Vaccines and Vacuous Leaders

 Yesterday, Mardi and I headed to Winterberry Medical to pick up our final $470 cheques for our participation in their RSV vaccine trial.  I've lost track of how much we made on the trial, but it's close to $2,000 each I think.  Plus, the vaccine worked to save me from RSV when Mardi caught it.

So, when they asked if we would participate in a future trial, the answer was "yes"!  (My apologies to R.F. Kennedy Jr.)

We saw Ron King there - he participated too.  And he told me that I had missed seeing Judy and Monica at the garden centre when I was taking one of my days off.  Sorry ladies!  I hope that you found what you needed for your Christmas displays. 

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In other breaking news, Mardi's convertible has been put away for the winter.  I get to park in the underground for the next five weeks!  Yeah!

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As I write this, Trudeau is in Mar-a-Lago kissing the king's ring.  Hope it works out for us.

Stay well.

Work, Service and Celebration

 After a couple of lazy days I returned to the greenhouse today.  Worked about 15 minutes - after a couple of days off you can't overdo these things.  I wanted to look after a couple of small outdoor jobs with the forklift before the snow flies.

So now I'm off duty again until Monday when the Easter Lily planting begins.  Here are the 55,000 half filled pots ready for that project.  Most of those will be sold to brokers who will distribute them as far as the southern states - unless Trump's tariffs are still in place and interfere with that sale.  Fingers crossed.

And, after that is done there will be another 3,000 Lilies of another variety to be planted.

While I was there I enjoyed a coffee and wandered through the garden centre.  

It does lift your spirits to be in the midst of that Christmas colour.

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We joined Jo-Ann, Kathryn and Anna for dinner at the Banana Leaf restaurant.  They'll be leaving for Florida on Friday, so this was our pre-Christmas get-together.  

They brought me a beautiful gift from Barbara......

.........a wonderful addition to my native collection.

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Then it was off to the Optimist Hall for a joint meeting of area service clubs - the two local Optimist Clubs, Rotary, Lions, Kinsmen, Kiwanis and Little League.  A nice night.

Several Optimists attended, including Scarface Strecker.

He claims that he tripped on his deck.  Good story!

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Stay well.

Open House

 If you didn't get to Trillium Hill today you missed their Open House.  Coffee, hot chocolate, ginger bread men and other treats.

But, if you're good, Sean might make you a coffee when you come.

Lots of good Christmas stuff to check out.

I got to enjoy the treats because I showed up to do the final lawn cutting for the year.

That just leaves an hour or two of garden cleanup, but the remaining annuals are refusing to call it a day.  So it's some time later I guess.

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While I was cutting grass I saw a coyote again.  Today he was back near the rink.  The other day he was in the loading dock area.  Good looking animal, but as soon as I get the phone out for a picture he lopes off across the field.

David and the others have seen him near the greenhouse as well.  I have a theory.......some small animal has been chewing on the water lines so David put out a tray of water for it.  The chewing stopped.  I think that animal may be what the coyote is looking for.  Hope he finds it - throwing out dead plants that didn't get watered because of a useless water line and then repairing the damage costs money.

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Stay well.

Projects and Morons

 I finished my project!

It turned out to be a perfect day for digging.  No sun, no wind, and moderate temperature.  Glad that I was able to finish it today because the forecast calls for a lot of rain in the next few days.

Just a couple of small outdoor jobs left and then I can sit back and wait for the Easter Lily planting.  One of my jobs will be as a  defensive back, i.e. corner guard.  You'll see.

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Barbara sent this to me.  It's also going to be true again after 105 years.

You don't suppose that this could apply to Canada too do you?

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Stay well.

Satisfying Moments

 There are some highlights in your life that are kind of a measurement and mean something special.  Like hiking 70 miles through the high Andes to Machu Picchu at age 69 with Sean, or hiking across the Grand Canyon at age 77 with Ewen, or the other special trips that I made with my grandkids.

In a silly way, yesterday was one of those moments for me.  It started with a flat tire on the mower, so I had to abandon the loaded wagon.  The tire can't be repaired until Monday so I had a choice - quit and go home, or use a wheelbarrow to continue my chores.

Reluctantly, I chose the latter and I'm glad that I did.  As I'm pushing the loaded barrow a hundred yards or more up and down the driveway these last two days, at age 87, I had a similar rush of satisfaction to those other special moments.  I can still do it!  Felt good!

And, despite the setback, I'm making progress.

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Congratulations to the Toronto Argonauts for their convincing win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Grey Cup.  And they did it with a second string quarterback and an injured kicker.  Well done!

And for those Hamilton fans who don't like the Argos, just think, if Hamilton hadn't dumped Zack Collaros a few years ago they might have played in some Grey Cup games too 😏.

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Stay well.

Clowns and Turkeys

 Steve shared a Turkish Proverb with me:

"If a Clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a King.
The palace becomes a Circus"

I think we're facing something worse than a circus and would perhaps amend that to read:

"if a criminal moves into a palace, he doesn't become a King.  The palace becomes a crime scene".

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When I arrived at the greenhouse today there was a transport with a load of soil to be unloaded.  David and Sean were unavailable, so the old guy started unloading as soon as Mariah undid the strap.  Got a dozen or so skids off the truck before David and Sean returned.

Then it was time to get back to my digging.  Cleaned up another small section of the tree line, enough to use up three bags of mulch.

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Tonight it was Turkey Roll time.  Mardi and I sold seven and half cards and we had a winner on all of them.  Congratulations to Al, Steve, Lorena, Calvin, Maureen, Monica, Lenore and yours truly.

The "turkeys" this year are $40 gift cards.  Al and Calvin, I will deliver your prizes at our Christmas luncheon, unless I see you sooner.  Mardi will deliver the rest.

There were some draw prizes as well, and Barb Galina won $50.

But the best part of the night was the turkey races.

I bet on Stuff It,  #6, and he should get stuffed!   Nobody came home a big winner, but we all had an exciting time.

Thanks for the support!

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Stay well.

Odd Job Day

 First, I watered the sod that I transplanted the other day.  Next up, a repair to a bench that Sean had requested.  Then, repair of this solar lamp stand that had fallen and broken.

The threads were stripped so I had to use plumber's tape to fix it.  Then added some stone to the pot so the problem wouldn't repeat.

And finally, did an hour's digging along the tree line.  I am definitely a jack(ass) of all trades.

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While I was doing all that, the planting line was busy.  First step in the Easter Lily planting process is to run all the pots through the soil machine and half fill them so they're ready for planting when the bulbs arrive.

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Tonight, Mardi and I attended the Optimist meeting.  It was Youth Appreciation Night and we honoured our volunteers.   Including this young lady.

Pat helped the club all three days at the Winona Peach Festival.  And she joined in this picture with our other young volunteers.

We are indeed fortunate to have these folks in our community!

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Stay well.