Good Morning - I trust that everyone is well.
Here in Ontario we were all celebrating Stage One of re-opening which began on Friday June 11th. Stores deemed as non essential were allowed to be open to in person shopping with strict limitations of numbers . We decided to pass on any shopping for a few days until the rush of freedom subsides. Outdoor patio dining is now allowed. Many cities, towns or villages, have either closed off traffic flow to allow restaurants full access to the sideways and/or roadways, or reduce the traffic to 1 lane in each direction. And speaking of traffic flow, the Canada Geese in our village control the flow of traffic.
Currently Watching: more DVDs from the library; Dead Still, which is centred around the Victorian photographer of "memorial" photos. He takes photos of the dead with their living families. Apparently this was a big thing during the Victorian times & we know that no one did mourning like the Victorians. Not sure yet if I like it, it gets a no vote from Mr Man. The young niece, Nancy, in the story so far has proved to be a pointless character & certainly doesn't fit well with the other characters, IMO.
Tried one season of Jack Turner; We know we didn't like this one. A lot of mumbling in the dialogue or was it the accent of the locals? I really like Iain Glen as an actor, especially in Game of Thrones & Downton Abbey.
Season 3 of Line of Duty. This series is like a traffic accident, you should look away but just can't. I am enjoying some of the character developments. Mr Man still isn't sold on it, but then again it took me a while to get him into GoT.
Currently Reading: on a recommendation from Lady Ella, I'm about 30 pages into "The Thursday Murder Club" ... oh my what a busy place this retirement home is, & never under estimate the mental capacity of seniors.
Currently Crafting: my June goal is to complete about 10 unfinished cards & tackle my growing stack of PHD scrap pages, (Projects Half Done) & get at least 4 finished & put into the albums. So far I give myself a 5 on this out of 10.
Currently Admiring & In Awe:
Queen Elizabeth II's actual birthday is in April but it is celebrated
each year in June with the Trooping of The Colour. She looks amazing at 95 years old. The ginger & the whinger are taking a 3 month break ... a break from what I don't know, but look to your Grandmother of how to get on with it.
Currently Recovering: I say this with some jest, I visited my Dental Hygienist for a teeth cleaning last week & my teeth are always so sensitive for about a week after a cleaning. Strictly routine, no dentist contact, nothing to worry about, but when she took my blood pressure, it was quite high with anxiety - I was at the DENTIST of course it was high! She says everyone's blood pressure is high. She said The Ontario College of Dental Hygienists now requires them to take a patients blood pressure at the start of each session. Ridiculous in my opinion, who is going to be relaxed at the dentist? Anyone else in Ontario experience the blood pressure taking? The bill certainly would have caused an acceleration in B/P.
Currently Not Ignoring: I haven't mentioned current sad, disturbing, upsetting news from Canada in the last few weeks; 215 children's bodies found in an un-marked grave at one of the closed Residential Schools for Indigenous children, in Kanloops BC; in Ontario, a 20 year male intentionally running down with a truck, a family of 5, killing 4 & seriously injuring the 9 yr old son, all because they were Muslin; How does such hate develop in a 20 year old? The intentional running down with a truck of an RCMP officer in Saskatchewan all because he was a police officer. All these events & the ongoing marches & destruction of property hurts me beyond any words I could share. I have no idea how the healing begins on any of one of these things, it is our shame to bear & our heart ache to endure.
I read the Thursday Murder Club and enjoyed it. I also loved Line of Duty. I honestly think the thing I care about the most is the hair dressers opening up - a while still. The man from London had a history of mental illness which is something I think people need to know. Isn't Mock Orange such a beautiful scent! Have a good day! -Jenn
ReplyDeleteLet's hope that as the portals open for 2nd jabs today, that many will get theirs so new cases numbers continue to drop & we can get to Stage 2 maybe earlier. Jenn, I agree & think anyone killing in this manner has mental health issues, it is just beyond sad that his life is now forever altered as is his family's lives; but the grief & pointlessness of the family murdered, I ache thinking of it. The debate begins of how to prevent again, the debate of how to deal with it ... is there an answer?
DeleteMy BP is always somewhat elevated at the dentist although I do not suffer from it normally. I don't know why as I don't feel particularly stressed.
ReplyDeleteI am lukewarm about all of those tv series. Jack London was quickly dismissed. Dead Still was very so-so. Line of Duty has been very repetitive, at least in many years. I will probably grudgingly watch the new season, however.
We are currently watching DCI Banks. I have read all of the books up until the current one, and the series is ok too if you are willing for it to not be too close to the books. There were a few iffy segments in the first season, but they have been acceptable since then.
We liked DCI Banks. I think Inspector Lewis has been one of our favourites. Robbie was such a likeable person. Line of Duty makes me think are there no honest people in roles of help & authority? I just know a favourite from season 2 is going to be killed in season 3, that annoys me.
DeleteOh my goodness, what awful, awful events to have happened. Try to remember that good will always overcome the bad, even if it's hard to believe that right now. Sending you a virtual hug. x
ReplyDeleteIt has been a few difficult weeks with difficult talks going on. Over all I like to think of Colony Canada with the Indigenous Nations are like a marriage, we need to make it work for the good of the children as divorce isn't possible. Thanks for that hug :)
DeleteThank goodness they don't do a BP check here at my dentist - mine would be off the scale!
ReplyDeleteI've just started the Thursday Murder Club - it's a nice, amusing easy read, perfect for reading while sitting in the garden in the sunshine.
The news from Kanloops was shocking, hard to believe that such things could go on without being noticed. So sad.
I have ticked off a few photos from the list, and am being spoilt for choice with What's in bloom!
I took my BP later that day & thankfully it was normal. Mr Man had problems a few years back with higher than normal BP, so we had to get one of those little at home types. Thankfully changing jobs cured his problems. The deaths of children at any & all the residential schools was one of those dirty look the other way secrets. This is a dark piece of Canadian history & thankfully now that we know better, we are trying to do better & thankfully all residential schools were closed by 1996.
DeleteWe liked Dead Still, but then it was over. Shows I like often don't get more seasons :( I haven't heard of Jack Taylor and haven't tried Line of Duty. The Thursday Murder Club sounds like something I'd enjoy. Mother had a mock orange, and I still remember how pretty it was.
ReplyDeleteI'd put The Thursday Murder Club as a good summer read. I hae another type of Mock Orange with bigger flowers, although this year it has had only 2 blooms. I tried drying the flowers to see if I could get the scent to linger - they did not dry successfully.
DeleteSo many things to comment on but I will answer your question - yes, I did have my BP checked last month by the dental hygienist, the first time in over a year and I was relieved that it was close to normal (I take BP pills). Thanks for the book and DVD recommendations. Your rain barrel is delightful!
ReplyDeleteI still find it odd that they, the Hygienist, are required to take. The urn rain barrel was a 2nd choice but is turning out to be a favourite.
DeleteYour photographs of your flowers at the top of the post and later are just stunning! We have a rain barrel just like yours. It was one of those gift Tracy thought he wanted, but has never done anything with it. I suggested we take your advice and plant some flowers on the top of it! I think he liked that idea. (Not that I couldn't take card of it myself.) Queen Elizabeth does look amazing for 95, and her mobility is impressive too.
ReplyDeleteI hope that Tracey likes the results of planting some flowers in the top of his rain barrel. One year I tried a green "filler" that had trailing habits & I liked that effect. I tried to get the same plant this year to add in with the inpatients, alas my curbside garden centre didn't have any.
DeleteYour flowers look lovely and your rain barrel looks very decorative, especially with the flowers growing on top. I found the picture of geese crossing very ironic - on the one hand, traffic will stop to allow geese to cross while on the other hand, people drive their vehicles into other people just because of who or what they are!
ReplyDeletePeople baffle me continually, unfortunately there are often reports of people running the geese down. Some people just think their right to exist is more important than others rights and/or life.
DeleteOh gosh I never intended to recommend The Thursday Murder Club! Hope you like it in that case. The pressure!
ReplyDeleteFunny pic of the Canada geese. So H&M are having three months off are they? IMO translates as giving us three months off. I don't follow their nonsense yet it seems to pop up everywhere.
I agree with you about H&M (col). There's no pressure about the book, besides you gave a good account of the book in your review. A few other people here in blogland have read & liked ... so far I am enjoying. Canada Geese are SUCH a bossy bird & we use for many memes & jokes, an icon we loath & love ...
DeleteYes, I quite enjoyed the book, nothing more. Glad you are enjoying too. We have large flocks of Canada geese near my work. A force to be reckoned with!
DeleteI went back to the library listing for this book; what I thought were other books by the author are just the library's variation formats of the book, like audio CD, download, large print & the "regular" book. :)
DeleteI didn't get on with the Jack Taylor series and have never heard of Dead Still. Is that a British one? I enjoyed the Thursday Murder Club and will read the second book when it's released in September.
ReplyDeleteOur final stage of relaxing restrictions has been delayed by a month as cases are increase again! I suppose it doesn't affect me too much as I intend to stay at home as much as possible and, on the odd occasion I do go out, stick to very small groups or enjoy a solo excursion.
Dead Still is set in Ireland & I checked, to my surprise, it's an Irish Canadian joint venture. It's a 1 series & it wasn't very good. I saw the BoJo has delayed full reopening. Yesterday I ventured into a shop & picked up a few non essential items that had been building on my list & the cashier commented on several items "you know you have more than one" to which I replied "preparing for the next lockdown which is surely to come" she agreed. For us, it is the Delta variant that is causing real problems. We'll see if we can get to Stage 2 in 21 days!
DeleteHadn't heard the sad news about the mass grave. How devastating. Hope the authorities can get to the bottom of this horrific crime.
ReplyDeleteYour photographs are especially nice. The cover photo is so delicate and that purple color so intense.
Queen Elizabeth does look remarkable. My mom is right behind her at 94 years old and she looks pretty amazing, too. That generation is just made of stronger stuff!! What constitutions they have.
The Residential school for Indigenous children was established in 1890 and in operation until 1969, when it was taken over by the federal government from the Catholic Church to be used as a day school residence. It closed in 1978. The school building still stands today, and is located on the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation. In May 2021, the remains of 215 children buried in unmarked graves were discovered using ground-penetrating radar.
DeleteI hope I look as good as HM when I'm that age & move about as well. Well done your Mom.
Oh, I do hope the reopening goes smoothly & that cases continue to go down & vaccines up. I don't know of anything that's still closed here & everyone is out & about all the time. The National Parks are so crowded it's crazy & people are traveling all the time.
ReplyDeleteWe continue to stay home most of the time & won't venture out for a trip until schools resume in the fall at least.
We have our blood pressure taken at the dentist as well ... mine is always normal, but Robbie's is high as he hates dentist visits!
I've only seen headlines as far as news goes ... that's enough for me right now. :(
I am all for slow & steady, but the Delta variant of the virus is really playing havoc with hospital admissions. I am not sure how I feel about joining in just yet, there's been so much to think about. I am really reducing the amount of time I watch/listen to news.
DeleteI have truly enjoyed reading all your old blog posts and re-reading the newer ones, too. Looking forward to all the ones from now on, as well. :)
ReplyDeleteBless thank so much for taking the time to read the old posts. Moving forward - ah now that's a good thought. :)
DeleteI had my first lunch on a patio earlier this week in over a year. It felt good to be getting back into a semblance of regular life!
ReplyDeleteDavid thanks for visiting & commenting on my blog. I really enjoy your photos on your blog, those close ups of the Flicker were amazing. I am thankful we get them visiting our garden & as you say, aiding the control of ants. I did not see where to comment on your blog.
DeleteVery saddened by the news that you posted. Truly, there is such a lot about which to feel pain and distress ... I hope your re-opening is a slow and steady one. The Delta variant is galloping away over here, and I wouldn't be surprised by another lockdown in a few months time. I am replenishing our stores too :). I love your water butt - I've never seen that clever design! Queen Elizabeth looks amazing, doesn't she. Such elegance.
ReplyDeleteI think that much of the world is sleeping to the Delta variant & hoping it won't be as bad as it seems. What concerns me is that even for those with both jabs, the Delta causes illness & for 4 so far, death. The only good to come out of our Canadian shame is that it has opened up the conversation about Reconciliation & how each of us has a role to play in that. The Queen is amazing & a gift to us all by her example of duty, honour & generous heart.
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