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Issue #1078
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Russ

Nova Scotia Sus

The Ontarion

Hey There,

It’s now been about two and a half months since my hip replacement surgery so I guess I should do an update as to how things are going. Basically, they are going quite nicely. The healing process went very well. Getting the traumatized leg and butt muscles back to normal takes time but that coming along too. I find both legs tire easily because I’ve been doing too much sitting and not enough walking but that’s because the weather has kept us shut up in the house when we would have liked to be out doing those walks we’d like to be doing. It was way too cold for a while, then way to snowy and slippery for a while, and now it’s been constant rain for the last 3 or 4 weeks. We do get out for walks when we can but more walking would be better. Doing indoor exercises is good but not a substitute for good old fashion walking. I had been told that I must not fall on that hip, period, do not fall. So, unless the walking is good, I don’t do it. I’m now permitted to bend the hip as far as is comfortable as long as I do it slowly, not in a jerking motion. When I do bend up past a 90 degree angle I can certainly feel the tight muscles pull. However, I have now tried sitting on my motorcycle. Hadn’t done that since mid October. I didn’t know how that would go but it went very well. No pain at all getting on or moving my leg to put my foot onto or off the peg. That used to be very painful. Riding season won’t start here for another month but it certainly looks promising. And speaking of feet, I can tie my shoes now. Well, I could all along but now I can bend far enough to tie them when they are on my feet. To tie them when they were not on my feet didn’t accomplish much.

I had that unfortunate setback in mid December when my knee swelled up like a balloon. The medical people treated it like an infection because infections after hip surgeries can be very, very bad with very serious results. I certainly appreciate the caution and care that the medical people took but I really don’t think it was an infection. I had simply injured that knee. The upper muscles were so tight that as I walked, they pulled on my kneecap or some such thing and ended up pulling or tearing something. But thats all behind me now. That knee is back to being just as bony and knobby and skinny as the other one.

I think the best analogy would be to compare myself to an old car that now has one new wheel. The old paint is faded, there is lots of rust, the other wheels are all getting worn out, the engine leaks and burns oil. The headlights are dull and the tail pipe emits way too much noxious gas. But, it has one new wheel thats probably worth more than all the rest of that old car put together. And thats how I see me and my new hip.

Surprise, here’s another video for you. Don’t get too used to it because I can’t crank them out one after the other these day and so I won’t. My next projects will be to do the audio versions of these song but after that I’ll have to dig up some more new to me material and that can take time. If this video looks exactly like the same setting from last week it’s because I did both this song and last week’s song back to back. Same shirt, same guitar, same uncombed hair and so on. And, just like in last week’s video, I’m quite rusty and my voice is on the rough side but I’m doing the best that I can. The last few months have been a bit tiring and distracting. This song is a Bellamy Bro number called ‘If You Ever Leave I’m Going With You’. It’s got a nice sentiment to it. Enjoy.

If You Every Leave

doug

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From Russ

"You win some - you lose some"

He was much taller, more athletic and older than I (me 16, he 18+) when he started the fight in the general store part of Lindsman's garage on Highway #8 in the village of Centreville. We should never have fought in Gerry Lindsman's store - he was the owner, and allowed us youths to use his garage/store as a 'hang-out'. He put-up with a lot of our nonsense, but drew the line at fighting. Our fight didn't last long - Sonny Mehm with the longer reach struck me three times in the face - it didn't hurt, but made me extra angry and a wee bit vicious! I lost, but could have won if Gerry L. hadn't put a stop to our fight.

As Gerry was gently carrying me out by the scruff of my neck, I pleaded,

"He started it!"

"I don't give a s**t who started it! You're banned from these premises!" growled Gerry.

"Not fair" said I, meekly. "Not fair" I repeated when he 'dropped me' on the side of the road in front.

Yup. I lost the fight - lost the privileges of 'hanging-out' with the gang, and lost a good friend. (You lose some)

Years later, when I was married and had taken some relatives (Nieces & Nephews) to the Hiway Market, which was quite a remarkable super-market for its day, I pointed-out the many sparrows flying freely about inside. Always the 'smart-ass', I was making some of my famous "bird-calls", and pointing up exclaiming,

"Look! those aren't sparrows!". My group, and other shoppers nearby, hearing my 'bird-calls' and looking up - me walking backwards while looking up - pointing and chirping, backed into a tall stack of boxes knocking it onto another tall stack close behind - which fell against yet another stack causing them all to fall like "dominoes" - hitting the floor the boxes bust, spilling the contents (canned goods) rolling all over the place! The noise and commotion brought employees on-the-run, fearing harm to shoppers - but the only harm done was to the many cans which were badly dented!

Someone called the owner of the store who came-a-puffin', and not knowing yours truly had accidentally knocked down the piles of goods, immediately chastised his stock-boy for piling cartons dangerously high! But, someone pointed to me and squealed, "He did it!" Now, the owner pounced on me - but, always the smart-ass, I accused the Hiway Market for piling their stock too high for safety saying,

"Someone could have been seriously hurt here!" (I may have used the word"law-suit" in my defense) Just then, the stock-boy was brought to 'the scene of the crime' - berated, humiliated, and ordered to "clean-up this mess!" The owner went on, "You will be responsible for the cost of damaged goods!" His jaw dropped, his eyes welled-up with tears - after all, he was a university grad with his PHD Pile Higher and Deeper.

Sometimes you win.

Russ.

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From Nova Scotia Sus

Yesterday was like a day in spring, mild temps, sunshine, and no snow on the ground. Perfect day to clean up more debris from hurricane Fiona. I love working outside especially when the weather is good. Our back yard still had fallen trees that needed attention. My job is to tie a chain around the tree that has been cut so it can be hauled out of the mess of trees by the tractor. Then if it is good and straight we measure and cut it into 8 foot lengths and piled to be sold to the mill in Scotsburn. They require the pile to be at least 10 cord before they will send in a truck for pick up. So we do make some money from all our hard work. We will sell as much as we can and will still have plenty of firewood for our own use.

The weather this winter is certainly in our favour for helping us clean up the mess around us. I wonder how the wildlife could have survived the hurricane . I wouldn't have wanted to be outside in the woods that night. In fact I'm glad we couldn't see it happening since it was at night. All we heard was the roar the wind.

Driving around the countryside you see huge wood lots destroyed and may never be cleaned up. Also lots of roofs patched and not fixed yet.

How things can change!! A blizzard has arrived and it is affecting all of Nova Scotia!

Visibility is practically nil and supposed to last into Saturday.

It will look pretty when the wind dies and the sun comes out.

Sus

****

The Ontarion

Hello everyone!

It only took 50 years and I finally took my Princess to the “Prince of Wales” hotel for a 50th anniversary celebration this past week! Although we only spent one lovely evening and night there it was worth the effort and expense! For those of you who don’t know, the Prince of Wales Hotel is the premiere hotel located in Niagara On The Lake Ontario. It’s a classic “Victorian” Hotel that is noted for playing host to Royalty from all over the world!

To surprise Carole with this anniversary gift, I kept it secret from her until this past Friday evening but decided to tell her about it’s upcoming on the following Tuesday so she would have time to prepare for the special event. I had arranged the event for Tuesday the 17th of January although our actual anniversary wasn’t until the 19th. The 19th was totally booked due to the annual “ice wine” festival held in the town each year. Niagara On The Lake is located right in the heart of the Niagara wine country and they hold this event in that town! So I had to plan around this event and take the Tuesday evening in stead of the 19th!

If you would like to have a look at this amazing hotel and what they offer to their guests, you can google Prince of Wales Hotel and you will indeed be amazed at the splendor of it’s facilities! When we checked into the hotel at the allotted time of 3pm, we were indeed welcomed as if we were royalty! The outside attendants, yes there were two of them dressed in their Hotel uniforms, met us as we parked in the one space reserved for us directly at the door to the facility. They immediately carried our two pieces of luggage into the lobby and once we were given the key cards to our suite, escorted us to number 303 on the third floor! The suite had a large foyer when we opened the door and to the right of the door was the washroom facility and it was fit for a king indeed! Lovely marble floors with marble counters and sink containing fixtures that were amazing as well. The bathroom contained a stand up shower, a large whirlpool tub and of course the ever present PO PO at a comfortable level in the corner. The bathroom was large enough to hold an event in itself !

To the left of the door the suite opened up to a beautiful sitting / living area with all the Victorian features one would expect! There were Victorian paintings on every wall and a beautiful fire place in the main corner of the room! The carpeting was plush and soft to the feet as we walked in! The main feature of the Suite was of course a King sized bed fit for a royal couple for sure! I had had the choice when booking of any of the twin beds, or queen bed or King bed and had chosen the King feature for our comfort! We have a queen bed at home but this King bed was amazing in both size and comfort with 4 post feature and a canopy at the head of the bed itself! The bed was so tall they had a two step set of stairs to allow the lady of the couple to be able to access her side of the bed! I even had to hop a little to get into the bed at the height of the mattress! I had arranged to have our dinner served to us in the suite since we are still being careful about eating in a room filled with people who might still be spreading Covid-19.

To our surprise after settling into the suite, the phone rang and a message from the front desk informed us that at 5pm our carriage would be waiting to take us on an evening tour of the town of Niagara On The Lake, courtesy of our son Adam! He had also arranged for us to have a Chicoutery (Spelling?) board in the suite upon our arrival. It contained a beautiful array of fruits, crackers and cheeses! This allowed us to sit and settle into the accommodations before enjoying a horse and carriage tour of the town at 5pm! We received another phone call from the front desk telling us that the carriage would arrive in 10 minutes at the main entrance of the Hotel. This gave us time to dress warm for the event. We exited the Hotel to find a beautiful white open carriage waiting for us. The driver was a woman dressed in a suit of tails and top hat. A very classy set up indeed! She introduced herself a Megan or “Meg” and her horse as “Eddy Spaghetti” LOL! He was a beautiful black stallion and the carriage was very comfortable with two heavy blankets one to sit on and the other to pull over us for warmth! The evening luckily was overcast but cool for a January time of year with no snow. There was rain forecast but it never materialized that evening! The carriage ride lasted just over a half hour and the driver was well trained and prepared to explain all that we were seeing as we toured the town in style! It was indeed an experience to remember! Once back at the Hotel, I took some pictures of the carriage and “Eddy Spaghetti” and then we went back up to our suite! I had asked to have our meals delivered to the suite at 7pm so after a short wait the food arrived! The young lady that delivered it to our room was polite and efficient as she placed the tray of food on the table in front of the Victorian couch in the sitting area! Carole enjoyed a 14 oz rib eye steak with all the trimmings and I had ordered their specialty Chicken dinner of course with all the trimmings to go along with that plate!

Once we had finished our meals, we settled in to an evening of discussion about the Hotel and the evening’s events! Being it was a January evening there was little to do after that so we just climbed into the lovely King bed and enjoyed the comfort! We did turn the King sized TV on and watched a little television until it was time for “Light’s Out” to enjoy a good night’s sleep on the comfortable surroundings of the suite and bed.

The dark mahogany wood trim of the walls and ceiling was like sleeping in one of those lovely Law office libraries with dark wooden ceiling panels and walls etc! The entire evening was indeed worth the effort and fit for my Princess after 50 years of marriage!

Of course after seeing the setting of the suite, Carole wanted to go home and re decorate our own bedroom in the Victorian style of this experience! LOL! In the first place, the suite was more than twice the size of our bedroom and more, so most of the furniture etc from this suite would not fit in our not so small but not quite as large a room as the hotel suite!

The entire experience was one to remember but we will have to settle for the pictures we took of the suite etc rather than duplicate the actual setting at home! The Prince of Wales Hotel is one to keep in our memories for the years to come and we will likely not duplicate the experience for a while into the future! Maybe when we celebrate another 50 years of marriage we’ll return to the same hotel and relive the time there once more!

It truly was an experience of a lifetime and we both enjoyed it to it’s fullest!

I hope you all enjoyed my account of this momentous evening celebrating our 50th anniversary! I’ll have to think of something to come even close to this event for the next anniversary we celebrate but it will be tough to do so I’m sure!

That’s about all I have for this week!

Thanks for tuning in and I hope you will all be with us again next week for another Ontarion Report!

Bye for now….. Greg!

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