Lakefront

 Headed to Chippewa Creek for our weekly golf game yesterday.  We couldn't see where we were going until part way through the back nine.  This picture was taken well after we started - it was much worse earlier in the round.

And that explains our scores 😏.

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Now that we've gotten yesterday out of the way, it's time to wish Jim Maguire a happy birthday.  All the best Jim!

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Today I completed work on a "garden" that I have been working on recently.  When I started, there were weeds three feet high.

Looks a little better now.

The Hosta was formerly out front, behind a rock that I thought would provide enough shade.  Wrong!  It got bleached out and was not at all happy.  Hopefully here, between the Pine trees, it will be much happier.  It's former spot will now feature Coneflowers.

Over the past week or so I've recovered about 30 feet of driveway gardens and edging - just 900 feet or so to go 😓.  Tough slogging in this July-like heat.

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Tonight we attended the Roselawn Theatre in Port Colborne, to see Lakefront, one of Norm Foster's comedies.

“Lakefront”, a new play by Canada’s iconic and prolific playwright Norm Foster had its world premier on the Lighthouse Festival Theatre stage in Port Dover last week, receiving a standing ovation from its’ opening night crowd.

Foster, who has written more than 70 plays and been the most produced playwright in Canada every year for the past twenty years, averages 150 productions on stage annually, according to Playwrights Canada Press.   A favourite playwright with Port Dover audiences, “Lakefront” tells the rom/com story of Christina, 68, and Robert,70, meeting at the third wedding party of her sister Norah just the week before.   Having a bit much to drink and feeling lonely and insecure about their sex appeal to the opposite sex, the couple make a madcap decision to rent a lakefront cottage the following weekend and test the intimacy waters.   So, what could go wrong?

Pretending they are married, Robert books the one and only honeymoon cabin  on a lake that has receded off into the distance thanks to climate change; not exactly the view the 20- year -old brochure depicted.   And then, there is Duane, who is managing the property for his parents.  He is the backwoods comic foil, sometimes scene stealer, who is happy to show the “shitter” in the cabin, interrupt the “newlyweds” at the most inconvenient of times, cite the noise ordinance when Christina’s orgasmic – like screeching was heard at neighbouring cabins and mooning over the “bride” as the couple attempt to enjoy a wild weekend.

Christina’s deceased husband suffered a debilitating stroke, requiring constant care for several years before he died.   She is still dealing with her guilt over the resentment she felt over the years his care took away from her.   Bob’s wife Tess has been “dead to him” for the past three years after she dumped their marriage of 30 years for a much younger man.   In every play, Foster injects moral issues and matters that tug at the heart strings.  Besides their troubled separate histories, the couple struggle with first kisses, a failure to rise to the occasion in the bedroom and more; needless to say, generating lots of laughs."

We've enjoyed every one of the Foster plays we've seen, but this one is definitely the best.  Laughs were a mile a minute.  And the audience participated.  At one point Christina says "I'm just 68 - that's not old, right?"  And a half dozen ladies in the audience yelled "RIGHT!".  Broke me up!

The show goes on until Sept. 22 in Port Colborne, but it will definitely be moving to other theatres in the future.  Well worth seeing!

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Stay well folks.

Life

 As a follow-up to yesterday's blog, perhaps this response that I sent to Mark Richardson after my 70th birthday will help to explain who/why I am.  (Fair warning to John, Mardi gets mentioned again.)

Subject: Re: My 70th

Thanks Mark.  Going in to the party, my feeling was that 70 was just a number.  I had this vision of friends and family visiting and chatting together, blow out the candles, and go home.  Nice time.  The reality was much more emotional than I expected - especially the music that Roger and the boys wrote and "Doc and The Fishguts Tribute Band" played.  I saw two people that I had not seen for 50 years!  And everyone who showed up meant so much more to me than I had anticipated.  It was fantastic and I'm not sure I have emotionally recovered yet.

Thank you for your generous comments below.

The saying that I quoted was supposed to be an old German proverb.  "You have to take life as it happens - but you should try to make it happen the way you want to take it."  I have always translated that as "be an architect of your fate, not a victim".  Or, it doesn't matter what comes your way - deal with it and move on.  I think that approach is somehow related to the loss of my father and how I got through that period of my life.

Sometimes it takes a stroke of luck too - like finding a Mardi or a Julie to help you get through the tough times and appreciate and properly enjoy the good ones.

I'll be at your 70th - but don't be in any rush to get there.  Keep on smelling the roses.

Gettysburg here we come!

Regards,

Bud.

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A bit of gardening today and then we watched the Blue Jays lose in extra innings.  But, it's still fun to watch the young guys play.

Golf tomorrow.  Stay well.

Aging and Farting

 There were turkeys on the course on Thursday - in addition to our foursome 😎.

This is the time of the year when turkey sightings seem to happen.  Not the kind of "birdie" that we were looking for however.

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Folks seem to have wonder at the things that I do at my "advanced" age.  

I have sometimes wondered myself what drives me and I'll share something that I wrote to myself about fifteen years ago (I do that kind of thing) that may shed some light on the subject.

ON AGING

 The round numbers associated with aging are only symbolic.  The really important milestones in life are usually contained in the crooked numbers.

 For example, I have always maintained that I was born at the age of six when we moved to Fruitland, since that is when my early childhood memories really begin.

And the trauma of age fourteen, when my dad died, shaped much of my life thereafter.  (As I write this in 2009, Sean is the same age as I was then – makes you stop and think.)   My dad expected a lot of me.  Perhaps that's what drives me.

 The arrival of children: at age twenty-one, I married Jean, and adopted Barbara and Jo-Ann; at age twenty-three, David came along; at age twenty-nine, Kathryn.  Jeffrey was adopted three years later.

 At thirty-seven, I became a grandfather for the first time.

 On my forty-second birthday, I was astonished to see how young it felt to reach a birthday that my father was denied.

 Taking a retirement package at age fifty-five, as Director of Sales Planning and Administration, was somewhat of a surprise.  My sister’s death four years later, at the same age, was a jolt.

I retired in December which didn't feel right and two weeks later started working for Laurence Marshall at Larry’s Trucking and at Golden Horseshoe Tire for about three years, as Credit Manager, management assistant and finally as Purchasing Manager for Truckland, after Laurence had sold it and it changed names.

 Perhaps my most satisfying job has been my “farm labour” activity as I tried to help David wherever he needed assistance.  Watching your son overcome the obstacles and challenges of entrepreneurship to build a successful business and playing with your grandchildren on the job is as good as it gets.

Falling in love again at age sixty-six and entering my “teenage years” has been wonderful.  The absence of any conflict in this relationship is an incredible and wondrous phenomenon."

I don't know how long this adventure will last, but I'll be "living the dream" as long as I can.   Just trying to stay alive (in every way) folks.

My formula:

- Look at life as an adventure.

- Set reachable goals.

- Be determined to achieve those goals. 

- Don't rush or panic.  Enjoy the journey.

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Now it's Sunday and we attended the Shoreliner BBQ.

Mardi took on the task of preparing and cooking the onions.  I enjoyed the eating part.  And the dessert!

I haven't tried Jim's Duck Farts yet, but I'll tell you that Moose Farts are pretty tasty!  Hope there are leftovers.

Stay well.

Lawns and Ducks

I missed a special event yesterday - the 16th anniversary of Anna's rebirth.  A special day in her life! 

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Came in to work to discover that "my" hill had been torn up.

The problem is that the old drain line had become plugged and we were dealing with a swamp in one area.  So, a new line was dug and installed and connected, starting here, at the north/west corner of the hill.

That green cage will be installed over the joint so that if (more likely when) it becomes clogged in the future, it can be blown out from this point.

The new line rejoins the previous line here, near the corner of the neighbours' fence..........

......and then heads east along the bottom of the hill, before turning north along the side of the driveway (this info is for Sean and David for future reference -  East is toward the bottom of the picture.  It does not connect to the line that I installed that follows the neighbours' fence - which is probably a good thing, but that line may need a fix too.  When things dry out I'll check that situation).

I found a pile of gravel out back that they used to cover the new joints.

Looks like I'll be adding lawn repair to my job jar!

When that was done, I did some digging and then spread some mulch.  Removed a flat tire from a greenhouse cart and took it to Ace Tire (Jo-Ann and Barbara will know where that is) for repair.

Routine day!

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As a follow-up to my RSV vaccine trial, Jim Maguire reported that he too had completed the trial and discovered that he had been given the placebo.

But, more importantly, he passed on this bit of news:

"P.S.  Speaking of Alaska, my brother-in-law and I had a Duck Fart shot in the Red Dog Saloon in Juneau, which is a watering hole for good ol’ boys.  A Duck Fart is a layered shot with Kahlua, Bailey’s Irish Cream and whiskey. The Kahlua is the bottom layer, the Bailey’s floats on top of the Kahlua for the middle layer and then a good amount of whiskey gets poured on top of the Bailey’s. Traditionally the whiskey in a Duck Fart Shot is Crown Royal.

 

Despite its name, it was delicious!"

Thanks Jim.  I plan to buy some Kahlua to complete our ingredient list so we can join you in Duck Farting!

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 I took my Mardi to dinner tonight, although they spelled her name wrong on the invitation.

We got to spend a few minutes with the owner, Nonis, who was very gracious.

An enjoyable evening, topped off by a visit to the Optimist Board Meeting where Mardi offered some recommendations regarding the setup at Peach Festival.

Tomorrow it's golf.  I probably won't want to communicate after that!

Stay well.

Like Father, Like Son

 While I was cutting the field over the septic system, David was mowing the back field with the tractor.   Apparently, Sean is giving him time to practice for his retirement 😉.

And, like the old man, he probably won't stop into his eighties.  It's enjoyable to get out and feel useful, and besides, it gives you the occasional fun opportunity to interact with/frustrate your son, or grandson.  Right David?  Right Sean?                                         

😇😇

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So, I did a bit of gardening and then cut grass as noted above.  But the Swallows have headed south, so all that my Pied Piper routine raised today were Grasshoppers!  Yuck!

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I'm starting to fear that I may have missed the hatching of the snapping turtles here at Trillium Hill.

But, Barry didn't miss the ones that were laid under his lawn.

Tiny creature.  Pretty neat!

Old guys like Barry and me really enjoy observing Mother Nature.  But, it makes me wonder if the kids who don't look up from their phones will ever feel the same excitement.

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Have fun.  Stay well.

Labour Day

 Greetings on Labour Day weekend.  And yes, I laboured (a labour of love though).

Let's start with Saturday.  I had marked with paint the outline of the new perimeter on this area, which has been dug in this picture - about 100 feet of digging.

So, Mateo and I started working on it.  He dug, and I filled the wagon, hauled it away and dumped it in the back field.

But, halfway along, the wagon dropped a wheel.  Couldn't be fixed and no replacements available.  So, I told Mateo to keep digging and just pile up the sod.  He finished the digging project that day.

Sunday, I asked Sean to bring up the farm wagon so that Lucas (my helper for the day) and I could load up the sod.  After about a half hour, Lucas "suggested" that I could do other things and he could finish.  Have I told you what a great group of young men David and Sean have working at the greenhouse this year?

Any way, Lucas finished it.

While that was happening I decided to rebuild the wagon.  First, I took apart the old one.

But the body wouldn't fit on the greenhouse cart that I wanted to use.  So I took apart a previous wagon and attached it to the cart.  Add a trailer hitch and we're done.

For $20 worth of hardware and a couple of hours of my time, we avoided having to spend over $200 and ended up with what should be a far more reliable vehicle.

Today I used it as I started to pretty up the area that the boys had dug.

Yes Monica, that's another cactus.  But this one will be seen, when it's blooming, by the customers when they come up the driveway.

Cut some grass and then headed home to see my sweetie.

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Enjoy your evening.  Stay well.

A Harley Guy

 Warrant Officer Bullivant left this morning, heading to Petawawa for his next assignment.

And Mom said goodbye.

We'll be seeing him a bit more often for the next while.  Petawawa's a shorter drive than to Vancouver Island.

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Had an interesting couple of days at the greenhouse, but I forgot to take my phone/camera today so I'll fill in the blanks tomorrow.

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Stay well.

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