Month: August 2024

After breakfast we headed up to Brandys to have a dinghy ride to Cedar Springs on Beausoleil Island. We headed over to Cedar Springs, one of my old boating haunts, and spent some time there having a picnic and playing on the beach.

After the picnic we went to another beach in Chimney Bay and then over to a restaurant in Honey Harbour for lunch.

We got home about 8 pm just in time for Max to have a shower and bedtime. A great day.

This afternoon Chris Tonya and Max arrived around 3:30 for a weekend visit.

We are planning on going out on our dinghy tomorrow, weather permitting. Right now it’s looking good.

The leaves on the maple tree on our front lawn are already changing colour, but just on one side.

I think this because the bark on that side of the tree was severely damaged by frost a couple of years ago.

The arborist at Bradford Greenhouses said they were very resilient and would probably repair itself. Other than that, there’s nothing to be done.

But we have noticed other trees in the area with the same problem.

One of the frustrating things about watching movies on TV is that sometimes the dialogue gets drowned out by the music. Apparently we are not the only ones that experience this. Even the audiologist says it happens to her.

So I did a google search for speakers that might help and Bose has a soundbar that has a dialogue enhancement feature. That’s the one I ordered. It’ll be here tomorrow.

We’ll find out how it works tomorrow night.

This morning, after breakfast, Myles (aka Mouse) and Maureen hopped into their Mustang convertible and headed home to Beamsville.

It was a great visit with lots of laughs and a lot of conversation. And, oh yeah….a lot of wine…lol.

This morning after breakfast Myles and Maureen had a house to look at near Fenelon Falls, so Jane and I tagged along with them. The house was 3200 sq feet and located in Balsam Lake, right on the water.

It was a stunning home, decorated inside with first class furniture etc. and listed for 1.4 million.

After touring the house, we travelled back toward home via a different route and stopped at the Kirkfield lift lock to watch it operate.

We stopped for a late lunch in Orillia before arriving home at which time we spent the rest of the evening chatting and reminiscing.

Today we are expecting visitors who are returning from North Bay. Maureen and Myles Prince (aka Mouse) , a friend from our days in Temiscaming are going to stay for the weekend.

They live in Beamsville but we’re visiting Larry Bean who lives in North Bay.

Looking forward to this visit.

But first thing this morning Jane and I went down the street to pick up some Black Eyed Susan’s that a guy had posted on Facebook as being free.

We got a couple of big bunches, took them home and transplanted them.

Before Covid I was quite active in doing geocaching which involves downloading an app and then using your iPhone to try to locate a cache that someone has hidden.

So today, I decided to resume that activity and combine that with my daily walking target.

I did get to the location in a park right in the middle of the bush, but the geocache was no longer there.

Nonetheless I did get my exercise in for the day, though. Pretty hot too.

This morning I had an appointment at Hearing Life to get fitted for Oticon hearing aids.

We spent just over an hour with the audio technician who explained in detail the features of these Oticon hearing aids and to pair them up with my IPhone.

These hearing aids are rechargeable and will last about 20 hours.

I am testing them out for thirty days with no charge or deposit, but they are very expensive.

We’ll see how they work.

Tonight Jane and I are hosting Rina & Chris, our next door neighbours as well as Jenny and Allan from across the street. It not a dinner, rather just some snacks, drinks and h’ors d’ouveres.

As we have done before, we’ll have a few libations and a lot of conversation.

I have begun doing a daily walk again. Since my hernia surgery I have been slowly gaining weight. This is because I have not been exercising enough and not watching meal portions.

I am keeping track of how many steps I am taking and I plan on increasing my goal as time goes on.

I continue to do a weigh in every Friday to measure my progress.

This morning I had a hearing test done at a nearby clinic. This was prompted by my noticing that, at times, I was not hearing everything. After being tested, I decided that I would take advantage of a 30 day free trial of hearing aids.

The hearing aids that they have now are very tiny but very sophisticated. They can be paired with your I phone so adjustments can be depending on the situation.

For example, if you are in a crowded restaurant, you can block out background noise and focus on conversation with whoever is with you.

This afternoon Jane and I went to Toronto to see Max at his swimming lesson and baseball game. Jane had made a casserole for dinner and it was delicious.

Maxdid exceptionally well at swimming which was held at the Panama centre.

Right after swimming, we headed off to baseball where Chris coached Max’s team.

Although it was cold for this time of year, the kids had a great time and were enthusiastic the whole time.

For the past few days the weather network has been issuing weather alerts predicting a lot of rain and thunderstorms.

There have been instances of severe flooding in Toronto and Mississauga, but nothing here in Barrie other than a little rain and a few claps of thunder.

Jane is doing a bit more work on Max’s journal, checking spelling and grammar and beginning to insert photos.

Once that is done, it’ll be made in to a hardcover book of about 250 pages.

We usually don’t go grocery shopping on the weekends, but we needed a few things so we went to Farmboy right after breakfast.

It wasn’t busy at all and we had it done in no time.

A couple of days ago I put birdseed into the feeder and Jane and I made a bet as to how long it would take before birds showed up again. I said one day and she said two. Loser has to make breakfast.

I’ll be cooking up bacon and eggs and hash browns tomorrow.

Jane has sent in a video audition for a part as an extra in a commercial that will be produced in the Barrie area.

She was provided a script and I helped by reading a part of the dialogue they provided.

A star is born.

Right after breakfast we headed up to Brandy’s Marina to take Shenanigans out for a spin on the bay. We gassed up at Picnic Island and took the scenic route behind Deer Island.

We ended up at our favourite little beach where we had a swim and a picnic lunch.

It was a warm sunny day and the water was great for swimming.

Everything is caught up around the house, so Jane and I are just chilling today. I’m watching YouTube subscriptions and playing online cribbage.

I filled up the bird feeder with bird seed and straightened up the garage a bit.

Lazy day.

The table has been set and the umbrella extended on the back deck in preparation for our lunch visit today with Annemarie and Jim.

They are coming from a little town called Glen Williams.

Looking forward to it.

We will be eating our dinner on our back deck tonight. Have to take advantage of the weather.

Tomorrow our friends, Annemarie and Jim are coming for lunch. It’s been awhile.

I didn’t have any major tasks in mind today but did do a few small things like watering the transplanted flowers and grass.

I stowed some camping gear up in the garage loft and gave it a quick sweep.

The two empty urns that were on either side of the garage door have been stowed away.

Other than a little bit of vacuuming, I am just taking it easy.

After breakfast this morning we decided to embark on a little road trip. We chose to do a circle tour around Lake Simcoe. First, we headed south toward Bradford and then off toward Queensville. On the way, we popped in to Albert’s marina where I first started boating almost 40 years ago. Where that boat for sale is tied up used to be the slip I had.

We head up past Keswick on the East side of the lake, following a small road which ran parallel to the shore. We stopped for lunch in Jackson’s Point at the Lake Simcoe Arms. Pub and Restaurant.

After lunch we strolled through a little craft market and then head home.

Another great day together.

After discarding the firepit a few days ago, I thought it would make sense to repurpose the bricks that used to be the base. Every Spring the area right in front of the shed gets muddy because it is a low point in the yard. I used the bricks to make a bit of a sidewalk in front of the shed door.

I went to Home Depot to get sod to fill in where the firepit used to be. We’re happy with the way the yard looks now, especially with the new flowerbed.

This morning Jane and I continued working on the new flowerbed where the planter used to be. The soil that was in the planter was full of tiny roots and it took quite a while to get rid of them.

After getting the soil sorted out, we transplanted echinacea from the other side of the yard as well as the wigalia bush and a hydrangea plant.

After getting the plants in, Jane watered the plants and with rain predicted for tomorrow, we are optimistic the the plants will thrive.

This morning. I decided to tackle dismantling the planter in our backyard.

While trying to break up the root-bound earth, I disturbed a wasp nest and ended up getting stung.

In order to continue, I put on my leather coat, gloves and mosquito head net.. I managed to do more but it got very hot.

In the meantime, I loaded the wood from the dismantled planter into the car and took it to the Barrie landfill. I bought some wasp spray and sprayed what looked like nest remnants.

I will let the spray work before continuing with the task. probably tomorrow.

I keep saying I wanna meet this Mrs. Murphy. This morning I was putting together poached eggs for breakfast. I had set the egg carton next to the stove and unbeknownst me, it was too close to the front gas burner.

I took two eggs out and immediately put the egg carton into the fridge.

A short time later Jane went to get orange juice out of the fridge and as soon as she opened the door, a cloud of of fog spilled into the room.

My initial thought was that it was vapour but turns out it was smoke. The egg carton was not afire, but clearly had smouldered a bit.

Fortunately, no damage anywhere but the smell of burnt paper is lingering inside the fridge.

After lunch today, they all left to return home. While they were packing, Roxana fell asleep on Grandma’s lap after having a warm bath.

I was out in the tent last night while Jane slept in the main floor spare room. During the night a thunderstorm rolled through bringing with it heavy rain. I noticed a few very minor drips which tells me the waterproofing needs an update.

I ordered some from Amazon and tomorrow I will spray the tent fly and parts of the tent proper.

After breakfast of French toast hash browns and fruit, the kids played in the backyard.

The playing included a water fight with water pistols and all went well until someone got squirted in the eye.

While that was going on, I made a trip to Farmboy to pick up two or three things needed for lunch.

Chris, Tonya and Max are leaving right after because Tonya has a concert she’s going to later.

This morning I spent some time setting up backyard toys for Roxana and Royce who will be arriving this afternoon.

In the meantime Chris, Tonya, Max and Jane have headed out to Centennial Beach where Kempenfest is being held.

The original plan was for Steve, Sara, Roxana and Royce have lunch at the house, but that changed and they drove straight to the Kempenfest venue. I took the lunch to them.

After a great supper of Rotisserie chicken done on the BBQ, corn on the cob, asparagus and oven roasted sweet potatoes and macaroni salad, we had dessert then everyone went outside to the backyard for some playtime.

This morning I began getting the backyard organized for the Fam visit this weekend.

Because everybody is coming, Jane and I will be camping out in our tent in the backyard to provide sleeping accommodation for everyone.

I have also put up some decorative banners to make it somewhat festive out there for the grandkids. I’ll be setting up a sandbox and slide too.

Chris, Tonya and Max are arriving this afternoon while Steve, Sara, Roxana and Royce are coming tomorrow. Chris and Tonya are going to a movie tonight, so Jane and I will be in charge of putting Max to bed.

Now that the raccoons are gone, I will use the cameras in other locations. One of them I will put in the garage so I can see whether or not the garage door is open or closed.

The other two will be used as monitors when the grandkids come up.

Jane is busy doing prep work for the kids’ visit this long weekend.

All the cleaning has been done. We’re ready.