My last two games of Golf have been much better. Friday I shot an 84 and today I shot an 82 and my index is down to a 10.4 handicap factor. It would be really nice to end the season in single digits, however that may be tough to do and right now I am focusing on eliminating the bad shots and still enjoying myself.

Last Thursday was my first night of Mens’ League Curling. I decided to take up the sport as an activity for the winter. I have joined the McArthur Island Curling Club with Rick P., his son-in-law Randy P. and our skip David L.

Rick was unable to make the first night so my golfing buddy Al J. spared for us; Al is a great curler and was very helpful for my first real serious attempt at curling. I believe we were playing last years Men’s League Champions and they were great curlers and great guys to curl against; easy to get along with and helpful for us newbies. We lost badly and shook hands after 6 ends, but we had some laughs and learned a lot, so we will only get better. I’ll provide updates through out the season .

Home renovations are continuing at Kevin and Tamara’s. It all started a while back when they had issues with their enusite and the wall caving in, moisture behind the shower tile, etc. etc…. you get the picture.

So they decided it was time to do a complete renovation; with a little help from Dad and Mom. So the room was stripped right to the wall studs. New underlay has been put down, a vent fan installed, a new space heater, the insulation and vapor barrier were upgraded and a few sheets of gyroc were installed. Then we had a week off while I golfed and Kevin came down with a nasty cold/flu. Last week we got more gyproc up, the plumbing upgraded, Kevin assembled the new bathroom vanity and the new tub was installed complete with mortar underneath for support. We accomplished a lot this week as Brenda came along and helped look after the grandkids and cook the dinners which allowed us and Tamara to get a lot done. Starting this Monday we will finish the tub area, complete the gyproc and hopefully get it to the painting stage. After that it’s flooring, bathroom vanity and mirror install and re-plumb in the toilet.

No post about Kevin and Tamara would be complete without a picture of Sage and Conrad. Go ahead…. tell us those are the cutest two grandchildren you have ever seen!!!!!

“Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening – and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented.” – Arnold Plamer

Well the last couple of days have not been my better games of the year. In fact I would have to say that they have been the two worse back to back games I have had this year.

Friday Dave H., AL J. and I went to Rivershore. The day was perfect, the course was perfect and my game was perfect until the 5th hole. Where I proceeded to slice the ball out of bounds ended up with a triple and then the wheels really fell off……… I ended up shooting a 45 on the front nine. Anyway I walk up to the 10th tee box with hopes of salvaging the round and hooked my drive into the water hazard,  dropped a second ball and topped it into the water hazard, dropped a third ball and hit it into another water hazard about 180 yards away and then quit playing on that hole. 3 Pro V1’s into the water gets expensive. After that I stopped counting so I really do not know what I scored at the end of the round. The really good news is that Al J. had one of his better games and shot an 85 which is great for that course.

Today Ley Mc. and I went to Eagle point and after a duck hook on the first hole and 3 putts once I got to the green I took a double. On the second hole I hooked my ball O/B and took a double, I recovered on the 3rd hole only to 3 putt for a bogie and after a few holes stopped counting. The back nine was very slow and we jumped ahead a couple holes to speed up our round since neither of us was playing well. Actually after we stopped counting the round got very enjoyable, we were hitting a couple balls, trying shots we don’t normally try and made a good day out of it.

Congratulations to my golfing buddy Dave H. He was crowned as the “King Fossil” at the Eagle Point Seniors Club Championship. Dave shot a smooth 76 and that was with an errant ball mix-up that cost him a 2 stroke penalty. Way to go “Buddy”!

It was a great day, weather was perfect, food was alright, golfing was okay and our foursome was a lot of fun. I shot an 84 which is 1 above my handicap, so that was not too bad. However the real story is what I shot the day before. A very exciting – “High and Low” –  real “Up and Down” 79…….. WOW! That includes 2 doubles, 3 birdies and a bunch of other stuff. Today I shot another 84 so I am settling into a pretty comfortable playing pattern and around an 11 – 12 handicap. I still need to go an entire round without a double bogie somewhere……. perhaps tomorrow as we are off to Rivershore Golf Course.

The following is from the first paragraph of an article in October 2008 Golf Magazine.

“Ken Ziegler, a lanky 6’3” single digit handicap, was playing Griffith Park Colf Course in Los Angelos a few years back when he saw a Chubby Cigar Man in a nearby fairway. “I hated him instantly”, Ziegler 47, said of the fellow with the neon yellow cap. “He did this little dance after every swing – a Rich Beem shimmy”. He must have shot 140, but he was having a blast. I was miserable , putting pressure on every swing, I went home, looked in the mirror and said, “Why don’t you just flush 90 bucks down the toilet, call yourself a f—ing idiot 35 times and save 5 hours”?

Funny Funny Stuff EH! Anyway, the article goes on to talk about positive swing thoughts, why you swing so pure on the practise range and then tense up on the course, playing to your own personal par, etc, etc…… it’s a great article.

So using this new found positive approach I went out Friday and shot a smooth 80 and even took a double bogie that was no big deal, I followed this with an 82 on Saturday with another double bogie in the round. Both rounds were a lot of fun. My handicap factor in down to a 10.5.

Thanks to my golfing buddy Dave H. for lending me the article and his positive support.

Last weekend we drove to Cranbrook for a family picnic/visit and rememberance for Brenda’s Aunt Donna. Aunty Donna was a great lady, a great cook and someone who always had time for family and friends. Although she passed away earlier this year her family thought it would be better to have a gathering in the summer out at Moyie Lake where they spent many fun hours at the family cabin. So about two dozen family and friends gathered at Greenbay on the east end of Moyie Lake to reminisce and remember her. It was a great day, the weather cooperated and the picture below is of the Mason Clan in attendance.

After this we drove to Fernie to have dinner with our nephew Blake and his girlfriend Trisha. They live in Fernie and Blake works in Sparwood at the Coal Mine. All in all it was a great weekend.

I went golfing today…….. OH! Gosh Darn, what a surpise! Shot an 83 which was pretty good and very consistent with my last few rounds. I am still taking those stupid double bogies somewhere in the game, as soon as I get rid of those my index will drop quickly.

Brenda worked on a quilting project. Not a lot more details since it would wreck a surprise if we told you anymore.

You will notice that on the left hand side bar are links to other Blogs. I added Bob and Susan White’s Blog, that’s Lindsay Dad and step mom; take a look and see what is happening in their busy life.

We went fishing on Sunday at Pinantan and basically got blown off the lake. Actually we got on the lake and drifted to the east end of the lake and as we were turning to head up wind I caught a fish; which we released. But at least I got a chance to use my new fishing rod and it’s going to be great. Then we paddled hard and worked our butts off to get back down the lake to the west end. After that we paddled back and forth across the lake which made it a lot more pleasant, plus the wind died down so it wasn’t too bad. We had a few bites but none of them were that hungry. So, we had a lunch on the water and then headed home.

On Saturday I golfed with Dave and Ley and shot a 83………. not too bad but those stupid doubles take the fun out of the round. Today (Monday) I golfed with Dave and Bart and had a career round going until the 17th and 18th hole. The foursome in front of us was “PAINFULLY SSSSLLLOOOWWW” and I got myself worked up. Anyway, I lost focus and ended us taking double bogies on both holes. I still finsihed with an 81; but it could have been a 77. My index factor is at an 11.7 which I am pretty happy with.