Yesterday took its toll on me and I was in bed at ten and out minutes later.  I rarely go to bed before Judith but last night was the exception.  Climbing on and off the tractor and picking up all the limbs, stumps, rocks and debris is HARD work!

I slept straight through until six thirty when Buddy started her routine to get me out of bed.  I turned on Fox and the bad news keeps coming from the gulf.  It looks like the New York times is questioning Dah-bama’s lack of response.  Speaking of Dah-bama.  He was at the Correspondence Dinner over the weekend and got rave reviews for his comedic standup routine.  Ann Coulter had the best line….”he is a better comedian than a President”.  AND that’s no JOKE!

As I headed to the garden my Uncle Nick’s words were ringing in my head; “if you want cheap vegetables, go to Safeway.”  I spent the morning cutting a bank on the upper side and picking up sticks and rocks.  The burn pile finally gave up the ghost and I decided to wait until tomorrow before relighting it and finishing the job. 

Today was ANOTHER cool spring day with nippy temperatures and a little rain, sleet and snow.  Judith whipped up one of her delicious soups for lunch which really hit the spot.

Judith was chomping at the bit to drive her car so we decided to take a quick drive to Houston to pick up a couple items.  The Thunderbird ran great and Judith was pleased to be back behind the wheel of something other than a Ford diesel dually. 

We got back at three and it took all the will I could muster to head for the garden and NOT the couch!  I logged another hour and a half before waving the white flag.  I managed to get the two game cameras out this afternoon.  I put them in the same area as last year which provided us with a LOT of great pictures.  I’ll check them weekly and get some pictures on the blog.

The SCOOP is running and I logged on to PokerStars to play in a satellite for tomorrow’s $16.50 entry into the Heads Up competition.  I chose a 36 man satellite that “cost” 30 FFP (Frequent Player Points) which paid one place…an entry into tomorrow’s tournament.  The starting stacks were ONLY 500 chips and it promised to be an ALL In Fest!  On the very first hand five of the nine players at my table went all in.  I was not one of those and decided to wait until all the crazies exited left.  The entire tournament took only about thirty minutes and when the smoked cleared………I won!   I’ve never played in a Heads Up tournament; I’m looking forward to playing and it should be FUN!

Judith fixed pork loin chops for dinner.  We picked up sweet corn that looked particularly good at the Houston market and it was outstanding.  We had the last of our potatoes and Judith fioxed a nice salad.  Wonderful!

We teamed up on the dishes and had them done in a flash.  Judith took her third straight gin game of the month.  She is getting the cards and playing them WELL, a VERY hard combination to beat. 

While I was on the road I never got a SINGLE massage.  Tomorrow that long dry spell is OVER!  I’ve got a ten forty five appointment and I will be there with bells on. 

Buddy jumped up on my bed early this morning.  That was the good news.  Sometime around seven I heard that unmistakable sound of a cat just about ready to barf up a hairball.  I grabbed her off the white spread and got her into the bathroom with about one second before ejection.  How is it that Judith can’t sleep through my snoring but remains sound asleep through events like these?

I turned on the news and noticed Tennessee was having a huge weather event and I decided to call my brother who lives near Nashville.  They have had over ten inches of rain with lots more forecast.  Ron answered the phone and was safe at home.  Susan, Ron’s wife, was visiting a relative in another town and will be stranded there for a while. 

I slept in until eight due to a long evening nap and some late night online poker.  Judith was actually up ahead of me this morning.  I had a quick breakfast and headed to the garden.  The weather was a typical Great White North spring morning.  You name it we had it today: rain, snow, sleet, wind and even sunshine.  I was positive the fire was out this morning but stirred the ashes and piled on more scrap and wet stumps.  Much to my surprise within about an hour the fire sprang to life and the day’s burning began.

I worked until almost one, had lunch and headed down to register in the first SCOOP event.  I had a free ticket, from my blogging about the event, and entered the $22.50 event.  PokerStars guaranteed 500K and sure enough more than enough players registered to make their “NUT”.  These are going to be LONG events!  The starting stack for this tournament was 10K with low blinds making it a long grind.   I made it through the first three breaks and was down to only eight hundred chips.  I rebuilt my stack and bounced back to over fifteen thousand before stacking off and being sent to the exit.  I did make it through over half the field but NO cigar.

I headed back to the garden at five and split my time between feeding the fire and moving dirt with the bucket to get the garden as level as possible.  I didn’t get all the stumps burned but one more day should do the trick.

Judith baked a chicken for dinner.  We invited Louise to join us and she accepted.  We had an enjoyable visit and got to discuss what happened when we were gone.  Six months alone here is pretty tough duty for an almost seventy year old lady living by herself. 

Tomorrow we will be home a week.  My has the time flown.  We have so much to do But still have five more weeks until it starts to get hectic.

My PureSleep is turning into one of those Love/Hate situations; Judith loves it and I HATE the damn thing.  It does seem to keep me from snoring but the price is a mouth full of plastic and a mega case of dry mouth. 

Job one this morning was getting my ATV into Smithers.  I always enjoy the drive; the snow covered mountains and the rural setting with lots of game makes the time fly by.  This morning I saw a huge bull elk and several deer.  The first green grass of the year gets them out in the open during the daylight hours.  I arrived at Trails North just as they were opening and talked with the owner, John Brown.  The six wheeler is almost ten years old and has more than its share of problems.  Trails North is closed on Monday so with a little luck I should pick it up when I’m in town on Tuesday.

I made the trek to the golf course and couldn’t believe the great shape it is in this early in the season.  The mild winter was very kind to the course, especially the greens.  I paid my annual dues; Judith opted out this year as she has been a member for four or five years and has yet to play a round.  Supporting the community is one thing, but…………………  I also found out while at the course that they bought a new spiffy machine that picks up the “plugs” when they aerate the greens and tee boxes.  No more shoveling plugs for eight hours twice a year.  Cry me a river.  NOTHING lasts forever!

I made a couple quick stops in Smithers before heading home.  The Dollar Store is cheap but I think every single item comes from China.  A buck for a Steno Book!  My last one was from Mexico.  If only Canada had trees and could make paper products……………  Call me crazy.

I stopped in Telkwa at Bulkley Valley Supply and got caught up on the last six months.  My asparagus plants are in and I checked on supplies to make my cement forms for my garden posts.  I’ll pick them up on Tuesday.

I was back at River House by noon and stopped in to see Louise.  Houston, we have a problem.  It was a tough winter for her and it shows.  “Things” have been “happening” around the place that makes no rhyme or reason.  She is upset and the neighbors and friends are concerned about how to deal with this.  She has always been “interesting” but this seems WAY left of center.  We are trying to come up with a course of action.  NO easy, Papa!

Next on the day’s agenda was talking with Rick Boonstra about redoing the damn.  Bottom line it is doable, MORE than I want to pay and has some potential problems.  The good news is Rick believes it will only take a month or two to dry out enough to do the work.  I was planning on at least four months and then doing the work in late September or early October.  It is decision time!

I love my backhoe; however, putting it on the tractor is a real pain.  Most three point hitch implements take about ten minutes; today it took close to TWO hours.  With the recent rains the ground is nice and moist and the stumps were VERY easy to dig out.  Judith came out to the garden to check on me and ended up throwing scraps on the fire.  Tomorrow I’ll finish digging out the stumps and then level the garden area before digging the holes for the posts and building the forms.  LOTS of work to get a few vegetables!  Cheaper than fishing.

SCOOP starts tomorrow and I’m going to play in as many events as possible.  I was awarded one of the FIFTY $109 entries for “spending extra time and effort” blogging about the upcoming events.  Cool!