Well, well, mid-January and it’ll get to 70 today. Consequently, I made a belated discovery this morning, that being that the load of blankets, coverlet, and comforter on our bed is currently totally unnecessary. I’m serious.

Late yesterday afternoon Marcia and I ground some beans from a very special coffee Kirstin gave us at Christmas. It’s an infusion of special ingredients into the coffee bean. The net result being that we almost forgot doing dinner; it was so relaxing.

Willie’s Remedy is coffee with all the medical properties of organically grown hemp infused in it:

“Willie’s Remedy combines the benefits of cannabis with other plants. Whole bean coffee is carefully selected and roasted, then infused with full spectrum hemp extract.” ~ Count Your Blessings Daily

And yes, we did get the ‘lift’ of the coffee and the calming effect of the cannabis. Thanks Kirstin. Thanks Willie.

Tom Thomson – Not exactly a saint, Tom Thomson died mysteriously at age 35 when his empty canoe was found floating on a lake in the Canadian North Woods (b 1877 – d 1912).

However, in his short life he’d become the iconic Canadian landscape painter of the Algonquin wilderness area. In fact, he was the inspiration for the ‘Group of Seven’, who followed and started a movement of landscape painting which is still revered today.

It was last summer when with Donn and Marlene that Marcia and I drove to the nearby Round Barn to listen to a Professor and Art Historian give a talk on Thomson and the ‘Group of Seven’.

This week Marcia perused the various items on the latest on-line auction she follows. Buried amongst that ‘stuff’ she spotted a double-matted, printer’s proof (#206-950) with wax seal print, of Thomson’s Spring in Algonquin Park.

We picked it up yesterday morning! We’ve already selected the perfect spot to display it. Spring in Algonquin Park will do our little condo justice.

Corner of Chaos & Mayhem – Just a quick update since your inquisitive minds do want to know. Primarily things have been quiet on our corner. But that doesn’t mean that nothing happens. Early in the week there was another EMT run (probably a drug overdose) down a ways. More interesting is the collection of 5 Police Cruisers with lights flashing spotted immediately across from our little balcony. Have no idea what was going on, it seemed to be more of a ‘confab’ than anything else.

Weekend Fun – Tevita is back home from visiting his mother and family in Tonga. However, last weekend Adrianne and the kids needed something to do since their winter break was still in full swing and he was still out of town. Adrianne thought of the winter festival in town and I thought of combining that with a Hockey game; our Cincinnati Cyclones are doing well this season.

It was “bring a Bear” night where after the Cyclones first goal people can toss a stuffed bear onto the ice. These are collected by the Police as aids to dealing with kids in distress.

The picture and little video will tell the story:

Fini – A benefit offered through Medicare and my insurance carrier is a program called Silver Sneakers. With winter here I had the idea to sign up with the YMCA to do laps in the indoor pools and use some of the equipment. This to ensure I get some exercise during the winter months. I signed up and now it’s going to be 70 degrees. Something is not right.

Marcia’s Birthday came late last week. To celebrate we had dinner at her favorite; Suzie Wong’s, and as always, we weren’t disappointed. Marcia had Pad Thai, I had a Bi Bim Bap bowl complete with a Duck egg and Kimchee. Perfection!

Remember the families devastated by the horrific shoot-down of the Ukrainian airliner by and over Iran. Not 100% certain but I did read where 5 of the 57 Canadians killed were from the University of Windsor where two of our friends teach.

Make it a great week and stay safe!
Dirk