June 10 - 14 Tornado aftermath and more rain

June 10
We woke up fairly early and we still don't have power. Hope it comes back soon, we need coffee in the morning! We looked around the neighbourhood from the house and there is lots of leaves and branches down but no trees that we can see from here. At 8:30 we have power again, yay! Coffee time and then we'll go for a walk around to check things out.

Close to the power poles

A block from our house, closer to the lake

Lots of firewood if anyone has a saw...

My leg is still pretty stiff so I only walked for a short ways but Leslie kept going to get some exercise and see more storm damage. There are plenty of trees down but we haven't seen a ton of damage to houses so I guess that's the bright side. We got about an inch of rain yesterday so there is tons of standing water. Forecast is for more rain and high wind so we'll see how that turns out.

Leslie got back to the house and as promised the rain had started with a moderate wind. I was doing a blog post and we both just had a relax day. Can't do much with the weather like this. Leslie was straightening out our bed and found Smoky, we had let him in earlier this morning and he disappeared....

Pretty happy under the bed, can't hear the wind

We did a second walk later that afternoon during a weather break. Just a short walk to stretch a bit and get some air. Supposed to rain all night and wind to gust to 90 km/h or almost 60 mph.

June 11

Okay, not something I like to discuss but a necessary evil I believe. I have 3 friends that are now fighting or have experienced colon cancer so having a colonoscopy is a good way to detect problems early. My appointment is for 11:30 today and Les is dropping me off at 10 because she has a hearing test in St Paul at 11a.m. I had to do the prep last night and this morning which is the worst part of the whole procedure. Enough said about that. Everything went well and Leslie picked me up afterwards. Her hearing is not too bad and she goes to an ear, nose and throat doctor at the end of July to figure out an ear plugging issue that's been bugging her. We drove home so I can eat. Haven't eaten for 27 hours and I am starving! We both had a relax day inside and I ate lots. The wind is blowing hard and the rain hasn't stopped. Steve and Dianne are still in Edmonton and they are living with their slides closed because of high wind. She still didn't get the lightning she was looking for. Sorry buddy.

June12

Woke up to more rain and high wind again. Supposed to die down today finally. Leslie is cleaning the house and shining everything in case we get a viewing while we're gone. We are packing to go back to Pineridge and then we'll leave first thing tomorrow. Thankfully by the afternoon the weather is way better and we can load up without the heavy rain, still windy but not too bad.

Flattering pic Les!

We got a bunch of stuff in the truck and strapped down for the trip. The basket swing will be nice by our fire pit so we are moving that and the wood stand/firewood. Lots of room with the hitch out. 

June 13

Messaged Steve & Dianne this morning to wish them safe travels. They are leaving for their cross Canada adventures today from Edmonton. Have a great trip and no more problems guys! Check out their blog link to see their trip, no doubt it will be fantastic.

We got on the road by 9'ish headed for PGR (Pineridge Golf Resort) with our load of stuff. Beauty day today. Perfect. We pulled in to our site and right behind us is our cement contractor, Clint. He is here to start work on our garage pad right now! Awesome timing! He's a great guy and his crew works really hard. In 7 hours we went from a big patch of driveway to ready for concrete. Only 3 guys and they had some trouble with the packer. Great work boys!

Boom! Done in 7 hours

Les and I unloaded all the wood and the swing etc. We sat and had a fire and a frosty beverage while the guys worked. Felt a little guilty but soon got over it.

Wood stand and cover and the swing, nice!

Clint and his crew left around 8:30 p.m. They work incredibly long days while the sun is shining. Leslie and I had a nice relaxing evening at the fire. It's nice here when you can just relax. Next year should be great! With that cement pad in place that means we have a garage and deck to build this summer.

June 14

We're heading back to Bonnyville today. We got done what needed to be done here at PGR so back to B'ville and the deck project. We stopped at RV Pub & Grill for breakfast this time. I had a breakfast club sandwich that was really good and Leslie had the traditional bacon and eggs. Top notch food! Worth a stop at this place and we will be back again, no doubt.

I look way too happy but great breakfast

We are not in a hurry today so we came back to PGR and double checked the rig before leaving. We drove through our phase to check out some of the other sites. Everyone is working to get their sites fixed up in the new development. It's going to be so nice in a few short years!

Fresh paint on the new tennis/ pickleball courts

Just across the road from us, community firepit and swings

Things are really coming together here and it's looking so much better. If we could just get the trains to stop blowing the horn at the road crossing.... life is good. (Parkland County is actually persuing a change with CN Rail to install crossing arms at the crossings in the county. If they have arms plus the lights and bells then they don't have to blow the horn. That would be huge here!)

We did some exploring on the way home and drove more north and then east through the town of Morinville. Drove past Villeneuve airport which is surprisingly large for a country airport. They have an old Pacific Western 737 parked off the airfield by the road and I want to get a picture of it. I used to fuel those jets when I was a baggage handler in Penticton in my teens. Cool memory. We had a nice trip home in great weather and when we got home we kicked in gear to prep the front deck for Thompsons Water Seal tomorrow morning. This is a big one that is bugging Leslie because she wanted to do it earlier but we just didn't have time yet. It will improve the look of the house as you walk up by so much. That is if we get another viewing. The market in Bonnyville is so slow it's killing us. Every bit helps we think so we'll kick back tonight and get going first thing tomorrow, but that's another day.

June 6 - 9, 2018 On our own at Pineridge

June 6
It was Steve and Dianne's last night with us yesterday and we were having a pretty good time by the fire. Woke up feeling like maybe there was Fireball shots?? We didn't get out of hand but sure glad we aren't doing the walk/run thing this morning. We messaged them and they are getting their rig ready to move so we'll just let them work while we have coffees and breakfast.
At around 11:30 we all got together outside for big hugs and handshakes to say good bye for what may be a long time. Our paths might not cross until winter in Arizona actually. They aren't going far today, just to Kinsmen RV in St. Albert, a nice park right on the edge of St Albert. 
Earlier this morning I (Dave) did a Google search for physiotherapists in Stony Plain. I want to confirm what Leslie had found online and make sure my calf injury was nothing worse than a pull/strain. I managed to snag a cancellation at Landmark Physio for 2:20 pm. Perfect. I did a blog post while Leslie cleaned the trailer, injured is good so far! We went to Stony and I got the news I had hoped for, Colleen (the therapist) did a full assessment and said she believed it is a muscle strain and told me some stretches to do and that I should be good in 4-6 weeks. Helping crew Ailsa's race should be a go as long as I don't re-injure. In other words, take it easy for a few days. After the appointment Leslie treated me to a nice lunch at Edo across the parking lot. Thanks Les! On the way home we did a scenic tour to the dock at Seba Beach, beauty day and the water looked so nice.

Don't push!

June 7
Today we had a couple easy things to do, well I do, Leslie is shovelling a pile of gravel over the fabric we put down between our trailer and the neighbours site. She planted some shrubs before so now she can put gravel over the cloth.

Shrubs planted, very nice

Gravel pile moved and cloth covered, nice

I weed whipped and while Leslie was shovelling gravel she also took some laundry over to the laundromat onsite. Multi-tasker! We don't take it real easy for long I guess. We went back inside and started packing our stuff to head back to Bonnyville this afternoon. First we want to go over to RV Pub & Grill on the highway to Seba. The food is great and they have a nice patio, a great spot for lunch today. It's a true Mom and Pop shop because the folks that run it are serving and cooking. Really good food, check it out if you're in the area. Oh and they have a driving range and campground too!

Nice patio and a Corona!

Such a nice day we put the top down on the Mustang

We headed back to the rig and packed everything into the 2 vehicles, made sure the trailer was secure for a few days and got on the road to Bonnyville. More grass to cut and yardwork! On the way home it was impossible not to see the devastation caused by the tent caterpillars in this area. Absolutely unbelievable!! The province really needs to start spraying for these things. This is year 5. I should have stopped for the picture but didn't. Shows some of the trees completely stripped of leaves.

There are 100's of acres of trees like this, unreal to see.

June 8

We've been gone for over a week and the lawn is tall. Lots of rain and lots of sun now and it's growing great. After a good breakfast we both headed out to mow and weed whip. Les doesn't like being on the slopes on the tractor so I usually do the edges and then we trade and she mows the flatter areas with the tractor while I walk around with the weed whipper. If we work together we are usually done in about 6 hours! Somebody please buy our acreage!

We got everything done and had a break and noticed a few clouds building to the west. Hmm looks like a good ol' Alberta thunder storm. Where's Dianne? This is what she is waiting for.

Dumping lots of rain

After it passed, getting it at Paul's house

We're done for today outside so make some supper and chill out in the basement sounds like a good plan. My leg is getting better but I can feel it after all the yard work. 

June 9

Leslie is working in her flower beds this morning, they look nice when everything blooms for sure. All perennials so we hope it is a extra thing for buyers to consider. I did some cleanup around the yard and when Leslie was ready we went over to Howard's place to pick up our walk behind rototiller. The trees in our little tree farm are big enough now that I can't go down the rows with the Kubota anymore. Paul wants to borrow it too after we're done. It worked good of course but my calf got a good shot while hanging onto the tiller. Enough work for today! We need to get ready for a party this afternoon for Warren & Corrine. It's their 50th birthdays and their 30th anniversary all in one!! Should be a great time.

We headed over to their place around 4:30. They own a quarter section about 5 km's from our house so it was a quick drive. We greeted a bunch of people with hugs and handshakes as there are a bunch of folks we haven't seen since last year. Warren had 2 big tent shelters set up in case of rain and one of them had the food set out while the other had tables and chairs, nice set up. We opened a beer and were enjoying visiting when everyone started commenting on the sky and the clouds. There was a lot of movement in the clouds. Both east to west and north to south, there was a tornado warning for our area and one had touched down about 60 km's away already. We all kept an eye on the sky now.

 Getting dark and moving fast

Watching and waiting to see if we have to move

Well it got worse, way worse. Both tents had to come down and everyone scrambled to get food inside the trailers and get their awnings down also. The white tent got hit hardest. We got the tarp off the blue one in a hurry but the poles on the white tent were all bent and the tarp ripped in places before we got that one down. It's in the trash now unfortunately. Leslie and I went over to our truck and we had to move it because the poplar trees behind us were bending and cracking threatening to fall on the truck. That's when I heard the fellow parked beside us say "we have rotation right above us!" It's a real tornado!! In Bonnyville! Well instead of moving the truck we decided to drive home fast. Margaret is home by herself and the cat is in the garage, weird thoughts maybe but we wanted to get home fast. I wanted my truck in the garage out of the hail that had started coming down. It was a crazy unreal drive! Couldn't hardly hear what Leslie was saying in the truck between the rain and hail, the wind was pushing us around and I was going as fast as I could to get in the garage. Exciting but scary at the same time.

Hardest rain we've ever seen

Holy crap!!!

When we did get home the power was out so the garage door wouldn't lift. I pushed it up manually and Les drove the truck inside, we were soaked and getting hit by hail, not cool. Smoky was freaking out in the garage and ran in the house the second the door opened. He went under our bed and stayed there. Margaret was REALLY happy to see us and we all just stood there and watched the storm happen. Thankfully it was not a major tornado but there was plenty of damage between Bonnyville and Cold lake (about 50 kms north)

Hail piling on the deck

It was over in about a half hour after we got home. Luckily no damage at our house but we have some branches and debris to clean up, too easy. Lots of rain fell in a very short time and hail is piled by the front door, that's never happened before. Our front porch is 8 feet deep, hail was flying sideways to get to the door.

All the way in under the porch overhang

Plants took a beating

We don't know when the power will come back on and everything is settled down in our area so we messaged Paul & Di to see what was going on at the party. Everyone had gathered at Warren's parent's house to have dinner there. So nice of them to have everyone over to their house. They have a nice large kitchen/dining room and a sun room that seats many people. Good food and great people, we're awfully lucky really.

We ate way too much but it was so good. I couldn't decide on the carrot cake or the chocolate cake so of course I had both, absolutely stuffed. Leslie had more willpower and had only chocolate cake. She's so strong lol!

Everyone slowly moved back to the original party spot for a fire and some adult beverages but Leslie and I decided to call it a night. We drove to the fire area but there were huge puddles from all the rain and the mosquitos were feasting on us. We said our good byes and drove back home for a quiet night with no power. It was quite a day with all the storm stuff and we're tired so we called it a night and went to bed. Hopefully that's it for bad weather for a bit.

The Shed Move June 4&5th, 2018

June 4 
After a quick coffee and breakfast Dave and I headed outside to finalize our plan of attack for moving the shed. Steve came over to give us a hand and we managed to get it jacked up and the rollers placed underneath.

Steve wondering how on earth this is going to work out

One roller down, one to go

Once we had two of the rollers in it was time to try to turn the shed 90 degrees. Umm...why did we build this thing so solid. Man that's heavy! We couldn't even budge it sideways. We need a new plan. We discussed trying to find a picker truck (expensive option) or a flat-deck tow truck (less expensive option). Both would be much easier to find in Bonnyville as we know more people there. After a quick Google search we located a towing company not too far away but they can't come out for a few hours. Steve and Dianne headed back to their rig and Dave and I sat down for a quick snack. While looking out the window Dave decided he could probably pull the shed sideways with his truck. We fed a pipe through the skids on the bottom of the shed and attached the tow rope to our truck and slid the shed sideways. IT'S WORKING!!

We called Steve and Dianne back over and decided the four of us would try to push the shed to the back of the lot. To move we needed all four rollers underneath. Unfortunately there is a seemingly small hill by the trees. It's actually quite a large incline when you're trying to push a very solid shed up it! 

Hmmm. what to do?

We need a mechanical advantage. Dave's truck is too big, way too much hassle to off-load Steve's quad (which is maybe too small). Our neighbour Bert has a truck and it's just the right size! Yay!

Bert doing a walk around before hooking up

Ready to pull

Bert pulled it easily up the incline while we moved the rollers and guided him so he would still have room to get his truck out once the shed moved up the incline.

Tight squeeze to back out between the trees and our trailer (not the best pic to show this)

Thanks Bert for saving the day!! Still about 20-25 feet to go.We all put our backs into pushing the shed towards the back of the lot. Once close we did some ground levelling and added some 4X6'es for the shed to sit on. Now for the final push.... and SNAP! Dave is down. He says it felt like someone hit him in the leg with a stick. Turns out he seriously strained his calf. We are so close but it doesn't matter, we are done for today.

So close! Needs to move back a few feet :(

Steve and Dianne came in for a beverage and we got Dave's leg up.

Ice pack and elevation

After, they went back to their rig for supper. Dave and I ate and then I did some research to figure out how to treat his injury. We figured out that it wasn't an Achilles tear, so that's good news. Seems to be a muscle strain or tear of his calf. Hopefully we can help it to heal quickly as we are support crew for Ailsa very soon in Lake Tahoe plus Dave has his first 10 km race coming up July 14th. Never a good time to be injured but right now is extra bad timing.

Margaret looking after her Dad

Tuesday morning Dave was in a fair bit of pain and limping pretty badly but we got out there to finish the shed move anyways. As we were putting on our shoes Dave asked if our helpers (Steve and Dianne) were here yet. I said "You mean our saviours?" That progressed into "Our saviours, from site 11, Colibaba be thy name." (*No offence to anyone for using the Lord's Prayer as our rhyme) We encountered a couple issues in the final few feet. First off, the rollers weren't quite high enough to lift the shed over the 4x6's we had put down as a base. We solved this by jacking up a bit higher and adding 2x4's as a ramp.

Steve placing the ramp under the roller

Our other issue was that every time we pushed backward the shed wanted to move to the side. As you can see in the picture above there is very little room between the tree and the roof. This means every time we push back we also need to push sideways. Dave couldn't push because of his leg so he hooked up a ratchet strap to a tree and helped by "pulling" from the opposite side. Eventually we got it just where we wanted it. What a huge job! Thanks to our friends for all the help. Sorry about your finger Dianne. Hope it's not purple for too long.

Shed at the back leaving room for the upcoming garage

Enough of this hard physical labour! Let's eat. We jumped in the truck and headed to Original Joe's in Stony Plain. Great service and the food was really good!

Much more fun than moving a shed! lol

After a short drive we went back to Pineridge to see if Dave could help Steve replace his broken rear-view camera in his truck door. Dave had replaced the one in the tailgate of our truck so he was hopeful he could help Steve out.

Such an impressive rig!

Unfortunately the door did not come apart quite as easily as hoped and they eventually decided it was a job for the professionals. 

Margaret looking for the screw we dropped...lol

Since we had had such a big lunch we decided on a smaller supper. I had a small salad leftover, Dianne had some chips and we all thought hotdogs cooked over the fire sounded just right!

Pretty fancy supper for our last night together for a while

A little woodpecker looking for supper too

We made a fairly early night of it as Steve and Dianne are heading out in the morning and had to start packing up. So glad they made Pineridge one of their stops on their cross Canada journey. Very grateful for their help to move our shed and we hope their trip across Canada is a safe and happy one! Cheers guys.