May 1st

Wow time is flying and we haven’t had spring yet. Winter likes hanging on.

Headed out to our lot to finish the deck to a stage that I can leave it for a bit. I am heading up to Edmonton on a shed building mission.

First thing was to angle the deck at the 22.5 degrees to enhance the looks and to keep the fire pit 10 ft away from any structure. A little harder after the fact but i managed between the reciprocating saw and circular saw I managed to get it done. Getting the angles right the most difficult thing.

Finished off all the remaining boards and cut the edging. Took about 6 hours today. Decks look fantastic if I have to say so myself. Cutting the beams and skirting remains to be done and then Stage One will be completed.

Thought of the Day

I wonder if a full time RV’er thinks of themselves as someone who sleeps around.

I will post again when I get back.

May 2nd to 6th

Quite a trip. Got up early to leave by 7 pm. Getting up at 6 am and getting ready isn’t my first choice any time except when getting up for a specific reason.  On the road. The Dakota is a nice driving vehicle on the road. It is quiet and rides smooth with it’s longer wheelbase and new suspension. I feel a slight vibration the odd time and then it disappears and restarts again. I am  thinking road conditions combined with the worn tires that maybe a little out of balance. I will rotate the tires and see what happens. I  noticed the small finger nail drip under it again. I checked every hose and couldn’t see anything so I will crawl under it in a bit. I hate even the smallest leak. Turns out front seal and I don’t want to drop the pan.

Fred had picked up the trailer at Alfred’s last night so we were all set to go . Headed to Nelson Lumber and ordered what we needed and went out to the yard for pickup.  This isn’t really a retail lumberyard as it specializes in contractors so we expected to wait a bit. Plus the fact the yard was extremely busy with trucks picking up and unloading. Fred and I wanted to load by hand to distribute the weight more evenly as we had a lot of lumber and a pallet of cement blocks to pick up. It took us a little over two hours to load and we were both surprised at the quantity of wood. A couple of helpful yard guys and a young lady made it a lot easier. Got it all loaded and the weight spread out and packed up.  Stopped at A & W for a late lunch. Brand new store with a new concept but still good. As long as the frosted beer mugs don’t disappear it will be ok. Headed to St Albert and Fred got the last pallet of sidewalk blocks  marked seconds that we are going to use for his deck base. Good fork lift driver loaded up these and the trailer had a bit of weight to it. We arrived at the RV lot and proceeded to unload the sidewalk blocks. Each block weighs 102.5 pounds and is difficult to get your fingers under them.  Stacked them in one pile to use later.

I was hoping to get started on the shed but it was beer time. I love the fact that Terry & Fred have adopted the “easy rv life” as supper at 8 pm or later was normal for them. Jackie & I are creatures of habit and yes we do eat by the clock sometimes rather when hungry but I find eating late can cause heartburn, and difficulty in sleeping . As usual Fred & Terry fed me extremely well every day.

Terry is still working so was up early each day which was great as we could get a good start on the day.  Started to level off the beams that the shed was going to sit on. Took a little longer than thought trying to get the location correct.  No material listing per say or instructions and if Fred and I hadn’t build numerous items before, one could be lost.  It surprised me 2 x 4’s are used for the floor joist. BUT during the set-up we changed our minds and came up with an ingenious idea and set the 2 x 4’s supported by the 6″ wide beams so only had about a 4′ span on 16″ centers. According to the building code a 2 x 4 can legally span  8′ on 16 ” centers so we are double as strong. It will be a strong platform but I would prefer 2 x 6 and 5/8 plywood.

Funny thing happened on the way out to the lot. As we were turning a street light corner I noticed this middle aged lady ( i might add good-looking) staring at Fred and our truck as we were turning the corner. It was beyond obvious. Fred noticed her also and I started to laugh and tease him. His comment he has been dealing with this curse his whole life killed me.  Good humor.  Now Alfred’s covered wagon trailer is unique and may have been the reason but this event was very amusing.

The days are all merged into one big event so I can’t remember what we did each day exactly. More beers and gin after work. I would have liked to work longer each day to complete more but it was nice to rest after a long day.

Next the walls. These walls are full size walls using 92 5/8 studs with a bottom plate and double top plates. Makes for a big shed. Nice having a 10 x 10 as it is just easier making sure every thing is square and plumb. First wall done and stood up with bracing. Very tall. Finished off the four walls. We screwed everything as Home Depot where I bought my 21 degree framing nailer only carries Dewalt nails which don’t make a 21 degrees. I think that is just wrong to sell a gun and not carry the nails for it. But that is just me.!

Got all the walls, up, sheathed and square including the base. A good day. Fred’s birthday today so we had a few more drinks and pizza.

It is so quiet and nice out at their lot. The shower building is new and first class. Only thing is they forgot to put up towel bars and coat hooks. Not good.

Started early morning again. Taking a shower this morning I actually scared myself. Bent down in the shower and I thought I was in a scene from Carrie. My nose started to bleed and wouldn’t stop.  The shower was full of blood. This shower temperature isn’t controllable so no cold water to use. Head back and nose stuffed with paper towel and finally it slowed and stopped. All day I felt like at any moment my nose was going to explode again. I don’t need to donate blood any time soon. Today we were making our own rafters. I have made numerous trusses including working in a truss plant. I will go on record saying trusses are 95 % easier to make. But I like a rafter as the additional ceiling height makes a huge difference. I will say rafters are similar to doing stair risers and require some interesting math. I like math but it is not easy knowing the degree angle of a 6/12 pitch and depth of the birds-mouth. Fred and I worked for quite a while on this. I knew the ridge beam angle, birds angle and tail angle had to be equal. Getting the measurements of where the cut is was the issue. We had a few suggestions and ideas from Tim and Carl but we finally traced the angle and  away to the races. Using the first as a template we cut out the rest. Neat thing I discovered on my new 12″ mitre saw it had markings with angles for every pitch of roof. Laying down the rafters Fred & I agreed we liked the 6/12 pitch better plus it gives more headroom space. Took us all day but finished off the rafters and sheathed the roof.  With very little wood left we started on the cable ends. A lot of figuring how to complete the job with the triangle angles. One miss cut but got yer done !  Added two cable end trim boards which will need to be removed and cut later. Built up and installed two doors and done for the day.

THIS IS A SHED not a big box plastic thing or a 2 x 3 framed mini shed with 6 ft tall walls.  This is a 100 sq ft tiny house we built. 2 x 6 rafters, fibreglass shingles, eaves, 8 ft high walls, 6/12 pitch which puts our high point close to 11 ft high. Built like a $#@$ brick house. Entry doors are the weak point but that can be corrected quite easily. Took as long to build this as a garage package.

Cleaned up everything and headed home just before noon.

Arrived 5 minutes after my expected arrival time and received a call from Jackie as to where I was. 5 minutes lol .Grabbed  a quick shower than headed to Lethbridge.

Met Jessica and Penny at Boston Pizza  for supper. The kids all were great and the food good as normal. Hot out today and the girls sat outside with a fire. I went to bed around 10 oclock and slept like a baby. A few days of hard work with early rise times wears you down. We all slept in to 9 am which was wonderful.

Tim’s for breakfast and then off to summerize the girls trailer to get ready for the May long weekend. A different trailer and set of controls and lack of remembering had a little tougher time than normal. I bleached the tank and ran water for about 1/2 hour and it is pretty good. The little solar tender for the battery the girls bought worked perfect over the winter with it being 3/4 charged when I checked it. I need to remember to have them check the water level.

Went to hook up but the hitch ball was a WAY to high. Ford F150 versus an Escape . I tried to unbolt and lower, reverse the ball but with a pipe wrench and a poor crescent wrench combined with Loctite on the bolts I couldn’t get it undone. The girls will get this changed and pull it home.

Stopped at A & W for supper and headed home.  Great poutine ! Another great day visiting with Jess, Pen August and Atticus.  These two boys have such different personalities. That is what makes each of us our own person. See new pictures under their header.

Thought of the Day 

Stay positive. Work hard. Make it happen. ENJOY !

May 7th-8th

2 straight weeks of manual labor is wearing on me. But i jumped out of bed early and headed to the lot. I screwed each board down as when making it I didn’t know the quantity of screws I had (special stainless steel torex ) so I screwed every other joist. I made the deck 12 inch on centres as i wanted no bounce or deflection in the 5/4 boards. Takes a while. Screwed down the picture frame board all the way around. Moved the motor home to it’s proper location which works out well for getting out and stepping on the deck. Hooked up the water and cleared all of the anti- freeze out of the lines. Took a while and made sure every line was clear. Filled the tank and will add the bleach next day or so and refill a couple of times and then will be good to go.

Picked up numerous little things to fix things up.  Hose, filter, cap, bleach, bolts etc.

Home Depot McKenzie sucks. I have been there so many times and they don’t have what I need or want 3 out of 10 times. It is a smaller store and should be added to, to make it a normal store. They were out of 4″ PVC caps. They didn’t carry a breach fitting for the cap which is a common thing. I will check out Lowes.

They didn’t have 14 ft 2 x 6 Cedar so I had to shorten  my arbor. It will still work out fine as I will make the “kitchen” in that space with BBQ and fridge. Sometimes things always have a way of working out. But this store is consistently out of stock or doesn’t carry items. Annoying !

Built the arbor using carriage bolts and my new favorite RRS screws.I will fill in the space with my varied width cedar strips to give it that privacy we want. I like the looks already.

Disappointed today as the poplar buds and fuzz stained my cedar pink in spots and I am not even done building it yet. Odd .Means sanding or wood renew. Darn ! The lot is starting to look good. Another few days  with planting  of shrubs ,arbor, and base complete of the shed we will have a better idea. I know it sure is peaceful out there.

Thought of the Day 

To save time let’s just assume I am always right ok !

May 9th-11th

A cold couple of days ahead of us.Today it started raining and it rained or drizzled all day. Numerous stops at different places without the results that i liked. It is no wonder everyone shops online. General Fasteners, Prime, Lowes, Depot all with no stock of 21 degrees nails , special order or in cartons of 5000. I came home and ordered for less per 1000 from Amazon in 1000 packs of 2 1/2 and 3 1/4 galv framing nails.

I do have to say Cap-It was great giving me free a tailpiece for my tee handle. Great service. Lowes, Depot and Cedar shop don’t carry  black pergola decorative brackets without spending $90 bucks. I will search the internet as Stanley and Simpson both make them. Picked up another bolt to try to find a fit for the smaller air compressor.

Planned to add the bleach today but with the delay in getting stuff, raining and picking up Jackson early I thought I would wait.

Up early to head to Turner Valley for my first Men’s League game. I was teamed up with the our clubs “rules” chairman , a director of our club and another member. Everyone was excellent and fun to play with. As a group we all didn’t play well. Everyone was over their cap. It was my highest score of the year but I wasn’t really unhappy. Second game in month, quite cold at 5 degrees and a combo of errors. Pocket warmers trying to keep my fingers warm and stiff muscles.Three putts, lost balls and dumb errors. Sand traps got me as these were filled with new sand so very heavy to hit out of. So when I consider everything I can live with the score as I know where I failed.

I didn’t win any money. I didn’t get any birdies. I took a 10 on Par 5 which didn’t help the score. Next time.

Amazon sent a message my gazebo is ready for shipment and my nails have been sent. Everything is coming together.

They say it is a small world. And it is. Victoria started her new job at PlayWorks Inc as a territory rep for Southern Alberta and they had to attend a course. Turns out the new Northern Alberta rep for PlayWorks who attended the course also is the daughter to an old business friend of mine, Ken McIvor the former Northern Alberta Weiser rep.

Ken was the factory rep for Weiser Locks when I was at Sterling Dist.  Ken and I worked together in getting Weiser locks into the Marshall Wells Edmonton warehouse system. When Marshall’s went broke I am sure Ken put in a good word with Lorne Schreiner who at the time was the Henderson’s manager who distributed Weiser ,when I needed a new company to work for. After meeting our sales goals Gary Leedahl , Ken McIvor and I would meet at the Marathon Steak House late Friday afternoons for a few beer each week. In fact I was in there when the huge tornado hit and when i walked out and saw the green sky i thought to myself, I must have had too much to drink. Small world as they say though.

A cooler day again today so I decided a day of rest. I have lots to do but for some reason don’t feel well. My nose still feels like it could let go a stream of blood and not to energetic.  Odd of me but this to will pass.

So I watched a bit of golf, researched items, picked up my pills from Shoppers, and relaxed the entire day.

Thought of the Day 

I always loved going to work. But that 8 hour wait for home time was a killer.

May 12th -13th 

First of all nice to see Tiger playing well. To shoot a 65 has to be a confidence builder. Maybe if lucky and another good round he may climb a little further up the leader board.

We decided to drive up to Edmonton to see Mom for a early Mother’s Day and take her out for lunch and have a nice visit. As usual that QE2 is a busy one. I always try to stay back from the stone throwers. Between gravel trucks and import hatch backs ( wheels set right back of the car) it is hard to be careful of windshield chips. I have replaced 5 windshields in the last 2 years.  I never buy insurance as we had gone close to 5 years without replacing any. But between whiners the roads are icy and gov’t’s taking the cheap way out by throwing rocks onto the highway we haven’t been as lucky lately. I would prefer no stones on the highway and perhaps we might make better drivers out of a few people.

Arrived in Edmonton and as usual the Anthony Henday  was moving at a snails pace. I used to make fun of the Edmonton drivers but now I understand as their mayor with his “green” agenda needs money so he places photo radar every mile. So i guess he wins as people are driving slower but I think more cars are going slower as their fronts ends are loose or broken after hitting major sinkholes, potholes etc in the middle of the freeway. One way to slow people down.

Mom’s place was excellent as she had the a/c on so it was quite comfortable. We had a great visit and then tried to figure out where to eat. Funny as Mom gets older she get fussier and fussier. For myself as long as we don’t have sushi and fish only on the menu I am set. I can live with a salmon but $20 for fish versus real meat is hard to justify. We ended deciding on Olive Garden. We even got lucky and were seated right away which doesn’t happen very often. We all had their soup & salad lunch. I love their salad and they make some great soups. Throw in the bread sticks and it is a great meal. I think everyone enjoyed it.

Stopped for DQ ice cream desert after so all is good. We decided to take a drive out to our old family home. It is shame some people don’t take care of their place. Mom always had the 100 ft cotton-easter   hedge perfectly trimmed, flowers, lawn beautifully cut and the place looking immaculate.  Not so much anymore. While not disastrous it looks a little run down.  Nice to see it though as it was my home from 6 yrs old to 23 years old. Lots of memories.

Drove out to the location of my photo radar ticket to see what defense I could come up with. Unfortunately the speed signs are located such the court won’t buy the fact I was pre-accelerating. I may have to pay as it is $100 worth of gas to talk to the officer of the court and throw myself at his mercy.  Darn speeding rules ! I could have retired 5 years earlier if I didn’t pay the government coffers so much in ticket revenue. 40 demerits in one month when I was in my late teens was a costly time. LOL

Sat on Mom’s patio for hours talking which was very nice. I think she enjoyed it. I know we did. It is shame as we age the frailty that happens. It is a little scary.

Wonderful drive home.

To every Mother out there have a wonderful day.They are special. There are a lot of words to describe them. Every Mother deserves to be treated right each day but today just a little extra.

Having said that to all the husbands out there. Remember your wife is NOT your mother. It is up to the kids to celebrate this with their mother. Don’t get sucked into the marketing propaganda  that makes guys feel guilty and having to buy expensive gifts for their wife just because they are the mother of your kids.  Fathers Day, Valentines Day, Easter, Christmas, are all examples of ad makers and promoters forgetting the real reason’s behind the original day and entrapping people into spending money. Celebrate the reason, save your cash and everyone will live happier.

Jackie phoned her Mom in Wales and talked to both of the girls this morning. She is going golfing with Victoria later this afternoon with Jackson as an outing which will be fun for them.

Hot weather coming up. Long weekend at this point is looking good.

“Memories”

One of my best golf memories ever is the Players’ Tournament. I was fortunate enough to attend this event. JELD-WEN was a major sponsor and as a regional manager I attended the event with a customer from Alberta. Les Schwartz from Home Hardware Stettler was my guest for this event. We played this Stadium course two days before the tournament. On this trip we also played the Valley, the Lion & Bear and another course I can’t remember the name of. It was an amazing trip that I will never forget. We had a supper event that KJ Choi the winner attended and we were invited to Freddie Funk’s house for dinner which was incredible. Nice man.

Go Tiger Go

Victoria, Jackson and Jackie had a great Mother’s Day at Heatherglen Golf. A fun family event for them with amazing warm weather. And they were lucky enough to golf as a twosome.

After the girls golfing day we all ended up at Boston Pizza for a great supper. You can’t beat a great meal and fun chatter dining out. Plus people watching is always fun. There are some strange people out there. LOL

Thought of the Day 

I wonder how kids ever trust their Mom when you consider Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy and the fact when a kid finds out her real name isn’t even Mom.

May 14th & 15th

May Long Weekend is coming up fast. We filled the motor home today with a Costco load. I said to Jackie ” Look $500 at Costco spent and nothing to eat” Not true but was funny. Our cart was full when you add a pallet of paper towel, a ton of meat, 1/4 ton of Solo cups, and on and on.  Costco Okotoks was busy today which is rarer as I love going here to miss the crowds. Maybe everyone has caught on.

Worked on the Arbor privacy fence and had lot of help.  I had Jackie using the drill which was good. She even had a supervisor all day as this birds, house was only feet away from us on our tree. The previous owners left two houses in the tree. I don’t know what kind of bird this is but it was beautiful. It had a  blue hue, saturation, and brightness that reflected light with it’s blue body and bright white head, yet was sparrow sized. Careful Momma bird I think.

I was going to put a skirting all around the deck but when I started to install it it looked to busy. So  no skirting. Good as more air flow to avoid mold and with the beams being stained near black it will look wonderful.

Chopped off the post tops and chopped off any extended beams. Took a wheelbarrow load to the dump and cleaned up the area. Getting closer . Soon we can purchase the furniture so we can relax and enjoy.I know today sitting outside in the heat, listening to the birds and hearing nothing was exceptional. Great supper and time outside.

They rushed the Gazebo wouldn’t you know it and according to the tracking it could potentially be delivered tomorrow or Thursday. Tuesday next week would have been perfect. Oh well.

Tomorrow weed killing, tree trimming, shrub planting and nail together the base of the shed. I bought the extra lumber at the beginning as I like to have extra boards around for bridging etc.

Thought of the Day

Living in the country is like a good dream. Quiet, wonderful bird sounds, fresh air, gentle breeze and a certain calmness about it.

May 16th & 17th

What a warm and beautiful summer day today. First thing this morning we headed to Costco to return some solar lights that were just the wrong size for us. I will look at Lowe’s for a set that works better. The amount of plants, flowers leaving Costco as people were getting ready for the long weekend was amazing. Plus the store was busy again. Costco has the service part down right with returns and cashiers.

Headed home for a quick lunch then ,Corey and I headed out to his storage lot to grease his wheel bearings on his trailer. It was one of those forgotten items on his to do list of things. We used four small tubes of grease and still didn’t see grease being pushed out. At least there is some in there now.

Jackie &  I headed to the motor home and loaded up all our food. I swept the slide-out awnings off and we brought in the slides, lifted the jacks and have everything ready to head to Trochu on Friday.

Ate supper at the lot and enjoyed the quiet country. Very nice !

Up early this morning to a damp dreary day. Drove to Turner Valley for my Men’s league golf game. Arriving there I was surprised to see and hear a lot of the guys didn’t want to golf as it was too cold and wet. Luckily I found a group of three guys and we golfed. Pocket warmers are a great thing. Fingers getting cold when golfing isn’t good so these work for me wonderfully. Throw on a toque and all set if it doesn’t pour. Luckily for us it just drizzled until the 17th hole.

Quite a start I had. Par first hole, Par second hole, Eagle third hole, Birdie the fifth hole, ending the first nine with a 38 with one bad hole.

As we didn’t have the “group” we decided not to play our money game. Isn’t that the way it always  you do great  when it doesn’t count. LOL

Fun day of golf with some great partners again. Our young guy in the group hit the ball a mile and made very few mistakes. If I could remove two hole scores I would have broke 80 but the 2 holes got me again. Slicing today was minimal which was good even though I still want to get rid of it completely. I would love to power up my swing again if it didn’t slice.

After golf I had a Caesar as it was National Caesar Day in Canada. Love these ! This one had Montreal Steak Spice on the rim and it was good.

We really didn’t get that wet or cold so it was a fun day !!

Thought of the Day

The nice thing about golfing in the rain is no one can see I am crying after shooting a poor shot.

May 18th to 21st

I will post when I get back. Looking forward to this great course and gathering of friends.  This year we have 9 RV’s coming. As our kids buy RV’s the group gets bigger. Victoria has an unit now along with Amanda, Jessica and Jennifer. We also this year have up to 10 young grandchildren.

Back and still kicking.  It will take a few days to post everything from the weekend. Plus to rest. I can’t stay up late, drink and get up early and not be tired.These weekend party things are tiring. LOL  There were people staying up until 3 am one night, 2 am the next and at least 1 am the third. First the weather was wonderful. Very windy though in fact so windy it bent the rods a bit on my canvas gazebo. The wind was happening everyday. Having said that if NOT for the wind we would have been eaten alive by the mosquitoes. Any moment of no wind they swarmed us. The best weather though for a May Long Weekend that I can remember for a lot of years.

Trochu Golf course is a gem. Greens in excellent shape and the blue white combo makes it a different nine by far each time. Our hosts Tony and Berle the managers were fantastic helping us each day with tee times, making sure we had our 9 sights all together and best of all organizing a delivery of chopped wood. For $100 we had wood every night to burn which was excellent. Lucky the fire ban was lifted.

The campsite was right at the top of coulee so we most likely experienced more wind than other spots but we had a wonderful overview  of the course and prairies.

As usual the food for our Mexican themed potluck was fabulous.Special taters, corn bean salad, taco’s, pulled pork, tortilla’s,nacho’s, wraps plus many more items. Tons of left overs but I am sure everyone was extremely full. We had a Margarita table with two machines pumping out the drinks. Wonderful drinks. Shelby, Jason and Tracy were great bartenders.

Three rounds of golfing that were fun. Larry two wins and Kieth one win on the last day. I couldn’t hit the ball at all. Tired and not focused but a good win for Kieth to start of 2018. On the last day Corey played incredible. He took a 40 which is his low score on a nine hole,

Terry had a great idea and for the kids she hung a pinata. With a plastic bat everyone had a chance to swing and miss. We got lucky as it didn’t really break up until the last kid swung. Filled with Candy the kids loved it. Speaking of kids they all had a spectacular long weekend Biking, playing in the sand, hide and seek, spy, robbers and cops they played it all. They even had a pool to play in. Troy went from camper to camper to collect 5 gallons of hot water for them. Jenny had blow up things for the kids to roll around in. All was good until the Dads decided yo get into them and roll down a large hill on one fairway. Both blowups blew up and one Dad hit his head and had to take aspirin to cure his headache.

On this trip we had :

• Ron Merle Shayla Kaiten
• Ralph Tracy Shelby
• Kieth Jenny Jason Stephanie Ryley Braille
• Justin Amanda Parker
• Troy Jennifer Scarlett, Kate Martin
• Fred Terry Amanda
• Larry Jackie
• Corey Victoria Jackson
• Jessica Penny August Atticus
• Giselle Ally

Kids having fun !

Our largest group, best weather, great course, loads of firewood and a fun gathering.

With any gathering things go wrong.

• First at 6 pm for our potluck dinner a couple of families were confused at the start time. A honk of the horn for a 5 min warning didn’t help. A few of my old friends are technology  challenged with texts and emails being unfriendly to them or perhaps the unthinkable memory loss. Try an E transfer with them. LOL  Next year more emails, larger fonts and a calendar reminder.
• Jessica’s trailer sprung a leak. After a difficult time getting to the plumbing I discovered a cross threaded plastic nut on the faucet. Even with plumbers tape as the nut was out of round it wouldn’t stop leaking. Fred helped with this plumbing but we still couldn’t get it stopped. Whipped into the Home Hardware store which was just closing at 4 pm as we arrived. If Phil was still around I would bet it would have been open a lot longer. Luckily the staff let us stay. Only very limited stock but we got a Sharks Bite valve and new plastic nut. Fred had his pipe cutter along and he installed the new valve and nut. Our idea was if the tap had bad threads we could shut the valve and the girls could still have water. It still leaked slightly so the tap may need to be replaced but they could at least use it all weekend.
• Corey’s bolts holding on his awning with the winds pulled out and the awning arm wouldn’t slide. WD40 and twisting and re tightening fixed him up for now but the holes need to be filled with a dowel or sawdust and glue and the bolts re tightened.
• One puking incident in our motor home.
• One rental club missing in action
• One head injury.

Not a thing that goes wrong but two kids lost teeth over the weekend. Naturally. LOL   Boy is the tooth fairy generous in today’s world.

Victoria brought some Turkey Bacon. I had to suggest to Corey that my tongs couldn’t touch that stuff. Fake bacon and by rights should be sued by the Pork Association for misuse of the name.

As with traditional pork bacon, eat it sparingly. Some calorie- and fat-conscious eaters choose turkey bacon as a healthy alternative to the pork variety that traditionally graces breakfast tables. But, this substitute is still high in saturated fat and sodium and doesn’t carry as many health benefits as many believe. Just because bacon is made from turkey or chicken doesn’t mean it’s more natural than regular bacon. The shorter ingredient lists on packages of pork bacon suggests to me that old-fashioned bacon is closer to its natural source than turkey bacon, despite it also being a processed meat.I am not suggesting you turn in your turkey bacon for pork bacon. But don’t be fooled into thinking turkey bacon is a health food. It isn’t. It is highly processed and full of salt.

Jackson was an amazing cousin to August when his Mom’s were golfing and he got anxious. He took extra special care of him and was the only one to calm him.  He impressed a few people.

I have to change my crib strategy. I usually try to win without needing a cut to reduce my risk odds. But I have lost too many games recently. Fred & I against Amanda & Kieth. First game we win easily and they make it over the skunk line by two points. Second game we lose and third we lose. Now Amanda did carry the team with some amazing hands happening consistently. Next game I will NOT lose !!

 

We were the first to arrive and the last RV to leave. Some of my older friends are hesitant to retire and continue to be held hostage to the work life so had to leave early.I will reiterate again. RETIREMENT is the best thing in the world. Having said that I am so busy right now I wish I was working to be less busy.That is pushing it a bit. LOL.

May 22nd-23rd

Costco is good and Rosenau Transport is awesome. Costco shipped early and on Wed of last week Rosenau phoned for delivery. I emailed and asked for a favor to deliver on Tuesday instead of before the weekend and the booking lady was amazing.

Right on que the truck showed up at our lot. A full van semi. The driver was excellent except for his size. 5 ft 5 and slight with a bad leg. One box was 210 pounds the other 175 pounds. He had a lift on the truck which helped big time but moving the boxes was heavy. HEAVY.  Jackie was visiting her Dad and doing some errands in the morning so i started to assemble and sort. First let me say 1000 screws is a pain. Funny thing when the boxes arrived my assumption combined with their marketing lead me to believe it was made in Quebec. Wrong CHINA.  Everything  went well. I assembled and screwed and screwed. After starting with their Allen wrench which didn’t last long i switched to my drill turned a way down and adjusted to work perfect. I leaned posts onto the motor home and the large tree. I was able to assemble the entire base assembly. Jackie then arrived and helped me. She was fantastic and worked with me for the rest of the day. We worked for about 6 hours. I was happy with both the quality and the amount we got done. Other than a ankle turning mishap by Jackie she was a great assembler.

I was hard reaching the roof structure with a 5 ft ladder. I am sure the old muscles will be sore.

Jackie and I had a fantastic wiener roast, baked beans supper at the site. We decided as Fred was going to show up in the morning we may as well stay overnight and start again in the am and get as much done as possible.Our first of many nights there. Wonderful, fantastic, excellent and many other superlatives. The cool fresh country air blowing in the window. The incredible quiet outside noises. The train whistle about heard softly about 5 miles away. The darkness of the country. It was a great night.

Fred arrived near 11 am  and we started. Fred has a great ladder that I am going to buy. It has so many different options.  The roof is high so we were stretched all of the time. We worked steady for 7 hours. So two people it takes at least 10 to 12 hours to finish. We finished it by 6 pm. I am pleased with it but can’t give it a 5/5. There are three spots in the roof that will leak water that I have to brown silicone which shouldn’t be. A little thin strip of Aluminum is the cause. Sojag should have addressed this.

But very pleased!

Thought of the Day

EVERYTHING is made in China ! Well except babies and they are made in VaChina.

May 24th

Up early and drove to Turner Valley golf course for my weekly Men’s League. This is an excellent group of guys that I enjoy golfing with. The group today was the largest I think we have had with it being 40 guys. Our organizer Phil does an unbelievable job making this run perfect. My grouping only had three golfers but as a group we had fun and all three of us were winners. Tom was low net with Clarke and I tied for 3rd low net earning us $10. On the gross side I was tied for 7th lowest score along with Clarke. Our group did awesome. This is with me taking a snowman 8 on hole number 8. Darn !! Could have broken 80 with a boogie.  Fun day !

After golf we needed to look after Jackson as Tor was out-of-town so I took him to DQ for a chocolate covered ice cream cone and a drive out to our lot to close up the windows on the motor home just in case. Love the lot.

Thought of the Day 

Golf’s three ugliest words, Your up again !

May 25th

Dad, Peter Huggett’s passing.

I hate deaths, funerals, illness, pain and sadness. While we are sad we still can be happy that Peter is in a better place. Peter Huggett my father-in-law was an interesting man. While most would perceive him as “tough” “strict” ,and that was his demeanor, he had an amazing sense of humor.I should re-phrase that, English humor. But I found it funny. Very quick-witted. I have some very fond memories of Peter. I have known him for 42 years .

“Memories”

• While dating Jackie, I experienced an interesting interaction every time I phoned. ” Hello is Jackie there?” ” Yes” the phone silent for a bit. ” May I talk to her ” “What else ?” “May I talk to Jackie please ? And the phone would be handed over. Took me a few calls before it sank it the correct way to ask.
• I used to stay over at Jackie’s house on Friday and Saturday nights when I lost my license so I was invited to supper when I was there. Peter was a good cook and made great meals and even cooked chicken strips for the dogs. On this one night supper was a little later than usual, it was hot outside and Peter was BBQ’ing. Peter had a few drinks and didn’t pay perfect attention to the meat cooking. Jackie & I both tasted it and couldn’t eat it. Peter laughed a bit at us and tried his. He didn’t like it either. Some wrong spice, sauce and blackened did not taste too good.
• My Mom & Dad invited Peter to travel in their motor home out to Thunder Lake for the day. I still had my boat at the time and we decided to go water skiing. Peter had just recently had his varicose veins removed in his legs but he wanted to give water skiing a try.Peter at the time was muscular and stocky most likely near 200 pounds and the boat motor was really too little but we had a go at it. This is impressive. Peter was dragged half way across the lake trying to get out of the water and wouldn’t give up. He had a mouthwash and enema at the same time for at least a full 15 mins but amazingly he pulled himself out of the water. It was a funny event, impressive fortitude and stamina.
• I just received a promotion from driving a fork truck in the warehouse to inside sales at Sterling Dist. After work I had a few too many drinks celebrating with my co workers and arrived at Peter’s house to see Jackie and one could say intoxicated. I remember being offered supper and the thought just about made me sick. I “sort” of passed out in the main bathroom with a locked bathroom door and this was the only bathroom in the house. I must have been in there to long as Peter forced open the door and pushed me out-of-the-way to go to the bathroom. Never got angry or said anything just pushed me out-of-the-way to pee. LOL
• Again staying over at Jackie’s Peter loved his long baths. Hot long baths that I would say border on at least an hour. Remember this is a one bathroom house. You needed to go to the bathroom you had to go with Peter laying in the tub 2 ft away with a face cloth over his privates.
• When we first started dating I had to have Jackie home by 10 o’clock. Then 11 o’clock until she turned 18. Funny thing, back by 10 o’clock but slept in the same bed downstairs. Perhaps he never knew. lol
• Having the last name Huggett Peter lived up to it. Peter enjoyed his hugs !
• In 1979 Peter, Alan with Jackie & I rented a houseboat in Sicamous,BC. This was a fun trip. Jackie got heat stroke one day when she fell asleep on the top deck. ( never has been the same,LOL) and Peter,Alan and I fished everyday for a whole week and caught nothing. At a gas stop we go into a beach side bar and on the wall a picture of a 1500 pound sturgeon caught in the lake. Every night while pulled up to shore we saw 1000’s of small trout but they would not bite. Alan loved this trip as he got to drive the boat. ( huge lake we felt safe)
• At our wedding gift opening Peter and my good friend Keith enjoyed themselves.  We had kegs of beer for the opening and they both tried to stay cool by indulging. This picture below is one of my favorite’s of Peter as he looks like Jack Nickelson enjoying himself. This is at our gift opening in his backyard in 1980.

Getting old is no fun and is a little scary. From diapers to diapers. From fully needing care to independence back to fully needing care.

As the circle of life carries on we will adjust once again. For Jackie with her Dad it will take a while as she was amazing at taking care of him. I think it is very important for everyone to feel loved during their journey from this world to the next. Peter will be missed.

Until next time Peter.

Thought of the Day

There is something about losing a parent that is permanent and inexpressible -a wound that never will quite heal 

May 27th

As per Peter’s request he did not want a traditional funeral. He choose cremation and a private viewing only. The kids are planning to buy space in a columbarium in Edmonton and have Peter’s and Carol’s urns together. I love this idea as the thought of spreading one’s ashes in a favorite spot is today’s norm is final. Once spread the person is longer recognized or can be remembered years in the future. By having a special spot with recognition people can research, people can reflect and have memories brought back.

The funeral home was very professional, organized and helpful. The flowers for the family viewing were spectacular, the casket choice was very good looking, and the private room with a TV screen showing Peter’s picture with birth date and end date was a nice touch.

The complete immediate family showed up . Jackie, Larry, Victoria, Jessica, Corey, Penny, Jackson, August, Atticus, Alan, MaryAnn, Danielle, Kennedy, David, Erin, Kristen and Sheldon

Jackie had Teddy Bear jewelry or magnets for everyone. We had his favorite Teddy Bear in the casket with him and Kennedy drew a nice Teddy Bear picture for him.

After the memory recalls and stories we all decided to have a ” celebration of life” in Peter’s honor and decided to head to Boston Pizza for supper. In Peter’s honor we all had a rye and ginger or a Pilsner beer his two favorite drinks. It was nice gathering and a nice farewell gathering for Peter. Lots of stories told about different things that happened with Peter involved.

• Medicine cabinet with alarm set off by the girls
• Hugs with skin
• Having to arrive at set time and leave at a set time
• Casseroles
• Teddy Bear filled chairs
• Albums of pictures of their many cruises
• Privates being seen accidentally with short shorts on.
• Fence jumping for a go-cart imminent collision
• Supper time conversations at the table

It was a nice gathering, fun remembering things about someone. And nice either by blood or circumstance knowing Peter.

Thought of the Day

Good byes are not forever, Good byes are not the end. They simple mean we will miss you until we meet again!

May 28

I had my first shifts with my new position as a Player Host. Two shifts a week for the next bit. First let me say I love my new role. It is a combination role of starter, marshall and player assistant. I get to converse with everyone on the course and enjoy their conversation plus make everyone feel like they are having a great experience. I reward our guests with ball markers for birdies, eagles, shot of the day, and player of the day. I have bug spray for them to use if they forgot and sun protection. Score cards, pencils, divot repair tools etc. I carry glasses and ice cold water for them to enjoy.I have only had one incident where a customer was difficult to deal with. I had 4 groups on one hole caused by new golfers holding everyone up in combination of a group making the turn ahead of time and squeezing in. I decided to hold up the lead group and let the fast group behind them play through. We have all heard the ” I paid my fee just like everyone else” etc etc from a quick to anger guy. After explaining what and why I was doing this they settled down. The management at the course were first class and I gave the foursome 4 free beer coupons for their help in speeding up the entire course. A win win for everyone and a customer that was pleased with our response. I was pleased with Shaun the lead to show great customer service skills.  Enjoy the role.

 

I had my Drive For Thrive Charity golf tournament at Silver Springs. Course was awesome.

This is the 4th annual event and the 4th year I have attended. I was fortunate enough to be invited by Ray Laberge from Totem Building Supplies.

Ray and I were extremely fortunate again that Star Building as a Sponsor of the tournament with Ken graciously and very generously paying for our entrance fee to the event. Made it easy for us to donate at every donation hole. The main organizer is Colin Robertson who was a VP with Totem Building. Colin is a cancer survivor and participated in the Thrive Centre program. Calgary is one of the only cancer centres like it where a professional program was designed for cancer patients to learn to live well. Mental, physical and emotional support programs specifically designed. A very worthwhile cause.

As a team we worked quite well together with each of us contributing something. Ken hits a real long ball. I have played with a lot of people and Ken playing only a few rounds each year is probably the best ball driver I have seen.  Long, long and straight. We were far from winning as we were only -6  when the winning team was -14. Sandbaggers !!

I wasn’t happy with my play as driving was poor as Kurt this year also struggled. Ray played very well but as I said Ken was our star this year. Our issue this year was 100 yards. We had at least 5 attempts from this distance and couldn’t get closer than 20 ft away from the pin. Including two eagle tries. Fantastic meal after.  Fun day , great cause and event and appreciate Ken and Star helping us and the event out.

Thought of the Day 

We need Cancer to be a chapter in people’s lives not the whole story. 

May 29th-31st

Jackie is exceptionally organized and has been working hard in getting everything worked out after Peter’s passing. Dealing with insurance companies, pension plans, credit card cancellations, retirement home billings, funeral home arrangements, payments, cremation dealings, urns, banking etc. There is a lot to do when someone passes. She is whittling down her list.

It is amazing how busy it seems. Lots to do and never enough time. I am looking forward to just staying a week out our place and doing nothing very soon. June doesn’t look any less busy though. Jackie & I visited every webpage and store and decided on Lowe’s for our patio couch, table and we even found a incredible deal on a SS BBQ that was a floor model clearance.We have delivery coming with our all of furniture and BBQ that requires assembly on Saturday. I am working June 2nd, 3rd, 9th and 10th so far. I am in Wabamun June 4 -7th  building a deck.In Crawling Valley most of week 11th camping and fishing with Rob, Sharon,Larry and Anita. Anniversary for us. Fathers Day.The Week 18th in Stony Plain staining Alfred’s house. I still have a good two weeks of work on our lot to get it close to being done to where I like it which looks like late June early July now.

Jackie went golfing with Victoria and Maria as a outing which was nice to see. They got lucky with the weather and had a fun time.

I looked after Jackson until Corey got home while they girls golfed. Tor left us a wonderful tasting Lasagna for a late supper and the three of us finished that off. Watched the Vegas Knights . Love the theatrics. The NHL must love the Knights as they really have stepped up the showmanship. Plus great hockey to watch.

Played my men’s league but quit after nine holes. My feet were wet and cold. My hands even with winter mitts I couldn’t keep them warm. My fingers turn white and hurt so I decided it wasn’t really fun why I am doing this. Came home wrapped up in a blanket and had a nap. Life is good. Overall for some reason I can’t beat the fatigue feeling lately.

Jackie today again got a lot of things off her plate concerning Peter’s arrangement. One more meeting tomorrow at the funeral home and that part will be complete. Plenty of phone calls.

Thought of the Day 

It is a odd feeling to miss someone and there is nothing you can do about it. No matter what we we look like from the outside when you lose a parent there is something missing on the inside.