Month: April 2026

Due to the chaotic nature of our weather as of late we’ve swapped Saturday, and Sunday events to try to capitalize on the sunshine, and positive temperatures today with the Extended family, and doing our own stuff on Sunday instead. Which does not affect the Girl Guides cookie sales in the morning, that schedule was set, and has no flexibility in it. Our dog walks and climbing can be moved around quite a bit. Heck, climbing can be pushed to tomorrow as well should it need to be.

I didn’t stay up late on Friday and now I’m kinda sad that tomorrow will be Sunday all ready. It has been a busy 2026 so far. Which is terrific! But don’t you worry it is bound to wind down unexpectedly at some point later on in the spring. Or maybe we’ll go full throttle right through this year like a hellion. Hard to predict.

So we are now moving the other side of the families (still not any part of my side(s)) big Easter egg hunt on the farm. So I need to get the dog walk over and done with before the little kids show up. Two hyper bouncing dogs and tiny children don’t mix very well.

This isn’t going to end with the eighth book, it is going to ten books, with the ninth book being split into two parts to have a major cliff hanger dead centre of the two parter. I am no longer racing through to read the sixth & seventh book before number eight drops in May. No point, as there will be at least a two year wait to get both parts of the ninth book. I’m kinda bummed, as I was looking forward to clearing an entire series in one calendar year. Hopes dashed! Plus he said they are going the whole 18 floors, so there goes any sense of worry about them dying before getting there. Oh well. I still enjoy Dungeon Crawler Carl, but I’m not going to ignore everything else in my life just to get to book eight in time. Frees me up just a bit!

In other news I did order the solar power generator, and the food rations, and water straws, as well as a couple books on survival tips. If they drop nukes it won’t much matter, but in the case of a natural disaster we are taken care of for at least a month to six weeks. Beyond that I don’t know if we have the fortitude or grit to carry on as a post apocalyptic tribe of do-gooders. Life is funny like that.

But, the books. I have already read more books cover to cover in the first three months of 2026, than I did all of last year. I’ll consider that a win! My current book, which is number six in the DCC series is the longest one by about 75 pages, so I am moving a whole lot slower through these times, than the earlier slimmer novels. Progress is progress though, whether it’s in ten page increments or fifty, one hundred, or two hundred page blocks. Just get to the next chapter is my current mantra. The page count can act like a pretty big mental obstacle when reading books this thick. I was sticking to 250-300 pagers for a while because of this personal weakness of mine. Overwhelmed meant not bothering. But with much smaller goals it has become easier to wade into longer stories, and still have a good time doing it.

Anywho — I can feel my ten milli Tommy starting to kick in, so I’m going to put on a movie or video and peace out! Happy Friday.

A bit of rain, and a few warm days with sunshine can do wonders for your lawn. With any luck we will continue to get enough rain, (not too much, and definitely not too little) to keep our gardens, and fruit trees growing this year. I have half a mind to buy some sweet corn seeds, and to bury a couple of potatoes to keep us fed come October since the fertilizer shortage due to the Strait of Hormuz is likely going to affect the entire planet with diminished production. Best start looking out for ourselves a bit more eh? Get you some water or a rain barrel cistern, and a whole bunch of non perishable food stuffs just in case these shelves start to run bare. Pasta & rice bags, salt, flour. Don’t go crazy but be prepared to sort yourselves out for several weeks, potentially a couple of months. I’m no prepper, but I am a pessimist with kids to look after. Better safe than sorry.

I’m on the fence about getting an Ecoflow solar panel & battery set up, only because I have a Champion gas inverter, but with fuel going up to $1.79/L that may not be totally viable as an alternative if things go haywire. However I do have some 25yr shelf life ration bars on the way to keep us afloat inbetween rice, pasta, flour, salt, and water. I have some safety straws too, just in case the bottled water, rain barrel idea gives out too early for a family of four. The solar stuff is pricey, but given power outages, and the generator it gives us options. I have a propane fueled heater in the garage, so we could be ok for a little while in the cooler months, but we aren’t a strong hold, and we aren’t exactly doomsday prepper prepared either. I have some guide books on edible plants in Canada, and that pretty much sums it up. In case of food insecurity we could last a few weeks to a month or two, then that’s it. Game over. Hunting with spears, or making traps for bunnies, squirrels, chipmunks, foxes or what have you. I’m no pioneer, once my prescription runs out, I’m not going to be much help beyond that. If we can get through two months, possibly three and then see help on the way I think we’d be ok-ish… Maybe. We’re not a hardy bunch. Very soft.

Maybe I’ll bite the bullet and get the solar panel now. Better to have it and not need it, than the other way around. Yeah. I’ll do it.

Could it finally be the day, the day we set out all of the lawn gear, patio furniture, solar lights, hoses, and garden decorations in preparation of the summer months? Yes, yes I believe today is that day. Sunny, warm and seventeen degrees at the height of the day. Perfect for lugging cold metal objects around the property.

I do have some new projects that came in early this morning to tackle first, but within a few hours I’ll be outside getting the house ready for outdoor use. It’s to rain heavily for a few days so the table and chairs will get a good soaking to remove dust from the shed. Later on I can revisit them with a bucket of soapy water.

I’ll want to prune the trees and the hedges soon before they start to bud properly. No need to waste all that precious energy on limbs I intend to remove.

Taxes are off to the accountant, so it’ll be a few days before I hear anything back about any of that. I’ve had word of new big ticket items coming my way in May, which is terrific news. Always happy to have work on the calendar and/or schedule.

Youngest child is home sick, all gooey, and with a hacking cough. Guess what I have to look forward to next week? My own cough and cold! You guessed it. Wonderful. Best stock up on Robitussin, and Day-Quil, and can’t forget NyQuil. I hate spring time colds. With any luck the added moisture and humidity in the air will help me get better faster. One can hope.

Will I put my back out moving the big table today? Don’t know. But we can give it the old college try!

Wouldn’t you know I did get all of the patio furniture out. Plus the lights, and the hose, and the decorations for the yard. I also took down the last of the Christmas lights wrapped in our front maple. I then hung up the big round swing, and put up the slack line with all of the hanging tricks on it. I even had the time to prune the suckers off of the old Lilac in the back yard. I even put the garden hose out on the spigot. I’ve ordered food to arrive soon, and I have some more paid work to do after I eat my lunch It has been a productive day thus far. I am happy. Go me!

Dog had his walk, and it is in fact warming up. I even put the last snow shovel away, along with the road salt bag I had by the front door. Up next will be the bicycles that need their chains greased, tires inflated, and perhaps a quick rinse with some soapy water. Might do that when I get to the patio furniture after a few days of rain. No point lugging a full pail of soapy water outside twice when I could just do it all at once. Table top, chair arm rests and the bike seats. Quick & simple.

Will spring actually kick in at some point later this week? The next ten days all appear to be up in the positive for temperatures. Is it too much to ask for a handful of sunny days that hover in the 12° to 15° C range? Comfortable sweater weather, or just a long sleeved shirt if you’re hard at work outdoors. I need to wash the cars, and start pulling out the patio furniture. Pull out the garden hose, and the Noma solar lights for the front walk. It’s way more fun to do in nicer weather, that’s for certain. I could power wash the back deck too while I’m at it. I should lubricate the AC unit fan too if I’m out back. Probably spend some time picking up all the dog bombs dropped over the winter. That’s an unpleasant job. Smelly one too. The joy of spring time cleaning, indoor & out.

If only just for one day, I’m still not impressed, but “Called it!”. We all knew it was going to happen, just a matter of when. This long weekend was dominated by cold, and windy conditions and a bunch of rain. It was only a matter of a few extra degrees downward for that to become both freezing rain, and snow. We got both! Hate it, take it back!

All fun and games because later this week it is supposed to be double digits in the positive, and rain some more, with a slight possibility for sun shine. Remote chance, but one can hope for some actual spring conditions instead of second, or third winter!

My innards are feeling way off today, not sure if last night’s extended family dinner has anything to do with it. Oh well. I’ll get this walk over and done with, then return home for breakfast and then start my work day off right. The dogs a little off too, he fought with one of his dog friends at school drop off this morning. Strange for him, he usually loves the lab we see every other week. I’ll have to look his paws over, see if he’s cracked a nail or hurt a paw. Joys of pet ownership.

While it’s colourful, fast paced, and full of items I recall from the Nintendo games universe, it wasn’t my most favourite animated film in a while. Wasn’t awful, wasn’t all that good either. My kids, and my much younger niece, and nephew both enjoyed it a good deal. They are the target demographic for this kind of frenetic, disjointed, run and gun marathon of consecutive short(s) like scenes that could sort of coalesce into a full movie, if you approach it generously. Again, not my bag, but it looked great in iMax. Kids hate 3D so we went regular version.

I feel the first Mario was far more story centric, and I appreciate that. This one felt short on plot, and story, to cram in as much spectacle as possible. Plus other characters, objects, things that the nes crowd would feel nostalgic for. That’s not me, so it feels a tad disjointed in spots, where I imagine nostalgia was supposed to make a connection, or fill in the blanks. Certainly looked cool while it was all going haywire.

I guess if you uber there, and had taken some edibles it would be a much more fun experience. Watching the main characters run, dip, dodge, and dive for 90 minutes got a little boring (for me – again, I’m not the target market for this stuff anymore) I did check my phone for the time on at least three occasions. Do with that information what you will.

All of the children eleven and under were transfixed by the flashing lights, loud noises, fast cuts, and breakneck pace. It seemed to keep them in their seats, facing the screen. They shrieked and cheered at mostly the appropriate times. I imagine it will do fairly well for itself at the box office.

We are going to sit down for an extended family brunch of eggs Benedict, potentially pancakes, and bacon, and toast. If I’d have given anymore than just a cursory glance I could have brought some sparkling rosé and rich juice to have some brunch mimosas. Day drunk early on a Sunday. It’s a thing apparently. I typically don’t do that unless it is Christmas Eve, Day, or Boxing Day, and sometimes it is even New Years Eve. Taking a lengthy room spinning nap isn’t something I long for these days. Not feeling hung over is better than anything I could do while drunk, so the trade off just isn’t in my favour anymore. I don’t bounce back like a 19 year old anymore. Hangovers last for 48 hours or more the older I get.

I think we are going to try to go see a movie as a group today. I’m not sure it’s actually going to happen, but the thought is nice. If I had my choice I’d go see Project Hail Mary for a second time, but the Mario movie is now in all of the larger screens like the AVX theater I like going to. I’m sure it’ll come back in the lull before the summer block busters start dropping.

Lazy Sunday is for curling up with a book, a blanket and snacks. A Sunday Funday is for going out to do activities, like mall walks & shopping, going to a movie or show, visiting a zoo or theme park (location dependent) or throwing a big party. Something out of the ordinary. Or going skiing or doing something a bit extra that you wouldn’t typically do. If I had money I’d opt for more Sunday Funday, but since I’m elbow deep in a new exciting book series I’ll settle for a Lazy Sunday.

Or, take some edibles and ride out the day in a fuzzy haze while watching movies and enjoying music in a state of quiet bliss. But that’s not possible with small kids. When they are moody teens and don’t want to be seen by me, or near me, I could try it then. Maybe. We’ll see.

Weather be doing it’s weird weather thing as of late. Hot, cold, wet, dry, windy, rainy, snowing, blowing, somewhat frozen, and generally uncooperative. That’s the current state of our weather map, and nobody seems to be able to account for all of it, so we’ve been reduced to wearing disparate items to hedge our bets and combat this ridiculous weather. Almost need to have a travel bag in the car full of gear for each eventuality. Things are getting out of hand. It’s currently 23° cooler today than yesterday. Spring flowers must be very hardy to grow so well with the outdoor elements being this volatile. I for one can’t stand it. Spring should mean rain showers, sun shine, and temperatures between 8° and 16° for seven or eight weeks, and then it ticks over into the high humidity, and scorching highs of summer.

Instead we will get only a handful of days in the teens, mixed in among flurries, high winds, major storms, lots of rain, and too much grey fog, and absurdly cold temperature swings. It will get sunny, but then be minus six and have a biting wind to go with it. Nasty.

We used our first day of the holiday to do an Easter egg hunt at the farm, and walk the dog a bunch while it was sunny, and above seasonal temperatures. My wife took a few hours to sort through her Girl Guides gear and throw some of her stuff away. The basement is filling up with the kids old toys as they outgrow stuff. They began their own purge without being asked to do so. My wee ones are growing up!

I think we might go out as a family to see the new Super Mario Bros Galaxy movie at some point this weekend. I don’t know if it will be any good, but the kids seem excited about it. I don’t imagine it’ll tickle the same fancy that Project Hail Mary did. Different demographic, looking for a different movie going experience.

Oh look it’s raining again. April showers bring May flowers, and all that Jazz. All I know is, everything will feel damp and chilled for the next thirty or so days. No matter what you do you will be both too hot, and too cold regardless of clothing choices, number of layers, and materials chosen as part of the make up of those layers. Do you go with breathable but get taken out by the piercing winds of icy goodness, or go with polyesters and sweat at the first sign of the sun, or stillness from the air. Shorts with a thicker sweater, full length pants but with full zip lighter sweater combo? Choices…choices. the other choice is to carry a back pack with upgraded gear, or a lighter option because if you are like me you always assume incorrectly how the weather will play out. It’s a hard won skill.

Now these novels are topping out at 700 to 800 or more pages. The pace of play has slowed considerably, but I only have this and one other to read before the final book of the series drops at some point in the middle of May. I’d like to be ready and waiting for book eight, and not be in the middle of any other novels at that time.

That being said I have another Martha Wells Murderbot book coming soonish, as well as a James S A Corey new release coming at some point soon too. I went all in on new books this year. It might have been a tad foolhardy. My bookshelves are quickly refilling, but on the plus side it’s by books I have actually read.

The orange book I have here is 812 pages. I think the next one is 700 pages or there abouts. The fifth book was 707 pages. I can’t keep up this pace for too much longer, but I’m glad that I got over having to use my reading glasses, and can now actively enjoy digging into a good book series once again.

Maybe after I finish all the new books I’ll try to complete some older books I started but never finished. Elantris, Mistborn, the Black Leopard & Red Wolf book I shelved quite some time ago.