August 19, 2004

August 18 & 19, 2004

DAYS 62 & 63

 

 

Wednesday ; Gee whiz ! To go outdoors today here in Winnipeg in mid-August I have to dress like I do in Ottawa in mid-November ! ! ! It's very cold, and extremely windy today. I had to wear a heavy jacket and a toque to work outdoors on the truck this morning.

I returned the truck to Dawson Servicentre this morning for some minor adjustments. When I was an employer, I wouldn't tolerate sloppy work when I was paying somebody $7 to $8 an hour to do it. As a consumer I certainly won't tolerate sloppy work when I'm paying something like $90 an hour for it.

When I got back to the Danelak's I still fussed around with some minor adjustments, to bring the work up to my own nit-picky standards. Old anal-retentive habits die hard.

When I finished fussing with the truck, we went with all the Danelaks to Pine Ridge Hollow near Birds Hill Provincial Park, about a half an hour north of Winnipeg on Hwy.59, although Bud took us on the "scenic route" down country back roads to get there. Pine Ridge Hollow is an eclectic tourist business somewhat like Colasanti's near Point Pelee. A gift shop, restaurant, nursery, playground, petting zoo, small outdoor "bowl" theatre, large landscaped gardens, ice cream stand etc., etc., on a few acres of land. Sharon likes the quirky little gift shop, which struck me, given our recent experiences, as about $287,000 worth of garage sale and flea market fodder. The only thing I thought worth buying was the ice cream shop which was for sale. Lunch in their restaurant was very good. While we waited half an hour beyond our reservation time for our table, I beat Joanne at a game of checkers played outdoors ( in the cold ! ) on the restaurant's porch.

After returning home late in the afternoon, I took a nap, then tackled a pile of incoming mail, while Joanne took the truck to Lorette to buy groceries. It's been quite awhile since she's driven Dee-Dee. Now that her van is sold to George, she has no choice but to resume driving the truck.

After supper, I did some computer work, then we visited with Sharon and Bud until late into the evening.

Thursday ; Last night Toby slept well for the first time in a couple of weeks. This coincides with the first night in a couple of weeks that we've had a bed heater. Our old bed heater died a couple of weeks ago, and last night was the first night with the new bed heater. He spent most of the night under the duvet, snuggled up against my side, sleeping soundly on the heated mattress. Poor old kitty !

Right after lunch, we went to baby sit Madeleine and Amelia while Lorraine had a meeting with her boss. On the way home, we stopped at Joanne's parents' graves for a visit. Visiting our parents' graves gives me an opportunity to focus on my memories of our parents, and "talk" to their spirits, in my mind. When we were leaving Winnipeg on January 1, 1988, to move to Ottawa, her dad was quite upset that I was taking his "baby" away from him. I wanted to visit their graves today to point out to him that I brought her home safe and sound, as I promised.

Back at Sharon's, it was time to "crumble" the wild sage we brought home a couple of weeks ago. It smells great. I'm eager to try it in hamburgers, or soups, or stews, etc..

We hitched up the trailer, and drove it into the city, to dump the holding tanks at GNR Camping World, an RV dealer on Dugald Road with a free trailer dump station. It's been a week since we emptied the tanks at Grand Beach. We're not sure exactly how long it would take to completely fill our black water holding tank, but a weekly emptying seems prudent.

For supper, Bud started a fire in their back yard "chiminea", and we had a weiner roast. Afterwards, we sat around the "camp fire" and chatted until midnight. A cold night, with a clear sky filled with stars. I think the night sky here is more vivid. Maybe less air pollution than back in the industrial heartland of Ontario ?

DSK