Oaks and Fencing

 Despite the heat and humidity, I finally finished my Oak tree project.

It started out looking like this.........

The first step was to cut off some of the lower branches.

Then define the perimeter.

Dig out the rest of the weeds and field grasses.

And, finally, the finished product.

It took 46 bags of soil and 5 bags of mulch to replace the clay, weeds and grass that I removed!

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I assume that almost everyone is watching the Olympics, so I won't comment on that unless Canada does something spectacular - like winning our first ever medal in Fencing!

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Blue Jays are trading their players with expiring contracts.  Interesting that they are now winning some more games - maybe everybody else is trying harder, finally.

I do hope that after the season ends they can talk Danny Jansen into signing with the club.  And Kikuchi too, if they end up trading him.

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Stay well.

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Celebration Of Life

 Did some digging and lawn cutting this morning.  Then, headed home to get cleaned up for the Celebration of Life for Jean.

Barbara, Jo-Ann, David and Kathryn did a great job organizing the event.  It captured the spirit of their mom very well.

Some old guy photobombed this picture of Jo-Ann and Barbara.  Barb looks like she saw that coming.

David and Sean handled the situation much more calmly.  They do clean up well, don't they?

A picture with the grandkids, except for Sarah-Jean and Yancy (and Kyle, more about that later).  Didn't realize that I was that short!

But, we caught S. J. in this picture (the pretty lady in the right foreground).

And Yancy.

And his shy daughter Rowan, with mom Kayt.

Although I had some doubts about showing up, I am glad that I attended.  Proud of the kids for how they honoured their mom, and saw lots of our extended family and some old friends.

But a moment that will likely come to mean even more was a reconciliation with grandson Kyle.

The situation between Kyle's dad and I headed south over the years, although Jean kept supporting him (into his fourth decade).  When Jean and I separated, Kyle followed his dad and aligned himself with her.  And over the years since, we basically lost contact.  We have both regretted that situation and tonight we reconciled.  That was a really good feeling!

We plan to get together again soon.  You'll likely hear about it.

Stay well.

Treats

 Headed to Chippewa Creek for our Dofasco golf day and picked up John Buckley on the way.  John has been subbing for us when one of our foursome can't make it.

Now, those of you who know John are possibly wondering why on earth we would pick John in the first place 😒.

Well, here is the reason........

Peach Muffins!  Yum!!!  Thank you Rada!

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And, while we were golfing, Mardi headed out to York to pick up our first treat this year of Snyder's corn - eight dozen!  And their dozens consist of 14 ears each.  For friends, neighbours, and family.  And it is awesome, as usual.  Yum once again!

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No other news today.  Sorry.

Stay well.

I'm A Lucky Man

Birthday greetings go out today to our Wordle Moderator, Golf Statistician, and good friend Barry Kopysh.  We'll have a drink in your honour Barry (actually, it took two drinks 😋, you are very honourable).

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In case you thought that I was serious yesterday when I commented that "Life isn't fair", I thought that I should share something that I wrote - in a philosophical moment, to myself - a few years ago.

 I’M A LUCKY MAN

·       To have been born in Canada, a free, democratic, resource rich country

·       To have not faced discrimination and hatred based on race, colour or creed

·       To have food, housing, transportation and health care as givens

·       To have been born to parents who were loving, hardworking, honest and responsible

·       To have been raised to believe in fair play, honesty, hard work, accountability, achievement

·       To have been offered employment at Dofasco after my father’s death and be given the opportunity to progress through hard work and dedication despite lacking a formal university degree

·       To have good friends to trust and rely upon

·       To be loved by my children and grandchildren

·       To have found Mardi after my marriage ended

·       To be able to be physically active at my “advanced” age

·       To have enough financial resources to enjoy my retirement, whether golfing, travelling, working or just relaxing

·       Although I awake to discomfort every morning, I relish each day.                                                                                                                                                                 Regarding the second line, although I haven't faced discrimination, all of my daughters have - Barbara and Jo-Ann due to their Indigenous heritage, and Kathryn due to her severe hearing loss.  I'm proud of them for overcoming that hate.

------------------------------------------------                                                    A couple of days ago it was Kamala Harris' speech that inspired.  Today, it was Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking to the U.S. Congress who caught my attention.  He explained the Jewish historical experience and the current Iranian intention to eliminate Israel extremely well.  

    I just don't understand the protest groups ignoring the facts that Hamas killed, raped and took hostages, and the continuing rocket attacks that these ignorant folks expect Israel to ignore somehow.                                                                                                                      They have no choice.                                                                            ---------------------------------------------       

                                             

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I

  

                                                   

 Birthday greetings yesterday to Angela, the mother of Sunday's hero, Ethan.  And today, to Jacquie, daughter of my very good friends, Jill and Gary.  All the best to both.

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If you have been watching Kamala Harris speak, after Joe Biden withdrew from the Presidential race and endorsed her, you have to be excited!  Looks like the Democrats may have a decent chance to knock Donald off his feet.

More energy in the race than there has been in a long while.  And I love her take:  "as a prosecutor and as Attorney General of California, I have dealt with predators, fraudsters and cheaters - I know Donald Trump's type".  And you can bet that she will deal with him!

Should be very interesting over the next three months.

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Didn't last long at the gardening gig today.  The heat and humidity killed the digging after half an hour, then I cut grass for a while before giving up entirely.  Maybe I can get moving earlier tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, Mardi was golfing above the escarpment and found the weather to be just fine.  Nice breeze.  Best score of her year (beat my yesterday score by a bunch).

Life is just not fair.

Stay well.

Woods and Warriors

Today we celebrate the 25th birthday of Mardi's grandson, Ethan.  He's currently finishing his university education before he takes up full time duties following in his dad's path with Canada's military.

He's the bigger boy in this picture.

Canada will be in good hands - if the government ever decides to provide the military with the funds for equipment it needs to be effective.

We know that won't happen with Trudeau.  He recently pulled 2034 out of a hat as the time Canada will meet NATO's 2% of GDP minimum.  He won't be around then so he doesn't care to step up the pace.

Perrin Beatty, the Defense Minister during Mulroney's term (the last time there was a plan to step up to the military plate) says it well:

"If you contract out your defense to (the Americans) you are a protectorate - not a sovereign nation."

"Russia doesn't play well with its contiguous neighbours, and we happen to be one."

Let's hope for Ethan's sake, and for our future safety, that we get our financial act in order.  All the best young man!

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Today, I weeded some more gardens, finishing up with the teenaged Oak tree.  It's been impossible to look after it properly because of the low limbs that reached the ground.

So, my first action was to remove some of those limbs.

It's a golf day tomorrow, but on Tuesday we'll get back at this garden.

Meantime, stay well.

Brunch With Friends

 Mardi and I enjoyed having brunch today with Rada.  John also attended 😜.  

We ate at the Scout Restaurant at the corner of King and Centennial.  A strange setup for a restaurant, but the food and service are good.

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Then I headed to the greenhouse for a couple of hours of grass cutting.

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We now watch TV via Google.  Cogeco offered the condo corp. Google's internet accessed service, Epico, so we have less wires, improved picture quality and more channels.

However, tonight we're listening to the Blue Jays game on 590 The Fan.  MLB has sold Apple the rights to some Friday games and to see this game we'd have to subscribe to Apple TV.  No thanks.

Jays were behind the whole game and lost 5 - 4.  Glad we didn't waste any money on Apple TV!

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Tomorrow it's back to weeding.

Stay well.

Shoutouts and Singalongs

 We golfed yesterday as planned, but were rained out on the 12th hole.  The positive side - that was my lowest score this year!

Celebrated with a beer and "frings" - fries and onion rings.

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Today it's raining again, so we have nothing better to do than celebrate one of Gary Parker's birthdays.  As far as we know, today is the real day, but the guy with many names, e.g. Ned, Andy, Fudd, Sven, etc. celebrates a birthday for each of them.  All the best to my good friend!

And, a more normal person, Irene Cousins, is also celebrating her birthday today.  Best wishes Irene!

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Don't know if you watched the home run derby last night, but Teoscar Hernandez, the former Blue Jay, won.  However, what the people who watched are talking about is the following:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/video/evanka-and-tim-react-to-memorable-home-run-derby-national-anthem/

I guess that the U.S. is in more trouble than we knew!

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We'll have a different kind of news tomorrow.

Stay well.

Seedlings to Trees

 Despite the heat and humidity, I managed to finish up another garden.  Two wagon loads of red clay, weeds and field grass roots - replaced by top soil and mulch.  The Flowering Dogwood is much happier now.

Behind the Dogwood we have a Chestnut and two Oaks.  Their turn to be worked on comes up next.

Those three trees started out as seedlings a few years ago - the Oaks here at Trillium and the Chestnut in Mardi's backyard in Stoney Creek.  It's nice to see them maturing.  Unfortunately, the Chestnut will likely never flower and produce nuts - it takes two trees to tango.

I also weeded the front gardens again.  Otherwise Mother Nature figures that you don't care and takes over.

Then cut some grass, but with a darkening sky I called it quits before finishing.  Put everything away and got into the van before the rain started.  Torrential downpour all the way home, but it stopped before I got out of the van.  Clean living I guess!  Had a rye and coke to celebrate.

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Meanwhile, Mardi headed to Collingwood with brother Greg and Diane for the Lougheed family reunion.  Had a nice visit with her cousins and their families.

Interestingly, Mardi and her brothers pronounce the family name with the emphasis on the first syllable - LOUGheed, whereas the folks up north emphasize the second syllable - LougHEED.  Don't know why.  Doesn't matter.

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Golf tomorrow.  Need a birdie.

Stay well.

Friends and Flasks

 Maureen is today's birthday girl.  Don't know where she and Matt are in the British Isles, but I hope they're having fun on their vacation.  All the best Maureen.

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My sister Judy is away on vacation, so the other yard sale lady needed company today.  I complied, and I'm glad that I did because one of our stops was at Kathy Gruhl's where we saw our friends Kathy, Kathy's mother Margie, and Judy Woodworth.

Apparently, Kathy and Lorrie will be relocating to P.E.I. in the spring.  They will be missed!

I did get an item at their sale - a flask for birdie juice.  Thanks Judy.

Now I just have to hope that I get really lucky and have a reason to open the flask on the golf course.  A birdie hasn't happened for a while!

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I intended to weed another garden at the greenhouse today, but by the time we were finished yard saling the heat and humidity told me to cut grass instead.

I'll try to get an early start on the weeding tomorrow.

Stay well.

Hale and Hearty

 As advertised, I did a bit of weeding this morning.  Finished the Trillium garden before the heat and humidity called a stop to it.

Although the rain didn't seem to affect the golf course yesterday, it did have an effect on Trillium Hill.

You'll have to wade to your truck for a bit, but help is on the way.

Don't know how I got that picture in black and white 😕.  But the pump should have the flooding problem solved by the time the truck returns from its annual inspection.

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Then, it was off to the heart doctor.  Passed the ECG with flying colours, blood pressure is better than the examining doctor's, all systems go.  The service warranty on my body has been extended for another year.

Golf and gardening are the new medicines folks.  Give them a try.

Having a wonderful partner doesn't hurt 😍and don't forget those good friends either.

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Stay well.

Doomsayers - Weather and World Affairs

 Today we were supposed to golf at Puslinch Lake Golf Course with lunch included.  But the forecast of torrential rains appeared to put this at risk.  It rained quite a bit yesterday, and again through the night.  Indeed it was raining while I got rolling this morning.

But the course told our organizers that they were indeed open and that carts would be allowed on the course.  So, I drove through the rain to Grimsby to pick David up, and we drove through the rain to Cambridge.  Not a positive vibe!

Nevertheless, it had stopped raining by the time we got to the course and once there, you would never know that it had rained.  The course was not wet and there were no soft spots.  Really unbelievable!

As it turned out, despite the doomsayers, this was a perfect golf day - affected negatively of course by the quality of our play - but perfect nonetheless.

Our intrepid foursome.

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John Buckley sent me the following message today.

Sad, but true.  

And then, there is Canada at NATO.  Continuing to fall far short on our commitment to defense.  Old two sides of his mouth tried to put a political spin on it, but nobody believes him.  

And then he blamed the Conservatives.  Hopefully, after the next election we'll find out that they'll do better.

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Back to work tomorrow morning, then a routine follow-up visit to the cardiologist who installed my stents.

Stay well.

Friends

 On Monday we had a nice visit with Barry when he dropped by the golf course after we finished our round.  Our golf stats guy, and Wordle moderator, and a good friend.  We all enjoyed a beer together with a friend that we don't see often enough.  

For context, have a look at the bit of wisdom that Carol Kemp shared today.  I'll leave out the preamble and share the conclusion.

Be mindful that happiness isn't based on possessions, power, or prestige, but on relationships with people we like, respect, and enjoy spending time with. 

Mardi and I are mindful of that advice (why else would we play golf?).  

Stop, smell the roses, and take time to enjoy some ice cream 😋.  

And stay well.

Plants and Fun

 This little garden looks more complete now that the Hydrangea "tree" has started to bloom.  It was one of my Charlie Brown projects a few years ago.

Today, I weeded the two bigger gardens down front and finished up with the Cactus.  Here it is, removed so that I can get rid of the invasive grass (I hope that I got it all).

Back in place again, and as you can see, there are some leftovers.

Don't tell David (he thinks that I'm nuts, and desperately hopes that it's not genetic) that there are some future garden specimens in progress.

Leave the world a better place while driving your son crazy, or something like that.  The thorns in my fingers are a small price to pay for the satisfaction that I derive from these games that I play.

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Things go downhill tomorrow.  It's a golf day 😓.

Stay well.

Bribery

 Birthday greetings to grandson Yancy, who turns the big 50 today.  Yikes!

And greetings also to Jonah Minas who is 35 years younger.

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Malcolm forwarded me this picture from Trillium Hill Greenhouse and Driving Range.  Looks like fun!

And he claims to have found all the golf balls (except the ones that his younger brother bombed out of sight).

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My excitement today was to get a filling in a broken tooth.  Mardi will let me smile again!

The dentist's excitement was to get paid a rather large amount.  Thankfully, Dofasco will pick up the majority of the tab.

The only thing that bothered me is that on each visit, while I'm waiting to be seen, I get to watch the three ladies at reception chatting a good part of the time while they run up my tab.  I'm just a grumpy old man I guess.

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Because of the dentist visit, I asked John Buckley to take my place at golf today.  Now, the guys are raving about that move.  Not because they like John any better than they do me (I hope), but because Rada sends treats every time John golfs with us.

I told them that it's just a bribe.  She's hoping we invite him more often so she can get him out of the house and enjoy some peace and quiet 😉😏.

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Tonight we attended the Lighthouse Theatre in Port Colborne to see "Murder at Ackerton Manor".  It was a British type farce.  Not my favourite type of humour, but they did a good job.

That's all.  Stay well.

Happy 4th of July

 Apparently, I'm not the only one who adopts seedlings and watches them grow.  Jamie Gaudet, one of the young ladies who works in the garden centre, rescued a Juniper seedling four years ago from beside a skid of soil.  She and her father have tended it since then and decided that it was now time for the plant to come "home".

So, it has been given a spot near the picnic table where the staff can enjoy it during their breaks.  Thanks Jamie.

Now I have to find a home for my Oak trees!

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Headed to an EMG clinic today to check out my Carpel Tunnel problem.  Turns out that I have a "severe" version and will need to have the right wrist reamed out.

Doesn't bother me much during the day, but the minute that I lie down the numbness and pain take over.  That has been making it hard to sleep at night (or at any other time).  

I'd like to blame it for my golf woes too, but I think that situation might have an age related cause.

Fortunately, so far, the left wrist hasn't been affected the same.  A numb thumb at times is all.  Oh well, give it time!

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Hard to believe that things could get worse than they are in the 4th of July country, but I wouldn't be surprised.  If the "king" returns to power we're all in trouble.

I bet that if Putin invaded Canada's north to gain control of the North West Passage, Trump would just congratulate his buddy.  So it would be up to the underfunded Canadian armed forces to fend for themselves.  Thanks Trudeau!

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Pretend things are fine.  Stay calm.  Stay well.

Newfoundland Memorial Day, Canada Day

 After posting this morning, I tuned into CBC to watch the repatriation ceremony of Newfoundland and Labrador's unknown soldier.

Hundreds of folks stood quiet for hours, most not protected from the rain, a fitting tribute considering the ceremony.

A highlight for me was to hear the words of the Royal Canadian Legion's Padre, Ian Wishart, a man who looked old enough to have served in the First World War.  Yet, his voice was strong and his message clear.

A jarring moment came when Justin Trudeau said that "the First World War proved that Canada could punch above its weight".  Unfortunately, he has succeeded in making sure that we are no longer capable of doing that.  We don't weigh as much today in the world's eyes and have very little punch left.  

Nevertheless, it's still a great day to be a Canadian.

Canada is now the only Commonwealth nation that has two unknown soldier tombs - one in the former Dominion of Newfoundland and one in the Dominion of Canada. 

And Newfoundlanders who lost relatives in the Battle of the Somme can now reach a form of closure - they can assume that the unknown soldier is their ancestor who has "come back from away" to be honoured by all.

Well done!

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Did some gardening today, but that's old news.

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Stay well.