May Long!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. Spring has developed very slowly, but the warm weather has finally arrived and the golf courses have opened. We hit a high of 28° yesterday, which is even warmer than I like! It has been a busy week, but Victoria Day weekend has arrived, known locally as May Long! This marks the earliest it can be, but it still marks the traditional start of gardening and camping season. I have unwrapped the camper and brought it out of winter storage and around to the driveway. Since we just bought the RV last November, it is our first time de-winterizing and preparing for summer usage. It had already been winterized before we bought it, so it has been a learning experience for us.

The original awning had long since failed, but we have purchased a new one, and yesterday, we got it installed. I have tried out the fridge, microwave and range. I have hooked up to the garden hose, and flushed the antifreeze out of the plumbing. Then, I connected the water heater and confirmed that operation. I guess I could have tried out the AC yesterday, but that is awaiting another warm day. We are planning a few short local outings, and then planning to embark on a trip to Yellowknife beginning at the end of June. We intend short drives, and one or more night stays at various locations along the way. We expect a little longer stay in Regina, whenever we get there, as I want my mechanic there to check over the vehicle. Wendy has been helping me with the RV, but also doing a lot of gardening, getting the flower beds ready for the perennials to show themselves.

Mölkky

I built a set of Mölkky pins, Wendy painted their faces, and Trav is preparing the number decals. They're supposed to be round, but we'll see how these ones work! The markets continue to confound, but at least they're green so far this month. The Blue Jays are playing poorly, and their star, Vladdy Jr is in a 0 for 22 slump which surely does not help! The NHL playoffs have nearly completed round 2, and, so far, only one of my picks has survived to the final four. 

Erica wrote, "It was a very sad week! After a very exciting on the road win in Everett, the Raiders lost the next 4 games. The season is over, but they did win the division title and they gave us an exciting season. Liam was home for a visit this week. I got to see him before leaving for Stony. His meds have been working and he’s put on some healthy weight! He also suffered through two of the Raider losses. Eric has accepted his half time position at AHA (Athabasca Health Authority). He will start in June. He will continue to work part time with CFS (Catholic Family Services). After some discussion it appears this is actually good for CFS, too. They have some younger people who could grow into their roles, so Eric can continue to mentor them for a bit! Win-win! Kiersten was recognized as a mental health champion—we are so proud of her. I’m continuing to work up north, trying to fix processes and get work caught up. I had the pleasure of working “on-call” as we had several people away in the manager and director level. I got to step in a bit here and there to help where I could—though apparently, I’m not cleared for surgery—LOL! I do have a wee bit of medical training from our visit to Africa!"

Kristian noted that one of his colleagues in the wash bay is off for a few weeks, so they have brought in another worker to help take up the slack. Erin is enjoying the long weekend in Regina despite the weather. While checking out the window, she noticed that some folks are overcoming the new rules on attaching items to the privacy fence! She has similar patio lights, and we're brainstorming a way to hang them over her patio. We had extensions added to the end posts of the fence, and then the lights swagged out from the house, across the yard, and back to the house. It was very nice, but when management replaced the fences, they decreed that nothing could be attached... 

but, they attached their patio lights!

Travis and Joanna remain busy with work and dogs! But their prominent activity in our regard was taking us out for a nice meal at Applebys to commemorate Mother's Day. Joanna and Wendy will be shopping for a new duvet as part of that appreciation. Then, the mothers let Trav and I win at FastTrack for a change! 

And that's enough for this week! 

It is Spring. Isn't it?

A plan originated from Kristian who included the aunts and uncles and grandpa to develop the budget for this year’s Mother’s Day! So, we have been able to do the following for grandma/mom: flowers, a nice dinner at Applebee’s, ice cream at Merla Mae’s and a new duvet! Thank you children/grandchildren for your thoughtfulness! 

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. By this time, we're expecting mid-twenties, but we're not seeing it! Most days were only around 10°, and maybe one day over 20°. I managed a bit of work in the shop and in the yard. I'm preparing the remaining fence sections to become straight, plumb and level. That will keep me busy for the next weeks, I'm expecting. I have begun preparing the RV for our first camping trips. I plan to bring it around to the driveway next week. Wendy keeps too busy with the dogs, and the choirs, and me! We had company one night as friends from Yellowknife were travelling east and spent the night with us. The markets continue to be wildly troubling with hundreds of points up one day, and hundreds down the next. Fortunately, I have managed to remain on quota so far, but I keep wondering whether there's a crash coming! The Stanley Cup playoffs are well into the second round. Although I managed five accurate picks in round one, two of my misses were very bitter as the Oilers and Pens lost, and I had also projected them to win this round! So, I have only two live picks left of the four in this series. Baseball season continues, but the Jays not are playing up to my expectations. 

Big news of the week from PA: Raiders take a one game lead on the opener against Everett on their ice. Game 2 is Saturday night. Erica has been home all week which has been nice. Mystery Train had a gig at Mr. Mike's on Thursday evening—the music was enthusiastically received. She has been preparing for the Rotary annual Lobsterfest Fundraiser which will be held on Saturday night. We hope it will be a lot of fun and will raise funds for Rotary’s community projects! Eric is ironing out the details on his plans to balance two jobs. He also has a temporary third job at the moment, teaching a night class for University of Lethbridge. He’s a busy guy!
Eric adds, "The rest of the family is, I assume, getting ready to shower Erica with love for Mother’s Day!"

Erin writes, "Still busy with month end and still short staffed. But I was invited to Toyota’s annual accounting year end supper on Thursday, so, I got fancy steak two weeks in a row. Last week our software company took the VW managers out. Not sure if I told you that. The job I have is hard and stressful sometimes, but the perks are nice :) And the weather’s getting nicer too. I went outside this morning but it was a bit chilly so came back in.  Kristian asked me to have a movie night for Mother’s Day, with snacks. It's an avatar movie; I didn’t know there was another new one. Should be fun though!"

Travis and Joanna have returned to reality here in the north. I hope they brought warm weather with them.

4 in the bed...

In the interim I have been struggling through with four girls in my bed! 

And that's enough for this week! 

Forever Young!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. Our big effort and big feature was our Spring Concert with Silver Sound Choir. It was themed around the song Forever Young, and covered many of what we imagined as uplifting songs.

by the not so young! 

If you click on the poster, it should take you to the YouTube of the concert—see if you pick out your favourite senior citizens, and enjoy! The weather has been cool and rainy until today. Apparently, this is the alternate weather curse for retirees: poor weather all week, and good weather on the weekends! Wendy keeps busy with her choir work and the current batch of dogs! The Orange War continues and has now driven up our fuel price by almost 62%, as the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked. Another month is in the books and the USA markets have joined the TSX in the green for the year—that certainly helps! The Oilers and Penguins have both disappointed me by losing in the first round of the NHL playoffs. The second round has now begun, and I have two live picks remaining to advance further. The baseball season moves into a second month. The Blue Jays are playing a bit better, but still are under .500, and in third place. I hope that as more players return from injury, they will become more consistent. 

Erica writes, "Liam was here to celebrate Eric's birthday, play drums on worship team, visit his new specialist doctor, and catch up on Reno plans. We enjoyed the visit; it was over too soon. The doctor thinks his results are looking good. He headed back on Thursday as he had an appointment for his new medication back in Moose Jaw. Kiersten, and presumably Greg, celebrated her birthday Friday. I’m told they will continue with a party tomorrow. I was up in Stony for a few days, trying to get yearend transactions entered. When I left PA, it was winter. Upon my return the snow is almost all melted. This was a much nicer return than the blizzard last Friday. Eric has received an offer to work up north in a half time position: 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. He’s been in discussions with his current employer to try make this work. This way we can enjoy this adventure together. On Friday night, we were back at the hockey rink for game 5 of PA Raiders vs Medicine Hat Tigers. Go Raiders Go. Raiders won and lead the series 3 games to 2!"

Erin and Kristian have been carrying on their work as per usual. There has been a major improvement in the weather and they have been able to begin the reestablishment of their back yard functions.

The question of how to hang the patio lights remains up in the air, while the lights do not! Kristian has developed a possible solution that may also provide a option for hanging the planter baskets. 

Travis and Joanna remain on the beach under the hot southern sun. They report temperatures around 30° each day—not my kind of thing, but they enjoy it. 

Oh, look! A hammerhead!

And that's enough for this week. 

Gone to the Dogs!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. Travis & Joanna have headed for a warm weather vacation, and we've inherited two energetic Pomeranians: Marigold and Jasmine.

Kali, Jasmine, Marigold

Together with Kali, it makes for quite a busy and noisy household! Wendy got them all groomed and posed this morning! Her next challenge will be to get them all posed in one photo! Our week has been fairly quiet otherwise. Wendy had her usual choir business and practice. We had our Silver Sound practice. I did a bit more work in the shop. I'm sanding the wooden lawn chairs and wondering whether I should be applying a stain or a finish (or both)... The markets had a wild and negative week as reality resumed, at least briefly, over the Middle East chaos. I keep hoping Trump will declare victory and go home, so normal business operations can begin the path toward recovery. It will take many months to clean up that mess—I am not looking forward to the fuel costs for our camper trip this summer! Fuel was 99 cents a litre when this started, got to 158, and has settled at 145 this week. Baseball season continues; the Jays are playing a bit better, but injuries are a big story so far. The NHL playoffs have begun and my picks are doing pretty well except for the two teams I care most about: Oilers and Penguins—sigh! OIlers are down 2-1, and Pens are down 3-1! C'mon guys! 

Erica writes, "I enjoyed another week up north in Stony Rapids. It’s been busy trying to get things wrapped up for yearend and budget prepared. There were no further issues with my apartment. The weather has been bipolar—as I type this I’m in the airport in Saskatoon. The plane couldn’t land in PA. We were advised this was not an issue as we would be flown to Saskatoon, and then bussed to PA. That sounds great, except when we got to Saskatoon there was no bus, no flight agents and no instructions. So, we’ve been calling and talking to multiple people and it sounds like we might have a bus. Some of the people have given up and made their own arrangements, but the rest of us are waiting. This is the fun of travel in the north. By the time the bus showed up our group of ten was only three, so we enjoyed a big coach bus to ourselves. I made it to PA for the first intermission of the Raider game. It’s round 3, game 1 against the Medicine Hat Tigers. We’ve contracted with a local company to come help us with sorting and organizing tomorrow morning. So, I figured I’d better get home." 

Erin and Kristian suffered through another week of wild weather in Regina. They've enjoyed all of that they can stand! Kristian has completed his cat-sitting task. He says things are rather slow at work these days, but it's going okay. Erin just wants Spring to arrive for certain, and let her get operating in her back yard. 

Travis and Joanna got work and business cleared up at home and have headed to warmer climes... poor kids! 

Suffering in the Sun!

And that's enough for this week. 

April Showers

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has turned very nice with several hard rain-showers and the snow is disappearing quickly. The rhubarb is up, the fairways are showing up on the local golf courses, and I'm rehearsing my swing once again! The shovels and snowblower are put away; the golf cart and lawn chairs have been brought out. We got our Spring round of Covid shots on Friday. There have been quite a surge of Covid hospitalizations, so we're glad of the protection. 

Levelling Ramps

I got the levelling ramps built for the camper. The top level fits fairly well on the tires, and you can use 1, 2 or 3 levels, but even at maximum correction, that's only 4.5", so we will need to find fairly flat parking spaces. I'm looking forward to getting it out of the backyard parking space soon, and beginning preparations for our first RV experiences. We hope to make a few local trips before embarking on the big trip to Yellowknife in July. I have also completed one shelving project in the shop, but have plans for two more sets. You can never have enough places to lose your tools and other paraphernalia! The Orange War continues, and Trump keeps trying to find a way out. He continues to make wild claims that many suspect are simply to manipulate the markets! At least all indices are back in the green for the year, so that helps me. The Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, and that will be the big sports story for the next months. Oilers are playing the Ducks, while the Pens are playing the Flyers. Travis runs playoff brackets for multiple family members. We showed our expertise last year by allowing the Dogs to easily win! I'll be cheering for the Oilers and Pens, but I've picked the Avs to win it all. Baseball is active in the early season, but the Jays are not playing well, and are suffering from multiple injuries. I was happy enough to see McIlroy win the Masters, although I was cheering for Rose. 

Eric writes, "Erica flew north this week to an exciting discovery—water issues at the place she stays. Eric is holding down the house in Prince Albert. The Raiders won in four and now we wait for the third round. Snow again this week but it’s melting well." Erica adds, "I had to bunk at one of the other houses due to the broken water pipe. Fortunately, maintenance was already working on the issue and my place was ready for me on Thursday evening. We have an extra statutory holiday this week, but I’m working through so I can take the day back at home."

Erin and Kristian endured another mini-winter in Regina. Kristian was glad to have his new tires providing an extra measure of safety. Kristian has been expanding his work experience into customer service as he takes care of some aspects of their seasonal tire change.

He also has branched off with another gig starting this week: he's cat-sitting! 

Travis had a nice week in Vancouver with Jonas and Gemma, celebrating her birthday week. He got back on Wednesday. She's now getting to an age where she can celebrate for a week, whereas, at our advanced age, we tend to celebrate for a month! Joanna has cut back on her work schedule and enjoys that respite. 

And that's enough for this week. 

Real Spring? Really?

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has improved a great deal, and we've seen double digits above zero, and even nights where it remained above zero. So, we're getting a lot of melting, and we're encouraged, that this, indeed may be Spring! The shipping season has begun, and the salties are arriving for their loads.

Still some left! 

Wendy's choir was moved to Wednesday because of the holiday, but then it was cancelled due to a bomb threat at the school. We had our usual choir practice on Thursday morning. When I ran the RV this week, I found there was some dripping from the kitchen skylight area, so I will need to get that repaired. I have chosen a design for a set of levellers, and have begun constructing those. I will build two sets so I can raise either side, or the front, or the back.

New Toy for Wendy

Wendy was the happy recipient of an Air Fryer courtesy our Indian family in Winnipeg; he was our first student resident downstairs. Now, he's married with a daughter, and has named us as the Canadian grandparents! We enjoy the recognition. Trump seems to think he is a Sith Lord, and threatened the genocide of a civilization this week! The USA is now a terrorist regime, engaging in War Crimes! Fortunately, he backed off, and we've all breathed a sigh of relief, but he's back this weekend with more criminal threats against Iran. The world economies and the stock markets continue to suffer in the turmoil. Basketball ended with Michigan winning the championship. The NHL is in their final few games. The Pens have clinched a playoff spot this week, and the Oilers may do so today. The Jays are struggling under the injury bug which has cut into both the pitchers and the hitters. And the Masters is on—I don't watch much golf on TV anymore, but I still take interest in the majors, and this is the first major of the year. 

Erica writes, "We returned home from the visit to beautiful British Columbia. PA held on until we got home to give us the last (hopefully) blast of winter—an exceptionally large snowfall. Eric got stuck in the alley Wednesday and had to work from home. The snow is rapidly melting now, so we use a canoe to get to the car. We are now watching the second round of the Raiders playoffs. Erica points out that Cootes (Canucks draft pick) is in the playoffs, but the Canucks are not. Raiders won their first game last night. Greg & Kiersten news: Kiersten is presenting at a conference in Toronto later in April. Liam is wrapping up classes soon. Mercedes is working. Haaken is doing some paperwork that hopefully will help address some of the supports he should have already had." 

Special Detailing Client for Kristian!

Erin and Kristian are enjoying the nice weather in Regina, but not before they had another Alberta Clipper blast through. Erin got the new tires for Kristian's car, and also had it serviced over at VW. Kristian is busy with some Spring clean up around home for the cat area. He also bagged up the SarCan recycling and hauled that over there.

Two Ton Garden Box

The backyard is pretty much all thawed out, but now they face the challenge of getting the garden boxes moved back into place by the new fence. Erin estimates their weight at two tons! [She USED to be good at math!]

Travis, Joanna, Andrew and Rosie joined us for an Easter family supper on Monday evening. As usual, we closed the evening with a high stakes FastTrack tournament, and the Men fought back from a two-game deficit to win it in five! Jasmine is pretty much healed and back to normal. Their back yard track meets are just about over, although we still have lots of snow in Thunder Bay. Travis is out in Vancouver this weekend, visiting Jonas and Gemma in preparation for her birthday next week! 

And that's about enough for this week. 

Showers!

He is Risen! He is risen, indeed!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We have moved into April, and as noted in the canon, “April showers bring May flowers!” That forms the backdrop of my contention that all precipitation falling in April through October is rain, so it is not a surprise that we’re have a white, fluffy rain shower today. The milder weather finds me puttering about a bit in the shop. I have a few projects on the go, with the most pressing one being a set of levelling blocks for the camper—shouldn’t take long once I choose a design. Wendy has her unusual level of business (makes me tired just to watch!), along with the two choirs. This week she prepared batches of peanut butter-chocolate-marshmallow fudge, and some butter tarts—mmm, frozen butter tarts! Otherwise, we did make a side trip on Thursday to LifeLabs as we both had some bloodwork due. We are deeply distressed by the melon felon’s war in the Middle East. It seems no atrocity is too dastardly for him and his henchmen. Of course the markets remain distressed as a result. Through the end of March: TSX: +4.4%; DOW: -2.9%; S&P: -4.7%; Nasdaq: -7.6% As a result, my ETF plays on the USA indices are losing money, and only my TSX plays are keeping my head above water. In the world of sports, Basketball is completing the championship run with Michigan taking on UConn in the final. NHL is completing the regular season with more teams clinching or being eliminated regularly. My Oilers have ascended to top spot in their division, but it’s a tight race. The Penguins are also holding down a playoff spot. The Leafs have been eliminated from the playoffs. The Blue Jays started the season well, with a strong pitching staff, but have stumbled since with underwhelming hitting, sloppy defence and injuries. C’mon Jays! 

Erica writes, “We are out in Victoria this week, visiting family. We also had an appointment with BC Community Living to get some support for Haaken. Eric has an interview for a half time job in Stony Rapids with AHA. Hopefully he is successful and then he also works the same weeks I am up there! Eric has been watching curling with Sheena. They are cheering on team Canada, and I hear they are doing well. Liam and Mercedes are doing well. Mercedes got a job with Brown’s Social House in Moose Jaw. Nothing to add from Greg and Kiersten.”

Erin and Kristian enjoyed an extra dose of winter in Regina. They are very ready for better weather. Kristian is looking forward to getting new tires for his car. Erin has the service folks at work on the assignment. Erin has had a busy week at work, but she’s enjoying a quiet long weekend. 

Joanna has returned from southern Ontario, but has brought her concerns for her mother’s health with her. It seems they will need to consider changes to her level of care. Trav made a quick tour to Winnipeg for the AEWrestling event there. We have plans to get together for a celebratory turkey dinner over the weekend, sounds like it will be on Monday. We’re always glad of those events. 

And that’s about enough for this week.