SUMMER TIME!

Yes, summer has arrived.  We have had the longest day already and now the days will be getting shorter.  Where does time go??

I will try to update you on our comings and goings in the past month.  It might be easiest to start with this week!  We have had a handyman here this week and it was so nice to get many odd jobs done that have been waiting for just such a fellow to help us out.  Kelly lives in Weyburn and did work for Clare and Jodi in their basement and put new windows in their veranda.  Now it's time to change some of our windows after almost forty years so we called on Kell's Construction.  The windows have been ordered and this week he tackled many of those little jobs - put cedar siding on part of the basement walls by the deck, replaced florescent lights in the basement with LED ceiling lights, put new flooring in main and basement bathrooms, replaced several suspended ceiling tiles in the basement,  put in a new toilet and sink in main bathroom.  Quite a lift to get those jobs taken care of this week!

Last week was quite a different week.  Instead of improvements, we were hit by a hail storm that hit our fields here at home as well as east of here and the land Clare rents west of here too!  It almost followed the Can/US border with no damage until four miles south of Torquay.  The once green fields looked like summer fallow!  They are starting to show green again so we are hoping most of them will grow back, except for the rye that was seeded last fall and was more advanced.  I was glad that we had put our garden in late. The potatoes were just coming though the ground so are doing fine.  One of the big doors on the quonset was blown off the tracks and onto the ground, a plastic bin came from west of the quonset to east of the house against the trees in our garden area.  Some houses had damaged siding.  Three west windows were broken at Salem Church just north of here.  We were in Regina so missed all that action and I was glad that we weren't home!

We went to Regina on June 14th to celebrate our 40th (month!) anniversary.  We stopped at Laurel and Greg's on the way up, then went to visit Marilyn and Ray Scheske, who hosted our wedding in their home and were our witnesses.  We went out for supper to The Lakeshore, where we had our wedding supper.  It had rained that afternoon so we couldn't enjoy their beautiful back yard where they spend a lot of time these summer days.

On the way home on Friday morning we stopped at Doorns Greenhouse to replace tomato plants and some flowers that we knew would be damaged.  We were just in time to take advantage of the 50% off the price of bedding plants!

We had good news from Alan's sister, Donna and Cam Lock.  They have had their house for sale in Gull Lake, wanting to move to Saskatoon to be closer to Cam's doctor for his lung disease, and to a daughter and their family.  This week the house sold! Yesterday they found a condo that they both liked so they will soon be residents of Saskatoon after spending over fifty years in Gull Lake.  We will miss our B and B stop half way to Calgary!  Now we can visit my brother Merv and Jan as well as Donna and Cam in Saskatoon.

The NHL hockey draft is on and we are anxious to learn where Cole Fonstad will be heading.  He is 18, the grandson of former Torquay area residents, Marvin and Lyla (Clauson) Fonstad who farmed about three miles north of here until moving to Regina.  Many young boys dream of playing in the NHL but very few have those dreams come true.  We hope you are one of those few, Cole! Kirk and Meryl, Coles' dad, used to play hockey together in Torquay. Proud mom is Donna (nee Tosczak) Congratulations Cole!  We just learned that you were picked 128th by Montreal!

Cole when playing for Estevan

June 23, 2018

On Saturday morning we went to Torquay Community Centre for a pancake breakfast, a fundraiser to show support for Brad and Kathleen Stobbs.  She is battling cancer just months after giving birth to their third son.  The breakfast was in conjunction with a Slow Pitch tournament so good timing and a good turnout.  It was a good chance to visit with neighbours too.

On Sunday there is a 2:00 service at Lac Qui Parle Lutheran Church north-west of Torquay.  The church was built by Howard's Grandpa Lauritz Bergum and has been completely restored with an indoor toilet added!  In July there will be a wedding there!

The family of Gladys Hanson gathered at Salem Lutheran Church one Sunday in remembrance of her 100th birthday, which was on June 7.

.   Her son Keith has taken on the role of caretaker at Salem, such a fitting tribute to his parents, Carl and Gladys , whose graves are there.  The windows that were broken in a recent hailstorm were quickly boarded up with the wooden sheets trimmed to match the windows.  The grass is cut before it's shabby.  Thanks for this wonderful gift to Salem, Keith.  I understand you and Janice vacuumed the interior too.

 

I have lots of catching up to do with grandchildren's activities but I'm going to leave that for my next blog when they are done with school for the year.

I hear rain on the roof so I won't need to water the garden today. (It was just a quick shower.) We had 3/10 of an inch yesterday so that is so good for these crops that are struggling back after the hailstorm.

Love and sympathies to the family of the late Albert Vinge of Fernie, BC. as they gather for his funeral service on Monday, July 2.  His father was also Albert, a pastor who was married to Edna (Bergum), a sister to Howard's mother, Clara.

Torquay made the news recently regarding a proposed geothermal power plant in the area.  The news didn't give the location but I can tell you that it will be on Johnson land about six miles east of our farm.  Here's a link to info about it. Click below, then click again
 http://leaderpost.com/news/saskatchewan/canadas-first-ever-geothermal-power-plant-in-the-works-for-torquay-area

I will close for now and will update next weekend.  On July 7 -8 we are looking forward to visitors from Oslo, Norway.  Kari Eika's grandparents had a store in Torquay in the 1920's, then went back to Norway.  They returned in the 1930's as Kari said her grandmother longed for the prairies.  That was not a good time to be in business and the family returned again to Norway, this time to stay.  Kari wants to show her husband and their two sons where the Eikas lived in Canada.  We will serve lunch after the 9:00 Sunday worship service at Torquay on July 8.  You are welcome to come for the service or to join us for a time of coffee and visiting at 10:00.  My sister Sandra, her daughter Mandy as well as Laurel and Ashley plan to be here too.  Clare's will be at curling camp with Abbey.  Kirk's will be camping at Kenosee so we will miss them.