November 29

 November 29 and I we are just getting ready to attend Haley's 42nd  birthday party at their new house on Spadina Crescent.  Monday, December 1 is her actual birthday.  I remember the day she was born.  Judy claimed shovelling snow on the morning of Haley's birth actually induced labor or maybe she was induced when we chased down a mouse that was setting up shop in our broom closet.  Whatever the case, I have been in love with that little girl since the day she was born.  

October was an enjoyable month entertaining Scott who was in Saskatoon and area for the month. Linda got in some quality time with her son before he leaves for Europe for 18 months.  November has been a month of preparing for Erin's arrival in Saskatoon.  In the past week, Linda and I traveled to Edmonton with a borrowed truck and a borrowed van to bring Erin's belongings to Saskatoon.  While in Edmonton, we attended an Edmonton Oilers game.

In other news:

1.  Mary, Gunnar, Luvisa, and I spent part of the November weekend at Elk Ridge.  There was enough snow for Luvisa, Gunnar, and me to enjoy some tobogganing.  The pool at the lodge was out of commission, but we improvised by filling the bathtub to the brim twice.  Once to eat a watermelon in the tub and then what Luvisa calls a "watch bath", meaning they hopped in the tub to watch a movie on the tablet that was positioned on the toilet seat.  We also went on a hike in the bush and saw some wild life. Being at Elk Ridge was a great escape.

2.  Mary is still involved with Fireside Singers.  We will be attending the Fireside Christmas concert on December 19.  

3. Gunnar and Luvisa are working on their routines for Ukrainian dance. We will get to see them perform at Malanka in January.

4.  Linda and I went to a dance at Danceland in Watrous last Saturday with our friends, the Duecks and the  Tallons.  If you have a chance to dance to The Dance Band, go for it.  

5.  In less than four weeks, I will be going to Costa Rica with the kids and grandkids.  

6.  In October, we had a house guest.  Judy's cousin's son, Bruce, who teaches in Bermuda spent two nights with us.  We had the chance to get most of the clan together to celebrate Bermuda Bruce.

7.  Linda is still enjoying pickle ball at least twice a week and I have been playing hockey twice a week.

I probably won't be making a blog entry before Christmas; therefore, I will take this opportunity to wish everyone who reads this blog a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year.  Keep on being thankful in all circumstances, forgive 70 times 7, be generous, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, be the change you would like to see, give with enthusiasm, and spread peace.  Shalom, my friends.

October 13

 Happy Thanksgiving.  A blog entry is long overdue, I see.  The summer has ended and we are well into Autumn so it is time for me to record my activities over the last three months.

1.  We spent most of the summer at our condo in Elk Ridge.  Linda is quite active in the Elk Ridge community.  She helps to organize the weekly Ladies Golf Night.  She is also on the board for the community association.  We are meeting a few people who live at Elk Ridge, but most of our socializing is with friends who camp or have cabins at Waskesiu.  During the summer, we played several rounds of golf, kayaked on lakes in the area, hiked several trails, spent time on the beach when the weather allowed, and biked whenever we could.  Linda and I also practiced yoga quite consistently and I must say, my knees feel better than they have been since I injured my knee in pickle ball three years ago.  Speaking of pickle ball, we did play some games of pickle ball at the new courts that were created in Waskesiu.

2.  I had some days that I traveled to Memorial Lake to spend time with Gunnar, Luvisa, Mary, Morgan, Dustin, and Haley.  Gunnar and Luvisa have become real water bugs so their favourite activity, aside from catching frogs with Morgan, is spending hot afternoons on Uncle Dustin's boat.  Gunnar and I got in a few rounds of what he calls "big golf" on the Memorial Lake Course.  Gunnar has a membership at the course and takes the game quite seriously for a 4 year old.  He wears a golf glove, takes multiple practice swings, and actually connects quite well for a boy his age.  Luvisa likes to catch bugs and makes good use of her capture net.

3.  On September 13, Linda and I flew to Paris, then took the train to Strasbourg, France, a beautiful city on the French/German border.  We had an airbnb in the old town.  From Strasbourg, we took a train to Nuremberg, Germany for two days. Again, we stayed in the old town.  The most impressive tour we enjoyed was the Art Bunker tour, a tour that details the lead up to WWII in Germany.  After Nuremberg, we traveled, again by train, to Passau, Germany where we spent three days before we began a week long Bike and Barge from Passau to Bratislava to Budapest to Vienna and back to Passau.  In total, we biked well over 200 km through some amazing countryside along the Danube River.  Beautiful cathedrals, scenic villages, castle ruins, and vineyards were among the many amazing features we viewed as we biked and barged down the Danube.  We also went through several locks on our journey.  Linda was not a fan of the locks.  She thought descending down the locks was akin to being lowered into a grave.  

We were with six other couples in our group.  Everyone got along marvellously and sharing the experience with people we knew made the experience even better.  The crew on board the barge were amazing, the food was great, and the coordinator prepared us well for a memorable experience every day.  There were usually evening activities to entertain the guests.  Linda and I particularly enjoyed the 70s night where we borrowed costumes and relived our youth as we dance the night away.  I'm sure you won't be surprised to learn I was the first one to sign up for Karaoke Night.  

The bike and barge ended on September 28, then we took a shuttle to Munich with our group.  The main event was attending Octoberfest.  I would recommend Octoberfest in Munich, but one day of Octoberfest was just fine.  We drank a few litres of beer and enjoyed a platter of German food and listened to a lot of oompahpah music.  Actually, I enjoyed going to the Hoftbrauhaus in Munich.  Hoftbrauhaus is a huge beer hall that provides the Octoberfest experience all year long.  The beerhall is a manic, noisy place that I think is a happier place than Disneyland.  Good food, raucous singing, cheerful music, and happy faces everywhere.  

4.  We chose to take the train back to Paris rather than fly.  Train travel in Europe is very enjoyable.  We bought a four day pass and once we learned how to use the. booking app, we traveled comfortably throughout Germany and France.  

5.  As usual, the feeling of returning home is always a relief.  We returned on October 2.  The only downer was having to shed a scammer in the Paris Metro, a harrowing experience, but we came out unscathed.

6.  On October 6, Scott and Sara arrived.  Later in the week, Scott and Sara, along with Erin, joined Linda and me at Elk Ridge.  We were thrilled to discover there was still colourful foliage to enjoy.  We had beautiful weather to enjoy long hikes in the forest.

7. Following Elk Ridge, we came home to prepare for a house full of company on October 12.  Linda's Saskatchewan relatives congregated at our place to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal and to meet Scott's lovely partner Sara.  Scott and Sara are off to Paris in early December where they will live for the next 18 months while Sara completes a fellowship at a Paris hospital studying auto immune/ auto inflammatory diseases.  Understandably, Linda is anxious about her boy moving so far away, but c'est la vie.  The consolation is:  Erin is moving back to Saskatoon from Edmonton so Linda will have her little girl nearby.  Erin plans to study at the University of Saskatchewan after she does some upgrading.  In the short term, she plans to find a job in the restaurant industry to build up the war chest.

So that's it for now.  I will close by saying we live in a wonderful country.  Yes, I know we have challenges to overcome, but we are very blessed to live in this nation.  Oh Canada, I love you so.

June 27

 This post is coming to you from my perch in Elk Ridge.  Linda and I just returned from the beach at Waskesiu.  We will be at Elk Ridge for most of July and August.  Our first day here was June 23 which is remarkable because our last visit to Elk Ridge was in the middle of January when we were skiing and snow shoeing in -30 C temperatures.  Fortunately, the frightening forest fire situation has become less frightening due to long awaited rain showers in mid to late June.  Linda and I ran into plenty of rain when we took the motor home to the west coast from May 16 - June 6.  As promised, we brought rain back with us when we returned to Saskatchewan.

The following is the list of what we have been up to in the last two months.

1.  Early May was a time of grand parenting.  We attended Luvisa and Gunnar's Ukrainian Dance Recitals and we looked after Gunnar when Luvisa was dancing in North Battleford.  Gunnar really likes the accommodations at our place.

2.  I dismantled the old Boeing Tub/Shower from the main bath before we began our motor home holiday in preparation for a bathroom renovation.  I contracted a guy I know from hockey to install a walk in shower in the main bathroom.  He completed the work when we returned from our motor home trip. We are very happy with the results.  We have a few odds and ends to complete the project, but most of the work was completed in less than two weeks.

3.  Although we didn't have the best weather for our motor home trip, we had a fantastic time and never had to postpone any of the activities we wanted to enjoy.

On the first night of our trip, we stayed with my old buddy, Nic Feld, who lives in Lethbridge.  Nic was a young guy whose family camped with our family at Memorial Lake.  We spent ours playing football, frisbee, slow pitch, and other shenanigans every summer.  Now Nic has his own kiddos to play with.

The next stop was Nelson, BC, where we stayed with Judy's cousin and her partner.  We found a break in the rain to play 18 holes of golf on an amazing course at Balfour.  From Nelson, we moved on to Penticton where we biked the Kettle Valley Rail Trail up the Naramata Bench.  The scenery was amazing with beautiful views of Lake Okanagan, wineries, forests, and mountains.

When we left Penticton, we stopped at Twin Lakes Golf Course for another great golf experience before continuing on to Vancouver where we stayed at Linda's nephew's home.  In Vancouver, I had a chance to visit two of my nephews, Jordan Graham and Justin Opheim.  Linda had a chance to see her second oldest sibling, Bill, who lives in White Rock.  We also challenged ourselves to do the Grouse Grind...3000 feet elevation in two hours and two minutes.  There was beer and nachos waiting for us at the top, then we took the gondola down.  The view of Vancouver from the top of Grouse Mountain is eye popping.

From Vancouver, we took the ferry to Nanaimo, stocked up with groceries, and traveled to Tofino where we stayed at the same RV park as last year, Crystal Cove.  In Tofino, we biked the Pacific Rim Trail, hiked a few forest trails, and had an amazing whale watching experience.  Seeing huge grey whales was impressive, but the most memorable experience on the tour was cruising close to a sea lion colony on a rocky island miles out on the ocean.  The male sea lions were two tons in weight. The ocean was wild that day.  We were cresting three meter swells.  Luckily, we didn't lose our lunch.  Other animals of note were the sea otters lolling on the open ocean and a puffin.

After leaving Tofino, we spent two nights in Victoria...beautiful city.  Victoria is bike friendly.  We were impressed to discover there is a bike valet service in downtown Victoria.  Linda and I enjoyed a very long walk around Victoria Harbor, then met an old friend of Linda's in Oak Bay where we enjoyed a meal on an outdoor patio.

The next day, we took the Tsawassen Ferry to the mainland and continued on to Blind Bay near Salmon Arm for a one night stay.  After a long travel day, we set up camp at Bow Valley Campground near Canmore.  From Canmore, we traveled to Buffalo Lake near Stettler to spend an evening with Linda's niece and her partner, Pete. On our way to Buffalo Lake, we stopped in Cochrane AB for a round of golf.

Edmonton was our next stop.  Linda's daughter, Erin, and her faithful dog, Otis, were waiting for us.  Erin packed a picnic lunch and we spent most of the afternoon in the Terwilliger Dog Park.  Erin prepared a delicious dinner for us in the evening, then we went to Linda's brother's place in Sherwood Park to watch the Oilers beat the Panthers.  The following day, we met Erin for lunch, went for a long walk that tired out Otis, then returned to Sherwood Park for an amazing dinner.

On June 6, we arrived in Saskatoon in time to unpack the camper, chase the squirrels out of the yard, and enjoy a good night sleep in our king size bed.

4.  Sad news for Haley and Dustin in June.  Poor old Jaxon, their male dog, moved on to doggy heaven.  They were hoping he would hang in there for family pictures but his old body just gave out.  Jaxon was 14.

5.  Gunnar turned 4 on June 2.

6.  We attended Luvisa's jazz and acro recital in June.  Luv Bug is a born performer.  She shines on the stage (says her grandpa).  I'm really blown away with her ever improving skill level.

7.  Haley and Mary finished their school year today.  They are looking forward to a summer of relaxation and plenty of "lake time".

As usual, I'm probably forgetting something. Until next time, remember to be hopeful and joyful.  There is pleasure and pain in this life.  One of the only ways I know to offset the pain is to be forever thankful and look for ways to show your gratitude.  Shine your light.  Brighten people's days.  Forgive 70 times 7.  And when you face a big pile of manure, know there must be a pony for you in there somewhere.

April 28

 Election Day!  Yes, I voted.

March has flown by and April too.  I am baching this week because Linda is in Canmore with a few of her friends from high school/university days.  I just was playing hockey this afternoon and I only have one game left before the season is over, then slow pitch begins next week.  I really don't play much slow pitch anymore because we are beginning our west coast motor home adventure May 16.  When we get back, we will be spending most of the summer at Elk Ridge.

And now...the March/April highlights:

1.  Linda and I flew to Montreal last week to spend time with Scott and Sara.  Scott and Sara were wonderful hosts. On the first day in Montreal, Scott and Sara had to work so Linda and I toured a history museum.  Scott was free on the second day so he took us to a famous Montreal smoked meat sandwich diner, Schwartz's.  While we were eating, a camera crew was setting up in the back of the restaurant.  We guessed they were filming a promo for the restaurant, but we soon discovered the cameras were there to film Prime Minister, Mark Carney, who dropped by to shake hands with customers and, of course, pick up a smoked meat sandwich.  He came by table and chatted with me.  Linda had gone to the washroom.  She was just a little shocked when she returned to find the PM was there.  She took a selfie with The Big Guy.  What are the chances of bumping in to a PM in a restaurant during one of the most consequential election campaigns in Canadian history?

2.  Fortunately, we have been able to see the grand kiddies frequently over the last two months.  Linda took Bug out for a girls day on Saturday to celebrate Bugs 7th birthday on April 12.  Luvisa had her friend birthday party at the Forestry Farm Zoo... the perfect place for a little girl who loves all animals, especially creepy crawly things.  Luvisa received a pet lizard complete with an enclosure/terrarium.  The lizard's name is Shy because he is shy. Makes sense.

3.  Luvisa has also been in dance competitions traveling to Lloydminister and North Battleford.  Gunnar stayed with us when Luvisa and Mary were in North Battleford.  Gunnar is an easy boy to have as a house guest.  I keep him busy with monster trucks, playing hockey in the garage, and playing at the playground.  I also take Gunnar to preschool frequently.  He loves his grandpa apparently; therefore, I have to pry him off me when I drop him off at preschool or at the baby-sitters.d

4.  Linda and I have the grand dogs until May 2 because Haley and Dustin are in France and Portugal for 15 days on a European vacation.  The dogs are getting old (Approximately 14) so they are not as boisterous as they used to be.  Jaxon, the male, doesn't even lose his mind when he meets other dogs when we take him for walks.  Pieces, the female, is less mobile.  When she is done walking, she just lays down and refuses to move even when she is in the middle of an intersection.  I had to phone Linda to bring my vehicle last Thursday because Pieces decided she was not walking one more step.  Fun times.

5.  In March, I went with Mary and the kids to Regina because Mary was judging a cheer competition.  I entertained the kids by taking them out for lunch and then to visit my brother, Vince.  Apparently, Gunnar had too much pop.  He projectile vomited in the hotel room on my bed and in my shoes, then he was fine.  More good times.

6.  Linda and I have moved up to intermediate level in pickle ball so we are getting generous doses of humility on a regular basis.

Well, that's all for now.  Until next time, take care of one another and everyone who needs help.  We are all in this thing called life, together.

March 4, 2025

We returned from Mexico on Friday, February 28, tanned and in need of detox. Seriously though, we had a great holiday.  Four weeks was a bit too much.  We were ready to come back after three weeks.  

San Pancho was absolutely charming and I would go back there in a heart beat.  We stayed in a suite with an amazing ocean view.  Our friends, Ken and Gwen, were staying on the same property.  They have been going to San Pancho for 12 years so they knew a lot of people and knew where to go and what to do.  The fresh produce in San Pancho was very reasonably priced and there was a fresh fish market supplying us with mahi mahi every day.  The little grocery store provided all the items we needed at a reasonable price. There were several restaurants and bars with a variety of entertainment.

The highlights of our stay:

1.  We attended an actual polo match that was accompanied by a Sunday smorgasboard.

2.  We hiked nearly every day.  The longest hike was to Sayulita.  We also hiked to a mountain top north of San Pancho where there is a Buddha statue and a platform built into the mountain where people can do yoga.

3.  I took along acrylic paints and some brushes in my luggage because I like to gather rocks along the ocean, then paint pictures and designs on the rocks.  After I finished painting the rocks, I placed them along the road ways toward the beach.  Of course, they went missing which is totally fine with me.  One painted rock was transported to the Buddha statue I spoke of earlier.

4.  We accompanied Ken to the facility where he usually plays pickle ball.  I believe we played 4 or 5 times while we were in San Pancho.  Ken knows several people who he has met playing pickle ball so we met many interesting people and made some new friends that way.

5.  We had daily routines like coffee on the patio, swimming laps in the pool, reading at the beach, guacamole/margaritas at happy hour, seafood meals under the palapa, and watching the sunset over the Pacific.

6.  We went on a whale watching tour in Banderos Bay.  We saw several humpbacks and were able to witness a particular whale calf who loved aerial acrobatics.  Amazing!  We also followed a large school of dolphins.  Back in San Pancho, seeing whales was a regular occurrence. 

7.  Tuesdays in San Pancho are market days.  Of course, there is the usual tourist stuff, but there are delicious treats and baked items.  Every place north of PV has a market day.  We went to markets in La Panita, Santa Cruz, and Bucerias too.

8.  There is a music festival in San Pancho in late February.  Although we had moved to Bucerias, we took the bus to San Pancho to enjoy the festival.

9.  Linda and I became more comfortable with the local buses, but we also gave lots of our business to our personal Uber driver, Alberto.

The last 12 days were spent south of Bucerias in a unit that must have been built in the 70s.  The unit was rustic and somewhat dated.  On the up side, we were close to the ocean and walked thousands of steps along the ocean.  Our friends, Greig and Brenda, were next door in a high rise condo.  As luck would have it, there were other couples from Saskatoon in the condo building so we had a gang to hang out with.  There was a live band playing on the roof of the condo building on Tuesday nights; therefore, we enjoyed two evenings of dining and dancing 10 stories up with beautiful views of the surroundings.

And now we are home... I think we are finally caught up on our sleep.  My birthday was Saturday so I celebrated by installing a new water heater.  Water was gushing out of the old one.  Fortunately, the old water heater crapped out when we were home and the clean up was minimal. 

Linda prepared a birthday brunch on Sunday and we had the crew over for a birthday celebration.

We have already enjoyed a pickle ball session.  I start hockey next week.

Tonight is grandparenting time so I better sign off until next entry.

Stay hopeful.  Shine light.

January 25

 We have Christmas and New Year celebrations in the books for another year.  The tree and the decorations have all been stowed away and now we are beginning a mega project in the basement...painting.  Our goal is to finish before we head to Mexico at the end of the month.

I have been making good use of the generous snowfall this winter.  I think I have been out about twenty times which is a record for me.  The only other winter when I skied this much was in 20-21 when there were covid restrictions.  Last weekend (January 17-20), Linda and I were at Elk Ridge for the coldest weekend of the year.  In true Canadian fashion, I snow shoed 4 days in a row.  Linda and I also skied at Elk Ridge and we skied the Fisher Trail (7.3 km) at Waskesiu.  Although we had cold fingers and cold toes at times, the scenery was breathtaking. There was a significant snowfall on the day before we arrived so the trees were snow covered and glorious.  

In six more sleeps, we will be flying to Mexico where we will spend 16 days in San Pancho, north of PV, then we are spending 12 days in Bucerias before returning at the end of February.  I am going to miss my grand kids immensely, but I take comfort in knowing they will be away for 10 days during February because Mary and Morgan are going with the kids and Morgan's mom to Palm Springs for a vacation so I wouldn't have seen them during those days anyway.  I have been stockpiling some grandkid time in January.  Luvisa and I had a date night last Thursday.  We had hot chocolate at the Sheraton, then skated at the outdoor rink by the Bessborough.  On Tuesday evening, we had both kids over for a few hours.  Linda has become Gunnar's personal barber so part of the time was spent lowering Gunnar's ears.  

Mary and the kids will be at our place this afternoon, then we will be going with the whole clan to Malanka to watch Gunnar and Luvisa perform their Ukrainian dance with the Rushnychok Dance School. The performance is followed by a dance; therefore, we will be dancing until we drop.

This weekend has a definite Ukrainian flavour.  Last evening, we were invited to a Ukrainian feast with the rest of my adult ukulele group.  Natalie and Blain, our hosts, have a son who sings with a Ukrainian choir.  After our meal, the Ukrainian choir arrived and sang a number of traditional New Years songs.  The performance was amazing as was the meal.  I felt so blessed to enjoy an evening with great friends, Ukrainian singing, and Ukrainian food.

As you know, I have a regular gig at Luther Heights performing for the Alzheimer's group in Luthercare facilities. I usually do a solo performance singing gospel tunes and folk songs, but this time I will be joined by my ukulele group.  I think I have mentioned in past posts that I taught a group of adults who wanted to learn how to play ukulele.  Now they are surpassing my expertise.  I no longer lead the group.  They choose the songs they want to learn.  If I am not able to attend, they meet without me.  I am just a member of the group and I like it that way.  We have nine members now and really can't accommodate more members at this point because we would not fit into a living room practice space.

In other news:

1.  I continue to play pickle ball at least once a week on days that I am not playing hockey.

2.  We finished a mega project in January.  We painted the whole basement and changed the outlets and switches to decor white.

That is it for January.