February15th, 2009: Long John time again! But it isn’t as bad as previously, just getting down to the low twenties, though it hit -27° this morning. There has been some wind with it, too. But then, what can we expect in February? At least we haven’t had any blizzards, though there have been times when driving was not fun.
Our renovations are this close to being done. A couple of bathroom cabinets upstairs, a toilet downstairs, and a couple of doors. (“Close your eyes, Doreen – these people want to see the new bathroom!”) Our contractor is very fussy about cleaning up after himself and his men, so our house isn’t too messy. It’s been a long haul, but by mid-week we should be all finished. I haven’t stubbed my toe on our shower doors, which had been lying on the floor on my side of the bed, for a couple of nights now.
We had a surprise visit from Bruce and Jenny Irwin of Humboldt, and formerly of Wynyard, Friday night. Their daughter, Leslie, lives not too far from us. We went out for supper then back to our house for a visit. Great time! Irwins were our next-door neighbours in Wynyard, where Bruce was sergeant in charge of the Wynyard RCMP detachment. Their garden never did too well because we always used it as a short cut between the two houses. They left Wynyard in 1979 and we have maintained occasional contact ever since.
Don and Marilyn Brekker were out to Greenwater Park last weekend, checking up on their trailer at Almi Campground and doing a bit of driving around. They said there was a lot of snowmobile activity at Fisherman’s Cove; it looked so busy that they didn’t go in. They saw a couple of “For Sale” signs in front of cottages but that was all, and those signs had been up for a long time. We see the Brekkers at the Field House frequently.
Laurie and Bryan Grimson were in town on Tuesday and Wednesday. Bryan came to coffee with me at Market Mall while Laurie, Doreen and Lucille went shopping. Bryan knew, or knew of, many of the people at coffee and he and Eric Mumford had a spirited conversation. Eric has trouble hearing, but if one is sitting close to him, and talks directly to him, he gets along fine. He knows everybody in the country, having been the postmaster in Foam Lake for many years.
Every time I go to an event at TCU Place (the former Auditorium) I swear it will be the last, and tonight was no exception. We went to the Rankins concert. A group consisting of three classical tenors and one pretty violinist opened for the Rankins. They were very good and I would have enjoyed them thoroughly except that the sound system was cranked up so loud that the voices turned to a screech on the high notes. I took out my hearing aids and stuffed ear plugs in my ears, then held my fingers over the ear plugs and managed to stick it out for the half hour they were on stage. Doreen was terribly disappointed; she said it actually hurt her ears.
When the Rankins came on, it was the same. I stuck it out for two numbers, then left and sat in the lounge for the rest of the performance. The noise level there was much lower, but I couldn’t make out a single word they sang, even in the old familiars like “Fare thee Well” and “Saturday Night.”
I was the only one that couldn’t stand it, apparently; Doreen was disappointed in it but stayed for the duration, hoping it would improve (it didn’t).. Nobody else came out until near the end of the performance. Maybe it’s just me. Never again.
The evening wasn’t a complete loss. We picked up our neighbours and travel friends, Gerry and Jim Fairburn, and went to a Chinese restaurant for an early supper, then went to our place after the show and visited until almost midnight. That part of it was very pleasant.
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