Souvenir Photo Studio, by Al Bourassa

Sunday, January 25, 2026

Saturday January 24, 2026 Tom

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Older Blog: https://cuencaupdates.blogspot.com/

Please see my best artworks for sale at my websites:

http://souvenirphotostudio.neocities.org/

or https://pixels.com/profiles/al-bourassa

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Saturday January 24, 2026

Friday night, I walked over to D-Uno to buy a few necessities for me, shampoo, etc, and food for the dogs and cats. On my return walk, I stopped at a roadside stand and bought 20 empanadas at 30c each, which was good for 5 meals. I had thought of this on the way to the store, so I had bought the local hot sauce called Aji to use with the empanadas... A delicious quick meal...

I had a long wait at dusk to catch Tom Thumb for his evening gorging on fresh nectar, and I caught a few decent shots, out of 52, within 1 minute on rapid-fire.

We got a late delivery from Temu which pleased Cristina greatly, including seat covers and saddlebags for the new E-Moped. We are still awaiting 3 or 4 more packages...

This morning Cristina was doing her hair, so she asked me to run to the corner store to get ground corn for the birds and whole corn for the chickens and the duck. The rooster flew back to the neighbour's a few days ago.

As I picked up the rolling cart to go, I saw how my wife had hung it on the wall, using bras straps... Her ingenuity is truly amazing.

We are looking after Dutschi for a couple of days again. The look of joy on this little guy as he came in was amazing, as he is usually alone. Now he gets to play with other dogs and he loves it,.. especially play-fighting with Grande.

I spent most of the day watching curling, UFC, and hockey until 1am. My Oilers woke up and played one of the most exciting games of the season against the Washington Capitals, where the lead changed several times until our illustrious Captain Connor McDavid scored a highlight reel beauty in overtime.... It was worth losing a little sleep...

We have darn wasps tring to build at least 3 nests under our patio roof. Cristina wants to handle their demise....

The dogs are handling the new fencing everywhere with great aplomb, so that removes one worry.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. That was the day’s excitement.

******

If you want to borrow a picture to share with family and friends, Facebook or whatever, at least PLEASE give me credit for the photo.

NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.

Empanadas and Aji! Good meal I like here.

Tom Thumb

Ingenuity!!

A lost feather

Kiskadee

Dutschi and Grande

Play fighting

UFC can be brutal

Darn wasps

They gotta go...

Friday, January 23, 2026

Friday January 23, 2026 Professionals

PLEASE bookmark this page and check daily.

Older Blog: https://cuencaupdates.blogspot.com/

Please see my best artworks for sale at my websites:

http://souvenirphotostudio.neocities.org/

or https://pixels.com/profiles/al-bourassa

******

Friday January 23, 2026

Last night, I flipped to the Oilers vs Penguins game about 5 minutes after the face-off and we were already down 3-0, on 4 shots, in a 37-second span apparently. I watched a bit more and the play was terrible, so I was in bed at 9:30pm, totally bagged from the day's construction anyway. They lost 6-2 I think.

Today, the workmen were here at 8:30am to apply all the finishing touches, especially to the sliding doors, with a fair amount of input from me. The welding continued on the patio while the rust paint was applied on the outside spinach enclosure...

At one point, sparks from the welding actually ignited an open paint can! Luckily, quick closure with the can lid prevented anything further.....

The fellows even repaired our outside back door and re-installed an outside wall hanger in a better location...

I complimented the guys on how nice it was to have 2 professionals to work with, and they returned the compliment that the job was accomplished with 3 professionals, including me!!! That was unexpected, and classy of them I thought!

They were done by noon and we supplied them with a beer and lunch money too. We are thoroughly pleased with the work of these guys and they also have referred a friend to properly finish our 3 concrete ramps. Cristina will also want concrete all along the base of the spinach patch fence I am sure, as well as some along the walls.

Now, we are tired and sore again today, but it is a satisfying hurt... Sofi is coming again today, she is on holidays.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. That was the day’s excitement.

******

If you want to borrow a picture to share with family and friends, Facebook or whatever, at least PLEASE give me credit for the photo.

NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.

The exposed welds

Repaired upper latch

Repaired lower latch

Painting the spinach enclosure

Lots to paint

Spot the kiskadee

Now he is on the wall

Painted welds

Welding on the patio

Painted upper latch

Painted lower latch

A lot to paint

Working on the sliding patio doors

A precise welder!

One of my contributions

This adds security + stability

Paint cans after the fire

Painting the patio fence

Repairing welds on the back door

The patio fencing and doors are done!

Cristina is thrilled with all her walls.

The dogs take it in stride

Time for a Dog Day Afternoon