More pictures of Imogen (and other grandchildren)

Imogen Grace Wallace is having a little nap after feeding but is still in observation in ICU probably for one more night. Her tests were all okay today so she will likely be able to join her parents tomorrow. Meanwhile Ivan and Dominique are having a great time visiting at Grandma and Grandpa's place and Dominique shows how much that she likes yogurt. The picture of me holding Imogen is the first time that I got to hold her.

Newest Granddaughter!

Imogen Grace Wallace a 8 pound baby girl born to Jennifer and John Wallace on Saturday December 15, 2007 at 7:10 pm. She has a good strong set of lungs but it will be a few days before mother and baby are allowed to go home.

Everyone is waiting!

Ivan and Dominique have arrived (along with their parents, of course). We also have a guest, Varnetta who is staying with us and they are checking out a Youtube video. Jennifer is in the hospital having her baby . . . no news to report yet.

Angela, Dominique, Ruth, Jennifer and ??? at the airport as they are waiting for the luggage to come off the plane.

Travis and Alicia and their 1 year old daughter Ceara Sass came to visit for Sunday dinner. We also had Jennifer and John out. About a week ago we had a bluejay come to visit and eat some bird seed off the front balcony. The Sasses are on a furlough after being in Brazil for 3 years.

Saskatchewan has just voted in a new right-wing government but the sun still rises and it still sets. And people still get married; Jonathan King and Dawn-Marie got married in Osler and the weather cooperated. We wish them all the best in their life together.

The Job is Finished after FOUR months!

We have finally finished the renovation project and the renters have moved in. Ruth is doing some final touch-ups on Oct 30 and the renters moved in that evening. It is so weird having a Saturday off where I can go work in my own yard rather than somewhere else

These two bendrooms with walk-in closets are completely finished! The lino for the hallway is to be done Monday and with a couple of finish coats of paint in the bathroom, some clean-up and other minor things, the project will be completed. Hurrah!

Renovation is nearing completion

I'll sure be glad when November 1 comes because that is the deadline for completing the latest renovation job.
Here is a question for all you puzzle fans out there: What do Tommy Douglas (voted the Greatest Canadian) and Mary Muirhead, Chrystal Stonehouse, Angela Baggett and Ivan Baggett have in common? The clue is in the newspaper story, if you can't figure it out.

Batoche on Thurs. + a wedding on Fri.

Last Thursday I took my Social Science class on a class trip to Batoche. (It was the second last day it was open for tours and it won't open again until next spring.) Here I am on the St. Laurent Ferry on the road to Duck Lake after visiting Batoche National Historic Site. The ferry was disappointingly fast; we had about a five minute ride across the South Saskatchewan. I didn't ask the ferry operator but I suspect that a new powerful motor was installed as the trip used to take about 15 minutes. The students who went really enjoyed the trip and the interesting stories that the tour guide told, even if some of the stories were a bit far fetched.
Then on Friday I was at Joyce Taylor and Tony Armstrong's wedding. Apparently it was Mano who played the part of matchmaker. It was good to be able to visit a bit with Scot and Mano at the reception.

Jamaican Patois

On Saturday Ruth brought supper over to a rental that Andrew and I are renovating and Ruth decided to leave before I did. So she came down the stairs to say goodbye and said with a twinkle in her eye, "Me a go me yard b'fore night catch me a road!" I had her repeat it three times before I could get the drift of what she said. Translation: "I'm going home before it gets too dark."
On Sept. 2 we were invited to Jenn and John's home to a meal after which we had the traditional ice-cream cake because it was Ruth's birthday. Rob and Sue Wallace as well as Andrew can be seen in the mirror.

Renovations and Chokecherries

Ruth and I and Andrew have been busy doing renovations at a rental. The bathroom mirror is special because I made the frame out of oak and had a hardware store cut the mirror and I put it together myself. It also is on sliders and when it is pushed to the left a medicine cabinet is revealled. The kitchen is almost finished and I just have to cut a hole in the counter and install the sink.
The last picture is of some chokecherries that Ruth picked. She made about 10 litres of chokecherry syrup out of them.

Ruth's garden

Ruth has grown a terrific garden this year. There were beets, zucchini, potatoes, beans, peas, okra, tomatoes, and kohlrabi. There were turnips also but the worms ate them so badly that they were ruined. Oh, and corn is on the way.

August Visitors

Here is Jaqueline, Lin Brown's youngest. Harley and Lin also came to visit but Harley managed to swat at a wasp and got stung on her finger so she was not feeling so good. Then this last Thursday Jess and Sheena Bailey and their son Andrew and his son Aidan plus Andrew's granddaughter, Sylvan came to visit. They were on their way to a Bailey family reunion at Fort Qu'Appelle.
(Aidan was proud to announce that he was Sylvan's uncle even though he is younger than she is. Also you might notice the T-shirt that Aidan is wearing that says "Jamaica . . . No Problem")

Robins and frogs

Yesterday I took this picture of the last robin chick to leave the nest and today the nest was empty. About 10 this evening Ruth called me because a toad had hopped up to the front of the house. (She has often seen one in the garden and once I saw a toad in the fish pond.) You never know what kind of wildlife will appear at our acerage.

birthday boys

Andrew's birthday is only 2 days after mine and since their are so few at home these days we got only one ice-cream cake for the two of us. BTW he is 28 and I am 59.

Work and rest!

July 27 Kesten Krogsgaard and I were installing some laminate flooring at a rental unit and by noon we were ready to start putting down the laminate. We almost finished too but called it quits by 5:00 pm because of the heat. Saturday I finished it mostly and I also did some reno work on another place. Sunday was my birthday (I turned 59!) and I conked out after Sunday dinner. Ten of us went to Mano's Restaurant and the staff their sang Happy Birthday to me. I even got a free desert (a piece of cake with a sparkler on top).
I never could figure out when I was a kid why my parents always had a nap on Sunday afternoon. It was a glorious time to run about town or play a game of pickup ball, street hockey, football, anti-I-over, or kick-the-can (a version of hide-and-seek). It was only after I turned 50 or so that I started to appreciate Sunday afternoon naps.

New births

You can clearly see one of the three new chicks and I think that this is the male robin that has come to feed regurgitated worms and bugs to the chicks. I'll try to get a photo of all three new chicks when the pair of robins are both away from the nest.

Visitors

Sheena, Micheal, Victoria, Moria, and Arwyn came to visit and we had a bbq on the deck because it was so pleasant outside.

Lilies as thick as SNOW

The lilies in Ruth's flower garden were so amazing that when she looked out the window at 3:00 AM last night, Ruth mistook them for a moment for snow. I couldn't get them all in one shot so had to take several from different distances and angles. When Sandina (Alex's girlfriend) was visiting, she said that the most pleasant aspect of our whole place was the pond and she fell asleep in our hammock which is to the right of the pond that you see in the last picture.

I promised you a picture of the blue eggs and here it is. Sorry it is a little out of focus but I didn't want to disturb the robins too much and take to long. Sometimes the robins have four eggs but this one only has three. I'll get another one posted (hopefully) after they hatch.