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Both the party itself, with all the prep work, and the building of, and hanging of a screen door built from scratch. I am exhausted. I think my wife appreciated the party and all of the accoutrements. The cheese selection, and fancy baguettes went over well. Could have held off on the veggie tray/fruit tray, but I’m glad to have offered the choice anyway. We didn’t end up needing pizza. The white wine from Yellow Tail, a Pinot Grigio was well received too. Glad I had it on hand, chilled of course. First time we’ve busted out the wine glasses. Had to wash the dust off of them. Haven’t been used since they were opened after the wedding. Not wine drinkers. Good times.

I didn’t get a chance to make the signature drink, as everyone was driving elsewhere afterwards. But I’ll make myself one at some point soon. I’m anxious to see what the fuss was about. My mixing drinks history extends as far as OJ & Vodka, Cranberry & Vodka, Gin & Lime Juice, or Rum & Coke, or Rye & Coke. Two simple items for one delicious drink. Sex on the beach however, requires Peach Schnapps, Lemon Vodka, Orange juice, Cranberry cocktail, and possibly also a splash of Sprite/7Up. Mixed with shaved Ice like a slushie. That seems complicated, but also, potentially – delicious? I’m hopeful for it to be my new go to for the summer months moving forward. Though it’ll be damn near impossible to knock daiquiris off of that pedestal. My true alcoholic beverage champion. Though a chilled Radler comes in the top five, for sure.

The second party of the weekend starts soon, so I need to get things set up at the in-laws. Ciao bella!

I finally have my screen door hung on the back of the house! I did it, finally. Smashed my thumb with a hammer at one point, fought with the damn thing to hang it myself (took a few tries to even out the top & bottom gap), and cut in my hinge slots. But it is up, it opens, it closes (mostly). I have some fitment issues to finesse tomorrow, but it’s up and today is June 3rd, so I’ll take it as a win. The sun is shining, a cool breeze is on the air, and I got this fucking thing finished. It needs an interior latch, and one more piece of bug blocking trim, but I have it on the house, and that counts for something.

Also I want to start my coffee table build because school will be over before you know it, and I’ll have the kids home 24/7 and won’t be able to putter around inbetween paid work. So start now, pick it back up in September, or if I get a random day/weekend to my self from out of the blue. Oh, my thumbnail is turning purple. That smarts a bit. My driver bit fused to a snapped screw so I held it to whack it, where I should have used pliers to do so. I was rushing. Of course. And gave it a great snapping fuck you with a urethane mallet. PING! GODS be damned!

Fighting with the door made me curse a fair bit. Wind wasn’t helping me either. Got it in though! Wink, wink. That’s what she said. Ha.

I don’t want to talk about our provincial election. Apathy and greed have won the day – yet again. My choice has the charisma of a sand paper laden hand job, so not a surprise the corrupt no show fellas took the win. Maybe next time. FUCK!

The big party is today. I have on hand: Baguettes, garlic bread, various European cheeses, hummus, nacho 7 layer dip, Boursin garlic & herb spread, a veggie tray, a fruit tray, various cured meats, red wine & white wine (chilled) I have Coke, Sprite & Ginger Ale, bottled water, fancy crackers (three kinds) and the ingredients to make my wife’s favourite alcoholic beverage “Sex on the Beach”. I also have two types of nacho chips. Do I need to get pizza aswell? We have five guests who dropped out yesterday with non Covid illness (one whole family). It’s all outdoors, and now there are even fewer of us than previously planned. Blue tooth speaker is charged up ready to roll. I’ll wash the table, dust off the chairs and call it a day. I have ice, and buckets for beverages too, thank you Moosehead Breweries!

I can now feel my heart beat through my throbbing thumbnail. So I’m going to eat lunch and call it a day. Ciao bella!

Which is odd, because it is neither a Friday nor a Monday, but in fact today is a Thursday, of all days. It is also our provincial election day. So Teachers can go vote, and work on grade school kids report cards. I voted early to avoid crowds or a rush on the polls. I still do what I can to avoid large groups of strangers. Probably why I’ve only been to the movies once since February of 2020.

Started the day off with the kids reading, and writing in their work books. The youngest practicing letters, and the oldest working on coherent sentences describing what has just been read. It’ll take some extra time (thanks Covid) but we’ll get the reading and writing up to snuff so there isn’t an unnecessary amount of struggling come grade three in the fall.

Had a brief burst of creativity yesterday. I think that makes two or three random short stories over the last month or so since I finished writing book two. Nothing has grabbed me so hard I had to write a follow up. Just flexing my brain muscles, keeping the engine warm, as it were. Seems to revolve around murder and violence, but that may be due to having just finished Don Winslow’s City on Fire, which was pretty good.

It started with more than $150 in European cheeses and cured meats. A hand made Ash cutting board. And now I need to get enough soft drinks and juice boxes on hand for the quiet event. I have crackers, cheese and meats. Ingredients to pour Sex on the Beach beverages to the adults who aren’t driving. I will order pizza, and pick up a veggie tray and a seven layer dip, because my wife loves that shit, so she can have it for her day in the sun. We have the table & chairs set up. Grass is cut. Wine for the guests is chilling. Ice cubes are a go in the freezer. Music on hand. Speaker will charge up this week. I just need to get fresh baguettes on Friday.

Today will be general house cleaning, and outdoor prep. Pulling weeds from the visible garden beds. Cleaning the table, and patio/deck areas. Making sure our play equipment is clean for all five kids to play on. Should be a fun time.

Laundry is almost done it’s wash cycle, dishwasher has started. Floors vacuumed and mopped. So I’ll finish up this post and head outside to tackle the deck and patio. Should be in a great spot for Friday afternoon. Though it is a hot one today, boy, I’ll tell you that much. 31 degrees Celcius. Not yet a scorcher, but closing in on it once the humidity kicks in. Which remind me, I should grease the AC fans again, so the damn fans not so loud. Our unit is old, but it works. Ugly as sin, loud, but functional. Knock on wood.

Until we meet again.

As mostly nothing is open. There has to be people like me who wish to run errands right after school drop off. I cannot believe people go home first, for a half hour or so, then go right back passed where they were and then run errands. It is ridiculous. I hate it. Probably why everyone goes to Walmart, it’s damn near open 24/7 around here anyway.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see, in a few years Walmart brand lawyers, dentists, doctors and Banks. All run on the same schedule out of those ugly misshapen blue buildings. Oh, the future, it’s going to be ugly.

I’m still having a run of likes on a random post from weeks ago. I don’t know why, but the bots, or bot-like accounts are drawn to it. Liking it without reading it. New follows along with those random DNR (Did Not Read) likes. If it brought ad revenue with it I wouldn’t mind so much, but I really don’t believe that anymore than 5-10% of those accounts are real people who would get any enjoyment out of my material/content. Not that I write for the void, but still.

We had a busy, travel filled weekend. First to the cottage for the night, then to Ottawa for the day, for golf and farewells to family that are moving across the country – again. Then back to the cottage for a night, and some boat rides, odd jobs, and then driving back home. It honestly felt like a weeks worth of travel in 56 hours time. Kids travelled better than expected, but always seem to fall apart ten minutes from home. You can set your watch to it. Ugh.

Covid times really robbed us of some precious family time. Which really hits home now that a large portion of my side of the family are moving away – again. Oh well. We will have to make plans to meet in Las Vegas, or a Disney in Florida at some point in the next 3-5 years. I had hoped we could go see a Sens game, or play a full round of 18 holes this summer, or amp up our go-cart chops at the track in Hull. But it wasn’t meant to be. I did however, use my new-to-me golf clubs for the first time this weekend. The nine iron was my go to, along with my 3 iron and putter. I played like shit, but at least it wasn’t the hottest day of the summer this time. Way better when it was twenty degrees cooler and almost no humidity to speak of.

As mostly nothing is open. There has to be people like me who wish to run errands right after school drop off. I cannot believe people go home first, for a half hour or so, then go right back passed where they were and then run errands. It is ridiculous. I hate it. Probably why everyone goes to Walmart, it’s damn near open 24/7 around here anyway.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see, in a few years Walmart brand lawyers, dentists, doctors and Banks. All run on the same schedule out of those ugly misshapen blue buildings. Oh, the future, it’s going to be ugly.

I’m still having a run of likes on a random post from weeks ago. I don’t know why, but the bots, or bot-like accounts are drawn to it. Liking it without reading it. New follows along with those random DNR (Did Not Read) likes. If it brought ad revenue with it I wouldn’t mind so much, but I really don’t believe that anymore than 5-10% of those accounts are real people who would get any enjoyment out of my material/content. Not that I write for the void, but still.

We had a busy, travel filled weekend. First to the cottage for the night, then to Ottawa for the day, for golf and farewells to family that are moving across the country – again. Then back to the cottage for a night, and some boat rides, odd jobs, and then driving back home. It honestly felt like a weeks worth of travel in 56 hours time. Kids travelled better than expected, but always seem to fall apart ten minutes from home. You can set your watch to it. Ugh.

Covid times really robbed us of some precious family time. Which really hits home now that a large portion of my side of the family are moving away – again. Oh well. We will have to make plans to meet in Las Vegas, or a Disney in Florida at some point in the next 3-5 years. I had hoped we could go see a Sens game, or play a full round of 18 holes this summer, or amp up our go-cart chops at the track in Hull. But it wasn’t meant to be. I did however, use my new-to-me golf clubs for the first time this weekend. The nine iron was my go to, along with my 3 iron and putter. I played like shit, but at least it wasn’t the hottest day of the summer this time. Way better when it was twenty degrees cooler and almost no humidity to speak of.

Yuck. Thick swarms of them everywhere. How gross. Makes my skin crawl. Yikes!

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming. I think, compared to last weekend, this one should be a whole lot quieter. Far less physical activity, that’s for sure. Have some family things to sort out, so I may not be too engaged with the blog come Saturday/Sunday. No biggie. I’m not certain anyone besides me visits every single day anyway. I don’t bring it out of people like that. No biggie. I’m not famous, or a voice of a generation. Just some dude keeping his streak going for just a little bit longer. Taking by the moment, as the days progress.

I’m willing to bet that at least 75% of my current “followers” are bots or junk accounts. It’s weird how some innocuous blog entry will just randomly go on a run of likes and gathering new followers. But the post in question is never anything worth while. Not a short story, not a wood working of sculpting post, nor a think piece about tragedy or anything meaningful. Plus many followers share the same avatar image, or are about passive income, crypto, or some internet money making scheme. It’s all very weird and strange.

I managed to finish and hand off the two newel posts for my FIL. I got the kitchen window screen fitted (kind of), and I have yet to cut the hinge slots. Still feeling a bit of trepidation about committing to that step. So close to finishing though. So close! I will do it. I’m happy that come the fall I’ll be able to have that door open to the breeze like I have dreamed of since we moved her in 2009. Baby steps! Measure three times, just to be certain.

Not a whole lot, I’ll tell you that, now, for free. It has been a busy couple of says. My shoulders are feeling the pain from it all. Carrying debris around homes and lifting trunk chunks into trailers is busy work. Tiring for this middle aged man. Whoo boy! But what a work out. Speaking of which, started push ups again, which are boring and tedious, but my back has really been feeling it these last few days. Still haven’t gotten up the desire to go for a run. My knees and ankles implored me not to, so I heeded their call for calm.

In the shop I am almost done the two newel post caps for my FIL. Done in Cedar with some trim tacked around the outside, and a nice round over on the top. Looks like it’ll end up 8.5×8.5×2 inches high. Had to break out my hand planes for these rustic fellas. Smell great when you work it too. I opted to attach the mitered trim with Brad nails and not pin nails. They aren’t going anywhere. Especially since I used glue as well. Should be rock solid. Three coats of thick oil based primer, top and bottom, and they can go to their new home.

Then I need to tackle my hinges and finish of this screen door for good! Makes me nervous to cut into them and the frame on the house. Hard to fix if I fuck it up. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow I’ll pluck up the courage to measure it all again, and lay things out. Perhaps I’ll get the itch to start cutting, chopping and chisel my way through the task. Stranger things have happened.

The inclement weather kind of robbed us of a long weekend. The 26+ hour power outage didn’t help much either. Could be worse though. By 9:00pm Monday night we had all of our residential clean up done. I’ll take that as a win. At some point this weekend I crossed over 160 days of writing every single day. Might have been with the short contract killer story I roughed out. I think I could pretty that up some, but I like the bones of the story. My time constraints made it a bit rushed, but the spine is in there, hard & fast.

Spent cutting, and hauling brush, climbing ladders and assessing damages to rooves, and other buildings/structures.

My hands and arms are exhausted, and I feel like I could sleep for 24 hrs straight and still wake up bone weary. I can’t imagine how others, whom were harder hit are keeping up. Weather calls for rain tomorrow, and possibly for a few days in a row.

Our house clean up was minor, my in-laws house was more involved, as they lost fencing, a shed, and three trees plus numerous limbs. We also helped a neighbor, and then I got up on a farm hands roof, and found a limb had harpooned his roof, leaving a white onion sized puncture in the top of his roof. We cleared his downed brush as well. Three full to over flowing dump trailers worth of debris.

They called it a derecho, that stretched 800Km, from London Ontario, all the way to Montreal, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.