Family Picture

I was going through the pictures from Mike and Nicole's wedding. I think this is one of the nicest ones of our family.

Wedding Guests

Mary wanted to be in the picture.

Hot Times in the City

We just got home from Bronwyn and Wade's wedding. It was a pretty hot time in more ways than one. ( The temperature high today was 34C and the previous record for this date was 31.7C in 1914.) The wedding and reception was the perfect combination of seriousness and humour. And the messages at the wedding and the speeches at the reception were short and to the point. Just what I like. A perfect day for a great couple.

Visitors From Afar

We have been enjoying having Allen and Tanya staying with us since Wednesday. I understand they will be heading out on the rest of their cross country tour on Sunday. Ky came on Monday and Lyn arrived here yesterday. The picture above was taken of Al and Tanya and Ky having lunch with us out on the patio.


Al and Tanya gave us this model of a traditional Ukrainian stove as a gift. I was looking up information about these clay/ brick stoves called the "pech." I found some examples of these stoves as shown in the pictures below. The left one was called a Russian stove and the right one was called a Ukrainian furnace/stove. Tanya said the Russian stoves are usually plain, and the Ukrainian stoves decorated like the model stove they gave us.

My Lively Aunt and Family News

This evening I phoned my Aunt Helen in the US who is 88 years old and doing very well. She was married to my Dad's youngest brother George. When we visited her 5 years ago she had one great grandchild. She now has 10 great grandchildren. She is well and enjoying her family several of which live not far from her.

On another family note today I got an email from my cousin David (son of my Dad's sister) in Texas. His brother, my cousin Richard age 65 passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. The other brother Robert passed away a year ago also with cancer. Unfortunately both died in debt due to the high cost of health care in the US. Richard was laid off from his job 5 years ago so could not get health insurance. He had to pay for his cancer treatment out of his own pocket and by debt, and with help from his brother. To me these are examples why the US needs to do something with their health care system.

Samoa Switches to Driving on Left

I was reading the BBC online news about Samoa switching today to driving on the left side of the road. There was widespread concern that it would result in a lot of accidents and general mayhem.

“So we just wake up one morning and pull out of our driveways onto the other side of the road, do we?” says Tole’afoa Solomona Toa’iloa, who heads People Against Switching Sides (PASS). “Cars are going to crash, people are going to die, not to mention the huge expense to our small country.”

There were traffic jams but it was generally successful.

I looked up which countries drive on the left versus right. About 1/3 countries drive on the left including Britain, India, southern Africa, Japan, Australia. New Zealand and most of the South Pacific. Apparently Samoa switched to the left be the same as South Pacific neighbours and to be able to import lower cost used vehicles from Australia and New Zealand.

I also read a humorous article by journalist Gwynne Dyer called A Leftist (Driving) Triumph in Samoa with some of the politics and history of countries switching driving sides. He also told of when Newfoundland switched to driving on the right when joining Canada in 1949. The story is that the Newfoundland government was worried about how its people would handle the switch from left to right, until one minister solved the problem. “Let them get used to it a bit at a time,” he said. “The people whose names start with A to D can switch on Monday, E to K will switch on Tuesday....”

Showing Off our New Hats

Elaine and I were on webcam with Mary wearing our new hats. She said I should post a picture taken with the webcam. My hat is a Tilly LTM6 and Elaine's is a LTM5. Mike said we look like we are ready to go exploring. Mary said we are ready for a safari.

Weekend Travels

We travelled to the Park Valley area for the weekend, going up on Friday and coming home yesterday. We had a very good trip and enjoyable visits.

Elaine was in the garden with her Mother.

Here I am on the patio at the farm enjoying the nice weather.

Janice and Rayna looking at one of the horses.

While I was on the front deck at Greg and Laurel's log house I had two very friendly dogs and a cat wanting to be petted at the same time. For a while I was petting one dog with each hand and the cat was crawling under my arm.

Elaine was trying to ride one of the horses in the evening but not getting too far. It wasn't used to anyone else riding it.

This beautiful sunset ended my birthday at the farm.

Random conversation at the farm:
Me: I need a heating pad for my sore neck.
Grandma: I have a heating pad that is full of beans.
Me: Sometimes I am full of beans.
Grandma: Puzzled look
Janny: Shaking head and rolling eyes.