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Issue #1140
Including:

Carol
Nova Scotia Sus
Russ
The Ontarion
Doug

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From Carol

I saw my surgeon this week. He gave me the ok to take our train trip, postponed from October. VIA rail charged us $500 each to change the date last October and we were worried that I wouldn’t be able to travel April 7th. The nurse that comes to change the dressing on the still leaking hole in my stomach where the feeding tube was is showing me how to do this for myself. I will bring our little magic bullet so my food can be ground up for me to eat. Hopefully in another week I will be able to eat more items. Besides the actual train ride we are looking forward to seeing Doug and Sue plus Ryan’s family plus our grandson Cam who lives in Victoria.

Today is Good Friday and, with Beth and Jamie as gracious hosts, the wood party, egg colouring, bunny hunting tradition at the Homestead continued. 25 chocolate bunnies were hidden and found. The egg colouring dye was thrown on the wood pile at the end (we go from youngest to oldest so Gale was happy Cindy attended). The pot luck lunch was delicious and the company very enjoyable but I discovered I still tire easily, even though I didn’t chop or pile wood, and was ready to go home and rest. We wish everyone a very happy Easter.

Carol

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From Nova Scotia Sus

It's Thursday and another rainy day. I guess it's better than snow. The temps are improving though. Our woodshed is just about out of dry wood so we have been bringing in arm loads from our pile outside to dry by the fire. Our woodshed can only hold so much and by spring it looks quite empty. We hate to turn on the electric heaters when we have so much wood to burn. A few nice sunny days will give us a chance to stock up. We love our woodstove. Even our insurance company loves it. It was hand made by a steel worker and has no stickers of approval on it anywhere. Every few years the inspectors come around to check out the heating systems for wood burning. We pass every time. The last one took pictures of it and said he wished everyone had one. The only thing I would change is the solid steel door for a glass door. It would be nice to see the fire burning.

Maple syrup gathering is still going. We had a little lull and now it's time to do another boil down. Greg I wish I could give you a taste of our syrup....maybe someday you could take a trip down to the Maritimes. And Karin I know it sounds like we work too hard but most of what we do is a hobby. We love being busy and it is so rewarding being self sufficient. We also do a lot of babysitting for Dave's grandchild, a two year old and loads of fun. It's extra special for me since I have no children and would never be a grandmother. Zane, my little brother, is the closest I became to being a parent. So we are extra busy these days.

I would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter!

Sus

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From Russ

IT'S LIKE THIS....…

Had a consultation with a surgeon at Hanover hospital yesterday, it was about pains in my upper abdomen, and I was sent by my family Dr. for a possible 'scope'. He said I should have a 'colonoscopy' as well. He must have checked way back into my health history as he said I also had diverticulosis, I knew this, but was surprised he picked up on that as well. Then, he said I was enemic. This came as a complete surprise! Apparently it showed up on my blood-work. He asked me about weight-loss, to which I replied, "Not much - - maybe 10 or 15 pounds over the past year or so". My pants keep falling down, and my wristwatch slips off my wrist, but I hadn't worried about it, I put weight-loss down to my inactivity, and loss of appetite. Then, he really shocked me! He used the "C" word!! He said not to worry, we'll do every test to find out.

I left with a long face, and a hand-full of instructions, prescriptions, and more instructions in preparation for the inevitable up-coming tests.

Somehow I knew there was something very wrong because I was getting weaker, and weaker - could hardly peddle my 3-wheeler - kept thinking my tires were low in air - my son checked them, they were not low - I was low (No pun intended)

Am I worried? you ask. Not in the least - in fact I'm relieved to know my surgeon is arranging all these tests. When I told him my plan is to live to 100, and you are going to help me, he tossed his head back and laughed profusely. Hmm - I wonder why? 100 is only 5 years from now, and if it goes as fast as the last 5 years I'll be a Centenarian in no time!!

Don't worry - be happy!

Uncle Russ.

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The Ontarion

Hello everyone!

Well it’s been an interesting week!

Besides my hospital visits, we spent an hour plus’s at our local laundromat!

We haven’t visited one in years and it sure was a different experience! Carole has a comforter that needed washing and it was too large for our home washing machine so we went to the commercial machine to wash it!

Upon arrival, most of the machines were tagged “out of order” but we finally located one that was working and used it! The cost was $6.00 for one large comforter!

We were surprised at the cost but it needed to be done! It only took 25 minutes so we stood as if we were watching a tv show as the item went round and round in the washer! LOL! The time went by quickly and we were on the way home!

We were surprised at the number of people that use this facility! I guess we’re just used to doing laundry at home!

We hadn’t used a laundromat since we were first married so it was a trip back in time for sure! For $6.00 a load, we were happy that we can do our wash at home! Even with the cost of water and hydro to do it at home, it’s much cheaper to do it at home!

With Easter coming this weekend I want to wish each and every one of you a happy Easter and a pleasant weekend!

We used to do the hiding of the eggs but of course with not having small children to hide them for anymore, we no longer do that routine! However, we do still enjoy the Easter occasion with a nice formal Easter meal and this year Carole is planning a lovely turkey dinner for the three of us as we have no more family to include in the occasion! On Sunday it’ll still be an enjoyable event!

When leaving the hospital on Wednesday they were selling a variety of chocolate treats in the lobby of the hospital to raise money for the hospital so,I bought a number of treat items as an early Easter treat for Carole! Carole isn’t really much into sweets but we all enjoyed eating them! I think she still has a rice-crispy/chocolate bunny hidden somewhere to enjoy at a later date! I of course can’t eat chocolate of any amount so I don’t expect to receive my usual chocolate bunny this year for the occasion! Oh well, I’ll just enjoy the lovely turkey dinner in stead! That in itself is plenty enough a treat for the weekend!

I think Adam is past the chocolate bunny as well at this stage in his life! So he’ll enjoy the dinner this sunday too! That’s about all I have for this week folks!

I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next week! Thanks for tuning in today!

Bye for now and enjoy the weekend with your individual families and your celebrations!

Happy Easter all!

Greg

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From Me

How’s it going…..eh?

“Who ya gonna call?” Ghost Busters!!

Do you remember the Ghost Busters movie from way back in the 80’s? It was a fun, mostly comedic flick all about a bunch of guys who lost their day jobs at a university and ended up catching ghost. The special effects were what they were for the 80’s and the story line was was pretty harmless. Ryan, being just 6 or 7 years old at the time thought it was real for a few years until he became a little more worldly. The movie was followed by a second one a few years later, basically the same plot but still fun.

A third installment came a few years later but it was so dumb and so far off target that almost no one managed to endure the whole show before giving up and turning off the TV, it wasn’t worth going to a move theatre to see. Then, more years went by and a 4^th installment came out. It was quite good and it picked up the time line a couple of decades later. The central character was the ‘granddaughter’ of one of the main original characters. The actor (Harold Ramis) that played that original had passed away and most Ghost Buster fans figured that was it for the franchise. When they did the 4^th movie, they actually included a computer generated version of his character, as a ghost, who was helping his very scientific and brave young granddaughter figure out the ghost busting gig. Right at the end of that movie and just when she and her friends were being beaten by the ghosts, the remaining original characters, now old like us in real life and in the movie, made a cameo appearance and saved the day. We saw that movie on TV, not at a theater, and quite enjoyed it.

Then, this last movie, the 5fth one, was released last week. Ryan secured tickets for all of us at an Imax theater in Langley and so we all went. These movies are right at the edge of ‘scary’ for the girls but they seemed to enjoy them so thats a good thing. In this one, the old ghost adversary's are gone but a new, more evil, more powerful one has emerged. The 3 remaining main characters from the 1^st movie team up with the granddaughter and her friends and manage to defeat the evil god after almost destroying New York city. But they get it done. There were several cameos from characters that were in the 1^st move which made it all that much better. The action and special effects are light years more advanced now than how things were in the 80’s and it all added to a great experience. You’ll notice I haven’t given away any details and I won’t in case you are thinking of seeing this one. We all certainly enjoyed it and had a great time. Now I just have to get that Ghost Busters theme song out of my head.

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I had not intended to work on any audio recording of any songs these days but ended up doing just that because I got bored with my usual play list. You see, I am doing a small gig this coming Sunday at the local retirement home where the inmates tend to like my kind of music. I got a bit tired of running over my material, my mind drifted off to where ever, and I found myself mucking around with an old Bob Dylan song that isn’t part of my repertoire, said song being ‘Tambourine Man’. So, I fired up the recording software and proceeded to lay down some guitar tracks, thinking I’d get it that far and then come back to it at some point later. However, one track led to another, then another and so on. I kind of got lost in what I was doing and at some point late that evening I realized I had almost finished my recording. Cool. The next day I put the finishing touches on it and presto, it was done. Whether you want it or not, here is my version of that old folk song, done with my usual multi layers of harmony and so on. Follow this link to listen to the MP3 version that I’ve uploaded to my web site, and, hopefully, you just might enjoy it. And as a heads-up, like most of the stuff I do, this one is pretty laid back.

Tambourine Man
The Audio Version

Doug

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Have a Good One
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.