Rainy Day Overcast Blues: Wednesday, February 17th!

"Do you ever read any of the books you burn?" "That's against the law!" "Oh. Of course." -Ray Bradbury, science-fiction writer (1920- ) [Fahrenheit 451] 

Pat, Warm enough here but still wet. The usual for this time of year. Sylvia said it was nice to have the clear skies in Wisconsin although the severe cold was hard to take. We've been enjoying 'Scott and Bailey' on TV, 2 women detectives in Lancashire, both very good actresses and I particularly enjoy their accents.
Interesting that you take the antibiotics before dentistry. Presumably that's because of the hip replacement. I did ask but my dentist thought it would be safe without the medication. So far, so good. I've also had the fluoride treatment. My hometown had natural fluoride in the drinking water and the people of the town were known for good teeth.

You have to build up gradually when you first start out on the bike again. It's probably just a matter of putting in a few miles before you are back to previous fitness. I know I will have to do a few easy rides when I resume my riding. I would definitely recommend a 2 inch tire for the KV rides. Shocks would be an advantage as well which my old mountain bike doesn't have. I might ride there this summer. Not sure at this point as I'm not sure as to the fitness level of my friend coming over from England. He has some knee problems and at 76 years of age, I don't want him to feel he has to. I've certainly got in mind some hiking off the top of the Sea to Sky gondola.

I don't yet have the ticket for the sevens, so I don't know where I'll be seated. I see that the Canadian Universities have a sevens tournament starting on the Thursday of that week. Bread in the machine, so I'm off to the gym so I can pick it out at the right time. Ray

Hi Karlos! I take it you are back from Mexico. Trust trip went well. Thanks for wonderful parrot! Quite something! I did give Dave a call and he said he would come over. However, haven't heard from him and we were so busy with Corinne's parents staying that I've yet to call him back. Now that the weather seems to be improving, I'll give him another shout. Have really been enjoying the Monday hikes. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hello Darling Jean! Glad you enjoyed the card. Trust everyone is well. Must away as I've scads of chores, assigned by Lady Dar, (as she reads, injured foot up!), and I risk horrible consequences if I don't comply! Fondestos from her Imperiousness to you and John. Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics: Valentine's Day morning. Lady Dar with a bottle of Peter's wonderful homemade Riesling. He grows the grapes and makes wine with a friend. Nap after two glasses! 

Hello Mr Grizzle! Perhaps I should call you Michelangelo or Giacometti, since you are now enshrined in the Sculptor's Society! Thank you for the wonderful invitation. Would certainly have joined gathering if we were in town. Your bashes are always a blast!!! In fact, Lady Dar will be taking the bus to Vancouver on the 28th to attend a Book Club meeting the next day. We won't be in town together until the weekend of March 11th/12th/13th to attend Cuffed, a new crime fiction festival at GI, as well the Sevens Rugby tournament.

Fondestos from her Imperiousness to you and Janice. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hi Pat Wonderful to hear and see that you are well and enjoying life! Here in Vancouver we are enveloped in continuous drizzle... I have a steady stream of art deadlines and commitments... must learn to say NO cheers Ron 

Hi Politically Incorrect Harper Catman! Wonderful piece of work on a piece of work politician! Had not seen it before!  Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hello Patrizzia! Lovely to hear from you. Yes, we had a very pleasant day, thanks. Mme Coriandre gave me a mini-pedicure for her Valentine's Day present. Felt absolutely wonderful. Had a note from David and sorry to hear that he implied you are not keen to travel in his new Model S Tesla 90D! We will be bitterly disappointed if you don't visit, especially if you are en route to Banff. We are perfectly positioned for a stay so please reconsider!!! Fondestos from Mme Coriandre to you and Dave. Cheers, Patrizzio! 
 
Hi Dave! Congrats on your new Tesla! I'll drive to Banff with you if Patrizzia won't! I just sent her a massage urging her to travel in the new wheels and visit/stay with us! Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics:  My valentine's present from Lady Dar!

Hi Spamela! I'm planning to try out my new snow shoes tomorrow and I was wondering if you had Mary Lee's email address? She said she was going and could collect me on way to HH. She also volunteered, very kindly, to help me on with my snow-shoes. I'd like to pop her a line and confirm time to meet. I know you want her to be early so I'll suggest she leave plenty of time. Thanks and  Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics:  My valentine's present from Lady Dar!

Now that's true love! A pedicure! I have copied Mary Lee's email on this message. Hopefully it will be all rained out by tomorrow! Yes, please arrive at Home Hardware between 8:30 and 8:35.... See you tomorrow! Pam

Hi! Patrizzio: Just got home from an early birthday dinner with hubby and got Pam's & your email. I will pick you up at 8:15 am - pls confirm your address.  Thanks!! P.S.  I can also help you put on your new snowshoes :-) Here is my home #, if you want to call me to confirm. Mary Lee :-) YES, I am planning on going snowshoeing tomorrow.  I will pick you up at...

Hi again, Pam! Mary Lee received your message and sent me confirmation. I just talked to her and she will collect me about 8:20 am so we'll be at HH in good time. Thanks again. Looking forward to the outing but hope I can manage. Cheers, Patrizzio! Pic: Drying my soaked boots after Monday's hike!

Next Monday we will explore the area above McIntyre Bluff and look for flowering buttercups! We will drive past Vaseux Lake on the way to Oliver, drive up Secrest Rd and park in Covert Farms. We will hike towards Rattlesnake Lake and veer off under the hydro lines, looking for buttercups as we ramble along. We will wander for about 3 hours and go back to the cars for coffee and maybe beer at Ye Olde Welcome Inn in Gallagher lake. We might also look for Dave Whitton's new place if he's down there (Dave please advise!). So we will be leaving Home Hardware in Penticton at 9am and Summerlanders can carpool from the IGA parking lot at 8:40am. Pam

 
Hi Roma! Lovely to hear from you. Glad you enjoyed the card. I was happy to learn the names of the flowers as well! We had a very pleasant Valentine's Day.  Fondestos from Cora Lee to you and Leonard. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hi Erika! Trust you are well. Just had the Winter Update from DMCI AA so thought I'd say hello. Fondestos from Mme Coriandre to you and Amy. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hi Linda! My wife and I moved to Penticton this past May, hence my reason for not renewing my membership in the UBC Association of Professors Emeriti . Cheers, Patrizzio!


Hello Vancouver and Desert Storm! Trust everyone is well. Lady Dar has been asking me for your email address, Jocelyn, so thought I'd include Lynne, in case the one I have is not current. Fondestos from her to you, Jocelyn, James and The Sun Belters. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hi Hanneke! Trust you are well. Missed you this past Monday Fondestos from her Imperiousness to you, Hanneke. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hi Pat, Glad life is treating you well. bob

P, our plan is to go to Methow which is a cross country ski Mecca just south of the border from you. We have friends with a cottage in the area. We considered Red but were concerned about snow in mid March.

Just looked at the Garmin stats that you have conflated and I am impressed with the dipsydoodle-age - 51 kms of it. Thanks for sending Roboman's email. I need to be in touch - it has been way too long. Thanks for the pics with a couple exceptions - I cannot tell you how those construction images affected me. PCSD - Post Construction Stress Disorder. Are there curtains on that side of your house? Look so forward, as they say. Fond regards to all, G & J

Dear PCSD Sufferer and Psychiatric Nurse Cratchett / Nurse Hatchet / Nurse M Ratched / Nurse Mildred Ratched / Nurse Pratchet / Nurse Rachet / Nurse Ratchet / Nurse Ratchett / Nurse Ratchit, take your pick!

Lady Dar was quite cranky, being just a stop-over on the way to Methow Mecca, but I told her about your rather unstable condition and she wonders if you should just go straight there, without passing Go!

Glad you were impressed with my dipsy-doodle stats. Probably not as impressed as my tush! Too, too much rain today so I hunkered down inside, stoking the fire in order to dry my hiking boots, pretty soaked after snow slog on Monday. After I finish this message I'm off o the garage to ready my snow-shoes, sharpen my poles and screw up my courage with a few snorts of porch cleaner!. Wish me luck as I'm probably going to be suffering PSSSD tomorrow! I'm already suffering pre-SSSD!

Don't worry about curtains as we've made arrangement for you to sleep in the unfinished duplex. You must confront your greatest fears, head-on, if you are ever to overcome them! Calamity and Morita should be quite cosy in The Rumpus Room. On the brighter side, you'll be paid as a security guard so you'll probably make enough to pay for cross-country passes!

Must away as I need to pack my lunch for tomorrow's outing:

Greetings to all GB hikers: There will be another GB snow shoe hike this Th. For change we will not drive to Apex area, but will make a short trip N/W of Agur Lk, W of Summerland, between Bathville Rd and Isintok Creek. It will be an easy hike, approx. 3hrs, not much elevation change, depending on the snow conditions it may be there and back, or a loop. Meeting times and places as usual. Al

Robo Man seems fine. Tell him I'm reading Ian Rankin's latest Rebus, Even Dogs in the Wild, at the moment and enjoying it  muchly. Fondestos from a recently frozen mouthed Lady Dar. Funny how difficult it is to obey a barked order when it comes out as a lisp! Cheers, Il Conduttore! Pics: Drying my soaked boots after Monday's hike! Rorschach Test for PCSD!

Hi Pat, Thx for online Valentine card. All well here, other than my usual hip/ knee pains thx to Osteo arthritis. Still no GP here yet, a problem on the island.
Very busy with church choir, learning a Requiem for Good Friday. The choir from St. Stephens in Qualicum Beach will join us. Lots of extra practices scheduled.

Loving my volunteer position as a facilitator for Rainbows, a program for children, aged 4-13, dealing with loss. Frank is doing his volunteer hours for the Salvation Army as a driver picking up bakery goods from grocery Stores & coffee shops to deliver to the soup kitchen. Friday, he will drive a woman & her 2 kids to the ferry in Nanaimo. She is headed to Lethbridge. The SA is helping them. We decided that now we need to give back to the community seeing as we are so blessed.

Also loving my ballroom line dance classes. Currently learning the Hustle to Staying Alive and the Fox Trot. Zumba is on hold until another instructor can be found to replace our beloved Silvia who had to have a hip replacement thx to too many years of dance. Recently Frank & I have gotten into the Outlander series on Shomi. At #9 now. I just finished the Book of Negroes while Frank is into Foyle's War & Davinci's Demon.

A week ago, we went to Victoria for 4 days to attend the Pacific Baroque Music Festival. We also went to a WHA hockey game between Victoria Royals & Edmonton Oil Kings. Unfortunately, Victoria is now tied with Kelowna for 1st after they trounced Edmonton, 8-2. It was painful to watch from our front row seats beside the Oil King bench. Our good friends in Sh Pk are billeting #28, defence draftee, Anatolii Elizaroff a young 17 year old from St. Petersburg, Russia. We met Anatolii 3 x in Sh Pk over the Christmas hols. Poor Anatolii, he was pretty downcast when he came out to greet us before boarding the bus after the game. I will have a problem rooting for BC any time soon.

As for wine, we have 150 bottles, minus about 5, aging on Frank's newly built insulated wine racks in the garage, about 5 different kinds. We still buy an inexpensive wine to drink in the mean time, Screw-it, Gabiana, Naked Grape & Copper Moon, usually Shiraz, Malbec or Voignier, a newly discovered white which we quite like considering we are red wine lovers. 

Most of our island friends are in AZ so we won't see them until April or May. April, we will drive to Sh Pk to visit the family. I still miss spending time with the grandkids. Raining now. It rains a lot here in the winter. We did have a beautiful sunny day yesterday which on the island is truly spectacular. My brother, Roy & his wife have just returned home in Victoria from Penticton. He inherited my Aunt & Uncle's home on Killwinning St. They passed 3 years ago, in their own bed, 40 days apart at 92 & 93. We should all be so lucky!!😜

Well, must run, choir practice at 7:15. Hope this email finds all are on the mend & enjoying the signs of spring. Maggie 😊

Hi Maggie: You sound wonderfully busy and engaged with the community. Sorry to hear about your aches and pains but they don't seem to be holding you back. Onward! Fight! (We ran into the same difficulty with respect to finding a doctor. Fortunately, we now have one.)

We are fans of The Outlander and are desperately waiting for new series to start! Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics: Forms for concrete, next door. Quite impressed with how construction is proceeding.

Oh yes, never say die or whatever. I keep on moving. Some of these TV series are addictive, great for rainy days. No dentist yet. Both had lots of work done in Los Algodones last March when in Yuma. No plan so hopefully no problems in near future. Up early to walk tomorrow with 92 year old neighbour. Betty is amazing. Walks everyday. No wonder she is as healthy & active as she is at this age. We do the 101 steps 1 1/2 x to the ocean. Did those steps this morning with another neighbour. 3 beautiful bald eagles soared so close above our heads. Amazing!! Herring must be coming in.

Thanks for the email. So lovely to hear from you :) Glad you had a nice Valentine's Day. Corinne is very courageous tackling those stinky feet of yours. We are hoping to come visit when we are on our way up to the okanagan for Good Friday if you will be around or the Tuesday whichever is more convenient let me know The winery looks great. Would love to go to some wineries while we are there. Say hi to Corinne for me. Sending all our love 

Hi again, Nicolina! Be delighted to see you, Marvinator and Jaxon. Not quite sure of our Easter schedule at the moment. Sandee and Arv, close friends of The Durstons, from Falcon, have a place at Spirit Ridge. They rented it for three months and came to stay, overnight, the Monday of the long weekend. We were planning to spend a night with them while your parents were there. Given this, probably Tuesday, here in Penticton, might work well but find out what your Mom and Dad have in mind and we'll plan accordingly. Cheers, Patrizzio!

hi patrick, while you were biking roy and i were looking for buttercups in ok falls, and yes we found one buttercup. cheers karl

Hi again, Karlos! Great snaps and congrats on finding a buttercup! Onward!! Fight!!! According to latest from Pam, we will be doing the same, this coming Monday. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hi Patrick, sounds like you had a lovely Valentines' Day! I know the winery Synchromesh! We had a lovely day as well, spent the morning in Vancouver, went to see our son Erics' art at the Lansdowne transit station, and then drove home in the pouring rain, very glad to see the end of it when we got home. This past Monday I went to Nickelplate for a ski, but the snow is getting sticky, so I may be joining in on the Monday hikes more often from now on. 

Yesterday, Tanja and I totally enjoyed a trip to Oliver in the bright sun, and a climb up the start of the Golden Mile Trail, and a wine tasting at Tin Horn Creek Winery! very good Gewurtz, which is not my favorite, but this one was very good! I hope Corinne is feeling better soon! cheers, Hanneke

Hi again, Hanneke! Sounds as if you've been pretty busy with visiting family, hiking and wine-tasting! Onward!! Fight!!! According to latest from Pam, this coming Monday should be fun. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hi again, Ms Tinsel Town! Sometimes wrong, never in doubt! Cheers, Dad!

Hi Pat Wonderful to hear and see that you are well and enjoying life! Here in Vancouver we are enveloped in continuous drizzle... I have a steady stream of art deadlines and commitments... must learn to say NO cheers Ron 

Oh yes, never say die or whatever. I keep on moving. Some of these TV series are addictive, great for rainy days. No dentist yet. Both had lots of work done in Los Algodones last March when in Yuma. No plan so hopefully no problems in near future.

Up early to walk tomorrow with 92 year old neighbour. Betty is amazing. Walks everyday. No wonder she is as healthy & active as she is at this age. We do the 101 steps 1 1/2 x to the ocean. Did those steps this morning with another neighbour. 3 beautiful bald eagles soared so close above our heads. Amazing!! Herring must be coming in. 

Currently in Fernie as we speak, have had a few days with the family in Fernie enjoying skiing and eating as there are so many good places to eat. Whole family joined us here Alex and his future brother in law Brett, Katy and her invisible kitties, Kimbo and fiancée Christopher two other friends of Alex, Keane and Zachary, Judy and I. 

Just returned from the Fernie Pub where we enjoyed a varied menu and many drinks for trivia night we placed third which was disappointing considering our opponents where named Billable Hours and Yahma Penis Liquor our name was Fernie Drinking Company by the way. Chris and Kimbo left early this am and are already back in The Peg Jude and Katy are leaving tomorrow am me and the rest of the gang are returning to the hill for one last attempt at skiing tomorrow in the rain and then a leisurely drive home. Weather is rainy but pleasant though it is quite warm in wintertoba currently.

Had to laugh at Corrine performing the pedicure as the other day as I was clipping my toenails I was wondering how long it would be before I had to ask Judithness to do my toenails I guess that is another sign of old age great!! Reading glasses arthritis and erectile dysfunction awesome! Anyhow must go sleep is calling let us know when Chloe calves for lack of a better term has to be soon stay well love Dallas Ps Bill is doing well went to his place for Chinese dinner Saturday before we left everyone was there so he was quite happy.