Sunday, October 14, 2012

On the Road...Again!!!

It seems like it wasn't too long ago that we  left Mesa and were on our way north.  But the summer is over and like the geese and ducks we are heading south once again.  We left home early this morning and had an easy day of driving with hardly any traffic and so our first night on the road is in Pocatello. Before leaving home this morning we gave Abbey a small dose of a sedative prescribed by the vet.  This was a trial run to see how much we would need to give her when we fly home in December.  it looks like a half a dose will be plenty.  She slept most of our 12 hour drive today and was much less stressed when we were packing up!!!

 If all goes well, we should be in Mesquite by early afternoon tomorrow.  We'll take some time to relax by the pool or the slot machines with our room and breakfast compliments of the hotel (and probably paid for in our previous stops at the machines!!!)  The next day we will take Abbey to the kennel in Bullhead City for a haircut and "spa time" and do a bit of shopping and maybe gambling (if we haven't spent our kids' inheritance)   in Laughlin.

And then it will be a short drive to Mesa the next day!!!!  There will be lots to do when we arrive, but we are both very excited to be heading to our park model instead of dragging the 5th wheel all that way.  The next 6 weeks will fly by, but we know we will have lots of laughs and good times with our "snowbird" friends!!!

Thursday, May 03, 2012

Read The Sign

On my recent trip to Northern Saskatchewan I came across this sign. I love how they don't call a pot hole a pothole...just a surface failure!!
There was a contest recently sponsored by the motor association and they were looking for the worst road in the province. This highway wasn't even nominated. I wonder what kind of signage the winning entry had?

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Kish Cousins

Yesterday Senor Ping and I went to visit my cousin Andy and his wife Donna at their home in Maricopa. Andy's mom, (Aunt Vi) and his sisters Diane and Linda and Linda's 3 kids were visiting from Saskatchewan. Launa, another sister, was also planning to be there but her husband Bob has been fighting the flu and decided it would be best to stay away. And Cindy and Brian (another cousin) also joined the mini Kish reunion. Our three families spent many hours together when we were growing up. First, we all lived in or near Yorkton as did our grandparents. We celebrated all the holidays together as our mothers took turns hosting the family gatherings. We attended high school together and some of us lived together off and on during our university days. As cousins started getting married we gathered for what became known as "cousins parties" after the weddings. And together with the rest of our cousins we continue to gather to honor our parents and grandparents.

As we were sitting by the pool, enjoying the sunshine (as Diane said, "We came from the cold Canadian winter to enjoy the sun and so let's sit in the sun!"), and catching up on family news, I had a flashback to another such gathering. It was one of those many gatherings we had at Aunt Vi and Uncle Lucas's farm. It could have been a wedding, anniversary, bridal shower or just a sunny Sunday afternoon. And all of us girls were soaking up the sunshine in our terry-cloth rompers.





I just had to capture the moment with another photo.



The afternoon certainly brought back memories of those gatherings years ago. We laughed and shared stories, and reminisced about the curling bonspiels in Willowbrook. Donna served a fabulous dinner that was topped off with fresh lemon pie that Cindy made with lemons from the tree in her yard. What a great way to spend an afternoon!!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Oasis Players has Trouble With Cats

This year's Oasis Players Dinner Theatre was a huge success. We had sell-out crowds all three nights and everyone raved about the meal, the music and the play called the Trouble With Cats. The catering committee outdid themselves with a delicious roast beef dinner. Julie and Richard Nunweiler and Doug Bailey brought the audience to their feet with six musical numbers. The set was the most elaborate we have ever used and hats off to Gary S. for all his work with set construction. The cast was a combination of well experienced actors as well as a few newcomers to our club. Congratulations to all of the cast and crew for a fabulous performance!!

The Housesitters: Phillip and Ivy meet River and Sunshine
(Brett Becker, Deanna Callsen, Steven Kanasevich, Kim Somerville)


The Annoying Neighbors: Joy and Nelson
(Geri Golightly, Bryan Somerville)


The Home Owners and the Local Fishermen: Frank and Joanna, Bill and Ben
(Deanna Callsen, Nathan Longmuir, Saraha Becker, Dave Becker, Dion Swan)


Just One Chocolate: River and Onie
(Steven Kanasevich, Karen Luptak)


The carpenter arrives: Phillip, Ivy and Mitzy
(Brett Becker, Deanna Callsen, Debbie Kroeker)


The women are plotting: Joy, Ivy, Sister No
(Geri Golightly, Deanna Callsen, Mary Skjei)


Did you know? Nelson, River, Phillip
(Bryan Somerville, Steven Kanasevich, Brett Becker)


We sleep natural: Sunshine, River
(Kim Somerville, Steven Kanasevich)


My little pussycat: Amos, Mitzy
(Johnny Golightly, Debbie Kroeker)


PJ and Onie
(Mathew Stimson, Karen Luptak)


Saturday, February 04, 2012

Thanks For the Memories

We are celebrating ten years of Community Theatre in Eatonia this weekend. Oasis Players started out as a small group of dedicated people who decided to put on an adult Dinner Theatre to raise funds for community projects. A play was chosen and then nine actors were recruited, some of them with no experience on stage. We borrowed lighting and sound equipment, set pieces, props and costumes. We had 450 people over two nights come out to watch our production at the new Eatonia Community Hall. In the spring Oasis Players hosted the “Marty Party”, a huge fundraiser for the organization. Thanks to the hard work of a small group of people and an enthusiastic community we were able to purchase stage lighting and sound equipment for the hall. After another successful production the following year, we decided that we needed to expand the dinner theatre to three nights. That means that approximately 6000 people have been entertained by Oasis Players productions in the past nine years. Each year the profits from the dinner theatre are donated to community organizations.

Here are just a few of my favorite candid shots from the past nine years!!



















Saturday, January 28, 2012

Update on Construction

These are the latest photos of the AZ room. Doors and windows are in!! Looks like the exterior siding will be next on the list. We can hardly wait to get to Mesa. Senor Ping will do the electrical and plumbing, we will insulate and then we will contract out the drywalling. In the meantime I can start shopping for paint coloring, flooring and window coverings.

This is a view from the street.


This is a photo of the interior taken through the back window.


We hope to get the back patio finished before we head north at the end of March.


And thanks again to Pat (at http://pat-aviewfromtheedge.blogspot.com/ ) for the photos!!

Friday, January 27, 2012

Under Construction





After we bought our park model last November we discussed the pros and cons of and Arizona Room vs. storage shed. Senor Ping and I spent lots of time biking around the park, looking at what other people have built and we eventually came to the decision that an AZ room would best meet our needs. The next decision was whether Senor Ping would build it or have the work done by an outside the park construction crew. We were already committed to spending 7 weeks back in Saskatchewan and tools and other equipment were going to be an issue, so we hired a crew to do the outer walls, ceiling, floor, door and windows.
This week the crew arrived and work started. Thanks to our friend Pat (from A View From The Edge) we are able to see the work in progress. We have also received emails from others who are checking out the work and reporting back. It's so great to have good friends that keep us up to date with the construction.
Here are a few photos taken by Pat of the work in progress!!



Saturday, January 21, 2012

Back to Blogging

I am sure many of you thought I had given up posting on my blog. Not really, but I have found that I post less on here and more on facebook these days. I just spent a few minutes reading posts from my first year of blogging. It's hard to believe that it's been almost 5 years since Senor Ping and I retired. When I read about the preparations we made before our first trip south I can hear the excitement in my voice. It was fun to read about those last days at school and family holidays. And then I checked the archives and reread posts about our trips to Europe, visits with family and friends and day to day events. And then I noticed a large gap....no posts between April 2011 and now. Time to change that!!!

So, with that in mind, here I sit on a cold frosty Saskatchewan morning. I look out the window and see that it is starting to snow. This past week the temperatures dropped to -30C (and that as before the windchill) and by next Wednesday the forecast is for +9 C. We arrived back in Saskatchewan on December 10 and except for the last week, it has been a wonderful winter. We have also seen some of the most beautiful prairie sunrises. This photo was taken from my kitchen window.



And now we have two weeks before we head south again. I have a long list of things to do. Dinner theatre rehearsals and prep will take up the majority of my time, but I also have a quilt to finish and things to pack for our new home. But before long we will be back in Arizona.

Singing



Swinging



Dancing



And having a great time with wonderful friends!!!!