JUNE 1ST Well it has been 90 days of wonderful retirement. I want to see if I can find a counter to install on my page.  I really can’t remember enjoying everything so much. Healthier , relaxed, peaceful, enjoying life, golfing, helping others, gardening and spending time with Jackie. Don’t miss work in the least.We have done a lot of things and the days fly by. I feel very fortunate to be living this life. Finished off the motor crate except for paint. ( Jackie where are you?) Had a late lunch on the deck and watched the storm clouds roll in. Had a phone call from Mom as she was wondering what she needed to do for the house sale. She said my plumbing “p” trap is leaking. I can’t see this as it is all new, glued and tightened. I believe when the softener flushes the pipe can’t handle the water and the water raises out of the top of the pipe. I will test next visit. Just writing this as Jackie is having a late afternoon cat  nap before she goes to visit her Dad in the hospital. Peter is feeling better but needs to get out of bed and get moving as it will be difficult walking again for him. Checking the weather to see if I can squeeze in a test run of the boat next week between golf and commitments. Finalized my May numbers and everything is still going well. We were a couple hundred over budget but were hit with a $800 insurance bill as a catch up invoice. Travel insurance, medical and  prescription insurance does cost a fair amount. Hopefully the weather will cooperate as we have a busy schedule next week. Golf Monday, pick up Jackie’s Mom at the airport, Wednesday Mens Night golf, Thursday men’s golf , paint crate,test drive boat, Nine and Dine with Jackie, Jackie’s lady’s night Thursday, Dr appoinment for Peter and stuff as it comes up. Love it !!

JUNE 2ND Got up a little earlier than usual as we were looking after Jackson today.  Had our morning shake with cherries which was fantastic tasting. Got ready and went for a few errands.First the bank for Jackie to make a few deposits and transfers. Next off to Shoppers Drug Mart for cream as Jackson is just like Victoria and Jessica and swells up very large from mosquito bites that get very itchy. Then off to Canadian Tire to pick up a boat anchor, whistle, fire extinguisher and floating rope for the boat to keep the water cops happy and black paint for the motor case. Here is a quick picture of our cowboy fight with a bubble making gun. LOL .I wanted the hat with the star but Jackson insisted. We even had to do surgery on the Incredible Hulk’s leg as it kept falling out.

Still raining but getting ready for golf anyways as it looks like it is clearing up. I want tonight to be very good. I would be very pleased with under 85. Can’t play at Turner Valley tonight as they are punching the greens. Next week they should be real fast.  Not to make excuses but my body has had a few issues the last few days. I have a real sore big toe ( gout) and a very sore index finger ( cut during box construction and not healed) and a sore back from lifting my motor and crate  over and over again to get it right.  I have planned it so I don’t need to remove my crate as I can unload and load on the rack.  Just need to fix my cargo rack from swaying as it is too loose in the receiver. I am thinking about welding a nut to the outside and uses a bolt to tighten up against it to hold it in place.Planted our flower baskets on the deck which I think look great.

Had our Monday night golf game. I golfed probably the best this year scoring a 82 but with 4 – 3putts. On three par 3’s I landed on the green and three putted. Slowed down my drive and only hitting about 240 now but straighter and consistent. Keep playing like this game and I will be very happy. Jackie visited her Dad again and a good improvement with him finally getting out of bed.Hopefully the baby steps will continue until he gets his strength back. A wonderful spring day with sun, a storm blowing through and then sun again. Wonderful !

JUNE 3rd Used the a/c last night for the first time this year. It was nice to fall asleep in a cool dark room with no traffic noise from an open window. Had a great sleep and actually slept in to about 9am.  Watched a late show the night before. Had my new usual smoothie with cherries for breakfast, paid a few bills and adjusted the dollars around then headed down to paint the crate. Turned out great except I couldn’t paint the bottom. I was thinking about putting a sheet of Plexiglas on the cargo rack to keep mud and dirt coming up anyways. Should look good behind the jeep. Had a quick lunch and off to the airport to pickup Michael and Audrey which have been away for 4 months in Wales. Michael has a neat heritage condo that was converted from a monastery I believe. They even have a car now that they can leave there until next time. Dropped them off at home after a quick Safeway stop and had a nice visit with both of them. Interesting to hear a geologist’s point of few on fracking  as most opinions on the controversial practice is by non-oil people and celebrities.  Took the Cherokee to the car wash to vacuum out ($10) the dirt and mulch left overs from our Victoria’s front yard project. Today 19 years ago we stood up with Jeff & Wendy for them to exchange their vows . Jeff had a broken ankle with a cast so needed a bit of help to get to the top of the big hill at Midnapore Lake . Ed Whalen’s wife was the Justice of the Peace. Neat lady.  Time goes by so quickly. Hope the two of you have a wonderful night and a Happy Anniversary . Say no more Wink wink nudge nudge ! Jackie is visiting her Dad at the hospital tonight so hopefully he had a good day also.A very nice productive day !  Hope all of yours were as good. JUNE 4TH A easy retirement day ahead of us. re word that. A wonderful day ahead of us. Up and had our healthy breakfast.Drove to the hitch job to pick up a rattle stopper for the cargo carrier. Came home and installed the parts. Just need one nut welded on by Jeff to stop and sway and all is set. Washed the Wrangler and moved my golf bag to the Cherokee to drive out to Speargrass for a golf game with Jeff, Paul and Corey. Interesting week as I had my best game and worst game of the year all in the same week. I could blame it on blowing wind etc LOL but it was just costly mistakes. Paul also had his worse game of the year. Corey had a little below average for him as his drives struggled. Jeff beat us all and had a good game.Made a few less mistakes.A wicked storm hit us with about three holes to go and it was cold. We really didn’t care by that time. A long game also  with all of the waiting didn’t help. Didn’t get home to close to 10:30 pm.

JUNE 5TH  Up at 7 am ( boy getting up this early for work must really suck,lol) as I had to get ready for a 8:45 tee time at Turner Valley for a non-club league game. The group was great, very nice guys and had a great time golfing. Must have been around 20 guys.Not the best game with having so many shots behind trees and missed putts. Two times I have been told to slow down when putting. Next golf day that will be my focus.We had a hour delay as it snowed on the course this morning.Yes snow in June !. Melted after about an hour and it turned out to be an OK day. Jackie visited her Dad again but he still isn’t getting any better as of yet. I am amazed how much work Jackie does for everyone including myself.Good pick on my part 34 years ago and it makes everyday that much more fun to do things together, joke , laugh and work together.Then off to see my doctor about recent blood work. Passed the first test ( blood pressure ) that pleased her. My pressure even with white coat syndrome was great. Weight down 35 lbs and cholesterol all with in the normal range.Problem is with a blockage they want  Statin therapy. They want the LDL to be below 2.0 . I am going to try to lower my LDL with more dietary means. There are a lot of foods that lower the LDL and raise the HDL that I have to try to incorporate into my diet. Will still consider statin’s for the future. It’s just so controversial but most of the information is from non experts. Sort of like all of the supposed oil experts and climate experts. Overall exceptional  good news. My hope  is the exercise and good food help reduce  the amount of plague that I have. There is no way to measure unfortunately. As my doctor says you don’t want to have  a heart attack and  then say to yourself I wish I would have lowered my LDL to 2. Jackie and Tor golfed this evening even if it was a little cold and wet some times. Good for them because if you waited  for the perfect weather day you may only get to golf a couple times. Besides it is a fun girls night out. Only three golfers tonight which is to bad as it is always more fun to have a foursome. Next time.They have been golfing at McKenzie Meadows which is looking fantastic after last years flooding.

JUNE 6TH Got up this morning and for first time that I can remember being under 190 lbs. The reading was 189.8 lbs which is fantastic. I want to make the 190 lbs my magic number to never go over. In a few days it will be my natural set weight.Had our energized smoothie for breakfast this morning done a little different as our doctor suggested letting the flax seed jell in liquid before using it in the smoothie to get the full affect of it’s properties. I have to pick up my Cherokee at Victoria’s place as the streets were being cleaned and we had no place to leave it. Today the surveyors are supposed to be at Mom’s house and the for sale sign should be up tomorrow. Hopefully everything goes to plan. Had a wonderful golf game with Jackie this afternoon. It was 13 to 15 above but felt cooler due to the wind. Jackie was on the cool side but I didn’t have a real issue with it. Again shot ok, 89 but made to many little errors. You can boogie or even par a lot of holes but lose a few balls and score a triple or quad on one hole and wreck your score. I can feel a low 80 number coming. My gout toe doesn’t help at the moment. I believe it was started by injuring my toe and then leading to this. I hope it goes away quickly. Went over to have supper with Audrey, Michael along with Tor and Jackson. It was a nice visit with an excellent meal. Shepard’s pie and stuffed chicken. Great meal. Heard a funny story of Audrey and Michael’s visit to a special event at the church in Wales. They attended this event and  only one other person showed up.As it was an Orthodox church they didn’t know the special customs of the prayers. They watched the one other attendee and every time she stood up they followed and when she sat down they followed. After the prayers they started talking to the lady  about the service stating they were very glad to have her there so they knew when to stand or sit at the proper times.The lady responded ” Oh I only stand up and then sit when my knee’s get sore ”   Funny ! JUNE 7TH  Well it got me. Last night about 11pm my toe was to painful so I gave in and decided to go get the pills for gout. It was brought on by an injury to the toe and too small of shoes landscaping at Tor’s.Unfortunately the urgent care closed at 11pm. I had a very poor sleep with the pain. Got up at 7:15 am and headed to the urgent care. Busy place as I was there at 7:50 am and I bet you there was 20 people in the line up. It was fun trying to diagnose each person by looking at them. A lady with a sprained ankle, a man with a cast check up,a young guy with the flu ( they made him wear a mask as soon as he entered) a lady with an infection on her arm etc. I got in fairly fast and the doctor gave me my pills and extra to have for the future. I will buy a new pair of runners asap. A pair of size 12W . Gout is extremely painful. ( man thing,but the internet does confirm more painful than childbirth) I rushed to get the prescription filled , stopped at Tim’s for breakfast, took a pill and headed home to give Jackie her steeped tea. Started drinking water, grabbed a blanket and fell asleep on the couch. Woke up around 1pm and Jackie is out ( most likely visiting her Dad in the hospital), made my lunch and took another pill. It is 1:30, five glasses of water, two pills later and the foot is already starting to feel a little better as the redness and swelling is starting to go down. No walking the golf course for a week. No beer and red meat for a week until the foot feels perfect. Just sitting on the deck today enjoying life ( as I can’t walk) and enjoying the pleasant sunshine .Up to 10 glasses of water now!  Wrecked my plans for today though. I will arrange to have the lug nuts tightened on the motor home on Monday, fill it with propane and gas getting it ready for the weekend.  Talked to Jessica and re- mailed her plan for the backyard. Hopefully she gets the gravel removed and top soil along with sod ordered. Her backyard will look great . Looking forward to see the change. Hopefully her friends remember to put starter fertilizer down first.  Got home and watched the hockey game. My team lost again in overtime. LA seems to have horse shoes and the refs on their side. Now NY Rangers needs to win three in a row.

JUNE 8TH Had our usual morning routine. Checked and Mom’s house is on the Realtor page and on MLS but with only one picture. First impressions are very important ! Hopefully this is corrected asap. Jackie was working away in the kitchen after a quick organizing of a get together with the family at Midnapore Lake. This a beautiful facility as a private community lake.

We had a great picnic lunch on a nice day but still with a coolness to the air. It was 23 above but didn’t really feel like it. We had our lunch, Jackson played on the beach with a whack of new toys Tor bought him. Jackson, Tor, Michael and Alan went for a paddle boat ride and we played boccie ball. The winner of boccie ball was Alan which surprised me as he throws like a girl. With this game I guess it helps .LOL  It must have been his lucky day.Next time !

 

Alan, Maryann Danielle , Kennedy, Brenton,Jessica, Penny, Victoria, Jackson , Audrey, Michael and Penny’s Mom Margy along with Jackie and I were all there. A fun day. Just got home and putting my toe up while sitting on the deck drinking water enjoying the ongoing sights. Another day gone fast that was fun. Kennedy is able to walk a lot better now as her toe is healing after having it screwed and pinned. Tooooo much food along though. Everyone had a good time as it wasn’t to hot or cold. Still waiting for that summer weather to arrive though. Jackson did go in the water and Michael actually swam a good distance in it. Surface temperature of the water was 65 degrees which is still on the very cold side in my mind. I prefer our 85 degree swimming pools in Arizona in the winter.No it is NOT that warm caused by old people pee ! Busy week coming up that I am looking forward to.

JUNE 9TH Big toe hurting. A few running around errands. MLS and our Real Estate agent all have the listing in full now up on the web of Mom’s house. Looks good so hopefully some quick action. We have had some good luck with staging a house in the past and with quick sales. ( St Albert same day, Shawnessy 4 hours, Tor’s place 4 hours)A couple of others took a little longer and you never know why.Unfortunately Mom is to attached to stuff to take the full benefit ( i noticed in pictures her TV trinkets are still there) but the house shows extremely well so fingers crossed. Golfing this afternoon at TV with Jeff. Looking at boat transom wheels this morning. Today is also a big day for Victoria and Corey. Today is their 7th year anniversary. Again it just seems like yesterday. I love it when you see two people that are meant to be together find each other. Proud to call Corey my son-in-law and extremely proud of the way Victoria carries herself. Jackie is taking care of Jackson tonight to allow them a night out. Happy Anniversary !

Bought a set of transom wheel at Auto Marine here in Calgary. Bass Pro didn’t carry them. Golfed with Jeff on a perfect weather evening at Turner. Again golfed very well just can’t keep the score down. Scored and 91 all because of putting or chipping not close enough. LOL I can feel it,so close to getting a great score. Just need it to happen. What ! LA wins again. Tough row for the Rangers now having to win 4 straight. Can be done but most unlikely.

JUNE 10TH  Did a bit of computer work then off to install transom wheels and seats to the boat. Worked all day until about 6pm then baby sat Jackson while the girls golfed. Hated to drill holes in the boat below the water line but had to install them. Used putty and marine silicone. They are awesome . The seats need to be cut with a hacksaw which I will do tomorrow. Can’t complete the seats as I have to install the centre one based on weight balancing of the driver. I will bring them and install them after our outing to get the location. Jackson and I had a lot of fun playing different games. He talks so well and is very well behaved. Also sent a revised backyard plan for Jessica’s place. Hopefully the place looks great after the weekend of help from their friends.

JUNE 11TH Jeff & Wendy invited us to the Rod Steward & Santana concert on August 4th at the Saddledome. Should be a great concert and Wendy got us a great deal thru Groupon on the tickets. Looking forward to the concert. I plan to finish off the seats ( need to cut each threaded rod to length, fill the motorhome with gas, propane and ready it for Hanna this weekend. Jackie had a call from the hospital on her Dad as they are worried about his lack of effort to get up and moving. Jackie and Alan are going to try to convince him he has to get up and get active a bit as he continues to lose weight and strength by being so lethargic.  He still is in restricted infectious area though.He has had a lot of bad luck getting ill each time just as he is getting better. His feet in particular are his biggest issue as it is difficult to walk in pain and balance with a swollen painful leg. Everything looks like it is coming together for Jessica’s yard for this weekend with her friends. JUNE 12th to JUNE 15TH Had my morning men’s league game on Thursday. My golfing partners again were great people that I had a lot of fun with. Funny though as my stomach turns for the first few holes. Then I calm down and try to golf the best I can. The weather was ok but the wind did cause a little havoc. I golfed the whole round with one ball and just missed putts or a few chips that accounted for the score. Ended up with a 88 which put me at a net 72. Net 69 won the round. Great group of guys and signed up for next week also. After golfing headed home to get ready. Picked up everything we thought we needed and headed to the motor home. ( found out later in the weekend even though it is summer you should bring socks. My feet were cold all weekend)  It was a windy drive all the way to Hanna. About 5kms before the campsite I took a rock in the windshield. You know how big the glass is on a Class A and along with that an assumption of a very high cost.Luckily I put glass insurance on the motor home which I normally don’t have on vehicles.I will see about getting it fixed and hope for the best. The campsite we stayed was fantastic. It is on the shores of a very nice lake, has sand beaches, floating boat docks, a marine, store and lots of trees. Prairie Oasis which is sort of fitting. I am going to look at this place for May 2015 camp out as the lake is great and it has two golf courses 15 min away.We could have a golfing session and a fishing day the same weekend. Got all settled in , everything unloaded and set up. Larry, Anita, Rob, Sharon , Jackie and I sat around the fire talking until close to midnight each night . It was a odd weekend of weather as numerous times during the day and sitting around the fire a storm chased us in and then we could come back out an hour later. Sitting around  a campfire there is always funny stories told. This story wins and was told by Larry & Anita. The Geddes were having company and Larry was helping prepare  a big meal.Larry was outside BBQing a roast on the spit.He brought it in for Anita to cut and prepare for the guests.Anita went into panic mode as she saw the bullet hole in the roast and needed to find the bullet as she didn’t want her guests to choke or break a tooth. She spent a lot of time searching and searching for the bullet. Too funny ! As the story untold there may have been a substance affecting Anita at the time.LOL

Larry & Anita bought real cool pedal bikes called Townie bikes. They are great looking bikes with a design to help people peddle and are built very well. Rob & Sharon liked them but couldn’t find a shop that had a boys and girls model so ended up buying a Flyer model. These Flyers are right back to the 50’s and are awesome looking bikes. Jackie and I will stay with our mountain bikes though as I am sure a Townie or Flyer can’t climb hills or do jumps like my mountain bike can. I have to keep reminding myself that I am considerably younger and have different adventures. Besides I need all 21 speeds. LOL May not be as cool though.

We had a small best wishes on a Happy Retirement for Larry Geddes. We are not sure when the company will have an official party but as we were together Rob and I along with our wives wished Larry and Anita the very best in their new adventures. They seem to have settled in very well. Sitting around the fire ( managed by Larry G) we still had to dress warmer than normal for June. We were very lucky that Larry had brought along a lot of wood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We even managed to have the maiden voyage for our break apart Kayak. After this test run I would say it is great and can be carried in a trunk of a car without having to rooftop it. Worked great, tracks perfect and is very stable. We will have fun with this at the lakes this year. It is a hybrid that can be made into a solo or tandem kayak so is very versatile . I don’t want Jackie sneaking up on me in my aluminum boat and scaring the fish away though. Had to take it fairly easy this weekend but tonight my gout is 98% done. So I can wean myself off the soda very soon. It was a good weekend as we had a small celebration for Larry G, Jackie and I had our 34th wedding anniversary and it was Father’s Day on Sunday. All good. Now back to work. Oh wait . That isn’t going to happen. Have too many plans as June is full except the last week. Stopped by the hospital to see Peter. He is getting up and sitting on a chair which is a little progress. Hopefully will continue.

JUNE 16TH Up early and found a place to get my rock chip repaired on the motor home as most places won’t fix a bigger unit as this. Speedy Commercial opened a time for me this morning. ( I drove home very gently over tracks etc so it wouldn’t crack) Had a successful fix. Then off to finish the transom wheels on the boat. ALL DONE. Then I get home and checking on something  I discover that pressure treated wood reacts with aluminum. It causes the aluminum to pit and slowly erodes it. A chemical reaction.I now have to remove and redo with different wood. Sucks but will be the best for the boat. More silicone and time. LOL Worked on unplugging a shower drain. Unsuccessful event this one. Will try the old Drano overnight trick. Saw the final pictures of Jessica & Penny’s yard and it turned out looking great. We will go down there in a few weeks to do a few other things for them. Hopefully the grass takes every where as it was pretty muddy which can leave low spots. Can’t roll it when so wet. Love the look though. I am sure they are very appreciative of their friends help.

JUNE 17TH Up early again ( will not really 8 AM) as I needed to get a few things done. The drain didn’t work. I bought a small gizmo to unblock it but that didn’t work either. Later today Jackie used the plunger and presto water was flowing again. Creative girl. Went to Windsor Plywood to find out what they thought I should use on my transom wheels. The suggestion was Teak until I saw the price. I settled on Mahogany. I figure if every old wood boat had mahogany on it it must last a while. Worked at getting the old stuff off which was a chore as I did a good job in making sure I wasn’t going to have a leak. Cut and got the mahogany ready and varnished it with marine varnish. Takes 6 – 10 hours to dry and 24 hours before re-coating. My boat won’t be ready for this weekend at Cow Lake. We will be kayaking. Weather forecast for the next few days isn’t good and unfortunately friends we were going out for supper tonight from Edmonton cancelled for supper and golf tomorrow. We are going to golf in the Scotia Bank Pensioners golf tournament in the morning. Too bad as the weather people aren’t that accurate most of the time. Time will tell. I have the Scotia tournament  in the morning and men’s night league golf starting in the afternoon.  Don’t want to get wet. Worked on the boat, cut Victoria’s lawn, cleaned up the garage a bit and did a little of this and that around their place while waiting for paint to dry. Didn’t dry.Confirmed our reservation at Daisy May’s campground as we are going to do the tourist thing at Smashed In Buffalo Jump and other sites with Larry G and Anita. Trying to get in a few things before Anita’s knee surgery.  Looking forward to this. This is a perfect example of people getting caught up in work and aren’t able to enjoy the local tourist things. We have lived in Calgary 23 years and passed it numerous times.Larry & Anita the same. Paid for our cruise in September today with my new TD card.You need to pay in full in advance and have a card on file for the ships extras you buy. I have been reading a interesting book. It is based on the book “Secrets”. Interesting about the ” law of attraction” ( We are like magnets – like attract like. You become and attract what you think)( Happy feelings will attract more happy circumstances)  . I really do believe in the power of the mind. Positive thinking, removing negative things and what you give will come back 10 fold. Remove stress from the body and the body regenerates itself. You can heal yourself . Years ago I had a favorite saying ” think not of ill and disease and thou shall defeat the foe within” . I used to say this every time our girls were ill. Idea was to lift them up and not to think about  being sick. It worked as Jessica and Victoria were rarely ill.  Another unique thing as humans we have is God’s favor. How many times have you been driving around a parking lot and all of a sudden a spot opens for you. You are trying to do something that is very difficult with no luck and all of sudden everything falls in place. You want something really bad and think you have no chance at getting it and all of sudden good things happen. There are so many people who don’t expect anything good in life. They don’t expect to get breaks, they don’t expect to get promoted, they don’t expect anything positive. People just need to say, they expect God’s favor,declare it, if we thank him when we do see good things happening, then we’re going to see more of that. It is the way the universe works. That is why I believe in Karma.Good intent and good deed contribute to good karma and future happiness, while bad intent and bad deed contribute to bad karma and future suffering. While things we do today may not have an immediate effect on us years later the same action or inaction will come back to unfold in front of us. My hope is” the right thing to do ” is always in the forefront of peoples mind. Enough babble. LOL   Getting ready for my 36 holes of golf tomorrow in cool but dry weather. ( see the thought,LOL)

JUNE 18TH Well the grass must of needed the moisture and pulled priority over our golf tournament. Up before 7 am and headed out to Speargrass. Unfortunately the mist was falling and the wind blowing so the Scotia Pensioners Golf Tournament was cancelled. Older people hate wet and cold. I don’t care for it either but this year we haven’t had great weather so we need to be a little forgiving.A great turnout of people considering ,so Jackie had a good time visiting with a bunch of people. It is always so interesting to listen to pensioners and hear how they are enjoying  life. Some of them have taken amazing trips, spent all winter in Arizona, visiting family and friends and everyone of them comments     ” they are so busy they don’t know how they used to fit work in” The bulk of this group is between 55 & 65 and a lot of them have been retired 5-10 years. There were some real characters there with some interesting stories about their careers and the bank. Put the final coat of marine varnish on my transom wood and will install them after we get back from camping this weekend. No takers on Mom’s house as of yet but acreages do sell slower than urban homes. I am sure soon she will get an offer soon just have to wait for the right guy.Jackie is visiting her Dad at the hospital and I am getting ready to see about golf this afternoon if the weather holds up. I have had a tremendous amount of favor when it comes to golfing weather so hopefully another good night. The pro shop should have a lot of steak sandwiches to get rid of with the tournament cancellation. I know Jeff is a die hard so unless it is pouring we should be golfing. Well the weather didn’t let up and it continues to rain. Hopefully for the morning I can get a game in. I don’t want to cancel even though I know it is supposed to be very wet as I just joined the group.Jackie got a call for some part time work in July with the bank. Helps the budget nicely, she will enjoy it, and good timing as I can golf with Jeff ( school teacher) in the day and not feel guilty.I have a golf card we bought for the city courses I need to use up. We need to look at booking in the Columbia Valley for a golf pass on seven courses I also pre-bought for this year. We will stay for a week there. Also Keith and Jenny and us are heading in Sept to the Creston area to golf that valley for a week. We will need to be on the look out for the Kokanee beer girls , the ranger or the Sasquatch. They are those hills somewhere. Maybe a Kokanee beer tour. There are supposed to be some excellent golf courses there. This annual week trip we take with Keith & Jenny is always fun.A few years ago we had a bear in our campsite twice in one week. That was quite exciting. Had to play cards inside and take two people to the washroom as a safety thing . If it rains tomorrow it will give me time to pack for this weekends excursion at Cow Lake. We need to go to the Wholesale Club to buy a whack of burgers as we providing the group with the burgers.Will fill and ready the motor home in the afternoon if I do get to golf. ( I won’t if it is pouring out) I haven’t said this in a while but retirement is awesome. We haven’t had one day where we didn’t have something,enough or to much to do. Anyone leaving the workplace or contemplating you are in for a treat. I can’t fathom working until 65 . If you need to work due to money issues that I can understand but trust me you will be surprised how you can manage and it is amazing how you can find deals, adjust priorities and live simpler.Fancy restaurant vs homed cooked ( as we have time to enjoy the process) I take the home cooked any day.  Still have to conquer my failure in cooking shortbread cookies properly.  Soon !

JUNE 19th Still raining. Got up at 7am after not sleeping well thinking about cancelling golf. Checked the webcam at the course ( water everywhere) checked the weather network ( 90% chance of rain) and decided to not golf today. Phoned the pro shop, emailed my golfing partners and starting getting ready for the day. That is three golf games this week cancelled due to weather. The farmers must be asking for rain to trump me. LOL.  Went to the motor home, picked up our groceries at the Wholesale Club and Safeway. Bigger bill than normal but a lot of the  stuff will last a few weeks we bought. Fridge took a while to kick in as it struggled toggling back and forth between gas and electric. Luckily got that all straighten out. Mounted my new bike rack which works pretty well on the ladder. Bike touches a bit so used foam insulation and quick ties. Jackie visited her Dad again today and we still aren’t seeing any improvement. He is back on antibiotics again which isn’t good as he is struggling with C-Diff. He didn’t get of bed today and walk around like he is supposed and he is still in the infectious area where visitors have to wear gloves and gowns. Just relaxing tonight and will get going to Cow Lake in the morning. Ps my good friend has to go to a Micheal Buble concert with his wife. ( don’t tell anyone, he sure is a special husband) A couple of family issues today. Jessica is dealing with water in her basement in Lethbridge and Victoria is looking at a big bill to fix both leaf spring packs in her Xterra. as they say  always something. That is what makes each day special. No internet so will be a couple of days not blogging. See you on Monday.

JUNE 19-22 A wonderful weekend. The weather was decent with hot spots and rain spots.  Most days off and on. The campsite and location was perfect. A very nice spot except the pike fish in the lake have lympho sarcoma,which is nasty as it creates tumors on the fish. They advise bleaching your net line etc if you catch a sick fish. Odd as it only is affecting the pike and the trout and walleye are fine. I think they should kill the whole lake not to spread the disease to other lakes. Lots of people fishing though. Very nice clear water lake that is fairly warm water and algae free.  The camp grounds were excellent with nice sized spots far away from each other,sandy beach and playground.Strict noise laws which are always appreciated. Panago Pizza had a great idea and every Saturday from 8-10 they drive around the grounds offering you pizza to buy. I thought that was great marketing on their part.

We saw an amazing amount of wildlife on this trip. This moose was only a few yards away. A deer ran thru the campsite only a site away. We had a family of cranes right near us that were under attack by a protective Mom & Dad red tipped black birds. The neatest thing was we saw this small weasel go thru our campsite three times after making a mouse kill with it in it’s mouth. Squirrels,white tail deer, bald headed eagles and a osprey. After one of the rains we had an amazing rainbow that had every color of the spectrum in it. We had a fire one night where the fore had an outside green tinge for a lot of the time . We played horse shoes and boccie ball for a long while on Saturday. I was very lucky to win at horseshoes beating everyone until a late coming showed up and took a win from me. I was the 1975 MCHS Boccie ball champ so I expected win here and was very lucky again . A great weekend for sports.

One of the oddest things is that they cut off the tree tops of all the trees in the campsite. We have no idea why. It looks a little odd though.I have to do a little research on the cancer of the pike fish but if it wasn’t for that the place is awesome. Had some excellent family meals, a lot of talking and sitting around which was nice. Jackson, Victoria, Corey, Alfred, Mary, Mom, Kayla, Kari, Darlene, Jim, Jackie and I were the group this year. Hopefully next year we can add a few missing family people.At midnight it finally started to dark. The longest day of the year is great !!! We had Mom jumping from unit to unit doing different things. One night she slept with us , another night in Alfred’s unit, was helping out in every unit with food prep, had to go to different units to get coffee.Jackson slept in until about 9:30 on Sunday morning in our unit. He had a great time while there with us playing in mud, sand, swings, in the lake, seeing the million minnows etc. Next year he maybe old enough to enjoy making smores . It is really nice not to have to rush home to get ready for work the next day. We can leisurely get ready and head home long after everyone has left. Could have even stayed but there is a few thing I want done. Most years we have a small accident happen. This year Kari was running in flip flops and did a face plant. Luckily Alfred was available. A couple of shots of whiskey down the hatch and a couple splashes on the knees and hands , a few pieces of gauze and she will be ok. In the next few days not so much as when those cuts scab over her knees and they split it will be a little painful. She may be walking like a duck for a while.

JUNE 23RD  Wonderful weather ahead for the next week. Got up and had our usual healthy smoothie. Went over to Victoria’s place and started working on the boat. Finally the boat is done. The mahogany looks good,and with the combination of plumbers putty and marine silicone we should be set to go.Filled the tires up, checked my home made wing nut wrench and placing of the seats. I will put the bottom brace on one side only as I need to take them off each time. Will fill the engine with oil and take it for a test run on Chestermere Lake on Wednesday.Got ready for golf with Jackie.  The weather was perfect until we got to the second hole. We had rain for at least 7 more holes then the sun started shining again. Our power push carts performed very well in the rain. Between the gout toe and the rain ( excuses) I played OK  but not well with a 91. Took two double pars on two par threes.

JUNE 24TH  Jackie is doing her Mom’s hair today and visiting with her Dad at a different hospital for some more testing.I cleaned the bugs off the motor home, drained the water , washed and wax the Wrangler, put away the motor home tarp and went to give blood. I had a great Filipino nurse that told me her life story. Interesting listening to people’s life’s stories. She has all of her family now in Canada except for her brother which they are still working on. Her nurse degree didn’t mean much here but has taken course to try to regain some recognition of her training. She was probably the best nurse I have had in a while in picking a good vein. Blood pressure  even with white coat syndrome was excellent. Had to fight the rush hour traffic home so will make sure next time to book mid day. You learn this things when you have no time commitments. LOL  Had our condo meeting tonite with some bad news delivered. It seems the patio’s have a wood rot issue and a possible 5K special assessment may be levied. We will get more info when all of the prep work is completed. One less holiday next year. A beautiful night with the red sky. “Red sky at night is a sailors delight “.

JUNE 25TH   Wow is the time flying. All I can say it is a wonderful life. Jackie and I are thoroughly enjoying our time doing different things each day. Have to watch though as it seems our standard wake up time has become 8 am and sometimes a little later.  Loaded the boat and dropped it off at the storage yard. Discovered to small scratches on the roof ( i hate scratches) that happen we when load. I will try moving my cross bars back tomorrow which should fix this. ( golfing tonite so can’t)  Jackie is picking up some things and visiting her Dad in the hospital today. Here is a wonderful quote : Maya Angelou was once asked what she thought of growing older and she said it was ‘exciting’……………… ‘I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.’ ‘I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.’ ‘I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life.’ ‘I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as ‘making a life.’ ‘I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.’ ‘I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back…’ ‘I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.’ ‘I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.’ ‘I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug or just a friendly pat on the back…’ ‘I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.’ ‘I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but  people will never forget how you made them feel. I think all of the above sayings are words to live by. It would be a much different world if these thoughts would become mainstream.

Ps   Happy Birthday Rob MacDonald. Here’s to plenty more. Our thoughts are with Sharon for a perfect and a fast recovery. Had a good golf game tonite with Jeff and Paul. All of us were a little off tonight but it still was a beautiful night and a lot of fun. I scored an 87 with 4 three putts. On the course Jeff said to me as we were talking ” Who are they ?”  Very interesting question that no one can really answer. We say “they said that” or ” they always do that” No one really has meet “they” .Yet we all refer to them.  I also said ” somebody go ahead and hit” Jeff’s comment back was ” I  am Jeff not somebody. LOL  It was a fun night.Jeff and Wendy had a bit of bad luck with their basement as it flooded with the recent downpours we have had. Talking to Jeff it is a relatively easy fix but cost a lot to remove the carpet, drywall and insulation. Hopefully they can find a contractor that is reasonable and available as the town does have a lot of similar situations. Darn rain !! Paul has his new job with Durabuilt Windows and is looking forward to hitting the streets in the next bit.  It was one of those nice days. Jackie’s visit with her Dad in the hospital went very well. He was up and walking around the hallways today which is a big step to recovery. He is eating better and feeling better.

JUNE 26TH Got up early this morning to drive out to Turner Valley for my men’s league game. I golfed with three great guys today. It was a very fun morning. I golfed the best I have golfed for a long time. I had 3 birdies and 7 Pars.  Then I hit a hole where I took a double par and my powerful mind took control. LOL. I took 3 over on the each of the next three holes until I smartened up. Ended up with a 86 which should have been a lot lot lot lower. It was one of those days where things just felt good except for the three screw up holes. may need a sports psychiatrist. LOL

 

I even was lucky enough to win two deuces and one snip which gave $45.00. Not bad for a hard days work at golf.  Do this everyday and I could supplement my income nicely. The fun part is what you learn. The correct way to take a drop from the cart path with a marker and club and drop. The stroke and distance penalty and provisional ball rule. ( Hint ,sometimes you don’t want to find your first ball)Looking forward to next week to see what happens. A lot of fun. Thought of the day. Married men should forget their mistakes. There’s no use in two people remembering the same thing.   Jackie was a busy girl today cooking cookies and cleaning. She is off visiting her Dad at the hospital right now. Great supper and she is off to golf tonite with her girls. Her visit was a good one with Peter getting up out of bed a bit and slowly moving. Getting up to go to the wash room is a good thing . JUNE 27th Got ready this morning and headed for Forest Lawn High School. Jeff kindly welded a nut on my hitch receiver to take the slack out of my cargo carrier. It was a little iffy for a bit as some metal was lodged in the threads of the nut. Luckily a tap set and good as new. The new system is now stable and has no movement in it at all. Jackie had a visit with a few pensioners from the Bank this morning. Funny how everyone of these guys is on a statin. It is hard to figure and understand the why’s , how our medical industry treats patients, is their a large pharmaceutical conspiracy, is the statin prolonging these guys life.  Just odd. Getting ready to head for Lethbridge for the weekend so will clump the weekend in one when we get back. Happy Canada long weekend.

JUNE 28TH – 29TH Headed down to Lethbridge  to do get some work done for Jessica and Pen. Arrived in the late afternoon Friday and started. On the side of the house was a lot of junk. We spent most of the evening until around 10 pm pulling garbage out and packing it to the back yard. Here is a list of jobs completed over the weekend.

• Ran 14/2 wire tied from one existing plug box to install additional lighting near the sump pump
• Ran 14/2 wire to install new plug box near sump pump to eliminate extension cords. ( would like to have put in a GFI plug but we were operating under a budget)
• Dug around and leveled basement floor to drain into the pump.
• Installed 1 1/2 ABS pipe vertical and along house to push water away from pump and basement. Pump has 20 ft vertical lift and I used 8 ft should have plenty of power.
• Installed gravel in sump pump pan to allow clean water into pan.
• Cleaned out all eaves-trough. Power washed all trough and down.
• Installed lattice on pergola
• Separated gravel and mulch with 2 x 4 pressure treated and staked them.
• Rounded out corners of mulch with stakes and lawn edge
• Trimmed a whole whole lot of trees from the back yard.
• Installed a new lighting fixture in the backyard
• New solar lights around mulch area look awesome.
• Garbage moving from side of house.Removed 100’s of screws from PT 2 x10 which we will use to extend the deck.
• Power washed house and patio.
• Spray painted old patio set. Added two new patio chairs.New cushions
• Installed new frost free outside tap

Everyone worked very hard each day. Only incident was Jessica stepped on a rusty screw and needed a tetanus shot. A lot of work but also fun. We were feed well, had plenty of fluids and relatively nice weather. Lots to do in the future  later this summer. JUNE 30TH Jackie and I had Jackson this morning and the rest of week. Dropped off the Buick for a oil change then home to Popsicles and lunch. I had to leave early for my Monday golf game. So Jackie was the new cowgirl all day for Jackson.  My golf game was off. I just screwed up on just about every drive. Wednesday hopefully will be better. Up early tomorrow morning to a pancake breakfast at Ft Calgary with Jackson.

JULY 1ST   ( Canada Day, Larry Geddes Birthday, 4th month retirement anniversary  Jackson arrived at 8 am all ready to party. After all it is our countries birthday, the weather is excellent and Papa and Grammy are looking for fun. Packed and headed right away to Fort Calgary for the celebrations. We saw our mayor , and a whack of other celebrities at our pancake breakfast. The show of people was amazing and the line ups were huge. The pancake breakfast was great with two huge pancakes, two sausages and juice for each person. Our first line took over an hour. Then the line up for the pony ride was a good 1 1/2 hours. The line up for the bouncy room was a good 1 hour. Plus were we in line ups for drinks and food. So fantastic the weather was so great to enjoy the waiting time. I believe I can say everyone had a great time. Jackson loved the dress up, the people watching, the bouncy room, and breakfast but loved the pony ride the best.  I real fun day. Tomorrow the water park !! Here are some fun pictures of the day :

You just can’t beat getting a Tattoo and a flag to wave. A lot so fun things for the kids to enjoy about the Canada Day celebration. Too bad the fireworks didn’t happen the night before as no one wants to stay awake to see them when they have to go to work next day early. I may tell you guys how big event this year was. LOL

 

The horse loved the attention he was getting. Then by the looks of it this Italian women starts talking his ear off. LOL

JULY 2ND  Today was water park day. Jackson arrived early, we had our smoothie breakfast and toast and started to pack to get ready for the day. We arrived at the water park around 10am and stayed until about 3pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A fun place with Jackson playing in the water, swings, climbing bars etc.Brought along our picnic lunch to

have on the blanket while there. A very nice day with it being around 27 but you wouldn’t know it with the breeze we had. Found out how nice the following day with a little sunburn.It was quite an experience.  I was there with 50 mothers, ( 5 of them lactating) , and 100 kids. I was the only male at the park over 6 years old. The stay at home Mom’s where out in force. Just seemed odd. I left around 4 pm for our weekly Mens Night golf. A wonderful night. One thing that is consistent is my inconsistency.  Shot a 39 on the back nine but still ended up with a 86. I need to put together a good full 18 holes of golf. Still a bad day at golf is a lot better that a day at work. LOL

JULY 3RD Had a 8:30 tee time for the TV senior men’s league. Had three great guys to golf again with. I wasn’t on today as my partners weren’t also with all of us shooting 93, 94,95 and one good score guy. Still a 30 degree day golfing you can’t complain. Interesting that each week in the league we have Tom Bladon that played for the Philly Flyers with two Stanley Cup rings and a NHL defenceman point record playing with us. ( pretty impressive to beat Bobby Orr). He seems to be a very nice man.  Jackie and the girls tonight will have great weather to do their golf thing. Jackie was babysitting Jackson all day today. First time in a long time she was a little edgy when I got home so she might be wearing down. If Corey has to work late tonight I will babysit until he arrives.

JULY 4TH  Off to Heritage Park with Jackson today to meet Audrey and Michael.

We were very fortunate to be treated with entrance and breakfast by Micheal and Audrey. It was a pleasant surprise and much appreciated .   As you can see we went on just about every ride we could with Jackson .

We were on a ride called Whip It which was a lot of fun. We rode the giant Ferris wheel ride which Jackson was a little tentative on until we went around a few times then he settled in to have some fun and see how little all of the people were. Michael , Jackson and Jackie went on the caterpillar ride but my finger wasn’t fast enough. Neat ride as during it a cover closes over you to have you in the dark while going around and around and up and down. We had Audrey and Michael up dancing on the hotel’s deck to fiddle music. We rode the steam engine around the park. We had a wonderful breakfast in a little shop, some candy from the candy store , visited the working blacksmith shop, church and hospital. Anyone that hasn’t been there it is worth every penny and more. They even had a car museum that an Auborn in it that is the only one in the world like it. We talked to a volunteer that gave us the story  about Buick brand and it’s Canadian connection from a horse drawn carriage company which was very interesting.  In the garage I had to look hard but finally found a service station sign like the service station my Dad used to own. It was called B/A ( British American) and if you remember that you are dating yourself. I have added the best picture of the day under the Jackson post.

JULY 5TH

Jackson spent the night the night with us. We watched a movie ( well sort of) had popcorn and played until he went to sleep. Off  to Midnapore Lake for Audrey’s birthday.  I won’t tell her real age to you all. Had a nice group of family with us including Alan, Maryann, Danielle, Kennedy, their boyfriends, Victoria, Corey Jackson, David, Kristen, Michael, Audrey and Jackie and I. Here are a few pics of our birthday bash.

 

Mom received an offer today on her place so we are rushing up to Edmonton to get a few things done. We will drive up to Edmonton and drive back the same day as we have commitments for the Heads Smashed in Buffalo Jump and Jackie starts her first Bank work contract on Thursday.

JULY 6TH

Had an early morning rise and drove to Edmonton. Beautiful sunny day for a drive but as you get closer to Edmonton I understand why I love Calgary so much better. It really isn’t a fair comparison. Got out to Mom’s place and started to work. We fixed up the closet, painted,trimmed the hedge and made a aluminum diverter for the rain  on the shingles to hit the eaves trough. Applied an aggressive sale technique in the potential offering contract that I believe will save Mom a lot of headaches with future negotiations, signings and price adjustment. Agreed on offer price with stipulation of no comebacks based on inspection findings.  We know we have water seepage which is an easy fix and with a cost attached to it. We didn’t put the list price as high as we could have due to that and understand a come back of a price adjustment from most agents. I believe our acceptance will surprise them, they will be happy but tentative until they see the report. There are very few deficiencies if any that would deter anyone from buying other than the basement. Most people would just gut it and redo and shouldn’t really care about the issue especially knowing the drop we accepted from list.  Need the plan to come together. May screw up my annual Pembina plans as the possession date is Sept 1st. We will see.  Had a few great meals , visited and then headed home. Heavy rain from Red Deer to Calgary. It always seems like the north part of Calgary has horrible weather.

JULY 7TH

Catch up day on a few things.  Bought my BC fishing license for next weeks monster Sturgeon Fishing trip. Made the meet plans for the trip and should be all set to go. My only fear is my broken bicep arm can’t handle the work and stress of a hour long pull on a fish. I will be switching arms fairly often unless they have a holder or belt which would help. Waxed the front of the motor home to try to ease the pain of removing bugs. Bought our one night stay , 4 person gate admission package from Callaway Park for the 28th. Paid all of the bills and noticed our investments have gained in value even with our few months withdrawals. Go TSX !!!  Just seems odd with no money coming in to bump them up. Jackie does start her first contract work on Thursday which will be nice. She will be able to afford her $300 haircut again. LOL   Both of us have been excellent at restraint and discussion on purchases. I always heard people commenting about how fast time flies when they retire.I will reiterate that we haven’t had one moment of boredom, quietness ,anxiety  about what to do or a thought of wishing we had something to do. Both of us are very busy, and actually find we still don’t have enough time to do what we want plus have a bit of relax time. BUT as I said before it is a lot different than work and much much more enjoyable. The busy part comes from ourselves doing so many different things each day. That is fun.  With Jackie’s contract work it will change a bit for a while. It will mean more golf and fishing to get out of the house. In case anyone out there doesn’t know we are right smack in the middle of the greatest outdoor show on earth. The Calgary Stampede ( miss the company pancake breakfasts, lunches and patios with the customers)

 

If anyone hasn’t been to Calgary for the Stampede you are missing a world class party. It is 10 days of fun. Companies are very lenient with employees, police are extra friendly,the bars are packed all day long, the outdoor patios bursting and everyone is drinking beer and burgers.

 

Both the guys and girls look awesome in their want  to be cowboy outfits. Nothing like a tight pair of pants or shorts , cowboy boots and a hat to feel good. This is a no age limit party place with the young and old mixing together very well.

For all those single people it can be ten days of fun fun fun.

Quote from local newspaper:

Calgary Health Region officials say their STD clinic is busier with visits the week following Stampede, and there’s a slight increase in the number of people picking up the morning-after pill — also known as Plan B — at the sexual and reproductive health clinics.

Two of hot  spots of the town are Cowboys Casino ( young crowd) and Ranchman’s ( mixed age group. ( best place)

I miss my old cowboy boots as I have those new square toed ones now for ease on the foot but they just don’t look as good.

JULY 8th -10th 

A wonderful few days that were a lot of fun. Larry & Anita and Jackie and I  camped at the Daisy May campground in Fort McLeod.

A fantastic campground with huge popular trees to separate the sites and act as good wind blocks. I can say that the mosquitoes were out in full force. If any of them had West Nile we have it as spray didn’t work and they were on the war path. Most mosquitoes I have experienced for a long time. This campground has mini golf ( quite poor) and very nice large pool, hot tub and showers that are all in great shape. Set up our camp, ate, talked, had a great fire, drinks, snacks and stayed up to midnight.

Got up in the morning to  head to Heads Smashed In Buffalo Jump. This site is a Unesco World Heritage site placing it among sites like the Pyramids , Stonehedge or the Galapagos Islands. The buildings and exhibits are first class. We had our first Buffalo burger. Tastes like beef but is a lot less fatty. Overall very good. After eating, walking to see the jump and visiting the exhibits ( 5 levels) we headed

into town for Ft MacLeod. I want you to notice the picture of Jackie & I. Ironic it is called Heads Smashed In when you don’t even see the top of my head. Someone must have had a shaky hand. LOL

We visited the Fort Macleod  “fort” which again was very well done. Some of the antiques and vignettes were awesome.Toured the fort then watched the traditional RCMP musical horse ride.Young riders that did a great job entertaining us. One young rider during the event was actually thrown from his horse but luckily was not hurt. Walked down the historical downtown of Fort MacLeod which look great.  Nice to visit the attractions mid week

when the traffic is less.We had a nice surprise visit from Jessica and Penny who dropped in. We all had our bikes with us but we didn’t go on many rides. Should have but got lazy I guess.Had our sit down supper ( steak, chicken wings and ribs). Enjoyed the fire and company. Next morning up at 8 am to have a back bacon & egg breakfast and start to pack up.  Larry & Anita headed to Park Lake and I moved over to the Fort MacLeod Golf and Country Club. This is the Oldest Golf  course west of Winnipeg so I had to golf it. Best score of my life on it. Yahoo.  Neat course with a 200 yard par 3, a 507 yard par 5 and a huge elevated tee box for a 180 yard par 3 making you go over tall Popular tree’s. Great little course. See review.  So we all had a wonderful couple of days and will look forward to our next adventure. My bucket list is growing so have lots of places to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JULY 11TH

The weather for the next 10 days is going to be over 30 degrees everyday. It took a while to be summer but it sure is making up for it.  Jackie’s second day of her contract work with the BNS. She is getting right back into the swing of things but the IT department is a little slower to get the laptop all up and running for her. She had a great day with some HR issues already. I  cut the front the lawn , pulled weeds and built another carrier box for the boat seats etc to haul around. At 6 pm we went golfing, used our power walking carts and golfed with a very nice couple. Had a decent game as did Jackie. The course is in amazing shape. Stopped after the golf to sit on the deck, have a couple of beers and nacho’s and relax in the sun. That’s what you call the good life. My gout though just doesn’t seem to want to go away. A great evening.

JULY 12th 

Up and at it fairly early. Loaded my two boat crates on to the carrier rack. One crate is approximately 100 lbs so it is very nice to have to a strong woman to help me. Headed to pick up the boat and loaded it. Again Jackie did an awesome job. The rack gets scratched a bit but it is a rack and makes it look tough. Headed out to Chestermere Lake. Nice sized lake very close to Calgary. DO NOT GO TO THIS LAKE.There are weeds just below the surface in the middle of the lake. Besides being a very busy tube pulling lake and the weeds it has no sandy  public beach. Victoria and Jackson came with us but left to find a sandy beach. We spend 4 hours out on the water breaking in the motor. Everything worked out well. A little disappointing in max speed but is all you need to get to where you are going and then troll.This Marlon boat is first class when it comes to handling rough water with it’s flat wide bottom. Very enjoyable day. Need just to figure an easy way to unload the crates for Jackie. ( she is stronger than most women but it is just a little to much for her)

JULY 13TH

A wonderful summer day. Out for groceries this morning and getting ready to paint my new cargo box I built.  Need to do a bit of fine tuning on the hinges and everything will be set.

Today is also the first anniversary for Jessica and Penny. Congratulations and keep your smiles on. Everyday is a good day to have a good day.Victoria is in the background as their master of ceremonies.Jessica and Penny are enjoying each other, looking forward to the future and fixing up their 100 yr old house. Luckily for them the traditional gift for the year one is paper. That shouldn’t cost a lot. A simple card will work. LOL  Trust me it gets more expensive quickly. Congrats !

Peter had a little bit of a set back last night at his retirement home. We are hoping they will deal with it rather than make us move him to a long term care home. He is in isolation at the home right now so no visitors. He has had his share of bad luck and just needs a few good weeks to get his feet on the ground again. Hopefully he will get some strength back and get moving.

JULY 14TH

Another wonderful day. Unfortunately Peter has been returned to the hospital again from the retirement home. The home says there is no virus running it’s course but Peter has become ill again. Hopefully the hospital will get him better so he can return but the retirement home is requesting due to the amount of attention he requires that he be placed in a long term care ward.  Spent a few hours ( replacing the kitchen faucet cartridge) . A ten minute job that took a while. Lucky for UTUBE as the factory had a video on there that fixed the issue I was having. ( first hot and cold sides were wrong and then won’t stop running). All fixed now and works perfect. I was picked up by Jeff and we headed out to Turner Valley for our Monday golf game. I was pleased the way I golfed just not the score. I KNOW it will happen very soon.

JULY 15

Mom received her RPR today but we have a small error on it that needs to be corrected. The guys mixed up sump pump basin with water well. I have asked the survey company to correct and resend. Getting ready this morning to head up to Red Deer to meet Fred and Mel to head to BC for our Sturgeon Fishing Trip. Got to Red Deer and Fred was right in the middle of putting his new fenders on his Land Cruiser. He had every tool needed to make the job a little easier including a air ratchet. Mel got home and the fenders were on and looked great. Hot day outside so we decided to head to Boston Pizza for supper and a few cool ones. Planned to hit the road by 6:30 am the next day. Didn’t sleep very well as the house was really hot. Those old farm homes with single pane windows and lack of insulation can get quite warm. Mel set up fan in the hallway to blow the air around. This turned out to be a boobie trap as the plug wire ran right across the hallway and in the dark Fred tripped on it and the fan came apart into a few pieces. Made a lot of noise in the event. LOL.

JULY 16TH- JULY 18TH

Tim stop in the morning. Lots of smoke on the highway with the forest fires.Actually was burning the eyes. Stopped for gas at Saskatchewan Crossing and paid $1.85 a liter for gas. A long trip ( right on 12 hours ) with very little going on except ( smoke, construction, one tipped semi van, Mel getting a little ill,and one motorcycle guy under a tarp as he hit the center post of a tunnel and crashed)  Very nice Coast Hotel in Chilliwack. Great suppers and breakfast there included in our trip.Very hot through the valley with the temp hitting 37 degrees. Met our boat guide at 8 am in the lot and headed to the river.

In the water by 8:30 and started fishing. We fished for 8.5 hours straight. We saw 5 sturgeons at least 6 ft long jump right out of the water very near the boat. Our guide Jim tried everything. Best bait, best spots etc but we couldn’t hook one. We had a few nibbles, one possible strike but no  reeling a fish in. It was still a lot of fun out on the water all day, drinks, food and chat but near the end of the day we were wishing only for one fish , just one. No luck. So great road trip, good food, good drink, friendly and knowledgeable guide, good company, and good weather,just no fish. They say it is a small world.

Our guide Jim knew Lorne Schreiner quite well. We have agreed we have to do this again. Another 12 hours back to Red Deer without incident.Stopped at a market and Fred bought 20 lbs of Cherries to bring back home with him. Odd thing is we went threw the park going n/c but coming back it cost $20 even if we don’t stop in the park. Maintain the roads they said. Cash cow !      Great trip.

JULY 20TH

One of those catch up days. Groceries, watch the British Open, take care of Jackson for a bit, do a few computer things, and look at calender to try to fit in things that need done. Talked to Mom on her upcoming home inspection. I am trying to make the home selling process as easy as possible for her but people keep talking to her and causing her to worry about what if’s. I am not looking forward to getting old ( glad I retired early to have a lot of fun before old happens). Self induced stress, worry and headache is not good for them but they struggle to let it go. I have seen older people panic in airports, trying to find a store or parking lot, or worry about a big storm potentially that may be coming. Life is what it is. People overall are good people wanting to help.News on TV is a horrible thing to watch. We see one plane crash and it sticks as a very bad thing. There are a million flights coming and going everyday we don’t talk about. See one kidnapping and it is a bad thing. We have 6 billion people on this planet so one kidnapping is fairly small.Trust that things will work out, wake up and choose to have a positive day, smile and know the world is a good place with only a few bad people and enjoy. There is an excellent song by Bobbie McFerrin that should become our way of thinking.

Here is a little song I wrote 
You might want to sing it note for note 
Don’t worry be happy 
In every life we have some trouble 
When you worry you make it double 
Don’t worry, be happy…… 

Ain’t got no place to lay your head 
Somebody came and took your bed 
Don’t worry, be happy 
The land lord say your rent is late 
He may have to litigate 
Don’t worry, be happy 
Lood at me I am happy 
Don’t worry, be happy 
Here I give you my phone number 
When you worry call me 
I make you happy 
Don’t worry, be happy 
Ain’t got no cash, ain’t got no style 
Ain’t got not girl to make you smile 
But don’t worry be happy 
Cause when you worry 
Your face will frown 
And that will bring everybody down 
So don’t worry, be happy (now)….. 

I know most of you know the song. Has to make you feel good !! I figure as long as I have a place to sleep, food, and friends I am doing ok. Forget possessions and money as they are the “bad” in this world. I can have as much fun at a free beach as travelling to a tropical beach. I can’t tell other people look were I have been but I do know the fun was equal and they will worrying about the bill. And I will be singing “don’t worry be happy”

JULY 21

Well I wanted to go the whole year without going over 100. Played a new course and a little difficult one but I think not playing for a week and then hitting a a little more difficult course caught up to me. Combination of poor drives, poor irons and very tricky greens. A little humbling as I was getting better and better. On Wednesday I will need a real low score to make up for it. Jeff also had a very poor game. The Hamptons used to be a private club and it just turned semi. Beautiful setting, fantastic tricky greens and some very interesting holes. Talking to Mom today as the inspection was done. Fingers crossed that the buyers are ok with any defects ( ie basement, is the only real one we know of)  Interesting that Jackie’s Dad house in Edmonton that we sold last year for 500K was demolished. The buyers only wanted the lot and will build a mansion.

JULY 22ND

Spent two hours this morning at the driving range trying different things. Wednesday will be the test. A few back pain pills, no beer and some A3 should be set to go. Also waiting for a call from Corey as they are looking at a different vehicle and want me to look at it with them.Very nice 2500 Vortec 6.0L GMC SLT.  Very minor things on it with it showing and driving extremely nice. Hopefully everything works out for them.

Julian from Coldwell Banker got a hold of me tonight. All of the conditions have been met and the house is sold. Julian from Coldwell Banker  ( juliansells@shaw.ca) runs a great office and is a top ten performer in Canada. I am very pleased my unique approach to the offer to purchase and not countering  but accepting ( which would have thrown the buyer off )  worked with a condition attached that will have resulted in a net gain of the sales number. If we would have countered I know we would have had a few counter offers going back and forth.A similar situation happened on our Shawnessy house were I ended up with the number I wanted.A calculated risk but am very pleased it worked out. Human nature is an amazing thing. Now it is just a matter of cleaning up and clearing out a lot of stuff. Watch for the moving sale coming soon!!! Need some good stuff make sure to attend. Everything must go ! Not your typical garage sale. I am very grateful that the process didn’t take to long for Mom.

JULY 23RD    

Woke up this morning and the first thing that pops into my head is how very fortunate we are .I am very blessed to have Jackie  a lady who works hard , looks great, is very smart and very very giving. And she has me ( I won’t brag here) I was just talking to a friend and I said in all of the years of marriage we never have fought over money.And as everyone  knows when you are newly married it is in very short supply. No money and I would come home with a $100 speeding ticket. Now we did get to bug each other a bit over things like my cars, tickets ,and her haircuts but it was never a contentious issue.Now with no money coming in we have to be a bit more careful but that is where my budget and spreadsheets help keep us on track. Worked on my spreadsheets for while, did some banking and general email cleanup. I did notice I must have quite a few friends on vacation as the amount of jokes have slowed down. Hopefully only temporary.Contacted the lawyer for the sale. Got ready to go golfing at Speargrass. A wonderful  day with lots of sun and very little wind. Golfed good today. Made the usual silly mistakes but mid 80’s I can live with. Amazing game with a drastic difference each day. My senior men’s league is tomorrow so hopefully the same skill set then.   Have a busy schedule coming up in the next weeks so trying to fit in the things I need to do now. Have a tee time booked for 8am on Friday. I know why would a retired guy book such a early tee time. LOL

JULY 24TH

Had my men’s league game at Turner Valley. It was probably the windiest day I remember golfing. The average net score each week is usually 63 to 65. Today’s  average was 74-76. Every member of my group was over 100 except for me. Considering the conditions I was very pleased with the score. Only two deuces to pay out which is very rare. Did some personal things,and watched Big Brother so a fairly easy day. Jackie visited her Dad and he is moved out of the isolation rooms again which is great. Hopefully they have this C-Diff figured out.

JULY 25th

Up at 6:45 to go golfing. Yes retired and up at 6:45. I think that is a oxymoron . But I really enjoyed being on the course so early. It was warm enough and the course was in perfect shape. I played great today. Not one slice  and wonderful shots. A 3 hybrid ( wind assisted a bit flew 250 yards) Drives near 300 yards. Scored an 85 but it was all caused by putting including a 4 putt. Boulder Creek was in perfect shape ( see review)  Finished up golfing then headed to Jeff place to lay sod. He had 2.5 pallets to lay. We completely finished the front yard in about 3 hours which is about half. Jeff forgot to ask to get them to put one pallet in the backyard so the remaining rolls will take a lot longer. Looks good though. Easy supper and Jackie headed to the hospital.Most likely head to bed early tonite. Hard on a retired guy !!.  Getting ready for the weekend tonite and tomorrow morning.

JULY 26TH – JULY 28TH

A very busy weekend and a fun time. Jackie and I removed a corner of sod, planted a a few perennials, a towering aspen tree,  dug out behind the water channel, planted potted plants in their containers and trimmed and cut the lawn. A full days work. It is amazing how the aches come out of hard work.  Loaded the motorhome and headed to Callaway Park for a couple of days fun.

Had quite a few drinks with Fred and Troy the first night. A wonderful cool night to sleep in except for a bit of road noise from Hwy 1. Along for the adventure were Fred, Terry, Troy, Jen, Scarlett, Kate, Martin, Tor, Jackson, Jackie and I.

The kids went on just about every ride. Some had height restrictions on them so we had to talk our way out of those. Troy, Jen, Tor and I went on the roller coaster that a double twist loop in which was fun. Look at the amazing picture Fred took .To catch us with the speed in perfect form was excellent. I can’t believe that I was hanging on while Troy was high handing it.

 

 

 

 

Tried planning a road trip to Dawson City to have a drink with the toe but may have to wait until the Keys get more holidays or decide to semi retire.  Got home, unpacked and booked golf for Tuesday at Springbank, Wednesday at Speargrass and Thursday at Turner Valley for this week. With the 30 degree temperatures it will be a hot one all week.

 

 

 

 

JULY 29TH

Well it had to happen. Finally beat Paul but it wasn’t pretty.  Paul had his worst game I have seen him play. But I will take a win anyway I can. LOL  . It was a great night again at Springbank Links with the weather being incredible and the course playing very nice. A new course and not familiar with it helps raise the score.  Peter Jackie’s Dad is starting to get better. He is able to walk around the ward now and is doing overall better.

JULY 30TH

Worked on my carry boxes. Painted them all up, installed the handles, hinges etc and made a roller table for them using casters. This should allow us to put them in and out of the cargo basket much easier. They work great and look great. Took all morning to get this done. Headed out to Speargrass for Men’s night . Played well just didn’t score as well as I would have liked. Anytime in the 80’s I am happy though. It was a hot night with it being 25 degrees at 10 pm.

JULY 31ST  

Up at 6:30am for a early tee time at Turner Valley. Played today with Tom Bladon the ex-Flyer hockey player. ( NHL defenceman scoring record)He is best remembered for the game played on December 11, 1977, against the Cleveland Barons, in which he scored four goals and added four assists, becoming the first defenceman^[1] and only the fourth person in NHL history to record eight points (a feat accomplished only 15 times by 11 other players) in an NHL game. His plus/minus of +10 in that game is also an NHL record. A very nice man.  Our whole group had a off day with everyone shooting much higher than their handicap. The greens were unbelievable and extremely difficult with speed and slope. Everyone struggled putting. Another wonderful day on the course. Got home to see your special assessment for the pillar repair. To bad as it is an unexpected large expense close to 10K.  It will mean two less vacations. One typically moves into a condo to eliminate these expenses with a reserve fund. Unlucky on this but hopefully we will get compensated back somehow.  Actually fell asleep this afternoon on the coach. The heat, and the early morning got to me.Did the books for June and everything is going good. Will sit down with Jackie to look it over to cut it a bit.