A Quiet Time

 On Saturday I mailed Mardi to Mexico, to join son Greg and granddaughter Chloe.  She is having a wonderful time, including dipping her toes in the Caribbean, swimming in the pool at the condo complex, and fishing.

Here is their recent catch.

They had some cooked up for their meal and the rest stayed with the Captain of the ship. 

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David and Sean are not planting Easter Lilies this year.  That crop always interfered with other plantings and created some chaos with those crops - which should be resolved with this change.  The garden centre is still active, but because of the change the growing areas are pretty quiet and will remain that way until later in December when the Geraniums will be planted, followed by other crops.

And my hand operation, which is progressing very well, has prevented me from the digging that I would otherwise be doing.  That will have to wait for spring.

So, I'm fading away.  No Mardi, no Blue Jays, and no greenhouse jobs.  Poor me!

But, I was cheered up by a delivery this morning.  "His and Hers" golf bags arrived.  

Something to look forward to.

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It looks like the Epstein files will be released now that President Trump has reversed his position.  The prevailing theory is that the revolt of his Republican Congress and the civilization of Marjorie Taylor Green made him change his mind.  There might be another reason.  Maybe he got word that any reference to him in the files had been redacted, or that the new investigations he initiated on Friday will prevent sensitive files from surfacing.  We shall see.

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I enjoyed coffee with David and Sean this morning.  And went for a mile walk down to the lake.  Positive stuff.

Tomorrow I'm heading out for coffee with brother Roger and sister Judy.  Between my two eye operations and my carpal tunnel operation it's some time since we've been together.  Looking forward to it!

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Stay well.  I'm trying to.

Remembrance Day

 Mardi and I attended the Remembrance ceremony at the Stoney Creek monument this morning.  She laid a wreath on behalf of the Stoney Creek United Church.

A solemn and meaningful ceremony to honour thousands of Canadian troops who died, mostly in other countries, most of them very young.

As the drawing points out, in the U.S. they also honour (I guess in this particular case I should spell it "honor") their troops.  They call it Veterans Day and recognize all of their veterans.

Either way, it's an important moment.  Let's not forget.

Stay well.

Indigenous Veteran Day

 

Each year on Nov. 8, communities across the country mark Indigenous Veterans Day, a national day of remembrance that originated in Winnipeg in 1994.

Before its creation, Indigenous veterans were often excluded from Remembrance Day ceremonies.

They couldn’t march together as a group or lay wreaths at cenotaphs.

The day was established to correct that oversight and recognize the thousands of First Nations, Métis and Inuit soldiers who served in conflicts dating back to the War of 1812.

My daughters' grandfather missed out on this tribute, coming home from war with an injured knee which never worked well after that, and enduring the prejudice of the time. 

He is the man on the left.

I'll be thinking of him again on Tuesday at the Remembrance Day ceremony when I also remember my Uncle Roy and Mardi's Uncle Arn.

Lest we forget.

Stay well.

Moving On

 Birthday wishes go out to Rose Strecker today.  All the best, and I hope that Ed has gone all out to help you celebrate Rose.

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I guess that it's time to put this year's baseball season to bed.  They didn't win the World Series, but they put on an awesome performance.  A series for the ages!

Can't wait to see next year's version.  I've printed off their spring training schedule and I expect that Mardi and I will be attending more than one game while we're down south..

Go Jays Go.

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It's fun to watch the Conservatives disintegrate.  The Pierre Poilievre/Reform rhetoric has doomed his leadership role.  He's as good as gone.

If the Conservatives had won the last election, he would have been gone sooner.  Can you imagine him taking on Trump?  No contest!

My prediction is that if Poilievre isn't turfed, then when the dust has settled the Liberals will have a majority. 

And we won't have a tariff deal any time soon.  Trump still intends to take us over and won't give up that fruitless quest as long as he remains President.

Hopefully, the Reagan Republicans will get their backbone back and bring some sense to the political scene.

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Stay well.

Halloween Horrora

 The biggest news about Halloween relates to Mardi and me.  It's the 22nd anniversary of our first date.  And a happy 22 years it has been.  Thank you my love!

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On Halloween it seems traditional to see horror pictures.  So, in that spirit, I'm including a picture of my hand.

An incision on either side of the nerve and tissue removed (I assume that is what happened - I didn't watch 😟).  Tylenol 3 got me through the first three days.  The pain remains but it's now bearable.

Can't get it wet yet, so I dress up for my shower,

The eye issue remains.  Vision is bright and clear, but there is distortion.  I couldn't figure out how to accurately describe it, but the ball game gave me a clue.  I looked at the strike zone image with my left eye and it fills the bill.

With my left eye, the image is smaller and somewhat wavy.  Across the centre of my vision it's quite scrunched up and distorted.  It may improve, but I can cope if it doesn't.

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And, as I threatened, it's time to consider the Optimist Club's Turkey Roll.

Fear Of Pain

 Birthday greetings today to my  niece, Lynn McIntosh.  Hope that you had a good day Lynnie!

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The past few days have been interesting, and a bit frustrating.

On Friday I headed to an Oakville Clinic for Carpal Tunnel surgery on my right hand.  Interestingly, the doctor spent the first few minutes seemingly trying to get me to cancel the operation.

He warned of several days of pain, the first two severe.

I don't fear pain (after all, I have dealt with Mardi being a pain you know where for twenty-two years 😬.But, I have a feeling that I may feel some real pain tonight😣.)

The doc was right about the pain and that has limited me for the past three days.  All I've been able to do is watch Blue Jays games.  And quite a run it has been!  I even managed to stay up until 3 a.m. this morning for their 18 inning loss.

They won again tonight to even up the series and guarantee at least one game back in Toronto to finish the World Series.  What a team!

Stay well.

Vision - Physical and Creative

 I had my Dr. Armogan appointment this morning and the retina is still attached.  My vision should continue to improve over the next few months.

And I managed to read the top line of the eye chart with each eye this time.  But the message was a bit concerning.

Maybe I should keep my fingers crossed for a while longer!

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We watched Carney's pre-budget speech tonight.  There is no question that Canada is in for some major changes.  I'm glad that Carney is the guy in charge - he just may be able to pull this vision off.

I just can't visualize Poilievre being able to accomplish anything more than shout and sputter.  We'd be doomed if he was in charge.  Just  my thoughts.

Stay well.