June 15-19, 2018: Here, There and Everywhere!

Friday morning we got moving pretty quick as we want to stain the front porch today and the weather has a history of being beautiful in the morning and then raining in the afternoon. Hopefully that won't happen today and the stain will have time to dry. Dave tackled the porch with a stain pad and I took on the trim work and lattice with a brush. 

Before

and after

Before

and after. 

I think it's a huge improvement. It just perks up the whole house. But please remind me...if we ever have lattice again, go with plastic! It's a huge job staining the real wood stuff every year. Since Dave finished way ahead of me he grabbed the pressure washer and started cleaning the back deck so we could get to it tomorrow morning. 

Do we know how to have fun or what?? lol Since I was still working on the front Dave decided to do a mini tune-up on the BBQ and pressure wash it too. Yay!! As you can see the weather held up nicely so we rewarded ourselves with a nice long walk before coming in for showers, a beverage and supper. We both had a craving for something sweet but almost everything we own is in the trailer. I managed to find some oatmeal and cinnamon and figured out a way to make cookies with what else I had on hand. Not my best cookies but we ate them! ;)

Off to bed early. Start again early tomorrow. 

So we thought we got at it early until we got this text from our cement contractor at Pineridge. They must have been up really early to have the pour fully completed by 8:30 am.

That's Clint, well the back of his head at least.

 They will be back in a few days to pour the parking apron. Time for us to get out on the deck. 

Before

During

After

Before

After

Now the deck looks so good it really makes the lawn look terrible. It just never ends...lol! We got this done by noon and left for Paul and Di's. We are helping them with some yard work today too. They also need a lot of help cleaning up after the recent tent caterpillar infestation. We spent the day doing everything from prepping and roto tilling the garden and raspberry patch, scrubbing down the garage doors (nasty caterpillar slime) and scraping down cocoons from under the deck to washing windows. It was a very productive day. We finally all sat down to a cool beverage and a short visit before heading home for a well deserved quiet evening.

Denise (Grandma) and Dave

Allan (Grandpa), Paul

Paul, Di and Warren

Happy Fathers Day!! Sunday we got at it again. The day started with mowing the lawn. As usual Dave jumped on the tractor and I handled the push mower. I also threw in a load of laundry and finally remembered to turn on the oven to self clean. It was WAY overdue. Blech!! It sure stinks up the house but it was a nice day and we planned on being outside for most of it.  By 1:00 we had wrapped up most of our projects so I showered up and went to town for a few groceries and to grab the mail and run a few more errands. We are driving back to Pineridge in the morning as we are leaving for Lake Tahoe on Wednesday and need to pack, but we got a better offer. Dave's step daughter, Lisa, invited us over for a BBQ to celebrate Fathers Day. Yay!

Shelley and Ron

Dimitri, Donna, Kyle, Dave and Lisa

We had a great meal and a fantastic, fun and "relaxing" visit. Thanks so much for hosting us all Lisa :)

Monday morning we drove back to Lisa's to pick up our car (yup, we chose to be responsible and not drive home) and got all packed up once back at home. We arrived at Pineridge just as Clint and his crew were finishing up the prep for our garage apron pour. 

Ready for cement in the morning!

Clint and the gang showed up at 7:00 am Tuesday!!! Man, I don't think those guys actually sleep all summer.

All finished :)

Margaret's paw prints...lol

We need to drop Margaret off at Sam's place.We are spending the night at Barry and Ailsa's so we can take just  one vehicle to  the airport for our trip to Lake Tahoe for her Western States 100 Ultra Marathon. Of course we had a slight delay in getting there...

Super long train that stopped dead for a very long time

After sitting for over 5 minutes we baled out and went through Seba Beach instead. Good choice as the other end of the train was still sitting dead still under the overpass when we got back onto the highway.  Next stop is Sam's on the southeast side of Edmonton, about 75 minutes from Pineridge. Next stop is St. Albert which is northwest of Edmonton; about a 50 minute drive. We finally got to Barry and Ailsa's and had an excellent supper and visit. Thanks guys, what a great meal!

Me, Ailsa (athlete wine binger)and Barry. Chocolate cake and red wine :)

Isn't this how all elite athletes prepare for a major travel day before running 100 miles up and down mountains?? Crazy. We did manage to get to bed early as we need to be up at 4:45 am. Uggghhh! Next stop...California! Very excited for Western States 100 but not 41C/104F temps!