Hello all,
We had a wonderful visit in Victoria. Thank you, Carolyn and Gary. Also thanks to "the kids" for joining us for the family dinner, and for the extra visits. We got out of Sask just in time to miss the snow, rain, and wind and had fine weather almost all of the time we were in Victoria. Even the days there was rain, we managed to be in pockets where it wasn't pouring.
The Salvation Army and Value Village will never be the same since Carolyn and Phyllis' visits. Some of the best bargains they had have now reached our closets! Walmart in Duncan will continue to operate for another day or two based on the purchase of video cameras by Gary and Lewis. We have managed to do some filming since we got home. Now we have to figure out how to download and clear the card--but a little reading (and likely a few mistakes) and we'll get it done.
The major excitement since we returned home was prepping to take out the huge Scotch pine that was in front of the house. It would have been a gorgeous tree out in the forest, but it was a big pain in the butt here on a city lot. Every year it shed a truckload of cones (this is NOT an exaggeration) that had to be hand-picked and disposed of. They spit all over the driveway and sidewalk and were such hard little suckers, that stepping on one could cause a severely twisted ankle. Once out on the street, they were run over by vehicles, making it look like we still had our milk delivered by horse-drawn carts.
Each fall it shed its needles. We all know from Christmas experiences that a Scotch pine is far more difficult to clean up after than a "regular" Christmas tree. Besides all this, the people from whom Phyl bought the property had made the mistake of surrounding the tree with a layer of small rock over landscape fabric. So there was no raking or sweeping or blowing the debris away.
Needless to say we learned to despise the tree. Phyllis had an on-going battle with the city over whose tree it was. For four years the city insisted it was "an asset of the city" and that it was on the easement. That means that although the tree and lawn "belong" to the city, the homeowner is tasked with looking after it. Finally this spring Phyl wrote a pointed letter stating that the city's "asset" was paying huge dividends, and perhaps they would like to come by and collect the proceeds. Failing that, perhaps they could send someone every second day from June 1st till September 30 to tidy up behind it as it rained cones and needles.
This brought the city arborist out to our property with his tape measure and clip board, not once, but several times. Finally he came to the door and advised that it had been determined that the tree WAS on our property and not on the easement. Therefore the city would take it off their inventory and we would be free to do with it as we pleased. We made sure that we got a letter and an email from the city informing us of their decision. Once done, we planned our action.
Lew took off the lower branches up to about 16 feet high. Then he tied a cable around one of the main trunks as high as he could reach on the extension ladder. The other end was tied to the Sorento. We had our friend Arden over, and he sawed out the wedge, then back-cut as Lew put tension on the cable. Over it came with a beautiful thud, and pine cones flying in all directions! This is all documented by Phyllis on video. Lew, Arden, and Phyllis wielded chain saws for about an hour, limbing the tree, packing the "slash" into the trailer for composting, and sawing the branches and trunks up into manageable lengths. Lew's friend Bill will take the wood for burning in his fireplace. We have a wood-burning fireplace, but it is so ineffecient that we have blocked it off and put an electric insert in.
Once the wood was all out of the way, Phyl called up Big and Low Stump Removal. The owner, Gerald Bigelow, came over and assessed the situation, then arrived the next day with his truck, bobcat, stump grinder, chain saw, leaf blower, and two dozen other small pieces of landscape equipment. Within 3/4 of an hour, he had all the rocks scraped up and into the back of his truck and was prepped to grind the stump. We had issues over where the water valve happened to be in the yard, so the whole episode got put on hold while the City shovel-leaners blundered around finding it. Turned out that the stump didn't get ground until the next day. It was quite the process to watch, and again it is all captured on video.
We now have a nice, flat black front yard that is calling for some fill and sod next spring. We know in advance that there will be some sore muscles in May! We are planning to plant a recently developed tree to replace the Scotch Pine -- a EuroCADyenUSD $$$$ tree. If we can get it to grow, we'll send you the address of the secret place we were able to obtain it!
All of the flower beds have been cleaned and put to rest, and the pots are tucked away until next year. We feel like we have everything ready for winter to officially set in. However, the past few days have been quite lovely. We have had a bit of mist, but usually the clouds part and we have several hours of sun. It is just a bit cool for shirt sleeves, but certainly one can work in a sweatshirt very comfortably.
Lew is back to playing bridge and we are both bowling on Wednesday nights. Phyllis is attempting to go to the gym five days a week, but finding it rather gruelling until the muscles get used to the work out. Lew does 45 minutes on the treadmill almost every day. Phyl is singing in the University Chorus and practises every Monday evening. Hunting season for deer is on so Lew is trying to find a week when there are no other appointments on the agenda so that he can head to the cabin. We have begun the annual ritual of attending Symphony, Gateway Players, Persephone Players, Live Five Players, and Amati Quartet concerts. When there is nothing else to do we wedge in visits to the Bassment (the local jazz venue) and some small University concerts. There is certainly lots to keep us busy.
Well, that's about it for this report. Hope everyone stays well. Use lots of hand sanitizer and stay away from crowds......
Phyl and Lew
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Hot and Healthy
Hi everyone,
Finally we have summer. It has been HOT for three days in a row! We can almost hear our cucumbers growing. The tomatoes are turning red on the vine, and we're only a couple of days away from eating some home-grown corn on the cob. Everything cries out for water, so the hose has been put to use every evening.
Lew had another MRI a couple of weeks ago, and a follow-up visit with the oncologist on Monday. Everything is good, and we felt that the Doctor was very pleased with the outcome. Lew's thyroid problem has been corrected, and he is now looking and feeling healthy once again. It has been a long year of medical nonsense, but the end result seems to be what we were hoping for.
I have had some problems with my hands, particularly with fingers "locking up". We happened to have dinner about a month ago with my cousin who is a local plastic surgeon. I took my opportunity to complain to him about my hands, and he said he would be glad to give me some steroid injections to make them feel better. So I had that done yesterday. Although one wouldn't expect instant results, I can already tell that things are going to be better.
The next thing on the agenda is a trip to Calgary next week for me to attend the Canadian Sleep Institute to determine why I am doing such a lousy job of sleeping. By coincidence, we will be bunking at George and Janet's, and they are expecting Betty to arrive on Thursday. So we hope to have a good visit with all of them.
A picture recently received from Kathy shows Aunt Merle out in the sun with Betty. She is looking really, really, good. Can't keep an old dog down!
The past few weeks we have been picking wild berries and cooking and canning. Attached is a picture of the production line.
We were lucky to find several apple trees in a vacant lot nearby where we picked a wash basket full. Six pies and four apple crisps are tucked in the freezer. After an afternoon of chokecherry picking, we have 15 jars of choke/apple syrup and a garbage can full of chokecherry wine brewing. Also made some apple jelly and apple cider. This all happened at the same time as the prune plums and pears came into the stores, so of course we had to get a case of each of those and can them too! If there is a war, we have our bomb shelter stocked!
Lew plans to head to the cabin on the 13th since hunting season for elk is on. He'll likely spend ten days out there. Has to be back on the 28th for a Bridge Tournament that lasts till October 4. By then I hope to have the garden all cleaned up and packed away so that we can leave home without any tag ends.
Looking forward to our week in Victoria over the Thanksgiving weekend. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we won't hit the rainy season. But if we do, so what? We have good people to visit with and won't have any trouble being indoors with them if that's all we can do. And after all, Value Village is indoors, isn't it Carolyn?
That's all for this post.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Overdue Blog
Hi to All !
July has been a crappy month weather wise here in Toontown. The garden is progressing slowly, but our peppers are way behind due to lack of heat and sunshine. Lately, however, the peas and beans have been prolific, so we've had some great feeds of those veggies, along with some swiss chard and beet tops.
Lew has been for a few more tests, but no results yet. But we suspect the hyperthyroid problem has been solved. He's now doing 45 min daily on the treadmill at various speeds totalling almost 3 miles. So much for potential heart problems. Phyl suffers from SADS, so all the dark cloudy days have not been good for her - but she "endeavours to persevere".
We had Phyl's cousin Lawrence stay with us for a few days. He's from the Lower mainland in BC. They had a few days to reminisce together before he journeyed down to their old stomping grounds in southeastern Saskatchewan. Nice guy, Lew met him last yr at the Jacobs reunion in Ontario.
Lew's 65th occured this July 15th. Phyl threw me a great party at a local rib joint. Most of my closest friends were in attendance. Very much a pleasant surprise! We aso had a little party at home with a very large dairy Queen Ice cream cake. Took us about a week to eat it all!
Phyl's brother Eric is visiting from Toronto, along with a couple of classmates from BC and one from Saskatoon. As it turned out, Phyl was also a classmate of these folks as she went thru school at the same time as Eric in spite of being a yr younger. Small school, needed to fill up a class so Phyl was promoted, so to speak. They all had a nice reunion at our place.
Phyl and I spent a couple of days at the cabin, primarily to fetch one of Lew's snowmobiles back to Saskatoon, and also to get some flat rocks for Phyl's garden pool which will be going into our yard this fall. Lew bought a new machine, so he's selling off his 2 older sleds.
Phyl's car was rear-ended on an open road by a lady from BC. Ended up no one hurt, but SGI is writing off our 2003 Aerio. So today Phyl went out and bought another 2003 Aerio - same colour,but a few more bells and whistles, but also 30K km more on the odometer. Unfortunate, but crap happens. At least we think we got a fair settlement from SGI ( our provincial insurer), and were able to come out not too far in the red on the deal. The mounties charged the other party, so she won't be so fortunate.
That's us up-to-date for now.
Love to all,
Phyl, Lew, and Melissa
Monday, June 29, 2009
World Travelers Return Home!
Hello there,
I finished work on May 20, and have no plans to go back. Retirement suits me just fine!
Lew’s treatment for hyperthyroidism seems to have worked, and he is feeling better every day. He now has some energy, generally looks better, and has given up wearing his nitro patch. We think he’s on the road to complete recovery.
We are just home from five weeks’ holiday visiting the girls. First, we loaded up our cargo trailer with my piano, sewing bench, antique kitchen table, and some other goodies and drove to Hudson (near Montreal) where Leslie lives. She needs furniture to fill up the six-bedroom house she and Trevor bought last year!
Traveling was good, and we arrived there in less than four days. The kids had a long list of “to do’s” for us, so Lew and Trevor did a bunch of plumbing while I went out and dug up the gardens. There had been about ten years of neglect, so the long-handled spade we took got put to good use. I could likely go back every year for ten years and dig before I ever caught up with all the work. Leslie isn’t the frantic gardener I am, but I tried to teach her a little about “maintenance”.
We stayed a week then flew from there to Finland to visit Lindsay and Jukka. We got to see their new condo. It’s pretty small, but works well for the two of them. Of course, the bathroom and sauna uses up a whole lot of space that I think would be better used for other things—but saunas are a must in Finland. The condo building is brand new, and they were able to pick out their own décor, tiles, etc. We enjoyed spending time with the kids and Jukka’s family. His parents are very fine people, so it makes me feel satisfied that Lindsay has a good family to support her. She was sick with a nasty cold while we were there, but she determined to show us a good time anyway. Yesterday was their first anniversary, and it just seems a couple of days ago!
After a week, we flew back to Montreal. By this time the little garden I had planted for Leslie was poking through. She had the week off, so she and I planted some flowers, but generally we just relaxed. Trevor was working, so Lew just hung out and rested. My Mom flew down and spent a few days with all of us in Montreal. Then we hooked up the trailer and the three of us headed back. Mom has become a new woman since she had her knee replaced. (The next issue is seeing if we can fix up her hearing.)
We spent a night with my cousin south of Ottawa then headed to Lindsay, Ontario where we visited with Fraser MacDonald and Gail Dagneault. Their oldest daughter, Alyssa, is two weeks younger than Leslie. They are still operating their art-work business “Summerberry Signs”, named for their stay in Summerberry, Sask. It was a very enjoyable couple of hours.
From there we drove through to my brother, Eric’s cabin at the lake near Orillia and spent two nights there. Lew was pleased to be able to go sailing in Eric’s 14-foot sailboat. Then on to Elmvale for brunch with my Aunt (Mom’s sister-in-law). From there, we bombed straight through to Portage la Prairie. Mom had never been back since she moved to Saskatoon, so she tried to catch up with some of her old friends. We had coffee with her next-door neighbors, but there was no one else around when we phoned. Next morning we went out to the Re-cycle Center that Mom and Dad had helped to set up. There, she met a lady that she had known while in Portage.
We drove up and down the streets of my old stomping grounds, Grenfell, but didn’t stop to visit. By the time we got there, my Mom was quite sick with a head cold/bronchitis, and Lew and I were both catching it. We didn’t think we needed to spread it to anybody. Things in the old town haven’t changed significantly. I see that the house I built on the Main Street is still up for sale.
We arrived home on Thursday to lots of yard work. Mom had been over for the first three weeks that we were away and did an amazing job of keeping the weeds picked and the garden watered. She had to cover the tomatoes and peppers five nights to keep them from frost, and was busy telling us that nothing was growing. However, when we got back, there was an amazing surge of growth. We’re eating up the lettuce and I pulled all the radishes yesterday. There are a couple of tomatoes with nice big fruit on them, so it looks like we’ll eat again this year.
I’m not feeling great. Sinuses are draining and a very sore throat with lots of coughing. Lew is coughing, too, and has a runny nose. I guess that’s penance for having had a great holiday. We’ll spend the summer pretty close to home. Lew has a bridge tournament here at the end of September. Depending how things are going, we may take a quick trip out to Victoria in October.
Do take care, and hello to everyone.
I finished work on May 20, and have no plans to go back. Retirement suits me just fine!
Lew’s treatment for hyperthyroidism seems to have worked, and he is feeling better every day. He now has some energy, generally looks better, and has given up wearing his nitro patch. We think he’s on the road to complete recovery.
We are just home from five weeks’ holiday visiting the girls. First, we loaded up our cargo trailer with my piano, sewing bench, antique kitchen table, and some other goodies and drove to Hudson (near Montreal) where Leslie lives. She needs furniture to fill up the six-bedroom house she and Trevor bought last year!
Traveling was good, and we arrived there in less than four days. The kids had a long list of “to do’s” for us, so Lew and Trevor did a bunch of plumbing while I went out and dug up the gardens. There had been about ten years of neglect, so the long-handled spade we took got put to good use. I could likely go back every year for ten years and dig before I ever caught up with all the work. Leslie isn’t the frantic gardener I am, but I tried to teach her a little about “maintenance”.
We stayed a week then flew from there to Finland to visit Lindsay and Jukka. We got to see their new condo. It’s pretty small, but works well for the two of them. Of course, the bathroom and sauna uses up a whole lot of space that I think would be better used for other things—but saunas are a must in Finland. The condo building is brand new, and they were able to pick out their own décor, tiles, etc. We enjoyed spending time with the kids and Jukka’s family. His parents are very fine people, so it makes me feel satisfied that Lindsay has a good family to support her. She was sick with a nasty cold while we were there, but she determined to show us a good time anyway. Yesterday was their first anniversary, and it just seems a couple of days ago!
After a week, we flew back to Montreal. By this time the little garden I had planted for Leslie was poking through. She had the week off, so she and I planted some flowers, but generally we just relaxed. Trevor was working, so Lew just hung out and rested. My Mom flew down and spent a few days with all of us in Montreal. Then we hooked up the trailer and the three of us headed back. Mom has become a new woman since she had her knee replaced. (The next issue is seeing if we can fix up her hearing.)
We spent a night with my cousin south of Ottawa then headed to Lindsay, Ontario where we visited with Fraser MacDonald and Gail Dagneault. Their oldest daughter, Alyssa, is two weeks younger than Leslie. They are still operating their art-work business “Summerberry Signs”, named for their stay in Summerberry, Sask. It was a very enjoyable couple of hours.
From there we drove through to my brother, Eric’s cabin at the lake near Orillia and spent two nights there. Lew was pleased to be able to go sailing in Eric’s 14-foot sailboat. Then on to Elmvale for brunch with my Aunt (Mom’s sister-in-law). From there, we bombed straight through to Portage la Prairie. Mom had never been back since she moved to Saskatoon, so she tried to catch up with some of her old friends. We had coffee with her next-door neighbors, but there was no one else around when we phoned. Next morning we went out to the Re-cycle Center that Mom and Dad had helped to set up. There, she met a lady that she had known while in Portage.
We drove up and down the streets of my old stomping grounds, Grenfell, but didn’t stop to visit. By the time we got there, my Mom was quite sick with a head cold/bronchitis, and Lew and I were both catching it. We didn’t think we needed to spread it to anybody. Things in the old town haven’t changed significantly. I see that the house I built on the Main Street is still up for sale.
We arrived home on Thursday to lots of yard work. Mom had been over for the first three weeks that we were away and did an amazing job of keeping the weeds picked and the garden watered. She had to cover the tomatoes and peppers five nights to keep them from frost, and was busy telling us that nothing was growing. However, when we got back, there was an amazing surge of growth. We’re eating up the lettuce and I pulled all the radishes yesterday. There are a couple of tomatoes with nice big fruit on them, so it looks like we’ll eat again this year.
I’m not feeling great. Sinuses are draining and a very sore throat with lots of coughing. Lew is coughing, too, and has a runny nose. I guess that’s penance for having had a great holiday. We’ll spend the summer pretty close to home. Lew has a bridge tournament here at the end of September. Depending how things are going, we may take a quick trip out to Victoria in October.
Do take care, and hello to everyone.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Another Unemployed Person !
Hi to All !!
This is Phyl at Trevor & Leslie's home in Montreal enjoying a little retirement party !
More to follow soon !
This is Phyl at Trevor & Leslie's home in Montreal enjoying a little retirement party !
More to follow soon !
Thursday, May 14, 2009
NUKED AND WIRED
Finally, finally, finally. The answer to wait, wait, wait.
Lew had his nuclear thyroid treatment on Tuesday morning. He is now "radioactive" and can't cuddle and kiss, can't lick my spoon, and has to flush twice. Hopefully the long-awaited drink will be the answer to the misery he's been suffering the past two months. Whether it's coincidence, luck, or the drink working quickly, he has managed two full nights without having an angina attack. Today he decided not to put on his nitro patch, and at suppertime has still had no "twinges", as he calls them.
Today he went to get his Holter monitor, so he is now wired to a heart monitor for 24 hours. Somehow we doubt that anything startling will be found. The one part of him that has remained strong seems to be his heart (and that can be taken both ways!).
Tomorrow we both pay a visit to our physiotherapists. Lew will learn what kind of exercises he will have to do to get his shoulder and arm working the way it should following the cancer surgery and radiation. I've been taking treatments for a couple of months now for screwed up sacroiliac joints. I guess that's what comes of thinking you're 16 when you're closer to 61.
Two more work days! Whahoooo! Now, if I can dig through the snow I'll be able to finish planting the garden. No, it's not really THAT bad, but, yes, we've had snow today! My poor tomato plants are two feet tall and blooming, but they're still in their little greenhouse with a light bulb and blanket on. Even at that those that touch the plastic are a bit touched by the frost. We need the moisture that we're getting, but that's all the good I can say for the weather we're having right now. Thankfully, the really nice days have fallen on the weekends. But soon, it won't matter to me. I'll just take them when they happen.
The trailer is all ready to be loaded up for Montreal. Now that Lew has had his treatments, we are feeling more confident that we will actually hit the road as planned. Whatever follow-ups he needs can happen when we get back. This time the doctors can wait for him!
Happy Victoria Day to everyone,
Phyl and Lew
Lew had his nuclear thyroid treatment on Tuesday morning. He is now "radioactive" and can't cuddle and kiss, can't lick my spoon, and has to flush twice. Hopefully the long-awaited drink will be the answer to the misery he's been suffering the past two months. Whether it's coincidence, luck, or the drink working quickly, he has managed two full nights without having an angina attack. Today he decided not to put on his nitro patch, and at suppertime has still had no "twinges", as he calls them.
Today he went to get his Holter monitor, so he is now wired to a heart monitor for 24 hours. Somehow we doubt that anything startling will be found. The one part of him that has remained strong seems to be his heart (and that can be taken both ways!).
Tomorrow we both pay a visit to our physiotherapists. Lew will learn what kind of exercises he will have to do to get his shoulder and arm working the way it should following the cancer surgery and radiation. I've been taking treatments for a couple of months now for screwed up sacroiliac joints. I guess that's what comes of thinking you're 16 when you're closer to 61.
Two more work days! Whahoooo! Now, if I can dig through the snow I'll be able to finish planting the garden. No, it's not really THAT bad, but, yes, we've had snow today! My poor tomato plants are two feet tall and blooming, but they're still in their little greenhouse with a light bulb and blanket on. Even at that those that touch the plastic are a bit touched by the frost. We need the moisture that we're getting, but that's all the good I can say for the weather we're having right now. Thankfully, the really nice days have fallen on the weekends. But soon, it won't matter to me. I'll just take them when they happen.
The trailer is all ready to be loaded up for Montreal. Now that Lew has had his treatments, we are feeling more confident that we will actually hit the road as planned. Whatever follow-ups he needs can happen when we get back. This time the doctors can wait for him!
Happy Victoria Day to everyone,
Phyl and Lew
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Mom's Day to Everyone Who has had the Joy of Motherhood
The best to all Mom's on this special day.
Because of this lady, I get to say "Happy Mother's Day, Mom":
And because of these ladies, I get to be a Mom:
---And the bonus is that we're actually having a beautiful sunny calm day that simply calls out to me "garden, garden, garden".
Monday, April 13, 2009
SPRING HAS SPRUNG!
What a lovely Easter weekend it has been! The yard is all tidied up. The lawn chairs are out on the back patio, barbecue has been cleaned and serviced, and the compost grinder repaired and back in action. Today (Monday) I even dug up a couple of flower beds and took all my seedlings off the windowsills and put them in their little plastic greenhouse. The 14-day forecase promises that it isn't going to freeze solid. Today was a balmy +20.
The only thing that puts a damper on the emergence of spring is Lew's inability to fully enjoy it. He is simply feeling rotten. He continues to lose weight, is getting shakier by the day, and has no energy or strength to do anything. Other than going out to play bridge, and cooking simple meals, he pretty much only watches TV. It's a good thing we've had the Masters and the Men's Curling to watch!
Tomorrow he sees the cardiologist and we're hoping he gets booked for a thyroid scan this week as well. Now that we've narrowed the problems down to angina and overactive thyroid, we're anxious to get the scan done and treatment started. We're still planning to travel this summer, and want him to be on the upswing so he can enjoy the holiday.
He's terribly frustrated at not being able to putter around in the shop or the yard. Even after he starts feeling better, it is going to take a couple of months to get back to normal. I think he is secretly glad that I am pretty independent and am able to take on the "man" things that he can't do at the moment.
My mom is doing really well after having her knee replacement, and is walking better than she has for the last couple of years. My Aunt is doing great for 92, and I've been trying to convince her it's warm enough to go outside and walk around her building. They were both over for dinner on Friday evening and enjoyed the season's first barbecued steak and some real homecooking.
Otherwise we had a very quiet weekend. It has been nice to have a phone visit with Betty, and a couple more with Carolyn. It helps us keep up with what is happening with Lew's family. Hope everyone is doing well. Will try to keep the blog updated as Lew's medical saga continues.
Cheers,
Phyllis and Lew
I wish I could lose weight at the rate he is doing for about a month! But I don't want all the other nasty symptoms along with it. I'm looking forward to some serious gardening to get some muscles going here.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Good grief, two months have passed since our last blog. Maybe it's time to tune in again.
Lew finished his radiation on January 15, and has been recovering very nicely. His sunburn peeled and healed, and he has regained most of his energy. He will see the oncologist at the end of April for a follow-up. We expect there will be a call for an MRI prior to that.
Phyl spent all of January preparing for her role as Delia in "Bedroom Farce", one of five plays presented annually by the Gateway Theatre--a non-professional volunteer theatre here in Saskatoon. At first, the play seemed like it would be less than exciting, a typical English farce without much real humor and including a lot of anachronisms that only the British might understand. But as it came together it became more and more enjoyable. The local newspaper reporter gave it rave reviews. Phyl was pleased to read ".....Blake Cumming (Ernest) and Phyllis Johnston (Delia) were perfectly cast as the oldest couple". In reality, Blake is 30 years old! That also means, that in reality he is exactly half as old as Phyl. Later in the review, "Johnston was even more believable when she provided motherly advice to her daughter-in-law". Given that I will never have a daughter-in-law, I guess it worked!
While Phyl was away in the evenings, Lew spent his time keeping tabs on golf, NCIS, Business News Network, and West Wing. He had his sidekick, Melissa the cat, to keep him company. On January 17, Phyl's Mom came to stay for two weeks as she had just had a knee replacement. So she and Lew could watch TV together. Lew was in his element looking after her while Phyl was off to work or to rehearsal. Ella stayed until the first of February when she went back to her condo. But both Lew and Phyl have been on the reserve list for grocery shopping, medical appointments, etc. The plan is for Ella to be completely well so that she can babysit Melissa and water the garden while we are away for six weeks this summer.
The first weekend of February we flew to Winnipeg to help celebrate Aunt Merle's 100th birthday. Even though her body was weak, she was amazingly keen-minded and could keep track of everyone as they came and went. It is unfortunate that she wasn't able to be up out of bed to have her party, but everyone had good visits with her. And we all had wonderful visits with each other. Betty and her clan did a wonderful job of feeding and entertaining all of us.
Phyl's last official day of work will be May 20. We hope to be on the road by May 22 with our cargo trailer behind the Sorrento. With any luck we'll have the piano, a big sewing desk, the kitchen table, several boxes of books, tools and hardware, an office chair, and perhaps the tea wagon tucked carefully into the trailer. These are all items destined for Leslie and Trevor (Phyl's eldest daughter and hubby) in Hudson, PQ. We hope to arrive there by the 27th of May, unload, get our work clothes on and help them rip the stucco and brick off the exterior of their house.
For some relaxation, we will fly from Montreal on June 2 and be in Finland with Lindsay and Jukka (Phyl's youngest and her hubby) for a week. Back to Montreal/Hudson on June 11 to recover from jet lag. Then another week helping replace windows, add styrofoam insulation, and install vinyl siding. End date for the travels depends a lot on how things are going here at home. We'll hire someone to mow grass, and hopefully the weeds won't get any higher than the back fence in the garden. We can hardly expect Ella (at age 83) to take complete responsibility. Perhaps she could bring Florence (92) over to help her!
The past week we have torn the house apart in order to lay laminate flooring throughout the dining room, kitchen, and hallways. Every door casing had to be removed of course. There never were any respectable baseboards, but there was linoleum glued, screwed and tatooed onto the walls. So there was a lot of dismantling done before we could mantle.......hmmm I wonder if that the correct use of "mantle"?
Effective yesterday we laid the last piece of laminate. Today has been a day of scraping off old paint around the door frames and building new casings. It's slow work. As we go, Phyl is doing some patching and painting. That expanded into painting an entire wall, and it appears that entire hallway into the bedrooms will need the same treatment. No rest for the wicked.
Lew is anxious to get this job put to bed, as we are supposed to get some warmer weather (they've been wrong for the last two months on that forecast!). Regardless, he has plans to head to the cabin for some snowmobiling. Given the doctors' prognosis last year, it's pretty exciting that he has full use of his arm and can wrestle the snow machine and quad around. We've been discussing going golfing this summer--something that was out of the question for the past two summers for Lew.
That's the news from 55 O'Neil in Saskatoon. We'd love to see some information come forth from Mike and Charlene, and David and Tina and crew. Did manage to catch up on Lynn and Noni's lives and kids while in Winnipeg. Take care everyone.
Lew and Phyl
Lew finished his radiation on January 15, and has been recovering very nicely. His sunburn peeled and healed, and he has regained most of his energy. He will see the oncologist at the end of April for a follow-up. We expect there will be a call for an MRI prior to that.
Phyl spent all of January preparing for her role as Delia in "Bedroom Farce", one of five plays presented annually by the Gateway Theatre--a non-professional volunteer theatre here in Saskatoon. At first, the play seemed like it would be less than exciting, a typical English farce without much real humor and including a lot of anachronisms that only the British might understand. But as it came together it became more and more enjoyable. The local newspaper reporter gave it rave reviews. Phyl was pleased to read ".....Blake Cumming (Ernest) and Phyllis Johnston (Delia) were perfectly cast as the oldest couple". In reality, Blake is 30 years old! That also means, that in reality he is exactly half as old as Phyl. Later in the review, "Johnston was even more believable when she provided motherly advice to her daughter-in-law". Given that I will never have a daughter-in-law, I guess it worked!
While Phyl was away in the evenings, Lew spent his time keeping tabs on golf, NCIS, Business News Network, and West Wing. He had his sidekick, Melissa the cat, to keep him company. On January 17, Phyl's Mom came to stay for two weeks as she had just had a knee replacement. So she and Lew could watch TV together. Lew was in his element looking after her while Phyl was off to work or to rehearsal. Ella stayed until the first of February when she went back to her condo. But both Lew and Phyl have been on the reserve list for grocery shopping, medical appointments, etc. The plan is for Ella to be completely well so that she can babysit Melissa and water the garden while we are away for six weeks this summer.
The first weekend of February we flew to Winnipeg to help celebrate Aunt Merle's 100th birthday. Even though her body was weak, she was amazingly keen-minded and could keep track of everyone as they came and went. It is unfortunate that she wasn't able to be up out of bed to have her party, but everyone had good visits with her. And we all had wonderful visits with each other. Betty and her clan did a wonderful job of feeding and entertaining all of us.
Phyl's last official day of work will be May 20. We hope to be on the road by May 22 with our cargo trailer behind the Sorrento. With any luck we'll have the piano, a big sewing desk, the kitchen table, several boxes of books, tools and hardware, an office chair, and perhaps the tea wagon tucked carefully into the trailer. These are all items destined for Leslie and Trevor (Phyl's eldest daughter and hubby) in Hudson, PQ. We hope to arrive there by the 27th of May, unload, get our work clothes on and help them rip the stucco and brick off the exterior of their house.
For some relaxation, we will fly from Montreal on June 2 and be in Finland with Lindsay and Jukka (Phyl's youngest and her hubby) for a week. Back to Montreal/Hudson on June 11 to recover from jet lag. Then another week helping replace windows, add styrofoam insulation, and install vinyl siding. End date for the travels depends a lot on how things are going here at home. We'll hire someone to mow grass, and hopefully the weeds won't get any higher than the back fence in the garden. We can hardly expect Ella (at age 83) to take complete responsibility. Perhaps she could bring Florence (92) over to help her!
The past week we have torn the house apart in order to lay laminate flooring throughout the dining room, kitchen, and hallways. Every door casing had to be removed of course. There never were any respectable baseboards, but there was linoleum glued, screwed and tatooed onto the walls. So there was a lot of dismantling done before we could mantle.......hmmm I wonder if that the correct use of "mantle"?
Effective yesterday we laid the last piece of laminate. Today has been a day of scraping off old paint around the door frames and building new casings. It's slow work. As we go, Phyl is doing some patching and painting. That expanded into painting an entire wall, and it appears that entire hallway into the bedrooms will need the same treatment. No rest for the wicked.
Lew is anxious to get this job put to bed, as we are supposed to get some warmer weather (they've been wrong for the last two months on that forecast!). Regardless, he has plans to head to the cabin for some snowmobiling. Given the doctors' prognosis last year, it's pretty exciting that he has full use of his arm and can wrestle the snow machine and quad around. We've been discussing going golfing this summer--something that was out of the question for the past two summers for Lew.
That's the news from 55 O'Neil in Saskatoon. We'd love to see some information come forth from Mike and Charlene, and David and Tina and crew. Did manage to catch up on Lynn and Noni's lives and kids while in Winnipeg. Take care everyone.
Lew and Phyl
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