Australian/Saskatoon Visitors

Just when there seems to be nothing to write about, we are crazy around here in the Shuswap.  What fun to have the pleasure of hosting visitors from Adelaide, Australia who are touring Western Canada, cruising to Alaska and visiting the extended family clan with Don's sister and brother in law.  It's too bad that they were only able to stay a couple of nights because after getting to know them, they may not have wanted to miss what started here at the lot the day they left - more on that later!  The weather was hot and humid, but there was a slight chance of rain, so we made a coffee and tea 'station' under the fifth wheel hitch, and that worked quite well. Jeff looks like he is ready to supervise and he would have loved to have seen what is taking place at the lot now!!!  The girls visited the local winery to have a glass of white wine overlooking the lake, with a couple of heritage chickens cooing in the grass around our table.  Jeff wanted to check out the nearest hardware store ( something about tool withdrawal while on vacation ).

 

See the tree trunk behind Jeff? Yep, it was gone later in the day!!!! Stay tuned!!!!!!ARGG ARGGG. Big boy stuff.

Fun in the Shuswap

I have come to the conclusion that summertime will see only sporadic postings to the blog.  It is not that we are run off our feet, only that when we are in one spot, I never feel there is much to write about.  Our rainy weather left us and immediately turned to 35C temperatures and of course, we are not used to that and spent a few days melting.  Yesterday, we didn't put the rig air conditioner on till almost 3 pm, so we must be acclimated.

June was a month of travelling - both out to the island, south to Winfield and north to the Bulkley Valley.  Whew.  The warranty is now over with the 5th wheel, and hopefully we have found and managed to get all issues looked after.  The little blue building is completed on our Shuswap lot, and I have been back to happily quilting. The amount of insulation we had put into the building last fall, is paying off quite well, as it is warm when it needs to be and nice and cool in this weather.

There is no sitting around though = the excavator will be back, to rearrange our 2 driveway entrances, clean up the area in front of the blue studio, dig a flower bed, put rock retaining walls for that bed, and bring in a whole lot of 3/4" crush.  We hopefully will be moving the 5th to a new location on the lot this year. I have been moving large rocks from one side of a driveway entrance, and will be moving plants and more rocks. Fun. (not). I need to eat more spinach.

We are VERY excited to be getting some visitors: Donald's sister, husband,and friends from Australia will be here for 2 nights next week, and the first week of August will see all our little family here. Whoo Hoo! Fun with our grandson.The whole family together.  How many more sleeps???????

Ok, so our heads are screwed on straight

Have you ever heard that phrase? We had a clunk/creak/squeak noise in the lino flooring of the 5th wheel.  One trip to the dealer confirmed that, yes, they thought we might have a problem.  They sent us on our way, advising us that they would have to contact the manufacturer in regards to the floor. Well, Donald thought it was one type of problem, the dealer thought another, and the manufacturer yet another. Oh my.  So, we made our next appointment and do you think it would make that clunk noise before we left? Nope.  So, were we going all that distance for nothing? Whew!  We thought perhaps we were just hearing things! Yes, there was a problem and not a major one as it was just a bolt from the frame that did not have a nut and washer when it should have. Pictures taken and problem solved!!! We highly recommend Voyager RV in Winfield, BC. Always very polite, helpful and none of the employees seem like they want to just get you out the door ( whether your problem was solved or not ). I must send a thank you note.  I remember from my working days, the thank you notes received from customers were like precious gold!

Travelling back from Winfield, we took the old Hwy 97, through farms and quite a number of cattle guards. Lots of signs warning about livestock on the road. I think that's the first time I as the navigator got to yell " Cow" and then " More cows!"

Parking in the parking lot at Eagle Point Golf and Country Club is nice, but when we were hit by a golf ball, we moved a little down towards the Greenskeeper buildings.  The bonus? A beautiful view down the valley.  Today we enjoyed catching up with friends we haven't seen for about 10 -30 years, and a wonderful memorial golf tournament.  Donations to the Kamloops Food Bank were plentiful by all participants and the weather was beautiful. Awesome day.  Back to the lot tomorrow.

Catch up mid June

Maybe with summertime here in Canada, our posting should revert to once a week, like some bloggers do.  Seriously, where does the time go?  Our little blue dollhouse/studio building is just about complete and ready for me ( Kim ) to start quilting again.  Man, I think the last time that happened was in Yuma. Donald is fiddling with putting on a Victorian type screen door.  He had to apply brick molding before he could do so.  Of course, I was very confused as the building has no brick, but it turns out that it is just a type of thicker board around the outside of the door frame. That was today's task.

We made an extremely quick trip to Victoria last week, babysitting our little love on Friday, and running around Victoria on Thursday. Two days is not enough, but with a day each way for travelling and leaving the ancient cat back in the Shuswap's, that was all we could do. Next time, Rick and Paulette!

A couple of trips to Winfield and the RV dealer, and hopefully, this Monday will be our last trip there. Our floor is clunking/squeaking and they may tear things apart to get to the bottom of it.  Ouch. We'll see how that goes! 

On the way back after that, we are off to Eagle Point Golf and Country Club, just outside of Kamloops for a Memorial Golf Tournament.  There will be many retired and ex-railroaders there, with donations for the food bank and great memories of our close friends who have recently passed. Since we are travelling with the 5th, we can dry camp there. Handy!

And, just because that isn't enough travelling around, we hope to run up to Northern BC right after that. Maybe if we stayed put it would stop raining. Donald has constructed an awesome irrigation system here in the Shuswap lot for all our gardens and plants. Hah. It has been turned off for a couple of weeks due to the massive amounts of sky blessings. Now, isn't that a nice way to name the rain?

We drive from one HD to another... and another...

After the great time we had at the Escapee Rally, it was off back to the lot for some gardening, painting and general chores.  While some may think this is not fun, we just putter about and it is kind of fun.  Donald's knees however may think otherwise.  He did a great job installing Armstrong Allure flooring in the 'shed'. It is a beautiful black walnut hardwood look and the planks are very heavy.  They click together.  He was short one plank which we picked up today in Kelowna at Home Depot.

Why Kelowna? Yes, we are back at the RV dealer now that the parts had arrived to complete the warranty work. Are we finished? Nope. Now we have a substantial creak noise in the floor, which they agreed was not correct. So, they have to contact Jayco again as to how we will proceed with this.

Tonight we sit boondocking in the parking lot of the Real Canadian Superstore in north Vernon.  Recommended in our Days End book. Great spot. We stayed here last night. The campground rates have turned to high season, so we are not amiable to paying $85 a night. Have to love having your own power.

In the morning, we will check out the Vernon Home Depot store - remember me saying that perhaps we should live in the aisles? There was a metal shelving unit that we looked at in Kelowna that might work for the shed. ( aka studio ).

Oh yes, Our cat will only eat 9 Lives dry cat food. The bag is empty. Do you think we can find any? So I emailed Purina asking, as we have tried every store for the last 3 weeks. She is however, trying some old stuff that overwintered in the shed. Can't be choosy now, can you Juniper?