Liliputtering

 A shoutout to Roger and Lynn on their anniversary.  It's been seven years since she dragged him out of the Pacific for their Hawaiian wedding.  Best wishes!

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Spent some time at the greenhouse.   Did some useful work for an hour or so but then I was in danger of just getting in the way so I bowed out.

Part of the crew is putting three 4 bloom, or four 3 bloom, Lilies together in 10 inch pots.

David's regular folks are doing a great job, but the temps in the back of this picture are just about the worst that David has had to put up with in a few years.

This guy has to really study a plant before he moves it.

 Oh well, it'll be over in a couple of weeks.

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Blue Jays 5 - Detroit Tigers 3.

Stay well.

A Day To Be Thankful

 Mardi and I were invited to join friend Jo-Ann Vanstone for lunch today.  A gorgeous view from her penthouse suite!

She gets to see some beautiful sunrises.

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Grandma Barbara sent me a picture of my Great Granddaughter.  She never stops smiling!

Wish we lived closer!

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Quit painting the laundry room after four coats.  Next step is to build a couple of shelves for the room.

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Blue Jays 11 - Yankees 3.

Stay strong.  Stay well.

Nobody Slapped Anybody Today

 No Blue Jays game today, and when the big news of the day is that Bob Bratina is running for mayor of Hamilton it's time to catch my breath.

The other bit of news is that the U.S. has authorized a 4th dose of vaccine for people over 50.  Hopefully, Canada will not be far behind since the 6th wave is building up steam.

Painted another two coats in the laundry room.  May need another.  That dark red is hard to cover.  Didn't get to the greenhouse for that reason.

Stay well.

Justice

 Missed seeing Corey Conners take third place in the World Golf Championship yesterday because we were at the Van Gogh exhibit, so I stayed up past my bedtime to watch the replay.  He seems pretty unflappable - can't wait for him to win some more tournaments.

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This morning I painted the first main coat in the laundry room.  On my hands and knees in the space between the washer/drier and the wall, and painting sideways........

is bad enough, but asking my almost 85 year old body to get back up was a marathon exercise!  The right leg (that has nerve damage caused when I broke my back) has no strength and doesn't work very well.  Had to concentrate for a minute or so to figure out how to regain my upright stance.

Then, Mardi and I headed to the greenhouse to help with the Lilies.  I only lasted an hour before my back caused me to bail.  

We'll try that process again tomorrow.

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I seem to be out of step with the world on a couple of fronts today.

First, there was Joe Biden's comment that Putin didn't deserve to stay in power...........and the world got it's underwear in a knot.  They're afraid that Putin will be upset!  Tough shit!

Then, Will Smith got up on stage because a "comedian" took a shot at his wife who is dealing with Alopecia, that causes her hair to fall out.  And delivered a slap shot of his own.  More knotted underwear!

I'm on the side of Joe and Will.  Justice served.

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Atlanta Braves 5 - Blue Jays 4.

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Stay well.

Jagmeet Singh and Vincent Van Gogh

 Jagmeet Singh has made it clear that defense spending to reach our 2% obligation to NATO is not in the cards.  "Some" additional spending is what he is prepared to support - that will likely replenish our supplies but nothing more.

So, let's look ahead a few years.  In 2024 Donald Trump is reelected as President of the U.S.  One of his first acts is to remove the sanctions from Russia, Putin and the oligarchs (who paid exorbitant sums to buy or rent his condos).  

Does Putin then attack another European country?  Perhaps, but how about an easier task - taking control of the Arctic by invading Canada's northern territories?  And would we fight as valiantly as the Ukrainians?  Not on your life.  We're too fat and complacent.

We would expect the U.S. to step up and help us.  But suppose that Trump "defends" our country by  letting Putin keep the territories so as to avoid a nuclear war.  

Not going to happen?  Ukraine wasn't expected to happen either. 

What do you suppose Jagmeet's response would be to that?  Gee whiz!  Maybe letting Trump absorb the provinces into the U.S. would make him feel safer.  

Heaven help us!

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On to a brighter subject.  Mardi and I attended the "Beyond Van Gogh" event at the Convention Centre today.  Absolutely awesome!  Van Gogh was an exceptional artist, but so are the people who put this surreal experience together!

The show was on the walls and the floors and kept moving.

When the portraits blinked at you, it shook you up!

We are energized!  Thank you to those who created this show!

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We unwound with dinner at the Banana Leaf Asian Cuisine restaurant in Stoney Creek.  Great food!

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Phillies 10 - Blue Jays 5.

Stay well.

Updates

 Mardi headed back to the greenhouse today.  They worked an extra shift today to try to keep up with the Lily project.

I stayed home to work on the laundry room.  Patched and did some priming.

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Blue Jays 10 - Yankees 9.  Spring training isn't pretty.

Bud 515 - Mardi 0.  I skunked her at Skip-Bo!  Seven straight hands.  I'm slightly ahead on total score for the year so far.  Nevertheless, she's still up six games to four.  Have to stop putting all my eggs in one basket.

And I've been practicing getting the hang of Wordle for the past two days.  May start participating in the group thing soon.

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Mardi just asked me if she was a right winger or a left winger.  Asked her how she holds a hockey stick before I realized that she was talking politics.  I think we're both somewhere slightly right of the middle.

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Stay well.

World Events

 Mardi and I stuck bar code stickers on pot covers again today.

The ones we did over the past couple of days are now on 6" Lily pots that are boxed for shipment.

They'll head for the cooler until the customer is ready to receive them.

In the meantime, the greenhouse is looking cheerful as the spring plants start to show some colour.

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Looks like Russia is looking for a way out of its mess.  They're now declaring that just securing the Donbas region was their intent all along and that attacking the rest of the Ukraine was only done to reduce the ability of their defense forces to prevent that.

Giving them that area may be a way to stop the carnage, but I sure hope that the world keeps the sanctions on the bastards and makes them pay!

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Detroit Tigers 8 - Blue Jays 4.

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British royal tour 0 - Jamaica 1.  Their leader says that enough is enough.  The descendants of slaves reaching through a chain link fence to touch Will and Kate was not a good sight.  Especially when the Jamaican government is looking for reparations for 300 years of slavery.

That won't be the end - the out of touch British monarchy is nearing the finale of its anachronistic existence.  With what's going on in the world, the Commonwealth fairy tale just doesn't cut it any more.

When Queen Elizabeth departs the scene we don't need a new king.  But I'd be OK taking Al Knapp over Charlie if  I had a chance to vote.  And Harry over Will. 

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Keep your sense of humour and stay well.

Chili Cookoff

 Last night, Mardi and I attended our Optimist Club's Chili Cookoff.  There were 16 different chili chefs vying for the Silver  Ladle.

Members tried samples of each and then deposited tickets in the cups beside the ones they judged best.  The one that Mardi and I picked tied for second.

This young guy made sure nobody cheated.

And the winner............

The Silver Ladle, $20, and a bag of leftover buns!  When asked for his secret, the winner said "I just googled Best Chili Recipes".

A tasty fun night!  Those of us who didn't prepare a chili were charged $10 for "dinner" which goes into the club's coffers for future needs.  A way of having a good time and helping others at the same time.

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Corrections: 1) Lilies are packed 8 to a box, not 6 as reported yesterday.                                                                                                                     2) The Christmas Cactus didn't totally bloom twice.  One side of the plant (it's just one plant) bloomed at Hallowe'en and the other side is blooming at Easter.  Split personality?

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Blue Jays rained out.

Stay well.

School Grades

 Phillies 8 - Blue Jays 7

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Too messy for outside work today so Mardi and I made ourselves useful in the greenhouse.

What you are looking at are foil wrappers for the Lily pots.  They come in stacks of 500 (the right of the picture) and our job was to separate them (not the easiest trick) and stick bar code tags on each one.  We hung in for three hours and finished maybe 1,400.

Then the other folks stick a Lily pot in each one and put them in labelled cardboard boxes, 6 to a box.  From there, they head to the cooler until it's time to ship.

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Got a really good item from Steve today.  I'll share it.

A first-grade teacher, Ms. Brooks, was having trouble with one
of her more precocious students. The teacher asked, 'Harry,
what exactly is your problem?'
Harry answered, 'I'm too smart for the 1st grade. My sister is
in the 3rd grade and I'm smarter than she is! I think I should
be in the 3rd grade too!'
Ms. Brooks finally had enough. She took Harry to the principal's office.
While Harry waited in the outer office, the teacher explained
the situation to the principal. The principal told Ms. Brooks
he would give the boy a test.
If he failed to answer any of his questions, he was to go back
to the 1st grade and behave. She agreed.
Harry was brought in and the conditions were explained to him and he happily agreed to take the test.
Principal:
'What is 3 x 3?'  Harry:'9.'
Principal: 'What is 6 x 6?'  Harry:'36.'
And so it went with every question the principal thought a
bright 3rd grader should know.
The principal looks at Ms. Brooks and tells her, 'You know, I reckon Harry can go to the 3rd grade.'
But Ms. Brooks is still skeptical of the little bugger and says
to the principal, 'Not so fast, let me ask him a few
questions.. 'The principal and Harry both agree.
Ms. Brooks asks,
'What does a cow have four of that I have only two of?
Harry, after a moment: 'Legs..'
Ms. Brooks:
'What is in your pants that you have but I do not have?'
The principal wondered why would she ask such a question.
Harry replied: 'Pockets’ ... to the Principal’s great relief...
Ms. Brooks:
'What does a dog do that a man steps into? 'Harry: 'Pants.'
By now, the principal is sitting forward with his mouth hanging open..
Ms. Brooks:
'What does a man do standing up, a woman does sitting down and a dog does on three legs?'
Harry:
'Shake hands.'
The principal is now trembling with apprehension as Ms. Brooks asks the last question......
Ms. Brooks:
'What word starts with an 'F' and ends in 'K' and indicates a great deal of heat and excitement?'
Harry: 'Firetruck.'
The principal breaths a huge sigh of relief and tells the teacher,
"Put the little shit in 5th-Grade, I got the last five questions wrong myself”!

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Laugh a lot and stay well. 

Just 2% of GDP

 Blue Jays 9 - Yankees 2.  Watched this one through the computer.  Incredibly clear detail.

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We've talked about how difficult it is to time plants such as Easter Lilies to bloom when you want them to.  Well, that's nothing!

Our "Christmas" Cactus is terribly confused these days.  A few years ago it decided to advance its blooming date to Hallowe'en, probably to celebrate the anniversary of my and Mardi's first date.  But, after blooming last Hallowe'en, it's now blooming again for Easter.

Twice the bang for the buck (to quote that stupid Amazon commercial)!

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I'm trying to digest and make sense of the news that the Liberals and the NDP are in a new relationship.  On the one hand, it probably won't make a big difference to the lives of Canadians.  We may get some more governmental goodies but that's what we have come to expect so it's not a big deal.

On top of our previous debt, and the hundreds of billions more that have accumulated as we blithely spent our way through the economic costs of the pandemic, the promises to the NDP will simply add a few hundred billion more.  But who cares?

Well, it seems to me that one upshot of this "marriage" and its political priorities is that there will be no money left or available to meet our defense responsibilities.  Excuses and double speak are coming.

Sorry Ukrainians.  Sorry NATO partners.  Sorry world.

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Stay well.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

 Blue Jays 3 - Detroit Tigers 1.

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Is anybody else a bit disgusted with the Amazon add that mocks sex education?  The one where the mother has a serious conversation with her daughter - "You're at the age now where you might start feeling certain urges." - that then talks about the urge to spend money, which Amazon can solve.  Pathetic.

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Spent a bit of time at the greenhouse getting back into shape mulching gardens and raking gravel off the grass.  The gardens are in better shape this year than they've ever been, thanks to last fall's efforts.

Inside the greenhouse, the efforts to get the Lilies to the cooler continue.

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Stay well.  

A TV Day

 Birthday greetings go out today to sister-in-law Lynn, and to my niece Ethel's son, Jeff Marshall (not sure, but I think the term is great nephew - I know that I'm a great uncle!).

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Today was a TV day.  Spent the afternoon watching the Valspar Golf Tournament.  Canadian Adam Hadwin was on the leaderboard and finished tied for 7th.

The Tuesday golfers had a separate email thread going on where they discussed the elastic cuffed pajamas that Justin Thomas wore in the game yesterday.  And they speculated on how such attire would look on one of our vertically challenged golfers.  Sorry you weren't all included - it was a skit.

Then it was a Blue Jays spring training game.  They're going to be fun to watch this year - hopefully World Series bound.  New 3rd baseman, Matt Chapman, is a great addition.

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Tomorrow I plan to do something more useful.. Stay well.

Day Off

 Drilling self tapping screws into the steel frame of the greenhouse door yesterday used some shoulder, back and butt muscles that were previously inactive.  So I'm feeling it a bit today.  Going to take it easy.  Of course, the fog and the rain factored into that decision as well.

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Glad to see MLB back on the tube.  Watched "Blue Jays in 30", a recap of their spring training game.  Something to look forward to in between the war news items.

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Stay well.

A Nice Night Out

 Headed to the greenhouse today.  Fixed a greenhouse door and cleaned up some more gardens.  Beautiful weather and I managed to stretch my work day to an impresssive two hours.  Getting old is a pain in the ass, and other places.

David is taking loads of Lilies to the cooler non-stop.  Won't be much of a lull before that process is reversed and they come back for shipment.  But, some plants evade the process.

It's a race to get them to the cooler on time.

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Moderna has applied for approval for a fourth dose of their vaccine.  Mardi and I will be in line when that happens.  Need to be well protected from the anti-vaxxers!

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And tonight we headed to Maureen and Matt's for dinner and cards.  Nice to reconnect with good friends.  

Matt cooked up a fine meal of corned beef and cabbage and Mardi baked a cake (Bailey's was an ingredient )😋.

And I won at cards!

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Take care.  Stay well.

St. Patrick's Day

Today we're all Irish.  Happy St. Patrick's Day.

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And today is the first day that the garden centre is open.  Still a lot of Lilies to move out, but we're started.

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I mentioned Ed Strecker in yesterday's post.  Some of you have heard the story I'm about to recount, but others haven't, so please bear with me.

I've known Ed and Rose for many years, starting with our Optimist affiliation and including golf outings before his hip quit working.  One of their daughters taught autistic children and ran a dinner/dance to support autism.  My wife and I had attended in the past.

Back in 2003 Ed called me to see if I was going to attend the dance that was coming up.  I told him that I would love to, but Jean and I had separated eight months previous so I would need a date.  And I added "If she is a golfer that would be even better".

Ed paused for a moment and then asked "Do you know Mardi Bullivant?".  I had been introduced to Mardi when she and Jean had been working on the same charity event, but my first encounter with her had been years earlier, at a Dofasco event, when our eyes met from across the room.

It was just a brief moment, but years later we both remembered that event and even what each of us was wearing that night!

So I called Mardi and invited her to the dance.  She said an immediate "Yes!" (Ed had forewarned her that I might call).

In my typical idiot manner I blurted out "Well, that was easy!".  To which, in her typical Mardi manner she responded "I can say no if you want".  I do put my foot in my mouth quite often but this time I managed to stammer my way out of it and the date was set.

The next morning I picked the tickets up from Ed and called Mardi again to let her know that dinner was included.  And then I said "Tomorrow (Hallowe'en) the weather is going to be beautiful.  Are you available for a golf game?".

We golfed at Scenic Woods where she let me win a close game, she invited me back to her house for dinner, and I helped hand out candies to the goblins before heading home dazed and hopelessly smitten.

Thus began the teenage years that I had missed.  And that magic continues to this day.  Love you Mardi.  Thank you Ed!

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Tell someone you love them and stay well.

Friends

 While out and about this morning I saw Rose Strecker.  Had a couple of minutes to chat and get up-to-date.  One more friend met face to face (actually mask to mask).

Rose says that Ed's hip replacement, previously delayed due to Covid, is now rescheduled for April 5.  Rose, I'm still on board to drive Ed to therapy when you're tied up.  I'd love to give him a hard time when he can't fight back!

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Our Tuesday guys' golf group, now that MontHill has gone private, will instead be playing on Mondays at Cambridge.  Just got notice that the league will start on May 2.  That seems a long time away!

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The weather forecast looks better over the next three days, so I'll be back at the greenhouse tomorrow.

Stay well.

Reload

I asked Jim about his reference to The Flying Nun and this was his response:   When she won the Academy Award for Norma Rae and when she got to the stage to accept she was overwhelmed, and tearfully stammered “You like me, you really like me”.

And yes, I guess a version of that is what I felt!  When you have been babbling daily for a couple of years about stuff that's floating around in your head you start to wonder if the audience is still there.  Your responses were surprising and gratifying and I really appreciate them.

So we will continue.  Now that my computer is fixed I'll revert to creating this on blogger and then copy it to email so that the pictures will show up in the right place and won't use up too much of your capacity.  Thanks again!

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Back in December we rented our underground parking spot to another resident for the winter.  Just two days later we had to renege on that agreement when Mardi got sick and the government recommended against travel.

We were somewhat embarrassed by that situation, so when we later decided to head to Florida for a month we contacted the gentleman and offered the space for free as our apology.  Today he showed up at our door with........

Nice!  If the wine matches the beauty of the bottle it will be a real treat!  We'll definitely give him first dibs next year.

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Today we had dinner with Al and Liz at Teddy's in Grimsby, one of their favourite fine dining establishments.

The title on the picture behind us says it all!

It was really nice to get together with old friends once again.  We intend to do more of this to regain contact with family and friends.

The visit with Al and Liz reminded us that Al had given us a copy of a book that was put together from his mother Eva's diary called Saskatunes and Gopher Tales.  I looked up a couple of sayings that were included in the opening pages.

Her mom's: If you can't write it and sign it, don't say it.

Here dad's: It is easier to do a job right than explain why you didn't.

Good lessons still today.

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Stay well.

It's Time

Mardi and I had lunch with A.J. and Reggie (Michelle is buried in tax work) and then spent the rest of the day watching golf.

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Now for the main topic.  I started the blog as a way of staying connected to family and friends during Covid.  During the winters when we were trapped inside it helped me to retain my remaining sanity.

It was originally sent out on dorsalsdiary, but I was asked to send it in email form for easy access for the readers.  The downside of that is that those of you who have tired of it still had to deal with it.

I have almost quit the email option a couple of times, but then events came along that kept me occupied again.  However, in the last month, with the Ukraine war dominating the news, it has been harder to get my head around frivolous items.  Humour doesn't seem as appropriate as it once did.  And I don't want to be talking about the war - you get that nonstop on the news.  

As the threat of Covid wains and we are able to mix and mingle again, the need for this connection has diminished and I am assuming that more of you have reached the point of boredom with the emails.  

So, while I will still use dorsalsdiary as a vehicle to share my thoughts, the email version is going to stop.  Thank you for riding along and putting up with me for these past months.

Continue to stay well.

No News

 Spent some time today watching the Players' Championship.  Seeing those guys try to golf in 30 to 40 mph winds makes me feel better about my game!

Stay well.

Has winter ended?

 Took Mardi to the greenhouse to retrieve her car.  It was charged up and started OK so I've definitely lost my parking spot.

The Easter Lilies are starting to mature.  When they get to this stage they're sent to a cooler to pause their growth until just before Easter.

While I was at the greenhouse I finished shoveling the stones off the paved driveway.  Ended up with two wagon loads of stones which I dumped to fill potholes in the gravel part of the driveway.   Then it started to snow so I called it a day (just a half hour day but who's counting?).

Then it was off to Mr. Lube to switch the wheels and get new wiper blades.

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OK.  We got Mardi's car out of winter storage and put my summer tires on just as a snowstorm hit.  Could be worse - we could be golfing in the Player's Championship where it is taking three days to complete one round.

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Stay well.

Progress

 Doubled my work day today - two hours!  Raked stones off the grass, swept the stones on the pavement into piles, shovelled some stones into the wagon.  Tomorrow I'll clean up the rest of the mess and start to add mulch to the gardens along the driveway.

David is opening the Garden Centre on the 17th.  I want things to be neat and tidy by then.

The last half of the month of March and the first few days of April will be a bit chaotic in the Garden Centre.  Some Easter Lilies will still be in the way.

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Tonight we attended our first normal Optimist meeting in two years!  In the interim, a popular and energetic President was taken from us suddenly.  Fortunately, Paula DeAngelis, an equally popular and energetic person, has taken over as President.  We're in good hands!

Past President John Lawrence is our bartender.  He somehow manages to fill the shot glass right to the brim.  I asked him how he measures so well.

Our guest speaker told us about Comfort Bears.  These are given to children battling terminal illness or trauma.

The Club, and some of us individually, have donated to support the cause.  Twenty dollars to www.comfortbears.ca will provide a child with a friend during their time of stress.

But, what I really want to ask you to support is our upcoming Ham Roll, which will be held on Friday, April 8th.  Last year the circles were $3 each or 7 for $20.  This year it's even better: $3 each or 8 for $20.  Actually, 4 for $10 also works.

This year the event won't have to be held over the internet.  You can show up live at the hall.  Please let me know if you would like to support our efforts.

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Speaking of Optimism, we have already booked Florida for next year.  We'll be at the Orange Lake, West Village resort from Sunday, January 1 through to Thursday, March 2.  Feels good to look that far ahead!

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Have a thought for the Ukrainian heroes.  Stay well.

FREEDOM!

Today I'm returning to the process of putting things together on Blogger and then copying it to email.  That way the pictures appear within the story and they don't overload receiving computers.

Mardi and I did a bunch of errands today and also spent about an hour at the greenhouse.  She pinched off some Million Bells that will be planted in hanging baskets.  (Monica, you can see that your Boston Fern baskets are coming along overhead).

 I went into the soggy corn field next door and retrieved baskets and plastic sheets that had blown over from the greenhouse in the wind.

I also started to rake the stones off the grass that had been dumped there when David plowed the driveway.

Only worked an hour before my old body told me it had had enough.  I'll get back in shape soon.  Got a bunch more to do.

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Filled the van with gas.  Only $99.28!  Spent about the same amount on groceries.  Boy, it felt good to get outside again!

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And in other news.

Amen to that!

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Till tomorrow.  Stay well.