June 15 - July 1, 2019 Happy Canada Day!!

Leslie and I have been keeping fairly busy with projects at both places we own right now; Bonnyville and Pineridge Resort. We have really let the blog slide lately because we are doing other things.  Lots of days I'm mowing grass or some other yard project and Leslie is either at work at the hospital or doing some other task here. We do try to have a little fun but we are a tad obsessive about getting things done! 

June 15
Happy Father's Day! I don't have "biological" kids of my own but I have been very fortunate to be part of the lives of a few "kids" in my life and they make this a happy day for me. I always get a text or call from Lisa. Graham texted when he woke up from working nights and Ryan invited us over for supper and a sleepover at his place. Sam is also coming over and it's great that they recognize me on Fathers Day. We had a great barbecue with a few adult beverages and lots of laughs afterwards. Great night but not one picture of it.
After so many dark and stormy days it was good to enjoy a nicer one.

Lots of days like this lately.

June 16
We had a quick breakfast at a new Tim Horton's in their neighbourhood and then headed for PGR with a stop in Spruce Grove for groceries. In the afternoon, Leslie's brother Dan, his wife Celia and their beagle puppy Bingley came out to PGR to see where we are and have a look around. Again we didn't take one picture of the visit. Our minds are just not on the blog, sorry guys. We had a nice supper, great visit and nice enough weather to sit outside!
June 17
I have an appointment at Stony Plain Chrysler for 8 am to get the clunk noise in my rear differential looked at again. It's been clunking for a year or more but the mechanic couldn't find the source. They are trying again because it's really bad now.
Leslie picked me up at the dealership and we went for a really good breakfast at Ricky's All Day Grill. We drove back to PGR because my truck is going to be a while even before they get it inside. It angers me that they want it dropped off at 8 but likely won't see the shop before noon?? We stopped at Home Depot for some retail therapy. We picked up some shelving and a 48" LED light bar for over my bench. Can't wait to see how that looks! Back to PGR and some garage work. I got the light installed and organized the bench area. I like it!

Nice and bright over the work area.

 Leslie put all the new plastic shelves together and screwed them to the wall so we don't knock them over on her car. She did a great job and now we can store all the stuff off the floor in case water gets in.

I called the dealership at 2:00 and I was ready to go pick up my truck if it's not in the shop. Turns out it is in the shop and they found the problem finally. Both gears in the diff are chipped and the pieces are tearing up seals etc. so the mechanic tore it apart and it's off the road for a week until the parts arrive. So glad it will be fixed this time and luckily it's all warranty!! Super bonus. This repair would be thousands of dollars.

We got some projects done and some good news on the truck so what to do now. How about sitting in the sun and a beer?

Chillin'

Hangin with my pal and Margaret too ;)

June 18

I came up with a bright idea to get my Harley out to PGR.  I would catch a ride with one of the boys I used to work with from Edmonton to B'ville. Devan is going to give me a ride so Leslie is driving me to Sherwood Park to meet him at the Flying J right on highway 16. Devan is driving his brand spankin' new Ford F150 so it was a great and very comfy trip to the house. Thanks buddy for the ride. Beauty new ride. I cut the lawn with the small push mower and that was about it.

Leslie did some shopping on the way back to PGR and got some shoes for an upcoming wedding we're going to. She enjoyed an alone day at the rig and it was a really nice day too. Sunny and 23C/73F so she could enjoy some fresh air and sunshine.

June 19 

Leslie was greeted with another morning of rain at PGR. We have had so much rain this year it's ridiculous. She was woken up by a thunder storm in the middle of the night and it continues. 

Puddles forming all around the rig.

She sent me this after supper for the days total!

June 19

Bonnyville wasn't getting any of the downpour, it's about 3 1/2 hours away to the east. I was mowing grass on the new Toro mower while Leslie was telling me about all the rain. The new mower is so much faster!! Done in just over 2 hours, so nice. I spent the afternoon getting the bike ready for my trip back to PGR on Friday. That's the least likely day for more rain.

Ready to ride!

Along the way from Edmonton I had asked Devan to stop at Stawnichys Butcher Shop in Mundare so I could grab some ribs for my dinner while I was here. He's never stopped there so I bought him a rack of ribs as a thank you for the ride. They are delicious.

My dinner that night, I ate the other half of ribs too.

It's been raining off and on all day at PGR, the rain gauge is full now at 3 inches. Leslie is dumping the gauge so she can measure more rain. Glad I'm in Bville!

June 20

With the rain still continuing Leslie made a batch of soup and she made some muffins, all Keto friendly food. She's been doing awesome on this diet and she's lost over 15 pounds so far ! She looks great and she says she feels better too without all the carbs? I couldn't live without bread :)

Mixed berry muffins from almond flour and coconut oil.

Leslie packed an overnight bag and headed for her sister's place in the afternoon. Leslie and Lorin are having dinner with Leslie's old school pals from elementary school. Lorin is not drinking and is doing the driving, good thing I bet. Les has known these girls for 48 years! (since grade 4) They still try to meet up at least once per year to laugh their heads off and have a couple drinks. Dinner lasted close to 3 hours while they chatted and laughed. She tells me they drank lots of water ;) 

*Best infield ever! We played softball together for years too. First base-Michelle, second-Lornel, third-Wendy, shortstop-me. :)

L:R  Lorin, Leslie, Wendy, Lornel & Michelle. 

The weather in B'ville was not as bad so I spent my day mowing the hard to reach areas with the push mower and roto-tilling some weeds by the trees. I wanted to go for a Harley ride in the afternoon and I made it part way to Cold lake before it looked like I was going to get soaked so I turned around. Left the rain gear in the garage!!

I turned around early, don't want to get wet.

June 21

Leslie and her sister had a leisurely start to their day and then Lorin went in to work. Les drove back out to PGR and the rig and just did the usual stuff. At least no rain today! It totalled over 3 inches in 36 hours. 

I loaded all my gear on the bike and got ready to leave by 10:00. One last look at my awesome lawn lol.

Grass is nicely cut.....

Garden is weed free. Life is good.

The weather held out perfectly for my ride with no rain but it was cool. That's alright though. I stopped in St. Albert at a McD's for some cheeseburgers and a coffee. It was crazy loud inside so I just ate beside the bike with 2 seagulls watching my every move lol.

A Mcd's pit stop.

I pulled into PGR after 2 pm and unloaded all the stuff on the bike. That was a long first ride and my butt is sore haha. We just relaxed the rest of the day and that evening we watched the Edmonton Eskimos beat up on the BC Lions football team. The quarterback, Mike Reilly, moved from Edmonton to BC this off season and this was his first meeting with his old team. Took a beating I must say. Our winter travel buddies Randy & Shelley Hamilton know Mike Reilly personally and they were watching as well so we had a running text message going trash talking each other. Bittersweet victory for Edmonton as Reilly was dominated by the Edmonton defence. He can afford it now though. It's a nice contract.

June 22

It's another chore day at PGR, our focus now is more about landscaping and the lot itself. We need a couple loads of gravel soon. That will have to wait for a few weeks until we get back from B'ville again. I have a plan to run a 15k trail race on the 29th but my legs are really stiff and I am having trouble with my left hamstring again. Old guy issues I think? I booked a massage to see if they can work out the muscle stiffness. So we hopped in Leslie's car and drove to Stony Plain and I had a deep tissue massage on my legs for an hour while Leslie went for groceries and a beer/wine stop. We tried to book her in as well but they didn't have an opening. The massage therapist, Audrey-Lynn did a great job and my legs are a little sore but should feel better tomorrow hopefully.

When we got back to PGR we finally got a chance to sit on our neighbours deck and have a happy hour with them for the first time this year. Great to finally visit with Andre, Lynn and their son Patrick. After a few beverages we went home for supper and relaxed inside for the night.

June 23 

My legs do in fact feel better, yayy!! We spent the day doing yardwork and chores, nothing fun.

June 24

My truck won't be ready for a few more days but I can get a loaner from the shop for a few days. Leslie needs to go back to B'ville for work tomorrow so I need to have a car. With all the rain the Harley just isn't enough.

Leslie packed her stuff in the car and she drove me to Chrysler for my loaner. A very brightly decal covered shop vehicle. It's a Chrysler 200 so it's small but hey it's free and really good on gas. Both of us are driving to Sherwood Park to see my sister Donna and my brother in law Dennis who you might remember lived in Penticton. Well they have decided to move back to Alberta for a variety of reasons and bought a place in Sherwood Park. They live close to their daughter Kerry and the grandkids, Brody and Jetson. We are going to check out their new townhouse but the furniture is still en route so it won't be a long stay. Turns out the sump pump in the basement failed 2 days before they took possession so the former owner has a company repairing the basement while they are waiting for their stuff. At least it didn't happen right after their possession date and cost them a bunch of money to fix.

Nice place guys and hopefully all the repairs go smoothly and you get moved in without a hitch.

We said so long to all the gang and I said good by to Leslie too. She headed for B'ville getting ready for a few days at work while Margaret and I headed back to PGR for supper and relaxing. Of course with the afternoon heating we get thunder storms going west. It poured really hard on my way home and with the small car it was a little weird. I was hydroplaning a little so it was slow going for a few miles but it soon stopped.

Here comes the storm!

Had to slow down for the wall of water.

By the time I got back to PGR the sun was poking through the clouds again and the evening turned out pretty nice. So nice, in fact, I was motivated to go for a trail run around the golf course. My legs feel way better after the massage and there are no golfers on the course tonight so I figured why not go for a run. By following the cart paths and the edge of the fairways I got in about 7km or a little less than 5 miles on a beautiful manicured grass running track!

Took this shot on my run, you can see the water on the fairway.

Leslie had a rainy trip to our house in B'ville and then spent her evening getting her supper and some lunches ready for her work tomorrow. She went downstairs for a little Netflix before bed and that was her day in a nutshell.

June 25, 26
Leslie worked both days and didn't do much else really. Sort of a work, eat, have a bubble bath and off to bed kind of couple days.

I didn't do very much either except that on Tuesday morning I woke up with a sore throat and was angry because I want run a 15k trail race on Saturday and having a cold right now would not be good. I was gargling with Listerine and eating soup to fight it off.
Wednesday morning it felt like I had swallowed a bunch of razor blades and I hardly slept because my throat was killing me. It was bad enough to make me do something I don't do very often... I went to a walk in clinic in Stony Plain to see a doctor and get some meds. Can't hardly swallow or talk. The doc gave me a prescription for antibiotics and the pharmacist told me that by the time I got 3 of these pills in me my throat should feel much better. We'll see.
June 27
 Leslie is working the early shift from 7:00 to 3:15 and then she is driving back to PGR after work. It's a long day but she wants to be back.
Well I had a terrible night of fever and chills with almost no sleep and my throat is on fire! I got up at 7:00 and called Leslie just after 8:00. I can't hardly speak and I'm freezing. Taking Margaret outside was a major accomplishment. My throat is swollen up so bad Leslie can barely understand me. I know I have to go to the hospital but I am so tired I don't want to go anywhere. Leslie is thinking it's either an allergic reaction to the meds or strep throat, either way my throat my throat is so swollen I have to go. Ugghh! Long story shortened, I ended up in the hospital emergency room for the day. They actually stuck a needle in the back of my throat and drained an abscess full of nasty infection!! Yes, that was as creepy as it sounds. They gave me IV antibiotics and told me not to bother with the pills anymore.

You can see how swollen the left side of my neck was.

I got out at 4:30 or so to go home and I do feel much better. Poor Les was trying to work a busy day in Bonnyville and stay up to speed on me so she had a rough day too. She got off work early at 2:30 and booked it straight back to PGR. Leslie had also talked to our neighbour at PGR, Vera, to let Margaret out of the rig in the afternoon. Thanks Vera!!! if you are reading this.
I was so glad to be home and Margaret was happy to see me but not as much as we both were happy to see Leslie walk in around 6ish! She made me home made chicken soup, so good and lots of veggies and garlic. We had to go back at 9 pm to the hospital for another IV. They want to do a few by IV and then 10 days of pills. When we got back we all went to bed. Big day for everyone.
June 28
Thankfully everyone slept good all night. We are driving back to the hospital for 9 am and another IV. I am supposed to see a different doctor after my IV and he will decide how we are going to proceed. He ordered a second, different kind of IV antibiotic for this morning.  This one is only once per day instead of three times per day. Way less driving when you have a 95km (57 mile) round trip each time. Back in tomorrow morning for another one and then start the pills for 10 days. That should shake out the infection.

Feeling much better and my neck isn't swollen up.

Leslie used my hospital time to grab a few groceries and some plants for the flower garden she wants to work on today. I have the loaner car with me because my truck is ready to be picked up today. Awesome! The timing worked great. I got my prescription and went to the Chrysler dealer for my truck right when Leslie and Margaret pulled in. They explained all the work they had done on my rear diff and we all headed home to PGR. 
Leslie got to work on her flower beds and I helped for a little bit by running the small 2 stroke rototiller we have. I headed in for a nap. Pretty low energy.

She does great work! Looks really nice. There is another one behind our rig.

Leslie had a busy day and the flower beds look fantastic. Then she made us a nice supper and we just relaxed watching TV. We called it a day around 9:30. Even Margaret was beat lol.

Is it bedtime yet??

June 29

This morning is my last IV and then start the pills. I decided that, seeing it was such a nice morning,  I would take the Harley. It's cheap on fuel. Leslie gets to relax a little longer but she has gardens and weeding on her mind. She won't be sitting for long, I know that much. By the time I got back she had the other flower bed all weeded and ready for roto-tilling. She planted the shrubs and flowers and I loaded some junk in the truck for a run to the dump. Or should I say our "date"lol. We're going out for lunch after at RV Pub & Grill, our usual dump date stop. I turned right out of PGR and drove down the beach. We soon realized that the farmers market was on Saturday morning again. Note to self, don't drive a dually down a narrow road during the farmers market!! What a gong show that was.

Forgot to take pics of our date too. The pub was packed when we got there. Farmers market brings out a lot of people. They were a little slow but still had great food. With full bellies we went back to the rig for a little lie down. The rest of the day was more like that. Just a few little jobs and relaxing.

June 30

We are driving into Sherwood Park today to Donna & Dennis's place. My nephew Kevin and his wife Lisa are driving up from Calgary for the night to see the new townhouse and visit with the whole family. The movers arrived yesterday so the house is a little"full" of boxes and packing paper. Unbelievable how much paper the mover used!! Stacks of it. 

The plan was to move over to Kerry and Byron's house where they have more room and less boxes. We drove over there and Kerry put out some yummy snacks for us all and we got a chance to visit with everybody. It's embarrassing but again we didn't take one picture. We really need to get back in the blog mode for pics! Sorry guys.

We jumped back in the car and drove back to PGR for the first annual Canada Day barbecue for our little community called The Ridge. It's a chance to get to now some neighbours and the condo association is supplying burgers and hot dogs, chips and soda. At least we remembered to take pics of this.

I think we need one of these in the future.

Sitting with our neighbours and their kids.

The oil company barbecue! Complete with a rockin' stereo.

The back box is a sub woofer!

Part of The Ridge social committee.

July 1

HAPPY CANADA DAY !!!!

Well it was a good thing we got a chance to celebrate a little yesterday because it's raining...... again. We feel sorry for the folks that are packing up to go home this morning. It's pouring out there.

We are staying dry and having a leisurely morning and I am working on a blog post. Something we don't do much of anymore sadly.

Hard at it! Margaret .... not so much lol.

The rain almost stopped so we're taking Margaret for a walk. Good to get out for a little walk even if it's a little damp. We're not going to melt.

Everyone with their rain coats on !

We used the rest of the day to prep and pack up for another trip to Bonnyville tomorrow with the trailer too this time. We will be staying at Cold Lake Provincial Park for an upcoming wedding for my old work buddy Taylor and his fiancee, Caitlin. Looking forward to that!

We'll post this and try again from B'ville to get updated. At least we're in the same month again!

Cheers everybody.

June 1 - 14 Project list from Bonnyville to PGR

June 1
Back to Dave writing again. Thanks Leslie for keeping us going and hey, we're in the same month now!!

We're staying at the house for another week so Leslie can work some shifts and I'll keep ticking projects off the list here at the house. My leg is feeling better so after I had a decent breakfast I geared up for a run. Great way to start the day! I want to try a longer distance now that we're close to the 10K race on June 9. I managed to get 8k or 5mi so I'm happy with that. The rest of the day was the usual stuff. Leslie is organizing the stuff left in the house to see what we keep or get rid of and she breaks it up with work on the flower beds etc. I just keep finding more stuff to fix or more yard work to do. Not very blog worthy.
June 2 
We did our usual project stuff and then in the afternoon we decided to take Margaret for a walk. We headed down the main road and as we were walking we decided to see if our friends Andre and Shannon were home. They bought a beautiful home overlooking Moose Lake not far from us and we haven't even stopped by to say hi yet. What's up with that? We walked up their driveway and could tell right away they were there with all the evidence of work happening at the edge of the road. Looks like a major landscaping redo happening. We found them out back on their huge deck with some other friends that had stopped by. Of course we were welcomed in with big hugs and handshakes for a frosty beverage on the deck. Did we time this visit right or what?? Can you believe that we didn't take one picture of their beauty new place? Well we didn't, so sorry guys. We were given the grand tour of their house and trust me it is grand! They bought a great place and are putting their touches on it to make it even better. I did notice there is lots of room to park an RV on their paved driveway.....keep that in mind for future reference lol.
Their other friends had to leave but we stayed for a second round of drinks (maybe 3!) and enjoyed visiting and catching up a little. A really fantastic couple of hours just relaxing and catching up and then we walked back to our house for supper and the usual TV and bedtime. Very nice place you have Andre and Shannon and it was really nice to get to spend some time together.
June 3
Leslie is working at 8am today and our plumber is coming first thing to install the new water heater. Sure enough, Mark from Trademark Plumbing arrived just after 8:00 with another fellow and they started straight away on the install. Of course the fittings are a little different from our old one so he has to solder in some copper to get it done. They hoisted up the new one and the other plumber left with the old one. There might be some good parts on the old one but it's junk to me and it's heavy so they can take it. Mark finished up and cleaned up by lunch time and we have hot water as promised. Of course there is a pretty good bill with it but these guys are quality plumbers and I have a saying I like; "Quality is not expensive, it's priceless". I have known the owners of Trademark for many years and I did get a really good deal. Thanks guys!

We used this pic before, all new and shiny!

Leslie has an appointment with a chiropractor after work to see if he can help with the pain in her back. He gave her a couple new exercises to try and then she got the usual twist and crack treatment. Time will tell. Hopefully she finds some relief. It's the weirdest thing but if she keeps moving like walking or even dancing around the room she feels better. If she sits too long or bends over to pick something up then it just spasms. We'll keep trying different things and hopefully land on a good fix.

After Leslie got home I of course showed her the new water heater and then we had a beverage before supper. I happened to look out the kitchen window to the west and could see a huge column of smoke in the air. It's dry as toast around here with no rain in weeks and none in the forecast. Sure enough a post pops up on Leslie's Facebook that there is a forest fire across the lake from us. 

The start of the Moose Lake fire.

Within the hour we watched as rapid response water bombers flew over the house and did many circuits filling up with water from the lake. We learned that they had 5 rapid response planes, 2 helicopters and a larger water bomber in play that evening. By the next morning that included 110 fire fighters from all around the area. Hit er' big and hard was the plan. Only a few homes had to be evacuated and nobody was injured so that's great. The fire consumed about 120 hectares of boreal forest.

It took a few days of 24/7 work by all those awesome folks but they stomped that fire out and then mother nature capped it with a couple heavy rains. 

On the news afterwards.... the cause of the fire was human and it started at the edge of a rural road in the ditch. Likely someone tossed a cigarette out their window in tinder dry conditions. The investigation is ongoing. So stupid and completely avoidable.

June 4

I have an appointment in St Paul at the Dodge dealer for my truck. We have had a slow speed clunk in the rear diff for a year now and nobody can find the source. Last year a dealer in Stony Plain replaced a carrier in the diff but the noise returned within a day or two so I decided in frustration to just keep driving until something breaks. We towed our railer all through the winter and nothing has broken but the clunk is worse, that is until I try to show the mechanic in St Paul. Not a sound out of it while I had him in the truck. By my description he suspects my emergency brakes are sticking and causing the noise so that's what they are checking today. He found that the hub seals are weeping and there is a ton of brake dust packed in there so, on warranty, they are replacing the seals and cleaning the brake dust out. Bonus. I also got a recall repair done at the same time. They gave me a loaner for the day as we thought it would be an hour or 2 and it was closer to 5 hours on the hoist. Didn't make the noise in the parking lot, yayy! (Made the same noise the next day at home, frick sakes!)

Leslie had to get everything ready for our dinner with Kyle, Lisa and Calvin for tonight because it took me longer than expected to be done. Of course she did a great job with all the prep and we had a really nice visit with them to catch up on all the news on both sides. We haven't seen Lisa and family since last September!! Way too long. Unfortunately we again did not take one picture! Man we have to get better at this. Anyway it was a great evening and around 9 pm we said so long with hugs and handshakes.

June 5

Another work day for Leslie and I have two projects I want to get done. The new part is here for the dishwasher door fix and my new motorcycle front tire got mounted on the rim last night so I can pick that up and put it back on the bike. I've had the dishwasher out often enough now that I had that fixed quickly and the door works like new again! After a quick trip to town for my wheel and a couple other items I drove home and installed the front wheel. My other tire was 10 years old and it made me leery about riding the Harley. Now I can ride again without thinking about a blowout.

All shiny and new! Thanks T&T Power Sports.

The rest of the day was just the usual stuff.

June 6

Time to pack everything back up because tomorrow we will drive back to PGR. I have an appointment in town so while I am there Leslie is busy packing the truck and spreading a few more bags of cedar mulch on the trees and flower beds. We loaded up our rototiller in the truck and drove it over to Paul & Di's. Turns out neither of them were home so we just left it in the shed and drove home. I took the bike out for a ride just because. It was nice to get out on it for a bit. That was our day pretty much. Happy hour, supper and relax with Derek's Netflix. Thanks pal.

June 7

It's raining today and pretty cool actually. The big fire is mostly out except for hotspots and this rain should take care of that. We're not in a big hurry but we are off to PGR today in separate vehicles. Leslie left before me and she is going to stop at a store in north Edmonton to return an item for Rachelle. Our timing was right to save her a trip. Perfect. Rachelle has done so many favours for us that it's nice to be able to help her out every now and then. It rained almost all the way except for one spot where it turned to slush on the windshield!! The temp got down to 2C/34F for a while. This is June right?

Shot from my truck dash.

After we got to PGR and unloaded we got pictures from Bonnyville and there was a layer of snow on the grass. Unreal! Definitely will help squash the forest fire hotspots. Time to fire up the furnace and the fireplace in the rig and relax for the evening with our 5 antenna TV channels.

June 8

We're up fairly early and got breakfast in because we want to get into Edmonton to meet up with our crazy runner friends Barry & Ailsa. Ailsa has a long (110 km/ 68.5 mile) ultra trail marathon coming up in 3 weeks and she wants to run some long distances plus get in some speed work plus get in some trail work. She has a big weekend in store. She signed up for a charity event at a track in Sherwood Park called Survivorfest 24. It benefits a sexual assault center in the local area. Great cause. You can run for either 6,12 or 24 hours and get as many laps as you can in your chosen time. Ailsa chose 6 hours and she completed an impressive 172 laps of the 400 meter track! That works out to about 72km or 45'ish miles. This is the first event of the weekend!

Round and round she goes.....

Crew pics, nice calf stretch Barry lol.

We drove to their house and had a beer while Ailsa showered up. Then we all went out for a fantastic carb loading supper at Sorrentino's Italian Restaurant. Sorrentino's is well known here in the Edmonton area and the place was packed when we arrived but we soon got a table and some drinks. Big smiles!

All smiles. Great dinner at Sorrentinos!

Dinner was incredibly good and we even had a little left over for tomorrow. Ailsa had a beer for the carbs and then split a bottle of wine with Leslie just because she can and still run like the wind tomorrow. It's kind of funny to watch her eat and drink and then just smash out the miles. Something in her DNA??

After dinner we went back to their house and relaxed with water and some TV. I'm running a 10k tomorrow with my nephews wife Brittany and Ailsa is running a half marathon in the morning. Thanks guys for letting us have a sleepover!

June 9

We were up and got some breakfast into us and then off to the race venue, Foote Field, which is connected with University of Alberta here in Edmonton. It's an MEC race (same company as REI in the states for our U.S. friends) they are great races and are run really well. You can race for $20 and  "all the bananas you can eat" is their slogan. Ailsa was first up for the half marathon at 9am. Brittany, her friend Ally and me will leave at 9:20 for the 10k. My goal today is to try to get under 1 hour for 10k. 59:59 will work!

We knew about a hill that was on the course and worried that it will hurt our chances to get under an hour. Of course it did! There was actually switchbacks on the hill and no way I could run the whole thing. Going down was not as bad as turning around and coming back up! I was able to see Brittany for most of the race and we were still close coming back to the finish but she definitely finished ahead of me. Of course, just to add to my exhaustion, at about 100 yards from the finish line my buddy Ailsa comes up beside me and says "c'mon buddy let's finish strong" or something like that. I can't hear as good when I'm sucking for wind lol. I honestly tried to run with her but within steps I knew she is way too fast for me. I told her to finish fast and I'll watch haha. She took off and passed Brittany too and beat us both to the line. 

That's what an elite athlete runs like.

This is what an old man looks like after 10k.

She left at 9:00 am for a half marathon (21.1 mi/42.2k) and we left at 9:20 for 10k/ 6mi and she beat me back!! That's why they call her "elite runner".

Britt was next across the line 1:03:35 and then me with a time of 1:04:37. Definitely not under an hour but that hill was a beast. We finished and we feel great with big smiles all around. I got to run with Ailsa MacDonald, the Canadian Female Ultra Champion!! Sure it was for maybe 10 or 15 yards but I ran with her hahaha. 

And thanks to Brittany as a great pacer! If I can keep trying to stay with her I'll be doing great but she's getting way faster now too. Good times. I also ate TWO bananas :)

I don't finish first but I'm taller!  Ailsa, me and Brittany.

Me, Britt and Ally after the race.

Thanks to Leslie and Barry too for hanging out and carrying our stuff while we run. At least it was a nice sunny day to enjoy while we were out there.

We drove back to St Albert and with hugs and handshakes we said so long to Barry and Ailsa. They go back to work soon in camp up north. Ailsa did another 12 km trail run, for fun, that afternoon too. She turned back because of a storm or she would have done more! 

Leslie and I drove back to PGR so I can shower and have a little rest. It's looking like a quiet afternoon indoors anyway with the black clouds that are swirling around us.

Our drive home. That looks like rain ;)

June 10

We made today our chore day. Leslie is cleaning the rig and doing laundry while I am cutting the grass here with the weed whipper. Les also made a batch of food for Margaret and came out and pulled weeds in what she is making into flower beds. She's a whirlwind once she gets going. Just stay outta the way! My legs are a little stiff for sure so my pace was far less strenuous.

Needed to burn some sticks from the yard :)

Later that night we hooked the laptop to the personal hotspot and watched the Toronto Raptors get closer to the NBA championship. We're not huge basketball fans, that's the 2nd game we watched this season, but it was fun to watch the game.  Yay Raptors!

June 11

Leslie is doing a shopping day in Spruce Grove and as we have mentioned before it's best if I don't go with her on those days. She's looking for plants to put in the flower beds and pots that we brought from Bonnyville and that will take some time to choose. Yeah it's best I stay home. She hit Walmart, Home Depot and the liquor store. Yay, I get beer! She was home early in the afternoon and got going on her planting.

Leslie's Chinese pots that she got in the '80's, freakishly heavy.

The "smaller" one. Half full of rocks so nobody will take it.

Makes the front yard a little nicer.

While Les was gone I got going on a couple projects. I fixed a squeaky board under our mattress that has been making us crazy and then went out to the garage to build a workbench in the corner. The top and shelf were already there so all I had to do was get the legs at the right height and screw it all together. I like my bench height a little higher than most so my finished top is at 42 inches off the floor. Perfect!

A good working surface plus storage.

The rest of the day was just usual stuff. Leslie did buy some dark beers for me. She's awesome.

June 12

Today is a rare day for Leslie. She is driving to Sherwood Park to meet up with Sam and Ashtyn and she is doing a spa day. I don't even remember the last time that ever happened. Good for her. Her chiropractor recommended a massage and Ashtyn is a massage therapist so that's the first order of business. She stopped first at Verve, where Ashtyn works, to get a massage from Ashtyn. Of course if you are in the Sherwood Park area Leslie recommends booking a massage with Ashtyn. (I have been getting massages for decades and I can honestly say that Ashtyn is an amazing massage therapist. If you ever get the chance, book in with her. I slept like a baby for the next week and my back was way less painful.- Les)

The spa where Ashtyn works in Sherwood Park.

Next up Ashtyn and Leslie met Sam for lunch at La Petrona, a really good Mexican restaurant that apparently started as a food truck but now have their own building, nice!

After a nice lunch and a Margarita :) they went to Sam's workplace, HQ, for a pedicure.

Ashtyn was supposed to be working so she didn't book a pedi. Ripped off :)

Happy ladies.

Pretty good day so far. Next up is a haircut. Leslie has been threatening to cut her hair super short for ease of care and just something new. If she cuts out all the previously dyed parts then it will be pretty short and her hair will be "au natural" color for the first time in a while. A bold move baby lol. 

With Sam there and the stylist advice they cut lots off and this is Leslie's new hairstyle.

Much shorter and no blonde highlights! Looks great!

You too Sam lol.

After she styled it herself! Gorgeous :)

Sam and Leslie went for a glass of wine after their stressful haircut moment and then Leslie made the trip back to PGR. "Pretty great day" were her words! I thought she looked fantastic when she got home. So relaxed and a big smile on her face. Awesome.

My day was a little more labour intensive than Leslie's. After she left I put Margaret in the truck with the windows down, her favourite place, and got my gear together to give the trailer a good wash from the roof down. The excavator for my power line is supposed to be here around 1 o'clock so I have a few hours to get some washing done. It's a fantastic view from up on the roof on a beautiful day.

Looking west up the 8th hole here at PGR.

Looking east, over our neighbours house, at Wabuman Lake. 

I got the roof done and then got going on the body right away. It's a big rig doing this alone. Wonder how Les is doing....

I completed the back and 2 sides before my trencher showed up early  just after noon. I shook hands with Tom, from Tom's Skidsteer Services, as he was offloading his mini excavator.

Getting ready to go.

Tom is a local contractor but travels all over northern Alberta working for Telus, our phone supplier, installing fiber optic cable. He is doing some local work right now and was able to fit in this quick job. I need to dig 36 inches deep for 23 feet from our power pedestal to the garage wall. Then I'll call Devan from Just Wired Electric and get it all hooked up. The electrical inspector from Parkland County will be here tomorrow and we can backfill and that's it for my power to the garage. 

First off Tom used his line locator so we know where the existing power lines run underground. We have a decently clear path to the garage away from the other power lines. 

Easy digging for this machine.

Tom was done in about 1 1/2 hours from start to finish. Could you imagine trying to dig this by hand? Not this ol' boy. He packed up and I paid him and away he went to his next job. Great guy if ever someone needs a hoe in this area. 

That was my day. My arms are sore from washing and I had to do a little hand digging by the pedestal and garage so I'm done. Did I mention Leslie had bought me dark beers before??

She made me a great supper and we just relaxed for the evening.

June 13

First thing today is a trip to Stony Plain to buy the electrical wire for the trench. I found a good deal at Bartle & Gibson for $4.70/ foot for 10/3  water resistant cable so with our coffee in hand that's our first stop. Leslie's comment on the way in to town, "isn't that the company that makes ciders?" Sorry baby that's Bartle & James but it's close haha.

We picked up the wire and a length of conduit for the garage wall into the ground and started back towards home. I have had this incredibly annoying clunking sound in the rear diff of this truck for over a year now and this morning it is the worst I have heard. I tried to show a mechanic in St Paul a week ago and of course it wouldn't make the noise but it is really happening now. I'm going to Stony Plain Chrysler to show them. They replaced a rear carrier last year under warranty and this is the same noise again. Thankfully it made the noise with the shop foreman in the truck and we have an appointment for Monday morning at 8:00 to check it out again. Hopefully it makes the noise Monday.

So because we hired Devan to do our wiring and the electrical inspector trusts his work we are allowed to continue with the power hookup as long as we take pictures to prove the depth, the material around the wire and that we have caution ribbon 14 inches above the wire in the back fill. Parkland County codes and electrical codes being followed.

I had many pics but this shows we're to code.

Les and I had backfilled, by hand, to that depth but I'm going to see if I can borrow the Pineridge Kubota tractor to backfill the rest. Devan showed up in the afternoon and completed the hook up of the wires and we now have power in our garage!! Yay, that's it. We're done. We have the final building inspection already and will get our final electrical tomorrow now and that's it for this year. Well maybe I'll do a little more..... nope that's it for this year, it's a storage garage!

We had a beer with Devan and thanked him for his work on this project. He's a really good guy and has been great about helping us out.

We made some supper and then hooked up the laptop to watch the Toronto Raptors win the NBA Championship Trophy!!! First time a Canadian team has ever done that and they pulled it out. Cool!

June 14

I messaged Jeff, the property owner here, to see if I could borrow his tractor. It's almost identical to the one we had so I'm pretty confident on it. He said I could use it but that he would need a favour too. Fair deal. I will be hauling a couple buckets full of pea gravel to another lot in our section along the way. No problem there. We backfilled our trench much quicker than if by hand and it probably took me an extra 30 minutes to run back and forth with the pea gravel. Great deal.

We covered the dirt so the rain wouldn't turn the clay to muck.

Need a little extra material but not bad.

Wheel packed it with the truck.

Around 2ish in the afternoon the inspector from the County showed up for a look. He knows Devan did the work but he looked everything over and put a tester on the outlets to check for bad ground etc. He also checked the pedestal and the panel connections and after all our hard work and a few dollars we got a 2 cent green sticker! Just like when you got a gold star in elementary school. Do they still do stars? No idea but we get a green sticker today!

We're good to go.

We cleaned up the yard and the tarps after the inspector left and thankfully we are done! That my friends is a great feeling, to be done. Well for now at least.

Speaking of done, this is a lengthy post as well so we'll call it quits. Trying hard to get caught up. Hope it doesn't get too long winded for ya. Cheers everybody.