Month: February 2020

Jane and I enjoyed the Riverdance performance immensely! The performance was sold out and we can understand why! We were particularly impressed by the choreography and precision of the dancers.

Before the performance, we arrived at Luna with our suitcase and coats, which they happily locked up for us.

we sat with a very friendly couple from Caledon for pre-dinner drinks, then we were escorted to our table for a delicious dinner! We had a lot of laughs and good conversation! My Jane wore her new pink jacket, as a tribute to her granddaughter, whose shower she is attending on Sunday.

We stayed at Chris and Tonya’s and had a wonderful visit with our grandson!

Grandma stays another day while I take the GO train home.

This is my birthday gift to MY Jane. We are all set to take GO transit to Toronto. Already got our tickets via e-ticket option.

We have dinner reservations at a nearby restaurant called Luna, then attending Riverdance at the Princess of Wales theatre. My Jane is excited and so am I!

After the show, we’ll take an Uber to Union and then GO train to Guildwood where Chris will pick us up.

We’ll stay there overnight. Jane will stay another day to attend Sara’s baby shower on Sunday, but I’ll come back tomorrow.

Pre-birthday celebrations for My Jane! She has mentioned, from time to time, how she has always wanted to see and hear Riverdance. I picked up on that clue and bought tickets for her birthday! So tomorrow, we are heading to Toronto to catch an evening performance at the Princess of Wales Theatre.

We will sit back and enjoy the GO train in the afternoon and Jane will be staying over with Tonya, until Sunday so she can attend a baby shower for Sara. I’ll come back home Saturday. Lots of logistics to work out, but we did it.

Today she has been polishing up the jewellery she will be wearing which will include some of her Mom’s pieces and treasures from the boys.

She used this stuff called Never Dull and it really works! Here’s a before (right) and after (left) shot.

Yesterday Jane told me she suspected that we had an unwanted visitor lurking in the kitchen during the night; there appeared to be a few small, black ,round balls along the back of the counter.

I decided to set up one of my Wyze security cameras to see what would happen.

I set up live trap with some peanut butter inside with camera pointed at it.

There he is!!! It didn’t go in the trap last night, so I put more peanut butter inside.

This morning I had a dental appointment to replace a filling that fell out the other day.

The dentist was very good and I did not experience any pain whatsoever.

I have another appointment in a couple of weeks to do one more filling. Will this ever end!

I spent about 45 minutes clearing snow off the deck, so Minnie could go outside a bit in this mild weather.

I made plenty of room and then went inside to get her. I had to carry her out because she had no desire to go herself.

I no sooner got her outside and set her down on that newly cleared deck when she did an immediate about face straight for the door!

She meowed and meowed until I finally let her back in. Anyway, it was good to get some fresh air and exercise!

Sara & Steven decided to return to Niagara-on-the-Lake to celebrate his birthday and they are staying at Harbour House, a lovely inn. We will be thinking of them.

The other day I saw a neat memory game advertised for sale on Instagram.

The player rolls the six sided cube and whatever colour comes up determines what colour peg you need. If you can match them, you get to keep the peg and roll again. Fail, and it’s the next player’s turn. The peg colours are hidden in the holes.

I decided to make one this afternoon and an hour and a half later, MY Jane and I played our first game game which she won.

First, I had to figure out how to divide a circle into 24 equal segments. Hmmmm. I know..I’ll google it.

Fun project, fun game.

The Memoirs de/of Temiscaming Centennial book project that I proposed to the Town of Temiscaming is picking up steam.

Already, I have received four submissions and I am formatting and editing as they come in.

It’s shaping up to be exactly what I had envisioned! And it’s really nice to have a project to work on. I’m beginning to hope for a significant amount of money for charity!

I had a look at Allan’s damaged table and concluded that it would have to be sanded right down to the bare wood to restore it.

It took about 45 minutes, after which I re-stained it and then this afternoon, I put a coat of varathane on it. The grain is coming through beautifully!

One more coat and it’ll be like new. I think that they will be happy.

Did I ever mention that I dislike dental work?

Well, for the past few days I have felt something happening in one of my upper back teeth.

It wasn’t pain or discomfort – just something different. I knew that I was going to have to do something, so I finally made an appointment to see the dentist yesterday and he found the problem: a large cavity. Dang!

His recommendation was extraction, so that’s what I had done. It was quite painless, we have a good dentist here in Barrie. He also happened to discover a loose filling, it wasn’t my day.

This afternoon, I go back to fix that and let’s hope that my next visit isn’t for six months!

Stories are starting to roll in for the project I suggested for my hometown’s 100th anniversary. Here’s mine:

“I was born in the Temiscaming hospital in 1948.

I used to live on Riordon Ave., above the pipes as it was known back then. The pipes were two black wooden pipelines that snaked through town, ending at the Gatineau Powerhouse, at the waterfront.

Sometimes we kids used to take shortcuts under the pipes to get wherever we wanted to go. It was quicker than taking the footbridge.

These pipelines always had water leaking out somewhere and, in the winter, it was quite common for ice to form below them, making it necessary to slide on your stomach in some places to squeeze through.

I did that one cold winter day on the way to school and the zipper on my parka got a little water on it and as soon as it came in contact with the ice, I was stuck! I couldn’t move.

Luckily for me, Bucko Brunette was using the same shortcut to go to his school (Ecole Ste. Therese) above the pipes.

When he heard me crying for help, he ran to Benoit’s IGA and the butcher came over and pulled me free.

I will always be grateful to Bucko and that IGA butcher.

I went home to dry off and-when I got back-to school in the afternoon, a rumour had started that I had been frozen solid in the ice and the butcher had to chop me out.

Oh, the fond memories I continue to have of my Temiscaming.”

I hope that the readers will enjoy my contribution; I know that many of us had experiences with the pipeline!

It’s that time of year. Yup.

I have been using Turbo Tax for the last several years and they have made it pretty easy to complete your income tax reports.

Now, you can have turbo tax import all your T4 information from your CRA Account including deductions, etc. It all gets plugged in to your tax return automatically. We need a couple of more categories but we’re just about ready to go!

While I was doing that fun stuff, Jane was out shopping for an outfit (something with pink!) to wear to our granddaughter’s baby shower on March 1st. She is getting motivated! In checking in to The Bump app, our granddaughter is almost ready to make her grand entrance, where have the months gone!!! The excitement is building; Sara is healthy and feeling good, looking great; Steven is counting the days!

It’s another bright sunny day here in Barrie and when we see the little chickadees flitting about and checking one of our birdhouses, our thoughts turn to Spring.

This red birdhouse, fastened to the backyard fence, was built by Jane’s Dad, Bill, many years ago in the basement of their house at 34 Superior Ave. in Mimico. Jane remembers him making it; it was a dreary Sunday afternoon and he went to his workbench, to “putter“. He has always been a putterer, she says.

He actually made 2 birdhouses, this one and yellow one; she has transported these little houses to every place she’s lived and hung them out in a tree.

We’re hopeful that this year some lucky bird will take up residence there and maybe have some little ones.

In the meantime, Minnie is taking advantage of the sunshine, curled up in her basket.

I did some more work on the jewellery box by applying primer paint to get ready for the white enamel finish.

I still have to get proper hinges and a small-box lock and key to complete it. I’ll take a spin to Lee Valley one of these days because they specialize in hardware like that.

Our across the street neighbour, Allan, brought over a damaged table top to see what suggestions I might have to fix it.

It’s going to need some serious sanding by the looks of it.

Yesterday MY Jane and I had a Valentine reservation for dinner at a local place called “Shirley’s Bayside Grill”.   It was Ted’s favourite restaurant because of the ambience.  The restaurant had two seatings as they anticipated a brisk business; we had opted for the earlier seating.

Jane had beef tenderloin with wild mushrooms while I enjoyed steak. I don’t know what they do to their little red potatoes but they are delicious!

We have to do this more often.

I have an electric razor that I use for trimming my hair, but some months ago, a tiny plastic piece that allowed for adjustment of the trimmer broke off. The razor sat, unused, since then.

This past Christmas, MY Jane gave me a little stocking stuffer called Bondic.

One end of the pen-like device contains a clear liquid substance while the other end has a small blue light.

It allows you to “glue” things together and works in the same way dentists do fillings.

I decided to give it a try to fix my razor. I cut a very tiny piece of wood screw and placed it in the slot on the back of the razor. Then I squeezed a wee bit of Bondic liquid around it and exposed it to the blue light for five seconds.

It worked! I’m impressed.

Yesterday Burdie’s visit was a success, as always! Jane made delicious Pad Thai with peanut sauce and we had a great visit for a couple of hours.  I brought out some new little gadgets and my endoscope and we both had some serious discussion about how to use these new “toys”.

This morning, after breakfast and Yahtzee, I resumed work on our granddaughter’s  jewellery box, time capsule and music box complete with a secret compartment.  I now have the feet done and the inner box almost ready.

I still have to make little jewellery compartments, install the hinges and lock, then paint it white, after a good sanding.

This morning we woke up to a great sunny day in Barrie. Although it was cold at 0°C, it’s still nice to see the sunshine.  We don’t have a lot of sunny, blue sky days in February, it kinda puts us in the mood for Spring.

Later today, my friend Burdie, who I grew up with in Temiscaming, is coming from Midland for lunch at our place. Jane is going to make a Thai dish. It’s been a while since we’ve had a chance to visit.

It’ll be nice to touch base and catch up and he is always full of conversation.



This morning, after breakfast, I headed out into the garage and the first thing I did was put a new saw blade in my mitre saw.

After doing that, I started cutting up the pieces of wood that I needed. I spent a few hours working on it and in the late afternoon I was finished with the basic box structure.

The opening at one end, which you can see below, is to accommodate the secret compartment access and tomorrow, once everything is dry, I will cut the lid and then work on the secret part of it.  I am thoroughly enjoying this project for our granddaughter; we both have visions of her keeping little treasures in this compartment.   Her father is sentimental in that way, too.

Today, after breakfast and winning at Yatzy, ahem, I headed off to pick up some material for my latest project. I am beginning to make a jewellery box and time capsule for my granddaughter, on her way this coming April.

In addition to being a time capsule, there will be a secret compartment which we will show her when she is 10 years old. We plan to put in a couple of pieces of jewellery and something from Iran which I have asked her other grandfather, Mostafa, to bring back with him. The idea is to have a little piece of Iran in this keepsake box.

I hope to have this completed in the next while.

MY Jane and I are back home and we really have nothing planned for today. Later, I’ll head over to the grocery store to pick up a few things.

After I get back, I have a few chores to do and then the rest of the day is a do-nothing assignment…the best kind and the kind I do very well!

Later tonight we’ll sit back and watch the Oscars. Should be interesting. One of the nominations for best picture is “1917”, which Jane and I saw last week. A great picture and worthy of an Oscar or two.

So here we are, down at Chris and Tonya’s to babysit Max, while they go out to dinner at “Don Alfonso 1890”, touted as the second best Italian restaurant in the world!  Knowing how much Chris loves good Italian food, we know that they are in for a good time!

Chris surprised us by arriving home early from work; Jane had just put up some balloons for a party atmosphere and we thoroughly enjoyed watching him open his gifts.  We had time just visiting together, before they left and we settled down to play with our beloved grandson.  I’m very proud to report that we were the first people (besides his adoring parents) to put Max to bed!

Here’s a picture of Dad carrying Max up high!

My Jane and I headed home the next morning, but not until we made BLT Sandwiches and hash browns for the birthday boy and all of us too!  Farm Boy supplied cruffies as a real treat!   Mmmmm, cruffies!!

It was a great visit and Chris was full of details about his dinner out!

In the last few months Minnie has begun a new routine. She will come up on our bed very early in the morning (about 5:30 a.m.), announce her presence with a meow and then flop down at the foot of the bed.

After a few minutes, she will walk across our legs and go up near Jane’s head, sit down and stare at her until Jane pets her.

Shortly after that she leaves.  What the heck is this all about?

And today is Chris’ Birthday!   We are heading down to babysit Max so that Chris and Tonya can go out tomorrow for a celebration!

Have you ever been in a situation where you wish you had another set of eyes you could use in a hard to see situation? For example, checking out a hard to get at spot on a car engine.

For only a $30 price tag, here’s one way to do it.

This little gizmo allows you to get a very clear image on your iPhone or iPad, without having to take things apart.

It has a very powerful LED which lights up very dark spaces and even allows the user to take photos or videos if necessary.

I’m happy with the one which I purchased on Amazon.

To illustrate, here’s 2 photos: the endoscope with the LED light on; behind the buffet showing a close-up of the plug in the wall outlet.

Jane is laid up with back spasms, and I had a few birthday errands to run, so I decided to stop at Centennial Beach with my Tim Horton’s coffee.

While watching the activity on the ice, I spotted a cyclist riding across the ice surface!

You never know what you’ll see when you’re out and about, shopping for someone’s birthday.

The Iowa caucus results are still not in. Apparently they decided to use a brand new app to record votes, but there was no training on how to use it.

They were worried that if they released the app too soon, it would be hacked.

I can already hear the Oval Office creature deriding the lack of organizational capability of the Democrats.

What an embarrassing start to the selection process to choose someone to defeat the vile individual currently occupying the office of President of the United States.

MY Jane drove to Chris’ house with the completed TV Surround; the plan was that both of us would go, but when all five pieces were loaded in the car, there was no room for a second person, so she had to go alone.  When she arrived, Chris quickly realized that this was going to be a 2-man job!  Fortunately, Steve was home and happily answered the call to unload and assemble the piece.

I was a little anxious about the fit, but it looks pretty good. Chris has to re-attach the doors and insert the movable shelves, but it’s pretty much done. Maybe a little trim up at the top and something to safely secure it to the wall.

I was pretty satisfied to see it in place and Chris was quite happy with it.  Another project ticked off!

Sadly, on another note – this was the day when Tonya & Chris discovered that Max has an allergy – he had ingested just a little bit of egg and shortly afterwards, he had some red splotches on his body.  Tonya was quick to call a nurse, who suggested that they bring him in to check him.  Always better to be safe than sorry.

It turns out that he does have an egg allergy and they are going to follow up with an allergist.

Yesterday, MY Jane and I took a spin to Steve and Sara’s to bring a few things there and have a look at the newly decorated nursery. They have most of the big stuff already like the crib, dresser and glider chair.

What a beautiful room for our granddaughter!!  The colours are warm and subdued, perfect for restful sleeps and naps.  For parent and for babe!

My Jane fell in love with the rocking lamb in the photo below:

Sara is looking so very healthy and radiant and Steven is just beaming, we were so happy to see them.

We stayed for a nice lunch of rainbow trout, rice and salad after which we returned home.

Yesterday, the Republican controlled US Senate voted against calling witnesses in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Yup – a trial without witnesses. It’s like trying to have daylight without the sun.

The whole trial has been a sham from the outset. Republican Senate leaders publicly proclaimed that they were in lockstep with the President, despite swearing an oath to be impartial.

The Federal Presidential election this November will tell us the real character of the American people. We already know the character of Republicans.