Way smooth!

What is hot and smelly and very desirable in our drive-way and under our Golden Honey Locust tree?  Answer: asphalt, pavement in our driveway. 

 

 

Yes we were way happy to have a smooth hard surface drive-way again.  The crew did a good job.  No more spinning our tires in loose gravel to get out of the driiveway.  Just sorry we will have to dig it up next year to complete the sewer installation to the back yard.
 

 

June 27th -- a day of celebration!  The next photos were taken in front of our home when three streets in our neighbourhood were paved in one day.  As soon as the asphalt was laid, it was compacted, so people could get out of their drive-ways.  That's mainly steam coming off the pavement because it is delivered at 180 degrees.   I put my head close to the pavement to hear the snaps and crackles, just like Rice Krispies.  Wouldn't like these hot and smelly jobs though. 

 

 

Sewer Installed

The
process is this:  a community meeting is called for the neighbourhood affected a year before any action is taken.  There must be a majority of homeowners vote to have the sanitary sewer installed.  We want it because we never know when the septic field in our clay soil in the back yard might cause a costly failure.  The street work is government subdized but will still cost each home owner around $8,000;  plus another $8,000 to hire a private contractor to connect our home to the pipes buried in the street. These are only a few of the photos I took of the big backhoes and dump trucks and compactors, etc.  All of these photos taken in front of our home. It was quite exciting.
  

The trench down the middle of our street was 16 feet deep, and it is still above the grade of the bottom of our house.  That means we will have to have a pump installed.  No sewer if the power goes out.

 

 

 

 

 

The sand around the pipes and the fill on top of that is well compacted, as you can see from the man-handled compactor in the bottom, the machine compactor on the boom of the backhoe, and the roller in the photo below.  Anything that vibrated, like the compactors, shook our home.  Didn't matter what room we moved to, things were rattling and shaking.  After several days of this, my nerves were vibrating.  Told my friend I came to visit him to get away from it all. 

These last three photos show them digging up our driveway.  The white pipe goes to our property line; one for us and one for our neighbour.  We will hire someone next year to connect to the black pipe for our personal connection.
  

 

 

I have to give the guys credit.  They were pleasant and worked at using acceptable language and answering all our questions.  They even compacted a section of fill for my new wall that will widen my parking pad.  That was real nice of them.  I got to know Mike, the engineer, best.  He represented our municpality to make sure the contractors did the job right.  Everyone tried to keep the roads open to one way traffic just about every day.  We parked a block away only a few days.  Tune in to my next blog for the last photos to see our new road.  We all shouted for joy, when after three months of vibrating, dust and very bumpy road (though I liked neighbours driving slowly), our street was done. 

Sacred music

 

 

 

 Just after Christmas we enjoyed another family session singing around our piano.  Left to right: Rebecca and Carroll; back row Javan, Hensie, me, Amelia, Quoc.  Thank you John for taking the photos.  One of the joys of my life, singing around the piano started when my mother would gather us around the piano on Sundays.  Dad would play the piano.  What Mom lacked in ability she made up for in enthusiasm with me and my brother and sister.  Carroll and I started out our marriage by singing at our own wedding reception.  Our family has been blessed with Carroll's ability and willingness to play the piano for our children.  In turn, our children bless our lives with their singing.  We are glad to see their children developing their musical talents in band, piano, dance, and singing.

One of my callings at church is to lead the congregational singing while Carroll plays the organ.  It's another blessing that we can choose the hymns and practise together.  We all have our favourites and we make sure we sing some every Sunday, but we also introduce those that are not so familiar.  Carroll found a hymn for us to sing last Sunday that supported the theme of the talks on service.  It has become one of our favourites.  Hymn # 155, "We Have Partaken of Thy Love", has a simple melody and some of the following phrases:  1. "We have partaken of thy love, O Lord, this sacred hour; We have renewed our covenants And felt thy cleansing pow'r"  2. "Let us go forth refreshed, resolved to Serve our fellowmen, Forgive our neighbors, live thy word, Until we come again,"  3. "Raising to thee in song and word Our praise, most holy One, We ask thy benediction, Lord, thru thy Beloved Son".   Hymns contain powerful doctrine but also beautiful expressions of the heart.  Sometimes when Carroll and I are practising alone in the chapel, I ponder on the meaning and my eyes glisten.  I am grateful for this opportunity for such a musical association and a focus on sacred music.

Family Visiting

 

 

In April Carroll and I visited Ammon and McKinley in Calgary.  Taylor was working at the local movie theatre so we didn't get to see him.  We visited both going and coming to Regina, but I'll tell more about the Jennie and family when I find their photos.  Ammon, McKinley and Taylor, we wish you well.

Occasionally I surf the blogosphere.  I am impressed with the number of bloggers that write about family, travels, and their religion, just like me.  This morning I came across a professor at BYU, Idaho who included parts of his journal for a year previous, and included wise sayings.  I like that idea so I am going to include parts of what I wrote in my journal during this week, two years ago.

"June 4/5^th … [Referring to our visit to the Vancouver temple] So rewarding to see C sitting in the endowment room flanked on each side with a daughter. And so nice to see old friends there like [the Senft’s, Burnham’s, Barrie’s] The Barrie’s live on the Island and are on a trip to visit their children in Penticton and Lethbridge - just like we were.
I really enjoyed Sianne and Tali. Sianne surprised me by cuddling and hugging me so much. Loved it.

"Monday, June 7, 2010 Rebecca visited our home for three hours last evening. (The time is 6:21 AM and the sun is just peeping over the mountain and I have just completed my OT reading and note making.) Rebecca came with John when he rented a car to visit his brother in Kelowna. Rebecca and John didn’t come until 5:30 yesterday. C had a delicious dinner waiting…They were both very complimentary...Rebecca suggested we play games but I jumped on her idea of singing. She had fun going through Mom’s music and picking out sheet music of sacred songs. I gladly joined in singing when she requested..."

I'll conclude with a saying that I copied from another blog:  "Wise sayings often fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away."  by Arthur Helps (1813 - 1875)

Who do I love?  My wife, my children, my grandchildren all mean so much to me and in them I find much meaning for my existence.  I love my Heavenly Father and Know He loves me, family, friends and everyone else.  As I feel of His love, I can more easily love you and accept myself.  I am grateful to my family for including me in their lives and hope I make a difference in theirs.

Vancouver Family Visit

Picnic in the Park, in the City of Vancouver.  Carroll and I were joined by Javan,    Hensie, and Havie in our drive to the temple and then to Vancouver.  The day was beautiful.  We were impressed by the beautiful rododendrons in full bloom.  Hensie bought Filipino food and that along with Canadian food made by Amelia and Esther filled our tummies.                       




The day was highlighted by lots of visiting as we caught up on each others lives.
starting back left:  Amelia, Rebecca, Esther & Dave, Javan, Havie, Hensie, Grandma, Grandpa, Tali.


Grandma has started taking yoga classes (in addition to workouts at Curves, Zumba and Tai Chi). Her daughters are checking out her muscles.











Tali and Havie are both four years old.  They had fun playing together - like putting gravel down the other slide.









Amelia left today for Mexico with her boyfriend for a 3 week course on how to teach yoga. Watch out for the experts.  Amelia is never one to let the grass grow under her feet.  She was able to get time off from her dental hygienne job.






     The  monkey bars provided the opportunity for some friendly competition.  Sianne gets a rhythm going to get all the way across.  Rebecca made it too so she challenged her oldest brother.  Maybe she didn't remember that he just built monkey bars in his backyard, from the pink castle to the walnut tree.  Fraid to say, he swung across in quick time.  You notice Grandpa is not in the monkey bar photos.  He knows better than strain long untested muscles.   More fun to take the photos.




























Havie fits right in with her precocious cousins.  She has great verbal skills; yes her mother is a great talker.  (Hensie is the only family member that phones us about every other day.  She just about has me convinced that she stays awake to drive better while she is talking on her blue tooth on the way to work at the Suko Thai restaurant in West Kelowna.)  Havie is a very determined and very strong little girl - don't you think?








All three of these girls, including 8 year old Sianne, are very charming when they want to be.  Grandpa just loves to have lots of hugs with them, and read stories when he gets the chance.

Meanwhile Grandma is still showing off her newly learned yoga moves.

And Grandpa is still looking for more photo ops and grand daughters to hug.

I am writing this blog right now because Rebecca wrangled a commitment from me to do so, with the contract that she would get back to writing in her blog.  Your turn Rebecca.

Grandma and I look forward to more family visits and maybe even blogging the ones we have taken while I have not been blogging -- like our visits to Calgary and Regina last month.  We love you all.

Are we having fun yet?

Carroll, Grandpa, Jean and Pieter.  We are having fun in spite of our muscles feeling like old dried out leather strips suddenly asked to stretch.  Last week Pieter and I went bowling.  This week, after the muscles in the back of our legs recovered, the "girls" joined us.  We played five pin because the balls is much smaller and therefore lighter.  Took us awhile to discover the sweet spot that gives strikes.  I expect it will take much longer to get the ball to that exact spot with any kind of regularity.

Bowling used to be a popular sport.  Judging by the empty lanes on this Friday afternoon, and the greatly reduced times of seeing bowling on TV, I conclude bowling needs a revival.   Carroll and I bowled in a league in our early marriage days.  Pieter and Jean both bowled with teams from work.  Cost is a factor today, like $48 for four persons for two games, including shoes.  As previously noted, the exercise is good.  The game also provided us a different social interaction as it's good to get out together.

Notice I haven't said anything about scores.  After throwing our first few balls, we decided that we came for fun and not to get uptight about every gutter ball.  When our scores can withstand scrutiny then they will be available for publication.  I can divulge that Pieter had the very respectable high score of 194, and   we all bowled strike(s).

What's to learn in this little outing?  Repeating activities from the past can bring back memories of good times.  Social activities improve the mind and the spirit.  If you haven't used a muscle lately, it hurts the next day, but with persistence, that muscle quickly regains its elasticity and serves its purpose.  What part of your body has lost its elasticity and purpose: mind, muscle, spirit, social, creative or emotional?  Have a merry tune-up and enjoy giving the abounding love of Valentine's Day.

2 writing courses

Sunday, August 26, 2018

After a long hiatus, I've decided to try blogging again. I'll still include photos of family and what we're doing, but my focus will be more on what I'm doing with my life and the wisdom men of my age are supposed to have.

Carroll and I stayed at the apartment of Amelia and Quoc for two nights this past week. Rebecca and John joined us. Between the end of a delicious dinner and Quoc's birthday cake, we went for a walk. I had fun walking in the middle of First Avenue East, the main highway link into downtown Vancouver. Normally this road keeps four lanes filled with noisy trucks and cars but not while a pipeline was replaced and the street repaved. Neighbours are planning a lunch party the next day with tables down the middle of this thoroughfare.

Perhaps time away from home with family makes it easier for me to share an insight that has been growing recently. Back home, I'm faced with my reality of personal weaknesses.

We all make mistakes and choices that bring sorrow and regret. That's a given in this world of ours. I tend towards discouragement when frustration sets in, usually with myself and my weaknesses. While I'm working on those weaknesses I like the thought I read recently that more important than failure is how we react to failure. The suggestion was made that we try to jump from failure to failure with enthusiasm, not discouragement. When I get blocked in my desires I tend to shut down and do nothing, like watch TV. I'm not happy when I'm doing nothing. So what to do?

One of my strengths is persistence; so I keep trying. What I'm trying to change is to quit letting weaknesses stop me from enjoying life. Example, when I can't get my computer program to do what I need, instead of getting all frustrated, go on to something different, knowing that I'll come back to it tomorrow with a fresh perspective--like checking the help feature. That something different can be fun or easy, time with other people or a different task I know I can accomplish without frustration.

So I don't give up but accept that I'm not going to succeed on this task right now. I go on to something else where I can generate a feeling of enjoyment or accomplishment. Then I'm likely to get back to the difficult task sooner without getting all frustrated. Life is simple and it's complicated. I have more to say about happiness--later.