Sunday, June 28, 2015

June 21 to 27, 2015

Sunday ; Sunny and very warm.

Started the day by removing the fifth wheel hitch from the truck bed and getting the truck parked back underneath the camper. Just about got my head crushed between the truck and the camper. Thanks a lot, my dear ! ! ! ! ! < dripping sarcasm >

Picked Saskatoons. A lot of them. In two different locations. First at our RV park's front gate, then in the Crown land area "behind" our RV park's southern fence line, down by our RV park's natural beach on the Similkameen River. The berries at the front gate bush were bigger, down by the beach they were more plentiful. Great crop of sweet berries this year, but will probably be a very short Saskatoon picking season. I think we'll try again in a few days.

Visited Jeanine very briefly to arrange for dog sitting of Charlie tomorrow while she goes to Penticton for her first chemotherapy session. Did agility and obedience with Bo. Well done, Bo, good dog. Updated my blog. Updated investments. HMPH ! ! !   Did a minor repair on our "new" binoculars. They're ready for Polar Bear viewing in October. Watered all our plants and gardens and composters.

Forgot to mention yesterday ... on our way to Langley to deliver the trailer, we viewed two deer and one Bald Eagle. On the way back home we viewed another deer and a Black Bear.

Monday ; Mostly sunny nad very warm, a few drops of rain around suppertime when
I was fishing. < heavy sigh re : "nad" >

Early this morning Jeanine's dog Charlie joined us for the day while Jeanine was in Penticton for chemotherapy. Joanne got up very early, walked Bo, got Charlie, walked Charlie, then we all went back to sleep for a few more hours.

Joanne and I went into town to run errands. We refilled our water jug. While I went to Keremeos Home Hardware to shop for roofing supplies she went to Busy Bee Flowers, the Sears mail order outlet, to return a purchase. Busy Bee is closed on Mondays
< sigh >. Then she went to the Post Office. We met at the grocery store and bought quite a bit of meat products on sale. WOO-HOO ... lots to barbecue. Final stop was Sanderson Farms for fresh fruits and vegetables.

Around suppertime I went fly fishing in the Similkameen River at our RV park's beach in the adjacent Crown Land. I fished for about an hour or so until it started to drizzle. I had three "bites" but caught no fish. I think I was using a fly that was too large. I was just switching to a smaller fly when it began to rain, so I went home. The water level in the Similkameen River is down to "summer" level, although the water is still very cold and the current is still very strong. While I waded in the river I wore the life jacket Joanne bought me in Yuma.

Tuesday ; Sunny and very warm.

Joanne went to Penticton by herself this morning for a day of running errands. I picked Saskatoons. I chatted with a neighbour. I cleaned the barbecue. I phoned a Princeton metal roofing contractor to come and give me a quote on re-roofing our entry landing roof and deck roof. I walked the dog. I napped. I did monthly computer maintenance and file backups. I did some minor maintenance on the truck. I cooked supper.

HEY ... being me is a tough job, but somebody's got to do it. HA HA HA !

In the evening we visited briefly with Jeanine. Joanne will take her to Penticton Hospital Thursday morning for the installation of an IV catheter line for her chemotherapy treatments.

Wednesday ; Sunny, hot, humid.

Joanne and I were just discussing ( at 10:30 PM ) the MasterCard bill that I've just paid. Our expenditures on MasterCard this month were about $4200. I pay our total balance each month. BUT ... according to the disclosure information "fine print" on the statement, if I paid only the minimum monthly payment of about $90, this balance would take ... wait for it ... 41 years to pay off ! ! !   It's no wonder that people dig themselves such deep holes with their credit cards !

We started our day with a fun obedience / agility / hide & seek play session with Bo. Well done, Bo, good dog !   I watered all our plants and gardens. We went for a long walk with Bo ; to the clubhouse to return a book to the library, through the orchard to check on how all the park's fruit trees are doing, along the riverfront walkway, and around the RV park to home.

I did a bit more disassembly work on the entry landing roof reconstruction project.
I repaired some shoddy construction. We picked more Saskatoons !   I downloaded, printed, and reconciled this month's MasterCard statement. I cooked one of the best meals I’ve ever prepared.

Cajun seasoned, barbecued lamb chops and barbecued, then creamed "smashed" baby potatoes with sautéed mushrooms. MMMMM ... that’s going to become a “serve to company” dish ! With a lot of thanks to my Aunt Lena for teaching me everything there is to know about cooking with cream when I was fourteen years old ... forty six years ago. It’s just too bad that Superstore in Penticton didn’t have any Crema Salvadoreña. HA HA HA !

And you wonder how it is that I hit 200 pounds at 12 years of age, and grew up to be a man with no neck ? ! ? HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !

Thursday ; Sunny and hot, temperature near 100 degrees F / 38 degrees C. First day of a three or four day heat wave. A good day to catch my first fish of the season. And a good day to find a large crow feather in perfect condition !

Joanne took Jeanine to Penticton Hospital this morning for a procedure. They were home by mid-afternoon. I replaced the shelf underneath the bathroom sink in the truck camper. It was damaged last winter by a leaking bottle of a strong cleaner. Replacing the shelf was easier than I expected it to be. What a pleasant change !

When we were walking to the mailbox early this evening I found a large black feather in perfect condition. At first I thought it was an eagle feather. < sigh > I would love to have an eagle feather, but I know it is illegal for a "pale face" to possess an eagle feather.
I did some research on the Internet to identify the feather. It's not an eagle feather. It's a raven or crow feather, more likely crow than raven. Good ... I can keep it. I "mounted" it in the band of my Tilley hat. In Native lore, a crow feather denotes "balance, skill and cunning". Yeah ... as a Libra, that works for me !

I went fly fishing down at our park's "beach" in the Crown land ( "public" land just outside our RV park's southern fence ) for about half an hour before supper tonight. Caught a lovely little Rainbow Trout ! And a lovely little Whitefish ! I kept the Rainbow, released the Whitefish. I'm looking forward to cooling off during the upcoming heat wave by wading into the river to fish.

Friday ; Sunny nad very hot, temperature over 100 degrees F / 38 degrees C. Joanne cooked one of my favourite meals in the Sun Oven today, a Mexican chicken dish with rice, tomatoes, and many herbs and spices. MMMMM !

DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN ! ! ! ! ! Not only did I just type "nad" again ... BUT ... I have just returned home ( at 7:30 PM ) from a couple of hours of fishing, and ... the two lovely, large Rainbow Trout that I caught are ruined ! And I have tossed them into the garbage. What a waste !

I caught the two fish within the first half hour of fishing, then ... they sat in a ( black ) plastic pail half filled with river water. Usually, fish that I catch stay alive that way, and
I kill them immediately prior to cleaning them. But today ... temperature over 100 degrees, pail sitting on the shoreline in sunlight ... by the time I returned home, not only were the two fish dead, their flesh had turned mushy ! ! ! DAMN !

While I was fishing a deer walked into the river to have a drink a few hundred feet downstream, and a Bald Eagle was fishing over the river a few hundred feet upstream.

Saturday ; Very hot, intermittent thin cloud preventing use of Sun Oven.

This morning we headed to Princeton, about 45 minutes west on Hwy. 3, for their "Ginormous Community Garage Sale". What a waste of time and fuel ! The community garage sale was held in the town arena, and there couldn't have been more than about a dozen tables of "stuff" ... none of it of any interest to us. Before leaving Princeton we shopped for groceries at Cooper's, the supermarket in town.

This afternoon I went to pick Saskatoons. Uh-oh ... too late. The heat wave has ended the Saskatoon picking season. The berries on the bushes are all dried out. SO ... I went fishing. Fished for about an hour. Not even a bite. HMPH ! No Saskatoons ! No Rainbow Trout ! What a gyp-off ! HA HA HA !

Our neighbour / friend Jeanine came over for supper tonight. Due to her illness she's been having some difficulty finding the motivation to feed herself. I barbecued Dan-O-Burgers. And I sent her home with a nice little Rainbow Trout that I caught on Thursday.

DSK 

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