Month: September 2023

Kids desperately wanted to have a bon fire with jiffy pop popcorn, and do some more fishing. But these early sunsets meant we ran out of time to do it all on Saturday evening. So grandpa and grandma took the girls out on Sunday morning for a couple hours in the sunshine to try and catch more fish. Off the dock our best haul was 12 six to eight inch long fish at one time. All returned to the lake out of the holding bucket we were using with lake water in it. Off the boat they were less successful, but had fun nonetheless. Lots of nibbles and stolen worms, but no fish brought in after a hearty struggle on the line. This time.

We then spent a good amount of time taking the water trampoline out, along with the lily pad and the seadoo ramps. So slightly ahead of the fall shut down in preparation for winter. Would love to see a couple more items taken out and processed for winter storage, so that the whole Thanksgiving weekend doesn’t have to be spent in the ice cold lake, washing, cleaning and storing boats, kayaks, paddle boards, deck chairs, tables, and lounge chairs among other things. First world problems.

I will have been writing at least once a day for two years straight. Keeping up a running commentary for this long has been fun, and challenging. I do not live a very exciting lifestyle, but some weirdo shit has happened, and found its way here eventually. Car accidents we witnessed, health scares, death, parties, traveling, illnesses and a few other events too. Life comes at you whether you rock private jets or work part time and are a home body. Fires; of houses up the street, town vehicles outside our home. Police presence due to shady neighbourhood renters. The disappearance of multiple cats, again. Years ago we had people finding severed cat heads on the sides of the roads around town. But we think that with all the new housing developments the foxes, and coyotes are just wandering town eating house cats. We’ve seen the local foxes jump four and five foot fences in a single hop. Watch your tiny pets people. For such a small town we also have a fair bit of bureaucratic corruption going on. Shady deals that upset projects or redirect them and make them almost useless. Look at Hoover Road, it was to be the town’s bypass to avoid main street. It was to have no driveways or houses directly on it, be a proper boulevard. But now there are so many schools, driveways, stop signs and lights, it takes longer to get across the bypass than to just take main street. It really is a disappointment. Bad land deals that the town is now being sued over. There is more, but I digress.

Oh well. Today is Sunday September 10th. Double digits all ready. Going to be fair time in the blink of an eye. Submit your fair entries by Sept 14th, 2023. Get those entries in and save BIG on adult passes. The Markham Fair begins thursday September 28th, and runs until October 1st. Something for everyone!

Tried a liquid edible beverage last night. A quick and effective delivery method, but tasted awful. So I don’t really have an opinion on it as I don’t really know where this particular beverage lands on the continuum of better tasting cannabis drink to worst available product on the market. What if? What if the one I had was among the better tasting items, and I still hated it. Do you try a second and hope it isn’t much worse? I’ll stick to the Extract Orange Jelly Bombs, those taste ok, and work very well. Shame I don’t trust their website like at all – at all. Nobody nearby carries that flavour or strength of product. I cut the eight small mini lego brick looking pieces in half, and still feel great.

Happy lazy Sunday. Ciao Bella!

My legs felt like jello after just one hour of pulling thistles and stinging nettles from the strawberry patch. We managed to clear up half of the two rows we’ve got, and the all season berries are at it again, with a good showing of fruit. Not that it’s anywhere near as full as the end of June, but pretty decent for a second showing in the same summer. My hamstrings, quads, and lower back are all singing a song of pain and aches today. Just in case I wanted to forget that I am in fact a man in his forties, who does not do manual labour for a living. Oh, I never forget that fact. My body won’t let me.

I am on day four of exercising at least once per day. Nothing too special. I still have not gotten out on my bike, nor roller blades, or my long board skate board for that matter. The chubbiness is ever present. I was hovering down around 203Lbs, and then was up to 210lbs in the blink of an eye. I also need to stop eating after 8:00pm at night. Shouldn’t be too difficult. I can drink water to stop me needing to snack in the evenings.

I just don’t know why I don’t attack the weight loss with the same vigor that I do writing everyday. Maybe I need to tie them together, so that I do one in order to do the other. As it is almost a compulsion now, to continue the writing streak. Not sure that’s healthy. But, eh! What am I going to do?

First partial week of school done. Still have some adjusting to do. Some extra curriculars should begin soon, so that should help smooth over the transition from summer break. We will have to see if it takes the full three weeks like I suspected it will. Anyway. Enjoy your saturday. Oh a birthday shout out to two of my brothers. Born two years apart, but on the same day no less. Happy birthday!

I need to go pull weeds at the farm to save the strawberry patch from thistles. Not going to be much fun. But, I will say this. Having the humidity gone, and the overall temperature halved is going to work in my favour. My hamstrings and thighs will hate me in 24-48 hours from now, but beats working in 40°C heat. I’ll be pulling thistle needles out of my hands for a couple of days afterward, but what can you do. My gloves are tough, but nature is tougher. Sneakier too!

Enjoy your Friday, you made it!

There is a reason to my madness sometimes. Usually the knowledge that not having something on hand when I need it will greatly impede my ability to finish a task. Think along the lines of having enough screws in common sizes, nails, tape, paper, pencils, clay or wood on hand so that I can start and finish without additional hiccups. Nothing I hate more than needing to stop to run to a store in order to grab some small or insignificant part. That’s usually why when I do go, I always come home with batteries, tape, a size of screw or finishing nail. Nothing too extravagant, but a consumable I know I’ll use eventually, that doesn’t go off. Batteries being the exception here. Leave them long enough and that’ll be $30 down the toilet. Figuring out how to build on the fly is one thing, having to stop when in the groove to grab an item is a huge time waster, and productivity killer. I have a selection of staples, rivets, bolts, washers and what not on hand to avoid that type of issue. Not like a hoarders amount, but enough that I could assemble a part or job without needing to worry. Once I have used a part though, I’ll need to remember to restock at some point.

I likely need to build a single bed frame, and two book cases of varying style at some point soonish. So now I need to design them, look at my wood piles to see if I can do it with what I’ve got on hand, or go shopping for hardwoods. I’m waiting to start as I know I’m going to get busier soon with event reports. But atleast I know where to aim when I can start to build again.

I took a moment yesterday to prime some minis I ordered in the spring. I don’t really want to paint them right now, but having them primed and waiting will only make that process smoother once I get around to painting them. It was real hot yesterday, so no runs, no streaks, and they cured rather quickly. I’m just letting the paint off gas outside before I bring them back down to my office/studio space. Less stinky this way. I even remembered to change out the filters on my respirator mask before painting! Bully for me!

A lot of my job entails rushing about doing lots of mundane leg work so that when it comes time I can focus on the bigger picture, and make the work as good as possible. Sourced all the photos upfront. Data sets are complete and in front of me. Template with fonts and layout worked out ahead of time. Course palette set up prior to beginning. That way when given the go ahead I can just work. Far superior in my opinion than trying to do all that on the fly. Helps to alleviate mistakes that way too.

Happy Thursday to you all. Ciao Bella!

Is likely to be a day that ends with them too. My youngest has not yet adjusted entirely to the old routines of school. Now with a consistent wake up time, and a set of demands to fulfill prior to leaving the house, she is having some “Big Feelings” about her return to the classroom. What do you mean I now have to wake up, use the bathroom, eat, brush my hair, brush my teeth, get dressed, and get ready to travel to school each and every week day morning until we hit a holiday, PA Day, or break week. That’s nuts! So as I have mentioned previously this will take a week or two to become the new normal, and then we’ll only have morning tears once every two to three weeks about, “I hate school!”, or “I’m not going to school!”, shouted through big fat tears and messy hair. Gotta love it. The older one is more resigned to having to go. If she throws a wobbly about it, we know there’s an actual problem we haven’t heard about, or been informed of.

Today is Wednesday of all days. Wowzers. These short weeks are a real trip. Yesterdays high of 39°C withbthe humidity was really unpleasant. Expected during the summer, not so good once the kids are captured by a 100 plus year old school with no AC. We ended up needing to swim for several hours after the school day to get over it. Was still uncomfortably hot by 8:00pm. I suspect the storm tomorrow will come with lots of thunder and lightning.

I’m home alone today as my wife is out volunteering at her school to make sure her co-OP kids get their papers filed properly to be able to graduate, as the counselors last year didn’t do so, and now they’ve got to do one more semester, and file the appropriate materials on time. So that’s where she’ll be until 2:00pm today. I’m going to sort laundry, and clean while the house in empty.

You know what, I don’t blame the kids for having an adverse reaction to the return to school, because now I too have to wake up earlier to make lunches, breakfasts, and get kids dressed, and have all their gear found out in order to leave. It’s an adjustment for everyone. I’d much prefer to languish in bed, all snuggled up in the covers, with my fan going full tilt at my body. Waking up with your body rather than an alarm is far superior. In my opinion anyway. Looking forward to the weekends, and summer break where the kids sleep in until 9 or 10 am. Not crazy late, but not too early either. I get really pumped when they hit 8:00 or 8:30am. That’s pretty good too. But it usually involves a really physical day, or a very late night to precede it.

In the end we made it to school, even with the tears and commotion. I just had to hold, and rock back and forth while we waiting in line at our doors, as her friends showed up. Then all was forgotten. Not a big deal once out of the house. And afterwards we’ll swim again to shake off the stress from the extreme heat. So that should be fun, but tiring. Which leads us to the end of the day tears. See, I knew I’d get you there eventually! Ha. Ciao Bella!

Woah, that’s a huge influx of kids this year, holy moly. First day of school has officially started. Kids found their teachers and the associated line-up spots and hardly had a moment to spare for us once they found all of their friends gathered up in those lines. Happy faces excited for another new year.

This starts my wife’s actual year off. It’s here, it’s happening, and it is really real. Starting off strong with a nap. I’m going to clean up a bit. Nothing too major today. I do expect work to pick up in the coming weeks. So I best get to tidying up now while I can.

We had groceries delivered yesterday, so I don’t need to pop round the shops today. I started a mountain of laundry yesterday and Sunday evening, so that can get sorted after my wife’s nap is done. I fold & sort on the big bed. So can’t do that if it’s occupied. I can sweep and mop, but no vacuuming until after the nap. May just chill out, and eat a slow breakfast. I have seven hours to sort out my day.

Wishing you all a safe, and happy return to school day today. Ciao Bella!

Honest question here, when was the last time a new instrument was adopted by the masses with wide use. I will exclude apps, or AutoTune, as I am referring to a physical instrument. Would that make it something like a synthesizer or type of piano or something? But even then that is more like an iteration of a previous concept, and not – say, a brand new never seen before musical instrument. Did we really get to the bottom of wind and string instruments by the time we made it to the 19th century? Or did me make it so that the quality of what we have on hand is so high the need to look further seemed to be more difficult than the benefit we’d get out of continuing to search? Or is this yet another case of brain drain? Seems odd that we haven’t seen or heard any major audio/aural break throughs with new and exciting instrumentation. New sounds we’d previously never heard. Hm. Just something to ponder.

I bet if I took even a cursory glance at any legitimate musically oriented museum web site I could find out. Hold on. So the Steel Pan was claimed in the 20th Century, and kickstarter makes some claims about a Hanago (dubious at best). But no major gold rush of new instrumentation that has stormed the scenes in bars, clubs or music venues across the country, continent, or planet. Again – interesting.

Last day of summer break. Wow. And what a hot day for it too! Glad we have plans to go swimming later today, as it is a roaster out there. When it was still 20°C at 4:00am, you know it’s going to be a warm one. I need to change my alarms to get up for school drop off and to make lunches, drinks, and breakfast at the earlier time.

Started an absolutely mammoth pile of laundry yesterday. Which will likely carry on through today, and possibly into tomorrow. We will see. We started out good by doing our laundry at the cottage so that we didn’t have to take five weeks worth of single use items with us, but after having to travel back and forth for a bunch of events, and my work, that got pushed to the wayside, and now I have several large piles to wash, sort and put away. Such fun!

I’ll need to search through everyone’s travel bags to find all the worn underwear, and dirty socks, shorts and t-shirts. Putting it all away is going to be a bit of a task too. Fun times.

Spent driving, visiting, eating, walking, and waiting before we can make the last and final leg back home. Lots to do tomorrow too, but that’ll all be school admin style work. Checking coats, hats, shoes of all types, back packs, lunch bags, water bottles, pencil cases, and their contents. Paper stocks in the craft cubby, and then another visit & swim with friends. Then come Tuesday and we will be right in the thick of it all once again. Hard to believe it. If it wasn’t happening to us right now as we speak I would assume we still had weeks left to go. Summer time for working adults with school aged children passes all too quickly.

I do find that these nicer warmer months pass far to fast as we have so much opportunity to get out and do stuff, but January and February drag due to the cold, and a general sense of winter blahs and boredom. The pace really picks up in late April and won’t slow down until November, UNLESS November has a weird heat wave, and then we will get out and about to enjoy it while it lasts doing any odd items we didn’t get to during the summer.

Happy long weekend to you all.

Living the dream this long weekend. Summer is definitely leaving us behind as the morning temperatures dip down to single digits. Leaves have started to turn on certain trees, and others have begin to curl. The bugs have seemingly lessened at night as the heat has dissipated these last ten days. The dusk fishing expeditions are easier on the flesh, and the warmth from the fires are welcomed rather than sweat inducing. The final days of week nine of summer break are upon us.

We even received the notices for our kids classroom placements. Good news on all fronts. So that should minimize tantrums where friends, and teachers are concerned. We do have three weeks for the board/ministry to decide there has to be a shake up, followed by a reshuffle of kids and resources, so crisis not entire averted yet. But better to start from a good footing, and hope for the best. We’ll just have to see how it all shakes out.

Spent some time yesterday moving wood piles, making stacks, and tidying up to reclaim space for moving things around by the boat launch. I was glad for the chance to swim once the four of us were done. Lake is down to 70°F , the coolest it has been all summer. It was above 80°F in early July, and then decreased over the following weeks. No major algae blooms this year. This coming weeks heat wave might bring the temperature up a degree or two, but these cold nights really sap the lakes ability to hold on to its heat. Unless the heatwave lasts all night too. In which case forget what I’ve just said.

These poor kids are going to be sweltering at school this week, as it is supposed to feel like 40-41°C for a few days in a row. Yuck. Shame that wasn’t last week when we could have been swimming to stay cool.

I’m excited! We can start our major clean up sessions once the kids are back in school. Turn out all the broken junk, and have more room for what the kids really play with. Make our tiny house feel more spacious. It’s a great time of year. Though I imagine I’ll get busy with work now that all of the summer events have come to a close, and the polling, research data is being compiled. September may just fly right on by! Plus add in our Markham Fair commitments and it will really be a fast paced month. Get your tickets online for the Markham Fair before September 25th and Save 20% OFF your ticket(s)!

Catch you about town. Mask up, take care out there. Ciao Bella!