October 21 to 27, 2012

Sunday ; Well ... weather not as bad as forecast. It was cold, but dry and sunny. As we were driving back from town this afternoon we could see a dusting of snow on the tops of the higher mountains. BRRRRR !

This morning we took our old mattress to the Keremeos dump. I'm glad to finally get it out of the bedroom where it's been propped up against a wall for the last few weeks. Back at home we did a long obedience session with Bo. I relocated the last two planters from lot 89 to lot 4. Joanne sprayed weeds on lot 4. We continued working on our "fall pre-departure" checklist, which is more complicated than before because we now own this park model home.

In the evening I worked on finances and paying bills. This month, the little statement at the bottom of our MasterCard bill reads as follows ; "The estimated time to repay the current statement balance if you only make minimum monthly payments on each due date is ... 57 years and 5 months". HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ! ! ! ! ! Good thing I pay the total amount owing each and every month.

Monday ; Today was cold and partially sunny. I'm satisfied as long as it's not raining.

We spent the day running errands in Penticton. I'm suffering a flare-up of colitis, so was feeling quite sick for most of the day.

Tuesday ; Cold, mostly cloudy, but still not much precipitation, neither rain nor snow. That allowed us to continue to work on outdoor chores. By the end of daylight we had completed all except one of the outdoor chores that needed to be done before we depart for the winter.

My colitis flare up has settled down. I felt healthier today.

Wednesday ; Snow halfway down the mountains ! BRRRRR ! Cold and wet. YUCK !

I lit the furnace in the park model today, first time it's been lit in its six year life. Worked just fine ! Went into town to see the doctor to get prescription refills. Took them to the pharmacy. Refilled an empty propane tank. Bought some hardware.

Back at home I installed the safe I bought in Penticton a few days ago. Downloaded and processed some photos. Did more pre-departure preparations. Suffered hitch itch.
HA HA HA !

What is it with local affluent guys about my age and mountain bike accidents ? ! ? First my gastroenterologist had a mountain bike accident a few years ago leaving him a quadriplegic. Now one of the veterinarians at the Penticton veterinary clinic that we use has died in a mountain bike accident. SHEESH !

Thursday ; Cold, cloudy, gloomy weather.

Today I sorted all my clothes ; stay in park model or load back into trailer. I only intend to do this once ! I do not want to be moving everything in and out of the trailer every six months ! I disinfected all our five gallon and one gallon water jugs. We auger cleaned the trailer shower drain, an annual chore. We continued our fall pre-departure preparations.

Friday ; Another cold, gloomy day. It rained steadily until mid-afternoon. Having just read last year's journal entry for this date, Joanne and I agree. Recently the weather has been colder this year than last.

After the rain stopped we continued our pre-departure preparations. I went to lot 89, and started our little generator, a monthly task to ensure the generator doesn't become hard to start from lack of use when we're not travelling. I refilled it with fuel, and loaded it into the bed of the truck. Ready for use in less than a week !

Everybody was cold at today's daily "dog party", even the dogs !

Late in the afternoon we went into Keremeos to run a few errands before going to the Branding Iron restaurant for dinner. We had a Branding Iron gift certificate from the father and daughter team of real estate agents who sold us our park model home three months ago. Tonight was the third time we've been to the Branding Iron in the six summers that we've lived here. And it will be the last ! Good food, overpriced, bad service, surly waitress, a shot of expensive, premium whiskey ruined by soda fountain cola when "Diet Coke" was asked for ... overall, not worth anywhere near the relatively high prices charged.

Saturday ; Cold and wet !

HMPH ! Way too much driving today. Keremeos to Kaleden to Okanagan Falls to Oliver to Osoyoos to Keremeos, then later in the day Keremeos to Penticton and return.

This morning we headed to Advance RV, an RV service facility in Okanagan Falls. This is their last weekend in business and they were having a "garage sale" to clear out their remaining inventory of RV parts and supplies. We bought five items at very good prices. From there we went to the new Canadian Tire store in Oliver before returning home.

Late in the afternoon Joanne found a four hour old listing on Kijiji for an interesting truck camper at a great price in Penticton. After phoning the owner we decided it was worth an immediate trip to Penticton to take a look. We drove to Penticton as dusk set in. We viewed the truck camper, and had a difficult time making a decision whether to buy it or not. We decided not to buy it. We drove home in the dark, in the rain.

DSK

October 14 to 20, 2012

Sunday ; Today was cloudy and mild.

Thanksgiving has passed, my birthday has passed, our anniversary has passed, my sister's visit has passed. Life returns to "normal". The trailer toilet needs to be repaired ! We fought yet again over Joanne's difficulty in getting the truck in and out of our new home's "parking area". I took Bo to the dog park to play with other dogs ... twice today. Joanne did a lot of laundry. I mounted the fire extinguisher I bought yesterday. A few days of antibiotics for Sully seems to have solved his upper respiratory / allergy problem.

Monday ; Today started out sunny and mild, but became cold and raining by late afternoon.

I was up early this morning to be ready to be at my desk and on the phone promptly at
9 AM, working on sorting out this "two sheds" fiasco. After about an hour of phone calls back and forth to a Penticton shipping company and a Vancouver shipping company ...
I finally sorted it out ! The correct shed is at the Vancouver shipping company. The wrong shed is at the Penticton shipping company. That's the one that I refused on Friday when the truck driver got belligerent with me. So ... the refusal actually worked in my favour. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good ! HA HA HA ! Hopefully, the correct shed will make its way from Vancouver to Penticton to me tomorrow, and the wrong shed will be on its way from Penticton back to Vancouver and from there back to the manufacturer. Wish me luck.

I had just finished sorting out the shed fiasco ( I hope ! ) about 10 AM when I got a call from a Penticton RV dealer who needed a “rush” trailer delivery job, from West Kelowna to Penticton. Okay ... I’m on my way ! We had breakfast and jumped in the truck, heading for West Kelowna. Bo was excited to be able to go on a “drivey” on a nice day.

Keremeos to Penticton to Summerland to Peachland to West Kelowna. We picked up a very large, very heavy fifth wheel trailer that was jammed into a somewhat tight, small site in an upscale RV park. Good thing I have such good trailer handling skills ! We hauled it back to the Penticton dealership. All in all ... pretty easy money ! We took the opportunity to run our weekly errands while we were there in Penticton, avoiding the planned trip to Penticton tomorrow. As we were leaving Penticton around suppertime it began to rain lightly, getting heavier and heavier as we drove home. It was really pouring by the time we arrived home.

Tuesday ; Mostly sunny and mild today.

The shed drama continues ! ! ! The correct shed, due to arrive here today ... didn't ! ! ! ! ! I'm trying to remain calm ! Not succeeding ! Some things seem doomed from start to finish, don't they ?

Yesterday in Penticton we bought half a yard of gravel. Today we used it to level the shed base at the same time as we completed the construction of it.

And we fought ... and we fought ... and we fought ! ! !

Wednesday ; And fought ... and fought ... and fought ... and fought ... and fought ! ! ! ! !

Today was sunny and mild. Hopefully the shed drama is over. The correct shed arrived this afternoon. Delivered by same passive aggressive a*****e truck driver as last Friday. Passive aggressive meets overt aggressive. I win ! ! !

Thursday ; Today was sunny and mild, probably the last nice weather day for awhile. Our fighting has finally ended ... at least for awhile ! After 38 years of marriage, this wasn't our first protracted battle. I don't suppose it's the last, either ! Now it's time for some healing and fixing !

This morning we went into Keremeos to run some errands. This afternoon we worked on "fall pre-departure" preparations. Mostly cleaning and storing outdoor items before the bad weather arrives. Complicated by having to decide "stay at park model" or "load into trailer".

Friday ; Cool and wet ! Late fall / early winter weather has arrived.

In between bouts of light rain we moved the trailer from lot 89 back to lot 4. Not much room left for the trailer on lot 4 now that the shed base frame is built. We repaired the toilet in the trailer. Once again, the trailer is ready for travel. Hope no other problems arise in the next two weeks. I'm getting hitch itch, especially now that the weather is turning bad.

< sigh > Just spent the evening "killing" Similkameen Day Tours. Two summer seasons and no success ! Sure seemed like a good idea at the time ! Oh, well < shrug > ! Ya win some, ya lose some ! Similkameen Trailer Towing ... the afterthought ... has already generated enough revenue to offset the investment / losses in Similkameen Day Tours.

Saturday ; Mostly sunny, quite cold. BRRRRR !

This morning for brunch we had a modified version of "biscuits and gravy", a popular breakfast in the "South". Like ... in Alabama ... where Bo is from. This was the first time we've had "biscuits and gravy" at home in the eight years that we've had Bo. Therefore ... the first time in eight years that Bo has smelled "biscuits and gravy". Emphasis on the peppery "biscuits and gravy" special gravy, I guess. HA HA HA ... he went berserk !
HA HA HA HA HA ... he must have had "biscuits and gravy" as a kittle redneck puppy in Alabama. And apparently loved it ! He was probably thinking ... GAWD ... I've been waiting eight years for these stupid Canadians to feed this to me !

This evening we attended Taste Of Our Valley in Keremeos, the annual fall harvest festival. Lots of sampling of local wines and foods. MMMMM ! However, while it is local heresy to say this out loud ... we certainly do produce some terrible wines here in the Similkameen Valley ! As I suppose all wine producing areas do. But ... saying so is akin to "the emperor has no clothes".

DSK

October 7 to 13, 2012

Sunday ; Sunny and mild. Nice fall weather.

This afternoon we headed for Penticton. A few hours of running errands and then ...

WOW ! What an exquisite meal ! Lamb Fest at Bogner's of Penticton. Part of the Okanagan Fall Wine Festival. Joanne's birthday gift to me. A four course gourmet meal featuring spit roasted lamb as the main course. And the first three courses each paired with an award winning wine from Hester Creek Winery. A very expensive once per year indulgence. Worth every cent !

Monday ; Canadian Thanksgiving

A partially sunny, mild day. Not sunny enough to cook the Thanksgiving turkey in the Sun Oven. Lord knows we tried ! Joanne prepared the turkey and put it into the Sun Oven early in the afternoon. The sun kept disappearing intermittently behind fluffy clouds. All afternoon the temperature in the Sun Oven went up and down, up and down. After the daily dog party, as the sun dipped below the mountain across the river, we took the turkey out of the Sun Oven and finished cooking it in the oven inside the house.

I give thanks for two things ; Joanne's cancer survival and the privileged lifestyle we live !

Today I used the small concrete pads I bought yesterday in Penticton to level the wood frame base for the shed. I need to buy some gravel to complete the levelling. Joanne baked a pumpkin pie ( from scratch, of course ) early in the day, and the rest of Thanksgiving dinner late in the afternoon. In the evening I did some "drafting work, sketching out our yard, home, and shed layout to submit for shed placement approval.

Tuesday ; Sunny and warm. Made some great candied salmon in the Sun Oven today.

Wednesday ; Daniel's 58th Birthday

Another lovely, sunny and warm fall day. Happy Birthday to me !

My birthday treat to myself was a "lazy" day. This morning Joanne prepared a Black Forest Cherry Torte batter for a birthday cake for me. I baked it in the Sun Oven. Excellent ! We went for a long walk with Bo around the RV park, enjoying the lovely fall weather. We played in the dog park. We read ... and we snoozed in the middle of the afternoon. We played in the dog park again. We gave Bo a bath.

While I had a long chat on the phone with my sister, Joanne prepared my birthday "dream" supper. Caesar salad, my favourite spaghetti with meat sauce recipe, and my birthday cake. MMMMM ... thank you very much, my dear. We watched Survivor while we ate supper.

Yeah ... I'm a year older ... but life is good.

Thursday ; Another sunny and warm day. Likely the last one. Joanne prepared and baked an apple cake in the Sun Oven this morning. I baked a loaf of bread in the Sun Oven this afternoon. Both the cake and the bread are for my sister's visit tomorrow.

We trimmed Bo's and Sully's claws. Sully behaved as if he was being tortured < rolling eyes >. I wonder what the neighbours thought we were doing ? ! I did some pre-travel maintenance on the trailer. This evening I filleted a large Sockeye Salmon our next door neighbour gave to us recently. WOW ... nice fish ! I hope Sharon and Bud like it !

Friday ; our 38th wedding anniversary

Today was cloudy and mild.

At 1 PM my sister and brother-in-law arrived. WOO-HOO ! Their first visit here ! Sharon and Bud had to get up at 3 AM CDT to catch a 7 AM flight out of Winnipeg, arriving in Kelowna about 9:30 AM PDT. My brother Russell met them at the airport, and gave them his car to drive here to visit us. They were pretty tired upon arrival ! It would be an understatement to say that they are not travellers. We had a wonderful afternoon and evening of visiting.

Shortly after their arrival ... a truck showed up with a shed. One of the two sheds on their way here from Home Depot. I was not pleased that this shed showed up unexpectedly. And before I could determine whether this was the right shed or the wrong shed ... the truck driver and I showed one another some "attitude", and I ... < ahem > ... refused to accept the shipment ... right shed or not ! I'll sort that out next week ! ! !

Sharon and Bud slept in our park model home. Joanne and I, and Bo and Sully, went to sleep in the trailer on lot 89.

Saturday ; Cloudy and mild again.

How can it be that when we moved out of the trailer 2½ months ago everything was in perfect condition, and now we move back in for one night only to discover two malfunctions / problems requiring repair ? ! ?

We continued our excellent visit with Sharon and Bud until early afternoon. Joanne prepared a picnic lunch for them ( my candied salmon as the main course ) and we drove into Keremeos with them to shop at a couple of local fruit & produce stands. I ran an errand in town while Joanne shopped with them at Mariposa Orchards, then I met them at Parson's for more shopping ... and mostly to take photos of the excellent fall produce displays at Parson's.

We said goodbye to them at Parson's and they departed for Kelowna where they will visit with my brother until they head back to Winnipeg Monday morning.

DSK

September 30 to October 6, 2012

Sunday ; Happy 16th Birthday to Sully !

Today was sunny and cool in the morning, warm in the afternoon, cool in the evening. Pretty nice weather for the last day of September.

This morning we drove into Keremeos to take a look at a used truck camper for sale. It wasn't what we're looking for. That's because we're not looking for a piece of junk ! From Keremeos we drove north on Hwy. 3A to Kaleden, then south on Hwy. 97 through Okanagan Falls to Covert Farms near Oliver. Covert Farms is a large organic farm, market gardener, and winery up on McIntyre Bluff. They've been there for about 60 years. And ... we were stunned at how little produce they had for sale ... and how expensive it was. Their produce prices were triple the prices in the Keremeos produce stands.
I wonder if they know that ? !

From Covert Farms we drove into Oliver where we spent the afternoon at Festival Of The Grape, the annual "kick-off" to the Okanagan Fall Wine Festival. This was the fourth time we've attended Festival Of The Grape. And it will be the last ! Each one has cost more money than the last ... and has been less value than the last. The admission fee has become fifty bucks per couple ! That includes a wine glass and ... three samples of wine ( at one dollar per sample ) ... per person. Trust me ... the wine glass ain't worth twenty-two bucks ! I think the local wine industry is very guilty of over valuing themselves. Much of our perception of value in the past has been the excellent music performers like The Nylons and Downchild Blues Band. But this year ... the band was ... not in that league, shall we say !

After the festival we returned from Oliver via the "scenic route" over Fairview Mountain. The road was in pretty rough shape.

WOO-HOO ! Season premiere of Amazing Race tonight.

Monday ; Mostly sunny and mild today.

A day of minor maintenance chores. I removed, disassembled, cleaned, reassembled, and reinstalled the trailer's bathroom fan. That was a bigger job than it sounds like ! While I was lying upside down with my head stuck into an access hatch under the park model, fiddling with a minor plumbing problem ... a little snake slithered by my head. Hello, little snake. Please don't crawl over my neck or down my shirt, thank you !

Joanne is working on reviewing and rearranging all our paper files, deciding what should be left in the park model, what should travel with us in the trailer, and what should be discarded. Big job !

Tuesday ; Sunny and cold today ! Overnight temperatures near freezing !

Spent the day in Penticton running errands. Had an extremely frustrating and angering phone call tonight ( third one ! ) with Home Depot regarding an online order.

Chain yanker jerk who "bought" neighbour's car didn't follow through today ! ! !

Wednesday ; Sunny and cold again.

This morning we did an agility session with Bo. Good dog, Bo, well done. Joanne went off to do laundry. I dismantled our "parking area" fencing and prepared the trailer for departure / travel. We hitched the truck to the trailer and moved the trailer back to lot 89. We needed the lot 4 yard cleared out to be able to receive the shed building materials package when it arrives, and to have the space in the yard to build the base and floor for the shed. I phoned Home Depot again and resolved the shed order problem. Not entirely satisfactorily, but a lot better than yesterday evening's attempt with the call centre bimbo Adele.

Car purchasing chain yanker jerk turns out to be ... exactly that !

Next door neighbour unhappy with my planned placement of shed. < shrug >

Thursday ; Fall weather is here ! Cold mornings and evenings, mild afternoons. Lots of sunshine. Joanne baked a cake and scalloped potatoes in the Sun Oven today.

Rebuilt my parking spot fencing. Went to Keremeos for a haircut and Cawston to the log home builder looking for a plank board to match our park model skirting. "Rescued" a miniature horse that was outside its corral, grazing on the roadside, with its butt sticking out into traffic. Bad little horse ! Head butts the lowest rail on the corral fence upwards and goes underneath. Finalized our order to purchase a custom made dinette table & chairs, and Flexsteel sofa bed, in Boise, Idaho in a month.

< sigh > Worked with Joanne this afternoon on her "office" project. She brought all "office materials" from the trailer to the house and sorted them into four categories ; stays in Keremeos, goes to Yuma and stays there, travels with us in both directions, goes to garbage. Having a "home" in Keremeos, and another in Yuma, complicates our lives. Until recently, "everything" was in the trailer ... all the time.

< sigh > Worked with Joanne tonight on her furniture rearranging project. Bought our travel medical insurance online. Prepared my "candied salmon" recipe to go into the Sun Oven tomorrow.

Friday ; Sunny, cool to warm to cool.

First thing this morning I took the salmon out of my special "invented" marinade and put it in the Sun Oven to "sun dry". At sunset I took it out of the Sun Oven. WOW ... turned out great. Hope my sister likes it when she comes to visit next week.

This afternoon I rebuilt my parking spot fencing ... again. And I staked the shed footprint in the yard. HMPH ... seems large !

Watched "Little Miss Sunshine" tonight. HA HA HA ... odd and funny movie.

Saturday ; A lovely fall day, sunny and warm.

Today was dedicated to outdoor "home improvement" projects. I installed a couple of solar "driveway" lights. I helped my next door neighbour wrestle some large insulated ducting and an air conditioner underneath his park model. Very tough job ! My reward was a rye and Diet Coke. HA HA HA ... what a "prairie farmer" he is. Rye and Coke is definitely a Manitoba and Saskatchewan kind of drink. I was raised on rye and Coke in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He's a retired farmer from around Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. By the way ... for my American friends ... what we call rye, you know as Canadian whiskey.
I partially built the pressure treated wood frame base for our soon to arrive new storage shed. I stopped building it before it got too heavy to lift or move. I'm going to have to do some levelling of the yard and / or install some levelling blocks underneath two corners of the shed base.

Late in the evening I continued working with Joanne on her "office" project, sorting and purging the contents of the safe in the trailer, deciding on what stays in the trailer, what stays in the park model, and what goes to the garbage. How did we compile so much "important paperwork" over the last 8½ years ? ! ?

DSK