Month: July 2021

Rosalie’s family decided to make their annual invasion so I had to be prepared. with lots of wine, good food, and infinite patience.

Three of her sisters came down from up north. And of course, they had to bring our brother-in-law Gordie. The only sister missing was Suzanne and hubby Vic.

They arrived on Saturday afternoon and the party began. We had put a chicken marinated 24 hours, in salt and apple cider on the BBQ and opened a few boxes of wine so we were off to a great start. That evening we started watching a movie but soon gave up and went to bed.

The next day the girls wanted to go for a walk in the campground, so Gordie and I went to Qualicum Beach for some supplies. When we got back, the neighbours, Bob and Marlene came over to meet the sisters. In the evening we all gathered in the gazebo to watch more of the movie, drink more wine, with some of us falling asleep. We only watched a bit more of the movie and went to bed.

On Monday I had organized a special meeting of the B & B club so that Gordie could get a pint of real beer and reunite with the guys. But first, we had a few errands to run and also had to stop for lunch. We got to downtown Nanaimo and had a heck of a time finding somewhere open to get lunch along with a glass of wine. We ended up at the Dorchester Hotel, therefore, saving the day.

The B & B club was as awesome as it usually is and we had a good time. After dropping Peter off at home we drove back to Spidey. That evening we watched the rest of the movie.

The sleeping arrangements were fun, Delorie and Marina were assigned to the loft, and Gordie and Giselle were on the pull-out bed in the living room. Rosalie and I, of course, were snug in our own kingsize bed.

Gordie and Giselle bought their little dog Popeye with them. He had a great time. The girls took him down to the dog pond for a swim and after, to the dog park where he ran wild and absorbed all the doggy smells. He was really well behaved and only barked a couple of times.

The thing I liked most was seeing the sisters and how well they get on with each other. I had three brothers but we were never as close as these guys are. So I live my family life, vicariously through them and look forward to further visits; probably in Mexico as they are all going down for February/March, including Suzanne and Vi.

My arm has finally healed up as well as Rosalie’s toe, so off we go again.

Well, the gravel has been spread, shrubs added, plus some flowers in a few key places and various approvals from various friends. Now what?

Nobody asked and I’m sure nobody’s really interested but it is my blog so I can say what I like. I want to tell you why I have my hair cut so short. If I didn’t get it cut it fell into my eyes all the time and was really maddening. From a kid, I tried all the usual remedies Brylcream, gels, sprays, lard. I’m kidding about lard but at times I was really tempted.

When it isn’t cut I look like this:

Rosalie on the other hand decided to have her’s done a little differently. She loved this one so we’ll see. I think it’s cute.

Our picnic table that I built six years ago was starting to fall apart so we decided to replace it with a cedar top. I had to redesign to base for the top as the old design had a flaw whereby the top wasn’t supported properly. I scratched my head for few days and finally came up with a workable solution.

Went to our local lumber store and asked for a mortgage to buy some lumber. As of now, it’s looking awesome; I just have to remember that it is a picnic table and not a piece of expensive furniture. I try to get every single piece to fit perfectly, but with the tools I have to work with, that won’t happen. So it is what it is! I found that the saw I was using was cutting incorrectly and also one of the squares I was using had worn and was way out. Peter loaned me his saw and thing worked out a lot better.

I still have to install a bit of trim, then I have to think of how to liven up the seats without getting a second mortgage.

One evening while watching tv with our antenna the picture died. The following day I checked everything out, even replacing the controller. The final conclusion was that the electronics in the antenna had quit. I decided to try a different one this time and ordered it on Amazon.

Having unpacked it and put it all together I ran it up the pole with great anticipation. I turned on the tv and got…one lousy channel. I contacted the manufacturer and they made a few suggestions that I had mostly tried. Their last suggestion was to change out the cable to the antenna. I had already checked that out so didn’t.

I took down the new antenna and shipped it back, at the same time ordering a new one of the brand that had been working before. When it arrived I put it together and ran it up the pole, and…nothing! It’s lucky my hair is short because at this point I would have been pulling it out.

I checked everything again. Still nothing! As a last resort, I decided to replace the cable as the original manufacturer suggested. Wow! Eight channels. I used to install cable tv and in all my experience have never had a bad cable like that. After I took it down I checked it out and still could find nothing wrong with it.

It’s the dog-days of blogging so I will have to think up more lies to fill the gap. See you soon.