Month: August 2015

Just recently, I have become aware of a feature on Facebook which i really like. It’s called “You Have Memories” and it reviews all your previous Facebook postings and filters out the ones that you posted on the current day but exactly one year, two years or three years ago.

They are visible only to you unless you want to share them to your current timeline or with someone specific.

When the notification that I have memories comes up, I am always interested in reviewing them. Of course, if you rarely post anything original, it may not appeal to you as much.

I am finding, that the more I use Facebook for postings and pictures, the more useful it has become. I have even begun an album on my page in which I keep periodic photos of the flower garden so MY Jane and I can see what flowers bloomed where and when.

There’s a bit of dampness in the air this morning and the sky is overcast. However, the temperature remains warm – warm enough that you can still step outside without having to bundle up. That’s a good thing.

Minnie’s summer morning routine continues. She sits on the patio table and looks at me through the kitchen window with a cute expression that says, “Cmon, I need some treats.”

Of course, as one of her fully trained staff, I quickly oblige with some of her Temptations. Hearty Beef flavour is one of her favourites. 

Soon, MY Jane will be up and another great day begins in Barrie!

As mentioned in yesterday’s blog, MY Jane and her good friend, Annemarie, took Ted to Shirley’s for dinner. Annemarie had driven from the Georgetown area especially to have a visit with Ted. When Annemarie and Jane returned, they said they had a great time, as did Ted.

We had a little visit before Annemarie headed back.

Today, we are headed to Stevens new place in Toronto. We had offered to repaint his apartment to a colour of his choice as opposed to the bland beige colour that had just been done. He has chosen a grey colour. Much better.

We intend to stay over in the apartment at least one night, so we are taking along our camp cots and sleeping bags, etc. Steven will actually be moving his stuff on Monday, so there is no furniture in the new place; an ideal time to paint.

Our across-the-street neighbour, Jenny, has kindly agreed to pop in and see Minnie while we are gone.

This past Monday our driveway was re-asphalted. This was one of the big jobs that MY Jane and I wanted to have done before the winter. 

in fact, it was the same company that did the original one some seventeen years ago. Both Jane and I are very happy with the result. No longer do we have to look at unsightly weeds poking through the cracks or sunken sections of pavement. 

Today, Jane’s longtime friend, Annemarie is coming up from Georgetown way to visit with Jane and Ted, Jane’s Mom. They plan on going to Ted’s favourite Barrie restaurant, Shirley’s Bayside Grill, for an early dinner. Hopefully, Ted will be up to it today. Last time Annemarie was already on the road heading for here when Ted told Jane she wasn’t feeling well. That dinner date got cancelled.

Yesterday, Jane took Ted to the pharmacy with all her meds and arranged for the pharmacy to package them in blister packs like the one pictured below. They provide this service free of charge and deliver them right to the door.

Jane had checked her Moms pill box one day last week and discovered somewhat of a mix up. This idea, I think, should avoid that.

Well, it’s shaping up to be another beautiful day, even though the temperature is down a bit.

Yesterday, MY Jane and I went to Toronto to visit and have dinner with Rita, a friend of ours and a special longtime friend of Jane’s. Their friendship is one of those rare ones; one that goes back over 50 years. Rita’s youngest son, Robert, was there as well as Rita’s friend, Dennis.

A letter that Rita had written to Leonard a few years ago was actually included in one of his books. Here’s the letter:

I began reading the letter aloud while we were sitting there and you could tell from Rita’s reaction that her letter was very much a heartfelt one. It was so well written. I asked Rita how many drafts of the letter she had done to end up with such a beautiful piece and she said she only did it once, checked for spelling mistakes and then sent it off. Remarkable. 

Rita reads my blog from time to time and commented on the early birthday gift being given to me, that being a registration to a writers retreat next month. Both Jane and I suggested to Rita that perhaps she might be interested in something to do with a creative writing course. She confirmed that she has thought about it from time to time but then added, “I don’t think I have anything interesting to write about.” We began coming up with things in her life that people would be very interested in. Some examples: her experiences while proctoring, stories about Eliot, her trips to New Orleans and New York.

I think we were pretty convincing because she is going to try writing a little blog…just whenever the notion hits her. No pressure.

Another very interesting hobby that Rita has is collecting masks. Right now she has five beautiful masks but, to this point, has not been able to display them the way she wants. I offered to make a couple of shadow boxes for them so she let me bring them home to see what I could do. Don’t you agree that these masks are stunning?

Thanks, Rita, for a great visit and dinner and for being such a gracious hostess.

In the past few days there has been a definite change in the morning temperature. Both MY Jane and I have noticed it. I hate to say it, but Fall is just around the corner. It has been a glorious summer, though. We managed to get a lot of gardening done; leaning toward the perennials. 

When I think back to what our back yard looked like 3 years ago, after we first moved in, I am amazed at the improvement. As Jane says, “It’s hard to to plan a garden….they kind of evolve.” This is so true. This is what is happening to ours.

As things grow and blossom, Jane takes notes in her garden book and I take these panoramic pictures and upload them into a designated Facebook Album. This way, we have a record of what is where so we can re-locate plants for the best display. We try to put the tallest ones against the fence with medium height flowers in front of those and short ones at the front edge of the beds. Jane has re-located at least a dozen plants over the summer. Lots of work, but worth it.

It gets tricky because some plants need lots of sun and some don’t. And our back yard has some parts that are shadier than others. With so many variables to consider, that’s why the trial and error method works for us. Every time we plant something new, we add more topsoil to give the newly planted things a better chance to thrive.

Later today we are heading off to Toronto to visit and have dinner with our friend, Rita. She and Jane have a friendship that goes back over 50 years. We are both looking forward to seeing her.

 I have turned my mind to the back yard deck project. MY Jane and I have looked at various deck plans and would like to have something like the one pictured below.

With the concrete posts, it also means that a ledger board would have to be fastened to the house by drilling through the brick and using lag bolts screwed into the wooden floor sill of the house.

A floating deck, on the other hand, does not require the post holes, sono tubes, or ledger board. It’s sits on deck blocks much like the example below:

Jane has suggested that I call a deck builder to come and give a quote and see which option they would choose. I think that’s a good idea.

I have been doing this daily blog since February of 2013. I do it because it’s fun for me. The fact that a lot of people find it interesting gives me satisfaction too. In fact, since the very first blog, there have been over 28,600 page views.

Today is another day that MY Jane and I have nothing planned. It’s kind of nice from time to time. We have been so busy the last several months. About the only thing I want to do today is call the driveway contractor to find out when he’s going to come to finish off the driveway.

Jane has all her planting done, so the gardening is up to date. We don’t have any jam to make. We don’t have any commitments at all over the weekend.

Jane and I have talked about the fun of doing things spontaneously, like going for a drive to nowhere in particular, taking along a couple of folding chairs and a picnic lunch. Maybe we’ll do that today! We’ll see what the weather is like.

Yesterday, before we took Ted back to her place, MY Jane planted a few more perennials in the garden.

Now that we have seen what blooms and where, Jane has been busy transplanting so that the taller plants are closer to the fence. The goal is to cover up as much of the fence as possible so that it no longer catches the eye and to have plants in bloom at different times of the gardening season. Also, with perennials, it wil be more a matter of pruning and thinning instead of planting.

We are pleased with the progress.

Yesterday, MY Jane took her Mother, Ted, to have a look at dining room tables and chairs. Ted just bought some chairs about a year ago but has decided she doesn’t like them now. They came back some hours later, both looking pleased as punch. She found a round table and chairs that will fit better in her small dining room.

We also talked to her about the possibility of getting some help to do the heavier type housekeeping chores like washing floors, vacumning, etc. She is so fiercely independent that a topic like that is like walking a tightrope. But we have noticed lately that she has trouble doing heavier chores. She insists she can do all of them, but does concede that it takes her a lot longer. She agreed to someone coming to do an assessment. We are happy about that.

Sometime after dinner, I decided to have a soak in the Jacuzzi tub downstairs. While I was doing that, one heck of a storm rolled into the area. I could hear the thunder while I was in the downstairs bathroom. Jane said the lightning was spectacular. 

We played some Yahtzee together on our I Pads and I won two out of three games.

Today is looking like another dull and overcast day in Barrie. 

Jane has a bunch of flowers that she wants to get planted this morning.

Hopefully the rain will hold off until after she’s done.

Because of the heat alert yesterday, MY Jane and I picked up her Mother, Ted, and brought her to our place for the afternoon. After it cooled down a bit, we all went into the back yard to enjoy the fresh air and chat.

We had a great dinner that Jane prepared and then decided to watch a movie on Netflix. We chose one starring Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum. We thought Ted would like it.

It ended up that we all took turns having a little snooze at different times throughout the film. Actually, it was a pretty bad movie.

We retired to the sitting room and watched the news. Why we bother, I don’t know. It’s not very uplifting at all.

While we were away this past weekend, our driveway was being prepared for new asphalt.

The pavement will be put down this week.

Because of the heat alert, we are picking up Ted and bringing her to our place until it cools down.

She doesn’t have air conditioning and relies on a fan to keep her cool.

MY Jane also gave it a shot. Yes, she actually decided to try it. So Chris gave her some quick pointers on how to hold the gun and how to aim. She actually hit the can she was aiming at.

Thank you to Terry & Dan for your generosity in hosting this event.

This morning, Ross (Terry and Dan’s son in law) made an English breakfast for everyone that was up.
It’s a great day weather wise and we are now awaiting the arrival of attendees.

The brief commemoration ceremony centred around a flag raising of a custom flag that I had made around 3PM. Later, the flag got passed around and everyone that was there signed it. Terry and Dan are going to put the flag up on the inside of one of the gable ends of the camp. A souvenir of a special day.

Afterward everyone went swimming, played horseshoes, badminton, ladderball and just generally did whatever they felt like…….just like the old days.

There were trophies (thanks to George Clarke for getting) for:

The horseshoe competition (Allan & Dar 1st – David & I 2nd).

Badminton (Ruth Hodgson  trophy winners and Ben Hewick).

Jayme Hewick won for best swimming.

Unexexpectedly and undeservedly, I was awarded the Biggest Bullshitter award.

This was determined by everyone ( on the count of three) pointing at the one they thought should get it. Here’s my trophy:

Dan manned the BBQ and everyone had hamburgers, hot dogs, salad and the a slice of commemorative cake that Terry had made.

After it got dark, Ross Emmot (Terry & Dan`s son-in-law) set off fireworks from the dock and it was spectacular. Even boats out on the lake stopped to watch!

It was a very memorable day, but that’s what camp is all about, isn’t it? Memories.

MY Jane, Chris and Steven  and I arrived in Temiscaming about 1130. We had gotten up at about 5:30 AM.

We had stopped in North Bay to get frozen burgers and hot dogs for the commemoration on Saturday.

Shortly after our arrival at camp, Steven, Chris and I went to a nearby gravel pit to try out Chris’ 12 gauge shotgun.

We fired off about 100 rounds.

We returned to the camp and had a BBQ.

Later, I played Yahtzee with Terry and won all three games.

Today, MY Jane and I will be continuing our preparation for our upcoming weekend in Temiscaming. We are having a camp reunion to commemorate the half century that the camp (known as a cottage in other areas) has been standing.

We are expecting about 50 people, mostly relatives, who have spent time at this little piece of heaven. It will also be an opportunity for new members of the family to experience this area, a place that holds fond memories of my youth in the beautiful town of Temiscaming.

Steven is arriving sometime this morning and Chris will be coming early this evening. All four of us will leave Barrie early tomorrow morning. My cousin George has kindly agreed to take a bunch of groceries that we already bought, in his car. We will probably stop in North Bay to get burgers, hot dogs and buns for the Saturday get-together. The weather is looking promising so I expect we will be able to play horseshoes, ladderball, volleyball, badminton and have a great BBQ.

I had a special flag made for the occasion and we will have a little “flag raising” sometime on Saturday afternoon to mark the event.

Chris has a shotgun that he has been itching to try out, so one of the things we will be doing is going to a nearby gravel pit to “give it a shot”.  He will also bring his compound bow that he got for his birthday last February.

Although I will be writing my daily blog, there is limited internet service up there, so my daily Facebook link may be delayed. There will be a lot of pictures.

I am very excited about this weekend! It will be a blast!

Well, our plan to attend the Rogers Cup again yesterday did not happen. With the risk of thunderstorms being forecast and the fact that Ted was not really up to it, I decided not to drive all the way down to Toronto. Instead, we invited Jenny, our neighbour, to join us over at our place and everyone watched the matches on TV.  It was a good decision and everyone had a good time.

Think back to when you were a child and how many blueberries you ate while picking them. Lots, I bet. 

Did you ever think about how much it would cost if you paid for them? Probably not. Well, the basket pictured above cost $36. I just about fainted when the guy told me that.

Anyway, the jam we make from these blueberries will taste extra special knowing that.

Jane and I have already made strawberry jam and raspberry jam, so we feel quite comfortable doing this now. Especially since we bought the proper tools.

Yesterday, MY Jane and I took Ted to the Rogers Cup at the Aviva Centre in Toronto. 

As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, the weather was dicey. In fact, the afternoon matches were suspended only after a couple of rallies on Centre Court.

We ended up in the Mazda VIP lounge, a huge tent next to the main building. In the meantime, you could hear the rain teeming down outside. After a short time we came to the conclusion that we might as well head back home. 

“How are we going to work this?”, I thought. The car is 1/2 a kilometre away and the umbrellas are inside it. It’s too far for Ted to walk (she’s 93 years of age) and I didn’t feel like getting wet. 

I approached one of the Tennis Canada Staff to see if they could help. 

Joanne, one of the many volunteers there, came to the rescue. By then they had obtained ponchos that you could buy, so I put on a poncho and headed out into the rain to get the car. I talked with a young Metro Police Officer at the main entrance about stopping right in front and, after explaining my dilemma, he was very cooperative. I bought him a Timmys on my return.

In the meantime, Joanne, knowing how disappointed Ted was about the match being suspended, came over our table with four tickets for today’s matches. Gold seats no less. And guess who has a match today! Yup! Serena Williams, the number one ranked women’s tennis player in the world! So we are heading back down there later today.

And with that fourth ticket, Jane invited our across- the-street neighbour, Jenny (another avid tennis fan) to come with us. She accepted without hesitation.

So later today, we are again off to the Rogers Cup. Let’s hope the weather co-operates this time!

Yesterday morning MY Jane and I decided to go for a dinghy picnic. It was one of those spontaneous moments, the kind that are often the most fun. Jane very quickly packed our little cooler bag and we jumped in the car. We grabbed a McDonalds breakfast on the way and, in short order, we were at Brandys Marina in Honey Harbour. 

Jane drove out to the area at which we always used to anchor, only this time we headed for a nice flat rock on shore where we secured the dinghy and climbed out with our folding camp chairs and the cooler bag.

We enjoyed the sun, the quiet lapping of the wavelets on the shore and each other’s company. It wasn’t long before we were both in the water for a cooling swim from the heat. After a shore lunch, we headed home with me at the wheel this time.

On the way, we stopped to pick up Ted at her apartment to bring her to our place for dinner and to stay overnight. 

We are heading off to the Rogers Cup later this morning. It is calling for rain in the GTA later today, so it could be dicey.

Later today, MY Jane and I will pick up Ted, Jane’s 93 year old Mother, and bring her to our place to stay overnight. You see, Ted really loves tennis. She played when she was a teenager and always watches the sport on TV.  Tomorrow we are taking her to see some live tennis at the Aviva Centre in Toronto. The Rogers Cup is on and the top forty Women players in the world will be competing.

A few weeks ago we had Ted for dinner and I asked her if she had ever been to a live world championship tennis match. Of course she hadn’t, so when I showed her the tickets for tomorrow’s matches, she was completely surprised.

Yesterday we found out that Steven also has VIP  tickets for the Rogers Cup, only his are for the evening session while ours are for the daytime session. We are hoping we can somehow meet up in the VIP lounge for dinner. It would be nice to give Ted another surprise by having her grandson show up.

Let’s hope the weather co-operates.

Yesterday, MY Jane and I were sitting in our back yard enjoying the sunshine and each other’s conversation when Jane pointed out that some of the leaves on one of our trees were discoloured and appeared to be dying. 

On closer examination she discovered that the wire holding up one of the bird houses was embedded into the tree branch and was basically strangling the water supply to that branch.

I managed to get the wire out and relocated the birdhouse, though this time I’m not tying the wire tightly around the branch as I did before.

It was the same with the red birdhouse in the maple tree so I relocated that one too.

It was only two years ago that I hung those birdhouses up; amazing that the tree branches grew that much in that short a time. Hopefully that branch will recover.

I can’t remember when I last did an interior cleaning of the car. It really needed it, so MY Jane and I decided to tackle that job yesterday morning. Actually, Jane decided. It was also an opportunity for me to try out the power washer that I had bought a few weeks ago. 

Time to do the exterior. I washed it down with soap and water and Jane rinsed it off with the power washer. 

While we were doings all this, the sun was shining brightly and it was very warm. However, a short time later, we could see storm clouds approaching rapidly. Of course! The car was just washed so naturally it’s gotta rain! 

I re-arranged things in the garage/workshop to make room for the car and got it inside before the rain hit. Ha! I said to Jane, “Look at how heavy that rain is. Good thing I got the car inside,  eh?”

“Yes.”, she replied. “Smart move.”

Wish I had been smart enough to remember we needed milk, though. Ended up having to drive in the rain to get some. Anyway, the car still looks good even after being in the rain!

Yesterday, I drove my sister, Terry, to Pearson International Airport to pick up her daughter, Stephanie, and her gndaughter, Megan. They had just flown in from Edmonton to stay up at Terry’s for a couple of weeks.

Left to Right: Terry, Megan, Jane, Stephanie

We had a very nice visit and Jane got to meet Stephanie and Megan for the first time and vice versa.

After dinner, they decided to continue on home to Temiscaming. I’ll bet they’re all tired this morning.

Yesterday, MY Jane had planned to go to lunch with Ted and her longtime friend, Annemarie, at Ted’s favourite restaurant in Barrie. Annemarie was making a special trip up to see Ted. Annemarie and Ted have known each other for many years; Ted used to be the school secretary at Mimico High School, the school that both Jane and Annemarie attended. Unfortunately, Ted was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday, so the luncheon date was cancelled. 

We took the dinghy over to Chimney Bay and set up our chairs, strung up my hammock and we spent the afternoon on Georgian Bay. Both Jane and I went swimming and had our picnic right there. A great afternoon.

When we got home, Terry had already arrived. She came down yesterday because today she is picking up her daughter, Stephanie, and her granddaughter, Megan, at Pearson Airport. They are flying in from Edmonton and will all be going to Terry’s tomorrow. She asked me if I would drive her car down to the airport and back to our place. So that’s the plan.

Last night, we went to our favourite Fish & Chip place in Barrie…..Danny’s Fish & Chips and had a great dinner.

We took a spin over to Ted’s to check in on her. She said the weather was affecting her breathing and she used her puffer a few times that day. She looked OK and promised to call us this morning with an update.