. There is work to be done on the unit, as the awning needs repair, and the generator doesn’t generate! Normal activities of the week in our choirs still took place. The markets were a disaster as the Orange economy continues to decline as they can’t even manage to keep their government operating, so didn’t get an official job losses for the month, but a private firm did track layoffs, and noted that in the last month, USA lost 153K jobs—the worst in 22 years, for a total of over 1 million jobs lost this year. AI can only carry the economic load for so long. So, it was a lot of red this week. Meanwhile, we increased our payrolls by 67K—good work! In college football, my teams (#12-Sooners, #11-Longhorns) were resting, but there was plenty of CFL action as the conference finals took place in Hamilton and Regina. Riders scored late to beat BC and advanced to the Grey Cup game against Montreal. In hockey, the Penguins continue to impress near the top of the league and with Crosby leading the league in scoring. Leafs and my favourite, Oilers, continue with mediocre results. The big curling event this week was the Grand Slam event in Lake Tahoe NV with the top 16 teams in both men’s and women’s competition. On the women’s side we had three Canadian teams playing, but only #1-Homan advanced to the playoffs against two Korean, two Japanese, two Swiss and one Swedish team. They’ve kept winning, and advanced against their long time rival, #2-Tironzoni in the final tomorrow. On the men’s side, we had six teams there, with four advancing to the playoffs. It will be #1-Mouat from Scotland vs #2-Dunstone. So, I’m saying, there’s a chance we win both sides! The Basketball season has begun, and my Jayhawks opened at #19. They split their games this week. 

Erica writes, “It has been a busy week of getting projects done and preparations completed for our trip. This Saturday is our Rotary’s Wine Premiere and the theme is Chile. We had a few evenings of making colourful flowers and lantern decorations. Eric and I leave for Montenegro Sunday morning.”

Erin and Kristian are facing the advance of the seasons in Regina with cooling temperatures and a few flakes❄️! Kristian is working with the DHH folks on a disability funding application. He may also be learning how difficult it is to find a job, let alone work for a living! 

Jasmine & Marigold

Travis and Joanna flew down to Ottawa with Marigold to pick up their new dog, Marigold’s sister. That adds up to four dogs in their household, which may be as many as four too many in my books! Jasmine is a bit smaller than Marigold. Moxley and Darby are much heavier. Otherwise, they’re just as busy as always! 

And that’s about it for this week. 

Camping? This time of year?

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has continues to cool with most days struggling to get to double digits, and a few frosty nights. I have managed a bit more yard work, raising the front landing, and changing the hinge direction on the back gate in anticipation of a possible camper purchase.

2004 Gulfstream Ford

Wendy has been lobbying for a camper for years, so here we are! We have made a tentative purchase, subject to it passing inspection—more on that next week! Otherwise it’s been a pretty usual week around her with choirs and meetings for Wendy. We had only 31 trick-R-treaters last night, so I have quite a few chocolate bars to clean up! The Continental Cup of curling ended with a surprise as #1-Homan fell to #12-Wang of China. #4-Jacobs won the men’s championship comfortably over #14-Shuster of USA. College football saw #20-Texas beat #9-Villanova, so they should move up in the rankings. #18-Sooners beat #14-Tennessee on the road—surprised me! Their dominant defence with 4 sacks, 2 picks and a scoop-and-score carried them. In the CFL it was the division semi-finals today. Montreal beat Winnipeg to advance to the Eastern final against Hamilton. BC held off Calgary to advance against the Riders in the Western final—go Riders! The excitement all week has been the World Series where the Blue Jays and Dodgers have put on an entertaining match up, including an 18-inning game! The series ended today in extra innings in Toronto with the Dodgers repeating as champs. Hockey continues about ten games into the season—not much time to watch my teams yet with all the football and baseball playoffs. 

Erica writes, “This week we took the 6 Types of Working Genius training and assessments at work. I’ve done a few of these over the years. This is the most useful one yet. What I found out is that my two not genius, or “frustations” are Tenacity and Galvanizing. In other words I derive no pleasure from simply completing tasks, nor do I particularly enjoy trying to rally the troops. I found this information so interesting that I got Eric to take it, too. And therein we discovered a problem. Eric’s two frustrations are also Tenacity and Galvanizing. No wonder our 10 year reno needs an extension! Neither of us are personally motivated to get stuff done, nor do we want to motivate each other. Yikes! My working geniuses are Invention and Enablement—coming up with ideas and being there to support others. That computes. Eric’s are Discernment and Enablement. I told him I’m glad because now he can support me by making all the decisions! This weekend, I’m off to Margaret’s house with the girls for a fun weekend. Eric and the rest of the guys are going to the Raider game back in PA. Next weekend, we have our Rotary Wine premiere fundraiser, and then, we leave for Montenegro.”

Kristian has begun work on work! He has revamped his resume and started sharing it around. Now that he has a car, he’s more available for work, but he also needs work to put fuel into the car! Erin has plenty of struggles around this situation as well as her regular work commitments, and is thankful for the distraction of watching the Blue Jays in the World Series. 

Travis & Joanna continue to be very busy with all things work and dogs! They didn’t have very many by their place for Hallowe’en (20 or so), but it was enough to make the dogs frantic! 

And that’s about it for this week. 

Frosty

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been cool and rainy with most nights down into single digits and temperatures struggling into double digits during the day. We have also had a few nights dropping into negative numbers—frosty! We have done a bit more Fall yard work; and, I’ve been back to the shop, preparing it for winter. We have our usual music practices; there’s only a month left before our Christmas concert.

Curling last weekend concluded with the two #1 teams prevailing as Mouat beat Dunstone on the men’s side, while Homan defeated Tirinzoni for the women’s title, and an unprecedented 19th Grand Slam championship. This week, the big event is the Continental Cup in Virginia MN. Our teams (#4-Jacobs and #1-Homan) both made the playoffs. And, after winning their semi-final games, they will compete in the championship final tomorrow. Jacobs will face USA, #14-Shuster. Homan is up against China, #16-Wang. In college football, #14-Sooners lost to #10-Ole Miss while #22-Longhorns managed to overcome an unranked team in OT. It seems that for both teams, their chances of making the playoffs are slowly leaking away. Riders, having already clinched first place, played out the regular season against the Lions tonight. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays have defeated the Mariners and moved on to the World Series against the Dodgers. They won the opening game and lost game 2, so they head to Los Angeles for the next three games. In early action of the new NHL season for my three teams: Pens are doing well, while Leafs and Oilers are playing below expectations. 

Erica writes, "We had a pretty normal week in PA. Eric had a conference in Saskatoon on Friday and today. I’m trying to get some work done, so I don’t fall behind with our upcoming trip.We have finalized our plans to take our neighbour to Montenegro to see her daughter. We leave on November 9th and will be back on the 21st.”

Kristian has decided that the Machinist program was just too tough, so he has quit school and is currently looking for a job. We are all saddened by this development, but wish him well in what he chooses next. Erin has been learning a new software management program for tracking the deals at VW, so that was an extra work challenge for this week as well as the turmoil with Kristian. 

Travis and Joanna have announced the adoption of another dog—their fourth. The new gal will be another Pomeranian and actually the sister of Marigold. Travis is scheduled to pick her up in early November. Otherwise, they both keep busy with work, and joined us for a Thanksgiving turkey dinner this week. Hey, when you’re old you can celebrate things whenever you want!! 

And that’s enough for this week. 

Clipped

We’ve had a rainy week here on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown, but at least the temperatures have been comfortable. We enjoyed an evening at Trav & Joanns’s on Sunday as we celebrated Thanksgiving with a wonderful meal, and a good visit. Andrew and Rosie were also there. On Tuesday, we enjoyed taking a Tucson for a test drive. It pretty much checks all the boxes for us as we continue the search for our next vehicle. Best of all it sports excellent fuel economy, and an expected range of 900km on a tank of fuel. Our 2014 Santa Fe continues to serve us well, but it is over 225K now, so we’re looking!

On Wednesday, Kali got a haircut. She has noted the cooling effect of the hair loss and we often find her under the covers with us! Wendy fasted in preparation for her updated bloodwork on Wednesday; that returned much improved numbers and she is encouraged. The markets had a bad week as Trump was back on the trade war path against China. He threatened 100% increase in tariffs, but finally relented on Friday when he noted that 100% increase was unsustainable, and seemed surprised that anyone had suggested such a thing! (You can’t make this up!) In the world of sports, I’ve had a big week of curling in the Tour Challenge. My long time favourite, #26-Koe had a sponsor’s exemption into the field, but it seems his crew is not up to it as he failed to make the playoffs. My gal, #6-Einarson made the playoffs, but fell to #1-Homan. Homan will play #2-Tirinzoni in the final, while #3-Dunstone takes on #1-Mouat in the Men’s final. In baseball, the LA Dodgers have swept the Milwaukee Brewers to advance to the World Series. The Blue Jays dropped the first two, but have come back to force game six tomorrow in Toronto. (So, you’re saying there’s a chance?!) After the Riders clinched first place, they rested many of their starters but still held the Bombers down for most of the game last night. The early season in the NHL is also running, but I’m struggling to find time to watch much. In college football, the expected re-ranking took place. Today, #14-Sooners had an impressive win to improve to 6-1. #21-Horns snuck by Kentucky, in overtime, to improve to 5-2.

Erica writes, “It’s been a busy week—band practise on Monday for both Eric and me, as Eric came to learn the sound board, Rotary on Tuesday, Bingo for me and Elders meeting for Eric on Wednesday, Gig at Mr Mikes on Thursday… on Friday, we got an invite from a friend to watch the Rider game and declined—our social batteries were done! We have been making plans for a trip to Montenegro with our neighbour. She and most of her family were refugees from the former Yugoslavia. However her oldest daughter was getting married at the time of their departure and stayed behind. So, our neighbour hasn’t seen her daughter for 26 years. The last few years, her daughter has been very sick and our neighbour is worried she is running out of time. So, we accompanying her to go visit her daughter. Please pray for a safe trip and for our plans to come together.”

Erin’s Thanksgiving Feast

Erin prepared a Thanksgiving feast that lasted through several days. She has had a good week at work, but her home life is not so smooth as Kristian is having difficulties in his Machinist courses at Saskatchewan Polytechnic. We hope they will be able to work out a plan for the way forward. 

Travis and Joanna hosted the Thanksgiving meal—thanks guys. After supper, we just enjoyed a quiet evening of visiting and playing with the dogs. Trav is keeping very busy, and is glad that post office deliveries have brgun again. He is also following his Penguins in the new NHL season. We often chat about that. And, like the rest of the country, they are living and dying with the Blue Jays! 

And that’s enough for this week. 

Frosty!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We spent the main part of the week in Winnipeg (thanks Tom & Mariette!) as we drove up there on Wednesday, and returned home today. We got frost Wednesday morning as we headed west, so there goes the vines in the gardens. I was privileged to a game of golf on Thursday in wonderful weather. It was a tiring walk—guess I’ll have to do that more often!

Congrats Caleb & Talitha!

On Friday, we took in the wedding of our great niece, Talitha! Congratulations Caleb and Talitha, we wish you well! The markets suffered a disastrous week as the Orange Felon failed to even keep the government in operation in the USA. Then, on Friday, he exasperated the situation further by announcing an additional 100% tariff on imports from China. USA businesses are crying foul over this additional tax, and the stock markets collapsed. Oil price has fallen below $60, so the rig count continues to drop, and the potential for USA oil production continues to be threatened. In the world of sports, #1-Homan and #3-Dunstone won the PointsBet Curling event. Blue Jays won their series over the Yankees, and will now play Seattle for the American League championship. The Riders won their game last night, and confirmed their first place standing, so they will host the Western Conference final—well done, Riders! In College Football, it was the annual Red River showdown between #6-Sooners and the unranked Longhorns. Clearly, the experts did not believe the rankings and established the Horns as slight favourites in the game. Horns widely outperformed that projection to win easily based on four turnovers by the Sooners. I expect the new rankings will come somewhat closer to reflecting reality. The NHL season has officially begun. I continue to favour the Edmonton Oilers, along with Pittsburgh and Toronto. 

Erica writes, “We are back at the hockey rink tonight… Raiders are playing Kamloops Blazers. It’s off to a good start: 3-0 at 4:50 of the first period—yes, I mean less than 5 minutes have been played and 3 goals have been scored on our opponent. And now we have a penalty shot… 

Earlier this week, we celebrated Aunt Alice’s life with the rest of the Brown and Bailey family. Eric spoke on behalf of the Bailey side of the family and I led hymns. Other than that, it’s been a normal week.”

It say VW, but I say it’s a K-Car!

Erin completed the purchase of a car on Kristian’s behalf. He is delighted! It has been quite a process getting this done, and Kristian was fully surprised! Well done, Mom! 

Travis and Joanna had a busy week at work and home. The busyness was accentuated by the hosting of Kali while we went to Winnipeg. She is a busy little creature, and they already have three dogs of their own! Thanks for caring for our little girl! Trav got a couple of special orders this week from his old hometown of Yellowknife. It was fun to consider the connections back there to minor hockey programs and the St Pat’s High School team. 

And that’s enough for this week. 

Orange Run!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been unseasonably warm, and we’ve (I’ve) been forced to turn the air conditioning back on. I have enjoyed getting out to the golf course for practice. The best part of just using the driving range is you don’t have to chase down all those bad shots!

Ready, Set, GO! 

Early registration = small numbers!

We started off the week with participation in the Truth and Reconciliation day event. There were over 1000 participants and quite a few dogs, but Wendy and I both completed the 5K lap successfully, and got our medals. Otherwise, we continue with our choirs and our retirement living here, and we enjoy it  great deal. Barb and Ed stopped in today on their way home; we’re glad to have visitors. The markets, contrary to expectations, were great with all indices showing some gains. It seems to be built on the Artificial Intelligence movement, which many folks fear is forming a bubble. I just keep watching the charts, hanging on and hoping for the best. The economic situation in the USA continues to drift downward with employment falling short each month, and we are suffering as well due to Trump’s Trade War. It does not make one comfortable. Baseball has completed the season; the Blue Jays held on to first play and a first round bye. They are now playing the Yankees in the Divisional series. The Riders won their game in Ottawa this week, so their magic number to clinch first place is down to 1. In college football, my Sooners have lost their quarterback due to injury, but we managed an easy win today. The Longhorns were not successful this time around. NHL hockey is completing the preseason this weekend, so we’ll soon be back in hockey reporting! In curling, #24-Koe dropped the final last week, but improved his ranking a bit. In this week's action it will be #3-Jacobs vs #4-Dunstone in the Men’s final in Calgary while #1-Homan plays #26-Brown for the women’s championship. 

Erica writes, “Tonight, Eric and I took in some local country talent in Prince Albert. And, they even let me sing a couple songs! Liam helped Mercedes family move to Calgary this week, as well as celebrating her 20th birthday on Tuesday. Eric’s aunt Alice passed away last Sunday. We’ve been in conversation with the family as Eric prepares to share some memories at the celebration of life on Monday.”

Erin and Kristian are doing well in Regina. Kristian says his classes are nothing special yet, just okay. Things are going well at work for Erin. 

Travis and Joanna came over for cards one evening—we always enjoy that. Otherwise, they keep very busy with their work. 

And that’s enough for this week.