5C's Que Pasa

Colin worked again today ( 3rd day in a row ) but he did not have time to walk them before he left. But they settled after breakfast and suddenly about 9:45AM started shrieking. I have never heard those sounds before from any of our doxies. I thought that perhaps one of them was in horrible pain and the other was calling for help. I ran to them and saw that they were both running and screaming at something in the corner between the printer and lower kitchen cabinet. I did not see anything. They would not let up and were going in circles and back and forth to the white leather sofa. Then they started to try and bite the bottom edge of the  sofa trying to get under it. All I could think about was that they had seen a mouse or a rat. I tried to pick them up to calm them but they were all muscle and stronger then me struggling to be put down.

As I took no photos today I am sharing other photos. Ciela a few weeks  ago decided that she needed a special snug time with me every morning.

I was unable to take any photos nor a video, everything was happening much too fast.

She likes to put her body directly against my throat.

Their screaming never stopped. I was fully expecting security to arrive at my door any moment about noise complaints. I shut the windows. The girls never let up, running all around and the constant noise. I finally called Colin who could not believe the sounds they were making. They did not stop for four hours.

Sometimes is is difficult to breathe. Not to mention the nose kissing.

Finally Colin came home and the first thing he did was pull the teak credenza away from the back of the sofa. The girls were seriously trying to get under the sofa. I had got on my hands and knees with a flashlight and could see nothing. As soon as he moved that piece of furniture we all saw a creature run away. I thought it was a huge rat but I only saw the rear end. The girls were off in the attack mode. We leave our patio door open a few inches for the girls to come and go.  Looks like we had a visitor of some sort. Suddenly it ran ( so quickly that it was a blur ) under my exercise machine. Then back to under the sofa and then back to under the sauna. I finally was able to get a glimpse of a critter with a tail. It was a tiny chipmunk like squirrel.

It was the one closest to you in this photo, a chipmunk. Ahh poor thing. I can’t image how it felt, the girls noise was driving me insane.

Colin got it out from under the sauna and it ran into the kitchen. The girls cornered it the the left to the sink and then to the right of it. I tried to throw a towel over it. This wee thing was moving at the speed of light. And then we lost it. Turns out that it had run outside the front door next to my desk. We carefully checked that it was not inside. The girls had stopped screaming. Colin and the twins went outside. Colin spotted it behind the tomatoes pots and then it ran behind the shed and back and forth with the twins in pursuit Finally it made a run for the rocks lakeside. Carlie & Ciela had the critter corned. Colin lifted the rock it was hiding under and the chipmunk made a run towards the tree and up it went.

Our girls are certainly hounds.  They used their noses to find out where Chippy had been. The knew that the scent inside the house was not fresh and so they concentrated their efforts outside. It did not take long for them to discover where Chippy the critter had gone. So smart, they kept looking up at the tree.  However they never stopped sniffing and hunting.

It is now 5:42PM, eight hours later, and they are still sniffing every inch of the yard. I am exhausted and I can’t image what they are feeling.  They would not stop to eat, I could not pick them up, they were going crazy but at least the noise had stopped. I was relieved that it was not a mouse nor a rat. I truly felt so sorry for Chippy.

I am almost certain that he came in early this morning. Somehow I know that he will never ever come back into our home.

6:00PM and Colin has forced Ciela to go water the garden with him using the golf cart. Carlie continues to run around the yard sniffing. She is not giving up.

So yes, there is always drama in our lives 🙄 I certainly was not expecting my day to go sideways like this. One thing for certain is that we know that if ever there is a mouse in the RV that we will be alerted.

Aha finally Colin’s turn to be disturbed.

Our new 43″ TV. We are now looking for a 26, 27 or 28 inch TV for the RV. It must be a smart TV. Hard to find in Canada. Guess we will have to get it once we arrive in Las Vegas. If you find any send us the link please.

I have been meaning to update you on the RV windshield replacement. I was the one who answered the phone when the glass shop called. Yes it was ready and yes it was perfect when I asked, “we always do perfect work”. So Colin drove to Vernon, yet again, and much to his surprise the window had cracked again. It happened about ten minutes after they called us. What can we say? Still no word on when they will get a third windshield. Good thing we started this back in early May.

Nice and slim and because of the thin frame it really is only an inch larger all the way around. Colin did not add the legs that came with it as the TV would then be too wide for the table. Instead we got this swivel base stand that he was able to screw the TV into. It stands barely an inch above the TV table, perfect for us.

FYI we leave exactly 6 weeks from today 😯

Will we be prepared? Right now it is too much to think about. I have to break it down to day by day. Looks like Carlie is ready to go.

I am feeling much better since I saw my chiropractor in Edmonton. Almost no pain when I lay face down which I have to do on a few of my kinesiology exercises. I had an appointment today and got my fourth set of exercises. I was sore all the way home just from learning how to do them. Not looking forward to tomorrow morning. My therapist is so very helpful and is going to put a program together for me to do while I am sitting when we are driving. Also something that I can do at every stop within five minutes. The overnight set will be more complicated.

Other than the seafood pasta this food was all from our garden. So very yummy.

Got my mammogram results today and all is well or so the letter says.

Ciela found a shaft of sunlight the other morning.

Can someone tell me why Canada only sells butter in one pound blocks? The US gives the option to buy the solid block of butter or wrapped in individual  quarters. So much easier for measuring in recipes.

Colin is putting in an edge to keep the Oyama shale in place. He has been waiting for it to cool down just a bit.

It looks great and will eventually fade to match the colour of the existing board along the road.

Colin builds things while I tend to drop things ( or fall ). I am going to miss my beautiful water glass at my desk here.

Last Thursday we had friends who happen to be neighbours ask if they could come by for a while. Hmm. They dropped a bombshell. They listed their home last Monday and it sold last Thursday. They had wanted to tell u in person. What!!!!  I am still in shock. Of course I never took any photos. Inger is the one who looked after the girls while we went to Vancouver for Katies’ service and both her and Steve are good friends. However the sale is subject to the selling of the buyers condo by end of November. We will be gone by then. Fortunately they are not moving too far away.

Do you think that this really happens?

One of the best books I have read in many years is The Sisters of Auschwitz. I thought I knew a good deal about that time in history but this true story of two Jewish Sisters’ opened my eyes. I learned so many details ( often more than I wanted to know ) and was surprised that these sisters crossed paths with Anne Frank in the camps. Those liberated from the camps certainly did not have an easy time trying to get back home. Such a difficult time in Europe right after the war ended. I have since read two more novels based on truth. So very many different things that happened that only survivors could share.

I meant to wish you all a wonderful long weekend a few days ago but somehow I ran out of time. I can’t let this carton go to waste.

Hope you all enjoyed your three days off.

For first time that I can remember ( many many years ) we have had a smoke free summer except for the odd day here and there. Yesterday that all changed.

Taken by my good friend Cindy who was at the beach with friends.

Taken not too long before the previous photo. Cindy was the photographer as well as for the next two.

The smoke suddenly appeared. It just swooped in. Apparently most of this smoke is drifting north from the White River and Irving Peak Fires that are burning in the Cascade Mountains east of Seattle. We have a very few local fires that have been burning off and on and have produced little to no smoke.

I took this one from our patio as soon as I saw the colour of the sky changing.

Colin took this one at exactly the right moment.

This morning we woke up to smoke filled sky and a faint smell of smoke.

Taken a few days ago on the Isla. Simply stunning and overwhelming.

I was going to write ‘road trip’ but it was a flight to Edmonton. I knew that I needed to see my wonderful chiropractor there. My flight left here at 9AM Tuesday and I was to be home by 7:50PM Wednesday but it was delayed  😡 and I did not land until 9:30PM.

Two posts ago I mentioned that the third time is the charm, that was in response to our RV windshield issues. Well folks it was not the charm. I got a phone call at noon this past Monday to tell me that the RV was ready to pick. I asked if everything was perfect, the owner said “of course”. So off Colin went in the Jeep to Vernon. I have to say that he was shocked to see that the windshield had cracked again – apparently a short time after installation 🙁  You may have missed the post I did yesterday mentioning that we are back to having some fun in our lives.

Because I had flown with Colin to Katie’s memorial service last week I felt that I could handle the flight to Edmonton. It was an hour longer but with a good book to keep my attention I was able to not focus on being claustrophobic.  I really did need to see Dr. Mckenna. I have done two short roundtrip flights this month and I have no desire to fly again for a long while.

First thing I saw once we landed. This was on the inside of the bathroom stall door. Good for the people who installed all the stickers. Hopefully it will help someone.

My view from my hotel window. I have always stayed in the same hotel when I fly in. The last two years we have taken the RV to Edmonton but with fuel prices not to mention the cracked windshield it was not feasible so I flew using up all of our points. I only had to pay for the hotel ( about 75.00 more than a few years ago). $200.00!!! But I feel safe in that hotel plus it is within walking distance to my chiropractor. Unfortunately due to COVID the airpot shuttle has shut down, it was only $36.00 return. I had to pay $44.31 to take an Uber one way on Tuesday. One of my friends drove me back from the hotel to the airport.

One of the first things I did was to do my kinesiology exercises. I used two towels on top of the carpet. I even did them the next morning. Once per day was better nothing. I normally do them twice per day.

A selfie in the elevator.

So my C2 was out as was my left side trapezoid. Also something in the middle of my back. My ribs were slightly twisted to the right. Dr. McKenna explained why I had been in so much pain. The rib cage is bone and then it tapers down to cartilage and where it joins ( somewhere under the breast ) and there is a weakness between the two densities of bone and cartilage. Most of my rib pain was likely because of one or more tears in that area where the two joined. My muscles were very tight which is why I am doing kinesiology.

Often when I come to Edmonton to see my chiropractor I get together for lunch with a bunch of my school friends. Of course we are all the same age and have been friends from grade 7 to grade 12. Gisele on the left studied nursing with me. Carol on the right was a school teacher but retired once Covid hit. I had not seen them for a few years. Sadly not too many were free at the last moment for this dinner.

Moi, the nurse on the left and Renee on the right was a school teacher. We went to a  bilingual school and of course French was what was usually spoken at home. However my father did not speak French but he still helped us with our homework. Renee drove me to the airport on Wednesday and I was surprised to hear a French radio station playing in the car. Carol’s husband in not French so they speak English at home.

We enjoyed a wonderful almost three hours at my favourite restaurant in the area, Chianti. We could have kept visiting for many many more hours.

A new off leash dog park in the area. I took this because of the doxie on the left. Edmonton was in the middle of a two day heat wave and it was very muggy. There was no shade and the grass was dry. Yet about four dogs were playing with the smallest being in charge.

This ceiling is in the lobby of the Varscona Hotel is stunning.

The next morning I enjoyed the complimentary full breakfast at the hotel. Then it was time to do my exercises followed by checking out, a long walk and then my second chiropractic appointment. When I am there I want to see him twice, just on case and he did more adjustments that day. As mentioned Renee most kindly drove me to the airport. I was early for my flight but there has been a great deal of problems due to a shortage of airport security screening staff so I did not want to miss my flight. There was an incident last Sunday in Vancouver where passengers had to wait over three hours to be processed. My Scotia Visa card provides me with six premium airport lounge passes annually. I set myself up in a corner, enjoyed some wine and snacks and read to pass the time. It was relaxing. The lounge closed at 6:3PM which is when I had to leave to catch my flight.

I was able to take this photo though a double set of windows spaced seven feet apart.

Turns our that our flight kept being delayed and then delayed and then again a delay. The reason was due to gate construction and my flight was going out of this gate for the first time. So glad that I was not sitting inside the arriving aircraft waiting for them to figure out how to attach a ramp that fit, etc. This was the one they ended up using. It was still difficult for me to spend 2 hours and 45 minuets sitting at the gate waiting to board wearing a mask  knowing that I had another 90 minutes of time within the aircraft. I have to say that I was surprised that many were not wearing masks within in the airport which is mandatory.

So happy to land in Kelowna. Colin brought the girls to the airport when he picked me up. We were all so happy to see each other. I was so tired but here I am a few days later back to almost normal. Not sure that I even have a normal 😉

So the last two occasions were last Saturday and Sunday, the 27th and 28th of August.

Last Saturday evening was a Mexican night put on by the rec centre. Of course we had to go. It was expensive at $30.00 for each of us. Plus you had to buy your own wine or whatever you were drinking. I was sitting next to the fellow in the blue shirt who happened to be called Colin.

We had requested no meat and no peppers. The food was excellent. Plus there was a Mexican salad on the side.

Colin and Jan, she has been a longtime neighbour. We ended up bringing the hats home for the girls. So cute.

To be honest ( and I always am ) the music was loud and heavy. It was too strong for dancing right after dinner and no one was dancing. Apparently there was to be a proper DJ who cancelled at the very last minute so that the organizer had a very short time to come up with a play list. She very quickly corrected that and the dance floor was soon full. She really did a great job.

So here I am dancing with Colin number two. Lots of Abba music and some Mexican tunes and so much other music. Do you I look like I have sore ribs? Between the wine and the music I was feeling no pain. It really was a wonderful evening.

A good time was had by all. Sadly no one got a photo of two of us dancing. Because of my ribs I really did not plan on dancing but the music spoke to my soul.  Colin ( #1 ) and I danced and danced and danced and danced. We had a fabulous time and even danced the last dance. We had the nanny cam to check on the girls and they did well except when someone walked past, they barked.

Terri is a great and very active dancer. So when a jump jive came on Colin got her to dance. She did very well considering it was a new dance to her. Their dance as per below was a mix of jump jive and jive.

Sunday morning  I was feeling muscles that have not been used for a very long while, no dancing during Covid. My aches had nothing to do with my kinesiology exercises. Ouch!!  But we truly had fun like we have not had in a very long time.  🙂  😛  😀  😎

Sunday was our annual block party. It was held across the street from where we live in our old yard in the park. We moved here from there.

Thank you Jan for the next three photos. That is  me and Karen, my neighbour on the right facing the lake.

Again lots of food ( it ended up being our dinner ). The girls were very good and did not bark even though the window was was open and they could hear us. So two big parties in two days. I did need to take a few days to settle after that. Now that was a fun weekend.