Out On Parole

 The warden took me for a drive today - my cabin fever was getting to her.  First stop was the Grimsby Benevolent Fund to drop off some clothing.

Then, on to Trillium Hill to say hi to David, Sue and Sean.  Missed the twins - they headed to Ottawa earlier in the day to get ready for the school year.  Sarah-Jean continues her nurse odyssey, while Ewen is tackling Computer Science.  David and Sue headed down this evening and will help them get settled.  I'm sure that Barbara and Jo-Ann will play a part in making them feel welcome in Ottawa/Pembroke as well.

-----------------------------------------

My eyesight seems to have settled down.  The distant vision is excellent - might be able to follow my 180 yard drives in future😏.  Can't get over how clear everything is.  Others who have had the operation raved about it.  It is incredible!  Don't remember Lake Ontario being so blue!

I think that I'll continue to give Mardi a hard time.  Might get me out in the fresh air again soon.

-----------------------------------------

Stay well.

Day Three

Had a nice lunch at the Fisherman's Catch in Port Dover.  Mardi and I headed that way to meet my brother and Lynn, and my brother-in-law Eugene and his wife Deilly.  They're up from Costa Rica to visit family.

Eugene was married to our sister Lorraine and was wonderful to her during her health struggles before she died about 27 years ago.

Our other sister Judy, and her David, couldn't make it today - missed a nice event.

Interestingly, Eugene at age 85 and brother Roger and I are still all working part time.  Stayin' alive!

---------------------------------------------

The fog has gone from the the right eye, but focus is still off.  The major difference between the eyes is the brightness - things that look yellowish in the left eye now look bright white in the right.  

The doctor advised that there is some pressure in the eye - maybe that's causing the focus issue.  And it could be the shape of the lens bringing me back to 20/20 vision will take a while to fit in.  My adult supervisor tells me to be patient (that word has two meanings and both apply!).  

Putting three different drops in, four times a day, and a fourth one now for the pressure, two times a day.  One eye or the other, that's going to continue until October 17.

---------------------------------------

We now have a Garden Club here at the Shoreliner.  Interesting, that of the half dozen people who have joined it includes a landscape designer, a floral designer, and the father of a greenhouse and garden centre owner😁.  Next Wednesday I'm taking them (well, Mardi's driving) for a tour of the greenhouse.  Garden Mums, here we come!

----------------------------------------

 My friend Wayne sent me the following.  It's probably made up, but it does seem to capture the redneck portion of their society.  Funny in a sad way.

---------------------------------------

Stay well and keep a sense of  humour.

Cataracts

 Just a quick update.  Vision in the right eye is like looking through fog, but the doctor says it'll be fine.  It does seem to have corrected the vision loss.  Bad news for David though.  The doctor says that I can't ride the mower for two weeks.

😢😢

So, for now I have a right eye that will see well at a distance and a left eye that sees perfectly eight inches out.   

With the second eye scheduled for September 18, I'll be under adult supervision till the end of next month. So, I'd better be nice to Nurse/Cook/Driver Mardi for the next while.

Stay well.

Protected On The Injured Reserve List

 Today, I managed to complete two gardens that I've been working on recently.

In the picture above, don't tell David, I reclaimed most of the plants from hanging baskets that were on the trailer heading for the compost pile.  I have no pride!

Give them a couple of days and they'll be thriving again.  And I'll have better eyesight to see them!

You can also see David's corn and pumpkin patch in the background.  It's doing well and should put on a good show for Hallowe'en.

The rest of the gardens will have to wait until I return from the Injured Reserve List😇.

----------------------------------------------

Thanks to all of you who have reassured me about tomorrow's procedure.  I'm looking forward to much improved eyesight, although I will miss my current perfect vision at a distance of 8 inches.  I'll need a microscope to match that in the future.

Hard to believe that Mardi will look even better to me after tomorrow.  Can't wait to ogle her.

-----------------------------------------------

Stay well my friends.

Climate Change

 I was under the mistaken impression that climate change would mean global warming and the result would be heat and drought.  Well, that's true for the west, but for us the bigger threat seems to be drowning!

Thursday at golf, it was cart path only.  And every step was soggy.

I needed a two hour nap afterwards.

Then, yesterday at the Peach Festival.  You needed rubber boots for some areas!

  

Today, I headed to the greenhouse, to work on a couple of gardens and to do my last pre-op grass cutting.  Made a few tracks.

But it's done.  Probably won't get back at cutting grass until the end of September, so David's on his own.  DAVID, PLEASE DON'T CUT IT WITH THE TRACTOR!  I'm still fixing ruts from last year.

 Of course, David has challenges of his own.  There's a reason 

they call this a shipping "dock".

Bet you didn't know that a canoe or hip waders were required for plant growing!  

-------------------------------------

Stay well.  I intend to!

Operator's Manual

Spent the morning in pre-op for my cataract operations.  Right eye Monday, left eye September 18.  Looks like golf and gardening are going to be in limbo for a few weeks.

------------------------------------------------------- 

The main topic today may not connect with some of you, but it has a purpose.

Sooner or later, preferably later, David will have to replace me.  So I decided to document a bit of what I do in the gardens for my eventual successor.

My problem is that the grass grows under the trees, and the trees grow over the grass.  

I can't get the mower far enough under in some cases...........

........ and get smacked in the face by the pine branches in the process.  And the pine tar on my clothes I don't find too popular either 😎.

So, first you outline the new perimeter.

Then, dig out and relocate the sod.

Time to clean up what is left.  So, dig down and expose the roots of the field grasses.

Remove the grass and weeds.  And finally, add the red mulch.

Time to move on the next garden.

----------------------------------------------------

In case I don't publish tomorrow, Happy Birthday Al!  Must be a hell of a birthday party for you to give up golf!  All the best my friend.

And Grant MacLean is celebrating tomorrow as well.  Best wishes.

-----------------------------------------------------

Stay well.

Joey Batts

 We watched the Blue Jays game yesterday and really enjoyed the pre-game event, elevating Jose Bautista to the Level of Excellence.

The Blue Jays put on a first class celebration of a fan favourite, and Jose was a classy recipient.  Great to watch!

A copy of this iconic photo of the famous bat flip is now on the side of a downtown Toronto building.

And, several thousand attendees at the game got a bobblehead to commemorate that event.

It was really well done and the "Joey Batts" fans were ecstatic.

The Blue Jays lost the ensuing game, but who cares?  They made up for it today by crushing the Cubs.

-------------------------------------------

Today I got back to gardening.  The trees and bushes are getting bigger and I am spending a couple of hours a day (my current energy limit - not related to heart issues.  I suspect it may be age related but more study is required) removing a foot or so of sod around the circumference of each area and moving it to top up a low area farther back on the property.  Then dig down about 8 inches to uncover and remove the spaghetti tangle of field grass roots that have invaded the area.  Then top it off with red mulch.

Looks good.  Feels good!

----------------------------------------------

Stay well.

Bits and Bites

 A special shoutout today to my great granddaughter Rowan, who is celebrating birthday number 2!

------------------------------------------

Nothing too exciting for the past few days.  Golf and gardens.

Although we did enjoy a trip to Port Colborne's Roselawn Theatre yesterday to see "Where You Are".  It's a story about two sisters who live a quiet retirement selling jam on Manitoulin Island, and a visiting daughter,  all of whom have secrets that they can no longer contain.

A wonderful comedy that tugs on your heartstrings at the end.  Fantastic acting.

The show continues until August 20.

Afterward, we enjoyed a Thai dinner at the Smoking Buddha, located in the former Port Colborne train station.

-------------------------------------------

In case the next few days are as uneventful as the past few, we'll give a shoutout to Yancy and Kayt who celebrate their anniversary on Saturday.

It's also the birthday of Jim Lougheed.  

Best wishes to all.

------------------------------------------

Stay well.

A Good Day

 Therese is celebrating her birthday today.  Hope you enjoyed your day young lady!

-------------------------------------------

Had a wonderful surprise today.  An unexpected call from Yancy to advise that his job brought him to town and he had Kayt and Rowan with him.  They joined us for the afternoon.

When Rowan was given a drink, she insisted that it contain ice.  Smart lady!

We're hoping that they can join us for a Florida vacation this winter.

-----------------------------------------------

Mardi had four teeth removed yesterday, so today it was soft food - love that Quiche!

And the Jays won a game, a bit of a surprise.

Stay well.

Those Blue Jays

Today's birthday girl is A.J.'s wife Michelle who has hit a milestone number which will remain our secret.   All the best Michelle!

------------------------------------------

It's been a while.  Nothing much exciting happened over the past few days.  Mardi has been dealing with a stiff and sore neck and I've been her personal pain in the neck, driving her to chiropractic appointments, etc.

But last night was a bit different.  We attended the Blue Jays game with Maureen and Matt.

After the kilometre hike from the train to the stadium, with lots of stairs to climb up and down, I parked in my seat while the others kept going.  Maureen and Mardi explored the reinvented areas of Rogers Centre and in the process made some new friends.

Obviously, we had come on Loonie Dogs night.  Don't know what the final hot dog count was because we left in disgust after 8 innings, but it was probably close to 70,000 - almost two per customer, and we did our part!

But the Jays did not, succumbing to the Baltimore Orioles 13 - 3.  Maureen and I agreed that what they needed most at the trade deadline should have been a new batting coach!

Watching the young ladies dance in the aisles for the seventh inning stretch was the most excitement of the night!

As you can see, there was a big crowd, although not quite a sellout.  I was amazed at the power of the air conditioning system in the building - it was damn cool!  But they eventually opened the roof and it became much more comfortable.

Mardi and I have agreed that we will not be visiting the Rogers Centre again for the foreseeable future, but we will continue to enjoy spring training games in Dunedin, where you can get much closer to the action.  And winning isn't that big a deal at that time of year, so it's not as emotional and frustrating.

----------------------------------------------

Did some garden digging today for a couple of hours.  Finished the one around the tree and another one as well.  It was a perfect day to be outside.

Stay well.