June 28, 2012

The truck arrived at 8:40 a.m. carrying our 12 pallets of paver stones. Each pallet has over 500 stones and covers over 100 sq. ft. That's a lot of concrete!

Michel arranged to use a forklift from a guy here in Greenwood, and he arrived back at the same time as the truck arrived.  So the work began right away.

Here he comes with the first pallet - only 11 left to go !!

The first two pallets - out front where they'll be easy to get at.

The rest of the pallets - all 10 of them - tucked away behind the house. (Actually this is the front of the house - it faces the street.) By 9:30 a.m. the unloading was done!! Thank you !Thank you! for the use of the forklift. Could you just imagine having to unload that truck by hand, brick by brick??

So we'll be busy for awhile.
They are very nice stones and we are extremely pleased with "Expocrete", the company who manufactures them. They've supplied us with well over 1200 sq. ft. of stones, which will more than do our pathways - we'll should be able to do the gazebo as well.

June 18, 2012

Today we had a visit from our neighbours Paul and Virginia Richards. We often stop to chat along the street, but this is the first time we've had a coffee together. We had a nice visit, catching up on what they did this winter, and the happenings in the neighbourhood.

While we visited we got a call from "Expocrete", the company who manufacture the paving stones we bought. It was good news! They are going to replace and have them shipped right to our door. We were quite happy about that. As you can see the stones have just crumbled away.

Here he goes again!!

We were hoping to just replace the ones that were gone, but as Michel was removing them we realized that there was closer to half that were unusable, and the company cannot find the same pavers. So it looks like they will ALL come out, and Expocrete will send us all new pavers - enough to do the job!!

I guess yard work is never done. Always something to do - or in this case 're-do'!

Michel keeps very busy!

June 11, 2012

Another month has gone by and once again I can't figure out where it went.... The past couple of weeks have been nothing but rain. We managed to get a few shrubs and plants into the ground before the rains started, so that gave them a good start, but now we need sunshine!!

It's been very slow at the parks with all the rain we've been getting, so we've had to pass the days with reading and computer 'stuff'. It's a good thing we both enjoy the computer 'stuff'....

This year Michel put up a lattice for me, as you can see here. Now my clamatis can grow, grow, grow!! All my plants are doing well, however they are all behind in their growth compared to other yards, and I don't know why. I see flowers everywhere, but mine are just taking their sweet loving time to bloom!

The creek was very high when we returned from Alberta this year, and we got home to discover the bottom 4 steps (down to the creek) that Michel had toiled to put in last year had been swept away and floated down the creek....With all this rain, the creek has risen again. Sunshine please!! 


The big disappointment this spring was to find that the paving stones that we laid last year (1100 of them) had crumbled over the winter. We did contact the company and their rep from Kelowna is going to be here today to take a look at them. There are at least 1/3 of them that need replacing. So we're putting out good vibes that the company will do something to compensate. We'll let you know.

May 9, 2012

We got home from our Alberta visit on May 5th, giving us a few days to rest up before we headed to Lake Country for our annual Manager's Meeting for our summer job. Our boss Micheal Lea (left) (Kaloya Contracting) has a growing staff of 80+ taking care of the Provincial Parks in Southern Okanagan.

Pictured on the right: Bonnie Lea-boss' wife (standing) Irene (left) Accountant; Shannon, Office Manager.

As you can see there was a good turnout. There were about 30 of us. The group met in Winfield at Aspen Grove Golf Course and we were provided with a wonderful meal, and got to meet the newbies and say hi again to the oldies....

We will, once again, be taking care of Boundary Creek and Jewel Lake.

May 5, 2012

Home yesterday from our 2-week 'spring holiday' to Alberta. The second week of our Alberta trip went by as fast as the first. We visited with  long-time friends who live in St. Albert, Deb and Len Wald for a couple of nights. Then we ventured to Plamondon, AB to visit my cousin Darlene and husband, Ed Cyre. We hung out with them for a couple more nights before beginning our trek south. Our northern Alberta visit just wouldn't be complete without seeing my cousin Norman and his wife Alice. We never seem to get to spend much time with them, but as he said "we take what we get"... it was a nice visit.

WELCOME KAITLYN.....

Then on to Airdrie, AB. Michel's daughter Alisha and family (Rob, Emily and Kaitlyn)live there and we managed a 3-day visit, which was just wonderful. We got to meet Kaitlyn - the newest of Michel's grand-children, born on February 1st.




She's such a good baby - cooing and smiling!! She just melts your heart!







So here is Alisha with Emily, who is now 2 years old, and Kaitlyn at 3 months.  

 Emily loves her new baby sister. She's such a big help. Unfortunately Emily was not feeling well during our visit. She contacted a stomach flu of some kind, so she was quiet and slept quite a bit. Not the active little girl we were expecting. But we got to cuddle, which was good!!

 I got a chance to visit with my grandson Tristan too. He now lives in Cochrane, AB with his dad, so we picked him up after school and got to spend a few hours with him. For certain, not enough time, but once again we take what we get..... We went out for dinner.

Then found a bowling alley where we played a couple of game. He kicked butt the first game, but fell short on the second game coming in last. Michel won that game. But we all had a good time.

April 27, 2012

We spent this past week in Grimshaw, AB visiting with my kids. We had a wonderful week that went by way too fast. The weather wasn't great. Rain most days, but it was warm inside and we just relaxed and enjoyed the company. Today we are heading to Edmonton.

Picture on the right (taken at Christmas) is my son Farren, with his girlfriend Kim and daughter (my granddaughter) Melody (age 4). She has grown alot since we saw here last year at this time!! 

This picture of my daughter Tammy with her boyfriend Rob was taken a couple of summers ago while they were visiting in Nanaimo. Rob had surgery last Friday, so they weren't in the mood to pose for pictures. Glad to report that he's healing well, and will be home for 4 weeks. Tammy is happy about that.

BUT - Melody is a ham - always ready to pose for pictures. I guess most kids are. So here are a few of the pictures she 'posed' for. She's a real sweetie. It was nice to be grandma for a few days!

 

April 17, 2012

We're Home!

Just a quick update - to let you know that we arrived  home safe and sound on Sunday, April 15th. We took more time coming home this year than usual, and we stopped for the evening at a few very nice spots, and still arrived a couple of days early. We enjoyed our journey, but we're both very happy to be home again!

We started unloading the motorhome, what a big job :(  But you know the old saying "Rome wasn't built in a day" - it will take us a few 'days' to get the job done. But no hurry - - - -

This weekend we're going to journey to Northern Alberta to visit with my kids and family, then make our way south to see Michel's daughter and her family. There is a new grand-daughter to meet again this year!!

We start working again soon - May 9th <> Looking forward to that too. Looking forward to another wonderful summer in Greenwood!!