I believe I set a new record when I went to bed last night at nine twenty.  Louise called a ten thirty and when I jumped up to get the phone I wasn’t sure if it was just getting dark or light.  It turned out she just wanted to tell me that she had just finished mowing the river trail and was home safely.  I heard a crash at a few minutes before six and when I got up I discovered Buddy had knocked a flashlight off the nightstand.  When I got to the kitchen the coffee was brewing and Patsy was sitting at the puzzle.  I put in a few pieces in and headed for my office.

I spent almost two hours on Smarter Than Me and made good progress.  I feel confident that I will have this in book form by November 15^th.

Judith was up at nine and we discussed the day.  After breakfast I headed to the garden and worked in the new greenhouse.  I mulched all the squash and cucumbers with hay to keep the weeds under control.   The beans are really growing and within a few days all the pole beans will be climbing the willow tripods.  Once the work in the garden was done I headed back to River House and started cleaning the inside of the F-350.

After lunch I turned my attention to getting the boat ready for tomorrow’s trip.  I had hoped to get the new impeller installed in the macerator pump but that is just above my pay grade.  I’ll have Russ, the mechanic, make the repair before the next trip. 

I fired up the pizza oven and Judith and Patsy did all the chopping and made the dough.  I did the sauce and finished in time to get in a quick game of Hand and Foot before we started cooking pizza.  The card God’s were smiling on me and after a rotten start in the first level I started catching cards and won the next three levels and the match.  We now are tied with one win each.

Louise, Ed and Nola arrived before seven and the pizza was in the oven within minutes.  We cooked one pizza at a time and didn’t make the next one until the first one was gone.  We did that for the next six pizzas and even backed a couple extras for Louise and the Weston’s to take home.  The oven was just perfect and the pizza was killer. 

I checked the weather and it is a go for tomorrow’s trip to Rupert.  Roland and Peter will be joining me and we should be on the water my two tomorrow afternoon.  No blog postings until I get back late Wednesday.

As I walked towards the kitchen, at six thirty, I could smell the coffee brewing.  The coffee was ready and Patsy was working way at the puzzle table.  I turned on Fox in the background and jumped in and started putting pieces in the puzzle.  I planned to just put in a few but ended up hanging in there until the puzzle was DONE. 

Judith asked me to wake her up before nine.  About eight thirty I started the fried potatoes and by the time nine rolled around we were ready for breakfast.  Patsy and I had over easy while Judith opted for over massacred.

After breakfast I headed for the garden and spent the best part of an hour watering the plants in the green house and mowing the “lawn” inside the fence.  I took advantage of the freshly cut grass and use it on the compost pile. 

According to the weather forecast it was supposed to be overcast with showers today but that was NOT the case.  It was sunny and in the mid sixties ALL day.  Most of the beans I planted a few days ago have poked though the ground and are headed towards the heavens.

I skipped lunch and headed down to my office to log on to PokerStars for the Sunday 250K tournament.  I cashed the last two weeks and wanted to make it three.  NOT!  I actually had a pretty good run but went broke just before the third break and ended up finishing 5610 out of OVER twenty five thousand.  I didn’t make a dime but on the other hand I won a ticket to the tournament so it didn’t cost me a DIME! 

When I busted out I headed outside to work on the water features and wash the F-350.  I worked until four when I had a commitment to play Hand and Foot with Judith and Patsy.  And play we did.  Judith soon stopped crowing about yesterday’s win and started whinning about her poor cards.  When the smoke cleared Patsy was the winner by just two hundred points over me and Judith was a distant, distant third. 

Judith cooked my mother’s spaghetti recipe for dinner.  Salad from my garden and some excellent bread contributed to a wonderful meal.  After dinner they headed for the theater and I went to my office to finish the blog. 

Lots to do tomorrow before we head off to Rupert on Tuesday.

It was light at three fifty two when I first woke up.  I already got six hours sleep and for a brief moment considered getting up.  I sure am getting a lot more sleep while playing very little poker.  The next thing I knew it was seven thirty and I was behind the eight ball.

I took a quick shower, got dressed, loaded the garbage on the flat deck and headed for town.  I didn’t make coffee figuring I’d stop at Tim Horton’s for coffee and a Boston cream donut.  I pulled into the dump at a little after nine only to find out it opened at ten on Saturdays.  Next I tried to drive into Tim Horton’s and the line was way out in the street.  I parked and walked to the Farmer’s Market to check things out.  Lots of good looking stuff; NO coffee.  I bought a raspberry razzle dazzle and ate it on the way back to the truck.  The line was still too long to endure at Horton’s so I headed out to pay the boat mechanics.  Boats are expensive; if the first fish of the years was full of gold it would be hard to break even.  I am looking forward to feasting on fresh fish and prawns……..and soon!

I called Judith and got a few last minute items to pick up at Safeway.  I always check my blood pressure when I go to Safeway and was pleased to see 120/80 pop up on the screen.  I was headed back to River House at eleven.

Patsy, Judith’s high school classmate, arrived a little after noon.  She left Pasco, Washington yesterday afternoon at one and made amazing time.  MapQuest lists it as an eighteen hour drive??

I spent most of the afternoon working on my boat.  I put a new power cord on one of the downriggers and made sure the prawn pot puller worked.  Believe me pulling pots up three hundred feet by hand is….NO easy, Papa.  We were scheduled to leave first thing Monday morning; however, Roland has a conflict on Monday so we decided to delay the trip one day.  It doesn’t matter to me I just prefer to fish on weekdays.   

Patsy loves cards and we started playing Hand and Foot at five thirty.  Judith caught good cards and finished WAY ahead of Patsy and me.  Patsy squeaked out second by a few hundred points leaving me dead last.

There was not much to do in the garden today.  The rain really helped but now we are faced with cooler weather which isn’t what is needed to really make things grow.  The strawberries are looking fantastic and we should be eating our first berries around July fourth.  The bing cherries from the Okanogan arrived today.  I picked up some while in Smithers and ate half the bag on the way home.  Beyond Wonderful!

I few loose ends to take care of tomorrow and then I plan to play in the PokerStars 250K and make it THREE cashes in a ROW.

Today is Tina’s FORTY FORTH Birthday.  That seems unbelievable to me.  I can remember being at the Air Force Hospital within Lackland AFB where she was born in Fort Worth Texas.  I remember when she was only months old and we decided to drive to New York.  The only time she DIDN’T cry was when we were moving and I ended up driving NON STOP!  EVERY summer she came to stay with Judith and me the moment school was out.  Then she was off to college, married, a mom and now NOT far from having her kids leave the nest.  My time flies.  Memories.

It was overcast when I got up at seven and one look outside told me I wouldn’t have to hand water for the next several days.  With coffee in hand I headed for my office and started typing and editing Smarter Than Me.  I’m NOT as far along as I’d like to be, however, I’m making progress and should be on target to finish and have it in book form on my 65^th birthday, November 15^th.  One of my other goals to accomplish by that date is to be under two hundred pounds.  I was TWO THIRTY when I got back to River House this year and this morning I was a pleasing 208!!  That is the lowest I’ve been it at least twenty five years.  I hope I don’t peak to early on this endeavor and do plan to keep the weight OFF and stay at or below two hundred for the rest of this journey called LIFE.

I rousted Judith out at nine to start her day.  We discussed our plans and headed on our separate ways.  I went up to the lake to start the pump and ran into a mom merganser with eight young; I thought they had gone on to wetter places but seemed to be doing well.  Next I checked the garden and found it nice and wet with things really starting to grow.  Even the beans I planted a couple of days ago are already breaking ground.  I staked several cucumber plants; the preferred way to grow them here in the Great White North.  They will climb up a stake five or six feet and the cucumbers just hang there never touching the ground.  It takes less space and they seem to be perfectly happy.

I decided to take advice from my buddy Darrell and called the local internet and cable TV supplier and asked them to come out and realign the satellite dishes.  I was expecting them to say next week but was pleased when they agreed to come out later in the day. 

Next I jumped on the computer and took care of some loose ends.  I found impellers for my macerator pumps on the Nice and they will be at Greyhound when I go to Smithers tomorrow.  I also sourced the conversion kit for the propane stove recently installed in our bedroom and that should be here next week.

I talked to one of our fellow cabin owners at Kennedy Meadows in California and got brought up on the latest happenings there.  We haven’t been there for five or six years and friends and family don’t seem to be interested to go there either.  For years we have talked about selling it and I guess that time has come.  We own it in partnership with another couple and if they don’t buy our share we’ll put it on the market.  Historically cabins at Kennedy Meadows have sold immediately upon going up for sale but who knows in this economy.  USA economy that is; the economy seems to be doing great here in The Great White North.  Unfortunately the exchange rate is near par.

Well, “our” representatives burned the midnight oil and are trying to ram a TWO THOUSAND page financial bill down the taxpayer’s throat.  TWO THOUSAND PAGES!  Have they read it?  I doubt it!  Chris Dodd said “we’ll have to get it passed and then find out how it will work” or something close to that.  It is TWO THOUSAND pages because it is stuffed full of PORK that WE cannot afford.  We need to get all incumbents Out in November.

The technicians arrived at three and within thirty minutes made the adjustments and the computer seemed to run MUCH faster.  I’ll put it to the test over the next few days before upgrading to a faster, more expensive package. 

Judith cooked pork loin for dinner served with pasta and an excellent corn/pepper dish.  More lettuce from my garden was just the ticket for a great salad.  I won the last crib game of the month; Judith pulled out the white flag and said that’s it for cards in June.  The year now stands at 4-2; unfortunately, for me, in her favor. 

Dinner was over at seven fifteen and we decided to head to the theater.  Premonition with Sandra Bullock was tonight’s choice and it was excellent.  The girl can ACT.

Tomorrow I’m off to Smithers and then will do some last minute things on the boat.  Weather permitting we’ll head to Rupert on Monday.

The deck was wet this morning when I woke up at six.  The skies were still overcast with the promise of more rain throughout the day.  I headed for the kitchen to start my day.  Once I got Buddy fed I turned on Fox and started the coffee.  While the coffee was brewing I went to the puzzle table to try my hand at the new hot air balloon puzzle.  It is NOT easy; Patsy may have to help me finish this one when she arrives this weekend. 

Judith was up at nine and we discussed the day.  After breakfast and before I headed to the garden I planted the rest of the larch near the new garden.  Once I got to the garden I weeded the raspberries and check things out.  Last night’s rain is a good start, however, another good downpour or two would really help. 

Next on my agenda was to drain and pressure wash the main water feature.   Over the last couple of weeks the south edge of the bowl has become covered with what looks like a black fungi.  I pressure washed the boulder and bowl and reduced the blackening but couldn’t completely remove it from either surface.  This hasn’t happen in years past and I’m not really sure what is causing the problem.  Tomorrow I will dump in some algae killer and see if that works. 

We were expecting Tim and Sherry, from Heartstrings, for dinner and decided to get our crib game out of the way.  I won and the score now stands 14 to SOL. 

Once the water feature was refilled I went to the garden and finished digging out the next corner post to be poured.  If things work out tomorrow I could pour it on Saturday.

Today was one of those days were it rained for fifteen minutes then the sun came and that cycle was repeated all day long.  It was great for the garden and newly planted trees.

Tim and sherry arrived at five on the dot.  They brought along a new chair Judith is “thinking” about.  We had a nice chat and Judith cooked a roast for dinner.  I picked enough baby lettuce for our salads; wonderfully tender and sweet. 

The mosquitoes are out in full force.  Even with two Mosquitoes Magnets running full time they aren’t having much of an effect.  Lots are in the house and were zapping them left and right.  Slathering up with repellant at bedtime isn’t a pleasant thing but sometimes you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do!

Lake Cabin view FROM the dry lake bed

I could get use to this sleeping in thing.  I managed to stay in bed until seven before starting the day.  I flipped on Fox and for at least today the news wasn’t all about the BP mess.  Something doesn’t compute with this General McChrystal situation.  McChrystal is a four star general with an impeccable record and above all knows about military protocol.  Obama had NO choice; if he didn’t fire McChrystal he would have appeared even weaker.  AND why is General Petraeus accepting a lesser position than he currently holds?  Hmmm.

All the ingredients were available for huevos rancheros and that is exactly what I had for breakfast.  Excellent. 

After breakfast I headed for the garden.  We haven’t had a drop of rain in over a week and I decided to hand water the garden and greenhouses.  It took well over an hour and I had barely put down the can when the skies started to darken with rainclouds building in the southwest.

Mom and three of her chicks

On one of our many trips around the place today we came upon a mom ruffed grouse with ELEVEN chicks.  I could this picture: click on it and see if you can find three of the chicks.

Judith — wet and muddy

I was back at the house at eleven.  I agreed to “walk” the lake with Judith and she, in return, agreed to plant larch.  Well most of the lake bed is drying out we still have some VERY wet areas with much up to our knees.  Judith was a trooper and made the entire loop.  At one point she went down and had mud and water almost to the waist.  I snapped a quick picture to record the moment.  There is NO spring!  I was hoping for one, however, there simply isn’t one anywhere near the lake.  I did get a good idea of what needs to be done and job one is to pump out the wet areas so it will be totally dry by mid August.  Once it dries up I’ll need to get in and cut up the fallen trees and get them burned before the lake starts to fill up next spring.  A couple of days with two men cutting and two kids hauling and stacking should do the trick.

Click on and see if you can find the eggs

While all the ducks and geese are LONG gone we did run into a nest way out in the middle of the lake on about the only gravel patch that is in the lake.  I believe they are killdeer eggs but I wouldn’t bet the farm on that one.  Strange nest; just four eggs neatly placed on the gravel. 

With the lake walk over we turned towards planting the larch and headed back down to the hayfield.  We planted an additional thirty along the fence and another forty around the place.  Tomorrow I’ll plant the last TEN and tree planting is OVER for another year. 

After a late lunch I headed to the new garden with the backhoe and dug the footing hole for another corner post.  By the time that was done it was four thirty and I headed in for our Crib game.  Judith pulled off a win and the score now stands at 14-8 in my favor. 

Pan fried hamburgers smothered in onions with a nice salad did the trick for dinner.  My lettuce is doing fantastic this year and tomorrow night we’ll have our first salad and we shouldn’t being buying lettuce anytime soon.

With little to do in the garden for the next couple of weeks I’ll turn my attention to getting the wet spots pumped out in the lake and finish the concrete posts in the new garden. 

Lupine in the turnaround overlooking the hayfield and river

When I went to bed last night I had made up my mine to sleep in, and sleep in I did.  I did wake up at six but rolled over and the next thing I knew it was EIGHT.  I got the coffee going and went to my office and posted my blog.  My Internet connection is still the pits and I couldn’t post to my blog last night. 

I waited patiently for my “egg” day and had made up my mind to make huevos rancheros.  I put three pans on the burners and started warming the refried beans and salsa in one while frying the tortillas and heating the oil in the other to do the eggs over easy.  At the exact right moment I reached for the eggs and……………………………..NONE, NIDA, ZIP.  Judith swore she bought them on her last trip to town and I just swore.  I filled the tortillas with the beans and salsa and ate my eggless breakfast.  NOT bad!  I wrote eggs in big bold letters on Judith’s shopping list for her trip into town today.

After breakfast I headed to the garden and spent a couple of hours doing little things that I haven’t had time for in the past.  On my morning garden check I found the spinach and beets were peeking through and the rest will be soon to follow. 

The man gate view from the the garden

At eleven I headed down to the house to take the forms off the man gate.  Judith was going to town and I wanted to be off the ladder BEFORE Judith left for town.  When I took the forms off I noticed a little honeycombing but I can fix that after they are all poured.   About the time I finished with the ladder Judith came out on the back deck and told me she was leaving for town.

I turned on Fox for a news update and learned General McChrystal expressed his displeasure with Duhbama and his incompetent administration.   McChrystal is an experienced, excellent FOUR Star General who apparently is feed up and let his frustration be known.  He’s toast and I’m sure the President can find a fellow community organizer to take on the task.  Experience?  It didn’t seem to be important when this guy (Dahbama) was elected so I can’t imagine it mattering now.

We planted another hundred larch today and have fifty more to go.  I spaced them six feet apart on the property line at the north end of the hay field.  Larch shed their needles each fall and have a pale green hue when the new needles come on in the spring.

Before dinner we played our crib game and the cards couldn’t have been better…..for me.  I came within a few points of skunking her again tonight and the score is now FOURTEEN to SEVEN.  Unless she has a huge rush I’ll win June and close the gap to 4-2 for the year. 

I offered to cook dinner and Judith jumped at the offer.  She bought smoked pork chops while in Smithers today and they never made it to the refrigerator.  I found new potatoes and made a cucumber, onion and tomato salad.  Nice.

After dinner and dishes we did a ride around the place; closed up the garden and planted a few more trees.  Judith photographed wild flowers for a new album she is putting together about the flowers around River House.  Speaking of flowers……….Lupine!  We are up to our ears in lupine.  The older plants are in full bloom and the ground is covered with tiny guys that are coming on from last fall’s seed drop. 

Tomorrow I turn my attention toward the lake area.

Sometimes the magic works and sometimes it DOESN’T.  Today was one of those days it didn’t.

I used Judith’s phone as an alarm clock and when it went off at four I wasn’t sure if it was the alarm or Richard calling.  It turned out to be the alarm and I got up to start my day.  I jumped in the shower in the hopes it would get the blood pumping for the six hour drive to Rupert.  I barely got four hours sleep and I didn’t know if Richard would be able to drive with the gout in his right foot.

I had checked the marine weather two days ago and NOTHING was on the horizon.  I put on the coffee and headed down to the office to run the tides and make my last check on the weather in Rupert.  I logged onto the Canadian marine site and was shocked to see there were GALE warnings in Dixon Entrance East and that is the area I wanted to fish.  As much as I wanted to go fishing today the forecast of 30-40 MPH winds and six foot seas made me err on the safe side and CANCELL the trip.

Richard drove in at five on the dot and I broke the bad news to him.  He understood; we talked for an hour before he headed home.  We were both REALLY looking forward to the trip BUT………  There will always be fish; the ocean can be VERY unforgiving place.

I came back into the house at six but opted to work on Smarter Than Me rather than going back to bed.  By seven my eyelids were starting to get heavy and I curled up on my office couch.  The next thing I knew it was eight thirty and I heard Judith stirring upstairs.  We talked about the day, had breakfast and headed our separate ways.

I’ve gotten pretty caught up on most projects with the exception of the new garden fence mess and I’ve resigned myself to the fact that it will take ALL SUMMER to complete.  I headed over to the garden and hand watered everything except the potatoes, weeded the big greenhouse and planted the carrots and radishes.  I’m finally done and only three weeks behind PLAN.

When I came in for lunch Judith had the Asian theme going….again.  This is starting to remind me when I was a teenager growing up in Lagrangeville, New York.  We didn’t eat a lot of cheese at our house, until one day mom put a dish on the table, I think it was cauliflower, and it was covered with cheese.  From that moment on it was cheese, cheese, cheese. 

After lunch I did a couple of honey dos and then started on burning weeds and blowing off the paving stones.  That took the best part of the afternoon BUT looked great when I got done.

When I came in at five, Judith suggested I take a nap and I took her up on that suggestion.  It turns out she took one too.  We decide to play our crib game before dinner and I pulled off a shunk.  The whining about poor cards, coming from across the table, is getting louder every day. 

After dinner Judith and I headed out to plant larch trees.  Our neighbor gave us TWO HUNDRED tree that just came out of the nursery.  We planted the same amount last year and those are doing quite nicely.  Most of them have at least double their size and are now almost two feet tall.

When we got back we decided to watch a movie and Judith picked a Will Smith flick, Hitch.  I would have bet the ranch I would be asleep in minutes.  NOT.  It was a good and funny movie.  The guy has talent and the supporting cast put in good performances as well.  The mosquitoes seemed to enjoy the movie too; they were in there in droves.  I wore out a set of batteries in my Zaptech.

When the movie was over Judith opened the drapes and it was STILL light outside.  I glanced at my watch and it was eleven on the dot.

Beck, on Fox, disclosed that the Obama Crowd loaned a Brazilian Oil Company TWO BILLION..get this…to do off shore drilling.  Let see…Loan them two billion for DEEP (14,000 plus feet) water drilling—put a band on offshore drilling here in the US.  Hmmm.  IS anyone surprised that GEORGE SORROS has a huge stake in the Brazilian OIL COMPANY?  We are BROKE and this company made FIFTEEN BILLION last year.  It only makes sense we send TWO BILLION in taxpayer’s money to a foreign country while we have massive problems in our Homeland.  Change—NOT REALLY.   Same old crooked deals!  Vote out all incumbents in NOVEMBER.

I felt as if I had really slept in until I looked at the clock and it was a few minutes before SIX.  There was NOT a cloud in the sky and it had been light for hours.  I guess that is what one should expect on the second longest day of the year.

I was in the boat by eight and started cleaning the cabin.  The sun was streaming in the windows and amazingly there were NO mosquitoes.  Unreal.  I worked like a dog until noon and still had several hours of work to do when I took a lunch and poker break.  I registered along with twenty five thousand other poker addicts and plunked down ELEVEN bucks for a shot at thirty grand.  I did make the money, barely, basically wasted three hours on a beautiful day and “made’ a whopping $16.18!

The moment I was knocked out I headed back to the boat and started pressure washing it the  ATV and F-350.  With that done I fulfilled my promise to Judith to go for a walk and we headed up to Walcott.  It was a beautiful day, sunny with wildflowers….everywhere.  We saw Louise out on her deck and talked for a few minutes. 

When we got back to River House Judith started dinner and I started loading supplies and equipment for the boat on the back of the flat deck.  We ate at six thirty and Richard showed up at seven on the dot.  When he got out of the truck he was limping and explained he just came down with gout.  I offered to postpone or cancel the trip and he would have NONE of that.  He helped me load the boat hobbling all the way.

Once the boat was loaded Judith and I headed over to the garden to water as much as I could so Judith will have less to do IF we leave tomorrow.  The Great White North is an area full of extremes; too much rain for a couple weeks then hot and not a drop for the foreseeable future.

We were back by nine thirty and immediately got the cards in the air.  Judith pulled of a win and the score now stands at 11-7 in my favor.

Unless Richard calls and cancels we will head to Rupert at five in the morning.  No blog postings until I get back Wednesday.

Little bull moose at the salt

It was THREE FIFTY TWO when Buddy went ballistic chasing a mouse around our bedroom.  She weighs a hefty fourteen pounds but sounded like FOUR HUNDRED.   Judith found a dead one this morning so I guess she was successful. 

The beautiful days keep coming and for that we are thankful.  IF one can believe the forecast more of the same will happen for the next week.  With the lake empty and the creek dry for the season no rain means hauling water in five gallon jugs to water the greenhouses and garden.

I was in the boat a few minutes after eight and worked clearing out and cleaning the V-birth.  I worked until Judith called out from the front door at nine.  She made breakfast while I washed the pots, pans and dishes from the boat.  We discussed the day then I headed for the garden.  I finished covering the potatoes and tamped down the soil in each hill.  Next I headed over to the big greenhouse and tilled the last two raised beds for bean planting later in the day.

Just before noon I headed back to the house.  When I drove up Judith was painting the back side of the cistern building but mostly enjoying the beautiful day.  We took a quick lunch and I jumped back in the boat.  Getting ready for the first trip is a lot of work:  the boat is filthy from being stored for over six months and then the mechanic working on it for several weeks didn’t help matters much.  The next problem is locating all the stuff and getting it back in the right place.  I worked straight through until four thirty then hauled fifteen gallons of water up to the garden.  Things looked pretty dry and I spent the next thirty minutes hand watering.  I put what water I didn’t use in the hundred gallon storage tank which is now pretty close to full.  With that done I planted the beans.  It only took me twenty minutes in the hundred and ten degree greenhouse to plant the pole and bush beans. 

I fired up the Tool Box Grill and let the coals burn down while we played crib.  I’m on a roll and won another; the month now stands at 11-6 in my favor.  Lots of month left and anything can happen.

We rarely eat outside; however, we did this evening.  It was in the mid seventies at eight o’clock with enough wind to keep the mosquitoes away.  I cooked the steak while Judith made the salad and boiled the corn.  It turned out to be the perfect meal to end a perfect day.

I checked the game cameras today and had a lot of pictures of cow elk and one young bull moose. 

I have very little to do in the garden tomorrow and I should finish getting the boat ready by noon.  If the plan works I’ll play in the PokerStar’s Sunday 250K.