WORKING FOR OUR RV SPOT OR ARE WE JUST BORED?

A little rooster Finch taken from the trailer window

Mitzy likes snow

Daffodils don't like snow

The rhubarb handles it well

The pile on the right is the first load with the second trailer load parked beside

Starting to pour concrete

Getting further along in the process

We spent a rather pleasant few hours at Janet’s last Sunday and got to see two nieces and a nephew and a great nephew. In addition, the food was excellent. Our parking hosts, my brother Charlie and Sheila, arrived home from Alberta about 1:30 AM Monday morning. On Monday night, I went to the Oceanside Photographers meeting in Qualicum. There were between 30 and 40 people and a fairly interesting mix of activities/presentations.

On Tuesday, we went to Nanaimo (the birthplace of the Nanaimo Bar for you dessert aficionados) for a few things. I bought a new pair of hiking/walking boots made by Oboz. I wanted a little higher topped boot than I’ve had and these were the first I found that didn’t rub my shins. We went to the Bay for some items for Aileen and also wandered around Wholesale Sports, a humungous hunting, fishing and hiking store. Tuesday night we went to Sheila’s parent’s for supper. It was a combined birthday party for Sheila (Mar 31) Charlie (Apr 1) and their son Dan (that day Apr 6). Dan was in Vancouver so we sang happy birthday to the phone. It was another good feast.

I’ve been having an online discussion with Greg at AZCI.Net, our internet provider in Arizona. I went through his correct procedure when we left by applying for summer vacation, turning off the modem as required etc and asking to be disconnected on the correct day. The following week I was billed for the next month. When I inquired about that he said he had erred and would credit the payment to the $25 disconnect/reconnect fee and leave a credit in my account for the first bill in the Fall. Fine. Then the other day when perusing my Visa statement online, I noticed another billing from AZCI. They had charged me again for the vacation fee and used up my credit. This time it took two emails, with my explaining it in minute detail, before I got a reply saying “well gee, we screwed up a second time” and that the money would be credited to my Visa. I’ll have to check in a couple days and see.

On Wednesday, we had our second annual “clean up Charlie’s barn and shop yard” with a huge fire managed by Aileen. He tends to accumulate a lot of construction debris over the course of the year. We got pretty wet as it rained quite hard for much of the time. This was combined with clearing a 22x24 or so area to put down a cement slab for a work area for his carpentry projects. Charlie and his crew leveled then built forms at the same time as the fire and cleaning was proceeding.

Thursday was a nice sunny day, although we had a dusting of snow up here, so we all worked on another project while waiting for the cement to arrive. The big storm the other day knocked down a couple big cedars at Chas and Sheila’s son Garrett’s place down in town so we hauled all the debris up here to burn. Three large trailer loads and four pickup loads later, it was all up here. We burned it as we brought it. Aileen, Sheila and I worked the fire while the others poured the concrete when it arrived and did we ever smoke them out. I don’t think the guys and specially the concrete truck driver, appreciated it. We have had a few small cleanup fires since then and this morning Chas said he would let Aileen clean up trim ends around his cabin. Do you think he read Tom Sawyer? Chas is converting Dad’s old cow barn into a rental suite so there was lots of debris lying about. Chas and Sheila took us out for supper Thursday night to her Thai sister-in-law’s Westhill Restaurant. The food was delicious.

Aileen talked to her cousin Allan, from Nova Scotia, who is visiting his Mother, Anne, in Sechelt. He’s been staying with his step brother, Richard in Vancouver (who has cancer) so was quite up on his medical condition. She is hoping to talk to cousin Richard this morning. Cousin Allan has discovered two more cousin’s in England that no one was aware of. It seems the uncle who stayed in England after the war was married twice and everyone here only knew of the second one.

We went and visited Mom and Dad Friday morning. We saw Mom way down the hall getting a hug and then returning it. She didn’t look at us when we caught up but did start to pet Mitzy although she didn’t seem to recognize her. When I spoke, she recognized my voice and gave me a really big hug. We visited in the window room then after a bit, someone wheeled Dad along to us. He recognized Mitzy right off but dozed much of the time.

We are going to Port Alberni this afternoon to see Aileen’s nephew Mike and Shaunee and two little girls. We’ve been invited to stay for supper also. Tomorrow we are going to Nanaimo for Aileen to visit a church and then to check out the train show where cousin-in-law Bill from Campbell River will be.