Summer sucked, weather was so anti-Cariboo, the place was lush though~~I had the best naturscape you couldn't even plan this growth!~~but we didn't have ANY fires, a plus but still a little sun and heat would have been nice, the non-permanent residents were out in droves on the last weekends of August/September and they were a rambunctious lot, bless their noisy hearts (not the brightest group, though~even though we had a wet summer when it did get hot we had major restrictions, apparently some people didn't know that fireworks could set off fires, uh huh), we did enjoy having the sister up for her birthday at the end of August...there was a little warmth and sun for at least two days of her birthday week, friends and relatives came and enjoyed bocce, margaritas, horseshoes, margaritas, swimming, margaritas, canoeing, margaritas...you get the picture; we got our final inspection at the end of August and celebrated by firing the staple gun into the air! What a wonderful release for us. We still have one corner of the house inside to do and the landscaping (including deck and overhangs for the kitchen porch and cantilever) but we are D O N E! It's been heaven enjoying the area finally and just sitting in our home and doing home things~decorating a little, Bill did the final touches on his last Jack Strong in the trilogy and works on his next novel now, and moving the daughter to the Saskatchewan North!! Our friends from Pender spent 5 days with us and we enjoyed that visit soooo much. Just talking and eating and travelling around the area. Oh, oh!!! we went to the Bridge Lake Fall Fair and I won an electric motor~how cool is that? Now, we need a Zodiac of some sort. We celebrated children having birthday parties and All Hallow's Eve... And now we sit surrounded by snow, with a blazing fire in the woodstove and prepping for the Christmas proceedings. Bliss.
We are still enjoying our life here. Our community is very eclectic, friends haven't been made but we are social with a few people and enjoy our simple life. Visits to town include stopping at the Nuthatch bookstore and visiting with Joy and Kathy. They have a great little bookstore and are very outgoing, always stopping to spend time to talk. I'm hoping Kathy has another Girls' night soon. Deka is the farthest of the lakes so having one here would have to be a summer time event..after the deck is done. We spend time with our neighbours Jack and Carolyn when they are up at their log home on Deka. And we have our son and his girlfriend and the girls and their extended family. So~~we're happy. Our good friends are always with us by phone or fb or skype, they will never be too far away. These friends have been with us for 40 years and it takes time to make new ones. I think I use the word friend differently than most people. It's not a word to be taken lightly.Signing off for a short while, I hope.
