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.