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.

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 !