Sunday ; Sunny and hot. Joanne cooked a chicken, potatoes, and vegetable dish in the Sun Oven today. I had a very close call ( or two ! ) today, a "brush with death", you might say.
Our next door neighbour ( the "weekender" from the lower mainland ) arrived this morning to wrap up some loose ends on their lot which is for sale. I bought their step ladder for myself, and their four Adirondack chairs which I intend to "donate" to the dog park. I also agreed to clean their lot and haul junk to the dump for them. I went down to the park's orchard and picked a couple of Transparent Apples to see if they are ripe enough yet to use for cooking. They aren't !
I decided to go fly fishing this afternoon. I wanted to fish at my fishing "hot spot" upstream on the Similkameen River. I got my fishing gear ready, loaded it all into the minivan and drove down to the park's "burn pile" area, where I usually enter the river to cross to an island and then hike upstream from there. I walked into the river carrying a walking stick, my fishing rod case with my fly fishing rod and reel inside, and a pail with my fishing net and fishing gear tote bag in the pail. Of course, I was wearing my life vest. The water was colder, deeper, and flowing faster than I expected. As I gingerly walked across the river, it got deeper and faster. My foot slipped on the slippery rocks,
I lost my balance, and I "windmilled" my arms to keep myself from falling. Everything went flying. I staggered and stumbled around in the water on the slippery rocks, trying desperately not to fall.
I regained my balance. The walking stick was still attached to my wrist with a small strap. As the pail sunk, my fishing net and gear tote bag began floating down the river.
I lunged for the pail, grabbed the net, and the tote bag. I carefully found my way back to shore and climbed out of the river. I was stressed and short of breath. I climbed up the bank and ... HEY ! WHERE THE HELL IS MY FISHING ROD CASE ? ! ?
F*** ! ! ! My fishing rod case with rod and reel inside were ... who knows where ? Somewhere in the river, I guess ! < sigh > I climbed back down the bank and into the river again. I walked out into the water a bit and looked downstream. Couldn't see it ! DAMN ! Well ... at least I was alive ! A fly fishing rod, reel, and case are replaceable.
I climbed out of the river again, and over to the minivan parked in the burn pile area.
I drove to our clubhouse and parked. I walked behind the clubhouse to take a look at the river, a few hundred feet downstream from where I had slipped. And there in a swirling "eddy" was my fishing rod case, spinning around and around in circles. HMPH !
With a lot of difficulty I made my way back down to the river near where my rod case was floating and spinning. I struggled into the river and gingerly tried to make my way over to the rod case. As I made my final step towards it, and reached as far as
I could ... my right foot sunk into "quicksand" up to my knee ! I grabbed the rod case and tried to step backwards. My leg and foot pulled up out of the quicksand ... without my river sandal on my foot. I stepped to the left to regain my balance again and ... my left foot sunk into the quicksand up to my knee. < sigh > I yanked my left foot up out of the quicksand, trying hard to keep my river sandal on my foot. The sandal stayed on my foot, but broke as I yanked my foot and leg up out of the quicksand.
I staggered backwards a step or two to where the river bottom was rocky. I leaned down, reached into the hole in the quicksand where my right foot had gone in, and
I yanked my river sandal out of the quicksand. Now I had my rod case in one hand, my right foot sandal in my other hand, my right foot bare, and my left foot wearing a broken river sandal. I staggered and struggled back to shore and climbed out.
Twice now I had scared myself with a "close call". I was stressed, out of breath, and beginning to experience angina pain. < sigh > I walked back to the minivan and drove home. I sat down on our steps and tried to explain to Joanne what had just happened. And I guzzled a Gatorade !
I cleaned myself and my shoes and my fishing gear, and laid everything out on our picnic table to dry. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening SAFELY at my desk. HA HA HA !
Monday ; Sunny and hot until late afternoon, then a violent thunderstorm and heavy rain for an hour or so.
I spent half my day doing "favours" for the next door neighbours on one side, then the other half the day doing "favours" for the next door neighbours on the other side.
< sigh >
This morning Joanne went into town ( Keremeos ) to drop off some forms at the medical clinic, refill our freshwater jug, and buy some fresh produce. At Gord's and Marcie's
I modified the oxygen hose mounting as requested. I repaired a pleated shade ... a rather difficult job ! I cleaned the kitchen sink's two drains, the bathroom sink's drain, and the shower drain with Drano. The bathroom sink drain needed further cleaning with a drain cleaning tool. As did the shower drain which needed a LOT of cleaning with the little drain cleaner tool. I walked their dog, then brought him to our place where I ( once again ) cleaned and treated his ear infection. I relocated a heavy rocker recliner in their living room.
This afternoon at Joe's and Lynn's I cleaned all the junk in their yard, sorting what was junk destined for the dump, and what might have value and should be kept. Much, much more of the former than the latter. After making a huge pile of junk to go to the dump, and piling the rest against their shed, I took photos of their lot to be used in their "lot for sale" advertising.
I did some gardening. I glue repaired my broken river sandals. I did some preventive maintenance on the truck and minivan. I took the Adirondack chairs that I bought from Joe ( next door ) to the dog park. I barbecued a thick steak for supper, along with baked potatoes and grilled Patty Pan Squash. MMMMM ... good ! Joanne got distracted while a pot of beans was boiling on the stove. OOOOO ... didn't know one could burn beans to the bottom of a pot quite that badly ... < snicker >.
Tuesday ; Happy 52nd Birthday to Joanne's sister Lorraine
Sunny and hot. A great day to go flying !
This morning after regular morning chores we headed to Penticton for a day of running errands and a flight for me. We bought some pet supplies at Total Pet, then made a trip to the BC SPCA to drop off some ( expensive Trader Joe's ) dog biscuits that Bo is having problems digesting. We wandered through their dog and cat adoption wings and were stunned at how low their inventory was. Which is a very good thing for an animal shelter. We're used to seeing the overwhelmingly large inventory of animals at the Yuma Humane Society.
We went for lunch to Tim Horton's. And it was terrible ! Not very good food, and atrociously bad service. Quite a change from the past ! After lunch I dropped Joanne off at Dollar Tree then I went shopping to Rona for some garden hose repair parts. On the way back to pick up Joanne at Dollar Tree I refilled the minivan with fuel.
Joanne dropped me off at BP Aviation at the airport and I went flying while she went grocery and thrift store shopping. DanAir flight 427 flew from Penticton to Kaleden to Keremeos to Riverside RV Park to Hedley and return. I descended as low as legally possible over the Similkameen River to view our RV park. In both directions ! And turning around in the narrow Similkameen Valley is impossible to do. From Riverside RV Park westbound I climbed as quickly as possible, and could not turn around until reaching Hedley, and even then I had to execute a steep climbing turn to get turned around and heading back. At Keremeos, where the Similkameen ( River ) Valley and the Keremeos ( Creek ) Valley meet I went to find and view from above the Keremeos Columns, a ( not all that ) interesting geologic formation.
What a great day to fly. Sunny, hot, calm air. Very, very busy airspace around the Penticton Airport with helicopter flight training. When I crossed over the last mountain range on the way back and called Penticton Radio from 7500 feet above Okanagan Falls, Air Traffic Control did not think I could descend quickly enough to land at Penticton without doing some circuits to lose altitude. WRONG ! Pull the power back to idle, drop forty degrees of flaps, point the nose down at Skaha Lake and ... made the runway straight in from Okanagan Falls. BOO-YA !
Joanne picked me up at the airport, her shopping was completed, so we returned home, arriving home about 6 PM.
Wednesday ; Mostly sunny and hot, about an hour of thunderstorm with lightning and heavy rain late in the afternoon. Joanne cooked a pie crust and a potato dish for supper in the Sun Oven today.
This morning we loaded up the considerable pile of junk we cleaned up in the next door neighbour's yard and hauled it to the dump. On the way back home we refilled our barbecue's propane tank at FasGas.
After lunch I did some yard maintenance work. And I repaired the camper's freshwater refill hose. And trimmed Bo's dew claws. Late in the afternoon we went to cool off in our RV park's indoor / outdoor swimming pool. On the way to the pool we stopped and visited with our neighbour / friend Jeanine. It was while we were in the swimming pool that the thunderstorm happened. I had one of the swimming pool building's large glass overhead doors opened. When the thunderstorm began ... Black Widow Spiders came running onto the swimming pool deck from outside. HEY ! I used a pool skimmer net to "persuade" them back outdoors, then closed the large glass overhead door.
When we returned home after cooling off in the pool, and the thunderstorm and rain had cooled the temperature down a lot ( from 93F / 34C to 75F / 24C ) we took Bo into the gazebo and gave him a short haircut. Good dog, Bo ! His last haircut was four months ago and his hair grows fast ! He was immediately a lot more comfortable after the haircut.
After supper I downloaded and processed the photos I had taken of the next door neighbour's yard, and sent them to him by e-mail. He will use them in advertising his lot for sale.
Thursday ; Sunny and hot.
This morning Joanne left in our minivan with Gord and Marcie for another day of medical procedures for Gord in Kelowna Hospital. They weren't back home until after
6 PM.
I removed a propane tank from the camper. I'll take it into town in a few days to have it refilled. I repaired our ( Bupkis ) barbecue. I split some scrap wood to be used as firewood. I walked the dog, made and had lunch, napped, then went fishing. I fished for about an hour. Had five strikes, caught none of them. I was stubbornly using a fly that
I had tied last winter under Laszlo's tutelage in Yuma. It was much too large for the fish that were biting today.
In the evening, after supper, I downloaded month end bank statements and investment statements. I topped up our Canadian cell phone which had expired a week ago. And
I did some cell phone and SIM card research.
Friday ; CANADA DAY ; Canada's 149th Birthday
Mix of sun and clouds, warm, windy.
We had a bit of a lazy day. This morning I made blueberry and peach pancakes for brunch, at Joanne's request. I finished chopping some scrap lumber into firewood. After a late, light lunch and a nap I went fishing for about forty-five minutes. Caught nothing. The Similkameen River is still flowing a bit too fast for effective fly fishing. And the wind was too strong today for effective fly fishing. I'm just too eager !
I did some more caulking on the base of our shed. I barbecued steak, potatoes, and Patty Pan Squash for supper again tonight. And like last year, we went out onto our deck late at night and lit sparklers to celebrate Canada Day.
Saturday ; Sunny and hot. Joanne cooked a peach cobbler in the Sun Oven today.
Today we did some work around the yard. I continued caulking the shed base. Joanne did some cleaning in the gazebo. She went into town to refill our water jug and buy some fresh produce. I polished shoes. We gave Bo a bath. We went for a long walk with Bo. I went bicycling, which I haven't being doing enough of.
In the evening at my desk, I reconciled monthly bank statements and updated my investment files. We watched the Saturday night movie on AMI, the biography of Ray Charles.
DSK
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