SUMMER IS ON ITS WAY

Time seems to fly by very quickly these days. I have noticed the last time I wrote in this blog was in February. That does not seem too long ago until you look at the months that have passed. However, time has gone by and we soon will be in the summer season.

It is good not to have to shovel snow or have the driveway plowed when we need to go somewhere. However,  now it is lawn mowing and gardening along with the black flies and later mosquitoes.  Oh well, that is life around here.

Valerie and I have been able to keep ourselves busy over the spring season.  Our health is good with the exeception of a few aches and pain.  Valerie is busy this week gearing up for the annual yard and bake sale put on by the ladies group of the church.  In past years it has gone well and we have had a lot of junk, I mean items to sell. I will help out where I am needed. 

I am not doing church work at all this summer. We are going to spend most of the summer in Manitoba looking after the grandchildren while their parents work.  We will leave here June 19th and drive out to Winnipeg. It will take us 5 days as we don't drive anymore that ten hours a day. We will stop in Hamilton ON and see Michael and Annie and some cousins on the return home  Hoping to arrive back home by the end of August.

I haven't fully decided whether I will fully retire or return to work on a two week basis each month as I am presently doing. I may be ready to go back after two months away, but we will see.

The winter weather has put us a couple of weeks behind in getting our flower gardens going and the dahlias planted. I am hoping to do it sometime this week. It is suppose to rain until Wednesday, so I will acess the situation then. If not then,  my planting will have to be next week as for the weekend I will be busy. Valerie wants me to plant string beans as she cans them for the winter months. Because of the storm we had last July while we were in Manitoba, our bean crop was damged fairly bad. So we didn't get many canned last year. Hoping things work out better this year.  These plants do not need a lot of attention, especially if we can prevent the weeds from growing. That is the greatest problem.

Well, that is all I have to tell at this time.  I will try to give an update when we are out west. Wishing all  my readers a good and safe summer. May God bless you all!

I'M BACK!

I want to say hello to everyone who reads my blog. I have not been writing on my blog for quite awhile. The last entry was October 3, 2014.  I have been debating what I should do with this blog, delete it or continue to post to it from time to time.  I have decided for now to keep the blog and write when I get the urge to do so.  I may even do some reflections of what I am thinking about these days.

Since I haven't written since last fall, we have had Christmas and the beginning of a new year.  Tania, Bill, Liam and Jenna were home during the Christmas holidays. It was good to have them here. We didn't have the snow that we have now, so the kids didn't play outside very much. We were able to make a couple of snowmen.  Bill, Liam and I also took a walk in the woods behind us to see if we could see any wild life. But none was to be seen.  But we did view Eddie's son Tom's GPS cameras he has set up to view the deer and bears that come by.  He had a load of carrots there, where he baits the wild animals.  He can sit at home in Digby and watch the animals from his living room or where ever his laptop is. He saw us there looking over his camera equipment and heard us talking as well.  I have been worried that I might have said something about him. He called one night to tell me he saw us and heard us.   I am so amazed with modern technology. 

On New years eve we had fireworks for the kids. We bought more this year, but they were not as impressive as other years.  If they come home next year, I will buy the fireworks early and try to get a better selection so we can create an impressive show.

It was hard to see the family go back home in early January. But they had few problems and arrived home safely.  Since the last part of January we have had snow storms which has left us with a great deal of snow.  Before one storm is finished it seems another is on its way.  I have more snow in my yard than I can ever remember having before. Maybe back in the 1970's when we lived here, we might have this much accumulation of snow in our yard.  Tania seems to think so. however, it has become a problem of where to put it. Once is piled up it freezes and is there to stay, so it can't be moved.

I need to order furnace oil this week and I will have to tunnel through one of the piles to make a path in order for the delivery man to fill the oil tank at the back of the house.  Last Saturday Valerie and I shoveled snow off the back part of the roof. It was to rain on Sunday and with the rain in the snow on the roof, it would be too heavy and could damage the roof.  We got it shoveled off and it did rain in our area on Sunday but not enough to cause any damage. Just enough to make the snow heavier.

Other than the storms and having to shovel snow daily, our lives are fairly quiet. I do not like to travel too far from home when the weather is unpredictable.  I work out when I can at the YMCA in Cornwallis.  I also work at the church two weeks a month for the present time.  We have had to cancel church a couple of times this winter because of the weather.

In June I will decide whether to retire full time or stay at what I am doing now. The idea of retiring is looking very appealing.  I don't know what the summer will bring. I really would like to stay home this summer. But I may change my mind before then. If Tania needs us to look after the children for part of the summer, then we probably will go to Manitoba. Any way I will leave the summer travelling decisions to discuss in a future blog.

 Well, I guess this is all for now.  I will write again soon, and I won't wait as long to write, as I did the last time.  May God Bless you all.