The Squamidian Report – May 2 / 09
Issue #362
Including:
Al’s Journal
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Last Sunday morning I took Carol and Al for a bit of a site seeing tour up the Upper Squamish Valley. We were in Sue’s car so I couldn’t really go into any rough places, just stayed on the main road. We stopped at the bridge that takes you over to the Ashlu. Here we walked up onto the bridge and looked around with our binoculars. There are snowfields hanging high on the upper slopes feeding incredibly tall waterfalls where the melt water runs down the sometimes vertical mountainsides. There were half a dozen tents pitched over on the far side of the Squamish River, out on the sand banks. Young people, as opposed to us old guys, were enjoying the sunny weekend as they camped by the river. One young woman was sunbathing on a lawn chair and from our distant prospective, it looked like she had very little on.
Now here is where our binoculars came in very handy. When she stood to chat and socialize with the other people in the group, we could see that all she had on was a very tiny thong, with a postage-sized panel of fabric at the front, nothing at the back except the strap. Both Al and I figured that this was quite all right. If she and they didn’t have a problem with it, neither should we. For as long as we were on the bridge enjoying the various kinds of scenery around us, she was mingling with her friends.
We drove on over the bridge and along the Ashlu access road. There is a run-of-the-river hydro project being constructed up the Ashlu so the road along there has changed a lot since the last time I was there. There are power lines running beside the road and the forest has been cut back. The road has been built up and improved to facilitate construction traffic. We went in as far as the two bridges that cross the Ashlu and walked around a bit there. When we came back out to the Squamish River, the topless, almost bottomless girl was still taking full advantage of the sun. Oh to be young again.
doug
****
Saturday 18th - The train arrived an hour early in Vancouver in sunshine. Doug & Sue picked us up when the train was supposed to arrive. We had a relaxing day then Warren & Janice came over for a barbecue, visit and music. Good Times!
Sunday 19th - We went to Whistler for breakfast and toured around the town in the rain. Doug put up with me watching NHL playoffs. He wondered why I came this far to watch TV. I told him the games are over 3 hours earlier here, which means more sleep.
Monday 20th - Warren came down around noon and picked us up. We went back to his place and he took us "quading" for the afternoon - great fun. He and I cleared off parts of the trail where the branches and trees were over-fallen. Carol went up later and got the clear weather and great view!
Tuesday 21st - Carol & I discovered 2 walking trails close to Doug's. It was great scenery, friendly dogs, no bears. We walked for over 2 hours - oh my aching calves. (sunny day)
Wednesday 22nd - The weather was 15° and sunny. Carol &
I walked downtown to get some groceries and other things (think beer).
Missed the bus so we cabbed back up. I wanted to walk back up but
Carol wussed out! Then we went for another nature walk!
Thursday
23rd - Doug left his truck for us. (He just wanted to ride his bike in
even though it was only 0° brrr) We went to Shannon Falls, beautiful
site! We met a couple from Arizona who said our country is just
amazing. I wanted to climb the "Chief" but Carol wasn't up to
it. We then went for a drive before going "home" (I'm not
leaving). I sat on the deck, just in shorts, writing this journal and
gazing at the natural wonder of the mountains. Sue came home from her
audit in Alberta. Carol made lasagna, Warren & Janice came for dinner
so more music and visiting.
Friday
24th - Carol went into the city with Sue, who had a meeting. She walked
for about 4 hours around Stanley Park while I guarded the "fort" on
the deck. When the girls got back we went to dig up some rhubarb plants
someone had discarded on one of the walking trails. I even made myself
useful and planted one for Sue.
Saturday
25th - Doug & Sue drove us up to Britannia where we checked out the mine
but didn't go in as I wanted to get back in time for the Flyers last game of
the season. We also went to the wharf area in Squamish for picture
taking. Carol & Sue went shopping and Doug took out his Harley.
We had another walk and barbecued steak.
Sunday
26th - Doug drove us up along the river to a hydro project. Carol went
for a short walk while Doug and I (with our handy binoculars) noticed a girl
camping walking around wearing just a thong. We actually got caught in a
traffic jamb on #99 with people leaving the Whistler festival Ryan was
working at all week. Some young guy caught in the traffic jamb got out to
take a piss in the bush and had to run to catch up with his ride. After
lunch Doug took Carol for a ride on his Harley. We walked again on the
trails before Janice & Warren came over for another delicious B-B-Q.
More good tunes!
Monday
27th - Another sunny day to take our last walk. We packed up
everything. Ryan came for supper.
Tuesday
28th - We were up at 5:00 and Ryan took us to the Vancouver airport to catch
our flight. This was the first time we ever saw the mountains from
above. We had a plane change and wait in Calgary and then flew on right
into Breslau. Lorne picked us up at the airport and Vivyan had dinner
waiting for us. Beth, Nick & baby Vivvy also came for dinner.
Carol got to see our grandchildren then it was home to the real world and
I got to see my cat.
*
Note from doug: Carol sent me some pictures that they took while on their trip. I have not had a chance to post them to my web site yet but as soon as I do, I will forward the link to everyone.
****
Hello
Everyone!
What a
great spring this has been so far. We’ve gotten the inside work on the new flooring
finished and it looks great. Over the past few days we’ve gotten most of the
outside work done on the yard. That includes renting a dethatcher and running
it over the lawns to scrape up all the old and dead underlying grass remnants
from the past 5 or 6 years. I used to dethatch every year but got away from it
for a few years now. I decided to do it again this year and it worked wonders
on the lawn. I ran the dethatcher over the lawns and Carole and I then raked
and bagged up all the loose stuff it dredged up. We wound up with 5 of those
huge paper “yard waste” bags filled to the brim and just in time for garbage
day on Monday past. The lawn has grown approximately 3” since Monday and I had
to cut it for the first time this year today. It’s still got some bare patches
from the dethatching but it’ll fill in in short order I’m sure! After cutting
the lawn today, I broke out the fertilizer spreader and mixed a batch of
Scott’s Turf Builder and grass seed and spread it over the entire yard. With
that combination we should have a thick and healthy lawn this year. I sure hope
this isn’t a banner year for dandelions since I used up the last of my black
market Killex last year. I may have to call a friend to see if he has any
Special “K” left in the back shelf of his garden supply shed if the little
yellow buggers come on thick and strong this year. I know they’ve banned all
herbicides and pesticides in Ontario but maybe if I just set the empty can in
the middle of the dandelion patch with the lid off the remnants of odour from
the Special “K” residue will be enough to make the yellow pests skedaddle for
one more season. If not, I’ll just have to keep the little bastards heads cut
off with my trusty Ninja mower to make the lawn at least look “weed free”!
There’s always a solution whether it be kosher or not! Now, I’m not saying I’m
about to circumvent any laws or by laws but I’m sure you all know, “Where
there’s a will there’s a way!” LOL!
This past
winter I managed to place a cover over the pond to keep leaves and other debris
out and see if it might make my spring opening easier. Well, as it turned out,
the pond had quite a bit of crap in it anyway. One edge of the tarp had slipped
out from under the rock I placed on it to hold it and allowed a lot of gunk to
make its way into the pond water. When Adam uncovered it Tuesday evening he
found three dead moles in the water as well as a lot of leaves and other
floating matter. He scooped out what he could with the net and then used my
submersible pump to drain the water out of the pond. We left it empty until I
pressure washed the bottom and the rocks for a fresh start. It’s only 600
imperial gallons of water so it really isn’t too much of a job to clean it out.
Once I had it sparkling clean I set out to reassemble the pump and filter
system. I needed two “O” ring seals for the couplings that attach the pipes to
the filter head. I found a source for them last season. After trying Canadian
Trash Corp and a couple of other automotive type places I decided to try a swimming
pool company. First try was Pioneer Family Pools out on Victoria St N. They had
a whole wall of pump fittings and about a hundred different sizes of “O” rings
so it was a snap to get the correct size for my needs. Of course at CTC if they
had had the right size it would have cost me about a buck fifty for two. Since
we were talking “specialty shop” prices the darned things cost me $3.50 a piece
+ taxes of course. Oh well, at least this year I didn’t have to spend $10.00 in
gas searching for what in needed. Twenty minutes on the road and back and I had
what I needed to get the filter back in service. Yesterday afternoon I
reassembled the system and filled the pond. I dumped in the chlorine shock and
added a couple of pucks to the pump basket. I also poured in some algaecide and
let it sit over night. This morning I went out nice and early and plugged the
pump into the timer and primed the system. It started to gush cold beautiful
water within a minute of my starting the pump. Of course the water was a little
cloudy but in about three hours it was as clear as a bell. All of this work
doesn’t usually take place until somewhere around the 24th of May.
This year however is an exception weather wise so we’ve really gotten an early
jump on all the yard work.
I’m happy
to have gotten this all done so early and so is Carole. She takes great pride
in her yard and gardens and with this extra early good weather we can take our
time and get things just the way she likes them. We were sitting out on the
garden swing this morning and admiring the way the gardens are budding and
greening up already. It’s an amazing thing to watch mother nature bloom one day
at a time! It really is hard to believe the difference each day makes when it
comes to the amount the plants grow. All of the plants in the garden now have
buds of some degree on them except for the Rose of Sharon plants, Carole told
me that they tend to bloom a bit later than the others she has planted. I like
to look at the plants when they are in full bloom but have to ask Carole the
names of the different ones every time since I have a good memory but it’s
short! I guess if I were the one that had the interest in gardening I’d be
better at remembering their names.
There are a couple more things we want to
get done this year but nothing too major. We want to have a company in to
respray a clear surface on all of our outdoor concrete. We have a concrete
“stamped” driveway and front porch. We also have the same stamped concrete
pattern on the walkway up the side of the house leading to the back yard as
well as a 12’ x 24’ patio out back. If you don’t maintain this concrete with
the proper surface protection it can begin to flake off and deteriorate. We
like to keep these surfaces in good shape as well. It would take too much
effort and money to replace them if we just let them go. It’s worth keeping
them looking good for our pleasure as well as maintaining the value of our
property.
Along
with the concrete work, we’d like to have a curb installed along the edge of the
driveway that adjoins the front lawn. Not only will it look better but it’ll
make it easier to blow the snow in winter without chewing up the edge of the
lawn. I have a couple of choices there. I can either install pre cast curbs or
have someone in to pour a proper ready mix curb such as you see along the edges
of our streets. I’ll have to do a little research on the subject and see which
type we like best before deciding which way to go. I’m kind of leaning toward
the poured ready mix style myself but it’ll depend on what the pre cast ones
look like.
Well,
we’re in for a nice sunny weekend so we’re looking forward to enjoying it!
I guess
that’s about it for this week. Thank you all for tuning in and I look forward
to talking to you all again next time in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now.. GREG.
PS:
Something To Think About>
If the
Muslims of this world are averaging 8 children per married couple and the rest
of the mix of couples in this world are only averaging 1.8 children each, who’s
going to running things here on the big blue marble in 50 years, And how much
fun will that be?
****
Have a good one..
the doug
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