June 11, 2008

June 11, 2008

This afternoon just as we were returning from both having seen our family doctor in Keremeos, a Class C motorhome pulled up to our lot. What a pleasant surprise. It was our friends Ron and Mary from Lumby, B.C., at the north end of the Okanagan Valley. Ron and Mary are friends of ours from the SKP B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33. They were returning from a short vacation trip to Vancouver Island, and decided to stop into Riverside RV Park Resort and say hello. We invited them to join us for supper and stay overnight, parked on our lot. We had a very pleasant evening of visiting with Ron and Mary.

Joanne and I are planning, organizing, and "hosting" the SKP B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally in May 2009. Ron and Mary are older than us, have been RV'ing for many years, and have been involved in planning, organizing, and "hosting" many such events. We invited them to be our mentors and co-hosts for the rally next spring.

In the mail today Joanne received an official Pharmacare receipt that had us laughing. The Province of B.C.'s prescription medication insurance program pays for prostheses. Last week she had an appointment for a fitting and purchase of a new prosthesis in Penticton. The official Pharmacare receipt that arrived today was as follows ;

Prescription ; right breast prosthesis

Instructions ; use as directed

Refills ; 0

HA HA HA HA HA !

DSK

June 8, 2008

June 8, 2008

Today was supposed to be sunny and warm, but was partially cloudy and cool. Twice in the last week we had postponed a picnic to Manning Provincial Park because of poor weather, so this morning Joanne prepared a picnic lunch and off we went. Manning Provincial Park is about 100 miles west of here on Highway 3 towards Vancouver. We stopped and explored each of the campgrounds and picnic areas within the park. We saw a few deer and a wolf. There's still a lot of snow up in the higher elevations of the park. That explains why the Similkameen River is still so high. The headwaters of the Similkameen are up in the mountains in Manning Park. From the summit in the park, the snow melt and creeks run down the east side to form the Similkameen River which flows east, and down the west side to form the Skagit River which flows west. In Manning Park the Similkameen River is small, almost like a creek. The further east we drove on the way home, the wider and deeper it became. At Princeton, where the Tulameen River flows into the Similkameen it began to look as it does here at Riverside RV Park Resort.

When we got back home we chatted with our next door neighbour, Stu. When we told him about Bo's deer leg incident, he explained how and why there were deer parts in the forest. Last winter a deer tried to jump over the chain link fence surrounding our park. It didn't make it, and got hung up on top of the fence where it died. One of the residents of the park hauled the carcass off the fence with his truck, then hauled it out into the forest where it provided winter feed for the coyotes. Guess there wasn't enough meat on the deer's front legs for the coyotes. Bo was happy with it, though !

DSK

June 6, 2008

June 6, 2008

Riverside RV Park Resort is fenced around the perimeter. On the southwest corner there is a gate on the fence leading out into Crown Land ( undeveloped land owned by the Canadian government ) which is raw forest. Every second day or so we go out there with Bo to give him an opportunity to romp around off leash. The wild grasses that grow out there are quite long, and Bo loves to bounce through the long grass like a rabbit. Lately we have been experimenting with not calling him back to us, just to see how far into the forest he will go, and for how long, before he decides on his own to return to us as we hike.

Today he had disappeared into the forest for quite some time as we hiked. Joanne and I were already back at the gate leading back into our RV park. Joanne wanted to call him. I wanted to just wait, and see how long it would take Bo to return on his own. After a few minutes of waiting at the gate, we heard him bounding through the long grass. Oh, there he is ! Bouncing along, tail held high, head held high, looking very proud, and pleased with himself. Wait ... what's that he's carrying ? ? ? Looks like ... a baseball bat in his mouth ? ? ? How can he possibly bounce through the long grass with something that long in his mouth ?

BO ! ! ! WHAT THE H*** ARE YOU DOING WITH A DEER LEG IN YOUR MOUTH ? ? ? AND WHERE THE H*** DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING WITH IT ? ? ? ! ! !

What's wrong with that dog ? ? ? ! ! ! He was very disappointed when I took the deer leg away from him and tossed it deep into the bush. Sheesh ! Mind you, I guess he's due credit for ambition. HA HA HA !

DSK

May 29, 2008

May 29, 2008

Today was the first session of the ten week dog obedience training course I am teaching here at Riverside RV Park Resort. After 3½ years of obedience training Bo has graduated from being a student to being a teacher. And what an excellence performance he gave today. Good dog, Bo, well done !

DSK

May 25 & 26, 2008

May 25, 2008

Today we were supposed to be preparing to depart tomorrow morning for Salmon Arm, at the north end of the Okanagan Valley, to attend the Escapees Chapter 33 Spring Rally. But we won't be able to go because of a very sore wrist and hand that I have developed over the last few days. I will need to see a doctor tomorrow. And I can't prepare for departure with only one hand functional.

It started Friday. I had a sore wrist. Yesterday it became worse. My wrist and all my fingers were swollen and sore. I tried applying heat. Didn't really help. I tried applying cold. Didn't really help. I wrapped a tension bandage around my wrist. Made it worse. Ibuprofen didn't really help. As the day wore on, the pain became worse. This morning my wrist and fingers were very swollen, the skin on my hand looked waxy, and I throbbed from fingertips to elbow. I put my arm in a sling and did not use my right hand at all today. That rest seemed to help. The throbbing stopped. But my wrist and fingers remained swollen, stiff, and very sore. I needed Joanne's help with almost everything today. I don't like needing help !

 

May 26, 2008

 

HMPH ... gout ! By this morning the swelling and pain in my wrist and hand had diminished somewhat. Nevertheless I phoned the clinic in Keremeos this morning at 8:00 A.M. to make an appointment to see a doctor. I was given an appointment for 10:10 A.M., although our family doctor was not working today, so I saw another doctor. One of the things we like most about living here is the excellent access to health care. The doctor's diagnosis was gout. I had a previous attack of gout, in a big toe, about 7½ years ago. I thought gout was an affliction only of the big toe joints. WRONG ! The doctor prescribed some corticosteroid medication and sent me to the medical laboratory across the hall for blood tests. After having blood taken, I went to the pharmacy and filled my prescription. By this evening, the pain and swelling were significantly reduced. But ... this problem prevented us from attending the Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally, which started today in Salmon Arm !

As I'm typing this, Teddy and Bo are lying on the sofa, entwined, and Teddy is grooming / licking Bo's ear and neck. Bo loooooves being groomed / licked by Teddy. What a strange duo !

DSK

May 22, 23, & 24, 2008

May 22, 23, 24, 2008

Music Under The "K"

 

Thursday ; This evening we went into town for the opening ceremonies of Music Under The "K" in Memorial Park. This is the tenth annual Music Under The "K", a weekend outdoor music festival in Keremeos. The "K" is K Mountain, behind the village of Keremeos. The music performances are in a bandshell set up in Memorial Park so that the audience sits looking at the bandshell with K Mountain behind. Very picturesque ! The festival is comprised mostly of school choirs and bands, but also includes performances by local amateur musicians, and a few professional "headliners". This year the school bands and choirs came from all over B.C., one from Alberta and one from Ontario. The 600 students participating were led into Memorial Park by a bagpiper. The participating students outnumbered tonight's audience by about ten to one. The opening ceremonies included opening remarks by local politicians and school officials, and performances by a school concert band, a jazz choir, a rock band, and an East Indian dance troupe. In my opinion, the highlight was a welcoming drum and song performed by a couple of local Natives in their Aboriginal / First Nations language.

 

Friday ; Today was a cloudy and cool day, with a few drops of rain, so we didn't go into town for Music Under the "K" until late afternoon, as the school groups were finishing and the "professional" groups were beginning. The first performance we watched was Thursday Night Jazz Band, an 18 piece "Big Band" from Penticton. Next was Kutapira, an amazing group of percussionists playing Zimbabwean, African, and Cuban music. We had fried chicken dinner while watching and listening to Kutapira. While the next band was setting up on the stage, we won a door prize. A large wicker picnic basket filled with merchandise and gift certificates from local merchants. Very nice ! The last group we watched was Tiller's Folley, a Celtic bluegrass trio from Vancouver. At one point Lester rode into Memorial Park on his horse, followed by his ever faithful dog. He was soon surrounded by a mob of kids. I guess a lot of the "city kids" had never seen a real live cowboy Indian on a horse up close.

 

Saturday ; Today started out sunny and warm, but ended up cloudy and cool, with a few drops of rain threatening the Music Under The "K" finale. This morning we went to SunKatchers, the RV park next door, for their annual yard sale. This afternoon we went briefly to Dorothy's and Mike's for Mike's birthday party. Late in the afternoon we headed into town for more Music Under The "K". We arrived as the Penticton Concert Band was playing. Following them was the "K" Rockets, a Keremeos based classic rock band. EEEUUUWWW ! After them was another Keremeos based classic rock band, The Black Birds. Much better ! We had seen The Black Birds before, at the Iron Man Triathlon Street Party in Penticton. How can a village as small as Keremeos spawn so many classic rock bands. Lots of fifty something, slightly eccentric, affluent old men, I guess. HA HA HA HA HA !

The finale was a combination performance, featuring Foothills Brass, a quintet from Edmonton, Alberta, that had performed at the first Music Under The "K" ten years ago, and ... a massed band and choir comprised of the 600 students attending and performing at the festival. HA HA HA ... pretty impressive watching 600 kids perform our national anthem. The massed band performed Oh Canada, Foothills Brass performed half a dozen pieces, the massed band performed a Bach piece, and did very well, then Foothills Brass performed another half dozen or so pieces. It began to rain lightly near the end, and many of the teachers and organizers seemed a bit panicked. The kids took it all in stride. Their finale was Under The "K" March, a piece composed specifically to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Music Under The "K". Suffice to say that it was pretty difficult for the four conductors to keep 600 student musicians "together" playing an unfamiliar piece, outdoors, in light rain with a wind blowing.

All things considered, Music Under the "K" was exceptionally well done ! Bravo !

DSK

May 21, 2008 photos

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