let the games begin

 The materials for our deck just arrived.

It appears that the joist plan was omitted from the order.

Gulp.

christie graduates

 Yesterday our niece, Christie, graduated from high school. 

It was neat to be able to be at her grad.

Her brother, Jori, graduated from BFA so we were at his grad,

and her sister, Allison, graduated when we were back in

Canada for furlough 2 years ago.
So yesterday we rounded it out quite nicely!

 A few of the Dueck "frousins" - friends/cousins.

Howard's brother, Steve, and his family.

They were with us in Germany for 3 years.

mr. mcgregor's garden

 The only thing that my garden has in common with the famous garden of

Mr. McGregor

is that it has a fence - and a rabbit - or two.

 Several weeks ago after the garden had been planted and the lettuce

was beginning to burst forth

we were very unimpressed to see a rabbit couple hopping

merrily along behind our house.

"We need a fence" I said to Howard and he agreed.

So off we went to Canadian Tire and found what we needed.

I also bought marigolds and planted them in strategic

spots around the yard -
beside the recently planted evergreens in particular.

Since the raising of the fence and the planting of the marigolds

the rabbits have not been hopping quite so frequently

down the bunny trail.

My garden is growing but rather pathetically.
(Please note that this picture is several weeks old. If it looked like this
today I think I would plow it under!)

Mr. McGregor would not be impressed that I have "compared"

my garden to his in any way, shape or form.

And after yet another deluge of rain today which included a 

"rain watch"

due to its intensity and length, I am beginning to lose

hope that we are going to reap any kind of a harvest

from our small garden patch -
rabbits or not.

they may be coming your way!

If you recognize any of these young men in this picture 

and you live between our house and 

Alaska, 

you may be receiving a visit from them!

They arrived at our house this morning at 6:50.

Fortunately we knew they were coming and breakfast

preparations were well underway.

They had left the Chicago area yesterday morning and after a long, long day
of driving and

being "detained" at the border for a rather

significant amount of time...

they managed to arrive in St. Pierre in time for

breakfast.

 Three of these guys graduated with Katy

last year.

The one to the left of Katy was in
Bethany's class from the time that

she joined his class in grade 3

until they graduated together 3 years ago.

It was so great to see them again. They all seem to be doing well

and were in pretty good spirits

especially considering they had been driving all night.

I was called out to sub this morning and Katy was also

off to work so we left them alone to veg out a bit and

sleep some before they got back in the car.

I came home to an empty house and it seemed

like they had not even been here.

Fortunately, though, I had the picture!

plethora of plants

Bethany came home last weekend with hundreds of dollars worth

of bedding plants that were destined for the

compost bin at the greenhouse she's working at.

I was overwhelmed but also very excited!

 This lovely lily was not one of the freebees. It was one that Bethany had picked

for me and we were both so thrilled that it bloomed

already on Sunday morning. It is so gorgeous!

 My front flower bed.

 A few of the many pots that were used to try to make use of all the plants.

The back flower bed. Once we get the stairs finished and all the

flowers are in bloom this will be a lovely spot!

I also lined the front edge of the garden with flowers and I still have

a few more begonias that are needing homes.

I never imagined I would have so many flowers

our first summer in our house.

THANK YOU Bethany for your rescue mission!

bfa in manitoba

 It's been quite a week for BFA reunions in Manitoba. 

On Wednesday night my friend Gail, who I worked with in the library at BFA for 4 years and who is on furlough this year, was out from Alberta for a visit. 

She came over with Grace, a former BFA staff member living back in Canada, who is now Howard's assistant.

 Then last night Albert and Edna hosted a gathering for Mari Ellen who is on furlough
in the US from BFA this year. 

She made the trek across the border to come 

and see a bunch of us up in this part of the world.

 Albert and Edna were in fine form and we had a great time with them and everyone else who came out. It was so neat to see so many former BFA staff

friends again and meet and make new ones.

 Of course Albert had the best time of all as he kept the kids entertained with his "fine form".

getting it done

So the shutters are on now, the grass is starting to turn green 

(long story there) 

and bit by bit we are getting some details finished up. 

It feels good. 

Today was a warmish and dry day so things are 

starting to dry out a bit too. 

Howard was actually able to mow the grass today for the first time this year 

(back to the long story) 

and it feels so good to be working on our own yard. 

I like that - a lot.

life after drowning

Man has it been wet! It has been so wet that I was sure the seeds in my garden had all rotted in the soil. But after several days of urging life out of them, up they came. I know that some have been lost due to the extreme moisture (and cool days) but I am thankful for what has suddenly appeared. Now we need to get serious about fencing this little plot before the rabbits, which have suddenly appeared out of the blue, begin their feast!

the prairie

The clouds on Saturday were beautiful. There's nothing quite like the wide open prairie with a sky like this. However, by the end of the day this sky had turned nasty and we even had a tornado touch down near a small town about 30 km from us.