Category — General Stuff

Hello April 2022

Our big excitement in April was a 5 night getaway to Victoria. What a great time of the year to visit Victoria, the blossoms are definitely out and at various stages depend on the species of the tree, shrub or plant. We stayed at The Parkside Hotel which is a condo hotel right next to Beacon Hill Park and very close to downtown Victoria. Each suite has a full kitchen, 1 bedroom, balcony, etc. So, we were able to cook a couple of our own dinners, have a glass of wine and enjoy the view.

We also took the opportunity while in Victoria to visit my cousin Trudi who in in Royal Jubilee Hospital. Poor Trudi had MS and Parkinson’s so she is not mobile and requires 24 hr care. However her spirits are bright and she certainly enjoyed our hour visit. Her husband Norma manages Trudi’s visitor schedule so she does not get over tired.

From Victoria we drove up the Malahat towards Ladysmith to have lunch with Donna and Bob. It was great to meet up with them and visit a little bit of their part of the Province.

After lunch we caught the ferry from Duke Point to Tsawwassen where we stayed for the night and then the next morning we drove to Whiterock to meet up with Maureen and Art, Duane, Mike and Rose for a visit and tea before heading home via the Fraser Canyon.

Brenda’s brother Dean turned 71 in April…… “Happy Birthday Dean”

May has arrived and to start it off our sister in-law Judy celebrated her 71st birthday “Happy Birthday Judy”.

Also celebrating a birthday in May is my foster sister Jennifer, “Happy Birthday Jennifer”

First week of May we made an overnight trip to Kelowna to drop off all their ski equipment from the March Family Ski Vacation. Then 3 days later we were off to Princeton to see Kevin, Tamara, Sage and Conrad. Kevin has been working real hard to get a community Disc Golf Course built and he finally got approval to use a piece of Princeton City property. So he was pretty happy to be able to show us the property, the layout and his design. It is going to be a great boost for tourism and all ages activity in the town of Princeton. Since he is the driving force behind this initiative he is going to call it “Whistling Kettle Disc Golf”, since the signature hole will be across a ravine which is like a large kettle.

In the middle of the month Kevin celebrated his 46th Birthday………. where the heck did those years go? “Happy Birthday Kevin”

Sometime in May I finished a painting of a picture of an iceberg we saw in Saint Anthony NFLD.

At the end of May we had Jeff, Lindsay, Zach and Oliver here for an extended weekend as they were in a National Disc Golf Tournament. Both boys and Jeff did really well even though they didn’t win their division. Unfortunately Lindsay couldn’t play as she was recuperating from Gall Bladder surgery.

June arrived and we are madly preparing for a trip in the middle/end of the month to New Brunswick and P.E.I.. We have toured the top half of N.B., so we are going to explore the southern coast and also go over to P.E.I. So our plans are to fly to Fredricton spend a couple days there and then rent a car and then drive to Moncton for night. After that we will drive to Charlottetown and stay there for 5 nights and do day trips to see the Island.

Well our trip out east started great and came to a grinding halt in Montreal airport. All flights were cancelled and we ended up spending a night sleeping in the departure area of the airport. What a gong show by Air Canada. Anyway, we finally made it to Fredricton, but missed a day of exploring, so we’ll get it at the end of the vacation. Moncton was a nice little town and we got to see some of the tides off the Bay of Fundy. Charlottetown was so much fun. We stayed at The Great George Hotel, what a great older style hotel. It was very centrally located, they had a happy hour every night and they gave us all sorts of free gift certificates for restaurants in the area.

Beyond wanting to see N.B. and P.E.I. we also came to Charlottetown to see two plays at the Confederation Theatre. The first one was called “Tell Tale Harbour” and it starred Alan Doyle who was formerly lead singer with Great Big Sea from NFLD. In fact one evening we were going out to dinner and coming up the sidewalk towards us was Alan Doyle himself. We had a 5 minute conversation and it was like we were talking to an old friend. The second play of course was Anne of Green Gables. It was great to see live theatre again.

Attached are some pictures from P.E.I.

Over our 5 days in Charlottetown we were able to explore all four corners of P.E.I. From Tignish and Skinners Pond (home of Stompin’ Tom Connors) in the northwest. The East Point Lighthouse in the East. North to Cavendish and Anne of Green Gables and along the south shore to the Summerside area.

After P.E.I. we headed back to spend a night in SaintJohn and then two final nights in Fredericton before flying home.

As far as birthday news in June….. Oliver turned 10 years old…. Happy Birthday Oliver.

We were only home for about a week and we were off again, this time to Wells Gray Park to meet up with Brenda’s cousin and his wife from Gabriola Island and Brenda’s brother and his wife from Prince George. This is our first time meeting up with them since Covid hit in 2020. More on this adventure in the next post.

Well 2022 has arrived and with a real cold snap. Yikes, it has been cold here and no warming trend in the near future. But every day the sun comes up we are one day closer to spring.

It’s been pretty well the same stuff every day for Brenda and I. We keep busy between music, reading and exercising. We did get out snowshoeing on a couple of the warmer days.

On January 12th we celebrated our 48th anniversary; where the heck did those years go. It’s been fun, it’s been an adventure, it’s been trying at times but we have done it together and it’s always been surrounded by love.

We had one thing out of the normal this January. As luck would have it, my sister Lynda took a bit of a slip and fall on her way to Interior Savings Centre to walk on the concourse level and keep off of the snowy streets. So we have been helping her out with getting to Physio appointments and Doctor Appointments.

The weekly Zoom call with Dean & Judy and GGMA continues. Not always a lot to talk about but it is 40 minutes or so of catch up.

February arrived and it’s still cool. I decided to get back into oil painting and I was able to connected with Debbie Milner-Lively. Debbie is a local artist and she has studio classes every three weeks. I am enjoying it and will continue through to June when we take a break for summer.

March came and it looks to be a lot busier than the start of 2022.

We headed to Kelowna for a couple nights and were able to hook up with our friends Fred and Barb for a coffee. Due to Covid it’s been a couple years since we’ve seen them.

Then we got away to Vancouver for 3 nights and attended the Vancouver Spring Home Show. It’s always fun but this year it was definitely a scaled down version of previous shows.

Brenda was able to finally get all her quilting, sewing, coffee girl friends together after a 2 year hiatus.

In the mid of March we had our annual Sun Peaks Family Vacation. It’s always so special and this year was no exception. The kids had lots of fun on the slopes and probably as much or more fun in the pool and hot tubs. The Sun Peaks Grand is so convenient for skiing and apre’s skiing.

Finally in March we got our first bike ride of the season in on March 29th……. Spring is here!

Well July arrived and it looks like it is going to be a very active fire season. Lots of fires in and around Kamloops and the Province. Which of course makes it very smokey. Hack! Hack!

Mid July we met Lynda and Tricia for the restart of our monthly dinners out. Brent and Karen unfortunately could not make it this month.

The last week of July we had Zach and Oliver for 5 days at Namma and Pops Summer Camp. We did lots of fun stuff like Mini Golf,

Bowling, Sewing Projects and afternoons at Riverside Park Beach.

Then every afternoon we headed to “Scoops” Ice Cream Parlour for an afternoon treat. The weather was very smokey for most of their stay so we tried to do inside activities and low intensity outside activities, so we only got Disc Golfing once. However we did make a visit to the Okanagan Disc Golf store to buy some new discs.
It was a fast week and lots of fun.

August arrived and the wild fire situation is not improving. The smoke in the valley just keeps getting worse. Lots of inside activities and on our morning walks we are wearing N95 particulate masks.

The second week of August we met Kevin, Tamara, Sage and Conrad in Merritt for a lunch on Sunday. After a short visit we headed back to Kamloops with Sage and Conrad for a modified week at Namma and Pops Summer Camp. Sage and Conrad’s summer camp included a lot of shopping for clothes,

Bowling and Mini Golf. On Tuesday we drove Sage back to Merritt to meet Kevin and Tamara. Sage had to work for the rest of the week. However, Conrad came back to Kamloops with us for the remainder of the week. We missed Sage but had a fun time with Conrad and he got a Hole-in-One at Mini Golf

Then on Saturday we drove him back to Merritt to meet up with his Mom. It was a fun fast week.

Finally in August the last weekend of the month we had both families here for one full day. It was a very busy overlap day. Kevin, Jeff, Lindsay, Zach, Oliver and Conrad went disc golfing. Tamara, Sage and I went shopping while Brenda stayed home to look after the dogs and do the dinner prep. We had GGMA over for dinner and everyone had a great visit.

September arrived and it’s situation normal here. The weather is cooling off and definitely feeling like fall is on the way.
We picked the Prune Plum tree and it was a bumper crop this year. We had already picked some to send home with both families and then with what we harvested we figure we had well over 50 lbs.

Judy made a quick trip down for a visit with family and it was great to see her.

Well 2021 arrived with a quiet whimper. No big party no big fanfare….. sounds about like every other New Years Eve. The subdue nature of the start of this year was a result of Covid 19 restrictions and us staying close to home and not venturing outside of Kamloops.
I am going to combine the first 3 months into one report. Once things open back up and we get travelling a bit more I will go back to monthly reporting.
Overall this report is going to sound pretty boring, but it’s what life is for us currently.
We each have a Zoom call(s) that we participate in throughout the week/month. Brenda’s has a couple regular exercise classes with the YWCA and mine is a bi-weekly Ukulele Jam session. It’s keeps us connected outside the house and is our main external social contact.
We also have the regular Monday Call with Dean & Judy and GGMA.
Beyond that we make sure we get outside for a walk almost everyday. We draw the line when it is -10C and the wind is blowing; that’s just not nice weather to walk in.
One major event the month of January was our 47th Anniversary………. we look forward to many more.
There was a “Extended Sill Family” (sisters, brother, niece, nephews) Zoom call in February that was more like a 3 Ring Circus…….. but a lot of fun.
A big deal for us this year was that we were able to get biking earlier than any other year due to a spell of warm dry weather. So we are back in the saddle and on the road for 2021.

Somewhat sad but happy news at the end of March is that the City of Kamloops Horticultural Department removed our boulevard trees that were 60+ years old. They Ornamental Crabapples and the blossoms were pink and stunningly beautiful when they were in bloom.

The workers did a great job removing the trees and meeting the many requests by the residents on the street.
They replaced the old trees with Spring Snow Flowering Crab, which have white blossoms when in bloom. Plus no berries to sweep up each spring.

Well December has finally arrived and we (Country Health Professional) are no closer to solving this Covid Virus, although a few new vaccines are on the horizon.
Brenda and I are doing everything that has been recommended and being asked of us; wearing a mask, washing hands, social distancing, avoiding crowds and not travelling.
So December will be another month of the same stuff as we have been doing. Regular walks, our own exercise programs, Zoom call with GGMA and Dean & Judy on Mondays and keeping in regular touch with the kids and grand-kids.

Happy Birthday to Tamara and Lindsay in the month of December.

Christmas will definitely be different this year. It’s going to be Brenda and I, we are going to miss being part of the excitement of Christmas morning and the Christmas season. We did get a jump start of the Christmas season as we purchased an artificial Christmas Tree these year and set it up at the start of December. This is for sure the earliest we have ever set up a Christmas Tree.

Merry Christmas to All and A Happy New Year for 2021

Even more Covid – Covid – Covid.

November is a busy time for birthdays. First off is Zach on November 10th and he turned 10. Then Sage on November 25 and she turned 15. Then Jeff on November 29th and let’s just say he got one year older. We can’t believe we have children that are that age.

Brenda’s outdoor Line Dancing and my weekly Kamloops City Strummers sessions continued until the third week in November when Dr. Henry imposed further restrictions to help battle this nasty virus.

If only everyone would follow medical experts advice to wear a mask, social distance and wash your hands we would be a lot closer to the end of this pandemic than we are right now. We can’t believe the amount of protests about something as simple as wearing a mask. Having said that watch this youtube video clip parody, by clicking on the following link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wro-Tg1_0Jg

Also, as Dr. Bonnie Henry says “Be kind, be calm and be safe”.

Well, September arrived and of course Covid is still here; and we suspect it will be for a while..

Brenda and I and GGMA met Kevin, Tamara and Conrad at the park in Merritt. Sage was working and could not make the day trip. GGMA loved the chance to get out for a day trip and to see the great grandkids and grand kids.

Brenda continues with her weekly line dance sessions and I am still strummin’ each week either at Riverside Park and/or at Tom’s with The Kamloops City Strummers.

Near the end of September Judy was in town helping her brother Jack with his stroke recovery program and we got a chance to have nice social distance visit with her.

The final week of September we made a quick trip to Vancouver. Visited George and his family on the way down and it was good to have Jennifer stop by for the visit. Then on the way home we stopped to see Maureen and Art; they are still working on getting everything organized for their upcoming move in November.

Partly for a change and partly because of the weather on the Coquihalla we took the Trans-Canada highway home and stopped in Ashcroft at the fruit and vegetable market. Made the trip home a little longer, but more scenic.

August arrived and with it good old Kamloops summer weather.

At the start of August we met Kevin, Tamara, Sage and Conrad in Merritt at Rotary Park for a socially distance visit. We took along GGMa so she had a chance to get out of the The Shores for a few hours and have a picnic lunch with family. It was a great day.

A couple days later Jeff, Lindsay, Zach and Oliver stopped in on their way home from Mount Robson Provincial Park. They had just completed a four day hike to Berg Mountain and Zach and Oliver were staying with us for the visited for the remainder of the week at “Namma and Pops Summer Camp”.
It was busy few days with the boys. Everything from swimming in the river, visiting the wildlife park to seeing the garden trains at my friends Tom and Paulette’s home.

Plus crafts at home like sewing projects, cement projects and stepping stones. We kept them busy. If you asked the boys they would probably say the best part was the daily afternoon trip to Scoops for ice cream.

Brenda continues her 3 times weekly line dancing and I am still strummin’ at either Riverside Park or at Tom’s; all the activities we do are socially distanced.

That’s about it for August.

July arrived and Covid is still here and we expect it to be here until next year. So we better learn to live with it and that just takes a bit of adjusting.

Early in July Brent and I went for a flight in “Desrocher One”. It’s kind of like Air Force One just a bit smaller. What a fun morning. We flew out to Shuswap Lake, over to Salmon Arm, headed for Vernon and then back to Kamloops following the highway. Along the way Brent let me fly the plane for a while which was a lot of fun. Along the way he demonstrated some aeronautical maneuvers which was cool.
Brent is a very careful and confident pilot. He made it a great day.

Then in mid July we headed to Vancouver for a couple days. It gave us a chance to see George, Chantell, and Raven; Chris was working. Plus we stopped in and saw Maureen and Art, we were lucky that Rose stopped by for a visit. Then on the way home we loaded up with blueberries at Peace Arch Blueberry Farm.

That’s about it for July.

Covid – Covid – Covid…… yup that’s about it. However it has challenged us how to maintain a sense of normality in a non-normal world.

For example I now meet up with a small group of guys down at Riverside Park on Tuesday morning for a 1 1/2hr Jam Session. We use to meet at the Smorg Deli, but can’t do that with the physical set up of the Smorg.

The Kamloops City Strummers started practising as a group again. We had a trial jam session at MacDonald park and then we had a regular practise on Tom’s back deck. Everything was done with correct physical distancing measures being followed.

Exercise, bike riding, line dancing, etc. continues so we are keeping busy that way.

Big new for June is the Oliver turned 8 years old………… where the heck did those years go?

Also in June I had an almost one year follow up visit to the Doctor and everything looks great. I am going off of some medication at the end of July which will be great as it is the blood thinner that causes me to bruise easily and if I cut myself it takes for ever for the blood to clot.