Day 280....Wednesday October 21

You may have noticed....I missed a few days.....didn't even think of pulling out my camera. tsk. tsk.

Sorry.

Last night I drove out to DV to spend the evening with my man. Although our time was short, it was nice to just be together - even if it was in a hotel room.

So, my day today started at 5 a.m. There was a fog warning for a the morning so I left as soon as Jim did in order to beat the fog. It was clear until I got to Falun, so most of the way home.

Later on, I went in to NN for the mail....a flock of swans had stopped for a rest in the field across from the village. I slowed down to take the photo, but couldn't actually stop because after all, I was on a highway.






Been fighting some kind of flu the last few days....today it seemed to be more than a threat. I was very tired (not sleepy because I got up early - but the flu-y tired) I woke up after my second nap with a bit of a fever.

Day 239 - Wednesday, September 9

Well, what do you think you do the day after you take delivery of a bunch of doors?

Hang them, of course!

That is, Jim hung them.....I paid bills.









The place for the latch on the doors was way off of where the latches are on the door frames, so Jim had to carve out a new spot on the door frames.

Daniel set to work on the root cellar.....we need a structure build over the stairs to protect the cellar from moisture and freezing temperatures. It will need to be accessible to me even after a snowfall.

The cellar has not been used in 10 years so the stairs were covered with dirt, etc. Dan had to do alot of shovelling.....good thing he got used to that in his previous job!

The Hutterites were baling this afternoon. It takes about 40 minutes to cut the crop down but several hours to get it all baled.

Later in the afternoon, Jim recieved the call we have been waiting for.....he has a job out of Whitecourt, beginning on Friday. He spent the rest of the day preparing for the job.

Later on, he invited me to come sit on the swing and watch the sun set.

I was trying to take a photo of him walking across the yard, but the camera would not take the picture....by the time it finally released, he was laughing at me.....

Here are some photos of the sun setting.....

Besides the setting sun, we were also treated to the first flock of south going geese. Click on the photo to see them flying across the sunset.

And here's a picture of our yard light - ON. Why does it never come on when we have company leaving in the dark? It is very random.....sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Day 230 - Aug 20 - Thursday

I started off this morning by going to the grocery store.






I decided to take advantage of the fact that our room has a full kitchen and bought what we needed for breakfasts and snacks.

Jim slept quite late, which was good, considering how awful he was feeling when he went to bed.

Daniel had had classes until 11, so we had the morning to ourselves. We went to the base as soon as he texted us that he was through. There, we met Katie and her mom and then we all went in to the dining room for Chicken Ceasar Salad.

After lunch, we mostly sat on the deck outside the Student Center and watched all the activity. Daniel had a long conversation with Andrew while we sat there.

Also this afternoon, we had a nice long visit with Isaac - the husband of the couple whose home I stayed in when I went down to visit Daniel in June. I was glad Jim had the opportunity to meet him. Turns out Isaac has worked in the Alberta Oil Patch - for a company that Jim has hired often.


After our people watching, Daniel went to pack and hang out with his friends. We went back to the hotel so Jim could rest and be ready for the graduation celebration tonight.

Before we left again for the base, we walked across the road to the beachfront that belongs to our hotel.

Of course, I took some photos of the pier area.....

I've said it before, Flathead is a beautiful lake....

When we arrived at the home on the base where the graduation celebration was to be held, we were amazed and impressed by the beautiful surroundings.

A pretty little creek runs along the back of the yard....

The back of the house is a profusion of blooms.....

In fact, there were containers of flowers and flower beds placed in many strategic locations all around the yard. Much prettier than crepe paper and balloons for decorations!

We even had an extra guest or two!

The meal was as delicious as our surroundings were beautiful and the weather was perfect.

The ceremonies began with some speeches by the staff......

......during which we had some more visitors.....

yes, they are wild turkeys.


I think Dan was glad to recieve his certificate stating that he had completed the DTS.

Sadly, the outreach phase of Dan's DTS was wrought with strife and therefore was not as 'successful' as he would have hoped. He did, however, make a few very good friends as a sort of survival strategy.....

Here, he poses with Mai and Katie. They formed a trio dubbed HMK (Hutch, Mai, Katie) who supported one another throughout the difficult 8 weeks in Thailand and Cambodia.

Another student Dan became better friends with during outreach was Jonathan...

In spite of the stresses of outreach, there were some good times, as evidenced by this photo of most of the group being silly.....

In the end, Dan is thankful for the experience - not only the opportunity to experience another culture, but especially for the growth that had to happen in him as he dealt with the 'people problems' within his team.

The graduation evening was a fun time for the students - a chance to appreciate one another and the whole experience.

Day 226 Sun. 08-16-09

Mike called and invited Jim to go fishing with him this afternoon. Not one to pass up the opportunity to spend a few one on one hours with one of his boys, Jim accepted. I went along to spend some time with my Daughter at her 'lake home'. This meant that I was also able to visit with Jacqueline, Victoria's mother, since they live on the same lot as Mike and Tor (actually, it is Mike and Tor who live on the same lot as Kelly and Jacqueline, but we don't need to be technical, do we?)

Tor's little brother, Luke walked around almost all day with these goggles on.....he looked so cute, I had to take a photo of him.....

Jim caught the first fish - a fairly good size, too - but the decided they should throw it back and wait for a bigger catch. Turns out, that was the biggest fish of the day. LOL They caught 3 in total, I think.....just didn't keep any of them. Lots of bites, though.

Victoria's dad, Kelly, took the rest of us out for a boat ride later in the afternoon.

Here's Kaden, singing "This Little Light of Mine". Actually, he only sings the "NO" part on the verse that says 'Hide it under a bush...oh No'. LOL

Another photo of the fishermen - taken into the sun, making it look almost like a nighttime photo......

And, here's a 'lake bird'.......

We had a fun day, a great visit, and yummy supper. We came away with full stomachs, full hearts, and Jim also came away with a sore back from sitting in the bottom of the boat for several hours.

Day 181, Wednesday, July 1

Jim came home late last night for one day at home - the powers that be wanted to avoid to paying services double time for working on Canada Day.

We started the day by inviting anyone who could to join us at Smitty's for brunch.

Rob and Lana, Vinj and Kath were the only ones free....

While we were eating, Andrew put out a call for help - his water pump had broken and he needed a ride to Camrose to get a new one then back to work to fix his truck. Jim and I answered the call, after we ate. We needed to go to Camrose as well, to get an oil filter for Jim's truck since CT at Wetaskiwin did not have one in stock.

Later in the day, as we were pondering Jim's 'office in a truck' problems, we wondered if Mike and Tor's old trailer would work for Jim as a 'pull behind' office so we drove out to Coal Lake to take a look - and to have a quick visit with Mike, Tor, and Kaden.

Kaden was really too busy walking around to visit much, but we enjoyed watching him explore his little world.

I forgot to pull out my camera until we were driving away so the only photo I have is of the lake.

As we were driving home, Jim suddenly skidded to a stop, gravel flying everywhere. He pointed out a large Grey Heron in the pond on the left. The bird stood silently while the truck sped by, sprayed gravel all over, sat idling while I got my camera and climbed out. Then, as I carefully walked as silently as possible over to the other side of the truck, he flew off.....

If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can just see the bird toward the right side of the photo, in front of the trees. He was beautiful.

Day 180 Tuesday, June 30

Remember this Goose family? This photo was taken May 28.

Here is the same family, one month later (photo was taken June 28, coincidentally)

That's right, I'm cheating.....I did not take a photo today so I'm using one from 2 days ago.

Day 147 ~ Thursday, May 28

A busy, busy day.

First, take the truck to the glass shop in Camrose.

Then, come back home to drop Jim off.

I went in to Wetaskiwin to give Kathryn a hand - including take her to the doctor.

On my way in to town, I stopped by this pond to watch a Goose family drama.....

Mom and Dad gather their children for a little trip across the pond.

At first, they did not notice that there was a 'dawdler'

But Daddy Goose quickly noticed someone was missing. He fell back and started loudly calling to his wayward offspring.

The little guy hurried to his father's call and soon the whole family was together again.

I dropped Kath at the clinic for her doctor appointment, then helped with some cleaning before Kathryn dyed and cut my hair.

Jim was busy while I was gone....

He made our first Square Foot Garden frame!

He also finished watering the potatoes - a huge job, since he first made a 'bowl' for each plant to hold water, giving each potential plant a good soak.

I was not at home long before we left for Camrose again to pick up the truck.

Back home to drop the truck off.

To Wetaskiwin to see Vinj come off the field from his first league soccer game, see Elizabeth come off the field from her game, and arrange to meet everyone at Rob and Lana's to give Emma a 'mini birthday party'.

We gave Emma her birthday gift.....the kid's version of 'Cranium'.

We did not play the game, exactly, but Emma and Sophia acted out some of the charade cards and the rest of us guessed what they were doing - while we ate the Dilly Bars and Buster Bars Vinj and Kath provided.

You have to wear these goofy glasses in order to read what you are to 'act out'...... then, if you wear bifocals, it is still hard to read because the print is so tiny.

We had a fun, laughter filled evening.

But we ended by taking Kathryn to the hospital for a stress test on Talia......Kath had been a little worried since her doctor's appointment and had not noticed any movement for quite some time.

The stress test showed that Talia's heartbeat was strong and regular - she also started moving around as soon as they put the monitor straps on Kath. So, Vinj and Kath were able to rest more peacefully that evening.

Me too.

Day 96...tuesday, April 7

Emma and Elizabeth spent last night and today with us.....just to make the house a little 'quieter' for Lana - who is recovering from gall bladder surgery this week.

The girls and I went in to New Norway to get the mail and do some banking.

Here is my friendly neighborhood 'banker' - Corrine - in our little 'bank' in New Norway.

Here's my girls, in the car......I took these photos behind my back, while driving. I was surprised that I actually got the girls in the photos on the first try!

The girls did not stay another night because they wanted to be home in the morning of Sophia's birthday. Here is a photo we took on the way home, after supper....

This one, I took when I was on MY way home, after dropping the girls off.