Canada Day

 Our Provincial Conservative Member of Parliament's office delivered a Canadian flag sign to us yesterday, which we will proudly display over the Canada Day weekend.

Being a proud flag flying Canadian is a bit of a challenge these days.  If it's not hateful protesters co-opting our flag, it's Trudeau's Liberals ignoring the Chinese government's intrusion into our society.

Justin's dad, Pierre, admired the communist government of China and he tried to be a dictator as well.  Justin has been bought out by his dad's Chinese friends and, as a result, they now have "police stations" in our country to prey on their ex citizens and they also try to bend our elections the Liberal way.

And he won't do anything about it because it helps him politically and helps his foundation monetarily.

Pierre Poilievre is not the nicest guy in the world, but I think that we need him to win at least one term to turn this thing around and bring some pride back into our democracy.

Please pardon the lecture, but my country is in trouble and something needs to change.  Happy Canada Day weekend.

Fun Time

 Two very important shoutouts to Liz Knapp today:

First, very best wishes on your birthday.  Enjoy!

And, second, condolences for the extra time you have had to spend with Al while his leg recovers from the accident.  I think we should give you recognition in our "ride with Al" challenge at the golf course!

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Cut grass at the greenhouse for an hour and a half, but didn't do any digging due to the air quality advisory.  Sure was a grey escarpment!

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And, finally, recognition of my daughter Barbara's sense of humour for the Father's Day gift I just received.

Thanks Barbara!

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Stay well and laugh a lot.

Fixing Things

A very happy birthday wish goes out to Judy Rivers.  Enjoy your day!

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Similar to the way I try to use "Charlie Brown" trees and shrubs around the greenhouse property, Mardi looks for plants at the greenhouse that don't quite live up to their standard to sell.

This balcony treatment is a good example.  Some pruning and care and voila!

Mardi's comment was "It doesn't take much to make me happy".  Kind of explains why I've lasted so long😁!

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A rainy day so my chance to three-peat as a Quoits champion at Gary Parker's was postponed and we were stuck indoors.  Turned out to be convenient because we needed a visit from the HVAC guy.  We had a water leakage issue on the balcony from the unit.  

Turned out to be just a loose hose connection.

During the repair, Mardi commented that the ladies in the pool rave about Wayne.  We had a humorous conversation regarding what his wife would think about that.  Great guy!

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That's it for today.

Stay well.

Kitchen Utensils

First off, a shoutout to daughter Kathryn who is celebrating a birthday today.  Hope you have had a wonderful day!

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The following is sort of an addition to my response to Barry's question about my survival skills when Mardi was away.  I am confessing only because my loving partner has threatened to "out" me if I don't.

 While Mardi was away I couldn't find the can opener - you know, the thing that clamps onto a can lid and then you turn the handle to remove the lid.  I looked in every drawer, unsuccessfully.

When Mardi returned, I was stupid enough to ask where it was 😕.  She pointed out that we have an electric can opener (which I have previously used) and it is kept in the cupboard that I built and wired for it and our other electrical appliances.

So, my conclusion is that this is not due to my lack of kitchen expertise, but it is simply an early sign of my dementia 😇.  What a relief!

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Ewen and Tyler have started putting the first Garden Mum planters in the field and inserting drip lines.  Thousands more to go - our September sales crop.

I need to also acknowledge that Ewen and Tyler are my rescue team when I get the mower stuck and things like that.  Great young men, eager to help!

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My project today was spreading broken bags of soil between the driveway and the pond.  Someday, this driveway will be the route to Sue's and David's dream home, so let's make it look nice.

Weather permitting, this will be completed tomorrow or Sunday.

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And finally, having tired of my kitchen duties, I decided to take my lover out for dinner.  The local Thai restaurant has changed hands again, and a nice young man and his mother are running it as the Thai Diner.  This will be our "go to" place for the next while to help them be successful.  Food was excellent!

Stay well.

pt

Golf and Gardening

 I'm "batching it" for a few days.  My sweetie has gone to Sauble  Beach to spend some time with the girls.  In the process, my farm truck got its semi-annual vacuuming.  Thanks babe!

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Weeded a few more gardens today.  I did finish the Trillium garden the other day.  Looks better now............

..........................but!  Those innocent looking green plants around the circumference of the centre.........

.......are pumpkin vines.  Enjoy the look of the Trillium for now, because it will be obliterated in the coming weeks!

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Had my telephone "appointment" with the heart doctor this morning.  To update my family, and with due warning to my golf buddies, I will be getting a stent inserted sometime next month.

And, sometime over the summer I will be having cataracts in both eyes removed, so I'll miss a bit of golf and gardening while all of that is going on.

More time for drinking I guess.  There's always a silver lining!

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Stay well.

Gardens and Gore

 Did some gardening at the greenhouse today.

First off, I planted some "Charlie Brown" (deemed not up to standards for our customers) Red Star Cordyline Spikes.  With some care I think they'll look OK.

Next up, I started to clean up the Trillium planting.

Got one "petal" done before my body told me to sit on the mower and cut grass for a while.

I'll finish that project tomorrow.

After cutting the grass, I weeded the cactus plants that we have for sale.  You would think that those big spikes would be dangerous, but as Monica and I have discovered, it's the tiny brown hairs that are the vicious ones!  Thus I used pliers to weed them.

Those plants won't bloom this year, but the ones in the greenhouse's front garden are close to putting on a show.  Dozens of florets that can hardly wait to flower.

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Mardi and I attended "Brock & Sophia" at the Stoney Creek Battlefield tonight.  How General Brock found love in the quest to save Canada.  It was an intimate setting in the historic Jackson house.

It covers the period from July of 1811 to Brock's victory at Fort Detroit and his death at Queenston Heights in October of 1812.

The romantic relationship may not have happened, but it was used to examine the tragic realities of our treatment of women and of the First Nations against whom we have committed genocide.  Without the support of Tecumseh in the war, we would have lost to the Americans and today we'd be Democrats trying to prevent the reelection of Donald Trump as our President.

A really good show put on by a talented cast.

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Stay well.

Highs And Lows

 My activities at the greenhouse are not always evident, but on occasion they do show well, as these geraniums demonstrate..........

..........and then there are other times.........

...when rotten skids are a pain in you know where.

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Speaking of pain, the Blue Jays got wiped again tonight by the rebuilding Baltimore Orioles.  Sad to watch.

Stay well.