New Koi

KON BAN WA , We “youkoso” ni koi to our pond. One is a Ogon Koi- platinum and the other is a Kohaku Koi -pure white with red markings. So far they have made friends with Fat Louie the Black Moore, Jennie, Marilyn, Brittney and Frankie the Comets and Norton, Honda, and Harley the Shabumpkins.
Help us name our new little buddies! All names will be considered.

Happy Father’s Day

I hope all the Dad’s out there had a wonderful day. We spent the day at the baseball diamond. Peter’s team got eliminated in the semi’s against the provinclial winning team (Guelph). I came home to cook and chop to prepare for the dinner. We ended up eating in the dining room as the evening cooled off pretty quickly. I did a honking boneless pork tenderloin roast , stuffed with prunes and apricots on the bbq. It was yummy and right up there with gourmet. Nick got showered with gifts. The boys had fun playing with his new toy, a paper shredder.

Teeny Celebrates BD#82

Yesterday Tom and I were sitting on the deck sipping our coffee and enjoying the soft rain on the newly planted soybeans when Tom says, “Did you hear that”? I said “What?” Tom responds, ” I think it is the Bowen ferry!” We both fondly laughed knowing that both our hearts occasionally find their way out west. Little did we know that June 10th was Teeny’s official 82nd birthday.
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The Wall Is Up

mortar.jpgYesterday when I got home the low wall forming our front courtyard was more than half completed. The stone masons are back this morning finishing up. What a wonderful job they are doing! The stone we chose is a multi sized cultured stone, pinkish sandstone colour with dark mortar. They will cap it with a long sheet of angelstone. This was something that was in the original 1957 house blueprints and we decided to add it into our landscaping renovations.
Scott arrives this afternoon with a transport of topsoil to spread on the backyard around the deck and pond so we can plant grass seed. Then EVERYTHING will be DONE.

Is it snowing?

Hey, there in Calgary. I heard that it was snowing there this weekend, or was that only in Kananaskis? We are all cheering like crazy for the Flames. That was quite the site to see every fan sitting in the stands at the Saddledome in Flames jerseys. I’m going out to look for t-shirts or car flags to show our support over the series. The city must just be one big party. The streets will be deserted come gametime on Tuesday.

Garden ornaments

The other day I came home with two garden figures to commemorate Pride and asked the boys to pick which one they liked. They said that they wanted to keep both. They are nestled in the garden as a happy reminder and memory for us. I also got a surprise phone call from the Vet to come and pick up his ashes. I asked that he be cremated but I didn’t know that I was going to get the ashes (for a cost). Well here they are, proudly displayed on the mantle.

Bako pond

We opened the pool today to our surprise it was bright green. This has never happened to us before. We got a new winter cover, the style that is like a trampoline and is a security blanket as opposed to a winter cover. The sun light gets through the meshing and guess what? The algae loves the heat build up under the blanket. It is the perfect environment for frogs, tadpoles and fish. Nick is busy working on the tiles that fell off over the winter. I’ll look out for the Great Blue Herons that may be doing the flyby.

Sushi Served Pondside :-(

Thursday night I brought home some nice fish for our pond. I purchased two gold fish and three shubunkin (poor man’s koi). They seemed very happy in the pond and explored all the nooks and crannies among the rocks. They loved to dart back and forth under the waterfall and taking turns chasing one another back and forth the length of the pond. It must of been a great feeling to be out of the crowded aquarium they came from.

This morning there was no one to be found. We had an early morning visitor that had a preference for fresh fish for breakfast. Our new pets had become a delicious early morning snack for a great blue heron. While we were looking for our fish this morning, the local heron was making another sortie run overhead. Tough luck for us and our short lived pets. Crying