Update

Well, Christmas did come and go and I was mostly ready but had come down with a cold so not really feeling that good.  Had the family in Christmas Eve and really enjoyed everyone's company.  Quite bittersweet though.  This was our 49th Christmas in this house and it'll be the last...we move in Feb or March.  Christmas Day I got up had some left over bread pudding and apple rum sauce from dinner last night then went back to bed.  When I got up it was time to go to our daughter and son-in-law's for a wonderful ham dinner.  Granddaughter C made me a bracelet with her Rainbow Loom that she got for Christmas....and surprise...the colours she chose matched my sweater perfectly.  Thank you my love!!!

Boxing Day was very literal...I'd taken the dishes and wine glasses out of the china cabinet and there was NO way I was putting them back so out came several boxes and I managed to box up the majority of the dishes and wine glasses...ready for their new home.

Friday, a couple we know from church came and had lunch with us.  We had a lovely visit and I gave her another box of stuff for her preschool.  I was doing some more packing and the phone rang and our friends J&H asked us to come for coffee tonight...nice break from packing and we managed to solve a mystery.

Last week we got a Christmas Card in the mail from "Cheryl & SAS" thanking us for making a donation and telling us how wonderful her life is now....okay???...hadn't heard of the organization and didn't remember making a donation to them.  There was a newsletter with the card which did nothing to shed any light on the mystery, so I tried phoning them, but they're closed for Christmas week.  Phoned three or four of our friends and they couldn't shed any light on it other than it was a Christian organization.  I took the card to J&H's and BINGO....I'd sponsored H for a bowling tournament the beginning of the year and forgotten about it...WOW...mystery solved!!!!

Tonight we're off to see our youngest granddaughter perform in  a show that's been playing all month.  If I don't get a chance to get on the computer in the next couple of days I'm sending everyone greetings for a Very Healthy, Happy New Year!....and special prayers and wishes for our friends E&J whose granddaughter who is very sick and in Children's Hospital.

Christmas Concert

Sunday the pre-schoolers at our church put on their concert during the morning church service...they're soooo cute!  In the evening the school aged children did their concert called "An Out of the Box Christmas".  The story line was a group putting on the Christmas Story but they got the wrong costumes so improvised and had the 3 wise men as cowboys, the shepherds as pirates, and the angels as cheer leaders...it was so well done and all the kids were on stage for the majority of the concert.  I was SO glad we decided to go rather than stay home!

I'm actually starting to get some Christmas stuff done...took a break from packing today and decided to do some baking and other cooking.  I figured out ages ago that Christmas was going to come and go whether I was ready or not, so now I just do what I can and relax and enjoy the season.

B's Baby Has a Boo-Boo

Saturday we headed out to Langley to attend the Langley Ukulele Ensemble's Christmas production....it was EXCELLENT!!!!  Paul is doing such a good job since he took over the group from his father.  He's encouraging the students to reach out of their comfort zone and do either vocal or instrumental solos.  Our granddaughter even had a vocal solo part. She just found out 6 days before and hadn't told us, so it was a total surprise!

We left the concert and were heading to the Christmas Banquet at our church.  Stopped at a red light and when the light turned green B took his foot of the brake and we felt a big THUD!!!  Someone in a white car had come barrelling up behind us and went to cut into the left lane but didn't cut soon enough and smacked into the bumper.  He/she just kept on going and of course it all happened so fast we didn't get a license plate number.  The driver's side bumper has a big dent in it which is marked with white paint and is pushed upwards making it tight to open the tailgate.  Thankfully we were in the truck and weren't hurt....just upset!

The banquet was good and when we got home I phoned the police but was told they wouldn't be investigating it because it was a hit and run with no plate number and no witnesses.

Like a Needle in a Haystack

We went to our youngest granddaughter's Christmas concert this afternoon.  Now, you take a bunch of young girls all about the same age with very similar builds and hair cuts, put them in costumes and how in the world are grandparents supposed to recognize them from 15 or 20 rows back????  We did have a couple of possibilities from the class performances....but really weren't totally positive... but then when the choir came out to sing....there she was!!!!  Then we realized which class group she was in!  Thank goodness!!

Before we left for the concert I'd received a call from a friend whose husband and son have a landscaping business.  The son was married 4 months ago and I guess in the cold weather his wedding ring slipped off and was lost in the trimmings from a hedge.  They'd taken one load to the dump but when he realized his ring was missing they put the remainder of the trimmings on a tarp and put it in the truck.  When we got home from the concert they came over.  We spread the tarp out in the carport and spread out the hedge trimmings to about 4" deep...oh my...is the ring in there or was it in the load that went to the dump or had it fallen somewhere else...like looking for a needle in a haystack.  Out came the metal detector...and after several passes over the entire bed of trimmings, it was looking pretty bleak....but wait....beep...beep...beep....could it be?????  Carefully looked around in that area and low and behold...we found it!!!!!  We were so happy for him!!!!

US Thanksgiving

It seems weird that we're not in our trailer camping down in the States for Thanksgiving.  This year we put our trailer away for the winter after Canadian Thanksgiving, which is unusual for us!!!

We do wish all our American friends and family a very blessed Thanksgiving and hope you get what you want in the Black Friday sales!!!

What Next?

We've been to a couple of funerals lately and Monday we go to another one!

Still sorting, packing and eliminating stuff.  Still haven't sold our house, but there is someone coming to have a look at it Friday....it would be super nice if they fell in love with it and gave us a good offer!!!

We went to the Dr. and got our flu shots and in preparation for our move we asked if we could get our annual (usually year and a half or longer) blood work done.  Went for the blood and urine tests.  It's so neat these days because I can go online and get the results, unfortunately some of the results weren't that good so I phoned and made an appointment for yesterday after B's eye doctor appointment.  Results weren't that bad after all, but B did need some antibiotics, which we got, but he did get a good report at the eye Dr.

On the way home we stopped at the casino and I won a 2 for 1 entrée ticket so we went to the sports bar and had a lovely grilled salmon dinner!  Things have a way of working out!!!

Fun Day

Last night a friend phoned and asked if today would be a good day for him and his wife to come down.  He's going to try and fix a cord on my phone and I've got some books for them to take to the park where they spend a lot of time and donate them to the clubhouse.  I suggested they also stay for lunch because I'd made a big pot of vegetable soup.

They came down today but he couldn't fix the phone cord.  I was preparing lunch when my cousin phoned....he and his sweetie were in town so I told them they were just in time for lunch so come over.  Two more place settings at the table, more soup in the pot and a couple more grilled cheese sandwiches and we were good to go!  What fun we had!!!!

Do I Dare Answer the Phone Today???

This morning I answered the phone and it was my friend Anne's daughter telling me her Mom passed away early this morning.  The really upsetting thing is that I'd been thinking of Anne several times in the past week or so and finally got around to phoning her yesterday.  There was no answer so I left a message.  My husband's family knew Anne's family from the "Old Country" but I only knew her for about 23 years when we met down at our favorite campground in Birch Bay.  Her and I not only became really good friends and shared lots and lots of hopes, dreams and sorrows but we also  had so many good campfire chats and exciting games of Sequence with her and her late  husband!!  Rest in peace my friend!!!

A couple of hours later my daughter called and told me my ex-brother-in-law Jack passed away.  Although I didn't always agree with the things he did he was a very strong, vibrant man who had great compassion for his fellow workers and especially the union.  I'm glad your suffering is over Jack...but knowing you, "rest in peace" somehow doesn't quite fit!!!!

Rememberance Day Weekend

Saturday a lady and her husband came down and bought the old china cabinet, then a couple of guys came down to look at the rototiller...but didn't buy it.

Sunday... Went to church...such a powerful message!  Afterwards we were invited to lunch at our friends D&A's along with another couple.  On the way home we drove past the new Encorp recycling center they opened a few minutes from our house...it's going to be sooo handy!!!

Monday.. Watched the Remembrance day services on TV then did more packing and cleaning.  Later our son and grandson came down for awhile.  That kid is so much like his Dad was at that age, it's scary!!!!  Just goes to prove the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  M was told to pick up the Lego so they could go.  He asked his Dad for help.  Dad said he didn't take it out so M was to pick it up himself.  He started to but in less than a minute he came back and said, "Grandma, you helped me get the Lego out.  Can you help me put it away?"  His dad told him that was a nice try but no, I hadn't played with it!  As they were leaving I showed them some cars B had when he was little, that I found in the back of a cupboard and asked M if he'd like them.  His dad say he could take them but only if he agreed to play with then outside.  You've never seen a 4 year old close the box and run out to the car with it so fast!!!  Then, he made his dad put the box on the seat beside his car seat...he wasn't going to have his box of trucks on the floor or heaven forbid in the back of the car!!!!

Lots going on

Sunday our daughter and son-in-law invited us out to their place for a ham dinner.  Our son-in-law makes a wonderful ham and he even made pumpkin pies out of their Jack-o-lantern for dessert...then he gave us one to take home and enjoy.  Thanks...it was yummy!!!  What more can you ask...a great dinner and a visit???  It was great to catch up on what the grandkids have been doing in school, band and all the other things they're involved in.

This cold weather has taken its toll on all my zucchinis, so thought I'd better have another marathon baking session today before they all went bad and I'd have to throw them out, but I felt weird not packing or de-junking so went in my sewing room and packed another box of stuff!!!  It was only one box but I feel better knowing that one more box is packed!!!!

Birthday Wishes

Our eldest daughter's birthday is today.  She has a week's vacation so yesterday she stopped in and I made her lunch and gave her the little white shoes she wore when she was baptized and a triple frame with some pictures of her when she was less than a year old.  I figured if I gave them to her now I wouldn't have to pack them...method in my madness!!!

Still busy packing and de-junking.  Tackling my sewing room the past several days...got a feeling this is going to take a lot longer than I'd planned.  Took 4 bags of stuff to church with me on Sunday.  One lady got small pieces of flannelette...she pieces then together and makes baby jackets for the hospital in Cameroon.  Another lady got material for making bandages, someone else got the large pieces of flannelette for making baby blankets and another friend got felt pieces to use for storytelling with her young children's group here.  It's so good to know that my "treasures" are going to be useful!!

I still have several zucchini from the garden so grated a bunch up and made a double batch of chocolate, chocolate chip zucchini cake and a double batch of pineapple zucchini cake.  Today I wrapped and froze most of it, but did keep some out to enjoy!!  It's good to keep busy!!!!

Feeling Bad

The day after we got home from our time away I got an email from our church's prayer chain.  Apparently our friend's adult son was touching up the paint on his house when he fell off the ladder and sustained a very bad brain injury.  The next day my husband went to his Men's Prayer Group and found out that the son was disconnected from life support and passed away.  Our hearts go out to the family in this time of loss.  When things like this happen it makes us realize just how precious life is and how quickly our lives can change!  We must to remember to live each day to the fullest and to tell our loved ones how much we care for them often!  Love and blessings to all our family and friends!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We've got so many things to be thankful for!

We managed to get away in our trailer for several nights.  Our daughter, son-in-law and grandkids were camped in a park close to the one we were in so we got together with them and combined meals on two nights.  We also went to a ukulele concert our grand daughter R was playing in and attended the same church service on Sunday with them.

After dinner on Sunday the youngest girl and the boys went to bed and the rest of us sat around the table and talked.   I told a couple of stories of things that had happened when the kids were growing up or when we were camping.  As we went to leave grandson W (who was supposed to be asleep) called out, "Goodnight Grandma and Papa.  Thanks for telling good stories, Grandma!!"

Leap of Faith

The offer we have on the new house will expire the end of October so we've been thinking it is too perfect a house to lose so maybe we should go ahead and get the financing and buy it....BUT what happens if we don't sell our house????  Would it be any worse than owning recreational property???  We were planning on doing a river cruise to celebrate our special anniversary next year...couldn't we use the money we would have spent on a cruise and use that to finance the house payments for several months instead???  Anyway, we bit the bullet and had the house inspection done and put a down payment on it...NOW it's considered SOLD to us!!!!  Yikes...but we have faith that we were led to that house for a reason and if it's truly meant to be, our house will sell.  We've still got lots of time because closing date isn't until the end of January 2014 and we'll be moving in during the month of Feb.

Open House

Our realtor booked an open house for today so we've been busy all week taking stuff to re-cycling, getting a charity come and get stuff and taking a load of metals in to sell, re-organizing boxes so the house won't look "messy", washing and waxing floors & windows etc.  We pooped ourselves out completely but finally the house does look pretty good, so come in people and see, fall in love with our home and buy it!!!  Unfortunately it was a beautiful, sunny fall day and I guess no one wanted to go looking at houses....absolutely no one came!!!!  What a disappointment!!!

Our daughter, son-in-law and grand kids came later to deliver tickets for R's ukulele concert, plus I had found some jewellery I no longer want and thought the girls might like.  We'd planned on getting pizza or Chinese food for supper.  Son-in-law suggested that instead of getting take-out, we should go out, then I wouldn't have dishes to do!  Good idea!!!  I'm too tired to do dishes anyway, so off we went.  The food was very tasty and we had such a good time.  Because there were 8 of us we had to take two cars.  On the way home hubby and I discussed whether we should stop and get some doughnuts but thought everyone would be too full.  When we pulled into the driveway he mentioned it and next thing I know the guys took off and came back with a dozen doughnuts!

RV Show time Again

Thursday afternoon we went to our friends and he drove out to Abbotsford.  We made a couple of stops then went to this little place for fish and chips....yummy!!  Then we were off  to the RV show at the Tradex Center.  Thursday night it was half price night...so that was good.  I was more interested in shelters to cover our truck and trailer in our new place.  After always having our trailer stored in the shop, it's going to be hard to see it sit outside, especially in the winter so we want some sort of cover over it.  We looked at rigs too but I also sat in on a couple of the seminars....even met a few people we know from camping!

Because we do a lot of camping in the spring and fall, there is always a problem with condensation.  Last year we bought a small de-humidifier to plug in when we're camping.  Works really well but I feel it's a bit small for the area so we saw the same make, but a larger capacity model at the show.  It was on sale and they also had a promotion that if you sign up for their loyalty card at a cost of $40 you would get $60 off your purchase plus earn bonus dollars for future purchases....sounded like a good deal, so we now have a new de-humidifier!!!...I KNOW....we aren't supposed to be buying new things because we'll have to pack it to move, but this was too good a deal to pass up!!!!

Today #1 daughter and son-in-law came down.  He installed some new taps in the downstairs bathroom...the old ones were leaking, and she helped me disconnect the 2 old computers I have here and we even removed the hard drive from one of them.  Now we have to take them to the recycling center.  It sure gives me more room in here though!!!

More Fun and even More Work

After all the rainy days we had last week, Saturday was really quite nice and that was very good because our friends' daughter was getting married and it was an outdoors wedding.  We were all very thankful for the nice weather.  The bride of course looked beautiful and extremely happy...we wish the couple all the best!!

J&H have 3 children...one son got married in May, the other in August and now the girl got married in September.  They have had one BUSY summer and I warned them that the grandbabies just might all come at the same time too!!!

The wedding was at Peace Arch Park so after the ceremony we headed down to Bellingham to pick up some milk, eggs and cheese at Costco then went for dinner and to the casino for awhile...sure was a nice break from packing!!

This morning I went to my Ladies' Group at the church, came home and E&J came and we loaded up their truck with all the boxes of canning jars I had left and several boxes of household articles and clothes that I've been wanting to get rid of.  They're going to take them to MCC for me.  Apparently the MCC in Abbotsford is always on the look out for canning jars!!!!  The jars will get a good home and the money raised will help in the mission field...win-win situation!!!

Still Trying to De-Junk!!

We've been home from our little get-away just over a week now, but it feels like months!!!  We parked the trailer in the driveway to give us more room so we could start cleaning the garage...got a feeling the trailer is going to be out for quite some time!!!  Been filling up our garbage and recycling bins each week and took a truckload of stuff to the recycling depot as well.  We've also been busy selling stuff on Craig's List and I'm still giving away canning jars...I swear those things multiply whenever I turn my back!!!!  Getting excited about moving but we have to sell this place and I'm not sure whether to pray it sells fast because we probably won't be finished cleaning it out, but it would be nice to know when we'll be able to move....oh well, deal with it however it comes!!

We have done some fun things in the midst of all the work.  Yesterday we went to our church's Street Party which was really fun and today after the service we had a lasagna lunch which was really good.  It's also such a blessing to get the love and support of our friends!!  Thank you everyone!!!!

So Nice

Monday was Labour Day...most people were heading home from a long weekend, but not us....we hooked up the truck and trailer and headed out camping.  Border lineup was pretty busy but we have NEXUS so off we went.  Stopped at the casino because it was 55+ day.  Long lineup at the buffet so decided to try the in house Asian café instead.  First time we'd been in there.  There was no lineup, service was good and the food delicious.  We'll definitely go in there again!!!

Got down to Mt. Vernon campsite and found where our friends were parked so parked close to them.  Went shopping for a few groceries and some liquid refreshment.  Spent the evening with our friends playing "sticks"...a fun game.  I slept so sound that night.  Next day did very little and even had a nap in the afternoon....didn't realize how tired I was.  Went shopping a couple of times, relaxed, went to the clubhouse to check emails and work on a puzzle and got together with our friends.  We didn't care if it was raining, sunny or thundering!!!!  Power went out one evening but the lights stayed on....it felt weird but then realized we were on our battery power...neat!!!!

Sure was good to get away.  Now we're back home and back to the de-junking and packing!!!

End of an Era

Today the cousins moved out of Mom and Dad's house and the new people moved in.  Yesterday I was at the lawyers to tidy up the last few things and stopped at the house to give some stuff to my cousin.  It was SO HARD and emotional to drive out of that driveway for the last time!!

Where Did All the Junk Come From???

Still on our clean up campaign.  I've been sorting my canning jars...couldn't believe how many jars I have, but then realized that I got some from my Mother-in-Law when she passed away then from my Aunt then even more from my Mom...plus all the ones I've been collecting over the years as well.  Years ago I did a LOT of canning but now that it's just the two of us we don't use that much.  I packed up some of each size of jar plus some old jars that were used when I was a little girl helping my Mom can cherries, pears or fish that I just couldn't part with! Today we took a load of stuff up the recycling depot which included at least 4 boxes of jars and a whole lot of other stuff that B's been getting rid of.  There's still lots of jars in my canning room so I put out the word to the Mom's group at our church that I've got lots of jars if any of them are interested in canning.  I hate to recycle them if someone can use the them, but whatever I can't give away will definitely get recycled!

Happy Anniversary

It was 49 years ago yesterday that we exchanged wedding vows.  WOW where has the time gone????  So how did we spend the day? Well, B took the truck in for service then went to his Men's Group which meets every Thursday then got a ride back to the truck and waited and waited and waited for them to finish it.  I went to the lawyers with my sister and cousin to sign all the papers to finish up the sale of Mom and Dad's place.  Sure lots of papers to sign!  Then we decided to go for Dim Sum.  I really appreciate it when I can go for Dim Sum because B doesn't care for it and I never know what to order, so I only get to go when I'm with others.  Even though we were nostalgic about selling the family home and ending that era of our lives, it was nice spending time with my sister and cousin. Came home did more packing and dejunking then later in the evening B and I went out for Greek food.  Tried a new place.  It wasn't fancy but the food sure tasted good!  Happy Anniversary Love!!!...next year's the BIG one!!!

Goodbye Auntie Anne

In July my aunt passed away and today they had a get together for her.  They had a lovely display of pictures depicting her life and there was a fairly large, nicely decorated bird house on the display table.  Found out later that a neighbour had built my aunt the birdhouse but she thought it was too pretty to put outside so kept it on her dresser.  When my cousin and uncle were contemplating which urn or container to keep my aunt's ashes in, my cousin spied the bird house so with a little reto-fit, Auntie Anne was with us at the service!!! 

It was good to see my uncles and cousins again, but one of my uncles in particular wasn't looking too good and it made me wonder whose service we'd be going to next.  It was one year ago today we had the celebration of life bar-b-cue for my Mom.

On a happier note, Friday we went to our friends' son's wedding.  The service was a great mixture of seriousness and humour.  Because both the bride and groom like soccer, the Pastor likened communication to a soccer ball being kicked back and forth verses a football...he even had them gently kick the soccer ball back and forth then the football.  He then presented them with a miniature soccer ball and a miniature football so they'd always have a visual reminder!!

I Can See the Floor!

Tuesday a guy from an antique store came down to see what we had to sell.  It was weird...things I thought he'd want, he didn't want but my old baby bathtub that was chipped and leaking he bought, then he spied a small gas drum and a homemade wooden box and the old fire grate we used to use in the upstairs fireplace, but wasn't interested in antique dressers or books or old 78, 45 or 33 1/3 records...whatever???  He did get a bunch of stuff and loaded it into his van.

Yesterday a lady from a daycare came and I gave her a bunch of my old pre-school stuff and craft stuff I had used when the grandkids were smaller.  The plastic doll house we'd picked up for free one Christmas now has a new home.  Now I can actually see the floor in my craft room!!!

Getting my Grandkid Fix

Today our daughter and 3 of the grandkids came for a visit and to help me pack and de-junk.  They went out and picked some blackberries then came in and helped me clean out the big desk.  We had stuff flying all over the place...recycling, give-away pile, pile that Grandma has to check out, shredding pile and even a pile for the things they thought they'd like to keep themselves. 

They pitched in and helped make lunch and even washed the dishes for me, then I asked R if she could get on her hands and knees and reach into the corner of the cupboard and pull out the pots and whatever else was stuck back there...she's sure a lot more bendable and agile than I am and she found all sorts of things to which I remarked, "oh, is that where that got to...thought I had one of those!"

I had a set of Grand Diplome Cooking School books.  Asked R if she'd like them.  Told her the recipes didn't look that easy but she said they looked so neat and she REALLY likes to cook and wants to read them....she even thought it was neat when she saw the page where they show how to de-bone a chicken even though she didn't think she'd ever de-bone a chicken!!  You never know!

We were saying we cleaned out the attic the other day and W said he'd never ever seen our attic.  Papa heard that and went and got the ladder so they all had a chance to go up and see the attic.  I even took a picture and emailed it to them so they could show their brother who wasn't here today!!

C was also happy that she had "treasures" to take home.  As they were leaving my daughter said she wasn't sure if they helped or made more of a mess because now there was stuff all over the desk and surrounding area and the kitchen and dining room had all sorts of stuff piled up everywhere.  After supper it didn't take me long to tidy up and shred a bunch of the papers we'd found....so things are looking better!  Thanks Gang!!!!

Grandkids are Great!!

We've been busy de-junking.  Cleaned out the attic the other day.  Found all kinds of "treasures" many of the papers especially, dated back to when we were first living in the house...and that was 48 years ago!!! I was very ruthless and a lot of stuff ended up in the garbage or shredded...but I JUST had to keep a few things!

The past two days our son has been over to help my husband clean up outside, so it was my job to watch the grandkids...aged 4 and 10.  They are such a delight!!!!  We played trucks, and lego and even played on the IPAD, then yesterday we made heart shaped waffles for lunch.

New/Old Furniture

Our house is now listed for sale on the internet.  I've been busy making applesauce and jam.  There's never enough room in my kitchen when doing this so lots of stuff gets put onto the dining room table.  Imagine my horror when I went online and saw that the realtor (the man, of course) had taken pictures while I had been busy with the other realtor (the lady) AND he posted the picture of my dining room table laden with canning and jam making equipment!!

Yesterday we met with the owners of the place we're buying.  The furniture they have is about 11 years old but looks really nice and certainly suits the house so we not only had a delightful visit with them but plan to buy a lot of their furniture.  We're happy to get it and they're happy not to have to get rid of it.  They're planning on living in their motorhome full time and can only fit so much stuff in their rig!!!  It's so nice when people can help one another out!!!

Realty update

The phone's been ringing off the wall, well actually the counter.  Yesterday we were waiting to hear if that last offer was accepted or rejected.  Our eldest daughter called in the morning...no...we still haven't heard anything (I'm not sure who is more antsy...her or us???)  Then the realtor called and said the offer was rejected and she was coming down so we could do up a written offer and she would present it to the owners tomorrow afternoon.  In the middle of writing the offer our daughter called back, so I told her I'd call her later.  The realtor left but had left her briefcase downstairs, so I called her.  She called back after making arrangements for her husband to stop in today and pick it up.

Our daughter was down this morning to pick some blueberries, zucchini and some beans. Then the realtor's husband came and got the briefcase.  Still haven't heard anything....waiting....then the phone rings and the realtor congratulates us on getting the house...the owners even threw in a couple of extras into the contract for us!!!!!  Yeah!!!!  We've got 48 hours to list our house for sale so she's coming down tomorrow afternoon to do that paperwork.  Now we've got to start clearing out  junk and start packing....what did we get ourselves into????  :)   :)   :)

On again, Off again

Buying and selling real estate is so confusing and frustrating!!!! Yesterday, just when we decide we should make an offer on this house, I get a call from the realtor and she tells me they just got an offer on the house, and the buyers countered, so now we wait and see what happens. 

Got another call this morning and the deal fell through, yeah!!!,  then a couple hours later I get a call that the couple who put the offer on want to go back for another look..booooo..so now we're waiting to see what happens.  If they reject then we get to make an offer....sure hope they don't get it and we'll be able to sell our place and buy it!!

I Knew we Shouldn't Go!!

In the past few months we've been toying with the idea to move into a rancher in a gated community.  We looked at a couple but they weren't satisfactory mostly because of the fact that we have a truck and trailer and there was no place to park the truck.  Not only that that there weren't very many ranchers in gated communities built...it's much more advantageous to build a two or three story...you can get a lot more units on the same amount of land.  A couple days ago the realtor sent me 5 or 6 listings of ranchers with RV parking but not in a gated community.  Most of them were 30 to 40 years old and I'd rather stay in my 40some year old house where I know all the little problems and quirks.

BUT....there was one that was 11 years old, it was a two story with an in-ground basement.  Everything you needed was on the main floor and there was an elevator if you wanted to avoid the stairs to go to the games room in the basement.  It even had a couple of craft rooms and a canning room for all the jams, jellies, fruit and beans I can...so that was right up my alley.  Today we went to see it.  It was immaculate and there was only a couple of things that my "dream home" would have that this didn't!!!  Now we have to decide if we can clean 48 years of junk out of here and do some repairs to get this place on the market...AND I'D RATHER BE CAMPING!!!!  I knew we shouldn't have gone!!

Happy/Sad

We've been up at Cultus Lake in our trailer the past 4 nights.  Our daughter and 3 of the grand kids were there in their trailer as well, then our son-in-law came up after work on Friday so we sat around the campfire and made smores.  We weren't supposed to come home till Tuesday but something came up and we had to come home.  I was really disappointed about leaving early but when we got home I found out that one of my aunts passed away yesterday, so now I'm glad I could be home to support my uncle and cousin.  It was strange because as we were driving home I had thought about the time my aunt showed me what a kohlrabi was and gave me one out of her garden.  I planted some for several years...then I get home and find out she's passed away!!!

Our oldest grand daughter wasn't camping this time because she's in Halifax with the Langley Ukulele Ensemble playing in a military tattoo.  Our daughter has been getting pictures and videos from them and posting them on FaceBook....check it out!

While at Cultus we also got to spend a couple of days with my cousin J....we had such a good visit!!!

Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day everyone...hope you all had fun and managed okay in the heat!!  As for me, I spent the day working with my sister and cleaning up a bunch of stuff at my Mother's house...It'll be nice to sell it and finally settle her estate.  We worked there yesterday as well but in the late afternoon I came home and had a cold shower and hubby and I went to our son and daughter-in-law's for a bar-b-qued salmon dinner...it was to celebrate our birthdays.  Our son got himself a little greenhouse so we had a fresh salad made from lettuce he grew.  He's really enjoying the greenhouse and my Mom would have been so proud of him....one thing she always wanted and never managed to get was a greenhouse!!!

The other thing our son and daughter-in-law did this winter was re-vamp their furnace and put in a heat pump.  Their house was so nice and cool!!!  At our house we almost always get a lovely breeze so with the skylights and doors open it's quite pleasant, but yesterday the breeze was non-existent so now I wish I had a heat pump!!!

Busy, Busy

Since I did my last post I had a birthday and celebrated it for several days!!! Went to a wedding shower, had Father's Day, went to a birthday/retirement party and a couple other functions.

 In 2007 we met a couple while camping at Crescent Bar Thousand Trails and became very good friends with them.  They live in Everett WA and we try to get together any time we are down that way.  This week they were coming to Birch Bay camping so of course we hooked up the trailer and met them down there.  Camped across from them so spent lots of time together.  Yesterday was hubby's birthday so to celebrate the 4 of us went over to Northwood Casino for their 2 for 1 Asian buffet...it was soooo good and we had a great time. 

Let'sTake Off

A week or so ago, I looked at the calendar and noticed that there were 5 days in a row with no appointments or functions to attend so I said to B, "Let's take off!"  We hooked up the trailer and went down to Birch Bay.  Our friends L & A were also there so we got to spend some time with them.  Unfortunately their daughter's horse was really sick so they got a call to go home and deal with putting him down.  They'd had Mr. Woody for 19 years so it was a really rough day for them.  At that point I hugged the teddy bear and rabbit we have on our bed in the trailer and was so thankful that at least I'll never have to put them down.

The weather was nice and sunny...this is the first time this year we've have a sunny getaway!  The morning we were to leave it just POURED rain, but it soon quit so B didn't even have to get soaking wet to hook up the trailer.

Yesterday we went to church.  The sermon was on Porn, how it affects people's lives and what the bible says about it.  This has been such a great series of sermon's....there's two more left and I wonder what the pastor will talk on next!!!  Last night was also the Grad Banquet.  We honoured 10 of the young people from our church.  At an age when we usually go to funerals it's so refreshing to go to the Grad Banquet and hear what these young adults have planned for their future!

My IPod

About a year and a half ago I celebrated a milestone birthday so to celebrate (and prove I wasn't "over the hill" yet) I bought myself an IPod.  It's been a learning curve....some parts curvier than others...but overall I'm really enjoying it, especially my Bible Apps.  I have one that will actually read the passages to me..as long as I'm hooked into the internet.  It is so neat!!!!  I actually read along with it.
 
120 days ago I decided to read (or have read to me) the Psalms...one each day.  There's 150 Psalms, so I've got 30 to go.  Yesterday's reading went on and on and on...psalm 119 has 76 verses.  It's labelled as "An Acrostic in Praise of the Scriptures".  What the heck is an acrostic????   Out comes the dictionary (I know, tech savvy people would look it up on the internet, but I still tend to do things the way I learned eons ago).  Anyway, an acrostic is a type of puzzle made up of using the first letter of certain words...for example North, East, West and South makes NEWS.  Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks????

Mother's Day Dinner

Number 1 daughter and son-in-law had us over for dinner Saturday night.  She'd been working such long hours the week before Mother's Day she didn't feel like coming over so instead made dinner for us this weekend....it was better late than never and was wonderful and so very tasty!!!  We had such a good time!!

She and I also tried to cut some stuff out using her Cricket but couldn't find the cartridge we needed, so that didn't work.  Then we both set up our new Windows 8 computers and she showed me a ton of stuff....but then I showed her something she didn't know, so I felt pretty good!!!!  At least I didn't look as dumb as I was feeling!!!!

Glad we Got Home

Glad we got home before the Skagit bridge got knocked out of commission...we'd been over that bridge several times when we were camping near there last week.

Thursday night my two daughters met me at my church and we attended the Ladies' Spring Tea.  They always do such a wonderful job of decorating and making such good food.  The speaker/singer was very good as well and it was just really nice to spend some time together.

Yesterday the guys were here and installed a new furnace.  Our old one was over 45 years old and gave us really good service but it finally packed it in.  The new one is a lot smaller but seems to work well...we'll find out for sure when winter comes.  This morning it was quite chilly in the house so turned it on for awhile....so far, so good.

Out in Our Trailer

We left home about 6pm on Mother's Day and overnighted in Silver Reef parking lot.  Next morning we went in and had the senior's buffet before heading to Grandy Creek.  Our friends J and E came the next day...they aren't Thousand Trails members but since Grandy Creek is Thousand Trails/KOA, they were able to stay as KOA.  We had such a great time with them, doing puzzles, having dinner together and just chatting up a storm!  After 4 days J & E left and it was time for us to move over to Mt Vernon for 4 more nights.  Got home this afternoon.  Yesterday we heard of the long border waits to come back to Canada and we were totally grateful that we're retired and able to plan not to come home on long weekends.

The weather was on again off again...rain then sun then rain then more sun.....any way, we didn't let a small thing like weather get in our way of enjoying ourselves!!!

Exasperation 101

Thursday we headed out to look at another rancher in a gated community.  It ended up being way out in Abbotsford...further than we thought.  The house was nice, I could really see myself living there.  The garage was wide and long enough for the truck, so we tried to pull into the garage...opps ....too low...back to the drawing board.  Good thing we were watching and didn't hit!!!  We like the idea of a rancher rather than a two story but it seems they only built a few of them about 15 to 20 years ago...land is too valuable now and they can get more two-story  homes on less land, so ranchers are hard to find.

Let's go look at motorhomes.  We could trade the truck and trailer in, get a motorhome and solve the problem of finding a place to park the truck.  Went to FraserWay RV, after going in and out of several we found a really nice motorhome BUT there are two slides in the bedroom and when they come in they come over the bed a bit on each side.  If you didn't want to put the slides out, you'd have to crawl into bed from the foot of the bed, not only that, but if the slides were out and it rains, when you bring them in the bed's going to get a bit wet....not going to work!!!

Came home and we're both tired so rest for awhile then decide to go to the casino for supper.  We've got a coupon, so we buy the buffet (it was really good) then after eating we took our coupon and receipt to the card center and they gave each of us a round scratch ticket.  B got $5 on his ticket and I got $50! Played for awhile and ended up losing a total of $3...but still ahead $47, so that was good.

Friday I went and got some lettuce and zucchini plants and got them in the garden but they didn't have any of the squash plants I wanted, so I have to go back in a couple of weeks.  Also played on my new computer a bit.  There's some parts of Windows 8 I really like but mostly it's very frustrating to try and learn everything!!

It's been so nice and sunny all week but now it's raining...oh well, at least it'll water my garden!

Keeping Busy

Saturday we went to our granddaughter C's dance recital.  Our son-in-law and oldest granddaughter were also there but they had to run as soon as the concert was finished because R had a ukulele concert to play in.  By the time we got home we were tired and hot (when summer comes it comes fast and hot!!!) so we relaxed for awhile then I ordered pizza.  B went to get it and we had pizza and beer for supper...quite enjoyed it.

Sunday we went to church.  The sermon was on marriage.  Our pastor's been doing this series and it's really quite fascinating.  He even called all the married couples who wanted a special blessing to come to the front...it was really nice!

Came home and had a couple pieces of leftover pizza and went out to see the house in the gated community.  Nice place, wide streets, lovely private patio BUT the truck is too long for the garage OR the driveway!  Guess we'll have to keep looking.

Got home in time to go to the "date night" they were having at the church (part of the pastor's sermon theme).  There was a video from "Focus on the Family" which was really enjoyable and funny.  Then we had dessert.

Today is time to catch up on some work around here.

Wedding

Today we had the privilege to go to our friends' son's wedding and later to go to the reception.  Everything was lovely. Weddings are sure planned to the minutest detail these days...not like our wedding 40 some odd years ago!  The theme of their wedding was coffee because she worked her way through university by working at a coffee shop making all sorts of lattes, espressos and all the other exotic coffees they serve these days.  Each guest got to take home a little jar of coffee beans and the tables instead of being numbered had a tag with a different kind of coffee drink....who would have guessed there were that many kinds of coffee drinks????  The table we were seated at was "coffee cortada" (or something like that, I'd never heard of it before) and neither had any of the six people at our table.  They played the "shoe game".  A couple from the bridal party asked them questions.  The bride and groom were seated back to back and they each had one of his shoes and one of her shoes and in answer to the question, "who is most likely to......???", they would hold up either "his" or "her" shoe.  It was amazing how many questions they answered with the same shoe!  They seem to know each other quite well. You could tell they had taken dancing lessons especially for the occasion because their "first dance" well done so flawlessly.

We haven't been to a wedding in ages and ages...at our age we tend to go to a lot more funerals!!!  Driving home we got to talking and it seems like the last wedding we were at was our daughter's, and that was over 6 years ago!

Anyway, they're a delightful couple and we wish them a long and happy life together.

New Computer

This new computer is presenting quite the learning curve for me!!!!  I did figure out Skype and how to disable the mouse pad when I use an external mouse...now I can actually type an email without the cursor jumping all over the place...still having a hard time reaching the shift key so I end up with
" \i " a lot.  Sure is a lot more to learn...think I'll have to see if I can find a "Windows 8 for Dummys" book.

Had an appointment with a travel agent this week.  We have a milestone anniversary coming up and thought a River Cruise might be a good way to celebrate...MAN ARE THEY EXPENSIVE...so not sure what we're going to do.  When we came out of the travel agents, we discovered we had a low tire so called BCAA and got it pumped up but now we have to get that checked out.

Yesterday I phoned a friend and she sounded so good compared to how she's been all winter.  The reason for her sounding better is that they sold their house and bought a rancher in a gated community. B and I have thought about doing that but we want to find one with RV parking.  My friend's real estate agent has such a place listed and they're having an open house on Sunday, so guess where we're off to after church on Sunday????  Then when we get home our pastor has been doing a series on "love, marriage, sex and singles" so he's arranged a "date night" for the couples in our church...knowing our pastor, it's going to be interesting!!!

Between computers, travel plans, and thinking of buying and selling and moving, I tell you my brain has been working overtime!!!

My computer was delivered.  I plugged it in and was doing fine till I tried to connect to the wireless internet...couldn't find the right spots to click on so phoned my friend.  We went up there and it was a learning curve for him as well since he's never worked on Windows 8.  We did get some things figured out and now I find I have to also get used to a new keyboard...keep hitting the wrong keys and have to really look for things like the delete key!  I did figure out Skype and talked to my cousin and I've set up some "favorites", so I think I'm doing quite well!!!

Yesterday we went to our oldest grand daughter's ukulele concert and it was fabulous!!!!  She and her dad (he works on the sound board for the concert) had to stay for the evening concert so our daughter and the other 3 grandkids went back to their place, ordered Chinese food and had a feast while we visited.  My sister had given me some clothes for the youngest and C had so much fun trying on all the clothes...she was so impressed with them!!!

Long time of not Blogging

The last 2 years have been crazy around here.  Things have hopefully settled down and now I'd like to see if I can get around to blogging again.  I really enjoyed it at the time so hopefully will again.

Recap of my life for the past two years:

We're still getting out in our trailer and enjoying our Beachwood and Thousand Trails memberships.

Mom had lung cancer and I ended up spending a lot of time with her...talking, doing her shopping, cooking, meeting with home care nurses...anything I could do to make her life easier.  She passed away eight months ago and I still miss her terribly.  It's been quite a job cleaning out all her earthly possessions and it's made me realize that I end up "collecting" just as much junk!!!  Got to make things easier for our kids when we go so I've been on a campaign to de-junk....got a feeling it's going to take me several years!!!

My laptop computer was giving me problems so a friend cleaned it up for me but it's still not working right so I ordered a new one.  Of course I don't know too much about computers so he recommended which one I should get.  I ordered it and have been tracking its travels to me.  I should get it today.  In the meantime my cousin's son-in-law asked if he could look at my old laptop and he did all kinds of stuff to it and hooked it up to an external monitor and it's working really good right now...still looking forward to my new one though.