April 16 - 23, 2019 Pineridge to Bonnyville at our house.

April 16
Our plan today is to make the trip to Bonnyville with the truck. It will be good to see all the family and friends there too. We also need to get our tax info to the accountant and get that filed before the end of the month. Derek and Devan are still living at the house but they are slowly packing their stuff and moving to Crane Lake where Derek bought his new place. Very exciting! Derek is working dayshift and Devan is working nights but he says he sleeps like a rock so we can do what we need to do during the day and he won't hear us. Thanks buddy.

Wabuman Lake is still frozen over. We came back too soon.

We left Pineridge about 11am and headed east on highway 16, a 4 lane freeway through Edmonton, to a small town named Mundare, the sausage capitol of Alberta! They even built a giant ring of sausage in the town square to commemorate their sausage.

How can you not include the worlds biggest

ring of sausage in your blog!

There is a butcher shop there that has been in business since the early 1950's and they are bigger and better than ever. The same family still runs the business. It's called Stawnichy's. (pronounced Stuh-neech- ee's) Mr Stawnichy passed away a couple years ago but his wife is still in the office every day or behind the counter. Fabulous place!

A must stop if you are near Mundare.

Much bigger than it used to be.

We made a brief stop for some garlic sausage, of course, some of their unbelievably good jerky bites (the little bits that they cut off while making beef jerky, about nickel sized, like jerky treats for humans) and a couple racks of their barbecue ready ribs. The ribs are smoked, seasoned and already have sauce on them. Just put them on the grill for a bit to heat them and they fall off the bones. So good! That's what we are making for supper tonight.
Mundare is a little over an hour from our house so before long we were back at our other "home" outside of Bonnyville.

The boys trucks in front of our house.

The "pond" is pretty full. Neighbours driveway is barely out of the water!

It's good to be home.

Derek is at work and Devan is sleeping downstairs still so we quietly brought in some of our stuff and then took Margaret for a walk around the old 'hood. We had a great walk and when we got back Leslie threw in some of the laundry we brought with us from Pineridge. Yes, we could have done it there but we don't have to pay for the machines here. The first load in the dryer she noticed a weird noise on startup but it went away and seemed to work fine. Cool. Devan was up by this time and after a quick workout in the garage (they have probably $10 - $12k worth of gear in the garage) he showered and left for work. Derek got home just after 7 and we had supper ready for the three of us. We grilled 2 racks of ribs from Stawnichy's. Very good. We had a nice dinner and talked lots with Derek while catching up on each others news. We haven't seen him since January in Arizona. Sadly no pics, sorry buddy. It was an early night for all 3 of us because we are just tired from our day and Derek leaves the house at 5:20 am to get to work for 6:15. I don't miss those days one bit.

April 17

It was a weird night sort of because Derek is in our old room and we stayed in the spare bedroom. Don't think we have ever stayed in there before. He offered to switch rooms but hey, he has been living here and we are only staying a few nights so it's no big deal. 

We got busy printing what we needed to take to the accountant and organizing our morning in town. We also made an appointment to meet my nephew Kevin's old boss from Calgary at the Credit Union in Bonnyville. Randy and his wife just moved to B'ville in February, during the worst cold snap on record, so we might be able to share some info about the area. Plus we get to see the interior of the new  Credit Union building they finished last fall while we were gone. It's impressive for a small town.

We stopped by the hospital for Leslie to get some stuff and luckily our friend Di is working so we gave her big hugs after being away for so long. As we are there chatting Paul, her husband, walks in too! Awesome timing buddy so we get to say hi to both of them. Paul is slowly getting better after a trying winter but he is cancer free!! That's fabulous news.

We finished all the errands in town and headed home. Leslie had put in a second load of wash when we left and switched it to the dryer when we got back. She started the dryer and it made a loud thump and then a loud squealing noise and the drum wasn't moving. Perfect, I need something else to do lol. With the help of a Youtube video I took the dryer apart on the step in the garage. One step closer to the dump if need be. The problem turned out to be a seized roller on the left front corner of the drum. Leslie found the part online with 5 day delivery and got it ordered. I was able to clean and lubricate the old roller and make it work temporarily but it has a flat spot from sticking earlier so it rumbles like a train as it's turning. 

Lots of screws but got it working again.

Since I was feeling good about the dryer fix I jumped right into an attempt to fix the dishwasher door spring. Devan had explained yesterday that the door suddenly just dropped as he opened it a couple days ago. I hoped maybe the spring had just fallen off. Turns out there is a small rope with 2 fancy plastic ends that goes around a roller and attaches to the spring on one end and the door on the other. After 9 years in service the rope broke. My parts manager, Leslie, went online and found the exact one also with free shipping from LG and got that ordered. It will be a week and we are leaving so what to do in the meantime? Did I mention I grew up on a farm? I found a boot lace in a drawer in the garage. I told Les I saved that lace for a good reason, and made a new rope by tying the 2 ends together. Not rocket science right? It worked, not as good as a new one but it works for now. 2 for 2 !!

An old boot lace to the rescue.

We finished up our projects for the day and grabbed some takeout in town for supper tonight. We are going over to Kent & Rachelle's after supper to say hi and see the boys. They are real close to our place so it's easy to go over. More family time now that we are back in B'ville, awesome! 

Nathan & Leslie, man he's growing!

Dominic & Leslie, good stuff!

We talked and visited until it was bedtime for the boys and then came home. We watched a little TV and called it a day ourselves. It's good to be back.

April 18

One of the features we installed in our house was an oversize bathtub in the main bathroom. It's deep and 6 inches longer than a normal tub and Leslie loves having her bubble baths. We also have a tankless hot water heater so she can run all the hot water she wants and stay in there for as long as she wants. That's her plan for this morning, a nice long soak in the tub. She's earned it for sure. 

I went outside and started pruning some of the trees but it's already a little late in the season for that. They get to grow wild this year I guess. I switched to servicing the push mower and then cutting/bagging the grass around the house. I like to cut it short for the first cut and bag it to get out as much dead stuff as possible. It's a dusty, nasty job but I still enjoy doing it.

Leslie came out after her tub and did some stuff in her flower beds. It's a nice day today. We worked for a while and then decided to go watch Survivor on the laptop. We missed the last episode. Can't work all the time haha.

We had made plans to join Paul & Di and Alan & Denise for supper tonight at Paul's place. Leslie attempted to order Chinese food but the 2 places we like were both closed today. We switched it up to good ol' KFC. Haven't had that in a long time. We picked it up on the way over to their house and with big hugs and handshakes said hello to our friends we have missed over the winter.

Alan & Denise aka Gramma & Grandpa.

Enjoying a fire after dinner in their backyard.

We had a fantastic evening catching up and enjoying the fire. It cooled off lots after the sun went down so we called it a night and went home. Good times, good friends and KFC!!

April 19

We are heading back to Pineridge today as we have Easter dinner plans with Leslie's family over the weekend. We loaded a bunch of stuff in the truck that we want to move to our other garage and headed out. The truck is packed full inside and in the back. Slow but sure we getting the stuff moved over.

This time as we got close to Mundare we called our friends Scott & Leanne who live beside the golf course there. They are home so we are stopping by for a visit with them along the way. They're awesome people and we stayed for a couple hours catching up with them. Sorry guys, completely forgot to grab a picture. They retired from Esso too but Scott decided to do a short contract job with Esso for a few months. That's a nasty four letter word you guys lol. Big hugs and handshakes and we headed for Pineridge. We unloaded all the stuff we had packed in the truck and I filled the water from our neighbours water hydrant. It's still not thawed out on our loop. We watched some TV and called it a day. Back in a king bed again, yay!

April 20

We are taking it easy this morning and having a slow start to the day. Leslie is going to Stony Plain with the Mustang for groceries and I'm going to hook up with the property owner, Jeff, to see if we can help Mother Nature thaw out the water supply. I figured out that if we hook a hose from our neighbour's lot #10 to my lot #9 that we can pressurize the whole zone and everyone will have water at a lower pressure and volume. It might even help thaw the ice plug with water movement from both sides. The big drawback with that is the forecast is for freezing temps over night for a few days so the jumper hose will freeze and we are pooched again. Leslie and I are leaving tomorrow and I don't trust someone else to depressure and disconnect the hose every night. It could be very costly if our hydrants split because someone else forgot or whatever. Our condo AGM is next weekend and it would be great to have a water supply so people can come stay in their units. The story continues.

When Leslie got back from shopping she was in a lot of pain in her stomach on the right side. It got bad enough she could only lay curled up on the couch and she was sweating pretty bad. We hopped in the car and drove back to Stony Plain to the hospital emergency room to get her checked by a doctor. We're thinking gall baldder-ish type thing. Luckily it wasn't too crazy busy at the hospital and we didn't have to wait too long to see a doctor. 

I talked to an older fella beside me that was there because he dropped a set of elk antlers on his head while trying to hang them as decorations on his fence! He said they were record setting antlers that his dad got in 1935 or something and were really big. He had a couple nasty cuts on his head for sure. Lucky he didn't kill himself with those antlers! Plus he fell off the ladder he was on while working. Just when you think you're having a bad day.....

The doctor ran some tests on Leslie which all came back good and he prescribed some meds to calm her stomach pain. They kept us for a while just to watch her and then let us go around 7pm. I think we were there for about 5 hours total and she has an ultrasound test booked for 8am on Monday just to be sure of things. The doctor told her to limit what she eats for Easter dinner to just turkey and veggies, no gravy. He said she could have wine in moderation too so she'll be okay lol. We went back to the rig and basically went to bed. She slept good after the meds etc so that was worth the trip.

April 21

Happy Easter! Hmm no bunnies or eggs at our house? Wotten wascal wabbit haha. (that's from Bugs Bunny if you're not old enough to remember.)

Leslie is feeling okay, still sore stomach muscles but not like yesterday so after a slow morning we packed an overnight bag and headed to Lorin's house for Easter dinner with the family. It has been ages since all of Leslie's family has gotten together and good for Lorin to set all this up. We got to Lorin's about 1ish and helped where we could to get everything ready. She has almost everything done already. Brother Dave and his wife Kerry are bringing the turkey already cooked, Lorin has homemade perogies and cabbage rolls and Caeser salad and buns and...... well everyone brought a ton of stuff. It is a fabulous dinner plan. So much food. All the family is supposed to show up around 3pm for a couple drinks and then an early dinner because some folks work on Monday. 

Dave & Kerry were first to arrive, and then everyone else showed up soon after. The oldest brother Dan and his wife Celia, Ryan & Ashtyn, Jessica & Michael (Leslie's niece and nephew) and of course Sam. Plus all the dogs. Four in total! Lorin's cat's are in hiding! Margaret doesn't mind the smaller dogs but when Dan brought his beagle who is only just over a year old, Margaret wants no part of that energy!

Mike, Sam & Lorin

Ashtyn, Ryan, Dan, and the 2 Daves lol. I'm taller.

Ashtyn, Ryan drinking and Dan.

All together in one place. L:R Dave, Leslie, Lorin & Dan. Charlton siblings.

We had a really nice afternoon and a great dinner. Everyone pitched in to help clean up and in the early evening some of the gang started heading home. Ryan, Ashtyn, Sam and Mike stayed for some games and Game of Thrones at 9pm. We played a game called "What Do You Meme". Even I like this game and I usually dislike games. This one can be hilarious as you match the cards with sayings to a picture from the deck. It was a fun way to enjoy some time together and wait for G.O.T.

Game of Thrones seating.

Of course after the show it was home time and bed time for everyone. Leslie and I are having a sleepover. Big hugs all around until we see them again.

On an incredibly sad note, as we were getting ready for bed Leslie got a text from Diana that Paul's older brother, Dennis, passed away this evening ending his own struggle with cancer. Our deepest sympathies to their whole family. He will be sadly missed.

Dennis Levasseur.

Treasure the people you hold dear, you never know what twists life will throw at you.

April 22

We set an alarm for 6:45 so we can be in Stony Plain for Leslie to get her ultrasound exam at 8am. We grabbed a coffee and gave Lorin a hug and thank you for a great day and night. We arrived at the hospital right on time and they did Leslie's ultrasound. The emergency room was really busy this morning and we were told to wait there for the results and a consult with the doctor. We waited quite a while unfortunately. We talked to the doctor about noon and left there around 12:30. Everything checked out fine which is great but what caused the original pain?? The doctor thinks it may be a diet issue and recommended doing some experimenting such as limiting carbs or dairy etc. We shall see.

We got home and the sun was out so we got busy raking up leaves at the back of our lot. Some good exercise after sitting around for the morning. 

Before.....

After !

Enough bags for a date to the dump where they compost.

We puttered around doing some other yard stuff and then took Margaret for a nice walk around the golf course. It's not open yet so it's okay to walk there. We had a real nice supper of leftover turkey dinner that we scooped from Lorin and then just relaxed inside for the night.

April 23

Leslie spent the morning on the laptop and the phone organizing her return to work stuff. She needs to reinstate her licenses and register for the training she needs to refresh before she gets to take an x-ray. She needs to renew stuff like CPR, patient lifting procedures and read some of the 920 emails she has collected over the winter.

I went outside and tried our water again to no avail. Warm up already! I loaded the bags of leaves and raked up a little more that blew in getting ready for our "dump date".  Oh I know how to impress a lady lol. On our way back we stopped at RV Pub & Grill now that they are open for the season. They have really good home cooking style food there. Part of our date.

Not fancy but good food and beer in Seba Beach.

Tried to include the pelican, a little backlit ....

When we got back to the rig our next door neighbour, Lynn, was there for the afternoon to level their "new to them" toyhauler. We had offered to help because their truck doesn't even have a fifth wheel hitch yet. They got their trailer delivered to the site. The delivery truck got it close to the right spot but we need to move it a little and block up one side a bit. No biggy for our dually. We got that done and had a tour of their new rig. It's a very nice, gently used 2014 Heartland toyhauler. We chatted for a while and then let Lynn get back to work on the inside organizing the rig. We  just chilled for the afternoon and then made supper. Kent gave us some frozen Walleye fillets that he caught a few weeks ago in northern Saskatchewan while ice fishing. They were absolutely delicious. We coupled that with a monster greek salad that Leslie had made and a nice glass of white wine.

Living like kings! Next was the lazy boys, sweats and slippers (toasty toe slippers by Dianne ;) in front of the TV. That's a good day.

That's another week in the life so I'll post this and try to keep hammering out posts to catch up. We'll be doing a change in format soon because it's supposed to be a more travel/ sight seeing blog. You don't need to hear how many times I cut the grass or every day that Leslie went to work. We'll try to stick to the fun stuff. Oh but you will see how much grass I took off the 3 acres on the first cut with my tractor and bagger!! So exciting, stay tuned! Haha.

Cheers everybody :)