Colin James in Sarnia

We met up with John and Julie "in the middle" in Sarnia, for a lovely evening of food, drink and live music. The evening started downtown at Davis, a trendy restaurant run by Refined Fools Brewing.

A complimentary flight of beers led us to some final choices for full-sized beverages, as we awaited our food. I sipped a Glistener amber followed by a Brouhaha brown, while Jane chose the aptly-named Florida Stole My Parents, an orange juice IPA.

For food, Jane went with the delicious wings, while I opted for the beef Banh-Mi with salad. Both were incredibly good, and very reasonably priced for the quality and quantity of the food.

Following our fabulous meal, we walked to two short blocks to the Imperial Theatre, where we had excellent balcony seats in an intimate venue for Colin James and Friends. Colin ran us through two incredible sets of blues offerings from his twenty studio albums, with the assistance of two others musicians. Overall a great show in an awesome venue - we'll be keeping an eye out for future shows!

The only detractor from the evening was "Chuckles" - a woman sitting directly behind me, who for some reason laughed throughout a live blues show.....with a very annoying and memorable laugh!

While John and Julie stayed locally, after the show we made the 1.5 hour trek back home, arriving just after midnight. A very full moon led the way, and there were numerous animal sightings as well - two deer, several cats, and a coyote, skunk and possum. 

Two frothy flights of Refined Fools' finest!

Florida Stole My Parents!

Wings!

Beef Banh Mi and side salad

Colin James and Friends at the Imperial Theatre

Great show!

Home Improvement!

We took advantage of some government incentive programs to make some major improvements on the home front - mainly, to get off heating oil and replace our old furnace with a heat pump system. Between maintenance costs to keep it running, the high price of heating oil, and future costs to replace the tank....it was a no-brainer.

Unfortunately, after many weeks of hurry-up-and-wait, due to equipment on back order, the installation happened on short notice and ended up being on a very wet day. The property was the worst we had ever seen, between standing water (tiny lakes actually) and lots of MUD. Between that and the crawlspace experience, we felt pretty bad for the Bros. from Handy Bros., but they soldiered on like true professionals.

The new heat pump replaces both the oil furnace and the air conditioner. We added an auxiliary electric heater as a backup, for the odd winter night when the temperature dips below the efficient operating temperature.

We also added a lot more insulation to the attic, to keep the heat in. Once they were finished pulling out the old oil furnace and installing the new unit, we also had the crawlspace lined with plastic and spray foam insulation added to the outer walls. At least crawling under there will be a little more pleasant now!

We won't know for sure how it works until we encounter a HOT summer day or a COLD winter night, but we are looking forward to cheaper heating (and cheaper home insurance!) while also increasing the value of the house in the process.

AC and oil tank waiting to go.....

Jim takes away the oil tank

New air-source heat pump!

No more bare clay in the crawlspace!

AC and oil tank gone!

New EcoBee thermostat!

The old oil furnace - it literally had to come out in pieces

Thanks Handy Bros!

New insulation on crawlspace walls

Total Eclipse of the Yard!

We were fortunate to be in the path of "totality" for the solar eclipse, meaning we would have over two minutes of time where the moon would completely cover the sun. All along the narrow path from Mexico to Newfoundland, people were gathering in an attempt to witness the spectacle.

For the hour or so of partial eclipses on either side of totality, we could only watch using special glasses or a pinhole camera.....BUT, during totality, we could actually take off the glasses and enjoy with the naked eye. Jane had planned ahead and secured our glasses early, from a friend with a store that was stocking them for the event.

Luckily the weather also favoured us, with fairly clear skies. I worked from home, so we could enjoy the eclipse right from the comfort of our back porch.

The experience was surreal. The skies went dark, the temperature dropped considerably, and birds got excited then went eerily quiet. The sun's halo was visible as a perfect diamond ring encircling the moon, as we traded day for night. Two minutes went by quickly, and suddenly it was time to put the glasses back on again.

It was a once in a lifetime experience, at least here (next total eclipse in the year 2144 in these parts)....unless we choose to chase one elsewhere in the world!

Glasses all ready!

Gazing skyward

Totality time....

....and mere seconds later!

Total eclipse!

C'mon Spring

Spring has arrived a few times now, but refuses to stick around. While we haven't had any snow to speak of since January, the temperatures have shot as high as 20 C but keep dropping back below zero here and there. The birds and flowers are confused.

We are awaiting the removal of the oil furnace and installation of a new heat pump system, currently on back-order. This also involves the delicate balance of trying to use up what oil we still have in the tank, but not so fast that we run out of oil and need to order more.

We started making magnets as a new offering for art shows, and a great way to use up scrap slate. Jane has been coming up with all sorts of new designs, including some beautiful butterflies that will likely be very popular!

Momma developed a persistent "wound" that won't seem to heal, mainly because she won't let it - so we had to take drastic measures. She was forced to wear a onesie or a soft cone, to keep her from overgrooming and giving it time to heal over.

We also booked a cruise, and are watching too many travel videos and eagerly looking forward to that!

Vincent stole my chair!

Crocuses emerge....then retreat for a few days!

Momma in her onesie

We're making magnets now too!

Some soft cone time to air out the wound

Quiet January

We had a fairly quiet January, as we tip-toed into 2024. We had one small bout of snow followed by an extreme chill lasting several days, which of course has since relented and given way to rain and soggy greenery. 

Aside from a few walks down at the provincial park and painting the kitchen, an inordinate percentage of weekends were also devoted to watching NFL playoff games. There was also some of the obligatory vacation planning, involving watching way too many Youtube videos of all the places we want to go.

We did manage to get Dave down for a visit mid-month, before the winter storm hit. Besides the usual visiting, we also got him out to an OHL game as the local Windsor Spitfires got smoked 11-3 by the visitors from Saginaw. As we kept saying, at least we saw lots of goals! We also got to take advantage of the handicapped box in the upper level for ease and a nice viewing experience.

We also had a home energy audit done, in advance of (hopefully) making some upgrades to our heating and cooling system.....and taking advantage of some government incentives while they last!

Dave enjoys some home-cooked prime rib!

January 22.....

...and January 26!

Three tiers of fun for Three Nugs!

Great vantage for the game!

(note - pics were pre-game, there WERE actually fans in the stands later!)

King for a Day!

The Spitfires take the ice!

Dave wants one of those blimps!

Vincent is not amused

Happy New Year 2024

New Year's Eve itself was a little lame - we paused our Hobbit marathon near midnight, and started looking for any sort of live coverage on Canadian channels.....but there was none. We ended up frantically switching over to Ryan Seacrest in NYC just to see some sort of live countdown. Alas. Moving on.

The New Year started green, as it often does these years. Before settling into the second half of our movie marathon, we went for a nice walk down at the provincial park, before diving back in with all three Lord of the Rings movies.

Of course, that was accompanied by more appetizers and a few beverages, along with the customary bevy of cats, all cuddling in for added warmth.

Welcome, 2024!

Hello, 2024

The Pennywise memorial blanket arrived!

Literally, the Path of Least Resistance

A nice walk down at the park

One Trilogy to Rule them All!

A New Year's movie marathon arrives precisely when it means to!

You Cannot Pass!

Shelob with a leg up on lunch

Return of the (Witch) King!

My Preciousssss