August 21, 2004

August 21, 2004

DAY 65

 

 

Joanne spent the morning preparing a lunch to take over to her Aunt Elaine, whom we went to visit today. Eliane ( Aunt Elaine ) Soulodre is Joanne's mother's sister, the last remaining member of the life long trio comprised of Joanne's mother Antonie ( Toni ) and her 2 sisters, Elaine and Isabelle ( Aunt Belle ) Allard. No, that's not a typo, her name is the French "Eliane", but ever since I've known her ( about 32 years ) she has always gone by the anglicized "Elaine".

Aunt Elaine is 82 years old now. She's living by herself in an apartment about half a block up the street from where Joanne's and my first house is. She's doing very well for such an elderly lady. She lives independently. She recently had a knee replaced, so she's a bit wobbly as she recuperates from the surgery. Her hearing and vision aren't quite what they used to be. She's still sharp intellectually. Her memory is extremely good. When we arrived, she had set her dining room table quite elegantly. Joanne had prepared fresh pea soup, using green peas picked from Danelak's garden, and a fresh chicken salad served on lettuce. Joanne had baked a cake for dessert, and I made tea, then cleaned up and washed the dishes while Joanne visited with Aunt Elaine. We retired to the living room to show her our Paris pictures on the laptop. I don't think Elaine had ever seen photos on a computer. I don't think she had ever seen a laptop. By late afternoon she was looking worn out, so we left to run shopping errands.

Bought beer at the Marion Hotel, filled up with diesel, then off to Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Canadian Tire, Dollar Store, and finally, Wal-Mart ... again ! I had forgotten that here in Manitoba beer is bought at hotels. For many, maybe most small hotels, the majority of their revenue must come from beer sales. When I pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot for the second time, I parked beside a GMC one ton turbo-diesel dually, just like mine, but 3 years older. As I was getting out of our truck, the other truck's owners were just returning from the store. We chatted for awhile about our trucks, and RV'ing. They were a couple from Saskatchewan, a bit younger than us, who have been travelling a lot with their fifth wheel since the man "retired" about a year ago from the military. When they bought their truck in Saskatoon about a year ago, it had about the same mileage as mine did when I bought it about a year ago in Perth, near Ottawa. They paid $1000 more for theirs than I did for mine, and theirs is 3 years older, so I guess I got a good deal.  Don't I always ? !  I inherited my mother's ability to drive a hard bargain.

It was a rainy, gloomy day. After we got home, I did a few chores, we had supper, and I began to work on this, today's journal. I think I'll do my daily accounting next, then go in the house to update my blog.

DSK