Musings on a Small Life

Last night's sunset sky, snapped by leaning out the guest room window. With the camera strap around my neck, of course! :-)

I came home and saw something glinting on the floor, directly ahead in the living/dining area. Went closer and discovered that someone--gee, can't imagine who, right, Nicki?--had been up into the cupboard over the stove (no doors on the cupboards) and had knocked over two of the cat bowls. One of which had shattered into a billion teeny pieces, all over the entire floor. Under the chair, behind the entertainment unit, all over the carpet, behind the fridge....Absolutely. Everywhere. (It's a very small living/dining/kitchen area, all open.) It took almost an hour to clean it all up--sweeping, vacuuming, mopping--and still I can feel fine grains of crushed glass underfoot in a few spots. The plus is that none of the cats seems to be hurt. At least there was no blood. And the glass--just a cheap bowl either from the dollar store or Value Village--wasn't sharp. However, to say that I was unimpressed was an understatement! What you can't see is all the glass behind ...

Old Kitty's mention of marzipan on her cake (YUM!) reminded me of this squirrel picture I snapped on Friday afternoon, leaving the office. Most of the squirrels on campus are quite tame, so s/he didn't budge an inch as I approached, quite close, and snapped the pic. The squirrel has something cake-like in its claws, but it's a good thing it wasn't marzipan, otherwise I might have been tempted to fight for it.  ;-)

I bused out to Lemoine Point this morning, for a walk through the woods. Not exactly a solitary experience, as there were quite a few people walking and jogging through. Okay, not hoards of people, probably a couple of dozen all told. But that's a lot when you want peace and quiet. LOL. I did pass one 30-something couple, going in the other direction. Overheard the woman ask, "So you have two children?"  and the guy reply, "Yeah, Cory and Niall." So I speculated that they had hooked up on-line (or via friends) and that this was their first meeting/date. Otherwise she'd know he had two sons, and would know their names. Ah, let the games begin. As for me, I'll stick with my camera and and my fur family, thanks very much.  :-) Our recent un-Spring-like cold snap has frozen the little brook. Lucky shot of the chickadee, because they flit around so quickly. Trust me to find tree roots fascinating . . . So far, the only thing turning green on the interio...

I don't follow soccer ("football") and know little about David Beckham, except that he's a soccer "star" and was recently injured. But oddly, last night I dreamed I was playing badminton with him, not with a shuttlecock, but with all sort of tiny objects that one of the cats (probably Nicki) was trying to catch. I have no idea why I have so many strange dreams! Perhaps because my waking life is so dull. LOL! Anyway, here's an older (presumably) photo of him, for today's eye candy. Since I have three tattoos of my own, I find his tattooed arm quite interesting! Well, those washboard abs are pretty "interesting" too. Heh.

I spied this bee nest--at least it looks like a bee nest to me!--on the way home yesterday. I didn't think bees made nests in trees like that. In hollowed-out trunks, maybe, or in some other protected area, yes. What do I know?!

I had CBC Radio One on over the weekend and caught part of an interview with one of the co-authors of this book. And while I'm not interested in changing the world, the book seemed so inspiring that I ordered it from Amazon.ca. It came yesterday and when I'm finished my current read, will start it. I need a bit of inspiration these days, to counteract all the negativity in my life right now, via the media, work concerns, four-legged companion concerns, etc. Getting to Maybe: How the World Is Changed (Paperback) by Frances Westley, Brenda Zimmerman, Michael Patton Publisher: Vintage Canada; Reprint edition (Aug 7, 2007) A practical, inspirational, revolutionary guide to social innovation Many of us have a deep desire to make the world around us a better place. But often our good intentions are undermined by the fear that we are so insignificant in the big scheme of things that nothing we can do will actually help feed the world’s hungry, fix the damage of a Hurricane Ka...

...and in with the new hot water tank. I went with the fellow that the Utilities company recommended and used most often, even though I did call someone else. He was half the cost the other company quoted me, and he was able to do it today. 3PM he said, so I left work at 1:30 to make sure I was home in time (sometimes buses run late and you miss your transfer, which adds an additional half-hour to the commute time). I need not have bothered, since he didn't show up till about 4:40PM. He and his two guys (one of whom was his son, who also is a plumber) were doing a hotel today, and the job took longer than anticipated. Well, they always do. I was in a fine snit, quite pissed off about the tardiness, until finally he called and said he was about 5 minutes away. Time enough to lure the boys into one of the upstairs rooms and close the door, and shut the door on Annie in another. As soon as she heard the voices, she ran and hid under the futon in the guest room anyway. So it was ab...

Our Spring warmth has disappeared--it was cold all weekend, with wet snow on Sunday, and it's slated to be cold the entire week, with highs of  +1, +2C...you get the idea. Even the long range forecast isn't looking optimistic. No turning off the heat for us! (Not that we ever can until well into May, sometimes June.) I've been de-cluttering again. Or, more accurately, moving the clutter around. It's now concentrated in the guest room, to be moved to the already-filled garage. I do this twice a year, spring and fall, yet I still find more "stuff" to get rid of. I don't even shop for much beyond books and cat toys. All these things must somehow multiply on their own. But I always have, in the back of my mind, the "what if" scenario: What if I have to sell the house and move in a hurry? Or what if I drop dead suddenly and someone has to get rid of all my things? So I try to pare down as much as possible, as much as I'm ready for, to make it ...

The ivy on this house near campus caught my eye on Friday. Does anyone remember an old Dr. Who episode with Tom Baker that featured evil plants taking over an old home? I have only a vague memory of the episode, just a hazy image of the plants gone wild and killing the home-owner. I love ivy, but that window-creeping gives me the shivers!

There were vapour trails in the evening sky on Friday, and the spiral one reminded me of smoke from a genie's bottle. Maybe I ought to have called out three wishes.  :-)

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy Spring, now that She officially has arrived. Yippee! My favourite season! *Happy dance*! Brace yourselves for a slew of floral snapshots as the weeks progress. LOL. Clipart courtesy of Microsoft Clipart Gallery

He's a little young, but definitely is eye candy. I found the photo on a desktop wallpaper site. It's tough to come up with eye candy photos that aren't uh, lacking in taste.  ;-)

Jacqueline at Jacqueline's Cat House nominated both of my blogs for this award, along with other bloggers; I'm honoured! Thank you! Actually, this was timely, as I had nothing in mind to post here today. But now I'm supposed to list 7 things about myself and pass this on to 7 bloggers. Well, you know I'm not going to specify 7 bloggers--I'll pass this on to anyone who would like it, because you all are beautiful bloggers to me. (Is that sufficiently sappy?) As for 7 things about myself....Hmmm, tricky, as I've had to do this a few times already. 1. I was born in Montreal, Quebec, but spent most of my childhood in Gaspé, except for one year that we lived in Cranbrook, BC. 2. We had 3 dogs while I was growing up: Cocoa, who strangled herself around our clothesline pole when I was about 5, Suki, who got away from Dad (on her leash) one day and got hit by a car--that's what I was told, at any rate--when I was 6 or 7, and the beautiful Mandy who was w...

More floral shots from a walk at lunch time yesterday, and gee, something a bit different for a change!