Press on; follow the drill!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We remain safe at home and take precautions when we venture out. The Space Station's orbit has been crossing overhead Thunder Bay this week. We've enjoyed several occasions to watch it make its rapid transit over our location. Wendy has continued to work on Shawn's quilt, and this week she took advantage of the beautiful weather to get out in the flower beds. Those are looking promising! I've been engaged in my annual battle with dandelions in the lawns. This year I have a new weapon as John passed along a dandelion spade. It is quite effective in getting the root out. Monday was Victoria Day, or May Long, as they call it here. Although it is the earliest possible date for Victoria Day, the traditional activity of planting the garden beckoned, so I got seeds in for beets, turnips, lettuce and radishes. We haven't had much of a garden in recent years, but we anticipate more time to care for it, so I'm giving it a go. The rhubarb is looking good, and we'll get a picking there soon. We plan to add some tomatoes from one of the local greenhouses as well. I have drip irrigation in place for all of the garden. I picked up a used Skil jigsaw I saw advertised on FaceBook. My old Black & Decker has been resurrected quite a few times, but it failed me on the job recently when I was working at Trav's, so I just can't rely on it any longer. I built a drill-press using an old 1/2" drill; it works quite well. Yeah, yeah, I'm being careful with my fingers!

Covid-19 continues to be a big story. Very few countries are handling it well. We are not doing so well, although some provinces are taking steps to relax the safe-at-home requirements. The golf courses have reopened, but I'm not ready for the risk. I'll keep practicing at home and in the school yard across the street. The markets were mixed, but worked out positively for me as I managed to make double quota—trying to make up for many bad weeks I've already seen this year. The sports leagues keep working on options for how they might get playing again. Golf has another celebrity event this weekend, and continue to plan a return to regular events in less than three weeks, although without spectators.

The Bailey's continue to work from home in Prince Albert. I have no other news of them at the time of this update. 

Erin and Kristian carry on in Regina. Kristian and I FaceTimed our way through some more mathematics; he's doing a unit on graphing data. Erin detailed the specifications for another planter, so, I'm planning to build that here and transport it west whenever we get the all clear. Kristian has been suffering a severe bout of itchy rash. At first it was thought to be an allergic reaction, but when that brought no relief, the doctor actually called him in for a visit instead of diagnosing via photos. This was Kristian's first outing after the CV-19 lock-down. They took advantage of the outing to have a physically-distanced visit with Papa. Kristian is now being treated, effectively it seems, for eczema. 

He decorated his mask!

Travis continues to entertain a few orders, and also uses the traditional off-season time to consider other productive options. Joanna returned from southern Ontario yesterday, and is now isolating at home. She hopes to take a CV-19 test next week. Gemma continues her classwork downstairs at our place.

And that's about it for this week.