The Christmas Concert

 I didn't post yesterday, so I missed the birthday of Mardi's niece, Rachelle.  Today is the birthday of another niece, Rachelle's sister Rebacca (Bex).  Birthday greetings to both.

And, in case I don't publish tomorrow, birthday wishes to my brother Roger who turns 76 - he's just a kid!

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Mardi and I are anxious to get this year over with, so much so that we have already exchanged Christmas presents.  Yesterday we headed out to Six Nations, where she bought me a pair of moosehide slippers.

Very nice, but you know that I'm far more romantic than Mardi.  I gave her a pair of frying pans 😇.

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Tonight, Maureen, Matt and I attended the Stoney Creek United Church choir's Christmas concert.

Of course we attended because of the cute soprano.

A nice performance!

Stay well.

memories

 Our excitement today was a visit from sister Judy, who brought us coffee in exchange for her gift card won at the Turkey Roll.  Thanks sis!

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But, it is Malcolm's 29th birthday today.  Hard to believe that it's been17 years since the two of us explored the north rim of the Grand Canyon!  Everybody should take their grandkids on an adventure when they're twelve (the grandkids are 12, not the other person).  It's the perfect age and creates bonds that can't be broken.

Lots of good memories there!

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And my girls are on the way to Victoria, having secured a spot on an earlier ferry.

Enjoy your winter getaway ladies.  See you in April.

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Stay well.

The Bus Trip

 My crazy ladies made it to the west coast last night.  Scary stuff.

They reached Kamloops early and decided to carry on.  Some snow and two hours of torrential rain later they reached Tsawwassen.  Now they can recover for a couple of days - they are booked on the ferry to Vancouver Island on Friday.

At least I can take a breath now.

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Today we did the old folks bus tour to Niagara Falls.  On our bus there were five guys, the rest women.  Pretty good odds!

As we were leaving, I noticed a letter missing from our the front of our building.  Very appropriate the way that Mardi and I are feeling!

Anyway, first stop, the Watering Can.  

It is an impressive greenhouse, but....if you want to buy plants you can save a lot of money by going to Trillium Hill.

Since I had no interest in the plants, I focussed on their scenery.  They've done a fine job of dressing the place up.  Just loved this VW.

Next stop, Niagara Casino.  The odds here weren't in our favour - nuff said.

But the show Christmas On Ice was great.  

The adult performances were darn good, and this 10 year old did pretty well too.

Then it was on to Betty's Restaurant.  The following picture will give you an idea how nice that was.

I've never seen meringue that high before.   Tasty!

Finally, we headed to Dufferin Islands, just upriver from the falls.  The light show is incredible.

 From Dufferin Islands down to Clifton Hill the light show is fantastic.  That alone was worth the trip! 

I don't think I'll do another bus trip until I lose my driver's license, but it was an interesting experience.

Stay well.

The Year Of The Eye

 The Trompers were hoping to get together for a lunch today, but since two members chose to move to lake effect snow country along Lake Huron it didn't happen.  Nonetheless, I was dressed for the occasion with my official15 year old Tromper gear.

See you next year guys.

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My girls, daughters Jo-Ann and Kathryn, and granddaughter Anna decided to spend the winter on Vancouver Island.   I was concerned about them heading west at this time of year into snow country.  But now, it's the rain and flooding that are a concern.

They have made it to Canmore, Alberta and today they're heading to Kamloops, B.C.  Then it's a guessing game as to which (if any) highway to take.  Stay safe my loves!

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It's probably time for an update on our 2025 vision issues.

My retina detached in April.  That was the start.

Mardi had her first cataract surgery in August, and her second in September.

My second operation was in October, to remove the silicone oil that had been inserted during the April operation.

Since September Mardi has been dealing with infections, first in her right eye and currently in her left.  The eye doctor calls it viral, the family doctor says bacterial.  So lots of drops, with fingers crossed.

Right now I can see just fine for most activities, such as watching TV, driving, and general mobility.  No real problems for anything except fine print.

My left eye vision is clear, but with a bit of distortion.  My right eye has quite a few floaters.  Fine print becomes an issue with those factors.  And I noticed at the card game the other night that there was some difficulty discerning between hearts and diamonds, and between clubs and spades on the turn up cards on the other side of the table.  But nothing that can't be handled.  Life will go on.

I fully expect to resume my lawn and garden activities at the greenhouse in the spring.  That's an important purpose for me in life  right now (in fact, if that were to stop I would probably consider it the start of the last chapter - something I'm trying hard to ignore).  And I expect to be able to follow the golf ball this year, assuming that I can hit them straight 😉.  I will test those assumptions in Florida soon.

And I hope that Mardi's eye issue is resolved by the end of the year as well so we can get on with whatever 2026 brings.  So far, we have had to cancel a card night with friends on Thursday,  And tomorrow we're supposed to take the seniors' bus trip to Niagara Falls, arranged by the condo folks.  Hopefully, that will happen - I need the casino winnings😁💩.

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Stay well my friends.

Party Time

 It's that time of year - party time.

I attended the Optimist Club's Christmas dinner on Wednesday.  Mardi had to beg off - she was fighting a flu like fever and cough.

Yesterday, we got together with our golf friends at the Innsville for our annual Christmas party.

The event was arranged by Gary Parker, who is either conducting the choir or ordering several drinks in the picture below.  Thanks for the significant effort that you put into making this dinner happen Gary!

A couple of folks decided to celebrate the Christmas season by eating snails!  Calling them Escargot doesn't trick us. Yuck!

And tonight, Mardi and I were invited to fill in for a couple who couldn't make their monthly euchre night.  Silly looking group!

Mardi won, I didn't.  No surprise there!

Stay well.

Merry Christmas

 The tree is up.....

........and Santa is in the house, with our Christmas gifts!

Just a little worried about the Grinch tree though.

Hopefully, all will be well.

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Stoney Creek's Santa Claus parade was held today.  This year the Optimist Club decided to forego our second rate float and just go with a convertible - Mardi's convertible.

Yesterday, Mardi, A.J. and I struggled to get the top down.  A couple of parts (that Chrysler no longer stocks) previously broke and fell off the trunk lid so it quits when half way open.  We were eventually successful, although we're not sure why or how.

But it easily closed after the parade so, tomorrow, it can be put away for the winter.

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And we're starting to think about our packing for Florida.  Haven't located any bullet proof vests yet, but otherwise should be OK.

At one point we considered aborting our Florida plans, but the rigors of old age, and the fact that we own Florida property made the decision for us.  

Our two weeks of timeshare ownership got us eight weeks at Orange Lake and a reasonable rental added another four weeks in Port Richey.  Too good to pass up!

I start driving south on January 2.  Expect to be at the Orlando airport on the 4th to meet Mardi's Porter flight from Hamilton.

Next year the decision will hopefully be easier.  Our timeshare should get us a full three months in 2027.  And by then, the political situation may have improved enough that our friends will feel comfortable joining us once again (we have lots of open time this year folks, just give us a call).

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Stay well.

Food4Kids

 Birthday wishes go out today to my Tromper buddy, David "Doc" Jewett.  All the best my friend.

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The Optimists donated $1,000 for a table at the annual Food4Kids banquet this morning and Mardi and I were privileged to attend.

The food is donated by vendors promoting their product so the proceeds from this huge event............

............all go towards the charity.

Food4Kids has taken on the task of feeding 1,700 hungry kids every weekend.  The kids get fed at school during the week, but when the founder discovered a 10 year old waiting for his school to open Monday morning because he hadn't had food all weekend she vowed to do something about it.  

Parcels of food are delivered to the schools on Fridays which the kids take home for the weekend.  We are proud to assist  This is one of the things that your support of our Turkey Roll helps to make happen.

The keynote speaker was Tom Wilson - musician, artist and author, who discovered late in life that he had been a victim of the "sixties scoop" and taken from the reservation and adopted by a Hamilton family.  

Very emotional talk!

An inspirational morning!

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Stay well.