Back to the Broom Blues: Wednesday, February 13th!

In some circumstances, the refusal to be defeated is a refusal to be educated. -Margaret Halsey, novelist (13 Feb 1910-1997) 

Duke started to fuss around 4:00 am but curled up on top of my legs when I told him it was too early to rise. Stayed there until just after 6:00 am when I didn't mind getting up. Have taken to leaving whatever "appetizer" is on the menu, [I rotate pumpkin, yogurt and wet cat food.], on the guest bedroom counter overnight and close door, of course, so that it is not as cold as just coming from fridge. Bathroom is cool so food is fine all you over-refrigerated food people! Duke ate very little pumpkin and then exited into Rumpus Room. Closed that door and then had to follow Miss Etta into bathroom before I could catch her to open front door and toss her into a snowbank! Was a bit worried at first as she sank out of sight but a few minutes later, scrambled out, giving me a nasty glare!

Had a note form Jim French, in response to my query about Thursday's snowshoe outing and he thought it might be too challenging for me. This being the case I plan to go to the pool to deep-water walk. Looking forward to sauna and steam room as well. Friend David is driving to Vancouver for weekend so he won't be around until Monday when he will lead group at Idleback. Looking forward to that, of course. Might be able to do a bit of snowshoeing with Chloë, Robbie and Katie on weekend but plans are not yet settled. Maya will not be flying up, in great good part because of nasty weather. In fact Chloë and Robbie won't stay overnight in Vernon on Thursday, (when he flies into Kelowna), as originally planned. On a more positive note, detour around landslide is now open so drive to Kelowna is now much reduced as commuters no longer need to use 201 Forest Service Road.

As soon as I've had my yogurt, dried cherries, [dehydrated using frozen fruit from Bill Sliva], and hemp hearts, I'm off to shovel walks again. Not as much snow fell over course of last night so shouldn't take quite as long as it did yesterday.

Hi Dad Alex was saying that he has very few baby pics to look at for comparison when Olivia arrives. Would you happen to have some to share with us from your archives between 1990-92? I don't have many to give him as I always depended on you to take family pics at Hotel Kits! Looks like the snow is pretty high still! Must be like being back in Manitoba! Looking forward to Mom's visit before she returns to you! Love to all Ayn Hi Archival Ayn! Yes, haven't been shoveling like this for some time. Still, I enjoy it and even had a pay-off this afternoon as Terry, neighbour across the street, was out clearing his sidewalk at the same time. He asked me if I'd like a small, frozen container of his potatoe/leek soup. When I said, "Certainly" he brought it over and I let it thaw out on counter. Had it for supper and it was very, very good. Will have to ask him for a larger container next time!

I just had time to look through a few albums as they are not in chronological order, on the shelves, due to having been moved a couple of times. Anyway, it will be fun to look through them and I've already found two that will have some pictures of time period you specified. I'm ready for bed so I'll write more tomorrow. Love and Cheers, Dad!

Hello Famiglia Dyck PR Person! Sorry to hear that poor Ezra had more problems with his hernia surgery than did I. Bit of a drag, of course, but trust he is recovering well now. Is he in Guyabitos as well? Not clear from your message.
Another lazy day at Burns Street. Fondesos and Love, Cheers, Patrizzio/Dad!
 

Thanks Patrick. I can play Monday. Dianne As long as the roads are safe to drive I will be there to play. Jos I'm in! Jos I hope that I can ride with you.Hugs, Olly
I will be there Susan Looks like you have enough for 1 table! Let me know if 2 are in the works and I will play Judy Hi JB! As of this writing, with you, we have seven confirmed so I'll need both you and your lovely table! Ann mentioned that she might be able to invite another from her afternoon bridge contingent. [I gather you will play with her at the GFA tournament in Oliver. I'm hoping to go myself.] Let me know if you'd like me to pick it up beforehand. Thanks and Cheers, Patrizzio!

Patrick, As always it is good to hear of your latest adventures. You are very energetic to go out hiking in this cold weather. Now a comment - the lady with you in the photo after the photo of Corinne in Mexico suggests not good things!!!!! I am surprised Corinne is back already as it seems you just said she was going to Mexico. Looks like she was in paradise with sun and greenery.

We have been busy as we spent the last couple of weeks in Vancouver, before the snowfall, and were quite busy meeting up with the kids and friends, getting ready for our trip to Peru and Ecuador, going to the movies, long walks, lovely lunch at the Van Dusen Gardens with the old crew from the BC Chamber of Commerce etc. etc. Gerry was the oldest at the BC Chamber get together and I dare say the youngest looking - of course I am a bit biased. We saw the movies Green Book and Bohemian Rhapsody which were both excellent but had sad messages especially Green Book as it was in our time and it is hard to believe that we were rather oblivious to the goings on or just ignored it.

Terrace has been cold but no snow. It is beautiful out with deep blue sky and white snow capped mountain especially if the wind doesn’t blow. We have started skiing ⛷again and gather the hill is in good shape (not icy) so hope to go up on Friday. I am much slower now, not that I was ever a dare devil skier and Gerry is so good as he waits for me. I do not want to fall!

We are taking the kids on a trip with us and leave next week. Gerry and I are going to Iquitos in the Amazon for 3 days then meeting the kids in Lima and doing Cusco etc, Machu Picchu, and 5 days in the Galapagos. Everyone is really excited and Gerry and I think this is the best way to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary which actually doesn’t happen until the summer but trying to get a family trip depends on the availability of those working.

Had company for dinner on Sunday and made an old fashioned dinner of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding (they were delicious if I do say so myself), potatoes etc. We can’t remember when we last had a roast beef dinner but I sure remember it being a staple Sunday night dinner when we had to dress up and sit at the dining room table and present our best manners.

We have finally put in a section of cupboards, wine fridge (much smaller than yours), sink and shelving in our downstairs where our living room is. The room is very large and needed to be condensed so the addition of a bar area helps to make it more comfortable. You really should make the trek to Terrace and see us. Well that is about it from the far north. Keep us posted on you and Corinne’s doings and give Corinne a kiss from us. Happy Valentines Day💘 Cheers, Dawn 

Hello Piranha People! Hope you don't lose any toes or fingers or worse! Almost as bad a hiking in sub-zero temperatures with frost-bite! What a wonderful set of adventures you have ahead and that you will be doing most as a family. What a marvellous 50th wedding anniversary present from your loving offspring!!! Congratulations, in advance! Bravo!! Onward and damn the poisoned blow-gun darts!!!

Your time in Vancouver sounded busy and very interesting as well. I do hope to see the two films you mentioned but don't know when now. Bohemian Rhapsody was here but we missed it. Your roast beef dinner, with Yorkshire pudding, made me salivate. Last Sunday, I did same, with roast, and Chloë was to make the popovers but by the time she arrived, [She had been at work for most of the afternoon, after we went snowshoeing for a couple of hours at Idleback Lake, about half an hour above Sendero Canyon.], she was too hungry to wait. Would love to visit Terrace and see your latest round of renovations, although hardly worth the effort given the size of your miniature wine fridge! Still have a couple of HazMat suits from The White Room Days!

Lady Dar is still in La Peñita although her friends, Chooch and Brunello, leave tomorrow, after being with her for last two weeks. I may have mentioned that I am having my right shoulder replacement surgery on March 12th. Lady Dar is back on March 7th and we will order tickets for the SOWTS St Patrick's Day event on March 17th. If I'm still in pain, whisky will help and as Lady Dar will be the chauffeur/personal attendant, for following six weeks, I get to bark out orders! More wine, NOW!

Finished Season 2 of Borderland last night and will start Season 2 of The Break, a French-language Belgian crime drama featuring a police detective, Yoann Peeters, who moves from Brussels with his daughter, Camille, to his hometown. Really enjoyed Season 1 so looking forward to continuation. Fondesos, Bestestos and Best Wishes to you both, Donna Maria and Heraldo. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Patrick, You are so good at updating us on your days which are always full. Snowshoeing is something I have never done but had a conversation the other day with a friend and said we should try it. Corinne is away for a long time - 5 weeks??? By the way we are taking the kids, they aren’t taking us but nice thought. Thought I would include a photo of the family on Christmas Day morning before breakfast. Cheers, Dawn Patrick, I forgot to mention that I trust you will be a new man with your shoulder replacement on the 12th. We return to Vancouver on March 15. Will you still be in Vancouver or are you having your surgery in Kelowna? Dawn

Hi again, Galapagos Island Goil! Yes, indeed, you should try snowshoeing. It really is very easy, especially on the flat. Once you gain experience and confidence you can move into more challenging terrain, small hills/ridges, steeper climbs and such. I'm still at a fairly basic level but even so the outings are more than magical. The silence is simply wonderful to hear, so to speak! Lovely snap of the martini swilling Martinis! No wonder your kids give you expensive presents. They cannot say "NO" after you manage to 'git them all liquered up!

For this very reason I was quite surprised that your children aren't taking you and The Downhill Daredevil on such an expensive holiday. [I spit on the Galapagos!] We haven't paid for anything, from paper clips to First Class airline tickets and 5 Star hotels in years! That's why Lady Dar is away for a little more than nine weeks, (including a week or so in Tinsel Town on way home to see our new great-granddaughter from Alexander and Samantha), as she only had to buy toothpaste on entire holiday! Even a couple of $1000 US for spending money! I could ask Ayn and Chloë to speak to Jefferson and Stacee to straighten them out! Finder's fee, of course! I could paddle your canoe on the Amazon and remove poisonous insects from your tent!

Just finished initializing printer/scanner I gave Lady Dar for Christmas. She really needs one for her wedding officiant business. Was a tad worried I wouldn't be able to do so as one we have in my "office" doesn't work wirelessly, even though it is capable of connecting that way. Not sure why but since I was able to get Lady Dar's to work wirelessly, I'm going to play around and see if I can get it to do the same. Up until now we have had to use a USB cable between computer and printer. While it works it is annoying if one happens to be elsewhere in house, beside malt cabinet, per esempio, and one needs to order a new bottle on Amazon, and one happens to be too, too unsteady on one's feet to make it to the "office"! 

In fact, I'm having my surgery, here in town. Lady Dar wants to do it on our new counter top as she has been reading Surgery for Dummies while on beach. She worked as a scrub nurse when I met her in Winnipeg so she feels she can manage quite well, with Etta and Duke doing the suturing with their needle sharp claws. She plans to use quite a few pieces of scrap metal, for the new joint, which I have in garage as my "hoarding" drives her nuts. If her skills don't cut it, so to speak, Dr Pinnsoneault will ambulance me to PGH and try to stop the bleeding and the infection as the scrap iron is a bit rusty! Must away as I want to lay a fire and fry up some chicken livers for dinner. Have been "attacking" the freezer and trying to use everything that has been there since the Last Ice Age so that there will be room for Lady Dar to start filling it up again with things she puts there and promptly forgets about! 'Ain't Life Grand! Fondestos once more. Cheers, Patrizzio! Pic: New printer/scanner and Guard Cat! I've attached Xmas photo for The Sisterhood!

Hi Theodore! As you probably knew, Grogg and Lurch were here, almost two week ago now, and I finally managed to obtain your email address. I lost it, two years ago, when I bumped into you at the VWF! Unfortunately, due to sub-zero temperatures at Silver Star, landslide on 97 and weather warning for Lower Mainland they only stayed for one night. Anyway, just wanted to say hello and say we'd love a visit from you and Fiona if you are ever in the Okanagan. PS: The 2017 VWF photos were stored on an external hard drive and I had to figure out, all over agin, how to access them. Technology! Pics: Dinner on Friday night and farewell next morning. VWF

Hi Chopper! Great to chat, if only briefly. Sorry it has taken me a bit to send along a message. No excuses but plenty of reasons! Pleased that you and Karen are doing well on VI. We certainly enjoy living in Penticton and having access to so many of the Okanagan's incredible landscapes, not to mention wineries! Just inside from shoveling walks again. Not as much snow fell over course of last night so didn't take quite as long as it did yesterday. Actually, a gorgeous day with sun shining and snow melting. Duke, one of our cats, was supervising, sitting atop fence and purring in sunshine! Fondestos and Bestestos to you both. Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics: Chloë and I at Idleback Lake this past Sunday.

Michele and I and the kids are coming to Penticton for the weekend we are arriving in Friday until Monday all the other kids are coming as well hope we can get together. Visitation, aka Invasion of The Freeloaders! Hi Sarge! Great news indeed! How was Mexico? I assume you are staying at Sendero? I'm free all weekend so let me know what your plans are as soon as you have an idea and we'll plan accordingly. Bring warm clothes as you'll be "soft" after leaving tropical climes! Look forward to catching up. Cheers, Patrizzio! The plan is to stay with Corey arrive Friday afternoon. Will get in touch Wayne

Hello Patrick, Seems that winter has finally arrived in the Okanagan as I read about snow dumps and really cold temps. Kelsey is doing night shift for the ski patrol at Silver Summit in Vernon and is not happy about the -30 or so recent cold snap especially as the wind chill on the hill made conditions even worse! Luckily, so far, no major slope injuries to attend where you get frost bitten buns and hands. She's accepted a job with Parks Canada for this summer leading guided hikes to the Burgess Shale and other similar 'archaeology-interesting' sites in the area. I expect we'll be paying her a visit and join her on a tour! Unfortunately, Andre (her hubby) was planning on working in the Arctic in the summer months, as a photographer/guide, but that's fallen through at the last minute so not sure what his plan B is.

We've been down to Tucson for a week of camping and biking. My knee is able to handle easy trails and 2 hour rides so we managed to explore the SW area pretty good. Gill is keeping her rides down to mostly 2 hours too, although prefers trails a tad more exciting than my normal!!

Gill has just returned from 4 days of canyoneering with some friends. They were car camping and overnight temps dropped to -5, so twas cold but manageable with campfires and other luxuries to ameliorate the problem. My knee isn't yet up to wobbly strains so I had to pass; indeed, I have just started walking these last few days... gentle outings of about an hour down to and around the village and back. The leg motion isn't smooth yet but gets slightly better each time out.

Yesterday was dentist day! A molar had cracked so needed it extracted. Lovely! Today, the tylenol/codeine is dealing with the aftermath so all's well... but, good grief, are there any other health issues coming my way? It's beginning to get annoying being this unhealthy!!! Well, give my regards to Corinne, take care of yourself (and cats) and enjoy the fun of making contracts when they have more points than you do. Cheers. Phil 

Hi Phillipo and Jack Rabbit Slims! Terrific to hear from you although I am very sorry to hear about your knee problems and molar extraction! If only a bit of codeine could fix your knee so that you were miraculously back to normal! Must be incredibly frustrating with all the fabulous hikes that I know you enjoy so much when in Sedona and environs. Pleased to learn that you feel leg motion is improving, if only incrementally.

We dream of -5º C here in Winter Wonderland, although camping in such temperatures wouldn't be anything but for the hardy. Glad Gilliana is braving  the elements so congratulations to her. For my part I've really been trying to embrace The Polar Vortex, so to speak, and have had numerous hikes and snowshoe outings over last few weeks, a number of which in pretty bitter cold and wind. Nevertheless, extremely invigorating and rewarding. 

Congratulations to Kelsey on her appointment to lead hikes to teh Burgess Shale. What a location! I envy you a personalized tour. Friend of mine visited the site, quite a few years ago now, of course, when it was still a place you could wander around. I also understand the terrible downhill skiing temperatures at Silver Star asa couple of weeks ago, now, friends, Grogg and Lurch were here to stay for two nights before heading to Silver Star. Unfortunately, due to sub-zero temperatures there they decided against it. Landslide on 97 and weather warning for Lower Mainland were other contributing factors for their stay of but one night. Perhaps it was my cooking!

Have really enjoyed getting to know David and Margaret, especially at Idleback Lake and the two snowshoe outings he took me on, once with Olga Polga and then with Margaret. Since I felt I knew enough about a couple of the obvious trials there, after those two times, I took Chloë on a variation of both, last Sunday. Fondestos and Bestestos to you both. Stay as well as possible, given your nagging physical problems. Cheers, Patrizzio!