Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO COVER YOUR TRACKS and TO COVER ALL THE BASES

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to cover your tracks. Now, if you do something and you don't want anyone to know you did it, you might want to cover your tracks. Let's say there are cookies in the kitchen and I'm not supposed to eat them. I might go to the tray of cookies and eat two and then I might move the other cookies so it looks like they're filling the plate. Still. I'm trying to cover my tracks. You also hear this phrase when you watch a show where there are criminals. After a criminal commits a crime, they might try to cover their tracks. They might put everything back the way it was. Let me see, let's say they were stealing money from a safe. They would probably close the safe and make everything in the place where they are stealing the money from look the same way as when they got there. They try to cover their tracks.

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The other phrase I wanted to teach you today is the phrase to cover all the bases. This means to make sure that you do everything in a situation. Let's say you're working on a project at work. You want to make sure that you cover all the bases. When you work on that project, you want to make sure that manufacturing goes well. You want to make sure that design goes well. You want to make sure that you have thought about and taken care of all of the aspects of the project. You want to cover all the bases.

So to review to cover your tracks means to make it look like you haven't been there. I've actually done that after I've eaten cookies before. I rearranged them on the plate so it looks like the plate is still full. And then to cover all the bases means to make sure that you take care of all aspects of a project.

But hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. This comment is from Minosmil. I can imagine Bob and Jen going on a trip, but I'm not able to picture Bob the Canadian without pizza. And my response it would be hard! Right now. We make homemade pizza for supper once a week. It's my favorite night. Yes. So thanks Minosmil for that comment. Yes, I can imagine going on a trip. If I go on a trip, I'm hoping wherever I go that there's pizza there because I still like it. What an amazing food. Crust, cheese, sauce, some meat on top of it's just amazing. Hey, what was I going to say? I was going to say something else. I can't remember Jen and I going on a trip. That should happen at some point in our lives, probably.

So here's what I wanted to show you. We're a little behind right now in this part of Ontario, Canada. If you look here on the lilac tree, you'll see they're just starting to get their little flowers. And usually this has happened already. I should pause a little bit and stop moving so you can see. And then over here we have some purple ones. There's actually not a lot on this tree either. Hopefully I'm not too close. Hopefully you can see, if I go too close, it doesn't focus. So hopefully in the next little while things warm up a bit.

Jen and I need to start our farmers market in four weeks and things aren't growing as fast as they normally grow. We had a burst of growth, like the daffodils started growing really well. If you look over here, you can see there are some daffodils there. These aren't ones that we grow and sell, but definitely it needs to warm up a bit around here. The trees are starting to get leaves, so that's cool. But, yeah, it's like, you can see I have my sweater on again today. So it's another cool day here. And yeah, we need the su

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Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO BELT OUT and TO TIGHTEN YOUR BELT

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to belt out. So a belt is something you wear on your pants so your pants don't fall down. But it's also a verb we use to talk about someone who's singing very, very loudly. You can belt out a song. Let's say you go to a karaoke evening somewhere and you choose your favourite song and then you get the microphone and as the words show up on the screen, you start to belt out the song. So kind of a unique verb, but it is a verb that you will hear quite often. Sometimes people will say, wow, the singer could really belt out the songs. It was very cool to listen to.

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The second phrase I wanted to teach you today is to tighten your belt. When you tighten your belt, it means you're trying to save money. So let's say Jen and I wanted to go on a trip in six months, but in order to do that we would have to save up some money. We might need to tighten our belts. So we might need to tighten our belts. That means that we decide to not go out to eat. We're not going to order pizza, we're going to make all of our food at home. How else would you save money? Maybe we're going to cancel Netflix. We're going to decide to tighten our belts so that we can save some money.

So to review, to belt out simply means to sing something loudly with lots of energy and enthusiasm. And to tighten your belt means to decide to not spend money on extra things for the next little while.

But hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. This comment is from Freddy Wolf and the comment is. Here we go. Thanks, Bob. While your temperatures are currently quite low and a bit chilly, we are experiencing very high temperatures up to 30. This is in France, by the way, for the month of May. This is a record since weather forecasts have been taking measurements. Sand from the Sahara is even predicted to come up to us. Our cars will all be sand colored. Mandatory wash in sight. See you soon. And my response. Oh, wow, that's a long way for the sand to travel. I've never experienced something like that. I hope it doesn't last long.

I think I forgot to put the T on last in that comment. There's a little, there's a little error there you'll have to correct if you see it. But yeah, thanks Freddy for that comment. Sand from the Sahara or the Sahara, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to pronounce it. Even English speakers sometimes don't know how to say the words properly, so. But that's interesting. That's a long way for the sand to travel. It reminds me of when we had the wildfires in northern Canada and the smoke traveled all the way to New York City in the United States. That was kind of incredible.

But hey, where am I today? Well, I'm just out walking in a typical Canadian subdivision. If I show you, that is a very large dog. Yes. I'm not always a big fan of dogs. I'm just going to walk quickly. Now. This is a typical Canadian subdivision. Every once in a while I do come and make a lesson in a subdivision. I always hope that the people who live in the subdivision, if they see me, don't mind. I also have a sense that there might be a car coming up behind me. Oh, no, it's turning. So I'm safe. I have to be hyper aware of my surroundings when I come and make an English lesson in a place like this. But there you go. You can see that a lot of Canadians have more than one vehicle. One vehicle there. When you see a vehicle in the driveway, there's often another vehicle in the garage. And then someone even has a boat over there. I wo

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Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases A REAL HEADACHE and A SPLITTING HEADACHE

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the phrase a real headache. Now this can have two meanings. The actual meaning is that your head hurts and maybe you need to go to a pharmacy to get some medicine so that you don't have a headache anymore. Maybe you have a real headache, an actual headache. But we also use this to talk about a situation that isn't easy. Right now I don't think I want to go to the United States because I think crossing the border would be a real headache. I think they might ask me too many questions. If you didn't know the US and Canada aren't getting along very well right now. So I'm not sure I want to cross the border because it might be a real headache. You might go for an interview for a job and you might say, oh, the job interview was, it was a real headache. Like they asked me questions for two and a half hours. So sometimes when it's not an actual headache, we still use the word real to describe a situation that is kind of annoying and kind of difficult.

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The other phrase I wanted to teach you today is a splitting headache. This is an actual headache. If you have a splitting headache, you will probably go to the pharmacy and get some acetaminophen or ibuprofen to help with your headache because you have a splitting headache. Sometimes people go out and they drink too much, they have too many alcoholic beverages and the next morning they wake up with a hangover and they have a splitting headache.

So to review, a real headache can be an actual headache or it can be a difficult situation. And a splitting headache is when you have... your head just feels like it just feels awful. It's not very nice at all.

But hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. This comment is from Ünsal. I've noticed there usually aren't many people around in the videos you film in town. Is that because of the time and place you choose to shoot? Or are those calm, peaceful streets just part of the vibe where you live? Thanks for filming outside. Even with the strong wind, it's always such a joy hanging out with you. Thank you so much for this useful lesson. Have a great day. Bye. And my response? I'll try to find a place today in town with more people. A lot are still in their cars because it is early spring. The warmer weather will come soon.

And you've probably thanks Ünsal for that comment. And you've probably noticed as I stood there, there were a lot of people driving by and there still are, but there aren't a lot of people walking by. That gentleman does have the window of his truck open. And I'll show you what Canadians do sometimes. Sometimes Canadians, at this time of year, we don't start spending time outside. We just stay in our cars. So this is the Tim Hortons. Drive through and you'll see that there are quite a few people lined up to buy some food, to buy some coffee, maybe some donuts and those kinds of things. If you look way over there, you'll see people going from their car into the Tim Hortons restaurant. But, yes, I would say that it's still maybe a little bit too chilly for people to actually be outside.

Oh, there's someone over there. So I'm gonna guarantee you that that person. Oh, I thought she was maybe gonna go into the drugstore, into the pharmacy, because maybe she has a headache. But no, it's still a little. Oh, she did. She did go. I should have kept the camera there. Anyways, Ünsal, you wanted to see more people. I think I showed you three. But, yeah, I think it's mostly due to the weather. Li

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Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases THAT'S THE SPIRIT and A KINDRED SPIRIT

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase that's the spirit. When we say that's the spirit to someone, we are encouraging them or recognizing that they did something cool or that they're excited about something. I'm not sure I'm explaining this well. Let me explain. If I said to someone, I want to go for a hike tomorrow, but it's going to rain, if they said, I'll just wear a jacket and bring an umbrella, I would say to them, that's the spirit. They are showing a positive attitude towards something that might be hard. If I said to a student, the exam is going to take three hours, and if they responded by saying, well, then I'll just study for three weeks, I would say, that's the spirit. They are showing a positive attitude when something difficult is going to happen.

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It's very windy out here today. I'll show you in a minute. Hopefully I don't blow away.

The second phrase I wanted to teach you today is a kindred spirit. A kindred spirit is a person you meet who is very similar to you and has a lot of the same interests. I have a good friend, and that friend and I both read science fiction books when we were teenagers and we often talked about them. We were kindred spirits. When I was at university, I met people who I really enjoyed hanging out with. We were kindred spirits.

So to review that's the spirit is used to basically recognize that someone is being positive in a situation that might be negative. And when you say a kindred spirit, you're talking about someone who thinks a lot like you, likes a lot of the same things as you.

But hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. This comment is from Pedro. Talking in person is different. It brings back a kind of warmth you don't get through a screen. Have a great weekend, Bob. And my response? Yeah, I like in person better than online. So that was a reference. Thanks, Pedro. That was a reference to the last lesson where I talked about face to face and in person.

Let's walk over here and see if we can see. Oh, I was going to say one more thing. I used to have to do parent teacher interviews online during the pandemic and I didn't like it at all.

Okay, I'm not sure if you can see this tree. It was moving quite a bit more earlier. I'll just point like this for a bit. It's just really, really windy out here. I'm gonna walk this way so the wind is at my back. That's better for the microphone. Then the sound, the audio quality should be pretty good, but I'm just walking in what I would call a typical Canadian neighborhood in a small town. Notice some of the driveways are gravel, some of the driveways are concrete, and some of the driveways are pavement.

Last time I did a video like this in town, a lady ran out of her house and wanted to know what I was doing. So I don't know if that will happen again, but people are quite protective when they see someone with a camera. Although the last time it happened, the person thought that it was some sort of sensor that I was looking for gas leaks or something like that. This person must be getting ready to go camping. It's a little early for camping in Ontario, Canada, but you can see they have their pickup truck hooked up to their camper and it looks like they're getting ready to hit the road and maybe find a campground that's open. I don't think a lot of them are yet. They usually don't open till the middle of May.

Anyways. Again, a view of the trees moving in the wind. A nice view of a typical Can

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Read along to practice your English and to learn the English terms FACE-TO-FACE and IN PERSON

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English term face to face. When you meet someone face to face, it means that you're in the same room, you're in the same spot. It's not the same as meeting them online. If I was talking to my boss and I had a complaint, maybe I'm talking to my boss on the phone, I might say, hey, maybe this would be better if we do it face to face. Can you hear that loud bird? It's definitely spring here. Maybe it's better if we meet face to face. When you talk to someone face to face, you can read their facial expressions and you can read, you know, their body language and what they're actually thinking. But sometimes online it's a little hard. So face to face means that you are talking to the person in the same room like you're physically in the same spot.

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The other term I wanted to teach you is in person, which means exactly the same thing. If I was talking to my boss and I was was talking on the phone and said, hey, I really want a raise, I don't think I get paid enough. And my boss was like, I don't know, I might say, hey, can we talk about this in person? Can I come to your office later today? And can we talk in person? Because I would just be more comfortable doing that.

So to review, when you meet someone face to face, when you talk to someone face to face, it means they're right in front of you. You can see their face. And when you meet someone in person or you talk to someone in person, it means you're not online, you're not on the phone, you're not just doing it via a messaging system. You're actually in the same place in the same room.

But hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. Sorry. The birds. It's beautiful, but it's a little bit annoying. It's not quite as loud now. This comment is from Tacagero. Mr. Bob told us that he is not going to read the full comment, but he did. Politicians often do what they do not mention to do. So a little. I'm getting called out a little bit here. This made me laugh, by the way. And I said, haha, you got me. I did do the opposite of what I said, politics here I come.

So in the last lesson I said, oh, by the way, thanks Tacagero for that comment. In the last lesson I said the comment was too long. I'm not going to read the whole thing. And then I did read the whole thing. So, yes, maybe the world of politics is for me, maybe I am someone who can not tell the whole truth all the time. Sorry, I'm making it sound like all politicians are bad. They're not all bad. Some I think are very, very nice.

Hey, I was gonna show you that there are daffodils. This has become a yearly routine, I think, on this channel. These are a little late this year. We're actually surprised because normally daffodils would be blooming already, like two weeks ago. Oh, and I think there's a little ladybug on there as well. I think I just put a shadow on it. But yeah, the daffodils are blooming. It's actually quite nice out here.

But we... I would say the growing season is a little bit behind. Like it's April 24th today. The trees are just starting to bud out. And I think last year they were already quite... They were like leafed out quite a bit already. If you're wondering what this is, we're just killing off the weeds in this area so that we can plant some things. I think we might actually put some vegetables in this year. Some of you have asked before if we grow vegetables. I think my son might try to grow some vegetables. So we'll see how that goes. But I can't wait for the leaves t

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Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY and IDENTITY CRISIS

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase a case of mistaken identity. When you say that something is a case of mistaken identity, it means it's a situation where someone thinks someone is someone else, but they're not. So maybe as you're walking along, you see someone from behind and they have hair just like mine and it's the same colour and I'm about the same size. And you run up and you say, Bob! And the person turns around and it's not me. That would be a case of mistaken identity. I used this phrase in a comment below the last video because someone said something like, you never answer my question. You just answer the questions like, how are you doing? Or you talk about what equipment you used. And I'm like, this must be a case of mistaken identity, because I answer almost every question.

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The second phrase I wanted to teach you today is the phrase identity crisis. When someone has an identity crisis, it's like they don't know who they are. So here's a good example. Sometimes people who are 17 or 18 go to university. They don't know what they want to be. They kind of have a bit of an identity crisis. They don't know if they want to be a doctor or maybe they want to be a teacher or maybe they want to be an engineer. They're kind of lost and they don't even really know who they are. They're having an identity crisis, a crisis where they're not sure what they're supposed to be or even who they are right now.

So to review, when there is a case of mistaken identity, it means that, let's say the police arrest someone and then they're like, oh, wrong person, sorry, it was a case of mistaken identity. You matched the description of the person we were looking for. And when someone has an identity crisis, it means they're, you know, they're just not sure who they are or what they're supposed to be in life. Sometimes people have this in the middle of their life as well, where they're just. They don't like their job and they're just sort of unhappy and they have a bit of an identity crisis.

But hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. I'm not going to read the whole comment, but you can pause and read some of it. It's from Alaa Ahmad. Hello, Mr. Bob. Yesterday I dreamt that you became the Prime Minister of Canada as a successor to the former Prime Minister. Justin. I was proud, pointed to you telling my family that you are one of my best Canadian teachers. But then I stopped doubting that you will recognize me as a follower after becoming the Prime Minister. I was surprised to see you using the word prime in my last lesson. What a coincidence. Be honest, Bob. Are you planning to be a politician? And my response? Maybe when I retire, I'll become Prime Minister. It looks like the job of leadership is going to quite old people if you look at the U.S. the United States. So thanks, Alaa Ahmad, for that comment.

And actually, no, I don't have any plans to go into leadership or to be a politician. But yeah, I guess in the United States, if you're over the age of 75, you can be the president. That's how it works in that country. I guess I have a few years to go before I do that.

Hey, I wanted to show you a sign of spring here. I think I showed you this last year and my videos are getting a little bit repetitive, but that's okay in my book. I think these are. I think even in the last video I didn't know what they were then. I think Jen said they were forsythia. Not 100% sure, but some beautiful yellow for your sp

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Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases PAST THEIR PRIME and PRIME TIME

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase past their prime. When you say someone is past their prime, it means they peaked at whatever they do well and now they aren't as good at it. We usually use this to talk about athletes, a professional athlete. Often when they are in their 30s, they start to not be as good at the sport as they used to be. And then we might say when they're 35 or 36, that they are past their prime. It's not a nice phrase, is it? I do not look forward to the day where I'm teaching a class and some parent says, Bob, that guy is past his prime, it's time for him to retire. I don't think I'm anywhere close yet, but that would not be a nice thing to hear. But often used to talk about professional athletes when they're in their 30s. It's common to read a news article or hear someone on TV say that they are past their prime. Again, not very flattering, not very kind.

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The other phrase I wanted to teach you today is prime time. This is kind of an older phrase. This refers to TV shows that are on between 8 and 10 or 7 and 11. There's a bit of a... There's a... There's a couple different ideas as to what it means, but it means the time where people normally, I guess, used to watch TV. Now there's streaming and YouTube and all kinds of other things to do from 7 to 11. But prime time meant a TV show that was on between 7 and 11 at night. So for me it's usually game shows from 7 to 8. So there's Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. And then at 8 o'clock I don't often sit down to watch a TV show anymore. I might watch a Blue Jays game, but those are on at prime time sometimes as well. They start at 7 or 7:30 at night. Anyways, prime time, the best time to get a lot of viewers to watch something.

So to review. When someone is past their prime, it means that they were good at something and now they're not as good at it because they're getting older, they've peaked and now they're kind of going downhill. And then prime time would be any TV show that's on between 8 and 10 or 7 and 11, whatever you choose.

But hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. This comment is from. Know that as for your example of the shirt with the hole in it, Bob, if it were one of your favorite shirts, you could possibly wear a sweater over it in a pinch. Assuming of course that the weather is right for a sweater and how many holes it has, how big they are and where. I know that was just an example and as always, a really good one from you. Thank you so much, Bob. You're awesome in so many ways. Have a great day.

And my response, yeah, I've done that from time to time. In fact, I'm doing it right now. Yeah, I went and found what is my favorite shirt. It's too bad that shirts get. The shirt is past its prime there. I could use the example as well. It's too bad when things get old. This doesn't have holes in it, but it's actually. It's just starting to wear out a little bit where you can't see. So I can't wear it unless I wear a sweater or a top like this over top of it.

So anyways, the lawn chairs are back out. You might have noticed that in a previous video. We put them back out a week or two ago. This has just become a beautiful spot to sit in the spring, summer and fall. For Jen and I. It's shady in the morning right now. It's about 9am so it's nice. We put them away for the winter and now they're back. We've also removed one row, one row of the little markers from the driveway. We have to remove these at some point. The dogs were starti

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Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases A TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE and TO SET A BAD EXAMPLE

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase a textbook example. When something is a textbook example, it's something in real life that could have been in a textbook, maybe. Let me explain a little bit better. A textbook is a book you use in school to learn new things. And a textbook example is something that happens in real life that maybe could have been taught in a textbook, but we sometimes use it in a funny way. Here's a good example. If you're watching a football game or what I call soccer, and there's a corner kick and the person kicks it and the ball bends nicely and goes right into the top far corner of the net, we would say, that's a textbook example of how to do a corner kick. That's how, if there was a textbook that taught you how to kick the ball, that's what they would teach you. To kick it in a way where it bends and hooks right above the goalie or goaltender and goes into the net. That would be a textbook example.

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So the other phrase I wanted to teach you today is to set a bad example. Now, if I was to wear jeans to school or really old shirts with holes in them, that would be a bad example. I would be setting a bad example for the students. When we have students in school that don't behave, that sets a bad example for the other students. They might think because that one student is misbehaving, they can misbehave as well. So when you set a bad example, you do something that encourages other people to do the same, even though it's a bad thing. If I speed in my van, I would be setting a bad example for my own children.

So to review a textbook example is like something that happens in real life that's done so well. You think, oh, they could. If they taught this. This is how they would teach it in a textbook. A textbook example. And to set a bad example simply means to do something that encourages other people to do that bad thing as well.

But, hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. This comment is from the paper got all crumpled in my pocket. I've been a number of places between school and here. Here we go. From Bryce. It's nice to see you, Unc Bob, which is short for uncle. And my response, it's good to be back in action. So, Bryce, thank you for that. I picked that one because I always giggle a little bit because in some places in the world I'm apparently known as Uncle Bob. In some Asian countries, I think it is what we call an honorific. It's a term we use when we respect someone. We might call them uncle, even though they aren't technically our uncle. So I'll take it. If you guys want to call me Uncle Bob at some point, that's fine. I have the gray hair to be like an old wise uncle, so we'll go with that.

Where am I today? I'm getting water. Some of you have been here before with me. This is the place where I come to fill my water jugs. I've already filled them. You can see here that it says small container fill station. Please push and pull handle slowly. Although they've replaced it with a switch now. And then you can read that if you want to take the time, hit pause. And then also, they don't like it when people hook a hose up directly to the tap. So that's where I am today. I just filled the jugs. And so we have a little bit of drinking water again for the rest of the week.

We don't drink as much in the in the late winter, early spring as we do in the summer. But it is important. The water we have at home is not really good to drink. It's in the cistern. We do keep it clean enou

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