Sun in the Shuswap

Finally we are online!  Previously, we were driving 7 km to the local library to hookup online, but that was becoming  a hassle.... so we made a trip into Salmon Arm to the Telus store and now have a Telus SmartHub.  It works great, we can run multiple computers wirelessly off of it, and if we wanted we could even plug in a 'landline' telephone to the Hub.

What else have we been up to? Our youngest son dropped by for a couple of days on his way to British Columbia Institute of Technology where he is studying.  He brought 5 months worth of mail, and that provided 5 days worth of work catching up for us!  Donald poured a small cement pad behind the fifth wheel for a new umbrella clothesline. Love that smell of line dried clothes!

6 bags of redi- mix!

A quick trip to Kamloops and Costco was made and we have a shade providing new gazebo - and patio furniture is on order from Home Hardware.  They always say it will be on the 'next truck', so we'll see how fast it arrives!

The bird feeders are out with visits from: Stellar Jays, American Finches, Pileated Woodpeckers, White Crowned Sparrows, Grackles, Evening Grosbeaks, Juncos, Spotted Towhees, Pine Siskins, Chickadees, Western Bluebird ( stunning!), Robins and Nuthatches.  The squirrels are trying their best to reach the feeders - to no avail! There has also been a couple of visits from a Merlin, and the birds are very quiet when it is around.

A laptop bag perfect for a visit to the coffeeshop

little quilted wallhanging for the 5th to remind us of the Southwest

Kim has been busy sewing baby items like burp clothes, receiving blankets and a quilt, with a break to make a computer bag. ok - Paulette - here are some pictures! Donald made a small deck to sit beside the fifth, which will be easier to move aside when the fifth wheel is pulled out of the lot.  Today he is planning out a set of stairs to build, to use when we are here at the lot, instead of the fifth wheel entry stairs. It will be nice to leave those squeaky, rocking stairs folded up! The flower boxes are planted and some more new perennials have been placed into the beds.  We would like to do more plantings, but we will be heading north near the end of June and may be gone for 6 - 8 weeks or more.

Whew!  That was a lot to catch up on.....now I can catch up daily, or almost daily.

Busy on the home front

The first order of business pretty soon has to be to get some kind of internet connection.  The past few summers, we have gone 'into town' to use the library access, but that is not really workable anymore. So, our postings are now sporadic and will not have pictures. The biggest thing is that we miss reading up on all the blogs!

We are very busy though, with doing a few things to the lot.  We purchased a garden composter, a huge gazebo ( yet to be erected ), and of course, more wood for decking. 

In Kamloops, we had lunch with our great friends at the Mt.Paul Golf Course.  MMMM. Borscht. Very good! We just ran out of time with the big list we had, and therefore we will be making another trip. 

Our youngest son will be coming on Friday to stay for a night on his way to BCIT in Vancouver. Yahoo!

Home in the Shuswap

It was a quick drive from Oroville to the Shuswap, with a couple of stops on the way.  We visited the BCAA office in Kelowna to take care of our single trip medical policy, since we were back early and we received a small rebate.  Donald wanted to stop at White's BBQ and Fireplaces in Kelowna to check about a bigger ( Weber ) BBQ for the rig, with a propane quick connect.  There was one there, but pricey, so we are holding off till we decide what we really want to do.  The 5th wheel came with an RVQ, but it is extremely small and we are still not a fan with a BBQ on the side of the rig.

We have sticker shock with the price of groceries, but we were prepared for the diesel prices.  What can you do, hmmm?

Chores were in order at the lot.... cleaning up dead perennial growth and pulling weeds.  We will be too busy this summer and also on the road, so we won't be making any big plans for further development.

Kim stayed up most of last night to watch THE wedding live. Crazy.

Hopefully the roses will come back....

almost in canuck land

Hagerman Horse, Idaho

The Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument in Idaho is very interesting.  If you go to the actual site, there is not much to see, except for the neat escarpment.  In the town nearby, there is a small museum building with a theatre, displays and small shop.  Hundreds of these prehistoric horse fossils have been found, as well as mastodon and other creatures.

The museum is free, with a box for donations.  On the way through Washington we were able to see a couple of dams, with a stop at the Chief Joseph Dam.  The picnic/pullover/view spot of the dam was lovely, with a labrinth design of stones and grass, playground for children and lots of exhibit boards.  A great place to stop.

We will be a few days till our next post, as we travel and get settled into our Shuswap lot.  Hopefully there will not be as much yard work there, as Rick and Paulette  are doing, but we suspect there will be even more!!!!  Ah, spring chores!

Putting on the miles

Just a quick post - there was going to be some strong winds to drive through again, so in short order we went from our night stay in Wells, Nevada to Caldwell, Idaho to Soap Lake, Washington. Whew.  Pictures and update soon as we rest a bit.

New header picture is for Paulette.