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.
Saturday, March 12, 2022
Friday, March 11, 2022
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.
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.
Wednesday, March 9, 2022
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.
Tuesday, March 8, 2022
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.
Wednesday, February 9, 2022
The trucker protest is getting a lot of TV news time down here. I'm waiting for
someone to mention it to me so that I can point out a couple of things. First,
our truckers blow their horns. Their protesters try to blow things up with pipe
bombs (like they previously attemapted with the Vice-President and yesterday
with her husband). Second, while we have had over 32,000 deaths from Covid, and
that should translate to about 350,000 in the U.S., they have lost over 900,000
people to the virus. Half a million wasted lives. Maybe our Canadian mask rules,
etc. have been effective.
Maybe that's part of the reason that we live four years longer than they do.
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While we're talking about the differences in our two countries, we should mention
credit cards. With hundreds of banks in play, access is mixed. Less than half of
the businesses offer credit card tap. So far, on three or four occasions we have
had to go back to the primitive practice of signing the credit slip.
The major gas stations are almost up to date. Most don't allow tapping, but if
you insert your card and enter a five digit zip code you can get gas.
For Canadians, take the three digits from your postal code, e.g. for a postal
code like L8G 5Y2, take the 852 and add 00 and voila! (that's a Canadian word
for "holy cow") and you can pump gas and get a receipt. Except if you get your
gas at a Circle K station. I'm convinced that they refuse to load the receipt
paper into their pumps in the hopes that you will go into the store for your
receipt and buy something.
I always check my receipts against the credit card bill. I've uncovered about
$2,000 in fraudulent billings so far - my card was copied in Jackson Hole,
Wyoming and used for some high end electronics and McDonald meals, had a double
billing from a motel in Santa Clara, California, and double billing of meals in
Peterborough, Ontario. In Canada today the risks are limited due to tap and
password. We can keep our cards in our possession. But here in the U.S. your
card gets carried away. Be aware.
Words of wisdom from an old Canadian traveller.
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A few days ago we went into the local Walgreens drug store because we had heard
that they offered PCR tests, They do, but the young lady told us the results
could take three to five days because they are sent out for processing. But we
got the address of a drive in location in an Otlando suburb and that's where we
headed today for Ewen's test. He's flying home on Friday.
Then, he and I went for a boat ride, while Mardi "tended to her knitting".
That can be a pejorative colloquialism, but not in this case.
It was cool and breezy and she shose to stay back and work on a toque for the
homeless. Actually, she changed her mind and shopped.
The boat ride was picturesque. Especially in the man made canals that join three lakes.
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A better day. Except that the fix on my computer doesn't work any
more, so the blog is being created on Mardi's right now.
Stay warm and well.
Tuesday, February 8, 2022
Cool and Drizzly
A quiet day. But Mardi found a way for me to get back into my computer - small print only, but better than I had.
Yesterday some of you didn't receive the blog. Had to do with a couple of food pictures I think. Also talked about our search for a test site for Ewen. Not all that interesting.
And today isn't much better. Mardi went for a swim. Ewen and I are just vegging out.
Stay well.
Tuesday, February 1, 2022
Reporting From Daytona Beach
A long day, but no problems, other than my attitude (three hours of driving late in the day will do that to you). We appear to have avoided the "weather bomb" that is on its way. Good living I guess.
We're settled in a hotel on the beach at Daytona Beach. The good news is that the air conditioning sounds like waves washing ashore. Too late for pictures tonight. Something to look forward to tomorrow.
On the way, we stopped at a Georgia Welcome Centre. Saw a couple of weird dudes.
OK, so now I've offended both of my travel companions. Retribution is coming, no doubt. Optimism or not!
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Interesting to observe the mask mandates as we travelled south. New York and Pennsylvania were much like Ontario.
But, at our hotel in West Virginia, the staff were not masked. Nor were the guests that were registering ahead of us. So, we ordered pizza delivered, to avoid further contacts. Papa John's - very good!
In the Carolinas a few people were masked - I assume tourists. Sales clerks were not masked, but were usually behind plastic shields.
The clerk at our hotel tonight had no mask, but she did have a plastic shield. So, it's ordering in once again - Captain Pizza and Grill. I had pizza, the other folks grill.
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David Bagshaw sent me the following link to a Spectator letter to the editor. Good reading. Thanks David.
http://thespec.pressreader.
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Tomorrow we arrive "home" at Orange Lake.
Stay warm and well.
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