AND ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE

 Well not really.  But stuff happened.  Plans were all in place then a curve ball happened.

As I have mentioned the whole family was gathering at Kathy's for not only thanksgiving but also to make a day trip to Armstrong to place dad's new headstone and to bury Mom's ashes under said headstone.

We all planned the dinner, each of us contributing our particular speciality.  Stan to bring a special 22 pound turkey.  April to bring her turnips for a turnip poof.  Monte to bring sweet potatoes.  Bootles taking care of the Brussel sprouts.  Arnie to bring a green bean casserole.  Me to bring stuffing, mashed potatoes and the gravy.  Someone to get pumpkin pies from Costco.  Etc....all planned.

Kathy got all the sleeping plans in place and emailed everyone.  She also planned out Friday nite dinner and picnic stuff for the burial day at Hulcar in Armstrong.  And then....

On Wed.  I got a call from Kathy...she is sick...with just enough covid like symptoms to be a little alarmed.  So she did what any responsible person would...called us all and let us know then went and got tested. She drove to Merritt early on Thursday morning for a test, rather than wait a couple of days in Kamloops.  They told her that only 25% of people testing positive have her symptoms.  And they told her that if its negative they would text her or post it on her lab page overnight.  So....here it is five in the afternoon and no text or report.  And if she doesn't hear, to phone them after 72 hours.  So now here we are...all in limbo.  Kathy is feeling so so bad about it.  I feel so so bad for her.  It's not her fault.

I had a reservation on the ferry for 11 this morning.  I had to take it no matter whether we had heard or not.  If I didn't take it then I would not be coming.  The ferries are FULL!  Plus I was bringing Austin with me to Vancouver.  So Thursday nite (last nite) I packed everything up as did Austin and we loaded the truck all ready to leave at nine in the morning.  So off we went this morning.  I dropped Austin off on first Ave. and quickly back tracked to April's.  I shall stay here until we have heard one way or the other.  We have made a plan b...a turkey dinner at Arnie's.  Heaven knows we have enough stuffing (8 loaves of bread worth) two giant hams, eggs, butter, almost twenty pounds of potatoes, two bags of yams.  I mean we were planning for twenty people!!!!

And......just this very second Kathy texted....NEGATIVE!!!!  Game on!!!

Thank goodness!!!!  We were all so looking forward to this and I am so relieved that Kathy is okay.  I think she would be so upset if it couldn't go ahead.  Well we all would be but she somehow would feel a little responsible, even though she totally wouldn't have been.  I felt so bad for her when I was talking to her today.  And any event we have had jeopardized or had to unexpectedly work for is always more special later.

I am staying at Anne's.  I have never, in 48 years of knowing her, stayed at her house for even one night. She has stayed with me many times but me at hers never.  Plus she is going to come with me to Kathy's on Saturday and she says she will be my sous chef...just like the old days!!  And I invited her to come with me to Armstrong the next day as well.  I hope that will be okay with everyone.  She was very close to my dad and would love to see where he grew up and where he is buried.   She will be good company.

Then when I leave there I will be coming to April's til Friday.  On Friday I will head over to Cookie's!!!!  I haven't seen Cookie for way over a year.  And she is going to teach me some curry dishes, especially ones I remember from when we were teens.  I can't wait.  After the weekend I shall be going to Aryn's.  And she has some food plans that I am totally looking forward to.  Next blog I shall tell you about their news!  Some exciting things have happened to Aryn.

The next weekend Aryn is planning something for my birthday.  I shall be turning that magical number 69!!!!  I have waited a long long time to be 69!!!!  I will be coming home with April after that for a day or two then back home.  

So it's going to be a busy couple of weeks, a very fun couple of weeks!  It is so nice to be out of my chair and out and about.  And it's awesome to see my girls and my other son (he is bringing the kids to Armstrong) and the rest of the family.  It will be Elise's birthday that day too!  Anne doesn't have wifi.  So my blogging might be a bit spotty...what am I saying...it's already spotty.  But I will post pics of everyone and dinner and Armstrong on Monday.  Take care folks.  TTYL

"After a good dinner, one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations." — Oscar Wilde

“I got to go home for Thanksgiving and sit at the adults’ table. That’s ’cause, you know, somebody had to die for me to move up a plate.” —Andre Kelley.

My apologies for this next one:

“I celebrated Thanksgiving the old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land.” —Jon Stewart

SPRING ROLLS, POLICE AND UNNECESSARY SHOPPING

 The other day Austin took a trip to Nanaimo.  Monte was going to go with him but didn't feel well enough.  When Austin returned, he had gone to a Vietnamese restaurant he was familiar with, for lunch and brought home some salad rolls and peanut sauce, the best freaking peanut sauce you ever ate!  Then he told us about the rest of the food there.  Pho!!!  Oh yes!!!

They have a smaller version of the restaurant in Parksville  On Tuesday we decided to hop into our vehicles and head over for supper.  Peter and Austin went in Peter's car.  They wanted to go for a hike near Rathrevor beach after, not something Monte and I would be doing.  :( Off we went.  Peter and Austin left ahead of us, us not far behind.

Just at the edge of town the two main roads out of Port converge in a V shape and morph into a four lane highway.  We had been following a very slow logging truck so as soon as we got to the merge part Monte pulled out and passed the truck.  And as soon as he pulled back into the right lane a police car pulled up behind him and put her lights on.  Dangit!!!!!!

Long story short he apparently  pulled over to pass the truck whilst the line dividing our two lanes was still solid, not dotted yet.  She was super nice about it but...you know.  Then when she was checking his license she discovered it had expired back in June on his birthday.  Dangit again!!!!!  335.00 bucks later....check your licenses people!

  Fortunately, because we were going to a restaurant I had taken my license.  I don't always.  Monte is driving and I don't pack a purse and often no wallet.  So by the time we were finished so much time had gone by we turned around and went home.  Wed. morning we went straight to Service BC and got him a replacement.  And he paid his fine immediately to get 25 bucks off.

I think, and this is only my opinion, covid has caused a few shopaholics.  Online shopaholics.  It's so much fun!  I have talked to a few people that had never ordered anything from anywhere on line before and now they are doing it all the time.  I shop mostly at Amazon, or at least I did until they put their prices up so high they are ridiculous.  But I discovered another place.  Wish.  And if you haven't been on Wish, don't.  It's so cheap you can't help yourself.  But...and this is a big but, the stuff is crap.  Occasionally you would get something good, but not enough to outweigh the bad.

Anyway, this morning I was having a look and I snagged a few pics of some items I thought I would share with those of you that have never been.  This will help convince you to never go there!

AHHH, LIGHTS ON YOUR FINGERS, JUST WHAT YOU NEED IN THE DARK!

OF COURSE I WANT A BIGGER ASS...WHO DOESN'T

WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THIS...BOOTS WITH A BIG AIRY GAP RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE

HAVE YOU NOTICED THE TREND LATELY FOR WOMEN TO MAKE THEIR EYEBROWS LOOK LIKE  LARGE BLACK UGLY CATERPILLARS?

I'M TOO SEXY FOR MY SHADES, TOO SEXY FOR MY SHADES

I HAD TO READ ABOUT THIS ONE....IT'S A LIGHT BULB THAT HAS A PRETEND FIRE IN IT...AT LEAST I HOPE IT'S PRETEND.  WITH WISH YOU NEVER KNOW.

NOW JUST IN CASE YOU DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THE FIRST ONE OR YOU THOUGHT IT WAS TOO MEEK, HERE IS ONE THAT MAKES THAT STATEMENT...UGLY EYEBROW TREND, EVEN BETTER!!!!!!

JUST IN CASE...YOU NEVER KNOW...MAYBE COUGAR PROTECTION? I MEAN... MILLIONS OF VOLTAGE...MILLIONS

SOME CERTAIN CULTURES HAVE A FIXATION FOR THEIR BUMS

YES!!! AN OOZIE NECKLACE...JUST WHAT WE ALL WANT

YAY!!!!  I CAN SAFELY START SMOKING AGAIN!

HOLY HANNAH!!!! A MAGNETIC EARRING THAT MAKES YOU SKINNY IN JUST ONE WEEK!!!!! I WANT ONE, BAD....

AND IT'S A CREAM?  A SLIMMING CREAM?  MY FAT WILL BURN?  IN FIVE DAYS?  OH....BE STILL MY HEART!!!!

Okay Peeps!  Will wonders never cease!  I can get skinny, protect myself, boost my butt, and get massive ugly man brows, all in one place!!!  Take care, stay safe and TTYL

"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination". Oscar Wilde

BRADLEYBE IN THE HOUSE

 I am sitting here with Peter, Bradleybe on my lappy doing his djaying thingy on twitch.  Sun is shining, no clouds, smelling mustard.  Yeah, jeez, I have my white fuzzy housecoat on and I was eating a slapped together hot dog...raw wiener, mustard, mushy bun....and promptly dropped a gob of mustard onto the housecoat, right near my nose.  sigh.  (shovel list!)

It's been a pretty nice few days.  I went out to dinner with Marian.  Trying to find a restaurant was a trial.  In this town there is a shortage of workers, like everywhere.  So many restaurants are closed in this town on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  And the ones that are open close by seven.  We were

BILL SENT THIS TO ME ONCE

AWWWWWWW

HE'S GROWN A LITTLE!  ONE WEEK OLD

WATCHING MRS. BROWN'S BOYS

KERRY'S SISTER WENDY.....ONE OF THE MOST FUN PEOPLE I KNOW

BILL'S FUNERAL TABLE

meeting about six thirty.  So I ended up taking her to Solda's, a personal fave of mine but not a very sophisticated place. It was the only one open until nine.   I knew she loved beer but there were no pubs open.  But Solda's sold a limited amount of beer choices.  And as soon as we walked in she ordered a beer!!!!  And Solda's food is great so we had that at a least.  I had a wonderful time with her and was so honoured that she would call me up!

I found a crazy recipe for pumpkin muffins.  It called for one can of pumpkin (14 oz about) and one box of either carrot or spice cake...same thing basically.  So I bought the stuff, added more pumpkin spice I had mixed up, made a spicy crumble for the top and baked them up.  Delish and so damned easy!  I would have liked them to be a bit denser but hey! easy peasy wins the race.  And the dollar store sells everything you need!

Don't tell my kids this, I don't think all of them read this blog, but I actually bought a whole bunch of outdoor hallowe'en decorations!  Now I am not a fan of hallowe'en as the kids will tell you.  They had to make their own costumes once they got old enough to realize that slapping a sheet over their head and cutting two holes for eyes was just not cutting it.  I really dislike it and now with covid I am wondering what the protocol will be this year. The boys here have already eaten through two boxes of chocolate bars!

Well I don't have a whole lot else to report.  I am going to put up the next two challenges and a quote. I don't have any current pics but I could prolly find a couple old ones.  I will go see.  Take care, stay safe TTYL

55.  Cook up an outdoor bbq dinner.  Even if it is just for yourselves or for company.

56.  Get some seeds or seedlings and plant an indoor herb garden.

"Muffins spelled backwards is exactly what you do when you take them out of the oven." 

I am so fed up with this stupid blogspot.  Why, why would the size of the print shoot up to HUGE?  And why did they put the pics in the middle and not at the end?  I really hate this site.

THAT IS MARION DRIVING THE BUS, I AM THE FAT 'SPECIAL' ONE IN THE BACK OF THE BUS AND SUE IS THE ONE IN THE MIDDLE

RATS RATS RATS....AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

 I knew when we bought this place that we would possibly have the occasional rat show up.  We live three houses down from the back of a grocery store. I learned this from Kevin.  They live behind an IGA and the rats eat their garden!

I have already posted about our rat adventure with our heat pump.  Sad....but funny.  This time was funny too but phobic for one our crew!

I whipped open the sliding door to the deck to obtain my wok, which I had taken out of my oven, where I store it, and put it out on the table by the door.  I was making brownies and needed my oven earlier.  Now I needed my wok.  As I rapidly slid the door open, a big fluffy rat dashed across the deck from the left to the right, not four feet in front of me.  Well my immediate reaction was to slam the door shut and run into the living room,  shaking my hands up and down, dancing around and making inhuman sounds. God!  I hate rats!!!!  Spiders are bad, but rats are just evil awful things.

The next day Monte and Austin were cleaning and organizing the garbage and recycling on the deck.  I did warn them that there had been a recent rat sighting out there.

They had been working away for a while, I was in my chair on my lappy, when suddenly there was an ungodly screaming/yelling coming from the deck.  LOUD!!!!!  I looked out to see Austin running like a crazy person around the deck, throwing his legs up and down in the air like James Cleese doing a crazy walk at full speed, twisting his body around and windmilling his arms at a hundred miles an hour....all the while screaming in a most godawful way!  He came flinging into the house and ran around in here shuddering and screaming.  Well crap!!!   It was funny!!!!  Monte came in and we started to laugh!  We couldn't help it!  But at the same time we felt really bad for him.  Hahahaha!!!

Later he told me that he lifted a box and the rat was curled up in the corner of it, snoozing.  Well that ended real quick!  He said it didn't touch him but that didn't help much.  Clearly!  Poor Austin. Nothing like a little rat activity to liven your day up!!!

I got a text from an unknown number the other day.  It was announcing that whoever it was would be in Port on Wed. and could we get together.  I had no clue who it was.  You know, instead of asking who it was I should have just made arrangements to meet with the person somewhere and been surprised!!!

Well I asked and it was a friend from Kamloops I haven't seen in a while.  Do you remember the Mystery Tour we went on with Wells Grey Tours? Marion works for them and turned out to be the texter.  She is on a tour of small ships of Vancouver Island.  The group is taking the Francis Barkley to Bamfield on Wednesday and she was at a loose end for dinner Wed night!  I was delighted that she even remembered I live here, let alone want to meet.  Her roommate Sue was not only a friend but my handyman in Kamloops.  They stayed in our condo in Maui now and then.  I can't wait to see her!!

Now a wee dilemma.  Where to take her for dinner.  I had planned on the Clam Bucket.  They make amazing sea food, a kind of natural for Port.  I even asked her if she liked seafood.  She does.  And when I phoned to make a reservation I discovered they are closed Tuesday and Wednesday.  Sigh.  (shovel list restaurants in this town!!!)

The only other open decent place we can go is Little Bavaria, which we love love love, but Marian is German.  Is this not a little like coals to Newcastle?  But there really isn't much choice in the matter.  The other choice is a Brewery.  We have a number of newly opened breweries and I know from experience with her that she loves beer.  Also the new one across town has pretty good food too.  I have a feeling this would be the best choice.  I will report back and let you know.  I shall attempt some pics as well!!!

Well I am now about to denude a ham bone.  A couple of the household boys would like some pea soup.  Pea soup is one of my fave things to make.  And there is not an overload of meat in it to satisfy two of us that are quasi vegetarians.  I think a nice big Caesar salad and a bowl of pea soup for supper tonight!  It is feeling wintery all of a sudden!  I love it!  It is inevitable so we might as well love it as opposed to making ourselves miserable by not loving it!

A quick note to you Sharri.  Thanks for your thoughtful comment on the last post.  I agree with you wholeheartedly!

Well that's it for today folks.  I shall post on Friday and let you know how dinner goes tomorrow night.  Take care and I will maybe put two more challenges on on Friday.  TTYL

“October, baptize me with leaves! Swaddle me in corduroy and nurse me with split pea soup. October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins. O autumn! O teakettle! O grace!”

— Rainbow Rowell

FLOATING ALONG THE COAST OF GREENLAND

AND THEY SERVED US PEA SOUP AND HOT CHOCOLATE OUT THERE IN THE FREEZING COLD...SO APPROPRIATE!!

TIME IS A'FLYING' BY

 Egads!!  So busy.  I love it.  Most the boys are back at the moment.  People to cook for!!!  I find myself laying in bed in the morning, smiling, planning dinner, my fave past time.  Two semi vegetarians and one somewhat picky eater.  And soon we will have Graeme with us as well. He eats everything and is grateful!!!  Well they are all grateful.  I love it.

Last Friday Monte and I drove to Port Hardy.  For those that don't know, Port Hardy is about five hours north of here..up Island.  Austin was coming in around midnight on the ferry from the Charlottes.

About half way there Monte started to get agitated and by the time we arrived he was pretty much in a full blown panic attack.  His arm had gone numb and that started a rolling panic.  The poor guy.  He is still somewhat fragile.  He is so good all the time I tend to forget that he is on all kinds of medication and is always keeping a lid on his issues, but sometimes they overcome him. But with talking and looking up symptoms involving numbness etc.. he made a supreme effort and got a handle on it. But it's clear there will be no trip across Canada.  In fact he won't be able to come up to Kamloops at thanksgiving.  He needs his little house out here in the boonies and that's totally okay.

Now today for some odd reason that is beyond me I have a long doctor appointment that happens once a year.  I asked the mo what it was for and she said that the doctor just goes over all your meds and general health.  Yeah.  Sure.  Why?  I get labs done that she looks at every three months.  I just had that done.  What the heck?  I don't get it.

And that being said I have to run.  Gotta at least try to comb my hair.  sigh  (shovel list).  Stay safe.  We just found out that one of Monte's band mates probably has covid.  For jeez!!!!!  Monte hasn't seen him for two weeks so fingers crossed.  TTYL

“Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.”
—Charles Spurgeon

. “Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.”
—Arthur Somers Roche

FORGOT TO TITLE LAST POST

 It was a busy week.  Levi came for the night on his way to Tofino camping.  He was meeting a friend there.  He asked Monte to go along so he did.  The site they had had electrical plug ins so he could take his cpap and sleep in the van.  He had a great time!

Peter came home for a couple of days, on his way to work at Nitinaht.  Nitinaht is about and hour to an hour and a half away, over the road to a halfway point to Bamfield.  It then goes off towards Cowichan.  He bought himself the cutest little 4x4 Tracker.  So off he went Monday nite to start his first day on Tuesday.

Levi stopped in on his way back to Victoria.  It looked like he had a good time.  After a while he and Monte headed off to Parksville for a feed of Ramen.  I stayed behind because we had received a message from Peter.  He was coming home!  What???

Apparently there are a couple of guys working there that live in Port here and they come home every night!  EVERY NIGHT!!!!  The DFO provides a rental truck for them.  Holy Hannah!!!!  I can't imagine getting up at six in the morning, banging over that road for over an hour, working hard til four for five then banging their way back here.  Crazy!  But Peter seems to be happy about it, which is what is important.  But I have to say, when that road deteriorates as winter progresses, we will see how happy he is then!  I am happy he will be home each night.  I will be a pro vegetarian cook by the end of his stint up there!!!

I happened to catch an episode of "You Gotta Eat Here" the other day.  I have only watched it now and then, mostly by accident.  What I like is that it is Canadian.  So all the places he goes are in Canada, pretty rare.  This episode I saw was mostly in Nova Scotia!  And what I saw...I gotta eat there!!!  So I am now taking notes and plan to go to some of these places!  Mont and I will be coming back three hundred pounds heavier!

Another great suggestion came from Aryn.  There is a show on CBC called Still Standing.  Johnny Harris goes to small towns in Canada and meets all the people and sees things and eats in small diners then does a stand up schtick for the townspeople at the end.  I am going to start watching them with the idea of making a point of going to some of them. 

 On one of our trips back from New York, we were driving through Canada, we sought out the little town in Saskatchewan that Corner Gas had been filmed in.  It was a fave show of Monte's and Bill's.  It was so much fun to go there.

Well it's Wednesday, which means it's clean the house before Millie comes tomorrow, and it's Ange coffee day.  We will probably go to No frills or Walmart after coffee.  I think I will stock up on vegetables!  Gotta keep the fridge stocked with salad stuff for sure.  Peter is a big salad eater.  Today he took left over Dahl for his lunch.  He is so easy to please.

Well that's all I got today.  I apologize that its turned into a 'diary'.  I think once life returns to a little more normal, if it ever does, life will be a little livelier and a little more interesting.  Take care folks.  Challenges next time, not that we are doing them.  Lol!!  TTYL

"Animals are nicer than human beings and they are conscious beings.  If you stick your grandmother in an oven, she will probably be tasty. But is that any reason to eat your grandmother?"  Morrissey, Musician

This is by far the most interesting town I have lived in so far.  Just this week we have had a mentally ill mother shoot her son...just a block or two up from us, a mentally ill man climb a tall tall tree which no one could get him down from.  After a couple of days they found him one morning and he had hung himself.  We had the infamous anti masker pee all over the Dairy Queen floor and counter, just down the road from us.  And remember this is the town that produce those two boys that caused one of the biggest manhunts in Canada, after shooting people up north.  As a matter of fact we have a very forested park right in the middle of town and it's nickname is 'Murder Park'...for obvious reasons.  I love it here! Never gets boring.

On a more serious note, I just saw a native lady on tv saying, "every piece of land that you are walking on was stolen from us".  This may not be pc to say but I am getting tired of the inferred message.  I didn't steal it.  My parents didn't steal it.  Their parents didn't steal it.  Neither did any of my blood ancestors.  Just because my skin is white I have to take on this burden?  Reverse racism? 

 I am more than happy to concede that, yes, white people came into this land and took it.  And the white people ended up being the majority.  And due to that, I am more than willing to understand and be part of the fixing as much as possible but, comments like hers are NOT conducive to reconciliation and understanding and 'fixing'.  What is their end game? What is it they want that I can give?  Definitely not the land we are walking on, that can't happen.  So what can we do? What will bring this to a satisfactory end?  I have been listening carefully to what has been said and so far I am not hearing solutions, from them, that would satisfy and correct.

Monte, bless him, is no Bill.  I have to remember that now and then.  Back when Spod was still kicking, sigh, I miss him, if we decided on a trip of some sort, there would be hours of discussion and research and planning.  It would be so exciting.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, we are planning a trip across Canada.  Actually I should say 'I' am planning it.  I can't get him to talk about it or contribute or anything.  He is excited and looking forward to it but spending time researching and discussing just isn't in his wheelhouse.  To me that is half the trip!!!!

Meanwhile back at the ranch I have a herd of Lost Boys, as I call them, descending on us in the next couple of weeks.  Firstly Awsty, as I call him, is finally arriving!  He plans to stay until the end of October.  He is in the Charlottes I believe at the moment and will be arriving in Port Hardy next week.  Monte and I are going to drive up there the day before, stay in a hotel and pick him up the next day and bring him back here.  I am pretty excited.  I have never been to Port Hardy. Maybe we could fit in a quick trip to Sointula (sp?).  They have an amazing museum I want to go to.

Peter is coming home on Saturday, but just til Tuesday then he is off to work in Nitinaht at the fish hatchery for three months.  He bought a 4x4 vehicle!  I can't wait to see him!  I am hoping he will be able to come home on occasion on his days off.

Graeme has handed in his resignation from the hotel he works in in Tofino.  He has had enough of that icky little hole.  (I hate Tofino). (I also hate Whistler for the same reason). He will be coming here for a wee while before he takes off for the big city.  Now why he wants to go to Vancouver baffles the hell out of me.  Why anyone would want to go to that unfriendly overcrowded nowhere to live city is beyond me but to each his own!  It will be awesome to have him here for a while!

So that is it for today.  I must get back to my work I am doing today.  I have finally cleaned out the guest room, getting it ready for Austin.  That is a huge burden off my mind.  I have also cleaned out the huge rubbermaid in the bottom of the pantry closet that was full of unlidded plastic containers.  I organized them all, lidded them and cleaned out the rest of the stuff in there.  And guess what?  I found the frigging dutch oven pot that has been missing forever!  Its my pea soup pot!  I thought it had been stolen off the deck.  It is huge!  What does that say about how badly that area needed organizing!  Anywhooo, gotta keep going!  Stay safe and TTYL.

"Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up". A A Milne