A fun time with friends

Harold and Ed and I were allowed to slip away for a little while last Saturday to attend the airshow at the Commonwealth Air Plan Museum in Brandon.  I like to go because I have a little love of aircraft and know some of the people involved with them.  The museum itself is quite well done and worth having a look at.

The view out the upstairs window over the hanger shows some of the vintage aircraft in the hanger.  Many of these are still flying.  The tiger moth and the Stinson with an Avro Ansen in the background

My friend John McNarry who is the president of the Museum board, as well as the Ground man for all of the aircraft,  did a good job telling us a lot about the museum and the aircraft.  As it turned out the winds were high enough that the pilots didn't feel comfortable exposing the lighter aircraft to those gusty winds, so there was no flying.  

They did take some of the aircraft out of the hanger and fire them up.  First up was the Tiger Moth.  Pilot Peter Moody ran it up and warmed it up before shutting it down again.

Next up was the Cornell.  This is the aircraft I flew in with Peter Moody a few years ago when we did a flyby for the Rivers Homecoming Celebration.  Peter even let me have the stick for a bit so I got to feel what those young airmen felt like when they were training for war.  Its almost a little humbling.

Next was the roaring Harvard.  This aircraft is special to me because I flew in one a few times when I lived in Alberta and Dalton Deedrick would do aerobatics over Lacombe every Sunday morning and I had the pleasure of doing a few loops and rolls with him.  Even a hammerhead stall and that is something to do in a powerful machine like the Harvard.  Glad I had the opportunity to experience that.  

Last but not least was the T28 Trojan which is a privately owned aircraft.  I know nothing about them except that they are beastly powerful and have a neat rumble to them as they taxi.  John McNarry directed him into the right spot.

Of course we had to stop for Tim Hortons on the way home.  I think Ed is catching the bug!!

Our Grand daughter Grace celebrated her 4th Birthday at the lake with us as well.  Aunts Karen, Jen, Jess and Uncle Kyle came out from Winnipeg to be with us.  Always nice when our Winnipeg family comes to visit.  All the local grandparents and aunts and uncles were here as well as Great Gramma Senkbeil.  We had a fun afternoon.

We had quite a few picnic lunches at CJ's while our "Merican" friends were around.  Pat and Harold were the tour guides and took them on some pretty neat adventures.  Hutterite Colonies, Breweries, Lily Fields and some drives in the country.  Thanks guys for entertaining while we were working the shack.

We found out that Ed has an awesome talent as an ice cream pail emptier!!!  There is always some left in there and he obliged a few times.

We did manage to go out for lunch one day with the gang and took them to Lady of the Lake in Brandon.  Its a girly lunch place with an antique store attached.  Us guys were thrilled however the food was good.

This week we got to have our grandson Silas spend some time with us.  He and Grace are best friends and spent the whole two days together.  It was fun watching them interact.  We don't get to spend much time with Silas so we loved having this opportunity.

They did have the odd ice cream

All good things have to come to and end and Kyra had to move on.  She has plans with her family soon farther south so she loaded up and headed back across the border.  We will catch up to you again Kyra and thanks for brightening a few days for us.  You smile is still amazing.

I didn't get to see Kyra leave because guess what I am back to doing.  Yup thats right I'm back breaking rocks.

Ed and I headed into Brandon on Friday to pick up Ice Cream from the truck and we made sure we left a little early so we could get breakfast at the Komfort Kitchen.  They specialize in breakfast and lunch and boy do they do a good job of it.

And we made it home in time for Ed's nap in the sun.  Lessie was busy working in the kitchen and didn't get a nap.  These two have been a huge help to us around the shack always helping where they can.

Making Mozza sticks from scratch

Our boat rentals have been taking off lately.  We have had lots of paddle boat rentals with the kayaks being slow going to start.  Here is part of the fleet with the orange rescue boat in the back.  Our lake is starting to get a lot of weed growth and it makes a mess of the swimming area.  We have started a committee called Friends of Rivers Lake to research what we can do to keep our lake clean.  It will be a lot of work but is a worthwhile cause, especially since our business relies on the lake.

Here are a couple more pictures of the food we offer at CJ's.  Pretty yummy stuff!!  You should come try some!!!

A Donny Burger

Caramel Funnel Cake

And the flowers are blooming full force.  A nice peonie arrangement on the library.

We have been getting a bit of rain here regularly so the country is a lush green.  We love this time of year when everything looks so alive.  Here is the view from our window looking down the road to the lake.