The Ouseys in Victoria Page

Noni's new car. She got it today. Nice colour. It is a Saturn Ion 3 Sports Coupe. "Have you seen my new car?" is her favourite saying these days.

Well it is nice.

Congratulations Noni.

Click the title to go to my Picasa ONLINE pictures of the Baltic Cruise and of the Baltic Cruise mates. Double click on the first picture then scan through that way you will see the tags and comments. If you do Slide Show you won't the pictures are bigger but you won't see the captions, and comments. Enjoy.

Its been 8 days since the operation and the first few days were actually easier than the last few. Over the week the incisions got more uncomfortable. Two of them did not have stiches they were closed up by some kind of super glue. One of them seemed to open a bit and since I had some questions got an appointment with the surgeon Thursday morning. He said except for some infection things are OK. So I am on some anti-biotics. I asked why he didn't do any surgery on the calf, and he said that they don't strip the veins in the calf. The surgery was all on the thigh and that stops the blood flow to the probematic veins in the calf, so they don't need to be stripped. I guess I got the idea from the laser procedure, (which I didn't opt for), which does include laser on the veins in the calf. In any case, except for the discomfort of the dressings, things are progressing well.

Catherine is off to Ottawa to take care of her Dad who has just recently moved there.

Ken Kirkwood is off soon to Loma Linda California to get Proton Treatment for his prostrate.

The world is still turning like it should.

I have pretty well given up on the episodic relating of our cruise. The next stop was Saint Pertersburg and so much went on there, it would take several episodes itself. I am instead collating pictures in a web page that I will put on my website instead. I'll post that when it is ready.

Mike, Gail, Carolyn and myself were invited to dinner, last night, to Marilyn and Syd's. Marilyn is a friend and was our travel agent for the cruise, so they wanted to hear all about it first hand. It hit 33 C (92 F) here yesterday, so we were eating out back in their garden, to keep cool. It was very nice.

The weather is expected to remain warm for the next couple of days. It got to 39 C (102 F) in Kelowna in the interior and a couple of places in the interior are expected to go over 40 C today. So its hot, hot, hot, in fact too hot, hot, hot. (Global Warming in Action???) Fortunately here in Esquimalt, being closer to the water, we are usually a few degrees cooler than the reported highs. I guess you might say we don't get as high in Esquimalt.

Well that is all the news thats fit to print.

Ta ta & Peace.

My Vein stripping was completed today well actually Friday, since it is after midnight) It went well. IT was supposed to be done Monday but a the last minute it was cancelled a scheduled for Noon Friday Pretty well pain free due to the Tylenol 3 most likely. I don't if anyone else experiences this but Tylenol, especially with codeine as in T3 bothers my urinating. I feel like going but not much happens. Probaby too much information there, but I was just wondering. I suppose I should go to bed, but I have trouble sleeping when I feel I have to pee. Anyhow not much pain so I'll avoid the T3's.

I'll be hobbling around awhile, they say two weeks, but am advised to walk when I can, but elevate when idle.

Well nitey nite, and peace.

We have just come back from our little camping trip to Sooke with the Good Sam Club chapter, that Sue and Rob belong to. It was an excellent weekend with great weather and good fun. We went to a great little restaurant called Mulligans, because it used to be a clubhouse for a golf course which is no more. The halibut and chips were to die for. Huge portions, ideal for sharing, now all we got to do is actually order that way.

Sorry to hear about Lucky, one of Jacks dog of many years. Jamie, to alleviate his Dads sadness over the event, got him a new dog Zoe. See it all on his blog page. This is the only picture I could find of Lucky. He loved his hidey hole in the garden shed of the old house. He was a good ole dog, sort of like old yeller.

Way to go Catherine, it didn't take long for the trailer to sell, great stuff, and a reasonably successful garage sale too. Please pass on our wishes and congratulations to Al and Janine on their retirement. Hi to Pat and Paul too.

Our friends, Helen and Ken have a great blogg, she writes a good one, and is a must read. Our thought are with Ken, as he has had a biopsy and they have detected prostrate cancer. The good news is that they have caught it early and the prognosis is good. Hang in there Ken, we're thinking of you.

Tomorrow I go in for my Varicose vein stripping. I go in at 2:00 pm and should be out and home around 7:00 pm. They don't keep you in the hospital very long these days. Just as well there are sick people in there.

"After two days in hospital, I took a turn for the nurse." "W. C. Fields"

Ta Ta peace.

My I have been slow in blogging, Ah well, busy busy. Between golfing, getting ready to go "camping", washing the car and motorhome, appointments in preparation for my operation, time flies. I have all the pictures sorted, but not annotated yet.

First things first. I have got my appointment for my Varicose vein stripping set for Monday (10th July) afternoon. In preparation for that I had to have a doctors visit, my GP, then a Pre Op Clinic, where they took blood, Chest Xray, and ECG. In there I had a Dentist appointment (checkup), nothing to do with the operation. I go in Monday at 2PM and Carolyn will probably bring me home about 7pm, if all goes well.

Tomorrow we are joining Rob and Sue with their Good Sam club branch outing at Sooke Park. It covers Friday, Saturday, and we come home Sunday. Should be fun.

Now the cruise. The first two days of the cruise we spent at sea and one of the dinners during this time was formal. This first picture is of our table-mates. We were assigned to a table of 10. Mike and Gail, our travel companions are on the left, we are next followed by, Mike and Maggie (West Virginia), John and Linda (Florida) and Marvin & Loretta (Ohio). We had dinner just about everynight with this same group and we got along famously. Marvin and Loretta were celebrating their 50th Anniversary on this trip, in fact the actual day was the last day at sea, and we celebrated with them. Marvin got a rose for each of the ladies at the table, they got a chocolate cake with several waiters singing.

The next pictures shows Mike, with Carolyn and Gail on one of the streets of Stockholm. Note the 7-11 sign to the right. Yep they got them there too. The highlight in Stockholm was the Vasa museum. This is the famous warship that sank in the harbour on launch in 1621, 300 years later it was refloated and placed in this museum. You see part of the side of the ship, and a model of it.
It just wasn't built right, far to top heavy. They did an excellent job of restoring it and displaying it and many of the artifacts. A must stop for anyone visiting Stockholm. Don't stop for coffee there though it was about $4.00 per cup and no refills.

The next day we stopped in Helsinki. There we walked about a market until time for a Email pen pal of Gail, Pikka, picked us up. He had volunteered to take us about on a tour. The final picture here, shows Pikka with Mike and Carolyn at the home (museum) of Elie Saarinen, a famous artist and architect. His son was also a the famous architect Eero Saarinen and was raised in this house. The house was and all of the furnishings and grounds were designed by Elie and it is quite a site. Very interesting furnishings, fireplaces, playrooms, etc. An enormous house and a must see for tourists to Helsinki. The last picture gives a taste of the interior, an unusual fireplace. And that is it for this episode. Hopefully I will get back to it while convalescing.

Ta ta and Peace.