It's a Good day!

This morning, Elaine and I were informed that we have sold a house, and bought a house! All that is left now is the paperwork at the lawyers and a LONG wait until December 6 when we can take possession. In anticipation, a whole bunch of ladies from the Church came over and packed up the kitchen. The help was very much appreciated!

As if to help celebrate, this gal showed up in the pasture. I am going to miss stepping out the back door and seeing these magnificent animals.

Killing Time

All the packing is done that can be done before the move away from the Acreage. I took the opportunity to take the dogs for a walk and got a bonus.

 There was so much sniffing going on, Boots may have strained his nose. :-}

 Brooklyn decided to stay mostly on the road

 This was the bonus. A cow and a calf moose got up and crossed the road.

 I tried to circle them to get some closer pictures, but Boots saw them.

The temperature got up to +7C  (45F) which made it pretty sloppy walking. A freezing rain storm came through in the night and made the roads treacherous. Ah, life in Alberta! If you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes.

Even Though...

Even though we now have no horses, it pays to look out the window. This guy was sneaking up the fence line, obviously looking for some does. Pardon the poor quality. It was well into dusk.

Hard to miss at 40 yards! But wait, it's a pet! No it isn't! It's on the other side of the fence! Maybe next year I will have the time and space to pursue him in fair chase.

A Speed Bump On the Road of Life!

Due to one of the people in the domino chain of house purchasing, turning up late with a mortgage rate on our house, the whole chain of house moves ground to a halt for a while. Briefly, it looked like our house acquisition and sale would not happen. However, it turns out the issue was resolved, but with a delay of our purchase from November 16 to December 6. It appears that things will go ahead but not as originally scheduled. (sigh!)

In the meantime, Boots is starting to show his age. He is turning into an inside dog that enjoys the lazier things in life. The outside dog house seems to be more and more abandoned as the temperature drops.

Our oldest son showed up all the way from Houston Texas to help out with the packing and such. We managed to disassemble the wheelchair ramp and stack the lumber ready for the move. Elaine is still improving daily and managed to walk from the house to the car and down 10 steps for the first time today! Our youngest son also was involved. the help and visits by both sons was much appreciated by Elaine and myself. Alas, Andrew headed back to Texas today. I did capture a photo or two of him playing in the snow.

 Note the smile!

Hope you all, (all y'all for my American friends) enjoy a great Remembrance Day on Monday!

Nobody Said it Would be Easy!

Today is "D" day, so to speak. Conditions on our future house are to come off, and the conditions on our house also. However, it appears the buyer of our place has not got his ducks in a row and has not got his financing in order. He has to 9:00 pm tonight to do so, or the House of Cards risks coming down. It appears that he did not get the paper work to the bank in time.

If the house of cards does not come down, it is likely that the closing date and possession date may get punted out a bit, plus packing and moving parties will have to be rearranged.

Have I mentioned that I dislike moving lately? Plus a few other things? Like winter is upon us and we could be moving in deep snow.

Bah, humbug!

How's it Going, eh?

Elaine continues to get stronger day by day. It likely will be a while before she is at 100% though. The medications seem to have leveled out and the tremors are almost gone, except when hungry or tired.

I managed to get all the stuff out of the outbuildings and boxed, taped or otherwise prepared for the big move. The timing is great and I just got it done before the white stuff really fell. I am slowly getting over not seeing horses in the pasture, and still feel the need of a good horse hug now and again.

 Notice the absence of tracks out back. There is no need to go walk about any more.

We are coming down to the wire as far as the move goes. All property conditions should be removed by November 8. The bank bridge loan is in place and the possession date is November 22. If all goes well, we have to be off the Acreage by November 27 (noon).

A bunch of ladies from the church are going to descend and pack up the kitchen on November 16. A couple have been hired to clean this place prior to departure, and the same ladies are going to go over the new place prior to us moving. Guys from the church are going to show up with trucks, trailers and manpower to get all the stuff moved. We are planning to park Elaine in the middle of the floor and direct traffic. In other words, that part is going well!

I had a surprise the other day, when the surgeon's office  (University Hospital) phoned and said that my back surgery was scheduled for November 26! I explained the situation..Elaine in hospital for 8 weeks, in the midst of a move and that I could not be laid up for 2 to 6 months at this time! After waiting 5 years for the surgery, I figured, what the heck, let's move it out to March. They agreed, thankfully!

I am not posting as often due to the business of the moment, such as packing, getting Elaine to doctor's appointments, physio, etc, but I read what I can, when I can.

Have a great week, and thanks from both of us for the prayers! They are appreciated!

It's Been a Busy Week!

It seems that everything happens all at once. Our health provider phoned to say my back operation was scheduled for November 27th, the day  we take possession of our new house! After 5 years of waiting, why now? I explained the situation, the fact that Elaine was now home after 8 weeks in hospital and that I am the primary care giver, plus we were moving that week. She agreed to punt the operation out to March.

Elaine is home and doing well. each day she gets stronger and stronger. she is now putting on some weight and eating regularly. She is starting to sleep and things are sorting themselves out. She is still very weak and tires easily. Parkinson's Disease is a nasty one with lots of bad side effects related to the medication. That too, seems to be coming around.

Today we had the house inspection on our new (to us) place. Monday is the inspection on our Acreage. November 8 is the date where all conditions should be removed by both parties and November 22 is the possession date for us, and the 27th is when we have to be out.

In between there will be meetings with the Realtor, the banker (for bridge financing) and a few other folks. Somebody please tell me when this becomes fun?

Sorry no pictures lately. There just doesn't seem to be time in the day with all the things to collect and put in the garage so we can find them when the snow hits Sunday.

Hope things are going good for all you folks on Halloween.

Why I Wanted to Go back to Bed!

I guess it could have been worse!

 SNOW is a four letter word!

A Much Better Day!

Today, Elaine came home from the hospital. After another week and a half I hope that she can last longer. She is now eating and putting on a little weight, plus is much more alert than last time home. Eight weeks in a hospital is way too long!

The other good news is that we put an offer in for a house in town and had it accepted. Elaine has not seen it yet, other than pictures, so I hope it is acceptable. For the last two weeks we have been involved in a Domino effect, where the people that want to buy our place had it conditional on their selling their place. We had it conditional on finding a suitable place. It seems that the ducks are lining up. Now comes the bank for a 5 day loan and a lawyer to sort out the details.

I have all the garage and out building packed up with 5 loads to the dump so far. Remind me, if I ever store stuff in a shed again to put down mouse poison. The little darlings really made a mess in some of the boxes.

Hopefully, November will be a great month!

Bummer!

Summary

5 to 10 cm of snow tonight and Sunday.

Details

A low pressure system developing in Northeastern British Columbia this evening will drop rapidly southward along the foothills tonight and Sunday. Precipitation associated with the low will start as rain this evening and change to snow overnight, except in higher elevations which will change quickly to snow this evening. Snowfall amounts of 10 to 20 cm are expected by Sunday evening in the Hinton region. Lower amounts of 5 to 10 cm are forecast for the Whitecourt and Grande Prairie regions. A potent cold front behind the low will drop southward bringing gusty northeasterly winds up to 60 km/h and local drifting or blowing snow. As well, temperatures will drop significantly from the mid teens today to below the freezing point on Sunday. Depending on the development and track of the low, warnings may be extended into the Edmonton and surrounding areas. Note: snowfall warnings require snowfall accumulations of 10 cm in 12 hours. Since this is the first snowfall of the season, a weather warning has been issued for the first 5 cm of snow.

Less details

Excitement on the Acreage!

Lots of flashing lights and a blocked road! In this normally quiet neighbourhood this is unusual and worth a look-see.

 Bits and pieces everywhere, and Boots had to inspect each piece and go to all the police for skritches.

 Two people were sent to hospital, but the witnesses (or first on the scene) did not think injuries were too bad. A baby was not hurt.

 Darn dog has to sneak into every picture it seems.

 The wheel ended up way down in the ditch. It was kind of funny afterward, as I went looking for our neighbour because I thought it was her car and her daughter in the van, and she thought it was my truck!

 With the excitement over, it was time to mosey on  back up the trail.

Hope your day was better than theirs!

Quite a Time to Live in

I found this while cleaning out some old stuff getting ready for a move to where? I don't know.

Things are rough now as they were in 1944, but look at the price on things! Gas at $0.15 /gallon? Makes you think how far we've progressed, doesn't it?

Retired Horse Dog

Retirement is good! More time to do this. Sunny spots in front of the garage are great for the old bones. (10 years old now). Yep, he sleeps with one eye open. You never know when Brooklyn is going to pounce.

Flowers

Late Bloomers

Early Bloomers

Sorry, but I couldn't resist! My mind is kind of muddled today. Elaine went back into the hospital today and is now in possession of a feeding tube and catheter. Sometimes life just sucks!

A Busy Week!

Since the last post, here is a brief re-cap. The horses sold to a good home! The hay sold at what I paid for it.
The property has been shown 7 times and there is a signed contract to purchase, with the usual conditions such as water quality report, real Property Report,subject to financing and inspection report. On our side is the ability to find suitable accommodation etc.

Now, we get to look at places!

I decided to take a few photos of the fall colours around the place, just as a reminder of what was.

It appears Boots is adapting well and has taken retirement in stride. He is eating well, sleeping well, and taken to herding me! Or trying to.

Brooklyn is basically Brooklyn! Eat sleep, go for a truck ride, repeat.

The exodus of surplus material has begun. One large half ton truck of scrap metal has been taken to the dump. The stuff I am keeping is being moved to the garage, slowly, and the shed now has a floor that can be seen. Next on the list is going through the boxes that were stored and not opened 10 years ago. That will be divided into keep, Repeat Boutique, and dump. I would imagine most will go to the dump.

No bites on the saddles yet, and I may have to advertise farther out.

Still in conversion mode from Life on an  Acreage to Life ?

Adapting to a New Way of Life

It's hard to go by a window without looking out to see how the horses are doing! After 10 years it got to be a habit.

Boots still runs around the fields 2 or 3 times a day looking for the horses, but has adapted to retirement rather well.

He is far more sociable with people and spends more time sleeping. He is now 10 years old, roughly.

The hay is moving out, and I am not allowed to help, due to my back. :-{

 55 Bales on the truck is pretty good for a Dodge. I told him if he broke down on the way home, my Ford would tow him home. :-}

I am getting down to listing the stuff I don't need any more on Whitecourt Buy and Sell.

It gets a little easier each day to look around and realize Life on An Acreage is winding down.

A Further Update on The Acreage

Today after 5 weeks and one day, I was able to bring Elaine home. She is very week, but in good spirits. The prognosis is it will be a long slow recovery, but she is back home and likely will do better here.

We have had a few viewings on the property, plus one low ball bidder who was politely told "Not on your Life".

Alpine

Biz

Today, as I said, Elaine came home and our two horses, Biz and Alpine, were sold to an ideal family. Mom has ridden forever and 13 year old daughter was looking for a replacement horse due to her old Appy being of an ancient nature. The family also rides chuck wagons which means the other horses are a little hot for   riding. Mom and daughter are going to have fun sorting out who gets which horse. They also do not sell to market, and that is a promise i got from them.

On top of these two pluses, my son found a buyer for the hay that we just purchased, so we aren't out that money. Letting the horses and hay go to the future buyer of the property, would have meant that we would have no control over the life style situation of the horses.

The last item, which may not be a plus, is that Boots is officially retired. When the trailer was loaded with the horses and closed up, he had to go all around sniffing to see if he could get to them. Both horses walked right into the trailer as if they did it every day! When we bought Alpine, she loaded easily. Biz had only been in a trailer once before. talk about good horses!

When the new owner climbed up on Biz, Biz wasn't very happy, so I took a little ride in the corral. Same with Alpine. I just had to get a few minutes in the saddle before they departed.

My back sort of let me know that the rides were probably not a good idea, but what the heck, it was worth it! The back is still bruised  6 weeks after the buck off, but is doing fairly well all things considered. I met a young nurse in the hospital today that sort of looked at me funny. She finally asked if I was the guy that got tossed off a horse. When I said that I was, she said she was the nurse that admitted me. I had to apologize and say that I really don't remember very much of those two days.

Any way, the work load around here just dropped way off. Now Boots and I, and Elaine can sit on the deck drinking tea until the house sells. Ha!

The next step now is to photograph and list a large dog crate, dog cage, and three saddles.