Yes, please! Absolutely gorgeous…

The Farm, Ganaraska, Ontario, Canada by Scott Posno Design

The Farm, an hour east of Toronto, is a 30-hectare haven in Southwestern Ontario, offering a serene escape for the client, their family, and friends. This picturesque retreat features an array of buildings artfully integrated into the natural landscape, designed to resonate with the site’s rich history and stunning beauty.

The centerpiece of The Farm is the main house, a contemporary reimagining of a traditional longhouse. Stretching 48 meters in length and oriented eastward to greet the morning sun, the house boasts a sleek exterior of charcoal-stained cedar complemented by a matching metal roof. The design elegantly distributes public and private spaces along its length, including a luxurious master suite with a secluded patio, additional bedrooms, and a versatile loft studio above the garage.

Enhancing the home‘s fluidity, multiple entry points provide seamless access, while the dining room transforms into a breezeway, merging indoor and outdoor living depending on the seasons. The interior palette is a study in refined simplicity, featuring polished concrete, warm white oak, and exposed Douglas fir, creating an ambiance of understated elegance.

The Farm’s grounds are equally captivating. A tranquil Zen Garden invites meditation and relaxation, while an outdoor pool, hot tub, fire pit, and charming guest cabana promise leisurely afternoons and cozy evenings. The pond, situated 70 meters east of the main house, draws wildlife and serves as a perfect stargazing spot. Beyond the pond, a meandering stream with rustic wooden bridges beckons exploration, fostering a profound connection to nature.

At The Farm, every detail is crafted to enhance the harmony between architecture and landscape, offering a retreat that is both a luxurious escape and a celebration of nature’s splendor.

[source]

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As I mentioned on the 2nd, I entered a raffle a couple weeks ago for a totally unneeded bit of kit, never expecting to actually win it.  But in a bit of blind luck, I actually won the raffle.  It arrived while I was in the hospital, and of course it was the first bit of mail I opened yesterday upon returning home.

Not much to look at; it’s got some scratches and is a little dinged up, but this was one of Sony’s last MD players and when you consider it’s been 20 years…it’s held up quite nicely. Mr. Technical Initiative did a thorough clean and lube on the unit, and I was surprised to discover the internal gumstick battery compartment was actually working. (So often these units were put into storage with the batteries installed, forgotten, and the batteries then leaked and corroded the contacts.)

I think this one will be a good under-the-pillow fall-sleep-to-music player because it’s so thin. My current player for that use runs off a standard AA battery and is pretty thick.

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Apologies for this onslaught, They’ve been collecting in my downloads folder for a week and a half.

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Chislehurst Place

A 1929 Spanish masterpiece, this meticulously preserved residence enchants with sweeping landmark views and timeless craftsmanship.

You enter through a courtyard that features an outdoor kitchen and dining area, arriving inside under a majestic rotunda graced by hand-painted Malibu tiles and intricate wrought iron staircases. Multiple archways, soaring vaulted ceilings, exposed wooden beams, grand fireplaces, and wrought iron balconies evoke an era of refined grace, while stained and leaded glass windows bathe the home in radiant light.

Gather with friends in the sunlit kitchen designed for culinary artistry and open to the front courtyard or relax and read a book by the office fireplace. A dramatic entertaining living room comes complete with a Juliet balcony; downstairs is a home theater, a cozy bar in the family room for your favorite cocktails and then unwind by the cascading saltwater spa before heading off to one of the three en suite bedrooms.

Nestled within the coveted hills of Los Feliz, this estate, formerly owned by actress Olivia Wilde, features four bedrooms, three-and-one-half baths in just under 3300 square feet and recently sold for $5M.

[Source, source, source]

$5M is a bit of a bargian for L.A. isn’t it?

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From Palmer Report:

I’ve spent hours trying to figure out what the first sentence of this article should be, and I keep coming back to one simple thought: This is all wrong. Charlie Kirk is dead, murdered, presumably assassinated. We still don’t know all the details. I couldn’t think of a positive thing to say about Charlie even if I tried. But this? This is wrong. Very, very wrong.

It’s not just that he had the personal right to live and breathe air no matter what you or I thought of him. It’s that our society doesn’t work this way. Or at least it’s not supposed to. Even if you feel that Charlie Kirk’s rhetoric amounted to hate speech, we have laws and judges and juries for that. The response to someone standing on a stage and spewing hate speech is not to shoot them to death. It’s wrong on a personal level, wrong on a societal level, and it’s counterproductive to whatever your cause might be.

As I’m writing this, we still don’t know who did this or why. That information may have since come out by the time you’re reading this. And since the Trump regime is in charge of the federal criminal investigation, we may not even be able to trust what the FBI ends up announcing.

For now, suffice it to say that I don’t know a lot of bleeding heart liberals with sniper rifle training. But if it does turn out that the person who did this came from our side of the political fence, then we need to condemn that person as loudly and emphatically as possible. We have to keep this from devolving into the kind of anarchist nightmare where voices on all sides have to be afraid to speak up for fear of violent retaliation. Liberals are, always, the adults in the room. It has to be the same way now.

In the meantime, this is all wrong. Donald Trump’s criminal incitement of the January 6th terrorist attack was wrong. The recent assassination of two Democratic Party leaders in Minnesota was wrong. The murder of Charlie Kirk is wrong. Political violence is always wrong, and we must always condemn it – and mean it. There are no exceptions to that rule just because we can’t think of anything positive to say about someone.

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I’m sorry friends. Maybe I am a truly horrible person, but my first reaction upon hearing ot the shooting was best summed up in this meme:

I know I shouldn’t be making light of this since the country is a powder keg right now, just waiting for that one incident to set it off. I hope this was not that incident…

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I’d recognize that venue anywhere…the “comfort station” at the end of Judah Street at the beach in SF.

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Came home yesterday around noon. After wrapping myself enough so that certain areas that needed to stay dry stayed dry, I grabbed a quick shower and then  collapsed into bed where I slept for several hours,

Last night definitely required some Ella, and will ya look at what was delivered in my absence last week!

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Who among us has not dreamt of being able to be so brutally honest?

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The surgery went exceedingly well by all accounts. Thank you all for your well wishes; they are appreciated! No, I will not be posting pictures of the aftermath. (It’s gnarly.) But hey, I came through it and quite surprisingly, there’s been no pain that plain old Tylenol hasn’t knocked down completely.

That was the first surprise considering what they had to do to access the tumor. The second surprise was that they were planning on discharging me nearly five days ahead of what I’d been planning for.  So now, instead of going home next Saturday, I’ll be out on Tuesday—assuming there are no complications within the next 48 hours. The final surprise—one that brought tears to my eyes—came after they transferred me out of the ICU and gave me a speaking valve for my trachestomy tube: I could still talk! Yeah, I sound like I have a mouth full of marbles, but I’m still quite legible! Once all the swelling goes down I’m expecting a full recovery to the voice I was left with after my first match with cancer 22 years ago.

My care team at every stage has been exemplary; the only regret I have is that when I get the eventual survey in the mail regarding my care I won’t have their names to call out specifically for the outstanding service that was provided.

So that’s where we stand this early Sunday morning. I still have more tubes and wires attached to me than I care to document, so typing is slow and getting out of bed requires a small army for assistance, but as I told my hunky bearish nurse (thanks, Myrtle Mary!) this morning, “It’s still better than the alternative.” Most everything is supposed to be disconnected tomorrow, and that will make my last day in the hospital so much easier.

Ben has been visiting every day—despite suffering a detached retina after I went into surgery on Tuesday and his subsequent surgery/followup. It doesn’t rain but it pours. WTF is going on in our reality anyway?

I have to say the thing that has hurt the most over the past week is being away from the dogs. I’m still surprised how quickly Sophie and I bonded, and I’m thankful we have doggie cams set up at the house so I can at least see her. Ben said she and Raffi are still faithfully watching for my return—and I expect Sophie especially to jump out of her skin when i walk through the front doorl

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S as in Surgery.

I’ve cued up a month’s worth of nekkid menz for your enjoyment since I’ll probably be offline for a bit.

I entered a raffle a couple weeks ago for a totally unneeded bit of kit, never expecting to actually win it, but in a bit of blind luck, I was notified yesterday that my name was drawn and after verifying shipping details, it’s on its way to me. Despite everything else that’s going on in our world, I take this as a good sign that today’s procedure will be a success.

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