Mark & Lynns Retirement Blog

Reno's and ditches

2011-10-23T14:06:00.002-03:00

Someone asked about the ditches...well here they are slowly getting covered with grass...ignore the idiot whose shadow is showing......also, the finished shingling job, which I neglected to post....

Window Feeder

2011-10-23T13:53:00.002-03:00

While waiting for the flag to unfurl, this little guy, caught my eye.....window bird feeder, what can we say?...we're old lol

Renos' cont...

2011-10-23T13:48:00.003-03:00

New Flagpole...old flag....lol...check out the brass ball at the top!.....we're nothing if not classy!

Pre Winter Reno's cont....

2011-10-23T13:25:00.003-03:00

The Cat is doing a test to see what kind of soil we have in the back of the acreage...we have a woodcutter coming in to cut down all the trees and the cat is going to bury the remains of the trees and level the lot....the test was good....now we just have to wait for honest abe to cut down the trees...

Pre Winter Renos

2011-10-06T16:34:00.003-03:00

Garages done, shed done, woodshed done, house 99% done...soon I'll have peace in my valley, again :)

Pre Winter Renos

2011-10-06T16:25:00.001-03:00

A little warmer today, but what a wind overnight and still gusting like mad today...

Pre-Winter renos

2011-10-05T09:23:00.000-03:00

Once it's naked....cover it back up

Pre-Winter renos

2011-10-05T08:38:00.002-03:00

I can watch men work all day, it's the paying for it, that irritates me. Garage first, then house, and we're good for a looooooooooooong time....with any luck :)

2011-09-20T13:37:00.000-03:00

2011-09-20T13:33:00.000-03:00

2011-09-20T13:22:00.000-03:00

The Liberals have nothing on us

2010-09-15T10:42:00.001-03:00

I know, I know, since we hail from the Conservative Province of Alberta, just typing Liberals makes me shake :) However, since we live in a Liberal stronghold now (even though we still vote PC) we feel it is our duty to invest within our community, creating sustainable jobs etc etc...and anything that makes my lawn cutting duties easier, is just icing on the cake. We decided to fill in the ditches in front of our property, to save my blood and sweat for more important things. Howard, if you still read this, you should have warned me about ditches! A couple of phone calls, some high tech financial wizardry and before you can say "hey! you need a permit!" We were off and running so to speak. Roy Excavation was hired to do the work and what can we say? A reasonable price, excellent attention to detail, competent and friendly workers, timely completion of the task, I would heartily recommend Norman (the owner) and his company in a heartbeat. See below for our adventures in landscaping :)

Lynn vs the Machine!

2010-09-15T10:24:00.004-03:00

The digger operator says "we have men who can take that out for you" Lynn replies "no thanks" and takes it out herself!...that's my wife :)

Optical Illusions 1

2010-09-15T10:21:00.002-03:00

Prior to filling in the ditches, you need pipes, in our case seven of them, and man oh man they are huge, I could even get my portly self into one and crawl around (but I save that for under the deck while staining).

Optical Illusions 2

2010-09-15T10:20:00.003-03:00

Put those giant pipes in the ditch and presto chango, they aren't so big!

Dirt..oh yes, a little dirt

2010-09-15T10:04:00.005-03:00

Let's cover up those pipes, it should only take a dump truck or two....

A lot of dirt...I mean a lot of dirt

2010-09-15T10:01:00.003-03:00

Ditches only look deep when you're mowing them...but wait until u have to fill them with dirt...lol...it takes an awful lot of dirt, it was dump truck central here for a while.

Finished

2010-09-15T09:54:00.005-03:00

Perfect, well except for the grass seed, that's for the Spring :)

Staining a porch, retired style

2010-09-15T09:50:00.002-03:00

You may ask, what is retired style?...well, that's where u go and stain the porch in four hour intervals...with three or four or five days off in between lol...but as you can see, it does eventually get done, before the snow flies...next year, the back porch....can't rush these things u know.

Beachfront Lot for Sale - Charlo NB cont

2010-08-06T15:29:00.006-03:00

50’ X 200’ Beachfront property for sale on Bay of Chaleur, NB Canada

Beachfront property on Bay of Chaleur opposite the Gaspe Peninsula in Charlo NB. Beautiful view of Herron Island with 50 feet of frontage on the Bay. Property has a Winnebago and a 14 X 12 foot Gazebo with windows on three sides for a magnificent view. $37,000.00 Please contact 506-826-3031 for more information

Beachfront Lot for Sale - Charlo NB

2010-08-06T15:17:00.008-03:00

50’ X 200’ Beachfront property for sale on Bay of Chaleur, NB Canada

I warned you...I was an addict

2010-01-26T07:54:00.004-04:00

Yes, it would appear that Facebook has truly become an all consuming passion. I know I am not alone, there's even Facebook for mobile users. Thank God I never got into Tweeting. Mark Knoop ex member of EPS, was doing the Torch Relay for the Olympics and since it was crossing Canada, he decided that he would meet up with us somewhere in Atlantic Canada. We arranged to meet in St. John, a place I had never been to. I've been to St. Johns in Newfoundland but that is another story. We did the five hour drive down and spent a great couple of hours hanging out with Mark. Funny he hadn't seemed to have changed at all, but then neither have I :) He took a couple of pictures and sent them up to me so I have attached them here. The picture with Mark and I is in front of our now most favorite coffee shop in the entire world "Java Moose", we bought three pounds of Coca Moca there and man is that the best coffee ever? But I digress, for those who may have noticed that our address has changed, it actually hasn't. The Retired Members Guild finally updated our address from the temporary one (my mother in laws) to the address we have had all along in Petit-Rocher. Enjoy the pictures, send me a line if you happen to see this in your travels and if you need to find me, well, just look me up on Facebook :)

It's official, I'm an addict!

2009-11-23T12:08:00.002-04:00

As if I didn't have enough things to occupy my time in retirement...oh wait I don't...I've discovered Facebook games. Much to the chagrin of most of my family and friends who don't play games on Facebook it's apparent that I'm hooked, between my RollerCoaster simulation and farming in Farmville, I'm tending a Zoo, running a mafioso family and roaming the streets at night as a vampire. Good thing Lynn hasn't noticed, she's too busy tending her own farm, aquarium and zoo :) Worse yet, Lynn went to Ottawa for a few days and I've had to tend not only my crops, my fish, fight my battles with the mafia and vampires, but I've also had to do hers as well. But the dogs are fed, the poop is picked up and I'm running a load of laundry as I type, so all is not lost. Tomorrow we're driving down to St. John to see my old partner Mark Knoop (now withVancouver), I'm looking forward to the drive and seeing him, it has been a looooong time, maybe he'll be fat...oh wait, he's travelling with the torch bearer for the Olympics, so I guess not. I just realized that sentence is almost as long as one of Sarah Palin's. Sheesh

It's not Homer but he's pretty good!

2009-11-15T14:10:00.003-04:00

I always thought the Trappers mascot Homer was
too funny but this guy or girl is right up there!

Some good TV news for a change

2009-10-29T05:54:00.003-03:00

Bad enough all the networks keep cancelling our favorite shows which makes it hard to commit DVR space to any show, we just discovered that Defying Gravity has bitten the big one. We only found this out when one of its stars showed up on Dexter. We were a little bummed. But now, some good news from out in TV land, just when we thought things couldn't get any better after Paula Abdhul left American Idol we get this news This improves two shows at once!

Tough Stuff - Eco Friendly Socialism

2009-10-19T02:20:00.002-03:00

I don't often find myself espousing tree hugger mantras but I have to admit that the Tough Stuff solar power project had the right blend of a useful product for me and a beneficial product for someone who is not as fortunate as most of us are. The link on the top right side of my blog will take you to their website and you can read for yourself what this company is all about. Buy one for package for you and they'll donate one package to a person in need. Sounds like a simple plan to spread the benefits of a simple solar powered system to those who could use the power but might not otherwise be able to afford it or have access to power at all. Check 'em out.

Another Passing

2009-10-16T06:15:00.002-03:00

It seems like hardly any time at all has passed since my retirement and the time I spent working went by just as fast. I expect of course, to occasionally hear of a members passing and some of those members I remember vaguely because they retired when I was just beginning my career, others I remember much more vividly. I was shocked to hear of Guy's passing, we were not especially close but I remember him as an outgoing, grab life by the horns kind of guy and he was a hoot! I remember him with Scotty, I remember him at Cook County, a big ol bear of a guy, who you could always count on for help. I am sorry that he is gone and I am sure that his loss will be felt by many. His Facebook page was still up as of yesterday and the profile picture of him reminded me of how little he had changed over the years, although I don't remember him being all dressed up like that but he cut a fine figure. He will be missed.

Fall Fair Time!

2009-09-13T05:27:00.002-03:00

It was time for the annual Charlo Fall Fair and we were looking forward to it but wouldn't you know it, our baby, our lovely Equinox was having a hiccup starting, not your usual dead battery kinda hiccup but something weird. Being so mechanically inclined, I let Lynn open the hood while I wandered around trying to find the battery charger. Lynn found it and hooked it up and the truck started dutifully a minute later. We'll have to investigate this further but now, it's off to the fair!

We picked up Mom and headed to the restaurant and sat at a large table since we were expecting more people. When they didn't show, we moved to a smaller table and then after we were all set up, everybody else showed up so we dutifully moved back to the big table. Kind of like an old time square dance with tables n chairs instead. Dinner was great although it took forever to get the food, this being fair time after all and the place was packed.

We headed off to the fair, oohed and ahhed at the bees (one of the honeycombs from a beekeepers hive), they are so industrious and could care less if we stared at them while they worked. There were full sized motorcycles made out of wood, fudge and cotton candy, german sausages and bugs in plastic for keychains and paperweights n stuff. It's quite the eclectic mix of things, and everyone kept running into people they knew, even though it is becoming a big deal, it still retains all of its hometown charm. Oh and you would not believe the number of bongs and pipes and containers for illicit goods that were for sale, funny thing was, all the people selling them were old but did have the look of old hippies about them :)

All in all, it was a great night, we came home and passed out almost right away, but we had to deal with the three furry dervishes first, who acted like we had been gone for years. I'm already looking forward to next years fair!

Finally!!! Whoo Hoo

2009-09-07T07:12:00.003-03:00

What a cutie, everybody, meet Dumpling, Mark and Mila's baby and Gavin's brother and no, that's not Gavin between his paws :) Welcome to the family! Rescued from overseas, he made a long journey to get here but it was obviously worth the wait. Mila, sorry, I stoled your picture :)
but I just had to have him here :)

They made it! We now have proof!

2009-09-04T03:45:00.002-03:00

Garrick's graduation pictures finally arrived after several missteps and they were worth the wait. His grandmother (my favorite mother in law) will be so pleased, besides, that's one less frame I have to store in the house :) Seriously though, they do represent an accomplishment and I look forward to seeing his next set of graduation pictures when he is finished at school this time around. Hopefully we won't have to wait as long for the next ones (hint..hint).

We Need A RainMaker

2009-09-04T03:41:00.002-03:00

Hurricanes galore rolling up the eastern seaboard, the Atlantic is all churned up, massive rain showers everywhere, everywhere but here No, I don't want a deluge, I'm not interested in riding around in a rowboat but it's been so long since we've had a decent rain that the cat o nine tails in my ditch are starting to wilt! To add insult to injury, grass apparently doesn't need rain to grow, so I still get to cut the grass anyway.

Small Town?...How Small?

2009-08-11T06:59:00.003-03:00

Howard, our town is so small, Google barely knows it exists, preferring to say we are near Beresford..the small town next door! So sorry, no satellite pictures for you.

Raising our Carbon Footprint..yet again...

2009-08-10T08:55:00.003-03:00

First we flew the boys out here for a vacation burning fossil fuels as only Air Canada with its multi-connection flights to the east coast can do, and then once they were gone we got down to the dirty job of cleaning up the mess left over from our rear deck renovation from last year or was it the year before? Time flies when you're retired. Three hundred bucks for the rental of a dumpster...eighty bucks for nine paving stones and a little bit of gasoline and whoosh...problem solved...sorry Greenpeace...we tried...we really tried....

Home Renovation Tax Credit At Work!

2009-08-10T08:47:00.005-03:00

Who says the Conservatives can't help out us old retired folk? We saved the price of almost one whole set of stairs! We didn't do it for the savings, we did it because of the snow...now we only have to shovel the tiny bit by the side stairs and we can ignore the rest..Woot!...Woot!

Over, much too quickly

2009-07-12T09:10:00.005-03:00

We did a little visiting, a little sightseeing, a little eating, a lot of sleeping :) All in all a nice visit but it was way too short, it takes time to recover from flying across the country courtesy of Air Canada's insistence that you lay over for hours in the two centers of the Canadian Universe; Toronto & Montreal before hopping on a little puddle jumper for the last hour and a half to Bathurst. Oh well, hopefully their next visit will be a longer one and by then the elusive Mila may have built up some vacation time at her new job.

Hail, hail, the gangs all here!

2009-07-06T10:38:00.001-03:00

Well, my sons made it safe and sound on their cross Canada journey to visit us here. Imagine a five hour layover in Toronto or three hours waiting in Montreal. Sounds like a torture the CIA would dream up but no, just our national airline doing its bit to screw over its customers. However, I digress. It's great to see them both, they were up until 2:30 in the morning adjusting their body clocks to NB time, Lynn and I however, had retired hours earlier. Jake couldn't believe that his pack grew by two and loves these new pack members, Loki is beside himself, four extra hands for pets and Odo, well he's just being Odo.

They look good and I'm sure that once they have time adjusted, we'll see more of them :)

Squirrels and lions and bears oh my!

2009-06-23T05:15:00.002-03:00

The great fat hunter has managed to trap (and release) three squirrels using the new trap. I drove them one at a time into the next town and released them. I brought Lynn with me on the last trip and when we got home she told me that we had only gone about four kilometers. I had read somewhere online that we should drive them at least five miles away as they might return.

Now we have three squirrels playing on the bird feeder, an empty trap and I have a feeling that the rodents have put one over on me.

Kidneys, can't live with em...

2009-06-23T05:08:00.002-03:00

I know everyone knows that you should drink 6 to 8 glasses of water a day but I mean really, has anyone ever really done it? After a scan for my vision problem (which went away) they discovered that my remaining kidney is acting up and my doctor arranged for yet more tests but until then she suggested that I drink more water...echhh....I did discover though, that I can drink water while I sit at the computer since I'm not looking for a sugar rush...so I drank three glasses of water over two days and was quite proud of myself. Half the tests are done now and we are waiting for the results, the next test isn't until November. We'll see how it turns out, meanwhile I am going to really really try to drink more water.

Dog Days of Summer

2009-06-10T06:06:00.005-03:00

His first swim in the Bay Of Chaleur for this year and of course he loved it!

Our squirrel trap arrived finally, so hopefully we'll get back to having a garage where we can store the bird seed n stuff. They even tried to chew through the top of a gas can if you can believe it.

Mark and Jonathan will be here in less than a month, that'll be fun. Mark's moving from Toronto to Vancouver prior to coming here, I guess he just wanted to be on a plane that much longer :) I hope he stops in to see his grandfather, if he's in Toronto, before he goes.

We got Gaston Gavroche(ok, not his real last name), out to give us some quotes, we'd like to rearrange the stairs on both decks so that they exit the side rather than the front, but apparently both decks (the front is worse) are in bad shape so they will both likely have to be replaced. We also had him take a look at the bathroom, we'd like the bathtub taken out and a sit down shower put in, as well as fix the leak in the main floor bathroom shower. God knows, when you get some income tax money back, you have to spend it!!

I have to go in for more tests, apparently my lone kidney is not doing it's job properly or something, so more ultrasounds, peeing n stuff to come...oh joy....I have been drinking more water though, I'm almost up to five glasses a week :) I'm gonna have to try a little harder, I think.

With the renovations to come we will be getting closer yet to our dream of a much easier to maintain property. We took down the split rail fence between us and the neighbors, which will make cutting the grass much easier and I did some more tree/bush trimming to assist with that as well. Loki and the boys have been helping by digging post holes in the yard, not that we wanted to put posts in the yard but they think they're helping.

I picked up some lillies to plant in our side flower bed for some additional color and for the hummingbirds, and the two new apple trees and most of our new shrubberies survived the mountains of snow and are thriving. Things are looking good.

Got an email from Tom Peebles announcing someone's retirement..oh yes, Les Bell, but at least it wasn't another death notification, we seem to be getting quite a few of those. Sheesh.

Ok, time for coffee...I'll keep you all updated as to the renovations. Congrats to my niece Francine for yet another beautiful baby boy!

What a beautiful sentiment

2009-05-01T05:57:00.001-03:00

Time Is by Henry Van Dyke

Time is
Too Slow for those who Wait,
Too Swift for those who Fear,
Too Long for those who Grieve,
Too Short for those who Rejoice;
But for those who Love,
Time is not.

Spring is Here!!!

2009-04-26T09:10:00.000-03:00

It was 25 degrees yesterday, life is good, the snow is melting faster than I can walk, not that that is saying a lot. Almost two months after my surgery and things are still not quite back to normal but I have managed to gain all my weight back...yippeee!!!...not....

We took Jake...much bigger Jake to the beach yesterday and he had a hoot...clamshells to crunch, seaweed to eat, freezing water to play in and oh..the smells...lots n lots of smells...he had a blast, we had fun too although by the end of the walk I was played out.

We're finally catching up on all of our shows that had been building up while Lynn was away, it's amazing how many shows we record in a week. I've discovered Two and a half men which doesn't help, it's been on a long time and there are tons of episodes but it is funny enough to make me laugh so hard I cry...which except for the crying part quite hard to do...

We actually got to sleep with all the windows open in the house for the first time in what seems like forever and boy was it nice...the yellow finches and red finches have arrived...there's nest building galore going on...Robins have also arrived another sure sign of spring.

We got our tax refunds in the mail, that will go a long way to buying next winters firewood and hopefully getting our front porch renovated to move the stairs to the end of the porch. That will mean a lot less shovelling next winter. Gotta plan ahead.

Now we just have to finalize arrangements for Jonathans visit...June or July...maybe we can lure Mark and Mya down for a bit...we'll see how it goes.

Pass the staple remover, please

2009-03-24T06:48:00.001-03:00

Woo Hoo, I am officially allowed to go through metal detectors and the like now. They have popped out all of my staples and although that was a strange feeling, having the bandages removed was much much worse. I would imagine, whoever comes up with a way to remove bandages without pain will win a nobel prize for ouchie relief.

I am looking forward to my first shower, sponge baths suck big time.

Oh and on a side note, Kentucky Fried Chickens large snack bowl doesn't have enough cheese or popcorn chicken to make it a worthwile purchase. The mash potatoes and gravy though are very very good. See? My new diet is working like a charm!

Lazarus...excuse me...Lazarus?

2009-03-21T03:13:00.001-03:00

The big day came and began without incident other than the fact I was starving. Funny how you can go without coffee and biscuits anytime and it doesn't bother you, unless you aren't allowed to have coffee and biscuits and then suddenly it's a very big deal. We drove the two and a half hours to the Moncton hospital on what had to be one of our windiest days ever. We wore our lighter winter coats thinking of the long trip in the truck but regretted that decision quickly once we found our parking spot. It had to be the coldest walk I have ever made and that includes some wicked Edmonton winters, walking the night beat.

We checked in without too much incident and the pre-op preparations began, weigh this, measure that, temperature this, remove that, put this on, show the world your butt, scare little children, all the usual stuff. They made me remove my wedding ring, I guess they figured it might jump off my finger and into one of the holes they were gonna make in me.

A quick goodbye to Lynn and off I went, a busy little room, this operating room, lotsa folks around and I hopped (ok, I didn't hop) onto a bed the width of a playing card and they had me outstretch my arms, which helped me not feel like I was going to fall off and probably allowed them access to veins 'n things, I'm not sure because although I didn't know it, I was not long for the land of the concious. I've always thought they ask you to count backwards or something but it was nothing so complicated, breathe, he said and I was gone.

Amazing, like a light switch being turned off, one minute you are concious, aware and thinking and the next, you aren't. I have never experienced anything like it and I hope, never have to again, I still find it a little disconcerting.

I awake later, with my wedding ring back on and Lynn is there, apparently I have been awake for some time but I have no recollection of it. Everything has gone well, the kidney, along with its cancerous hitchiker is gone and I'm in a recovery room with several others, including a woman who had the same operation done just before me. Now it's just a matter of time for recovery. The doctor had said I would be out of it for a bit but by saturday I would be raring to go and with luck I'd be able to go home saturday night.

I'm not going to recount those days, suffice it to say that when Lynn says if men had to have babies we'd be extinct, she'd be right. While I was playing push the pain button as often as humanly possible the lady across from me was putting on her makeup, getting out of bed, going for walks and possibly dancing lessons. I was glad when they transferred me out of there, she was making me tired :)

I did get to go home saturday night, my angel came to get me and we made tracks, I'd like to say our getaway was speedy but it was more like Tim Conway's old man routine but eventually I got into the truck for the trip home. A bazillion bumps later and we were home. The furry throng was waiting and I was very happy to be home.
Although I didn't perk up as quickly as the doctor had said, every day gets a little easier. I can cough now without falling down or crying like a girl and breathing is getting easier everyday.

I managed to lose twenty pounds during all of this and although Lynn says a kidney isn't that big, I'd like to think it was :)

The staples (yup, no stitches for old fat folks) come out on monday and after testing the adhesive strength of these bandages, I'm not looking forward to it :)
Thanks for the well wishes, life is moving back towards normal slowly but surely and normalcy is something to look forward to. Take care everyone, we'll type again soon.

We Now Have a Date

2009-02-26T04:04:00.003-04:00

The moment has finally arrived, we received a call from the doctors office. My surgery will be on the 12th of March. It's scheduled to run from 1130 to 1500hrs, three and a half hours. Now all I have to do is shake this cold that has been plaguing both of us and has happily settled into my chest. They are concerned that if I can't get rid of the cold they'll have to cancel the surgery. That concerns me too but so does the not being able to breathe after going up a flight of stairs. Sheesh...but it is getting better. I have to buy some jammies for my hospital stay, oh and some slippers too. With any luck they say I should only have to be there for a couple of days. I'll head to my regular doctors office today, hopefully to get some meds to finish off this cold and we'll be good to go.

The doctor is extremely confidant and enthusiastic, highly recommended by the urologist in Bathurst and both of them are pleased that they found this thing early and that the prognosis is very good. Their optimism is heartening. I am not sure what life will be like with only one kidney but it sure beats the alternative. I'll be glad when it's all done.

Finally, Merry Christmas Everyone!

2008-12-31T10:54:00.002-04:00

Yet More Snow!

2008-12-24T16:18:00.002-04:00

We finally managed to get them all lying in one place for a second, so that we can all appreciate Christmas. Lynn and I will take one of ourselves shortly (after I get the bedhead gone). We have another snowstorm coming so our Christmas festivities are going to be postponed until Friday, hopefully the highway will be drivable by then.

Got the kids, eco-friendly Christmas email's off, and after fussing and fighting with PayPal, I managed to get their kissmas moolah sent. BestBuy won't let you pay for something to be picked up in the store by someone else, I can see their point but it's frustrating. One good thing out of all of the fussing is I got to speak to Mark and Jonathan :)

Good news, Dad is home from the hospital and apparently is feeling much better. We'll call Rick & Anna tomorrow to speak with him.

Enjoy the dogs, we do and have a good and safe Christmas for all of you and your loved ones too.

Egads!!

2008-12-23T09:53:00.002-04:00

We survived the latest snowstorm to hit the Maritimes, a good thing we got that snowblowing contractor signed up. It's been so cold the snowblower is frozen and we're gonna hafta start a fire in the garage to thaw it out so I can blow the other areas the big snow machine can't reach. The wind has been wicked and has frayed our flag which is a first for us. It's -21 with the windchill which makes moving around there difficult at best. We did all of our shopping on sunday to avoid the storm but then so did everyone else, took forever to check out at the stores.

Trying to get the dogs to behave for their Christmas pictures has been a pain but we'll get it done hopefully today.

K, off to put more wood on the fire...take care, have a good Christmas and stay warm!

I can't believe it

2008-12-06T06:28:00.002-04:00

Time just flies by, it seems. We're heading towards Christmas, the tree is sitting on the living room floor waiting to be put up. Our retraining the puppy to accept his place in the pack is moving along slowly. Loki enjoys being the leader of the pack, Odo seems resigned to his place on the bottom but Jake seems a little less interested in giving up being number one dog, we'll see how it goes.

I think one of the reasons time goes by so quickly around here is because doctors appointments are spread out all over the place. It seems like hardly a week goes by one of us isn't at the doctor or the hospital. Things work differently down here, all tests and specialists are housed at the hospital in Bathurst, so we spend a lot of time going there for tests n such. But everything moves at a slow pace. Doctors go on holidays, files don't get forwarded, it can all be a little frustrating at times.

The followup to my medical adventures in Toronto continues, I have now seen the respirologist and he has determined that I have only sixty percent lung capacity. I go in for a TB test next week to see if the spots on my lungs are related to TB exposure from when I was working. Other than that they are monitoring the size of one spot on my lungs to see if it is growing or not. If it is growing they will then do a biopsy to see what is up.

We put snow tires on the truck and thanks to GM ingenuity, we no longer have the tire pressure checker function working. I guess it only works with their rims or something...oh well, just have to watch the tires.

The snow blower is tuned up, cables are tightened and only one more bolt to tighten and we are all set for the snow.

Christmas will be at the brother in-laws this year, everyone is looking forward to having a dishwasher available for the after dinner cleanup.

If I don't get back on here b4 Christmas, I hope all of you reading this have a great holiday and eat lots of goodies for me!

It was worth it!

2008-11-05T08:00:00.002-04:00

We stayed up until 0130hrs our time to watch the end to the American election and we have no regrets, other than being exhausted and disliking Wolf Blitzer. Senator McCain gave a classy speech while admitting defeat and he did it early, cutting off any arguments for recounts etc that marred the previous election. President elect Obama, gave a great speech and used his mantra of "yes we can" in a way that a lot of preachers say "amen", good on him and hopefully good for the U.S.A. Our countries are too entwined to ignore what goes on down there. Congrats to both men for a classy end to a sometimes bitter race.

It's raining, it's pouring

2008-10-29T11:31:00.003-03:00

They said we'd get some rain and in the last twenty four hours, they were proven right for a change. Just in time for winter, we got the deluge that we needed to water the trees for the winter and create a giant play puddle for the baby who doesn't get to the ocean as much as he would like now that the weather has turned cold.

Time just flew by

2008-10-29T11:24:00.003-03:00

It seems like just yesterday, Garrick was arriving, a little better obviously than when Lynn had first seen him, but far from normal that's for sure. A few weeks later and a whole bunch of home cooked meals and he seems well on his way to recovery. It was a good visit, he got to see most all of his relatives including us, and he got to give Loki all the rubs that he has been missing since we left Edmonton. By the time he left the wound in his knee had finally sealed up and he could take showers without using a chair. He still gimps a bit when he remains still but I'm sure that will pass once he is back to his usual antics at home. Now all that remains is for us to get his grad pictures, that will make his grandmother happy. We all want to keep his grandmother happy :)

What's a puppy to do?

2008-09-22T16:48:00.005-03:00

Fight over sticks

Pull down the fencing

Fight with his brother

Let his brother think he's winning

Come back for more...puppy energy!!

A walk in the woods & other doggy activities

2008-09-22T16:36:00.003-03:00

Jake and his stick

2008-09-22T16:24:00.002-03:00

This is what happens when a retriever retrieves and an elkhound tries to push his weight around....woo hoo! Jake wins...he's becoming king of the castle instead of the little prince

Slowly but surely

2008-09-22T16:18:00.002-03:00

Garrick is finally out of the hospital and staying with relatives, along with Lynn. He is still having memory problems and had a large bleed out from his knee injury while at Christines. They got it under control though, and now Lynn is busy arranging his medical supplies, prescriptions, i.d., airline tickets and the like to prepare to bring him here where he can rest for a month or so until he has recovered sufficiently enough to go back to Edmonton. Our doctor here will see him for the removal of his stitches and administering his shots. The hard part will be keeping him settled and the dogs off of him. It will be nice to have him here although the circumstances could have been better.

Unwelcome news

2008-09-19T09:03:00.002-03:00

We recently discovered why we hadn't heard from Garrick for a while, he had been attacked and robbed while in Millwoods last week. The attack left him hospitalized with little or no memory. It was his boss who eventually identified him and slowly all of us were notified. He has suffered numerous stab wounds to his legs, and they are concerned about bleeding in his head and kidneys. Lynn left yesterday to fly out to Edmonton to be with him. She emailed me saying he still looks pretty bad and she was waiting to hear from the doctor. With luck, his condition will improve and since the swelling to his head has gone down that might be a good sign. I will keep you posted as I find out more.

The fair and birthdays

2008-09-12T09:42:00.003-03:00

The Charlo fair was everything I expected and more. It was small, which was nice, not too much walking involved, they had lots of neat stuff, plenty of home made goodies, including fresh honey and they even had a glass enclosed hive to look at. Man there were a lot of bees in there and very busily working I might add. The magician at the fair was too funny in a hometown kinda way, he had the wizards cloak and a fakir's hat and was funny in both languages. We didn't stay for the singers but what I heard of them as we were walking to the truck was very good. It was a showcase of local talent and if we could have stayed I'm sure we would have enjoyed it.

Steve's birthday bash at Mom's was good, the food (homemade chinese) was good as it always is. Lynn took a bunch of pictures, I've only included the ones with me, since I'm so shy and Lynn of course managed to avoid being in any pictures...smart don't u think?

We erected the fence and laid down topsoil to repair the damage done by the trucks when we had the patio done..hopefully we'll get some rain to help with the new growth.

Aren't I cute?

2008-09-06T04:49:00.001-03:00

How time flies

2008-09-05T10:18:00.001-03:00

Prior to going to Toronto, I had a hard drive failing and since returning from my extended holiday, I have been going through the process of restoring a lot of my data and that has delayed a lot of my updates here. Now that things have settled down and I have most of my data restored, things should be improving.

The asphalt was finally laid and we now have our patio back in working order which has been nice. The damage done to the lawn has been repaired for the most part. We just have to wait for some extended rain to lay down grass seed. With the upcoming storms in the Atlantic we may not have long to wait.

I have completed the tests ordered by my doctor to followup things that may have been discovered by doctors in Toronto. Now the waiting begins. If I hear nothing from the doctor then everything is ok. Here's hoping that I don't hear from her.

They found that Lynn has a hyperactive thyroid (now all that work makes sense) and is on medication to slow it down. We are still waiting to see how that works.

We are looking forward to going to the fall fair up in Charlo. I didn't go last year but this year, I am gonna drag Lynn and mom to each and every table to see what home town goodies we can find.

Jake is growing like a weed and is a not so little tornado as he moves about butting in to everyone's business. He likes to carry food bowls out into the yard so he must be watched at every opportunity. He may be mischievous but he is so adorable it almost makes it forgivable. He really doesn't like the wait command but is getting better and better at it. Better with food than with allowing you to go down the stairs before him. He bosses his brothers around at every opportunity but unlike them, see's no reason to bark at strangers, birds, butterflies, neighbors, ghosts or anything else his brothers bark at. He does, however, like to watch them bark. He loves the water and the hose and the shower, he swims like a little fish and retrieves anything that is thrown, giving it up to you after he retrieves it, is still a bit of an issue but he is getting better.

My father had a mini stroke but appears to be fine, he was supposed to go for more tests but I still haven't heard the results. Like anything involving doctors, I am sure that it will take some time to get the results.

We still follow the news from Edmonton and I still get email alerts involving EPS, it's always good to keep abreast of what's going on in our other home province. We hear occasionally from folks out there and it's always nice to hear from them. It's a shame that Ron doesn't have internet on his farm, I would love to chat at him but c'est la vie.

Is it safe?

2008-08-04T11:37:00.002-03:00

I wonder if it's safe to come out and dig now?

This is boring

2008-08-04T11:33:00.001-03:00

Boy, those guys can sure dig a lot but I think I'm faster!

Still Waiting

2008-08-04T11:29:00.003-03:00

We thought the wait was over and we'd get our patio done when these machines showed up to do the work, however it was all for naught as it began to rain and has been raining for the last four days with more predicted. They can't put asphalt down on wet ground and we are losing the battle with Jake and his hole digging. They better get here soon or they'll be bringing more dirt in :)

Finally Home

2008-07-26T14:06:00.001-03:00

I'm not going to go into every detail of the nightmare getting home from TO was, suffice it to say, I am not impressed with Air Canada (who is?) nor the staff in either airport. I was very very happy to finally touch down and see Lynn and Odette waiting for me. I was still a little upset when I got outside and a fellow passenger was more than happy to teach me some new french words to describe my flight. It no longer mattered though, I was home, I had my wife, my truck and a feeling that I belonged somewhere again. Even driving the truck was fun since I knew where I was going and that made all the difference in the world, I was going home.

Lynn had made pork chops in sauce with mashed potatoes for me and that's what I stuffed my face with when we got home after greeting my three best fans, Jake had an acadian flag neck kerchief on and boy was he ever big, all of them were very happy to see me and I was very very happy to see them. We all talked for an hour or so and then we all went to bed. Oh my, if I thought the hospital bed was Nirvana, I can't begin to describe sleeping in my own bed!

Disaster strikes!

2008-07-26T13:59:00.001-03:00

I woke up the morning of Dad's b'day party and couldn't move my arms without crying out in pain. My hands were a swollen mess and my wrists, elbows and shoulders were heavy and painful. I couldn't move my neck, it was stiff and felt like it was locked in spasm. I don't know what brought this on but it did not bode well. As the day progressed it got worse and by the time everyone was arriving it was becoming unbearable. Anna finally convinced me to let her call Lynn and get her to tell me to go to the hospital. Lynn of course, did and off we went to the hospital, Rick and Mark and I and the second part of my vacation adventure was about to begin.

After five hours in the emergency room at the hospital, I was finally seen by a doctor who seem quite concerned about all of this and suggested that I might have meningitis which apparently is quite serious, I was moved to a room in emergency, all by myself while they did tests including a spinal fluid removal thing with a very large needle. They took four vials of fluid for the test and my nurse "Paul" was great, he told me that the fluid was clear and that was a good sign, I had a fever and my blood pressure was not good. They gave me Tylenol for the pain and started me on intravenaeous fluids and antibiotics. Rick and Mark stayed with me throughout and finally left after I began to fade out.

Two days in emergency, with vampires taking my blood it seemed like every hour and visits from doctors wearing masks. The sign on my door read infectious and everyone had to wear a mask when dealing with me. It hardly inspires confidence. They continued to run tests, CT scans, MRI's, blood work and Xrays, slowly but surely the pain began to recede to a dull roar but I still couldn't move my arms and I could barely hold anything. I was however, fairly mobile since my legs still worked so I could with some effort get up and go outside for a cigarette. It would have made a funny video watching me bob my head down to reach my hand for a drag. I couldn't light my own smoke since my hands wouldn't work but there was always someone around that could help. After two days in the emergency room and varying diagnoses from the doctors, I was moved up to a semi-private room eight floors up.

I had the room all to myself when I first got there and my first thought was a shower, if I thought that a video of me smoking would have been funny, me taking a shower would have been a laugh riot. No curtain on the shower, a hand held shower nozzle and me with no strength in my arms, I think I only washed half my hair but boy did it ever feel good. Getting dressed was interesting, that goodness for Mark and Rick n Anna. The bed which actually had a pillow was Nirvana and I was hopeful that I would be able to sleep but that wasn't to be the case. My new roomate had arrived and they drugged him up to deal with the pain he was having but boy could he snore. Needless to say I made more forays over the course of the night outside for puffy breaks, if you can't sleep, smoke, I always say. By the third day, I was able to move my arms but still had little strength in my hands, sleeping was still difficult but Anna brought me a couple of extra pillows and they helped a lot. There was a phone in the room and even though we had to share, it was nice to be able to talk to Lynn and as things began to finally loosen up, it got easier and easier to move around and yes even comb my own hair, what a treat! I used the handicapped shower and that was an immense improvement over the shower in the room, you could sit and shower and that made everything that much easier. As I started feeling better, I began to dream of getting out and my doctor wanted to make sure that the infection had been beaten into submission before allowing me out, so I was stuck until at least friday. That was not good news, even if she was probably right. They still had no idea what had caused the infection, nor any idea why it had the effect it had on me although they thought it might be related somehow to my neuropathy. The effect of the infection was to make my arms neck and shoulders feel like the worst pain I have ever had in my hands which is where my pain usually is. The swelling continued to go down and slowly but surely I became more and more capable. By the time I was still a day from being released, I was chomping at the bit to get out. All the while this was going on Lynn had to deal with the insurance company from the airline who were constantly trying to get my status from either her or the hospital. I knew I was going to be free once they removed the IV from my hand and then there was going to be no stopping me.

I met some very nice people while in the hospital, 99.9 percent of the staff were great, the .1 percent included two doctors and one nurse. In the end I was released without any answers but with my mobility back. My hands are still a little weak but getting better.

Lynn couldn't get me on a flight until Sunday, so that meant I had two more days to stay at Rick n Anna's so I could finish my vacation on an upbeat. Mark and Mila took me to see Batman, which was wild and I got to take a bunch of pictures with them and Dad too.

Before I knew it, it was time to go and even though Anna was cooking gnocci and buttertarts, I couldn't wait to get home.

Of Fathers and Sons

2008-07-26T13:29:00.001-03:00

As I said, my father hasn't changed much at all other than the grey and being a little thinner than I remember. He cooks himself breakfast most mornings, eggs n sausage some blood pudding and drinks a couple of cups of coffee. He gets up about the same time as I do around 0500hrs and likes to have a nap in the afternoon. He has a new girlfriend Catherine who has a brand new Camry, I'm not sure if he likes her or the car better but she lets him drive it whenever they're together. They do the casino and racetrack and the occasional meal together. Dad still drives like he's been doing it his whole life even in the hustle and bustle of traffic in TO. He still dreams of winning the big one and if he does, he wants an F150. He likes the idea of being up high and surrounded by steel. He lost a hearing aid while playing golf, inadvertently missing his pocket when he went to put it in his pocket. But he takes it in stride, something he does with pretty much everything. If you look up easy going in the dictionary, his picture would be staring back at you. It's hard to believe that he's 82. He still offers plenty of advice on life and love and his take on all of it is quite amusing. We went to visit Mom's grave, prior to the strike thank goodness and he replaced her flowers. I don't think he visits as often as he used to but I think that's to be expected and besides, I think that you can remember her just a well anywhere and not just there.

Nephews and Niece and an assortment of kids, oh my!

2008-07-26T13:21:00.001-03:00

Slowly but surely I am settling in for my holiday, getting used to reading actual papers, several of them and quite thick too. Hearing english all around me with just a smattering of Italian to even things out. Slowly but surely my nephews and niece make their way to their parents house and along with them come a gaggle of kids. It's so nice to see them all, boy have they ever grown and funnily enough they don't seem older to me. They all love the new pool, it's the perfect size and depth for kids learning how to swim and the adults who are there to watch over them. Even Miko seems to have a spring in his step when they're around but that's mainly to avoid them as best he can. I took a pile of pictures, including the birdhouse that they've got that is currently occupied by a very busy couple of sparrows. All is peaceful and serene but oh so warm and humid. Anna's flower bed is beautiful and Rick has done a wonderful job of laying stones down around the pool and walkways.

A Wonderful Holiday

2008-07-26T13:14:00.001-03:00

I survived the plane trip to Toronto but only barely. You fly a turboprop from the Bathurst airport to Montreal where you board a real plane for the rest of the trip. All in all it wasn't so bad other than getting lost in the Montreal airport and not having enough time between flights for a smoke. I arrived in Toronto, my luggage was the second bag off the plane and I was outside smoking before I knew it. I waited patiently there for my brother to pick me up and was merrily sitting and smoking when I noticed their truck, I waved and waved but they drove right by me, it could have been the blonde chick standing next to where I was sitting that caused the problem or it could have been, as my brother said when he finally came around and found me, that he hadn't been looking for Custer. My hair is a little longer than they are used to. A relatively quick trip back to their house where Anna was waiting and I was once again transported back to my youth. I never fail to feel like I'm 12 years old again when I am with them. Anna is quick to feed me whatever my heart desires and Rick never changes, it's like I'm in some kind of time warp. Dad looks good, he's wearing two hearing aids now and his hair has finally gone all grey but he still has all of it and he's still skinny, maybe a little skinnier than I remember but then I'm a lot fatter than he probably remembers too :)

Dinner Date with My Son and his better half Mila

2008-07-10T15:15:00.001-03:00

Ahhh...the joys of a buffet, mountains of food to choose from and beaucoup de refills :) I am looking forward to seeing Mark, it's been over a year and I've never met the Mila monster so it should be fun all around. Hopefully I can convince him to come either to the birthday party or some other day just to visit with Rick and Anna and to meet his grandfather. We'll see how it goes...maybe they'll want to cool off in the pool...one never knows. I'll keep you updated.

Off I go, into the wild blue yonder

2008-07-06T07:14:00.001-03:00

Well the day is here and I'm off to the center of our Country, the focus of every news show we watch, yes you guessed it..Toronto!..my birthplace and the epicenter of all that is Canadian. Home to my father, brothers and my son. As a special treat, I'll also be enjoying my fathers birthday on this trip so that will make it all the more special. I'll get to see Mark, my little world traveler and of course my brothers Tedd and Rick and the entire family, kids, grandkids (not mine) because my brothers are way older than me and with luck sampling lots of Anna's home cooking and some homemade pizza and calzones that Rick makes. Mark will finally get to meet his grandfather, whom he hasn't seen since he learned to walk, which he did at Pappa's house so very many years ago. It should be fun, I'll try and get lotsa pics. I don't know if I'll be updating while I'm gone but we'll see how it goes. I miss Lynn and the boys already. Type atcha all soon.

Another Birthday, comes n goes!

2008-06-28T16:12:00.001-03:00

I can hardly believe it, Lynn called me today to remind me that today was my birthday because of course I completely forgot about it. Lynn's off installing flooring at her mothers place and has left me and the boys to fend for ourselves for the last few days. Of course that means a diet high in TV n Movies, interrupted only by trips to the fridge or freezer. I did however, manage to stack the rest of the wood in the basement. That has to count for something. I'm going to have meatpie n gravy for supper and then go watch the Last Samurai again. Which reminds me, Jake pulled off a good one today, managing to steal half of Loki's begging strip...fast like a snake he is, but smart like hockey puck, Loki beat him up later just to prove a point :) Anyway it's off to the TV!

Busy busy

2008-06-21T07:26:00.001-03:00

Boy has it ever been busy around here lately, Lynn dug out all of the old deck supports and replaced them with teleposts, she is now staining the new stairs for the rear deck while we wait for the weather to clear so that the asphalt guys can come and lay down the asphalt. We ordered four cords of wood (enough to get us through the winter) and we have managed to put away three loads. We took Jake in for his neutering and boy what a difference, the vet here does not keep the dog for hours after the operation, so you get him when he can't walk and is way dopey. We managed it but boy was he ever out of it for a while there, kinda like Bambi. He is way better now, and up to all of his old tricks including fighting with his brothers. We are supposed to keep him calm for a few days but that's like bottling up lightning! Gas here is getting up to 1.40 a litre so we're thinking of getting a moped :) Everything is blooming again, it's wonderful, the ducks are still here but we haven't seen any little ones yet. Our Starling had her babies and now she is trying to teach all of them how to feed but they seem bent on following her and getting her to feed them. We gave away our fish tank and now the living room looks huge, ok not so huge with three dogs in it but still a lot more room. We also took down the flagpole and now Mr Lazy has to scrape off the old paint and repaint it, thank goodness for the rain. I think that just about covers it for now.

Music to her ears

2008-06-05T20:34:00.002-03:00

I think this pretty much sums up what Lynn thinks you should do when you're retired!

Ah the rites of Spring

2008-06-05T20:22:00.003-03:00

The snow is gone and with it the tedium of snow shovelling and snow blowing along with the prospect of seeing your house buried in snow. Now it is time to rectify all that we discovered was wrong with the design of the backyard that made our lives miserable during the winter. After careful analysis and severe number crunching coupled with several power point presentations, Lynn laid out her vision to make our lives better this coming winter. First, the front porch needs a new set of stairs adjacent to the house which would alleviate the need for shovelling 20 feet of sidewalk and six stairs. Second, the rear deck would have to go, which would eliminate many hours of shovelling and another six stairs. With her ever dutiful husband on board, what remained was finding the appropriate material to replace the deck. A beautiful cobblestone patio was envisioned by our landscaper but I think he was really envisioning building his summer cottage with his profits, so out went that idea. We settled on asphalt which we already had on the ground level in front of the deck but since the deck would be in the way of the asphalt people, it had to go. Lynn then enthusiastically tackled this major undertaking. As you can see, from the pictures below, it was quite the chore. These pictures do not show all the work that went into removing the stairs, railings and bench seating from around the deck but they give you some idea of what went on.

Steve Colbert and the U.S. Election

2008-05-25T09:42:00.004-03:00

The Daily Show: West Virginia Voters "No Interviews Please!"

This video sums it all up for me at least.

Now he's got two!

2008-05-24T15:02:00.001-03:00

To think, we were worried about him, now he's got two!

Jakes first trip to the beach

2008-05-24T13:40:00.002-03:00

The puppy grows up and up

2008-05-24T13:37:00.001-03:00

My first time in the ocean

My first clamshell

Faithful puppy and Lynn

Always a nice day to walk on the beach

Strange cameraman catches his eye

He doesn't seem sure of all this picture
taking.

Pause for Reflection

2008-05-24T12:12:00.002-03:00

We were out buying a graduation card for Garrick and after picking the appropriately funny one, we headed off on our mission to procure trees and shrubs for the house. We planted four rosebushes in our front flowerbed, ordered another apple tree to replace the one that was mangled by all the snow and four bushes to plant alongside the fence to shield the neighbors from the hounds from hell or Petit-Rocher, whichever works for you.

We couldn't arrange the flight for Jonathan due to AirMiles restrictions on one way fares so he will have to come out another time. It was a shame because I know he was looking forward to the visit and so were we, well with any luck we'll have him before the winter or in the following spring.

I'll be heading off to see my family in Toronto in a month or so and that will be nice, I'll even be there for Dads birthday, he turns fifty this year, which makes me thirty and my brothers in their forties. With my kids being in their twenties, this is gonna be a hard sell :) It will be an occasion nonetheless. Anna's cooking, Rick's movies and nephews and nieces galore along with all of their children, it's always such a busy and vibrant place. My hair might even be longer than Tedd's now, that would be something, oh and regardless if it is or not, I have no grey :)

I'll post some more pictures of the puppy since he is growing so fast, he'll be a dog in no time at all. He had his first trip to the beach a few days ago and it was an exciting time for him and for us too since we haven't owned a dog like him before, he can be let off leash, he doesn't run away, doesn't bark at everything he sees and generally is everything they say that a golden retriever is, a family dog.

Does Anybody Hear Her - Casting Crowns

2008-05-24T11:36:00.002-03:00

What a beautiful song...

He's one hot duck, at least she thinks so

2008-05-17T10:02:00.004-03:00

He's gone from mourning the loss of his previous mate to showing his new one where all the good food is. We couldn't be happier! It took him 11 days to find her, it took me years to find my perfect mate. He must be some kind of gigalo or something.

Alone again, Unaturally

2008-05-06T08:44:00.003-03:00

Here he is, all by himself, his mate was killed by a truck driver heading down our road chatting happily on his cell phone. We are hoping he will find another mate but so far, it doesn't look like he has. Maybe he's not even looking. We all know that these kinds of things happen but kind of like a favorite pet, we had become accustomed to their arrivals, he doesn't like crossing the road he preferred to take off from our snowbank but she always wanted to cross the road to explore the goodies in the ditch on the other side. We'll have to wait and see what happens next.

Tony Soprano has nothing on us

2008-04-28T09:12:00.001-03:00

All of our birds are back, including, as you can see, some new ones who are an absolute delight.
Lynn has gotten better at identifying some of them (obviously the ducks didn't require any work)
but we also have some Red headed finches and Snowbirds.

Memories

2008-04-25T16:26:00.003-03:00

April 19, 2008
Going, going, Gon
Edmonton cop takes down Ottawa suspect
By JON WILLING, SUN MEDIA

OTTAWA -- When Det. Tom Gon wrapped his beefy arm around a suspected thief's throat and dragged him to the floor of an Ottawa restaurant, it was all over.

"I'm a grappler," Gon, 53, explained yesterday. "As soon as I get a guy on the ground, he's mine."

Good on you Tom, keep up the good work! I hope you didn't have to pay for dinner :)

American Idol soldiers on without Carly

2008-04-25T16:19:00.001-03:00

Another one of our favorites is gone, I might have to move my support to David Cook

Hopeful Signs

2008-04-11T10:33:00.003-03:00

The Chimney for the patio fireplace is becoming more visible as is the wishing well, so we may well be on the way to spring..we can only hope. As you can see Jake is growing steadily and Odo always waits for me to take his picture to unfurl his tail...sheesh..good thing we don't try and show him :)

We're getting hopeful

2008-04-09T08:45:00.003-03:00

It's been a week since we have seen snow, the forecast for the coming week gives us temperatures on the plus side some even into the double digits. We are beginning to think that we may survive winter after all. We can see more and more of our flagpole, the front lights are beginning to show and we can see the almost a foot of the side window on the garage.

Odo's surgery went well, he is now wearing a gigantic wrap-around bandage to keep the pressure on his stitches and he is almost back to being his normal self. We'll see how it goes but we are always relieved when he comes through, surgery is always risky but there was no acceptable alternative to dealing with this particular cyst. Keeping Jake off of Odo's back during the last couple of days has been a chore. Loki has been very understanding for the most part. Jake continues to grow at an exponential rate and has really outgrown the bowl we use for feeding the dogs, his daily intake is way more than his brothers so we are going to have to get him a bigger bowl or feed him three times a day which won't go over well with his brothers.

We are all looking forward to having the fence line back to its normal state so that we can use the new dog door. Putting three dogs out manually throughout the day is a royal pain. If I haven't mentioned it before, I will now, stay away from High-Tech pets electronic dog door(hitecpet), we had nothing but trouble with the dog collars and when that wasn't a big enough hassle the door itself became possessed, opening and closing all by itself, to the point we had to shut it down. The companies answer to our problem was to ship them back the door...that's right...remove the door from the wall, pack it up and ship it back. Needless to say we were not impressed. E-mails to the president of the company, who apparently welcomes emails, did not return any of ours. Needless to say, we are not happy customers and will be more than happy to chat with any other dissatisfied customers or potential customers if they want our opinions of this product.

Musical Hops

2008-03-29T09:37:00.003-03:00

Funny how American Idol can spark your curiosity about music. David Archuleta sang a song the other night; "You're the Voice", which I had not hear before. Turns out that it was made popular by an Australian singer John Farnham, it has also been covered by Heart and others. Farnham also played Jesus, in the Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar. So now I have three versions of this song on the ol 'puter, and a new musician to explore. David Cook, also sang a version of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean", that I had never heard before, which led me to that versions creator Chris Cornell. Even though American Idol is an overhyped reality show, it does have unexpected benefits, such as this. If you want to hear the songs, I have included their links here: You're the Voice and Billie Jean Admitting to liking American Idol is akin to admitting you like Abba but what the heck, I'm retired, I'll do what I want :)

Here we go again

2008-03-19T09:54:00.001-03:00

They're predicting yet another 20 to 30 cms of snow thursday and friday. Just when we thought it might finally be over, apparently not. It could be worse, we could be getting 50 cms like Newfoundland did so I am really only complaining a little. Jake is growing by leaps and bounds and now weighs almost 25 pounds. I got a couple of snaps of him looking regal and aloof on his mountain of snow but of course that is all bravado, he likes to know where his brothers or Lynn and I are. He is doing well in the housebreaking, he has learned on his own to use the dog door and has now taught his brothers how to use it. Now we have to keep the bathroom door closed otherwise they will escape until the snow has melted enough that the fence can keep them in. Jake is also getting good with his commands, sit, down, come are all excellent, "watch me' works most of the time, he is figuring out upstairs and downstairs, up and off but is still particularly stubborn with "no".

Snow n Dogs Part 2

2008-03-12T14:50:00.003-03:00

Snow n Dog n Puppy pics

2008-03-12T14:40:00.003-03:00

An assortment of pictures showing our snow and our dogs.

Two weeks until Spring

2008-03-12T10:59:00.004-03:00

I find myself having the strangest fantasies lately, no, not those kinds of fantasies, the kind where the sun is shining, birds are singing and most importantly the snow is going, going gone. However, reality intrudes heavily on most fantasies and here we have been digging out of yet another snowfall of 45 cms which came only a few days after the last snowfall of 35 cms and a few days earlier as you can tell by the blog another snowfall. It just doesn’t seem to stop. The snow is over the top of the six foot chain link fence surrounding our property and obviously over the five footer at the front of the property. Lynn has been digging along the fenceline like a whirly dervish trying to keep the snow below the fence. Odo and Loki however, have been like the characters in the Great Escape and have been jumping the fence and visiting the neighbors, much to ours and their surprise. The mountains of snow surrounding us are simply amazing, I have thrown in some pictures for you to peruse. As you can see the top of the backyard fireplace is almost gone in one picture, one of the front driveway lights has disappeared and the other isn’t far behind. Jake has been happily exploring this winter wonderland, his brothers have been teaching him how to properly climb mountains of snow, where to pee, how to burrow in the snow and he is taking to it like a champ. He’s over 21 pounds now and if we let him eat what he wants to he’d be over 50 for sure

It’s nice to see that the folks back in Alberta have had it pretty easy so far this winter, we saw pictures of Calgarians playing golf last night on the news...ah life in Shangri-la. Actually, I think that I am in the land of many wonders, I just wonder when I’m going to be able to see them again, Spring is around the corner, so they say but we have another 10 inches of snow coming, and that makes seeing what’s around the corner that much more difficult!

Well, back to the grind, oh wait, no grind, just shovelling...heh heh...

Podcast software

2008-03-12T10:29:00.001-03:00

If you are interested in watching podcasts, and who isn’t? Then you will really like this program. Nimiq, a simple install, imports your old podcast feeds if you have any and efficiently gets your new podcasts for you. Give it a try, it’s free and well supported by its authors.

Winter Wonderland...Not!

2008-02-14T10:10:00.003-04:00

It has been a long couple of weeks, we've been hit with snowfall after snowfall. As you can see from the photos, I spend a lot of time snowblowing. However, after back to back 40cm dumps it was time to bring in the big guns. Now that machine can move a lot of snow. All I have to do after is a little cleanup. Turns a two day job into a one or two hour job. As you can tell if you look closely, I don't have to wear ear protection, as my hair now more than adequately covers my ears.

Jake is fitting into the family quite well as you can see. Odo is his father figure but Loki is just a playmate. Odo has his paws full trying to control both of them, they get quite frisky. Jake continues to put on weight and he is turning into a little terror now that he has learned to climb stairs. He can only go up, however, and quickly cries to come back down to where everyone is. He of course is teething and we are starting to wonder if we should have named him Snapper or Snappy or Razor. He loves his chewies and rawhides which is a good thing. We have sacrificed enough skin to our little teether. He is adorable though and he is going to be a beauty when he grows up and he is going to, you should see the paws on him.

Going to run now (no pun intended) and get at that cleanup. We have another snowfall coming tomorrow so we better get ready.

More snow coming

2008-02-05T12:25:00.000-04:00

Wow, we just finished cleaning up 40 cm of snow and there's another 10 on the way. The dogs can't patrol anymore, the snow is too deep, the banks are four feet high in the back and five feet and higher in places in the front. Jake, thinks snow is great and loves to frolic in it, and of course, so do his brothers but even they find the amount of snow to be a little frustrating. I'm sure they'll be happy if it hardens up enough for them to walk on. More photos of the baby are attached to this and a couple of the older boys too. I hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy the dogs.

An Inspiration

2008-01-28T10:11:00.000-04:00

Now that we have so much more time on our hands we have found ourselves closely watching the American Presidential primaries and have been very impressed with Senator Obama. We both find his speeches to be uplifting and very inspirational, he does indeed sound like a man interested in change. Whether or not he can actually accomplish that if he gets elected is another story. He definitely knows how to make a speech. Something that our politicians are sorely lacking.

Puppy Play

2008-01-26T06:37:00.001-04:00

We thought you would like to see what the new puppy is up to, so here he is chewing his favorite toy!

We're parents again!

2008-01-18T13:08:00.001-04:00

Yes, we have welcomed another baby to our family...I would like to introduce everyone to "Jake" He's a Golden retriever and should grow from this little bundle of joy to a sixty or seventy pound beauty. He's already become very popular with the other members of the pack and doesn't appear to be scared of anything and is quite happy to play fight with his brothers.

Too funny to ignore

2008-01-12T13:07:00.000-04:00

A fiddling Premier, what will they come up with next. Politics down here are something to behold.

Pondering

2008-01-08T15:33:00.000-04:00

You get to do a lot of that when you're retired, I mean really retired, not just in between jobs. I am retired..no more paid work for me. So I have time to ponder lifes little intangibles and of course much more lofty pursuits, so as I wander about the internet reading newspapers from all over the world I occasionally run into little gems that answer some of my more niggling questions, like why is the Middle East always in some sort of turmoil and you find that history offers some answers, and here in a nutshell is part of the problem. Check out this link

Good Time to get out

2008-01-04T06:19:00.000-04:00

I guess it's official now, should make the parking lot outside the loading dock an interesting place. You can read about it here

New law pushes Alberta smokers into traffic
Edmonton police admit enforcing smoking law not a top priority
Last Updated: Thursday, January 3, 2008 | 11:49 AM MT
CBC News

A new smoking law in Alberta bans smoking within five metres of a public building or workplace, but in some areas the rule forces smokers into the middle of a road.