Month: September 2024

Jane has finally been scheduled for eye surgery tomorrow at 6am at Sunnybrook Health Centre in Toronto.

We will stay overnight at a nearby hotel rather than leave from Barrie at 4:30 am.

After the surgery, we will return home the same day.

We are happy this is finally happening.

This afternoon I did some edging along the sidewalk to tidy the front lawn a bit.

I only got one side of the sidewalk done because it got too hot.

The pieces of grass that I trimmed off I used in the back yard where there was a bare spot in the corner.

Tonight I will BBQ a chicken for dinner.

During one of my daily walks I met another walker who lives just around the corner from us. We had some pleasant conversations in passing and yesterday I noticed him and his wife sitting in their garage having a beer and eating pizza.

They introduced themselves as Fred and Shirley Rowe and near the end of the chat, Fred to,d me he was a submariner and now volunteered on a sub (museum) located in Port Burrell. He then asked me if I would like to ride along with him today and have a tour. I jumped at the chance.

Fred took me on a detailed tour inside the sub and explained the workings of the vessel.

I had no idea how complicated this Oberon class of sub was to operate and how effective it was during the Cold War.

A very unique experience that was so interesting.

Today Jane and I headed up to Brandy’s to take Shenanigans out for one last spin.

We first went to Fairy Lake which is inland on the island.

After that, we went to Tonch North where we had a picnic lunch.

On another note, I am down exactly six lbs from last week.

Today Jane and I transplanted a Lilly in the back yard to space things out a bit better. After that we went geocaching in the North end of the city. We tried for four and ended up finding three.

And I got more steps in as well. A good day.

Yesterday Jane made a grocery order using Sobeys Voila delivery service and after using their discount coupon for free delivery and Scene pints, she got $108 worth of groceries and it only cost $4.

In addition, she picked up some items at Walmart which are significantly cheaper than Farmboy and Food Basics.

There’s money to be saved if you look.

This morning we headed up to Penetang for a visit with Jane’s cousin, Helen. We had a little chat at her place where she answered questions about the Gropps (Jane’s grandparents) and loaned Jane a book on Penetang history.

After that we took her to a Midland restaurant called the Explorer for lunch.

An enjoyable day.

Jane and I have begun thinking about doing some travelling next year. Our first destination will probably be to a Caribbean location sometime in February. We would go for at least a couple of weeks to an all inclusive place.

Then, sometime next year, in the Fall, we are looking at a trip to Italy for a couple of weeks.

Our passports are still up to date until October 2024 so all that remains to be done is some research including prices and destinations.

Two years ago I had to lose weight in order to have hernia surgery done at the Shouldice clinic. I went on their Shouldice diet and ended up losing eighty pounds.

However, since the surgery, I have been slowly gaining that weight back, so a month ago I put myself on a lifestyle that includes the Shouldice diet again, including making the Shouldice soup, and I have begun daily walking using a pedometer to track my progress. I set a goal of 8000 steps a day.

I also weigh myself once a week and, since beginning this activity, I have lost eight pounds.

I still have more to lose, but I am encouraged by my progress so far.

The hose nozzle that we have has been difficult to shut off and the sprinkler has been around for at least ten years. So today I went to the local Home Hardware store and bought Gardena brand replacements.

The hose adapter makes them interchangeable in a quick and easy squeeze at the hose connection.

And the nozzle control is much easier too.

Since I began doing daily walks I have had the opportunity to explore various routes in the area.

One of my favourites is a trail that runs between houses for quite a distance, about 3 km, and about 4500 steps.

What is nice about walking this bush trail is the shade it provides in addition to a softer surface for easier walking.

We took Shenanigans from Brandy’s over to Cedar Springs on Beausoleil Island. There were a few boats there but no one around.

We walked to the indigenous cemetery on the island” and found John Lawrence, a Parks Canada employee, painting the markers.

Afterward, we dinghied up to Tonch East and had a picnic after which I strung up my hammock and had a snooze.

Another great day.

Over the last several months we have had slow leaks in a couple of the tires on our Rogue. Now the front right tire is really losing air. So today, I called Canadian Tire and made an appointment to get 4 new all season tires.

They were able to accomodate me right away so we are now in good shape tire wise.

This afternoon I made another big pot of Shouldice soup as part of my effort to reduce weight. This complements my daily walking routine and hopefully will bring positive results.

Jane and I combined these two activities and walked from Centennial Beach in Barrie to the other side of Kempenfelt Bay.

It was over 8,000 steps and we did, in fact, find the geocache under a steel ledge, held there by a magnet.

It was good to get back home, though, because it was pretty hot today.

For the past few weeks I have been trying to get more walking in as a mild form of exercise and to try to keep my weight down.

Usually I do three walks a day each of which is 1 to 2 km. Today, however, I tried a linger walk.

This was a pretty good workout. I will do another walk later to exceed my 7500 step target.

Today I relocated the birdfeeder so that it is visible from both seats in the kitchen. That necessitated the relocation of the Wyze security camera that was attached to it.

This is the current view from that camera. I can see both sides of the house, so any intruders to the back yard can easily be detected.

We are in Toronto for Royce’s birthday, his second.

There were some kids from his daycare as well as his cousins and a few friends of Roxana.

After pizza and snacks, the birthday cake was brought out and everyone sang happy birthday and Royce blew out the candles.

After breakfast we headed up to Brandy’s for a Georgian Bay fix. We decided to try Tonch South this time.

We always liked the view from here.

Shortly after arriving we did a trail walk up to Camp Ketchekwana and were surprised at how many cabins there were.

We chatted with some of the counsellors there and learned a lot about the history of the place.

Some of the trees in this area are quite tall.

We got on about 7000 steps on our hike and, as soon as we got back, Jane went for a cooling off swim in the Bay.

This morning Jane and I went to a waterfront trail to seek out another geocache. We ended up finding two out of the three we searched for.

Jane has a very good eye for finding these hidden caches.

A fun morning.

This morning I had an appointment with Hearing Life as an interim check on my experience with Oticon Hearing Aids. So far they have improved my hearing, but I want to see if Workers Comp will cover the cost.

It will take two to four months for that process to play out so I will be returning the hearing aids at the end of the thirty day trial period until I hear back from WSIB.

This morning I headed off to Chris and Tonya’s to stay with Max while they are at work.

Normally, Jane would do this, but she has an important appointment with our optometrist that she has been waiting for.

Max is home from school today just to be monitored after being taken to hospital after a severe peanut reaction.

Thankfully he is looking good this morning and is his usual cheery self.

This morning Jane and I went down to Steve’s place to give him a hand with his solarium project. He is having it closed in to create another living space room.

While two workers were putting up a new exterior wall, Steve and I began working on insulating one of the adjacent walls.

We had to make a couple of trips to Home Depot for supplies and Jane did some front veranda organizing and made a hit lunch for us.

Today Jane and I were a little adventurous, so we decided to try a trail that was somewhat off the beaten path. It was near Tollendale seniors residence and we had done this trail a few years ago.

Since then, however, it has become very overgrown and looked unused for quite awhile.

Despite that, though, we made it to the end, coming up a steep hill to the road.

This morning Jane and I combined some geocaching with walking and found a cache about 1.2 km from our house.

Although it was pretty cool, we enjoyed the stroll and covered about 4 km by the time we got back home.

I began my walking program about three weeks ago and Chris started about the same time. We send each other a screen shot of our step tally every day and I find this to be motivating for me as does Chris.

Today (my Friday weigh day) I am down over 7 lbs since beginning the walk program and going back on the Shouldice Hospital diet.

Chris is down 10 lbs since he started.

Both of us agree that watching what we eat is very important too.

It was a very nice day weather wise and we decided to take advantage of it and get out on the Bay with Shenanigans. We headed off to our favourite spot, Tonch East and spent the afternoon there.

After lunch we took a leisurely walk on the trail leading to Tonch South and noticed that the dock that used to be there was gone. Also, they have built a brand new compostable bathroom there, a big improvement. We stayed there for a bit, then went back to Tonch East.

It was another fabulous day.

This morning Jane joined me for a walk to a geocache located 1.2 kilometres from our house. It took awhile to finally spot the cache hanging on a tree branch.

In addition, I exceeded my daily goal of 8000 steps having reached 8,920 steps.

This morning Jane and I went to the local tourist information centre and picked up a booklet detailing where the walking trails are in Barrie.

I have been doing a walk every day and Jane wants to walk along with me from time to time.

Last week my target for number of steps was 7500 per day, but now I have increased the target to 8000. Chris is also tracking his step count and we compare. Here’s today’s count as of 4pm.

I used to geocache before COVID, blur during that period I stopped going out unless necessary. However, I have decided to combine that with my new walking target of 7500 steps a day.

This morning Jane and I tracked one down on a nearby walking trail close to Tollendale Rd.

It was inside a hollow tree and the container contained all these trinkets and a soggy log.

On the way home, we picked up a Timmy’s and went to Minets Point to watch the kite surfers.

It was perfect weather for them with strong winds whipping across the bay.

After returning home, I made some Shouldice soup with the recipe from the Shouldice hernia clinic. When I went on this diet a few years ago, I lost almost eighty pounds. Since my surgery I have begun to put that weight back on, so I want to keep it off.

We had a good breakfast this morning and a short time later we all walked down to Tyndale Park so Max could take advantage of the great playground there.

We spent a couple of hours there after which we walked back home and Chris and Tonya got ready to return home with. Max.

It was a wonderful weekend.