Aug. 2/16:  Had dinner w/ Penny & Wilf last night.  Well, who did we run into in the restaurant?  Cousin Barry Larson & his beautiful daughter, Lauren!

Here they are!  Janet (Barry’s wife) was back in Calgary, hence the reason for just the 2 of them.  Nice shot!

Penny & Wilf came back to OUR place this time after dinner (we’d bought a bottle of scotch!). We got to see some of their photos from their river cruise down the Rhine.  We got to identify an Egyptian Goose which was the only bird they noticed on their trip!  Wilf hadn’t wanted to go on this trip (he’s rather get on his motorcycle & drive!), but he admitted that he’d really enjoyed the whole trip – even the castle tours they went on!  He enjoyed Notre Dame Cathedral in Strasburg especially – was very impressed with the ancient, elaborate architecture.  Needless to say, Penny was very happy about how much he enjoyed it!

Aug. 3/16:  Thundered, lightninged & rained/hailed most of the night.  A very dark day (being so many clouds) – HOWEVER – Blaine dropped by around noon to say they’d gotten half the roof trusses up!  Also to arrange our meeting w/ plumber/electrician tonight.

We stopped by when we eventually emerged from our cocoon – hallelujah!  Really looks like a house now!  Actually it looks big!

I also stopped into the post office today to find out how we can get a box for our address here.  Unfortunately we are on a waiting list!  Also checked to find out when garbage pickup occurs.  In our area of town it’s Thursday mornings!

We heard from cousin Karen (we’ve been trying to connect with her too).  She’d gotten the followoing photos from Harold early this morning.

Apparently there was lots of hail around the SK Landing area & hail damage to some crops – I think fairly localized.  Thank goodness it wasn’t larger!

We had 2 meetings  this evening – with the plumber & the electrician.  We’re very happy with both of them – recommended by Blaine, our builder.  I am not savvy about all the technical stuff – though Bill has educated himself on most fronts (he’s amazing!).

Thursday, Aug. 4/16:  A lovely sunny morning – high predicted 24C.  The cats enjoy looking for birds at a sunny window.

This morning Bill spent quite a bit of time refining technical drawings & sending them along to plumber, electrician & Blaine.  After the cool weaher & nearly torrential rain, it is a hot, sunny day today.  Hopefully our building site will dry out a bit for the guys.

This afternoon we decided to go have a look at the house – just as Blaine asked us to come over.  There was something he wanted to show us.

Here are Blaine & Bill looking at the little roof jut that will be manufactured all along the ridge to add some interest.  As you can see, the sheathing has been put on the roof & they’re about to lay the paper overtop to keep the wet out!  The yard is a mud mire!

Looks pretty good eh?!  You can see where our front porch will be just to the left at the front between those 2 posts & the wall.  Then on the right is a small peaked roof section to add more interest.

Friday, Aug. 5/16:  Market morning in Maple Creek where I got carrots from the Hutterites plus strawberries & nectarines rom the BC fruit truck!  Yum!

We drove by the alley of our house today – and magically our garage has appeared!  Hold mackerel!  Even the roof rafters are on!  Of course, Blaine says this is the easy part!

Saturday, Aug. 6/16:  Drove into Swift Current today to meet with a couple of landscapers, who are doing bids for the yard.   Both seemed like good people.  More decisions1.

When we got back we drove by the house, since we knew they were working today because they’re away Monday.

Lo & Behold – our double garage closed in & so is the roof.  Here’s a look from both sides (the truck belongs to Blaine’s son, Jay).

At the back of the property, between us & the good neighbor, is a large (about 6′ tall) chokecherry bush!  It’s loaded at the moment, but I couldn’t get next to it because the grass is tall & I had sandals on!  Drat!  What I also found out is that the little apple tree on our property has nice eating apples.

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They are small & a bit tart, but thin-skinned & delicious!  Penny gave me some of hers – the exact same type.  You can see that many have fallen on the ground.

They also added the roof detail, so here are a coupel of shots from the front as we left for home.

Now it’s Olympics on TV!

Sunday, Aug. 7/16:  A day of cleaning, packing & getting ready to go home.  Bill is also working on the gardening plan.

We drove by the house so he could look again at the yard.  Here he is beside this huge fir tree in our yard.  Must be 40 years old or so.  The apple tree is just out of the photo on the left, behind a lilac hedge.

The town of Maple Creek has previously won a “Towns in Bloom” award.  Here you can see what care they take of the main street.  It is planted with colorful flower baskets & has a striking street banner indicating its historical heritage.

I think I’ll post this now, since there will be no new house pictures for awhile!