On the Road Again!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown, but we have headed west, and are closing out the week on the banks of La Rivière Rouge in Winnipeg. Thanks Tom & Mariette for taking us in out of the cold and storm! Tom even gave me a new potential diagnosis for my back/leg issues, Piriformis Syndrome, which he also suffers with on occasion. The weather in Thunder Bay has been comfortable with daytime temperatures above zero and while we've had some snow, we've able to clear the driveway and let the sun have its way. We had a good week with several appointments and medical issues to take care of before we were prepared to be away for some weeks. Wendy's eye appointment revealed that she's developing a cataract, so she'll be considering surgery for that after we get back. I had the remainder of my skin tags removed, and also got some followup on my back issues. I've been referred for an MRI, and also to the Back Pain unit. These, too, will be held in abeyance until we get back. The markets were roiled this week by a speech by Powell, and then, yesterday and today by Jobs data. The FED allowed as how it may be about time to slow down the rate increases, and the investors cheered. However, the economy showed up so strongly in the jobless claims and new jobs created that investors feared the FED would keep the rates rising. We're in the "good news is bad news" phase of the markets, so the strong jobs data brought about more selling, and I didn't make quota this week. Wendy has also been working all week to prepare the eulogy—lots of memories, lots of emotion, it's therapeutic. In Basketball, #3-Kansas paid the price for its first loss of the season and were dropped to #9. They won their games comfortably this week, so that helps. In football the conference finals are running this weekend and the teams I follow are not involved. The Oilers had a number of games this week, splitting the first two, and hosting the Habs tonight.

Yay Oilers! Yay Oscar!

A good game for the usual suspects, and Oscar rubbed it in to his dad. Pens also won their game tonight, but Leafs fell in Overtime. 

Erica writes, "When we could find the energy, we worked on bathroom destruction this week. On Saturday, our friends Tina and Guido came over to help. We are getting old and need lots of breaks. 1 hour destruction, 1.5 hour break for lunch.

Found more Knob & Tube

Then, 45 minutes of cleanup. Another break. Then about 1.5 hours of destruction with cleanup, and we called it a day. I don’t think any of us will have a career in construction any time soon. We chatted here and there with the boys and things seem to be good."

Kristian won an award as Athlete of the Week at school.

Well done! 

His main sport at present is curling. Erin is working through the transition at work as they separate the business of Lexus out of the Toyota operation. 

Travis and Joanna are very busy. They've had the photoshoots with about 80 teams already this season, which catches them up to their expected schedule despite the delayed start to the season. Lots of development and production work to do still, but not very many new teams to do before Christmas. They're in charge of things in Thunder Bay while we're away. Thanks guys! 

And that's about it for this week! 

Catching Up!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been great with temperatures above freezing, and the driveway and walks have cleared off nicely. We have quite a number of issues to clear up here before we will be ready to head west. The Celebration of Life for Dad is set for December 9th, 1:30pm at Glen Elm Church of Christ in Regina. We expect to see many of you there—you are all invited and welcome. We've both been attending to medical issues. Wendy had an ultrasound followup to her recent surgery. She's reporting good results, now we are waiting to see if the doctor agrees! I had a followup meeting with my doctor over my back/leg issues. She remains concerned, and ordered X-rays even though she doesn't expect it to reveal the problem. It didn't, but it's a required precursor to an MRI which she has now ordered. I'm still waiting on an MRI of my head to check what may be causing my hearing loss, but it seems MRIs are subject to delay! With the comfortable weather, I managed to make some progress on shop projects—seems there is no end of projects there! We got our roof reshingled on Monday—looks good. We've put off the soffit, fascia and eavestrough until the Spring; we're not expecting any rain for a while anyhow!

Nicely done! 

Wendy has been extra busy catching up on Sweet Adelines business that piled up while we were away. The bank continues to frustrate her efforts to conduct business on line. Market action was quite sparse this week with the USA holidays, but investors seem to be more optimistic and I had a good week. The Grey Cup had a surprise winner as the Argos shot down the heavily favoured Bombers. In college basketball, Kansas was upgraded to #3, but they lost their game yesterday, so they'll be dropped down the list a bit. #1-North Carolina also lost, and I was hoping KU might move up, sigh! The Leafs suffered a major loss as their top defenceman was injured and will be out for several weeks. Oilers are just not playing very well right now, but came back from three goals down to win their game today. Pens played the Leafs today, so somebody had to lose! The Leafs won this time. College football saw the 'Horns getting the week off, while my Sooners lost to Texas Tech in overtime. 

Erica writes, "At MNP, there were several events with the release of CFE marks. There were pre-parties and post-parties and lots of commiserating over the difficulty of the exam and waiting to hear if you passed. In addition, the office spent Saturday morning serving hot chocolate at the PA Christmas Parade. Last week was spent in Saskatoon so this weekend is here in PA. Eric and I are on for worship team on Sunday. We also cleaned up our recycling and cleared away several deck boards to make our natural gas meter accessible. As I suspected, this isn’t going to be as easy as the tech from SaskEnergy said. There is a beam within 3 feet of the meter, so, if we need a 3x3 clearance it is going to have to wait until summer. But for now the boards are gone and we hope they will accept this as a temporary solution. Liam has started a patreon account to raise money to support his art. He would be very happy to receive support. Haaken and Greg are fine."

Erin and Kristian are enjoying a brief respite in the winter weather, but are threatened with a cold snap coming their way! Kristian has completed one drama project, but continues with that early morning course. Curling has started, his team won last week, and tied this week. Erin is heading into a busy time at work as they're de-merging the Lexus part of the business from the Toyota business, so they will operate as individual companies. Fortunately her boss is getting back to work, so that should spread the load around a bit. 

Travis has recovered from his bout with Covid, and they're back to full-time photoshoots once again. We have set up Trav's birthday celebration for tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow is Trav's birthday, and we're planning a pizza and cake celebration here. 

Another Wendy Masterpiece

And that's about it for this week. 

Home Again!

Another week has passed, and we have returned from south of the Red River in Texas to our hometown on the shore of Lake Superior. A wonderful family gathering at Viggo & Nancy's in Rowlett concluded on Tuesday as we drove north to Lawrence. Thank you all for the wonderful time, and great grub! Aunt Helen provided a warm welcome and a Jayhawk victory on Tuesday evening—thank you so much! Then, on Wednesday, we returned the car to Marti's garage, and loaded up in Marilyn's minivan for a ride to the airport. The flight to Washington was uneventful, but that was the end of trouble-free travel for us! Shortly after arrival as we negotiated our way to our new gate, we started getting texts and emails explaining that our flight to Toronto was delayed. Each successive text announced a later projected departure time and our comfortable connection in Toronto started to look troubling! The issue, they told us, was that the plane that would take us to Toronto was still in Toronto! Eventually, it showed up, and with a quick turnaround, we were off to Toronto a couple of hours later than planned. No worries, we had used the ArriveCAN app (even though we didn't have to), and our transit through customs would be slick! However, it seems the folks at Pearson Airport had determined that since ArriveCAN was no longer required, it would no longer be used! So, we endured a 40-minute queue and then had to go through the entire process of customs declarations, again, sigh! Then, it was a rush across the airport to the farthest gate possible. Luckily, we were able to get one of those cart rides for much of the distance, and we made our flight. Joanna met us at midnight in Thunder Bay—thanks, Joanna! It's good to be home. 

We received news of Dad's passing on Monday, so our trip home was clouded by that grief. The remainder of the week has been largely consumed with conversations back to Regina and planning for a commemorative service. We had some snow accumulating in our driveway, but Travis and Joanna came by Thursday morning to help clear that away. My back and legs continue to be a bother, so that was very welcome. I have arranged an appointment with my doctor for further investigation. When this first flared up at the end of September, she had me checked for a kidney stone, but ultrasound ruled that out. I have endured a month of chiropractic and stretching exercises which have certainly caused a lot of pain, but no relief. The markets continued to be roiled by duelling issues of the election, inflation and the FED, but I was able to close off the week with a good green day. College football season is coming to an end, and soon they'll be in an interminable list of bowl games. 'Horns won their game easily today, and my Sooners pounced on their in-state rival, Oklahoma State. In hockey, my teams remain around the middle of the pack, and, all three won today. 

Erica writes, "We were sad to hear of Grampa passing on Monday. It’s mostly been a week of remembering and sharing about his life. Plus some destruction on the bathroom."

Down to the Lath!

Erin and Kristian are enduring a harsh start to winter with snow and cold in Regina. This week added to their grief with the passing of Papa. Erin is suffering with a cold of her own, again! Kristian's drama group toured their production with five presentations. He was on the stage crew. Today was the final show, and then they went out for a celebration at Western Pizza. 

Travis contracted covid, but he's vaccinated, so his symptoms were light; he seems to have recovered already. They continue to be very busy with Puckshots photo shoots. 

And that's enough for this week. 

Ellis Clinton Krogsgaard

Ellis Clinton Krogsgaard, 97, of Regina, ran into the arms of Jesus on Monday, November 14, 2022. “Ellie” was born on a farm north of Ogema, Saskatchewan on March 7, 1925. He was predeceased by his wife and sweetheart of 45 years, Evelyn Mary (Taylor); parents, Harold and Martha (Arneson); brother, John Malm and sisters-in-law, Ina (Johnson) and Jean (Osaka); sister and brother-in-law, Carole (Straker) and Bernard; sister-in-law, Mae (Ewing); brothers-in-law, George Elford, Elford Bell and Wilf Smith. 

Ellis is survived by his children, daughter-Wendy (Bill) Ulrich with three grandchildren, Erica (Eric) Bailey, Travis (Joanna Herbage), Erin; five great-grandchildren, Haaken, Liam, Gemma (Jonas), Andrew and Kristian; son-David; son-Richard (Sue) with four grandchildren, Aaron (Lorraine), Tori (Sharon), Tim (Krista), Tiffany (Layne); ten great-grandchildren, Jonas, Max, Finn, Ivy, Anders, Noah, Rosy, Dierks, Chet and Daisy; son-Bernard (Alicia) with three grandchildren, Kresten (Starlet), Ashley (Barry), Logan (Kaitlyn); two great-grandsons, Oliver and Keplar. He is also survived by one brother, Bordy; three sisters, Eloise, Ruby and Sharon (Rob), along with numerous nieces and nephews. 

Ellis walked in close relationship with his Saviour, reflecting the character of Jesus. He was a life-time teacher, song leader and elder with the Regina (Glen Elm) Church of Christ. In 1943, he began his 37-year teaching career in a one-room schoolhouse, Albert Springs. He went on to teach in Ogema, Radville (where he built the family’s first home), Ceylon and Pangman. After moving to Regina in 1964, he taught various subjects, including wood-working and English, concluding his professional years as Head of the English Department at Central Collegiate. Ellis took an early retirement to lovingly care for his ailing wife, Evelyn, for ten years. Ellie’s guitar playing and distinctive tenor voice highlighted various Tommy Douglas political events and many a family “pickin’n grinnin”. As his arthritic fingers began to limit his ability to strum his 80-year old Gibson, he often opted to select one of his seven harmonicas and stomped out a lively tune, to the delight of his listeners! Of the many talents that Ellis developed, he was happiest in his carpentry workshop, with every tool and machine strategically placed and immaculately maintained. He blessed the church and many family, friends and neighbours with his intricate handiwork. In his later years, Ellis was able to stay in his home, keeping busy with church bulletin edits, crosswords puzzles, competitive games of cribbage, as well as tutoring struggling college students with their essays. He forever had his red pen at hand to edit the newspaper or whatever his eyes found to read. His understanding of the English language was extensive; how it grieved him to see his beloved formal English become extinct, leaving colloquialisms to become the norm. Ellis’ greatest joy was his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, as well as all those who lovingly called him Grandpa and Uncle Ellie. 

Grandpa Ellis’ last few years were wrought with mobility issues that confined him to his wheelchair. Rarely did a complaint or bemoaning pass his lips. A champion of determination, he forced himself to walk the length of his house several times a day; he even ventured out to his beloved workshop on occasion. His children worked together to make it possible for Dad to stay in his home as long as possible, until his care required the expertise of the caregivers at Selo Gardens; there, he joyfully lived and flourished for the last eight months. The family wishes to thank Lorelei Fletcher and the competent workers at Selo for their care and compassion; Grandpa was loved and respected, being treated with dignity and courtesy there. “Grandpa, your presence will be deeply missed among us. Heaven was made a bit sweeter with your arrival. How that glint in your eye must sparkle as you unite with your Master, your sweetheart and all those you have longed to see! Until we meet again. Thank you for the legacy you have left. We love you.”

A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date in Regina at the Glen Elm Church of Christ.

To leave an online message of condolence, please visit: Victoria Avenue Funeral

Texas!

The Siblings!

Another week has passed, and we have continued our journey through Oklahoma and into Texas. We enjoyed Sunday morning with Jack before continuing our trip. The drive down to Dallas went well, and Lucas welcomed us to their home for the week. Luc has accommodated us graciously, and we have tried to provide vittles for the week! Wendy and I have 'enjoyed' navigating around the high traffic thoroughfares of Dallas—quite a bit above our comfort level. However, we've successfully completed several shopping and touristy trips around town. Marti's car continues to perform admirably, and we've even learned how to work with the GPS. Luc and I got out for golf on Thursday. I'm still hurting quite a bit, so the golf was a tad tentative, but still very much fun. This weekend the weather has turned cold with overnight lows near freezing and daytime highs around 10°, so I don't expect to get out for any more golf. The markets were a bit surprised by the election results, and with the better than expected inflation data, investors piled into the markets and I enjoyed a good month this week. I haven't been following the sports as closely while we're on the road. Gushue did win the Pan Continental curling on the men's side, while Einarson settled for the bronze on the women's side. Jayhawks have opened the basketball season with two wins. Sooners lost another football game this afternoon, and the Longhorns lost tonight—sigh! Oilers and Leafs won their games today, while Pens lost in OT in Montreal. The family gathering is in full swing over at Viggo & Nancy's—thanks everyone for making it a memorable event. It was special to meet another nephew, Ken, at this event. 

Erica writes, "After some delays courtesy of the weather and a Westjet system crash, we got back to Saskatoon on Tuesday at 3 AM. We grabbed a few hours sleep at a Comfort Inn, then drove to PA. Haaken was more fortunate; he got home by 11 PM on Monday. Liam, Greg and Kiersten slept on the Airport floor in line for “customer service” which had an abundance of customers and a lack of service. Finally around 9 AM they got new flights and, since Greg and Kiersten wouldn’t leave for another day, a hotel room. Liam joined them for some proper sleep. Liam got into Regina at midnight Tuesday. Greg and Kiersten arrived back home on Wednesday at 5 pm. Eric is home this weekend, while I’ve taken off for our annual girls trip to Edmonton. This year we are attending The Price is Right, which should be fun. Thanks to my most wonderful cousin, Margaret Reil, we are saving on hotel costs! Thanks Dolly!"

Erin and Kristian are suffering through a pretty severe start to winter in Regina, but they're doing okay. The preliminary work is complete for the theatrical production that Kristian is in at school. They take it on the road for performances at several schools starting next week. He has also begun another season of curling. 

Travis and Joanna suffered the loss of their budgie this week. Somehow, it escaped the cage and the house. We are holding out hope that it will find its way back home before the cold out-of-doors prove too much for it. Otherwise, they are keeping very busy with work especially the Puckshots Photography side of the business. 

And that's about it for this week! 

Travelling!

Another week has passed and we have continued our trip. We began the week in Lawrence KS, saying good-bye to cousin Marti as she headed off to Finland on a Fullbright Scholarship event. We enjoyed a few more days with Aunt Helen (thank you!), and worked on a project for Marti involving air-blocking and baseboards in her front entry.

Foam flowing into the garage!

Wendy overdid the foam work, then I installed the wood, and she finished with fresh paint. It turned out fine; Aunt Helen will remove the painters tape before Marti gets home!

Painted up pretty nicely!

On Wednesday, we packed up Marti's car, and drove down to Stillwater OK where we settled in with Jack and Joanne for the rest of the week—thank you, Jack and family for hosting us so well. We plan to head south to Dallas tomorrow. Life at Jack's is always very busy and very interesting. We spent a lot of time reminiscing about our times in Zambia, and catching up on happenings there, especially the water situation. They've had early rains and the dams are filling up nicely. We pray that the rains will continue to be steady and that next April there will be a great harvest. Jack has obtained another NEW car to add to his collection. It's a 29 Ford Roadster that has been hopped up a bit with electronic ignition and a modern carburetor. 

29 Ford Roadster

I also got to drive his 29 Ford Model A which I had first enjoyed last time through, and this time Wendy joined in the fun!

Wendy driving the Model A

It was another topsy turvy week in the markets as the strong USA economic numbers battled with the FEDs determination to tamp the economy down, but in the end I had a good gain for the week despite the 0.75% prime rate increase. Employment was up big time in both Canada and the USA and that encouraged investors. The Pan Continental Curling served up a surprise on the women's side as Korea and Japan advanced to the championship game while Einarson will battle USA for the bronze. On the Men's side, Gushue will play Korea for the gold, while USA plays Japan for the bronze. The CFL divisional semi-finals will take place tomorrow with Hamilton in Montreal, and Calgary in Vancouver. Toronto and Winnipeg await the winners. The Pens have hit a bad stretch in the early season enduring a losing streak. Oilers ran off an impressive win streak, but now they've lost two straight. Leafs are not performing up to expectations either, but at least they won tonight! Houston captured the World Series tonight despite my picking them to win! Sooners dropped their game to Baylor today. 'Horns beat Kansas State this evening. 

Eric, Erica, Haaken, Liam, Greg and Kiersten are enjoying London. It's about time for them to return to a wintry reality check! Erica writes, "It has been quite a week. It is wonderful to have everyone under the same roof, even if that roof is across the pond. We have been having a lot of fun together as a family and getting to know Kiersten better. We’ve visited the Harry Potter studio tour, the Tower of London, Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, Bath and toured the historic Roman baths, did a walking tour of haunted London pubs, and have seen many other sites along the way. Today, we will go see The Lion King and see what else we can fit in on our last full day."

Erin and Kristian had a good week, although Erin succumbed to a migraine on Friday. 

Travis and Joanna are very busy, perhaps, too busy, with Puckshots as teams are rushing to get photos taken. At least the Fall weather is holding in Thunder Bay, although they have been getting some rain. 

And that's enough for this week. 

Fall—Still Summer!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather remains very comfortable there, but we have left, and are enjoying a comfortable existence in Lawrence KS where the colours are hinting of Fall even while the temperatures are indicating that it's still summer. Thank you, Marti for putting us up, and, in fact, for arranging this expedition. We're enjoying this part even as we look forward to the rest of it. We finished up a few things in Thunder Bay during the first few days and then flew south on Wednesday. That was quite an excursion and way too much exercise for my troubled legs (I still suspect Sciatica even though my doctor demurs). The trip started well as we flew down to Toronto, but sadly, things were not convenient or problem-free there! We had to go through security (again), and then through customs and immigration. It seems the Americans are taking their revenge for ArriveCAN, and have instituted MPC (mobile passport control). If you don't have a smart phone, you may as well stay home! And yet our travel agents made no mention of this necessity, and Travis did not have to use it recently when he went to New York, so, as far as we know, they instituted it just to trouble us. Anyhow, after getting through security, we got to a massive hall, filled with people, and, after finding the row for Canadians, there was a hint of something new in the air.

Clearly it's MPC!

A signboard with a QR code announced the MC, and the attendants assured us that it actually said MPC, and that we must download it! So, we followed the QR code to the app store and downloaded it... now what was our AppleID password? I don't know how these people assume that we all have smart phones, and that we're all so computer literate that we can manage this kind of process while standing in line, and shuffling our luggage forward! Once into the app we had to fill in a bunch of personal information and take a photo of our passport ID page and of ourselves. Sadly, the light was so dim in that area, that we couldn't get a photo. One attendant tried to light up my passport with her phone, but it still wasn't enough, so she took my phone and entered the passport information incorrectly, so I could be informed that the data was incorrect and I could redo it! Once we were through this process, we were awarded a QR code that got to see the customs officer, who considered our situation and finally allowed us to proceed to the gate, which had already been sending texts demanding that we attend there! Then, it was about 2km to the gate as we only had a puddle jumper jet to Kansas City and it required us to walk out side, give up our carryon luggage and climb the stairs to the plane. The gate was closed before we got there, but there was a line-up of similarly inconvenienced passengers, so they held the plane until we all got aboard! Other than that it was smooth sailing! Marti was there to pick us up, and we breathed a collective sigh with that ordeal behind us! Here, we're enjoying catching up with Marti, including a couple of sing songs—thanks! This evening, we've relocated to Aunt Helen's. The markets have had another good week; things were a bit tentative while we waited for the BoC rate announcement, but after they surprised with ONLY a 0.5% increase, the markets closed strongly, and I had another good week. Riders closed out their season tonight in Calgary with another loss—sad! The World Series has begun with the Phillies taking the first game and Astros matching that this evening. I've picked the Astros to win it. My Sooners were back in action in college football and won their game today. Pens have had a terrible tour of western Canada, dropping games in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. Oilers are on a brief win streak; I hope they can keep it going! Leafs continue to struggle in the early going of the season. Homan and Edin won the Grand Slam event on Sunday. Next curling is in the Pan-Continental curling championships which begin on Monday in Calgary. Canada is represented by the Gushue and Einarson teams. 

Erica writes, "Eric and I met up with Greg, Kiersten, Haaken and Liam in Calgary this Friday. And just for fun, decided to head to London! This week has been focused on getting ready for our trip. We are looking forward to a week in London. Anyway, we are here in the UK all settled in at our air BnB, we’ve been fighting our natural inclination to go to sleep. Some have been more successful than others!"

Erin writes, "We woke up to a pile of snow on Sunday. Tracy (co-worker) had surgery on both feet on Monday, so, we’re short staffed again for a while. I got my winter tires installed on Tuesday. We had our 3-way conference (parent-teacher-student interview) on Wednesday, and Kristian had youth group on Thursday. Kristian got sent home sick on Friday, so today was a day of naps :) Just a regular week. LOL!"

Travis and Joanna are holding down the fort in Thunder Bay, and are busy, busy, busy with Puckshots Photography. We don't know our new tenant well, yet, so it's a great relief to be able to rely on Trav & Joanna to take care of any issues that may come up. 

And that's about it for this week. 

Fall/Summer

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The week began with windy, cold weather, and is ending with temperatures pushing 20° again—salubrious indeed! As a result, we've been able to maintain our outdoor walking, and even enjoying it in shirt sleeves! Such changes are common this time of year even as we head inexorably toward winter. I have continued with therapy on my back, although my discomfort now seems to be almost completely with in my right hip and leg. The doctor has ruled out sciatica, although I'm convinced it's more nervous system than muscular. In any case, I work through a series of stretches with heat and cold treatments, and most days I'm able to keep upright and walking! The Greedy game boards are nearing completion; it's a simple structure with a perimeter of sticks to enclose the cloth-backed playing area. The game operates under several names, and with a large range of rules. My computer-based version is called Farkle; you may also look it up under that title. I'm still planning to stain and varathane the wood pieces, then it rolls up in the cloth which is only attached to the bottom sticks. Maybe I won't bother to attach it—that seems to work, too. 

Greedy Game

Our concerns over the new variants of the coronavirus have reawakened. So long as people keep it going, it will continue to mutate, and there's always the risk that the mutants will be worse than the original. The latest variant seems to bypass the protections of all prior infections, but produces little illness among the vaccinated. While we've experienced more deaths already this year than in any prior year, most folks and governments seem oblivious or at least nonchalant. We're considering plans to travel in the near future, but this certainly gives us pause. We completed our teeth cleaning appointments this week with the trainees at Confederation College. The process takes much longer working with them, but we feel good about providing them the work site, and very good about only paying $20. Wendy has continued her struggle with the banks to get the chorus accounts working properly. It seems she's been at this a long time! It's quite surprising how difficult they seem to find it to put new names on business accounts and make them accessible online. The markets continued to be topsy turvy and volatile. This was another positive week, but only because we had three big green days against two big red days—not the formula for comfortable investing! At least I made quota. In the world of sports, the Riders played their penultimate game of the season against Calgary today. They'll complete their season, next week, with the other half of the home and home in Calgary. And then other teams will begin the playoffs, sigh! MLB has moved into the League Championship series. I managed to pick two of the Divisional series winners—big step up for me! I've picked Astros and Padres to advance to the World Series. Texas moved back into the rankings after demolishing my Sooners last week. This week the 'Horns were substandard and lost to Oklahoma State, while the Sooners took the week off to lick their wounds. The opening weeks of the NHL season have produced a few surprises, and some of them not good ones for my teams (Oilers, Pens, Leafs), well, actually, Pens and Leafs are doing okay. Grand Slam curling is on again this week in Grande Prairie. Koe advanced to the playoffs; I've enjoyed watching both the men's and the women's sides of the draw. Einarson has qualified on the women's side. The finals are scheduled for tomorrow.  

Erica writes, "This week, we heard that one of our friends passed away, much too young. Shelley Lock (nee Waddell) was a good friend at Western. When I moved to Saskatoon, she often hosted us at her apartment and gave us the lay of the land in her hometown in her gutsy Nova. She met and married Chris Lock the same year Eric and I married. Over the years, they have graciously hosted us at their home in Warman. Shelley has battled a variety of medical conditions in recent years and passed away in her sleep this week. Eric and I will be attending the service this weekend in Saskatoon." While we attended on line. 

Erin continues to fight her fall flu, while Kristian seemed to have had only one down day, and then was back to his usual good health. At least she felt well enough to get back to work, as when she is away, the work just waits for her to return! She's feeling much improved this weekend, but the weatherman warns of snow in Regina. Curling should be starting soon for Kristian; they had a curling meeting on Thursday. 

Travis and Joanna are fully into Puck Shots photo sessions now. The Bucket Decal work continues as well, as teams develop their plans for a full season of hockey. We hope that comes true, but, as noted above, we're pretty skeptical about how the various governments are failing to deal with Covid. Andrew "enjoyed" more medical work this week. Gemma and Jonas are progressing in their planning to come home over Christmas break. 

And that's about enough for this week. 

Summer/Fall

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The first few days were summery with temps in the 20s, but then we turned to autumn, and daytime highs failed to make it into double digits. We've managed to get out for walks regularly, and I feel this is helpful therapy for my ailing back and legs. The muscles seem to loosen up after a kilometre or so, and there is little pain once that happens. I've also been doing my prescribed stretches, and had another appointment with the chiropractor. She's thinking that one or two more visits may complete this particular intervention. I've been swinging my golf club, and while it's a little tender, it actually seems pretty good. Of course, I can't swing as hard as I'm used to, but, some think, that may be a beneficial as well! I'm currently working on a small set of game boards for Greedy—that's going well. May have some pics next week! I had an ultrasound on my leg to see if there's any progress with the blood clots. I'm expecting to hear the results on that next week. On Friday, we started a series of teeth cleaning at the college. It takes them quite a while as they have to check and get approval from their instructors at each stage, but hey, $20! Wendy keeps busy with choral business and singing practice. It's a little strange for the listener (me), as she's hearing the music in her ear buds, but singing the bass line aloud! The markets have continued their wild swings. The wildest this week was Wednesday when option traders got panicked over the possibility of the markets hitting bottom and went into a surge of buying to cover their short positions! Interesting times—I recall in the early days of my market playing, it would be a remarkable day when we had a hundred point swing in the DOW. These days we sometimes see a range of 1000 points in a single day! Sports action is plentiful these days. The week opened with the completion of the first Grand Slam event of the curling season. The winning teams were Gushue over Edin on the men's side, and Tirinzoni over Einarson in the women's competition. MLB continues with the divisional series where I've picked Yanks, Stros, Dodgers and Braves. I had perfect results in the Wild Card series, managing to pick exactly zero of the winners, but only two of my picks have been knocked out so far in this round, and one has already advanced! In college football, both my Sooners and the #22-Longhorns prevailed today. Hockey season has opened and the teams I follow (Oilers, Pens, Leafs) have all managed to get their first win out of the way. 

Erica writes, "We had a short work week, which was nice. We celebrated Thanksgiving on Sunday with Erin and Kristian, and took a moment to remember our poor family down south that have to wait until next month for their celebration. #NotEveryoneGetsOctoberThanksgiving. On Monday, we had a good, long visit with Grampa. He seems to be doing very well. I noted that he has survived the Queen and he reminded me that he was already a year older then Lizzie, so there! Liam joined us on Thursday to see John Mulaney on his comedy tour. John was funny, as expected, and also has the meaningful story of his journey from drugs. We laughed, we cried… In a couple weeks we head across the pond for a family trip. It’s been years in the planning—we are looking forward to the time together."

Erin and Kristian have had a quiet week in Regina, but Erin has been ill. It's probably that seasonal flu that's going around this year. She has been testing, but is negative for covid, however, it's cost her time off work. We hope Kristian manages to avoid it. 

Cutting Board project

Kristian completed a project in woodwork at school. It looks good to me! 

Travis and Joanna are very busy with Bucket Decals and have now begun booking team photoshoots for the PuckShots side of their business—busy times, but good times! Travis was off to Toronto for a few days to take in the AEW pro wrestling event. 

And that's enough for this week. 

Thankful!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We are enjoying Thanksgiving with full hearts—we are well blessed! We have obtained another vaccine booster; this one covers a couple of additional Omicron variants. We both experienced a bit of shoulder discomfort, but really we were symptom free.

Wendy managed to track down a replacement microwave after ours quit. The new one has a few additional features, and we're liking it a lot. We have sold the old Cougar, so the Santa Fe has now moved into the garage for the first time ever. I'm thinking it will enjoy that this winter, but we're also wondering if folks will think that we're never at home! With the newly capacious garage, I've been working to reorganize my wood shop area for more efficient storage and access to wood and tools. Some have asked about the half-half-half drawer construction I mentioned last week. Here's the Youtube source of that technique. I have continued under the care of my chiropractor, but I am not seeing much improvement. With all the manipulations, stretching and exercise I am now sore across my complete lower back and legs! Wendy has kept busy with chorus business—it seems the banks cannot figure out how to set up their various accounts and cards. She had a follow-up appointment on Wednesday, and that was positive. She also has additional therapies and medications to work through. Getting old is tough! The markets behaved crazily again this week, so in other words "same ol' same ol'"! We started with big time green, and closed with three days of big time red. Over all, we gained a little. The big issue this week was continuing strength in the economy and especially in job gains. That made investors fear the central banks would continue with aggressive rate increases. Sigh! "Good news is bad news" these days. The world of sports continues to distract, but not to match with my expectations or wishes. Baseball season ended, and the playoffs have begun. I picked Rays, Jays, Cards and Mets to win their first round series, and all lost game 1! Yogi said, "It ain't over til it's over!" I'm hanging onto that, but it is over for the Jays, Rays and Cards! The Riders blew another winnable game in Hamilton and their playoff hopes died with it. They have two games remaining, but truly, they only have a mathematical chance. Curling has been front and centre this week with the Grand Slam National event taking place in North Bay. My guy, Kevin Koe, has advanced to the playoffs. On the women's side, my team, Kerri Einarson, has also advanced. In college football, my sad sack Sooners took on the Longhorns today—it was a slaughter! It is a rare event to watch this game as a match between unseeded teams! 

Erica writes, "We started the week with leading worship with a team. Monday was a home day. Tuesday, we attended an event at the Prince Albert campus for the University of Saskatchewan. We got to have a tour of the facilities. Wednesday, we made our grandfathers proud attending an NDP dinner fundraiser. Erica got some nice red gloves. Thursday, we enjoyed our regular evening out with friends. So Friday, to relax, we hit the road to Regina. We will be celebrating Thanksgiving with Liam in Regina with Erin and Kristian." 

As mentioned Erin and Kristian are hosting the Ulrich Thanksgiving Dinner—Saskatchewan section! We wish we could all be together, but know they'll be having a good time. 

Chef—meet the turkey!

Travis and Joanna are very busy with Bucket Decals orders these days. They still managed to take time for an evening visit during the week, and they joined us for Thanksgiving Dinner this evening. An epic game of Greedy added to the enjoyment. We really enjoy the times when the family can get together. 

And that's about it for this week. 

October!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been comfortable and the newly replanted lawns are making good progress. The pain has receded some in my lower back, so on Thursday, I took my courage in my hands and went to my chiropractor—yep, that reawakened the pain! She diagnosed and worked through the muscle groups involved and assigned me further exercises to do at home. As a result, while it's tender, movement is improving, and I've been able to get some work done in the shop. The drawer unit is finished, although I will be adding more subdividers in the drawers for more efficient storage. You can see the half-half-half joinery I used for the corners of the drawer box. 

Completed Drawer Unit

Detail of the Joinery

Wendy has continued with her last week of convalescence. She is scheduled to go back to her doctor next week for a follow-up when we may find out how successful the surgery was. She hopes it has gone well, and that she will be allowed the freedom of more activity afterwards. The markets have continued downward as is usually the case in September anyway, but has been even worse this year! I'm getting mixed results in sports as well. The Riders were trounced by the Bombers this week, and the Sooners were slaughtered for the second week in a row. At least the Blue Jays are thriving and have officially qualified for the playoffs. Their final few series will determine whether they also achieve the advantage of having home games in the first round. Carruthers won the curling event last week. There are several events in this week's curling, but none are at such a high level. 

Erica writes, "Eric and I enjoyed last weekend down in Livingston, Montana. I had a lot of naps! We also enjoyed their “art walk”. All the galleries and shops downtown were open. One had a live band playing. It was really enjoyable, and I found a pair of designer flats for $11 at a second hand store! We drove back on Sunday, and met up with Liam along the way for supper in Moose Jaw. He is doing well and plans to stay in Caronport another year. Haaken and Greg are doing well. We are looking forward to seeing them all in a few weeks as we gather for a family trip."

Shawn helped with moving the Egg Chair inside the house. Then, Kristian dismantled it, moved the pieces down to the family room and reassembled it there! Great work, buddy! I can see that I'll soon be out of work there! 

Egg Chair Inside!

Joanna has been visiting Gemma & Jonas in Vancouver. It is also her first experience with Vancouver and the lower mainland of BC, and she admits to finding it quite lovely, albeit expensive. She has now returned to Thunder Bay. Travis has been very busy with Ulrich Design production, and delights in the speed and output from his new printer. 

And that's about enough for this week. 

It's a Pain!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been comfortable, but several nights with even a risk of frost—Autumn is here! I've been nursing a bad back all week. I don't know what happened, but I was working on the drawer unit in the shop when suddenly I had a sharp pain in the back, and was almost unable to even get up from the floor. After a day of suffering, I decided it might be a kidney stone. The doctor considered it a possibility and ordered an ultrasound to check. It turned out negative for the stone, so we're left to think it was some kind of soft tissue damage—getting old is not for the faint of heart! At least the pain is diminishing, and I've been able to reduce my application of painkillers. The drawer unit remains unfinished—I was hoping to include some pictures of the completed project in this edition, maybe next week! Wendy keeps busy with her chorus management, and taking care of me! The markets were terrible, no good and very bad! At one time this month, I had a full monthly quota gained, but now I'm needing a big week next week! As expected, the FED raised the interest rate by 0.75%, but alas, even though they did as expected, the markets sold off big time—go figure! In my world of sports, Koe lost the final of the Okotoks event last Sunday to Bottcher. This week's event was in Fredericton, and Koe lost in the quarter-finals. It'll be Dunstone vs Carruthers in the final tomorrow. The Riders have the bye this week which rates it as one of the better weeks this season! College football was completely unpredictable this week. First Texas, inexplicably, lost to Texas Tech, and then my Sooners lost to unranked Kansas State, and while this we going on, the usually hapless Jayhawks were improving to 4-0 on the season! Preseason hockey has begun in the NHL. MLB regular season is drawing to a close; the Jays have fallen back a bit, but are still pretty safe to make the playoffs. 

Erica writes, "Eric made his annual run for the border, and third time must be a charm, because he made it through. Eric is attending Family Systems Trauma recertification training. I’m along for the ride. Three years ago, he won a free stay at a cabin, but in 2020 the conference was cancelled. In 2021, the border didn’t let him through. So this year we are both enjoying the quiet and beauty of Montana. The road to the cabin reminded me a bit of driving in Zambia. First a highway, then a hard top road, then a dirt road, and finally, two tire trails through the grass. We return on Sunday. The boys are all well."

Erin and Kristian had a routine week of work and school. Today, they enjoyed breakfast out at the Ecalipurr Cat Cafe. The weather has been cool, with frost, in Regina. 

Travis enjoyed an excursion to the Big Apple this week. He just got back last night after a week of checking out pizza restaurants and taking in the latest edition of professional wrestling. Joanna has been holding down the fort at home, and preparing for her next week trip to Vancouver. 

And that's enough for this week. 

Coming Down!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has taken on an autumn chill and the trees are looking very colourful. Most nights this week the temperatures fell into the single digits, and then on Wednesday it started raining. It has rained the rest of the week, so at least I've been able to turn off the lawn sprinklers on my newly patched areas of the lawns. The turf patches in the back are taking well. The seeded patches in the front—not so much! I managed to get a bit more yard work done before the rains took hold and drove me indoors. I am working on a drawer unit to install under my workbench in the shop. It's coming along well—my first drawer unit. I built a drawer for the kitchen a while back, but the functionality of drawers in the kitchen motivated me to add a set of drawers in the shop. Wendy continues her recovery program, but fell ill this week, and was back into consultation with her doctor who prescribed some antibiotics to try to get her back on the path of healing. Today, she had a chorus event at one of the local schools, so she was off early this morning for that. Otherwise, she keeps busy with her volunteer work with the barber-shoppers—way busier than I expected! The markets have continued their topsy turvy summer, in a deeply red year. Year to Date losses: TSX: -8.7%; DOW: -15.2%; S&P: -18.7%; Nasdaq: -26.8%. So, yes, I'm beating the markets, but that's a low bar this year. In my world of sports, the Riders are deeply disappointing. Their performance against Edmonton last night was inept on both sides of the ball. C'mon Riders! So, it was refreshing to watch the Sooners turn in a sparkling win over Nebraska today. Boomer Sooner! The Jays are on another upswing, going 7-3 in their last ten games and moving into a solid playoff position. Yay Jays! We're back into curling season. This week I'm following the event in Okotoks where many of the newly lineups are getting a test. My guy, Kevin Koe, has three new players this year. They've advanced to the playoffs, so, clearly, positive results so far. 

Erica writes, "We finished up another week in Prince Albert. Liam returned to Caronport after a visit with us last weekend. I had training this week on Myers Briggs. I’ve had the test before, but I thought maybe I had discovered my feelings in recent years. Alas, I still come out as a thinker! I’m borderline Introvert/extrovert, so I come out ENTP or INTP.  Eric, in his professional capacity, informs me, this means I’m either R2D2 or Yoda. We are further along planning our family trip. We are planning to visit the UK together in November. That should be fun! We are also in design mode for our upstairs bathroom. Tomorrow we are off to Saskatoon to see tiles and bathroom fixtures at Home Depot."

Most of the week in Regina focused on celebrations around Kristian's 17th birthday. Some of the festivities have been postponed as he wanted to have Astrid and Liam over, but they're under the weather. Otherwise things are going well for them with work, school, and medical appointments. 

Happy Birthday Kristian!

Another Star Wars Machine!

Travis got a new laptop with the appropriate operating system and finally has his printers humming along! Yay! The pups are thriving, and sometimes even behaving themselves. Moxley came over for a visit one day. He's bigger than expected, but quite a teddy bear overall with a deep voice. Darby continues to ail with a bad leg, and remains much the smaller of the pair. Gemma and Jonas are settling into life in Vancouver. Andrew remains off work since his recent illness. We hope he gets back to work soon. 

And that's about enough for this week! 

Falling!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been very nice, but with overnight lows often dropping to single digits, it also portends the change of season. We're even starting to see some colour in the deciduous trees. I have been busy with the lawns, keeping them moist as the germination has been happening. Not showing up as thickly as I have expected, so I may need to over-seed. We got some showers Thursday and Friday, so that gave me some time off! Wendy keeps busy with the new student boarding downstairs, but he seems to be settling in fine. She is gradually resuming more of her usual activities, and has to be reminded to take it easy! She found me a new chair to replace my old one that was shedding all over the living room (somewhat like its occupant)! I had several appointments myself this week. We had an energy assessment on Wednesday to see how we might make improvements to the house, and qualify for some government grants. I had minor surgery on Thursday to remove some skin tags, but it turns out the surgeon missed two, so I'll have to go back to get those clipped. On Friday morning, I returned to my regular doctor to get my ears flushed. My recent hearing testing had revealed wax build-up, but she got that cleared out. Now, we'll see whether that improves my hearing! The markets are in a phase of bad-news-is-good-news! Investors see anything that might prompt the central banks to slow the rate hikes as positive for the markets. Bank of Canada pushed through another 75 basis point hike this week, and the FED indicated they would probably do the same when their turn comes up. Anyway, the markets turned sharply up, and I had a good month this week. College football was a story of coulda-shoulda-woulda for Texas as they lost a squeaker to #1 Alabama. My Sooners had an easy time of it in their game. Riders were hard-pressed in the second half of the home & home with the Bombers as several players were hit by flu, and couldn't even play. C'mon Riders! Jays had a good series against Baltimore to open up some room in their playoff push; they're winning in Texas this weekend. Canadian women won the world championship over USA in a one-goal game—well done! 

Erica writes, "Liam’s home for the weekend. He has an appointment with the doctor and he now has a referral to an allergist. So, we will see where that goes. We are getting back into fall routines, but at the same time planning for a family trip in October with all the boys. We had a good call with the whole family to throw out ideas on things to do. More to come on that later." 

Kristian has settled into the new year/semester at school—grade 11, and is turning 17 next week. Time flies! He has two new special activities. He has an early morning activity at school called musical theatre. They're doing Freaky Friday as their musical. Then, on Thursday nights he has youth group where he has activities with some of the kids he got to know at summer camp. Erin is extra busy at work as her co-worker is reduced to part time while she helps her daughter manage a difficult new baby situation. 

Travis and Joanna keep busy with Ulrich Design. Travis is still struggling to get his new printer to communicate properly with the computer. The pups are recovering well from their neutering. Darby continues to suffer with his leg problem, but we think he's improving. 

And that's enough for this week. 

Solidarity Forever!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown, bringing us into September. We have been enjoying fine weather with a few showers and a couple of breezy days. I've kept busy watering the new lawns, and hoping for successful germination of the newly sown seeds. I have also engaged in more clean-up and trim around the yard, and am planning the next projects in the shop. Wendy has continued her recovery, and is doing well. She resents the forced inactivity, and chafes against the restrictions to her plans. However, she takes some consolation at the prospect of improved health in the near future and over the longer term. I had an appointment with my doctor on Tuesday over my hearing issues. She noted wax build-up in both ears, and has prescribed oil drops each day until next week when I can get them flushed out at her office. We hope this will help. The markets have continued to be troubled over the prospects of severe rate hikes. Strong economic data both sides of the border have exacerbated the issue as we are once again in the time of "Good news is bad news"! Economists here are predicting a soft landing, while USA pundits are calling for the economy to be forced into recession to combat inflation. In any case, it has made for falling markets, and I have, once again, sold out of my speculative holdings. In the world of sports, college football has started and I enjoyed watching the Sooners win their first. Riders play the Bombers tomorrow in the Labour Day game—a tough assignment for the Riders! The Jays are still not playing up to my expectations and are barely hanging on to a playoff spot. Still, they're playing meaningful games in September and that's always a good team goal. In world women's hockey, we'll be playing our arch-rival USA in the gold medal game tomorrow. 

Erica writes, "Eric’s niece, Marina, is here for a visit this weekend. My work gave us an extra day off on Friday—so I have a four-day weekend! I had a talk with the city this week about our back lane that isn’t a lane. We can organize our neighbours to agree with making the lane legal, which might mean some expense, or we can build a storage building with an overhead door. We also have a request in with SaskEnergy to get our gas line marked. That should happen next week. So hopefully we can design an appropriate storage building. We haven’t heard much from the boys." 

Kristian has begun another year of schooling. One of his classes this semester is Construction, so, I can see that I shall soon be unemployed in that regard! Erin has worked through some plumbing issues, thanks to Shawn. Her main floor half bath had developed a leak, but all is well again. 

Travis and Joanna keep busy with the Ulrich Design contracts, with the family and with the pets.

Two Sad Boys!

The boys have been "to the vet to get tutored" as Larson put it! Darby is also suffering with a sore leg, and is on medication for that—hard to see in a pup! 

And that's about enough for this week! 

Developments at Home!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been favourable, and we've settled back into life here. The schedule of our return was to accommodate Wendy's surgery. She had pre-op on Tuesday and surgery on Thursday. She is now in the recovery stage, and is doing very well. She still takes some pain-killers, but at a lower pace than was prescribed for her.

Filling in the low spots

I have spent most of the week working on the lawns. I got a load of topsoil for the front lawn as it had developed some unwelcome contours due to being built on muskeg. I have it level again, but still need to reseed part of it where the added soil is too deep to expect the old grass to grow through. Then, I also scored some sod to fill in the trampoline cut-out in the back lawn. The markets were troubled all week as investors anticipated what the central bankers might do, and what Powell would say in his speech at Jackson Hole on Friday. He spoke for eight minutes and knocked over a trillion dollars out of the stock market on that day alone! Needless to say, it was not a good week for me in the markets! In the world of sports, the Blue Jays came off the road winning series over the Yanks and the Sox. Now, they need to get busy on their home-stand where they just suffered two shutout losses. The Riders beat BC last night—yay Riders! Women's World Hockey is on from Denmark, and Canada is one of the favourites as usual. 

Erica writes, "Liam finished up his work at camp and is back in Caronport. He is planning to spend another year with RU. We are enjoying the last few weeks of summer. I enjoyed a work party out at Elk Ridge and Waskesiu. Eric is enjoying the quiet before the storm. He expects this fall to be busy. We had a quick chat with Haaken and he is doing well, and Greg continues to heal. That’s about it for us." 

Erin and Kristian are closing off summer with a nice break. Kristian is finally home after four weeks at camp this summer. He enjoyed it all a great deal!

The multi-driver!

Erin got some days off this week, so on one of those Kristian took her golfing. He brags that he was able to drive her out to the course without her becoming scared! They rented a cart, so he got to drive to the course, on the course, and also at each hole! They are also preparing for school to start next week. 

Travis and Joanna are quite busy with Ulrich Design business already. Prospects are for a busy year as things return to normal. We hope there are no flies in that ointment! Trav has been working all week on software installs for the new printer. He had to buy a new laptop to accommodate that, and as is often the case, it's more complicated than the sales agent suggests! 

And that's about it for this week. 

Home Again!

Another week has passed and we have migrated from Lake Wascana in the middle of the prairies by the Red River on the edge of the prairies to Lake Superior in the Precambrian Shield! The trip went well except for a weather hiccough on Thursday when my proposed golf game got rained out! We drove to Winnipeg on Tuesday, and enjoyed the hosting by Tom & Mariette—very thankful! We were able to have short visits with some other friends in Winnipeg. Then, we completed the trip to Thunder Bay on Friday. We were just in time to help Gemma and Jonas pack up for their trip to BC. We were very glad of the chance to say good-bye and wish them well in their new endeavours. Now, we're engaged in the process of moving back into our own house and yard. Gemma took care of the lawn (actually, Jonas did that!), but we'll need to catch up with the garden and climbing vine—both have been growing exuberantly! The neighbour's shrubs, raspberries and vine are also encroaching on the side of the driveway. We also have surplus items from Gemma to work through. Some of those will be welcomed to our collection of stuff, others will be passed along to Travis/Joanna, and some will be discarded. Investors have been wavering this week as central bankers have responded to the less dire inflation data with reaffirmation of their plans to raise interest rates. Still, I was able to achieve quota once again. In sports, the Riders put up a dismal display against the Lions and were beaten soundly at home—c'mon Riders! The Blue Jays have turned it around a bit, winning four straight to end the week. In the World Junior Hockey, Canada squeaked the gold medal over Finland in OT! 

Erica writes, "Eric got curious this week and decided to take down a small part of the ceiling in the upstairs bathroom. We were hopeful it was just wall board instead of lath and plaster. What we discovered was—it is both! We, also, now know how they made the smooth curved inside corners in the ceiling. The wall board was nailed in place over the corners, creating the curve. I’ve started experimenting more with intermittent fasting with the diet doctor. I’ve added in a few 42-hour fasts. The first longer fast was pretty easy as it was right after the fabulous meal at Mabel Hill. The last two have been more challenging. However after the most recent fast, I had very little pain and stiffness in my hands. (For those who are concerned, I am taking some vitamins and minerals and regularly meet with my diet doctor counsellor to make sure I’m being healthy) I’ve also noticed an improvement in my energy. Liam concludes his work at camp this week. We hope to see him up in PA sometime soon. Haaken is doing fine in BC, still hoping for a positive response to his job application. Greg is continuing to heal out in Kenora. (For those who don’t know, Greg came to live with us when he was 15 and is another son to us.)" 

Kristian enjoyed another week at camp, taking in Creative Week. He declared it was the best of the four weeks he spent at camp this summer.

He likes to draw!

Erin enjoyed having the house and pets to herself, although work was not so trouble-free since her office was short-staffed, and Erin had to keep up with multiple assignments! Good thing she's not just a great employee, but also very clever! 

Joanna is hosting her sister up from Toronto. Travis has purchased another printer after using parts of his oldest printer to repair number two. The new printer basically provides the same functionality as the earlier two, but has a much greater productive capacity. The flood of orders that have begun arriving is keeping them busy, and portends a regular season of business this year. That would certainly be a welcome return to normalcy for them. Andrew is doing better, but has decided not to start college in the fall semester—get well first! 

And that's about enough for this week. 

Ready for Home!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Wascana in the middle of the prairies. Our time here for this trip is drawing to a close, so we're trying to complete projects, clean up and pack up with the anticipation of heading home next week. Wendy is still working on the basement here at Erin's, but the painting is completed, the ceiling of the main floor has been bleached, and significant progress has been made both on the main floor and the basement. I got out for a final golf game with Dale on Thursday. I didn't golf consistently, so I wasn't happy with that, but I enjoyed the game anyway!

Lookin' Good!

We visited with Dad regularly—he is thriving at Selo Gardens. We enjoyed Thursday evening at Don & Sandra's for coffee and Canora Poppyseed Cake! Today, we celebrated Erin's birthday with cheesecake and another round of golf with Erin and Kristian. The markets were green this week, and I managed a full monthly quota just this week. Apparently, holding the inflation rate flat for the month of July was enough to encourage investors that the central bankers will not be as aggressive with interest rate increases. Thanks Uncle Joe! Year over year inflation remains much too high, so, I'm still expecting harsh rate increases in the near future. In sports the Riders had the bye week, and tonight, they showed the benefit of that as they won an away game in Edmonton. Blue Jays have added some players during the trade window, but have not been performing well lately. 

Erica writes, "I spent the week up in La Ronge and Eric made do on his own. I got some good news of a promotion at work! I’m very thankful. Eric is preaching this week and we are are on for worship team this Sunday, as well. We haven’t heard much from the boys, but they all seem to be doing well. We haven’t heard any news yet on Haaken’s job application so please keep praying for him."

Kristian has been at home this week. He has been helping Grandma with the downstairs work, and taking me for drives to prepare for this driver's test.

Happy Birthday!

Erin is preparing for her birthday by adding a new barbecue and an egg chair to the back deck. Nice! Kristian and I put those new purchases together for her. He's heading back to camp this weekend for Creative Camp Week at Kenosee. 

Okay, what comes next?

Travis and Joanna took an opportunity for a holiday trip to Minneapolis. Looks like they had a good time. Gemma is taking care of the animals and both houses, even as she packs up and prepares to head west. It sounds like Andrew is feeling a bit better. 

And that's about enough for this week.