Fallsview

 Today we headed to Niagara Falls to meet Al and Liz for an evening and night at the Fallsview Casino.

Based on the views, apparently they like Al and Liz...........

more than they like Mardi and me........

Maybe he loses more money than we do😓.

For dinner we headed to TGI Fridays.  

Good food, good friends!

After dinner, Mardi and I headed back to the slots to make more donations.  But, at the end of the night she is still ahead of the game - more than I'm behind.  Altogether a great day.  Thanks Al and Liz.

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David sent most of you a picture of he and Sue on the Adriatic coast, but I think he used an older mailing list so I'm resending it for those who may have missed it.

Keep the pictures coming David.

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I hope that the rest of you are having as much fun as we are.

Enjoy.  Stay well.

Rained Out

 Yesterday, Mardi's grand-nephew Cristian Lougheed celebrated his 14th birthday.  Best wishes!  And his lymphoma appears to be responding to the chemo.  Great news!

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Headed to the greenhouse, but it started to rain on the way and was pouring after I got there.  Chatted with Sean and Charlie for a couple of minutes and headed back home.  Unemployed for a couple of days, but that's OK.  Mardi and I have plans for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the boss is enjoying sunny weather in Italy.  Hope he sends us more pictures.

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And an important question of the day, sent to me by my friend Wayne:

White thanks!

And a toast to your good health.

The Seasons

 I've commented on how much I love this time of year.  Barry Kopysh is the moderator of our Wordle group and he started his plea for tomorrow's results with this:

The four seasons are all different.  Summer warmer than others.

Spent time at the greenhouse again today, but I only needed a lined jean jacket rather than the parka I wore yesterday.  Same thing for tomorrow.

And, another quote, this one from Henry David Thoreau:

Live in each season as it passes: breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit.

Take care and stay well.

Promise Yourself....

.................to look at the sunny side of everything, and make your optimism come true.

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What a great day!

I spent an hour and a half on the forklift with my parka hood up to cut the cold wind.  And I got stuck in loose gravel in the parking lot and Ewen had to rescue me with the tractor (sorry, no picture).

But I met my objective for the day and it was a beautiful sunny day indeed.  Fall is by far the best season, regardless of the temperature! 

Mardi's cold is getting better (10th day).  Life is good.  I'm a very lucky man.

Stay well.  Enjoy life.

Oh well

 Did some good work at the greenhouse today, but that's pretty boring to talk about.  And nothing exciting happened for the rest of the day.  

My chick is still battling her head cold.  Hopefully tomorrow she'll be better.  

Stay well.

Life

 Today we headed to Winterberry Health Clinic for our RSV vaccine trial checkup.  We dealt with Heather, who is a bubbly RN. 

Altogether a great visit, which started with this scene while we were in the waiting room (another rainbow greeted us when we arrived home).

And then this sign...

Reminded me of an Oscar Wilde quote:

"To live is the rarest thing in the world.  Most people just exist."

We're both on board with living!!

There are several benefits for participating in a vaccine trial.  One of them is the financial benefit - we each received $200 today.  Half for today's visit and the other for two phone "visits".  That's a total of $400 each so far.

Another big benefit is the extra health care that goes with the trial.  Mardi's head cold (two negative Covid tests) triggered a nose swab which will be tested.  Any time in the next two years that we have a health issue, we will be given immediate attention.  Kind of reassuring.

They're still looking for participants.  Over 60 in good health, go for it.

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Live a little.  And stay well.

Optimism

 First of all, best wishes to David and Sue as they depart for a well deserved three week adventure in Italy.  The greenhouse is in good hands with foreman Sean, second-in-command Ewen, Donna, Brooke, and Jaimie, with grandpa on hand in case of emergency.

The garden centre closes on the 31st (coincidentally the anniversary that Mardi and I celebrate), so this month is a wind down, clean up period.

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Matt sent me a picture of our golf yesterday.

It was definitely an awesome fall day.

Some non golfers might wonder about my reference yesterday to "birdie juice".  The following picture is unattributed to protect the innocent😇.  Looks like Kalua to me.  Fortunately, we don't get enough birdies to do lasting damage to our livers.

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Thank you to John Buckley for this:

....and the leather shaving strap was a frightening threat!

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Our first Optimist meeting of the new club year tonight.  We inducted a new member, the President of Optimist Little League, Tim Simmons, second from the right.

And the new Board of Directors was installed.

We're on our way back from the Covid years.  Tonight the Treasurer advised that we have enough money to be able to fund our normal charities once again.

You'll be hearing from me!

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Stay well.