Deka Lake Dispatches

Time to sign in. It will keep my mind off Jen and her interview at UVic for a job. Best of luck to you, HB.

I am out of the Pantry. About bloody time. All the mudding, taping and sanding is finished. I've learned lots and hope I can take what I've learned into the bathroom which is next on the list. We've asked a local (sort of ) guy to give us an estimate on doing the open area ceiling and the bedroom. He hasn't phoned us back yet so I'm still hoping we may be able to afford it. I can whine my way through the walls but doing even the smallest of ceilings just about killed me....physically. So off to buy some primer tomorrow and then some paint on Wednesday. Wahoo! Now to choose the colours....erp. How about "Fragrant Cloves" for the wall and "Allspice" for the shelves.

We had just a little bit of snow two days ago. Our shovelling skills are getting stale. The colours have changed here as the trees have lost their snow and ice. More sun is predicted for the next week. I think the seasons are all mixed up. In summer we'll probably have rain and the gumbo that comes with it.

The roads were finally graded so that the washboard goes parallel to the road and not at right angles. The Mahood Lake road was hell. It was taking us 3 times longer to drive it because we wanted to protect the car from shaking apart. I would rather not be strutless again.

There's a little mouse that is skittering around the house and down the paths; you can tell it's a mouse as you can see his little tail marks in the snow. More deer and fox around. Jody has seen a couple of white tails and more Moose plus a mink! He's up much earlier taking Sandi to work so he sees more animals.

A neighbour is feeding 9 cats and we are going to check to see if one of them is Digger. Highly unlikely but Gib seems to think he's feeding a smoke cat. We shall see. If not, Gib seems up for letting us have a cat.

It's another brilliant day with bright sunshine, clean, clear blue sky! The snow is melting as the temperature is at and above 0 these days. It's nice to be able to open the bedroom window and not have ice build on it so that I can't shut it again in the morning. I'm so particular about fresh air at night. It's so claustrophobic without it.

Bill is working on the vanity this week. He is using cedar strips on plywood and then will stain it mahogany. Today he started on the door jamb for the bedroom. The wood was so warped! It's such a frustrating job to do in the first place without having to use such inferior wood. We will also be ordering the wood for our window trim inside and also the siding! The other major project will be the deck. I'm not sure I'll get what I wanted; it may have to be a watered down version but as long as I have a spot for a chair I'll be happy. We need to get the gutters up too.

Friends are arranging a road trip up here in the summer and we're so excited. We'll be able to show off our home and have lots of hugs, laughs, giggles and gossip. There may be wine involved, hard to tell. Looking forward to the many visits. I know Coral will be up for a while and I really enjoy having her up here with us. We both love this area very, very much.

A colleague wrote to say that everyone was enjoying doing their Performance Plans!! Obviously I was doing something wrong. PPs are not my cup of tea.

We didn't get out snowshoeing this week but we hope for next week. It will be Spring before we know it although the thaw didn't come til mid-May!!!! last year.

Bill is going to enter the ice fishing derby at Deka. It's a fund raiser for the Deka Lake Volunteer FD so it's worth a cold tushy and maybe a fish or two. If it's windy I think he'll pass but if it's a day like today---wow. I shall take pictures and bring tea.

One of our friends is in Dublin right now and posts pictures on FB that just make my heart soar. We had a wonderful time in Ireland. Coral, Bill, Jody, Jen and myself had a great adventure there for a few months. We all loved Dublin and spent many days strolling the streets and sipping "the drink"; so many wonderful memories. And Sheri's photos bring it all back again. Christmas was especially great for us all; it was a brave venture for Jody as he was the one that had to go to school and everything was so different for him....and Coral refused to say goodbye to us at the airport and bravely got on the plane with us.

I am terrified of flying so Coral and Carol would bundle everyone up---4 kids: Kassan, Hayley, Jen and the Jodester, three adults (Bill was already in Ireland searching for a home for us) and we would go to the Vancouver Airport with a picnic and throw a blanket down near the runway (those who were teens in Richmond knew where to go; you probably couldn't get away with it now), cheer when planes would take off and land. We did this for a week and I have to say it worked! Although 8 hours on a plane with an anxious 10 year old and a very active 17 month old child is not recommended. Sigh. We made it but only just! It was a toss-up as to whether the other passengers or myself would throttle one of the kids or both. And the poor young man who sat beside us is probably still telling stories of the baby who insisted on seeing everyone's belly button.

Signing off. A few pics

Note: Jen's interview went well. She was a little stressed as there was a test at the end; something she wasn't aware was going to happen. Seems to be the norm these days with interviews.

Fish in batter and homemade fries. A little wine and a movie---Baker