MY NEW JOHN DEERE

I sold my old Deere last week to a fellow who lives behind the airport.

It was a 1970/80 model with one wheel drive 

Tough to get it up the hill to plow the driveway in the winter.

Neither Ruth or Carrie wanted to drive it.

I liked it but I didn't know any better. I've never owned a tractor before.

This new one (to me ) is a 2011 with only 295 hour on it.

It's a four wheel drive and has power steering.

It also came with a back hoe , two buckets , back blade for snow removal and fork lift.

I think it is going to be great. Now the girls can also clear the driveway in the winter.

I rented a trailer to go and pick up the tractor 3 hours away yesterday and when I got home 

Carrie had a good start on finishing the gable ends.

Ruth picked up paint today and should have them painted in Sharkskin Iron Black paint 

before they get installed this week.

GRAND BOYS ARE GONE AND WE'RE BACK WORKING ON THE HOUSE

So we've made a new friend.

John owns Northern Log and Timber with his sister.

Their dad started the company in 1952 and they took it over when dad retired,

They have built more than 2800 log homes in their career and are very modest about that.

It's fun to get them talking and when they do start they share where they have been over the years.

They cut the logs here in BC and built the houses on their Lake Country site first.

Then they disassembled them and have the logs then shipped them to Europe , South America 

and all thru north america. The stories are all very interesting. 

John then goes with the logs to reassemble. Nice guy and very humble.

He makes me think of Paul Bunyan whenever I look at him.

It's coming along slowly but surely.

Notice how straight the saw cut is.. He's a master.

These two have worked together for years building log homes.

We did have a bit of a set back this December and are now behind schedule.

John bought a new plainer for the mill and had an accident the first time he used it.

He had his ear protectors on and hit the kill switch to turn it off before adjusting the blades.

The new motor is so quiet he thought it was off and stuck his hand into the machine to do the adjustment. Unfortunately it was still going and it removed his index finger on his left hand.

It also clipped off the tips on his other fingers.

This put our house back a few months.

He's fine now .

I told him that he now looks like a real logger.

John left for Mexico last Friday but before he left he framed the gable ends .

It's really slow and hard working with my bad knee so Ruth offered to help.

I cut the sheeting to size and Ruth screw it into place.

Once she got the hang of what we need to have done she was a fast.

We need to have the ends sheeted and finished by Saturday.

John is back on Sunday and is planning to crane them into place by Monday.

Sharon doesn't know this but I just retrieved a lost gift back that she had received

 from one of her best friends..

Yannan gave her this walking stick about 20 years ago.

We accidentally left it at the lakeshore house when we sold and moved out.

It must have been in the crawl space.

I went back last month for mail and saw it on the deck.

I called the new owners last week asking if I had left a cane or walking stick behind when we moved and that I sure could use it now because of my bad knee. (Which is true)

He sent me a text saying he has a walking stick with my daughters name on it 

which I was more than welcome to have.

 He's such a nice guy. 

So I bought him an expensive bottle of wine and went to retrieve the cane.

I don't know if it is important to Sharon but it is to me.

I'm glad to have gotten it back.

I sold my John Deere today.

I want a tractor that is easier for Carrie to drive .

Hopefully Ruth and I will be in a warmer climate next winter and Carrie

 will need a tractor that she can use to do the driveway.This one was a bit of a nightmare.

Only one wheel drive which wasn't good going up the hill and 

no power steering. It was hard to control.

BUT ,,,,, It is a good machine.

THE GRANDSONS WERE HERE FOR THE WEEK

Isaac and Elliot have been here for the week while Sharon spent the week in Mexico 

with her sister helping Carrie celebrate her 40th.

We've had a lot of fun with the boys.

We took them out to my favourite buffet the first day.

They filled up on desserts. Kids after my own heart.

After that we went to Marks work warehouse for me to buy new jeans 

and they spent some time racing the electric scooters in the parking lot.

 Luckily it was nearly deserted.

Elliot had a lot more speed but Isaac had the relaxing ride.

This is more like the ride I would want.

So the next morning I shared a magic trick that I have owned for over 30 years.

I never knew where it would end up but I'm really happy Isaac loves magic. 

After I amazed him a couple of time I showed him how to do it and gave it to him.

He couldn't wait to show his brother. I had to laugh.

Elliot watches , Then says "amazing" in his dead pan voice and goes back to reading his book.

Haha

These guys entertain themselves so well.

They both love to read and they both love games.

Such nice boys. I / We loved having them here for the week.

Elliot spent 2 hours this morning playing with this electrical building kit

 that he bought yesterday at a thrift store for $2.00. It's going home with him tomorrow.

I want to teach them how to whittle this summer so we took them out this afternoon and bought them good quality whittling knives and knife proof gloves for their left hands.

First thing Isaac did was to put them on and pick frying sausage out of the frying pan.

He's quite a going concern.

So we sent them outside to get a couple of sticks to whittle on. 

Ten minutes later they walk thru the door carrying this fence post.

They think they're funny.

We fired them out the door and told them to put the post back where they found it.

Isaac can't sit still. He has to play with it for a while before doing what he's supposed to do.

Now this made me laugh. 

He comes into my bedroom with this rubber glove stretched up to his elbow and says 

"The Dr. is here for your examination."

That could have been taken many ways.

I don't think he really know's why Dr's wear rubber gloves while doing an examination 

because the next thing he said was that it smells like a dentist office here.

This was a very nice end to their visit.

Brad came past and took the boys out to Dairy Queen after they finished their dinner.

That Isaac never quits.

He dipped this back scratcher into a left over bowl of sour cream 

( that Ruth had put out for the kids dinner perogies )

just before Brad came in and he picked it up and scratched his head with it.

Isaac was about to stop him but seemed to think better. Haha

ANOTHER TRIP TO VANCOUVER

I headed into Vancouver again this morning for another PRP injection to my knee.

This time I'm going to take it easy even when the knee starts to feel better.

After the last injection I started to go back to work building the log home 

as soon as the pain started to disappear.

That was a big mistake.

The pain that I started to get in my knee was the most excruciating thing I have ever experienced.

It was even worse than when I originally broke my Tibia in 2 spots.

So for the next 3 or 4 weeks I won't be lifting anything heavy 

or standing on my right leg for too long.

Weather was terrible this morning at take off.

It fogged in quickly as we left Kelowna and was a really bumpy ride.

I had originally planned to drive into Vancouver for the injection 

but am happy I flew.

The highway was in white out condition.

Landing in Vancouver was nice and clear as well as very smooth.

I thought my appointment was at 1:30 but it was actually 2:15.

I was falling asleep in the waiting room so the lovely women behind the front desk

 took me into one of the examining rooms and said I could rest here 

and not make the office look like a hang out for the homeless.

This is the magic potion they inject into my knee.

It hurts when he injects it but Dr. Brown is kind enough 

to warn me when its coming.

He says,  "Are you ready? This is going to hurt."

YEOW. 

Lets hope I stay off the leg this time and give it a better chance to work.

The small syringe on the left is a human growth hormone injection.

The big one on the right is the Plasma Rich Platelets made from my own blood.

So I limped back to the airport and had a few hours to kill.

I wisely bought a pass to the private lounge.

Smartest thing I've ever done.

They have a chef on staff and the food is included in your pass. 

Yumm.

                                       It was the best meal I've ever had in an airport.
                                            It looked better before I ate the carrots.

Also ,  your beer , wine and liquor is free.

I had a beer when I first got there and then had wine with my dinner.

I sat at the bar for a while talking to the bartender and noticed how the seasoned travellers

 all came in asking for Double Scotch or Double Gin and Tonic's.

I guess there is a learning curve to everything.

I should have taken a picture of the nice lounge area I relaxed in after dinner.

This was the worst part.

My knee is throbbing , I can hardly walk and West Jet has parked their plane about 

one mile from the terminal.  

If I do this again I'm going to have them wheel me out in a wheel chair.

I went to the counter for early boarding because I had a problem.

They let me thru first but by the time I made the escalator going down to tarmac level I had the entire plane load of passengers piling up behind me. This sucked.

They all passed me saying things like , Sure is far , eh. Guess we're walking to Kelowna , eh . 

Did you pack a lunch , eh.  

This sucked.

So when I finally made the plane , everyone is already in their seats waiting for me to board.

I heard more funnies walking down the aisle like , Glad you finally made it , eh . and  Glad you finally decided to come, eh.

To top it off , I'm at the back of the plane and the air circulation isn't turned on. It's stuffy in there and it also stinks. Being Vancouver I naturally sit beside someone who has likely been working hard all day to support his family in Canada's most expensive city and his wife gave him

 a lovely Curry dinner to eat just before he left to get onto this plane.

When Ruth kindly picked me up at the airport she said I sounded grumpy.

HAHA.

Actually , I wasn't . Just stating the facts about my trip.

We are all so lucky to be able to be born and live here .

These are all first world problems.

The terminal is that building in the background with the windows.

My leg really hurt by the time I made the airplane.

MY KNEE HURTS

And because of that I am just watching the house being built and not doing it myself.

John brought the second last load of logs on his truck this afternoon.

My knee is killing me but I can at least help somewhat by guiding the logs 

onto the floor where he gets them ready to install.

It's been fairly slow up to now because the first two or three rounds have to be perfect. 

If not perfect at the base ,  the top logs will not line up to make a square building .

Everything looks good so far.

We should have all the walls finished by Sunday.

So Jack was performing today with a drumming group at his school.

Being the supportive family that we are , we all headed down for the 1:30 concert.

The place was packed . The kids all had to sit on the floor .

It was really nice of the school to set up benches at the back of the auditorium 

for the parents attending the concert to sit on.

Oops. Looks like we are the only ones coming..

Carrie , Brad  , Ruth and myself were the only outsiders there.

We love our kids and wouldn't miss this for the world.

The best part was when the all kids walked in.

We (the family) were yelling JACK JACK JACK JACK as he walked past.

I like to think he was embarrassed.

Actually , I'm sure he was. 

Get ready Jack . This is only the beginning.

When his group was called up to perform he didn't look over as he passed by us.

Hahaha. Mission accomplished.

He did great. His timing was impeccable . 

He never missed a beat.

We were all so proud of him.

He's a great kid.

MARCH IS HERE AND THE WEATHER IS NOT COOPERATING

On Sunday afternoon Ruth and I drove up to Silverstar Ski resort. 

Ruth wanted to check out the snowboard specials.

Carrie has been taking Jack up there for the Saturday kid specials .

It's still mid winter up here.

Back on the farm we have logs starting to show up.

The guys are busy loading up the floor with precut logs.

This crane is a life saver.

The first end beam went in being held upright with straps.

It started to slip out of the straps so we secured the straps with some bracing.

I suggested bolting a chain on instead of the straps.

We did that on the next upright and it worked a lot better.

I finished cutting the boards and laying them in place.

It was taking me forever to screw them down because of my sore knee.

The kneeling position was killing me.

Luckily Carrie came home early and took over. 

She's so fast. I was so happy to have her doing this.

Murphy's law.

We just get going when the snow started again.

This tied us up for a couple of more days. 

I'd never build in the winter again.

On a funnier note.

I went to jump into a friends truck the other day for coffee.

His truck looked more like a BFI.

This picture is after he cleaned up a lot of the garbage and threw it in the back seat.

This gave me a lot to tease him about.