Visitor

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been seasonable, with a few holdover April showers and the arrival of May dandelions! I did my first lawn cut of the season. Since we plan to miss a large chunk of the summer again, I am making it my goal to keep the lawn from growing too fast! We have scheduled Andrew and Rosie to live here while we're away, so they'll take care of the lawns anyway, but I'll try to keep it manageable. The rhubarb is growing nicely, and about ready for a first picking. I'll try to get a few of those done before we leave. I did get over to the golf course between showers for a bit more practice. I also confirmed that my electric caddy needs a new battery, so I have sourced that and, except for my game, I am ready for the season!

The startling events of the week here at Kensington Manor was the weeklong visitation by a fox. She has spent several nights sleeping in our yard, and a few nights yowling in the neighbour's driveway. This is a grave concern to Kali who responds anxiously to protect us! It also means we cannot allow Kali out except on a leash as the fox would make a quick meal of her! I have looked around, but have been unable to find a den in the area. Trav & Joanna have a fox with a few kits in their neighbourhood. We contacted the police and the Natural Resources folks—they are unwilling to do anything despite that she comes up on our deck and is certainly a hazard to our pet. Wendy was busy most of the week with Sweet Adelines business as her choir took a vote and decided to remain in the organization. The markets got kicked again as Trump wildly lashed out with additional tariffs against Europe (50%) and Apple (25%). This lead to another market sell off. At the same time, the Republicans are trying to install a new financial plan which will add trillions to the USA deficit and resulted in them losing their top level credit rating—disaster upon disaster! Canada appears to be forging new trading arrangements with Europe and China to avoid some of the economic damage. We are definitely living in interesting times. In sports, the Blue Jays are playing a bit better and have moved into second place in their division—much work remains to be done! In hockey, Oilers are playing Dallas in the West Final, while Florida is blasting Carolina in the East. I'll just keep cheering for the Oilers as I have no teams left in my bracket. Football is into the pre-season and the Riders lost to Winnipeg today. 

Erica wrote, "Eric is off to Guelph this weekend for a FMT (Family & Marriage Therapy) conference. The president of the association had many good things to say about Eric and the work he has done in Saskatchewan. Of course, I already know this, but it was nice for him to be publicly recognized. I am at the end of my fiscal year. It is very busy and there is much to do! So, I’m taking advantage of Eric’s absence to get some work done. Liam lost the side mirror in his car—just the mirror part, not the casing. So, he is working on sourcing replacement parts."

Erin and Kristian had a big week in Alberta. They drove up to Calgary last Saturday, spent a few days there including a trip to the Calgary Zoo. Kristian was able to reconnect with a classmate who had moved there.

Standing on Air!

Then, they drove up to Edmonton to check out the attractions there. They had a hotel well-connected to the West Edmonton Mall so they enjoyed minigolf, the aquarium, Fantasyland and the eateries there. Today they are driving home to Regina.

Travis and the dogs had a good week! Joanna? Not so much! I think I passed along my head cold and she has been convalescing with that most of the week. Fortunately, she was well enough late in the week to go with Wendy for a manicure/pediccure to complete Mothers Day celebrations! Now, Wendy is able to dress up her new sandals properly! 

And that's enough for this week.