Safe at Home!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has turned very spring-like with warm temperatures, and elevated breezes. We've even had a couple of showers. We've taken advantage by getting out for a few walks and doing some geo-caching. We only have our phones to do searches with, and they are only accurate to within 5 metres, so it leaves quite a challenge to find the caches, which are sometimes quite small and well hidden.

A small cache we found today.

I have continued swinging my golf club and even hit a few balls. The courses are ready, now, we're just waiting until it's safe to go! My left hand continues to heal; the nails are beginning to loosen, and will soon be falling off.

White lines mark the break ridges

The Canadian map shows that the country as a whole, and most provinces are not doing well. Saskatchewan had been making progress, but has stepped backwards as you can see if you click on its numbers. The curve has steepened once again. Wendy has continued to work on the quilt. She consulted a variety of Youtube videos, dismantled her sewing machine, diagnosed and repaired the problem, and has it performing well once again—Victory for Wendy! The markets were up the first three days, before collapsing into the weekend. I managed to make quota for the month of April, my first quota month this year. We enjoyed making connections with the family on the occasion of Eric's birthday. Erica set up a Zoom meeting, so we spent about an hour chatting and catching up with each other. Sweet! This week I raked the lawns and garden. If we're going to be here for more of the summer, we may as well plant a garden! I dragged out the rototiller, but it needed the fuel tank cleaned, and by the time I got going on that, I had the carburetor in more pieces than I recalled! Youtube to the rescue, I have it back together. We enjoyed a visit from Dave and Heather on Wednesday. They parked their RV in the yard, and we enjoyed a meal on the deck, so as to maintain physical distance. I celebrated the visit with a fire in the fire pit, complete with the requisite S'mores! Who knew S'mores have sugar! The very next day, I was suffering with Gout! So, it was back to the Colchicine, which is bringing relief! The coronavirus continues to wreak havoc in most of the world. Sadly, very few countries responded well, like New Zealand or South Korea. Some tried to ignore or deny the threat, and are now suffering the consequences. Many others are tempted to declare victory and move back toward "normal", whatever that is. I fear this will result in many more unnecessary deaths. 

Erica writes: "We all stayed home. The end. Actually Eric celebrated a milestone birthday. We picked up gluten free cupcakes, delivered some to friends around PA, and celebrated with a series of zoom parties. We also got the motorcycles out, licensed and took them for a spin. Fun times! Liam is doing some work on the room and on his art. Haaken is also working on his art. We are encouraging him to take the opportunity to build up his portfolio."

Erin is struggling along with the multiple tasks of office manager, mother and teacher. Kristian is not always keeping up with his roles of student and housekeeper! He continues to engage in school work with some online support, but needs too much prodding! Sadie and Lucy are thriving, but we're starting to have more concerns about Lucy's effect on Kristian as he is showing indicates of allergic reactions. So far, the allergy pills are a benefit, and are reducing the reaction.

Travis and Joanna continue to keep us supplied with groceries, and allow us greater safety. Last weekend, we built a privacy wall for their deck and got that installed.

Wall Install!

Gemma continues to live in our basement. Her next batches of classes are beginning, but instruction is all online.

And that's about it for this week.