This is a BBQ lovers greatest asset

So I have come to realize that whenever I go to Ron and Barbs camp in northwestern Ontario I am going to come home and spend money. There is always something there that I want to own. Last time I was  lusting for fine cast iron frying pans and this year it is for a lave rock slab used for the BBQ.

There is only one place I could find in Kelowna that sold these and I was thrilled to find it. I wanted to bring one back from Wpg on the plane but I didn't have space in my check in and my carry on was full.There was only one shop in Wpg that sold these lava stones and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to find a store in Kelowna that sold them. SURPRISE. I found a store that just got them in.
If anyone likes to cook and BBQ this is a must. I made a Sweet and Sour pork on a bed of rice using our indoor kitchen but did the veggies on the stone using the BBQ. It was great. We both loved the meal.

Tonight I did a chicken on the stone and when it was almost done I moved it onto the grill so that I could  lightly grill the veggies on the stone using a mustard sauce that had a touch of Sambul mixed into it.

This was a wonderful meal. I want to thank Ron for introducing me to this way to BBQ.

We had to eat indoors tonight. The wind was so strong it even blew the cover off of the pool. This is the 3rd time today I had to redo the cover. Life sure is tough somedays. Imagine - 3 times.

I love it here at Home

I'm only gone for a week and our property has changed . With all the rain we have had it has become very lush and thick with new vegetation. 

The flowers have really started to bloom It is beautiful. This is the North side .

The lower level has filled in nicely. It is very private.

So I woke up this morning to see a Magpie drinking out of the pond in the courtyard.

After a couple of minutes I think this bird decided it would taste better from the frogs wineglass.

My last day in Winnipeg

This was a great day. Sandy and I went to the forks for breakfast.I haven't been there for 12 years and I have heard all the wonderful things that have and are being built there.I think this is a Jewel for Winnipeg. It was a great morning. After breakfast we walked down by the river for a few pictures. The river is very high and very fast. I find it a little scary standing beside it. Hard to believe Ruth and I boated on this river for years on the Jadia. For the 10 years that we owned this boat we had green trim. It was a fun boat to own. This is the same docking spot we had at the Royal Manitoba Yacht Club.

 You can see that the walkway is still under water and it is almost July. This is looking down the Assiniboine River.

This is looking out at the fork of the Assinaboine River and the Red River. You can even see the currents of the river here where they join.

I dropped Sandy off at her house just before noon and headed down to Ray and Jerry's Steak house to have lunch with Gordon and Alice Griffith. Once again I am so sorry I didn't get my picture taken with them. I bought their commercial building off them in Kelowna 5 years ago to move my piano business to that location. I also wanted to get them out of the piano business in Kelowna. They were my competition.  They moved to Winnipeg and love it here. They are great people. It was Kelowna's loss and Winnipeg's gain. We had a nice visit over lunch. I wish we had done lunches together in Kelowna.

I was driving thru the west end where I grew up and saw Len and Jenelle driving into their yard. Len was one of my best friends when I was a kid growing up. That was 45 years ago and the four of us became friends together just before we left Winnipeg. Len invented something we called a Snurf board. It was a ski with a board nailed onto it. We Snurfed together every day after school in the winter for years on the monkey hills at Omand's Creek. It was great. One day a guy who had been watching us go down the hills came up and asked us about what we were doing. Len told him we were snurfing and he said we should put a string onto the board so that when we fall we don't have to chase the board. We laughed at him and thought he was a fool. The next year they were selling snurf boards at Canadian tier that looked like ours but they had a string. Too bad we were so young. We could have become millionaires with that invention.
So I saw them pulling into their yard and I pulled in behind them. We went in and had a great visit. They triggered a lot of great memories that I enjoyed all the way home on the plane this evening. Long time friends are special friends.  Once again I wished that I had gotten a picture with these friends. I don't know why I am so afraid to take pictures of my friends lately but I know that this has to change. There are great times happening all the time and if they aren't recorded they just get lost into the abbess. I did take a picture of their beautiful yard on the river. The water is so high their garden is missing.

BUSY SUNDAY

Ron and I were out back working on the new garage by 7:30. The only other action in the yard was from  the wildlife which was out looking for more of Barbs garden to chow down on. I saw a few bunnies this morning. They were quite large and healthy looking.

So Ron climbed up on the roof with the air nailer and I cut and passed the sheets up to him. It worked out good. We got all the roof buttoned up except for two sheets that we were short.
It's nice to see how much we got done this week. I feel good about coming out for this visit.

The building is nice , straight and square . We did a good job. When they built the floor it was less than 1/8th of an inch out of square. That made it easy to do a good job on the rest of the garage. Ron was going to router out the doors this afternoon and install the doors. I wish I would be here to see the finished product.

Ruthie has been in Winnipeg for the last 3 days to visit with her sister and she drove out to the lake for 1:00 to pick me up and take me back to Winnipeg. Her flight leaves at 6:00 so there wasn't enough time to  take her back to the cottage. I wish I had taken a picture of us together at the lake. I'm always sorry after if I don't take pictures. I'm a visual kind of guy. It was a nice afternoon and it was also nice to see her . We had a nice ride back to town. I dropper her off at the airport and headed to Peter and Sandy's for the night. I'm glad we have such great friends in Winnipeg.

This is what life should be for everyone

This was a great Saturday.I got to sleep till about 8:30 and when I got up Ron was in the back yard exhausted from carrying all the 4x8 roofing sheets up from the waters edge to the new shop. I knew there was a good reason I had slept in. Hahahahaha. Ron and I did the facia by 11:00 and Clay showed up to help do the roof. I couldn't  believe how strong he was. He just grabbed the sheets of roofing material from us as we lifted them up and threw them in place. I was happy he was up there helping.

The shop is starting to take shape. Its going to be a great asset to the Huisman compound. We had a good week here at the lake.

The sun was a killer by early afternoon so Ron and I headed out onto the lake for  swim. I didn't want to dive in so I just watched and sipped on a cool beer. I don't think he was to happy about how cold the water was after he did the first dive in and so he sat across from me for about 30 minutes sucking up the ray and getting a sun tan. I didn't tell him how much I enjoyed this time with him. It could be seen as a little gay but we had a nice talk. We have done this a few times at the lake over the years . The lake seems to mellow us rednecks out. I love this pontoon boat.

Charlie was ready to fly out to us as we pulled up to the dock.

This is the view we see of the cabin when coming from the new shop. Ron and Barb have made a beautiful spot here. I feel like I am in paradise .

So around 5:30 we trudged thru the bush to a dinner party. I'm sure you can tell from the picture that Barb is a hand talker. She is telling me a story right now.

The master chef (Clay ) had enough food on the grill to feed an army. I have been coming out here for years and I have come to realize that this couple (Clay and Peggy ) only want to make everyone happy. They are very giving. Its a great place to visit.

Here is Ron sharing some of his wisdom.

Here is Brenda and Cindy deciding if it is worth while wisdom.

Here they are when they decided it was something they could benefit from.

 Peggy was the wine goddess of the deck. They are great hosts. I really enjoyed being here.

So after a great meal we trudged back thru the bush to get the pontoon boat. I started laughing at one point and Barb wanted to know what was so funny. I said that when we went thru the bush before she kept on a straight path but now it seemed we needed the full width  of the path. I'm not sure which one of us was using the full width. I just followed the yellow shoes.

So we got the boat load of reprobates on deck for this picture. I wish I could tell you how long it took to get them all looking in the same direction. It was like herding cats.

Clay has his brother and his wife from southern Ontario out visiting this week. They fit right in with this crazy bunch. I still can't figure out which one is older.

The girls were trying to show us couch potatoes how much fun it is to dance so I asked Ron if this was something he wanted to do. He wasn't too keen on getting up on the dance floor with them .

He did offer me a rum if I would take his place and we all know how much I love Rum.

Jim went fishing with some buddies on a fly in today. We were all feeling sorry for Brenda because she was so sad to have to be by herself tonight.

It was nice to be included with all of these people . They all seem to have a great friendship together.

Busy Friday At The Lake

• I had a great day. I honestly don't know how he does it but Ron was up and out of here at 4:30 this morning to be back in winnipeg by 8:00 to do some calls. I slept till 8:00 and then eased into the morning with coffee and a nice ham and egg breakfast. I threw a few toys for Charlie  into the lake and then power washed the  carpet in the pontoon boat.  It was a beautiful northern Ontario morning

Next job I had given myself was to lug 8 bundles of shingles up to the new building. I definitely can't be a guy doing heavy labour. It is too hard. I was going to put them into the wheelbarrow and cheat . I could pretend I carried them up and impress everyone with my fantastic strength but the  wheelbarrow had a flat tire so I had to do it the old school way . It was really hard. I'm too old for this.

Over all I had a great morning here at their lake resort. Next adventure was to head thru the bush paths for Clay and Peggy's place. Ron had a key and TV remote that he had asked me to return. We started out back from R & B's place and I didn't have a clue which path to take. I just kept telling Charlie that we were going to see Clay. It was funny how whenever I talked to him he would stop ,  look  ,  and head up the appropriate path. He is a great dog.

I got a kick out of this walk. I'm in the middle of nowhere and the path turns into muck. I'm starting to think that no one has ever been here before when I come across a sign that keeps me on the correct route. I had to laugh. Suddenly I knew I was on the path to C & P 's

There were many interesting faces on my walk that could have been in a creepy movie.

Jim came over this afternoon around 12:30 and we worked till 4:00 putting the ladders up on the new shop. It was a nice afternoon. He is an easy guy to be around. I know that is hard to believe when you see how he looks when relaxing with a Rum and coke but its true. That's just how he looks.

Sorry Jim. I just had to put that in. I guess I owe you one.

After Jim left I called Ron to find out when they would be back and if they had dinner. The were rushing back here and hadn't eaten so I said I would cook . I had seen a Moose steak in the freezer that looked like it would be good for a ginger beef style meal with  a oyster sauce type vegi compliment . It was delicious. I love this type of cooking. Lots of crunch.

After I had all the prep done I took Charlie down to the dock to throw the toy into the lake for a while.

He was so happy to see Ron and Barb coming home. It's nice to see the love.

Barb is such a sweetheart. I'm glad I got to see her this weekend before heading back to Kelowna.

Thursday night at the Huisman Resort

We did another stint on the lake tonight. I was slow leaving the cabin and Ron was patiently waiting for me on the beach in front of their house. I had to take this picture of him. He looked so content here.

We had a great night on the lake but I think this is the first time in 17 years we got totally skunked.It was still good. We saw 7 loons together floating about 1/2 mile from where we were fishing. They were very noisy and visual. That was a first for both of us. They usually only are seen as couples. We couldn't get close enough to see if they were parents with babies.

When we got back from fishing Ron was throwing the toy into the lake for Charlie to swim out and get. He is so much like his sister that I feel like he is my best friend. I wish Sweet pea was here to play with him in the lake.

Charlie has the same mannerisms  as Sweet pea. Kind of a pain in the neck dog when there is a toy to throw into a large puddle of water.

We sat on the dock deck enjoying this beautiful sunset until the noseems drove us crazy.  I love it out here.  I feel like I do a huge WHEEW  when I am here.  Ron is going into town tomorrow to get Barb. I am looking forward to our weekend together. I'm also glad I get to stay for a few more days.