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You might not find me here for a few days starting tomorrow, something exciting is happening. I will blog again when it is over and may tell you about it.

It has warmed up today and their is no frost in the forcaste for the foreseeable future. All good news for gardeners, we have been waiting for this! Only trouble is the blackflies, mosquitos etc. oh well! Tulips are open, but still waiting for the Magnolia to open. Hope i do not miss it!

Long weekend here, not that it makes much difference, but we will celebrate Queen Victoria’s birthday on Monday, that is what the old holiday was for. Then it was named Dominion Day and today is celebrated as the official birthday of the present Queen of Canada, HRH Elizabeth R.

From Tuesday, next week, somethings in Ontario can start to open up to the public. Stores with street side entrances will be allowed to open using social distancing measures. Golf courses and other recreational areas are allowed to open on Sat, Some scheduled surgeries may be allowed and libraries will be open for pick up. This opening up will be watched closely to see if any increase in the virus occurs, before stage 2 will be even considered. Good news for us.

But we must still be vigilant as far as US goes, we do not want anyone coming into this country from there as it is crazy down there, no proper direction form the President who is supposed to be the Leader of the country and show a good example, all he seems to care about is money. i know that is a big problem but aren’t’ lives worth anything?

What a beautiful day today, bit cold early on but warmed up nicely and sun shone all day. Did a little shopping, got my coffee from Geronimos and sat by the river in my usual spot. We cannot sit in the café so I take it away and sit in the car by the river. today there was a guy putting a boat on his trailer (it is a public boat launch area), I noticed he had been up to his knees in water ( which must be very cold and i remarked on this, he had a laugh and said yes it was a little. It was nice to have a random chat with someone for a change.

I planted the bulbs/ corms i received from hort. society roll on summer when we will see Anemones, Crocosmia and Giant Lilies (I hope).

Sat around another fire in the garden and chewed the fat with Dave. Good Stuff as John would say. We can do this!

Remembering family present and past also friends now and before and future. Yes there will be a future.

Today was freezing and then the sun came out and it warmed up. Had trouble sleeping last night again. Late rising, cleaned a bit then, escaped to the garden but after only 40 mins I was driven back inside by the freezing cold wind! However i do remember other Mays being cold at the start and then around the middle of the month the weather seems to flip and it warms up. I am still waiting for the tulips to open and the Magnolia flowers to bloom, on the other hand the Forsythia has been and still is beautiful in all its golden glory.

My book club had a Zoom call this afternoon and a discussion on a book we had read “The Hare with the Amber Eyes” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7821828-the-hare-with-amber-eyes

Some of us loved it and some did not. I enjoyed reading about the asides, Monet and Klimt and Vienna in the 1920’s. It can be a hard slog staying focused and it is a bit rambling at times. But overall an interesting informative read. Our time was taken up with discussing the book which didn’t’ leave anytime for chatting, this is a bit of a draw back but we are after all a book club. Everyone looked ok and it was nice to see us all. Next meeting is in June but we could have a chat, i think, before then. I might try and organise one.

Britain is allowing house moves and sales to take place. Also football training, with 5 allowed on the pitch at once and no tackling as well the pitch will be sprayed before a session.

Dr. Fauci, has warned the US Federal Govt. that the Coronavirus will spread if the country opens up too soon. Will anyone listen?

Hairdressers are among some of the businesses allowed to open up again in Paris France.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-52623495/coronavirus-hairdressers-among-businesses-to-reopen-in-francehttps://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-https:/

Meanwhile in Canada, Ontario and British Columbia both urge the Federal govt. to keep the boarder with the US closed, please.

Has anyone noticed how gorgeous our Prime Minister looks with his beautiful hair?

Still freezing cold here and snow in the wind, sun came out later in the day. It is supposed to warm up for Thursday! We shall wait and see. It would be nice to have some warmth, even with the bugs!

The British Prime Minister gave a speech last night about how the response to the Novel Coronavirus has changed. No one seems to be very clear about what he actually meant, it all seemed rather vague and a few people were worried about having to return to work and possibly be exposed to the virus. The PM gave another speech today about making sure the work places are “Covid Secure”, not sure what all this means except perhaps the need to make money.

It looks like the US is going through the same thing, opening up restaurants but asking that people still keep apart 6 ft. One person being interviewed said he wasn’t sure how long he could survive with fewer customers but sill the same rent and utility costs. That will be the next problem, the businesses being allowed to open asking if they can go back to letting more customers in.

My argument at the start of all this was, “What do we do after they say we can stop staying at home?” The answer is no clearer now than it was then. People and governments are getting fed up with being stuck at home or being asked to hand out money to keep people at home. The people want to visit family and friends, go back to work, find jobs and the governments want to see money coming in. The Coronovirus meanwhile, continues as before, it is still out there, we still have no vaccine, no medications to help fight it. Do we stay in this limbo forever or do we use our common sense and go out into the world armed with what we know about fighting disease? I say go for it, I am even thinking of wearing a mask if it means I can go places again.

Singapore is using a robotic ‘dog’ to check people are staying 2 meters apart in public spaces. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-52619568/coronavirus-robot-dog-enforces-social-distancing-in-singapore-park#share-tools

The British gardener, Monty Don, has buried his beloved dog, Nigel, in his garden. I guess Nigel is free.

What a nice day, breakfast in bed, with Skype call from my daughter and grandson, then got out in the garden despite the chill. It meant I wasn’t eaten by the bugs so i was happy. Have started on the second front bed now, that is more complicated becuase it has a lot more plants in it. Then a visitor arrived with cup cakes. A lady from the village and husband had brought me a gift of cakes sent by my daughter. it was very funny as I know this lady well from the farmers market where she has a stall, anyway she is advertising on line and i guess Christina saw the advert and chose her. i do love her cakes, a great treat.

I was remembering mum as well, i think we all think of our mothers on this day. Also thought of church as we usually buy carnations for our mum’s; red for alive and white for departed.

I am missing church, I wonder, if garden centres can be open, why churches cannot? Our church provides an on line service each week but honestly I do not find it very inspiring. They try their best but in order to get anything out of the service I need to be present in the church. I am sure we could go back if they put a limit on how many can enter and we do not receive communion. As I was saying yesterday, I am rethinking how I live my life. I wonder if others will change what they do with themselves and their time in future?

Lovely finish to the day, we had an “afternoon tea” in the garden around a fire, even though it was cold still enjoyed it.

Yesterday we awoke to a white covering caused by hailstones, this was soon followed by snow flurries and topped by a very cold wind. It went below freezing last night and today it is only around 0C in the shade, again with an icy wind! So much for spring. The spring flowers are used to this weather, although they are slow at appearing, they prefer cooler temperatures and last longer. Not sure about us humans!

Had some lovely flowers delivered on Thursday in honour of Mother’s Day on Sunday. I was hoping we could have a picnic in the garden,(we always had a picnic when C. was a child) but I suspect it will be too cold for that!

I was wondering about volunteers, will they get back to doing what they did before? A lot of things have been shut down while this Pandemic is going on and i wonder how the people who did the volunteering are feeling? I am a volunteer and I have been rethinking my roles. One of them is as an adviser on the Local Heritage Committee, we have not had any meetings (on line) since this began and i get the impression that local history is taking a back seat, perhaps rightly. If this is the case then maybe it needn’t be one of my priorities, although i love history how much do i really care about the local history around here? Something I will have to make a decision about sometime, I guess.

Little Richard has died at the age of 87. Obituary: Little Richard. He was a bit too old for me, although I remember his music, Tutti Frutti, Long Tall Sally, Good Golly Miss Molly. Strange guy, good music.

May 8th 1945, Churchill announced the end of the war in Europe and suggested the people might like a small celebration while understanding that the war with Japan was still in progress. That wouldn’t end until August 1945.

The Queen has given a speech remembering her Father’s of 75 years ago. Below is a link to a rendition of “We’ll Meet Again”.

Another day, this one is my uncles birthday! Decided i had better get my WI stuff sorted out, I have rather neglected the sorting out of forms etc. Didn’t seem urgent as we are not having any meetings, but i still fgeel i should tidy up the loose ends in case stuff starts up again.

Our burn ban has been lifted as of tomorrow we will be allowed to have a small fire in the backyard. Very happy as it is still cool also the smoke is needed to keep the bugs at bay. Anyway right now it is raining so hope it stops for tomorrow.

Tomorrow is VE day and below is a link with “We will meet again” and a couple who were alive on the day 75 years ago.

https://www.bbc.com/news/video_and_audio/headlines/51651634/ve-day-choir-sings-online-to-entertain-worcestershire-pensioners

Nova Scotia can get no relief from sadness, not only the terrible killing spree of the crazed denture guy, the death of the service men and woman who were based in Nov Scotia, but now a 3 year old boy who went missing is presumed dead, will they ever be free from tragedy.

Apparently we have only been using hand washing as a way to stop the spread of disease since the late 1800’s. Until then even Doctors didn’t think it was important to wash hands. It was only in the 20C that it became the norm as a way of keeping bugs at bay. It is vital now that we all wash our hands thoroughly and often.

Well it does. How long has this thing been going on? Here in Canada I remember everything being shut down sometime in the week of 16th March, that means we are in the 8th week now.

I know friends and family are struggling to cope with this new reality. All around the world everyone’s lives have changed. None of us know what is going to happen in the future and that is making some of us very anxious. Our security blankets have gone and a lot of us do not know what to use instead.

I am one of those people who has chosen to mostly ignore the general news, sometimes I am exposed to it but soon get annoyed by the content and change channels or switch it off. I do not want to be bombarded by details of what is happening, I am aware life is not normal.

I suspect this is one of the things that will change in the future, reporters and how they convey the news to us. Please, I do not want to be told I am living in hell, give me some lightness instead.

It was cold last night and today as well but oh boy those bugs are out in force now! Even with bug spray on they found me. I still gardened though, I love it. I cannot wait to start planting out and putting seeds in the ground. Still a bit cold at night for that.

I repotted a house plant, Peace Lilly, it had black leaves which worried me, I ended up splitting it into two and throwing out some parts which seemed dead. Apparently it is easy to care for, we shall see how it survives!

Another beautiful sunny day but rather cool with an icy wind. Took a trip downtown to collect a book I had ordered from the local used book store. i like to try and give my business to local stores. I paid for it on line and picked it up from the front step. It is a book club book, “Washington Black”. Very happy to get it as the library is closed and i prefer not to read electronic books.

Got out in the garden later, now I have finished the one bed, i am trying to sort out the other front bed. This one is rather more difficult as it has a lot of plants in it as well as bushes. I am getting rid of some of the iris and hope to get rid of a lot of the day lilies. We shall see. It is also riddled with weeds, definitely a work in progress. Max’s tree ( a crab apple) is covered in tight buds, Katya’s tree ( a Ginko) is not showing any signs of life as yet, it is still early for it. Our Lilac bushes are really doing well this year. They were given to me by a young woman who joined the WI a few years ago, (she has since moved on). They were only small, but although they have flowered before, this year they look to have grown a lot. I am looking forward to the flowers.They are planted to screen the parking lot from the garden.

The United Kingdom has the deadliest Covid 19 outbreak in Europe at 32,000 according to the CBC.

Today was a significant birthday for a very good friend, we had taped a message wishing him a good day.