Month: December 2019

This afternoon Steve and Sara surprised us by arriving around 4:30 (!) to spend New Year’s Eve with us. This is becoming something of a tradition to commemorate the passing of Ted 3 years ago on January 1st.

The first thing Steven did was get into his pyjama’s!

We had some great conversation, delicious appetizers and later a sumptuous supper of halibut.

Today is dull and overcast with some rain although the outside temperature is hovering around 7C.

I tried to get Minnie outside for a bit by carrying her to the deck, but she only stayed out for a few minutes.

I did some more work on the 3D puzzle but there are a couple of pieces that are bent and unusable so I sent a message to Rokr to find out about getting replacement parts.

Just two more days left in this year after which I will once again get the blog for the year published in book form.

After breakfast and a short visit, Sara and Steven headed back home.

In the meantime, I did some more work on my 3 D puzzle and installed a hair dryer holder for MY Jane. Much better now that she has more surface room on her dresser.

Tonight we are going to try out a new game especially for seniors.

One of the gifts I received from My Jane this Christmas was a 3D wood puzzle.

I set up my poker table and attached another of my gifts, a desktop magnifier. With the light it provided and the magnification capability, I was able to begin working on this fun project.

We’ll see Sara and Steven tonight after they visit their friends David and Gisela at Friday Harbour. They’re just staying overnight before they head back to Toronto.

We were up bright and early this morning because both Sara and Steven had to work today. Also, we wanted to stop by Canadian Tire to get a new Lagostina frying pan. They were on sale for 75% off which we learned when Sara came home with one yesterday.

We had a great visit with them and had a lot of fun last night watching Steve and Sara play Super Mario and Donkey Kong on the Mini Super Nintendo console that we gave Steve for Christmas. Both “kids” were back in their high school era, yelling and hollering and having a fun time.

They are such great hosts and there was no shortage of delicious food and desserts.

It was a tense drive home at times because of the heavy fog, so it was a relief to finally get home and unpack everything. At one point, My Jane had the 4-way flashers on, so drivers could see us.

Today we are just chillin’ at Sara and Steve’s, a welcome break from the hectic pace of the past few days.

MY Jane and I were up first and made ourselves some coffee and took some time to have a closer look at all the stocking stuffers we received. One of my favourites is a small magnifier that lights up objects and is multifunctional.

All of us were very happy with our stocking stuffers and gifts, many gifts were reflective of the love we have for each other.

Sara and Steve made us feel very welcome in their home. Su casa es nuestra casa!

We arrived at Steve and Sara’s about 8:30 in the morning, after a wonderful Christmas Eve with Chris, Tonya and mighty Max. Christmas breakfast was already underway and we were starving, we paid tribute to that breakfast! Now on to the gifts and we had to watch the time as Tonya & Chris were also going to her family’s celebration.

There are tons of gifts under the beautiful tree!

And in everybody’s stockings!

Max quickly mastered the art of ripping wrapping paper off his many gifts!

We loaded the car this morning, to head down to Tonya & Chris, where we will have Christmas Eve dinner and get to play with Max.

Mighty Max is getting cuter by the day and developing his own personality – a very likeable one at that.

When we arrived, the house was so warm and welcoming, music playing, the fire gaily burning and happy faces, warm hugs. Tonya & Chris were gracious hosts and the Christmas Risotto, with roasted turkey breast, cranberries and lots of cheese, was just a perfect way to celebrate the day.

Today MY Jane spent the better of the day baking desserts for our visit tomorrow with Chris, Tonya and Max followed by Christmas day at Steven and Sara’s.

We still have a few gifts to take down though most have already been left at Steve and Sara’s.

We’ll stay overnight at Chris’ and then go to Steve’s the next morning for Christmas day opening of presents and turkey dinner.

Gonna be fun.

After breakfast Sara and Steve left to return home. Chris, Tonya and Max stayed for a while longer so Max could have lunch before their trip.

We had a great time with everyone, especially Max who is the cutest ever and has smiles galore. Here he is playing patty cake with Grandma.

We will be heading down to Chris and Tonya’s Christmas Eve day and staying overnight there.

Christmas Day will be at Steven and Sara’s where we will open gifts and have Christmas dinner.

Chris, Tonya and Max will be there too, but leaving before dinner to have their Christmas dinner with Tonya’s family.

Busy times.

This morning Chris, Tonya and Max arrived just after breakfast. It was good to have everyone together once again.

Max is getting really good at sitting up by himself. Of course, someone is close by to make sure he doesn’t fall.

And Sara let us all take turns feeling our granddaughter kick her tummy. What a wonderful feeling!!! The excitement builds!

This evening Steve and Sara arrived for the weekend. It’s been quite sometime since they were last here, though we have been to their place in Toronto a few times.

MY Jane and I had decided to offer the famous Danny’s Fish and Chips for dinner.

As always, it was delicious and the plates were bare! Then we went down to the Family Room where we just chilled and enjoyed each other’s company.

Tomorrow, Tonya, Chris and Max arrive. Together again!

This morning MY Jane drove to Toronto to babysit Max, so Tonya could catch up over lunch, with her colleagues in downtown Toronto.

Fortunately, the snow stopped last night and Jane has left herself plenty of time to get down there.

While she is there, I will do some house cleaning to get ready for our weekend visitors who will begin arriving tomorrow.

Jane took a picture of Max (below) while she was there. Someone needs to get the knack of feeding Max and it’s not Max! Jane couldn’t help but capture this moment on camera.

The United States House of Representatives today is debating the impeachment of President Donald J Trump.

The following is what I wrote back in August of 2016:

Donald Trump has bullied his way into getting nominated as the Republican candidate for the office of President of the United States, arguably the most powerful position in the world.

Despite the glowing references about him made by family (who would expect anything else?) and the self serving remarks by other politicians, let’s call this man what he really is. He’s a bigot, racist, and bully coupled with an arrogance beyond measure. He is VILE ! And what he stands for is morally repugnant!Now that he is an election away from becoming President, we should all be feeling very frightened. We all better hope that Hilary Clinton doesn’t make a mistake from now until the November voting. Even though we live in Canada, we should be worried. After all, it’s no secret that the United States and their policies and actions can have a serious impact on the Canadian way of life. Already, Trump has alluded to dismantling the NAFTA and pulling out of NATO. One of his main platform planks is isolationism. He could care less about the rest of the world.His campaign has been referred to as a “movement” by some. It saddens me to see so many otherwise good and smart people getting caught up in his hype. How can this be? The Americans I know are not his kind of people. If he wins the election in November, we are all in big big trouble !

The last three years he has proven to live up to my words of 2016.

He now becomes only the third President in the history of the United States to be impeached.

A sad day in United States history but even sadder is the biased intention of the Republican controlled Senate to acquit him.

I downloaded an older free version of Sketchup and have been spending this morning looking at YouTube tutorials while running the app.

There’s a bit of a learning curve involved because this program has a 3D component to it unlike anything else I have used.

I’ll do it step by step and eventually I’ll get it. Perservance pays off!

Today MY Jane and I went to Thornton to pick up some flags at the original Flag Store.

We bought a large Christmas flag as well as two winter garden flags and as soon as we got home, we put them out.

I am trying out a new app that I hope will be useful in my woodworking projects.

I plan on learning the ins and outs of this app because it appears to be a useful tool in drawing up plans for projects, the first one being a TV shelving unit for Tonya and Chris.

I also was so very handy, at least, My Jane thinks so; I changed rusty batteries in two decorative Christmas items in preparation for our family weekend coming up. If you can’t be handsome, then it pays to be handy, I always say!

I have a feeling it’s going to be a busy week!!

This morning we woke up to wet snow and, as the morning progressed, the accumulation in both yards and on the roads became more pronounced.

Fortunately, we don’t have any needs outside the house, so we can stay comfy cozy inside.

We did go across the street to wish Jenny a Happy Birthday and to give her a poinsettia, some freshly baked sugar cookies and a bottle of wine.

The original bistro chairs in our kitchen had become very tired looking so MY Jane suggested we re-cover them.

She bought some fabric at Fabricland for all of $4.

The two of us worked on it. We’re happy with the result.

We arrived at Steven and Sara’s yesterday after travelling through a major snow storm from Barrie to Stouffville Road. My Jane was driving and was pretty happy to pull into their driveway.

Sara and Steve arrived just after we did and began preparing home made pizza. The house was smelling very tantalizing!

We enjoyed two types of pizza and watched a Christmas movie called “Christmas with the Kranks”. It got us in the festive spirit even more as we watched.

Today we are waiting for the delivery of the 82” TV that Steve ordered from Walmart last week.

Today MY Jane and I are heading to Steve and Sara’s to be on hand tomorrow for delivery of a TV that he purchased from Walmart on a Black Friday deal.

They already messed up delivery dates so this is a second try.

The weather forecast is calling for snow flurries, but so far its looking not too bad.

The United States House of Representatives will be voting on two articles of impeachment this week:

1. That the President obstructed Congress by refusing to hand over documents;

2. That he abused his power.

This will be only the third time that a President of the United States will be tried in the Senate. My Jane has decided to call him “3” instead of “45”, to hammer home his many failures.

Today we took a trip to see our grandson.

We can’t get over how much he has grown in the last while.

Max’s Aunt Mich was there when we arrived, so we had a little visit with her too, nice to see her in a small group as it gives us a chance to chat more on a one-on-one basis. Those few hours with Max were worth every minute.

On the way home we ran into heavy fog that made for a somewhat tense ride.

Today I finished painting the stroller for my granddaughter. I added a decal on the sides which is a copy of the wedding dance floor monogram used by Sara and Steven at their wedding.

On to other kids toys.

Today I went to Michael’s craft and hobby store to purchase non toxic pink paint.

On the way back, I did some grocery shopping because MY Jane needed a few things so she could bake some muffins. Far be it from me to stand in the way of freshly made muffins!

Needless to say, they were delicious.

On another note, my sore ribs are getting better after last week’s episode bringing the Christmas tree down the stairs and me along with it.

The stroller parts have been cut and dry fitted successfully.

The body will be painted pink and the handle will be white.

I have to get proper sized bolts for the wheels and do some minor sanding to make it safe for our granddaughter.

The snow continues to fall steadily making for a postcard pretty back yard.

MY Jane is at Steven’s place in Toronto awaiting delivery of his new TV. Looks like Walmart has screwed up the date and they are now suggesting delivery on Tuesday.

We woke up to this scene in our back yard.

It is postcard perfect to get all of us more into the Christmas spirit.

And it was amusing to watch the black squirrels trying to navigate through the snow.

MY Jane has begun wrapping presents. Our dining room table has become a wrapping station.

We will put them under our tree temporarily until they can be taken to Sara and Steve’s place for Christmas Day.

This year, the family will be gathering there as it is easier for everyone.

Today I began working on a toy stroller for our granddaughter, due next April.

I am using this picture as a guideline although the colour scheme will be modified.

This little stroller will stay at our place so when the little one visits, she will have something to play with. Although I suspect that there will be more than one item for her to enjoy.

This morning MY Jane and I went to look for a few Christmas things. We picked up some gift wrapping at “Michael’s” and then stopped in at “Babies r Us” to get a gift card which I am awarding to the winner of the Best Caption contest for this photo.

The two insoles were a clue. What I had in mind when I took the picture was “soul mates.”

Nobody guessed that.

Tonya said, “Rock paper, scissors. Shoot.”

Sara said, “Your tax dollars at work.”

Chris said, “Yes Gary I know, but if we spend $1000 on Steven this year, the same goes for Christopher! Everything has to be equal!”

They’re all good but Chris’ gets the nod. Enjoy the gift card!

We’re not the only ones putting up a Christmas tree. Chris Tonya and Max are doing the same.

With some help from Uncle Steve.

This is a first for Max and you can see he already loves it!