I bought myself one of those adult colouring books for Christmas, and find myself spending hours a day, colouring. It’s very meditative and relaxing. I need it, as I got myself into a tizzy over trying to join the local Liberals’ executive.

At the thank you party for volunteers in November, the president said please attend the AGM in January and consider running for a position. I thought what a good idea, as I enjoyed my bout of volunteering in the past year. I replied to an e mail in December, listing the positions to which I wanted to apply, and heard nothing further.

This week I got an e mail from the nominations chair stating, “Currently, all of the executive positions have an interested candidate. You are more than welcome to let your name stand for any of them, which would mean a contested race voted upon at the AGM. There are also Director at Large positions available as well.”

I replied, gosh that’s odd, as does that mean my e mail arrived later than those who were slotted into those positions? I added shouldn’t an election occur first, and then people get on the executive? No reply to that, but then today I got an e mail inviting me to a “meet and greet” which is occurring today (“sorry for the short notice”) and “was planned outside the nomination committee.”

I replied with thanks, stating I’d be there for sure. This should be interesting, non?

I’m in the midst of binge-watching House of Cards, so maybe I’m just in an overly suspicious frame of mind regarding what’s going on. Which is why the colouring books have been wonderful as the adrenalin surges over some of these messages have been tremendous.

Luke received the fantastic news that he may shortly be reporting to an oil rig in Saskatchewan for a couple of months of work. It appears his company’s called Lucky Luke’s Consulting for a good reason, given the huge numbers out of work.

Last night as I took the dog out for his night time bathroom break, I saw both James and Luke’s cars in the driveway. I heard them gaming away downstairs and thought it’s just like old times. The kids are downstairs partying like it’s 1999. Maybe I’m in some kind of a time warp.

Certainly the colouring is reminiscent of a time long ago, and I remember I used to adore my pencil and wax crayons as a child. I started this latest colouring project with wax crayons, but soon found pencil crayons are the way to go. I’ve coloured some very nice pictures and have amassed a stack of them already.

At the same time, I listen to LP’s by the Beatles, Cyndi Lauper, The Boss, Elvis Costello, and Tina Turner, reliving the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Luke was born in 1986 and it appears my penchant for music stopped around that time.

I’m so glad I bought myself a cheap small record player so I can colour and sing myself into a happy mood. It’s as though I found my own individualized meditation method that puts me into a calmer zone. Rock on!

I wondered when I last wrote a blog, and was shocked by my own laziness. It’s been three weeks, so that has to be a record. However, I blame the fruitcake business which overlaps with the busiest season of the year. I never thought of that when I started it.

This year I sold every last fruitcake, and a handful of people were disappointed. They’ll know to order earlier next year, as I decided having leftover stock has to be stopped. It’s never as good after a few months, despite the reputation of an aged fruitcake.

This was Jan’s first Christmas in Canada, so I wanted to be sure she had a nice one. I think she did, as she had both the 24th and 25th off work, so was able to partake in the German tradition as well as the English one the following day.

Margaret and Brendan arrived by plane on the afternoon of the 24th, and Luke had gone to Osoyoos to pick mom up, so we were all ready to go when the balloon went up at 5:00 PM. We had the usual carols around the piano, then opened gifts. I made a brisket which was terrible, so that was a bit of a disappointment.

On Christmas Day we lounged around eating, and Luke brought over his roulette wheel and so we gambled for a couple of hours. Mom won. We then had a large turkey dinner following by warm peach pie, and continued eating chocolate and cookies until we fell into bed, bloated.

Luke drove mom home on Boxing Day, and Margaret and I did nothing whatsoever. It snowed like mad, so I didn’t even walk my poor dog. On the 27th we drove to Luke and Jan’s new condo so Margaret could see it, and had a really nice visit there.

Margaret and Brendan left yesterday, so today is Day 1 of normal eating. I felt so nauseated when I went to bed last night I really thought I would puke. As much fun as it is to eat chocolate and cookies by the pound, the old pancreas and liver take a terrible beating for it.

2015 was quite a decent year, in that I went to Hawaii and Virginia, and Jan arrived. Nicky met Haruka, and plans to visit her in Japan in a couple of weeks and propose. Mom turned 90, listed the orchard, and then took it off the market again. All in all, an interesting year.

My fruitcake business grew in a complimentary way. I noticed repeat customers ordered a tiny bit more each, so that sales per customer were a lot better. Not that I mind mailing or delivering one fruitcake, but some people who had ordered two, ordered four, and so on. One nice customer in Alberta ordered 10.

I went on a diet in May, and managed to keep the blubber off, and celebrated my 14th year at the women’s gym. I need that place, as I have yoga and Pilates mats, weights, a band, and a bike at a home, all in pristine condition.

On New Year’s Day I’m invited to Petra’s for dinner, and that’ll be a fantastic way to kick off 2016. I have a feeling something absolutely wonderful awaits. I don’t know why but maybe because Freddie is turning 70, and Luke 30, that I feel some sort of wild anticipation.

Almost two weeks ago I noticed a scratch above the cat’s eye and knew an abscess was forming. Because Wrecks was born wild, he’s never been to the vet other than as a kitten to be neutered. He’s the sort of cat who uses his powerful hind claws to push himself off my chest if I try to hold him.

So I weighed the pros and cons of the anaesthesia, sutures, drainage tube and collar, all of which would be provided by the vet at an enormous cost. I decided putting a cone on a wild cat was akin to throwing him into a pack of coyotes, so thought I would handle the abscess on my own.

Kids, don’t try this at home! I’ve owned pets all my life, and have to say the abscess was one of the worst pet situations I’ve had to go through. Around Day Four I was e mailing people saying I think I have to take the cat in to be euthanized, as he was in bad shape.

However, somehow with grit and determination, I got the cat through it all, and now he just likes to keep a scab over his eye. Every day it’s healed over, then in the evening he goes into a lick, wipe, lick, wipe fit with his paw and gets the scab off. It’ll be months before the memory of the abscess is gone thanks to the ubiquitous scab.

I was quite relieved to have saved that money from the vet, as then I was able to hand it straight over to a plumber. Silly me, I thought all I had was plugged drains, but four hours and $710 later I had new pipes under the sink as well as the free-running drains I’d originally wanted.

You know how thrilled I was to have volunteered for the Liberals, as I adored all of the people I met. So I thoroughly enjoyed a thank you to the volunteers’ event held at the Kelowna Golf and Country Club. It was at 3:00 PM and was a dessert buffet, so I did as well as I could, going back three times to fill my plate.

The AGM for the riding is in January and I plan to attend and let my name stand for one of the executive positions. I think it’ll be tremendous fun.

Because of my poor record-keeping, I didn’t plan the volume of the Okanagan Harvest Cakes properly and I think by the end of this week I will have run out. Being a greedy person, the thought of quickly baking more has crossed my mind, but I just don’t have the time as I have my own Christmas baking to do.

I already made Freddie’s cookies and mailed them off, but I’m going to Osoyoos on Sunday so I want to have some for there, too as I plan to give some as gifts. Mom’s having a dinner party for 8 people and I’m making it, but Jerralynn’s kindly making the appetizer and dessert.

On Monday I was at the postal wicket for 25 minutes as I had so many orders to mail. I’m heading out there again this morning, then will have to go at least once more. Each day that goes by means longer and longer line-ups, so I really wish people would order early.

But really in two weeks it’ll all be over once again, and as usual, I survived the fruitcake season.

Jan and Luke bought a condo across from the college, and so we went out to look for some furniture at the local thrift stores. I said now remember, you might not find a thing on the first outing, so we probably have to plan to go every few days for a few weeks to get everything.

We started at the Salvation Army, and there wasn’t a thing there, so we proceeded to the Mennonites with me lecturing them saying see? it could take a long time. However as soon as we got there Luke saw a kitchen table and chair set he liked, and so decided to buy it. It’s wood, with four chairs and thick navy pillows.

Then we proceeded to the Gospel Mission store, and while there found a nice couch for $125 and a coffee table for $70 and bought those. Luke said that’s all we need, so in an hour all of the shopping was done.

Then Jan said she wanted a resume so she could look for work, and I drafted one up and sent it to Luke to edit. I said to them now don’t be disappointed as you might not find a job for a long time and will have to submit a lot of applications.

Two days ago I looked on-line and can you believe, there was an ad for a Thai cook! I sent Jan’s resume with a brief note saying please speak in Thai if you phone.

Yesterday morning they headed to the restaurant, not realizing there was already a message from the owners on Jan’s phone. So when they got there Jan was hired on the spot! She spent less than a day looking for work, so I was wrong once again.

A nice person from Quality Greens e mailed and asked if I could supply fruitcakes to all four locations and I said I used to, but I stopped doing it. I explained I hand-make each fruitcake, so can’t sell a product like that wholesale any more. I asked if he’d direct people to my website, and he alleged he would.

Next Wednesday Maxine Dehart will write about me in her business column, so that should bring a brief flurry of sales. I must say I’m enjoying the business so much more now that I have it under some semblance of control.

Yesterday I did something very enjoyable, which was to get out my pile of recipes and separate all those needed for Christmas. I’m going to make the usual cookies, but I also want to try a carrot and parsnip souffle as a side dish for the turkey this year.

And I already know on Christmas Day we’ll be eating a hot peach pie as I bought one in August, solely for that purpose. The Van Kalkeren fruit stand very near to my mom’s house sells fruit pies, and they’re really fantastic as they weigh several pounds from all the fruit.

So you can imagine how wonderful it’ll be to taste Okanagan peaches in winter. I also made and froze cherry and peach compotes, which can be served warmish over ice cream. They’re made with a bit of brandy so should be delicious as well. I’m so looking forward to the gastronomic aspects of Christmas!

It’s very late in the season for the bees, but I noticed they’re still emptying the jars of syrup I provide them, so I’ve just kept on replenishing them. However yesterday I thought it was getting ridiculous as soon the syrup’s going to be frozen in the jar. And I know the bees won’t drink it if it’s under 5 degrees C out.

In the late afternoon, IE around 4:00 PM as it was already getting dark, I put on the jacket of my bee suit and grabbed my special gloves. I went down and took the jar off the hole, and stapled down the metal mesh guard. Naturally this enraged the bees, and a couple of them decided I needed to be attacked.

I’d done only a casual closure of the bee jacket, and I could hear some bees buzzing around me as I ran up the hill in the semi dark. I ran downstairs and tore off the jacket and gloves, and then ran into Nicky’s living room and said “Do you see a bee near me?”

He said he could hear it, and so I ripped off my cardigan and sweater, tearing off an earring in the process, and threw the clothes on the floor. I stood there in my bra and asked in a high state of agitation if he could see any bees, and he said not yet but if you’re that scared why don’t you get out of this area? Screaming, I left the room and ran upstairs as fast as I could see.

A minute later Nicky arrived upstairs, and calmly handed me the sweater and cardigan, and said there were two bees, which he’d killed. I said well thanks, and put on my clothes. Remember when I was badly stung on the ankles and then said hey guess what, now I’m no longer scared of the bees? I was wrong.

Now I just have to duct tape a bit of styrofoam around the hive for insulation for the winter, and then buh bye bees until spring. And it’s just in time for me to concentrate on my High Season, which is in full swing.

The other day a nice customer called saying she was on her way home to Calgary and wondered if she could pick up 3 fruitcakes. I said sure, and waited for her to arrive. It was around 5:30 PM, pitch dark out, and surprise, my outside lights aren’t working.

I was sitting there watching the news when I heard a knock at the French doors leading to the deck. There was the poor woman, trying to bust her way in to get her fruitcakes. She said she’d knocked on the front door, but in this house, you can’t hear anything like that. I said to her people really have to work hard to get fruitcakes from me, don’t they?

Have I mentioned I’m a victim of migraines? I probably have, given my penchant to elicit pity whenever possible. In my zeal to prevent them, as well as giving up all alcohol as it’s a trigger, I’ve now bought an expensive device called a Cefaly. Not sure if you’ve ever been to a physiotherapist, but this device is a TENS machine.

You put electrodes on your head, then turn it on, and strong electrical currents pulsate through the noggin. The brochure says it’s very relaxing, and you may fall asleep. I’ve now tried it three times and am clenching my fists and counting the minutes until it turns off because I perceive it as damned painful. Perhaps that explains my outsized fear of innocent bees, a low pain threshold.

Mom thinks of Jerry’s children as her ‘step children’ so she wanted to go to Lexington VA to visit David and his son Jacob. She particularly wanted me to see his lovely house, and I said sure, let’s go. I e mailed Alison and invited her along, so mom and I began the trip by flying directly from Kelowna to Toronto.

We were picked up at the airport by JT and Alison and taken to their comfortable Victorian house on Summerhill Ave. That’s only the second time I’ve stayed there yet I feel perfectly at home. Any house with a commercial-grade coffee maker is my kind of place.

On Sunday the weather was warm and sunny, so the four of us spent the late morning and early afternoon driving through the Ontario countryside looking at the foliage. We had a picnic beside a burbling creek. Later back home JT barbecued a turkey and we had Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, and were joined by their son Paul.

We were flying from the Billy Bishop airport to Dulles, so didn’t have to leave quite so early for our flight as it’s not very far away. The flight left at 10:30 and by 11:30 we were already landing. We rented a car and then looked for the signs for Shenandoah National Park.

This is a huge park, and apparently contains one of the largest black bear populations in the US. We didn’t see any animals at all, but the views down into the the Valley along Skyline Drive were breathtaking. There are many overlooks, so we pulled over here and there, taking photos that couldn’t possibly capture what we saw.

We arrived at David’s around dinner time, and he was in the final stages of preparing the guest rooms for our visit. He said there were three choices. One was the living room couch, the second Zoe’s bedroom upstairs, and the third a room with en suite over the garage. I could see it was time to exert some influence over what could become a precarious situation.

I said I doubted I could sleep in the living room, given the vast amount of space between it and the bathroom. But I said could cope with that if needed, it just meant everyone had to be out of the living room by 8:30 PM and I didn’t want any noise early in the morning.

Naturally this produced resistance due to the early hour people would have to vacate the living room. Alison bravely said she’d sleep in the living room. I said mom can’t really go through a cluttered, dark garage and upstairs to a room, so it was settled she’d get Zoe’s old room, and I got the little suite above the garage. Sweet!

The rest of the visit to Lexington involved visiting the historic downtown, touring Stonewall Jackson’s house, seeing Robert E Lee’s sarcophagus at the Washington and Lee University and touring a landmark called Natural Bridge. The weather was sunny and very warm the whole time.

David made gourmet dinners for us each night except for one when we went to The Red Hen for dinner. By Friday it was time to reverse our trip and make our way to Toronto. The next day, giddy with joy over the impending election, we made our way back to BC. And then, joy of joys, we won!

Because I enjoy medical things I enjoy researching on the Internet, and like to solve a lot of my own problems that way. The poor dog has allergies, so after some research I found that brewer’s yeast and fish oil capsules can help, so I’ve started him on that.

In the meantime I found an herb called Butterbur recommended for migraines, plus several other vitamins and minerals, so I bought all of those, and I’m taking handfuls twice a day. I’m not sure if anything’s working yet, but I know it’s costing me an awful lot of money. Certainly my urine’s worth more than the average person’s.

But then you know how I love to save by shopping at thrift stores, which I did this weekend. Beverly came from White Rock and we visited six thrift stores and an interesting junk store called Lois Lane. It’s an odd place where wooden furniture’s left outside in the elements.

Just like the time Beverly found a Coach bag at the Salvation Army, this time she found a pair of black Simon Chang jeans. She showed them to me, and as they were in my size I thought damn it, missed it by that much. I told her I have the exact pair in brown, and they’re fantastic.

And speaking of fantastic, I’ve been alone all week as Nicky and Haruka are holidaying in Puerta Vallarta. They’re returning tomorrow, which is when mom and I are leaving for Toronto, and then Virginia. Alison’s coming too, and we’re off to see the lovely fall foliage of the Shenandoah Valley.

I’ve been canvassing away for the Liberal party, and just had a letter to the editor published in which I asked oldsters if perhaps we are the ones who aren’t ready, as opposed to Justin Trudeau. It could be, given the way our age group is sure every tradesperson, doctor, dentist, vet or nurse coming toward us in in their teens.

Now that I have free TV, albeit just Global, but that’s fine, I love to watch the news at night. When I paid a hundred dollars or more a month for a whole bunch of channels, while I had Netflix as well, I didn’t watch the news or any TV at all. But now that it’s free, there’s something enticing about it. And it’s legal, too, so what could make a person happier?

Louie’s very spoiled and will be babysat tomorrow as mom and I are leaving in the morning, and Nicky and Haruka are arriving in the evening. Mike, the nice house painter’s going to come over and spend the entire day with the dog! But it’s good, as then I don’t have the dog’s happiness to worry about.

Today’s my final shift on the phones at Liberal HQ downtown, as then mom and I will be away until the election. I suppose I’ll be roped into driving people to the polls or something like that on the 19th, but that’s fine. I’m ga ga with anticipation over the results so may as well be kept busy that day.

And then I’ll arrive home to the dear dog, who now comes when I open a bottle of vitamins for myself. He comes when I open the fridge, or start to cook, but now has added another food call button to his brain. Louie’s completely nuts over the fish oil capsules, and gets two a day just like a treat. Hence, we both have fine, expensive urine.

As you may have read on my Facebook page, I was thoroughly owned by my bees last week. I don’t know why I thought just socks and runners would keep me safe from the little blighters. All summer I’ve been doing things with the bees, like taking off empty jars of syrup and putting on new ones, and nary a problem.

However because I was taking the two hives completely apart in order to put in a mite-fighting pesticide strip, I made the bees so mad they had to attack me viciously. My friend from the gym, Lorraine, a seasoned beekeeper, had come over to help me with this project. She said go head, lift the top box, which I did, and then soon after I was saying to her, “Oh my God, Lorraine, these bees are stinging the shit out of my ankles!”

She replied brightly, “You’re doing so great!” as I was bending down and swiping as many bees as I could off my ankles. However I had to keep going, put the hive back together, and hurried back to the house where I made a thick paste of baking soda and water for my smarting ankles.

The attack occurred around 11:00 AM and by 3:00 PM my left ankle was very swollen and I couldn’t put any weight on it. This went on for about three days, and then ended with a spell of mighty itching on both ankles. The left was a lot worse than the right, as it was the one with an actual bee beard on it.

The bees release a pheromone when they sting that calls all the other bees to that one weak area. Brilliant when you think of it. However what I found as a result of all that is I’m no longer afraid of the bees!

A few days later I went right down there, smoked the hell out of them, opened the top and just basically felt confident. I was wearing knee-high boots over my bee suit, which I believe helped bolster my confidence.

A few days ago Luke came to show me his ‘new’ BMW which he bought in Alberta, and to work on his website for his new business. It was tremendous fun to do it, and I hope you’ll check out our handiwork at http://www.freehighdef.tv.

When he told me his website’s name, I said what’s the rest of it, dot com or dot ca? He said neither. He said dot tv is a new suffix and when I Googled it, I see it’s often chosen by companies who are in some sort of video-related business, so that makes some sense.

Writing copy for a website or choosing appropriate fonts and photos is far preferable to my attempt at hanging a curtain rod yesterday. Mom got funky bamboo curtains, not blinds, for her back deck, and I just loved them, so I ordered four panels for my bedroom.

I like all wicker-themed things, as I like to pretend I live in Hawaii. I think that’s also why I buy plants like plumeria and bougainvillea. Totally ridiculous for here, but for some strange reason they provide hope in the depths of a Canadian winter.

I had to Google how to screw in those plastic things, and then went ahead and measured and installed the brackets. The next part was hilarious, as when I hung the curtains, first the rod bowed in the middle from the weight, and then all three brackets came right out of the wall! Much better for me to stick with that I know, so I immediately called Denis who said he’ll install a rod for me tomorrow.

Bee keeping, like gardening, is touted as one of those restful hobbies, yet I find both anxiety inducing. Right now I’m to be putting Mite Away strips inside the hive to kill mites living on the bees, but I’m too nervous to do it. I phoned the company in Ontario, and they seem to feel it’s quite a simple procedure.

But anything new frightens the Hell out of me, so I prefer to avoid it. If I imagine something’s going to be hard I feel the best response is to run away from it and pretend it’s not there. I suppose it’s another of the maladjusted behaviours I’ve developed over time.

Here’s another, though it’s a lot more enjoyable. If someone’s acting like a dick on the highway, I feel it’s my duty to enlighten them. So imagine my joy to find myself in one of those teachable moments as I drove home from Osoyoos on Labour Day.

A young kid with an N proudly displayed on the car decided to drive about two inches from my bumper, though he/she could easily see I was following another vehicle and unable to drive any faster. This kind of rude B.S. has to be nipped in the bud.

If you know Highway 97, you’ll enjoy this even more, as I was at the primo spot for lesson teaching: Antlers Beach. The kid was on my tail as we came down the hill into Antler’s Beach, and from there it’s no passing all the way until the light leading into Peachland.

As I came down the hill and around the corner I thought oh dear, I’d better slow this vehicle right down. We were in a long line of traffic, both ahead of me and behind. So I slowed my buggy down to about 20 km and kept that up for an awfully long time (the speed limit’s 90). The cars ahead of me were a long distance away.

Two or three minutes can go by awfully slowly if you’re following someone going 20. I figure that gives them time to understand what’s occurring. Sure enough, the kid seemed to learn, because once I had sped up to 100 and caught up to the line of traffic ahead of me, the kid kept a respectful distance for the rest of the way.

I kept hoping he/she would try the race-up-to-the-car gag again, and was saying aloud, “Do you feel lucky punk, do ya?” But they obviously didn’t, and just behaved instead.

Less joyful was the unexpected return of Nicky and Haruka after just one night of camping. They were off for “two or three nights” and I was very hopeful it would be the full three. However after 24 hours they were back, Nicky explaining the’d forgotten the most important supplies, the sleeping bags.

When I was in Osoyoos for the Labour Day weekend I accompanied Luke and Jan to a house for sale. They’re leaving the sainted Pink Casa by the end of this year as mom’s decided not to sell the orchard but to lease it to our nice neighbour. He needs the pink house for his Mexican migrant workers, and so change is in the air.

But not for this jammed up person, who’s too frightened to put mite strips into a hive.

Because mom lives in Osoyoos, it seems I make the trip up and down the Valley very frequently. Renate (aka Sam) was here from Hawaii, so she and I went to visit with a few of the old Osoyoos Elementary Junior Secondary School crowd.

First of all we stopped at Ken Kalyn’s house, and we haven’t seen him in 42 years, so that was fun. He made us a delicious hamburger soup for lunch. After that Sam and I had a brief visit with mom, and then we were off to meet Maryjoy and Phyllis and to go somewhere for dinner.

After a bit of driving around, we ate at a Mediterranean-style restaurant called Ella’s. Sam and I shared a main course of calamari, which was very good as was the pita and tsasiki.

Cars were parked along the sides of Highway 97 on our way down as the forest fires were all going strong above some of the wineries south of Oliver, and people were standing and staring at them. On the way home the next day it’d thankfully calmed down a bit, though we still saw puffs of smoke here and there.

I was in Osoyoos last weekend to clown around with Freddie and Twig. Mom had a dinner party on Saturday night, and Luke, Jan, and Nicky, among others, were there. Also Louie, the car sick dog; poor him, he’s had to travel quite a bit these days.

The smoke was even worse this past visit due to the Stick Pin fire which is raging in the northern part of Washington state. Ash rained down on my car and left a thin film. It’s really smoky here in Kelowna, but in Osoyoos it was almost dark it was so thick. I felt as though I was sitting at a roaring camp fire.

I’m sure the strange nuclear winter-like skies must upset my bees, so I’ve continued to put jars of sugar syrup on the hive for them. As you know, a beekeeper is supposed to inspect their hives every couple of weeks, but I can’t make myself do it. It’s not so much fear of the bees, as fear for the bees, because whenever frames or the lid are moved, bees get killed in the process.

My dahlias are wonderful, and don’t seem to mind the lack of full sun, which is lucky. There’s no wind whatsoever, so I think we’re going to be stuck under these grey, smoky skies for quite a while. What a bummer, when there’s lovely sun overhead but we can’t see it.

This weekend my friend Beverly’s coming from White Rock, and we plan to shop at each and every thrift store in this town. We’re both veterans at it, and I think I told you a year or two ago Bev got a Coach bag at the Sally Ann for $20. Now that’s more like it, when the usual price tag is around $200.

Then the following weekend, which is Labour Day, it’s time to get into the car and head south on Highway 97 again. The car practically drives itself at this point. If you’re on that highway, and going less than 10 km over the speed limit, and there’s a green 1998 Honda Civic a few inches from your bumper, guess who??