Grad Girls Hen Party

Twas a lovely afternoon for tea ( oops...make that Mimosas) on the balcony with my old friends I met at the Grad reunion, and cousin Lynn and neighbour Alyssa. We had so many laughs, it was downright making our bellies sore!
In this photo we have starting from the left, Chris, Alyssa, Viola, Patti, Karen and Lynn ( also a Karen) . KAren used to be Karen Macabe and I knew her from riding the bus in from Montrose when I stayed at my sister's house. Chris is Karen's sister and Viola, of course is their mom. Chris drove out and picked up PAtti whom I also went to school with and who used to live up a few streets in Warfield. I used to babysit her little girl, Cheryl ( who is now some 38 years old) Lynn drove out after church and Alyssa, my neighbour just walked over. We had a grand lunch of salads and quiche and chicken wings and then many deserts from Lemon pie to rhubarb streudal to mini chocolate cheesecakes that Alyssa brought. Yummo...oops ,not to forget the pecan pie that Chris and Karen brought out... so we dined away for half the afternoon as we chatted about old school mates and told stories and probably a few lies. It was a beautiful day and so wonderful to reconnect with old friends and to get to know Karen's sister and mom. These moments don't happen so often . It will be one that we charish and be gld that we did.



Patti and Karen and the deserts

Patti, Lynn and KAren

The whole five of us

And a big huge thanks to Lynn for bringing me her old camera to play with for a week or two until I get myself a new one.
I am sure we will all keep in touch from here on in...Thanks to everyone for making it happen!

"The Creator"

Happy Sweet 15, Kaleigh

A big Happy Birthday to you this fine Sunday afternoon! I am so proud of you... and lookat how beautiful you have grown up to be.. Granny and Grumps love you and wish we were there to give you a big smacker on the cheek! Ha-ha...Love ya loads and have a great day... Feliz Cumpleanos!

"The Creator"

Google 411

Here is the hottest thing since sliced cheese!!! Plug this phone number 1-800 466-4411 into your cell phone ...call it Googlle 411, and you'll be thanking me for the rest of your life ! It is a new app by google that allows you to access a 411 service ...get this... WITHOUT any charges except your normal Provider charge for using your phone.It is good in Cnaada and the USA. You say the city and province and the type of business you are looking for. It gives you choices and voila... it will patch you through to the restaurant or place ( or person) that you are trying to locate. Here is an example. You are in Nelson, but want to make a reservation at the Black Rooster in Castlegar for dinner later in the day. You are on the road and don't have a phone book handy. You press your Google search listing and dial up google 411. They ask you for the city and state ( province) and then ask which category or the name of the business...so you can say "Restaurant . " They will then list off the restaurants numerically and you just have to say the number that you choose. Google connects you to the restaurant. How cool is that? Then you get to make your reservations. No long distant charges. No 411 charges for looking up numbers anymore. Try it out and use it a bunch... and you'll be surprised that it works in Canada...pretty darn good too!

"The Creator"

Boo-hoo Bhwahhhhhhhh

My Canon camera has bit it and it looks like the grad reunion will be the last of the photos it will ever have taken.!!!! So how can I operate a blog without pictures? I guess I will invest in a new camera fairly soon or I will be a crazed woman... Moi, without a camera... it just won't do. I have my phone camera, but the upload program ( Roxio) that is supposed to upload the photos to my computer, does not ,in fact do its job...unless I uninstall it and reinstall the program... I think it has something to do with this registry cleaner program I have. It all adds up to being hooped for taking photos.
I had important things to photograph this am... Know what it was?
The big hole in our floor where the steps to the basement used to be.
Know what is there now?
Stairs, but going down to the basement from the kitchen side... and they are the most gentle stairs I have set foot on... not too steep and easy to navigate... perfect for my gimpy knees.
At the front door side is the foundation of a new clothes closet! How novel is that? Imagine...guests arrive and we can offer them a place to hang their coats, instead of grabbing them and stearing them clear of the stairwell so they don't tumble down it!
It looks great and Phoebe and Ron's grandson and his helper are the ones who did the carpentry Work. Jeff is good...real good at being an efficient carpenter. In two and a half days ,they will complete all that Emil asked them to do and what they predicted would take 4 days. When was the last time a tradesperson took LESS time to complete, than scheduled for? And no, he didn't leave a thing out. We are totally impressed and would reccommend him as a builder any day!
For young guys, they are Very very good carpenters.
I'll have photos for you when I upload them from me phone or buy a new camera.
Seems like bed is calling me. My knee had a terrible sleep last night and is begging for comfort and relaxation tonight! Have a good one..

"The Creator"

Where did the week go?

Hey there... here it is Monday morning... EARLY Monday morning... Woody Flicker Pecker woke me up doing his love call on the chimney of the suite...ratatatatatatatttaaaaaaaa...over and over again. In fact I couldn't see him, but with my window open, I could hear him plenty good! I am sorry that I never got back to my blog all week...seemed like the week went by so quick with the nice weather. I came home to HAppy hour on our balcony on Wednesday... Deb, Ashley, Emil, Lorraine's golden retriever, Brandy, ( being dogsat by Deb and Ashley) and Ashley's cat, Phoebe,and Silky of course... a menagerie to say the least...The day was so beautiful, but once the sun started to go down, we moved inside for dinner... Lucky I had some frozen wings and a frozen pizza all ready to pop into the oven.. Kristen brought over a salad and we were good to go. That is one thing about this nice neighbourhood... we all pitch in when it comes to food, and it works out terrific. Saturday night we had a bonfire over at Deb and Ashley's with some of the neighbourhood there.. and loads of great salads and MArlene brought a whole chocolate cake oozing with fudgey icing. Alyssa made some beautiful roasted veggies...zuccini, red peppers,and mushrooms and onions... very yummy indeed...then we enjoyed the salads...pasta from Elli, Spinach from me, and Quinoa from Deb, as well as a coleslaw... all delicious for sure.

Oh yes, we had news of Derrick and Barb's new baby girl...weighed in at at 7 lbs, 14 oz. and her name is Meghan Makayla... isn''t that a pretty name? She is as cute as a button with a head of black hair and she looks like Ethan ,we think. Sweet!
Joyce came out on Thursday and we reviewed Grandma's old bible... still slightly confused over who's who... lots of info in there, but it is mostly the same stuff repeated over and over in a different order. It is a moot point as I am unable to load in my new Family Tree maker program and make it work... Lets say it was working at one point, then wouldn't even open due to an error message....over and over again... much to my disapointment. I have removed it at this point and will try to install it again when I have the energy. Seems I need to have most every other program and my antivirus turned off before it will be loaded in properly... forget it for the moment.

Friday I stayed in town and had appies and a drink with Judy Kirby, whom I got re-acquainted with at our grad reunion. We mostly knew each other at Crowe, She and I had a long chat over food while we we soaked up the afternoon sun on the deck at Jackson's Hole! Nice to reconnect again. Even Karen and her sister, Chris had dropped in on me at work during the week... I'll try to get them over for a visit before Karen leaves back to Duncan.

John and Ronda surprised me with a visit at work on Saturday... Oh yes, I worked for Carolyne on Saturday so there was half my week-end shot. It was nice to see John and Ronda again. They were down to pick up Ron and Phoebe's fifth wheel so they could go camp/golfing. Sorry to hear that Phoebe has come down with the dreaded cold that has been going around. John and Ronda were sick nearly the whole time they were in Nashville, but are on the mend now.

Sunday, I cleaned up and made a nice pot of chowder with clams, rainbow trout and a little halibut . It has bacon and a can of tomatoes in it for extra flavour, plus loads of veggies...potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery and even dsome corn from two cobs I had left over . I roasted up some ribs until the meat dropped off of them.. very yummy.
We did get numerous phone calls that Emil's Uncle George, in Canora Saskatchewan, passed away. He was married to Emil's mom's sister, Sophie. We were sorry to hear the sad newsof his death. He has been fighting cancer for something like 6 years now. He was always the happiest guy when we visited with him. He will be missed by his large family, most of which are in Vancouver...Carl, Brian, Wayne, and Karen ( I think) and then Donna and RoseMarie are on the prairies still. Our hearts go out to all of them.
So today is the day,the carpenters arrive and start in on our little reno job. with luck, their work will be done by the end of the week. They are going to stay in the suite ,as they are from Rossland. Actually it is Ron and Phoebe's grand-daughter's hubby, Jeff.
So that brings you up to date on a few things.

Oh yes, Sonia returned from Costa Rica on Saturday and is back to work this morning... good luck with that part of things.

I missed Lori's birthday...Happy Belated to you! and Lawrence's is coming up on Wednesday and then Kaleigh's at the end of the month... wow!

Now I will try to upload a movie of the dance from our grad reunion. You can click the off button to disable the playlist music while you listen to a 1967 rendition of GLORIA!Then I ought to see if my knee will tolerate a walk. I worked out in my garden yesterday afternoon ,and my knee was howling by the time I came in. A soak in the jacuzzi with filled with muscle soak from 2nd Nature helped immensely.!
Oh yes, Congrats to Lynn for doing the Relay for Life in Warfield over the weekend. I hope she raised her goal amount of pledges.
Have a nice week everyone... My writing might be sporadic or not at all...due to the onset of summer weatehr finally!


"The Creator"

Grad Reunion 67 Trail, B.C.

This was a week-end that brought nightmares to me on a few nights prior to the event...what to wear, who would even care if you came...Would you recognize anyone? Would anyone recognize me? Would I be the one "Most Changed" Ha-ha... Lynn coaxed into going and now, I must say thank-you to my dear cousin for having faith that it would all be good. Friday night, I arrived in Trail an hour before the wine and cheese party started at the Riverbelle...just enough time for a shower and to get dressed and to have some delicious wings and cheese and crackers and spanokopitas before we went. Someone forewarned us that the hor's de oeuvres would be a little later so we thought it a good idea to snack...and I was half starved, having come from working all day and then driving over to Trail from Nelson.
Ok, so we were a little wrong... the snacks were out in no time and I was pretty much stuffed!
But back to arriving... We opened the door of the Riverbelle Banquet Centre and who should be in the line up in front of me? An old schoolmate( 60 year old) that I went to school with since grade one... Richard Sordi and his wife! He was so pleased to see me and so was I pleased that here I was, only one foot in the door and I already knew someone! Score One!
Lynn , on the other hand knew many people ... She is caregiver to many of their moms and dads,s o she has seen them in the last 40 years!
Thank-goodness for name tags! There was Diane Lepine, Judy LAmb, Barb and PAt Zinio, and Karen MacCabe all within the first twenty feet of the door. Judy Lamb's table was mostly all girls so we joined her and Karen MaCabe and her sister Chris and then with a resounding voice booming out a big" Hello Beatrice," was Monica Leshuik... Holy Maceral... hadn't even remembered that she was in our grad class...but at one time I did know her... She and her hubby kept us entertained with stories from their travels around the world. Karen is a practicing raw food diet person ( except when she is out) and so the evening , before it began , was already quite interesting. With a glance around the room, and then a stroll, I found more and more people that grew up in West Trail and that remembered me and Lynn and it was all good and calming! There was Fausta Marchi, Lorne Audia, Barb Nedlec, Linda Fowler, Danny Frieze, Fran Kumoric and of course, Nives Berno, who was the head organizer of the event The night blitzed by and before you know it, Lynn and I had gabbed with half the room and then were headed out the door.
Now I have to go soak in the jacuzzi because my knees are killing me...actually dropping off...maybe a bit too much dancing on Saturday night. I'll continue tomorrow night.

Lynn and I before heading out on Saturday night.


Moi, Gail Smythe, Linda Debalinhard

The funny of Saturday night... BArb Nedlec and LAura Christie...sporting the same evening gown!

Ray aand PAtti Rossi

Haviong some serious good fun here... Judy LAmb, Lynn , Karen MacCabe

Barb Nedlec and the most unchanged person there...Lorraine Sovran... 98 lbs and holding.

Linda Fowler and Danny Frieze ( married)

Barb and Pat Zinio ( married)

Fireworks for Silver City days

"The Creator"

Grad Reunion

Yep, this is it...the great year that all of us Grads turn 60 years old and thus someone had a brainwave to have our 43rd year Grad Reunion. Also, the old Crowe Senior Secondary school( some ten or 15 years our junior) is about to be replaced by a brand new one, which is all built and I think will be ready for the fall semester.( What does it say about us?) In the meantime, we might be able to go take a tour of it and see how it is has gone from New School in the city to ancient school about to be torn apart. I might be more interested in touring the new one! I'll report back after the week-end of fun and good Italian food in Trail! I'm looking forward to a week-end at Lynn's and for her reminding me of who's who, because one brief look through our Quotanis year book of grade 12 and it is clear that I hardly knew half my school mates then, let alone now! Have a great May long week-end and drive safely as the boys in those ghost cars will be out!

Spanokopitas

If you have the ingredientws kicking around,these are quick to make....

 

VOTE!!!!!

Election Day today...so get out and vote...and realize that a vote for STV could mean that your MLA might be from Cranbrook or Revelstoke..... the electoral areas will be much larger than they are now... I'll stick to the old voting system, thanks...

"The Creator"

Don't forget to vote!

Its Election Day in BC today... Don't forget to vote!
Scrap the STV vote unless you want someone from Cranbrook elected as MLA to our Region... The regions will be huge in rural areas. There, I said it!

Oh cool... I can update my blog from my email..thats what this one is with the different font...hence the two Vote posts... Yea,.... maybe I'll be inspired more often... apparently it includes uploading photos...I'll try that tomorrow! Now go vote!

Mackenzie's First Communion

As pretty as a little Doll! Congratulations Mackenzie!

It is a special occasion after all...

Another sweet photo... Thanks eva for sending them to me..


"The Creator"

Happy Birthday Annette on May 5th!

Well, my baby is getting all grown up...  . Sooooo...Happy Birthday, Birthday Girl... and I know I can't be there to help eat the cake and make merriment and joy, but I'll stop at Dairy Queen and indulge in a Buster bar in your honour! So have a great day and your present will arrive via Sonia with bells and whistles on it...or maybe hangars and bows... too funny...enjoy and we'll talk to you in the morning or after work! Love ya loads... Mumsie and Dad(sie)


Sitting on the dock in the bay...watching the time sail away......

Peggie's cove maybe...

Annette's photos from her trip.

So everyone knows that I went into Labour with Annette the day before Lynn and Bob got married and I missed the whole wedding...boo-hoo. The wedding party came up to the hospital to visit me and we all had a big cry. The best thing was that I had a perfectly cute brand new baby girl, and Lynn and Bob had a great wedding! Emil partied for both of us! May 6th will be Lynn and Bob's anniversary... 37 years and holding! Way to go!

"The Creator"

The Bon-fire and Bruchettas

Friday night was a perfect night to move the Happy hour to the beach over at Deba nd Ashley's

Here is Mike, roasting his Italian sausage. Everyone else was already done roasting... and they were delicious! Mike and Alissa brought the left over chili from last week's party,so we dined like kings on a beach!

Now here is where it gets serious... Emil brought out the Cohiba cigars that we brought back from Cuba...and you guessed it... we smoked them around the fire! They should have been accompanied with a little scotch, but it seems like wine was just fine. The cigars were a pleasant surprise to us all, as we aren't smokers anymore..and of course, never inhaled...but they somehow were pretty good...aslong as they stayed lit! It was all pretty much funny and a good way to get in the bonfire beach spirit!

Mike and Alissa were yukking it up witht he cigars too... all pretty funny. I thought my mouth would taste like horse poo this morning, but miraculously, Colgate did the trick and all was fine!
I took off early to town to have my Mamos grammed...then did some groceries, ansd walmarted for peat moss and sunshine mix and a rosebush,then set off to Save on for some odd ball things that I was out of...Panko crumbs. You can buy them there. Then I stopped at Safeway and the LCB. That would be two more stops than my normal ability to handle shopping at once. I had the car full, so had to quit shopping at any rate!

When I returned home, a car pulled into the driveway ahead of me and it turned out to be Emil's buddy Wayne, from Cranbrook and his new flame... Sheryl, who took over Emil's job.Weenjoyed the sunshine outside with a few Caronas and then I made some of NAdine and Lynn's bruschetta... so easy. I had found the garlic flavoured ( brushetta style) diced tomatoes in Save-on. They are
by Aylmer and called Accents. (diced tomatoes)

I flavoured them up a little more with more fresh garlic, and a cube of pesto for the nice basil flavour...plus 3 or 4 finely chopped green onions, and a quarter cup of light olive oil. Reserve mixture until you toast the bread slices. I then sliced my baquette on the diagonal, brushed the slices with a light coat of olive oil, and broiled the bread slices on a cookie sheet until they were lightly browned. Watch carefully...or charcoal brickettes will happen!
Top each bread slice with a few tablespoons of the brushetta mixture, (spread across the slice of bread,) then add a sprinkle of parmasean cheese and I added a few sprinkles of grated cheddar cheese. Once they are all topped, just place back under the broiler and watch carefully. toast until the cheese melts a bit and quickly take them out and serve. These are a delicious, easy to make appi, and you can feed a lot of people with it, as one can of diced tomatoes does almost a whole baquette if you are frugal! Five of us inhaled what I cooked on one smaller cookie sheet!

Sheryl and Wayne stayed for BBQ'd smokies and a big salad and fresh strawberries for desert. It was good to touch base with them ,as we hadn't had them over for ages. Sheryl was excited about returning to Victoria tomorrow, as her daughter is due to have baby #3 as we speak. Sheryl hopes her daughter holds out until she arrives, but has a sneaky feeling that the baby will arrive before she does!
well, I think the canucks stunk tonight.. It was such a bad game that I fell asleep on the couch! Now I have to go to real bed. I didn't get to my garden today so have a prayer in for the sun gods at least for the morning!
Love ya all...have a good week-end...



"The Creator"

Lynn's Birthday Lunch

We all congregated in Castlegar at the Black Rooster for lunch on Sunday afternoon to clebrate Lynn's big 60! I must say she is looking like a Spring Chick! She is taking after her Aunties, who never have changed over the past however many years.. they keep their youthfulness...and their usefulness..ha-ha.. I thought that was funny.



Lynn with her birthday bouguet!



Lynn and Moi...



Lynn and Joyce

A happy Birthday Crepe!

Blowing out the candle...and making a wish!

Her new bling!

Standing under Big Blackie! Lynn brought along her friend Tommy Lynn, which I realize I don't have a photo of... many because my camera wouldn't turn on. It has been on the fritz since I returned from Victoria... not good at all.

We had a grand lunch, lots of laughs, and lots of stories and then we had to call it a day, because we were all stuffed with birthday crepe!

Happy Belated to you Lynn... we are blessed that you are in our lives! Hope it made your day a bright one! Joyce and I enjoyed getting together with you...it had been a long time!

"The Creator"

Appi Party at Mike and Alisa's

I brought a veggie pizza for my appi. It is a make ahead kind of munchie that feeds a bunch. You'll need about two packages of crescent rolls ( pillsbury). Arrange them like pie pieces on your pizza pan or baking stone so as toform a crust. You can pinch or press the edges together so there are no holes. Bake about 12-15 minutes at 350*. Let cool.
In a bowl mix up a large package of light cream cheese, and a half cup of miracle whip. I added a full package of Dry Uncle Dan's ranch dressing mix, but found it to be overly salty. I'd start with half a package and check for taste after mixing it all up with the beaters. Spread that onto your crust as evenly as possible. Now, here is where I went wrong... I added way to many veggies. It was a trick to slice it when it was that thick with veggies. Soooooo , here is a case where less is better. I used shredded carrots, chopped green onions, a small red pepper diced, some grape tomatoes sliced, celery finely chopped and then I did cauliflower and brocoli. I steamed the brocoli for a minute in the nuker, ( till bright green) then cooled it down and blotted it dry. I also blotted the sliced tomatoes. Same if you were to use cucumbers. Sprinkle it all on and slice into bite sized pieces, then wrap with saran wrap. It can be stored overnight to let the flavours soak in. You can use which ever veggies you like, and even some black sliced olives would be good as well. So ,all in all, you just need a few veggies for a big pizza!

Dick and Emil

Most of the neighbour hood

Alissa and Mike , the hosts with the mosts!
They have moved into their new kitchen , hence the reason for celebrating... It was a fun night and as usual , Dick and Ann provided us with many laughs...especially when the convo led to talks about viagra before they came out to the party... so funny, we were all in stitches...

I have to go to bed a little earlier tonight as Silky seemed to keep me up for the first half of the night, last night, and I was tuckered out when the alarm went off this morning..and don't feel much better now!

My blog is probably going to come to a slowdown or maybe a halt . Seems I don't have the NRG to get on it very often these days. I have taken an interest in completing our family tree on Geneolgy.com. I have new software, not yet loaded in to the computer, with which I can continue my Family tree project. If I sent a request to you for information regarding proper names ,birthdates and birthplaces, I thank sthose that replied, but would still appreciate hearing from those who haven't replied. Otherwise your limb will be lame.

"The Creator"

Abbi has a new Blog! Check it out!

New Blog for Abbi... Check it out!
http://abbisaceupdates.blogspot.com


"The Creator"

Happy Birthday Virginia!!!!

Happy Birthday Virginia ! Don't worry, You don't have a chicken neck yet!


And here is Miss Busy Body ...showing off her Easter wares!




Whats the lower lip doing there?


It was Happy Hour for Morgan!

Dats a Velly nice pose Joyce! Thank-you for the home made apple pie and ice cream...

It was nice to have a little visit with Virginia and Corey and Miss K.,even if it was rather short... Last Sunday was so busy... We did dinner over at Deb and Ashleys after my visit to Joyce's and it was the day after I drove back from Victoria...rather pooped all in all.

Hokey Dokey Virginia ...Have a wonderful day...and you don't look a day over thirty + something...

"The Creator"

Beach Bonfire

It wasn't a heat wave,thats for sure, but we made the most of it, and roasted the hotdogs and filled our faces till we could eat no more at our first hot dog roasting bonfire of the year!
Everyone brought yummy salads and deserts, so no shortage of good food! Note, Deb wearing her winter touque!

I realize that I never did get a photo of us roasting weiners. My camera has been on its deathbed for weeks now and after the first few pics, it would not turn on...grrrrr....

Ann and Dick are so funny...kept us laughing She was saying the when Dick was working, he might have been the boss, but now that he is retired she is at least HALF the Boss of everything!

The good thing is that it wasn't windy out...freezing cold, but not windy. We packed it in by eight. Anyhow, it was anice little get together to start summer off..Well, at least to start spring off!
The weekend was productive. I planted many little seeds and here is hoping it all grows now. At least my garden is all properly fenced this year. The deer and the varments will be on the outside, not the inside!
I just found my Swiss chard, s o maybe I can get that in one night or morning. I was early enough this morning that I first walked Silky to the beach. She just pooped and turned around to go back home. I left her on the balcony and I returned to the beach then found my way right out on to the big sand bar that is almost showing as much as last year. A narrow bridge of sand keeps your feet dry enough to traverse about fifteen meters of muck, until you are onto the sandbar proper. A huge Immature eagle took flight from the west point of the bar and when I looked more closely, I could see that amongst the geese was another huge bird that was all puffed out, as tho he had just immerged from the water or a fight. I think it was another immature eagle.. It had to be over two feet tall and was brown and speckly with a bit of white here and there. He looked like he was too wet to flyand didn't seem overly afraid, tho I got quite close to him. That sight one killdeer, started my day off just perfectly!

"The Creator"