happy 50th and water bombers

As the kids say, my "BFF" enjoyed her 50th birthday last evening with a wonderful backyard BBQ. You were to bring an appetizer, your lawnchair and your drink(s). A few family and friends gave some lovely touching speeches, with not too much roasting! She did however have to model and wear a special outfit with some incredible shoes to match. With our unusual heat spell in the valley and the province, there were big clouds building in the sky, which made it a little more bearable for sitting outside. Those clouds did bring lightening strikes in the far distance and in no time, we saw the spotter plane going overhead and then a few trips back and forth of a couple of the water bombers. Pretty nice when nature provides the fireworks display for the party - now if only those water bombers could tow a Happy Birthday banner behind them! So D - here are your modelling pictures - you're a looker! Happy 50th!.

summer birthdays

Donald called late afternoon yesterday and he was on his way past Calgary. Oh I want to be on the road with my best friend! Just a couple of years till I'm retired and on the road full time. Like Al and Kelly, ( the Bayfield Bunch ) we are evaluating that date and circumstances all the time, but not to be longer than the scheduled date. Tonight I will gather with the Hardwall gang to celebrate a 50th birthday. She and I are one day apart ( and a couple of years though ). It will be great fun. Speaking of birthdays, this picture is of Donald, his sisters and his mother, celebrating her 90th bithday at the cottage. Lil is 92 now, still living in her own apartment, driving her car and is now awaiting the arrival of everyone at the cottage. Have a great time guys - wish I was there!

long drives in the summer heat

I tried to wait till later in the evening when it was cool, but it never did cool off - I had lots and lots of Saskatoon berries to pick off our tree. The berries went straight to the deep freeze and I will do some more tonight as well as the raspberries. Donald called in the evening to let me know that he had the rv all in place for when I arrive back in the Shuswaps, except for hooking up the sewer stuff. No problem. It was a scorcher there, so setting up took all day - you move a little, then have to go into the AC to cool off, then back to doing, etc. I think Gatorgirl stayed in the AC the whole time. Today he is off to Saskatchewan to our family cottage near the Manitoba border. The picture is our oldest son putting up a big shade tent in the front yard of the cottage. Another long drive for Donald to get there. We are putting on the km's this summer!

smoky hot at the lot

Donald says it is extremely hot at the lot and very smoky. Our neighbour says that there is a small forest fire at the north end of Adam's Lake and the smoke is drifting down. That is not very close to the lot, so we are ok. Here in the north of the province, it is hot, but clear skies. The plants at the lot survived without us and enjoyed the new watering system. ( whew! ) I am posting some more pictures of Kispiox in the next few days, so bear with me! ( no, no we didn't see any bears ). We did see an adult eagle fishing the river when some of the guys were fishing. There were big steelhead jumping in the river, but nothing was caught by our gang. Just the fun of fishing for an hour or so. This week is a busy week - 50th birthday of one of us ( she is standing in the river supervising )on Thursday, then perhaps up to Terrace for Riverboat Days on the weekend. Then one more week till I meet up with Donald back at the lot.

Last night I went to Safeway grocery shopping - you know it is hot out when you spend extra time in the freezer aisles and ponder the meat section a little longer than usual. Donald called to say he was on Highway 24 near Little Fort, BC about 10:00 pm and had pulled over to spend the night. That's a long haul for one day ( 12 hours ).

sweltering in the Kispiox Valley

ooo wee it was a scorcher. We are not complaining too much though! What a great time - we were a gang of 6 RV's: 4 in a square a a couple on the outside. Four went up a night early on Thursday to be first in line Friday morning to get " our usual spot" for the weekend. The rest of us followed later in the day. The music was ok, not as exciting as other years. CBC said on the radio there was 4 Music Festivals this past weekend in BC. Lots of laughs till after midnight, the traditional Saturday night at 5:00 pm Happy Hour in the square, and a relaxing Sunday. We all headed back to arrive home about 7:30 Sunday evening. I think the temperatures were about 37 celsius ( thats about 102 F ). We cooled off in the river from time to time - but that was cold with snow melting in the higher places. It was very refreshing. Our youngest son went To Prince Rupert on the coast Saturday night to the beautiful weather there which he said was way cooler on the ocean! We thought we might have to sleep back in the rv tonight with the AC, but the house is not that bad. Don heads off first thing in the morning with the RV for the long drive down to the lot, and then off to Saskatchewan and the cottage.

and off we go ....

to the Kispiox Valley Music Festival - a strange mix of jazz, funk, folk, classical - you name it - all but country/western music. We will have at least 6-7 rv's in our little compound and lots of people we know. The opening ceremonies are at 6:00 tonight - I will be late as I work till 6 then with driving I will probably not be there till 8 pm. Donald is already there, making our area spiffy - its boondocking and he takes the weed wacker to cut the grass around our rv's. Dan also makes sure that all the rv awnings are perfectly in line and perpendicular. We usually have a firepit in the middle, but this year I think there may be a campfire ban ( makes it easier to breathe anyway with all those campfires and some times the wood is not seasoned ). So, its music, happy hour and appetizers and just general "story telling" and lots of laughs for sure. The are pictures from 2008 - hopefully I will have some of the fantastic stage and music area this weekend!

30 celsius and more for the weekend!

Well, Donald has gone ahead with the RV to the Kispiox Valley as of early this morning and I will follow Friday night. Last year, the weather was cold and rainy, however, this year it will be hot and sunny. Whoo hoo. There is a campfire ban - not sure if that will be the case where we are camped, but that doesn't matter when it is so hot anyway. I think I may have to find some mixings for Pina Colada as one of the gang has a 'Gator (a boondocking blender that runs on a gas lawnmower engine ). What will they think of next!

must be the year for weddings

I have been reading the excitement and the travelling in Rick and Paulette's weblog as they are enjoying the nuptials of one of their children in Alberta. We are also getting excited about the upcoming wedding plans of our oldest son and his wonderful girlfriend in September. The wedding will take place in Victoria in a beautiful old United Church. We have plans to fly but Donald may decide to drive and take the RV anyway, even though it may be a long go. Plans have yet to be finalized. I only have 3 extra days off work, so I will be flying for sure. I have been watching this wedding show on TV ( Rich Bride, Poor bride?) and have been horrified by these $80,000 wedding budgets. Our kids are down to earth - wedding in the church, reception afterwards at a parents home. We are excited to see our son in a dress kilt with his beautiful bride!

We want to be on the road ( again ) ...

Just like the song. Work is there for Kim and Donald is packing up the RV and making extensive lists for Kispiox. You would think that the RV would not need that much packing as it just got home, but everything in it came out for a really good scrubbing. The carpets were cleaned as well. Looks like new. The weather here in the north is supposed to be beautiful till after the weekend, so we are not anticipating mud and wet, which can occur in the Kispiox Valley. Today, reading Rick and Paulette's weblog, you can see how marvelous our beautiful British Columbia is!

home to chores and a clean RV

we're both back at home to work and cut the hayfield in the backyard. Donald will be enjoying golf at our Golf and CC, and he will no doubt be losing a few loonies to his golfing pal, who is expecting a windfall of a few coins after Donald's absence from the golf scene as he was working on the lot. Kim is back at work and it is crazy busy, so the days are flying by. The RV has been cleaned out, everything washed and perhaps even the carpets this weekend. Next weekend we are off to the Kispiox Valley with the whole gang to enjoy each others company, have a few laughs and listen to some terrific music. We are missing the lot already - Donald has been researching ( dreaming?) new fifth wheels! Whoa!

Where did 25 years go?

well, we sure do apologize for not posting for a week or so. The library internet access can be sporadic at best. We had some company - others of the Hardwall gang come down to the Shuswaps for our 25th wedding anniversary. We didn't want a big deal made of the date ( geez, maybe because it makes us feel old? ) so we had campfires, lots of laughs and a wonderful potluck supper with great friends. That's the way to do it! We were living in Jasper, Alberta when we married 25 years ago and it sure seems like it was yesterday. Time flies when you are having fun. A couple of days of rain put a damper on the beach weather - but! The ROCK IS ALL DONE. Can you believe it? I shall be posting pictures soon. In the meantime, here is the one plant put in last year - that has so far produced 19 rose blooms this year. We are on the road again this weekend back to the north of the province and in a couple of weeks the WHOLE gang will be together with all the rv's enjoying the Kispiox Valley. It's a hoot.

Happy Canada Day!

We continue to try and get rid of all the rock.. We're almost there. Donald thinks the quarry was generous and the load was more like 6 yards of blasted rock. The neighbours have been welcomed to help themselves to whatever rocks in the pile catch their fancy. Our neighbour behind with a a lovely lot and fifth wheel will be building a small waterfall and pond. I am sure he is thanking us greatly after his wife heard they could help themselves. ( Ha! ) We are about to get some company for our 25th anniversary and we are excited about that. There are fireworks tonight over in Blind Bay so we may go there. If not, it's steak on the Barbie and a glass of red wine to toast our beautiful country's birthday.