Wonderful Thursday!

Where are we today ?
New Hamburg Ontario

        Was a little chilly this morning but all was fine sun was coming up and gonna get a bit warmer. Puttered around for a bit then, Suzie and her Dad went into the hospital about noon today and her mom was sitting up, drinking some water and talking a bit. Sore throat from the tube being removed. As the day wore on she started talking more and more, (getting back to normal) a few other family members dropped by for a bit too.

        After she left I had a project, compute a bit the began waxing our coach. So got right to that enjoying and almost hot day (only 70f, 21c). Shortly aftre 2 o'clock got a call from Ma and she took a nice country drive for a visit and a coffee. It was time for me to stop anyway. I got about 1/3 of our coach done. Don't want to get it all done at once ya know, might hurt myself and besides , what would I do tomorrow?

Ma brought treats for Omer

Blue Jay in the tree

Ma and Omer

 A Robin and Omer snoozing

         Now even before I could see the car, or even the dust down the road, Omer jumped up and was barking he just knew it was Suzie coming home.

Hi Suzie

Oh that feels so good

        Now we got to chat and she updated me on all the stuff that went on, we had a cool beverage then a feast ! Yes a leftover feast, BBQ'd garlic sausage, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, creamed potatoes, vegetables, beans, Chinese food, and a tossed salad, lotsa stuff in the fridge almost like a buffet, only better. Lots more here too.

yep its soo tasty

        Now supper is done, she had a few phone calls to make with Omer by her side (of course), then as the air cooled down we headed into to our house for a nice quiet evening. 

Suzie are you gonna pet me, our what?

        So nice to see that her mother is out of the woods and on the road to recovery. I think everybody will relax a tiny bit more and probably sleep a little better.

        Thanks for all you support, comments and stopping by, maybe we will get back to normal soon , whatever that might be.

Check out the map below to see where we have been this summer

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A little set back...

Where are we today ?
New Hamburg Ontario

        Well all looked pretty good until this morning when Suzie's mom had to go back into surgery for a minor adjustment, a small blood clot had to be removed from the drainage tube. So a bunch of them went into the hospital and waited for results.

        Meanwhile, Omer and I are at the farm waiting and keeping busy doing stuff that needs to be done. Cooked up some garlic farmers sausage and sauerkraut, threw together a salad along with some leftover potatoes so people can grab a bite whenever need be. 

Omer guarding our house

Tasty sausage and sauerkraut

        Then I checked the oil and fuelled up the Grasshopper, hopped on and played around cutting some more grass, for a couple hours now that we have had a tiny bit of rain.

this be the Grasshopper

out the lane

beside the road

nice flowers by the creek 

almost done

         Now later on was hungry so I grabbed a sausage on a bun, w/sauerkraut and a tossed salad. Then we went back to town to visit mother in law again to see how she was doing. Recovery will take a while so we will do what we can.

tatsy supper.

An interesting view on being a Geezer was posted on Phannie and Mae's Blog, and I can relate to all these items, can you? Click here to see if you can relate. Thanks for the referral from Al of the Bayfield Bunch. 

        A quick note on the Mennonite Relief Sale last weekend it brought in $335,000.00 for the Ministries of the Mennonite Central Committee. Thank you to all who helped and/or contributed.

        Glad you could drop by again.

Check out the map below to see where we have been this summer

View Summer 2012 in a larger map

Update on Suzie's Mom, all is good!

Where are we today ?
New Hamburg Ontario

        We both had a good nights sleep even with a very warm night about 24c (76f) overnight, but a nice breeze made it quite comfortable.

        At 9:30am I dropped Suzie off at her Dad's in New Hamburg where her Sister picked them up and the three of them headed off to St. Mary's Hospital in Kitchener. To visit with my mother-in- law for a visit and the long wait for her surgery to begin at 11:am. 

New Hamburg fairgrounds empty now after
 the Relief sale on the weekend

        While everyone was hanging out at the hospital waiting, Omer and I were waiting at home, and waiting, and waiting.... we did have stuff to do, computing and cleaning as the weather was cooler, rainy and very windy outside.

waiting for Suzie to come home

       Well the operation went fine, she had a triple bypass (not a double as originally planned). They started at 12:30 p.m. (90 minutes behind schedule) and were done at 4:30 p.m. Suzie , her sister Rose and Dad (Levi) were all there and after they talked to the DOC, were back at the farm before 7 o'clock for supper. She will be in ICU until tomorrow sometime the recovery for a few days.

        Back here, we fired up the BBQ a threw on a bunch on burgers, Sandy made some creamed potatoes and heated up some pork a beans and we all had a feast, everybody was starving after a  stress full day. 

burgers, creamed potatoes and beans 

now Omer, he is happy all is good 

        Now the operation is done and we just need to hang out a bit more until the recovery process kicks in and all is good, then we can be on the road again. Whenever the time is right.

        Thanks for all you prayers and positive thoughts very much appreciated.

Check out the map below to see where we have been this summer

View Summer 2012 in a larger map

Rest up Monday

Where are we today ?
New  Hamburg Ontario

        Well today is just gonna be hot and I'm lovin it. The temps to get up to 32c (90f) with a humidex of 38c (100f). So we have no real plan other than for Suzie to relax. Tomorrow will be a very long day for her at the hospital during her mother's operation, patiently waiting with her father and sister for results. So a book and a shade tree with at very nice refreshing breeze and Omer by her side. Me I just puttered around, read for a bit and even hopped on the grasshopper for a couple hours to trim a bit of the grass and weeds that were growing here and there. The lawns and the crops desperately need a good rain.

        Supper tonight eating in shifts so I whipped up a huge meatloaf, with mashed potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots and a tossed salad. The farm house is heated and cooled with a Geothermal state of the art climate energy efficient system so very comfortable inside. Suzie and I ate at 6 pm then headed to Innerkip for a T-ball game. Dennis and Sandy a bit later, then a meal to her Dad who is spending his days at the hospital with my mother in law.

a large meat loaf

tasty 

         Now for the T-Ball game at 7 pm is always fun to watch the little ones learning how to play. Throwing catching and hitting the balls is quite entertaining.

         Game over shortly after 8 o'clock then just a ten minute country drive back to the farm. A nice red sun setting in the clouds, maybe some rain overnight.

        At 9:15 pm its still 27c (80f) so windows open and blankets gone love this early summer weather.

        So we try for a good nights sleep and drop Suzie off at her Dad's in New Hamburg, where her sister will pick them up and head into the hospital together. For the operation at 11:00am, so a small prayer or positive thoughts headed our way would be would be appreciated, knowing all will go well.

        Glad you could drop by again  today.

Check out the map below to see where we have been this summer

View Summer 2012 in a larger map

Sunday a day of Rest

Where are we today ?
New Hamburg Ontario

        After a couple busy days, Friday and Saturday helping out a bit with the Relief Sale etc... it was kinda nice not to have a bunch of stuff to do today. We crashed early last night and up at our usual 6 am pretty well rested. Checked with Suzie to see what the plan is today only to find out no plan! No body here has a real plan so we are on our own. 

        My turn to make a plan, so I called my mother in Waterloo and invited ourselves over there for supper. One stipulation thou we are gonna bring the food, and our Weber Q 100 grill and cook it. She likes to take us out all the time, but I think its time we had a home cooked meal there at her house.

          Before we left Sandy whipped up a nice brunch after church for Suzie, her Dad, Dennis and I. Then we hopped in the car to Kitchener. I dropped Suzie her off at the hospital for a visit with her mom, and over to my mom's set up our grill, peeled carrots, wrapped up some potatoes for baking. Then back to pick up Suzie, only 10 minutes away, saved the expensive parking lot fees.

        Now relaxing on Ma's front porch I fired up the Weber threw on a nice pork loin roast, potatoes and carrots with onions. We can chat and visit with her while our grill does all the work.

just relaxin with Ma 

A nice day to sit on her porch

I'm watching the Weber

a wonderful lean moist Pork Loin  

        I  think Ma enjoyed a tasty BBQ'd supper, add some sour cream, butter, applesauce and a salad, she even has leftovers for another meal or two. 

        After a nice afternoon visit and supper we packed up and headed back home to put our feet up a relax a bit more.

         Hope y'all had a nice Sunday too, drop by anytime!

Check out the map below to see where we have been this summer

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Mennonite Relief Sale, Day two

Where are we today ?
New Hamburg Ontario

        After a good night at the Mennonite Relief sale friday night, selling reserved seat tickets, wandering about and experiencing the furniture auction, back home and finished posting our blog, it was after 11 pm when we finally headed off to bed, much later than usual.

        Now we want to be up shortly after 5 am and think maybe should set an alarm clock. Well we have not done this in quite a few years, so went to set my clock radio (alarm not work, I guess it retired too). Suzies alarm has not worked for years either. Now looking for a small travel alarm we have not used for probably 10 years too, not sure if it works but set it anyway. Found out we have a start timer on our bedroom TV, can set it to come on at a certain time, lets see if that works. So finally to bed, but I woke up at 5 am anyway, I found out that both the travel alarm and tv alarm both work.

        A bit of early computing a coffee and off to the fairgrounds shortly after 6 am. Nice to get there before the large crowds begin but still a small lineup getting parked in the fields.

early morning quiet

people behind the scenes getting setup

6:30am the arena is pretty quiet

quilts for viewing

        This is a major fundraiser and the hundreds of volunteers are busy getting everything ready to go. If you like like Quilts and enjoy auctions this is the place to be. Other than that there is all types of food available as well from Swiss/Amish, Russian Mennonite, Hispanic Mennonite, Asian Mennonite baked goods, preserves, fruit pies, homemade ice cream, sweet cider apple butter and the list goes on and on.

truck load of donated pies coming in for sale

        One of the big favourites is the fresh strawberry pies. People began lining up before 7am in the arena waiting for them to begin selling at 8 o'clock. Volunteers arrived with their knives and large bowls to begin cleaning strawberries, folding boxes, make the whipped cream and getting things all put together.

volunteers in the stands cleaning berries

loading up the pies

whipped cream and box them up

        The lineup just for the strawberry pies was the full lenght of the hockey arena before 8 am and continued moving steady, but still a long line for well over two hours.

to the right is the lineup for strawberry pies

        By 8:30 am the quilt auction began and the arena seating was filling up pretty quick. At this point the pie line was diverted outside halfway down to make room for seating. They have 207 quilts to sell and will take somewhere around 4 to 5 hours.

        Even my mother dropped out to wander the sale and stopped to chat with us for a bit, so nice to see her out and about, wish we were done working by then so we could walkabout. But she kept on going after a short visit and headed back home.

seating for the quilt auction

        Every 25 quilts (about 50 minutes) a fresh auctioneer steps up and our nephew Greg was on duty for number 25 to 50. We watched until about 10 am and they were selling for as little as $200 with a lot around $500. And even a few over a thousand, the most expensive one we saw was $1600. Now remember this is a fundraiser and are donations, no taxes to pay here for anything.

Greg in action

Our Nephew Greg Auctioning Quilts today, this short video turned out much better than yesterdays, considering my small point and shoot camera.

          One of the highest bidders was the owner of Len's Mill Stores with many outlets in Ontario. In the past years he has purchased a large number of high priced quilts. Last year I believe he paid around $9,000 for the highest priced one here. I wish we could hang around to see him bid on the feature quilt this year.  To view and read about i the feature quilt click here. As of shortly after noon Aunt Delores (Suzie's Mom's sister) said the highest price paid for a quilt was $6,700. not to shabby! Down from last year.

        But alas our work was done here and we wanted to walkabout and grab a bite to eat.

Lineup for the donut project

parking in the fairgrounds was full

even plants for sale

        We took our supplies back to the car and returned for Pork on a bun to start with. That's easier said than done. Long lineups and people stopping to talk. People we have not seen for a long time and people who know Suzie's mom. Can't miss Suzie she looks just like here mom.

Suzie chatting

getting the pork ready

cooking the pork, Canadian Peameal Back Bacon

        Somebody asked yesterday what was a hot Tea Ball. Well here is a picture below, a deep fried ball of cake like batter, coated with icing sugar. So very good and absolutely no calories at all!

Tea ball

        Now after a few bites to eat, pork on a bun, and we split a sausage on a bun and a few fries, we checked the outdoor auction that was going on, walked about and kept running into more people asking how Suzie's mom was (everybody knows Suzie). It took us a very long time to walkabout the fairgrounds.

Outdoor auction

        We finally made it over to the children's play area and Kids Auction, they have fun here as well, everybody gets involved.

Greg and Shelly doing the Kid's Auction

        Then the final area to check out, various other foods being prepared and sold.

Latin American Mennonites

Asian Mennonites making spring rolls

Packaging up Egg Rolls

        Then finally we made it home close to 1 pm. Now I am whipped, after a late night, early morning, walking about the grounds a few times and especially standing and talking to all these people just did me in.

Omer waiting for us to get home

        Omer was there waiting for us and it did not take me long to crawl inside and just lay down to rest up my weary bones. Sure not used to all this. I think a chiropractor adjustment will be in order next week. Supper tonight was a very simple (gourmet ?) grilled cheese sandwich with a few slices of ring bologna and a little ketchup on the side, took care of our hunger needs after a busy weekend.

our gourmet supper tonight

        That's it for another year of the Mennonite Relief Sale. Some of the food vendors were sold out by noon, and this wind down and are wrapped up by around 3 or 4 o'clock. Today. More volunteers arrived and to pack all the tents tables and their wares.

         Oh I forgot to mention that the whole town of New Hamburg (one that were not at the sale all day) had a massive community yard sale every street was packed with cars and sales too. Police guiding traffic and keeping everything safe.

        Thanks for joining us for another success full year at this great worth while fundraiser.

Check out the map below to see where we have been this summer

View Summer 2012 in a larger map