Sports Day

 Cleaned up a couple of gardens and cut grass.

Watched the Kentucky Derby, Mardi's favourite sporting event.  On one of our trips south we made a stop at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.  Quite a spot.

Following that we watched the Blue Jays game which just ended with a win in the 10th inning.  They were down 4-0 early in the game but came back - really a fun team to watch.

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Tomorrow's big news will be David's 61st birthday.  More on that later.

Stay well.

Creepers

 Finally got around to taking the TV in for repair.  And since the repair shop was near Gage Park, we invited Al and Liz to meet us there afterwards.  Mardi brought date squares, Al bought the coffee.  We had a nice visit, but due to the blustery day it was a parking lot event.

Rumour is that Al is making raisin scones for our next get-together, although Mardi thinks that blueberry muffins would be an acceptable substitute.  I'll provide the coffee😀.

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Up until last fall, this garden was full of day lilies.  Originally, there were several vibrant colours, but over time they all ended up brown.  As well, the field grasses invaded the garden and were impossible to eradicate.  Plus they grew higher than the lilies which made for an ugly scene.

So I dug everything up and replaced them with some tulip bulbs that weren't sold at the end of the season.

Too short and too many yellow, but when you're dealing with leftovers you have to take what you get.

The tangle of growth around the post on the right that hasn't opened up yet is Virginia Creeper.  It picked this spot itself - I don't know where it came from, although I've seen other specimens on the back half of the property.  I really like Virginia Creeper, especially in the fall when it changes colour, so I'm keeping it.

I can imagine Al making some smartass comment about the name of this plant - stay tuned.

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As I write this, the Blue Jays are winning 12-2 against the Atlanta Braves.  Five Jays home runs so far.  Exciting baseball.

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That's it for tonight.  Stay positive.  Stay well.

Eggs For Dinner

 Eggs for dinner?

That's weird!

But dinner was tasty!  Bangers were hiding under the toast.  And rye was hiding in the glass.

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Spent an hour on my knees today weeding the Trillium garden.  Got half a wagon full of weeds and field grass.

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Also spent some more time today shaking my head at the humour of Sven and big Al.  Now they're weird!

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Keep smiling.  Stay well.  

Grand Slam

Moved some earth today.  One more garden ready for wood chips.

Saw a couple of muskrats in David's pond, but they were camera shy and I was a bit slow.  Best I could do is a picture of one's wake before he dove.

Sorry.

It's great to head to the greenhouse these days.  Lets me get away from the balcony grinding.  Doesn't seem to matter where they're working on the building - it reverberates through the apartment.  It's going to be a long noisy summer.

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Good news for Joyce, who has been living at the Sandman Hotel since the fire.  She was allowed to check her apartment.  Despite the fire hoses trained on her apartment during the fire, her clothes are all salvageable and her parents' original paintings are all OK.

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Blue Jays beat the Washington Nationals 9-5 on the basis of Vladimir Guererro's three home runs and seven RBI's, including a grand slam.  Fun to watch.

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Very little news today, so I'm including an item that Steve forwarded to me.  There's a good message there.  One that I try to follow.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=7483712618&attid=0.1&permmsgid=msg-f:1698196460640426230&th=179134aefb4c58f6&view=att&disp=safe&realattid=178ec74b992a8757f7b1

With not much imagination you could apply the same deduction to issues of race.  What we see and what we don't.  But, we're not racist, right?

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A good day.  Stay well.

Staying Useful

 Headed to the greenhouse and was met with a surprise. 

This lot is across the street from David's greenhouse.  Yesterday there was a pretty decent brick ranch style house on the property.  Today, not so much!

Monster house is on the horizon apparently.

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Concentrated on the gardens that line the front hill.  The winter winds, which sweep across the bottom of the escarpment, uprooted two of the plants in this garden.

But, they're still alive, so I replanted them and tidied up the space.

This one got displaced as well.

But it doesn't mind having its roots showing, so I just straightened it up and added a bit of mulch.

Cut grass for an hour or so.  While I was doing my jobs, Mardi was volunteering in the greenhouse, weeding ferns.  Just a couple of old farts filling in time, pretending we're important and needed.  Feels good!  And much better than staying home and listening to the balcony grinding.

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I've now booked our thirteen weeks of vacation for next winter, a combination of timeshare and rentals.  Something to look forward to.  Hopefully, we'll be through with the coronavirus and all of its variances by then.

We start with New Years Eve in Laurel, Mississippi, the "Home Town" of Ben and Erin of HGTV fame.  Can't wait to see their "Pine Cone Drop" at midnight.

Then a week in New Orleans, and the rest of the time in central Florida.

Seems like forever since we were chased home by the pandemic in March 2020.

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After publishing the blog yesterday I watched Kamau Bell's "United Shades of America" on CNN.  Very powerful show.  Next episode on Sunday.  Worth watching.

Stay well.

Happy Birthday - again.

 The Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 to win their three game series.

But, today's big event was a belated birthday party for Mardi at the greenhouse.

Had to wait until today because Sarah-Jean didn't get home from school in Pembroke until yesterday, and she had to make the cake.

...which Mardi really enjoyed.

She also enjoyed the wine and the lasagna.

It's certainly a unique experience celebrating a birthday at the greenhouse, with everyone sitting in different spots and with birds flitting among the baskets..

But it was really nice to see Sarah-Jean again.  She has successfully completed her first year of nursing - well done.

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Tomorrow will be a gardening day.

Stay well.

Etc.

 Beautiful day.  Cut grass.  Watched the Blue Jays lose.  Laughed at some of the responses to yesterday's blog.  Fighting a slow computer today, so that's it.

Stay well.