Daigen's Birthday ...

 

Hope you have a fantastic day ... !!!

Sending our love

Grandma & Grandpa ...

XOXOXOXOXOXO

 

Adding Supports ...

June 18, 2015

Today we were adding support braces ...

between the boards ...

and

building the step down deck to the hot tub ...

June 19, 2015

Another big job was completed ...

we started to remove the screws and nails from the old boards ...

but after a while ...

we decided to pry them off with a crowbar ...

because the screws and nails were so rusted ... the heads were snapping off ...

we were not able to pull them out ...

It took us a while to hammer out the screws and nails ...

from the boards ...

then hauling the planks away with the tractor ...

dumping them on the other pile of wood ...

The old boards will be good enough to add onto the fort ...

for the kids ...

We finished off the day with constructing the joists ...

to be added to the old frame ...

it was built with 24" centres and the new decking needs 16" centres ...

We're ready now to place the new deck boards ...

 

Timbers In Place ...

June 17, 2015

We decided to finish building the retaining wall ...

putting all the timbers in place ...

before we started working on the deck ...

Mike drilled all the holes to pound in the rebar ...

to stabilize the walls ...

I started to put the larger rocks against the timbers ...

to allow for drainage ...

Raking out the rocks and moving the dirt pile ...

spreading it out ...

the area will be finished off with a load of washed rock ...

The deck will be the next thing to do ...

on our to-do lists ...

 

Heading Home ...

June 14, 15 &16 ...

While visiting Bill ...

these pictures were taken ...

Julie has created a few lovely garden plots ...

We decided to go out for dinner ...

to Wag's Restaurant ... famous for it's Prime Rib ...

for Linda's birthday ...

and to thank Pam & Blair for their hospitality ...

It was a nice way to spend our last evening in Sarnia ...

The day before we left ...

Pat truck had broken down ... he had to replace the water pump ...

before he could travel back home ...

 

It was a beautiful morning ... on the day of our journey home ...

taking a few pictures of the St.Clair River ...

with Stag Island on the other side ...

We hope to take a few more trips back to Sarnia ...

in the future ...

now that Mike is planning to officially retire ...

after this next job ... !!!

Today we remember my sister Susie ...

who passed away ... on this day ... 38 years ago ...

Always in our thoughts ... and dearly missed ...

 

Another Outing ...

June 14, 2015

We travelled to the little town of Petrolia ...

to visit cousin Bill, Sherry

and Aunt Jean ...

Love the old buildings and the mini oil wells ...

along the roads ... in the yards and the fields ...

We ended up going for lunch at Crabby Joe's ...

We were invited for a dinner get together ...

with our childhood friends ...

at Tom & Ruth's place ...

Tom is an excellent cook ... we enjoyed a delicious dinner of slow cooked lamb shanks ...

The weather was nice and warm ...

so the party ended up outside in the comfy garage ...

with other neighbours joining in the fun ...

I was wonderful to spend this time with some our friends ...

 

 

Visiting Family ...

June 12 & 13, 2015

Spending time with Dan, Kaylea and Justin ...

before they headed home ...

We were fortunate to be able to stay at Pam & Blairs ...

for a few days ...

We also were invited to see their son's band perform at the firehall ...

for the community volunteer firemen ...

to raise funds for new equipment ...

Taking a day to go and see some of the other family members ...

We had a lovely afternoon BBQ ...

at the home of Mike, Lisa, Brooke and Amy ...

with a special performance by Cocoa ...

singing along with Lisa as she sang Happy Birthday ... !!!

 

It had been 2 years since we had gone back to Ontario ...

for a visit ...

It was great to see everyone in the short time we had ...

 

Happy Father's Day ...

 

Wishing all the fathers a day filled with love ...

and time to do whatever your heart desires ...

even if it is doing a little work ...

like this Rocky Mountain Bluebird ...

busy building a nest for his family ...

Have a great day ... !!!

 

 

An Angel Among Us ...

 

NICOLE ANN MARLOWE (NEE DOBSON)

Friday, 01 May 1970 - Thursday, 04 June 2015

Words seem inadequate to express the sadness we feel announcing the passing of Nicole Ann Marlowe (Dobson), age 45, on Thursday, June 4, 2015, at Victoria Hospital, London, surrounded by her loving family. Nikki was the treasured, loving wife of Dan Marlowe and the proud and devoted mother to her two children Kaylea and Justin. She was extremely proud of everything they accomplished and will forever be their guardian angel. Cherished and much loved daughter of David and Linda Dobson and sister and best friend of Lisa (Mike) Rawlings. Special sister-in-law to Cathy Marlowe-Derrough (Tim) and Jamie (Julie) Marlowe. Fun-loving and adored Aunt to Brooke and Amy Rawlings, Christopher and Benjamin Derrough and Eve and Jack Marlowe. To know Nikki was to love her and her kind heart and infectious smile touched everyone she met. Nikki was like a second mom to many of her children's friends and treated them like her own. She leaves behind numerous friends in both the Sarnia and Port Elgin areas and will be dearly missed by all who loved her.

It was a very emotional week ...

with our family in Ontario ...

We are thankful for the love of our family ...

during sad times like this ...

We will miss our beautiful niece, Nicole ...

she will always be in our thoughts ...

and in our hearts ...

 

A Closer Look ...

June 8, 2015

 

Hard to believe that these pictures ...

were taken on June 8th ...

Love my gardens ... !!!

 

 

The Garden ...

June 8, 2015

We're already eating the ripened strawberries ...

Love the little green supports ...

to hold the berries up off the wet dirt ...

All three of our fruit trees are bearing fruit ...

2 apple trees with different varieties ...

and 1 plum tree ...

Love watching them grow ... !!!

 

 

Mini Lilac Bush ...

An explosion of flowers ...

on the mini lilac bush by the house ...

Picked the last bouquet of lilacs ...

from the larger lilac bush ...

 

Pretty Flowers ...

June 7, 2015

Flowers in amongst the vegetables ...

In my garden ...

 

Dirt & Rocks ...

June 6, 2015

It was going to be a week or so before ...

the decking boards would be delivered ...

We decided to start leveling the area ... beside the hot tub ...

Mike ended up going into town ... to get a load of timbers ...

and we began digging to set them up ...!!!

 

Deck Building Continues ...

June 3, 2015

We were up early ... enjoyed our breakfast ...

and then it was time to hit the deck ...

to finish adding the extra beams ...

and build the joists ...

It took us most of the day to assemble the joists ...

as we were working between a few ...

clouds bursts ...

The last board was hammered in ...

just before the rain began to fall again ...

Now we wait until the composite resin deck boards ...

are delivered ...

to finish the deck ...

We will work on other projects until then ... !!!

 

Deck Work Begins ...

May 31 - June 1, 2015

Mike was checking the details ... on the plans for the new deck ...

later on we started with some excavation ...

and then finishing off the day ...

jumping into the pool ... for the first time this season ...

while the neighbours dog was keeping a close eye ...

on the gophers in the field ...

Mike had gone into town on the Sunday ...

to pick up the lumber and supplies needed ...

and then started to level the area ...

for the first support block to be placed ...

The next day on ... June 1st ...

13 of the blocks were put into place ...

levelled and back filled ...

ready for the next phase ...

After lunch ...

we started on the fabrication of the main beams ...

and putting them in place on the post supports ...

We were delighted to have accomplished so much ...

in one day ... !!!

 

Crazy ... Busy ... Day ....

May 30, 2015

Early morning on the Saturday ... playing soccer ...

while the guys were going to work on the gate ...

for the fence ...

Mike and Nathan started working on the gate ...

Steven and Nathanael came by later to help out ...

The little trap door for the kids and the other two gates were built ...

within the next couple days ...

Amada ... Tanya and I ...

ended up taking the kids to the store for ice-cream ...

and then playtime in the park ...

to keep them busy ...

so the guys could work ...

It was a well deserved break for the guys ...

Craig was displaying some of his artwork ...

then Grandpa had to go and see the fort ... in the vacant lot ...

that the kids had built ...

It sure was a busy day ... !!!