August 23 to 29, 2020

 Sunday ; Sunny, hot, smoky.

Early walk. Late pool exercises. Printed recipes for Joanne. Retrieved, reconciled, and paid monthly MasterCard billing. Updated investments. Posted blog entry. Barbecued Sockeye Salmon for supper. Watched ABC interview with Biden and Harris. Inspiring ! Watched regular weekly Sunday new episode of 90 Day Fiance.

Watched news report showing civilian uprising in Belarus after rigged re-election of Europe’s last dictator. We worry that it foreshadows what will happen in US in November (election) and January (inauguration).

Monday ; Cloudy, sunny, cloudy, warm.

After lunch we went into town (Keremeos) to run some errands. We shopped at multiple fruit / produce stands in both Keremeos and Cawston. I was unable to find heirloom tomatoes. But we bought a lot of produce that’s currently in season ; Beefsteak tomatoes, local yellow fleshed watermelons, spaghetti squash. We ordered take out dinner from Samosa Gardens, the Indian restaurant affiliated with Sanderson Farms produce stand.

While we were on our late afternoon walk we chatted with the owners of Ditch the fat cat. They wanted to thank us for rescuing Ditch a week or so ago. HMPH … small world ! They are from the Winnipeg, Manitoba area, and are friends with one of Joanne’s cousins.

Tuesday ; Sunny and hot. Joanne made Butternut Squash Soup in the Sun Oven today.

This morning we portioned and packaged about a hundred bucks worth of fresh wild Coho Salmon and beef sirloin steaks we bought yesterday, both of them advertised specials. The Coho Salmon was a particularly good buy, still outrageously expensive but priced the same as Sockeye Salmon. It’s rare to find Coho Salmon for sale in the grocery stores … at any price. Now… if we could just find Chinook Salmon for sale !

This afternoon I worked on our Manitoba relocation plans, researching some rental apartments near Winnipeg, in Steinbach and Niverville. I think we’re likely to be ready to relocate in about a year or so.

Wednesday ; Sunny and hot. I made (liquid) smoked, (maple syrup glazed) candied Coho Salmon in the Sun Oven today.

Joanne did laundry this afternoon. I went fishing for an hour. Which takes two hours, with a half hour half upstream hike there and a half hour back. Caught nothing. HMPH !

Thursday ; Sunny and hot. Joanne cooked Herbed Chicken in the Sun Oven today. It was a new recipe I recently found. It was excellent, somewhat like Swiss Chalet chicken.

For lunch today I ate some of the smoked candied Coho Salmon I made in the Sun Oven yesterday. EXCELLENT ! We spent much of the afternoon discussing and researching Manitoba relocation options. In the evening I did monthly computer backup procedures. And, of course, we did our daily early walk and late afternoon pool exercise sessions.

Four months ago today I made a significant investment of some “surplus” funds in a new mutual fund our investment advisor recommended. In just four months the investment has grown 20.54%. WOW ! I think I’ll “cash out” at 25% … before the next stock market “tumble” hopefully !

Friday ; Sunny and hot. I made sun dried Beefsteak tomatoes in the Sun Oven today. DARN … I sliced them a bit too thinly, then left them in the Sun Oven too long, burning them slightly.

I did some maintenance work on my computer printer. I did some preventive maintenance work on the truck and the minivan. In the evening we watched a Bing Crosby / Bob Hope “Road To …” movie. HA HA HA ! And the weekly Randy Bachman / Tal Bachman informal music concert.

Saturday ; Mix of sun and clouds, very warm, windy.

We visited with our friend Jeanine this afternoon. I did some preventive maintenance on her car.

DSK

August 16 to 22, 2020

 Sunday ; Sunny until mid-afternoon. VERY HOT ! Joanne cooked Cabbage Roll Casserole in the Sun Oven today.

She went into town late in the afternoon to buy some advertised specials. WOO-HOO … replenishment of my beloved Diet Coke ! My main accomplishment for the day was … napping with the cat ! HA HA HA !

In the evening we watched the third and final day of the Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival.

Monday ; Sunny, extremely hot, temperature over 100 degrees F again.

Well ! An entire day wasted, written off to viciousness started late last night. How ridiculous ! ! !

Tuesday ; Sunny, extremely hot again.

Too hot for anything. Except continued bickering ! And composing a nasty letter to our Board of Directors !

Wednesday ; Sunny and hot, with thick wildfire smoke for a few hours in the afternoon.

Joanne had planned to go to Penticton today for a day of running errands, but got sidetracked late this morning, so postponed her trip for a few more days. We spent much of today working hard to get back on track, stop our vicious squabbling of the last few days. We succeeded, but … you know … days like the last few leave emotional wounds that need to heal. Baggage !

A wildfire started yesterday afternoon on the east side of Skaha Lake, across the lake from Kaleden, between Penticton and Okanagan Falls. Despite being close to Penticton with its firefighting resources, including tanker planes and almost unlimited quantities of bucket equipped helicopters, the wildfire was massive and out of control within just a few hours.

A wildfire across the border, south of Osoyoos, between Oroville and Omak produced a thick layer of toxic wildfire smoke around us for a few hours this afternoon. We could see it and smell it. We got headaches, had some nausea, and had some breathing difficulties. Fortunately, it cleared within a few hours.

We watched day three of the Democratic National Convention, such as it was. Very inspiring. How is it possible that 41.9% of Americans still support Trump ? ? ?

Thursday ; Cloudy, hot, smoky in the evening.

Around lunch time I went into town to buy a few items at the pharmacy, then go the medical lab in town to have blood drawn and an ECG done. That was a bit more complicated and time consuming than usual because of Covid-19 protocols.

After supper we watched the final evening of the Democratic National Convention, then the three hour season finale of “Alone”.

Friday ; Cloudy, hot, humid, smoky.

Joanne went to Penticton this morning and spent the entire day running errands, returning home around 7 PM. I stayed home, and was rather unproductive. I visited with our neighbour / friend Jeanine who gave me quite a bit of her home baking. MMMMM … thank you, Jeanine. HMMMM … < thinking > … maybe I should go fishing soon and give Jeanine some fresh Rainbow Trout.

Joanne was extremely tired after a long day of running errands in Penticton. So I cooked supper. MMMMM … perogies ! Followed by a slice of Jeanine’s matrimonial cake.

Saturday ; Sunny and hot during the day, cool in the evening.

Did some routine household chores and gardening. Long walk before lunch, long walk before supper. Cooked an Udon Noodle stir fry dish for supper.

DSK

August 9 to 15, 2020

Sunday ; Sunny and very warm. Joanne baked Oriental Chicken (legs) in the Sun Oven today. They were very good !

Had another lazy day today. Did a very small amount of work on the gazebo. Did an early walk, and a late afternoon pool exercise session. Posted my weekly blog entry.

Monday ; Sunny and hot. Joanne baked Chicken Legs Piquant in the Sun Oven today.

Joanne went into town today to buy some advertised specials at the grocery store. I washed the truck. Which wouldn’t have been necessary if our OCD neighbour wasn’t obsessed with “blow drying” the neighbourhood with her leaf blower ! ! !

Tuesday ; Sunny and hot during the day, cool and windy in the evening.

Around 1 PM we started our “early” exercise walk. We walked just a few feet from home when an extremely fat black cat jumped out from underneath our next door neighbour’s truck, and made it abundantly clear that it wanted to be “rescued”. It vocalized its desire to be “saved” then flopped over onto its back and did a little kitty cat happy dance in the dirt of our back alleyway. HA HA HA HA HA … hello, little fat cat ! We turned back towards home and called the cat to come with us, which it happily did.

While I sat with the cat in our gazebo, providing it with a fresh bowl of cold water, Joanne went to do some cat identification detective work, starting with talking to the small group of neighbours chatting on our front street. When I picked up the cat to go inside our gazebo, I thought … WOW … this cat must weigh between 25 to 30 pounds !

After a bit of Joanne’s detective work it seemed likely that this cat belonged to lot 113. We don’t know the people that live at lot 113, but … we know the people that are house and cat sitting at lot 113 ! Joanne went over to see Rick and Carolyn, to ask if this cat belonged at lot 113, where they are house and cat sitting. When she described the cat, Rick said … HMMM … sounds like Ditch.

HA HA HA ! Hello, Ditch ! Rick returned to our home with Joanne and confirmed that this was indeed Ditch, one of the two cats that live at lot 113. Ditch is pissed off that his owners have “abandoned” him, and these … < snort > … people with a dog keep coming over to look after him and the other cat. Ditch decided … “Fuck this, I’m leaving home” ! The home at lot 113 has a cat door that allows Ditch and the other cat to go outside and sit on their deck by themselves.

Ditch took it one step further than just going outside onto the deck, and left home. HA HA HA … travelling downhill only ! He made it as far as our next door neighbour’s before he realized that it was way too sunny and hot for a really fat black cat to be outside, so he hid under the neighbour’s truck until we came along. He’s WAY too fat to make it home … uphill all the way … on his own. HA HA HA HA HA !

Rick and Joanne returned Ditch to his home, then Joanne and I continued our walk.

Bye, Ditch ! When Joanne took Ditch home, she was of the opinion that Ditch weighs more than Ozzie when we got him. Ozzie was 33 pounds ! ! !

This afternoon I harvested our yellow beans while Joanne harvested more lettuce. Then we washed the minivan.

Wednesday ; Sunny, very warm, windy during the day, becoming quite chilly in the evening.

I went fishing this afternoon. Fished for an hour. Caught one Rainbow Trout that was too small to keep. BAH ! HUMBUG !

One of our neighbours in this community had a spruce tree removed from their yard today. For no particular reason that was obvious. It was probably a hundred feet tall, probably just as many years old ! The only apparent reason that we could ascertain for them wanting the tree removed was … they’re from Alberta ! ! ! It seems as if most Albertans who move here to BC are determined to eliminate as many trees as they can ! < fume > AND … < sputter > … they’re selling their place. And have already moved away. < fume >

All day long residents walking by were stopping, staring, then scowling. Didn’t seem to be much support for the removal of the tree.

Thursday ; Sunny and very warm during the day, chilly in the evening.

Did some minor household repairs. Did some online shopping. Made a beef chow mein dinner, taking my recently developed Udon noodle creation and modifying it using chow mein noodles. Turned out quite well !

Friday ; Sunny and very warm.

After lunch Joanne did laundry. After she finished we visited our neighbour / friend Jeanine. In the evening we watched the first of three nights of this year’s online version of the Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival.

Saturday ; Sunny and very hot. Joanne cooked Gumbo in the Sun Oven today. It was very good !

My sister phoned this afternoon with bad news about her health. HMPH !

We puttered around today with routine household chores. In the evening we watched day two of the Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival.

DSK

August 2 to 8, 2020

Sunday ; Sunny and very hot. Again ! Joanne roasted a chicken and potatoes in the Sun Oven today.

While the weather remains hot I have been doing our early / noon exercise walks by myself. Joanne has difficulty coping with the hot weather. We have been going to the swimming pool for an exercise session around 5 PM each day instead of going for our late afternoon walk.

In the evening I worked on monthly bank statement and investment reconciliations.

Monday ; Sunny and hot, light breeze. Joanne cooked a sausage and beans casserole in the Sun Oven today.

Joanne did laundry this afternoon. I spent a long afternoon disassembling, cleaning, and reassembling our bedroom evaporative ( swamp ) cooler. Very difficult job ! The swamp cooler had not been working as well as it should, and I thought there might be a problem with its water pump. Well … I could not find a problem with the water pump, but … there was a lot of gunk and mineral deposits clogging things up inside. After my refurbishment work this afternoon, the cooler is working much better.

In the evening I did a semi-annual review and analysis of our annuities. All is well !

Tuesday ; Sunny and hot.

Joanne left around 11 AM for a day of errands in Penticton. She returned home at 6 PM, just in time to watch the news on TV. I went into Keremeos, using the truck, to run a few errands. I spent WAY too long in a line up at the Post Office to buy postage to send a teensy little packet to Winnipeg. The postage rate was so outrageous, I chose not to send it ! Sorry, Lorraine. I picked up some prescription refills at Pharmasave.

I had a phone meeting / consultation with the dietitian in my doctor’s clinic this morning. She was half an hour late for this appointment. She was fifteen minutes late for our previous appointment. By the time she phoned this morning, half an hour late, I was livid ! And I let her know ! I don’t / won’t do business with ANYONE … doctor, plumber, dietitian … or anyone else … who lacks respect for the value of their clients’ time. And I let her know !

Wednesday ; Still sunny and hot, temperature in the mid 90’s F.

Joanne went into Keremeos to run some shopping errands ; advertised specials at the grocery store, and fresh produce at Sanderson Farms. I went fishing. I fished for an hour and a half, caught two small Rainbow Trout and one large Mountain Whitefish. I kept the Rainbows and we ate them for supper tonight. In the evening I did monthly investment file updating and analysis. HMPH … we’re doing very well, aren’t we ?

Thursday ; Cloudy, windy, chilly. HUH ? How is that possible ? ! ? We’ve just had a week or so of 100 degree temperatures !

On our early walk around noon we stopped at our neighbour / friend Jeanine’s to invite her for dinner tomorrow. We visited for awhile … too long … and that resulted in my schedule and plans for the day being tossed.

Friday ; The day started out sunny and very warm, but became chilly with light rain by suppertime.

This morning while Joanne did some housecleaning I went into town to buy an advertised special at the pharmacy and refill a water jug.

This afternoon as I was finishing trimming my beard, sitting at the picnic table, our neighbour / friend Jeanine showed up. We had invited her for dinner. We visited with her for awhile in our gazebo, then went indoors to prepare supper. Joanne made a salad, and then while she prepared risotto with zucchini I barbecued Ozark seasoned, maple syrup glazed Sockeye Salmon. Joanne and I had “tested” this dinner menu a week or so ago.

Dinner was great. We spent the evening in the living room, chatting. Before Jeanine returned home we had dessert ; Joanne’s prepared from scratch, fresh peach pie. MMMMM !

Saturday

Peach pancakes for brunch this morning. Noon time walk. Supper time walk. Accounting. Investments reconciliation and analysis. WOW ! Stock market doing great ! No good reason for it. Expect a crash in a couple of months !

DSK

July 26 to August 1, 2020

Sunday ; Sunny and hot. Joanne (over)cooked a sausage and vegetables casserole in the Sun Oven today.

Emma is ill.

This afternoon we worked on cleaning the camper’s windows and reinstalling their blinds. Definitely one more, possibly two more days until this project is finished.

Monday ; Sunny and very hot, temperature in excess of 100 F. Hard to get any work done outdoors. Hard to do our exercise walks. We shortened our early ( noon ) walk. We shortened our late ( 6:30 PM ) walk.

This afternoon we continued … and finished … cleaning the camper’s blinds and windows, inside and out. Another item on the summer project list done !

Emma is ill. From the administration of Amoxicillin, we think. Joanne is ill. From the extreme hot weather, we think.

Tuesday ; Sunny and hot.

Joanne faded during our early / noon walk, so she cut it short about halfway through. I continued by myself. Late in the afternoon we did a pool exercise session which she finds much preferable to outdoor walks in this very hot weather.

I bought my annual fishing license this afternoon. WOO-HOO ! Now that I’m 65 years of age, the BC fishing license fee has gone from $37.80 to $5.25 !

For supper I barbecued Ozark seasoned Maple Syrup glazed Sockeye Salmon. Very good ! Joanne prepared a salad using fresh peas harvested from our garden, and zucchini risotto.

Late in the evening I worked on monthly computer updates and backups. HMPH … didn’t finish !

Wednesday ; Sunny and very hot. Joanne cooked Hungarian Goulash in the Sun Oven today.

This afternoon Joanne went into Keremeos to run errands. I went fishing. Hiked down to our park’s burn pile area. Walked slowly and very carefully across the Similkameen River. Hiked upstream to my favourite fishing spot at the rapids. About half an hour of difficult hiking. Fished for an hour and a half. Caught one small Rainbow Trout. HMPH ! Wouldn’t have kept it except … it was injured. Too small for us. Just right for our neighbour / friend Jeanine. Hiked back home. Cleaned the fish before having supper. After supper, while she was watering the garden, Joanne chatted briefly with the neighbour across the street. He also had been fishing. Caught four Rainbow Trout.

HMPH < stomping my foot > !

Thursday ; Sunny and very hot.

On our early walk around noon we stopped at our neighbour / friend Jeanine’s to give her the small Rainbow Trout I caught yesterday. We visited briefly before continuing our walk. Once again Joanne cut the early walk short. I didn’t. She returned home while I continued walking. At 5 PM we went to the swimming pool and did an exercise session instead of our afternoon walk.

I did some semi-annual computer maintenance chores. I did some fly fishing gear maintenance. I cleaned and polished shoes and sandals.

Friday ; Happy 59^th Birthday to my brother, Russell

Sunny and very hot again. Ugly clouds, wind, threat of thunderstorm in the evening, with just a few drops of rain.

We’ve progressed from shortening our walks due to hot weather to … eliminating them. TSK TSK !  I did more fly fishing gear maintenance this afternoon. I chatted with the neighbour who outfished me 4 to 1 the other day. He’s younger and fitter than me, and is accessing the river at a spot that I no longer have the physical ability to do. < sigh >

Saturday ; Sunny and very hot. Probably the last day of the current heat wave.

Did my early / noon walk by myself. Joanne defeated by heat wave. Worked on camper maintenance this afternoon. Went to orchard with Joanne to pick Transparent Apples, to make applesauce. HMPH ! Tree stripped of all … hundreds … of apples. Suspect maintenance man instructed by HOA Board. OOOOO … watch out, folks … bears might come to eat apples … < shivering in fear >.

Have been astounded for fourteen years that city folks come to live out here, then get all upset because … bears exist nearby … cones fall out of trees … etc. ! ! !

DSK