麻豆传媒AV

A mixed bag of weather again, from cold warm hot to cold and so it goes. Every nice day brings spring that much closer and we are through January already, so spring is not so far away. We have to realize that those who go south did the right thing this winter.

The duplicate bridge winners on Tuesday evening this week were Margaret Dyck and Dave Creegan and tied for second and third were Robert Iverson and Joyce Antoine along with Eric Callbeck and Gerry Fernandes.

Coming from her nursing job at the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon to visit her grandparents Irene and Elmo Colwell in North Battleford was Christa Gregoire, for three days. She also visited her great-grandmother Therese Gregoire at Villa Pascal. Visits like this are so appreciated by we older folks, to brighten our days.

Jan. 24, the Hobby Band from Meota entertained at Caleb Village to the delight of many of the residents, who welcome all folks who come to make their day one of happiness.

Jan. 24 found four tables of Norwegian Whist underway at the Do Drop In. High scores went to Yvonne Macpherson, Robert Iverson, Ken Tucker and fourth to Bev McCrimmon. This afternoon of fun was followed by a tasty potluck supper. Some folks left after supper, but two tables of Canasta were enjoyed by those who stayed on.

Monday, the installation of a nine by 16 feet, white, roll-up screen at the front of the community complex stage began. It will be completely automatic, run by computers, and will be used for showing pictures at various events, for words of hymns at funerals, hymn singing, for watching movies and other uses. This was paid for by various community groups, organizations and councils.

Contract bridge was played on Monday evening with high scores being won by Mary Greenwald and Darryl Jamroziak. Last week's report said second winner was Judy Iverson, it should have read Trudy Iverson..

Words from down under keep coming, My second daughter Beth and my sister flew from Calgary to Los Angeles, then on to Brisbane Jan. 22. It was a long flight but all went well and they recuperated after some "R and R" after they got there. Australia (OZ) is the most expensive country in the world to live in right now, so Joyce said when you put your hand in your pocket to pay for anything you'd better come out with a $100 bill. The price of tours is so high they decided to rent a car and tour on their own and go the bed and breakfast route instead. Brisbane is a big fast city and their drivers are aggressive, like all big cities, but the children will be back in school next week so traffic may ease up a bit. I talked to the girls on Viber, one of the free connections, for half an hour but when Joyce phoned on her cell phone it cost her only 59 cents, so that's OK, too. Joyce bought three road maps to help get her bearings, along with the GPS on her phone. The maps were $8 each and in a book store, not a service station, like here.

Last Sunday, over there, (Saturday here) was Australia Day, like our July 1 Canada Day. So there was lots to see and they watched the fireworks that evening. In their check-in baggage to OZ they packed two big jars of Cheese Whiz, which is not available over there, nor can you buy cheddar cheese, only white cheese, but it is tasty. Micheal really appreciated that. A lady who went to Mexico from Yellowknife packed a bunch of Hawkins Cheezies for a friend down there, it was all confiscated. Joyce said with all the rules and regulations it seems to come down to what mood the workers are in that day.

This week the three of them got brave and borrowed Micheal's car and drove out of Brisbane up to Clear Mountain Lodge away from the hustle and bustle of the noisy city. There were parks on both sides of the lodge and they could see Brisbane off in the distance in one direction and many lakes and a huge dam, the other direction. It was beautiful in every way. Then they drove to Maleny, through lovely green countryside, fields, valleys and lakes. It had rained so there were puddles in places. No mention of fires. They sent pictures of the bird of paradise flower that grows wild there and looks better than in a pot.

They drive on the left side of the road and park at the same angle as we do, but the car faces out, not in, absolutely opposite to what we do. The soil is quite red where they are now, similar to Prince Edward Island. Tuesday they will tour a cheese factory so maybe they'll find out about the Cheeze Whiz and cheddar cheese difference. Jan. 30 they all fly to New Zealand for a couple weeks then back to Brisbane, to fly home on Feb. 25.