For my Creative Blog Buds

There is a fountain of youth.
It is your mind,
your talents,
the creativity that you bring
to the lives of people you love.
When you learn to tap this source,
you will truly have defeated age.
~~Raquel Welch

You should all stay very young!

Dock Day ..does this mean Summer?

Saturday, the long week-end of May, has always been the day for putting the boat docks and lifts back into the water. There have been years when it was hot, there have been years when it was raining and windy, but this year it was cold. The air was warming up by the time it was completed but I am told the water was "brass monkey" cold.

The docks on our beach hold about 20 - 25 boat spots and there were that many men out to help. Some are getting older and not able to lift and get into the water any more, but lots of young ones are there to help in their hip waders, wet suits and dry suits. It took about 90 mins and it was finished. The cold maybe made them work faster.

What does it take to put in docks? The pictures below should help explain. (click on picture for full screen size)


First we need supervisors.
Brenda Fleury, Eva Byers and
Lorraine Senicar watch and visit.









Of course one needs a foreman
How about Bob Fleury.


Where do we start, the water is cold, and so many docks.......
Pushing docks from the water soaked beach down to the water.

One boat lift nearly installed

Eva Byers successfully delivered towels to cold boys

Dean Fleury and Gary Knakoske making last adjustments on a boat lift

Jason Senicar walking with stiff frozen legs.

Harvey and Ken wondering , should we put the boat in today or wait for warm weather?

Old trees sometime have to die

Dear Tree

You have been a good friend. You came to live in our yard 33 years ago as a mere sapling; you have provided many many years of shade in hot months, you have provided nesting areas for birds , you have been nailed with bird houses and you suffered the most damage in the end of June wind storm of 2007. A lot of other trees were torn from their roots or broke in half at that time but you survived. We thought your cracks would heal but they have kept getting bigger and with much sorrow we had to have you cut down to prevent your ending on the neighbours house in another storm. But even in your demise comes good, as you will provide us with another winter of heat as we cut up your remains to cure and be burnt in our fireplace.

Thanks friend

Brrrrrrrr....will they survive

May 13, 2009 poor little radishes......

Friends come in all Colors

It is time to leave the Travel Journal for awhile and return to just my thoughts. Today I have been thinking of friends and all the types of friends one has in their lives.

1. Best Friends
-these are the ones that know everything about me and who I am comfortable telling them everything, my joys, my hurts, my feelings.

2. Good Friends
- these are friends with whom I am comfortable sitting down, having a coffee and talking about life, but maybe not talk about things that are personal

3. Old Friends
- the ones that knew me from the time I was a child, they knew my parents and brother, they had sleep overs with me, and we giggled about boys together in the teen years. Maybe old boyfriends fall into this group too, if any are still alive.

4. Lake Friends
-some are friends who leave in the fall and come back in the spring, many we have known for the 35 years we have had a cottage here. Others are ones who live here all year like ourselves, and some are new friends and some we have know for a long time.

5. Work Friends
- the ones who shared my 28 years of working, the ones I spent more time with than I did my family, and the ones who I no longer see very often but still stay in touch from time to time, catching up on their families, and their work. I will always be a Credit Union employee, only now I only do it in my heart not physically.

6. Travel Friends
- these are the product of retirement and traveling. The ones we meet on line before a trip, the ones we meet on our travels, and often the ones we may never see again but hopefully will stay in touch with though emails and visits if possible.

7. Former Friends
- these used to be good friends, but due to distance or elapsed time we are no longer close. We still care about each other and are happy to run into each other and say hello, but we no longer spend time together.

8. School Friends
- the friends that I see at school reunions and time stands still. The friends I find on Face book and I have not seen for 40+ years. The friends that I see from time to time and with whom we have a bond that our school years cemented.

9. Organization Friends
-the friends I made while involved in community functions, whether it was Little Theater, Indians baseball, church functions, kids activities, diet clubs, or other volunteer groups.

10. Blog Friends
- those I meet on line and share thoughts, ideas and inspirations. These grow as more and more blogs are found that interest me.

11. Contact Friends
- these are the friends (and that word is used loosely) as I really have never had a friendship relationship with them, but we have met many times whether over a desk at their work, behind a counter at a food place, the cashier in the grocery store, the clerk in the doctors office, the hair dresser, the pedicurist, the couple who did their banking with me for years, or just the guy who pumps my septic tank. Each one of these has got to know a bit about my life and I about theirs and I consider them a friend.

12. No Longer Friends
- I really can not think of any for this group. I am sure there are those that I once befriended and now do not care for me any more but I can not think of any that I feel that way about. Sure some have made me mad , or said things that have hurt, but time heals those things. If you fit in this group, let me know so I don't accidentally greet you with a pleased smile to see you.

When I read this list, I see that many of my friends fall into more than one group as time smudges the lines. I guess what I am saying, is that everyone I have ever known in my life falls into one of these groups and I value their friendship even if they do not know it.

Pictures of Winnipeg family

Celine and Benji

Part of the Performer Wall Gallery (Rachel - lower middle)

Hair for "Masquerade" performance

Grandma is now Ringlet Queen!

4 times - last was 39 ringlets

Rachel on laptop

Celine on laptop

Picking up Celine from school

Good bye and a wish to return

The ship docked at 5 am but as we had a 3:30 flight we chose to be one of the last to leave the ship at 9:am. As we left our room it was amazing how many rooms were already clean and waiting for the new passengers to start arriving by 12 pm. 2500 off and another 2500 on, it is amazing how they do it so efficiently. We just carried off our own luggage and we were off in a very short time lined up in the taxi cue and soon headed to the airport. We were able to check our luggage right away so all we had was carry on luggage which had grown since the trip over. We took turns sitting and watching luggage while we walked around a bit. We were not too happy when we got on our flight as we had booked with British Airways and flew with them on the way to Barcelona and now we are on a small Iberia plane where the seating was so tiny , my legs were touching the seat ahead so Harvey and Don especially were very uncomfortable. The attendants ran down the aisle SELLING even water and no one bought anything. On arrival in London we got our luggage and took the shuttle to our hotel for the night. Not the greatest hotel but very cheap for London, quite noisy and we could not get cold water out of the taps but glad to be another step further to home. We walked a short distance to a English pub for supper. Everyone else had fish and chips but as I knew that Indian food as become the most common take out food in London now, I thought I would try chicken curry.....Ohhhh very spicy but quite good. I should of had the Fish and Chips.

Our flight home was at 12:30 but as we were up and ready we left for the airport early, checked our luggage and had breakfast in an Irish pub. It was not as good as it could be but after eating the best on the ship, we were spoiled. It was amazing how many were just sitting and drinking beer at 9 am.

We were glad to get on Air Canada flight for home and settled in to watch a couple of movies. There have lots of new movies as well as older ones to choose from and it certainly puts in the hours. I was sitting next to a fellow from Glasgow, Scotland and we chatted quite a bit too.

We had a 5.5 hour wait in Toronto, we sat at a table and played cards and a game and headed through security early and snoozed in the chairs. It was middle of the night according to our bodies but only 9:30 pm when we boarded. Once again everyone around me was snoring and passing the hours to Regina as they should, while I. could not sleep at all, once again. Another movie and a few walks up and down the aisles, until finally setting down in Regina.

What a great trip. The trip of our lifetime, still seems like a dream but as we start looking at the pictures we will then believe it all happened. To crawl into a pyramid in Cairo, walk around the Colosseum in Rome, visit a small Greek village, to stand where Paul preached to the Ephesians, to go down into the catacombs in Alexandria, to visit the beautiful island of Malta and dream of going back, ahhhh life has been good to us.

So that is the end of the Travel journal for this time. Soon it will change back to just my thoughts again and life will be boring once more. Maybe finally time for doing crafts, planting flowers and watching the ice go out. I hope those who were able to read some of this journal along the way, enjoyed it and it made you too want to travel to these same places or other places in this great world. Life is short, do what you can now, don't waste too much time worrying about the future...it will look after itself.

A few ship photos

Sitting on the back of the ship in the outdoor cafe

Supper with friends made through Cruise Critic

Decor above the elevators ( this ship was the Pride of Hawaii and still has that decor)

Enjoying the sea air

The 10 internet stations for the 2500 people!

Lil and Susan at the Meet and Greet. Through the website Cruise Critic we had 127 people registered and about 90 showed up.

At the champagne welcome as we came on board

Harvey sitting in the Medusa lounge, a bar used for lectures in the afternoon.

Our last port of call - Malta

The last port is Valletta Malta , which is on a small island in the Mediterranean between Sicily Italy and north Africa.
The city is surrounded by rock fortifications and has 7000 years of defending itself. The Germans bombarded this island during the Second World war and the people nearly starved until they were helped by the British. In the early days it was the Knights of St John who left their biggest mark with their hospital work and their Christian principals.
The city is full of beautiful churches and beautiful statues with so much history of these great knights.
We were to dock at 11am and most of the ship was on the outer decks or in the window seats by 10 to watch the sail in to this most beautiful of the ports. No where in the world is a harbour so picturesque and so architechurally imposing as here. We left the ship and walked to a taxi stand where we shared the taxi with a British couple to ride up the hill to the center of the town. We walked through the city gates to see hordes of people filling the car less streets. Another ship was in port and so Valletta was alive. We went in to many little shops and looked at things that were too expensive and too poor quality but some friends from the ship bought some wonderful Maltese silver, and the famous Maltese cross in form of linen work or jewelery. We found the morning outdoor market and did buy a table cloth for our selves, and then walked up and down a lot of little narrow streets that are made up of stone steps only about 3 inches high that go up and up and up.
We stopped for lunch at the famous Café Cordina and then to their gelata shop for the best ice cream ever.
We finally found our way to St John’s Co- Cathedral which was built in 1573, and where every inch of the inside is covered in ornate decorations in gold amongst huge paintings. The floors are covered with gravestones of marble chiseled with writing and intricate motifs. Each of these gravestones marks where a knight was buried. We then went to the oratory which was all Caravaggio’s painting, history and stories of his life. The one end wall behind the alter is Caravaggio’s famous painting “The beheading of John the Baptist.” It is truly magnificent to see it in person. Of course you could take no pictures again.

We did a bit more walking and then decided to head back to the ship early. We had seen enough history over the last week to last a long time and now time to turn out thoughts to going home. We wanted to start packing and trying to figure how to pack the things we had bought . We bought another carry on bag in Malta to help but we still only had so many hands to carry the bags. We were not alone in this as everyone was struggling with packing the things they had bought. I have not seen anyone thrown off the plane yet for a bit too much carry on, but this could be the first time

Alexandria "Pearl of the Mediterranean"

Monday morning saw us getting a bit later start as we did not have to be out the blue gate and over the long long bridge until 9:00. This time our driver parked the van on the other side of the busy crazy street but did walk over and we all felt like holding hands as we crossed the street with him. A policeman held up his hand for the traffic to slow down so that was good. Today there were only 10 in our group as one couple had got a bit sick the day before and were confined to their cabin for 24 hours. The ship takes great precaution to not have Gastroenteritis on the ship. If any one is suspected to be sick they are quarantined and we also have to have our hands sanitized each time we enter a restaurant or store and when we return to the ship. After Egypt they always stop anyone from serving themselves in the buffet and garden café and have lots of staff to put what we want on to our plates, pour our coffee etc. There is much grumbling by those that have not researched their trip previously, but it is only for the health of everyone. On a place as confined as the ship, if an infection of any sort breaks out it can spread like wildfire.
So it was off to pick up our guide and start our day in Alexandria, the 2nd largest city in Egypt and where the stormy relationship between Queen Cleopatra and Mark Antony took place. Our guide today was Mohammad and he was the director of a museum but now is guiding while he gets his PhD. It takes 4 years of University in Egypt to become a tour guide, (and with the thousands of years of history they must know, it seems reasonable)
The first stop was at the Roman Amphitheatre, which covers about a full city block in size and there they have uncovered hundreds of ancient artefacts. The amphitheatre is much smaller than Ephesus or Rome but the acoustics where amazing. The one thing different here from Ephesus is that the ground is still strewn with pieces of pottery and ancient stones that are not being saved, so we were able to pick up pieces and pocket them.
Ancient bath tubs and stone coffins were still just sitting in piles of rumble. Nothing is displayed or protected like other places.
Pompeii’s Pillar, which is a 25-meter-high granite column that was constructed in honour of the Emperor Diocletian in AD 297, is also here. It was always believed that Emperor Pompeii’s ashes were held at the top, but when translating some lettering they now know it was not for Pompeii at all. This magnificent tall pillar sits right in the middle of a huge area that is surrounded by old crumbling buildings and houses with laundry hanging on each balcony. Some how it takes away from its magnificence. PPPPPP
Back into the van and onto our next place which was the Catacomb Tombs of Kom el Shoquafa. Once again no cameras as they are afraid the flashes will begin to fade and destroy the wall paintings. A circular staircase leads down in to the catacombs. We started down, and down and down going by opening after opening where we could look up to the light in the top, where the body was originally lowered by rope. At points along the way we came upon rooms that were decorated with engravings and statues that would have been used as funeral banquet halls. They think these catacombs were originally just used for one family but they now know that over 1000 were buried there in the still existing openings hewed out of the rock. We continued down and down further until we reached the bottom. At many times we went into little anti rooms where there were dozens of tombs and often water on the floor where we had to walk on 2 x12 planks that were perched about 24 inches off the floor. They had 2 planks together to walk on, and often tours would come from the other direction, so we would have to hang on to the opening of the tomb and turn sideways so they could get past us. Half of our group got lost from the tour guide and yes I yelled “Help, where are you Mohammad?" We then entered another room where there were 3 sarcophagi which he said; one was for the king, the 2nd for the wife and the 3rd for the children. They were very ornately decorated with hieroglyphics and figures, and replicate statues of each of them. Next we entered a room that has been called the Hall of Caracalla, where bones of horses and humans were found together. One of the tombs was much bigger and longer and probably a horse was buried there. I guess back then, they loved their animals too.
Now remember me saying I had to balance myself on the beams, and I needed to reach over and hold onto one of the tomb opening, well upon coming out I found myself rubbing my lips and someone said, you realize Cheryl, you just ate 2 ancient Egyptian’s in dust form. Yikes! It was good to come up out of that deep abyss and sanitize our hands again, (something we did very often,)
Next we visited the Fortress of Qaytbay; this citadel which looks like a castle fortress was built in the 1480s by Sultan Qaitbey on the site of the Pharos Lighthouse, to protect the city from the crusaders who used to attack the city by sea. Others went inside and walked the hundreds of steps to the top, but we chose to sit out side and then walk up to the edge of the wall and sit and look out at the sea. It was very beautiful and we understand why a lot of people of Cairo come here for their holidays.

Our last stop was the New Library of Alexandria. Alexandria was the center of learning in the ancient world and this modern version is an eleven-story, cylindrical-shaped building that houses more than eight million books that are built on the site of the ancient library. The architecture on the inside as well as the outside is absolutely phenomenal. Every structure on the inside serves a particular function and incorporates Egyptian culture, even down to the chairs used in the reading section - they're designed to meet certain orthopaedic standards, and feel great to sit in.
We were then taken to a Greek restaurant for lunch. They called it Greek but it seemed more Egyptian. We were told we could order fish, chicken or meat. No other explanation.
Most chose chicken and a couple of brave ones chose meat. We got the plate with a quarter of chicken, a pile of rice and some French fries, and many little plates of things like roasted eggplant rings, spiced lentils, pickled potatoe cubes, and humus , all to be put on the pita squares ( we think). Not the best meal but filling (of course after eating on the ship for a week we are very spoiled.)
Here we paid for the trip and argued about prices again (which is how I assume they get more. from those that do not take along confirmation of price and deposits already paid) and we also bought a book written by our guide. Then back through the memorable traffic to the ship, tipped our two day driver very well and said goodbye to Mohammed.
At the ship there were many stalls of vendors selling thousands of souvenirs, and once again we argued and walked, or argued and bought more things that when we get home we will say, “What in the world was I thinking?” I bought a small wool rug that may be infested with camel lice, but not sure. lol