Happy Hallowe'en

My thanks to John Buckley for this pumpkin to help us celebrate the holiday.

And best wishes to Lincoln Brownell, who is celebrating his 11th birthday - no doubt with a ton of candy!

It's also the 20th anniversary of my first date with Mardi.  Thanks again Ed.

And, I'm not sure that he and Rose intended it this way, but I've decided that the three young pine trees that they have given me today to plant at the greenhouse are to celebrate our special event.

I told them that donating trees to the greenhouse was like "taking coals to Newcastle", but we do have some spots where they can go and I love projects like this.  I can look around the gardens and see special projects that are now flourishing.  They don't mean anything to anyone else particularly but I can look back fondly and enjoy the projects that have been successful (joy comes in special private moments sometimes).  Whether I'm still around when these little guys are grown is the next challenge.

So, I found some gaps in the tree line where the baby pines could go.

The next step is to remove the sod inside the new perimeter.  But the carpel tunnel is acting up so that will have to wait for another day.

Closing these gaps will probably save me about five minutes every time that I cut the grass.  A nice side benefit.

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Enjoy the hob goblins, and stay well.

A Good Weather Day

 Our local area was once called Community Beach.  It was the location of quite a few small cottages.  Today, most of those cottages have been replaced or enlarged, but there are still a few left.

And one of them does a special job of decorating for Hallowe'en and Christmas.

Fun to watch the kids take it all in.

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Headed to the optometrist this morning for a post cataract checkup.  The surgery was a complete success, but it turns out that I still could use glasses to correct for a bit of astigmatism.  Not mandatory, but why not see perfectly?  Plus I need reading glasses, so we will go with bifocals.  It should be interesting getting used to them.  And, I won't need to wear them all the time, which means that I will probably lose them sometime.  

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Took advantage of a marvelous weather day to cut the grass at the greenhouse for what will probably be one of the last times this year.  Just weeding and digging left I guess.

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Tonight we headed to Theatre Aquarius for a musical show "Boy Falls From The Sky".  Quite a performance!  Three back-up musicians, otherwise a one man show.  Jake Epstein is an accomplished actor and musician and he tells the story of his career in music, dance and humour.   It runs until November 4 at Aquarius.

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Stay well.

Goofy, Gardens and Great Card Playing

 Today is the anniversary of John and Rada (he calls her Goofy).

Forty-one years!  After that many years anyone who knows John can vouch for the fact that Rada is a saint!  Best wishes to our good friends!

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Finished another garden today.

And, while I was digging out the weeds and vines I came across a 2 inch pine sapling.  And I had just the space to plant it.

Apparently, I should have held the camera closer!  Oh well, my great grandkids will get to enjoy it.

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While I was slaving away😓, Mardi was visiting our friend Barb, who is making great progress on her recovery.

Keep up the good work Barb!

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After we had dinner it was time to play a game of cards.  If anyone knows the game Skip-Bo, they will recognize what a hole-in-one looks like in that game.

You start with a one, and that should have been great for me, but Mardi had a wild Skip-Bo, which meant that she started first.  And she had three other Skip-Bo's in her hand so she stymied me!

But the wily old fart still won the hand  😉!  I think that means trouble in paradise 😰.

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Stay well.

Birthdays

We have some birthdays to celebrate today.  First and foremost, is Bessie Lee Wong, Calvin's 103 year old mom!  Calvin's in Montreal visiting to help her celebrate today.  Wonderful.

Our niece Rhiannon is 70 years younger than Bessie.  That's a nice age.  

And Gary and Jill's son, Jayson, is in between.  Best wishes to all three!

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 We golfed yesterday for what may be one of the last times in 2023.  Willow Valley was chilly and windy, and the fairways were pretty damp.  But we escaped the 60% chance of rain.

We didn't score very well (at least the two guys in our cart) but it is a beautiful course and the fellowship always matters.  Hopefully, we'll get out at least one more game in before the weather makes it unbearable.

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Today, my lady and I headed to the Ontario College of Health and Technology for a $10 massage from one of the students.  Felt good!

Decided not to wreck it by doing any gardening 😉.  That can wait until tomorrow.

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Stay well and age gracefully.

A Good Day

 All in all, today was a good day.  It started with two hours on my knees digging out weeds at Trillium Hill, which wasn't that much fun, but it did give me a chance to enjoy the beginning of the colour change on the escarpment.

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Then, I attended the Celebration of Mary-Anne Leach's Life.  It was good to see Ron again - he dropped out of golf to devote his time to Mary-Anne during her lengthy illness.  She went out on her own terms, bless her soul.

It will be good to have Ron join us on the golf course again next season.  And Ron, don't worry about your wonky knee - Al and I will tee your ball up and retrieve it from the cup.  We know you can't rely on Sven!

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And, tonight at the Optimist meeting we were glad to see Sylvia Pawluk again.  She and Peter were staunch members of the club until they relocated to the west coast eight years ago to be near their sons.  

That's Sylvia, Matchmaker Ed, and Rose.

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However, there is a bit of bad news.  First, Mardi beat me at cards again.  And second, sorry folks, but it's time for our Optimist Turkey Roll once again.  Same as last year, $20 gets you 7 chances to win a turkey/gift card.  

Every dollar goes to the charities we support.  We can do that because hall rentals cover our meeting nights, plus we overcharge ourselves for our dinners, and we have a pay bar - and those funds cover our club expenses.

Let me know if you can help us out once again.

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Stay well.

Miscellaneous

Birthday greetings today to Cristian Lougheed.  Best wishes to that young man!

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Saturday, Mardi and I joined "Compost Captain" Ray, a fellow member of our Shoreliner Garden Club, after he returned from filling up his trailer with compost.

He filled the trailer himself, and did more work than either of us in emptying it.

Well done Ray!  Our gardens are going to look pretty spiffy next year!

Then, I headed to the greenhouse where I picked up Sean and we headed to Costco to refill two propane tanks and a gas can.

But, the weather was such that I didn't hang around after that.  And Sunday wasn't much better.  

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But, we did enjoy brunch with Rada and John yesterday.

They brought gifts for each of us from PEI, and mine was special!

It's always nice to get together to bring each other up-to-date on our happenings.  And we always have some good laughs.

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Today was a weeding day at the greenhouse.  Not much to talk about there.

Then headed to Hamilton General for my three month checkup on the stents.  Answered a few questions asked by what appeared to be a novice, somewhat unsure, assistant to the doctor and then was sent on my way.  Guess everything is just fine 😌.  Next check-up in six months.

And, today was the last day that I needed to put drops in my eyes.  Everything "looks" fine there as well 😎.

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Finished the day with a Garden Club meeting.

Then drinks.

Stay well.

Looking Up

 Happy birthday to Pat - yesterday.  Best wishes!

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Jim has pointed out that the Orwell quote in my last posting is a bit misleading.  That quote did not appear in his book, but in a 2014 theatre adaptation.  Nonetheless, we are agreed that the screen does encourage the mindless masses to swallow and spread drivel.

To prove the point though, I was guilty of "not looking up" when I accepted the attribution of the quote to Orwell's book.  That's how Trump gets his followers too - the masses don't look up.

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I try not to get into religious discussions, but the events in the Middle East have caused me to "look up from my screen" and offer my thoughts.

Religions have a good side and an evil side.  And the evil sides are winning right now.  Any Muslim who believes that their God, Mohammad, is cheering them on as they celebrate the rapes, killings (including beheadings) and hostage taking of Jews is evil incarnate!

And I know that the Jews need to defend themselves, but they appear just as heartless with their response.

I don't know what the Jews did to bring on almost universal hatred from other religions (other than being a different religion), but surely it shouldn't lead to this.  They have been vilified ever since the Christians created their religion, and the Muslims joined in when they created theirs.

They're not alone.  Sikhs versus Hindus.  Buddists versus Rohingya.  Catholics versus Protestants. And, on and on.  What the Hell?

Makes me wonder.  If we didn't have religions, would we still have wars?  I suppose so - mankind can be pretty brutal and would, no doubt, come up with other reasons to kill.  Just ask Putin.

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On a happier note.  One of David's neighbour's properties is full of sunflowers.

They do brighten up your day!

Stay well.