We had a wonderful time on our time-share golf holiday in Arkansas last week. The weather was quite a bit hotter down there than what was experienced in Toronto. The high was 105F and the low was 93F. When you opened your door in the morning to head out for the golf course, it felt like you were opening the oven door. We lathered up in sunscreen 30spf and bug spray (for the West Nile Virus) each day. We had golf carts on all the courses. Thank goodness. We had a fun week and enjoyed smacking that little ball around, some more times than others. We stopped in at Busch Stadium to catch a St. Louis Cardinals vs Seattle Mariners game. That was a highlight as it was the 4th of July fireworks extravaganza over Greer Ferry Lake in Fairfield Bay. We will go on another golf holiday but not go all the way to Arkansas (Bin-there, dun-that). Boys slept most of the time in the car.

I hope all the Dad’s out there had a wonderful day. We spent the day at the baseball diamond. Peter’s team got eliminated in the semi’s against the provinclial winning team (Guelph). I came home to cook and chop to prepare for the dinner. We ended up eating in the dining room as the evening cooled off pretty quickly. I did a honking boneless pork tenderloin roast , stuffed with prunes and apricots on the bbq. It was yummy and right up there with gourmet. Nick got showered with gifts. The boys had fun playing with his new toy, a paper shredder.

We are having fun cheering on OUR Flames. See the picture to see how happy we are that we tied it up in the second period.

Hey, there in Calgary. I heard that it was snowing there this weekend, or was that only in Kananaskis? We are all cheering like crazy for the Flames. That was quite the site to see every fan sitting in the stands at the Saddledome in Flames jerseys. I’m going out to look for t-shirts or car flags to show our support over the series. The city must just be one big party. The streets will be deserted come gametime on Tuesday.

The other day I came home with two garden figures to commemorate Pride and asked the boys to pick which one they liked. They said that they wanted to keep both. They are nestled in the garden as a happy reminder and memory for us. I also got a surprise phone call from the Vet to come and pick up his ashes. I asked that he be cremated but I didn’t know that I was going to get the ashes (for a cost). Well here they are, proudly displayed on the mantle.

We opened the pool today to our surprise it was bright green. This has never happened to us before. We got a new winter cover, the style that is like a trampoline and is a security blanket as opposed to a winter cover. The sun light gets through the meshing and guess what? The algae loves the heat build up under the blanket. It is the perfect environment for frogs, tadpoles and fish. Nick is busy working on the tiles that fell off over the winter. I’ll look out for the Great Blue Herons that may be doing the flyby.

Today the weather was like a glorious summers day. NO SNOW! Just hot, humid weather. If our pool was open you could have gone swimming. The flowers are all blooming and our new Magnolia tree was transplanted at just the right time. It had time to settle and it even decided to bloom this year. It is such a beautiful time of year to remember our Mom (we are thinking about you). I ran around the yard today and took a few pics after the chemical emissions scare was lifted. I battened down the hatches and waited it out until the evacuation standby was given the all clear. The mishap was around the Clarkson Go station so we were within danger range of the chemical effluent and smoke plume that was released into the air.

On April 21st our little Pride died. He was 12 years old and he basicly died of old age as his organs just failed him. He began to get weaker and weaker and was not eating or drinking. The vet kept a very positive outlook on his illness but I could tell that he was in a downward spiral. We all knew that he was near the end and we were able to say goodbye and prepare for the final loss. He did not suffer and I held him on my lap that entire evening. He literally just fell asleep. Nick had taken the boys to an Icedogs game and he died while they were away.
I have included a picture of Pride sitting in the sun. I bathed and brushed him the day before he died. My intuition I guess. This was my way of saying goodbye. I discovered something the other day that I found to be very interesting. Pride died on the same day that we adopted him.

Nick took pictures at The Bay today for you. This is a very good set if you are interested and the price is very reasonable. check out the pictures that I have posted. I also ran outside tonight to take a snapeshot of my new birthday set of lawn furniture from Costco.

Brian started at Longo’s grocery store as a customer service “go-for”. He was so excited to start his first job. He will bag groceries, accompany the customer to their car and load the groceries into their cars for them. He can keep any tips. He helped someone load heavy concrete urns, bags of triple mix and a 50lb rock into her car and was rewarded with a toonie. He still has to perfect gathering the carts in the parking lot without smashing into people or cars. He got new black pants and black shoes and Longo golf shirts to do the job.