Cherry Picking on Upper Bench Road with Wild Bill's Blues: Thursday, July 5th!

Let him that would move the world, first move himself. -Socrates 

Topanga Café!

Hi Patrick, Sounds really busy for you guys in Penticton. Kitchen renos are no fun. Our Jennifer did her place in London- both kitchen and her one bathroom -more or less simultaneously - and she survived it! As you can see, we had a big fire this AM; so much water it flooded 4th and MacDonald. Started in Topanga Rest (I think) around 5AM. Unbelievable number of personnel and co-ordination involved -maybe 40 fire fighters! 

We are leaving about Jul 23 for Cortes Isld for about 10days; other than that we should be around to hopefully visit with you. Just received a box of River Stone wine yesterday -I really like their reds. Looking forward to my first visit there. Good luck with the reno and we’ll wait to hear from you. cheers, Bill.

Hello Roma and Leonard! Thank you both for the belated Canada Day wishes. In fact I sent you the July 4th card on purpose as I believe your daughter is working in the US as a vet and thought you might even be visiting over the holiday! Anyway, I had a wonderful two months or so in Europe, enjoying two, two week small, (8 people), guided bike tours, in both Czech Republic and then Poland. 
 

Unfortunately, for me, as I was making my way to Denmark, to stay with a very close friend, I came down with pneumonia when passing through Berlin, via train, and spent a week in the Charité Hospital there. Lady Dar flew over to "rescue" me, once I was discharged, and we were back in Penticton on Tuesday, June 26th. Obviously, my trip to Denmark and then back to France, where I was planning to leave my bike, never happened. In fact, while in Berlin, we eventually had bike shipped to friend's home in Aarhus. Originally, I was to fly back from Paris on July 10th. 

Much more to tell but at least you have a basic update of life here in the sunny Okanagan. Supposed to start becoming blisteringly hot today. Must say I haven't minded the slightly cooler weather since being back if only because makes sleeping far more comfortable. Must away as it's time for breakfast, Greek yogurt with fresh blueberries. Might be cherries soon as we have a good friend with cherry orchards! At the moment Chloë's main focus is on studying for her coming strata management exam on July 26th. At present she is an Unlicensed Assistant for Pacific Quorum Properties Inc. A pass will automatically give her a significant pay increase and set her to move up withing the company. Fondestos to you both from Lady Dar, Chloë and I, the hard-hat wearers on Burns Street. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hi Hedgehog Goil! Grand that your trip has been planned. Closer to date, just remind us of flight number, etc., in case time changes. From last round of flights I have come to expect delays. Fondestos from Lady Dar, off to yoga class, and Chloë, off to work, to you Janet. Must away as I want to have breakfast, a bowl of Greek  yogurt and blueberries, soon to be replaced by cherries, I trust. Happy travels. Cheers, Patrizzio!                                                         Hi Lady Di and Patrizzio II! Trust you are both well. Very unfortunately, for me, I came down with pneumonia when passing through Berlin, via train, and spent a week in the Charitë Hospital there. Lady Dar flew over to "rescue" me once I was discharged and we were back in Penticton on Tuesday, June 26th, about a month earlier than planned. Fondestos to you both from Lady Dar. Stay well. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hello Die Hard Garden Folk! Thanks for calling! Wonderful to chat even if I did most of the talking. As you can tell from Lady Dar's latest message, we are both terribly impressed with your acres and acres of market garden! Not to be critical but we have been extremely pleased with the slotted concrete blocks we bought at Rona, which allow one to use 8' x 8" x 2" planks to form raised beds. I used three blocks on each corner and a total of 6 planks, (two cut in half to use on each end), and am really pleased with result. Should any of planks need to be replaced, over time, easy peasey! Anyway, I'm sure you have plenty of material but thought I'd mention our solution in case it is of interest, at some point. Fondestos to you both from Lady Dar, Chloë and I, the hard-hat, (not to mention hard-headed, hard-hearted), wearers on Burns Street. Cheers, Il Conduttore/Patrizzio!

Hi Chloë! Thanks for scanning and turning invoices into PDF files. Unfortunately, I don't have software to turn them into Word documents. Can you do this? If so, could you send invoices as Word documents. I think I should be able to translate them as such. If not, don't worry. Thanks, Dad! Sorry D, can’t take a scanned doc and turn it into word as its like a photo copy just surface image nothing further then that. Or if you can that’s beyond my scope. Best, Chloe

 Good Morning Patrizzio, how are you doing? I hope better. Too bad your trip to Denmark and France was cut short. How is the kitchen construction coming along? Are you interested in BBQing as an option? I’ll drop in to say hello when I’m in your neighbourhood. No rush on the bike lock, apparently we have a few of them around, who knew? Sounds like some interesting shows for me to watch in the Fall: Blacklist, Homeland, Elementary and Endeavour eh? Take it slow Patrizzio, walking is a good start. Our email box almost reached its quota, so we had to empty it before that point. Somehow I can’t find the YouTube or Flickr links you sent everyone, they were very good. I would be grateful if you sent them to us again. Thank you. From my deck in Naramata & natural bird sanctuary, Carol
 

P.S. after the bike tour Tom & I met his sister Marlis in Klodzko, Poland. (It was known as Glatz till 1945 when Toms father lived there). We travelled to Klodzko by two trains. Marlis has a good memory and also brought letters her father wrote about his childhood describing the area. So... we found the hospital he was born in, the very rural village where he spent his first 6 years and the High School he attended with his siblings. It was a very emotional experience for Tom & his sister. After two days in Klodzko, Marlis drove us north to Luneburg, Germany ( a totally intact medieval town, not bombed during the war) where we visited our niece . She is attending University in Luneburg. We spent two nights at the Altstadt Gasthaus Drews Wale in Luneburg. It was a B&B in a 600 year old building, constructed in the 14th century before Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. There were approx. 85 breweries in Luneburg during the medieval ages and our B&B was one of them. Beer was probably safer to drink then water in those days.  

Sleepy Pup!

Luneburg grew wealthy from its salt mines, seems to be a theme re: salt. I highly recommend visiting Luneburg, its an amazing place! Beautiful in June, with all the colourful roses. After Luneburg we drove to Hannover where another niece is attending school and toured her campus. One of her classes is in an old castle! (And yes Queen Elizabeth the 2nd is connected to the house of Hannover). Back in the car, we drove to Dortmund to visit another cousin of Tom’s. We were invited for a BBQ there, had a nice visit, left, finally arrived at our destination in Essen. Marlis has a home in Essen and we enjoyed her hospitality till June 17th when we flew back to Canada. I enjoyed our bike trip through Southern Poland immensely. It was a trip of a lifetime for me and I felt lucky Katarina was our guide. Yes there were a few rough, muddy bike trails but overall a wonderful adventure.  

On a happy note, good friend from hiking group and book club, Hilde, [Hildegard, so I call her Von Bingen!], dropped by yesterday, having ridden, with her cousin, visiting from Berlin, all the way from Myra Canyon Trestles to Penticton, on KVR! Hilde lives in Oliver, in house she grew up in and became close friends with Senka when she and Bob were at Black Hills, making Nota Bene. We belong to Terravista's wine club and Senka is in book club I started. Last meeting took place at their home, next to winery, day after we returned from Berlin. I had not read book and wasn't really in any shape to attend but Lady Dar did so and had a wonderful time.

Their home has been completely renovated and it is a fabulous space, huge covered deck overlooking Okanagan Lake, small swimming pool, marvellous vegetable garden, chickens and all! Interestingly enough, property originally belonged to a friend, Jake Synder, who had a small cattle ranch there, during '70's/'80's, I believe. We were at United College, in Winnipeg, in the late '60's and, by chance, I bumped into him in 2015, when we moved to Penticton.

This past Saturday, at Farmers' Market, we chatted with Jake, outside Book Shop on Main, where he has a regular stand, selling his History of Penticton High, (He taught there for over 25 years.), and Vets of the South Okanagan Series. [On a very, very sad note, his youngest son died in Afghanistan and there is a memorial to him on the boardwalk near The Lakeshore Hotel.] He has was in Navy Reserve when in university, (He completed his Teaching Certificate at U Vic, after he left Winnipeg and then moved to Penticton as his parents relocated there, once retired, from Flin Flon, Manitoba.), and just completed his third volume of Vets of the South Okanagan. Lady Dar helped edit second volume but was most fussed when he acknowledged her contribution, naming her "Corinne Dunn!" Through him I was introduced to hiking group and then rest of connections began to fall into place!

Hi Patrick, how are you doing? Hope you are settling back into Penticton after a very trying time for you. Let me know how you are. Take care, Matt Dunners,

How are you doing? Thank you for your generous donation to Autism Speaks Canada on behalf of our son Patrick. Really appreciate your support! Cheers, Peps Hi Mama Ruffino's Favourite Son! Trust you and Lovely Linda are well. Always pleased to support Patrick's cause! Fondestos to you both from Lady Dar, Chloë and I. Cheers, Il Conduttore/Patrizzio!