Thankfulness!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Wascana in the middle of the prairies. The weather has continued to be summer-like, and I've enjoyed a couple of more golf games. I had another one scheduled for today, but that fell victim to covid concerns. The project this week has been curtains. I have taken down the old vertical blinds from the three bedrooms, and installed horizontal rods for blackout curtains in each of the rooms. The TV room is fully installed;

TV Room Curtains

Wendy is working on trimming the other curtains to the appropriate length. Nice brushed-nickel rods, and identical patterns of curtains for all three. Looking good! We took the car down to Weyburn on Thursday to get new tires from my old friend, Kerry. We took advantage of the occasion to golf at the familiar course there. We also enjoyed a visit with Kerry and LaVonne—it was a good time! Other news of the week was not so good: On Wednesday morning, Ellis took a turn. We still are not getting any clear diagnosis from the doctors, but he became quite disoriented, lost his ability to output speech or writing, and seemed pretty out-of-touch with reality. The paramedics did the usual check-offs, and determined he should be taken to emergency, from whence he was admitted to hospital, where he remains. Phone calls reveal some improvement, but he still remains far from the effective participant he was earlier in the week. He seems to understand everything said to him, but is unable to find the words to say in reply. Then, this morning, we were informed that Kristian had been exposed to covid at school. He is in three classes with the infected student, and she was there Mon, Tues, Wed before feeling ill. He's fully vaccinated, but will isolate until Sunday, then take a covid test, and we'll play it by ear after that. Anyway, I cancelled my golf today, and our Thanksgiving meal is in limbo as we await results. Otherwise, we seem to be bending the curve a bit on the delta variant, except in Sask and Alberta where their governments were recalcitrant. US and Canada are both down over 10% this week, but the US remains at a level about three times the in-control line. The markets turned around this week as the Republicans reluctantly agreed they should pay for the items they decided to buy! What a strange system they have down there, where they can pass legislation to make certain expenditures, but then, they have to decide later whether they will pay for it! At any rate, the markets took heart and I had a good week. Maybe next week, I can begin to rebuild my portfolio. In sports, the baseball season ended with the Blue Jays one game short of the playoffs. I've picked Brewers, Dodgers, Rays and Astros to advance to the next round. Riders played the return engagement with Calgary this evening, but fared no better—sigh! Stamps kicked a FG as time ran out to win the game. In college football, my #6-Sooners were playing my #21-Longhorns, so one team had to lose. This time it was my Sooners responding to a bad first quarter with a big comeback for the win! Two curling events this weekend; I've enjoyed catching some of that action on line. 

Eric finally completed his confinement on Thursday, so he's back in circulation. Erica continues with work from home or the office, and the fence is still standing. This weekend, they enjoyed a visit from their friend from Kenora. 

Erin had a tough week. She was ill with a migraine, and only got in to work on Friday. Then, Friday night she got the news of Kristian's potential exposure to covid, so her Saturday Thanksgiving dinner with Shawn and the children was cancelled. We're still hoping things are clarified and we can have Thanksgiving dinner with them on Monday. 

Travis and Joanna have been very busy with Bucket Decal orders, and the photo sessions for hockey teams are building up as well. It's great to be busy again. 

Another Minnie-stack ready for shipping!

And that's enough for this week!