I'm starting this month's info with a current photo of my grand-daughters. We had the chance to visit them last week. Getting up to walk Jessica to kindergarten was great, and also watching Jessica and Cassandra at their soccer games and riding their bikes was a real treat. The youngest, Tanisha, isn't yet involved in extra curricular activities, but she is a going concern and seldom still.

Although I didn't have my camera handy, so don't have any photos, the trip home was breathtaking. We flew out of Regina about 9 a.m. on a clear morning. Watching the patterns in the prairies was fascinating, along with the occasional river or ribbon of road. After a time we got into the foothills of the Rockies, with shadows making strange patterns on the ground below. Then, of course, the majesty of the Rocky Mountains and the beauty of the valleys and lakes between the mountain ranges. We passed directly over Kaslo and I could see the West Arm and Nelson off in the distance. When we crossed the Fraser River the muddy brown colour told us we were on the final leg of this journey. Then came the Fraser Valley, Burrard Inlet and the Strait of Georgia before we touched down in Vancouver. After a stop in Vancouver that was long enough for us to go out for brunch with family members, we went back to the airport for the short flight to Kelowna, and then drove home. It made for a long but memorable day.




One of the events of "grad weekend" is the cavalcade, where the young graduates, in their finest outfits are paraded through Nelson in some of the finest vehicles. That's me, behind the wheel in the photo below. The rain stopped at just the right time!



One of the regular readers of this blog called me this morning with a link to the Globe and Mail's web-site with some interesting photos (Thanks, J.G.) She told me of a photo of a mop-haired dog that she said would fit right into Nelson's culture, but when I got on the site, I liked the photo below best, taken in Morocco. These photos change daily, but you can access them at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/in-photos/best-from-the-past-24-hours/article1183289/


Mortgage Rates

It seems that fixed rate mortgages of 3 to 5 years have increased slightly in cost over the past couple of weeks. By historical standards, they are still a bargain and are helping to revitalize the housing market. If you are shopping for a home (or a new mortgage) contact your lender or mortgage broker. You can lock in a rate for 60 - 90 days (sometimes even longer) so that your best rate will be guaranteed while you find the right home. Some people prefer to have a variable or floating rate mortgage. This is very often less expensive, but does not have the certainty of a fixed rate. For more information on variable versus fixed rates you may want to check out http://homeloans2.net/Bulletins/Mortgage_Breakup.pdf

TRAFFIC CAMERA A man was driving when a traffic camera flashed. He thought his picture was taken for exceeding the speed limit, even though he knew he was not speeding. Just to be sure, he went around the block and passed the same spot, driving even more slowly, but again the camera flashed. He thought this was quite funny, so he slowed down even further as he drove past the area, but the traffic camera flashed yet again. He tried a fourth time with the same result. The fifth time he was laughing when the camera flashed as he rolled past at a snail's pace.
Two weeks later, he got five traffic fine letters in the mail for driving without a seat belt.

Do You Know A Buyer For This Home?

This solid 3 bedroom home sits on a prime view lot, near the hospital in Nelson. It is in need of some updating but it has a huge lot and the potential to divide off a 60 x 120 additional lot for resale, or to construct your dream home in the perfect location. Further details on our web-site at: Nelson Real Estate Priced at $399,000.

As regular readers will know, much of my spare time is spent on my bicycle. I've been training for the past while to participate in The Ride To Conquer Cancer benefiting the B.C. Cancer Foundation. While out on one of my training rides I stopped for this photo:


Taken along the Kootenay River with the water pouring over the top of the Nelson Hydro dam. This was taken around 6:30 a.m. with the sun just hitting the river.

My fundraising has gone well for this ride, and I have exceeded my original goal. Thanks to all who have assisted me with a donation. Just in case you missed it, and would like to contribute, please do so here: Lorne's Conquer Cancer donation page The ride is this weekend from Vancouver to Seattle (not on the freeway). I think I'm ready to do it!

If you're more into recreational cycling, you might want to try this ride next month. It's a 1 day event, with transportation provided from Nelson and return. The ride is along the rail grade from the Paulson Bridge (Between Castlegar and Christina Lake) back into Castlegar. It is a very gentle ride, that takes about 5 hours (plus transport time). There is a $40 entry fee, which includes snacks and a lunch at the end. Funds raised go to support Our Daily Bread, a local hot meal program which operates Monday to Friday. If you're interested, e-mail me and I'll forward an application to you.

*Preacher's Best Years*

A preacher, who shall we say was "humor impaired," attended a conference to help encourage and better equip pastors for their ministry.

Among the speakers were many well known and dynamic speakers. One such boldly approached the pulpit and, gathering the entire crowd's attention, said, "The best years of my life were spent in the arms of a woman that wasn't my wife!" The crowd was shocked! He followed up by saying, "And that woman was my mother!"

The crowd burst into laughter and delivered the rest of his talk, which went over quite well.

The next week, the pastor decided he'd give this humor thing a try, and use that joke in his sermon. As he surely approached the pulpit that sunny Sunday, he tried to rehearse the joke in his head. It suddenly seemed a bit foggy to him.

Getting to the microphone he said loudly, "The greatest years of my life were spent in the arms of another woman that was not my wife!"

The congregation inhaled half the air in the room.

After standing there for almost 10 seconds in the stunned silence, trying to recall the second half of the joke, the pastor finally blurted out, "...and I can't remember who she was!"

*Thanks to Pastor Tim for this joke!*
http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh

In the past few weeks we were privileged to have Helmut Pastrick, Chief Economist of the Central 1 Credit Union visit Nelson. Drew and I were pleased to attend his presentation. He spoke about the low interest rates, the rising Canadian dollar, unemployment rates, manufacturing conditions (e.g. the lumber industry and the auto industry), and touched on housing. He feels that housing prices will remain "soft" for the rest of this year, although the number of sales will increase slightly over last year. When I questioned him on this, he indicated that the softness of the market was generally caused by a surplus of available housing, which is largely centred in larger centres (Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna within the Province of B.C.). In smaller communities like Nelson, he felt that there was a better chance of market stability, although we won't know for certain until after the fact, but anecdotal evidence seems to support this.

This is AWESOME....something we should all remember. A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready. As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.
I love it,' he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait.'
'That doesn't have anything to do with it,' he replied.
Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time.
Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged .. it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it.
'It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice;
I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.
Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away. Just for this time in my life.
Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in.
So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!
Thank you for your part in filling my Memory Bank.
I am still depositing.
'Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

I think that's a great place to end. Thanks for reading!

Lorne & Drew