Month: July 2025

After yesterday’s release of my latest book, Life Unfolding, I decided to do a little review of what I have done so far.

Later in the day, Burdie came down from Orillia and we had a little visit and coffee on the deck.

Earlier in the day I sold my bicycle to someone from Port McNicoll who saw it posted on Facebook Marketplace.

Today I received a copy of my latest book called Life Unfolding. The title didn’t refer to this blog, but rather to a series of articles I posted on Substack over the last 26 weeks.

I’m thinking about another book project of correctional stories which would be submitted by correctional people.

This morning I called Winchester Glen, a retirement home to find out details about how someone gets admitted.

Talked to Sara a t Winchester Glen today. There is a one bedroom suite available for $5450 per month plus $725 per month for second person meal plan. There is a $500 deposit required. No waiting list. They will need Doctors info for both.

The monthly fee includes lunch and dinner in a dining room. They would do their own breakfast. It includes cable andinternet. Housecleaning and bedding changes are included.A nurse would do an assessment and then you get assessed every 6 months.The enhanced care floor doesn’t have a vacancy, but if the situation gets more serious, you would be placed on thepriority list.She is also suggesting that Ontario Home Care be pushed for services because they can be transferred to Winchester Glen.

I sent this info to Steve and he went over to put a $500 deposit an available suite called Victoriana.

This is exactly what Jerry & Betty need given their current situation.

This morning I finished proofreading May latest book called Life Unfolding. This is a collection of Substack articles that I have been publishing every week since March of this year.

I am doing both a paperback version as well as a digital version.

This morning it was very calm so I decided to take my drone up for a Quick Look around.

It was a very hazy day as can be seen from about 285 feet AGL.

Then I got our unused bicycles down and cleaned them up before posting on Facebook Marketplace.

This morning Jane and I headed to Scarborough Grace hospital to visit my brother, Jerry, who has been hospitalized after a fall at home last Tuesday. He had to be taken by ambulance after he crawled to his phone to call 911.

He is very weak and his wife has short term memory loss. She was admitted with him because she cannot be left alone though she has no physical medical condition.

On Monday I will be contacting Winchester Glen Senior Assisted Living home to find out if they have any vacancies and details about the admission process.

I learned today that there is a writing contest open for people who publish on Kindle Direct Publishing, part of Amazon.

So the book that I am working on right now will be submitted before the August 31st deadline.

I figure I’ve got nothing to lose.

The front and back yards are very dry. And the flowerbeds are needing a drunk as well. I had to put the lawn sprinkler on today and Jane did some watering.

Hopefully we’ll get some rain soon.

Jane was down in Toronto looking after Roxana yesterday and returned home this morning.

While she was there, Roxana made me a nice bracelet that Jane gave me on her return.

Thanks Roxana.

We have decided on a contractor to do our bathroom renovation. He will do it between August 7 and August 27.

Part of that project will be constructing a storage area in place of the existing shower. The lower part of that new storage area will be this cabinet that I assembled this morning.

Over top of that cabinet will be an open space with three or four glass shelves and an overhead dimmable pot light.

This morning I did another Substack article and I now have three of them in the can. I like to stay ahead of the game and it’s nice because I can schedule their posting date ahead of time.

And this afternoon I put together a YouTube video of our recent three day camping trip.

Jane is headed to Toronto to look after Roxana tomorrow.

Today I decided to tackle the fireplace situation. The glass was full of soot and the pilot light had gone out. So I gathered up everything I would need including drop cloth, shop vac, glass cleaner, vinegar and water, paper towels and cloths.

I took the glass off and got it all cleaned up and then I vacuumed out the main burner and around the pilot light. After I re-installed the glass, I re-lit the pilot light and fired it up.

It’s burning nice and clean now.

Yesterday started out much cooler than the previous two days and it got very windy. And the wind didn’t let up all night.

Fortunately for us, the single boater that was on the dock had a couple of tarps that he fastened to the side of the gazebo to block the wind which would have made cooking on our Coleman stove very difficult.

We were warm enough in the tent with our sleeping bags, though.

This morning, after breakfast, we broke camp and got everything loaded into the dinghy.

It was a nice three day trip although, as always, it’s nice to be back home.

This morning, after coffee and breakfast, we sat on the rocks with another coffee enjoying the view.

Shortly after, the kids from Camp Elizabeth, who were staying at Tonch East, loaded up their big war canoe for return to their camp.

There were 22 kids and four counsellors who had a noisy time over there.

They no sooner cleft when it started to rain and get very windy. But we were cozy inside our tent.

The 14 kids and 5 counsellors from Camp Elizabeth stayed in 5 tents last night and left this morning after breakfast.

We had a good sleep last night even though it was kind of warm at the beginning of the evening. But today it was even hotter with hardly any wind movement.

Tonch North is difficult to get in the water, so we walked a short distance to Tonch East and had a swim there to cool off. After lunch the sun was even more hot so we went by dinghy to Wana Keta. There’s a nice beach there and the water was so refreshing.

We arrived at Tonch North at about 11am and tied up to the dock. We started unloading everything and, despite the heat, got everything set up on site no 1.

It wasn’t long before we were swimming so we could cool off.

The water was warm as anything.

Tomorrow we head up to Beausoleil Island fit a three day camping trip at Tonch North. Today I began loading our stuff into the car

Tomorrow morning all we have to do is load up the food. Then it’s off we go.

This morning Jane and I went out in the back yard to trim some tree branches in the back corner of our yard. We wanted to do this before it got too hot.

This is a view looking at our deck which was previously obscured by low hanging branches.

This is an app that uses Artificial Intelligence to do things that you ask or to answer questions. Today I input some measurements for a storage cabinet to be included in our bathroom reno and this is what Copilot came up with…in a matter of a couple of minutes.

It’s truly remarkable.

With our camping date confirmed for next Tuesday at Tonch North on Beausoleil Island, I got all of our gear down to do a check. I discovered that our Coleman stove was not working right and, after some troubleshooting, I cleaned one of the burners and got it functioning correctly.

In the meantime Jane did a check of the kitchen equipment, got it all washed up, so we are ready to go.

We also looked at some storage cabinets on Wayfair that we plan on installing in our upstairs bathroom in the space currently occupied by the shower.

We’ll do some before and after photos when it’s all done.

This morning, after stopping at Service Canada to renew Jane’s passport, we went to Irvine Flooring to select vinyl floor tile for the bathroom project.

They had a wide array of colours and textures to choose from, but we did manage to pick one we liked.

After that we began searching the internet for a suitable storage unit that will occupy the space where the one piece shower unit is being replaced.

Today Jane and I checked out some different tiles for the shower project and finalized our selection at Tilemaster along with corresponding grout.

We checked out some vinyl click tile for the bathroom floor but did not find anything to our liking as yet.

We are awaiting another quote from Rockland Renovations should come in the next day or two .

This morning we took a trip to Sunnybrook Hospital for an eye appointment for Jane. This was a follow up with Dr. ing. Nothing really came of it.

The trip, however, did serve to reinforce our decision to get out of the City.

We are glad to live in Barrie and we stopped at A & W for lunch.

Today I finished taking the basic drone course online and immediately after that, I did the Transport Canada exam for a Basic Drone Pilot licence.

I can now legally fly drones weighing up to 25 kg.

I am in the process of taking a Basic online Drone Pilot course that has eight modules and will prepare me to take a Transport Canada course.

So today, I got half way through. It’s nice because the course has online knowledge quizzes throughout and a sample test at the end of each module.

Tomorrow I hope to do the last half.

Today the forecast is for a heat warning, so before it got too hot, I dug up a big hosta plant to be replaced by another one, the new one being a variegated variety.

The old one was beginning to crowd out everything else so we offered to our neighbours, Chris and Rina who will transplant it up at their cottage.

The rest of the day will be inside out of the heat.

Yesterday Jane went to Toronto to watch Max at baseball (he got a home run) and to stay overnight at Steve’s so she could stay with Roxana today.

This morning, right after breakfast, I took my drone out on the back deck and flew over the neighborhood.

It was very calm and I got some good aerial shots.

The steering wheel on Shenanigans is in bad shape. It’s supposed to be white in colour, it’s got all kinds of black spots on it, so I ordered a universal fit wheel to replace it.

Unfortunately the hub on the current steering column is incompatible with the wheel that I got, so I couldn’t get the new wheel on.

I tried removing the hub, but even with a hub puller, I couldn’t get it off.

So I will have to figure out what to do next.

Yesterday we received an updated quote from Jason who was recommended by Josh of Royal Flush Plumbing. He came in about $6,000.00 cheaper than Burns Bath, so we are going with him.

I wrote him an email confirming that and Jane advised Burns Bath if our choice.

Now we have to come up with a schedule.

This morning after breakfast I went to Friday Harbour to fly my drone over their beautiful grounds. Although it was a bit windy, I did manage to get a couple of short videos and a few photos.

On my way home I decided to try flying in a nearby park where there was a large soccer field and while there, I recognized a man walking his dog; someone that I met months ago while I was doing my regular walks. I remembered his name was Robert and he was surprised that I knew who he was.

I reminded him about our previous meeting and afterwords he asked what my last name was. He said he had been looking for me and he wanted to give me one of his wife’s books that she had written. Then he asked for my address on Taylor Drive.

Later in the day, while I was having a nap, he approached Jane who was out gardening, and next thing you know, we invited him and his wife, Pamela, in for a visit.

She gave me two books she had written and I, in turn, gave her two of mine.

They were a nice couple, but they both wanted to talk at the same time which did not make for an ideal conversation. An interesting turn of events, though.