Saturday, May 31

TACO

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been beautiful, too hot for my comfort actually, and we've managed some activities outside, until we had to retreat to air conditioned comfort inside! I have managed to complete two more fence panels as each one is a day's work for me! I now have a very satisfactory system for removing them, straightening them and reinstalling them. One ongoing issue relates to my fall last week. I tripped coming through the back gate and fell hard on my side and my head. It opened a small wound on my head, and probably cracked a rib. It's very difficult to find a position for sleeping, and heaven help me if I cough! It's also interfering with my golf swing (some will say that's a good thing!), but I've managed several trips to the practice area, and hope to get in a game next week. Wendy has mostly been working on Spring Cleaning issues in the house, but has also been out for a few of the walks with Kali. She still has her Sweet Adelines practices as well. This week brings us to the end of the month, and the updates for the first quarter of the year. Canada posted a surprisingly good quarter with annualized growth of +2.2%, while USA suffered negative GDP data, and is now threatened with a recession (2 consecutive negative quarters). Trump blew up when he heard about his TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) nickname, and has issued ever more bizarre threats. Now that the Court of International Trade has unanimously declared his tariffs illegal, there were some who hoped he would accept this off ramp as a way to get out of the mess and blame someone else for his failures. Alas, he is vowing even worse actions, and most pundits are now resigned to the fact that he will keep the trade war going. At least the TACO trading has made May a great month in the markets, but they've suffered so much since Jan 20th, that it still doesn't get the USA indices back to the green side. 

May Index Results
TSX: +5.4%
DOW: +3.8%
S&P: +5.8%
Nasdaq: +8.6%

Results since Jan 20th
TSX: +4.4%
DOW: -2.8%
S&P: -1.4%
Nasdaq: -2.6%

The preseason has ended in football, so teams are making their final cuts and getting ready for action in week 1: Riders open the season against Ottawa next Thursday—Go Riders Go! The Blue Jays continue to struggle around the .500 mark and that's not going to get them into the playoffs. Hockey has now advanced to the Cup Final Series and my very own Edmonton Oilers are there against Florida Panthers. I was not impressed by the way the Oilers ended the regular season, but I did pick them to win the first two series. I picked the Jets to beat them in round three, but the Jets after being the top team in the regular season really faltered in the playoffs. The Oilers are playing well, so I'll be cheering and hoping for them in the finals. 

Eric writes, "This week Erica has been working late to finish up some projects at work. Eric agreed to the nomination, and was voted in to be an elder for the church here. Liam has a procedure next week, so he came home for the week."

Erin and Kristian have returned from their fabulous road trip to Alberta. It was a great time both in their sightseeing and on the drive. Now, they're back at home and enjoying their home in Regina. 

including the cats!

Today was planting day for the planters and hanging baskets. Romaine, garlic chives, green onions, purple sweet peppers, yellow bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, peas, diva cucumbers, straight eight cucumbers, Roma tomato tree! I’m not sure what the difference in cucumbers will be. 

Travis and Joanna are doing well and enjoying their three dogs. It's the off-season for Ulrich Design, but there still seems to be enough to do. We're looking forward to joining them for supper on Sunday night. Kali will delight in coming along to play with Moxley, Darby and Marigold. 

Marigold, Darby, Moxley, Trav's Toes
And that's enough for this week! 

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