The Red Piano

I have been working on getting a piano painted Red for a customer this last month. Its coming along.
I took the piano to my customers friends back yard garage to disassembled and paint it.We painted it last weekend and now are in the process of putting it back together. I love his garage.

It is full of cool cars. His friend is a serious car guy.

So the motor in this little beauty has 1000 horses pushing it down the track.  WOW.

This is his sons summer car. It looks fast just sitting there.

There are a few bikes kicking around the shop that are absolutely beautiful.

I was asking how this car can look so good and be so low. Surely the bumpers would get smashed while going down the street. It turns out that the SUV is on a hydraulic system that lifts it about 7 inches off the ground when you start the engine. The paint on this car was beautiful.

This engine was in his office. Worth about $150000. and is 1300 horses.Unbelievable.

This is my favourite gadget. It is a gas powered margarita mixer that actually speeds up when you twist the throttle. It is cool.

I will do more posts as the piano comes together.

Poor Daisey

I am so sad that two of our dogs died last week but I feel the worst for Daisey. She sits at this glass door all day

As well as all night

Looking for her two buddies

My Cousins Invade Canada

On Thursday some of my favourite people showed up at our house from Washington. My cousin Susan and her husband Mike came up to celebrate American Thanksgiving as well as her birthday with us. Friday Morning I suggested a walk to the beach but as we were passing the canyon park next door I headed them up the hill towards Kettle Valley. I hadn't noticed until we were well on our walk up the hill that Susan was only wearing a little pair of clogs on her feet. It has a tough climb for her.  Sorry. Although it was funny watching her walk like a duck 

So before dinner Mike and Susan brought out a bag of pipe cleaners they had brought from home to do crafts with the little kids.

Mike is so talented. He made some beautiful glasses.

Susan and Jack got into some sort of a standoff. I think he won.

He was very happy with the turnout of their dasagreement.

My cousin Joanna also came for the evening. It was so nice to have the cousins all together.

Ruth made a  birthday cake for Susan. I was a little worried having that much fire in the house and no fire extinguisher close by.

Jack helped her blow out the candles. Very cute to watch.

The cake had a picture of Susan on the top. This was a nice picture we had from the christmas we spent together 2 years ago.

Here Jack is concentrating on his slice of cake that was being passed down the table towards him.

 This is his happy face after he devoured his slice that also held a blue rose.

This was Carries pipe cleaner creation. She kept bobbing her head forward trying to bite the yellow puff ball. Of coarse it didn't happen but the little kids loved watching her try.

Susan , Carrie and Ruth took a Christmas Wreath building coarse on Saturday morning They loved doing it and we all ended up with beautiful wreathes for our homes.

So Sunday morning we had a nice walk thru the down town area before they headed back to washington. I wish we lived closed but am thankful we get to see each other now and then.

This Has Been A Hard And Sad Week

Last June we brought Caleb home to Kelowna to live with us.

 He was our oldest daughters pet / friend for the last 12 years but there was a problem that had developed with him living where they did over the last little while. He has become very protective lately and they live at a kids bible camp that has a constant flow of children coming thru. Caleb has never had a mean or aggressive bone in his body but he  started to put on a great show that would make anyone think different. Sharon wanted to find another home for him that would be less work for him to protect. Ruth said he was part of the Moir Family and couldn't go anywhere else but here. I agreed after a little persuasion and was happy with my decision. I have always loved Caleb. He was a great dog. That is why this was such a hard week. This is a picture of Caleb and Sharon the day he came to live with us.

He has always been good friends with our other dogs.

He was such a brave little soul. Every night as we headed to bed he took his place protecting the front door from intruders without being told or asked to do so.

He was always still there when we got up in the mornings.

His attitude towards company bothered me a little but he always settled down quite quickly once he knew they were fine. When he moved in last June he had a tumour on his foot that grew quite aggressively and I think he found it very uncomfortable these last few weeks. Ruth took him to a vet about 3 weeks ago and his diagnosis  was upsetting to both of us. I took him in to another vet last wednesday and he confirmed the diagnosis from the first vet. It was just getting worse and we have promised ourselves in the past that we would never let any of our pets suffer no matter how hard it would be to let them go. The last few days he has been holding his foot in the air while standing so I knew that his paw was hurting.  So last night Dr. Mike came over to set Caleb free from any pain he was having.  This was one of the hardest things I have ever had to follow thru with doing. Caleb was still Smart , Happy and Glad to be alive but at his age there were lots of other health issues. I won't go into them but it was a little overwhelming. I like to believe that he is in a better place.

This blog has been a work in progress over a few days. Wednesday morning Sweet pea didn't get up to greet me like she has for the last 12 years. She just laid on her bed not really moving.

 Labs are such great dogs and she was the best. Even though she was so sore or stiff  and couldn't get up (We Really Don't Know How She Felt  Because She Never Did Talk To Me ) she still wagged her tail whenever I would walk into her room today. When I came home on wednesday evening from working she hadn't moved all day or gone to the kennel to pee. It took a while but I finally lifted her up and helped her outside to relieve herself. This was the first time I had to help her.Not the first time she had problems moving though.  Not Good. Once again I remembered how I had promised myself never to let any of my pets suffer in any way. I helped her back to her bed and then had a sleepless night. I knew what I had to do if she was the same in the morning. My worst thoughts came true at 6:45 Thursday. She hadn't moved all night and wasn't responding like I was hoping she would. I sent an email to Dr Mike with a follow up call at 8:00. He is a very compassionate man and said he would be at our house in 45 minutes. Ruth stayed with me and with Dr. Mike's direction and help we set her free to join Caleb in what I hope is a wonderful place that they can run and play without any pain or restrictions.  I had a cry on my way home from taking her body to the pet crematorium this morning but later I felt I had to buck up and look at this more logically. Our life has been blessed by having such a great dog (Friend) given to us and that I shouldn't be sad of our loss but be thankful of the gift of 12 wonderful years. It makes me feel better thinking these thoughts. When she was born she had a problem that made me keep her. I use to call he my pupsicle. She was a very special dog. I am missing her . Here is Sweet pea as a new born.

This is about six weeks later.

This has been a terrible week. They say that things come in 3's . I sure hope they are wrong.

I Get Lazy When It Snows

I have no energy to get things done when the weather turns like this. I am going to work on that. So when I woke up and looked out the window all I wanted to do was go back to bed and sleep till spring.

The good news is that it was all melted by noon. I still didn't get much done today. I did finally put my pig roaster away . The last pig roast was in May. I really don't want to do things too quickly around here. Ruth might start asking me to do more jobs if she thought I was getting to be efficient. So we went on a hike yesterday morning down the greenway with our friends.

It was a beautiful crisp morning. Charlie the dog was up for it. I had to laugh when I watched her try to break thru some Ice for a drink. It was a little too thick for that.

On our way to breakfast with our friends Ruth found our son in law's Visa under the seat. I sent him this text picture and thanked him for the breakfast he was about to buy me. Haha.

Now here is something funny. Our friend Randy came for dinner Yesterday. He was looking at a book that came with an old pressure cooker that Ruth had bought second hand. We had a wonderful stew for dinner that Ruth had cooked in this pressure cooker in about 25 minutes. The book was published in 1947 so I assume that is the age of the pressure cooker.  Randy's wife phoned him from Yellowknife(where she is on a 2 year contract to build a hospital) while he was looking at this book. He started to explain our meal to her but what made me laugh was that he was holding the book up to his blackberry as if she could see it while she talked to us on speaker phone .

On a Thankful note. I am Thankful my brother and his wife are still alive.They got nailed from behind by a 24 year old woman on the highway just out of Stratford this weekend.

They were stopped behind a string of cars as someone up ahead was turning left off of the highway. The girl was charged with dangerous driving so that makes me assume she was on her phone.
They are both very sore and I am sure that will last for a while but at least they are here to tell us about it. The insurance people said they were surprise they didn't get killed when they saw the car.

A Few Of This Weeks Highlights

So last Sunday we met with a few friends to hike up Knox Mountain. It is a bit of a hump but well worth it. The view of the lake below is magnificent. This is the old ferry boat / tourist boat which is in retirement right now but may once again become a tourist attraction if the right owner gets it. Otherwise is is going to the scrap yard. Lots of history here. It would be nice to see it get a fresh lease on life.

The girls are all very fast walkers and they got quite a lead on us guys. The upside it that is that if we come across any bears they will flush them out before we get there. I love these fall colours.

So we came around a corner and I saw this newly posted sign. It made me proceed with caution.

With good reason. Around the next corner I spotted this Savage waiting for us. Gordon Savage. Just as dangerous as a bear. Only he is better on a guitar and more fun at a party.

The view looking north from the top of the mountain is magnificent. We live in a wonderful valley.

We had the grand kids for a few days this week. Jack loves the video Finding Nemo. Now you don't see a lot of these videos or machines anymore. We keep this TV just for Jacks video. He looks so cute sitting up so straight. I hope he can focus this hard on his piano once he starts to play.

Ellie had a nice cuddle for Sweet Pea. I was too slow with the camera to catch it but it was special. Labs are definitely the best dogs in the world. Even though Sweet Pea isn't doing well and didn't even lift her head off the floor , her tail was wagging as little Ellie gave her a big hug and crawled up onto her chest.

I sold a piano on Thursday and the customer said I could deliver it whenever I wanted. I suggested that we should get it done on Friday because there was no snow yet and the sidewalks were easy to access.
I jinxed myself by saying that.When we got up Friday morning we were into winter. This is our courtyard. I like how this looks. I just don't want to be here to experience it first hand.

To the Vet We Go

So Sweetpea has been having bladder problems for the last month . I finally decided we need to see a vet. Reading up on this I have learned that it is a common problem with older spayed females and that there is a non evasive fix. On the way there I decided that if it wasn't a bladder infection and not easily rectified she wouldn't be coming home with me. She is almost 12 years old and has had a wonderful life. That is pretty  much the expectancy for a Lab.

I told the vet I thought that her time had come but somehow he convinced me to try one more thing for a few weeks to see if her condition improves. I am an old softie and have loved this dog for all these years so it wasn't hard to bring her back home with me . I may be back at the vet's in a couple of weeks but at least I will know that I did everything a responsible pet owner could do.

Another Busy Week

I came home on Wednesday to find Ruth in her happy spot. She was playing in the rain thinning out her strawberry patch. She sure does love her garden.

Later on she fired up the music while working in the kitchen . She got Jack clapping to Patsy Kline .

I don't think that Ellie was quite as happy listening to this album as Jack. I left  the room and I think Ellie would have been right behind me if she could walk.

On Thursday I went to the Art Centre to tune the piano . The 10 year anniversary is happening on Friday and I wanted the piano to sound good. Ruth surprised me by bringing Jack down to have  lunch with me. He patiently spent about 5 minutes staring thru the glass case waiting for someone to take his order for a small Gelato ice cream cone before another customer told the gal behind the counter that they had a short customer waiting for some service. She couldn't see him standing there but helped him as soon as she realized he was there. He is so patient and so polite. He's a pleasure to take out.

He was very pleased with his choice.

So Ruth and I went to the Rotary Centre Anniversary event on Friday night. It was very nice. We were invited to the VIP room where they server great appitizers and wine. There were many old friends in attendance who were involved with the building of the centre. One of them mentioned to Ruth that she was looking for a home for a barrel she had bought at a fund raiser 4 years ago. It had been donated by a local artist and Ruth thought it would be nice to have a fresh piece of art in our home.
I went to pick it up on Saturday afternoon. We walked into their wine cellar to load it onto my dolly.

I came home with out it.