The Aftermath

Limbs and firewood...thats what it was reduced to..


You can see how little was holding the remaining trunk

Rearing up its head ,as if in acute pain from the trauma of being felled .



Yuppers, Emil did the deed yesterday and took down the remaining two trunks of the willow. It was split right down to about a foot off the ground...,so it was doomed to go ,on e way or the other. It is amazing that it lasted through the winter after losing a major limb last year . With the recent wind storm taking down another limb, it was left in a dangerous unbalanced position. We didn't need an accident to make us realize it was time to cut it down. Emil will be back at it today, cutting off the branches and making the rest of the trunks into firewood for the beach. boo-hoo...I'll miss the Wumping Willow...so will our grand-daughters..The Harry Potter skits won't be the same without it!
On the positive side, it cleared a whole new view down to the lake, s o I suppose that is a good thing.


"The Creator"

Sad to Say...

The torent of wind that blew through yesterday, took out yet another limb of our weeping willow tree...or as the kids call it...Wumping Willow tree... Looks like it was wumped alright!

Looks pretty lopsided from this angle

One more gust and the trunk to the left will be next...

Silky was oblivious to it all...as was Emil, but Ashley and Deb heard the crash and saw it tumble down...
Just think... a few weeks ago ,forty people were enjoying the shade under the tree as we played our games at Emil's party, and now it is two thirds the tree it used to be. A word of caution to everyone..... In the event of a wind storm, stay far far far away from the Wumped Willow!
Time to hit the shower... Ashley invited us for Lattes on the beach this morning under their new canopy....


"The Creator"

More of the weekend...this time from Lynn's camera!

Abbi and Mattie kept themselves and us entertained, by building a huge Tropical Paradise...out of sand , that is..

LAter, the Glow sticks came out!

Our group shot on the bench!

Mattie chose the chocolate cupcake... After he licked the icing off, he suggested he save the rest...

Tonight, I met Deb and her friend, Deb, after work, at the Library for a little nosh ,before heading out to Castlegar to see Mama Mia.
It was certainly an AbbA extravaganza, with all the music from their songs! Meryl Streep was the perfect "Mom" and Pierce Bronson was Perfect! It was an entertaining show, as musicals go. Now, to see the real thing on stage, some day...
Then, be warned that the travel between Castlegar and Glade can put your car and vision at risk, due to all the river moths! They are out in full force and were hitting Deb's truck like hailstones! Deb's truck got totally "river mothed" on the way home...we could barely see out of the windshield. We stopped in Glade to see if we could wash some off and there were no squeegees ,nor any water available...only paper towels...and her windshield washer fluid...The first three bursts of washer fluid, turns the moths to a concrete smear. Rubbing with paper towel was our only hope.
It was a slow process, to say the least, when this guy drove in and said..".I'll clean your windshield, I am a window washer!" How lucky was that? He brought out a scraper and a squeegee and sponge cleaner thing and cleaned up the whole windshield! Like and angel from heaven! Hope your day was as terrific! Nighty night...don't let the bedbugs bite!



"The Creator"

Weekend of SUn and Fun

Deb and Ashley joined us for chicken burger dinner last night

Mattie, examining the fire

He wasn't happy till the marshmellows were roated on ALL sides!

Lynn brought hers out before they torched up!

Abbi checked her doneness of the marshmellows, regularly, with the flashlight!

Whats a day at the beach without the surfboards....

Abbi spent half the afternoon fishing for minnows

After the beach, everyone warmed up in the hot-tub

Emil checked the their tickets to see if they were valid for the cart-trip around the world!

And they were offffffff! Cute driver eh??? Just call him Poncho!



Mattie and Abbi on the beach today

tonight, after the storm blew through, we were blessed with a radiant rainbow..actually, a double, if you look close!

Mattie saying cheese...at the start of his great PAradie that he was building in the sand!

Saturday was warm and sunny...just right for a day at the beach

A warm ending!




Today we did a little boat ride with Deb and Ashley, Cate and Jeff, but coming home, the wind picked up and stormy weather hit with a vengence. We were happy that we decided to return when we did!

Deb and Emil, laughing it up

Calm and wonderful on the beach earlier in the day

Lynn, toasting the day!
A wonderful week-end was had by all, as Lynn brought MAttie and Abbi for a an overnight visit. The kids were so cute and good, it was a pleasure to have them here. Abbi was ever helpful, and MAttie was just plain cute and funny as he spurted out amazing sayings ...like "that's just KArma"... Or that his ticket for Emil's cart was good 24-7! How does he know all this stuff??? For a little guy, he was pretty intellegent...and he made us laugh a lot too... So we had a nice week-end ... most of the day on the beach on Saturday, then dinner back at the house, then back to the beach for a bonfire, after Email took the kids int he cart for a ride of a lifetime, around the world! We roasted marshmellows,a nd made schmores and fell into bed after 11:00pm... then back up at 8:00 for a yummy breakfast of french toast topped with raspberries, and bacon.
Okay, it was time out for work. Lynn helped me pick buckets and buckets of raspberries this morning. I froze a bunch, and gave Lynn some to take home and now I am good for a few more days till the next batch ripens.
Lynn's car wouldn't start, so emil did the booster cable thing and got her going... I hope she made it home safe and sound!.
Later,we took Deb and Ashley and Cate and Jeff out in the boat for a little boat ride...Mostly we floated around and played some tunes and laughed and drank beer, until we could see the clouds moving in.
We headed back to home and just in time. Emil had a heck of a time docking the boat as huge gusts of wind came up, but we finally got it all in place... a good time to hi the beach and head for home... thats when the rainbow showed up and gave us a perfect end to the day... Hope your weekend was as fun as ours! Happy week ahead...
Tomorrow night, I am off to see Mama mia with Deb! Take care and have a great week!


Creator"

More photos...

Josh, alll grown up, with sister MAckenzie

A popcorn birthday for MAckenzie

All the kids



Eva and Dave... before they left


Just rounded up more pics from my Picasa albums... there are thousands that I need to put onto a cd... one of these days when my computer nearly dies from exhaustion...which it is getting close to.
So a huge stormy day yesterday that gave everything a drink and smashed my flower pots down quite well...but today the sun is back out,s o life will once again return to hot, hot, hot...
Tonight is badminton at the beach for the ladies! Of course we don't PLAY badminton! Maybe we will make smores!
Time to chill the wine and get on with going to work... the team is away today, so it is me, myself and I
...la-te-da
Anyone seen Stan and Ali?
We think they are lurking around this area for the big Reese reunion...but we haven't heard from them...We still have their Clampett mobile parked on the front lawn..
Have a nice day everyone! Hope you are all up and at it... Emil has the boat ready to go fishing with his buddy , John, from Prince George.... but no John... he seems to still be sleeping....

"The Creator"

Lynn's grandkids

Matthew and Abbi...looking as cute as ever!

What could be more fun than fries at the waterpark!

Shayne, Abbi and Mattie

Thanks Lynn for the cute photos of the kids and also this pretty sunflower. I have one that may open one of these days. I have to say that my lillies are beautiful, but if I don't get down there with a camera, I'll miss figuring out which ones arewhich colours. The deer ate the five stargazers,a nd they ahave left the yellow ones. Someone said that deer don't eat yellow plants... yeah, right.

How has the weather been up your way???

This little big blow -down happened last week... on the neighbour, Chris's property, after a big windstorm swept through here. No damage done at our house!
This tree slightly squished one of his many trailers that he is stockpiling on his property ( right in front of Anne's house!)



I snapped these pics as I waited for the ferry on Friday , after work. Outside,the thunder was booming, and Kokanee was a swirl of white-out. What most interested me, was the noctilucent type of clouds, pointing their fingers down to the fishes in the water! The storm wasn't complete without the rainbow in the mifddle of it all! Unfortuneately, it doesn't show up in these pics.










"The Creator"

A beautiful Day for golfing Balfour

The water lilies were in bloom in the pond...very amazing and a brighter pink than the photo depicts.

Emil wondering where his ball went to...

Moi, Ashley and Deb..on the last hole

Ashley with fine form on 18....Face it, he had fine form on every hole!
What a day, what a day! The sun popped up into a clear blue sky and it stayed that way for most of the day! We golfed Balfour ( or should I say, that the other three golfed and I whacked and spanked the ball!) with Deb and Ashley for a fine day of being out on the course. It looked like I had forgotten anything that I knew about golfever, and went on to make everyone laugh as my ball went from one mud hole to the next! The course was a bit of a bog around every sprinkler area and I seemed to find every mudhole! Five feet away from me and I couldn't find my ball...Good thing that Ashley is a persistant finder...even came up with a new softy pink ball, out of one of the ponds. We walked the first nine, then carted the back nine...up all the hills. Good thing, because by then, the heat had soared to what felt like 35 *.
After the game, we returned to Deb and Ashley's and all hit the beach . Deb and I did get into the cold cold lake for a refreshing dip. Once you were in, it was fine! Deb cooked us a big dinner and so, the day went on and on, till we could neither eat or drink no more!
Emil is in bed and I am not too far behind. My skin feels a little roasted after many sun hours,,despite being slathered in 40 Uv blocker!

PSS
A message on my machine was for a call back to cousin Dale. He informed me that Lynn's dad, Bill Pierce, passed away after a long struggle with cancer. Our condolences to Lynn and Dale and Jennnifer and to Lynn's mom, who looked after her husband for many years. He was 84 years old. Lynn had been on the island, helping her mom for many week-ends now, as her dad got progressively worse. I am sure she will miss him dearly. Thanks for letting us know.


"The Creator"