Month: March 2017

Yesterday, MY Jane and I took two oil paintings, one by my Mother of Lake Temiskaming, and the other of Georgian Bay painted by Jane’s uncle, John Gropp. It’s all part of the guest bedroom update, a picture off which I will post once it is completely finished. We are now just waiting for window blinds and a new quilt.

The two delivery men, both in their mid twenties, made the removal of the old one and the placement of the new one look so easy. Both pieces of furniture were very, very heavy.

Later today, we’re off to visit our good friends, Annemarie and Jim, who live in the Georgetown area.

Yesterday, on the way home from Tim Hortons with a coffee, I saw something that reminded me there are still good people in the world.

Once he got the old gentleman safely across, he sprinted back to his car and with a friendly wave, went on his way. Traffic flow resumed. There were no honking horns or rude gestures. It was just a peaceful incident that reinforced my positive vibes about living in Barrie. 

It still has that small town charm, but has all the conveniences of a big city. Kudos to that young man who went out of his way to help the old fellow!

MY Jane and I have been busy making travelling plans. In early May we will be attending he Temiscaming reunion in my hometown. Our good friends, Myles and Maureen will be staying at our place for a few nights on their way there too.

On Wednesday, we are heading down to the Georgetown area to visit with Annemarie and Jim and, today, Jane is heading over Orangeville way to meet her lifelong friend, Rita, for lunch. While she is gone, I will be meeting up with cousin, George, for lunch here in Barrie.

Busy times – good times – happy times!

I have already written about the bedroom update MY Jane and I have been working on and, of course, part of that is having to get rid of certain items that no longer are needed.

What he wasn’t expecting, though, was the fact that Minnie was also down there. The frightened little critter was soon running all over the place with Minnie in pursuit. 

Jane and I closed all the downstairs doors except the one leading up toward the garage while Minnie kept the chipmunk at bay. Within a minute or two the little guy sensed a way out and hightailed it back up the stairs and right outside.

Minnie didn’t see him go and sat for another half an hour at his last location until she finally realized it was gone.

It’s beginning to snow again. And the weather channel is predicting snow for the rest of the day. Hopefully, this will be the last snowfall for awhile. 

Poor Minnie. She’s getting confused with it all. One day she can go in and out at will, the next day it’s winter again.

So today, MY Jane and I will probably be staying home. We plan on doing a major house cleaning after creating all kinds of mess throughout the downstairs bedroom update. 

The only things left to do down there are to install the window blind, place the new bedside lamps and put on the new quilt, all of which are on order and which should arrive within the next week.

This morning, MY Jane and I went out to scout around for a new sofa bed for the Family Room. The sofa that we  have now has served its purpose, being 16 years old. 

I had called around to see if someone would like a free sofa. All that had to be done was pick it up and transport it. No takers. The thing is so heavy, I was even willing to pay to have it taken away. But when I priced that,  it was going to cost around $150. Too much.

Then I decided that I would take my reciprocating saw and cut the thing up. That way I could take it to the landfill myself. I even checked out You Tube on a demo how to do that. Yup there were videos of doing this very thing.

In the meantime though, we got a real good deal at Lazy Boy and found a Queen  Size sofa bed that suits us and not only that, they will take away that huge heavy sofa currently in place for a cost of $50.

So, no need to get the saw out. The new sofa will be delivered this coming Monday.

MY Jane and I finished painting one of the drum tables yesterday.

Instead of painting the lines on it for detail, we used automotive striping so they would be absolutely straight. It worked out quite nicely.

And the crystal drawer knob finishes it off quite nicely. 

Yesterday, it was 10c above zero-  this morning, it’s 10c below zero. But that’s Canada! It surprises both MY Jane and me that the flowers survive these wide variances in temperature.

Compare this to the middle of last summer:

Jane has spent the last four years planting new plants, transplanting flowers to spread the colour around and weeding.

This year I will be heading to the Barrie landfill to get a few loads of garden soil to replenish nutrients. They charge $8 for a full truckload.- a lot cheaper than buying it from a garden centre.

We are anxiously waiting to see what plants have survived.

This morning, I helped MY Jane sand a couple of drum tables that will be part of the spare bedroom decor.

She has already finished the dresser and, once the paint is completely dry, I will put the new hardware on it.

It won’t be long before this project is complete.

We have been working on the downstairs bedroom update and, as part of that, MY Jane is re-finishing a dresser that used to belong to Ted.

We also have a couple of drum tables that we are going to refinish in white. While Jane was busy in the garage sanding and painting, I worked on the table leg claws that were completely black. I used brasso and a metal brush that fit into my drill. They came up pretty nice.

Tomorrow, Jane will put a second coat of paint on the dresser and we will move it into the bedroom after it dries.

This morning, just after I got up, I went out to the kitchen and fired up the coffee grinder and turned on the kitchen light. Out if the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of movement on the bird feeder.

Yesterday MY Jane and I went to the nearby Lowes to pick up material and paint for the downstairs bedroom update.

MY Jane has decided to re-decorate the spare bedroom downstairs. Right now, it’s kind of a mish mash. 

Many of you know that MY Jane and I first met on an Internet Dating site. During those first weeks and months, we communicated mostly by e-mail and there was a lot of them. 

Yesterday, there were four more surprises for MY Jane.

The dinner at the Keg was wonderful, after which we went to see the Legends Show at Casino Niagara. Performers imitated Shania Twain, Rod Stewart, Prince, Adele and Whitney Houston. All were fantastic and the dancers did a great job. After the show, which we thoroughly enjoyed, we sat in the lobby and people-watched for awhile before heading back to our hotel.

Yesterday morning, after breakfast, MY Jane and I jumped in the car and headed for Toronto. We had already packed the night before.

Needless to say, Jane had no idea about any of them and was grinning from ear to ear as they unfolded.

While Jane, Tonya and Sara were enjoying the spa, Steven, Chris and I stopped at the Mill Street Brewery near Steves place for a snack and to deliver the Muskoka chairs that I made for Steve’s Birthday to Steves place.

Afterward, we went back to Sara’s then to a nearby restaurant where the boys treated Jane to dinner.

Then it was back to Sara’s to stay the night.

A great day! And more to come!

Today, MY Jane and I will be headed to Toronto as part of her continuing birthday weekend which began yesterday with a big breakfast at a nearby eatery.

Yesterday, MY Jane and I were out and about and we came across a Ouija Board in one of the stores we were in.

On a whim, Jane decided to buy it so we could give it a try. Neither of us have tried one if these before. Maybe we’ll give it a shot tonight. I’m somewhat skeptical of what these things are supposed to be able to do, though. Maybe she can ask questions about this coming weekend.

In the meantime, I took Jane out for a birthday breakfast and told her there was more birthday surprises (eight – to be exact) to come over the upcoming weekend. Needless to say Jane is very curious, especially since I have offered to help her pack.

Stay tuned!

A very Happy Birthday, Jane!

Yesterday, MY Jane and I went to Barrie City Hall to participate in an International Women’s Day flag raising and walk. This event was organized by the Barrie Women’s and Children’s shelter.

It was great to see the community support demonstrated by the large number of people, men and women, who braved the chilly wind to attend.

There were a large number of signs available for people to carry and show their support including this one that Jane, who volunteers at the shelter, made.

It was a great outing and I got to meet some of the dedicated and committed staff from the Women’s Shelter here in Barrie.

Good job!

Today, MY Jane was off to volunteer at the Barrie Women’s  and Childrens Shelter for the day and, while she was gone, I decided to clean up the garage/workshop and organize my work bench a little more.

Since our Star Wars Marathon thus past weekend, I have had Star Wars on the brain. Today, when I sat in my armchair, I morphed into the Emperor:

Here’s the link to a video:

https://youtu.be/g5uuACVI_8o

Later, I decided to get a laser beam for helping park the car in the correct position in the garage.

This device is mounted on the ceiling of the garage and a laser beam shines down onto the dash of the car when it is parked at exactly the correct distance from the door thus allowing access to my work bench while it is parked inside,

Ah ….. Technology……love it!

Yesterday, Steve picked me up at Union Station and we then dropped Sara off before we headed back to his place to begin our Star Wars marathon. We actually got the idea from Steve’s brother, Chris, who had done a marathon earlier with a friend. In fact, they watched Star Wars for fourteen hours straight.

This morning I will be heading down to Steven’s place in Toronto for a Star Wars marathon. We plan to watch all of the Star Wars movies one after another. 

I’ll be staying at his place tonight and whatever we don’t get to watch today, we’ll watch tomorrow, when Chris will be joining us.

I’m going to take the GO train from Barrie to Union Station and, since I have not been in a train in years, I’m looking forward to the ride down.

Yesterday, MY Jane volunteered at the Barrie Women’s and Children’s shelter for the day. While she was gone, I did a little work on the jewellery cabinet/mirror that I am finishing off for my daughter-in-law, Tonya.

The mirror part will be on a hinge and open to allow access to her necklaces etc that will hang on cup hooks inside.

After Jane got home, we decided to go out for dinner, so we went to a local restaurant, The Farmhouse, which is nearby. Of course, just about everything in Barrie is nearby!

We got back home in time to watch a movie called American Gangster, starring Denzel Washington and based on a true story. Great movie….great day!

Last night it was 9C above zero and raining. Despite that, I fired up the BBQ for the first time in 2017 and put on a rotisserie chicken. I rolled out the awning a bit to stay dry.

Jane had bought some Swiss Chalet style gravy at Zehrs and, with that we had mashed potatoes and salad.

This morning, though, it’s a different story – it’s 5C below zero and we had a bit of snow overnight.

Mother Nature is holding on to Winter.

This morning, MY Jane helped me put water sealer on the last of Steven’s Muskoka chairs. All that left to do is deliver them before the good weather comes.

These chairs are made from cedar decking material so they should last for a long time.

Now it’s time for a Timmys.