College Time

 An exciting day for both of us!

I beat Mardi at Skip-Bo.

Mardi spent the afternoon with Reggie, prior to her heading to Sheridan.

They ate at Lang's on the Grimsby waterfront.

A happy time for both!  

Reggie is planning to work backstage in the theatre scene.  Break a leg Reggie!

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Blue Jays lost 7 - 5 to the Cubs.  A sloppy play by Kirk and fairly quiet bats cost them.  Ewen and his buddies attended the game.  Hope they had a good time.

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Stay well.

A Rainy Day

 Not much happened today unless you count my win at Skip-Bo against Mardi.  Whoever won the hand would win the game and it turned out to be me.  Gives me a 9th win on the year - versus Mardi's 19 wins.  So I guess that I'm about 48% as good as my lady!

Blue Jays won again against the Cubs 5 - 3.  

Stay well.

Party Time

 Calvin and I had our golf heads handed to us on a platter by Sandro and Randy today.  So..............

I'm hoping that they don't sprout!

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Scheduled the van for air conditioning repair on Friday.  This is not the weather that you want hot air blowing on you in the vehicle!

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On the news, Christia Freeland was accosted by a right wing axxhole in Alberta who told her she didn't belong in the province.  She was born there!

He doesn't belong in Canada!

Boy, I wish there was a party in Canada that I could vote for that would straighten this anger mess out.  Maybe the Christmas Party.  Or the Birthday Party.  Certainly not the Pierre Poilievre or the Justin Trudeau or the Jagmeet Singh parties!

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Blue Jays came from behind to beat the Chicago Cubs 5 - 4 in the 11th inning.  Tense but fun.  They played like they meant it tonight - about time!

Stay well.

Boring

 Spent just an hour at the greenhouse today, weeding and sweating.  It seems to get hotter and more humid every day!

Watched the Blue Jays blow another game, losing three straight to the lowly Angels.  Seems like they're so impressed with their talent that they don't think they have to try too hard.  

After the game we headed to the pool to cool off.  Did just that - it's totally in the shade at this time of day

That's it.  Stay well.

WPF again.

 We spent four and half volunteer hours at the Peach Festival.  Great weather and the crowd was wall to wall.  Didn't get to take a break at the cash table - it was non-stop.  Similarly, Mardi was going full out in the back, putting together sub sandwiches.  The club should have a record weekend this year!

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Watered at the greenhouse while Mardi talked to David and got to meet Charlie.

Then headed home to watch the Blue Jays get shutout again by the Angels.  Thankfully, they ran a replay of the highlights of the 1992 World Series final game afterwards.  Got to watch it once again.  Feel better now.

Stay well.

Winona Peach Festival

 Congratulations to Mardi's brother Greg and Diane Lougheed on 34 years of marriage.  Mardi and I dropped in to say hello and all the best on our way home from the Lighthouse Theatre.

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We volunteered at the Winona Peach Festival for four hours today (five for Mardi).  I handled cash and Mardi trained several volunteer students on cutting the ingredients and putting together sub sandwiches.

Since Covid hit we've had a harder time getting Optimist members back into the flow, so the student volunteers are really helpful.

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When my shift was up I headed to the greenhouse to do the watering down front.  The new sign is up - nice!

Hard to believe that it's been almost 30 years since David and Sue started greenhousing.  The portrayal of the Trillium is taken from a picture taken back when their Grimsby operation started.  The Trilliums, unfortunately, are no more.  They've fallen victim to the spread of Garlic Mustard weed which is toxic to any plants nearby.

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So, we headed back to Lighthouse Theatre to see "The Real Sherlock Holmes".  This time we managed to see the complete show.

Excellent acting, but the British type humour was long and complicated.  Probably the best part of being there is that we didn't get to watch the Blue Jays go down 12 - 0 to the Angels.  Yikes!

Stay well.

Progress

A bit more information on the vaccine trial.  It is to combat RSV - Respitory Syncytial Virus.  It apparently kills about 14,000 people a year, almost as many as Influenza.  Who knew?

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They're making progress on a couple of fronts at the greenhouse.

The culvert is in place and the armour stone (cement) as well.

There shouldn't be any more washouts when this project is complete.

And the sign guys were here today as well.  Getting closer.

Another hot and humid day so I limited my activities to watering and cleanup.  Was invited to share pizza with the students who are heading back to school.  We'll miss them.  I'll have to work harder!

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Blue Jays won another game in the 10th inning!  A 6 - 5, hard fought victory over the Red Sox.

Jordan Romano survived the 9th with the bases loaded and none out, and finished it off in the 10th.  Not bad for a Toronto kid!

Stay well.

Aging Issues

Birthday wishes to Al Knapp and Grant MacLean.  All the best!

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Our day started with Mardi heading to Kathryn's to assist her with packing for her move at the end of the month.  And I stayed home to welcome the Shipton's technician who did an annual servicing on our aging, 50 year old, air conditioning system.

The HVAC units in this building are unique (a kind word).  Our first attempt at having the unit serviced failed - the guy couldn't figure out the system.  The units were made specifically for this building and one other - there are no replacements.  They are wired in a confusing manner and do not drain - there is an evaporator system for moisture collected during the air conditioning cycle.

Shipton's do most of the work in the building and since we started to use them things have gone well.  That needs to continue because if the unit fails a custom replacement is pretty pricey.  Thus our annual servicing contract.

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Next up was my visit to The Ontario College of Health and Technology for a massage.  I'm crediting them with helping me to get my leg strength back - it's at about 80% now.  And the young man also worked on my sore shoulders -  a shovelling and dumping of red clay result from yesterday.

Similar to the HVAC issue, my 85 year old body was a custom unit and replacement parts are nonexistent.  So I plan to keep getting it serviced and functioning.

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Next up was supposed to be a visit to Winterberry Health Clinic.  That's where Mardi and I got most of our Covid vaccine shots.

We got a call a few days ago from the clinic.  They are part of a Moderna vaccine trial to deal with a respiratory issue that affects old people and called to invite us to participate. A bit confusing that they would pick us if it is an old person issue!

In any event, we were to go today for an interview for the trial but the interviewer was sick so we're rescheduled for next week.

If selected to participate it would be a two year trial.  Double blind, so both of us could get the vaccine, one of us could, or we might both end up with a placebo vaccine.  Possibly protected from whatever they are trying to deal with.

We would get paid for each of 10 phone interviews and 5 in-person interviews.  The other benefit is that we would presumably get some pretty good health follow-up during the trial period, and perhaps afterward.  We shall see.

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Blue Jays beat the Red Sox in a close 3 - 2 tenth inning win.  Looking good!

Stay well.

Mums For Sale

 Worked at the greenhouse for three hours until the heat and humidity drove me home.  Reorganized the soil skids up the driveway.  Watered.  Weeded.

Also, when the sign guys cemented in the new sign posts they left a couple of wagon loads of red clay on top of the garden loam.  So I dug it out and dumped it back by the pond.

While I was there, I saw this Cormorant fishing.

I think his name is Bud, because while I watched him fish, I never saw him catch.  Been there, done that!

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While I was back there I checked out the work that is going on to install a culvert under the driveway behind the pond.

A fairly hefty project.

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I need to tell you that the Garden Mums are now ready for sale.

They start at 4 for $10.

You are receiving this commercial because you are silly enough to read "dorsalsdiary".  He accepts no responsibility for your lack of good taste.

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Blue Jays beat the Red Sox 9 - 3.  They got 8 of those runs in the third inning with 2 out.  Fun to watch.

Stay well.

Weather?

 Golf day today, so I headed to Grimsby to pick David up.  Poured rain as I drove there.  And as we passed Burlington, once again pouring rain.

But we managed to get in a full round at Cambridge.  Once we got on top of the escarpment things were good, although Ron King advised that rain started after we headed home from the course.

It was obvious from the new lakes on the course that Cambridge had previously been hit hard by rain.

Of course you would expect water at the beach.

That is my ball swimming in the foreground.

Surprisingly, other than the standing water, the course was very playable.  And the rain held off long enough for us to celebrate with a beer.

We played two man matches today, but modesty prevents me from naming the winners.😀

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Mardi volunteered at the Optimist Booth tonight.  She's been doing that for several Mondays now.  Love that lady!

No Jays game.

Stay well.

An Anniversary

Took the day off.  We were invited to dinner with Matt and Maureen, along with Monica and Jim Maguire, and Therese and Grant MacLean, so I didn't want to get worn out in the heat and humidity ahead of time.

And it gave us the chance to watch the Blue Jays implode in their final game against the Yankees.  Oh well.

Dinner was wonderful and we all helped Monica and Jim celebrate 51 years of marriage.

 A really nice evening with good friends.   Thanks Maureen and Matt for hosting!

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The news that the Catholic Church was let out of its obligation to pay reparations to their Indigenous victims is not new news.  It was reported a couple of years ago.

Canada agreed to "forever discharge" Catholic entities from their promise to raise $25 million for residential school survivors and also picked up their legal bill, a final release document shows.

The Canadian Press obtained a signed copy of the 2015 agreement through federal access-to-information laws, marking what appears to be the first time the document has been widely publicized.

 Although a sum of 25 million dollars was settled for pennies on the dollar, what is more important is that the original sum was set so low.  And now the Canadian government is saddled with a billion dollar issue.

Disgusting!

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Keep breathing!

Yard Sale Day

 Went yard saling and got to see my sister for the first time in three weeks.  We had a good day.

I found a brand new 3 litre gas can for $3.  Filled it up later on the way to the greenhouse.  It will be my emergency tank for the mower.

But Mardi did even better!  She found this West Coast box, which included a deerskin pouch.  Total price? Twenty five cents!

She also found a radio for $1. which will bring in 590 The Fan for Blue Jays games that are not on public TV.

And she found some art supplies for Kathryn.  A great day.

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Cut grass for an hour.  Too hot to do anything else.

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Blue Jays won their third in a row off the Yankees, a 5 - 2 victory.  Looking good!

Stay well.

Show Time

 While I was gardening at the greenhouse, Yancy, Kayt and Rowan drove in to say goodbye to David, Sue and the twins.  I was invited to join them for coffee (thanks Sue), but it was a disappointing visit.  

I thought that I was Rowan's favourite but she spent a lot of time flirting with Ewen.  I've lost out to a younger man!  I had to console myself with the fact that I'm sure Charlie still likes me best - sorry Ewen!

And as you can see in the following picture, she held David's hands - which she wouldn't do for me.

But she did give me a smile so I'm pretty happy after all.

A wonderful visit.  Got to enjoy Rowan on three different days.  Great grandpa is a happy camper.

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So, on to the rest of our day.  You will remember that we didn't get to finish the rescheduled play in Port Colborne due to the medical emergency.  Missed the last 20 minutes.

So today we headed for Port Dover for the Sherlock Holmes thriller.  Thriller indeed!  Twenty minutes in and the power failed in downtown Port Dover.  We were told that it would take about two hours for Ontario Hydro to get things going again, so the show was cancelled.  Will be interesting to see what the reschedule plan will be.  We're a bit gun shy - twice bitten in one week!

So, it ended up that we drove to Port Dover, used probably a quarter tank of gas, for an expensive dinner at Schofields Bistro.  The food was really good, but...........

Mardi had an ice cream cone for dessert.

Salty caramel.

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We got to hear most of the Blue Jays game on the car radio.  It wasn't on public TV, just Apple TV, so we sat and listened to the last inning in the apartment parking lot.  They won 4 - 0 over the Yankees, their second victory in a row against the Bronx Bombers.  Great pitching and decent offence.

Tomorrow we start with Yard Sales.  First time in three weeks.

Stay well.

Lexophilia

 Rowan and I opened fortune cookies yesterday.  Hers read "Others appreciate your expressive qualities".  That's for sure!

Mine read "Don't give up.  The best is yet to come."  I'm good with that too.

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Barry is the moderator of our Wordle group and starts us off each day with an example of lexophilia.  The Lighthouse Theatre included one in an email today that I am going to share.  Mardi and I are going to see "The Real Sherlock Holmes" tomorrow evening and in a teaser message today they included the following:  Why does Sherlock Holmes have such bad posture?  Good detectives usually have a hunch of sorts.

Sorry about that!

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About one hundred years ago the Catholic Church forbade Inuit women from getting tattooed.  They have just recently been able to return to their tattoo tradition, which tells their life story and family connection.

But some things never change.  The Catholic Church is not going to open an investigation into the sexual abuse class action suit which includes their top Cardinal for "lack of evidence".  No kidding!  If you don't investigate you'll certainly not find evidence.

What a sorry medieval institution it is.

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Blue Jays soundly defeated the Yankees 9 - 2 tonight.  A good all-around performance.

Stay well.

 

A Mixed Bag

 We started the day off with a swim.  Rowan had a good time.  So did great grandpa.

By the way, I'm not wearing socks.  That's my farmer's tan.

What a sweetheart!

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After the swim, Mardi and I got showered and changed and headed to Port Colborne to see "Meet My Sister".  We originally had tickets to see the show on July 22 in Port Dover, but several shows were cancelled due to Covid among the crew.  So today was a substitute.

But, with about 20 minutes left in the show a "call 911" voice came from farther back in the theatre.  A woman was having a heart attack and the show was stopped and the patrons were asked to leave.

Fortunately there was a nurse in attendance - Mardi - who stepped up.  The lady was unconscious and had virtually no pulse when she got to her but by the time the EMS arrived she was conscious and talking.  I have cropped the following picture to preserve her identity but you can see nurse Mardi taking charge.

So, we missed the best part of the show.  Presumably we'll get another (third) chance to see it to the end.

Love my nurse!

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Blue Jays won 6 - 1 over Baltimore.  A win at last!

Stay well.

Dogs

Greeted at the greenhouse by my buddy Charlie.

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Speaking of dogs:
 

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Today I weeded the Trillium and added fresh mulch.

In the background you can see two new posts in preparation for the installation of a new sign for the garden centre.

Once that is in I will fix up the garden below the sign.  Making progress.

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Blue Jays lost again.  What's new?

Stay well.

Rowan

 We're not going to talk about my golf game.  We're not going to talk about the Blue Jays (who cares?).

We are going to talk about my great granddaughter, Rowan.

What a sweetheart!

Nothing but smiles all night.

A wonderful evening.  And we hope to see her again in a couple of days when Kayt and Rowan join us in the pool.  In our three years here I've never been in that pool, but an exception is in order!  Can't wait.

Stay well and keep smiling.

Home Again

 Took our time packing up this morning.  Headed home at 11 a.m.

A.J. has built a wide porch around two sides of the cottage.

And his guests have marked their visits on the walls and rafters of the porch.  So we followed suit.

Came home relaxed and refreshed.  Thanks A.J.!

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Blue Jays ended a three game losing streak (thankfully, we didn't have T.V. in Tweed so we didn't have to watch a couple of the losses) with a 2 - 1 victory over Cleveland.  Hope they soon start to live up to their press releases.

Stay well.

The Twilight Years

 Headed to the greenhouse and was surprised that the lawns down front didn't need cutting.  Hot weather does have its benefits.

Cut the grass behind the greenhouse, including inside the rink and did some watering.  The highlight of my day was being greeted with great enthusiasm by Charlie.  Just like the old days when Jake was younger.

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People shake their heads at the things that I keep doing.  But for the most part they have stopped telling me that I should take it easy since I just ignore them anyway.

The following item, sent to me by Wayne, sort of answers why I do it.

The gardens look better, I feel alive and useful, and everything except my golf game is OK.  I'm hoping that by the time I'm 93 I can observe some improvement in my golf game as well.  In the meantime, stay out of my way!  I'm busy!

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Blue Jays lost again today.  They're not as good as they thought they were.

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Tomorrow we're hosting Yancy, Kayt and Rowan.   Rowan turned one year old on Wednesday, the day I didn't post because there was no internet at the cottage.  Can't wait to see her (and her parents of course).

Stay well.  Keep active.

 Happy birthday to Jim Lougheed - 33 years old today.  

And Happy Anniversary to Yancy and Kayt.  They'll be visiting us on Monday. with Rowan!

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Yesterday I mentioned that we were playing cards.  I suppose it's time to highlight my progress as a Skip-Bo player.

It takes us about a half hour to play a hand and it takes several hands, over a few days, to complete a game.

2020 - Mardi won 27 games, Bud 25

2021 -      "       "    26      "        "   14

2022 -      "       "     18     "        "     9

Impressive eh?

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Today we went fishing (not catching, there is a distinct difference).  A.J.'s boat has a brand new motor and there are lots of rocks in places that I don't know about, so we decided to row.

Actually, we let the current and the wind blow us a half mile or so downstream and I rowed back.

Later we went for a walk.  About a half mile from the cottage there was a golf course.  Not so much anymore.

Another relaxing day.  We'll be heading home sometime tomorrow - no rush.

Stay well.

Relaxing

We drove four and half hours to get to Tweed, brightened by this image.  Shades of the seventies!

 Add an hour for dinner in Bellville and it turned into another long day.  (Using the internet at Tim's in Tweed is just about as slow.)

We arrived at our destination.........

------------at dusk.

While we were driving, Mardi got a phone call from Bonnie.  By the time they were finished, we had booked a river cruise in the Netherlands!  So, from December 24 until April 10 I will be putting my head on my own pillow just two days.  First a week in Jamaica, then three months in Florida followed by the river cruise.

I'll tell you, I never visualized this kind of a life before I met Mardi!  Hard to take!

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We did nothing today but play cards.  Total unwind.

Stay well.  

Time Out

 Golfed at Willow Valley this morning - EARLY this morning, like 7 a.m.  Woke up at 4:30 for my old man pee and decided that it didn't make sense to go back to bed.  I'm getting too old for this!

The four of us (Ron, Al, Calvin and me) had a good time, but I just have to share the following picture with you.    

The tee on that hole is on the other side of the bridge so I don't know how the ball ended up on this side of the tree.  Ron took a penalty - I'm surprised that he didn't cut down the tree.

I think he's smiling because he took some money off us today.

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After golf I cleaned up the Trillium garden out front and watered the Mums.  Which clears my calendar for a few days at the greenhouse.

Tomorrow, Mardi and I are heading for A.J.'s cottage in Tweed for a couple of days of R & R.  No T.V., no internet, so I may have to spend time in a pub to see the Blue Jays and put out the blog.  We'll see.

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Meanwhile, tonight's Blue Jays game is rain delayed with them ahead 5 - 3.  Watched Bianca Andreescu advance in tennis - incredible athlete!

Stay well.

Pancake Breakfast

 We started our day back at Sprucedale for a pancake (and many other treats) breakfast in the hangar.  

Lynn and her siblings were wonderful hosts.  It was a special weekend.  They are very genuine people and would do anything for you (except probably loan you money 😍).  Self made folks who have beaten the odds despite difficult childhoods!  It has been a real pleasure to watch them mature and succeed.  (Lynn, please pass along our thanks and best wishes).

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But, after we took our leave, the Gods turned against us.  Stop and go traffic all the way from Bracebridge south.  When we got to the 400 it became apparent that things weren't about to improve.

So, we headed cross-country, stopping at Tim Horton's in Tottenham along the way.  Total time was five and a half hours, just about twice as long as it took to go the other way.  But the last half was scenic and peaceful and we weren't held up by traffic for the rest of the way.

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While we were away, the Blue Jays lost their second in a row to the Twins, but came back today with a 3 - 2 victory.  We'll have to watch that on "Blue Jays in 30".

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Tomorrow it's back to the terrible game of golf.

Stay well.

Destination Novar

 Had to skip the yard sales today since we were heading to the Huntsville area for a Celebration of Life in honour of my ex brother-in-law, a chance to see my nieces and nephews.  Picked Kathryn up at 7 am. and we were in lots of time for the 11:30 event which did a fine job of honouring their father.  Well done Lynn, and others.

Lunch afterwards and then Mardi and I headed to Huntsville to check in to our motel.  

Decided to stop for a beer along the water.  This sign triggered that decision.

However, the reverse of the sign said this:

For some reason, Mardi decided that we would go somewhere else for our beer. 😖

So we chose this place instead.

The waitresses did not flirt. 😞

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Following the lunch we all headed to Charlie's house in Sprucedale.

Charlie didn't fly in from Belize - that plane is being overhauled and was temporarily evicted from its hangar to make room for the food tables.

Kathryn, following Jo-Ann's instructions, led the smudging ceremony.

....with some help.

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As I write this, the Blue Jays are losing 5 - 2 to the Twins in the bottom of the 7th.

Stay well.

Refugees

Today is "Underwear Day".  Boy, that crept up on me!

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Did the usual at the greenhouse.  I know you're tired of hearing about that.

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Tonight Mardi and I had dinner and went to Theatre Aquarius with Bonnie and Steve.  The show was called "Old Stock: a Refugee Love Story".  Sounds romantic, but it was mostly a powerful story of the difficult life that some of the refugees to our country endured - particularly the Jewish refugees.  The awesome, talented singing storyteller was worth the price of admission.

Made me think about what the current wave of refugees go through as they try to meld into our society.  We don't realize how lucky we are!

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Stay well.

Hot and Humid

 Birthday wishes go out to Therese.  Hope you enjoyed your special meals today!

Mardi and the ladies cancelled their golf tee time based on the weather forecast.  Wise move.

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Watered the plants down front at the greenhouse.  By the end I was almost as wet as the plants.  Don't you love heat and humidity?  Not!

But the thunderstorms didn't happen as per schedule.  We did get one good burst later in the afternoon.  The forecast called for thunderstorms all tonight, but we got a "Red sky at night, the sailor's delight" so I assume the rain may have ended.

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Blue Jays 9, Twins 3.  Two of our new additions contributed to the win.

Stay well.

Be Careful Charlie

Birthday wishes go out to Michelle Bullivant today.  All the best!

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Lasted three hours at the greenhouse before the heat and humidity convinced me to head home.  Completed removing sod from the circumference of yesterday's tree and mulched the garden.

Said hello to Charlie.  Today's diet included a plastic drink cup top.

Just after that picture was taken he decided to lay down on top of some trays of plants.  He got chased off before I could get the camera out.  Living dangerously Charlie!

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Blue Jays beat Tampa Ray 3 - 1.

Stay well.

Teamwork

 The usual digging and watering, until the heat drove me home.

Sean helped me by removing a shrub which had started impacting on the growth of the tree behind it.

As a matter of interest, that Spruce tree behind it was my first "Charlie Brown" planting.  It was about five feet tall and had a half dozen spindly branches - not saleable.  Look at it now!

The shrub wasn't flowering much any more and it can be a carrier of Plum Pox as well, so maybe that was part of the problem.

Hook up the chain and away it goes.

Thank you Sean.  We're a good team!

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Spent a few minutes with Charlie.  In the two weeks he's been on staff at the greenhouse he's added a third of his weight - from 22 to 29 pounds.  He's going to be a big boy.

Sarah-Jean says that part of his diet is phone charging cables and dining table legs.  Not much nutrition there Charlie, and that diet can be life changing - you may end up in a cage for parts of the day!  Don't wear out your welcome!  

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Enjoyed our first feast of Snyder's corn today, courtesy of Matt "Door Dash" Donaldson.  Awesome feast as usual!  Thanks Matt!!

No Blue Jays game today.

Stay well.