Saturday 29 May 2010

Newcastle Historical Society

During the last year we have been converting a collection of 16mm film that was donated to the society into a digital format. Here we have Ron Locke showing some of the videos to Pauline Storks a lifelong resident of our little town. With more than 20 films from the 1920's through the 1950's in our collection, there are a lot of images of local residents that need to be identified. Ron has been doing a great job of putting the collection together on DVD for presentations at our special "Movie Nights"
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Thursday 27 May 2010

Using Your Head

Learning to do headers with a soccer ball can produce some weird expressions at the time. Aiden was showing some amazing control of the ball in the exercise. His dad Frank is the coach of the regular team that he plays on and I think the surprise of the practice was Quinten who did all the routines with the rest of the kids and did some excellent work in the scrimmages ... I can hardly wait to see Quinten play next Wednesday in his own league. Click here for pics of Frank coaching and Quinten working out with Aiden's team.
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Thems The Breaks

It has been a week and a half and the temporary cast has come off now. We had a look at the x-rays and saw that the main weight bearing bone had 2 breaks and the lesser one had a diagonal break. The ligaments must have stretched a bit as there was a 2 to 3 mm gap in the joint where the foot flexes. Lots of screws holding all that metal in place.  She had 40 metal staples to close the incision and those were removed today (painfully). It was a relief to have that temp plaster cast off and now Wenda has an air cast. It is hard for her to flex the foot right now and I see no movement when she tries so it looks like lots of physio to get that foot workin. If you click on the image above you can see it bigger. Click here to see the foot without its cast.
Thursday I took Wenda to try on her dress for Wenda's wedding and managed a couple pictures of Wenda doing a flamingo (standing on one leg).

Tuesday 25 May 2010

Trying Out for Rep Soccer

We propped Wenda up in her Zero-gravity chair to watch Aiden at his Rep practice. This was the last practice before the final cut for the team and you can tell by Aiden's red face that he was having quite a workout. Next Saturday he will know if he made the team. It was hot and humid today so the heat was taking its toll on the players. Click here for more pics of his workout.
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Sunday 23 May 2010

Can You Read Faces ? ? ?

The grandkids Quinten, Lexy and Aiden stayed over last night with us. Here they are all dressed up to go to church, so before taking them, I thought I would grab a nice group picture. This is the last in the series of shots but I think you can tell something of their character from the picture. Now here is the quiz. Which one is the comedian? Which is the less likely to get wound up? And which one keeps an eye on the other two? Click here for more clues to the answer?
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Wednesday 19 May 2010

Aiden Turns 7

It was Aiden's 7th birthday today and he celebrated by going out on his ATV that he has not been on in 2 years. Frank and Tracy's friends Don and Tania came over with their kids to go for rides on their ATV's as well. The property has several acres with some of it going through a bush trail. In the end it came down to a few choice gifts and cake. Click here to see more pics of the birthday party.
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Come Fly With Me

A long time ago in another universe, I used to fly gliders. I found a link to a Youtube video that shows you what it is like to fly the Blanik high performance sailplane.  I have over 2000 flights in the Blanik mostly as instructor. We used to do all of the things in the video clip. On my first date with Wenda, I took her up in a sailplane like this one and did most of these maneuvers with her in the front seat. She was a trooper and loved it. Click here to see the video clip of the Blanik sailplane. 

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Rest - Meds - Patience

Unfortunately it is just going to take time and rest to get over the break in Wenda's ankle. At the same time, we are truly blessed with our friends Bev and Philip, David and Sharon who have brought food in for us. Poor Wenda now has so much metal in that ankle she has a tendency to face North. I do not know how we will ever be able to get through security to take a vacation again.
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Monday 17 May 2010

Wenda is Now at Home

We are recovering at home. Wenda is in her usual chair, with her leg up and dealing with the pain. While the Tylenol 3's help, they really do not take away the pain of the break. So it is time, rest, and the meds to get her through this.
I know she will not be too happy being nailed to that chair for very long but for now, it is best to let things settle down and start the healing. 

Sunday 16 May 2010

Wenda's Foot

Saturday night at 11:30 pm she finally arrived at her room in Oshawa Hospital from surgery. It was a repeat performance of 10 years ago when she lost footing on uneven ground and snapped her ankle on both sides. Instantly she was in severe pain when it happened at about 8:30 this morning. We took her to Bowmanville Hospital where fortunately we were a the only ones in emerg. Within an hour and a half the Xrays had been done and an orthapedic surgeon from Oshawa had driven over to take a look. By this time they had put two pack of morphine into her IV and Wenda was looped. A bed was allocated for her in Oshawa and I drove her there right away. Her surgery was about 5:30 and we expected her back in the room in 2 hours but it was 6 hours before she regained feeling in her legs. She still has a lot of pain, but they are giving her meds for it. The supports in the picture above support the ankle but allow the foot to swell. I think she now has a steel plate in there, but I will have to hear the details tomorrow. It has been a long day for Wenda and I hope she gets some rest overnight ... but she has to wear her oxygen mask right and listen to the nurses ! Click here for the other picture.
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Monday 10 May 2010

Back When I Had Hair

This is me when the sub-shop was really going well, and I was buying the commercial building next door. My friends Paul (tall dark hair), Bill McKnight (with the wedge hat) and Benny (the shorter one), would drop by the sub-shop during the evenings. We would play cards or compare the latest photos that we had taken as we all seemed to have a Canon FTB camera at the time. Benny was taken in by us and lived about 6 months with us. We have all moved on in life. I no longer have my red Fiat 123 sports car that I would use to race in to Toronto to pick up buns for the store. But the friends are still out there and I thank them for sending me these photos . Click here to see just a few more of the 70's pictures.
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Saturday 8 May 2010

HENRY FORD MUSEUM

Our last place to visit on the trip was the Ford Museum just outside of Detroit Michigan. Henry died in 1949 and had this museum largely constructed by then ... money was not an problem and he obtained any and all that he wanted for it. Most people would think that it is just about cars but it is much more than that as it showcases the first steam engine used to pump water out of mines in England in 1710, steam tractors in agriculture, electric cars, bicycles, airplanes, the home of the 1930's, steam trains from the very first one that hauled stage coaches on railroad steel wheels to the last of the big steam locomotives. It took us the day to see this part of the museum but there is the village that he created which is a whole different part of the story and that would take another day to see. Click here to see Henry's pride and joy.
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Thursday 6 May 2010

Astronaut

Ok so I have been called a space cadet before, but have not been seen wearing the suit ! We visited the USAF official museum today with my friends Philip (striped shirt) and Myke. both are retired teachers. You have to really stretch your mind to imagine what this place is like. There are three hangars that total 17 acres of area. Everything from the Wright brothers first plane to numerous missiles and rockets. From the first aircraft to fly to the very latest unmanned killer flying machines. Click here to see some more pictures from the offical United States Air Force Museum.
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Tuesday in Ohio

Today we had a leisurely start to the day with a lovely breakfast at a local restaurant that featured terrific omlettes and a bottomless cup of coffee. We shopped a little here and there and looked all over for the Dick sports store. We arrived at Bills place at around 6 pm and Chris had prepared a terrific dinner for us, followed by a delicious cheese cake dessert.  Afterwards we went downstairs to watch Bills 67 inch TV .. with stadium seating .  We took turns flying his flight simulator program ... he has duplicated a full aircraft cockpit wired to his computer. It looks (his old former larges flat screen TV) and feels like you are flying.  Just amazing.  We then toured Bill's auto collection.  Tomorrow we get a 6:30 am start to drive to the USAF museum .... so I shall get some pictures tomorrow.  Good night all sleep well.

Wednesday 5 May 2010

Cleveland Adventure

Myke and Philip and I went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame today. It is six floors high with lots of media presentations by the leading artists in our lifetime. It is certainly one of the highlights on the trip and we would recommend it to anyone heading this way. Philip and I went to a ball game this evening as the Jays were playing ... incredibely they won 8 to 5 in a thrilling game. The stadium has excellent seating and sight lines. We chatted with those in the seats next to us. For sure every person that we have met here puts in an extra effort to be friendly to us. Click here to see more pics of the ball game and Rock and Roll Hall of fame.
See if you can spot the nun in the jumbotron ... she was flapping her wings just in front of us on the big screen.
Tomorrow we do some shopping and visit a friend for dinner.
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Tuesday 4 May 2010

Tuesday in Cleveland, Ohio

No time to post a picture yet. I will put some on late in the evening. We have been having a good time visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame today ... a massive glass pyramid building on the waterfront in Cleveland downtown. It looks like they have really cleaned up the downtown here, it is quite impressive. Meal portions are huge so we are not used to a salad being a large meal in itself.
Philip and I are off to the Blue Jays game against the Cleveland Indians about 7 rows from behind home plate ... Philip is going to be back catching the foul balls.  Well we are off to the game now ... more blog entry when we return.

Sunday 2 May 2010

Brother and Sister Act

Quinten and Lexy came over for a visit today. They had just returned from church and Lexy had her pretty new pink dress on. How could I resist taking a picture of this young couple. At times it looked like they were hitch-hikers. Click here to see more pictures of the happy couple.

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