Still Celebrating Easter ...

April 22, 2017

The kids were so excited when daddy and Alana arrived ...

Nathan was having a sneak peek around ...

while the kids were waiting patiently on the stairwell for the signal ...

in search of Easter eggs ... inside and out ...

They had a successful hunt ...!!!

It was a beautiful morning ...

Nathan and Mike decided to take a few shots out towards the field ...

while breakfast was being prepared ...

After breakfast ... the gang decided to go for a ride ... 

the boys on their dirt bikes ...

Nathan ... Alana ... Grandpa and Ella on the quads ...

Craig and James were out driving around in the field ... until dad was ready to go ...

as Nathan wanted to take the Dodge out for a spin ...

the boys helped dad check and fill the tires with air ...

Everything set ... they were off ...!!!

'

Ella wanted to have her hair braided ...

so Alana spent the time with her ...

and then Ella in turn ... braided Alana’s hair ...

Thry looked adorable ... and you could tell they were having so much fun ...!!!

Finally Oma arrived to spend Easter dinner with us ...

and her great-grandchildren were thrilled to receive money for Easter ...

It was a busy time in the kitchen ...

baking pies ... cooking the turkey ... and  preparing all the fixings ...

Everyone helping out at one point or another ...

Nathan volunteered to carve up the turkey ... the kids helped with setting the table ...

and Alana washing the dishes as I was finishing up with the final touches ...

We had a lovely dinner ... 

After dinner ... the table was cleared and we were in the process of getting dessert ready ...

Ella thought grandpa needed a new hair-doo...!!!

Amazing transformation with just a single bobby-pin ...

The two of them had us in stitches ... so much fun ... !!!

I think grandpa liked the new look ... ha ha 

We enjoyed sitting around at the table ... chatting ... visiting ... 

We had picked a gift up for Nathan and Alana ...

on our holiday in Texas ... “sauces are hot there”

Craig and Nathan went outside afterwards ... Craig wanted to ride his dad’s dirtbike ...

Nathan was Craig’s age when he got this dirtbike ...

It surprised us at how well he did ...!!!

Ella hanging out with Granpa on the couch ...

and I drove Oma back into town ... 

when I was in town ... I was on a beer run as well ...

I decided to pick up a NHL hockey glass for Nathan ...

as you can see ... he was pretty thrilled when the glass lit up ...

when his team scored ...!!!

 

April 23, 2017

 

Hoping that Nathan and Alana will be able to handle the heat of their hot sauce ...!!!

It was time to pack up the gear and make their way home ...

Craig figured he should take “Old Blue” out for one last ride ...

 

We had a great weekend with everybody ...!!!

 

Colouring Easter Eggs Again ...

April 21, 2017

This morning ... the table was set ...

to colour more Easter Eggs ...

(I had a deal with the Easter Bunny ... so we were able to postpone the egg hunt ...

until daddy and Alana arrived ...)

The kids did a fabulous job on decorating the Easter Eggs ...

Grandpa needed help to pick up a fallen tree ...

out in the field ...

The boys were totally into doing the job ...

as they were able to drive the truck ... 

ANYWHERE ... that Grandpa needed them to be ...!!! 

 

While the guys were out working in the field ...

Ella was in the kitchen ... preparing the base and filling ...

to make Butterscotch Squares ...

I was in the process of making a pot of soup ...

Ella wanted to use my handy chopper/dicer ... to cut up some celery ...

Ummm ... I think there was some celery missing ...

Hey ...!!! What's that in her cheeks ...!!!

 

P

These guys are too funny ... James was laughing so hard ...

they were mimicking Grandpa ... with pulling there stretchy pants way up on their bellies ...

and walking around like Grandpa does ... when he is fooling around ...

and pestering me ...

Hmmm ... Ella has a cane ... oh dear ... I hope she isn't playing me ??? 

No ... she wouldn't ... or would she ...???

Craig was helping Grandpa put the new sticker on the Jeep for this years insurance coverage ...

There was quite a buildup of stickers ... so Grandpa gave Craig the heat gun ... to heat them up to peel them off ...

before putting the new one on ...

 

Finally daddy and Alana arrived ...

the guys were all outside ... and Alana inside ... making Slime with Ella ...

She had been waiting for Alana ... to bring the ingredients ...

It's yucky stuff ... to gooey and slimey for me ...!!!

 

Truck Box Addition ...

January 14, 2017

Mike finally had some time to go to the shop ...

and work on installing his new BedXtender for the truck ...

He took out all the parts out of the box and set them out on the bench ...

Then reading the instructions on the procedure for installing the rack ...

He needed to take the tail lights off to install the brackets ...

It took a bit of work measuring ... taking the template to mark the drill holes ...

for the bracket ...

Once the brackets were installed and the tail lights put back together ...

Mike then started to assemble the rack bars ...

then attached it to the brackets ...

Mike completed the installation ...

and was delighted to have it done ...

Now items will no longer slide to the front of the box ...

or fall out of the truck with the tailgate down ...

 

 

Picnic Stop ...

July 10, 2016

We were on our way back to Alberta ...

stopping in Sparwood ...

to have pitstop and picnic ...

by the Largest Truck in the World ...

The kids love to climb all over this massive truck ...

Having another little break ... before heading back to do some more climbing ...

We toured the grounds and the museum ...

then continued on our way ...

 

Mike's Day of Travel ...

May 25, 2016

This day Mike was going to work with Klaus ...

travelling thru the little towns and cities ... to make a delivery in Neusserling ...

The advertising on the Seyr truck is to promote Klaus's son ... Gerald ...

who is a part of the Mundharmonika Quartett in Austria ...

Check out their video here ...

My cousin Gerald is the one I wearing a hat in the video ...

Starting in Laakirchen and heading out on the road ...

Arriving at their destination ... to deliver a refrigeration unit to the restaurant ...

Continuing on the their way ...

stopping at a few Gasthauses ... and then making their way home ...

Mike also got to see the train ...

They had a long day of driving ... but it was worth it ...

Mike really enjoyed seeing the countryside ...

 

Working Outside ...

February 20, 2016

We had full intentions on going for another load of logs ...

but when we started to drive along the logging road ... we were in mud and huge puddles ...

half way up the tires ...

It took us travelling on the road awhile to find a place to turn around ...

and head back for home ...

It will be a few more weeks before we can head out again ...

once the frost is out and the roads dry up ...

Mike spent the rest of the afternoon ...

giving the truck and trailer a good wash ... !!!

 

February 21, 2016

Since we were unable to get more wood ...

we decided to move the pile of logs from in front of the shop ...

to the area where the rest of the logs were piled up ...

First of all ... Mike had to plough the snow off the roadway ...

in order for us to drive up ...

Thank goodness for the tractor to load the wood ... into the back of the truck ...

with the last one topping the load which was 24" (61 cm) in diameter ...

We then rolled it into a pile and its new resting place ...

for at least a year to dry ...

until it can be split and stacked ...

It felt great to be outside working ...

the sun did make and appearance for a little while ...

later in the afternoon ...

 

 

More Firewood ...

October 16, 2015

A cool rainy evening ...

decided to make a turkey pie ... to use up the rest of the Thanksgiving Turkey ...

Perfect dinner to watch the Blue Jays ball game ...

The house was a little chilly ...

so while we were watching the ball game ...

I decided to gather up the materials that were needed ...

to whip up a pair of crochet slippers to warm my feet ...

It's that time of year ... having the cooler nights ... !!!

 

October 17, 2015

It was a beautiful day ...

to cut up another load of firewood ...

to fill the woodshed ...

Mike was bucking up the logs ... while I was using the wood splitter ...

and tossing the firewood in the truck ...

Mike ended up helping with the wood splitting and loading ...

once he was finished cutting up the logs ...

together we took the load down to the woodshed ...

and stacked this load ...

After the first truckload was unloaded ...

we went back to get another one ...

I took a wheelbarrow full of smaller pieces down to the house ...

to warm up the basement ...

starting a fire in the wood stove ...

Soon another load of firewood was stacked in the woodshed ...

One more day is needed to fill it up to the top ... !!!

Another good days work out in the sunshine ...

soaking up the warmth ...

 

 

Construction of Storage Shelter ...

October 4, 2015

We laid out and assembled the frame for the storage shelter last night ...

It was a nice day to put up the storage shelter ...

although it was a little breezy at time ...

but we were able to manage ... putting on the back and front first ...

Mike securing down the corners before we proceeded ...

with pulling up the whole piece ...

for the side and top ... over the frame ...

A rope was attached to each end ...

we proceeded to pull on the rope ...

bringing up the tarp ... over the frame ...

Mike did have to go inside and help it along as bit ...

while I continued to pull ...

Mike helped pull it the rest of the way ...

then securing the frame posts into the tarp ... and fastening them down ...

Everything tightened and fastened down ...

ready to spread some gravel ...

With our shovels and the EZ Loader ...

we headed out to get a load of gravel ...

Mike then backed into the shelter ... and we started unloading the gravel ...

with shovels and the EZ Loader ...

then raking out the piles evenly on the ground ...

We just had enough gravel to be able to spread it out the door ...

on the ramp area ...

Happy to have this job done ...

now whatever is going to be stored in there ...

will not be sitting on the dirt or mud when it gets wet ...

Heading into the hot tub again after a full day of working ... !!!

 

 

The New Pick ...

September 30, 2015

When my cousin Klaus was here this summer ...

he had wondered why we did not have a loggers pick ...

to lift up the logs ... said it would save us from bending over and picking up the logs ...

Klaus was a forester in Austria...

We did the research online and found one ... The Oregon Log Lifting Pick ...

Our neighbourhood truck and saw guy ... ordered it for us.

It took abut 6 weeks to finally get it ...

we were excited to try it out ...

and found that it is a very handy tool to have ... !!!

Thank you Klaus ... !!!

It took us about 3 hours total ...

to cut up and stack ...

two truckloads of firewood ...

The picture of "Old Blue" was only ¾ loaded ...

We have one more row left to get ...

the next loads will be of pine wood ...

saving the hardwood for the colder weather ...

It was a beautiful fall day ...

to be out working on the firewood ...