Sept 1st – Sept 2nd

” Mercury Forecast Edmonton 31 degrees, Calgary 33 degrees”

Can you get any better weather for a long weekend ? I think not. To have three days all over 30 degrees, today hitting 34, and no storms or wind is so perfect. Well we had it and it was amazing.

A slight breeze would have been nice though as flies, mosquitos and wasps were abundant.

Long weekends have a tendency to be tiring as this one was but a lot of fun. This is our RV Parks big fundraiser event and early Halloween that everyone loves.

Halloween event set up takes awhile as each year we add another ” spook”. This years addition was Linda Blair from the Exorcist. Scary ! I bought plastic covered cable and attached it to my outdoor kitchen and Jeep to string a few decorations on and strategically placed many more around our lot. We use our 12V electric cooler to keep the candies from melting and to keep the adult shots cool. This works out perfect.

Alan & MaryAnn along with Corey & Courtenay came for a visit. So we had Jessica, Atti, Auggie, Jackson, Corey, Courtney, Alan , MaryAnn along with ourselves for lunch. We forgot a required item so lunch was sparse but i think everyone had enough.

Playing Chinese Checkers with August he wins and he wins against his Mom.

The park is alive with tons of kids and adults enjoying the pool, the pond, golf and the pickleball courts are busy. The kids played at the park as there were a lot of kids around.

As I said prior the adult portion of Halloween is fun with shots at each lot. One lady made amazing pudding shots along with jelly shots and normal shots from other lots. These were my two drinks for this year. ( Rumchaitta and Cherry Vodka with a cherry in it ) Jackie is too nice and told people what it really was. I made them drink then told it was a ply on words and it was the Devils testicle and witch’s mothering milk. Makes it fun.

We got all organized and ready for the trick and treaters. This year it turned out we had 195 kids for Halloween and served about 52 shots. The adults were acting real responsible this year. There were some amazing costumes and loads of people enjoying themselves. The warmer temperatures caused a few issues with people having to strip or die from the heat.

Our next door neighbors Rick & Michelle every year have the best outfits. They partook a little too much and missed the dance though. Michelle did dance for three hours straight on the road. Funny thing the fake Tattoos would not wash off and they ended up going out for supper on Sunday night with the tats showing. LOL

The hours were a little different but still worked. I may have this incorrect but I believe Halloween was from 4 to 7pm and the Dance from 7 pm to midnight. It is a family dance and a blast. Little Atti loves to dance but not for a long time. Typical kid with a short attention span on everything.

I tried to get Jackson to dance with Jackie as school dances are going happen now in junior high. get some practice in and see what kind of moves you have but he was too shy. In high school i would wait until Smoke on the Water would be played before dancing as I only had one move.

After the dance we sat outside until midnight watching one of the best movies ever ” Manhattan Baby” It kept everyone on their toes. It was a horror movie but very comedic. It was a nice time sitting around with the kids and Jess talking.

We didn’t know at the time but our “street” is made up of all older people without younger children. The neighborhood is now referred to as Geriatric Row. I still call it Happy Street. But some streets are packed with younger couples with a lot of kids and much much nosier than our block. Lucky lol.

Atti was up at 8am and Jess, August and Jackson I think about 11am. I started breakfast at about 9:30 thinking everyone would be up but that didn’t happen. I made hashbrowns ( from Costco and amazing) scrambled eggs( eliminates fussy egg people not liking) and bacon. Easy to warm up.

Play time at the park, games, and walks then our big Carnival Event. They out did themselves again this year. Food truck, free hot dogs, cotton candy, popcorn, freezies, petting zoo with Chinchillas and about 10 Chihuahua pups. They had a dunk tank, bottle toss, ring toss, and three huge blow up mazes and race events. Loads and loads of fun things to do.

In the obstacle course Auggie raced Jess. Great start then we were waiting with Auggie for Jess to finish the race. LOL ( Auggie and Jackie waiting & waiting)

Great food, entertainment 99% of it free and beautiful weather makes for a great day.

It was funny how as kids get older things change. At the event Jackson notices a few kids from his school there so wants to head to the trailer to cleanup. Later in the evening a young lady from his school texts him to meet her in the playground to play Grounders. Atti, Auggie and Jackson head out and stayed quite awhile. The young girls name is Ivy. I got to bug Jackson about her being very clingy.

Late Sunday night we ran out of waters. No bottles, no big bottle nothing ! It is funny how important water becomes when you are thirsty. A soda or milk just does not cut it.

On Monday Jackie and I cleaned up and readied to head back to Calgary. I loaded up a whack of tools as you never know what you may need to head to Lethbridge on Wednesday. This week Tuesday a fun day of golf with the Graces, Wednesday all day in Lethbridge, Thursday golfing in my men’s league and Friday getting ready to head to Barrhead with the Harry’s. All next week we are visiting, golfing, gaming, drinking, having a blast with Keith & Jenny.

Just before we left Oasis I checked our 50/50 number and lo and behold it was our ticket winning third prize of $290. We left before hearing where to pick it up.

I had forgot to level the motorhome so after arriving home I turned around and headed back along with a message how to pick up our money.

I picked up our $290 and then donated $90 back to the park. I figure it is free money and the $200 left almost paid for candy & booze so all is good. A nice win/win.

Thought of the Day

Just don’t say your tired and rest, or guess what you will be tired. Not lack of sleep per say just busy.

September 3rd

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 22 degrees, Calgary 25 degrees”

A little on the cooler side today but still a perfect day for golf. But the real importance of today is, it is officially the real first day of school for the kids. Who didn’t love this day getting to see your friends, talk about what happened all summer and make new friends. I was so fortunate as I would guess I had at least 20 kids that I went to school with from Grade One to Grade Twelve. Your “Best” friend would change the odd year but nice to have the comfort of familiar faces every year back

Below is August and Atticus’s first day. August in Grade 4 and Atticus in Grade 1.

And Jackson hitting Grade 8 now. He is growing up fast.

We were golfing at Muirfield Lakes today which is a course I like. It is a nice layout and priced very right. We were a little rushed as Jackie had work all morning but we still arrived at a perfect time before our tee. In fact the Graces though we there before us which doesn’t happen often.

We had to buy a light lunch and eat on the course along with my ice cold water I brought.

This course is on the shorter side just under 6000 ft but a great variation of holes.

My main goal today was to try to not slice. First hole and a slice right ( NO driving range warmup just like Turner now) I had two slice issues all day. I was quite pleased with my game overall. In fact I have to say I was very pleased ending up with a 78. Jackie played very well today. A couple of screw up holes and ended up with a 100 on the nose. Jeff and Wendy had an off day. Jeff had some nice drives but some other issues. It was just one of those days.

I had 6 pars and 1 birdie on the back nine and of the 6 pars 6 of them could have easily been a birdie but just missed the putt. The greens today were very fast and with a lot of movement.

A very nice temperature to play in, great fun friends to play with and a score below 80 are all wonderful.

We went to the Firehouse Tavern in Langdon for a bite and everyone seemed pleased with their choice.

We picked up Daisy from Audrey’s then whipped over to Sobeys for seniors day 15% off. While Jackie was shopping I took Daisy around the block to do her business.

Watching Bachelorette tonight. Dumb but different.

Thought of the Day

It is funny as the more I practice the luckier I get.

September 4th -5th

On my way to Raymond to install a threshold sill after the fact, locks, overhead light and numerous other little fix it ups.

We watched the Bachelorette that didn’t end until midnight. Then up at and out of the house by 8:15. You have to stop at Tim’s for breakfast which are always good.

I had a nice easy drive to Raymond.

I started to unload the Jeep with all of the tools and drop them in the back yard. Won’t you know 5 secs into it and I get stung by a wasp. Right on the back and for no reason, I thought it was my belt that scratched me at first but after feeling it knew it was a bite. Now I have been bit numerous times in my life and yes they hurt but not all that bad. Fast forward, this one decided to swell and became a large swollen lump that actually still hurts a full day later and is still swollen. I looked at Jessica’s bites she received over the weekend and OMG hers is swollen, red and a huge lump that HAS to be painful. Further fast forward, mine continued to hurt and increased in size and today golfing I got stung again. NOW I have nice sized lumps on both sides of my back. It balances the pain and swinging the club more balanced. Another sting was just a nibble and didn’t leave a mark. I feel for Jessica with the size of hers.

I started work around 10:30 and worked the entire day up to about 5:30 pm. I was very pleased with my after the fact install of the threshold sill on the door. Delicate and precision required and it turned out perfect. You would not know it was after the fact. I installed the surface mount weatherstripping as the jamb was not bought as kerfed jamb. Lo & behold an issue that I have hated for years presented itself. Every door manufacturer has dealt with this. I used to sell a 5K or 10k entrance door system and if a customer said they had a small of daylight, wind, or rain coming in on the bottom corners we would supply a .25 cent piece of adhesive backed felt or foam to install in the bottom corners. We send people to the moon and we can’t solve this ongoing issue? I installed my felt pads.

I installed Jessica’s new over head lamp and love it. They painted the ceiling black which looks awesome but they needed to paint two more joist spaces for us not to see the section. I installed their antique Burger Baron menu board.

Then I worked on the bar doors to try to dry proof them. I have ” thought ” of numerous different solutions and ended up using garage weather stripping. It looks fine and will work awesome but it is literally a pain in the ass to close them up. Now that is only perhaps once a night at the end of the party, but still to find another solution as I don’t care for it. I then installed the chicken wire protection on the inside to protect the windows from breakage. I have worried that someone would throw around a shovel or rake handle and break the glass. As it is single pane glass and elevated the risk of large chunks seriously injuring somebody if broke is high so the chicken wire provides protection against that and makes me feel better.

Another hook and eye and a whack of hurricane hangers. I understand why the girls never completed this task. If 25 degrees out it was 30 degrees at the top of the shed and difficult to get these in place. I “cheated” and used screws versus nails but struggled as I did not have magnetic nut drivers. It drove me crazy and then I discover I have a set from Harbor Freight in another tool box that is exactly what I needed.

You know you are grateful getting help from someone then discover you may have to fix the good deed. I had to correct this.

Made me laugh though when I saw it. And I understand the rationale behind it. They installed the first handle then the hook and eye and had to put the second one under the hook. LOL

It is amazing how long things take but I was happy with what I accomplished today.

Jessica bought the boys and myself Dairy Queen for supper which was very nice and DQ has good food.

Then off to see August play his first flag football game. He did awesome with his coverage, run patterns and even saved a touchdown by ripping off the flags of a runner. He did very well.

I asked him if the coach assigned a particular player to cover and he informed me that he himself choose who to cover. He picked the biggest guy every time. He stated that he choose the big guy as he was a way faster than him and can get the pass or pull flags. Good thinking.

The temperature dropped fast and I had to get a light jacket on while watching the game.

Up and out of the house by 10 am for my Men’s League golf outing at Turner Valley. And the weather today was spectacular. As I said prior the wasps this year are brutal. In fact as I said I got bit again but in reality two bites in Raymond and two bites on the golf course. One huge red swollen lump, two mid sized red bumps and one smaller red sore. The large lump two days later is still itchy and painful if you rub it or scratch it too hard. My back looks like I went to one of those suction cup guru’s.

I had to look up what value does a wasp bring. Specifically, they help us through pollination, predation, and parasitism. Put simply, without wasps, we would be overrun with insect pests, and we would have no figs—and no Fig Newtons so lets keep them. Just try to stay safe. LOL

It is the yellow jackets that are the worst with them being aggressive, meat eaters but they are the garbage cleanup of guys of dead insects so play a important role.

The course was set up for a tournament with very difficult pin placements and faster than normal greens. Our entire group found it a little difficult. I had one strong fade and no slices, so a good day. Three putts and four putts happened to our entire group today. I ended up in 5th place in the scoring out of the 40 guys but in FIRST place on the money list with my snips, birdies, and flight placement imbursement.

Was it a good day ? YES . FIRST in the money earnings at $101.25 I LOVE IT. Beating my player partner and receiving his money in my pocket felt good over and above my $101 bucks. A GOOD DAY

Some days certain holes just go right but with the heat, and the balanced pain in the back from the wasps some holes went really well.

Other than my two holes in one I had the shot of my life today with a birdie/deuce out of the sand trap. Great feeling.

I had to celebrate with a steak sandwich, salad and PBR beer. A perfect day in the life of a retired person.

I played today with an 84 yr old gentleman. All I can say is wow. Short back swing, not perfect balance on his feet and just hit it ending up with a score of 85. Unbelievably good. Plus just a nice guy.

I want to golf that good when I am 84 yrs old.

Thought of the Day

If people would just swing hard in case they hit the golf ball their golf shot would go a lot further.

September 6th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 31 degrees, Calgary 33 degrees, Mesa 43 degrees”

Now isn’t that great late summer weather. Only 16 days before fall and to get such beautiful weather, we are very fortunate.

I did break a small bead of sweat today working at the lot.

I unloaded and organized my tools in my shed and tool box. I still need to finish off the closet tools but that will wait until next week.

I cleaned up, organized and loaded everything we think we may need in the motorhome. Took off the wheel covers and window shades and locked the slides.

I went to empty the black water but my septic is full and was supposed to be pumped but didn’t get done.

Cut the grass, watered the plants and plucked the flowers.

I hooked it all up and took off to town. I did need the a/c in the motorhome as it was quite warm. I found a place right in front of us again to bug the note writer so perfect. Rather than put my levelers down I drove up on my blocks and leveled it within my specs.

We are heading up north and then returning south for some fun, drinks, games and golf games with Keith & Jenny. We have four games booked so should be a lot of fun.

We should put on about 1200 kms this week. We are camping in both locations and heading out for golfing from them. Keith will drive us around up north and we will drive them around down south.

Looking forward to it.

You would think after two or in one case three days that the wasp stings would be gone but mine are still swollen, red and itchy. The pain is only if hit or rubbed but the itchy part is quite annoying.

I have all of the clothes ready, picked up my pills and just the food to ready up in the motorhome.

Checking the weather we are going to have a cooler week unfortunately. Possible rain or showers on Thursday which we do not want. Late at night perfect but not during golf time. Come on ! Looking at the forecast in detail I am fairly positive the percentage is so low that it will be just cool day. I have my hand warmers in my bag at all times.

The highway was very quiet. This is odd but i guess back to school and fall less people are going places. I hate the cost to fill the gas tank but we can get close to 900 kms out of a tank. I had turn on the roof air when we hit Edmonton as it was hot on the Henday. Even #16 was void of gravel trucks which was awesome. Highway 33 was a little rough or should i say a lot rough. Years ago we kept care of our infrastructure. Now we give our money to union demands or should i say whining.

We made it to Barrhead in very good time and pulled into the Rotary Club campsite which was quite nice. I pulled in backwards to have our door to door with the Harrys.

Keith was with his brand new Cougar. No,not a cougar, a 5th wheel as he is still with Jenny. Lol A beautiful new trailer. The modern design is awesome and it should last them for thier remaining camping experiences. LOVE IT and it is 1/2 ton towable. PLUS they bought it from GO RV so included with the deal is 2 toilet drop pucks, one bundle of wood, propane fill and 2 rolls of toilet paper EVERY WEEK for as long as they own the unit or the company goes broke. Great deal

Today the four of us played the Westlock course. This is a very nice layout and in wonderful shape. Super pricing and not stuffy or busy so a nice place to play. I thought everyone played pretty decent today. I was impressed how much better Jenny has become. It had some real tricky holes and cool holes so next time the score will be better. Love the course.

Such good form but won’t say what happened with the shot.

Lots of games of Dice and 5 Crowns. Great Rum and cokes and even the girls had thier Paralyzers. I can’t remember being really excited so i assume I wasn’t the big winner. Loads of fun though. Larrys wins Dice, Kieth wins 5 Crowns and Kieth wins Rumoli .Jenny brought Rumoli and it is a fun game. 5 pounds of pennies to use. I like having the combo of a board game and poker combined. Fun game but the inventor must have died before completing it. IT HAS NO ENDING. We decided on the best poker hand to end it. I beleive Jenny had the most chips but Kieth pulled off the hand and kept the boys winning streak alive.

We set up our gazebo which was nice as it kept the wasps and flies away from us.

Lots of action at the campground with an elderly lady 65+ sleeping in her car for two nights and an elderly gent needing water for his unit. We watched him and his wife carry pots and pans full for a bit then Kieth hooked up 2 garden hoses to 1 of mine and he pumped a few gallons from his to the gents. Keith’s unit is different with a garden house thread outside shower. Worked perfect in this case.

Three days at the campground and at least 4 RCMP trips thru the sites so either it is not a safe place or we look like trouble makers.

Everyone has their favorite book to bring with them but I question Jenny’s favorite one. First of all she is only days away from 65 not 40 yrs old. Things change so perhaps the book maybe not accurate. I did notice a lot of empty pages for notes in the book unfilled. This could be a habitually thing as during the orientation of their new 5th wheel they didn’t write down the TV operating procedure and it caused stress all week. Good thing for Jenny to bring this book as there has to be a chapter about relieving stress.

Just Kieth and i today golfing Barrhead Golf Club. You read my thoughts on the Westlock course being fantastic, Barrhead is by far the best golf course i have golfed in Northern Alberta. It is unbeleivably nice, manicured, all spruce trees trimmed up 6ft, super well kept bunkers and picturesque. Speaking of bunkers every hole has protected greens with at least 3 to 4 bunkers.

I was very happy with the way I golfed today. Awesome straight drives and great second shots. One lost ball and a blow up hole on a Par 3. DARN.

Beyond how beautiful this course is the value is unmatched. I basically played 18 holes for 17 bucks thru my VIP membership. Amazing. I hate the price increases at courses and these guys should deserve an award for giving a true value to golf.

Jackie and I one night made roasted potatoes, carrot, beets and pork chops and another night Kieth & Jenny made spaghetti with meat sauce. Great meals.

On our trip to Aspen Crossing here is Jackie working away with a hotspot . That is dedication. For me it is nice also as she isn’t sleeping while i drive or playing on her phone. She also has her little helper double checking her work on her lap and nose on the laptop.

When Daisy isn’t making sure Jackie is working she is helping me navigate.

The highway was empty today which was nice even though we did have one small construction delay.

I made it to Aspen and started setting up. I started to set up and Jackie and Keith arrived no more than 15 mins later. Jackie was bringing out the Flex to chaffeur us all around and Kieth had stopped at Canadian Tire for a surge protector.

He bought a small cool one made for ev and rv use. Its only function is surge but gives a peace of mind and protects his unit. My expensive one does surge, low voltage, open ground etc. Extra security but I am not sure it is really needed.

As we had arrived late about 6 hrs of driving we decided to head to the pub on site. An old converted home that is wonderful. With all the kids back at school they only had one waitress and one cook on shift. And sure enough a Karen customer starts complaining. I hate that you can see they are busy so relax. The waitress was awesome and was run off her feet. I was happy when Kieth gave a big tip as did I. Karens!!!!!

Everyone enjoyed their meal and we made it back to our site in the dark without getting wet or lost. Jackie lead the way as she didn’t like my route going there.

VIP golf is a wonderful thing except for their cancellation policy. I had booked a member guest event for Kieth & I that has a 5 day advance cancellation policy only. I was looking at losing $200 bucks as the weather sucks. Luckily this morning when I phoned the course they closed due to standing water. THE ONLY OUT to save my money and for us not to freeze and get wet as we were going no matter what. Hopefully our tee for tomorrow has better weather. Looks like 18 above and partly sunny.

Calgary Flames versus Edmonton Oilers in crib. I had to submit to being an Oiler with Keith but you notice who is leading. More to do with our crib skills than the crib pieces but it made it fun. I have never seen a elbow check in crib before.

It ended up the girls won which is the unthinkable happening. Poor refs !

The rain today lasted all day. All day long. So lucky not to have needed to golf. Tomorrow is looking good for our golf game as long as the course absorbs the water fast enough. While we missed out on a wonderful course we will have fun with a little easier course for the girls.

We toured around checking out Speargrass and Oasis then came back to play more games with beer and Caesars. I like the winning tonight. Even though Jenny snuck one win in.

Daisy doesn’t like the rain so is having trouble doing her business. Hopefully in the morning. She chills along with us so has had a relaxing day but does not like rain and wind to do her business.

That is the thing about camping, you never know what the weather will bring and you always need to improvise. Nothing worse than taking vacation time off work and getting bad weather. At least for us we have many other days to make up for any bad days.

Off to Muirfield Golf Course which I like. I had phoned to ask if the course was closed or not and the gentleman just said ” IT IS WET” I will say this that, that is a understatement by far. The course had tee boxes that were soaked, pooling water in the fairways and soft spots all down the fairways. Decent weather and we were golfing, so everything is fine. I had golfed so well ( scores a little higher than I like but drove well) and the first tee a huge slice but a good recovery for a bogie. No driving range before kills me. I need to get the feel not to slice. After the second hole everything was fine and I was bombing them. Jackie played decent, Keith struggled today on the drives and I thought Jenny did very well. In fact she was very happy with her TWO PARS and rightly so. It was a fun time golfing.

For supper we combined with Jenny making potatoes and burger patties in mushroom sauce and us providing the veggies. A easier but wonderful tasting supper.

For one whole week the Harry’s have been trying to get their TV to work without success. Fun to bug them about that. You would think it was just a setting but they didn’t ask and I didn’t want to help as their guess would be as good as mine.

A nice campfire with the Go RV wood and more games with rum and whiskey. It was my night . LOL I do have to say I am lucky. I will also say strategy in a luck game does have a place and can change the outcome. For me it was a FUN night. LOL

Love the cool nights and fresh air this time of the year.

We both cleaned up and headed our own way home in the morning.

IT WAS A FUN WEEK OF GOLF, LAUGHS, DRINKS, FOOD and FREINDS. This is what life is about.

We got back to our lot and this year is the best looking Clematis I have ever grown. My hope is spring will be so kind as I have never wintered one yet and this one right now is perfect, so time will tell.

Thought of the Day

If you don’t kill a plant or two you really aren’t stretching yourself as a gardener.

September 16th

” Mercury forecast Edmonton 21 degrees, Calgary 18 degrees”

Jackie had a few things to do today for us, herself and Audrey so I headed out to the lot after stopping at the Depot.

Remember I have always said if you look up golfcart in the Dictionary it will say high maintenance. Then it will state a a RV. Both of these require constant maintenance and inspection.

Today’s mission was to fix a few things.

First I cut the grass and deadheaded the plants which are still looking great.

First item in my mind a 15 minute fix took 1 hour. I replaced the toilet seat with a new white wood one as the other one’s hinge had broke. This is a nice seat with a soft close lid and all painted white wood. Expensive but nice and our motorhome does have a real porcelain toilet not plastic like a lot of them.

Second item due to age and moisture a small section of our medicine cabinet was lifting or delaminating. I used a spray glue with precision and it worked perfect.

Third item was a large rubber wrap around the electrical motor for our stairs had come loose and broke away. I was lucky enough to have enough material to cut and stretch with new holes and reinstall. I have worked under a lot of vehicles in my years but I can’t say it is easy laying under squished and trying to maneuver tools etc. This took a lot longer than I thought also.

Fourth item. I installed as I couldn’t find the correct latch at the Depot a magnetic catch for the sliding mirror closet doors. The old one broke and I did find them on Amazon but wanted it fixed today. This magnetic one I am hoping is strong enough to work. If not first trip I will know and have to order one from Amazon.

As i was walking thru the Depot I saw these penny tiles on sale and I thought they would look great to replace the mirror backsplash. I have two more tiles to finish the one end and up to the bottom of the cupboards, tomorrow, but I love the looks. A small bead of black silicone on the counter rise and all done.

With the knobs and faucets being the same color the backsplash looks well fitted and so much better.

At the resort the amount of people starting to pack up for winter is astounding. So many and it make me feel anxious as I love summer/fall and do not want winter to come yet. I am looking forward to Mesa though but I love the fall here and I have a lot left to do and time is running out. There are things I wanted to do that I didn’t that I dislike it happened. I keep saying maybe next year but even those are getting limited. If I am serious about it I only have about 10 summers left to camp as the motorhome will become more difficult and the boat too heavy to lift. I need to get things done NOW or at least next year. LOL Perhaps a smaller unit and a boat trailer and I can extend that a few years.

Emmy’s tonight started at 5pm. I love this show better than the Oscars as the people are not so pretentious and it is much more causal. It is odd seeing how stars you have known for ages had aged so much and when they did the memorial it is shocking how many “greats” we lost again. The new stars just do not have the charm, charisma or character of the some of the older ones.

I noticed today that I have a few clear coat patches lifting from sun exposure. I dislike it but nothing I can do as painting is too expensive.

Thought of the Day

Its too bad life and summer are like a roll of toilet paper as the closer it gets to the end the faster it goes.

September 16th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 21 degrees, Calgary 23 degrees”

Spectacular Day ! What a beautiful day, I was out at the lot by 10am and started to work. I finished the tiling except for the caulk.

Then I pulled out all of my equipment to power wash the motorhome. I get everything all set up and the irrigation is off. What bad timing, I put it all away and phoned Strathmore and the big rig car wash was open as they use recycled water except for rinse. I readied all up to leave and had to get the neighbor to move his car so I could get the motorhome out.

After the fact I was glad I took it in as the roof was quite dirty and they have walk planks on both sides at roof height. Soap, foam brush, rinse, wax all took a lot of work and time with my car wash costing $50 but it was a great job. On the way back to the lot a huge honey bee hit my windshield and wrecked my perfect wash.

Then to wipe, clean and wax and then use the buffer to polish. The sections I got done look fantastic but I have a long ways to go. 10- 4:30 and not near done !!! I have a few popular bud spots but I am not getting them removed. Arms and back from using the brush, wand, and wiping it all down are tired !

Time flies but I am on my way to getting it done. As I said before so many lots are already closed down for the winter. I hate to do it early !

Looking forward to golfing with the Graces for Jackie’s birthday tomorrow. Another nice weather day ahead and as always fun golfing with friends.

Thought of the Day

Going to a car wash is like a woman going to the spa ! Looks good for a day but expensive.

Sept 17th – 18th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 23 degrees, Calgary 20 degrees”

Today a big day as it is Jackie’s birthday. She doesn’t like breakfast per say so no needing to go out to eat or bring in something. I took Daisy out early as Jackie had some work to finish before we went golfing.

She opened her birthday gifts first thing this morning. I went totally in a different direction this year which may have surprised her. The reaction seemed positive which is good.

We were meeting Jeff & Wendy at McKenzie Meadows Golf Club. The weather was perfect. I arrived a little early and had a chance to use my driver on the range. It helps me just to get a feel to try to reduce or eliminate the slice.

I set a goal of below 80 today and was on track until the back nine when I lost a ball. I don’t mind an 83 from 6400 yards but one hole just wrecks it. Everyone seemed to have a good game today. I do know that the last 8 holes were draining as the group of guys in front of us were SLOW and no Marshall in sight to fix it. I say it doesn’t affect me but in reality it does as they are in your mind when hitting or hitting shots you wouldn’t if they played golf properly. And these guys all were young to mid age.

Is this the idea of a human sandwich ?

Jackie scored THREE Pars today so she was happy.

On the 7th hole Jackie had a long wait with some guests on the course. These are beautiful animals. The fawns are so little and I think hunting season starts in a month. Odd.

It is always fun golfing with the Graces. Look how much older Jackson is now looking.

After golf Corey, Victoria and Jackson joined Jeff & Wendy along with us for a supper in the clubhouse. It was perfect as the Steak Sandwich was the special so they sold 4 of them.

Jackie went a way out and ordered pizza and a salad. A lot of food and she ate it all. I was surprised but perhaps the Paralyzer affected her choices. After all it was her birthday.

It was fun time eating and enjoying the conversation.

After golf we headed to Audrey’s for cake and to get together. No boyfriends for Jackie as all of the candles were blown out.

Black Forest Cake, candles and singing !

I headed out to the lot and worked all day. It is done for this year. Completely washed, waxed and polished using Mequires. 10 hours later my back and arms are a little sore. I am feeling a little disappointed as I am starting to get clear coat cracking on the sunny side of the coach. No way to fix it other than a body shop and looking at 5K to sand and recoat. It is still barely visible except for some very top peeling but from this stage it it can deteriorate rapidly.

Having said that everywhere else is great. You know it is a high shine/polish when you see the reflection of the ladder in it.

I was up this morning and headed out to my men’s league golf outing. I will say it was a DAY. No one of my foursome broke 90. Everyone of us played a way over our cap and all sucked. I will say pin placement was extremely difficult today but nothing worked for some pretty good golfers. The highest handicapper actually was low gross and low net today. So no money and a game I have to forget about.

I think I will pretend to be the leprechaun Rory and swear, run away from the course, act depressed and cry. I did come in second which is upsetting to Rory.

For me, Just one of those days !!

Thought of the Day

There is a reason golfers walk forward to their next shot . It’s to move on !

September 20/21st

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 18 degrees, Calgary 16 degrees”

A little rain today which is good as I am behind in my budget sheets. If only I was as good as Justin Trudeau as his budget balances itself. It is amazing to me where money disappears to. In the month of August we spent $1500 for groceries at Sobeys and have nothing in the fridge. And we ate out at least 8 times. Amazing !

I was behind two months so it took me a good 5 hours to get everything completed.

( The TSX and Dow hit all time records this week. In the very near future it is going to go boom ! and blow up, but with the returns, I can’t risk stepping out. ) Ps the stock exchange in 1929 to 1931 lost 89.9% of its value. Think about that 1 million in the stock market and 3 yrs later you are left with $100 thousand. Such a decline means no buyers for homes, drastically reduced home pricing, no buyers for RV’s extra so no way to raise capital. ) Scary !

Bad thing to spend all day working with dollars as it became an expensive day as I paid a whack of bills. $1000 dollars to AMA for motorhome insurance, $800 for AZ insurance, $130 dentist, $1000 to ELS Viewpoint, $1000 to cruise fund, and Telus $230. $4K gone. Money money money, LOL. I think I will vote for the Bloc to raise my CPP and OAS. lol Oh wait they are not a Federal party.

We watched a great movie tonight called The Fall Guy. Loved it with two famous stars. Ryan Gosling and Emily Bunt. Action every minute with a plot twist and some funny scenes.

Jackie had errands for Audrey today so I headed out to the lot to continue getting ready for winter. Still loads to do.

I drained the tanks, applied silicone to the backsplash, organized tools in the shed, dead headed plants, cut the grass after installing my new line, adjusted the electronic metering gauges, and filled and checked the batteries.

Speaking of plants even after our frost I am impressed how well they are lasting.

I came home and headed to Sobey’s. I wanted to go shopping as Jackie eats some strange food ( I don’t really believe it is good for you) I wanted to have some options for suppers that were different yet real food. I bought some cod, French fries, pork chops, seasoned pork loin, burgers for Salisbury steak and traditional , potatoes , gravy mix, just to name a few things.

Note as mentioned above:

Spinach– even though there is lots of calcium, it is virtually unusable in our bodies, as spinach contains one of the least bioavailable forms of calcium. Spinach also contains a substance called oxalic acid or oxalates which can bind to calcium and iron in the body and prevent the body from being able to absorb them. So if you were to eat large quantities of foods containing lots of oxalic acid on a daily basis, you may end up with some nutritional deficiencies over a period of time. For some people, the high oxalate levels in spinach can also create an increased risk of kidney stones and joint problems.

Cranberries– People who use the blood-thinning drug warfarin should discuss their intake of cranberries with their doctor. Conflicting evidence it may interact with warfarin or other blood thinners and cause increased anticlotting effects.

Cranberry products may also lead to higher excretion of oxalate in urine. This could promote the formation of kidney stones in those who are susceptible to calcium oxalate-type stones.

Yogurt– Some people can tolerate dairy products well, while others have strong reactions to lactose, casein or other compounds found in dairy that cause them to experience symptoms like acne, diarrhea, bloating and gas.

Conventional dairy farms often use added growth hormones to boost the cows’ production of milk. Even without added hormones, dairy naturally contains some hormones, which can be problematic for people prone to hormonal imbalances.

These are her go to meals then add Caesar salad with chicken and she would be set. BUT all of the choices are excellent BUT in moderation and perhaps though could not be described as a balanced diet.

I believe we are much better off by eating a variety of foods, balanced on carbs, fats and protein and eat moderate portions. All comes down to math calories in and calories spent to lose or gain weight but calories without substance can be dangerous.

Having said that tonight I made mashed potatoes, gravy, ham steak and sweet peas. Love it Great tasting and relatively healthy and balanced !

Last day of summer today, Fall is coming next week. We need to make plans to get to Arizona and when we are coming back for Christmas. Still waiting for Jackie’s passport to arrive.

Watched Dancing with the Stars tonight. First what a horrible horrible haircut on Julianne Hough. She is such a pretty girl, looking ugly. It didn’t click at first but the young lady from Bachelorette Jenn Tran is on this year. She is pretty young lady of Vietnamese descent but with that last name someone could question her gender. LOL Some great dances and a few people struggled big time. Some people just don’t have rhythm. And it can’t be easy with an ankle bracelet.

I am not a great dancer except for on certain songs I love, like Lady In Red. Jackie and I together seem to excel at certain slower dances like this. Or so we have been told but I do know it feels good, feeling and moving with the music.

“Memories”

First year working at Marshall Wells at their Christmas Party Jackie & I went to the dance floor on a song called the Chicken Dance. We had at least 200 or more people at the party and we danced the entire song with all of its movements on the huge dance floor with NO ONE else on the entire floor. No one came up. Now Marshall Wells did have a lot of older people working there. I was the youngest rep by far.

Random thoughts:

The pagers and cell phones blowing up is genius !

How Harris and Trump in the polls can be so close is amazing. Neither is good for the world. Harris is too far left and Trump too far right. Even though embarrassing, at risk of massive chaos, and potential world issues, Trump is the better choice for the economy, oil and gas, taxes, making the world anti up in Nato, immigration and deportation, and trade protection. It is too bad we couldn’t take the two and combine the policies for what is best for the country. Having said that Trump is so crooked, a narcissist, ego centrical, misogynist, corrupt man it is difficult to understand how that out weighs left leaning policy but people are concerned about our woke society, green initiatives and social policies they over look that. I hate massive socialist programs like student loan forgiveness, I hate the support of unions that are destroying our economy, I hate that government was involved in abortion rights, and I hate the green policies of the left. Our two choices in Canada are similar to the States just not so radical. It is a pretty important election for both countries. No party winning would be disastrous but the right party sure could make us a lot better than we are today.

Israel war has been going on too long, the Ukraine war is going on a way too long, we have potential for a full middle east war at the moment and at some time Putin could decide to drop a big bomb. We have China trying to control the straits, threatening to take over Taiwan, North Korea giving ammo to Russia and much more happening so you can see the world is a mess.

Danielle Smith second in Canada for favorability rating. Well deserved. Some big mistakes but some great ideas and policies. Alberta Pension Plan is a great thing but I think it will wither with the Feds not giving our fair share and the general public misconception. Private schools and health care is a great thing and should lower the wait times in the public system. It also takes the leverage away from the ATA and the UNA. Radar elimination is well thought out. 8 billion for new schools is excellent and still won’t be enough. Immigrant dumping backlash to Alberta needs to be addressed.

Thought of the Day

Mice die in mouse traps because the don’t understand why the cheese is free. The same thing happens with socialism.

September 22nd

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 21 degrees, Calgary 22 degrees”

A nice relaxing day. Jackie slept in which is rare for her. I woke up and went to watch the news but instead watched the PGA BMW tournament.

Now this was an exciting and interesting tournament to watch. It kept me in bed longer than I wanted but to watch Rory and what could happen kept me watching, Long story short the little leprechaun pulled off an eagle to tie the top of the leaderboard. He had a chance with about a 8 ft putt but with my fingers crossed missed it so it ended up being a playoff with a three man tie. Always fun to watch a sudden death match play ending. First attempt and we lose Lawrence after a bad shot. Then remarkable shots by Horschel and Rory with both of them having about a 30 ft for an eagle. Rory putts and misses but gets a birdie. Most cases enough to win. Horschel drains the 30 ft putt to WIN. I loved it and seeing the dismay on Rory’s face and body language was as expected. At least he didn’t mouth off, make excuses, cry or yell at a caddie this time. Great game to watch and great results.

We went to Petsmart to pick up some food for Daisy as they had a 20% off sale. Jackie picks up her stuff and at the till the young clerk says that is online only. Ok, she is right there, she picked the order, she is paying right there it makes no sense whatsoever. Jackie leaves the product at the till and comes to the car to place the order as it is a $20 savings. A quick visit to Tim’s and the order was ready for pickup. Picking it up inside she dealt with the manager and then was told the young clerk had made an error and she could have accommodated Jackie. I don’t blame the clerk being new but the manager has to do a way better job of employee training. I got a Ice Cap out of the deal.

Wouldn’t you know it. Right in front of me while sitting in the Jeep this old lady pulls into the parking space and leaves her car. I say take her license away !!

I have seen bad drivers before but this is ridiculous. LOL

A wonderful supper of white rice with soy sauce, green peas and spiced pork chops. Yummy !! Good food and balanced.

Start of the preseason NHL games tonight. I see the Oilers win in overtime and I see the Flames ahead in the first 3-0. Looking at the stats I recognize very veery few players on our team. That could be good as we may surprise a few teams.

Thought of the Day

DUHH

September 23/24th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 23 degrees, Calgary 25 degrees”

Absolutely fantastic fall weather. It is good enough one could call it summer weather.

Today 25 degrees and no wind, very few wasps. just beautiful.

I was just looking on the internet for a couple of vehicles I owned before dreaming about perhaps replacing them but the world’s pricing has gone insane. A 1967 Camaro now runs from a decent car $89k to a restored one $200K. A 1972 K5 Blazer from $60K Junker to 200K restored.

Mine below I sold for $6700 in 1980 to use as a deposit on our first house. There was nothing more to do to it to make it perfection other than a cowl hood but after the new paint job I didn’t want to get that done. Here is a list of the things about this car. Front disc brakes ( rare), rear fold down seat ( ultra rare) 12 bolt rear end ( rare) 4:11 posi, hideaway headlights ( rare) traction bars, new paint job, custom black & white interior, 350/300 from 1969 Nova SS with add-on making 400 plus horsepower, Edelbrock intake, Holley 650 , Mallory coil, wires, electric fuel pump, bored .60 over, 4 bolt mains, polished heads, headers, custom exhaust, hi-lift cam, 2500 rpm torque convertor, B & M valve body shift kit, Turbo 350, Munroe air shocks, Sun tach, N50-15 tires, Cragars and Chrome reverse with Baby moons set off the car. There were very few cars in the west end of Edmonton that matched the beauty of this one.

I lost very very few races with thing. And if I did the next winter ( I never drove it in the winter) Dad would rebuild my engine or I would find another add-on to create more power. I literally saw Dad spend at least 4 hours just polishing the heads to create smoother air flow. I spent every bonus and most of my paychecks on this car. I loved it and still do today.

In the market place today it is a $100K car. Keith Harry took this pic with his fancy filters of the day.

My 1972 Blazer K5 is stupid pricing now. Loved this truck with it fully removable top. Headers, tires, carb were the only add -on. Jackie and her girlfriends loved driving this thing as they received a lot of cat calls from the guys.

Jackie worked all morning then we headed to the golf course. I left the house about 1/2 hr early as we arrived at the course just a tad early. Anyone that know me understands I am rarely late for anything but golf in particular as I need to time to get ready, use the driving range and putting greens to be set to go. Unfortunately Darcy Ranch is undergoing a reno so the range is down.

Darcy is a wonderful course and perhaps my favorite. I love Turner Valley but they do not trim their spruce tree up and have to many holes with under bush and willows. So having said that I like Darcy even better than Turner Valley.

BUT IT PLAYS LONG. I was coming in to the green with a 5 iron, 4 hybrid, 7 iron etc versus a wedge or 9 iron at Turner. It was an odd day in the golf though. Jackie golfed well with three pars. My golf was odd as the score didn’t match the golfing. On 18 holes I had a check mark on 17 of them on the drive for every hole. One Par three I ended up in the sand trap. But no slices and not even fades, and over the day I am sure my iron distance is one club less than I expected but no low score.

I do know this was the first time in a long time playing where I felt very light headed and enough I had to be careful not to fall down. It used to happen when my BP pills were too strong but today it was odd. Perhaps not enough water. It wasn’t hot out and golf isn’t like working hard but it got to me. Having said that Jackie did comment that her heart rate was higher than normal at the same time. I contributed that to my nice looking purple stripped shirt affecting her.

A wonderful golf outing ending with a nice supper on the patio deck looking at the mountains and overlooking the course.

During our conversation somehow a statement about not cleaning a skillet came up with the girls thinking it was a sexist, misogynist statement when it really was a factual part of history as cleaning the skillet affects the taste of the next meal. It also included the table beside us with 5 men getting in the conversation. How such a innocent sentence could become so blown up and a fun factor in conversation is unreal, But it was fun.

One thing to remember is the sexes are equal in most ways but there are distinct differences.

Are boys better at math? Are girls better at language? Is it aptitude or culture the reason that fewer women than men work as scientists and engineers? Psychologists have gathered solid evidence that when it comes to how we think, males and females differ in very few but significant ways. Doesn’t make one sex better, just different and with a strong affiliation towards certain aspects in life. Yet people struggle to accept this. Just look at a boy child versus a girl child and I think NO ONE can argue they are the not the same.

Thought of the Day

Laughing is the best medicine. But if you are laughing for no reason you may need medicine.

September 25th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 25 degrees, Calgary 29 degrees”

Wow, what a gorgeous day for the near end of September. That is a fall day !

Paul Bortoluzzi was in town doing some business and gave me call to see about getting together for a golf game after work.

Paul was one of those reps I always enjoyed working with, he worked hard, could form great customer relationships and was just a nice guy. Saved me one time as we were dealing with a large builder Mattamy Homes and struggling with deliveries and their special software system to allow us to get paid. I stole Paul from the Big Box store segment to work for me in the direct builder segment. He managed to turn it around quickly and took a lot of pressure off myself with corporate.

Memories

Years ago ( I am going to say at least 20 years) I was working in my office doing some catchup work on a Saturday ( and no, to the young kids of today, I didn’t expect to get paid) when Paul came in to to some window quoting. I had brought Teddy to the office with me that morning. Paul was sitting in the main office when Teddy snuck up to get patted. I hear a blood curdling scream and see Paul jump 3 ft off the ground. I killed myself laughing as Teddy scared Paul big time. I make sure to remind Paul of this always.

I have golfed with Paul, lots. We use to attend corporate golf tournaments together and for years as a threesome we used to meet for Speargrass Men’s night or at Heatherglen. Paul today shows up with the the identical ATB Financial golf shoe bag that I have from a tournament we played in together in 2007.

I have to say Paul always has been a better player than myself. He is one of those guys that can go golfing after not golfing for two months and score a 78. He drives well and has soft hands.

Notice no leaves. Yet we are looking for a ball. LOL A few hours later totally different story.

Now River Spirit is not my perfect course with tight fairways on about 5 holes but I like the course.

After nine holes we are all tied up and I was happy with the scoring and my play.

It is so funny as we commented around the 8th hole how nice it is that we have no wind and no leaves on the fairways. Wham. Then the wind started to howl and the leaves fall. We were struggling to find balls in the fairway. At least 40 kmph winds and every golfer will tell you wind and good shots don’t mix well.

It was so warm out hitting 29 degrees but with the wind it felt just perfect.

It was just like a PGA tournament ending with Paul taking a Par on Hole 18. My turn with a 6ft putt to tie the game. My chance to at least tie which I would consider a win against Paul, but I ended up missing, taking a bogie and ended up losing by ONE STROKE. If only I didn’t screw up on the prior Par 5.

It was a fun golfing day and I thoroughly enjoyed it and seeing Paul again.

Thought of the Day

Whoever said “Practice will be make it perfect ” never played golf.

September 26th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 17 degrees, Calgary 16 degrees”

Well that was a far fetched weather cast. Today was our annual reciprocal golf game with the Vulcan Golf & Country Club. Turner Valley members driving to Vulcan and playing a few games within the game.

Rick met me at our condo as I was driving to Vulcan. I walked outside and said WOW as it was only 6 degrees out and drizzling. A short 1 1/2 hour drive and we arrive. We had to bring our clubs around to the back of the clubhouse which is a ways. I took a short cut around the north side. I started talking to the guys then realized Rick was no where to be seen. Finally I see him being helped coming from the side by someone carrying his golf bag. It was just too heavy to carry that distance. I was glad to see him as I thought he may have fallen down. I had to worry about him as he was my playing partner today in the team event.

Rick & I were matched up with two great guys from Vulcan. I say great but I should say wonderful. Funny, fun to play with and very generous. Not only did they provide carts so we did not have to pay for a ride they also paid for two drinks after golf. Very nice.

The one guy was the typical wealthy retired farmer. He still owns over 100 acres but doesn’t work it any more. He just bought a house in Casa Grande Az and was complaining about his motorhome dollar loss. They had planned to travel and bought a motorhome for $430,000.oo. He sold it to buy the house and only got $275,000.oo five years later. He laughed saying that didn’t work out well. I did make him laugh when I said “What are you complaining about. You had that motorhome listed as a farm truck and wrote of the depreciation “

Anyone buying a RV or even a Viewpoint Home, they are buying a lifestyle not an investment. It is a cost of enjoying life. If you are going to worry about depreciation, gas mileage, monthly HOA costs etc it isn’t the lifestyle for you. A couch watching TV maybe your calling. Jackie and I have had a RV since 1984 and have had a home in AZ since 2007. Not once did either “expense” ever bother us as the memories and enjoyment from both far far outweigh the expense.

IT WAS COLD on the first tee box at 6 degrees with people having toques on, mitts and handwarmers plus three layers of clothes. Luckily I would say after 4 holes the sun came out and it became quite warm hitting 14 degrees in the afternoon.

Vulcan Golf Course is really a gem. It has 9 holes of old school, country golf with narrow tree lined fairways and small rounded greens. The back ( is a Les Ferber design) and is wonderful. Great looking, nice elevations and water & sand hazards. If you haven’t played it you should as i know you will love it.

I will say this. Today was an exceptional driving day, great iron play and ok putting. I have to chip and putt better as my scores could be mid 70’s easily every time. My partners laughed as on most drives it took them two and in case three shots to get up to my ball.( breeze assist 350 yards) I impressed myself today with not only the distance but only one fade that was salvageable. That is two days in a row with great drives.

It also helps to play more with three games this week.

Results- Finished in 6th place for the players purse, Finished in 4th place in team score, Finished in 9th place for low net , so not a bad day when you consider it was out of 36 players.

Winning money, finishing high on the scoreboard is nice but today I LOVED the drives off the tee. I would say best ever, now to work on a best ever putting game.

A great day.

Big Brother tonight and finally Angela gets kicked off. She did play well to stay as long as she did. Her tyrants the first week sealed her fate plus her annoying personality. My hope now is for Makenzie to win.

Nice walk this evening in the warmth with no bugs.

Thought of the Day

You know, golf is a funny game. One minute you’re on top of the world, nailing every shot, and the next, you’re fishing your ball out of a water hazard. But hey, that’s what makes us keep coming back, right?

September 27th

” Mercury Forecast Edmonton 21 degrees, Calgary 22 degrees”

A slight breeze today kept it feeling like the perfect day.

I started the dreaded winterizing process for the motorhome. I looked at the weather which is actually pretty decent but some lows which are the scary part and decided it was time. I usually close down after Thanksgiving but this year I feel lazy and don’t want to risk the night freezing. I may winterize but still keep the gazebo open.

Irrigation is closing this weekend so I manually watered the plants for an hour and then proceeded to winterize the lines. I blew out the lines which I have two zones.

I had cut the grass and deadheaded the flowers before watering them. They look so good right it is shame that one night of frost and they will be gone.

I hooked up the air compressor and started the process. Then my hose blew AGAIN on the compressor. The factory hose blew apart years ago. I went to Princess Auto and bought a 10ft piece of hose with 300 psi. My air compressor is 150 psi but for blowing out the irrigation I gauge it down to about 80 psi. So less than 1/2 of the capacity and continuous blow outs of this hose as this is about the 5th time.

We have to stop the Chinese crap coming to our country. I am always willing to pay for quality. As a society somewhere along the line we let cost versus quality take over. To buy anything on Amazon NOT made in China is hard. The sidewall completely blows out. I believe the previous generation had it right by buying high quality product and having it for years instead of now it being a throw away society. Why did we change that so many people care so much about saving a buck.?

Tire covers installed and tied down. Leaves all collected and dumped. With the leaf blower I cleaned up the gazebo and yard. Stainless steel cleaner on the BBQ made it shine. I organized the fridge and cleaned out the cupboards in the outdoor kitchen. Loaded up all of the freezable product and the water timer plus pressure washer to store them in the condo storage compartments in our underground parking.

I charged up all of battery packs for my drills, my weed eater/lawnmower, and remote golf carts. One battery did not fully charge it so i will charge it at home as being a larger lithium battery it takes a good 8 hours to charge.

I worked the whole day and am happy with the progress

I came home and Jackie had ready for me a meatloaf and coleslaw supper which was fantastic.

When I see my thought of day I get excited as I know Arizona is just around the corner. I love Viewpoint with my golfing buddies, the warmth, the fun activities, and the socialization. We have to get a lot of game nights in before Fred & Terry head to Mexico. It is too bad Christmas is in winter.

Thought of the Day

Brace yourself WINTER is coming !

September 28th

” Mercury Forecast Edmonton 13 degrees, Calgary 10 degrees”

Yes almost winter temperatures!!

Our plan for today was to head to the lot and ready for company coming to visit and to stay overnight and winterize on Sunday.

There comes a time.

We packed up everything and with my hands full decided to leash Daisy to go downstairs. I open the door and right then an older lady and mid aged daughter passed the door. Daisy rushed out and jumped at the older lady. She jumped around like a mad women. The world came to end according to the old lady as she yells your dog bite me. It hurt OMG. Daisy jumped on her leg and MAY have scratched her but I don’t know that even. I have never seen such an academy worthy performance in my life. She goes on and on. My reaction ” She didn’t bite you” with disdain. She lifts her pant leg a bit and no marks at all that I can see. She didn’t stop walking and just carried on complaining and whining that a dog bite her. In retrospect I believe she maybe substantially cognitively impaired or at the very least moderately mentally handicapped. Very annoying though. A little concerning. Anyone that knows Daisy knows all she wants are rubs and pats from everyone. An old women that I have never seen around before and never want to again.

Quite a nice day it turned out to be. We got everything ready and a wonderful afternoon with Michelle & Rick visiting. The are a very nice couple. Great timing to whittle down our beer and snacks. Plus Jackie had meat & cheese plates etc so we did get rid of a lot of stuff. And our neighbor Nick joined in for a bit which was nice.

A wonderful visit all afternoon. They had left there two dogs at home so needed to leave but we had a great visit until at least 7:30.

Now Rick is a former military man serving across the globe and we discover he likes a pedicure. Shocking but listening to him I think he likes the pretty Asian ladies attention.

You know how I feel about men being feminized by women and pedicures is one of subtle ways they achieve this. I had to do a little more research as we know pedicures are bad for peoples backs, hips and knees as it throws off the natural way of balancing us. But unbeknownst to most it goes much further and deeper than that and the majority of males that subject themselves to a pedicure are the same ones that end up needing knees, hips, hernia operations and experiencing neck pain. IT IS JUST NOT NATURAL.

If sometime in my life it comes down to laziness, obesity, lack of flexibility or Jackie won’t do it, if I get put to sleep someone could do it or the mortician.

I think Jackie still thinks it is her birthday. Two alcohol drinks today.

Fun day.

It gets pretty cool at nights now. Walking around the park quite a few places are closed up completely for the season. A lot of people still working on their place.

We watched a good movie with the lady from JAG in it. When she was in JAG she was a beautiful young women but age has caught up to her. A movie based on a true story that shows the power of love and manipulation and how people can do some pretty stupid things.

I set the furnace at 60 degrees and it ran a fair bit. Even Daisy spent some time under the covers with us.

Jackie and I slept in later than ever this morning but we started to work at 10am and worked steady all day until 5pm. Jackie was cleaning and packing up the inside of the motorhome and I was outside packing and wrapping up all of the patio furniture. We removed all of the screens and curtains and folded and packed them up and placed all of the cushions in the shed.

I used my small 1 x 2’s again and pin nailed the tarp to enclose the outdoor kitchen area and then folded the tarp over the stacked furniture. Jackie came out to help when needed to lift the bar, table and couch. I am pretty satisfied no snow will damage anything and wind will not rip off my covers.

I was going to winterize today but with the interior cleaning I left the winterizing until later.

It is amazing how much food and junk you can fit into an RV. I packed the entire Jeep to the ceiling with boxes full of stuff.

So antifreeze, pull slides in, retrack levelers, remove decor and a we general cleanup things and done. I am thinking about 5 or 6 hours worth.

I always hate to pack up and then the weather turn nice but it is also nice to complete the task in case cold hits.

Talking to Mom today she is going in tomorrow to get 5 teeth pulled. That won’t be fun at 92 yrs old. Pudding and Boost for meals for a few days. No need for wisdom teeth at 92. Funny story- I had NO wisdom teeth, Jess & Tor both had 2 only. Genetics LOL, Genes- remember my story about the hills of Scotland.

Cold and rainy all day !

Thought of the Day

One wonderful thing about winter coming is mosquito’s and flies are hard to come by.

September 30th

“Mercury forecast Edmonton 14 degrees, Calgary 12 degrees”

Quite a day. Sunny but cool. Nice to not have to get up early.

I sat outside with Daisy in the sun on the patio for quite awhile. It was pretty nice. Finished Wordle in 4 as did Jackie today. Daisy loves watching the action from the deck.

Jackson was off school today while Tor and Cor both had to work. Jackie & i picked him up and we had a great day visiting.

We had Daisy with us so we decided it was nice enough to enjoy lunch on the patio deck. Montana’s is a dog friendly patio company. So all four of us got a perfect meal with great service.

Notice the mountains in the back ground.

We love talking to Jackson as he is and always has been very wise for his years. Loved talking about the specifics of his new $300 hocket stick and Diddy in jail. The knowledge that he has is amazing. FUN

After lunch we took a drive down to Fish Creek Park and had a little walk then to Anne’s for an ice cream cone while sitting on a bench. I amazed myself. I took a lick of my cone and the entire “ball” of ice cream went flying. I reached out my hand and grabbed it mid air before hitting the ground. That is a fast reaction. I do have to say only 5 minutes later it happened again and it fell on the ground. Only a few spruce needles in it.

We took a drive around the park and then made Jackson direct us home. We made it !

He set up his practice net and “ice”. He has some skill and an excellent shot. Impressed !

Another wonderful day , enjoyable day completed.

My sister let me know Mom was home but they had to remove 6 teeth. Infection in teeth is very dangerous. It will make chewing steak a little harder but hopefully no pain or side affects. Tough girl at 92 yrs old. We will see how long before she goes down for her meals. Booster, pudding and Jello can get boring very fast.

Thought of the Day

Ice cream is a wonderful way to mourn the loss of your wisdom teeth.