Gino...third anniversary, a tribute

It was three years ago today when I received a confusing call from my sister. She asked if my niece had called me and I replied no. Then she started to cry and said Gino was in an accident. So we talked and I said I hope he makes it and before I could ask more questions, she said the police were there and she would call back.

After a few minutes, I did not exactly know what really happened and so I called my niece to find out more and she could not talk and let her husband Mike to talk to me. So I asked him if Gino was ok or was he in the hospital and I remember him telling me exactly these words, "No, Tita, he is dead".

The worst news ever! I hang up and cried and cried and still not knowing what happened to him. So finally I called my brother-in-law and got the real story of what happened. And then my sister finally called back and we talked a bit more and realized that Gino died on my dad's birthday. The ironic thing about is, is that my dad died on his father's birthday as well.

It was something I never thought would have happened to our family. His cousins were shocked and all our friends could not believe it.

So young and so much to live for. I know we will never find out why but we have to accept it and hope he is at peace wherever he is.

I am glad that I had the time to really know him when I stayed with him and my sister while I was in Toronto and I am so proud of how good and nice of a person he turned out to be. Having babysat him when he was young, I feel like I had contributed to raising him. I am sad I would not see him having a wife and children. I can laugh about it now but after Alysia got married in the Dominican Republic, I teased him that Las Vegas is a lot closer to me if he was to have a destination wedding. But it wasn't to be.

I had found this picture of him and myself in the front garden of our home in Yellowknife. Sorry but he scanner was not working properly but the picture is still there.

I love you Gino.... here is a song that really brings it home...Gone too soon by Michael Jackon.



Ukrainian Heritage Cultural Centre

Finally after three weeks of bad weather, we got to go to the Ukrainian Centre which is located near Tofield, AB. It is east of Edmonton and 25 minute drive.

It features how the immigrant from Ukraine lived in and conducted their business in the area.

I will just post pictures.

When they were operating at that time, a room costs $1.00 per night.

The dining area.

A typical menu

A standard hotel room

Shared/common hotel bathroom.

How life has changed!! Next will be the typical home and the businesses. I will post when I have nothing else to post that is informative.



Summer has returned....

Finally, it is summer again!! 26 degrees. Hopefully it will stay. I have not checked the weekend forecast, we may be able to go to the Ukrainian Village if the weather stays nice.

The baby blanket I have started after 5 design changes and unravelling it so many times is almost half done. It should be on its way to California once the mail strike is over.

My plants in the balcony are doing well especially my tomatoes and peppers planted in the bag of soil.

We had a chance to walk/stroll again and took some pictures and waded in the pool. The grounds at the Legislature is getting crowded with students out for field trips.

I don't know if I will do any baking this weekend as I need to get some rest as I have been tested with a blood disorder which makes me tired and sleepy, really feels exhausted.

So let us enjoy the weekend. Some pictures ....the Legislature grounds.

 

Summer in the city..... a timely tribute, summer was officially last Tuesday.

Rain, rain go away.....

Since Tuesday it hss been wet and the forecast is rain/shower till next Tuesday. So this is stay inside weekend. The trip to the Ukrainian Village has been postponed yet again.

With weather like this, what does a person do? Cuddle up with a good book, finish the crochet baby blanket I had started for my brother-in-law's daughter in law. I had to change design and yarn twice so it is like I have just started. I will take pictures when I finish it.

I will bake some kind of cookies tomorrow. Tonight a friend and I went to a Chinese buffet which serves simple shrimp with garlic and mussels. They have nice dry ribs as well and good ginger beef. I like their wonton soup as well. Then on to Walmart but I only got a few things there as I do not like buying groceries there. Besides I have my coupons at Sobey's so will finish my shopping there for groceries.

I finally got my sewing machine...Singer. So I will be busy on weekends trying to sew all kinds of stuff.

Sunday is special day for all the fathers out there. Happy Father's day!

Musical tribute to all the fathers....



What's baking?

Over the weekend I tried a different recipe for southern style buttermilk biscuits and it turned out really well. The only thing I will change is the size, I would make it bigger.

Buttermilk biscuits came oout flaky and yummy.

Good with butter just after taking it out from the oven and also with jam. Next time I will make sausage gravy, now that will be really southern!

 

 

Fudgy chocolate cake, tastes almost like fudgy brownie. It was good with a glass of milk or iced tea. And very easy to make.

Lunchtime stroll....

As I have mentioned in one of my posts, we have started to take a walk/stroll at lunchtime to get a break from work and get fresh air.

We go to the Legislature grounds which is very popular to the downtown work force. People eating lunch, walking, jogging and wading in the pool area.

Today, it was raining so we stayed in the office but we went yesterday and I took some pictures.

The back of the Legislature with flower beds staring to bloom.

One of the pathways just before getting to the back of the building.

The water fountain in front of the Legislature.



Gardening update......

Two weeks after I planted my vegetable garden on my balcony, they are really doing well. I am glad that I got moisture control soil so I don't have to water them morning and night.

As you can see there are flowers on this tomato plant and soon will be purple tomatoes.

These plants have buds as well and they have grown really well.

Peppers are doing great as well. It is the best way to do container gardening and once I am done in the fall, I can keep the soil or just take the bag and throw it. 





A tribute to Mama.......

We all call her Mama, even a few friends of mine who knew her call her that as well. To everyone she is Christina Zolina.  A sad news,  Mama passed away last Wednesday. She was 96 years old. She was in Vancouver with all her loved ones.

I remember when they lived here and we visited a lot on weekends. Her bedroom was her pride and joy and it was always clean and decorated with all her knick knacks and pictures of her with her children, grand and great-grand children of which she had many having such a big family.

When they came to visit us, she would play the piano which was nice. She did a lot of travelling and visited her children in the US and in the Philippinges.  I remember her cooking her style of fried rice and cleaning Patrick's room.

I last talked to her a few months ago and she was getting weak and her memory was not  good anymore and she does not have good appetite. She would say that she is ready to go and I believe finally God heard her and took her to be with Him.

She had a wonderful and memorable life. She was a beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She will be terribly missed. Rest in peace Mama,

A musical trubute.

A song to remember her.

The week that was....

A very busy week at work and  hopefully the end of the fridge saga. All fridges will be delivered this weekend. Now the rebuilding starts.

An office mate and I have started our lunch time stroll. After eating our lunch, we head out for a walk/stroll through the Legislature grounds and we go to a different area every day. Starting Monday, I will take pictures of the gardens and the pool area. The flowers are starting to look really beautiful.

While googling the other night, I found out one of my cousins in the Philippines is on facebook so I told my sister whose husband is on facebook. We will try to get in touch and hopefully start having some kind of communication with other relatives there.

Today at lunchtime, another officemate and I walked 4 blocks to have lunch at the food court in the building I used to work. We had lunch at Chicken for Lunch which is owned by the family featured in Food Network. It was yummy but there was already a long line up when we got there. The serving was generous as I had to take home half of it and had it for supper.

I hope the weather is nice as a friend and I are planning to go to the Ukrainian Cultural Village. Just something to do for the weekend and maybe have some pyrogies, cabbage rolls and sausage for lunch.
I will take puctures of my plants to show the progress.

Summer weather....with a chance of snow

What is that? In two weeks it will be officially summer and last night the forecast was for snow. I have planted my vegetables and they are doing well and I had to get some of them inside and one big pot I have to leave outside as it was too heavy. These pictures speak for themselves.

That is the purple tomato last night and early this morning.

Herbs inside.

The tomatoes on my treadmill and they are actually doing well and have grown quite a bit.

Hopefully the weather will get warmer.





Stress, stress and more stress....

This is what is left of Pine Manor, one of six buildings in Slave Lake that I manage. Really sad!!! The stress level in my job is sky high. I had ordered fridges from the The Brick and they promised me before I finalized my order that they will be delivered this past Wednesday. The day has come and gone and only 37 fridges have been delivered. They gave all kinds of excuses and still no fridges. 100 more I need. I will never get anything from them ever again.

Residents are upset and there is no way to explain to them. I hope that they deliver this weekend which they said they might be able to do. Venting done.

When all these fridges are delivered, I am hoping things will get back to some kind of normalcy. We gave them free rent for June and 1/2 of May's rent. I believe that would compensate for the 12 days that they were out of their homes and all the inconvenience they had to go through.