We participated in The 99’s Poker Run on Saturday. This is the third or fourth time we’ve done so and it’s always a blast. We took off from St. Catharines by 8:45 and arrived at the Burlington Airport around 9:15. I don’t think they were expecting people to start so early, especially with the high winds. Two 99 members were getting everything set up whilst ensuring we were registered and stamped our play sheets. At the first two airports, you drew two cards towards your hand. One last card is drawn at the final airport. After a pleasant chat, we re-boarded Vyctor and got ready to head to our second destination.

Here is a shot just after we took off from Burlington:

The winds were quite high and the clouds were around 3,500 feet. We headed north at 2,500 and arrived at Collingwood Airport after flying for fifty minutes. I ran into some folks I knew from the 99’s and provided them with a “first plane to arrive” dance. Quite the roll we were on as we headed to the final airport, Edenvale, ten minutes away. It was nice to be the first to arrive at all of the airports we checked into! There were a lot of late starts because of the high winds, which fortunately died down a bit in the afternoon.

I fuelled up despite having more than enough to get home. Like they say, you always want lots of fuel, except when you’re on fire.

It was so wonderful seeing some pilots I’ve met previously. Such a fun group of aviators. I would have loved to hang around until the finish at 2:30, but we decided to head back since my energy is always best in the morning and often starts declining starting early afternoon.

I unfortunately did not draw very good poker hands. My best one had two aces:

The vehicle traffic heading into Niagara was quite heavy, as we flew over the QEW towards the Burlington Skyway:

The flight home was just a little over an hour and we landed back in St. Catharines by 1:10. Once home, we were greeted by the girls, including Abby and Freya who were sunning in the kitchen:

The event organizer was kind enough to phone me and let me know that we won 8th place and had a choice of a few nice prizes left. I chose the $100 Aircraft Spruce gift card, as that’s where I purchase my oil. Yay!

I wish I could say that today was as good as the weekend, but I had to get Mya (my eldest Sphynx) to the vet this morning. She showed no signs of anything being wrong last night. But this morning, she ran to the litter box multiple times. She started doing small pees every ten minutes or so. I was able to collect enough for them to do a urine test. They also did an x-ray to check for any stones in her bladder. Fortunately, the scan was clear. She received an injection of antibiotics and was also sent home with some pain meds. Paws crossed we see some improvements soon!

Today’s symptoms: I’m feeling very drained now, mainly from the emotional toll of dealing with little Mya. I’ve been experiencing quite a few stabbing nerve pains lately – I guess my body is just trying to make sure I know it’s still there! Other than that, I’m just trying to stay positive and have hope that tomorrow is better.

My mom and I flew to Kincardine today to join the Trillium Aviators. Kincardine is located on the shore of Lake Huron in Bruce County. We took a slight detour north of the airport first, to get an amazing view of the Bruce Power Nuclear Plant, which is the largest nuclear plant in the world!

Twas Jan’s first time seeing it. The massive plant is like a small city.

We then flew south along the Lake Huron shoreline and came upon Kincardine within ten minutes. Vyctor (the name of my plane) did a nice squeaker landing:

It was wonderful to meet up with so many fellow aviators I know. There were a couple dozen planes there, enjoying the perfect weather and awesome camaraderie.

Vyctor quietly waited for us to return. We actually stayed longer than I expected.

At least he had great company. Check out this fantastic paint job.

Once we clambered back into the plane, we fired up and joined a few others who were also departing. We took off and after we flew for about twenty minutes, we started hearing a noise from the back of the plane. I asked Jan if her seat belt was hanging out. I usually say to all of my passengers before starting up to make sure their belt is not hanging out the door. She found the belt so that wasn’t the issue. I decided to land at the nearest airport, which was Juergensen Field in Fergus. I tuned into their radio frequency and heard someone say they were heading in to land at this field. I asked him where he was located and he let me know he was just turning final. I have never been to this field before and it was very helpful to find his plane heading towards the runway. I let him know I was going to follow him in as I was having a bit of a situation.

We shut down and I went over to Jan’s side of the plane. Issue solved! Her purse strap was hanging out the door! Hehehe! I chatted with a few folks who were there, including the owner of the field. He asked me if I had ever done an Aerobatic competition and I said I had not. I actually decided to finally try it in 2020, but COVID had other plans. Apparently, the next competition is in Midland in August. I’m very seriously considering going. I’m just nervous about my health as the competition is three days. Hopefully my symptoms cooperate and allow me to partake, at least for a couple of those days. What an adventure it would be for Mike and I! Who would have thought that a purse strap caused me to land at a new airport, meet new people and a potential competition in the future? Thank you, Jan!

We headed back to St. Catharines after a perfect day. I need to rest for the next day as I hope to fly again this weekend. Mike and I are planning on going to the Stratford Airport for a pancake and peameal bacon breakfast through COPA Flight 69. It is a charitable event to help support the Stratford General Hospital Foundation.

Today’s symptoms: I felt quite good today, which is why I was able to take such a great flight with my little mother. I’m feeling a bit drained this evening, which is typical after a flight. Totally worth it though!

Mike and I have been trying to fly to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton for six weeks now! We kept booking vacation but had to cancel ever week due to the cruddy weather. It finally happened today, with totally clear skies.

On the way, we saw a truck on fire which appeared to have caught the nearby building on fire as well. Hopefully no one was hurt:

I haven’t flown into the Hamilton Airport in years. It’s only about 25 minutes away by air. It certainly has much larger runways than I’m used to at St. Catharines.

Notice how we didn’t touch down at the end of the runway. This runway has a displaced threshold line, as indicated by the white arrows and white horizontal line a bit further down. A displaced threshold is usually to give landing aircraft clearance over an obstacle. It can also be created for noise mitigation.

We taxied over to the glorious Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum:

We had an appointment for 10:00 to use the Virtual Reality Flight Simulators, called the Fly Zone. They were upgraded simulators from what we used there a few years ago.

The person who runs the simulator was awesome. She was so full of energy and encouraging! They definitely hired the right person for the job. She got Mike and I set up in a couple of the simulators – I think there were five in total. We started flying the P-51 Mustangs and were sent on our way to shot down other aircraft. Then we moved to the Spitfires. I’m not sure which one I enjoyed more as they were both a blast to fly. After I killed a bunch of enemy planes, I decided to go after Mike. I managed to sneak up behind him and blast him out of the sky. I told him I was sorry. I accidentally shot him down again a second time. Then we were set up for a dog fight. After yelling “Come at me, bro!”, I quickly ensured I manoeuvred behind him for a fairly quick kill. Mike got a couple points after I inadvertently crashed into the ground. I think she said the score was four to four, and the fifth kill would be the winner. Poor Mike tried desperately to get my off his tail, to no avail. I blasted him full of lead and watched him quickly head downwards. I asked him if he turned his smoke system on and was going to do some aerobatics, as he had a lovely grey and black smoke trail behind him. He ensured me that the smoke was from his crippled plane, plummeting towards the ground. He actually had a bit of control of the plane, and got it down to the runway. He said he tried ejecting just before the plane impacted the runway, but the system for some reason, put him outside of the bullet-hole ridden body of his plane. He stood there on the runway and watched as I dove towards him and blasted both him and his plane carcass with a few dozen more rounds. What can I say – I’m thorough! So I ended up winning the incredibly fun dog fight! We received our kill number and I had 28 aircraft and 2 ships. The highest kill number was 30 – I was so close! We had an amazing time and are looking forward to going back very soon!

After the simulators, we met an amazing group of veterans and volunteers in the Radio Room. They showed us all of the radios they were restoring and gave us an amazing history on everything. I’ve was interested in ham radios many years ago – before I started flying. They certainly made me interested once again. One of the volunteers showed me a picture of him at the 100 year Air Force event, receiving an award he didn’t even realize he was getting for all of his work at the museum. One of the presenters of the award was someone I used to work with when I was an Army Reservist with 705 Communication Squadron in Hamilton. What a small world!

We then perused the gift shop and I noticed the Stella’s Stories – Stella and Lizzy Take Flight book for sale!

We purchased a few items since it’s impossible to leave there empty handed, and headed back to the plane.

We talked non-stop about our awesome trip to the museum during the short flight back. It was certainly worth the six week wait!

Today’s symptoms: I felt quite good today, thankfully! I had a decent amount of energy all morning for our museum adventure. Not surprising at all, after all the excitement and time spent in the museum, plus the two flights, I’m quite wiped out and lacking energy. This always makes the rest of my MS symptoms worse, such as the pain and spasms. I’m certainly just going to chill for the rest of the day. I’ll probably feel it more tomorrow, but it was totally worth it!

It was such a treat to see Freya open her cute little eyes:

This was the start of a whole new world for her. I couldn’t believe how quickly she was growing. It’s amazing to think she was hours away from death and now she’s thriving.

Her sister, Abby, made sure that she was safe in her cage at night:

She slept like a little angel.

It’s like she was getting cuter by the day.

I still can’t believe how much work goes into raising such a tiny little thing. Constant feedings and poop disposal – I don’t know how mother robins do it!

We were quite disappointed about the cloud cover today, knowing we would likely not get to see the eclipse. I took my mother up for a flight around Niagara and over Niagara Falls, around 2:00. It certainly wasn’t the chaos they were expecting. I feel bad for the folks who came from across Canada and the States to see it in Niagara. If only the weather was as perfect as it was this weekend. As you can see in this pic, the parking lots weren’t full and there wasn’t much traffic (around 2:00pm):

It was still awesome to go flying today. Once back, my mother and I went to Sunset Beach, along with over a hundred other folks, hoping to get just a glimpse of the eclipse. The clouds parted enough to give us a couple views for about three seconds. Everyone cheered and it was so neat to experience the ambience and excitement.

Today’s symptoms: I actually felt pretty decent today. The fatigue didn’t really set in until later in the afternoon, which was nice for a change. Paws crossed this continues throughout the week!

I was so happy that the little robin made it through the night. The feedings were about every twenty minutes. I also made her a little nest which sat upon a heating pad.

We took things hour by hour in the beginning. She was so tiny and seemed very frail:

She was eating well which I guess was the main thing at that point.

Stay tuned to see our amazing journey over the last three years!

Today’s symptoms: I had a decent day. I was off and had to take my little mother to an eye appointment. She recently had cataract surgery so she needed to be checked out and acquire a prescription for her new lenses. We headed over to Walmart to get the new lenses made. Once back home, I just did some projects on the house, some cleaning and played with the critters. It’s been a good day and I’m so hopeful that tomorrow will be the same. I got a new position at work and I haven’t been this happy in over ten years. I really look forward to going to work every day.

I had a wonderful day so far. I’m feeling much better after getting my Covid and flu shots last week. The Covid one always knocks me on my bum for at least a few days, but totally worth it. We still have not had the virus yet.

I took a friend from work up for a flight this morning. I can’t tell you how much I missed taking people up for the last few years. We flew over Niagara Falls and then he flew us back to the Niagara District Airport. There, I showed him a couple aerobatic manoeuvres. There’s nothing better than looking over at my passenger, seeing how much they are enjoying the flight. Almost everyone I take up comments on how neat it is to see Lake Ontario and Lake Erie at the same time. They look much closer together from the air.

Vyctor got a little upgrade recently. Check out my classy new pitot tube cover:

So much better than those boring “Remove Before Flight” ones!

Once back at home, I had a little rest before giving a Wellness Fair presentation for work (virtually). I did it on becoming an aerobatic pilot. I was shocked to see 188 people watching! I love giving these presentations. It’s always better to do it in person, just to read people’s reactions and such. But I’m so grateful for the ability to do so online and reach a larger audience. The numerous comments I received during and after the presentation were beyond heart-warming and encouraging. My energy is really dropping after my exciting day, but I just can’t stop smiling after everything positive that happened.

I recently started a new position at work and I’m really loving it. I actually look forward to working again. Paws crossed the position lasts! Whilst working, I usually have little Mya sitting next to me in her heated cat cove:

Sometimes there are cuteness distractions, especially when Boo crams in there with Mya.

This week started out so perfectly. I’m hoping the rest of the week is as positive.

Today’s symptoms: I feel so much better today. I still have a lot of the aches from the vaccines, but they’re not nearly as bad as the last few days. My energy today is the best it’s been in about a week.

I mentioned in my previous blog that I had an amazing experience going up in a Harvard for some aerobatics. The adventure continued last weekend and I had the absolute pleasure of going up in an Extra 300. This is one of the planes they use in the Red Bull Air Races. The pilot who took me up in the Harvard the previous week, Scott McMaster, was also my pilot in the Extra 300. Scott is the master of all things loopy, rolly, spinny and tumbley! I can’t tell you how much I was looking forward to this flight. Mike and I headed out to Burlington Airport around 7:50 last Sunday. Seeing such a lack of traffic on the highways was something we don’t see too often:

It looks like the circus has rolled into Burlington:

After flying for less than thirty minutes, we touched down. This was my first time dealing with Upright Aviation and it was a very positive experience from beginning to end. I was greeted soon after touch down and brought over to the Extra 300 in the hangar:

There were a few other sweet rides nearby, including a Kodiak float plane and Super Decathlon:

Everyone there was so professional and friendly. I was escorted upstairs to fill out some paperwork and have the flight explained. Soon after, Scott arrived to get the party started. I had help getting my parachute on and climbing into the plane. Little Vyctor looked on in awe in the background:

I was so excited to get crack-a-lackin! Mike captured this video of us barrelling down the runway and heading almost straight up:

https://youtu.be/2eeHcvUCNJk

Scott let me fly over to the area where we would be doing some aerobatics. He demonstrated a loop, roll, hammerhead and something I’ve never experienced before – a Lomcovak. Unfortunately, I had my GoPro angled up too high, but I think you can still get the idea. You can tell from the audio that both Scott and I were thoroughly enjoying ourselves:

We ended up doing four of them and they were a blast. So you have a better idea of what was happening, here is a video through Spencer Suderman’s YouTube channel of what it looks like from the outside:

I’m still smiling about our flight over a week later. It was incredible and I am so appreciative of Scott’s time to give me one of the best flights I’ve ever experienced.

I strongly recommend anyone seeking a thrill to contact Upright Aviation in Burlington.

Today’s symptoms: Both the recent Harvard and Extra 300 flights took a bit of a toll on me for a few days after each, but it certainly was worth it. Just doing a regular flight in Vyctor for an hour two is draining enough, but then there was the added excitement of flying in the other two planes. Mike and I had a mostly relaxing weekend, apart from a 40 minute flight on Sunday morning. I’m feeling weary today with a fairly bad headache, but I think the high heat and humidity are playing a role. Bring on Autumn!

I was the guest speaker for the annual Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association banquet a few months ago. They offered me a flight in a Harvard as a thank you. The flight was booked for August 19th. Soon after Mike and I took off from the Niagara District Airport, I handed him a Christmas card which said that he too would be going up in a Harvard that day. I’m so glad this surprise was kept from him for the last month, because I was looking forward to it as much as my own flight. He was so excited! We arrived over Tillsonburg after a 45 minute flight, looking down at the Harvards we would be flying in.

We would be having slightly different flights. The aerobatics instructor who provided me four lessons in my Aerobat over thirteen years ago is one of the Harvard pilots. He was going to be my pilot that day and show me some aerobatics in this amazing WWII training plane. Mike would be going up for a non-aerobatic, twenty minute flight at the same time.

The Harvards Mike and I were in barrelled down the runway together and pulled off onto the grass runway, which they used as a run-up area. The sounds of the massive Pratt & Whitney radial engines rumbled in our eardrums – it was amazing! Mike’s plane took off first and mine lifted off soon after. As Mike headed south, we turned north and climbed to 4000′ for some aerobatics. Here we are doing a loop, roll then hammerhead. The forth maneuver was another roll, which Scott let me do myself:

I’m sure you can tell from the laughter that I had a fantastic time. The only bad part about the flight was that it ended. Scott pulled off a perfect landing and we headed back over to the hangar to wait for Mike’s plane to land. As we passed by Vyctor, he looked a little shocked to see me in a different plane:

We couldn’t stop smiling during the flight back home or for the rest of the day.

I had another amazing flight this weekend, which I will happily describe in my next blog post (which will be soon and not months away, like with my previous posts!)

Today’s symptoms: I guess I should explain my symptoms over the last few months, as it’s been so long since my last blog. Things have been rather up and down, but that’s fairly typical. I’ve been having plenty of bad days, where my symptoms have made it tough to get through the day either physically, mentally, emotionally or all three. I try to make the most of my good days, but I’ve been having a hard time getting motivated and staying focused. I think this has a lot to do with being so restricted from COVID over the last three and a half years, which has been rather depressing. We’re still having to be very careful because my MS medication depletes my immune system.

Earlier this year, I decided to take Leave With Income Averaging again for the month of May. I am halfway through and so far, the time off has been wonderful. I’ve been on three flights over the last couple of weeks and have another planned for Friday. I’ve also had the pleasure of providing my motivational talk twice. The first time was a couple of weeks ago for the Harvard Aircraft Association in Tillsonburg. This was my first time at a social event since the start of COVID three years ago. Mike joined me and we continued to be super careful with regards to masking up and distancing, due to my sissy immune system. The event was an absolute blast. We had a great meal and then I provided my presentation for the next hour:

Everything went great and my talk was well received. Mike and I entered some draws and won a few things, including a portrait session, which we will go back for with my little mother. Mike also bid on a beautiful Lancaster picture in the silent auction, which he won. The final auction item was a plate of thirteen butter tarts. They went for $1300! All of the funds went to the Harvard Association, so it was a terrific cause. The individual who purchased the tarts passed one on to us. I must admit, it was quite surreal eating a tart that was about $10 per bite!

What an absolutely fabulous event and I feel so honoured to be asked to be the guest speaker.

Last weekend, Mike and I flew to Brantford for a charity event for Hope Air. It was a great turn out.

Mike got a hamburger and we sat under Vyctor while he nommed it.

We entered the draws available and I got a call later that afternoon to let me know I won two items. That meant another flight back to pick them up – woot! My mother and I flew there a couple of days ago. The weather was perfect and it was a very smooth flight, which my mother prefers. She always glares at me when we hit any turbulence and claims that I hit it on purpose. Tee hee! It was a quick 40 minutes flight each direction. Here is the view of Grimsby Airpark on the way back:

It’s generally quite easy to spot with the striped roof.

I had the privilege of providing my presentation again today (virtually) to the CRA offices out East. It went well and I would give anything to present more often. I always get so nervous beforehand but the second I start presenting, it’s like a switch goes off and my nerves become completely settled.

Update on the kitties – they’re still awesome and doing great! Pinky used Boo’s face as a pillow the other day:

Abby has been her adorable, googly self:

Mya always sits very close to her sisters, likely trying to absorb some of their heat (even though she’s typically laying on the heating pad):

Boo looks like she’s ready to punch my lights out:

And we certainly can’t forget little Peanut!

Mother’s Day went really well. I can’t believe some of the things one can find online. I’m sure Jan feels honoured to receive such a heartwarming mug:

I’d share some of the other gifts I got her, but I’d have to do some censoring. Hehe!

I really needed something to focus on, as I’m still spending most of my time at home to avoid the COVID cases still floating around out there. I do feel a bit safer, after having my sixth shot and always masking up. For many years, I’ve wanted to learn French. I’ve made attempts at it a few time, but it typically only lasts a couple weeks. I’m happy to report I’m on day 63 of learning. I purchased a course on Udemy (always wait until they go on sale, which is frequently) to get me started. I bought a few months of Babble but, for my style of learning, I’m finding Duolingo better for me. After a two week free trial of Super Duolingo, I just bought a year’s subscription. I use if for a few hours per day and am really motivated to continue.

Today’s symptoms: I’ve been having a little bit of a rough go lately. I developed crushing pain in my left middle finger, which has continued for the last three weeks. It’s likely an MS thing. My sleep has been very on and off, with a really bad night last night. Lack of sleep always makes my symptoms worse, but hopefully tomorrow will be better!

I think today’s flight was one of the most amusing I’ve been on. Mike often brings a bottle of water with him when we go flying but he rarely drinks it. I mentioned that to him when we were leaving the house today. It was quite windy, but not too bumpy. During a smooth part of the flight, Mike decided to have a drink. Well, what a perfect time for the plane to hit an air pocket. The plane bounced fairly significantly. When I looked over at Mike, there was water steadily dripping off the roof and Mike’s face and headset were soaked. He said he actually watched the water shoot up from the bottle as the plane dropped slightly. It took him a few minutes to dry everything off. I was laughing the whole time to the point where my jaw and stomach were aching. The rest of our flight was uneventful but quite enjoyable. Landing in gusty winds is always fun, so it was a great end to the flight.

We flew by Fort George in Niagara-On-The-Lake just before heading into the circuit to land:

My little mother and I had a flight last week. I took a vacation day and Jan and I flew to Brantford to pick up something for a friend at the nearby aviation shop (Aircraft Spruce). Thankfully, it was a much smoother flight than the one today. Jan gets a tad stressed when it’s bumpy, even though she knows it’s not going to cause any issues with the plane.

Vyctor got to chill with this sweet looking helicopter while Jan and I ran over to Aircraft Spruce.

Heading back, it was nice to see the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum parking lot almost totally packed.

The flight with my mom was the first one in over a month, as my magnetos had to be removed for inspection by a company in Toronto. The weather has been rather yucky lately too, which certainly didn’t help.

We had another joyous event last week too. The kitty my mother is cat-sitting had a birthday. Happy Birthday, Daisy!

It’s been a few up and down weeks with my health. I had a doctor appointment yesterday morning and she is sending me for an ultrasound of my bladder. I was surprised to get a call from the clinic who will be doing the tests, within minutes of getting home. It’s tomorrow morning – great to be getting it out of the way so quickly. I’ve been feeling very drained by around mid-afternoon and sometimes starting in the mornings. I have many of the symptoms of an infection but the initial test I did yesterday did not detect one. The results showed protein in my urine, which isn’t good. Hopefully the tests go well and we can get this issue figured out.

Today’s symptoms: I felt quite good this morning. The new tiredness and achy feelings I’ve been experiencing did not start until about 2:00 today. When it gets like this, I’m rather limited in what I can do, so I typically just chill for the rest of the day.

Mike and I went for a flight yesterday. We were hoping to fly to Brantford to go to the Aircraft Spruce store, but it’s closed on Saturday’s during the winter. Bummer! So we just did a local flight instead. It’s so neat to see the Welland Canal at such a low water level:

We headed south to Port Colborne and then east to Fort Erie, back north around Niagara Falls then along the Niagara River to Niagara-On-The-Lake. We also flew over the building in Port Weller East that exploded a few weeks ago. The amount of damage is unreal:

The clouds were fairly low so we weren’t able to do any aerobatics. Regardless, it was such a nice flight. It will be my last one for a few weeks as Vyctor had a magectomy today. My awesome mechanic removed his two magnetos (little electric generators which provide ignition to the engine through the spark plugs) and will be sending them off to be inspected. This needs to be done every 500 flight hours. Vyctor sure is getting a lot done this year. He had one of his cylinders replaced a few months ago, new brakes, a new ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) and now the mags. At least he’s still in the hangar with his buddies while he awaits his freshly inspected and potentially rebuilt magnetos. I’m really looking forward to the call that his mag transplant is done.

For the rest of the weekend, Mike and I worked on our bathrooms. We just repainted both and we are waiting for a call from the counter place to let us know they’re coming to install the new counter-top. It’s going to look amazing. We just had the floors redone upstairs too.

A little update on Stibbons the praying mantis. SHE is doing well (I learned how to determine their sex). Somehow, she lost one of her pincers. Poor little thing. She’s still doing well though and happily munches on the crickets I feed her:

Her big brother Peanut is doing well too:

Today’s symptoms: I felt ok this weekend. Keeping busy really helped. I’m dealing with a stupid bladder infection so that’s upped my fatigue level. It’s also causing some issues with my sleep too. Today I’ve had fairly regular nerve pain in my left hand. It feels like sharp electric shocks shooting through my paw. I think I’ve had enough of it today and it would be appreciated if I wake up with it gone tomorrow.

My alarm was set to go off minutes after I was woken up by a massive explosion. I had no clue what just oke me up and shook the whole house. I thought it was thunder at first, but then I heard all of the subsequent explosions, continuously going off. The sky went red:

Many of the neighbours came out and gathered on the street, trying to figure out what was going on. I have never heard so many sirens in my life. The smaller explosions continued for over half an hour. Apparently, a waste management facility (mainly fuel, oil, wastewater) exploded. The building is/was about a kilometre from us. Unfortunately, one person was seriously injured. He was the only one at the facility, thank goodness.

Here is an article on the incident. St. Catharines Explosion.

People to the north of the building were evacuated, as the wind was coming from the south. I’m so glad that we were able to stay home, as we are west of the location. Our thoughts are certainly with the guy who was injured.

Today’s symptoms: I’m not having the best or worst day today. My headache is worse than usual and plenty of aches and pains. The fatigue is really taking over as well. I’m quite looking forward to bedtime tonight!

Mike and I decided for our ten year anniversary at the end of November that we would go in together on a Virtual Reality system. We purchased the Valve Index after many hours of research on different units. The right choice was certainly made – it’s amazing! I’m a huge Skyrim fan so I was so excited to play the VR version. It is so much better than I even expected – extremely immersive. We also purchased an eleven-in-one sporting game and some archery ones. One of the games in the sporting package is boxing. I used to be in martial arts and would love to get back into it, but for now, I’m going to focus on boxing as a new venture. I purchased Thrill of the Fight and it’s exactly what I was looking for. I played it for over an hour on Christmas Eve (as well as a few other games) and my arms are still very noodley and sore two days later. The workout this game provides is awesome. I’m certainly looking forward to playing it again when my muscles are back to normal!

We’re both going to need to work out more if we keep getting the Big Papa pizza from Rollins Pizza. Holy cow, it’s amazing! Tastes just like a Big Mac:

My mother is baby sitting a kitty for friends of ours. Introducing Santa Daisy:

Christmas was great. It was the first time Mike and I were together on Christmas day, as he is usually with his family and I’m with my little mother. However, due to the COVID numbers being so high still, and the other crap that’s going around, he had to leave his parent’s place early afternoon Sunday before the rest of his family arrived. Jan and I opened pressies that morning then all opened stuff from each other when Mike was home. For dinner, we ordered a pre-cooked huge turkey dinner from Manhattans Restaurant in St. Catharines. Jan and I got our Christmas dinner from there last year, as well and Thanksgiving dinner for all three of us this year. I strongly recommend them. The price is right and the food is amazing. The large family meal feeds around 6 people. It gives the three of us leftovers for days. Yum!

Today’s symptoms: I am so happy to report that I’ve felt quite good over the last few days. I just have some nerve pain going on in my left hand today, plus a worse than usual headache, but my fatigue level is down. I’m off tomorrow as well so I’m hoping for another day of feeling decent and being productive. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

A pilot friend of mine recently shared a picture of a fox standing next to wheel chocks in her hangar. What a little cutie:

A few nights ago, I had one of my infamous bouts of insomnia. Around 2:00am, I decided I needed to do something productive, just out of boredom. This is where my whacky brain took me. Please let me introduce Fox with Socks by Chocks:

Fox with Locks by Chocks:

Fox with Pox by Chocks:

And last but not least, Fox with Glocks by Chocks:

I eventually fell asleep closer to 3:00. At least I had some entertainment beforehand!

Today’s symptoms: I slept seemingly well last night, but I’m a bit more fatigued than “normal” today. My headache is worse than it typically is too. I made it through the full work day though! I’m so glad it’s the weekend. Paws crossed for decent weather so I can go for a flight.

Vyctor had his annual inspection recently and his ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) test unfortunately failed. Since I had the old style 121.5 ELT and would need to switch over to the 406 by 2025 anyway, I figured I would just update it now. I ordered one from Aircraft Spruce, which has a location in Brantford. I didn’t want to spend $52 in shipping so decided to fly there instead. Makes sense, right? Hehe! Mike and I took last Thursday off to head out there, but the weather wasn’t looking ideal. The clouds were a bit low to the West but still VFR. It was a very windy day so we did share the airspace with many other small planes. The trip to Brantford was against a headwind and took us 52 minutes to get there, averaging around 72 knots (133 km). Once landed and getting Vyctor chocked and his cowl covered, we booted it over to Aircraft Spruce (about a five minute walk). We usually like wandering around the store to look at all the goodies, but wanted to get back in the air as quickly as possible before the snow came in.

With the new ELT safely in the back, we zipped back over to the runway for take-off. With the brisk tailwind, we were doing over 250 km/hr and reached the St. Catharines Airport in 27 minutes.

That was a really great flight. Certainly not smooth at all, which I always enjoy. Next for Vyctor – I need to have his magnetos removed and sent off to somewhere up near Toronto for inspection. I’ll do that once the weather is really cruddy, since I won’t be able to fly for a couple weeks. Paws crossed they don’t find any issues.

I’m hoping to go up again soon and do some aerobatics by myself. Mike and I went up the other day and did some at the end of our flight. This is always a fun orientation to be in:

I think I need to remind everyone how adorable our kitties are. Could Pinky pose and cuter?

Boo and her sister are true pals:

You tired Abby?

Mya has the cutest fuzzy feet. Little pompom paws:

Today’s symptoms: I felt quite good today with a decent amount of energy. Due to the weather, we spent the day inside, puttering around and playing on our new VR system. I shan’t complain too much about my symptoms over the last few days. Just the usual amount of nerve pain, fatigue and headaches, but all have been tolerable.

For the past couple of weeks, we planned to drive to Toronto today to visit the Avworld store. It’s a great aviation store just across from Pearson Airport. Mike, Jan and I drove for about an hour and a half, only to find that the store wasn’t open. What a bummer! I guess we’ll have to make another trip back at some point. I didn’t want the trip to be wasted, so on the way home, we took a detour to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. They have a great gift shop and we were able to pick up some Christmas gifts for each other and some other family members. I also saw some copies of a wonderful book there:

You can see more about the book and purchase a copy here: Stella and Lizzy Take Flight.

I think we wandered around the gift shop for about an hour. Although it was disappointing that Avworld was not open, at least we have another trip there to look forward to!

Farewell Warplane Museum….always a wonderful visit:

We’re mostly just relaxing now that we’re home from our fun day out. Time to tend to the animals, including our newest addition. I was out winterizing the gardens a few days ago when I came across an adorable praying mantis. I looked it up online and they typically die during the first frost, which likely would have been last night. No way I was going to let that happen to little Stibbons!

Who would have thought our zoo needed more animals??

Today’s symptoms: I felt quite good today! My energy didn’t start waning until around 4:00. It usually starts around noon, so having the extra few hours of energy was awesome!