A Halloween Kind of Day...

Our golfing foursome managed to skirt the expected rains that were called for yesterday and we golfed a full 18 holes at the Pitt Meadows Golf Course.

A tight course with cleared undergrowth under some very big trees.

Our golf group's objective, this season, was to play a new golf course every week.  We managed to do that on most weeks.  Yesterday's round was a first for me.  I had never had the opportunity to play the Pitt Meadows Course.  Fun day out!

 

Jeanette and several of her nursing friends (retired and not) got together for a  games night recently.  They always have fun.....and get to laugh a lot!  It was a smaller than normal attendance.  

It seems it was also a quasi dress up party.

Today will find us running some errands.  And in between the rain drops, I hope to ride our Harley to the local dealer for some service work.  Rain or shine, it has to get there.  If the rain doesn't abate, I'll opt to empty the motorcycle trailer (housing many of my woodworking tools) and transport the Electra Glide to the Langley Harley Davidson service centre.  It seems we will be socked in these next four days or so.

Visiting, a few days back, Easton thought to try out his mom`s runners over his own.  He managed to walk in them without falling.

He also thought to wear his new winter boots in our house.  Nothing better than breaking them in while walking around in a dry environment.  He`s ready for the wet winter months here on the coast!

Jeanette`s new (to her) sewing machine.

In the high tech world of sewing, Jeanette has recent technology but...this foot powered model, above, was greatly desired for her sewing room.  This awesome relic is considered an heirloom.   It belonged to Jeanette`s mom.  Jeanette remembers learning to sew on it.  The one thing she truly desired from the farm house was this sewing machine.  It sits in our garage, for the time being, but it will be shortly moved to its rightful place in her upstairs sewing room.  It is fully functional.  I have a feeling it could be powered up (in a Flintstone way) once again.

A little wheelbarrow full of Halloween stuff....

Our home out here in the south Langley area draws few trick or treaters.  We maybe had 10 kids appear at our door last year.  So, this evening, we`ll be sharing Halloween fun at Easton`s home in Langley City.  His folks will take him out to trick and treat while we answer the door to hand out treats to the ghosts and goblins who come by.  That should be fun. 

That more or less covers happenings around here.

Thanks for dropping by.

Taking Advantage of The Great Fall Weather

Sun and and blue skies are a magnet to get outdoors

We are sure enjoying this great fall weather.  Daytime temperatures are warm and the blue skies draw us outdoors.  There is a bit of outdoor fall work to accomplish; namely gathering leaves, but that is fun too.

Running in the park

Easton came by for a sleepover while his mom flew to Edmonton to present a couple of seminars.  We sure had fun with him.  He's engaging and very easy to look after.  He also keeps himself occupied with toys.  When he wants something, Easton takes our finger and leads us to someplace.  That happened a few times when he wanted to go outdoors.  So, outdoors we went.  He is amazingly communicative at 18 months of age.

The motorcycle came in handy for touring the great country roads.

Jeanette loves fall and she especially enjoys viewing the fall colours.  Well, our motorcycle rides quenched her thirst.  We saw multi-fall colours everywhere we rode.

Fraser River scene....

Mount Baker rising above the Abbotsford Airport.

We are formulating our snowbirding plans.  With the rain patter on the roof this morning, it gets my travel juices going.  We've been discussing our plans, these past several weeks, and we'll reveal those in the days ahead.

Bathed and ready for bed @ Nana and Grand Papa's house.

Easton had no issues with spending the night at our home. When bedtime called, he was quick to sleep.  And sleep he did!  He whimpered once or twice (more dreamlike whimpering) but apart from that, he slept all night long.  We had a lot of fun. 

Trevor - Easton's Dad - joined us for dinner on Friday evening before collecting Easton and his stuff and heading for their home.  To see Easton react when he saw his Dad was thrilling.  He'll be equally thrilled when his Mom gets back home.

Ginette returns from Edmonton this evening and we'll use her vehicle to pick her up at the airport.  From there, she will drop us off at home and continue the 10 minutes further west to their home.

Jeanette's friend, Ione, dropped by and, before long, they were off on a long walk through the trails of Aldergrove Park.

Photo taken yesterday while on a hike.

Jeanette and I chose a hike in the woods yesterday.  The foliage was captivating with its great fall colours.  It felt so good to get a decent workout in the quiet woods.

These ferns change colour with the seasons.

We encountered a few hikers but the trail was otherwise ours!

Our forecast calls for more great fall weather, going forward....and what's not to like about that. 

That's pretty much the story from here, for now. 

Thanks for dropping by.

At Home & Happy to Be Back

The past couple of weeks seem like a blur now....but the work involved in completing the cleanup, prior to transferring the farm title to the new owner this coming December, was a worthwhile endeavour.

Jeanette waving good bye as we prepare to leave the farm last Friday.

Before driving to Edmonton, we dropped by the Long Term Care facility that houses Jeanette's mom. Mary was busy making popcorn for the several clients who had paid a toonie ($2) for a bag of popcorn; us included.

We left with a large bag of fresh popcorn.

Jeanette also lent a hand with the popcorn production.

In Edmonton, we enjoyed a nice weekend with Courtney and Deni.  A trauma nurse, Courtney worked eight hour day shifts while Deni was busy working on their basement build up.  I lent a hand while Jeanette drove to one sister's home in Edmonton for a visit.

Deni did put me to work - happily, I might add - and it was fun to lend a bit of helping hand.

Deni looks over my handiwork......

Quincy, the electrician, came by to complete some work prior to the electrical inspection that is slated to happen this week.

Wiring an upstairs to downstairs smoke and CO2 alarm system

When the electrical inspection is completed, the gyproc (gypsum board) will be ready for install.  Their basement build will be completed within two months.

Their future baby's bedroom is looking great.  Nice wall mural!!!!  It was painted by Courtney's brother's girlfriend. 

A nice little bassinet awaits its tenant

The car seat - with its little bear - looks forward to sharing the space with Courtney and Deni's newborn

There is a lot of excitement in Deni and Courtney's home.  By January 2nd (or later/earlier) a newborn will grace their Edmonton home.  The push to complete the basement build up is in full play.  I think they will meet that deadline.

Doing some cutting outdoors....

We left back for the 12 hour drive home early this past Monday morning. The weather was clear and sunny for almost the entire drive.  There were some moments when we drove through low lying clouds in the Rocky Mountains. The roads were dry and bare.

Nearing Jasper National Park

One of many, many trains that were stopped due to a derailment near Edmonton.  The CN (Canadian National) mainline was blocked, about 85 kilometers west of Edmonton.

One example of the low lying clouds we saw on the drive.

Interesting view before driving out of the sun and into the low lying cloud.

The Monday return drive back home was completed with little traffic.  We were surprised by the negligible volume....but appreciative too.  It's a treat to have a stress free drive through the mountains.  I should add that the drive is usually stress free....but with so little traffic, it just makes driving so much more pleasant.

We arrived back home at 5:15 pm Monday, late afternoon

Early on Tuesday morning, we got busy with sorting stuff out before I washed both vehicles.  I got rid of the Alberta dust while Jeanette captured a few photos of the fall look in our yard.

Nice fall colours....but likely not for long.  The leaf vac will be put to good use soon....very soon!

Of course, Easton was as anxious as we were to visit.  Ginette brought him over for a nice afternoon of fun and, before long, they headed for the local park where he could enjoy the nice facilities there.

A bit of home play before the outdoors called....

Ginette, Easton and Jeanette were taking advantage of an awesome fall day for some play in the local park.

The smile says it all!  Let's have some fun!

....oh....and how about re-doing this Halloween display?

Our weather today is absolutely gorgeous.  Ginette dropped Easton off for a couple of hours while she meets with a client.  By this early afternoon, she will return to gather Easton and head off to complete some errands.  Jeanette and I will gear up, start the motorcycle and ride the back roads to take advantage of the great fall views this area provides at this time of the year.

That sums things up from here.....for now.

Thanks for dropping by.

Back To The Land of WiFi

With being so busy completing the major move and clean up at Jeanette's parents' farm - and with no access to WiFi (other than the small town library) - it's nice to be back in the city of Edmonton where WiFi is readily available.

Setting sun at Jeanette's family farm - Hairy Hill, Alberta

We are at our son and daughter in law's home for the weekend.  We'll decompress from the farm work before our 12 hour return drive back home to the British Columbia coast next Monday.

We have not been able to keep up with the blogs we regularly follow.  I doubt we will have the time to catch up while in Edmonton.  We have plenty of visiting to do.

L-R  Courtney (7 months pregnant) Jeanette's mom, Mary and our son , Deni.

The Edmonton visiting started last night with a wonderful get together with my nephew, Brad, and his wife, Jamie.  Brad - like me - is a motorcycle enthusiast (golfer too) and it's always nice to get together.  Thanks for the wonderful dinner, you two!

No photos from our dinner but...... L-R   Jamie, Meghan, Alyssa and Brad  - (from Brad's Facebook page)

There is so much to write about!  We have hundreds and hundreds of photos too! But we'll spare you the long, long story and focus on the important stuff.

Our son's cargo trailer came in handy to move stuff from the farm. 

The old log home, in the background (photo above), is where Jeanette was born - 61 years ago.  Her father had to play doctor when a major snow storm prevented taking her mom to the local hospital.  A lot of reminiscing was heard about this pioneer farm house.  The newer farm home was built a couple of years later.

Darlene and her mom found this little dress that Mary had sewn many, many years back.

Our time was occupied with cleaning, sorting, moving, hauling and more.  We had a couple of meetings with the lawyer and the bank.  As Power of Attorney, Jeanette had quite a few important things to look after.

We got to know John - owner/operator - from the disposal service we retained.

These past six months, or so, saw us collectively fill over 14 garbage bins.  Stuff that was deemed worthwhile years back was now destined for the trash heap.  Although a huge job, the process was effective.

Bob and I managing some heavy lifting.

The four sisters contributed to the work load - as did Deb's husband, Bob, and I.  We kept busy.  But it was all worthwhile and the job got done.

The old log house housed stuff like this old wringer washing machine.  It was destined for recycling.

L-R   Me, my sister, Paulette, her son in law, Jeff and daughter, Tina

The Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend was a nice distraction.  My sister and her husband - Paulette and Rick - invited us to join their family for a wonderful turkey dinner, this past Saturday.  The 50 minute drive to their home was well worth it.  We enjoyed a great meal and fun chat with everyone.  We did over night at their home because we were driving to Jeanette's sister's place, the next day,  (about 20 minutes south) for another Thanksgiving turkey dinner with Jeanette's side of the family.

L-R  Paulette's husband, Rick, daughter, Karen.....Paulette, Jeff and Tina.

L-R  Jeff and Tina's son, Brenden (a star football quarterback), Karen's son, Jarred ( a politician in the making) and Rick.

It was so much fun to break up the farm work with dinners and fun visits.  The next day (Sunday) we left my sister's home for the drive to Jeanette's youngest sister, Darlene's place, for another outstanding meal.

Beautiful Alberta highway leading from my sister's farm to my sister in law's farm.

The leaves were still offering some rich fall colours....but have since fallen to the ground.

At Darlene and Tom's farm, this (and the unseen turkey) is what we came for.  YUM!

L-R   Sister, Georgina, Mom Mary, Darlene and Jeanette.  The other sister, Deb, was enjoying turkey dinner with her husband, Bob's family.

Deni and Courtney drove the two hours east from Edmonton to partake in the meal.

What a feast! By mid-afternoon, (Sunday past)  Deni and Courtney headed back for Edmonton, and a few hours later, Jeanette and I drove Jeanette's mom back to the Long Term Care facility she now calls home.  From there, we drove to the farm to continue the process of closing up the yard and house for the new owner.

Group shot:  L-R  Jeanette, Georgina, Tom, Darlene, Mom (Mary), Courtney, Deni and Me.

Back at the farm, we had more tidying to do, errands to run (bank, lawyer, care facility, etc.).  We did bring Mary to her farm on several occasions.  It is not easy to see one's life - 64 years - farming this land and tending to the large farmyard close and have the place transferred to a new owner. Mary does have a very positive attitude though.  She is comforted by the fact that the younger neighbour farmer has taken over their property.

The fall weather was fantastic.  Bright blue skies and warm fall days were the norm.  What a treat that was!  Only one year ago, snow covered the landscape around here.  We counted our blessingsto get so much accomplished because of the great fall weather.

Selling the home place was also discomforting, to a certain extent, to Jeanette and her  sisters.  This is where they grew up.  All of them realize that parting with the farm was in everyone's best interest.  The family still owns farm land that is rented to another local farmer.  Tending to a farm yard - house and buildings - that is uninhabited was demanding and problematic.
 

While we were busy in Alberta, our 18 month old grandson, Easton, was busy on the west coast too.  He was hauling his chosen pumpkins from a farm market.  Cute to see.

Easton also dropped by his dad's father's home to help mow the lawn.  Grandpa Warren had to share the driving duties with Easton.

Taking a load of stuff for storage at Darlene's farm.  We hauled from one farm to another.  The stored items were deemed important to hold on to and Tom and Darlene have the storage space.

Darlene took this photo of Jeanette and I by the lake in front of their country home.  What a peaceful setting!

Now that the farm yard transition work is completed - and we are back in Edmonton - (with WiFi Internet access) we'll get to relax and enjoy our visit with Deni and Courtney for a few days.  With a new grandchild expected this very late December/early January, it will be nice to enjoy some time at their home.

I have a brother and sister in law who live in my birth town of St. Paul, Alberta.  We enjoyed a nice visit and dinner at their home last Thursday evening.  As I write this post, Jeanette and Deni drove to downtown Edmonton to select some fresh vegetables from the weekly farmers' market there.  I can 't post photos from our dinner with Bernie and Rita because Jeanette has the camera.  I will post a photo or two when I next write a blog.

One more sunset shot taken from the family farm.

The weather in Edmonton is equally great and the long term forecast for our return drive back the BC coast looks most favourable too.

Thanks for dropping by.