Dismal Days Continue!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been nice, and we've enjoyed our walks and I've managed a few more golf swings. Sadly, golf has been outlawed in Ontario, so playing a game is not possible. Maybe this extra work on my swing will pay off when the courses reopen. The pandemic has surged again, world-wide, and we're included! Our per capita infection rate is currently worse than India, and we now have some cases of the newest variants coming from there. When you allow the virus to proliferate, it is inevitable that mutations will thrive, and some of them will be worse than the original. Of course, countries that took this seriously like NZ and OZ, are not seeing such troubles, enjoying full stadiums for their games and open economies. Alberta remains our worst case, with only two US states performing worse, but, here in Ontario, we're not doing much better. Part of our issue is the inadequate rate of vaccinations. In the USA, they're really pushing forward on that front. Biden pledged 100 million doses in 100 days, and the critics made fun of him, but now he's accomplished over 200 million—thanks, Uncle Joe. Virus fears caused a couple of down days on the markets. Then, Biden reassured investors that yes, he was serious about taxing the rich, so that brought about more market turmoil! It's been a wild ride this week with 3 red days and 2 green days, but the overall result was positive for me, so I'm grateful to remain on quota for the six months since the election, so long as I can hold on for the next week! Wendy continues to regain her strength and mobility in her shoulder. She's even talked about painting again! I've done a bit of project work in the shop. I had the gas-fitter come by and install a NG port on the deck, so I have my gas barbecue operational.

1999 Mazda B-4000

The brake system had failed on the truck, with significant leakage from underneath, so I took it to my favourite mechanics. The news was tragic, and I was not willing to invest that much more into the old truck, so it's now gone to the wrecker. Still looks like it should run, but all those years of Ontario salt have done a number underneath the skin. The main sports entertainment this week is curling. The Champions Cup was won on Monday by the Mouat team from Scotland. Then, the Players Championship began, and has now progressed to the championship games, set for tomorrow. My usual favourite, Koe, did not make the playoffs this time. On the Women's side it's Einarson vs Homan; on the Men's, it's Gushue vs Mouat. Baseball continues with very low attendance allowed. My Blue Jays are playing at about .500 level. The hockey season is nearing the conclusion of the regular season. My three teams are well-positioned for the playoff season!

Erica writes, "We started our week with a zoom baby shower for Victoria and Tyler Utman. When Haaken was a wee baby, we hung out with Michael and Sheena a few times. Victoria and Haaken weren’t very far apart in age. It reminded me that we are getting older - and that we need to get our home Reno’s done because our house is definitely not baby safe right now. Anyway, we sent a copy of Liam’s book. We hope they enjoy it. Eric and I both got shot this week. Mine was a last minute 'we have extras' situation. Haaken and Liam both have appointments. Other than that it’s been a quiet, busy week." 

Erin and Kristian had a good week in Regina where Kristian continues with on-line learning, and Erin with her work. There was an improvement in Shawn's situation. He reports feeling better, and managing work well, but still gets tired more easily than he'd like. At least he's up to having Astrid and Liam on the weekends, and that's progress. 

We stopped by Trav and Joanna's for a back yard chat. They're (read: Joanna) entertaining some more construction on their deck, so I took some measurements. They're still discussing the extent of the project! Today, Joanna got news of a significant downturn in the health of her dad, so she's off to Toronto again. Gemma is rejoicing as she has completed exams and another semester. 

And that's about enough for this week.

Another Grim Milestone!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been very nice, and we've enjoyed getting out for walks again. I even managed two golf practices. I make it a priority to work on my swing at the start of each season. I usually find that I play my best golf early in the season, but it gradually declines after that—could be a lesson there!

Jab1 on Wednesday

We got our first vaccine dose on Wednesday. I had a sore shoulder that night, but both of us have felt fine since. We're not scheduled for our second jab until August, so our travel wishes remain in hiatus. We'll try to get that to happen sooner, as that wouldn't be fully effective until the end of August, and we wish to travel in early summer. The pandemic has deepened here in Ontario, and in most of Canada. Alberta remains our worst province; in fact, only eight US States are doing worse than Alberta, but there are actually five provinces doing very poorly, and we're one of them. Apparently, "avoiding it like the plague" is not something that people actually do! World-wide, we've now tallied over 3 million deaths from Covid-19, a grim milestone, and testament to how badly things are going. We're so locked down here currently that we have guards on the borders with Quebec and Manitoba! I did a couple of small projects in the shop this week. The first was a hose holder for the front lawn. The old plastic one had broken last Fall, so I built one from some wood scraps. Then, Travis needed some pallets to hold up his storage bins in the back yard, so I modified some pallets and they seem to serve the task well. 

Getting them off the ground

Wendy has been working on her Barbershop music for a virtual performance they're planning. She sent in both the singing and a video for that project. The markets had one bad day this week, but recovered as positive data keeps coming in, and I made quota again. The week in sports began with the final round of the Masters. I was delighted to see Matsuyama win it; he seems like a fine representative to win the first major for a Japanese golfer. The curling was delayed, but finally completed with Edin from Sweden winning his fifth World Championship. This week it's a Grand Slam event with most of the top teams in the world playing in both Men's and Women's divisions. They're in to the playoffs now, and my favourites: Einarson and Koe, are in the thick of it. The NHL continues to struggle along, making schedule revisions as Covid invades team after team. Pens, Leafs and Oilers (my teams) have maintained playoff positions with about a dozen games left in the regular season. Oilers and Pens won tonight, while the Leafs' game was postponed due to the Covid issues in Vancouver.

Eric got scheduled for his first vaccine dose. Erica is much too young to qualify! Otherwise, they had a quiet week. Erica and team are on for music at church tomorrow, so we'll tune in for that. 

Kristian is back to on-line school. That's a tough way to do Art and Phys. Ed.! This week he was doing a project on one of my heroes, James Naismith. With the declining age of eligibility, Erin should soon qualify for her Covid shot. Shawn is eligible, but must wait until he's fully recovered from his recent bout of Covid. 

Trav, Joanna and crew are doing their stay-at-home program as well. It's discouraging not being able to spend more time with them. Gemma is completing her semester and writing exams. She always does well. Andrew is interviewing on new positions here in town. I don't know how likely it could be that new work will start up in our current pandemic situation. 

And that's about enough for this week.

April Showers!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The week opened in sunshine, but turned into heavy rain on Wednesday through Friday. Today was mostly overcast, but dry, so maybe we're set for a change. I haven't been over to the golf course, but have worked on my swing here in the back yard. Otherwise, we look forward to the promised May flowers. I have done a bit of work on shop projects. I've set up an air line, so I can use my air-powered tools over at the work area. I've begun work on a bank of drawers under the mitre-saw station. Wendy had doctor appointments with our family doctor and also with her chiropractor. Her shoulders continue to improve, but she's not back to par yet! Joanna is helping out by taking blood pressure readings for her to report back to our family doctor. She's also done some blood work for that purpose. Getting old is not for the faint of heart! Next week, we're looking forward to our first jab of Covid-19 vaccine. Our doctor has agreed to write on our behalf so we can shorten the delay between the first and second dose—hope that works! We have not been doing well on the pandemic front, and infection rates are at record levels once again. Vaccinations are not occurring quickly enough, and several provinces are being hard hit by the virus variants. The USA has been doing great on the vaccination front, which has encouraged investors. The markets are thriving, and both Canada and USA reported good jobs' data on Friday. I've already managed quota for April, but there remain a couple of weeks to see if I can hold these levels. The main sport I've been following all week is the World Curling Championships. Canada managed to qualify for the playoffs, but had a disappointing result losing to Scotland. Now, the remaining playoffs have been postponed due to a positive Covid test of one of the teams. The baseball season has opened, but the Blue Jays are not flying! The NHL is into the last few weeks of the regular season. It appears all three of my teams will make the playoffs. This weekend is the conclusion of the Masters Tournament which always marks the beginning of the golf season for me.

Erica writes, "I tried to kill Eric this week with certified organic, all natural, gluten-free, vegan, kosher, non-GMO, nut free, crispie rice squares, that also happened to be laced with shiitake mushrooms. Fortunately, Liam came home and read the ingredients before Eric ate the whole box. But since he was sick, and I was also under the weather, we got Covid tested—another negative test. Looks like I needed some rest, and Eric needed me to stop poisoning him. Go figure! Liam is home for the weekend to get an iron infusion, but mostly just to see us, right? Plus, we had gluten-free peanut butter chocolate cake for him, not laced with mushrooms. Haaken reached out to Liam and Aiden to talk about possibly doing a project together. I hope it happens—it would be great to see more of their original content. We sent a few Easter treats to Greg and Haaken. We are really looking forward to when we can travel again."

Erin and Kristian have had another week of "safe at home". Sadie and Lucy seem to manage the extra company just fine. Kristian is currently on school break, but next week he's back to on-line classwork. Shawn continues to recover from his bout with Covid-19. He's been back at work this week at least, although he tires easily. The vaccine availability in Regina has moved down to age 52, so it can't be too much longer before Erin becomes eligible. Tonight, they ordered a fancy pasta entrée for supper from Luigi's!

Safe at Home! 

Joanna has her test results and it's negative once again—yay! We were glad of the chance to celebrate that with them before returning to the Ontario Stay at Home orders. Andrew is interviewing for a couple of new opportunities and sure he doesn't want another fly-in camp experience! Gemma is nearing the end of her semester with a few projects to finish, and then it's exam time!

And that's about enough for this week.

He is Risen!

Wendy's Easter Project

 

He is Risen, Indeed!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown, The weather has turned nice, and we're enjoying that. Today was 17°, the high for the week, I'm thinking. Wendy's shoulder continues to heal and we're grateful for that. She finished her accounting project, and got that delivered. She completed doing some alterations on Mariana's wedding dress as well. Mariana is off to home, and to visit her fiancé for the next six weeks, so we're on our own for a bit. I had another phone appointment concerning my DVTs, and I have another scheduled with my clot doctor for next week. The markets were positive again, although fears of the latest wave of Covid infections is raising fears. Anyway, I completed the month and quarter on budget, so I'm grateful. I haven't got back over to the golf course, but I have working on swing exercises in the yard and while out on our walks. A high note for us is that we got our vaccination appointments; the first jab is April 14th! Curling has taken over again this weekend as the Men's World championships are on. Canada has made a good start at 3-0. Hockey continues although the Canadian division was rocked by another team with Covid infections—Vancouver this time. However, the hapless victim in both cases has been my Oilers and they now have a lot of games to make up. The Pens and Leafs are thriving; after their recent weeks of fine play, we find the Pens challenging for the overall league leadership. March Madness lost some lustre when my Jayhawks fell, and it must be admitted few games have been very magical or mad, but tonight's semi-final game between Gonzaga and UCLA was fantastic! Baseball season has started: Okay, Blue Jays, Let's Play Ball!

Erica writes, "I’ve been getting into the new office this week. I enjoy working from home, but I think seeing people again has been good. Liam has an iron infusion at the end of the coming week and we will celebrate Easter with him a week late.

Guido's Easter Creation

Mom and Dad arranged for an Easter cake for us from our friendly German baker, Guido. He took several recipes and his own knowledge to make a moist and not crumbly gluten-free cake—an amazing feat. It proves my long held contention that baking requires a high degree of both science and art. Eric has been unsuccessful so far in getting added to the priority list for vaccination. Given his asthma and history of pneumonia, he should be, but his doctor does not know how such a thing is done so he’s been calling various health agencies to find out. We had our own Easter egg hunt today. We wanted to get some Cadbury mini eggs for Liam because he can eat those, but not too early or we will. So we went out today looking for the eggs: Shoppers, nope. Save-on-Foods, nope. Superstore, nope. Safeway, nope. The other Shoppers, nope... the movie theatre, nope. Nutters bulk foods, nope... finally found them at Bulk Barn, yay! We also found gluten free Oreos along the way!"

Erin and Kristian remain hunkered down in the Covid Hotspot of Regina. We sent them a Turtle Cheesecake for Easter.

Turtle Cheesecake!

 

Kristian finds it too chocolatey, but Erin loves it, and I'm betting they'll manage to eat it all! Kristian is doing a music project on Beethoven. Shawn is feeling some better, and tried getting into work for a meeting on Thursday. He's still ill, tired most of the time, when he's not exhausted! Sadie joined Kristian in the fresh haircut department; she was so energetic afterwards and drove Lucy crazy!

Sadie's Fresh Cut

Joanna got back home from Toronto, and is now isolating and recovering from those exertions. Once she's had her test and is cleared, we'll look forward to celebrating Easter with them. She did pick out a commuter bike to ride around on now that the weather is nice. 

And that's about enough for this week!