It's Not Over Until It's Over; Part Deux

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Well, it appears it is actually over. Dianne wound things up at St. James on June 29^th and we headed for Pender Island the next day. We are officially retired.

But, before we left, our days were certainly fun filled. There were lots of good-byes at the school. The students, parents and teachers were all sad to see Dianne heading off into the sunset. Lots of parties. We were pretty sad to see our adventures of the past few years end but, hopefully, they will turn into a new set of adventures.

My pelvic fractures had basically healed but not enough to take care of the move on my own. On the Saturday before month-end, Dan, the father of one of Dianne’s students, came over to “help” us pack the truck. In this case “help” meant “do the heavy lifting”. We had given away most of the furniture we had been using during our Canadian stops and I had taken apart most of the other furniture (love IKEA). Dan not only packed the truck very efficiently but also used his own truck to transport our excess boxes over to the school where we stuffed them in a closet. We really appreciated his help.

Monday was the last day for Dianne at school doing last minute clean-up and the hand-over to the new principal. As most everything that wasn’t in the truck was ready to be loaded into the Forester, we decided to go out for supper. We chose Intermezzo, a really nice Italian restaurant about 7 blocks from home; a nice walk. Even though I was dressed like someone who had just spent the day moving, they served us a great meal consisting of a combination of appetizers (with wine, of course). A perfect end to the move preparation. As we were leaving, we noticed the wind had come up and the clouds were rolling in. About 100 meters from the restaurant, the rain drops started falling on our heads. By the end of the first block, the thunder and lightning joined in. By the time we had gone two blocks we were absolutely soaked. People were huddling in doorways to wait out the storm but we were so wet we just kept going. Couldn’t get any wetter. What a memorable end to our 2 year stay in Vernon.

The next day we had our final breakfast at the Cracked Pot and headed south. Our daughter and her family hosted us for the evening and we spent Canada Day driving the last leg to our retirement home on Pender.

I hadn’t got any better in the 96 hours following loading the truck so my sister, Jane, and brother-in-law, Chris, came over from Victoria to help with the unload. It was a bit easier than loading the truck as we just stuffed all the boxes into the lower regions of the house to await the "Great Unpack". As well, they brought food for lunch, supper and the following breakfast; what a blessing as the larder was rather bare! But Chris wasn’t finished. Before he left, he cut the grass and trimmed everything. I am a great believer in the fact that you can’t always return favours that you receive. The trick is to do favours for other people. Someone out there is due to receive a BIG favour based on the help Dan, Jane and Chris gave us.

A sad event

In May, Dianne’s dad broke his hip doing what he loved to do, dance. Not a good thing when you are 96. As soon as we unloaded, we headed to Alberta to visit him. He gradually failed after the fall and it was hard for us to leave as we knew the end was in sight. Chris Christensen died the day after we left. He was truly a great man and will be missed by all who knew him.

The Great Unpack

On our way back from Alberta, we stopped in Vernon to pick up the rest of our stuff. I don’t think I realized just how much stuff had been left behind. Without Dan’s great packing I barely got the rest of the stuff into the truck. We just made it.

We overnight-ed in the school sick room. About 12:30, their internal alarm started ringing. Dianne got that shut off but it rang again 4 times during the night. Even talking to the alarm company didn’t help. About 4:30 am Dianne suggested we give up trying to sleep and hit the road. A good move. It meant we got to Pender at a decent hour and got everything crammed into the already crowded basement.

We started the "Great Unpack" and have now managed to get the lower room setup as a project room for Dianne and a guest room for… guests. The storage room is not packed to the rafters anymore and everything is properly labeled (except for the odd thing I may have snuck in). Note to our sons: none are labeled “Empty Box”.

So far this month we have managed to take four trips to the recycling depot. Lots of cardboard, of course, plus stuff for the Free Store. We also dropped several loads at a variety of thrift stores. A collection is building for Hartland Landfill, too.

The next step

Dianne has really enjoyed being back in the lake. I am not much of a swimmer, especially with the wonky pelvis. Even our walks are a bit slower than usual.

Dianne has been spending many hours cleaning out flower beds, rockeries etc. There is no end of work to be done outside. Our lakeside shed was filled to the rafters and covered with the droppings left behind when we had the shed re-roofed. We pulled everything out and managed to settle on stuff worth keeping. The shed is useable again. Now that we are here full time maybe we can keep it that way.

Next step is the roadside shed. It is not as bad, thank goodness.

But the big difference this year is that we aren’t planning to return somewhere for school in the fall. Our European trip was postponed because of my Escapade in Nanaimo but we have moved up a long-delayed trip to Saskatchewan. Despite living most of our lives in Alberta and BC, we have only been to Saskatchewan once. The travel books are out and the planning in underway. To Be Continued…

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Photos

48th Anniversary Photo
It has become a tradition to have an anniversary dinner at the Cafe at Hope Bay. Another great reason to be on Pender

Goodbye Poster
Lots of goodwill from the kids at St James.

Part of another poster
Not sure if they were telling her to stay retired this time ,-)

Furniture donated
We were reduced to sleeping on foamies on the living room floor. Dianne mentioned she had been sleeping on them for three months while I enjoyed my hospital bed.

Retirement Party Photo
When your retirement picture makes the Diocesan News I guess that makes it official. Thanks to Bishop Monroe and Fr. Dale for attending.

Big Red comes through
The truck held an amazing amount of stuff.

Little Green helped too
Lots of odd shaped stuff went into the Forester.

The rest
Almost as much stuff as was in Big Red on the first trip was hidden in a closet at the school awaiting our next pass through Vernon. We have too much stuff.

Chris Christensen 1918-2015
A great role model.

The family farm
While visiting Grandpa Christensen we took a side trip to the family farm where he spent many years with his parents. Dianne was born while the family was living on this farm.

Danish Museum
We also stopped in at the Danish Museum at Dickson, Alberta. This church was built by one of Chris' cousins.

Viking skip
My dad used to kid Dianne about her Danish ancestors who used boats like this to raid the part of England where he grew up.

Lunch
No arguing with the lunch they served. Even the Danish Blue cheese was good.

Twilight
Back on Pender we got quite a show as the sun went down.

Guest suite
Finally ready for occupancy after the great unpack.

Project room
Dianne's end of the downstairs suite. She doesn't mind sharing.

Day trip to Sidney
We decided to take the ferry as foot passengers and then bus into Sidney. We had never done this in the 16 years we have been on Pender. It's a pretty town with great views over the water.

Retirement bliss
Dianne finally got a day to relax. The blue sky was phenomenal. The walking paths along the waterfront are great.

A fitting symbol
The statue summed up our plan.... looking ahead to further adventures....