Retired Rascal

2012-01-10T13:38:00.000-08:00

Today is January 10, 2012

Guess it is time to do a bit f Blogging and up date this thing. Well this morning I woke up about 5:45am and realized that the power has been off for a while. My watch and Wendy's clock said 5:45 but all the electric clocks said 12:58am. I thought well we had a power failure sometime in the night and then found that we also didn't have any water. I had to put our old dog Madison out. Then I saw that she had messed on the floor. She is 16 1/2 years old and has lost some of the use of her back legs and now seems to not be able to control her self. We have been talking about putting her down but that is easier said then done. I never thought that I could get so attached to a dog.The thought of putting her to sleep for good is not an easier thing to do. I worry that she is hurting but she doesn't complain so how do you know? We are planning to go to Chile in a about 8 day and I don't think she would survive the kennels for 6 weeks. I just let her out of the garage and she fell twice going toward the back garden. This morning I called the vet and have an appointment at 4:30 pm to have her put down.

There is going to be a few sad, sad days around here. I sure will miss her. She has been a real good dog and a faithful old hound. Guess I'll have to learn to chase my own frizz-be or ball eh??

Well I had better get going as the roads are not that great after this silly little snow we had this morning. sigh.

2011-12-26T10:26:00.000-08:00

Well here it is The day after Christmas or as it is know around here (Boxing Day). The day when the stores offer some great deals and some not so great deals. ha ha. It seems to be a real big thing in this ares.I haven't been shopping on Boxing day in a real long time. One reason is I am not that fond of large pushy crowds and another is I really don't need anything.
Well today is is only +3-C ( or 38 F) (for you guys in the States) out and just a little wind and we have NO snow. It really doesn't look like Christmas but nothing we can do about it.
Yesterday Tanya and Tom and the kids came over after Church. We celebrated our Christmas on the 19th. With Kristy and Bob, Tanya and Tom and the kids. I had a Ham in the oven when they got here and we had a great dinner with the Ham and all the trimmings. The kids were all excited because they opened their stocking at home before going to church. They had to show us what they got and couldn't understand why Gram and Papa didn't do stockings. ha ha. Wendy and I didn't buy each other gifts this year as we are going to Chile in 2 weeks and that is our Christmas present to each other. We sure are going to miss these grand kids while we are gone for 6 weeks.
Wendy is working until 7 pm. tonight so I might go in and spend a little time with Tanya, Tom and the kids. Not much to do in Picture Butte.
We had our Christmas evening service at our church on Saturday evening. The church was full. After church I was invited over to our friends Darryl and Selena Brouwer. Wendy was at work. They had lots and lots of good food and there was 13 of us there. Good food and fellowship.
It seems like all I have been doing for the last week is eating and of course lots of sweets. Yesterday I didn't feel so good but seem to be fine today.
Well I hope and pray that you all had a great Christmas. Now the new year is coming that will probably be more good food. ha ha. No since trying to loose a few pounds until this is all over. ha ha.

I pray that you will all have a Happy New Year. God Bless you all.

Here is a picture Wendy took while we were in the States last year.

2011-12-09T15:14:00.001-08:00

Well here is is December the 9th. Wow where does the time go? Wendy is home today and has just baked about 4 doz. mince tarts. I even got to help. All I did was cut 4 little holes in each one. Didn't go for coffee this morning so I made scrambled eggs and ham for us. Mandy called on Skype and we talked for a while with her and the boys.

For some reason I don't seem to have a lot of get up and go today. Probably just as well because starting tomorrow it looks like we will have a busy week. Tomorrow morning I have a Men's Coffee at 8:30am. here at the Church.. Then I should load my truck and go to the dump. We have Wendy's work Christmas party and I think that starts about 6 or 6;30pm. I believe it is at her Bosses house. He seem like a real nice guy.Then on Sunday after church I have practice for this Christmas Musical and that will probably go until 4 or 4;30pm. and then I get to sit down for a couple of hours before the group come for the Truth Project that we do every Sunday night here at the house. Well it doesn't take a lot to set up for that. We have 13 people usually.Wendy is going to watch Erilyn and Amelie at a Christmas thing they do in a Choir that they are involved in so I will have to do the Truth Project with out her. sigh.

Then on Monday we may have practice again depending on how good it goes on Sunday. She said we may have 3 or 4 practices because we do the musical on the 18th. We have Kristy and Bob coming on the night of the 16th and Tanya and Tom and the kids coming and maybe stay over because we are going to do our Christmas on the 17th. because Bob and Kristy have to go to Spruce Grove on Christmas day to Bob's parents for dinner. That means that I will have to get the turkey on early because I have a full dress rehearsal Saturday afternoon for the musical. Sounds confusing but we'll get through it somehow. Then on Sunday and Monday evening we do the Musical. Usually they fill the gym and I think that will hold about 270 people. When you think about it Pray that I won't forget the lines. I only have 38 or 39 lines. aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh. It is a good musical and God will see us through it for sure.

I guess it will be low keyed here at Christmas day. Not sure if Wendy is working. Anyway I pray that you all will have a Merry Christmas and just maybe I post again before the end of the year. ha ha. Just maybe eh???
God Bless you all.

2011-11-21T10:44:00.001-08:00

Well here I am again at this silly old computer. Maybe it's not silly maybe it's me that is silly. ha ha. Today is Monday the 21st. and I think this week is going to be a busy one.
Wendy is working and I am going to take my ladder over to Tanya house so they can put up some Christmas light. Wendy suggested I should put our light up today but here I sit on this computer. Sigh. I am going to get our Christmas stuff out of the garage and bring it in the house. Maybe as soon as I finish here I will attempt to put our lights up. However she did say to wait until she got home. Oh well I normally don't listen to well anyway so we'll see.
I have to put some mud on our ceiling in our entrance way. Hope to get that done today .
Tonight I have a board meeting at 7pm. at the church and then on Wed. I chair a meeting for the Food Bank at 7pm. Tomorrow I have a prayer meeting at 7:15am. at the church and then I have to go to the Seniors Club to see where they want me to set up my amp an microphone on Thursday evening. They want me to play a few Christmas Carols there. They have a Men's Choir that is going to sing for them at their Birthday party that they have every month. They are supposed to sing for an hour but as the choir is all old fellows like me they want to take a break after 15 or 20 minutes and have me play a few carols and then they come back and finish. Sounds like fun eh??
Then we have a practice for the Christmas program on Tuesday evening.I have to go for a blood test n Friday and we have a Wedding on Saturday and Sunday evening we have our Truth Project at our house at 7 pm. With all that happening I guess I had better get off this silly computer and get to work eh??Oh well what has to get done will get done and the rest will have to wait right??

God Bless all you who read this and I pray that you will all have a great week.

2011-11-17T22:03:00.001-08:00

November 17,2011
Guess it is about time I updated this old blog eh? Well I have to just thank my God for my health, family and friends.
I have been feeling real good for the last few weeks. I have my garage all cleaned and can now get our new car in at night. It is a lot nicer for Wendy when she is working to just go out and get in a car that has been inside all night. However it has a real good heater and heated seats, heated windshield and rear window, heated rear view mirrors, and hands free phone and it is an automatic transmission that you can also shift it manually. Oh and you can start it with the push of a button on your key chain. Never thought that I would own one like this one. It is really nice and I enjoy driving it. Things ain't like they used to be. Makes me not want to get into my old pickup anymore with nothing power not even the steering. Ha Ha.
My garage looks really nice and I have put arborite on the benches. I can find almost everything I need now. ha ha.
We are busy at the church now with the Christmas play coming up and all the practices with that. I have a part in that plus am helping with the building of the set too.
I have our yard all cleaned up for the winter and it looks good. Still have 2 tree stumps that I have to load on my trailer one day when I get some help but took all the branches to the dump. I did it just before it started getting cold.
My friend Darryl came over and helped me put up the drywall in our entrance way. Tomorrow I am going to put some mud and tape on it.
I have to go practice some songs on my Harmonica tomorrow at 10am. for the Seniors birthday on the 24th. of this month. They have a men's choir that will be singing but they don't want to sing for a full hour so they will sing for a while and then I'll play for a bit and then they will come back and sing again. They are all older fellows (my age and older) and to stand up and sing for an hour must be too much on them I guess. Oh well it should be fun.I'll be playing a few Christmas songs.
Then on Dec. 2nd. Barry and I are playing for the Seniors Christmas party. They have a full catered dinner and then a dance after.
Tomorrow night I am going bowling with a bunch of guys for a stag party for my friend Darryl who is getting married next week.

Well I guess I'll call it a night and end this silly old blog. Have a great day and my God Bless you all.

2011-11-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

Today it is a bit foggy out and -5 C so it is not so nice out but it is November and guess we have to expect a bit of cold weather. We have had a great fall. Breezy but warmer than normal. I have all our fountain's put away in the shed and cleaned and ready for next spring. It was so nice out I hated to put them away but glad now that I did. We also got a bit of snow yesterday.

Wendy has been back working so I have been working in our garage(shop) trying to get it ready and cleaned out so we could put the car in when it gets cold. Last week I bought some shelf material and I have installed a 12" shelf all around the garage 8 foot up. Our garage is about 10 foot tall on the inside. I have peg board on 2 walls and most of my hand tools and extra stuff is all hanging on there. At least now I can find most things when I need it.Yesterday I spent most of the day out there sorting nails, screws of all sizes and putting them in plastic container( Peanut Butter jars). It is amazing how much stuff you keep.

Well I am thinking that I should start building something that I could sell and make a few dollars at but not sure what to build. Any ideas??? I used to build piano benches and still have some material to do so but they are not a big seller down here. I need a product that you can't buy on line. ha ha. Oh well I'll keep praying about it and maybe God will give me some good ideas. I trust he'll find something for me to build .

Well I am going to play this Sunday on our worship team and then I play with Barry (Runaway) name of his band. It only him and I. We play at the Army Navy club on the 11th of Nov. for about 3 hours. It is a veterans dinner dance. We don't have to many gigs lined up right now maybe they are tired of hearing us. ha ha.The only other gig is on Dec.2nd. we play for the seniors Christmas party here in Picture Butte. Maybe we'll get a few few more soon. I really enjoy playing and get tired of just playing to myself down stairs.Ha ha.

Wendy is home today but has to go in at 7pm. to 11pm. tonight
They have asked me to do a Christmas program at the church called S O C C E R. (The Society of Christmas Carols Emergency Rescue).I will be one of the actors. It is a kids musical but they need a few older actors to pull it off.The songs are great and the kids do a wonderful job singing them and seem to be having fun. It sounds like fun but I am praying I will be able to remember the lines.I will have about 39 lines to remember and at my age not sure it will work.It has a real powerful message about Jesus birth. Guess I am going to need your prayers on this one.
Well guess I should go back out in the garage and bolt down a few machines on my bench. I removed them and put arborite on them.

This morning I went to the church and we had a mens coffee time. That was good.
Well God Bless you all and I pray that you'll have a wonderful day,

October 27,2011

2011-10-27T06:42:00.000-07:00

Well I guess it's about time I updated this old Blog eh??
Ok ! where do I start. We have had a real busy summer and it was a lot of fun. Wendy got her hip replaced about 6 months ago and that was a bit of a struggle but she got through that. I had my cancer treatment about the same time. I was a bit worried about that but I felt pretty good and was able to help her. She is now back to work but the doctor is only letting her work 4 hour shifts. It was nice having her around for 6 months and doing things together. Now it's back to me and the dog . haha but it's only for 4 hours.
WE had lot of company this year. First Mandy and the boys then Jorge came July 1st. Then Bob and Lynn Dorland our friends from out east came and we really enjoyed having them for few days. Then Mandy and Jorge and the boys went back to Chili. That was a bit of a sad time . We sure do miss them.
Lets see then Wendy's niece Ami and her husband and 2 daughter came for 4 or 5 days. It was nice getting to know them. What a delightful family.
Then Hess.Ronnie and Hank drove down the Sunday after my birthday and spent the day. They surprised me for my birthday. Ya got love those guys. Kristy and Bob came down a couple of time and we went to see them in their new apartment. Tanya ,Tom ,Wendy and I drove up to see the Pendergas in Edmonton one day and stayed at a hotel over night.
Wendy and I took our trailer and went camping with our church group.Tanya and Tom and the kids came out.We camped at Park Lake about 15 klms away. Not far from home but it was fun.
Then Wendy and I went camping, just the 2 of us and the dog of course for 2 time. That was fun. Our trailer is old but it is just fine for us.
We had a big day at the church this past Sunday. We have changed the name to ( Cornerstone Community Evangelical Free Church ). We had about 110 people there on Sunday and we had a lunch at the church.

Well things are getting back to normal or back to something. Not sure what is normal any more. We had 2 trees cut down that were dead and then I cut 2 trees down that had partially blown over and had a friend of ours pull the stumps for us with his big machine. We couldn't get the machine through the gate so we just pulled them out with chains and left them in the garden. I go out almost every day and whack a few roots off with an old axe and in a little while I'll have to get some help and put them on the trailer and take them to the dump. Our yard was beautiful all year but now old man winter is showing his head. It snowed here yesterday but it didn't last to long.
I have been busy fixing things around the house and getting things ready for some drywall for the ceiling in the entry way. It got wet when we had the leak in the roof and we haven't fixed it yet. I put the insulation and poly up the other day but I have to get someone to help me with the drywall. Yesterday I went over to the Food Bank and patched a ceiling that needed a bit of repair then took a load of trash to the dump. Funny how things just seem to collect in your garage. I have to clean it up so I can get the new car inside nights. Makes it nicer for Wendy when she has to go to work and protects the car a bit. We are really enjoying our new car and just had it serviced and had a car starter installed. We have over 13,000klms. on it already.
Well it is getting late and I should get ready to go for coffee with the guys.

Oh Wendy and I are hosting ( The Truth Project ) at our house on Sunday evenings for the new 6 weeks. We have 13 people coming and everyone has been here for the last 3 weeks. They are our church family and it is fun learning more about our God with them.

Well I think I should quit and call it a day.
God Bless you all and have a GREAT day.

2011-06-04T10:21:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a month since I blogged guess I should try to remember what has happened in the last month.
Well Wendy is doing real well recovering from her hip surgery. Now she has been using her cane a lot lately. We are trying to keep her from doing too much but that is a chore. I am pretty proud of her. She is really doing well and now has to exercise to build up the hip again.

We had our roof on the garage done and then the house started leaking. We thought at first it was the garage causing the trouble but guess we were wrong. Then we had the house fixed. Then 2 days later it rained and the garage leaked but the house didn't. Sigh. The guy came back and fixed it or we hope he did anyway. It didn't leak yesterday so we are praying that it is fixed for good.

We picked Mandy and the boys up at the airport in Calgary on Tuesday. Boy have they grown. Not Mandy just the boys. Mandy has lost a lot of weight and looks great. Josiah came running when he saw us with open arms. That made my day. They sure are cute little boys. On Tuesday evening Kristy came down from Red deer and surprised Mandy. She stayed until Thursday and then had to go home because she had to work that afternoon. Sure was good to see her. Sure do miss them guys. Hopefully her and Bob can come down again real soon. On Wednesday morning Tanya and the kids came over and we had all 8 of our grandchildren (soon to be 9) and all 3 daughter here. Sure was a busy house for the rest of the day. Tom came over after work and we all had supper. Good thing we have a big table.

I have been working out back in our lawn and garden and things are looking really green. The grass seems to just grow 2 or 3 inches every day. Good thing I have a riding mower. Thanks Wendy.

Our church is having ( Invite a friend) on tomorrow with a lunch after the service. I have invited all the guys that I have coffee with and am praying that some of them will come. God has blessed us and our church so much . We will soon have to move our services to the gym if it keeps on growing. That is a good problem to have and I thank him every day for our church family. Thank you Lord. We have lots of things going on at the church for the next month. It is going to be a busy summer by the looks of it.

Jorge will be coming at the end of the month. Can't wait for him to come. Sure do love our son in-laws.

Well I have lots of things that I would like to get done this year . I am going to paint my shed and put some new boards around the bottom and finish putting vinyl siding around the sun room.The door on the garage needs painting and weather stripped. I have all the siding and the boards for the shed. Just have to paint the boards and wait for the rain to stop. ha ha. We really don't need any more rain.
Well that's about it for now.
God Bless you all and Have a great day.

2011-05-06T18:11:00.000-07:00

Wow! it has been 3 week since I blogged. Well let's see a lot has happened since then.

Wendy had her hip replaced and was in the hospital for 5 days.She has been doing really well. The first few days were really hard for her and then she had a bit of a problem so we had to take her to the doctor here in Picture Butte. He gave her some new pills for the pain and she is doing great. She is getting around with her walker and her cane. I have to watch her so she don't overdo it. That happened one day last week and she was suffering for it but I think she learned that it doesn't pay to try to do too much. We have gone out to Lethbridge a couple of time but have to be very careful getting in and out of the car. Kristy came down from Red Deer and stayed the first weekend after the operation and that was good. Tanya came over and did some laundry and helped Mum a a few times.

I had a gig that I did a week ago and Adri and Erie came over and grandma-sat for a Saturday evening. They stayed until Monday. Such a cute pair.

We had to take her back to the hospital on Tuesday this week and get the staples out. She said that hurt a bit but she is healing up. She has been doing really well and has not been too demanding. I try to stay out of her reach cause she wields a mean cane, ha ha. No, she has been great. She now has a shopping bag attached to her walker and I saw on face book she was looking for a cup holder for it now. She bought a Starbucks this afternoon.

Today I had to go to the hospital for my second treatment. The first one made me really sick but so far this one hasn't been too bad.

We had a fellow come over and give us a price on fixing our garage roof. We have a leak where the garage meets the house and after looking at it closely we realized that it need replacing. I went and picked up the material for it today. Dan, the guy that is going to do it, gave me a list of the materials so I picked them up this afternoon. He said if the weather is good he will start sometime next week.

I have been cleaning up our back and front yard. It looks really good now but it took me awhile. The raking and cleaning up takes me a lot longer now than it used to. I just took my time and got it all done now. Now I have to get ready for the new flower plants and hopefully I can get the garden tilled and planted soon, if the weather stays nice. I had to repair our swing because all the vinyl straps on the bottom broke this winter. I screwed some wood slats on and it looks good.

We had to make a fairy garden. ? I was not sure what Wendy wanted but she came out back and told me what she wanted and showed me where to put the stuff she wanted put up. I have to admit it is real cute and the kids are going to love it. Today we went and bought a few bushes that she wants put out in our back yard. That should keep me busy for a few days. We bought a couple of Saskatoon bushes and some large flower bushes. Five in all (so far).

We had a wonderful supper tonight that one of the ladies from the church brought over, We have been blessed with some beautiful flowers and four meals from our church family. Yesterday Teresa and Darrell and Christi came over with some treats from the bakery. Sure do love this church family. Last night Janel from our church came over and cut Wendy's hair for her. They are all so sweet. Wendy has had lots of cards and phone calls so that keeps her busy. She is doing really well with her walker and cane. She can't outrun me now. ha ha.

Thank you Lord for all the blessings you have sent our way in the last few weeks. God is so good.

God Bless you all.

April 17, 2011

2011-04-17T20:11:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke up to yup you guessed it MORE SNOW. This is really getting crazy. The other thing that we woke up to was the power in our bedroom and part of our kitchen was out. At first I was thinking that maybe we had a leak in the roof and water had gone in to one of the electrical outlets. Then I was thinking just maybe one of our outlet plugs shorted out but then how would I find that??? Then I thought I should check the sump pump and when I checked that I found that it had no power and when I flipped the breaker again it buzzed and the breaker kicked out immediately. When I unplugged the sump and flipped the breaker it stayed on so then I knew it was the pump. We I had to play on the worship team this morning at church so after church I went into Lethbridge and bought a new pump. Guess the old one just shorted out. So $150.00 later all is well and the new pump is doing the job.

Well tomorrow we have to get up real early and take Wendy into the hospital. She has to be there at 6:20 am. She is first on the list tomorrow. She has been suffering for a long time and it will be good for her to walk around and not hurt. I guess she will probably hurt for a couple of day but it should go away soon. It has been bothering her for the last 5 years. Just before we moved down here from Edmonton she had her name on the list and they called her and told her they could do it the first week in April but she canceled it because we were moving and she had just taken the job with the Police Department here in Lethbridge. That was 3 years ago. So it has been a long time. I will probably be at the hospital most of the day tomorrow and come home tomorrow evening. One of our friends is going to let Madison out about 12:30 or 1 tomorrow afternoon. Then she will be good until I get home. She is to old to leave outside in this cold weather. Poor old dog.
Well guess I should get ready for bed soon as 5am will come pretty quick eh?
Please pray for Wendy tomorrow.
God Bless you all and I pray that you will all have a good night.

Friday, April 15, 2011

2011-04-15T19:38:00.000-07:00

Well here it is Friday the 15th. already. Where does the time go? Well lets see what I can remember of the past 10 days. I had to go to the lab and get my blood work done again as I had a doctor's appointment today. They also did a cholesterol test as we were curious of how the BiosLife was working. I had to go to see Doctor Mohamed, my doctor here in Picture Butte, because I needed meds that I take for my heart but there was no more refill at the drug store so had to call him and make an appointment to get them ordered. While I was there he said that the blood test came back and that the cholesterol was fine. That means the BiosLife is doing the job. He also told me that my PSA test was .02 which was less than the last time I went. Not sure he was supposed to tell me that but he did.

Today I went to see the cancer doctor in Lethbridge and he told me that the PSA test was good 0.2 and that I have to go to the hospital on May 6, for another treatment. I don't have to go back to him until December15.

Well yesterday we woke up to about 10 inches of new wet and heavy snow. I thought it was about 6 inches when I got up but the guys at coffee actually measured it and said I was wrong. Shows what I know, eh?? They said that last year on the same day we had snow. April 14th. Guess they keep track of things like that. On Wednesday I was out back painting a large trellis we have in the back yard and did a bit of raking and cleaning up of some large branches that had fallen or broke off of our willow tree. Then to wake up to all that snow was not nice.Oh well it's Alberta, right????

After we went to the doctor we stopped in to see Tanya and Tom and the little ones. We got home about 11:30 and Wendy made lunch. Then I put our new toilet in the upstairs bathroom. Took me about 4 hours to take the old one out and put the new one in. Kind of slow in my old age but it all went well and no leaks at the end. Wendy spent the afternoon making bread and scones. She won't be doing any baking for a while so thought that it would be good to get it done now.

Tomorrow we have a men's breakfast and Pete had asked me to give my testimony. So guess I should think a bit about that before I go to bed. Our breakfast is at 8 a.m.tomorrow morning.Won't have much time to think about it then as I have to help the guys cook and get the tables all set up.

Oh, my computer was down all day yesterday as we had no power from about 10 till noon. The snow was just so heavy that some of the lines were down. After the power came on my computer wouldn't come on. I talked to Tom today and he told me what to do to get it going again, so now I am back on line.

Oh, by the way our cell number are no longer any good as we canceled our cell phones. Just too much money for us and we weren't using them much anyway.We are going to use an old number that Mandy and Jorge had before they left for Chile.

Well, that's all for today. I pray that you will all have a great week. I would ask that you pray for Wendy as her operation is at 6 a.m. Monday morning. She will probably be in the hospital for 3 to 5 days. I will try to keep you all informed some how. I might just have Tanya post things as to what going on. on FaceBook or e-mail.

God Bless you all.

Thursday Morning.

2011-04-07T15:13:00.000-07:00

Today started off on the wrong note. Must have got up on the wrong side of the bed or something. Ever had one of those days when you just didn't feel like doing anything but had so much to do? Well that was my day.
First I noticed that last night one of the 4 Solor lights that I bought and put on my deck post yesterday didn't light. So I took it off and brought it inside to look it over. Checked the battery and found that it had energy so I put it back together. Then the light came on and wouldn't go out. They are supposed to come on when it gets dark and go out when it gets light.Sigh. Tinkered with it a bit and put it back out on the post. Then thought that I would put the new toilet in our upstairs bathroom. We bought one of those high ones. 17 inches tall compared to the regular one's that are only 13 1/2 or 14 inches tall.
Wendy went off to work so I went out to the garage and brought it in. Opened the box and saw a big crack in the bowl. Called Wendy on the cell to find out where the bill was so I could take it back. Found the bill and loaded the toilet in the back of the truck and headed to Lethbridge to Totem's about 30kls. Got there and of course all the questions? Did you drop it or bang it so had to find the guy that sold it to me and then they asked him if he checked it when I took it and he said no. Any way they gave me a new one and home I came.
Got home about 11:15am. and remembered that I had to take my car into the garage because the wheel bearing or at least it sounds like a bearing is going bad. They told me yesterday if I could bring it in that someone could give me a ride home if it was around noon.
Got back home and made some lunch. Went into the garage and opened the big bag of bird food and put it into 7 plastic pails. Yup you guessed it I split one all over the garage floor.sigh. That took a few minutes to clean up. Filled the feeder and put a few things away that I had left on bench. Took some boards out of the garage and put them in our shed.Then brought in a set of chimes that the string had broken and hopefully will be able to fix that later. Got a couple of phone calls and then read a bit more in my bible and played on the computer for a while. Then went out back and tried again to open the combination lock on my other shed because I have forgotten the combination.sigh. Guess I'll have to cut it off. Should have used a regular lock but had this sitting in the garage and thought it would be good and it would have if I hadn't forgot the combination over the winter.Ha ha. Oh well live and learn. If I don't remember by tomorrow I'll cut it off and get a new one with a key.. That's what happens when you get my age. 74. It is one of those thing that you hear happened to other people but never thought it would happen to you . ha ha. I have a good memory but guess it is aw full short lately. Been racking my brain for the last few hours but nothing yet.sigh.
Well it is getting late and Wendy will be home in a little while so better get supper on or I might get fired. Oh!!!! guess if your not getting paid you can't get fired eh???? Think I'll take a bit of a nap.

Well have a great day and God Bless you all. Hey I just noticed that my computer clock is an hour behind must be it didn't go to daylight savings time .Oh well.it is 4:35pm. right now.

Wednesday April 7, 2011

2011-04-06T22:22:00.000-07:00

Well I hope you all had a great day. I had a busy one today. First went for coffee. Left early as the language was getting a bit to much for me and I was getting angry so thought that I should leave before I got myself into trouble. I gave them a few little digs but that went right over their heads. I just said I have heard enough and left. Oh well sometimes I don't think they even realize what they are saying and sometimes I think they don't care.sigh. Oh well!
Well I went home and put up four new Led light on my deck. They look really good but there wasn't much sun out today. Then I went to the dump and unloaded some cardboard boxes that I had in my truck for about a week.The town took our cardboard container away 2 weeks ago and haven't brought it back yet. Anyway went to the dump and then dropped off a brochure I had borrowed from Pastor Peter.
Then I went and gassed up my truck and that cost me $48.00 because gas went up again yesterday.
Then I called Tom and I met him at 12:00 and I took him out to lunch for his birthday. We went to a Mexican place on the south side that him and Tanya went to a while back. It was really good. Usually I don't like Mexican food but this was good.Then I dropped Tom off at work and headed back to the south side.
Then I went to Canadian tire and bought a couple of cans of paint for my poor old truck as it is getting pretty rusty and need a bit of sanding and painting.
Then I headed to Wal- Mart and got some milk and a few other things that Wendy wanted and some bird seed for our birds. Then I headed to Costco and bought a large garden hose that I saw there yesterday and 4 cans of tire spray.The tire spray is usually about $10.95 a can so $12.95 was a real good price for 4 cans. I should have good looking tires for a while eh??
Jumped back into old Bert and we headed to the Red Cross building on the West end not to far from Tanya's. I had to get her a cane, a toilet seat with handles, a clamp for the bath tub and a walker. Wow just realized that it is only 11 more day before her surgery. Then I got home about 5pm. and called a friend from our church and invited him over for supper Quickly ran to the store and grabbed a couple of steaks and came home and put some potatoes on to cook. Dan showed up about 5:30pm. and I threw the steaks on the BBQ, sliced up a tomato and a bit of cucumber, heated up a can of corn and we had supper.
Dan and I chatted a bit while I did the dishes and then we headed down stairs and played a bit of music. Dan left about 9:30pm. so thought that I should blog a bit. Well that was my day. I think I am going to pack it in for today.
I talked to Kristy on MSN for a few minutes and I think I am headed for bed. Wendy just called and said she will be another hour at Tanya.
I pray that you all had a great day today and may God Bless you.

Monday Morning

2011-04-04T16:59:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone or at least to those who read my blog.

Well here it is Monday April 4th,2011. Wendy has gone to work and I just got back from coffee a while ago. The weather is not to bad and supposed to get better. I hope. Got a few minutes before I have to go to the church for prayer with the guys.

We meet every Monday morning at 11:30. Wendy,Tanya, Kristy and Cynthia were at a retreat over the weekend. I got to hang out with Drew and Bethany and the Lister kids over the weekend. It was fun. Bob came down and stayed over at Tom's and went back Sunday.

We got a lot of new snow on Saturday but it is slowly melting away. Thinking about going into Lethbridge this afternoon and buying a new toilet. Thinking about putting in a higher one. Trying to get things ready for when Wendy has her surgery which is coming up soon. She is worried that I won't be able to take care of the garden,flowers and lawns. I am sure God has it all planned out and I will be able to do it for sure. Might get some help from the grand-kids.

I have been feeling really good for the last little while and have my energy back so I am looking forward to getting outside and doing things if this snow ever leaves. I have to set up a chair for Wendy so she can sit outside after the operation. I'll need someone to supervise anyway right?

I have a few things that I really want to change in the back yard. I have to build a small bench of some sort to cover where Jorge knocked down the old fountain. Might have to buy a new one as one of our old fountains started to leak last year and I'm not sure I can fix it. I think I need or (want) some new solar light to put along the walk way out back.They really look nice at night.Thinking of painting our shed in the back and it needs a few new boards around the bottom. Might have to build a new swing for out back. The winter took it's toll on our old one. All the plastic pieces on the bottom must have frozen and broke. Might be able to use the old frame?

Oh well I'm sure I will find lots of things to do this summer.
Well it is getting late and better get ready to go to the church. God Bless you all for taking the time to visit my blog. Have a great day.

Tuesday 22, 2011

2011-03-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

Well it is the usual snow again thing going on here again today. Got up this morning a bit late. Didn't sleep good last night for some reason. Was up at 2am. and just couldn't get back to sleep until 6.
Went to coffee and then went an got my hair cut. Was starting to look a little shaggy.
Yesterday we bought a ceiling fan for our bedroom and I put that up. It works really nice and is quiet so if and when it ever warms up we can use it. Won't need to bring in the big fan when it gets hot.
Took the Saturn up to the garage yesterday. I think we have a wheel bearing going. Guess it getting old like me and need a bit of repair. It has over 200,000 klms on it so guess we can't complain . It has been a pretty good car for us for the last 10 years.
Well I should practice a bit on the harmonica. We play here in Picture Butte for the Seniors on Thursday evening. One of the guys from the club told me yesterday that they are expecting a full house because we are playing. They seem to enjoy hearing us play for them. I think Wendy is off Thursday evening so she will be able to come and listen.

Then we are heading to Edmonton Friday morning. We will drop the dog off at the kennels first thing in the morning and then continue on up highway 3 from Lethbridge. We will stop in Red Deer and see Kristy and Bob hopefully for lunch. We will be staying at our friends Ed and Betty. Ed e-mailed us last night and has invited a lot of our friends over to his house Saturday so we will get to visit lots of people. It is nice to have friends like them to open their house to us and everyone. I am getting excited about going up. It will be a nice break for Wendy as she has been working almost every day for the last two or three weeks.I think she needs a break.I keep hoping that I can get the garden tilled up as soon as this silly snow leaves.

Well not much else to write about so guess I'll call it a day. I have been feeling really good lately. God Bless you and I pray that you all will have a great day and Praise HIM.

March18, 2011

2011-03-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful day it was here today. Almost made me think that summer is just around the corner. I felt great again today. Have been feeling great for the last 2 1/2 weeks since my treatment.Seem to have most of my energy back and really feel like doing things. This morning I got up about 6:30am and as usual checked my e-mail and face book. Then I read my bible and took a shower and then headed off for my morning coffee. Had coffee and then drove to Lethbridge with a rack that I built for Tanya and Tom for their downstairs closet.I got there and guess what ??? Yup you guessed it wouldn't fit in the closet. I was afraid of that when I built it so I screwed it together just in case I had to tear it down. It only missed by about 1/4 of an inch but that was just enough to make it not fit into the closet. So I got my drill and unscrewed the bottom part and took off the bottom boards and yup it went in. Then I put the shelves in and it really looks good and Tanya was happy with it.
Then I went to the music shop and picked up a new Harmonica that I had ordered and that cost me $150.00. I was afraid it wouldn't come in this week but it did. I am playing a dance tomorrow with Barry at the Army, Navy, Air force Veterans Club here in Lethbridge. I have a Bd harmonica but it has one bad reed so I ordered a new one. I have 2 of every key just in case I blow a reed. With 2 of each key I can send one in for repair and still play a job if I have to. I send in about one every 2 months or so depending on how often we play. I have to send them to Wilson's Music in Toronto because that is the only place that replaces reeds. Usually cost about $40.00 per reed plus shipping which is about $15 to $20 dollars depending on how fast I need it. Now all I need is a few more gigs to pay for all this eh? Ok enough about Harmonic's.
Then I went to the Home and Garden show in Lethbridge and walked around there until about 3:10pm. and then headed home. Got home and then had to go do Meals on Wheels this afternoon. Only had 2 meals to deliver but it was fun. Had a chance to chat and tell both of them what church I go to and how God has Blessed me. I only have to do the Meals on Wheel 2 times a month.
Then went to the store and bought some Veg's for Stir Fries for supper. Wendy got home about 5 and she cooked the stir fries. She always does a good job at that. Think I am going to keep her around. She is cute you know and a good cook and I think she loves me???? I'll let you know right after she reads this blog. ha ha.
Well that was my day. Well almost I just came down and practiced my harmonica's for 2 hours and now just finishing up with this silly Blog. Better get to bed. I have a long day again tomorrow. Might have to catch a nap in the afternoon as I have to play tomorrow from 8 to 12 midnight. That is kind of late for an old fellow like me eh?
Well God Bless you all and have a great day tomorrow.

March7th, 2011

2011-03-08T08:55:00.000-08:00

Well it is Monday the 7th f March and it is -21C with a real light snow coming down. I just went out and started my poor old cold truck. Had to kick the door real hard to get in as it was frozen. Just looked at the weather report and they say it will get real nice before the week is out. I am hoping they are right this time. Wendy is working 7 to 7 so won't see her until about 730 pm. I am going to go for coffee as soon as my truck warms up. Then I have a meeting with our pastor. We meet every Monday at 11:30 for prayer. Some times we get a couple other fellows that come and pray with us.
Well coffee is over and It is still cold out.

Yesterday after church we went over to Tanya and Toms and celebrated Erie and Amie's birthday. They are growing up so fast. Last Thursday I took Erie out to lunch for her birthday . She wanted to go to a Pasta place. It was good and we had a great time. This week is Amie's birthday on Thursday so I will take her out to lunch. It is fun taking them all out for their birthdays. Usually the younger ones want to go to Mac Donald's or Burger King because there is a play area there. Adrie and Erie because they are older like something else bigger and better. ha ha. Oh well it is a lot of fun taking them out and getting to talk to them one on one.

Have a great day and God Bless you all.

February 28, 2011

2011-02-28T20:09:00.000-08:00

Wow February 28. It was 8 years ago today that I retired. Time just seem to fly. It don't seem like 8 years but guess it is. When I think back and realize all that happened in the last 8 years it makes sense. For the first 4 years I spent most of my summers at lake Lac Saint Ann about 3/4 of an hour North West of Edmonton. I really enjoyed that and Wendy and I had lots of fun and relaxing times out there. We had our tent trailer out there and after about a year we bought a 17 ft. trailer which I have parked out back of my house here. I am hoping that we can do some camping this summer but not sure how that will work .

Well lets see I went to Bolivia with Mandy and a group from Beulah in 2003 right after I retired.. Then in 2005 went on another mission trip with the Alliance Men to Poland. We traveled to South Africa to visit Kristy and Bob. I think that was 2006 and then in 2007 we went to Chile for Mandy and Jorge's wedding in Chile. ( Their second one.)

Then I found out that I has Prostate cancer and went through an operation.Then we sold our home in Edmonton and moved here to Picture Butte in 2008. Things sure have changed in the past few years. We now have 8 grandchildren and one on the way. The oldest is 13 and the youngest is about 1.

The last 3 winters have been the pits. So much for the sunny south. I guess the whole world is having bad weather of some kind.
Wendy has been working lots and I have been doing very little. She is going to have a hip replacement in April so today I lowered our bed because they said that after the operation she wouldn't be able to get up in our bed which was a real high one. When I built the bed frame I glued and screwed it really well and to take it apart was a real chore but I did it . It took me all day. Well that was my day to day.

God bless you all and have a great day.

Feb.5, 2011

2011-02-05T10:25:00.000-08:00

Well I was going to walk to go for coffee but everything was so slippery I just walked to the car and drove. It is + 1C so things are not cold. The roads and sidewalks are really slippery.

Tonight we are having 2 grandchildren over for a sleep over. Kellen and Isabella. They sure are cute. We had Adriana, Erilyn and Amelie over on Wed. evening. Little Sophia is a bit young yet but I'm sure she will be sleeping over soon.

On Sunday I am going with Tom after church to watch the Super Bowl game at Tom's friend Karl in Lethbridge. Wendy will probably go hang out with Tanya and the kids.

Last night Wendy and I went out for supper at Moxie's in Lethbridge. It is the first time we have eaten there since they moved about 8 months ago. The place is really nice and the bathrooms are beautiful. TV over the urinals and the bathroom stalls are huge. They even have 2 leather chairs so you could sit and watch TV or whatever. The sinks are big. I never saw bathrooms as nice as this.

After dinner we went to watch a play and we both enjoyed that. We got home about 11:15pm. I think we should do this more often. I like to eat out but the cost is so high. We could buy a lot of food for $65.00
Moxie's is not the cheapest place to go but they give you lots of food and it was good. We don't eat out often.

I helped clean the church yesterday. We do it once a month or so with another couple. Today I have to take a stand that I built back to the church. I had to add a ledge to it. It holds a large Bible in the front of the church.

Barry just called and wants me to go to Coalhurst to a jam session this afternoon. Not sure I am going to go as I have a meeting but probably could get out of that. Oh well we'll see. I might just go over to listen.
Our snow is melting pretty fast and that is good. Wendy and I are planning to take 2 or 3 days and go to Banff. We don't ski anymore (Wendy has a bad hip and I am just too old) so it will just be to window shop and look around and get a way from Picture Butte for a few days. Kristy might come along with us if she is not working.
Well not much else going on here for now. Have a great day and God Bless you all.

Friday Jan.21,2011

2011-01-21T12:41:00.000-08:00

So! Where did the month go? It just seems to disappear. Well today it has warmed up to about +3 so far and we are hoping it will melt some of this snow away. However we don't want it to go off too fast or we will be in trouble with all the water. Not sure my little sump pump will handle it all if we get a lot of water quick.
I guess we'll deal with what ever happens eh?
Wendy has her name on the HIP list again so she will be getting a call soon. She is in a fair amount of pain everyday and is looking forward to getting it operated on. However this has raised a bit of concerned for our kids as it seems they are worried about Mum and I both. I will probably be going through some sort of treatments about the same time she gets her hip operated on. Not sure how 2 sick o's will make it through that. ha ha
I'm sure God has it all planned out . We will just have to wait and trust him. I am hoping that my treatments won't be to bad and if they are God will make sure that Wendy is ok. It is so nice to know that the kids are thinking about us and concerned.
Okay enough on that subject. Last night we had a young couple and their family come over for supper and we had a lovely time. They have 3 children. It is a couple from our church. We cooked a nice roast beef and it turned out really good as usual. I think I have enough for the next few day left over but it is really good so I don't mind having it a few more times.
We are going to try to have more people from our church over for supper or coffee and desert. It is nice to get to know the people at church.
Wendy is working today until 7pm. and then tomorrow she works a silly split shift. 11am. to 4pm. and then 11pm. until 4 am. She is off Sunday so that is good.
Barry called last night and I am playing on Monday evening in Coaldale. Guess I should practice a bit. I have some music on my computer so I can just bring it up and practice with that. I have it all set up here in the basement.It gives me something to do besides watch the silly old TV. There is not a lot to watch during the day anyway.
Well that it for today. I pray that you will all have a great day and God Bless you all.

Jan.4, 2011

2011-01-04T11:05:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone. Well now I have to get use to typing 2011. Not sure what 2011 is going to bring but it is all in God's hands so I really don't have to worry about it eh? Well here it is 2011 and we moved here in April 2008. It doesn't seem that long ago but here we are in 2011.

New Years Eve I played with Barry at Pemmican Lodge in Lethbridge. We were supposed to play at Black Rock Lodge at 2pm. in the afternoon but the canceled because of the flu. At Pemmican we had about 60 people there and it was a lot of fun.It was fun to see some of the seniors get up and dance to our music. Wendy came and took pictures and a video of us performing. She worked until 7 and then came and watched us. We played until 8:35pm. Then at 9pm. we packed every thing up and headed home. I think we got home about 10:30pm. Wendy was off for a few days but had to go back to work this morning at 7am.

This morning I went for coffee at 9am. and got home at 10:30am. It was a long coffee. Every one was telling what they think they are going to do this year. Not sure what I will be doing this year as I haven't given it much thought yet.

We got snow on Sunday morning so things are really white at the moment. Wendy is back to work and I have a dentist appointment at 1:30pm. this afternoon. Not looking forward to that as I hate the drilling and I have do have a new filling put in. Sigh. Oh well hopefully it won't take long at least that is what I keep telling myself .ha ha.

I am hoping that Wendy and I can do a bit of traveling around the area. We keep saying we should do that but it just doesn't seem to happen. We are not that far from the mountains. We haven't even checked out some of the little towns that are near us. Guess we are old stick in the mud's. ha ha. Maybe this is the year we can do that. It sounds like fun but we have to get off our butts and do it.

The year has gone by so fast and God has Blessed us in so many ways. Our little church has grown this year. Mandy and Jorge came home right after the earthquake in Chile and little Levi was born. Kristy and Bob flew home from South Africa and are now back in Red Deer. Wendy got to go with Adriana, Kristy and Bob to Mexico on a mission trip. We flew to North Carolina and spent 3 weeks with Wendys brother and his family. Then we went to Texas with Tanya, Tom and little Sophia for a week. We went to a conference there and then took a few days and looked around some of Texas. This Christmas we were bless with Tanya,Tom and the kids for 3 days and Kristy came for about 12 day as she wasn't working Bob also came on the 23 as he had to work. We had a great Christmas. Looks like we have had a great year eh? I have struggled a bit with my health but can't really complain. Again as I said before God has Bless us for the year of 2010.

Well guess I should get ready to go to Lethbridge and face the dentist. Pray it won't take long.

Dec 16, 2010

2010-12-16T21:48:00.000-08:00

Wow ! It has been a busy week here. On Sunday after service Wendy and I drove to Calgary and met Bob and Kristy at Ika. Bob has to work until the 22nd. so he brought Kristy down and she is staying until Christmas. Sure is good to have her around. On Monday I had a dentist appointment so that took care of most of the morning. Then I met with Pastor Pete and Wayne for prayer at 11:30am. We meet every week for prayer at the church. Tuesday morning Kristy and I took Madison into Lethbridge for a bath and a good brushing and got her nails trimmed. After dropping her off Kristy and I went to Smitty's restaurant for breakfast and enjoyed that. Then we went to Wall Mart and bought a couple things . We picked up Madison and brought her home and then Wendy, Kristy and I headed into to Lethbridge again and went to Tanya house. I took Kellen out for lunch at Mac Donald's near where Wendy works. He was really happy about going out with Pa Pa for lunch. I usually take all the grand kids out to lunch for their birthday but we were away when Kellen birthday came up . He sure is a cute little guy and after lunch he got his very own Mac Flurry with smarties.I asked him if he wanted one and he said you mean my very own . I think he thanked me 3 or 4 times. He is such a good little boy. I just love him. He is a bit like his mom and will talk your ear off. I'm half deaf so didn't hear it all but got most of it.
Then yesterday Wendy had to work. I had to play at 2 pm. at Piyami Lodge with Barry. Kristy came along to listen.After we played for about an hour and a half they served all the people, Christmas goodies and drinks. It was quite a large crowd about 45 to 5o people. Most of them live right there at the lodge. Then after we got home from that we waited for Wendy to get home and went to Pastor Pete and Mary's for supper. That was fun. We got home about 8pm. and then a fellow from church (Dan) came over and we played a bit of music. He got a new guitar and wanted me to hear him play. He does play very well.

Today Wendy went to work again and about 9 am. Kristy and I went into Lethbridge again as Kristy needed to buy a few things at Park Place Mall. Wendy came home at noon . She wasn't feeling that great. At 1 Wendy and Kristy and I went to church and prayed for about an hour and a half for my son in-law's Dad Jorge Santana. They found out early this week that he had a fairly large tumor in his neck the was wrapped around the brain stem in his neck and needed an operation right away.WE got work this evening that the took out most of the tumor and that he seems to be fine and can move both arms and legs.Praise the Lord.
God has been so good to our family.Jorge Dad is only 53 or 54 years old.
They said it was a very risky operation and it could have left him paralyzed. We are all thanking Jesus for giving the doctors the wisdom and knowledge to do this operation. We serve a gracious God.(Jesus Christ).
Well it is snowing just a little bit but if it snows more I might have to get out the tractor eh? It is getting late and I didn't get to take a nap today. ha ha.

May God bless you all and may you all have a MERRY CHRISTMAS. I am going to post a picture of my grand kids. They sure are a cute bunch.

Dec.4, 2010

2010-12-05T01:49:00.000-08:00

Well here it is December already. Where did the year go? It just seems that it has gone by so fast but when I really think about it I guess we have had a busy year. The first big thing was the earthquake in Chile that kept us wondering for a while. Then Mandy and Jorge and Josiah came here and little Levi was born into the family. Then they went back to Chile and Wendy went with them for 3 weeks. Then Wendy went to Mexico with Adriana, Kristy and Bob after they came home from South Africa. After they came home we went to Texas for a week with Tanya and Tom and little Sophie. I kinda don't remember much about our summer. Seems I was alone most of it. Oh well that how life is I guess.
I have also been busy playing a few gigs with Barry and that has been fun. We just played for a dance a week or so ago at the Moose Club in Lethbridge.and that was lots of fun also. This week has been real busy. Wendy has been working lots of hours and then on Wednesday Wendy had a Women Christmas party at the church and last night Wendy and I went to the Seniors Christmas Dinner her in Picture Butte.We left about 9:20pm. and walked around town because they were having Midnight madness her in Butt. We only went to 4 or 5 shops. We bought some stuff at Home Hardware and then to Berts and bought a couple of roast and got home about 10:45.pm.
This morning I went to the church at 7am. and got things ready for a Men's breakfast at 8:30.am. We had 15 guys that came for breakfast.We served pan cakes and sausages and fruit.
I am getting excited about Christmas. Tanya,Tom and the kids are coming on the 23 and staying until the 26 and Kristy and Bob will be her also. Love it when everyone is here. This year we will miss Mandy, Jorge and the 2 boys.
Well it is 2:45am. and here I am at this silly old computer. Not sure why I can't sleep but been awake since 1:30am. Must be getting old eh?

Well God Bless you all and have a great day.

November 21, 2010

2010-11-22T13:57:00.000-08:00

Wow it has been over a month since I posted anything on here.Not sure I can remember back that far. ha ha.
Well lets see how good my memory is.
Well Wendy had a great time in Mexico with Adria, Kristy and Bob. I think they had 8 others that went on the trip with them. She really enjoyed it and has posted a blog about it with some pictures.
Tanya, Tom and little Sophia and Wendy and I went to Texas at the end of October for a week to a conference there with Paul Washer and Voddie Bauchman Not sure of the spelling but think it is close. We had a great time and I really enjoyed spending the time with Tanya and Tom. Since they got married we really haven't gone anywhere with them so it was fun. The weather in Texas was really warm and I liked that. I gained 9 lbs. while we were there. We found some real good restaurants while we were there. The conference was great and I enjoy that too. We stayed in a town called Humble .The conference was only 3 days so we got to go see a bit of Dallas which was only about an hour away from our hotel. We got to see the space center and the Reliance football field.
Wendy has been working lots since we got home. Then our weather here has turned cold so I haven't done much. I did clean out our garage so Wendy can park the car in there at night. That saves a lot of scraping and brushing the snow off. I have been doing a few things at the church. Patched some drywall. Saturday I went and helped put up some props for our Christmas play that will happening about the middle of Dec.
Oh I put the plow on my little tractor and pushed a bit of snow last week when the snow came. It was almost to much for the little tractor. We got about 8 or 9 inches I guess. It is snowing again today and as soon as I finish here I am going out and plow again. Wendy has made me promise not to shovel. I did shovel a bit the first day it snowed and suffered for a few day with chest pains. She was a bit upset with me over that.
I have been feeling pretty good but the cold weather really affects me. I have to go get my flu shot soon. Was going to get it about 2 weeks ago but caught a cold so couldn't go.
I have been playing a few gigs with Barry and have been enjoying that. On Saturday we played for a dance at the Moose Hall in Lethbridge. Wendy was off so she went with me and listened. We played from 7 pm. until about 11.40 pm. Normally we do 1 hour or 2 hour gigs so this was a long one for me but the people liked us and we got lots of compliments and they stayed and danced until about 11:30. Yesterday I went to church and played on the worship team. That is always fun and we have an awesome worship team. Usually there is 8 or 9 of us. We had a really good crow on Sunday. I think about 85 or so people. Our little church is really growing and that is great to see.
Well I guess that is it for now have a great day and may God Bless you all.

Saturday Oct. 16, 2010

2010-10-16T10:47:00.000-07:00

Well I guess it is about time I wrote something here eh? Wendy, Adria, Kristy and Bob left for Mexico on Thursday the 7th. Friday I cleaned the church and when I finished I realized that it was not my turn until next week. ha ha. I came down with a runny nose on Saturday so I didn't play with the Worship team on Sunday. I went and prayed at 9:45 am with the prayer team. I got up early and made stuffing for the turkey and got everything ready so I could put the old bird in the oven as soon as church was finished. Tanya and Tom supplied the turkey. Sunday afternoon Tanya , Tom and the kids came over and we had a Turkey supper on thanksgiving day here at my house. I came down with a bit of a cold on Monday so that kept me in the house a bit. Didn't do much for a few days except hang around the house and watch TV. Thursday I felt a bit better and went into Lethbridge to get some Earl Grey Tea and a few other things. Friday I felt pretty good so went and cleaned the church again (my turn this time ) Marg and Lawrence came and helped me. It has been a pretty slow week for me and with Wendy gone it seemed longer. Tanya's kids have been a bit sick so I didn't want to go over there to often. Last night I was thinking what I could cook for supper when Tanya called and asked if I would like to go with them to supper at Rickey's so I quickly got ready and headed out.
There was a shooting in Shawnasee( not sure how to spell it )and some guy was killed so there was a bit of traffic getting through there. Then there was a large tractor and some Hugh equipment on the road and that took a little time to get by (quite common here at harvest time) but finally got to Tanya's and we went to supper. The kids were really good and the food was great. Came home about 9:30 pm. and was going to watch a bit of TV but I woke up about 11pm. and went to bed. Ha ha. I do that quite often lately. Must be old age eh?
This morning I went for coffee and well here I am at this silly old computer trying to remember what I did last week. Like I said Wendy is coming home on Sunday so guess I should clean the house up a bit. Not much to do, A few dishes and maybe vacuum a bit. It sure will be good to have her back home. Then on next Thursday we are heading to Texas with Tanya, Tom and Sophia to a conference with Voddie Bauchmen and Paul Washer. The conference is only 3 days and then we are going to hang around Texas for a few days before coming home. It will be the first time we have gone anywhere with Tanya and Tom in a long time. Sounds like fun so want to make the most of it right? She has found a couple of families to take the kids for a few days and then Kristy and Bob are coming down and watch them until we get back.The kids are all excited over that and I know Kristy and Bob will have fun with them. Not to sure what we will do in Texas but I'm sure Tom will figure something out. Maybe check out a football stadium or something . It will be fun just hanging out with them anyway.
Well that's it for today . God Bless you all and have a great day.

September 30,2010

2010-09-30T22:23:00.000-07:00

Today was a busy day and I didn't feel that great. Didn't sleep much last night and don't know why. I went to bed a bit to early maybe. I think it was about 9:30 when I got home from practice at Barrys and Wendy was already in bed. Yesterday afternoon she cut her thumb really bad. Split her left thumb with one of my Stanley utility knives. It is cut from the top of her thumb all the way down the center to the quick and pretty deep. Anyway she didn't sleep to well, I don't think because she moaned a lot. I woke up at 1:11am. and couldn't get back to sleep so I came down to the old computer and did some of the things that I should have done for the last two weeks and finially went back to bed about 5:10am.
Tanya and the kids came over early and Wendy and Tanya went out in the garage and painted some chairs that Wendy bought at the auction last Saturday with Kristy.
I didn't do much today just laid around and chatted with the kids. I just didn't seem to have a lot of energy. At 5 pm. I drove to Coaldale as we had to play at the Pemmican lodge in Lethbridge and Barry was going to be running late so I picked up some of his equipment and his wife Gwen and met him at Tim Horten in Lethbridge. We had coffee and he grabbed a bite and we went and play from 7 until 8:30pm. We had fun and it was a real good evening for both of us. We had about 40 people that we played for and they all said they enjoyed it so that was good. Well here it is 11:30 and I am here at this silly old computer. Guess I should call Wendy and then go to bed or I will be feeling bad again tomorrow.Well good night to you all and may God Bless you.

September 24, 2010

2010-09-24T13:57:00.000-07:00

Well guess you better check this out. Another post in the same week. Wow am I doing good or what??
Well it has been really nice for the last 2 days and I am glad. Yesterday I went out back in our shed and cleaned it up and have made a bit of room for the fountains . It is so nice out I almost hate to put them away but I know that this weather won't last to long. I saw a few mouse droppings and a hole in one of our chair cushions. I set 3 traps and this morning had 2 mice. Guess I'll reset them for sure.I was thinking of getting some mouse poison but then if the mouse eats that and dies and one of the neighbors cats eat it will they die too?? I don't want to start a war with the neighbors and I guess our dog could eat one if she found it outside of the shed.

Well today I went for coffee and got lots of comments about our playing that I did last night at the seniors center. We had a pretty large crowd and they really liked us. I had fun doing it and didn't miss to many notes. ha ha. That always helps. Barry also did a real good job. I thought that we sounded pretty good but what do I know eh? Wendy worked last night from 7 to 7 so she wasn't able to come and listen.
This morning I went shopping and bought some eggs, bread, orange juice and some bacon for the Men's Breakfast tomorrow morning at the church. It is at 8:30am if any of you guys can make it. So far only about 12 are coming but we are hoping for more.

Wendy just left for Red Deer and is going to meet Kristy and then they are going to Edmonton. I have to take our dog Matty to the pet shop and she is getting a bath and her nails cut.I just had to give her a good brushing yesterday as she went out back and got into some bushes and was just covered with little burs in her hair. I'm sure the Pet shop would not be happy trying to get them out. She is a good old dog but guess I have to watch her so she don't get into them again.

I'll have to post on Sunday and let you all know what Wendy and Kristy buys at the auction. I told her if she buys something she has to throw something out to make room for the new item. Not sure that will work.ha ha. The other day Tanya and Wendy came home with an old chair (which is Tanya's) and an old tricycle. Looks like is is really old. Well right now they are both in my garages. sigh. Tanya says she is going to paint the chair and then I hope she takes it home. The bike I guess I'll have to live with unless someone steals it (I hope).Ha ha fat chance of that eh?
Oh well life is like that around my house.
Well guess I have to get ready and take the dog in, so I had better post this and get going. Have a great day and God Bless you all.

September 20, 2010

2010-09-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

Well it is still raining out this morning. Wendy is off to work and I am back from coffee. Only thing new about today was the coffee. Same old bull from same old guys. ha ha. All they seem to talk about is their old jobs and all their operations. Heard it all before. ha ha. Guess that is what old guys talk about . Huummm.

Well Last night Wendy and I went to church and heard our friend Darrell give his testimony. He did a real good job we both enjoyed it. It is always good to hear how other came to know Jesus. Hopefully some of the other guys were inspired and will give their testimony one of these day.I suppose that some day soon Pete will ask me too. Not sure mine will be as interesting as Darrell's but who knows.

Normally Pete and I meet every Monday at 11:30 for prayer but he is busy today so guess we are meeting on Wednesday. Tonight Wendy and I are driving up to Calgary after she finish's work to see our friend Anne who is in the hospital there. Anne is a lady that Wendy meets once a week and prays with.
Guess I should take out something for supper but Wendy said not to make anything for her so maybe I'll just fry up a green tomato from our garden and maybe a slice of ham or something.
Well guess I should go out in the garage and clean up but I think I'll have to fire up a heater as it is a bit cool out.
Just came across this picture and thought that it might get a laugh or 2. This was taken over a year ago before little Sophie was born. Tanya and I doing a BBQ at her house. Don't remember what we were cooking but looks like we were having fun. She sure is pretty eh??

Well I hope you all have a great day and God Bless you all.

September 19, 2010

2010-09-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

Well today was one of those Sunday when I was glad to see that it was Sunday but sad to find out that Wendy was not feeling well. I know she was really looking forward to going to church but guess God had other plans eh? Last Sunday she was working so that didn't work. This morning I didn't play on the worship team. I just felt that I should go and lead the prayer service before church . There was only 3 of us there so I am glad I went. The worship team was find with that and they did a great job of leading the congregation in song. The service was really good. Pastor preached on John 16. The topic was (in a little while.) Pastor Pete always does a great job with his sermons.
It was still raining this morning and then just after I got home from church it just poured. It will make it hard for the farmers to get their crops in unless it dries up soon. It is to wet for the Beet Farmers to dig their Sugar Beets. There is still a lot of grain that needs to be harvested.
Wendy made a great salad for lunch. She is such a sweetie. I sat down after lunch to watched a bit of TV and took and hour or so nap. Woke up just before the races ended. Then I watched a bit of football but the Edmonton team is not doing well this year, at the half they are loosing 26 to 7 sigh.
We are planning a men's breakfast for next Saturday morning at 8:30 am. Not sure what we will do yet. Scrambled eggs and bacon or Pancakes and sausages. I'll talk to my friends Art and Kevin and we will decide on one. I am going to call all the guys and hopefully we can get a lot of guys out. I looked up all the phone number last night. I find if you call them you get more guys out.
Maybe I should take the mower off my tractor and put the snow plow on but I still think it is a bit early.
Tuesday morning I am playing with Barry at the St Michel's senior home and then on Friday we play here in Butte at the senior hall.

Well I didn't post this yesterday but I should have.

September 15, 2010

2010-09-15T15:34:00.000-07:00

Ok Ok Guess I had better write something before I get thrown by the wayside eh?? For some reason I have just got out of the habit of doing my Blog. I guess I feel that (really who cares what I do today or tomorrow) and why would they want to read my Blog. I don't think it is interesting . So am I looking at it wrong?? I don't work and I don't have a lot of things going on in my life, so isn't it boring when I just write about what I did today ?? Like mow the lawn,go get bread at the bakery or do a little gig tonight for the seniors.

Ok here goes. Last night I sat home with our tired old dog and watched a bit of sports which was boring. Then I went down stairs and practiced on the Harmonica for a gig that we are doing tonight. We are playing for the next 3 night .Tonight we play at Black Rock Seniors home in Lethbridge and tomorrow we play at The Sunny South Seniors Home in Coaldale an then on Friday we play at Diamond Willow in Magrath. Next week we have a few more and one is here in Picture Butte for our Seniors Club, (Happy Old timers), nice name eh??? Then I chatted with A friend of Wendy's for a few minutes on face book chat line from the states. I have to make a CD for her of some of my music and send it to her. Oh wow I just remembered that today is Soup and sandwich at the club and it is 5 minutes to 12 now. Guess I'll have to write more later

Ok I'm back
Well went for lunch at the Seniors Club and enjoyed that. Stopped at the bakery and bought some bread. Wendy went to see a friend of hers this morning and hasn't gotten back yet. Then I went out and mowed my 4 lawns and the church lawn and did a bit of trimming. Came home and watched a bit of CSI Miami without falling asleep. Now I have to pack up my amp and Harmonica's and load them in my truck for tonight. I have to leave here about 6 and set up at Black Rock Seniors Home and be ready for Barry when he gets there. He said he might be a bit late so I am going to take my CD player with me just in case he doesn't make it, I at least will have a bit of backup music and will just play along with it until he get there.
I have to get my garage cleaned up in the next week or so because it looks like we might get some cold weather soon. sigh. Well if you read this fairly soon maybe just pray that I will be able to do a good job of playing tonight especially if Barry is late or can't make it. I haven't done a gig by myself in a long time. I think the last time I did one by myself was when Benny forgot his guitar in Edmonton and had to go from the north side to the south side to get it and I had to do the gig for about 3/4 of and hour before he got back. But things like that happen some time's .ha ha. It is funny thinking back but at the time it was a bit scary. Well I had better get going and get things packed up. Wendy is going to pick up 3 of our grandchildren in a little while for a sleepover. Not sure how much sleeping we get in but that is what they call it. Well I told you it would be boring but what can I say that has been my day. Hope you all have a great day and may God Bless you all.

July 31,2010

2010-07-31T16:18:00.000-07:00

Another month almost gone. Where does the time go.They seem to go quicker as I am getting older.
This morning there weren't to many guys for coffee. Guess most of them went away for the week end. Next week Eddie's where we go for coffee half of the time is closed so guess it will be Monday to Friday at the Cactus. The stories are usually the same just different guys telling it. Ha Ha.
Well after coffee this morning I loaded my little pick up with a bunch of branches and 6 or 7 bags of grass clipping and weed that Wendy and I have pulled from the gardens and took it to the dump. Came home and loaded more garbage and took some of the stuff in my garage and headed for the dump again. Then it was lunch time so had a sandwich and a good cup of tea. After lunch went out and mowed our back lawn and trimmed that up with the trimmer.

Then I just sat down on our swing and soaked up a bit of sun.Our back yard is really pretty now and with all the fountains running it is kind of nice to just sit and listen to them and watch the birds. They just love the fountains.Should go out an get some lettuce from our garden. We have lots right now. Maybe I'll make a nice salad. Wendy is working until 7 so she won't be home until 7:30. Not sure if she is going to want supper.
Well I'll try to show you some of the fountains. Have a great day and may God bless you all.

July 29,2010

2010-07-29T18:58:00.000-07:00

Today has been a bit busy but I am enjoying it. First thing this morning I went for coffee with the guys. Then I went to the Home Hardware store and bought a spray can of bright yellow paint. We have a side walk that has lifted over the years right in front of the door at the church and people are tripping over it. Mostly women, I guess the men are high steppers eh? Maybe most of the women are looking to see who is at church and the men are looking where they are going. Ha Ha. Well I had better get off this subject before it bites me eh? Anyway we have a pretty yellow strip there now.

This afternoon me and my dog went out back and pulled some weeds out of the garden. If I could just get that silly dog to pull weeds. She just follows me around. She is losing her eye sight and she can't see the screen door because she walks right into the screen. She is getting old like me. Our flowers are beautiful and my black hollyhocks are in full bloom. Actually I think they are a real dark purple but they look black to me. I have to post a picture of them. Well then I went and sat in the sun for a few minutes and listened to some music. We are playing next Thursday morning at St Michael's Lodge in Lethbridge and they want just instrumental music.

Then I went into the garage and straightened up a a few things and cleaned up a bit .Then went down to the new shed and rearranged some of the bikes to make more room but that didn't work. I was going to water the flowers but we have a water ban on here in Picture Butte so thought I had better wait.

I came down here in the basement to blog and talked to my daughter Kristy in England for a while then realized it was getting late and still hadn't started supper. Went upstairs just as Wendy got home but I don't think she will fire me. Went looking for some marinade for the chicken and couldn't find any so had to make my own. It turned out really good. We had BBQ ed chicken and corn on the cob. We had supper in our sun room and watched all the little birdies going in and out of our 4 fountains. The birds just love them and the dog too. She thinks they are drinking fountains
.
Well guess I had better end this it is getting too long.
God Bless you all and have a great day.

July 28.2010

2010-07-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

Well I guess it time to Blog again. A lot of people seem to read it so maybe I should be more faithful in writing it.

Ok where do I start? Well it has been a busy summer so far and it looks like I am going to be just as busy come fall. I finally got my metal shed up about 3 weeks ago. Wendy was off and offered to help and the day was real calm. It took the two of us from 1pm until 10:30pm I think it was. We were using a flashlight so decided to call it a day.That sure was a lot of work and I couldn't have done it with out Wendy.
I have been busy at the church a bit doing the odd thing now and then. I mow the lawn every week and the other day I cleaned up behind a shed that we have out in the back of the parking lot. Our little church is growing slow but sure.The people are a real nice bunch. It is like one big family. They really make you feel welcome. I have been playing my Harmonica with the worship team most Sundays. Our worship team is a real great bunch and I really enjoy playing with them.
Wendy and I have been busy with the grand-kids lately. They are a lot of fun but they do keep you busy. Espicailly the 2 1/2 and 4 and 6 year old. They are so full of energy and questions but we love them all. Tanya and Tom went to Edmonton last weekend and we had Adriana (13) Kellen (4) and Isabella (2 1/2) for the week end. Kellen and Isabella want to mow the lawn at least twice a day just to ride on Pa Pa's tractor. The other day Kellen and I were mowing the church lawn and all of a sudden he says Papa stop for a minute. So I stopped and he was looking down and saw the little picture with the tractor and a man and a kid on it with a big X threw it. He said Papa maybe we shouldn't be doing this.(he meant riding on the tractor) so I said yes maybe your right guess you had better ge off. He quickly put his foot over the sigh and said Well maybe I didn't see this yet. No way did he want to get off. So cute.
Well my back yard seems to keep me busy with all the flowers and my garden is really coming along fine but I think sometimes the weeds grow faster than the plants. ha ha.
Last night Wendy went to Tanya's and stayed with the kids because Tom and Tanya went to Calgary with a friend and probably won't get back until late tonight. Wendy doesn't mind and love to be with the kids anyway.They all just love Gram. I had to play this afternoon in Cardston with Barry. I met him at his place about 12:30 and then we took his car loaded with all the equipment to Cardston. It took us about an hour and 15 minutes to get there and then we had to set up and play at 2:30 for a birthday party at a Seniors home.There was about 30 maybe 35 people there and they didn't want us to quit after and hour but the staff was ready with cake and ice cream so we played for another 10 minutes and stopped. Didn't want to make the staff mad.

Well, Wendy just called and said she is on her way home so I had better end this and go up stairs and get the dishes done eh? After supper I watered the garden and flowers and then came down and was on face book for a while. I was talking to my friend George's wife Judy on face book and she said George was wondering why I hadn't blogged for a while. Guess I didn't realize so many people read my blog. He was the third one that wanted to know why I hadn't been blogging. Guess I had better blog more often eh?
Well I will try to keep this thing up to date more. Hey don't forget I said try!
Well have a great day and remember God love you all.May God bless you all.

May 27th.2010

2010-05-27T14:41:00.001-07:00

Today is a real rainy day. I guess we do need the moisture and it is pretty dry. Well lets see where do I start? Last week end on Friday evening Tanya and I and the kids drove to Southern Alberta Bible Camp. It was a first for me and the kids but I think Tanya has been there once before with a ladies group. We arrived about 7:30 and registered and unloaded the car. It was pretty well packed. They gave me a room in the lodge and Tanya and the kids had a cabin. The cabins will sleep 10 but they had it all to their selves. They are heated and have lights so it was real nice. My room in the lodge was really nice. It had a queen size bed and I had my own bathroom with a tub and shower. We went to the service that evening and then packed it in after a snack in the dinning room. The food for the week end was just great.We had breakfast on Saturday and then we went to the service. They had a program for the kids and they all liked that. We had about 68 kids there. Most of our church family were there for the weekend. I think it was about 7 couples and then Tanya and I and a couple of single ladies . Some other people came on Sunday for church. It was a real enjoyable time for every one. Our kids had a blast Adrie and Mellisa (Art and Liz daughter) got along fine and spent a lot of time together.Eri and the rest of the kids were busy playing all week end. Amie climbed the climbing wall about or 6 times and went right to the top. I believe we all had a great time and the kids didn't want to go home. (Figures)
I have been a bit busy around the house and yard. Rototilled the garden and planted some tomatoes and pepper plants. I planted Wendy bulbs and she had some plants that I planted too. I mowed the lawn and did the church also. I closed in our deck with some while plastic lattus and that looks really nice and will keep the cats and the dog from going under it. I had to crawl under and screw some boards underneith to attach the lattus to. The next day I was a bit stiff but not to bad.On Wed. evening I went to the Seniors club and took the test for a boat permit. This year it is mandatory that every one has to have if you use a motorized craft of any kind. 4 of the guys that I have coffee with also took it and we all got our cards. It cost $80 but is a one time thing.

Today I went to Pastor Pete and Mary's for lunch . Cleaned the house and did a wash and then went to Lethbrige and picked up Kellen and Amie. We are invited out tonight with Travis to the restaurant next to the Bakery on main street at 5:30pm. Not sure what it is called. Sure will be glad when Wendy gets back. I am not big on doing the laundary but rand out of socks, jeans, and underwear. Sure do miss my beautiful wife. She is coming home on Tuesday. She arrives on Tuesday morning at 9:30am.
Well guess that it for now . God Bless you all and have a great week end.

May 15, 2010

2010-05-15T06:11:00.000-07:00

Well here it is Saturday May 15th. 7am. in the morning and I am blogging. What's wrong here?? ha ha. I have been going to blog but seems I always find something else to do. sigh.

Well as you all know Wendy is in Chile with Mandy and Jorge. I hope you all get time or take the time to read Wendy's blog. It's a long one but worth reading about their trip to Chile. I sure do miss her. Oh well it only for 2 more weeks.

I have been busy doing lots of things around here. I have the base for my new shed all finished and today I am going to put the plywood down on the base for the floor. Then I will be ready to put up the walls. It is an aluminum shed so I'll have to do it on a nice day when there is no wind.

I have been busy putting the base to the shed together. I cut down one of our trees that the wind blew over. That took me almost a day and then I had to take it to the dump. It only took 2 trips. I mowed our lawn and the church lawn. I find I really enjoy using my little lawn tractor.

The guy I used to play music with went with another band for a while but called me the other day and wanted to get back together and play again. Guess the band didn't work out for him. On Wednesday I went with him and we played in Cardston about an hour and a half from here. We played at 2 pm.until 3:30 then packed everything up and went to Magraft and played there from 7 to 8:30 pm. I didn't get home until 10 pm. so it made a long day for me. I really enjoyed it and it was fun to get back into playing again. I was a bit rusty but didn't miss to many notes and hopefully I covered up the ones I did miss. The people seemed to enjoy our music so that was good.

On Thursday I worked around here in the yard and then in the afternoon went to watch my granddaughter Erylin play soccer. She sure is cute and did a real good job playing..

Yesterday I trimmed up the lawns and and then went to lunch with my son in law Tom. He gave me a tour of the place he works. The Mirical Channel in Lethbridge. We went to the Guest House for lunch and as usual I ate too much. But it was really good. Then I came home and Barry called and wanted me to go with him to Lethbridge and talk to a lady at the Lethbridge Senior Center about doing a gig there for June 30th. So off to Lethbridge again I went and we met and talked to her and we got the job. It is playing at the center for a dance they are planning for the 30th of June. We will play from 8 to 11pm. This may lead to more jobs there I hope.
Next Friday I will be playing here at the Lodge here in Picture Butte at 2 pm and then Tanya and the kids and I are going to family came with our church. Tom can't go. It should be lots of fun and I think the kids will really enjoy it. Most of our church family is going . Sounds like fun.

Well today I am going to put the floor down on the shed and then maybe do a little fishing right here in the lake. I have a brand new smoker that I have never used. Wendy and the kids bought it for me a couple of years ago and it has been sitting on a shelf in the shed. Now all I have to do is catch some fish. haha.

Well I should go for coffee and then get some work done. I am playing on the worship team on Sunday at the church and that will be fun. I haven't played for a few weeks now so it will be fun to do again.
Have a great day and my God Bless you all.

May 6. 2010

2010-05-06T06:27:00.000-07:00

Well here it is May 6 and we have snow on the ground again. Is it never gonna end??? I was hoping for some nice spring weather. We have had some real strong winds that blew a lot of trees over. I have 2 big Spruce trees that are now at a 30% angle. I will have to cut them down for sure. They were about 25 to 30 feet tall. It has been wet and nasty for the last 4 days and this morning more snow. They are saying that it should stop today. So much for the sunny South eh?
This morning I am going to take the van into the Browers Brothers garage and have Wayne check it out. We will need it for Sunday when I take Wendy, Mandy and the 2 boys to the airport in Calgary. They are talking about 8 suit cases so I need the Van for sure.I might even need someone else to take some if I can't get them all in. It's only a 2 and a half hour drive to Calgary. I think it is going to be real quite around here for a few weeks. Just me and the dog and she don't say much.I guess I can turn up the TV,Radio, and my amp. Don't think I will get too many complaints except for the neighbors. Don't worry I'll keep it at a nice loud low.
I guess I should have lots of time to practice my music eh? I guess the guy I used to play with has found another band to play with. Sigh. Maybe i should start looking around to see who else is out there that likes Harmoica music eh? Oh well it was fun while it lasted. I sure do miss the gang from Edmonton. I have a son in-law that plays a mean guitar but he is usually quite busy and with his work, 6 kids and he plays on the worship team at his church, he probably doesn't have a lot of free time on his hands. Well guess I'll just pray about it and I'm sure God will find something for me to do anyway.
Well while Wendy is gone I have lots of things that I would like to get done so guess I won't be sitting around to much. I will be busy at the church and not to forget the coffee hours and I'll have to go into Lethbridge to see Tanya,Tom and the 6 little one. Im sure I will be busy for sure once this silly weather straightens up. I might even fine a few fishing day in while she is gone. Matty likes to go to the lake and run around while I fish.
Well it is getting late and I got lots to do today so guess I should get started. Have a great day and God Bless you all.

Saturday. April 24th,2010

2010-04-24T15:40:00.000-07:00

Well I guess it is about time to blog again eh? I was going to do it the other day but got sidetracked. I had to drive to Calgary on Wed. for a doctors appointment at the Holy Cross Cancer Hospital and then on Thursday I drove Jorge to the air port in Calgary so 2 trips in 2 days. Getting lots of miles on me eh?
This morning it was real cloudy and windy. Well it not so cloudy now but still windy. Wendy and Mandy went to Tanya and Tom's so I finished loading the truck with branches. Yesterday I cut some branches off the tree's at the church and still had them in my truck.

As I was raking all 3 of our lawns in the back I had to sit down a few times and take a rest. While I was sitting there I was thinking that it is almost to much of a job for me. Then I remembered how beautiful it is out here when every thing is in bloom and I just love it. It is a lot of work and I do have to sit down and rest but it keeps me busy and most of the time it is fun and I enjoy it.

Yesterday I trimmed 2 of the trees by the church and then mowed the lawn. Trimming and raking wasn't to much fun but mowing the lawn was and when I finished it really looked nice. After I finished that I came home and put together a metal floor frame for my new Aluminum 10' x 10' shed. There was 35 pcs and over 100 bolts. I think it will take me a while to put the shed together. I was just reading the instructions and parts lists. It has 106 pcs. and 437 bolts and screws. Won't do that in a day eh? Oh well that will be a good project for when Wendy goes to Chile for 3 weeks.

Today I mowed all 3 lawns out back and then did the front one as well. It's a lot of work but better than sitting and watching the TV all day and more fun than blogging. Ha ha.

Sure do miss Jorge already. He has a big job ahead of him but I am sure God will be there for him. It will be tough without Mandy and the kids for 2 weeks. Come to think about it I will be without Wendy for 3 weeks and I think that will be tough to. I hope Tanya and Tom don't get sick of me hanging around to often.
Well I guess that's about all I can think of to write at the moment so I pray that you will all have a great day. I thank God every day for you all. May God Bless you all.

April 16, 2010

2010-04-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

We have had a real busy week around here and it doesn't look like it is going to slow down this week either. April 13,Tuesday,I had a seniors breakfast at 8 am. then a quick coffee at Eddies with the guys and came home an found CTV in my living room doing and interview with Mandy and Jorge. Little Levi seem to be the star in all that. It just seems that we have been so busy. I have been working on my deck and on Saturday I put the 2x6's on the deck. On Sunday Mandy and Jorge had little Levi dedicated at the church. I played on the worship team and after church Tanya, Tom and all the little's came for lunch. Then in the evening Jorge did a information night at the church and explained about the earthquake in Chile and showed some pictures. Than right after that everyone headed for the gym as the ladies had a baby shower for Mandy and Levi. The guys went to another room and I led the Men's meeting that we have every Sunday evening.

Then Monday I cut and routed out 2 more 4x4's for post for the deck. I cut and made some spindle for the deck. Tuesday was another busy day with interviews for Mandy and Jorge I believe it was Sunny South News and Jorge met with Global news in Iron Springs and did another interview. I helped pastor Peter with the boys at the church. We have floor hockey for the boys in the community. We only had about 12 boys out because it was snowing an blowing. Normally we get about 18 to 20 boys out every Tuesday afternoon.

Wednesday morning we woke up and had no power because we had a real bad storm on Tuesday evening. We lost power about 3:30am. that morning. We had real heavy snow and lots of wind and it blew over many telephone and light poles. We got up and made breakfast down stairs using our gas stove to boil water and make pancakes. Wendy lit the oven and we used that for heat for a while. It kept the house nice and warm. We got electric back on about 3 that afternoon. Some of the people in Iron springs still don't have electric and they are saying maybe a few more days before they will get all the poles fixed. The snow was so heavy you couldn't shovel it. The roads weren't too bad and I had to go into Lethbridge for an interview with the Immigration dept for my permanent resident card and they said DO NOT MISS THIS INTERVIEW but when I got there the office was closed because that end of the city had no power. Go figure. I just left a note saying that I was there and came home.

Thursday was a bit slower day and I worked on the deck some more and put up some of the railing. Friday I finished the railing and then went to the school for a Chilean Chili supper put on by The Huntsville and Sunny Side schools to raise money to help build some new homes for the people at Jorge and Mandy's church in Yumbel.

Today is Saturday and Mandy and Jorge have gone to Calgary to get little Levi's passport and then they are headed to Lacombe where they will stay overnight and then go to Edmonton tomorrow.

Oh yesterday after waiting for 3 weeks I got a call from the Holy Cross Cancer hospital and I have to be there Wednesday the 21st at 9:30 am. for an appointment. They want to try to find out if I have to start Radiation treatments in Calgary or if I can wait until June when the new clinic is opening here in Lethbridge.

I got a phone call yesterday afternoon and now have a new appointment for my resident card on Tuesday the 20th at 10 am.

Then on April 22nd we have to drive back to Calgary to take Jorge to the airport. He is going back to Chile and then Mandy and Wendy and the two boys are flying out on May 9th. Wendy is going to help Mandy with the 2 boys and stay for about 3 weeks. Guess it will be pretty quiet around here for a while until she gets back. I hope to get lots of little projects done around here and that will keep me busy while she is gone. Well today I am going to repair the stairs for the deck. I am using the ones that were by the back door and they need a bit of TLC.

Wendy has a doctors appointment this morning at 11:30. Guess we will be headed to Lethbridge soon.

Have a great day and may God Bless you all.

April 6, 2010

2010-04-06T12:21:00.000-07:00

Well we have a new little grand-son. Levi Jorge Santana was born yesterday at 10:21 am.and weighed in at 7lbs-14ozs. Looks just like his brother Josiah.

We have had a busy few weeks.Mandy and Jorge and little Josiah flew in to Calgary on the 25th of March. Wendy's sister and her 2 children arrived here on the 26th and stayed until yesterday around 11 then left and headed back to Edmonton. Our niece Samantha (Cynthia's daughter)drove down on 31st. So we had a house full of people. We were a little tight on sleeping quarters but with air mattress we survived. We all had a great time visiting and talking about old time's as usual. Seems like that is what we do when we all get together. Wendy and Mandy and the girls played a few games and Josiah, Andrew. Jorge and I watched the Incredibles lots of time. As usual when we all get together we had lots and lots of real good food. I think I gained a few pounds but things like that happen when your having fun eh?

Then early yesterday morning Mandy went into labor and little Levi was born at 10:21a.m. They are coming home in a little while. Mandy just called and said they were packing up and coming home. Little Levi sure is cute. We have been praying that he would come a bit early so Jorge could spend some time with him before he goes back. He is flying back to Chile on the 25 or 26 I think and then Mandy and the 2 little ones are flying back on May 9th. Wendy is flying back with Mandy and the 2 boys and will stay there for 2 weeks. I thought of going with them but with money being a bit tight and then I would have to put the dog in the dog pound(another $300) plus I am waiting for the doctor and hope to find out when I have to go for the radiation treatments. I have lots of things that should be done around here so it is just as well.

We had a great church service on Good Friday and again on Sunday. We have the greatest church family. They are all so nice it makes you want to go to church more often. I still can't get over how supportive they are to my family. Just a lovely bunch of people wit a real heart for God.

Well guess I should go do something. I have a new shed to put up and a small deck and stairs on my new sun room to build and here I set at this stupid old computer. Know the feeling??????

Well that is my story for today and I am sticking with it. May God truly Bless you all today.

March 9, 2010 Tuesday

2010-03-09T10:48:00.000-08:00

Today has been a day of trying to make plans for flights to and from Chile. Mandy and Josiah and Jorge are now planning to fly here to Canada next week or the the week after. The reason for that decision is because the hospitals in Conception are now in a bad state. There is only one that is up and running and it still doesn't have running water and is at the moment very overcrowded. There are a lot of people that need attention from the Quake and also the aftershocks. As you already know that Mandy and Jorge and Josiah are all fine and were not hurt in the Quake. Their house has a bit of damage but is still livable. The church however is not safe to meet in so they are meeting outside the church or in other homes. There are some people from the church that have lost almost everything but most seem to have only had small damage. They were running low on food but now have the electric and the water back on. The police are patrolling and there is a curfew at 8 pm. We are looking forward to have them home with us for about a month and we are looking forward to our new little grandson coming.

This morning it is snowing just a little bit again.
This afternoon I should go to the church and help Peter with the boy's. Tuesday afternoons we have floor hockey for the boy and so far it is working out real well and there is about 9 or 10 boys every week.

We had our first meeting Sunday evening for the men's group. We only had only 6 men out but are looking for more men to show up this Sunday evening.
We are doing a study on(The Measure of A Man). I am really looking forward to this study.

Tonight Wendy is going to stop at Tanya's and pick up 2 or 3 of the girls for a sleepover. We really enjoy having them over. They are real sweethearts.

This past Sunday I played with the worship team. There were 10 of us. They are such a great group to work and play with. They all seem to love leading the church in song and it is lots of fun. We had about 50 people in church plus the 10 of us on stage. Well I should go get something to eat as it is getting late. I pray that you will all have a great day. God Bless you all.

Feb. 26 ,2010

2010-02-26T07:09:00.000-08:00

Wow where did the time go?? It has been almost a whole month since I blogged. Sorry. It just seems that I don't have time but I haven't been that busy so really what is my excuse?? I think that I just get out of the habit or I'm just getting to old to remember to go to the Blog site. I do read lots of other blogs and check many quite often only to find that they didn't blog either. ha ha.
Well this month I did put down a new laminate floor down in our bedroom and it really looks nice.I also finished the trim around the opening that leads to our sun room. I had to make a cover for the heat register because I couldn't buy one that size. I really missed not going into our sun room for a few weeks as we had our bed and the furniture from our bed room in there while I did the floor.
Well I have to leave right now because I don't want to be late for coffee with the guys. Wendy just got home and is sleeping so I am trying to keep the noise level down and hopefully she will get a good sleep because she has to go back to work at 4 this afternoon. The blog can wait but Coffee? I don't think so! I'm out of here for a few hours . Will write more when I get back.

February 27,2010

Well as you can see I didn't get back in time to write more because while I was out and after coffee I went into Lethbridge to do a bit of shopping, Tanya my daughter called and ask if I could take 3 of her little ones for the afternoon because she had to go to Calgary to get her passport. I picked them up and we had a busy afternoon here at my house.Wendy went to work at 4pm so I had the kids until about 9:30pm.
This morning we slept in until about 8am. our pastor called to see if we had heard from Mandy and Jorge about the earthquake in Chile.
We have tried all day but have not heard from them yet. All phones and computers seem to be all down. We have had many of our friends call to ask about them and tell us that they are praying for Mandy, Jorge and Josiah. Mandy and Jorge are about 60miles or 100 klms. in Yumbal which is South East of Conception. Jorge's family all live in Conception and of course we haven't heard anything from any of them. It is not fun just sitting and waiting to hear from them but we know that God is with them. We are praying that we will be able to contact the soon.
I just want to thank everyone who is praying for them.What a great bunch of friends we have. Thankg you Lord for them all.

Jan.30,2010

2010-01-30T05:10:00.000-08:00

Well here it is the end of the month and my beautiful wife sort of made me feel a bit guilty for not blogging lately. She is probably right I don't blog often enough but you have to remember that I'm retired,Old and forgetful. So because I am retired I don't have a schedule and because I'm old I don't always remember that I should blog. Oh well you get the idea eh??
Well lets see? The weather here has not been to bad lately but it has been a bit cold. We have very little snow right now but they say that we are due for some more. sigh. If it snows now I am ready for it. Got my tractor with the chains and the plow just setting inside of the garage door ready and waiting.

Today I am going to take the carpet in our bedroom up and put laminate flooring down. Well it will probably take me a while to do that so it won't be done in a day. More like a week or more. Wendy and I moved everything out of the bedroom yesterday and took the bed frame apart so I can cut it down. It is a bit to high now that we are getting older. ha ha. So that will be what will keep me busy for a while.

Wendy and I have been working at our Church a bit lately. She has been fixing up and organizing the Library in the church and I have been doing odd little repairs around the church like putting hinges on a cabinet door, wiping down all the pews and putting furniture polish on them. They really look good and probably haven't been done in a while. I took the light fixture covers down in the library and cleaned them all up. It's a cute little church and I am enjoying doing some of the little things around there. Next week on Saturday morning we are planning a Men's breakfast. The Pastor and I are going to do the cooking. It will be our first Mens meeting so not sure how many men will come. I'm hoping 10 to 15 guys will show up.
Well on Thursday evening Barry and I played at the Picture Butte Senior Center from 7:15 until 8:30pm. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it and it was a lot of fun for us.

Today I am going to meet Tanya, Tom and Wendy and we are going to look at a house that they are thinking of buying. I'm excited for them. Well that about it for today. Hope you all have a great week. My brother in law in France, Derrick says that they have lots of snow over there and they haven't had snow like this for years. Sorry Derrick. I have a brother in law in North Carolina Bryan who just had a back operation and is healing well I hope.
Well it is almost coffee time and I wouldn't want to keep the guys waiting eh?? We only try to solve half the worlds problem in the morning and then in the afternoon we solve the other half. ha ha. Have a great day and God Bless you all.

Jan.14, 2010

2010-01-14T17:56:00.000-08:00

We here I am again. Wendy just went to work and I have to do something to keep my mind busy. I haven't been feeling the greatest lately and don't really know why. Just feel over tired, no ambition and if I do go out and walk or something I am done in right away. Must be getting old I guess. Oh well I'll probably live until I die.
Today Wendy and I walked down to the church which is only a half a block away, There are 2 houses between us and the church so it ain't far. Wendy is trying to set up a Library with the books that are there. We were only there for about 2 hours and then we came home and had lunch. Then I read my bible and answered a few e-mails and watched TV with all the news about Haiti. My heart sure goes out to those people. With the pictures you see on TV there is not many if any houses standing. I just pray that aid will arrive as soon as possible and that God will give the people peace and courage to survive this great disaster.It sure makes you feel helpless.
Well looking on the bright side of things. Yesterday and Today I had the privilege of delivering Meals on Wheels to 2 people here in Picture. It only took me about 15 minutes. Both of the people are not able to get around much and they both have walkers. I am happy that we have this service for people that live here in Picture Butte.
I received an e-mail from my friend Bruce who preached at the Hope Mission on Tuesday evening and there were 10 or 12 guys that raised their hand to receive God in their lives. Good job Bruce. Keep up the good work. Pastor Peter and I have been talking about starting up a Men's group and I hope that we can get that going soon. We are having a Pot Luck Lunch on Sunday at our church right after service. I am looking forward to getting to know some of the people better.
Our weather has changed and we are having some real mild weather for a change. I got my new snow blade for my garden tractor on Tuesday and it took me almost all day Wednesday to get it put on. It works much easier than I thought it would and I really like it. Now all I have to do is wait for it to snow again. Come on snow I'm ready for you. haha.
Well it is almost 8 pm. and Wendy won't be home until 7:30 tomorrow morning. Have a great day and may God Bless you all.

Monday Jan. 4, 2010

2010-01-04T14:44:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone. So where did 2009 go and how quickly it went past. They say time flies when you are having fun. We must have had fun right? Well here it is 2010 and I never thought that I would be around to see it. Like my friend Bill says (If I had known that I was going to live this long I would have taken better care of myself).
We have had a lot of fun this past year and met a lot of nice people. I really enjoyed building our sun room and thanks God for giving me good health so I could complete it. We have had our up's and down's but there were more up's than down for sure. Some of our downs could be called up's if we look at them properly. Are you confused yet ??? I am. sigh.
Last year my son in law Bob's grandpa passed away and it brought him home here in July and then Kristy flew home for a few weeks so though it was sad for Bob we did get to see him and Kristy because of it, so out of something bad came something good. Then one of our best friends, Dagmar Tjart in Edmonton passed away. We went to Edmonton for her memorial service and while we were there we got to meet many old friends that we hadn't seen in a long time who came to the service. So again out of something sad something good came because of it. A lot of people will surely miss her and her pleasant smile. I pray daily for her husband Dave as he continues life with out her.
Our daughter Mandy and her husband Jorge and their little son Josiah moved back in with us in early summer. That gave us a bit of time to spend with them until Jorge got a job as a Pastor in Yumbel Chile. They are expecting a new little one in April.
We got a new addition to ur family 3 months ago when our little grand daughter Sophia came. What a blessing and a cutie she is to the Lister family and ours.
We started going to the E-Free Church right here in Picture Butte and are really enjoying it. We have met and become friends with so many nice people. I have been playing on the worship team for the past couple of months and that is a lot of fun.
I have been playing harmonica with my friend Barry Kreick. I really enjoy playing with him. He calls us The Runaway Rascals. This has kept me pretty busy and like I said I am really enjoying it.
We had a great summer and a few great BBQ's with all of us getting together. We have made some real good improvements in our flower garden with Jorge's help. I have enjoyed mowing our lawns with my new garden tractor with the 42 inch mower. Wendy bought me a 48" snow blade and tire chains for it and they should be in next week. Then I will be able to move some of this silly snow away eh? We got to go camping,fishing and took a trip to Halifax Nova Scotia and stayed with our good friends Bob and Lynne Dorland who we haven't seen in about 5 years. We had a great time with them for 3 weeks. What a wonderful couple they are and it was so good to spend time with them.
Well I pray that God will Bless you all this new year (2010) and may it be a wonderful year for you all.

Dec. 28,2009

2009-12-28T20:50:00.001-08:00

Well we had a great Christmas with Tanya,Tom and the kids. They all came over Christmas eve and stayed until Saturday evening. Tom had to play on the worship team at UDAC. The kids enjoyed it and we had a ball. I got a nice pair of driving gloves and I needed them and I got 2 boxes of Chocolate covered Cherries and 2 pkgs of gum drops and some other candy. The kids had a ball opening up the presents. We have our Christmas tree in our new sun room and it was fun just to watch the looks on the kid's faces when they opened the presents. They sure are a cute bunch.
Adriana is getting to be such a beautiful young lady. She is taller than her mom already. They each have their own way about them and they try to help each other but sometime they try to help too much especially when it comes to opening presents. ha ha. Wendy got a book and I think a CD. We had a big turkey and all the trimmings and as usual I ate too much.
After the kids went home we cleaned up the house and got ready for bed.
Sunday I had to go to church at 9:30 because I played on the worship team. Then we had Berry and his wife Gwen over for supper. We had roast beef, potatoe salad, mash potatoes and I made a vegee plater and after dinner we had Cherry and Blue berry cheese pie that Wendy made.
It is more like a cheese cake but it is a pie. Not sure what all goes into it but it is really good.
Well today I went for coffee and then a friend came over and visited for a while. After he left Wendy and I hung around the house and we watched a bit of LOST before she went to work this afternoon.
Well God bless you all and have a great day.

Dec.16,2009

2009-12-16T05:40:00.000-08:00

Wow only 9 more days until Christmas. This year is sure coming to an end fast. Maybe it just seems fast when we stay busy eh?? I have been busy playing my Harmonica with Barry (The Runaway Rascals)that's what he calls us. He used to call himself (Runaway) and now that I have joined him he calls us the Runaway Rascals. We played at Claresholm on Saturday and last night we played at Golden Acres and tonight we play at The Heritage House in Lethbridge. On Friday we play at Tabor and hopefully that's the end for this year.
Tanya ,Tom and the kids are coming over for a sleepover on Christmas eve so that should be lots of fun. Sounds like we will have a busy household for a few days eh? It is always good to have family around the holidays. Guess I had better go shopping for a big turkey and everything else we will need for the dinner. Wendy is off this year so that will be good.
Kristy and Bob will be celebrating Christmas in South Africa and Mandy and Jorge and little Josiah will be celebrating their Christmas with Jorge family in Chile this year.
We will be at our church Christmas Eve for the service. We are attending The E-Free Church here in Picture Butte and we are really enjoying it. The church family is just a great group of people. Wendy and I are really looking forward to this coming year and hopefully becoming more involved at the church.
Our weather is warming up and that's a good thing. The minus 35's and 40's are the pits. When it is that cold it is really not fun out. Nothing wants to work at that temperature including me. Truck didn't start and the trip on my garage door broke(only plastic) must have been a little ice under the door I guess so I'll have to get that fixed so I can open the door.
It sure is quiet around here since the kids went back to Chile. We had a couple of the grand-kids over for a sleep over the other day and that was fun. With Wendy working 12 hour shifts and just me and the dog here (and she don't talk) it is really quiet.
Well today Wendy has to work at 11 am, I should go for coffee with the guys and then I have a chair that our pastor brought over that needs fixing. That should keep me busy until I go play tonight.

Well that's my story and I am sticking to it. God Bless you all and have a great day.
Love you all.

Tuesday evening.

2009-12-08T20:07:00.000-08:00

Here it is Tuesday evening already. Where does the time go eh?? Today was a bit of a busy day as usual with a bit of a cold touch to it. This morning when I got up about 6:30am it was -39C outside with a -51C chill factor. Not exactly what you would call warm eh? My poor truck wouldn't start yesterday and it was only -36C sigh. I think the battery is old and near dead. Oh well another $100 for sure. I plugged in the block heater today but didn't bother to try it. Let it set as it's to cold to go anywhere anyway.
Today after coffee I came home and put the little heater I have in the garage on and put some tools in my tool box for this afternoon. Mum was sleeping so I tried to be as quiet as I could. Then at 1pm I went to the United Church and got my H1N1 flu shot. Then went to our church and unloaded the tools.Then came home and changed coat and ripped a couple of pieces of flooring and then walked back to the church and we fixed a couple of doorways. I have to go back tomorrow and finish them up but had to wait until the glue dried before we can put the top part on. Wendy went and got her shot too. At first we were thinking not to get the H1N1 but then Wendy and I decided to do it because of the grand kids. So far my arm isn't even sore. Well we will have to see what tomorrow brings. It has been really too cold to do anything outside. The warmest it got today was -26C. Even the poor dog doesn't want to go out and if she does it ain't for long and she is back at the door.
Wendy and I had supper and then thought that we should watch the last episode of LOST. Wendy ordered the new season. While we were watching we got a phone call from Mryia and she called to tell us the our old friend Bob Cook passed away today about 6 pm.Not sure just how old he was but I think in the middle 80's. We just saw him a couple of weeks ago when we were in Edmonton at Dagmar Tjarts service and we had breakfast with the seniors and Bob and Phyllis were there at A&W and we chatted for a while.
Yesterday I shoveled a bit of snow off of my truck and Pete our Pastor came and helped me. I opened the garage door and when it closed it must have had a bit of ice under it and the trip catch broke off so I'll have to get that fixed. Right now it won't open but it is too cold to open it any way. I should have know better. When it is -36C nothing want to work anyway. Oh well it shouldn't cost to much it is only a small plastic part. I just have to find out where I have to go to get the part.
Wendy made bread yesterday before she went to work so we have lots of bread in our freeze again. This afternoon she made a real good stew. It is always good to have a good big bowl of hot stew after being outside in this kind of weather.
Today I was praying for our daughter Kristy in South Africa . She was graduating tonight at her Bible school at the YWAM. Well it time to hit the old hay so they say. Have a good night.
God Bless you all.

Dec. 1,2009

2009-12-01T20:33:00.000-08:00

Well here I am again blogging. Yesterday was a busy day for me as usual. When Wendy is working I go for coffee at about 8:30 am. I went to Home Hardware and bought a piece of glass and some bird feed. Came home and built a bird feeder. It came out right nice if I must say so myself. About 12:00 I made some lunch and then cleaned up the mess I made in the garage. At 2 pm. I went to the Curling rink and Curled with the guys until 4:00pm. After curling we all go upstairs at the rink and have coffee again. I rushed home at 4:30pm. showered and changed my clothes and loaded my Harmonicas and stand in the truck and headed to Coadale . It was snowing a bit so I had to drive a bit slow. I met Barry in Coldale and then put my equipment in his van and we headed to Tabor. That is about 40 minutes from Coldale. We had to drive pretty slow as the snow was really coming down. I was praying that it would stop snowing while we were playing and it did just that. We played for about 55 to 60 people and they all seemed to enjoy it. Many of them took the time to shake our hands and tell us that they enjoyed the music.They were all curious about the Chromatic and most of them have never heard the Chromatic played. They all expected me to play one of the diatonic harmonicas( the small ones) We finished and we drove back to Coldale and then I drove home to Picture Butte. The roads were not the greatest and I could only go about 60klms.as the snow had stopped but the roads were a bit wet and it was freezing and they were really slippery.I got home about 10:30. and I watched the end of a movie that Wendy was watching. Then it was off to bed.
This morning I had tea and breakfast at home with Wendy and then went to UFA and dropped off a check and then went to the Seniors center and as I was supposed to help a fellow move some chairs and table around. I don't know why they asked me to help because some else had already moved them.sigh. I had to pick up 2 tickets for the Seniors Christmas party on the 4th.(This coming Friday). This will be the second time we went to this. They serve a full course sit down Christmas dinner with all the trimmings and they have a band that will be playing music. They really do it up nice.
I came home and put the plates on the Mandy and Jorge's Van and we went into Lethbridge as we had to drive the van in to show a fellow who is interested in buying it. He is going to talk to his wife and call us tomorrow.(We Hope). Then we went shopping at Wall-mart and then drove over to Tanya and visited with her and the kids. Tom was at work. We brought Adriana and Erylin home with us and they are staying over tonight. Wendy made supper and then we all went over to the church as they were decorating for Christmas. Wendy and the girls were busy decorating a tree and they didn't seem to need me so I came home and did the supper dishes.
Well that's all for today.
God Bless you all.

Friday November 27, 2009

2009-11-27T06:45:00.000-08:00

Well here it is the 27th. of November and the weather is about to turn to winter by the looks of it and according to the weather channel on TV. It is snowing very lightly right now.
Yesterday was a real busy day for me.Wendy was up about 5:30am. and left for work about 6:20. She had to be there by 7 am. After she left I took out the garbage and some stuff that Wendy and Tanya had put at the bottom of our stairs. They were busy the day before cleaning and sorting downstairs. Some of the stuff is going to good will. Mandy had left some that she couldn't take or didn't want so Tanya and Wendy put it into containers .
I went over to our Pastor house and put his garbage out on the sidewalk because they have gone away for the week. Then I went for coffee at the Cactus Restaurant and after that a friend and I went over to Eddies Restaurant and had Tea. I was coffeed out. Then I came home and went into the shop and planed down a couple of 1x6 board and made 3 shelves and painted them for Wendy. Wendy wants them put up in our bathroom. Then I went out back and took some of the branches that were blown off of our willow tree out to the back by the gate. Then I moved Mandy's Van and turned it around so the signs would show. Put the Saturn in front of the house. Did the dishes and had lunch. Then went back out into the shop (garage) and found our old fake Christmas tree that was up on a high shelf and put it by the garage door. Wendy has given it to the ladies at the church. Then I went back and cleaned up the garage and put some more of Jorge tools together on a new shelf I put up in the garage.
Then I came inside and brought my amp , mike stand and Harmonica case down stairs and sat it all up. I practiced for about an hour. Then it was time for supper and after supper I sat and watched a bit of TV. At 7:15 Wendy got home and I left to go to the seniors club to their once a month birthday evening. They keep tract of who has a birthday in the month and they had a group of singer (men) that sang for about an hour. Then they served sandwiches and Cake and Ice Cream. I got home about 9:30 and after watching the Friday Night Fights on TV I went to bed about 11:15pm.

This morning I went again for coffee and then had to go to the drug store and then cleaned up a bit more in the shop. After lunch I had to go play at Pyami Lodge here in Picture from 2:30 to 4pm.

Tonight is midnight madness in Picture Butte. They keep all the stores open until midnight and have lots of sales and things going on around town. Not sure if Wendy is going to be up for that as she worked today from 7am to 7pm . It is a long day for her. Tanya and Tom and their family are on their way to Edmonton to see Toms family and she just called and asked if I would pray for them as they have been in a traffic jam for the last 3 hours and with 6 kids in a car they are all tired of traveling and just want to get to Edmonton. They have close off highway 2 and rerouted everyone going north. They left Lefthbridge about noon. sigh. They are not to Reddeer yet so they still have a bit to go.about 1 1/2 more hours from Edmonton.

Well I have to finish this and go let my dog in.
God Bless you all and have a great day.

November 25th.

2009-11-25T14:09:00.000-08:00

Wow here it is November 25th. and still no snow.We might even have a brown Christmas this year. It is windy but really mild outside. The lake has a little bit of ice on it but after today I think it should be gone.They say that it will get up to 13C tomorrow.
Yesterday was a bit of a sad day for Wendy and I as we took Mandy and Little Josiah to the airport. It is never easy to say goodbye to our kids. A month ago we took Jorge there and yesterday Mandy and Josiah. We were excited for them but our house is awful quiet now. sigh.
Today we have spent most of the time packing up Mandy and Jorge's stuff that they left behind and putting it into boxes to store for them.Guess I will bring my amps and stand back down here and set it up so I can use this area for my music. I have a keyboard that I haven't used in a long time and will probably spend a bit more time on the computer again.
Yesterday after I got back from the airport at 6pm. I changed my clothes grabbed my amp and Harmonicas and ran to Lethbridge to The Golden Acres Seniors home and played until 8:15pm. It was fun and the people really seemed to like it. It is so nice when people like what your doing. After we finished they all came up and shook our hands and told us how much they enjoyed our music. It is nice to see the seniors smile and be happy.
Well guess I had better get back to helping Tanya and Wendy finish packing.
God bless you all and have a great day.

Tuesday November 17th,2009

2009-11-17T10:35:00.000-08:00

Wow where did the year go???
Lots of things happening around here, almost to much. Mandy is packing or trying to. She has a big job ahead of her trying to decide what to take, what to leave, what she might need or what she does need. Glad it's not me. And she has to get whatever she is taking in 4 suit cases.ahahahhhhhhhh. Not sure how she is going to be able to get through the airports with 4 large suit cases, a carry on or 2 and a little boy that wants to run and play. I think she need a lot of prayer for sure. Also please pray that her Van will sell before she goes so they can buy another car in Chile.
Well yesterday I curled for the first time this year. They charge us Seniors $70 for the year. Nov. to March and we can curl on Monday's, Wed. and Friday. Yesterday only 7 guys showed up but I am sure that we will get about 14 guys once we get going.The weather was really nice yesterday so I think that kept a lot of guys out doing other things. I threw some really good rocks. Surprised myself.
Today Mandy and Wendy went to Lethbridge to do some last minute shopping I guess and get some things that Mandy needs before she leaves. It sure is going to be hard to see them go.We will be back to just the 2 of us and the dog in this big old house.Guess it wasn't big enough eh? We added a 14x14 sun-room. ha ha.
We are going back to Edmonton on Saturday morning to go to the memorial for Dagmar Tjart. We will probably leave about 5:30 am. go to the church and then right after the service head back here. We want to spend as much time with Mandy and Josiah as we can.
Today we have the Pastor(Peter)and his wife (Mary) and their new little baby boy coming for dinner at about 5pm. We have a roast that I am going to put in the oven about 2.Well guess I should get going and bake a cake and it is getting late. We had Tanya, Tom and the kids over on Sunday for supper and Adriana stayed over and went back home yesterday.She is such a sweetie.
Got a fried that just called and said he is going to stop in aroun 1 so I had better end this .
Well got to go . Bless you all and have a great day.

2009-11-11T10:28:00.000-08:00

Well it is Wednesday and I am not feeling that great. Wendy and Mandy and Josiah just left to go to Tanya's. Just talked to Jorge in Yumbel on MSN for a few minutes.
We had a great weekend in Edmonton. We saw lots of friends and relatives. We stayed with Wendy's sister Cynthia and her family.We saw Bill and Phyllis Pendergast and we did stop in to see Dagmar Tjart at the General Hospital.
We went to the first service at Beulah on Sunday and then met and talked to a lot of people after the service. We didn't leave there until almost 1:30. Then we went to Ed and Betty's and had lunch with them and Kim and her kids. We had a great time visiting with Aunty C and her kids.They are all grown up even little Bethany. Myria and Justin and their kids came and we had a great time visiting with them. We took Amelie with us and I think she really enjoyed seeing everyone.
The roads were really good - no snow or rain, just a bit windy at times.
On Monday morning before we left we went to the A&W for breakfast with all the seniors. They sure are a great bunch and we always enjoy getting to talk to them all. They are all so interested in what our kids are doing and of course we have no problem telling them all about them. They were all happy to see Mandy and Josiah there.
We got home about 6:30pm. and it was kind of nice to be back home here in Picture Butte. This is home now.

October 23, 2009

2009-10-23T17:36:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Guess it is about time I blogged a bit eh? Well where do I start. Well I haven't blogged since June so I guess there is a lot to tell.
I had a project going with our sun room and that is now complete except for the stairs off the big door. It took me a long time but I really enjoyed doing it. Tom helped me put up the heavy beams and he also helped me with the windows and doors. Jorge and Mandy moved back into our basement and Jorge helped me with the shingles, drywall and painting. It really came out beautiful and Wendy just loves it.
We went the Maritimes for 13 days . We stayed with Bob and Lynne Dorland. There were so kind and showed us most of the area. They even gave us their car and sent us off on our own for 3 days to Cape Briton. We really had lots of fun with Bob and Lynne. They are a lovely couple and always had something for us to do or go see. They live in a little town called Wittenburg and have a have beautiful home and a large lot. We were there just when the fall colors were really pretty.
We had really nice weather all the time we were there but coming home was something else. sigh.
Jorge picked us up at the airport and it was a bit rainey and dark of course. Our plane was a bit late so by the time we got out of the airport it was about 11:30pm. Then it stopped raining and it turned to snow. You could not see the road for about 1/2 an hour. I really felt bad for Jorge and it was a bit scary. Then it stopped and we were ok until we got past Claresholm and then it started to snow again. You couldn't drive more that 50 klms and hour because you just couldn't see. We finally got home save and sound thanks to Jorge good driving. God was watching over us for sure.

Well we have been home for 2 weeks now and slowly getting back into the old grove.
Mandy and Jorge left today for Calgary and I met Wendy at her work and we went out for Supper at The Keg. Wendy had to go back and work for a couple of hours for someone that need a couple of hours off so she should be home soon.
Mandy and Jorge are going back to Chile soon. In fact Jorge is leaving on the 27th. and Mandy and Josiah are going in Nov. Jorge was offered a Pastors job and has accepted it so they will be living in Yumbel Chile for a while.Who knows how long.We sure will miss them when they go.

Wendy and I have started going to the E-Free Church just down the street from us. They have a new pastor and the people seem really friendly. I think this is where God wants us right now anyway.
Well i have been feeling pretty good but I am also doing everything at a slower pace. Getting old is a real bummer but what can you do. The doctor told me that if I slowed down I would probably feel better and I guess he knows what he is talking about. God must still have something for me to do so guess I should try to listen eh??? Sunday I am playing my Harmonicas with the worship team and Jorge is play the drums for the last time before he goes to Chile.

Oh I have found a fellow or he found me not sure which but I am playing with a band called Runaway Rascals. Not much of a band because there is only 2 of us. I play with Barry Kreick and he plays guitar,the keyboard and sings. He used to call himself The Runaway but now he calls us The Runaway Rascals. Barry is a real nice guy and I enjoy playing with him. We have played out about 12 time and I am really enjoying it.Our next gig is on Halloween at Claresholm.Well I think my sweetie just got home from work so I had better sign off for now .

Oh I almost forgot that on September 22 our new little granddaughter Sophia arrived and she is just a beautiful little baby girl. She looks a lot like the rest of her sisters and brother but she has dark hair. She is the only one that is not a blond.
God Bless you all.

Tuesday June 23,2009

2009-06-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

Today is looking like it is going to be a beautiful day. We had a real good rain yesterday. It rained all day and the ground really needed it. We haven't had rain in a long time. Just walked out back and looked at my garden and it has really grown in the last few day. Guess the rain helped.

I have been keeping busy in a slow sort of way taking apart our sun room. Day before yesterday I filled in the holes for the footing and leveled that off and I put up a 2x10x14 foot beam with Wendy's help. Today I am going to try to get the rest of the wall down and put up a 2x8 beam to hold up the 2x4's on the roof. I don't want to put a post in the center.

Wendy has been busy if you read her blog hoeing the garden and did a really nice job. She has a couple of blisters on her thumbs to prove it. I think she really enjoys our back yard and garden. Our flowers are beautiful and she has planted some more nice plants in our rock garden. She is such a sweetie and is always busy doing something to make it look nice. Thanks babe.

Our son in-law Bob got home last Wed. His grandfather passed away so he flew home for the funeral. He had to leave Kristy there to finish the DST. She is flying home here on July 7th. Can't wait to see her, it has been over a year since she left. Well almost a year I guess.

Still not feeling great but am able to do a little at a time. Got to learn to pace myself I guess. I am playing Harmonica with a fellow (Barry) and am really enjoying that. Trying to learn his style and some new song's but am really enjoying it.
We had Adriana and Erylin over for a sleep over and that was fun. They are growing up so fast. Guess we will have Amelie and Kellen over next week. Little Isabelle is still a bit young for a sleepover but soon I think.

I have really enjoyed my new garden tractor and mower. Sure makes mowing the grass easy and I am not even tired when I finish. I mow all 4 lawns in half the time it used to take me.

I went to the cancer doctor on Thursday and my PSA was a bit high but he said that he wasn't to concerned and hopefully it will go back down in the next 6 months.

Still haven't seen the heart doctor yet but am going to call today and see what is happening with that. Not sure if I should change doctors now but this guy is a bit slow. Well as long as I take it easy I guess I'll be ok for a while.
Well I ain't getting anything done sitting here at this silly old computer so guess I should get going.

Have a great day and God Bless you all.

May 30.2009

2009-05-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

Where did the month of May go?? They saw April showers bring May flowers but we didn't have any showers in April. We didn't have much rain in May either so guess in order to bring out the June flowers I have to get out my sprinkler eh? Our back yard is still looking pretty nice and the Iris flowers are all starting to bloom. The trees are all getting their leaves and things are really looking green. We planted lots of plants in our flower boxes and they are growing well. I have our garden all planted now thanks to Tanya and the kids. Taom came over the other day and doug doen two holes we need for the footing on our new sun room. He got down to 3 foot on one and almost 2 foot in the other. Lot of root in the one . I went out and bought a post hole digger so when or if he comes back we can hopefully dig down to the 4 foot that we have to go. Poor Tom's hand were getting blisters on them from the shovel handle. He did a great job. Sorry I couldn't help him. I feel terrible just sitting and watching but if I try I get pains in my chest so guess I shouldn't until I get that taken care of. I go for more test on Monday so hopefully that will tell us something. Not sure this doctor knows. I still think it is a blockage but he thinks it is my lungs. Sigh. If he doesn't come up with some good answers soon I think I'll have to call the doctor I had back in Edmonton.
I have been playing a bit on the Harmonica this past week with Barry Kreicks. We played Monday evening at the Garden View Seniors center and then again on Thursday at the Sunrise Village and then last night at Bluesky Lodge. It was fun and I really enjoyed it. Barry seems a real nice guy and lots of fun to play with. He has a lot more confidence in me than I do and just plays any song that comes into his head and says, ok I think you'll know this one it's quite simple. ha ha. Some that he played I have never heard of before but found myself following along. I'll have to get used to his style. He is a really tallented fellow. He plays the keyboard and the guitar and sings. He is coming over and we are going to practice some of his music this weekend. He has a gig in Clarsholm and another in Tabor this coming week.
Wendy is working today 7 to 7 . She has been working out in our back yard and planting lots of new flowers and putting down cedar wood chips. It is good to see her out there enjoying our big back yard.Tonight if it is nice out I am going to lite a fire in one of our pits or our little screened in fire box that Bob and Kristy bought us when we were out at the lake. We haven't had a fire in it yet since we moved down here.
Well I think I will walk down to the Sports center here and see what the 4H kids are doing. There is lots of calves and cows there so guess I'll go (check or cheque) it out. Guess in Canada it is cheque right???
Have a great day and God Bless you all.

2009-05-21T21:51:00.000-07:00

Wow it's been a long time since I have posted on here so guess I should eh?
Well today was a nice warm day and Wendy and I went to the senior center and then we were taken to a beautiful cabin in coulees. The owner of the Home Hardware store here in Picture Butte also owns this little island here. It is a beautiful place and they took about 30 seniors to visit. On the Island is a beautiful cabin complete with a glassed in deck. The cabin has solar power for light. The fridge is gas as the kitchen stove. They have a wood stove for heat.
They have built a beautiful Tree house that is built between 6 trees about 25 feet in the air. They are in the process of building a games room not to far from the house. They served us all lunch.It was an enjoyable time. Wendy and I walked along some of the paths that go around the island. Wendy took lots of photos.
Then about 2 pm. we got home and I mowed our 4 lawns with my new tractor. Sure didn't take long. We had supper about 6pm. and then drove into Lethbridge to Tanya and Tom 's and we all went out to the Dairy Queen for Ice cream. The kids enjoyed that as well as us adults.
Yesterday Barry Kriats brought over his keyboard and guitar and we jammed from 7:30pm. to 10:30pm. He seems like a real nice guy and very talented.He plays both the guitar and the keyboard and has lots of musics that he has pre recorded on his keyboard. He normally plays gigs by him self but has invited me to play with him. This was our second practice or get together. He has invited me to play a couple of gigs with him. Our sounds blend together really will and he also sings. It was fun to get back into playing my harmonica's.
Tomorrow it is supposed to be nice again and I hope to get our garden in or some of it anyway. I also want to mark out where the foundation for our new sun room is going to be. I have to dig down 4 feet for the footing. They want it below the frost line. Yesterday we got our permit in the mail to build it so it is a go. I only need 2 holes 2 foot square and 4 feet deep. Talked to Tom tonight and he said he will give me a hand digging them. Tomorrow night I am going with Tom and 4 or 5 guys from the church to the movies in Lethbridge. I not a big fan of movies but it is fun getting together with Tom and the guys.
Well it is about 11:20 pm. and I think that I should get to bed. Hope and pray you all have a great night and a great day tomorrow. God Bless you all.

April 26,2009

2009-04-26T19:55:00.000-07:00

This morning I went to church by my self because Wendy had worked last night and was sleeping when I left. I stopped by Tanya's and picked up Kellen and Adriana because Tom had gone to church early as he was playing on the worship team so he went in early and took Erylin with him. Tanya had little Amelie home sick with a fever so they didn't go. After church I took Kellen home and chatted with Tanya for a bit and then Adriana came home with me and we had lunch. Wendy made a Sheppards pie for supper at the church tonight. We had a pot luck supper at the church and a couple and their family who are missionaries in Russia (St Petersburge) spoke after supper. There was lots of good food and fellowship there for sure. We had a great time.
Wendy has to work in the morning and I have a doctors appointment at 10am. So we will probably hit the sack early.
On Thursday Wendy and I went to the senior center. They meet once a month and celebrate all the birthdays for the month of April. They have cake and coffee and usually have some sort of entertainment. They had a fellow who had a key board and he played a guitar with the music he had recorded on the keyboard. I talked to him after and mentioned that I play the Harmonica and he said we should get together and jam a bit and see if we could put something together as he don't like playing by himself. We are getting together this coming weekend. So who knows maybe I will be playing with him if we can make it work. He also sings. He plays a lot of the old songs and I know most of what he plays. Who knows maybe it will be the bigining of something eh? I am really looking forward to next weekend. It has been a year since we left Edmonton and I really miss the music. I practice at home some times but it is not the same and not much fun by yourself. We bought a new keyboard and I have to learn how to play that. It has a pre programed rythem section and I can record on it also. Hopefully I'm not to old to learn how to play it a bit eh? I think it will be fun learning.
Well that's all for now folks so until next time I pray that you will all have a great day and God Bless you all.

April 23,2009

2009-04-23T14:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a bit windy but a warm day. I took 2 loads of tree branches and stuff that I raked up off the lawns to the dump. It was nice and warm and it was fun to be outside. Today we woke up to a real dump of snow and -3 temperature. It started about 7 pm. last night. The wind blew really hard all night and it snow until this morning. We had about 4 to 5 inches on the ground and about 14 inches on top of my truck where it blew off the garage roof and onto the truck. Right now it is about 6C and the snow is melting. Hopefully it will all melt. Yesterday I mowed the front and the back lawn with my new tractor. It didn't take long with the 42" mower. Guess I'll have to wait a couple of days before I try to mow the other 2 lawns. The snow should be good for the ground as it is really wet and heavy. A lot of the plants were starting to come up so I hope the snow don't freeze them off.
We had Clayton , Amanda and their 2 little girls over for supper last night and had a great time visiting. Wendy made a beautiful garlic chicken dinner and a trifle to go with it. They had to leave early as it was snowing pretty hard and the roads were starting to get bad.
Today we didn't do much just sort of hung around the house, watched a bit of Tv and then had lunch. I went to the town office here in Picture Butte and applied for a building permit to add about 8 foot to our back room. We want to put some big windows in it so we can sit out there and see the back yard and all the pretty flowers in the summer and the snow in the winter. ha ha. Right now it is just a 6 foot by 14 foot room and the windows are really small and high. Not really a place you would want to sit at the moment.
Wow, here it is 4:25 pm already and it seems like I have done nothing all day. Maybe I should practice my music a bit or try to learn a bit on our new keyboard.

Have a great day and God Bless you all.

2009-04-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

Today is Easter Monday or the day after Easter. Yesterday Wendy wasn't able to go to church as her leg is still real bad. Mandy, Jorge,Josiah and I went to the 10:30 am. service at UDAC. Tanya, Tom and the kids were there. After the service we all came home here and we had dinner. I had a ham in the oven. I always enjoy having the family here for dinners. After dinner about 3:30pm. everyone went home and now it's just Wendy and I and the dog. Wendy is still having problems with the leg and is going to the doctor tomorrow. It doesn't seem to be getting better.
The other day on Derricks blog I encouraged him to post a recent photo. So I guess I should put a recent photo on my blog.. Derrick looked really good at 60 and I can only look back at 6o as I passed it many years ago. Derrick really looked good with a beard so I thought that I would try one. What do you think Derrick ? Should I keep it?Well have a great day and God Bless you all.

Good Friday????

2009-04-10T19:20:00.000-07:00

Ok lets try this again.Just lost the whole thing. so here we go again
Last night Wendy was having lots of pain in her left hip and knee. The right one is her bad one or it has been up to now. They have told her that she will have to have it operated on soon. I think that she has been favoring the right one and is now putting to much pressure on the left one. Any way yesterday we went for a walk with Mandy and Josiah at Henderson park and maybe it was just too much for her. Last night she didn't sleep at all because of the pain.This morning at 9 am we went to the Lethbridge hospital. They finally took her in at 10:30 and took x rays of both the knee and the hip. They found that she has arthritis in the knee and is causing all the pain that goes from her hip to just below the knee and the fact that she is favoring the other hip doesn't really help either. They gave her a prescription and that seems to help a lot. So about 2:30 we got home and had some lunch. Wendy doesn't complain much so when she says I think we should go to the hospital I know she is really hurting bad.
Well we are trying to keep her off the legs for the moment, not sure how long that will last. ha ha.
Mandy has been down since Sunday and Jorge came down on Thursday evening. They are planning on going home on Sunday after church.
It was a beautiful day here today and after we came home from the hospital we had lunch out in the back and enjoyed the sunshine.
Please pray for Kristy and Bob as they were not able to get all the visa for the students so the Mexico trip is on hold. I believe that Kristy has blogged about it so if you go to her blog that will explain it all there.
Please pray for Wendy that the pain will go away and she will fell better. With Wendy and her both hips giving her trouble and me with my heart we are not a very healthy family at the moment. I am sure that God has it all in control and will show us what will happen next.Please Pray for my daughter Jeanne in New York as she has been ill and is running back and forth to the doctors and there it is very expensive. As most of you know Tanya and Tom are expecting and Tanya hasn't been feel so great so please pray for them also. Well I guess that will keep you busy praying for our family for a while. Sorry about that but we know that pray works and we thank you for that. Have a great day and God Bless you all.
Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

March 21,2009

2009-03-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

Today was a bit of a busy day. This morning after breakfast Wendy and I started painting our bathroom ceiling. I am terrible at cutting in the edges so Wendy did that then I went in with the roller and painted the ceiling. She does such a good job. We had to go get another quart of paint and a good brush. Then we talked to Kristy for about an hour on MSN. It was so clear. It is always good to chat with her and fine out what her and Bob have been doing. Then I put some coat hook on a board for Tanya. I will deliver that tomorrow and install it so all the little's can hang up their coats. They have a closet but of course it is to high for the little ones to reach.
Then this afternoon I sat and watched a bit of a race on TV. Then we watched a bit of CSI. Wendy had to go to work so I cooked myself some supper and now here I am at the old computer. It is raining outside so maybe spring is coming.
Guess I might practice a bit on my harmonica's and maybe practice a bit on our new keyboard and then call it a night. Well that all for today. Have a great evening and God bless you all.

St. Patricks Day

2009-03-17T11:22:00.000-07:00

Well here it is St Patrick's day and I wonder how many people are dress in green. I do have a green shirt on today. Just by chance. ha ha.I have been just puttering around the house most of the day. Oh I did put up a new thermometer. Yesterday we bought an indoor outdoor thermometer so I had to put the transmitter up out side by our front door. It seems to work well so far. Oh and I took down the rest of our Christmas light that we had on the front of our house. I had to wait until the ice melted off our sidewalk so I could put the ladder up. Good excuse eh?? Yesterday Wendy and I went to Lethbridge and we bought a new flat top stove. They are delivering it tomorrow .The one we have is only 4 years old but it was not a flat top. We had a flat top in our old house and we both just loved it.
We looked at lawn tractors but they are a bit big for what I need. Maybe I should be just looking at a self propelled lawn mower. I probably need to walk more anyway.
We are looking at adding on to our back room and making it larger. I have been trying to figure out about how much that will cost. The room we have now is nice but it really would be nicer if you could sit out there and see the back yard. We have big ideas and who knows just maybe we will be able to do it this year. I might have to hire some body to dig the ground out for the footing's and then I could lay the block and do the carpentry work over the summer. Maybe I could talk a couple of my son in laws into doing a bit of digging for me eh? Oh well it gives us something to look forward to. The room now is about 6ft. by 14ft. so I would only need about 8ftt by 14ft addition. That would make it about 14 ft. square and put glass onthe back wall and the one side.
Well Wendy is off today and tomorrow so maybe I should get going and see what she wants to do. Bye for now and God Bless you all.

Wednesday evening.

2009-03-04T18:59:00.000-08:00

Well we are packing and getting ready to head to Lacombe tomorrow. I think I have every thing I need packed. We hope to leave about 7:30 am. tomorrow morning. We have to drop the dog off at 8am. and then we will continue north. They are saying that we are going to get some more snow overnight. I just hope the road are good tomorrow. Oh well we'll just have to make the best of it I guess. We are going to stop in Lacombe and spend most of the day with Mandy, Jorge and Josiah and then go to Edmonton early in the evening. We are going to Cynthia's. Wendy is off for a few days so we don't have to rush back.
The wedding is Saturday so we have a little time before that . I think they have a rehearsal on Friday afternoon but we are not in the wedding party so I don't think we have to be there for that. We are going for dinner after the rehearsal I guess.
It should be a lot of fun and hanging out with the kids and Cynthia. That will be good for sure. Ya it's been a while since we were there. Chynthis has a really nice house on the north side of the city.
Well we are off to Edmonton in the morning and we will be back on Monday evening or Tuesday morning. Wendy has to work Wednesday morning next week.

Good bye for a few day's. God bless you all .

Saturday Morning and so far all is well?

2009-02-28T09:46:00.000-08:00

Well can you believe it? 6 years ago today I retired from Superior Lumber. Feb.28 was my last day in 2003. Wow how time does fly. It was 7 years ago today that I gave them my notice that I was going to retire in one year.
Ok enough about that I guess. Today I am home alone AGAIN. Wendy is in Medicine Hat with 3 other girls from Lethbridge taking a course for the Lethbridge Police department on dispatching. She will be home Sunday evening sometime.
It is about (-7 ) outside and the sun is out. Hope it melts some of our snow and ice. My front step is one patch of ice. I just went out in my garage and started the heaters. I have a few things that I want to do there today.
Yesterday I didn't do much. Never went out of the house. Sat here on this stupid computer and looked at garden tractors, keyboards and drum machines. Practice my harmonicas a bit and checked my e-mails and that was my day except for cooking a few things to eat.
Today there is lots of things that I could be doing but not sure how much will get done. So far I have checked my e-mail, checked face book, watched a short video of Josiah that Mandy posted and called my brother in Florida. Oh I did call my wife at 7:30 this morning to tell her I love her. I haven't checked the TV yet today but I'm guessing that there is a race on for sure. I do enjoy the car races. Well if I don't get off this old computer I won't get the few little things I want to do done and I won't get to watch the TV. I think I'll eat out today but not sure Lunch or Supper. I hate eating out by myself. Oh well the grand kids have a birthday party at the church maybe I'll stop in there about 3:30 this afternoon. I hear they are having cup cakes and Erie said I could come and have one. She was making them last night. She is such a cutie.
Well that is it for today. I pray that you will all have a great day and God Bless you all..

Tuesday and it's still snowing.

2009-02-24T09:43:00.000-08:00

Yes it is still snowing and they say we are going to get about 15c. or more. Not sure we need it but looks like we are going to get it anyway.
Well today the roads are not the greatest but guess I'll head into Lethbridge and do a little something at the church. Guess I might be good for something today. Not much to do around here. It is one of them days when you just don't feel like doing much. Having a few of them days lately. Getting old sucks big time. Don't feel like typing but here I am. Oh well here I set and complaining. Better get my dead end out of this silly old chair and get going. I sure hope everyone don't feel like me today. Have a great day and who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Monday Morning Feb.9,2009

2009-02-09T07:10:00.000-08:00

Well I am up and feel great. That's a good start anyway. Today Mandy, Jorge and little Josiah are going to head home. Pray for them as it is a long time for a little one to be on a plane. About 11 hours I think. It been a long 2 months for us and miss them very much. Wendy just got home from a 12 hour night shift and is off to bed so I can't make a lot of noise. I had planned to start making some drawer for our cabinets but I'm afraid that it might be to loud and wake her up. She needs her sleep as she works tonight also. I think I can find some things to do like get some breakfast and then go to Eddies for coffee with the guys. Then later this afternoon I'll start on the drawers. No big rush on them anyway.
Well I am back and it is real nice outside. Feels like spring. After coffee I walked to the post office and then stopped and got a new license tag for our dog. I didn't have to pay because of my age not the dogs. ha ha. Dog licenses are free to seniors. I think this afternoon I will clean out the back of my pickup and load the change table in that I built for the church.
Tomorrow morning there is a seniors breakfast at the seniors club at 8am. I have to help move all the tables afterward then I will deliver the table to the church. If I feel as good as I do now maybe I'll do a little work around the church. I'm sure there is lots of things that need doing.
I have lots of e-mails that I should write and send to people. I have been a little laxed in doing that lately. Well can't think of much else to write about so guess I end it here and try to blog again tomorrow sometime. Have a great day and may God bless you all.

Friday evening and all is well

2009-02-06T19:57:00.000-08:00

Hi guess it is about time I wrote on here again. Well after we got back from our holidays I really wasn't feeling great and went to the doctors on Friday and they did some blood work and got my prescriptions filled and a spray bottle of nitro. On Monday he called me in and he said that I had a rise in white cells in my blood and he was a bit concerned because that usually shows up when there is and infection of some sort. Then he had me do another blood test on Tuesday and then I went back on Thursday and found that the infection seems to be going away. The white cell count was better but still showing a bit. However I have been feeling a lot better in the past few days and almost feel like my old self. Yesterday Wendy and I went to Lethbridge because she had an interview for a dispatch job that she thought she wanted at her work. Then we went to Home depot and bought 3 new light fixtures for our house. I have them all installed with Wendys help and a new dimmer switch in the dining room.Today Wendy had to go back to work so I went for coffee and then went and bought a few things at the store that we needed. When I got home I had lunch and then went into the shop and put a coat of Urathane on the change table I built for the church. Tomorrow I will put a second coat on it and then deliver it when it is dry, probably on Tuesday as I usually go in and fix some things at the church.
Wendy called today from work all excited that she got the job. I am excited for her.With all the job cut that are happening it probably won't be easy for me to pick up a part time job for the summer but you just never know what God has in store for us eh? Maybe I can fine some odd jobs here in Picture Butte.Maybe I should do a bit of advertising and let people know that I am a bit handy and have a nice garage(shop). I guess you can tell that I am feeling better because here I am talking about a summer job already.haha. This afternoon I even came downstairs and practiced on my harmonica's for about and hour and enjoyed it. The lady at our church asked me to play with the worship team on Sunday the 15th. That should be fun and I am really looking forward to it. Tomorrow I am going to start building some drawers for our kitchen cabinets. We bought the hardware the other day.That will make Wendy happy and it will be easier to reach things in our cabinets too.
Well I guess thats my story and I'm sticking to it. Have a great day and may God bless you all.

Back from Florida and all is well???????

2009-01-30T01:58:00.000-08:00

Hi. Well we are back from Florida and we had a wonderful time visiting family and friends.Funny how it works? It is nice to go on holidays but also nice when you come home to.
Well let me tell you about our holidays. We had a good trip to Calgary and left the car at a park and ride place at the airport.We had plenty of time and finely got on the plane and headed East. When we went thru customs in Toronto the officer asked us where we were going and we told him Florida and he laughed and asked if we had read the weather report lately. sigh He said they were getting cold weather.We got to Florida and my sister met us at the airport and took us to her house. They weather was cool but we thought it was nice. Everyone in Florida thought it was terrible. The first day my sister went to work and gave us her car. We came home and went swimming in the pool at her place and guess what? We were the only ones there. One guy walked by stopped, looked, shook his head and walked on. It was a bit cool but the water was beautiful.We went back the next day and really enjoyed it. After that it got really cool and temperature's dropped down to 28 F in the morning but was still a lot warmer then Picture Butte.We kept telling our selves this .
We stayed with Sis for 4 days and had a great time talking about old times and finding out what was happening in her and Renee's life.Then we drove to my brother and sister in-laws home in Beverly Hills. They have a beautiful home with pool and all. Sis stayed for 4 days and then she had to go back to work.We visited my aunt Wayna who I haven't seen in 12 years. She is 82 and lives with her daughter Linda and her husband John. They also have a beautiful home with a pool but because of the weather we didn't get to swim after Sisters pool. Sigh.
My brother David and his wife flew down from Dover Planes so we had almost all the family there.
It really was a fantastic time for me. One day we all met at my sister in-laws sister house and had like a Hugh party,cook out, BBQ or what ever you call it. Aunt Lorries 2 sister were there and it was lots of fun getting to know them all. Again another beautiful home with a beautiful pool.We stayed with my brother Merlin and his wife Betty until the 26th. then went back and stayed with Sis for the last couple of days.
It seemed every time we got off a plane I felt bad. Short of breath, couldn't walk to fast and a bit of tightness in my chest. I couldn't carry anything.I felt bad for Wendy as she carried both carry ons at the airports.Not sure if it was the altitude or what but had the same problem coming home. I have been feeling a little bad before we left and I have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow for blood work and then on Monday I go see him about this. Before we left I felt bad but blamed it on the new med's I'm taking.( Lipitor).
Anyway we did have a great time down there. It was almost like a family reunion. 2 Brothers, a sister, 2 sister in laws, a niece,an aunt and her daughter (my cousin) and her husband.We also met 2 of my sister in-laws sisters and my sister friend Libby and her 2 daughters.While we were there some old friends Bob Tabor and Nancy and Adrian came over to see us.
Well I should probably get to bed it is 4:10 am and I have a busy day today and Wendy has to go to work at this morning. Guess we are back to the old schedule eh?
God has blessed us again with a great holliday and I just got and e-mail that our old friend Dave Tjart is home after a tripple by pass operation. Oh and this morning I got a call from a friend and I am going with him and some other guys to a bible study camp tonight at 6pm.
Well God Bless you all and thats my story and I am sticking to it. Love ya all

2009-01-05T16:21:00.000-08:00

Jan .5 ,2009 And it is still COLD

2009-01-05T15:57:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. Yup it is still cold here but today not so bad. Right now it is -4 C, and the wind is only blowing just a little. I just got home from curling. Wendy is still at work and won't be home until about 7:30pm. tonight. I have a 6 foot snow drift in my back yard. I can't even see my back fence.Good thing I don't need to go out there for anything. haha. Guess I don't have to worry about anyone coming into our yard through my back gate.Wendy had to shovel the snow that was piled up by our garage door this morning about 3foot high so she could get the car out.Everyone around here says that we have more snow here this year than they have had in a long time. Go figure. I move in the weather goes goofy.
Hey I think it is about time for a nap.so you all have a great day. God Bless you all.

Jan. 1,2009

2008-12-30T14:38:00.000-08:00

Well I hope you all had a great year last year (2008). It for sure was a year that we won't forget soon.I was just reading last years blog(2007), about all the UP's and Downs, remember that? I didn't until I went back and read it. Wow what a crazy year that was and now looking back on 2008 what a crazy year that has been for us too. Our lives have changed so much with the move and all. I still miss all our friends. I talk to some on the phone and some on Face book but it just ain't the same eh? I still haven't recovered fully from that cancer operation but I'm getting better all the time. At least I think I am anyway and that helps me get through the days.
Well lets see what can I tell you about that you don't already know. Ok guess that's it bye. Okay, okay I go on, just kidding. Well Kristy and Bob are still in South Africa and they won't be home until a year from July or that's what I think their plans are. It sure sound's like a long time. Mandy and Jorge and little Josiah are in Chile but will be home sometime in February. Then Jorge plans to go to school for a couple of years and then back to Chile.Tom is on his way to Chile for 2 weeks just checking things out and Jorge and Mandy are going to give him a tour of the Youth With a Mission Base and show him some of Chile.Tom has never been out of the country before so this will be all new for him.Hope he don't come home and decide to move . ha ha
It could happen but I guess he will go where ever God sends him and who knows if we will follow or not.I'm sure God has a plan for us he just hasn't shown us yet. ha ha.
Oh I am applying for a hearing aid that hopefully will make Wendy and the kids happy. Hope it makes me happy to. Well have to see about that.
Tanya and Tom and the kids came over for lunch. We had a good time and it was snowing again. Another 1/2" so that ain't too bad. Just enough to make the roads slippery again.Wendy is going over tonight and stay so Tanya and Adriana can take Tom to the airport early in the morning. Just me and the dog home again.sigh.Well happy New Year to you all. God Bless you .

December 29,2008

2008-12-29T07:16:00.001-08:00

Where did 2008 go? Only 2 more days and then 2009. Time flies weather your having fun or not. Well this year has been a good year but a challenging one too. As you all know 2008 brought many changes in my life. Some good and some not so good. All in all I think more good than not so good.
I have been able to visit and have fun with my 5 grand children here in Lethbridge. They are growing up so fast. Little Isabella is walking now. She just turned 1 and what a cutie she is. Little Amelie is 4 and such a sweetheart. Kellen is 3 and is as big as Amelie and a bit of a wild one at times. He likes to play with the dolls when the girls play but he is all boy for sure and keeps mom and dad busy a lot. Erylin is 7 and is a Gram's girl for sure. Sticks to her like glue. Then there is Adriana. She is 11 and is as tall as her mother and growing taller everyday it seems. She is still a Papa's girl but has a bit of competition now with the other 4. Tanya and Tom are so blessed with the 5 of them. What a lovely family. We spend lots of time with them and it is fun. Wendy and I spend lots of time with them and just enjoy them so much.
As most of you know Kristy and Bob are in South Africa. They left in July and I sure do miss them.I do talk to them on MSN or Skype but that is a long ways away. Mandy, Jorge and Little Josiah are in Chile now and they left here on Dec. 9th I believe. They will be there for 2 months and then are coming home to Lacombe until Jorge starts school.I believe that is in September some time. Not sure when that is but he is looking forward to that. We are missing them a lot. Even through Lacombe is 4 hours away we often got to go see them or they would drive down to see us.
Well the sunny south ain't so sunny right now but they say it is going to get better soon. I really hope so because I am tired of winter already. Well I hate to tell you this but is has started to snow again. Maybe it is not going to get better raight away. ha ha.
We are planning to go to Flordia in the new year for a couple of weeks. We are going to Tampa to see my sister Betty and Renea first and then we are going to Beverly Hills to see Merlin and his wife Betty. Sis is going with us and stay a few days if she can get the time off.I hope she can.Wendy is looking forward to going. She hasn't see my sister in about 20 years. I am hopeing to visit my aunt Wayna whie we are down there. I thinkk she lives about and hour and half from Merlin. She lives with her daughter Linda and her husband but I don't know what town they live in.
I am hoping that this spring I will be able to find something to do and make a little money so I can buy a small garden tractor with a mower and maybe a tiller.i found last year that our 4 lawns takes the wind out of my sails and it takes me so long to spade up the garden. I hate this getting old thing but ain't no way to stop it eh? It happens to all of us I guess.
Today I called an old friend of mine Dwayne Thomas and we had a good chatt. Dwayne use to work for Loewen Window and was their sales manager for the south area. He moved to Calgary and shortly after that the company downsized and he was one of the unfortunate one and was let go.He is only 63 and I'm sure he will be able to find something to keep him busy.
Wendy and I are meeting more people thru the Seniors center.The have been very warm toward us and I am sure we will have many friends once we get to know the people around here. A lot of the seniors around here are gone from November to March. They head south when it starts getting cold and I don't blame them.I guess we are getting settled in here in Picture Butte and I kind a like the small town living. It is different but think I am going to continue to like it more as time goes on.
I haven't built any Piano Benches since we moved. Maybe they don't use them anymore eh? Of course I haven't persueded it maybe I should get off my hands a make a few phone call eh? It woould be nice if I could fine something to make a bit of spending money on now that I have my garage all set up and a heater so it will be nice and warm. Any body got any good ideas what I could build or anybody need something built? My phone number is easy to remember. 403-732-4444. Even if you don't need something built call and we could chat anyway. I seem to have a bit of time on my hands now.
I am doing a bit of stuff around the University Alliance Church but I still would like to get into a mens bible study of some kind. I think that would be fun.I really miss our old Mens group. We met for many years and that seems to be a gap in my live now. Oh well like I say time marches on and things change.
Well may God richley Bless you all in this new year.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Love you all.

Wednesday Morning Dec.10,2008

2008-12-10T06:02:00.000-08:00

Well I guess it is about time I blogged eh? Ya it has been a while.Not to much going on in my life now I guess. Just the usual getting up in the morning and going for coffee. At my age life is not to exciting and they say don't get to excited, it's bad for you heart. ha ha. If your read Wendy's blog she told you about our weekend ao I don't have a lot to add. It was good to see that she enjoyed it.
I just finished building a change table for the nursery at our church. I really enjoyed building it and it felt good working with wood again. It was so nice to work in my garage. I have a heater and it works just great. Most of the time I spend in the garage I have to take my coat off as it gets pretty warm in there. Now all I have to do is a light sanding and then I have to put a stain or something on it. Guess I should go fine out what color they want it.
We got a little snow the other day but yesterday we got a nice warm wind and it is almost all gone. I guess we are getting use to the small town and making sure we go to the store before 8pm. if we need something.It is kind of quiet and I don't mind the traffic. (OH sorry what traffic??)
I have started playing my harmonica's on a daily bases. Maybe one of these day s I will fine someone to jam with. Who know what the Lord has in store.
It seems like I am spending more and more time on face book and not sure that is a good thing but I don't seem to have a lot of time for TV lately and I think that is a good thing.
Well God Bless you all and have a great day.

November 20,2008

2008-11-20T06:17:00.000-08:00

Ya Ya I know it's about time but for some reason I have trouble blogging lately. It used to be fun but now it sems that it is hard to write anything that might be exciting to other people. Maybe I shouldn't worry about that eh? Oh well, lets see what has been happening in my life? I am still staying pretty busy most days. I am doing a little fixing at the church and do a little bit at the seniors hall, I am now curling 3 times a week and that is fun. I just have to learn the rules and learn to throw the rocks at the right speed. It is surprising how you can make that rock turn(curl in one direction or the other. They call it( in turn or out turn) makes since eh?
The night before last Wendy and I walked up to the lake and there must have been thousands of geese already on the lake and they kept coming but the hundreds. I never saw so many geese. They say that next year there will be 4 time as many because they usually have 5 to 8 little ones every year. Quite a sight and they are noisy too.
Today I have to take back some scaffold back to a fellow I borrowed it from and get it out of my nice clean garage. It is kind of neat to able to walk around and do things in a nice clean garage. My old one was so small and cluttered it was hard to walk around and never could get a car in that one either. Last night Wendy put her car in there.
Well I guess I should go into Lethbridge and see what I can find for Wendy for Christmas. Anyone got any Ideas? We are having our Christmas on November 29th. with Mandy and Jorge and Josiah,Tanya and Tom and the kids and Cassy and Mario. Guess I had better buy a good size turkey because I am doing the cooking that day. Mandy and Jorge are going back to Chile the early part of December for 2 months so that's why we are doing it early. Seems funny having a Christmas tree up now but it sure is pretty. However I didn't see anything under it with my name on it. Hope they didn't forget me eh? Oh well I'm sure that somebody will remember the old fellow that falls asleep on the couch. Hey I'm not the only one that does that RIGHT Tom? ha ha
We are excited about meeting Cassy future husband Mario who just flew in to Canada yesterday from Brazil.
Well I have lots of things to do so I had better get going and at least buy a turkey eh?
I pray that you wll will have a great day and that God will Bless you all.

Tuesday evening

2008-10-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

Well here it is Tuesday and I have had a busy day. Boy how the time does fly weather your having fun or not. sigh. Today I got up had breakfast and headed to the Cactus for coffee. The I went over to the Senior's Club and helped Dwayne move all the table and put the chairs against the wall. Then I came home and went in the garage and moved things to the side because I took down all the shelves I had up so I can put the ceiling up when Jorge comes. Then I drove to Lethbridge and went to Tanya and Tom's for Tea and measured up the change table she wanted me to look at. Then I came home and picked up some branches and took them to the back. I was going to rake some leaves but the wind was blowing too hard. We have a big Willow tree in our back yard and when the wind blows hard a lot of branches blow off the tree. Some are about 1/2" in diameter. I pick up from that stupid tree almost every day. You would think that they would stop breaking off. They must grow back fast. Then I cooked supper for Wendy and I.

Yesterday I curled for the first time and it was fun. I think it will take a bit of time to get good at that game but I am going to try. Now I have to go buy shoes and a broom. Then I will have to learn to yell HARRRRRRRRRRRRRD. Just when the other guys are sweeping eh?? I guess I am the youngest guy there. One of the fellows is 87 and he throws a mean rock. Hope I am that good at 87. Actually hope I can at least go watch at 87. ha ha. I was surprised that it is pretty cheap to curl for the Seniors. Well We might go over top Tanya and Toms again tonight so guess I am out of here for now. Hope and pray that you all have a great day and God bless you all.

Wednesday October 15, 2008

2008-10-15T18:06:00.000-07:00

Today was a real busy day for me. After checking my e-mail and of course face book and reading all that stuff I decided to go out side and trim some branches off a pine tree we have in the front of our house. The telephone wires were rubbing on some of the branches. With winter coming I thought that maybe today would be a good time to do it. There were more branches than I had figured and it took me until about 12:30. Then I went down to the Cactus restaurant for lunch. They have a Wednesday special (Stake sandwich and french onion soup). I don't go to often but I really enjoyed it today. I just might have to go again next Wednesday.
After lunch I loaded my pickup with branches and some garbage I had in the garage and went to the dump. They told me at the dump that I couldn't bring anymore tree branches today because the bin was full. They said I could bring more on Saturday. I came home and decided to trim the tree at the back of the house that was touching our roof. A bigger job than it looked. So up on the roof I went with saw's in hand. I had to cut about 7 branches and they were quite large. Then I decided to clean the eve's while I was up on the roof. About 4:30pm. I came down and put the saws and ladder away. Then I went out back and drug most of the branches that I cut off down to the back gate. I probably have about 3 or 4 loads to take to the dump but I have to cut them into pieces not larger than 4 feet. While I was dragging them down I slip and hurt my back a bit but I don't think it will be to bad. It does hurt a bit but I'm tough right? Tomorrow I'll drag the rest of them down to the gate, cut them in to pieces and then I probably should rake the lawn next to the house and clean that up. I also have to dump all the fountian out and put them away for the winter before it gets too cold. They had ice in them this morning. Then Friday I should rake off the back 2 lawns and clean the garden up. Guess I have my work cut out for me for a few days eh? Good thing that I don't have a job eh?? I don't think I would have time for a job. ha ha.
Well tomorrow is another day. I thank God that I am able to do all this stuff. God Bless you all ahd have a great day. Love you all.

Oct. 14, 2008

2008-10-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

This morning I went to a Seniors breakfast here in Picture Butte. They do it once a month. There was about 50 people there. I had a free breakfast because last month I won the draw. They draw names for 2 free breakfast every month. Then I took Mandy and Josiah to Lethbridge and Mandy picked up her car from Canadian Tire.Mandy and Josiah are staying with us for the rest of the week. He sure is a cute little man. After dropping them off I went to Totem's then to Home Depot and Wall- Mart looking for a Silicone spray but had no luck. Wendy has a roll top desk and I thought that I could spray it with Silicone it would work better but can't find it down here. Maybe when we go to Edmonton I will stop at Superior Lumber and buy some.
Then this after noon I went outside and blew the water lines out with the air compressor so they won't freeze this winter. The wind has been blowing real hard for the last couple of days and has blown most of the leaves away. I have to make a trip to the dump with some tree branches and some grass cuttings that were left here by the people we bought from.Sometime in the next couple of day I have to trim some branches from the tree out front of our yard because they are rubbing on the phone lines that come into our house. Guess I should do that before I go to the dump with the other branches. If is is nice tomorrow I am going to do that.
Wendy is happy that Mandy and the little guy are here. It's nice to have them for a week. Jorge had to work so he had to go back on Monday afternoon. I'm hoping it will be nice tomorrow and I can get some of the stuff done outside before it really gets cold.
Well God Bless you and have a great week. Love you all.
Oh maybe you could just pray that maybe Wendy and I could find a small group. I feel we should get into one for sure. Thanks.

Wednesday has been quite a day so far.

2008-10-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. Well this morning at about 2:30 we received a phone call from a lady in South Africa saying our daughter Kristy had been in an accident but was okay. Then she put Kristy on the phone who was still hysterical and really shook up. The van they were in hit a patch of water from a flash flood and went into the ditch full of water upside down. Both her and the driver were trapped in their seats with the belts and couldn't release them. Their heads were under water. I guess a person that stopped saw it and had a knife and cut the seat belts and freed them. It must have been a scary few minutes. Kristy said she thought she was going to die on her birthday. God is so good they only have a few bumps and bruises and one fellow who was also in the van had a few stitches but nothing real bad. Thank you Lord. I can't imagine hanging upside with my head under water and not be able to get the belt off. Thank you Lord for sending an angel (angle)there with a knife to cut them free. They were all taken to a hospital and released after the one fellow got some stitches. He was able to crawl out of the van because he didn't have a seat belt on. Makes you wonder eh? They maybe could have been hurt worse if they hadn't had them on. I just thank God that they are alright.
God has been working in our lives for the pass few days. Wendy had a lump come up in her neck about a week ago but they found out that it is just a small cyst on her Thyroid and told us that it is nothing to worry about for now. I had and appointment with the cancer doctor and he said that (I will live until I die) things look real good and I have to go back in 6 months for a check up.

Well then this morning we got an e-mail from Wendy's uncle in England telling her that her aunt Joyce had gone to meet the Lord. I think she was about 92.

We have 2 of our grandchildren that stayed over night with us for the first time last night. Amelie is 4 and Kellen is 3. We had to go to the bakery this morning and get doughnuts and before they go home we have to go get slurpies. It's kind of important to a 3 and a 4 year old eh? How come I never got a slurpee when I went to my grandfathers. I guess because they didn't make them back then eh? Sigh. Well that's my story and I am sticking to it. Love you all and God Bless you.

A Happy Birthday to Kristy in South Africa

2008-10-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a little early but when your reading blogs I am usually fast asleep.
Hi Babe. Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Kristy , Happy Birthday to you. I sure do miss you. I love you sooooooooooooooooo much. How did Daddy's little girl get so grown up and so far away? I thank God for you every day. You are such a Blessing to us. It is so good to see God working in your life.
God sure has given us some great times together :-) . I love to hear you laugh :-D . I used to have fun hiding little sticky notes O:-) . I remember putting you to bed when you were little. Not sure which one of us went to sleep first. ha ha :-[ . I think I slept in the bottom bunk bed more than anybody. ;-). We sure had lots of fun camping :-P . Never did hear the story Mum was reading. sigh :-( . When you were real little I used to hide in the bedroom and you would come down the hall and I would jump out. You laughed so hard. :-D . You were always quick to share everything that you had with your sisters :-) . You were always quick to show you sisters and your Mum how much you loved them :-) . I think you cried more when they were hurt than they did. :'( . I love you Kristy with all my heart and I pray that this will be a great Birthday. You will always be Daddy's little girl. :-* . I look forward to reading what you have written in my day timer every day.

Happy Birthday Babe. Love you Dad

Oct. 4,.2008

2008-10-04T20:52:00.000-07:00

Well this is way over due. Where do I start. We have been busy and with the great weather that seem to make things a little busier. Not a whole lot exciting has been happening. I caught a cold and that put me down for a few days. Wendy has been working quite often lately so I have just been doing things around here that need doing and that never seems to end. I ran out of wire and had to go get some more underground wire for the bird baths. I put 3/4" pipe into the ground behind each bath and ran underground wire to each one. Now I can just plug the wire into the outlet in the garage and I have power to each bird bath with out running extension cords all over. Digging the wire in was not a fun job with all the tree roots but with the axe and a good spade I got it in. I finished insulating the garage ceiling and now am just waiting for help to put the OSB board on the ceiling. Jorge and Tom are coming for Thanksgiving dinner maybe after dinner I can get them to help me put it up. The garage is about 13 1/2 ft. high so I really can't do it myself. Wendy and I have been walkng a bit lately. We have been walking around our lake here and it is just beautiful now.
Wendy's car overheated yesterday and weI got up at 5:45 this morning and drove to her job and we took the car to Fountain Tire and they are going to look at it on Monday. Not sure what that will cost but it has to be fixed. Good thing we have the third car's eh? She took the Saturn to work tonight. Tomorrow is her birthday so I baked a cake this afternoon. You probably didn't know that I am a baker too.
It sure has been quiet here since the kids moved. For the last 2 weeks we have gone to a Baptist church here in Lethbridge. Park Meadows I believe it is.

Tomorrow Tanya is going to run the 5 klms. for the Brest Cancer fund. I am going to meet them tomorrow morning about 9 and go watch and cheer her on and hopefully get a couple of pictures. Wendy's birthday is tomorrow and then on Monday our little Kellen is going to turn 3 and then on the 8th. it is Kristy birthday. So we have lots of birthday this month.
We still haven't got into a small group yet. We did go to 3 Seniors lunches. One with the Alliance Drive seniors, one with the Park Meadows Baptist and one with the seniors here in Picture Butte. I have been eating well anyway eh?
I still haven't found a music group yet but haven't looked to hard. Well I guess that about it for today. God Bless each one of you and have a great day.

September 22,2008

2008-09-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

Well I have been busy for the last week doing gardening with the kids and putting things together here at the house. We bought a new TV center from ika.
Lets see first I think it was Friday, Wendy and I drove first thing in the morning to Calgary and went to ika to buy an entertainment center. We had it all planned and knew just what we were going to buy. We had been looking at this unit in Edmonton when we were up to see Cynthia and the kids. We measured it all up when we came home and decided to go buy it. As we left we stopped here in Picture Butte at Gas King and gassed up. Wendy asked if we should call before we went just to make sure they had them in stock but then it would mean driving 2 minutes back home and trying to phone that would probably take and hour if we could even get someone to talk to eh? So we decided to just go and hope that they had it in stock. Well we got there and went right up to the area where the TV centers were and as I was remeasuring Wendy said (Oh no! I don't think you want to hear this) and then she just pointed to a big Temporary Out of Stock sign hanging on the left side of the display. We both just looked at each other and laughed. Sigh. But we weren't going to let this make us mad. We said well we will just have to design our own TV center. They have lots of options so for the next hour or 2 we picked out different types of shelf's and bases and decided to make it work for us. Then we went for lunch and right after lunch we went back upstairs and doubled chequed to make sure what we were going to buy would work and we decided that it would. So then we grabbed a couple of carts and down we went to the warehouse to get the goods. We had about half of the stuff loaded and Wendy went over to look at the Temporary out of stock item and yup you guessed it, they had lots in stock. Again we just looked at each other and laughed. We just wasted 2 1/2 hours figuring this whole thing out and they had them in stock all the time. So! do we unload all this stuff or do we take what we had loaded and go with it. We took another few minutes and talked about it and decided that we would go with what he had just worked out. It was a bit more money but it is a bigger unit and might look better. Those units are heavy and it took us a while to get them in the truck. We couldn't close the back of the canopy door( I got a Ford Ranger, remember?)but put some string on it and home we went.When we got home we just put everything in the garage and decided we would put it together another day.
It was still a beautiful day out so we decided to go dig up some of the carrots and beets that we have in the garden. We didn't realize how many carrots we had as we only dug up one row and had a wheelbarrow full. We cleaned, cut and sliced and froze 14 bags of carrots and decided to wait on the beets. That's a lot of work doing that.
Then Saturday I put a couple of the shelves together and then Tanya, Tom and the kids came over and we dug up another row of carrots and a row of beets. 2 wheelbarrows full this time. We ate lunch outside as it was another beautiful day. We spent almost all day working at it but we did get about 20 bags of carrots and not sure about 7 or 8 jars of pickled carrots. Tanya and the kids came back on Sunday and we finished them off. It was fun and I think the kids really enjoyed it to. Kellen wanted to know why we were doing all this but he only asked about 100 times . ha ha.
I'm sure sometimes 3 year old wonder why we do lots of thing eh? It was fun doing it with Tanya and we had a good visit too. The kids played and watched some videos and played barbe's in the new play room we made, while we worked. I really enjoyed it.
Then today I went for coffee at 8:30 am with the guys and Wendy went to lethbridge. She had some errands to do and things to buy for her canning and I put the rest of the TV center together. It looks real nice and I am glad that we did it this way. Wendy is happy with it so it was all worth it eh? Well that's my story for today and I am going to stick to it. God Bless you all and have a great day.

Tuesday morning and all is well.

2008-09-16T08:57:00.000-07:00

Well last night Wendy, Adriana and I went to the Starfield Concert at the Victory Church in Lethbridge with Shamus and his wife Amanda. What an awesome couple. Shamus works at the radio station CKVN 98.1. We had dinner that was catered by the Guest house restaurant at the station that was really great and then we went to the Starfield Concert at the church. When we arrived at the church we were given Tee shirts and CD's. This was part of the winning the contest thing I guess. The concert was a bit loud as we were in the front row by the speakers but it really was a great concert and I enjoyed it. There was and Irish band on first and then after Starfield, Will Graham spoke. He sounded a lot like his Grandfather Billy. Gave a real simple but to the point talk and then had and alter call and lots of people went forward.
After the concert we got to go back stage and meet them all. Wendy has some of the pictures on face book.
Well today I should finish putting the underground wire in for the fountains. I only have about 25 ft to go. Our back yard still is beautiful but some of the leaves on the trees are starting to tun colors. That's a good sign that fall is on the way but it is supposed to be hot for the next few days. Well I ain't getting to much done sitting here at this silly old computer eh? God Bless you all and have a great day. Oh well at least they got the halo in the right place eh?

Friday afternoon. It has been a good day.

2008-09-12T18:37:00.000-07:00

Wow it's been a long time since I blogged. Well today was a real special day for me. I was up on a scaffold insulating my garage ceiling when I got a phone call from CKVN (Shamus ) telling me that I won the Starfield tickets to the concert. So Wendy and I are going to the Guest house for dinner with Shamus and then to the Starfield concert. Sure sounds like fun eh? Last Sunday Adriana came to my house after church and said we should take a picture for the Starfield concert contest that Shamus was doing on CKVN. When we have the radio on in the house or in my garage or in the truck it is always on CKVN- 98.1. I really enjoy the music they play. So my sweetie and I are going to the concert on Monday at 5:30pm. with Shamus. I met Shamus at a church BBQ about a month ago. Not sure he'll remember me. I really enjoy the music he plays every day. Wendy just came home from Calgary and it is good to have her home. I really missed her for the 3 days she was gone. When I'm home alone I find myself talking to the dog alot and I'm not sure that is good. haha. She never says much so I answer for her. She is a good old dog. She sure misses the kids now that they have moved.
Mandy, Jorge and little Josiah are on their way down her for the weekend. We sure do miss them around here. We are all going to celebrate Tanya and Isabella's birthday. Tanya is -- and Isabella is 1. If you want to know how old Tanya you'll have to ask her. She is not very old for sure. Tanya's birthday was on Tuesday.
Well I finished insulating my garage and then I went out and mowed our 4 lawns then went back in a straightened up the garage. Now I have to get Tom or Jorge to help me put up some OSB board on the ceiling. I can't do that by myself. We I probably could but then I have to build a dead man and it still wouldn't be easy as the garage is over 12 feet high.Oh a dead man is a stick that looks like a tee but using it on a scaffold is not easy and i would have to work of a ladder because the scaffold is only 8 feet long. It can be done but is a bit dangerous for an old man like me.
Tomorrow morning Wendy and I are going with the Alliance Church Seniors on an outing . I think we are going to Gault Museum and then to a lunch at a golf course somewheres. It should be fun and it will be the first one with the seniors since we moved down here. Hopefully we well meet lots of new people. Ok I think this is getting to long. Have a great day and God Bless all of you.

Wednesday morning

2008-09-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

Well I just finished blogging and just lost the whole thing. So Now I'll try to remember what I wrote. sigh.

On Tuesday evening we were getting ready to pack so we could leave on Wed. morning and Wendy went down to the furnace room to get a suitcase and noticed water on the floor from the hot water heater. We have been going to replace it but haven't yet. I called a fellow that Tom had recommended and because it was like 8:30pm. he just said that there was nothing he could do for us until next Wednesday. He told me to shut the gas and the water off and just leave until we get back from Edmonton next Wed. So that's just what we did. Wednesday morning about 5:30 am. we left for Lacombe to see Mandy, Jorge and little Josiah. We had to take Madison to Red Deer to the kennels as they we all full her in Lethbridge for the long weekend. We stayed there for 2 days and then headed to Edmonton to Wendy's sister Cynthia and her family. We helped her get her new house in order. We put beds,dressers and bookcases together. We also helped them put an old couch down in the basement. That was a bit of a chore but we did it. Poor Andrew worked really hard. He helped me put all those things together. We also put up curtain rods in most of the house and put new legs on the dining room table and put a TV stand together. Wendy and the girls put stuff in closets and got things all put away nice and neat. They seemed to be having lots of fun while they were doing it all. Sunday morning Wendy and I went to Beulah Alliance church and the after lunch we were invited to a BBQ with Ray and Shelia and some other Beulah people.We had a great time but I am not sure Shelia wanted us there as she tried to feed us Maple Leaf brand Hot dogs. You know the recall stuff. Friend ??? Maybe she really is a blond. What do you think?

After the BBQ we went to Leduc to visit some friends that Wendy used to work with. They served us a beautiful dinner. Shawn is a real good cook. Tammy and her husband were there and the another friend and his wife showed up. They all had lots of laughs and told stories about things that happened when they all worked together. Wendy was so pleased to see them all. It's really hard to leave all your friends when you move. That the one thing about moving is you can't take all your friends with you. Sigh. Well then on Monday morning we went to breakfast with the seinors at A&W. It sure was fun visiting with tehm all and finding out what they have been doing and thier kids of course. I really miss going to breakfast with them all. They are such nice people and God has bless us for many years with them. Thank you Lord for friends like that.

Well they put the new water heater in this morning and I guess it is about time I went outside and mowed all our 4 lawns. After being away a week they really need it. We must have had a pretty good frost as the leaves on the melons and Cucumber really look bad. I still have to pick the last of the beans and we have lot of Beets, Carrots,Corn and Onions yet to get. Well I ain't getting much done sitting here at this silly old computer. I just pray that you all are having a great day and may God Bless each one of you.

Tuesday Aug.26,2008

2008-08-26T09:27:00.000-07:00

Wow it has been a while since I blogged.
Well things are going well with us down here in Picture Butte. This morning it is raining so I drove to the restaurant. Well I have been going for coffee for 5 month's and never paid for a coffee until today. I had to buy all the guys coffee this morning. I think I am still ahead of the game. They bush for coffee every morning.
Last night I took my sweetheart out for dinner. It was our anniversary. She is still as pretty now as she was when we got married . However she does have a few Grey hairs now (Not from me mind you) I think it's from the kids. It has been the Best 30 years of my life. We sure have had some up and downs but God has Bless us so much. With our daughters and son in-laws and grand kids. I thank God everyday.
We have almost every thing that we wanted to do in our house finished except for the furnace which need replacing and hopefully we can get that done soon. I am insulating the garage ceiling now and should be done in a couple of days. I am kind of slow getting things done you know. Ain't as young as I used to be. Climbing around on a scaffold is not so much fun now. sigh. Oh well I am just thankful that I can still climb on it. We are thinking of going up to La comb this Wednesday and then going up to Edmonton for a few days and see some of our friends. It sounds like fun. Wendy needs a good break and she is off for 5 day's I think.
We are pretty much settled in down here and almost used to the smell. ha ha. It is raining out and our yards need the rain.

Now that Mandy, Jorge and little Josiah are gone I guess we can move some of our stuff down in the basement. Sure do miss them . Guess I'll have to learn to cook again. ha ha.

I still haven't found a group to play music with but haven't really looked to hard. Just getting involved with the Alliance Church down here so I'm sure that will make a change in our lives. I think we need to get into a small group soon. I'm sure God has it all planned for us. I sure do miss the Men's group. It will be interesting to see what God has planned for us.

Well I have better quit before I bore you too much. Have a great day and God bless you all.

Aug.5,2008

2008-08-05T17:11:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a while so guess I should do a bit of blogging. Last month was a busy one with lots of company and birthday parties and now things should start to slow down a bit.
Well last week Jorge's dad and sister went home and on Friday I went to Edmonton and helped my sister in-law move.I drove back on Sunday and got home about 6pm. She has a lovely apartment in the north side of Edmonton. On Monday this week we decided to go on a picnic with Tanya, Tom and the kids and Mandy and Jorge and little Josiah. We went to Police Outpost Prov. Park. Kind of a small lake stocked with Rainbow Trout and a beautiful view of the Rockey Mountains. We first went to another place but it didn't have a beach for the kids so off we went in search for Police Out Post Park.It took us a while to get there but it was well worth it. Lots of gravel road driving and lots of dust in the back of my truck. This morning I got up cooked a couple of eggs and then headed off to have coffee with the guys. After that I came home and raked up some branches from the lawns.I couldn't believe how high the grass was and it did need mowing. Our lawns are 4 times as large as our old one in Edmonton. Here we have actually 4 lawns and today it took me quite a while as it was pretty high.Then I cleaned 3 of our fountains and they really needed that. Then after trimming everything up I unloaded my poor old truck which still had the boat, 2 kayaks, all the life jackets, small portable grill, paddles, anchor, base ball gloves, pails, 6 folding lawn chairs.some fire wood , just in case eh? and what everelse you can think of . Didn't realize how much stuff we took along. We unloaded the cooler and all the excess food last night.
Wendy had to work this morning and just got home after 5 this evening.
I still haven't really looked into finding another music group but maybe I try to look this coming week. There is another Jam session this Sunday and maybe I will go to it if I have time.I believe they meet at Lethbridge but not sure just where it is. Then next week (the 3 Sunday of the month) it is back at Shauneshy where I went last month. Maybe this fall something will come up and I can find a group. Who knows??
Well that about I I can think of to write right now. So God Bless you all and have a great day.

July 20th,2008

2008-07-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

Well as most of you already read today was my birthday. I think Wendy posted it on her blog and I got about 6 or 7 Happy Birthday wishes on face book from around the world. Thanks guys.

My beautiful wife and I have been home alone for the last few days and it has been fun. Not that we don't have fun when everyone is here but it has been nice and gave us an opportunity to spend some time together just the 2 of us.
One day we went to breakfast at Denny's in Lethbridge. We went and walked up to the special train bridge here in Lethbridge and spent the afternoon. It was tiring but well worth every moment. Today we went to church and then I went to a Jam session in Shauneshy. Not sure how to spell that. It was a lot of fun but a bit different than the jam sessions that I have gone to. I did play 4 songs and really enjoyed it.
Tomorrow Mandy and Jorge and little Josiah and his dad and sister are coming home in the afternoon. My daughter Kristy and her husband Bob will be home here sometime in the morning for only a few days and then they are off to South Africa for 2 years. Sigh. It will be hard not seeing them for 2 years but they will be doing Gods work and they love it. I know God will bless them for it someday and will keep them safe for us.
Yesterday Wendy and I went walking down by Old Man River and Tanya and the kids joined us. That was fun. Then in the afternoon Wendy and I went over to Tanya and Tom for supper and played a game after supper. Then Tom and I went to the church and Tom helped set up all the mic's and interments for the Sunday service. I didn't do much as I am new there and really didn't know what to do or how they set it up so I just watched. They had a bit of a problem and Wendy finially picked me up at the church about 1 am. and we came home.
My sister Betty and my brother Merlin called me today and wished me a happy birthday too.
Tomorrow I should go for coffee with the guys at the Cactus restaurant. Hope you all enjoyed listening to beautiful niece play her harmonica. If you missed it just scroll down.

My niece, Becky

2008-07-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

This is my niece Becky playing the harmonica, she taught herself to play, by listening to the Kompanions cd.

She sure is good!

Tuesday evening

2008-07-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. Guess it is about time I updated this silly old blog.We have been very busy with familey and friends coming to see us and staying a while. 3 weeks ago Wendy's brother and her sister and her family and now Jorge's dad and his sister are here for 3 weeks. Jorge has been busy showing them around Picture Butte and Lethbridge. It is so good to have his dad here. He is such a nice guy and I really enjoy having him and his daughter her. Jorge's dad is a pastor in Chile and pastors 4 churches there so when he is home he is a really busy man. He is a real Godly man. Jorge is so happy to have his dad and sister her. Tomorrow I think we are all going to Waterton Lake and that should be lots of fun showing his dad around.
Our garden and back yard is just so pretty right now with all the flowers out in full bloom. Wendy is so happy with it. It is just beautiful.
This evening we went to watch Jorge play soccor but we had a storm and they had to stop playing half way thru. We had hail stones about the size of golf balls. We just got some rain in Picture Butte. Guess wwe live in the right end of town eh? It hailed for about 10 minurtes while we were in Lethbridge. Then we came home and had some supper and now every one is just sitting around or playing on the computers.Wendy is just loving haveing all three of her girl home. Kristy and Bob will be going to Red Deer on thursday and then coming back on Monday afternoon and then flying out to South Africa on Thursday afternoon next week.
We are have a great day and hope and pray you are all having a great day with us.
God Bless you all.

Saturday Afternoon

2008-06-28T14:59:00.001-07:00

Well here it is almost the end of June and I haven't blogged in a long time. It is too hot to be out side for too long so I came in to call Wendy in England but she wasn't in. She few to England because her aunt Ruth passed away. Kristy also few over and they met and are staying at the Bournemouth Hotel. Her aunt has been sick for a while and is in her 80's. We were able to meet with her in March when we stopped in England for a few days before flying to South Africa to see Kristy and Bob.
Well today is is real hot here. I went to the dump first thing this morning with a load of Lillac bushes. Then I came home and stopped at the bakery and got some goodies. Seemslike my truck won't go by the bakery without stopping. ha ha. I went out to the garden and use the Hoe and got frid of most of the weeds in the garden. I planted some Radishes and cucumbers. Our garden is doing realy well at the moment. Have to keep it well watered as it is really hot here today. I believe it is about 30% out right now. Our back yard is just beautiful now. I was going to go up and try to fix the roof but think I'll wait until the sun goes down.
Well we had Wendy's brother Bryan and his family here and then her sister Cynthia and her kids plus Tanya and Tom and their 5 little ones and Mandy and Jorge and their new little one Josiah. So we had a house full for a full week. It was a bit hecktec but lots of fun. We sure went threw a lot of food but I think everyone including me enjoyed it. It wa good to just sit around and chat and talk to everyone. We haven't seen Bryan and his family in about 2 years.
One day we all went to Waterton Lake and enjoy a full day there. The weather here has been beautiful for the last 2 weeks. Today is the first time it has been in the 30's.

Our house is rel nice now. Wendy has it all painted up pretty and got all the picture and plaques hung up. It really looks nice. I have my garage almost finished. Still got to insulate the roof but want to make sure I have the roof so it won't leak before I do that. Bought the coating yesterday but think I'll do that later on today or Monday. It has been a lot of work but starting to really like it now. It feels like home.
Jorge's dad is coming here on the 9th. of July with his youngest sister. That will be fun for Jorge.

We are going to the University Alliance Church. Tanya and Tom and the grand kids go there.It is only 23 klm's away so it is not that far. We tried the e- Free Church but decided to go to the Alliance in Lethbridge and be with the kids. I guess that makes sence because we came down here to be closer and with them.

Just got thru to Wendy and Kristy in Bournemouth and talked for a few minutes.
They are doing fine and meeting Derrick and family tomorrow in Beournemouth someplace for lunch.
Well guess thats about all the news I got for today. God Bless you all and have a great day.

Friday

2008-06-27T12:33:00.001-07:00

Friday June13,2008

2008-06-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

Hi. Guess it's about time I sat down and wrote a bit about what's happening in my life eh? Well it has been a lot of work but it finally looks like I am almost finished for a while then I can start the other stuff after all our company is gone. In July some time I guess. Ha ha. I finished the bathroom up stairs and it looks real good. Yesterday I put new faucets in the down stairs shower and put up a light over the ironing board for Wendy and then fixed the side of our trailer where I scraped the fence getting it in the back yard. sigh. Then went shopping for some stuff we need for the next week or two. Met Tanya and the kids and we all went to Costco and then went to Safe-way because Costco didn't have some of the stuff we needed. Then I went and picked up a desk at Sears for Wendy and then came home and put the desk together that Wendy bought for her Laptop. Today is going to be a busy one as I have to cut the grass before it gets too high. It is growing so fast with all this rain. I have to run a wire out to our trailer so we will have electric out there. The other day I put in a new sump pump in our basement and got that working. The people before us had put in a backwash valve in the line but had put it in backward so it took me a bit of time to figure that out. So that never did work. I still have to fix the gate between our fence and the neighbors so the dog can't get out. I have to fix the back gate by our trailer that is just old and falling apart. Then later I have to fix the eves by the front door and the try to fix the roof for the winter. I have to cut down a door in my bedroom that won't close and then try to clean up the garage before everyone gets here on Sunday. I had to put a new lock on our back door last night as the old one was sticking and just worn out. Now got to make sure everyone has the new key eh? Oh well that sounds like I should be outside doing something before it rains again eh? Instead here I am sitting at this silly old computer.
Wendy's brother Bryan and his family are supposed to be here on Sunday and her sister Cynthia and her kids are coming on Tuesday. Kristy and Bob are coming on Sunday so it looks like we are going to have a busy 2 weeks ahead but it should be lots of fun. Counting Tanya and Tom's family plus our newest grandson we will have about 22 people here for a week or two. We haven't seen Byran and Sally for a couple of years so it will be good to just sit and talk but who knows what we will be doing eh? Maybe I should find a lot of little jobs that need to be done and see if I can get everyone to do them. Like cutting down some trees and trimming some and cleaning up the back yard. Just kidding. I just hope to relax and enjoy the new two weeks. Wendy is off for a while so that will be good for her too.
Well I have to go for now but someday when I get time I'll fill you all in on what happened and how much fun we had. If you happen to be in the area just stop in and sit and chat a while and maybe we can find and extra air mattress for you so you can stay a while. The more the merrier. Well thats my story and I'm sticking too it. Love you all.
Floyd

Friday June 6,2008

2008-06-06T12:53:00.000-07:00

Here it is June and I haven't blogged for a while. Today the electricians just finished and hopefully we won't have anymore problems with the electric in this silly old house. I haven't got the bill yet but just pray that it won't be too high.I have the new bathtub in and the drywall up around it and it looks good if I have to say so myself. I now have a new window and bathtub and new wiring in the house and Wendy has painted almost everything and it is really looking good. Actually it is beautiful. My wife and daughters have a way of making things look so nice. Thanks guys. I guesss I am starting to like this silly old house. I went to Edmonton last week end and towed our trailer home and it was good to get back home here in Picture Butte. It is home now for sure. I still have a lot of work but it is all coming together. Wendy has our back yard (which is large) looking beautiful with all the new plants plus the old ones.Now if I can just find the time to go out there and sit a while eh?? Wendy is working and Mandy is in Lethbridge with little Josiah. He sure is cute and getting so big.
Well I should go finish fixing our fence in the back . I have to dig a whole and put in a new post and then put in some concrete mix to make sure it stays there. I have to fix our back gate because I hooked it with our trailer the other day. Need to fix the trailer a bit to. (SIGH).
I need to get busy and vacuum this house and clean up after the electrician. They left a bit of a mess but not bad.I hope and pray that you all have a great day. Love you all.

Thursday May 29,2008

2008-05-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a while but better late than never they say. I have been working on this old house pretty much every day for a while now. Just put in a new Fiberglas tub and took the old green one to the dump. The plumbing has been a real nightmare. Trying to hook up the tub drain is and has been a real pain but I think I finally got it but cant check it for leaks yet. I am leaving tomorrow morning for Edmonton to bring my trailer back to Picture Butte. A friend of mine has been so kind to offer me his truck to pull it down. He heard that my little Ranger was to small. It is going to be hard to pull it out as I really did like the lake lot that we rented from Wally and Harold. They are such nice people.
Well things are really starting to shape up around here and thats a good thing.The flowers are starting to bloom and I have mowed the grass twice. It takes me just and hour and 20 minutes to mow the lawns but they sure do look good when you finish. Wendy has been planting some new plants and really cleaning up the back yard. Today Tanya and the kids and Wendy planted most of our garden . They sure did a good job. I was busy with the bathroom.
Adrie is going with me tomorrow so that should be fun. I haven't spent much time with the kids since I moved down here. Hopefully that will change soon. Monday we have and Electrician coming and that will solve a lot of our problems. We are trying to get this place in shape so I can sit back and relax I hope. My garage look real good and I can find things again. I put up a bench accros the front of the garage and 4 pieces of pegboard. I have most of my tools hung up but still have to put my sander and planer together and then I will be finished. Well almost finished I still have one wall to insulate and poly but I have all summer to do that.
Well it is getting late and I have a long day tomorrow so until next time, God Bless all of you. Pleas pray that we will find a church that we can call home. We really need that.

Have a great day
Love you all.

Wedesday May14,2008

2008-05-14T05:47:00.000-07:00

Well here it is the middle of May and we are still not 100% settled but we are close. Wendy put some more pictures up and is doing everything she can to make it a little more homey and OUR house. I have not been happy with this silly house. Too many things that need repair and I guess I am just feeling bogged down and disappointed with how slow the progress is coming. I guess I don't like change and it is starting to show. sigh. I haven't been feeling the greatest and not having a Church that we can call home doesn't help either. Anyway this morning at about 4:30am. Wendy is at work. I was up and just looking around and realized that I think I am starting to like it a little more every day. Wendy has a way of making everything look so good. Gotta love that girl.
We have been running back and forth to the hospital to be with Mandy, Jorge and little Josiah. He is having a bit of trouble nursing. Please pray that he will get the hang of it real soon and can come home. He sure is a cute little guy. Last night I held him from 7pm. to 8:15pm. If you haven't seen any pictures of him just click on Mandy and Jorge's or Tanya's or Wendy's website and you can see all the pictures. On Wendy's site just go to her photo's and look for Josiah Reuben. We are excited and hopefully he will come home soon. It sure will be different having a new born in our home.
Yesterday I mowed the lawn and found out that there is a lot of lawn but enjoyed cutting it and it really looks good. Well maybe I do need a riding mower. Just kidding. I need the excersize for sure.
Well I had better get going as I still have a lot of work in my garage to do and a few more boxes to unpack so I can find all my tools. Have to finish insulating one wall and put up a couple of sheets of OSB board and some more peg board. Well I'm off to take out the garbage because the garbage man will be here soon.
Please pray we will be able to settle into a good church soon. I think I really need that.
Love you all
God Bless

Monday

2008-05-05T18:56:00.000-07:00

Today was a busy day again. Seems all my days are busy lately. Today I insulated one wall of my garage. Only got 1 and a 1/2 to go.The walls in the garage are 10 ft. high. Not easy for an old fellow. The moving everything from one side to the other is the time taker. I Put some 3/8" OSB and then some peg board above that. I hope to have everything out of the boxes and be able to find a tool when I need it. Wendy is working again tonight. Then she will be off for 4 days. She wants us to get started with the cleaning up of the back yard. I cut a few limbs off a couple of the trees but there is lots more to be trimmed and cut and then I have to haul them away to the dump. It's a lot of work but I am starting to enjoy it. I have an eve trough problem that I would like to get taken care of so maybe I do that before she get up tomorrow afternoon. The grass is really getting green and th dandelion's are starting to come out. Guess that is about all for today. Have a great evening.
God Bless you all.

Sunday Evening

2008-05-04T17:36:00.000-07:00

Today after church Tom and Tanya came over for lunch. We had the 4 grandkids over last night for a sleep over. First one since we moved here. Went to church this morning at the church next door.
This afternoon Adrianna, Erilyn and Amelie and I went out back in the yard and bagged some leaves. I even mowed a bit in the back but ran out of gas. Have to buy some tomorrow. Wendy just left for work and will be back home tomorrow morning at 7:30am. She works tomorrow night then is off for 4 days.
Tomorrow I hope to get some work done in the yard and rake some old leaves and take some branches and limbs that I cut off the trees to the dump. I cleaned all the eve troughs on Saturday and found that I have to do a bit of work on the eves.
Well thats about it for today guess I'll go watch a little TV. Have a great day.

God Bless you all.

Friday evening

2008-05-02T21:51:00.000-07:00

Well here it is Friday already, where did the week go?? Today I went for coffee with the guys at the restaurant and then loaded Tanya's bike in the back of my truck and headed for Lethbridge. Adrianna was so happy to see the bike and took off as soon as I unloaded it. She sure does like it as her's was getting to small for her. She's a big girl now. Tanya and I chatted for a couple of hours and then I went to lunch with Tom. It is nice to be able to just pop in every now and then. It is 25 klms from our house to theirs.
Tonight we had the pastor from the church next door and we sort of got to know him a bit. They only have 25 registered member in this church. Guess if we join the number will jump to 29. Pastor Bob seems like a real nice guy and I hope to get to know him better. Jorge is off tomorrow. He sure comes home tired in the evening. Working in a feed lot is not the easiest job in the world. He says they just run all day long. Maybe tomorrow he can take it easy.
I still have a bit of work to do in my garage but it is starting to look good. I bought 3 more bags of insulation today and that should finish the walls. I think I'll do the ceiling later. Right now I just want to get my tools out of the boxes and hung up on the peg board. I am tired of digging thru a box to find a tool every time I need one. Well it is getting late and I am a bit tired so you all have a great evening. Love you all.
God Bless you.

Tuesday evening

2008-04-29T18:32:00.000-07:00

Well I have a few minutes so thought that I would blog and try to keep this thing up to date. Today I spent most of the morning putting a new BBQ together. Didn't realize how many parts those thing have. sigh. I just opened a new micro wave stand and am going to try to put that together. Only about 120 pieces counting the screws and handles and hinges and shelves. Wendy and Mandy have spent most of the day painting the dining room and kitchen and 2 walls in the living room. Jorge got home from work and is now painting the baby's room. We have a man coming tomorrow morning with a new fridge for downstairs and then Sears is sending a man to give us a price on a new furnace and hot water heater. It is a bit windy out there right now but has been real nice most of the day.Well if I don't get going I'll never finish this micro wave stand for Mandy.
Have a great day.

Floyd

Friday Morning

2008-04-24T06:20:00.000-07:00

Well I guess it's about time I sat down and wrote a bit of what has been happening in my life. Well as most of you know we moved from Edmonton on March 29th. We had lots of help loading the truck which was much appreciated. Again our friends were there for us. Thanks guys.
We arrived here in Picture Butte and moved in. Well we are still moving in I guess as I still have lots of boxes in the garage to bring in and a few in some of the closets that we haven't even looked in yet. I guess trying to put all the things from a 5 bedroom home into a 3 bedroom home don't work so good. It's kind of like trying to put 10lbs. of potatoes in a 5 lb bag. sigh. Well anyway here it is 25 days later and we still aren't completely settled.
When you move into a new (old ) house you find lots of things that you didn't see when the other people had all the furniture in it. Just little things like the lack of outlets in the walls, toilets that don't flush properly, light switches the don't turn on or off anything, light fixtures that hang down to low so people hit their heads, and a headroom problem as you go down stairs. Well we seem to have everything working at the moment but sometimes not for long. sigh. Just had to run down stairs and flip a breaker switch. sigh. Wendy and Mandy have been busy trying to get everything it it's right place. I put everything in its proper place but they assured me that,( that wasn't the proper place). Oh well you know how that works. We have been painting, putting up shelves, fixing door locks, fixing windows, trying to make the toilets flush properly, trying to make the kitchen sink drain in the basement, cutting off doors so they will close and some other things. We have a shower downstairs but none upstairs. the bathroom upstairs does not have a shower in the tub. It just has the little hand sprinkler thing so we are all running downstairs to shower. I am going to take out the window that stick's into the tub area and put in a smaller one and then take the plastic tiles off the wall and put in a tub surround and a shower head. When it warms up and stops snowing.
It has been cold and nasty ever since we moved and it is snowing right now. Well I guess there must be some good things about it all. Our kids have been a real help to us. Tom and Tanya, Bob and Kristy and Jorge and Mandy have helped us a lot. We have painted 3 rooms. The living room, the spare bedroom and Mandy's and Jorge's bed room. Jorge is fixing up th new baby's room and getting it all ready for him.
Oh! Jorge got a job working in a feed lot. He just started on Tuesday.
I have been going down to the restaurant here in the morning and having coffee with a bunch of guys most mornings. They all seem to meet about 8:30 every morning so I am getting to know some of them. I am going there this morning for coffee. Wendy and Jorge are working and Mandy is laying down so I go meet the guys.
Yesterday I insulated one wall in my garage and put poly on it. It's 10ft. high and about 20 ft. wide. I took down the old bench they had there and am going to put up a nice counter for some of my tools and put some peg board up on the walls so I can get some of my tools out of boxes and use them.
This old computer is dying . I have no sound at all and the monitor is real fussy. You can hardly read it. No my eyes aren't going bad. I know that's what you were thinking right?? I hope to go get a new one soon. Can't live with out a good computer eh??Even if I don't know how to use one. ha ha.
One good thing is that because it has been so cold you can't smell the feed lots no matter which way the wind blows. ha. ha. The back yard looks quite green at least the parts that is not covered with snow. If it ever warms up I have a lot of work I can do out there and I think I will enjoy that. Got a tree that needs to be cut down and a few that need trimming. It is a pretty back yard with a hugh garden area. Looking forward to trying my hand at growing some vege's.

We have started going to a little church that is just 3 houses from ours. Evangelical Free Church.There are about 30 or 40 people that attend I think. It is a bit smaller than Beulah. I am hoping to join the worship team and maybe play a bit of Harmonica with them. I practices with them 2 weeks ago and it was fun.

The town is small and everything closes up at 5 pm. If you want something you have to buy it before 5 or you are hooped. The people are super friendly and I am hoping to meet some of the Seniors next week at the Seniors Club.
Wendy still hasn't found her lamp shades yet and some important papers that were in the same box. I think it might have got thrown out but don't know.

Well I guess thats enough about the move eh? Have a great day and maybe when I get the new computer I'll blog again. Love you all and God Bless you.