September 22 to 28, 2019

Sunday ; Overcast, rain starting around noon and lasting all day.

Expecting the rain, Joanne worked this morning on staining balusters until the job was completed. Well done, my dear. I did some minor preventive maintenance on the vehicles and camper. We worked together to brainstorm a cat litter box “cover” concept for the camper. We did some “clean and purge” in the storage space underneath our entry landing.

In the afternoon I worked at my desk. I paid our Yuma, Arizona property tax bill. 

I posted my weekly journal entry to my blog. I analyzed the weekly performance of our investments. In the evening we watched the movie “Hitchcock”.

Monday ; Overcast, light rain early in the day.

This morning I did some minor maintenance on the truck. And some yard work. 

In the afternoon I did some repair work on our entry landing steps. The bottom / base of them needed to be re-leveled. Around supper time we went to the swimming pool and did an exercise session. In the evening I paid some bills online.

Late this afternoon we received a telephone call from a Recruitment Officer at Elections Canada. We both got hired as Deputy Returning Officers for the upcoming federal election.

Tuesday ; Sunny, warm, very windy.

This afternoon I did more preventive maintenance on the truck, then … fabricated a new litter box “cover” for the camper using a large plastic tote, to keep Ozzie out of Emma’s litter box when they are left alone together in the camper. As will be the case frequently during our month and a half in Palm Springs in December and January. In the evening I reconciled and paid our monthly MasterCard billing.

We watched the season premiere of “This Is Us”. Great writing !

Wednesay ; Sunny and warm, another lovely fall day.

Joanne went to Penticton by herself this morning for a day of running errands and a physiotherapy appointment. Emma seems ill with an upper respiratory infection / “kitty cat cold”. I began administering an upper respiratory medication that we have used for many years. We buy it in Mexico. I’m a bit paranoid about upper respiratory infections in old cats. That’s what brought about the death of Teddy, a previous cat of ours, when he was seventeen years old.

I went fishing this afternoon, probably for the last time this summer season. 

I fished for an hour and caught … absolutely nothing ! Not even a hint of a 

nibble ! HMPH ! After supper we watched the season premiere of Survivor.

Thursday ; Mostly sunny, mild.

Yesterday morning Emma came down with a “cold”. By day’s end … so did I ! First cold since my cardiac bypass surgery almost two years ago. I tried very hard to avoid getting a cold while weakened by and recuperating from surgery. 

I succeeded.

While taking Ozzie on his lunch time walk we found out that yesterday our neighbour / friend Jeanine fell and broke her collarbone … < sigh >. Looks like we’ll be having a frequent dinner guest for awhile. Her friends are all going to have to chip in their efforts to keep Jeanine fed. This incident just strengthens our resolve that moving to seniors’ housing should be done sooner rather than later !

While I napped with the animals after lunch Joanne went into town and ran some errands. Later in the afternoon we gave Ozzie a bath. Around supper time we went to the swimming pool and did exercises. Afterwards we cooked supper together. I tried out some new ideas and techniques I learned recently watching “Jamie Oliver’s 30 Minute Meals”.

Friday ; Overcast, chilly, light rain … snow at the tops of the mountains !

I felt pretty ill today with a cold. I napped for much of the afternoon. Our neighbour / friend Jeanine ( she of the broken collarbone ! ) came over for supper.

Saturday ; Cloudy, chilly, raining.

Not a day that inspired much activity. Especially when ill with a cold. I read. 

I napped. I partially winterized the camper because of the very cold weather forecast for the next few nights. In the evening I did monthly computer file backups.

DSK

September 15 to 21, 2019

Sunday; Light rain most of the day, warm.

I continued working on the baluster project. The rain slowed me down. I also did a minor repair on the camper battery, resealing a hole through the wall of the battery compartment where a cable to the inverter passes through it. Around supper time I combined cardiac exercising in the swimming pool with doing laundry.

While I was eating my rather late supper (after 8 PM) the next door neighbour knocked on my door. She was rather freaked out. A mouse had just run through her trailer. HA HA HA! She wanted to borrow a mouse trap. Sure … no problem … good luck!

Monday; Kelowna

Overcast, light rain starting in mid-afternoon shortly before we arrived back home from Kelowna.

Ozzie and I left home this morning at 10:40 AM … twenty-five minutes late! … headed for Kelowna to pick Joanne up at the airport upon her return from Winnipeg at 12:30 PM. Like everyone else in the Okanagan, I exceeded the speed limit … not my usual style … all the way from home to the Kelowna airport, turning a 2½ hour trip into a two hour trip.

Ozzie was stunned to see Joanne. He seemed convinced, shortly after she had left, that he was being abandoned by yet another “mommy”, she was dead or otherwise gone forever. Poor Ozzie! We stopped to have lunch at McDonald’s in Westbank / West Kelowna. We arrived back home at 4:30 PM.

We had a lot to discuss about her trip to Winnipeg, especially her tours of two seniors’ condos.

Tuesday; Intermittent light rain all day.

Despite today’s cold, rainy weather we both spent much of the afternoon working on the entry landing baluster project. I continued to work on fabricating and installing balusters, Joanne worked on staining them. For me the work ended when I ran out of materials. I will be buying more wood and more screws tomorrow. Joanne likes the end results of the project so much that she wants me to remove all the lattice work surrounding our deck off the living room and replace it with stained wood balusters next summer. < sigh > Yes, dear, I would be happy to.

We went for an aquatic exercise session shortly after 6 PM. And at the same time Joanne did laundry. Afterwards she prepared (expensive Nelson Co-op) perogies for supper. My goodness, they certainly were better than the (cheap Chimo) ones I prepared last week!

Wednesday; Penticton

Overcast, intermittent rain all day, at times heavy.

Emma was ill this morning, but seemed better when we returned home around suppertime. I felt quite ill with a colitis flare up today, first one in a long time.

We left home around 11 AM heading for Penticton, for a day of running errands, a doctor’s appointment for me, and a physiotherapy appointment for Joanne. I went to Service BC to renew my driver’s license and my BC Medical Services Plan card. There were four people ahead of me. I expected about a fifteen minute wait. Thanks to two very high maintenance and seemingly rather stupid people of the four ahead of me, my wait time to see an agent was slightly more than an hour … < fume >! Story of my life ! Could have been worse! By the time I got to see an agent, there were seventeen more people waiting! ! !

We arrived back home at 7 PM. I cooked supper; my recently “invented” Udon noodle stir fry dish, with smoked beef brisket. Joanne liked it! We ate supper while watching the season finale of MasterChef.

Thursday; Mostly cloudy, warm, a bit of light rain in the evening.

This morning Joanne went into town to refill our five gallon water jug and replenish fruits and vegetables at Sanderson Farms. Apparently I allowed our fruits and vegetables inventory to get a little too low. HEY … who needs fruits and vegetables when one has perogies and Old Dutch potato chips? ? ? HA HA HA!

This morning I treated myself to another 65^th birthday gift to myself. HA HA HA! I purchased mini-season tickets to a live performance theatre in Palm Springs. We’ll see four plays; three musicals and a murder mystery, one play on our southbound trip in November, one play on our northbound trip in April, and two plays during our month and a half stay in Palm Springs / Desert Hot Springs in December and January.

After lunch I went fishing for an hour and a half. I caught four fish, lost two of them before getting them to the net … < sigh > … released one small Rainbow Trout and kept one larger Rainbow Trout. When I returned home from fishing our neighbour / friend Jeanine was visiting with Joanne. I cleaned and filleted the Rainbow Trout and gave it to Jeanine. She enjoys my occasional gift of fresh Rainbow Trout.

Friday; Mostly sunny, warm.

This afternoon I continued working on the baluster project. I had hoped that 

I might finish today. I didn’t! Firstly, because I split a baluster as I drove a mounting screw into it. I have no more wood to make a replacement. I will have to go into town tomorrow and buy another piece of lumber. Secondly, I ran into an unexpected problem with an existing brace on our entry landing. And more problems encountered while trying to remove it. < sigh >

I spent the evening on the computer. I paid some bills. I did some President’s Choice “points” reconciliation to satisfy myself that the “points” accrual problem with Joanne’s new MasterCard has been solved. Not an easy reconciliation. And yes, yes ... the points problem has been solved. No thanks to PC Financial or PC Optimum! I solved the problem myself by “tricking” their system! ! !  I spent quite a bit of time preparing instructions to our financial advisor regarding the “annuity/pension” payments that commence after my upcoming 65^th birthday.

Saturday ; Sunny and warm, a very nice fall day. Joanne cooked Beef Stroganoff in the Sun Oven today. Probably the last opportunity to use the Sun Oven this summer season.

WOO-HOO … finished the baluster project. Went into town this morning, bought another piece of lumber (and bought some postage at the Post Office), stopped at our park’s woodworking shop as I drove back into the park, cut the lumber into three balusters, measured and drilled them, then installed the last two required onto the entry landing. With one baluster left over as a spare. I stained some patched areas I had repaired on the railings, and … I was finally done!

Joanne spent much of the afternoon staining the new balusters. She did not quite finish them all. Perhaps tomorrow. But my part is done! Again … WOO-HOO!

After walking Ozzie around suppertime we went to the swimming pool and did exercises. BRRRRR … our swimming pool was much too cold today! Perhaps our park’s maintenance man is indulging in passive-aggressive behaviour (again) since he was chastised last week by members of our Board of Directors for his lack of productivity? ! ?

DSK

September 8 to 14,2019

Sunday ; Raining ! Yuck !

This morning I disassembled, repaired, and reassembled my beard trimmer. Seems to be near the end of its life. Are you listening, Santa ?

This afternoon I took some lumber to our community’s woodworking shop and cut it for my entry landing baluster project. I used the cut pieces to finish the design planning and determine how much wood, and what dimensions, I must buy. 

I tried but failed to get a radial arm saw in the shop adjusted to cut the angles 

I need. I couldn’t get the radial arm saw’s arm unlocked. < shrug > Woodwork is NOT my forte ! Especially use of power saws !

I also finished making fire starters using an egg crate, dryer lint, and paraffin wax, a project I started but did not quite finish a couple of weeks ago. I did some Palm Springs trip planning. And dreaming ! WOW … their theatre and music entertainment venue prices are outrageously high !

MMMMM … Kelly’s Doukhobor borscht for supper … while watching “The Fabulous Baker Boys” movie.

Monday ; Mostly cloudy, trying to clear late in the afternoon, mild temperature. Summer must be over !

This morning I went into town (Keremeos) to run some errands. I bought vegetables at Sanderson Farms. I bought toiletries at Pharmasave. I bought lumber at Keremeos Home Hardware. I bought milk and advertised specials at Buy-Low Foods. MMMMM … Coho salmon and lamb chops on sale !

I had a lazy afternoon. After lunch I read a book and napped with the animals. 

I did some desk / computer work. I returned a book to the clubhouse library and took Ozzie for a walk. I went bicycling. WHEW … < puff puff > … need to do more of that ! Especially now, while I’m unable to do pool exercises. Because … 

I have an infected cyst on my chest. Although it’s mostly healed now. Maybe 

I can resume doing pool exercises in a couple more days.

Tuesday ; Mix of sun and clouds, warm.

Late this afternoon I cut thirty balusters in our park’s woodworking shop, using a radial arm saw. Half of the balusters are angle cut at each end. I had a lot of difficulty getting the radial arm saw set to the exact correct angle. The whole cutting / sawing process took longer than I had expected. Partially because … the radial arm saw scares the bejesus out of me ! Wait a minute … I need to verify that I still have all ten fingers ! ! ! < sigh > Good thing I opted to study Latin in grades eight and nine instead of taking woodworking shop ! ! ! < sarcasm >  “Hic est ****ing Brittania ! Brittania est ****ing insula !”

This afternoon I received a telephone call from a woman at President’s Choice Financial. She was calling to attempt to resolve the “points” problem we are having with Joanne’s new MasterCard. < sigh > She was a nice lady, but … 

I might as well have been talking to a brick wall ! ! !

In the evening I created a wonderful new Udon noodle stir fry recipe ! And watched the season finale of Amazing Race Canada.

Wednesday ; Mix of sun and cloud, intermittent light rain, warm.

Gave myself a pedicure this morning. OUCH ! Cut my big toe with a new, very sharp toenail trimmer. Isn’t getting old wonderful ? ! ? < sarcasm >

In between bouts of rain this afternoon I worked on my baluster project. 

I measured, drilled, and countersunk mounting holes in all of the straight cut balusters. Next step in the project is to drill the angle cut balusters, a bit more complicated.

Around suppertime I went to the swimming pool and did a cardiac exercise session. I haven’t done that for almost a month because first we were travelling in the Kootenay Rockies and then because of an infected cyst on my chest which is now (almost) healed. The exercising felt good, I have missed it, even though it is hard to find the motivation to get (re)started.

Thursday ; Overcast, windy, warm, wind driven cold rain at bedtime when 

I walked Ozzie.

This morning I continued working on my baluster project, measuring and drilling all the angle cut balusters. Then I patched and sanded the screw holes left by the removal of the old lattice on our step railings. One side only, I’ll probably work on the other side tomorrow.

After lunch I had a brief phone conversation with Joanne in Winnipeg. Then … 

I went fishing. I thought it was still warm enough to walk across the river wearing only river sandals and shorts. BRRRRR … I was wrong ! The Similkameen River is no longer warm ! Next fishing outing I’ll wear my chest waders. I fished for an hour and a half. I caught one lovely, large Rainbow Trout. Fishing this year is definitely not as good as previous years.

When I spoke to Joanne she asked me to do some online research on a seniors’ condominium community in Niverville, a small town near Winnipeg. I think my sister and brother-in-law drove her by there yesterday. I did the research, and was intrigued enough that I quickly made arrangements for her to take a tour of the condominium community on Saturday morning.

I made perogies for supper. They weren’t great !  I wonder if the perogies were the problem, or my cooking technique ?

Friday ; Mix of sun and cloud, warm.

This morning I did some garden harvesting. HMPH ! As usual, our gardening has been a colossal waste of time and money. As it has been every year for the last … < thinking > … forty-three years ! Oh, well … maybe next year ! HA HA HA !

This afternoon I continued on our entry landing baluster project. < sigh > It’s coming along … slowly ! Around suppertime I went to the pool and did cardiac rehab exercising. Today I felt strong. And motivated. I worked longer and harder than usual. I guess it’s true ; celibacy DOES enhance athletic performance. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! < ROFLMAO >

Saturday ; Cloudy and warm.

This morning I went into Keremeos to run some shopping errands ; Sanderson Farms for some vegetables, Buy-Low Foods for a few grocery items, Keremeos Home Hardware for some baluster project hardware.

This afternoon I worked on my baluster project. < sigh > And ran into multiple problems, necessitating a “back to the drawing board” redesign. Who would have thought that some construction moron would build an entry landing that wasn’t symmetrical from side to side ? ! ? And I changed the spacing between each baluster, requiring … < sigh > … many more balusters to be cut and therefore … < sigh > … more wood and screws to be bought.

I also did some routine preventive maintenance on the camper, removing the “house” battery, topping up the fluid in the cells, and reinstalling the battery. I now ( since my triple bypass surgery ) have difficulty removing and reinstalling the heavy battery that’s squeezed into a small compartment that’s higher than my head.

DSK

September 1 to 7, 2019

Sunday ; Sunny, warm, a bit humid, a bit windy, a few drops of rain around 

6 PM.

I did some monthly budget work and weekly investment analysis. I posted my weekly journal to my blog. In the evening I reconciled our August MasterCard statements.

At 5:30 PM we drove to Keremeos, to the Historic Grist Mill to attend their summer bi-weekly Sunday dinner for the first time this year, the second time ever. We went once last year. Tonight’s dinner was, for a variety of reasons, slightly unsatisfactory, as was the first one we attended last year. Tonight’s dinner was supposed to be twelve hour slow roasted beef brisket, but due to a cooking catastrophe, became a ( quickly ) roasted prime rib dinner. The prime rib was … raw !

Our table companions were interesting though. We enjoyed chatting with them, an eighty-five year old local couple, she has Crohn’s disease, and he is near the end of his third successful battle with cancer. Ironically, she is the one with Crohn’s disease, yet he is the one currently battling colon cancer. The three of us discussed / evaluated our current and past gastroenterologists. Joanne sort of sat there dumbfounded at our dinner conversation. HA HA HA !

Monday ; Sunny and hot. Joanne baked an apple cake in the Sun Oven today.

This afternoon we gave Ozzie a much needed haircut. When we cut his hair short, he looks like a Shih Tzu & Poodle. When his hair is long, he looks like a Shih Tzu & Spaniel.

In the evening I worked on monthly computer file backup procedures.

Tuesday ; Sunny and hot until late afternoon, thunderstorms and rain around suppertime. Joanne cooked moussaka in the Sun Oven today.

We gave Ozzie a bath. I went fly fishing for an hour, catching nothing. HMPH ! 

I gave up and returned home after fishing for an hour because the sky was turning dark and thunder was beginning. As I approached my “secret” fishing spot I startled a small rattlesnake that was drinking from the river. It slithered away quickly.

I paid some bills online. I did some investment records updating.

Wednesday ; Penticton

Sunny and hot.

We spent the day in Penticton running errands. And Joanne went for a physiotherapy / acupuncture / electro-therapy session. And I went to see our family doctor. I have a sebaceous cyst on my chest, right beside my bypass surgery scar. I attempted to drain it on Saturday, with marginal success, and by Sunday it was infected. It’s been a painful and ugly open wound for the last few days. My doctor prescribed an antibiotic … obviously. Since Sunday I have been taking Amoxicillin, one of the two antibiotics that I have on hand. But Amoxicillin is the wrong antibiotic for this type of infected skin problem. HMPH … who 

knew ?

Thursday ; Sunny, hot, humid.

This morning I drove into town ( Keremeos ) to fill my new antibiotic prescription and buy some vegetables at Sanderson Farms.

In the afternoon I did some camper cleaning and maintenance. I moved Ozzie’s tags from his old, broken collar to the new one we bought yesterday. I replaced the battery in Joanne’s watch. She did a lot of planning and packing for her departure to Winnipeg tomorrow. She did laundry. We did meal planning. For me, during her absence. HMPH ! As if I can’t feed myself ! HA HA HA !  I have two litres of Kelly’s Doukhobor borscht in the fridge and four packages of Dancing Baba’s perogies and varenykiys in the freezer ! And when I run out of those … 

I have plenty of Rainbow Trout. HA HA HA !

Friday ; home to Kelowna and return

Sunny and hot.

Awoke at 7 AM ( much too early for us ! ) to be ready for departure at 9 AM, heading for Kelowna airport. Arrived at Kelowna airport around 11:20 AM, a bit earlier than planned due to lighter than usual traffic. Hugged and kissed little wifey, sent her off for ten day visit to Winnipeg. Better her than me ! HA HA HA !

Stopped at Summit Tools in Kelowna to buy advertised special. Refilled minivan with fuel in Penticton, then Ozzie and I had picnic lunch in Skaha Lake Beach Park, right at Joanne’s flight departure time of 1:10 PM.

Arrived back at home around 2:30 PM. Had a well deserved nap. Did some preliminary work on entry landing baluster replacement project. Made surprisingly good supper for myself ; pan fried, butter basted Rainbow Trout fillets, herb and chive creamy pasta side dish, mixed vegetables. Watched movie “Captain Phillips”.

Saturday ; Sunny and very warm during the day, lightening, thunder, and rain in the evening.

This morning I made a phone call to Sky Valley RV Resort near Desert Hot Springs / Palm Springs, California, had a discussion and … WOO-HOO … made a reservation for mid-December to the end of January. WOO-HOO … Christmas, New Year’s, and Joanne’s birthday in Palm Springs !

In the afternoon I worked on the truck and camper, doing routine and preventive maintenance on both. Truck and camper should now be ready to head south on November 1. I returned some books to our book exchange library. I took Ozzie for a long riverfront walk. I did some monthly accounting.

I spent the evening preparing supper, eating supper, and cleaning up after supper, all while watching the movie “United 93”. Eighteen years after living through it, I’m still deeply disturbed by “9/11” images !

DSK

August 25 to 31, 2019 ; Duncan Lake, Kootenay Rockies to home

Sunday ; Howser BCFSRS, Duncan Lake to Ainsworth Hot Springs

Sunny and warm.

We left the Howser BC Forest Service Recreation Site remote wilderness campground this morning around 11 AM. We drove back to Hwy. 31 and turned south. Just a few km. later we stopped in the village of Meadow Creek to shop at their weekly farmers’ market. It was a pretty sorry version of a farmers’ market and we did not buy anything.

We continued south on Hwy. 31 until reaching the town of Kaslo. We stopped to buy some milk and bread at the grocery store, then we walked up one side and down the other side of the two block tourist section of Front Street. We drove to a municipal park where we ate lunch in the camper.

From Kaslo we headed south on Hwy. 31 until we reached Ainsworth Hot Springs, our “ultimate destination” for this trip. We paid our exorbitant entry fees, then I spent 2½ hours / Joanne spent 3½ hours soaking in the hot springs pool, and occasionally wandering through the horseshoe shaped hot springs cave, the “original” / natural hot springs. Walking through the dark cave, with very hot water about waist deep, and dripping from the jagged roof of the cave, is somewhat like walking through a very hot sauna. It takes a few minutes to walk from the cave entrance to the cave exit. It’s not a recommended activity for anyone with heart disease … < shrug >. Or claustrophobia, I suppose.

We left the hot springs parking lot around 7:30 PM and drove about 5 km. / 3 miles south on Hwy. 31 to a bridge over Coffee Creek, where we pulled off the highway and parked for the night in a gravel parking area beside the creek and bridge, likely just a fishing access spot. Just a few minutes after we arrived, while we were still outside walking Ozzie and admiring the creek, a single woman in a car pulled off the highway and parked beside us, to sleep in her car overnight. I suppose if you’re a single woman sleeping alone in a car, being beside an old couple with a dog, in a truck camper, provides some safety.

Monday ; Ainsworth to Winlaw

Sunny and hot.

We continued Southeast on Hwy. 3A towards Nelson. We stopped at Kokanee Creek Provincial Park to refill our freshwater tank, have lunch, and view the red bodied, green headed, spawning Kokanee Salmon in the spawning channel of Kokanee Creek running through the provincial park. What an amazing spectacle ! We learned that Kokanee Salmon are Sockeye Salmon that have been landlocked in Kootenay Lake for 75 years or more, trapped from migrating to the ocean like all other Sockeye Salmon, by the building of power dams on the Columbia River in the 1940’s and 1950’s.

In Nelson we went “foodie” shopping in Nelson Food Co-op, a very eclectic store of gourmet foods, mostly locally produced, somewhat like a Canadian version of Trader Joe’s. We bought a variety of sausages, both beef and lamb, made in store, some authentic “home made / hand made” style Ukrainian perogies, and a large jar of locally produced Russian Doukhobor borscht. Before leaving town 

I refilled Lanoire with diesel at Real Canadian Warehouse Fuel Bar, while Joanne ran inside the store to buy an advertised special.

From Nelson we drove west on Hwy. 3A to Crescent Valley, then north on Hwy. 6 to Winlaw. In Crescent Valley we stopped at a beef farm / butcher shop to buy some beef sausages, made with collagen casing ( as opposed to the usual pork intestine casing ), only to discover that the beef farmer / butcher uses pork fat in his beef sausages. WELL … DUH ! Then they’re not beef sausages are they ? ! ? ( You Ukrainian moron ! )

Near Vallican we stopped at the home based business Kelly’s Doukhobor Foods, producer of the Russian Doukhobor borscht we had bought at Nelson Food 

Co-op. We had a long and interesting chat with Kelly, discussing the differences between Ukrainian beet borscht ( like my mother made and my sister makes ) and Russian Doukhobor borscht, made with cabbage instead of beets, and using copious amounts of butter and cream. And the difference between Ukrainian perogies and Doukhobor varenikys. We planned to have her borscht for supper, and return the next day to buy more if we liked it.

A few miles down the road we stopped at Winlaw Mini-Mart, where Kelly advised us we could find Dancing Baba’s ( another local business ) perogies and varenikys. We bought some varenikys ! And refilled an empty propane tank. It was time to stop for the night, so we about twelve km. down the road we found a Slocan Valley Rail Trail trailhead parking lot to boondock overnight. Before having Kelly’s Doukhobor borscht for supper we took Ozzie for a long walk on the Slocan Valley Rail Trail.

Gawd … the borscht was good ! ! ! ! ! You know where we’re going tomorrow morning, don’t you ? ! ? HA HA HA !

Tuesday ; Winlaw to Granby-Burrell BCFSRS

Sunny and hot again.

This morning we headed back south on Hwy. 6 … directly to Kelly’s Doukhobor Foods ! HA HA HA HA HA ! We bought two more one litre jars of her borscht, one jar of “traditional” and one jar of “extra spinach”.

In keeping with my “mantra” … “I brake for panaderias” … developed while travelling in Mexico, when we passed Fomi’s Bakery, another home based business, I was quick to slam on the brakes and make a U-turn. HA HA HA ! We bought bread, buns, and a pastry for tomorrow’s breakfast. It did not make it to tomorrow’s breakfast ! HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! It became our bedtime snack. HEY … wasn’t my idea !

Kelly ( of Kelly’s Doukhobor Foods ) referred us to Slocan Valley Co-op where we stopped to buy some of Dancing Baba’s perogies. The Winlaw Mini-Mart only had Dancing Baba’s varenykiys ! So … now we have both Dancing Baba’s perogies and her varenykiys ! Let no one accuse me of not being well rounded ! HA HA HA HA HA < ROFLMAO >

We stopped at Legendary Meats, for me to browse once again for all-beef sausages or other interesting beef products. The man who was working the counter … the owner, I believe … was rude and disinterested. I bought nothing !

We stopped at Sentinel Meats. I was served by both the husband and wife team of co-owners. The difference in customer service attitude between Sentinel Meats and Legendary Meats was like night and day ! The husband was just bringing a rack of smoked beef briskets out of the smoker. He sliced a piece of the end of the smallest brisket for me to taste … < salivating heavily >. KA-CHING … 

SOLD ! ! !  I asked the wife to slice the brisket for me on their meat slicer. She was happy to do so. Then I asked her to divide the slices into four approximately equal batches, and vacuum package them for me on their vacuum packaging machine. She was happy to do so. WOO-HOO … ready for the freezer !  I also bought two coils of their beef triple garlic sausage / kielbasa.

Joanne had waited in the truck with Ozzie while I went into Sentinel Meats. As we continued driving to Castlegar I told her about my shopping experience, and how pleasant and positive it was. When we got to the Doukhobor Museum on the outskirts of Castlegar, we stopped. Not to go into the museum, just to hunt for Porcini mushrooms on the grounds. HA HA HA ! We had found Porcini mushrooms there previously, but none today. Too early … probably next month for Porcinis.

As we left the grounds of the Doukhobor Museum, Joanne chastised me for not buying more of the interesting beef products that were available at Sentinel Meats, so … back we went, 12 km. back to Sentinel Meats, where Joanne bought a chub of beef salami, and two chubs of beef pepperoni for pizzas.

The fact that my ulcerative colitis condition prevents me from eating pork products means we have not had pepperoni on pizzas, or any kind of “regular” sausages or luncheon meats, for almost thirty years !

We returned to Castlegar where we used the sani-dump station behind the Visitor Information Centre to dump our waste holding tanks and refill our freshwater tank, then had a very late lunch parked beside the Visitor Information Centre’s park like grounds. Thank you, Castlegar !

We headed southwest from Castlegar on Crowsnest Hwy. 3, our “home” road. We stopped at Christina Lake Provincial Park where I had a nap. At Grand Forks we turned north on North Fork Road, heading 40 km. up into the mountains to find a BC Forest Service Recreation Site remote wilderness campground. At some point I took a wrong turn, and 40 km. later, instead of arriving at the remote wilderness campground, we arrived back at Hwy. 3, on the opposite side of Grand Forks. How frustrating !

We headed back up into the hills, for “take 2”. This time we found the campground, beside a bridge where the Burrell Forest Service Road crosses over the Granby River. It was late, and had been a long day. We were tired, 
I didn’t feel like lighting a campfire, so I cooked supper on our small propane barbecue.

Wednesday ; Granby-Burrell BCFSRS to Jolly Creek BCFSRS

Sunny and very hot, temperature 93º F / 34º C.

This morning we drove south, 40 km. back down the mountains into Grand Forks. We stopped at Extra Foods where I refilled Lanoire with diesel, and Joanne went into the store to buy a few grocery items. We dumped our waste holding tanks and refilled our freshwater tank at Grand Forks municipal sani-dump, behind the arena, beside the skateboard park. Thank you, Grand Forks. We like Grand Forks, it’s a pretty and pleasant town, with everything you could want. I can understand why one of my mother’s older brothers settled here to start a business and raise a family, almost a century ago.

We continued west on Crowsnest Hwy. 3. Just past the village of Rock Creek we turned north on the Baldy Mountain Road and found our way to Jolly Creek BC Forest Service Recreation Site. We had been to this small, remote wilderness campground before. I have pleasant memories of having a lot of fun here with our previous dog Bo, who madly dashed through the small creek, chasing the small Rainbow Trout that I was catching, as I reeled them in. HA HA HA ! We miss you, Bo !

In the evening I lit our final campfire of this trip, and cooked foil packets of lamb sausage patties, vegetables, and potatoes on the campfire.

Thursday ; Jolly Creek BCFSRS to home

Sunny and hot.

We left the Jolly Creek BC Forest Service Recreation Site remote wilderness campground this morning around 11 AM and headed west on Hwy. 3 towards home. We stopped at Sanderson Farms in Keremeos and bought fresh fruits and vegetables. We arrived home around 1:30 PM. As we were dumping our waste holding tanks at our park’s sani-dump station our new next door neighbour came over to invite us to a small yard party they were hosting this evening.

After a late lunch we did some unloading of the camper. Since my computer had run out of battery power a few days ago, I did some online catch up work this afternoon. At 6 PM we went next door to participate in the neighbour’s party. 

< sigh > Nowadays it pains me to attend social events ! We spent three hours at the neighbour’s party. I spent that time huddled in a corner talking to our friend Jeanine.

Friday ; Sunny and hot.

Joanne went into Penticton by herself today, for a physiotherapy appointment and to run errands. I stayed home and got caught up on a four day backlog of credit card accounting, and my daily diary / journal entries. My laptop battery died Sunday night and I have not been able to write my daily diary / journal since then. She didn’t return home until after 7 PM. So … I made supper while she put away the grocery purchases.

Saturday ; Partially sunny, very warm, brief violent thunderstorm with heavy winds mid-afternoon.

This morning I downloaded photos from my camera to my laptop, processed them, and selected some to post to my journal / blog. I did some routine maintenance on the truck and minivan. Joanne did a lot of laundry.

After lunch Joanne went to an “appreciation party”, at the home of our 

neighbour / friend Christine. She wanted to express her appreciation to the women who helped with the recent “celebration of life” for her recently deceased husband. I posted last week’s journal to my blog, six days late !  I downloaded month end bank statements and investment updates.

After Joanne returned home we took Ozzie for a long walk. I went to our community’s book exchange library in the clubhouse, and restocked books for reading, some for in the house, and some for in the camper. I cooked Rainbow Trout for supper.  Tried a new technique.  Didn't work out well !

DSK