There is Light!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has turned both cold and snowy. We had our first winter storm blow through mid week, and we certainly got our work out clearing the driveway. The snowblower is not running (yet); don't quite understand why. It seems to have both fuel and spark, but it's not firing! I'm thinking Wendy may have sabotaged it to save what's left of my fingers! We certainly could have used it on the one cleaning. The first time the snow was very heavy and wet, and probably would not have blown well. Wendy has been very busy, continuing the preparation and painting of the side entry, working on Christmas preparations, and shoveling snow! We enjoyed Christmas Day with Travis, Joanna, Gemma and Andrew. Wendy fixed roast turkey, and more trimmings than I recall! Mashed potatoes and gravy with stuffing and whole berry cranberries are central of course, but she added corn, butternut squash, yams AND sweet potatoes, rutabaga, broccoli, pickles and salad! Joanna supplemented our overindulgence with wine and crème brûlée.

Family!

Selfie around the table!

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed the opening of gifts from the ridiculous to the sublime—I scored some more Amazon gift cards, so the giving continues! We all feel abundantly blessed! We decided to add to our possessions with a new deep freeze, and a thickness planer. Then, this evening this begin:

Wendy is now fully employed!

The markets have been troubled even over this shortened week as the Senate Republicans were unwilling to give folks much money in the way of stimulus, but after the Democrats finally agreed to the reduced stimulus, Trump came along and rejected the whole negotiations. So, it remains up in the air, and the markets hate uncertainty, so valuations have not gone well, and I have fallen behind on my quota for the month, and with just one shortened week left to catch up! The pandemic continues to ravage, but vaccinations have begun, so we look forward to what effect that may begin to have in about a month or so. College Football is into bowl season; my teams are scheduled to play next week. #20-Texas and #21-Oklahoma State are favoured in their games, while my #6-Sooners are the underdog at the Cotton Bowl. #3-Jayhawks completed their 2020 play with an impressive win over #7-West Virginia.

Eric, Erica and Liam enjoyed their Christmas observance at home. Eric and Erica did get out for some careful caroling for several seniors of their congregation. Haaken celebrated in Victoria. Eric and Erica helped with the Christmas Eve service, then followed up with handing out some cards and doing a driving tour of the Christmas lights. Liam made a gluten-free lasagna. Then, they accommodated a second seasonal observance of Die Hard with Haaken via FaceTime and enjoyed phone calls with both sides of the family. Today, they had a Zoom call with Greg and Haaken. Tomorrow, Eric and Erica celebrate their sparkling water/champagne anniversary: 27th on the 27th. The plan is not set yet—maybe Skip the Dishes. Eric, Erica and Liam are all part of leading the worship service tomorrow. 

Erin and Kristian were able to host Shawn, Astrid and Liam for celebrations in Regina. We enjoyed some video chatting with them yesterday.

Travis and Joanna were busy with flower deliveries for Christmas. The more recent lockdowns here mean hockey and PuckShots are back on hiatus. At least they're in our family bubble, so we're glad to have some time with them.

And that's enough for this week.

Dark Days!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my home town. The weather has changed and we have winter! Snow arrived on Sunday, and has fallen on a few other days as well. It hasn't amounted to much, but at least we have snow in anticipation of Christmas. And that's about the closest we can come to good news this week. The virus continues to rampage worldwide. USA continues to perform the worst as a result of their woeful leadership response to this challenge. On the other end of the spectrum we have New Zealand with zero community spread, a rebounding economy and full attendance at their sporting events. We are not doing so well here either, especially in the prairie provinces. Here, in Ontario, our premier is looking to tighten or extend restrictions again next week. We are only allowed our family bubble, but we're planning a full scale Christmas dinner—can't stop us from enjoying that! Normally, we'd be on a trip to Saskatchewan and BC this time of year, however, that is out of the question in these circumstances. Wendy has continued with the painting of the side entry, although whether climbing the ladder or crawling on the floor, it's a bummer working in the closet!

Bummer, dude! 

 

 

 

 

The colder weather has kept me out of the workshop, although I did strip a couple of more pallets, so I have a good supply of wood, but it's in need of planing. The markets have pushed forward on rumours of a stimulus bill, but as the Senate kept refusing to bring it to a vote, they eventually gave up and sold off on Friday. At least I was able to stay on quota for the month. College Football is in Championship weekend, and my Sooners won their sixth straight conference championship this afternoon. #5Jayhawks have continued to improve in basketball, and won again this week to open conference play. The conference looks really tough this year with a number of ranked teams including #2 Baylor—Rock Chalk Jayhawk! 

It was a quiet week at the Baileys in Prince Albert. This weekend they started getting ready for Christmas by doing all the important things: decorating the tree, wrapping gifts, eating chocolate and watching Die Hard.

10 foot ceilings make for tall trees!

Eric and Erica also got out Saturday night to do some Covid-safe caroling—sounds like fun. Haaken continues to work at Costco. They will miss him this Christmas. They have plenty of snow, and plenty of Christmas movies. 

Kristian has completed his classes and is on Christmas break. It will be extended due to the coronavirus, and he will be looking to begin 2021 with on-line classes as the seek to break the grip the virus is holding over the province and the city. 

Trav and Joanna have managed to get some business with both PuckShots and HelmetDecals. We enjoyed beginning the week with them to celebrate Andrew's birthday. A delicious pulled-pork supper, along with birthday macaroons marked the occasion.

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

You can see how the cake was protected  by a styrofoam  cover. Ah, the good old days when we'd have someone blow all over the food, and then, we'd eat it! 

And that's about enough for this week.

First Vaccines Arrive!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We were threatened with snow on Thursday, but it seems the +8 on Wednesday was just too much, and we had a day of rain instead. The latest forecasts have us anticipated colder weather, even remaining below zero most days, so we're expecting any precipitation coming will be snow. While the infection and death rates for Covid-19 continues to rise, we have had emergency approvals of the first vaccines, and we anticipate some inoculations beginning next week. This vaccine takes two injections, some weeks apart, so, it will be some time before we see the effectiveness of the program. The supply is very limited as well, but we're thinking that by next summer the effects will be widespread. That would be a great relief! Otherwise, we remain safe within our family bubble here. Wendy continues the mudding, sanding, priming and painting program in the side entry.

Works great!

I have completed my chisel sharpening jig; it works very well. I got a double-side diamond stone, so, I do the primary bevel on the 300 side, and then adjust and make the secondary bevel on the 1000 side.

Installed at 55 Laird

The luggage racks have now reached their destination in Regina; Wendy wants me to build another set for here! I have begun planning a library chair and a flippable step stool, but I'm running low on wood that's ready to build with. I got some white oak planed at Dad's in Regina last year, but I used the last of that on the luggage racks. Apparently the 55+ centre here has a workshop with a planer, but it's not operating these days due to virus restrictions. I have begun perusing the used forums for a thickness planer—pricey! In the meantime, I've also done some baking. Keto Pumpkin Squares turned out very tasty.

Pumpkin Squares

The base is gingerbread which turned out to be an additional treat! The markets were volatile this week as rumours swirled about a possible stimulus bill coming out of the US Senate. In the end, we still have no program, and the markets took a dive, however, I remain at quota for the month so far. College football was abbreviated this week as the pandemic intervened. #22-Oklahoma State ran up the score against Baylor, but both #11-Oklahoma and #20-Texas had their games cancelled. The Jayhawks continued their winning ways this week after being promoted to #5.

Erica writes, "Liam had his first Remicade treatment on Monday. It will take a few doses before we see any effect. We pray it does! On Tuesday, he came home for Christmas.  The tree is up, but not yet decorated. And I haven’t yet made puppy chow, so we aren’t quite ready for Christmas. On Friday, Eric got news of a raise! We are thankful and blessed to have work. I have a couple of files to wrap up, then I will be on break until January. I’m looking forward to the break."

Kristian is on the learning-from-home program, as schools have closed to in-person learning until the middle of January. He and Erin completed their Christmas shopping today. Sadie got her haircut this week, while Lucy keeps shedding and doesn't need a haircut. It appears Kristian could do with a haircut himself.

Erin & Sadie

Kristian & Lucy

Travis, Joanna and crew are managing okay. We're sure glad to have them here, and have them in our bubble. It is great to be able to spend some time with them. This weekend, we're celebrating Andrew's birthday. 

And that's about it for this week.

Pandemic Rages!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has continued dry but cold with freezing temperatures over night, and struggling above zero each day. We are still waiting, but not eagerly, for the snow to arrive. I am still making it out to the shop regularly and working on a few projects. I have now made and discarded two attempts at a jig for sharpening my chisels. One worked well enough that I got the chisels sharpened—I press on! Wendy has suffered some ill health most of the week, so her work on the side entry has been interrupted. She is feeling better now, but she has shifted her focus to decorating for Christmas. We assembled the new china cabinet.

Africa China Cabinet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It will be installed in the living room and will feature our African dishes. We're still trying to figure out how we'll secure it to the wall. (Interpretation: I have a plan which Wendy does not accept!) Meanwhile, the pandemic continues to rage around the world. Yes, it's worst in the USA, but we're not doing so great ourselves, and thus all travel is currently proscribed for us. Our current Christmas plan involves only our family bubble (Trav, Joanna and kids), but we're planning the full meal deal at least! We enjoyed a brief visit with Dave and Heather as they drove back to Saskatchewan and stopped overnight on Sunday. We sent the luggage racks with them on their way to 55 Laird, as they were continuing to Regina on Friday. The markets have continued their rally in the comfort of the Biden election, and I managed to make quota again this week. In the sporting world, the NHL continues to negotiate on a variety of options for a season beginning in January. It appears that curling will take place mainly in a Calgary bubble for several championship and other bonspiels—I look forward to that! College basketball has burst onto the scene. My Jayhawks were dropped to #7, but won their three games this week. All three of my college football teams played today. #11 Oklahoma won their game, clinching a spot in the championship game. #18 Oklahoma State had a tight game against an unranked team, but lost, so they'll get dropped some, possibly right out of the rankings. Unranked Texas had a wild offensive game but won easily; they may get back into the rankings!

Erica writes: "It’s been a pretty quiet week in the Bailey household. The excitement this week is that we tried out a mail meal plan. We ordered some low carb meals from Good Foods. That’s about as exciting as it gets these days. Liam and Haaken are working on Christmas card designs for us. And Greg sent me a box from Colaneri Estates, so that was exciting."

Kristian has continued with health distress. Erin feels it is mostly allergies, but the school tends to interpret coughing, runny noses and eyes symptoms as concerning, when you take this into the context of only attending half-time anyway, it has increased his stay-at-home time. Lucy is enjoying her first Christmas, as cats are wont to do, by attacking the tree!

Trav & Joanna continue to struggle along under the pandemic restrictions. It is not easy to try to maintain a job or run a business in the current climate. Thankfully, they have some governmental support programs that help out a lot, however, it still takes a bit of jumping-through-hoops to access those. At any rate, they're continuing to do okay, and got some hockey team shoots done before the most recent restrictions due to covid-19 infection levels in the region.

And that's enough for this week!