July 7 to 13,2019

Sunday ; Mostly cloudy and warm.

Spent much of today washing the truck and the front of the camper. YUCK ! 

Bugs ! Road grime !

For supper I barbecued the Arctic Grayling I caught recently. I’m not sure that the meat of the fish was all that great tasting, but … if smothered in enough mushroom dill à la king sauce … it was wonderful ! HA HA HA !

Monday ; Mostly sunny and warm. Joanne cooked a Swiss Steak dish in the Sun Oven today.

This morning I used expanding foam sealant to seal around the three plumbing pipes coming up into the kitchen cupboards. The route that the six mice that I have killed in the kitchen cupboards in the last week or so used to gain entry. We have lived in this home for seven years or so and have never had a mouse problem. Until we returned from our Cassiar Highway trip a bit more than a week ago ! Evidently while we were gone the neighbourhood mice found their way in. And every time I killed one … another arrived ! ! ! It was like playing “Whack A Mole” ! Except it was “Whack A Mouse” ! ! ! I have no motivation to keep killing mice ! Especially since two of them were not killed by the mouse trap. One was caught by its toes. And since its injuries seemed slight … I released it outdoors. Good luck, little mouse ! And one … < gulp > … was quite injured by the trap, but still alive when I found it in the morning. I took it out to our shed … and euthanized it ! YUCK ! How unpleasant !

I began using my new blood pressure machine today. My family doctor wants me to take blood pressure readings at various times of the day, using both arms. There are conflicting opinions about whether or not blood pressure readings are valid / accurate on the left arm when the radial artery has been harvested / removed from that arm. And I began the tiring annual process of travel medical insurance comparison shopping. MEDIPAC is probably still my best choice, but I am so extremely pissed off at them for what they did to me last year that I will be trying very hard to find an acceptable alternative.

In the evening I did monthly computer backups. And we watched “Saving Mr. Banks”, the story of Walt Disney wrangling the film rights to Mary Poppins from the author Pamela Travers.

Tuesday ; Mostly sunny and warm. Joanne cooked a sausage and beans casserole in the Sun Oven today.

This morning we went out into the Crown Land beside our park and searched for Saskatoons. We found bushes still bearing fruit, but … too late. The berries were already shrinking and drying. Oh, well … maybe next year. I took a look at the Similkameen River to assess depth and flow speed. Looks good … time to try fishing ! Maybe tomorrow !

This afternoon I finished washing the camper ; both sides and the rear. And I did some minor repairs on the camper. In the evening I did some Alaska Marine Highway trip planning … for next summer.

Wednesday ; Mix of sun and clouds, bit of rain in the afternoon, warm and humid.

This morning I phoned our insurance agent to tell him that I had no intention of renewing our home insurance policy … with a 69% increase in premium. Nobody in their right mind accepts a 69% cost increase from one year to the next ! ! ! This afternoon I did some minor work on the truck and the camper. Late in the afternoon we went to the pool and did an exercise session. In the evening I did some investment statement reconciling.

Thursday ; Mostly sunny, warm, humid.

Did some preventive maintenance and repair work on the camper today. On our recent Cassiar Highway trip we took the truck and camper down some Forest Service roads that were so rough … how rough were they, Dan ? … that a crack developed in the aluminum skin, the second such crack sustained by the camper. I repaired it today using Eternabond. Like cracks in the windshield, cracks in the aluminum skin of the camper are like war wounds, to be worn like a badge of honour. There are three or four such cracks in the fiberglass skin of our old fifth wheel trailer, now “retired” in Arizona. Those cracks on the fifth wheel trailer are from Mexico roads. Moral ; don’t hit topes ( pronounced “toepays” … Mexican speed bumps ) at 50 MPH ! HA HA HA !

Friday ; Mostly sunny and very warm, a few drops of rain around suppertime.

WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO ! ! ! Joanne bought some Morel mushrooms today !

This morning I made some phone calls, setting up doctor’s appointments and insurance agent meeting appointments. I made a phone call to a potential trailer towing client, in order to satisfy a referral made to ( now defunct ) Similkameen Trailer Towing. I don’t really want to tow any more trailers, and this potential client sounded like a “tire kicker”, so … should be okay. HA HA HA !

This afternoon I did a messy and difficult cleaning job on the camper, cleaning the bathroom fan and underneath the MAXX AIR cover on the roof over the bathroom fan. A few years ago I installed this MAXX AIR cover in such a way as to not be able to remove it for cleaning. And today was the first time I have attempted to clean inside / under it since installing it. YUCK ! How does all that road dust collect under there ? ! ?

Joanne went into Keremeos to run some errands by herself. While shopping at Sanderson Farms, our fruit / produce stand of choice, she found that they had a small quantity of very rare, wild Morel mushrooms for sale. She bought a small basket. Together we cooked them for supper, adding them to a creamy pasta dish. MMMMM ! I want to go back to Sanderson’s tomorrow and buy more !

Around ( everybody else’s ) suppertime we went to the swimming pool and did cardiac ( and Joanne’s bursitis ) exercising. After supper we watched Downton Abbey.

Saturday ; Sunny and very warm.

This morning we drove into town ( Keremeos ) to buy another basket of Morel mushrooms at Sanderson Farms. MMMMM ! I have a plan to make Morel mushroom omelettes for supper tomorrow. Sanderson’s had fresh local peas today, so I bought a bag of those as well. Shelling them at the dining table reminded me of my days as a teenager working on my Aunt Lena’s farm near Broad Valley, Manitoba.

This afternoon Joanne and I reviewed and discussed the minutes of our community’s recent annual general meeting ...< sigh >. I also did a semi-annual archive / double backup of my computer document and photo files.

DSK