July, 2021

July was mostly about staying at, or close to, home. Covid restrictions and health were the primary reasons for that.

Even so, there were several notable moments. In no particular order:

• Alfred returned his new Z50 camera, and instead pre-ordered the just announced Nikon Zfc - mostly the same features and functionality as the Z50, but with a retro look and feel. Just before the end of the month the camera arrived -  ice cream and Leaf pictures were taken with that camera.
• Several walks through the neighbourhood, plus my back- and front yard provided picture opportunities of the fauna and flora around. Note though that the high heat and the drought continued ( July turned out to be the driest month on record with only 8mm of rain recored). The result of that is a completely dormant ( read brown ) lawn, and a 75% leaf loss on my trees. Hope it all survives. Also the numerous forest fires in the province resulted in very smokey conditions throughout the entire month. 
• Alfred finished one of his treatments and the grandkids celebrated that by showering him in flowers.
• Almost overnight the wasps build a nest underneath our back stairs. And off course Theresa got stung several times when she walked down them. Not good as she is allergic to insect bites. Son-in-law (Hero Drew) got rid of the nest for us. 
• Got a nice sail in with Alicia and the boys, Main purpose was teaching Alicia to sail "Zeelandia" by herself, as she will be the designated owner. She did well. 
• We ended the month with an ice cream trip to downtown Transcona, and a visit to the newly created Gardens at the Leaf in the Assiniboine Park. 

Pictures of all of this can be viewed here.... 

June, 2021

 

June finally saw spring taking off with lots of beautiful weather. Combined with lots of watering, the flowers and veggies did take off, allowing for some cool flower pictures. All the more fun since Alfred got a new camera – Nikon Z50 – a mirrorless crop sensor camera. Love it sofar.

Other high points of the month including cleaning and launching the boat, saying goodbye to Alicia's trusted old van “Quatro” which was replaced by Cindy's van ( remember, Cindy got a new wheelchair van), a nice Father's day visit from the kids who used that time to stack some firewood, and Caleb's final schoolday.

To top things off – a picture of a famous building mural in downtown Transcona – that mural is soon to disappear because of building renovations.  

Relevant photos can be seen here.... 

May, 2021

 

What shall we say about May ??

Good stuff:

• Buying and planting flowers and veggies
• Picking up Caleb's new wheel-chair van
• Spring flowers and colors make for nice pictures
• Ice cream
• Got to take a look at the boat - first time since last October

Lesser stuff:

• Still wild temperature swings - like as in Summer on Monday, then Winter on Tuesday. Serveral days the new plants and flowers had to be moved back inside, or covered with sheets to prevent frost damage
• Almost no rain to speak off
• Covid infections still running rampant in the province, so restrictions actually increased

I suppose overall more good than bad. And now it's June - let the summer begin.

You can watch some of May's memories here.

April, 2021

Continuing from March, our Covid tests came back negative. And not only that but we both received our 1st Covid vacines.

Also, continuing from March was the weather - several nice warms days, but also many freezing days and even a dump (25cm) of snow. So still no yard work, and no green anywhere. 

2 Notable Birthdays in April - Caleb (tuning 10) and my own ( the big 70). The later was highlighted by my thoughtfull daughters who had my front yard populated with a bunch of Flamingos. 

The rest of the month was taken up by a bunch of medical tests. More on that later.

And finally, we are in yet another Covid lockdown - so no more visiting. 

The month ended on a sad note - Nala (Alicia's dog) crossed the rainbow bridge. She was almost 15 years old and her body had had enough. We will miss her. 

You can view some of the month's images here. 

March, 2021

 

March was a mixed bag.

1st of all March is Cerebral Palsy awareness month. Theresa ordered special T-shirts for the occasion, but these only arrived the very last day of the month.

Several days with above ( and some record breaking ) temperatures which allowed all of us to get together for family walks in the various parks.

And then there were days with cold, miserable weather, where we sat inside and moped.

At least most of the snow melted, with the occasional morning where all was covered in white again.

Too early for any yard work, but at least we got most of our outdoor Christmas decorations put away.

One notable event – a farm just outside Transcona has been demolished, That farm must have been well over 100 years old. When my kids were small, we used to drive by and admire the sheep, goats etc. that were kept there. But all things must pass, and the old couple that ran that farm did just that. And now, so did that farmhouse.

During March we started the process of getting a wheelchair van for Caleb. This included setting up a Facebook Fundraising page. You can find that here.

We ended the month with the sniffles, so off we went for a Covid test.

You can view the March pictures here.

February, 2021

As memories go, February was a month I'd sooner not remember.

Between strict ( and sometimes ludicrous ) Covid rules and regulations, and for almost half the month temperatures below minus 20C during the day I spent most days inside moping.

Got out once - to the dentist for a root canal, but that procedure did not work, and now have to have that finished by a specialist. 

My cameras have been collecting dust for the entire month - only worthwhile shot was of my Amaryllis which I managed to rebloom for the 5th year in a row. But even IT did not like this February, as it only produced 2 flowers, whereas I have had as many as 5 from that same bulb. 

Here is hoping March will be better. 

January, 2021

Normally January is a month where we recover from the previous Christmas month, both physically and financially. 

Add to that it's now well into winter with snow, freezing temps and still dark most of the day.

This year January was a bit different:

• not many festivities to recover from - none actually
• not many bills from overspending on presents
• warmest January on record

Still dark though.

On account of the Covid thing, still no visits for most of the month, and no shopping either. Although for the last week those restrictions relaxed a bit, so we can now visit ( 2 visitors max ) with a designated family - so we had a dinner at Alicia's. Nice to see the boys up close again.

Shops were opened as well, albeit with limited capacity. Discovered though we did not realy need anything that desperate to go stand in line for it. 

Most of the month was spend outside, walking the parks around here with the kids, as that was still allowed. At least that provided an opportunity for some pictures.

December, 2020

 Aah - December. A time for x-mas shopping, gathering with family and friends, hugs, dinners, joy...

Most of that did not happen this year. 

On a positive note:

• The Transcona Optimist Club Santa ride through the neighborhood did take place, elating many kids ( and me )
• All of our online orders arrived on time
• Theresa did some major bread making and turkey cooking - and a lot of that found its way to the Kid's front door
• Presents to the Grandkids were delivered - albeit just to the front door

December 2020 Memories

Still, I hope Christmas 2021 will see us in better times.

Happy and Healthy New Year.