Hi all,
June 27 rained all day, but the sun shone wonderfully on the bride and groom on the 28th. Pictured here are Lindsay (Phyl's youngest daughter) and her husband Jukka (pronounced Yooka). They live and work in Jukka's home city of Kuopio, Finland, but they flew home to be married in our back yard. We had a small gathering of two dozen, and it was a flawless day. Wonderful food, prepared by Lew and Phyllis' other daughter Leslie; great visiting; a marshmallow roast in the fire pit, then fireworks after dark. The young couple were handsome and seem so very much in love. They have been together for eleven years, so one would think they know what they're in for!
Pictured here are the proud Mom and step-dad. Behind us is the garden, but it has grown another six inches in less than a week. We have had a sudden heatwave along with a couple of inches of rain, so everything is glorious.
Guess who caught the garter?
So the great day has past, we are eating leftovers at a great rate, the bride and groom are safely back in Finland, and there is a decided emptiness in the house.
A week from tomorrow (July 12) we pack up Phyl's Mom (age 82) and Aunt Flo (91) and fly to Montreal. We'll spend a couple of days with Leslie and Trevor and get a look at their "new" 6-bedroom house. Likely we'll strap on tool belts and pitch in on some of the renovation projects. They have offered to keep us there for several months, but we'll plan to do that later on. From Montreal we rent a car and head to Elmvale, Ontario for the reunion of the Jacobs and Maw families (Phyl's maternal grandparents). Ella and Flo are the only siblings left from a ten-member family, but there are 23 offspring and hoards of "greats" and "great-greats", so this promises to be quite the function. We only hope that Flo can tolerate all the excitement. The final festivities will be held on Saturday the 19th. We'll fly back from Toronto on the 20th.
Meanwhile Phyl's work colleague will babysit the cat and keep the flowers watered.
Once we're back, Lew is off to see the specialist in Edmonton on the 23rd. It is nearly a year since we began the medical journey brought on by the agressive fibromatosis in his left shoulder. He seems to have been shunted back and forth from surgeon to surgeon to oncologist to surgeon after a series of ultrasounds, CT scans and an MRI. The specialist in Edmonton thinks there is a possibility of doing a bit of surgery to remove the tumour from around the nerve endings before giving a series of radiation. There is a lot of concern about nerve damage since this could render the left arm useless, and at the very least leave Lew in serious pain for the rest of his life. So caution is required. If surgery is to happen, it will likely be in Edmonton and probably not until some time in August at the earliest. Then, he will have to be re-mapped for radiation and that could use up most of September. We expect there won't be closure on this whole thing for another two or three months. So we just hang around home and wait, wait, wait.
If we get the medical stuff done, we are tentatively planning to drive back down to Montreal in October, hauling our trailer with a load of furniture for the kids. We will eventually want to downsize, so the piano, Phyl's huge sewing cabinet, the antique oak dining table and a few other things are destined for the 6-bedroom house. Gas prices being what they are, this could be an expensive move. But it will also be the opportunity for us to spend some extra time helping the kids, provided Lew's shoulder will let him do anything. Otherwise he can just sit back and tell everyone what to do. Hmmm, from my experience he isn't the greatest teacher, but I'm sure he'll make a good boss!
Hope everyone is having a fun and relaxing summer so far. We appreciate Gary's blog along with pictures etc., but wonder if everyone else has forgotten how to post????
Take care,
Phyl and Lew
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