A Good Day

 This morning we headed to Mississauga for a visit to my eye doctor, Narendra Armogan, who might be the best in the world (you could look him up).   His first task was to examine the left eye to make sure that the retina was holding in place.  Check!

Then he turned his attention to the right eye and lasered it to remove some cell growth that my body had built behind the lens.  Check!

The retina reattachment took place last April, and the silicone oil that was injected to maintain pressure on the retina obscured the vision in that eye for several months..

The oil was removed in December to clear the left eye and that's the time that the right eye decided to build up some cell tissue behind the lens.  So it took its turn becoming useless, until now.

So, today is the first day in a year that both eyes are working together at the same time!  Pretty special!  An early birthday present from the eye doctor.  I'm like a kid with a new toy.  I'm a very lucky man!

Can't wait to test my vision on the golf course!  Bring it on!

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And my chauffeur for the day is on her last day of antibiotics.  Still coughing a bit, but much better.  I'm in love.  Life is good!

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So sorry to hear that Bo Bichette was booed in the Mets game.  He's 1 hit for 15 at bats.  I wasn't sorry that he signed elsewhere.  And now I'm glad he's gone!

In the meantime, his replacement at shortstop, Andres Giminez is hitting the cover off the ball.  And he's a much better fielder.

Even the  Colorado Rockies blowing the Blue jays away in tonight's game couldn't ruin my mood.

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In case I don't post tomorrow, Happy Anniversary to Roger and Lynn as they celebrate 11 years since she dragged him out of the Pacific onto Hawaiian soil.  All the best!

Stay well.

Baseball Season

 Mardi is still coughing, but says that she is feeling better - which I can confirm 😉.

The picture of the tulips that I posted yesterday was a bit of a failure.  This one is better.

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We're home and the Blue Jays season has started.  All is good.

We watched their pregame show which included the hanging of the  2025 banner...........

...................and the fact that this is their 50th season.

Andres Giminez drove in all of their runs and was rewarded for his effort by his buddies.

Really nice to be home for the opener.  If we were still in Florida it's not likely that a Toronto/Athletics game would have been shown.

Stay well.

 Mardi had her doctor's appointment yesterday and is now on antibiotics to resolve her coughing and congestion.

My eye doctor appointment is next week.  We'll "see" how that goes.

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I visited the greenhouse today and hugged the folks (except Alex's brother - we just shook hands).

No Easter Lilies this year.  They were always an issue re blooming time and also interfered with other plantings.  In their place Trillium has planted some baskets for another grower, a short term and simpler crop.  They'll be shipped out soon.

I picked up Mardi's plants that Sean had looked after for her and Sean added some tulips to cheer her up - which they certainly did.  She loves you Sean!

Showing up at the greenhouse after our Florida sojourn is always a lift for me.  Life is good.

I have a new project to keep me busy until gardening begins.  More on that later.

Stay well.

The Recap

 * When I first considered if we should go to Florida this year I must      confess to feeling some guilt.  But our fees for the year were paid      to Orange Lake and I didn't feel like passing up the eight weeks         we had booked back in April 2025.  Use it or lose it!

   And I decided that letting Trump cost us that money didn't make         logical sense either.  So we went ahead.

* From a general standpoint, 2026 was no different than 2025.               Nobody brought up politics and Americans were either friendly         or indifferent.  No change from normal.  No political conversations.

   What did change was the attendance of family and friends.  Other       than David's overnight stay after he drove me to Florida, we had         no visitors.  

   Fortunately, Lori and Frank adopted us for the months of January       and February, and Jill and Ron took us under their wing in March.     Thankfully, we had people with whom we could share our                   experiences and thoughts.

   Part of our enjoyment of being in Florida is sharing our places          with the folks who are special to us.  We were denied that this year.

* Some of the money we spent in the U.S. went to a good cause.          The restaurant industry, as in Canada, is in a bit of distress.

   Since Covid, and now with the economic scene, people are not           eating out as they previously did.  And it hurts the working folks         who need it most.

   For instance, our Mexican feed on the way home was served by a       very good waitress who, unfortunately, was completing her third         consecutive double shift, and she was really spent.  The restaurants     either can't afford to pay enough to attract good people or are             afraid to gamble on adding staff.

   An earlier visit to Wendy's confirmed the problem in a different         way.  At the counter I had to wait for a couple of minutes for the         young lad to bother coming over to ask what I wanted.  And his         long, stringy hair wasn't covered as it should have been.

   I ordered chili, but when he brought it to the counter he told me         that they were out of spoons, so he gave us forks.  You guessed it -     the chili had the consistency of soup.  Lots of meat, but few beans     and lots of broth.  Mardi managed by adding about eight crackers       to thicken it up, but I went back and ordered a burg.

   The outlet was advertising for help, but they obviously had to take     what they got.  Not a good look!

   Nevertheless, other than the Wendy's experience we were happy to     support the industry.

* We're going back next year.  We own the property, and we like the     winter heat (especially this year from what we've heard about the       Canadian winter).

  We'll start boking out time next month.  Think about joining us          next  year folks!  And if you don't want to spend money to support      the U.S.,  that's OK too - come anyway 😁.

Safe And (Relatively) Sound

 The aged invalid couple arrived home at 3:15 p.m.

Last night when we went to bed in West Virginia, the outside temperature was 30C.  This morning it was 10C and raining.  We dealt with drizzle all the way to I-90, where it turned into snow flurries.  But Stoney Creek was sunny.  Welcome home!

Mardi relaxed and fell asleep after we crossed the border.  Fortunately it was my turn to drive at the time.

I'll put together a summary of our thoughts on the trip soon.

Stay well.

Almost There

 Last night Mardi and I ate out at Bucky's Seafood in Walterboro.  South Carolina.

Mardi had the Snow Crab Boil and I ordered Whiting (fish) and Shrimps.  Food was great and the restaurant was fairly busy.

Interestingly, we were the only white folks in the restaurant.  But just down the street are a string of big white mansions (former slave owners?) so there is no good reason for those folks to avoid good food, except...........?  Life is sure different down here!

Apparently, when slavery ended a lot of the white folks moved out of the town.  Currently the approximate 5,000 population division between black and white is just about equal - and I'm guessing that they don't mingle much.

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While we were there we visited the famous Tuskegee Memorial.

During the second world war, and despite the need, the black and white barrier held strong.  So the black airmen stayed apart and over 1,000 were trained at the airport in this town.  They went on to post records that white pilots could only dream about.

As we finish the day we are in Sutton, West Virginia, just north of where highway 19 joins I-79.

We headed to the local El Gallo Mexican restaurant that had been recommended to us.  A great waitress and fine food.  I ordered the Hawaiian Shrimp and Rice, which had their own special dressing.  Awesome! 

Mardi ordered Camaronex A La Mexico, a different shrimp dish and "Oh my goodness" (her words) it was also great.

We'll be stopping there on future trips!

We should arrive home in the early afternoon tomorrow.  In time for Mardi and I to make our medical appointments.

Stay well.

The Party's Over

 Today's birthday wishes go out to Roger's Lynn, and my nephew Jeff  Marshall.  All the best!

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We started packing up this morning.  Tonight we headed to the bingo hall for the last time - and Jill, Mardi and I all came home with money.  Definitely time to go home!

So we leave in the morning.  It's been a good ride.

Stay well.