Field Trip for the 50 Plus!

Our 50 Plus group from the church went on a road trip.  Twenty-nine of us headed down the highway.  We may have all started in a caravan but everyone chose their own way and we all made it to Swiss Chalet. I’m not too sure where Judy went?  There was a lot of chatting, visiting and laughing around the tables.  Scott and Kim celebrated their 43rd anniversary with us!  

What was Judy saying?

Most of us enjoyed the festive dinner.

From there, we found our way to the Ameliasburgh Heritage Museum.  The village consists of a number of buildings to walk through history.  

Our first stop was to visit the school house.  Bev shared about some of her experiences in a one room school house.  

It was a pretty good class for the most part.

Don, of course, got the strap! 

As we walked around to the different buildings, we had people dressed in period costumes explaining what would have happened back in the day.

The weather was very nice and we were able to walk comfortably around outside.

Don’s eyes were giving him a bit of trouble 😉and he was snuggling with a mannequin and wondering why Bev wasn’t answering him.  

Bev began yelling at “Don” for not talking to her. 

It must be a lot of fun and very interesting living at their house!!

Mom amazes me walking around the village and sharing her memories.

Just when we were finishing the tour, it started to thunder and the rains came but it didn’t ruin our day!

Ron and I said our goodbyes to everyone and we went to the Campbell Orchard to pick up a few things.

It was a good day with our 50 Plussers! These are a great group of people to spend the day with!

Anniversary Wishes!

Six years ago today in the middle of the horrible Covid times, something wonderful happened in our family.  In the mountains, by a lake “I Do’s” were said and we were blessed with a daughter-in-law.

I love the wedding shoes!

I’m not sure if Kylie realized what she was getting into with our family.  Stephen always has a new plan and with it comes adventures.  She mostly comes alongside him but other times puts on the brakes when the plan may need some more thought.

They make life fun whether it’s with family or friends or just themselves.  They hike, bike, run, fish and adopt more animals to their household. 

A new adventure is right around the corner for them as today is a load day for them.  Their belongings will be carried into the moving truck.  They will somehow try to get four dogs into their vehicle and they will say goodbye to Bella Coola.  It was a beautiful place to live but soon they will be living on island time!

Keep being there for each other and continue to make good memories together!

Happy Anniversary!

Girl’s Day Out

It’s been awhile since we had a girl’s (old lady’s day) and so we made it happen.  Cheryl’s cottage is open until the end of October and we all had a free day.  I left at 8:00 a.m. and drove through beautiful roads.  The leaves are really starting to change.

Note..I stopped to take the picture

I arrived at Donna’s and got the tour of the renovations.  Donna has been a great friend for years.  Shortly after, Angie arrived.  Did I just use the words shortly and Angie in one sentence?  Angie is not very tall but has a big heart.  We climbed into Donna’s vehicle, secured our seatbelts and headed to the camp.  

We arrived at the cottage and Cheryl was waiting for us.  Cheryl’s little haven was just what we needed to spend time catching up.  It’s always so nice spending time with these special ladies.  

Before too long, it was lunch time.  Donna had made a chicken Alfreda lasagna.  Angie mixed up a ceaser salad.  Cheryl set the table and supplied us with drinks.  It was so tasty.  Our conversation continued around the table.

We went for a walk after lunch to check out the other cottages.  It was a nice fall day to walk along Lake Ontario.

Once we had a little exercise and some fresh air, it was time for tea and Toblerone Cheesecake.  I was responsible for the dessert.  There was more talking and then I decided it was time to hit the road.  It was a really nice day and exactly what this old girl needed.

Love these girls!

Retirement?

Retired again…sort of!

How many times is this?  Well, let’s see… we moved from Swift Current, Saskatchewan in 2013.  We lived on a reserve in northern Saskatchewan and there were no jobs for me.  I did contract work for HR with Innovation Credit Union for the first year of the post while completing my HR Management Certificate.  The second year, I did some supply teaching in the schools.  When we left the north in 2015, I felt at 52 I didn’t want to learn a new job any more and thought early retirement was a good plan.

We moved to Three Hills, Alberta.  There was a Bible college there with a job posting for an Admin Assistant for the Intercultural Department.  I had been a pastor’s wife and a school secretary.  It sounded like a good fit and I was offered the position.  I worked there for the time we were in Three Hills and one more year after we moved to Pincher Creek. It was an interesting position, being a part of sending students around the world to experience missions.  While at the college, I had the privilege of sitting in worship services led by Brian Doerksen or hearing Phil Callaway preach. After a year on working from home, I  decided that I should finish up and thought retirement sounded great at 56.

Well, a year later an Admin Assistant position opened at the school just around the corner from our house.  I applied and got it.  I worked for a couple of years and then it was getting close to Ron’s retirement.  This time it would be the real thing.

After Ron’s retirement in 2023 we travelled and once our house sold, we moved to Ontario.  I stumbled into a job at the church office.  For the past year, I enjoyed working at our home church.  I’ve always enjoyed doing finances and it was fun to be doing what I enjoy. Last week I turned 63 and decided that this time I should really retire.

Today was my last day.  It was quiet in the office with no one else there.   It felt good to have everything left in good order for the person to take over.  Ron came in to take me for lunch.  I worked until almost 5:00 and locked the office up and walked out the door.  I know I will be back to church soon so it didn’t feel too strange.  We celebrated at the Black Cat.

So retired…well, kind of.  I won’t be tied to a desk but I’m still needed to help for a while so Monday morning, I’ll be back in to count the offering, do the deposit and run off some reports but then the rest of the week will be for colour touring…watch for the blogs.

Recovering

The night went well for all of us.  I thought I might have been so tired that I didn’t hear anything through the night but in reality, there was nothing to hear.  Dad slept well which meant mom and I did too.

At 9:30, we headed for dad’s appointment and all was well.  He was moving well and feeling good.  Mom and I walked to get his prescription and happened upon the car show in town.  I took a few pictures to share with dad.  There were lots of cars and tonnes of people.  

When I got home I made a German pancake for lunch.  While mom and dad rested, I went to the church for a couple of hours to do some work.

Barry and Judy stopped in for a visit and they treated us to pizza for supper.

Although it was a much quieter and less stressful day, we were all tired and went to bed early.  We are so thankful that dad’s recovery is going so well.

Many Emotions

What a day! Dad was scheduled for surgery and we were on deck to be his support team.  Ron drove and dropped the three of us off at the door of the Belleville Hospital.  

We made our way down to Day Surgery.  They took dad in pretty quickly.  It was before 11:00.  They told us that the surgery was scheduled for 1:00 pm and that he should be ready to go home by 3:00.  We went to Zwicks Park and went for a walk along the water.  

We decided to grab some lunch before heading back to the hospital.  We went back and waited.  3:00 came and went.  After some anxious waiting, I called into the day surgery area.  They said that some people take longer in recovery due to the anaesthetic.  We waited.  Two other people were waiting for their family member.  We thought the niece could have been in the world’s Guinness book of world records for talking without taking a breath.  We, on the other hand, were kind of quite worrying why it was taking so long.  Finally, a nurse came out to talk to us.  Dad’s blood pressure was 200.  They were trying to manage that.  It was pretty scary and we were very worried about the consequences of such a high number.  We waited and waited.  I called into the area again for an update and they said that they would be transporting him over to the step down recovery area soon.  Around 5:00, they finally came out to talk to us.  His blood pressure had actually gone up to 220 but it was now better.  We got to go in and see him.  He looked good.

The next concern was that he didn’t have feeling in his legs and feet enough to stand.  They weren’t going to let him go home until he could stand a little more steady.  They set a time for 20 minutes to try again.  We went to Tim’s in the hospital to grab a snack while dad was wrapped with a heated blanket.  We came back and waited.  At 7:30, after a few more tries of steadiness, he was wheeled out to the car and managed to get into the front seat.  

Thirty minutes later he made his way into the condo to his chair.  After a bagel and a drink, he was ready for bed. 

I took a sigh of relieve and then I got a text from Stephen.  Kylie’s dad was in the hospital, not doing well.  Kylie will be staying longer with her parents.  He also said that Lily, their beautiful cat passed away yesterday.

 My heart is heavy.

Happy Birthday to Me!🎈

This morning I woke up and as usual my coffee was waiting.  It’s a great way to start any day but especially on your birthday.  He gave me the GOAT cup.

I received a birthday greeting from Stephen.  Balloons floated across the screen as I read his message.  A little while later, my beautiful daughter-in-law sent me her wishes.

We had breakfast date with my cousin, Philip who somehow celebrates his birthday on my special day.  We enjoyed a nice breakfast and caught up a bit on each other’s lives.

We then decided to go for a drive.  What’s better than going to a lake?  West Lake, along Lake Ontario is a beautiful spot with all the sand dunes.  

The weather was perfect for a fall day.  We drove to another beach and just breathed a little deeper.

As we drove around the country, we stopped at a few places to check things out.  A freshly made apple cider hit the spot as we took in more of the scenery along Lake Ontario.

We stopped for lunch at The Inn on Lake of the Mountain.  Mom called to wish me a happy birthday.  When I told her where we were she said that way back in the day, a Frizzell family owned a lodge there and my aunt had worked there.  It was a little bit of history to add to my day.  Ron enjoyed squash soup and I had a ceaser salad.  The building was old and beautiful.  

We made our way into Picton and stopped at Slickers for an icecream cone.  Slickers is owned by a couple that Ron married a number of years ago.  They weren’t around but we still enjoyed our visit there.

We made quite a circle around the area and finally headed back to Napanee.  Ron had a worship practice so I did a few things in the office.  Mom called and invited us down for dessert.  When we arrived, she had chocolate brownies with whip cream.  I finally got my birthday cake.

We headed towards home after with one more stop.  Tim Hortons had sent me a birthday greeting this morning and said that I could get a free drink.  We went through drive through and ordered an extra large steeped tea for us to share on the drive.  The girl scanned the app, handed Ron the tea and said happy birthday to me.  How special is that?

The day is almost over and this old gal is already in bed but I received one more birthday wish from a special friend in Pincher Creek. Yesterday I received one from a friend in Swift Current.  So, I’ve received greetings from B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan and, of course, Tim Hortons too.