Some Flowers and "Music in the Park"

WHERE ARE WE? Rivers Provincial Park, Rivers Manitoba

It was a busy day at Cj's today.  Saturday is "Music in the Park" day and as the weather becomes nicer and people realize that we are already a month into summer, the crowds will become greater.  With more people, there is more ice cream to scoop and hamburgers to cook!!!  Before we get to that, I had a couple projects going on.  Walkers Greenhouse delivered a lot of our plants the other day and our friend Linda, who is a green thumb, helped us place them in strategic areas on the golf course.  In a month or so the golf course will be one big flower garden and as long as I remember to water them, it may stay nice for a long time.

Another of my projects involved our fry cutter.  If you remember we go through about 400 lbs of potatoes a week and our old fry cutter needed some new blades.  I did a quick calculation and I figure it has cut about 25000 lbs of potatoes since it was replaced.  That's a lot of spuds.  Anyway it arrived from Amazon and I put it together on the cutter.

We use only Russet potatoes and we cut them into our empty ice cream pails, then rinse them thoroughly before they go through the blanching process which is precooking them for 3 minutes and then letting them sit before actually cooking them for the customer.  

That was about it for us today.  Sheri sent me a picture of the Cj's on Ice crew that worked in the rink with her all winter.  Notice that they are actually "on the ice"!  A great group of girls that all worked hard to make that venture work.  Most of this group work at Cj's Snack Shack with us for the summer as well.  We made Sheri get her own group of employees for Cj's on the Links and we took the trained ones!!!  Sorry Sheri! 

Our daughter Sheri in the middle

As I said earlier, tonight was "Music in the Park" and we had some different voices on stage tonight.  Our friends Jeff, Robin, and Shaya came ready to entertain.  They were joined by another local entertainer for a few songs as well.  This is exactly what my vision was for this event.  A place where people who either haven't or don't perform on a regular basis to come to jam with some seasoned veterans.  I would love to see someone make it big in the music world and say that they got their start at Cj's "Music in the Park"!!  It was a great night!! 

And just as importantly is the entertainment factor. We love to see a crowd of people come with their lawn chairs and just take in the music for a couple of hours.  We have lots of regulars and every week we get more people returning.  Lots of the campers come as well and they love hanging out with us on a Saturday night.  Some campers actually have returned here just for the music!!!!  I think the ice cream has something to do with it as well.  Good Nite!!!

 

A Visit with Karalee

WHERE ARE WE? Rivers Provincial Park, Rivers Manitoba

We had an awesome surprise today when our youngest daughter Karalee showed up to spend some time with us.   We don't get to see her often because she lives 5 hours away.  She is going to a shower for her best school friend Molly who is getting married soon.  She is helping old dad with his chores at Cj's which is really appreciated.  We got her to stop in Brandon on her way here to pick up some potatoes.  She jammed 20 bags in her back seat!!!  

Then we went on a wood run just like old times.

I managed to get Hole #2 on the golf course fixed temporarily.  We put the windmill there for now and next week we hope to have a neat obstacle ready for it.

Because we are at a lake, one of the things we sell is bait. We have shiners, which are frozen minnows, and worms, but this year leeches have been next to impossible to get.  Leeches are the bait of choice for catching Pickeral on our lake, so everyone wants them.  Today my supplier came up with 10 dozen for me.  Within an hour we were sold out and he had to bring me 20 dozen more.  I'm sure they will be gone in no time.  Thanks Richard.

It is that time of the week again where we start promoting "Music in the Park".  There are lots of campers scheduled this weekend and we have a number of musicians interested in performing.  It will be a fun time.

This Facebook post kinda caught my attention.  These are now garbage plastic signs that were used in the recent Alberta elections.  There is a saying that goes, "What's good for the goose, is good for the gander".   Perhaps if your gonna promote climate change and carbon footprints you as a political leader should walk the walk rather than talk the talk.  End of Rant!!  Good Night!

Lunch with Sheri at Cj's on the Links

WHERE ARE WE? Rivers Provincial Park, Rivers Manitoba

Thursdays are my least favourite day because today we get our order from the wholesaler and it means I have to crawl out of bed at 6 am.  I am not an early riser so I really struggle with it.  Today Sheri and Sue were there too because we had lots of stuff to sort through.  

The nice part about all that is I get to crawl back into bed for a couple hours at 7:30.  There was no rush today because we don't open until 4 and we had promised Sheri we would go to Hamiota to Cj's on the Links, to have lunch with her.  We don't get many chances to get away at the beginning of the season.  I did notice that she is in bad need of a sign right in that empty spot above the window.

I kinda gave the kids menu a second look and then realized that it was a play on words.  If you say it, it makes perfect sense!!  Sure catches your eye!!

Then it was back to Rivers to do some things.  I had to get rid of the old rotten structure on the golf course.  It didn't take much doing to make it go away.  We have a neat little surprise for this hole early next week.

Another project was to put out all the water hoses for watering the golf course. 

I have sprinklers up on poles so the whole course gets water when I turn it on.  I only have one working right now because I have to bury lines to the other 2 spots.  I left this one running for a couple hours before turning it off.  Then it was bed time.  Good Night!!!

It was a Lesson in What is Important in Life!

WHERE ARE WE? Rivers Provincial Park, Rivers Manitoba

Not much of a picture day today.  Jim and Marlyn left at about 8 am and poor old Archie sulked at the end of the road for the longest time.  He has really taken them on as his people when they are here.  They will be back in a few days I'm sure.

We dropped Dani off at Brandon Airport because she is flying to Edmonton to visit her dad for a few days.  Once again no pictures.  Dani did send me one of her in Calgary having a Staryucks while she was waiting for her next flight.

After we dropped her off, we continued on to Virden to take in a baseball game.  Our grand daughter Emma is playing and it is always fun to watch the little ones.  She tried very hard to hit the ball but there were dandelions to deal with.  The kind that you blow and they float away!!!  When she was in the field she would sit down and pick dandelions.  A ball went near her and her mom yelled, "go get the ball".  She said no because she was told to stay in this spot and if she moved she might forget where her spot was.  So there.  She is so adorable.

The game, or if they won or lost or caught the ball or hit the ball or anything didn't really matter in the big scope of things.  But when Ice Cream was mentioned, there was a special interest sparked real fast.  It was good ice cream to end the day.  Today was about the grandkids as it should be.   Good night!!!

A Good Heart Checkup

WHERE ARE WE? Rivers Provincial Park, Rivers Manitoba

I had an 8:45 am appointment with my cardiologist in Brandon this morning.  Due to a screw up with my phone and their dialing, I never got a message informing me that the Dr. had been called for an emergency surgery this morning.  

So when I got there, the receptionist apologized and told me he would be about an hour late. She did my EKG and sent me on my way with a promise to return in 45 minutes.  That's good because I was hungry so I went up the street to the Comfort Kitchen for poached eggs on toast.  Mmmmm ever good.

The Drs. office is in the downtown shoppers mall which has been empty of shoppers for years.  It now houses a few businesses and an art gallery and the local paper.  It is such a shame that this awesome place is not flourishing but the day of downtown shopping is over.

I did get in to see Dr. Bushidi at about 11 am and we had a short exchange of information and he looked at my blood work and said carry on!!  Since he changed my meds, I am like a new person.  My energy, although not through the roof, is adequate for an old man.  I am not all pooped at the end of the day like I was this winter.  And no more shortness of breath which is kinda nice.

From there I had to go and pick up some supplies from Superstore.

Both our Cj's and Sheri's Cj's use a lot of potatoes for our french frys.  I picked up 400 pounds today and we will be looking for more early next week, and we are not even busy yet!!!  We will probably go through 600+ pounds a week when we get busy.  Our wholesale supplier who delivers to our door has potatoes on for like 45 bucks for 50 lbs.  However I can get them at Superstore for 28 bucks for 50 lbs so if I get 400 lbs that is a saving of about 150 bucks.  Makes the trip to Brandon worthwhile and we can do other things while we are here, like Dr appointments and breakfast.

Well the rest of the day was quite normal so that is all I have to report!!!  Good Nite!!!