Stank

Last weekend I escaped to the city with two of my girlfriends. It was a wonderful time away, lots of laughing and just a very sweet time with some lovelies.

While I was gone Rueben went to doggie daycare. I love sending him there ,he has a great time, and he comes back tired.

When I picked him up on Sunday he came to the door and it was obvious that he'd been playing hard. His ear fur was all covered in slobber and matted to the sides of his head... and he'd been sprayed with the dog-fabrize... a dog covered in perfume.  I took one look at him and the owner of the daycare sighed... "you've got to do something about that dog... I got a complaint". 

Yup. Months later and my dog still smells like skunk.

* it's only when he gets covered in slobber or soaking wet ... He plays too hard and the slobber activates the stink and then it gets all over the other dogs and then all the dogs smell like skunk.
Awesome.

Freeze thaw repeat.

This morning when I went downtown to buy some eggs (the chickens are still on vacation) I was hit with something.

There's a difference of more than 40 degrees Celsius between the temperature I'm trying to keep in my house and the temperature I'm trying to keep out of my house.

And that's not taking into consideration the "wind chill factor".

This morning was one of those dry crunchy snow days. So cold that the snow squeaks when it's stepped on. So cold that the first breath punches you in the upper respiratory tract, leaving you fighting not to cough....for fear of the gasp for air that comes after that cough. So cold that any moisture inside your nasal cavity freezes as you breathe in, thaws as you breathe out, and the exhaled breath freezes your scarf into a solid piece of cardboard which then threatens to beat you in the face with the next gust of wind.

I didn't go out much today.

photo taken of my neighbour's yard two days after the ice storm. That birch tree is taller than the house, but the ice pulled it to the ground. Half of it has bounced back, and half has snapped. 

Found items

So the basement acts like a time capsule... or a garbage heap... I'm not sure which is more true. The clean up process is still going.

The eventual goal is to clear out the old coal-bin area and build hanging shelves to place christmas decorations and crafting crap and whatever other items survive the purge (all those Ramona Quimby books I've been saving for my potential future children). Hanging shelves? The coal-bin space isn't paved... the entire basement is paved... except that strange square that's still filled with hunks of coal. I'm being honest with myself when I say - it'll never get cleaned out and paved. (At least as long as I'm the one living here). So, rather then waste the space, the wooden shelving units are going to be attached to the floor joists above and hang down. The rental place I was in before buying here had them... the basement floor was all wonky/uneven... BRILLIANT!

I'm rambling....

LOOK WHAT I FOUND IN THE BASEMENT!!!!!!

He was nestled in some insulation, all cute and dead like... LOOK at his adorable shoulder blade!!! If you squint- it looks like a baby mouse ear!  And HIS TOES!!!! eeeeeeeeeeek! Adorable. Dead.

dream a little dream of me

I have vivid dreams.

Followers of this blog will remember the Larium Delirium that followed me home from Togo. Sometimes I wonder if it's a sort of flash back that I'm experiencing.

I remember every detail.

SO many details.

Not necessarily the story line... I'm talking the colours and textures and smells and objects.

This one is a gross one.

Last night I was in a greenhouse/ basement.

It was my maternal grandmother's basement, but it was a greenhouse (hey, I make up the rules as I go). It was near the ocean (not in real life). This room had been housing an individual under the care of some people- but they hadn't been watching him closely to see how he was really doing.

He wasn't doing well.

At some point he'd turned into a hoarder.

A hamster hoarder.

They were nearly all dead.

Shelves and shelves of plastic multi-coloured cages, wire cages. Hamsters, guinea pigs, bunnies. A few birds... but they were all called hamsters. Some were mummified, some were rotting. The ones that weren't stiff and flat could barely lift their heads- I started with eye droppers, trying to nurse each one with water- then switched to just filling water bottles as fast as I could... just in case.

Meanwhile, I'd been keeping a parrot in a glass of water. Hopeful that it would revive itself.

On top of the shelving was a terrarium... the kind some people keep lizards or frogs in. Deep water though.. filled with stinking algae, and duckweed, and scottish fold cats.

4 of them.

I wanted one.

The grey one.

but it was really sick, and needed help from someone who knew about sick scottish folds... So I said I'd take the black and white one home. And the parrot in the glass of water, because it was getting attached to me- we'd been sharing songs.

There was a lot more to the dream.

But I woke up more fully as I was explaining to someone why I wanted the black and white one, and what my medal should look like after the rescue was done.

I love lucid dreaming.

smell that?

I watched a lot of documentaries growing up... animal kingdom type documentaries, nature of things type documentaries... Some things I just didn't "get". Like how the trees knew when to release pollen... HOW do they know???

A few nights ago I was out with some friends and ran into a guy that I know, we visited for a bit, then went our separate ways

sigh.

This isn't a person that I'm particularly interested in or attracted to.

But he has just.the.right. pheromones.

oh sorry, too much information?

hold still

If that dog wouldn't breathe so much, she'd be a great music stand/ foot stool.

as IF!

So, I realized that a month and a half has passed, and I didn't even mention on here....


Miss Jellybean. 8yrs old, new addition to the hobbit home!

too funny. How'd I forget to post her?

'Touff and Fynn could care less about her. They take a look, then roll over and go back to sleep.. Miss. Bean however... wants to eat 'Touff... not so much Fynn.
So for now, we're taking turns playing in the yard. It works for us!

Noseday Wednesday

ok, pictures ON the computer!

I came home the other night, walked down the street... and my neighbour stops me along the way - "I just met your giant bunny" she says.

I look at her strangely and she says "well, I'm helping your roomie move out, and he was hanging out in the sun porch"

guess who figured out how to open his cage?

yeah, there he is, sitting in the sun porch, gazing out the windows, deciding if it's worth chewing my boots.

festival season approach

I was just scanning thru  my past entries, looking for SVFF stories.. and realised that I've done a rather shoddy job of documenting/processing my time at the festival. 

I was trying to figure out why... and then I looked at the most recent copy of "play-by-play, day-by-day" (the giant to-do list that spans 3 sheets of paper) and remembered it's for a few reasons.

1) who's got the time?

2) who's got the Internet?

3) electricity?

4) it's pretty awesome- but there's a lot of emotion (a lot gets invested into this) so if I stop for a minute and start to think- I cry- 'cause every emotion for me= cry. Cry= stay away from the computer.

5) at the end of the weeks of me talking incessantly about what I'm doing- I figure it's the last thing anyone wants to hear. 

But this year will be different. I will be journaling. Because I can't stand to lose yet another year to my poor memory.

Today I nearly lost my mind- having to stay an extra 45 mins at work- trying to get my stuff done, and other people's jobs done- because it seems everyone is on vacation at the same time... seriously, if I had to be there much longer- I'd have lost it. If I'd had to deal with one more "issue" .. I'd be toasted.

But, it's passed. I'm in one piece. I didn't throw up (which is what I do when I'm stressed) I didn't get the hic-ups (because I was barely breathing) I didn't scream (because I was muttering) I didn't swear at anyone (because I was swearing at myself) and I didn't do anything to make life difficult for anyone else next week ('cause I can't stand for people to be mad at me).

All in all, I think I did really well.

one track mind

Ok, sometimes... I don't pay attention to what's going on around me while I'm doing something... I mean, I'm attentive- I'm just not good with details while I'm getting something done... Because I'm pretty focused on finishing it.

Case in point this evening::

I'm pretty sure the roommate is going to kick me out.

I started to shred paper for one of the worm bins. (Yes, I said bins... remember when I started one? and then the one turned into four? and now it's five?) Anyway, I'd just gotten a bucket of compost for one of the bins. I haven't been home much in the past two weeks, so the amount of organic matter (OM) has been minimal- and this new bin eats A LOT. So, I'd gotten a pile of compost, and I wanted to cover it with some extra shredded paper to cut down on the likelihood of fruit flies- So I started shredding and I had the bin in the kitchen with me so I could add water to the paper and pop it into the bin.

So that's what I did.

And then I realized that WHILE I'd been shredding, my roommate, whom I'd been chatting with while I worked, was making her sandwich- on the counter beside the bin.

The OPEN worm bin.

You know... the worm bin full of WORMS.

And WORM POO.

And I'd just plopped it there beside her sandwich and was working away, oblivious to the suddenly cold looks coming my way.

'Cause I'm a little slow that way.

For the record:: I noticed my error and was horrified by my own actions. 

Also for the record:: I always wipe the counter with disinfectant afterwards... so you can still come eat at my house.

Happy Canada Day!!!!!


and now, back to your regular scheduled blogging....
(ug. and work)

how many tags may apply to the past four days? (you're limited to 200 charachters... shoot)

let's pretend (or) makeshift bunday monday

ok, I hate to do this to you.
But so much has happened in the past three days... well...
Yet again, I forgot this was Monday...
here's a little somthin' somthin' to tide you over.

Yes, I know I've used this before... BUT- there's a darn good reason. I had to steal it from my own flickr account since this isn't my computer. Remember how I said my computer was making gross noises? and remember how I'm always complaining about my ageing computer? and remember how mostly I'm a big complainer and I never spend anything, and I never finish anything I start? remember all that?

I pet a cownose stingray today.
AND
I bought a MacBook.

yup... big day.

I'm not currently ON my new computer, as I've only just taken it out of the box long enough to confirm that "YES, it is a computer". And I haven't really stopped to breathe since Friday.... so, today we're pretending.... welcome to post 999b.

wild cat on the loose

no really.

there's a big cat on the loose in the 'Burg, and no one seems to know where it is.

Yesterday as I got into my car, I threw my backpack in first (as I always do).
BUT as it was thrown, it caught my necklace hanging from the rear view mirror...
and it snapped...
releasing : one elephant, a giraffe, zebra, cheetah, lion, and a tiger.

At this point... the tiger is still on the loose.

Anyone who finds the animal is warned that it is extremely cute and may cause dizziness. Contact me immediately.

900

I'm hoping the weather stays cool.

At least until I can figure out what to do with the two frozen turkeys in my trunk.

a little corner of my desk at work... it made me laugh all week. I think I'll start buying myself flowers to keep that water bottle in action... (no fear, I have two others)

The other corner of my desk... also makes me laugh. (Thanks Jenny for the talking button... you have NO idea how often someone comes to the desk and asks to hit it... they need the "pick-me-up" I guess!) (hit the link for your own shot of self esteem boosting funny).

I don't know why I'm posting about my desk at work... that's the last thing really that I want to be thinking about on a Sunday morning!

chew chew

Earlier in the week I'd finally broken down and replaced the remote that the buns had eaten. Rather... I replaced the remote for the TV that the buns had eaten. The remote for the DVD player... well, it's an old player... I'm not going to bother to replace it. Hopefully I can continue to remember which button is which.

Anyway, since this new purchase (on Christmas Eve-Eve... my one and only visit to StuffMart this Christmas) I've been so careful with the remotes when the buns are loose in the house. I make sure to put them up out of bunny reach... I flip them over on the couch so the chewy good parts are hidden.

Tonight I'm on the phone when I hear this chompy-chew noise from the living room. I don't think anything of it, merely "ah ha, they must have found my popcorn" (popcorn when you're not feeling well is SO great!), and I turned back to my conversation. But the noise kept going, and I wasn't hearing "little feets in a big popcorn bowl" sorts of noises... so I peered around the corner.

Only to discover Fynn Pants chewing happily on the remote that he'd flipped over.

He eats remotes the way I eat corn... one row at a time... only the buttons on the right side of the remote remain.

they make 'em young?

So, as for the distraction... (Sunday's post)
The priest.

No, not the old Spanish one (or whatever his background).
The young Italian one.
Not that I was attracted to him (not everything is about sex) (despite what others might tell you), I wasn't staring at him in lust... but the thing that caught my attention was the fact he was my age. I didn't know they made Priests my age. I mean... I know that a Priest at one point in time has to live out the twenty something's years... but I don't know, it just seems like Priests are born old.

So, aside from the shocker that, in fact; Priest do NOT materialize in ancient form; Nor the fact that I didn't know people still became Priests (I think I figured they really DID materialize in ancient form)(or, that we'd reached some sort of Priestly quota in the 70's); I was more concerned about his social life.

What does a young Priest do on a Saturday night?
(I mean, aside from Saturday night mass)

Does he have friends? Does he laugh at a dirty joke? Does he hope to all hopes that he can find a good show? Does he wear his collar to the movies?

I used to wonder the same things about pastors... if they went out for dinner or not.

Then I thought... HEY! I should ask the Priest out... not on a date... but you know, so he could get to meet some people his own age. But. But what if someone thinks I'm after the Priest? What if he makes some guy friends... are people going to think that he's after one of them? Does he only hang out with old ladies in their parlours drinking tea out of their grandmother's favorite china pattern? Or does he get together with the nuns for bowling? What if... what if he was hanging out with someone for coffee and then he DID like them... (turns out it really is all about sex after all). Or what if the church-goers got their panties in a knot because Priesty went out to a concert?

needless to say, I missed most of the message, and mumbled my way thru the last two songs.
anyway, I'm going to go try to find out his name.
people like friends.
right?

ZOO!

ok, I love the zoo...
ok, how many posts have I started with "ok"?

SO, yesterday for work, I took two of our guys to THE ZOO. The Toronto Zoo of course... and, since work paid for my ticket, I was one third of the way towards a year's membership.
SO, guess who caved and paid to buy one for herself?

zoo pics and dino story to follow.

D'oh!

I saw the Simpsons movie last night...
go see it!

ALSO yesterday I got to go to the zoo for work (yeah, I know, the zoo is pretty cool) (in fact... it IS my favorite place to be).
but guess what???

THEYS GOTS OTTERZ!!

yeah, I was happy.

Strange thing though yesterday, I have NEVER seen those animals quite so active. I've been going to the PTBO zoo for years, I went daily for a few years, and yesterday:: The Python was slithering, the reindeer were running, the otterz were swimming, the dholes were running, the wallabies were sleeping (ok, I'm pretty sure the zoo doesn't even have real ones, I've determined that these same 4 creatures have ALWAYS been in the same spot forever, perhaps they are yard decorations) the meercats were digging, the tortoises were humping, the goats were pacing, the lemur was hopping *whew*!
there was a lot of activity.
it was great.... I nearly even forgot I was at work for a moment.