5C's Que Pasa

Just the other morning we both noticed a hot air balloon moving directly into the flight path of the Kelowna Airport.  Not a good idea at all.  We have often seen the Remax ( real estate ) balloon floating around but I had not noticed this particular one before.  There have been many harrowing descents over the past few years.  Balloons landing in residential streets and such.

This one was almost across the lake from us but a tad to the left but directly in the flight path.

If Colin was here ( he is doing an 15 hour photo shoot ) I could under his direction place an arrow or dot over the balloon.  It is less than an inch to the left of that tall tree ( and right above that second tree to the right of the tall tree ) and just over our Mark White kinetic wind sculpture.  Pretty close to us.

The balloon initially appeared to be landing and then rose and moved over several yards before it eventually touched down.  Not sure if you can see that bird just above the power line to the left of the balloon.

That particular area is both a farm and also has roaming stock.  So perhaps they had to move over to avoid landing in and stepping out onto cow poop 🙄

Colin and I did a hot air balloon ride way back in 2000.  It was my gift to Colin on the occasion of his 50th birthday.  Our particular ride was in a fairly large basket, we had about 6 -7 people inside including the pilot and we had room to move about.  What I remember most were the barking dogs.  Apparently the hot air as it is let out makes a noise that affects dogs ears and that causes the ruckus.  Once we moved more out over the countryside it became more tranquil.  When we landed and without incident, thank goodness, everyone was served a glass of bubbly.  Way back then Colin and I were strict vegans and did not drink so they provided us with a bottle of sparkling apple juice.  It was a memorable experience but quite honestly I doubt that we would do it again.  Well….unless it was at the Albuquerque Balloon Festival which is on our to do list once we are retired ( our busy season in October and the festival is usually early October ) and once the girls are gone as they could not take the noises associated with the balloons.

Never a dull moment around here 😀

Colin continues to have free time so we continue to have fun together.  I consider this training for our retirement in two years.  I do dread how busy he is going to any week now right until we leave here the end of October.  We already have a client wanting us to delay our trip till early November.  In their particular case the building is not completed yet but why can’t they wait until the end of April or early May?

I grew up on a diet of classical music including attending every symphonic production at the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton.  Saturday afternoons at our home were dedicated to listening to the radio broadcast of an opera performed live from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York city.  We knew what was being performed the next week so we read the libretto to understand the story.  As the four of us kids got older Mom eventually joined the Edmonton Opera Society and sang in the chorus.  Needless to say we all attended each performance.

So when I found out that Opera Kelowna was performing a full performance of the Magic Flute there was no question of us attending which we did last Saturday.  I knew before hand that this wasn’t the Met and to not expect much but in fact it was much more than I expected.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The music to this opera was written by Mozart and the libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder.  It was sung in German with English subtitles.  Personally I find them distracting but if it helps others enjoy the opera more, so be it.

These were professional singers and they were outstanding for a Kelowna performance.  There were three performances and they were all sold out.

We never got any photos of Papageno and Papagena but it was difficult taking photos in the theater and we did not want to disturb anyone.  I was excited to read in the program that they were performing La Boheme next August, as I have photos of my mother in her ballgown when she was in the chorus of this opera years ago.

A late evening followed by an early morning. Once the girls were fed, walked and the car made up for the them ( we put the back seats down and put down many pillows and make a comfortable area for them to lay between our seats ) we were on the road by 10AM Sunday morning.  Look at those vineyards along the lake.

We were on our way South to Osoyoos to visit our friends Janet & Grant and their dog Boo. Caeli seems to have found a good pillow on Carmeh’s back.  Carmeh appears to have her head next to Colin’s armpit.

At this point we decided to try the GPS 👿  👿  👿   I pretty much missed the next 60 – 90 minutes of the drive just trying to shut that stupid lady off.  First off the address did not exist and she kept trying to send us back to Kelowna.  We usually keep the GPS off but thought we should give it a try.  Never ever again.  We found the address with my Google print out map that I had printed out before we left home.  It was an almost 3 hour drive and especially so on a Sunday during the height of tourist season.  All those RV’s 🙄   We patiently put on our brakes so the odd one could cut in before heading off in wrong direction.  Guess they don’t read signs much 😯

Janet & Grant moved here a year ago and we have to say that they found a lovely area to settle in. Their home is just perfect and if we could move it here to our site on the lake we would be in heaven. We love our home but another 700 sq ft would be grand.  They have a lovely pond that they look out on and many trails to walk Boo on.  A side note here, the girls and Boo recognized each other and not a bark was heard.  They shared the house in peace. The only problem was that Carmeh thought that she should be able to jump up and off the sofa at will as Boo did.  We soon had that barricaded……after her first jump up.

Our girls just had to check out one of the three putting greens to do their business on.  Look at that huge and most lovely Weeping Willow tree at the back, in the middle of the shot.  It is massive.

Our four hours together went by much too quickly.  Janet is a long time blog reader and this will be their third winter in Mazatlan and their second on the Isla.  We look forward to spending much more time together this coming winter. Thanks again for the wonderful lunch folks.  Long time readers will remember photos of Janet, Grant and Boo on the beach on the Isla.

The highway between Osoyoos and Kelowna is considered a major wine route and every mile seems to be a turn off to another winery or two or three.  Sadly we did not have the time to stop and do any tastings.

There are also many orchards and gardens along this road and that means many fruit & veggie stands.

The highway follows Okanagan Lake for close to 90 miles visually,  very scenic. We actually cross over the lake coming into Kelowna and it remains on our left all the way to Vernon. We can’t see it once we cross the bridge into town but even here at our home on our lake midway to Vernon,  we are only 10 minutes away.  We can’t see it but it is just over the hill to the West.

It was a very long day. We never got home till 7PM and as you can see Carmeh was struggling to stay awake.  She was restless and trying out a variety of new positions.

I am fairly certain that we did something last Friday also but I can’t remember.  So here we are having a marvelous time in the middle of summer, a first for us, mostly due to business which at the moment means no work versus always working.  However now I have to try and fit in the work I need to do for our company as well as find time to post here on the blog not to mention even find an hour to read my book.  New things to learn, balance and just enjoy life.  And that ain’t all…….I am starting something new and as a couple we are starting something new.  No wonder I am too busy to post.  Don’t worry I will continue to post as it is a great diary of what we are doing.  I just have no idea as to the when.

Rae or anyone, why are my emoticons just gray boxes???

Too busy doing things and having fun so no time to post.  Doing many new things and just truly living.  Will post when things slow down 😉

Just love having Colin not busy at the moment 😀

Time to get out there and talk.

Is this what we have ???evolved to?

As you know we live in what I like to call a glass house.  One of the first things we did when we moved in was to order special blinds that allowed us all the view we wanted as well as being able to help keep the heat out.  We get the sun and hence heat at certain times of the year from sunrise to sunset.  However by working with our not at all cheap blinds ( like over 20K for all 23 windows ) we manage to control the heat and still have a view.  Some days like today when it is 90F plus humidity we also turn on the A/C for a part of the day.

So earlier today I was opening the blinds along the long wall of windows and closing the others.  Suddenly I felt a heavy and painful bonk on my head.  The bloody blind came off the wall and hit me on the head. Four hours later my head still aches.  Of course Colin was not here.  He has been here pretty much all week but not now when I needed him.

After rubbing my poor head I called the company that we had ordered all our blinds from.  So sorry they said but at four years they started to say that they were not responsible.  I calmly ( well I was calm at first ) explained that amount of money we had spent, not to mention that the folks who bought our home across the road used them also to upgrade to similar blinds.  Also we are gone half the year so in actual fact the blinds have only had two years of use.  Hard to get my head ( sore that it is ) around the fact that we moved in here just shy of four years ago.  Mind you we were only here a few weeks before heading south to Mexico.

It seems to me that the installer had originally attempted to install the hardware anchor or whatever it is called into the window sill.  It is obvious that he had made an error in his original measurements and the valance and blind were too long.  So he cheated and drilled into the drywall.  I checked and all 7 of the 8 other anchors in this particular bay window are drilled into the wood frame of the window.

This was a fairly hefty piece of blind that hit my head. Not to mention that my neck is also screaming.  Did I just not return from seeing my chiropractor last Saturday?  Grrr……

Once I calmed done some more, I observed that two different lengths of screws had been used in the installation.  They aren’t even the same width.

it is obvious that two different types of screws had been used.  So I once again dialed the owner of the blind company ( actually they are a paint store from whom we also purchased paint for the entire house ) and explained these details to him.

So here I was with an open window to the West which was about to overpower our A/C unit once the sun started to shine in full strength.

Just as I started to tape in some aluminum foil, the phone rang.  Turns out that an installer just happens to be driving past here tomorrow between 11AM and 1 PM and will reinstall the blind for us.

Maybe I am part Mexican.  I got the window lined with foil so we did not heat up and I have someone coming tomorrow to do a repair at no charge to us.

Life is good.

Time now to deal with the bump on my noggin and the only solution I can see is that dreaded expensive vino blanco 🙄

Oh yes, Colin has been instructed to bring home take out Chinese for dinner 😀   Life truly is good.

As they are now 11 and 13 years of age we know that they won’t be with us too much longer.  So we are enjoying them to the fullest each and everyday.  If we aren’t laughing out loud at their antics we are certainly smiling.  There is always time  throughout the day for extra cuddles and kisses.  They sleep with us a night and snuggle right close, Carmeh to Colin and Caeli to me.

For about thirty minutes every morning Carmeh plays like a puppy. She plays all day long but that morning session is remarkable. She even chases her tail.  Then she collapses.

Caeli has no energy whatsoever unless it is about food She prefers to rest as much as possible through the day.  That does happen to be a bag of kibble on the step that she is guarding.

We always cover our duvet with a blanket and on top of that, two of their mini blankets.  This particular day after our morning walk they each chose to lay on the middle of a blanket for their nap.

A bit later I came by and they were both in the same position on their backs. So comical.

Carmeh has such a deepness to her.

A favorite area they both share.  We are usually seated to the right in our teal loungers.  The girls have taken over the sofa and most of the rest of the house.  By the way under that green blanket are two pillows.  Yes two pillows so they are high enough to see us over the top of the white sofa as we sit at our desks which are at the bottom of the photo, at the opposite end of the house.

We have indulged them totally.  Not sure that I would say that we have spoiled them but our lives do revolve around them.  Our first two doxies died at 2 and at 5 years of age so these two are always getting extra love.  We now have a system of time for them and time for work and they seem to understand that.  They are the perfect travel companions and love the RV.  We can hardly wait to get back to the Isla.  It is so wonderful to watch the girls on the beach, especially that very first day.  Not long now…..