Our new tree

Today Glen Echo delivered and planted our new Amur Maple. We named the new Maple Muriel. Yes we name our trees. I’m not sure if you can tell from the photo, but the purpose of planting tree was to provide some privacy. Our Great Room couch faces the sliding door. From the sliding door you can see directly over the fence onto the neighbour’s deck. So periodically, while sitting on the couch watching TV we would make eye contact with the neighbour’s on their deck. Bleck. So, now Muriel is working 24-7 to minimize this little trouble.

Saturday started off right with an hour massage. Ahhhhhh. Strangely it led to a short nap when I got home. The dog is always eager to nap at anytime so I obliged. Bdot was out getting her hair done. Afterwards we drove up to Orangeville for various errands. First however caffeine was required. So we drove to North Orangeville to the Starbucks. It seemed to us at the time like a strange location for the store. It is well away from the main highway and downtown area where all the action is. But once we got there it made more sense. The Starbucks is in a sharp new mall full of common/popular stores in an area of Orangeville that appears have subdivisions popping up all over. There was even a Thai restaurant there. Mmm Thai. After we acquired much needed caffeine we stopped in to the Jewelery store downtown. We were here a few weeks back and we were following up with our ring inquires. I think I’ve decided against getting a two tone white gold/copper gold ring. While I like the look now, I’m wondering how timeless it will be. Instead, I have decided on a solid white gold ring with a Florentine finished centre with shinier tapered edging. I really like the Florentine finish. To me it looks like someone took an S.O.S. pad an gently rubbed the surface of the ring to create a scratchy effect. Unfortunately I don’t have a pic. I’ll provide one when I know 100% this is the one ring. I think I’m at around 90% certainty. *smirk* Bdot also settled on her ring, a channel style diamond ring… we are waiting to hear back on the numbers. Another ring caught Bdot’s eye when she was there which resembles the circular feel of the ring she has worn as long as I have known her. Hmmpt, poor wallet. It was a satisfying stop. I think we have a pretty clear direction now on the rings. I’m hoping the cost of her ring comes in where I’m expecting it to be. I’ve never worn a ring. I’m wondering how it will feel to wear one all the time. I’m finicky about wearing a watch. Ugh.

After ring shopping we poked around the shops in downtown Orangeville. There was a festival going on downtown with a live rock band across the street, so there was a fun vibe in the air. We hit the art gallery, a boutique (bdot found a charming purple purse) and the stain-glass shop. The evening it was cool and damp… perfect for snuggling on the couch with a movie. We eventually settled on Chronicle. A trio of high-school boys are imbued with telekinetic powers after they find a strange glowing meteor. The boys have some fun and develop their ‘powers’ to impressive heights. (Pun intended) Unfortunately one of boys with a darker past and an unstable home goes off the rails and begins using his ‘powers’ in progressively more violent ways. I found the film to be well paced, entertaining – if not fun and well acted. The action scenes were solid and their angsty camera view of the lead actor was interesting. An impressive action film, we both found it to a good reason to polish off a bag of popcorn.⭐⭐⭐½

Sunday was housecleaning day. Laundry, vacuuming, cat-vom removal, floor scrubbing, grocery shopping… you get the picture. By the evening we were both bagged. We enjoyed, what seems to be becoming a staple, Bdot’s BBQed Hellfire shrimp with pesto pasta, corn on the cob and BBQed Broccoli. Absolutely delicious. To chill we watched another movie…

This time the curious Haywire. It stars Gina Carano as a contract assassin-for-hire doing dirty jobs for the government. It was refreshing to see a female led in a violent action movie. ‘It would be a mistake to think of her as a woman’ was advice offered between two of the ‘bad guys’. No shit. Carano’s action scenes were impressive, flipping and kicking and punching and rolling and smashing all with Soderbergh’s quickly changing camera angles. Cameos from Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton and Michael Douglas add some needed character depth to the film. Unfortunately the plot unfolds in a tremendously awkward manner, bouncing too many names and places at you to keep track of. By 40m into the film we were both rather bewildered with what was going on. Sure they explain it at the end but it seemed unworthy of an hour’s worth of frustration. So this was a mixed bag for me. I liked the action scenes. Carano fit the role well. She isn’t terribly charismatic and her acting often felt a little stiff but for a debut I’ll cut her some slack. The music was groovy and camera work engaging but the script and screenplay were frustrating and at times even a little dull. ⭐⭐½

Two overtime wins have the Kings sitting very pretty going back to L.A up 2 games to zero in the Stanley Cup final. I bet the parade route is already planned, the Kings look in control and have a higher gear which no one seems to be able to reach.

Tomorrow Venus will pass in front of the Sun and will create a small visible silhouette in front of the star. This event is called the Transit of Venus (Toronto Link) Global Link. This event won’t happen again in your lifetime…(next time will be 2117) soooooo, you might want to check it out. For those in Toronto, the transition begins around 5:30 p.m., it lasts a few hours… Huh, our ‘engagement photos’ will be during the transition… how awesome is that! *snort*