vacation day the last one

Well, I'll have to send you over to Bob's blog for continued vacation blogging, because mine is just about over.

So many things left on my admittedly unrealistic "to do" list. My bike is not ready for summer. Our Alaska pictures are not organized. House is a mess (can't do yardwork and housework in the same week) and we need groceries. All we have is coffee and broccoli.

BUT! We went to Sudbury on Saturday to visit friends. Came home on Sunday, stopping in Toronto to visit more friends. Laughed a lot. Ate a lot. Talked a lot. Our best conversations have always been in the car, on long trips. Thought about a lot of things. And it's good to do that, every now and then.

As I always am after a week like this, I am grateful ... for Spike, for friends, for nature, for memories, for conversation, for meaning - and also, for blogs! When it's all said and done - life's pretty good.

See you in the salt mines!

vacation weekend

To answer a few questions thus far:

• Bob - I doubt that all of our vegetation has evil intentions. However, the children in "Lord of the Flies" didn't have evil intentions either. They just went that way without some loving guidance. Which is what my lopper offers to our vegetation - loving guidance.


• Dougie - We don't have a dog. Just poop. Which doesn't seem quite right. It seems to me that if I'm picking up the poop, I should also have the pup.

No yard work today!

We went here today. It's the only flying warplane museum in Canada, which is pretty impressive. They have a Lancaster there that you can have a ride in for a measly $2,000. Seems like a lot, but since there are apparently only two fly-able Lancasters in total, and this one took 10 years to restore ... maybe it's reasonable.

We also went here for some Lake Erie Perch at Callahan's on the beach.

Today's Injury: Well, it wasn't really an injury, except to our high-class sensibilities. As you may have noticed, it was a bit chilly today. Which doesn't stop a true Port Dover-ite. (Trust me, I know - I grew up just down the road from there.) So as we ate our Lake Erie Perch, gazing out the window at the aforementioned lake, with its accompanying beach, we noticed three Port Dover-ites, sunbathing on the beach. While the rest of us are wearing jackets. Which is fine, except when one of them sat up ... well, let me just mention "ultra-low-rider jeans" and leave it at that.

On our way home, we went here for some ice cream.

Thought about going to a movie, but nothing caught our attention, so we went here instead where I bought this. Edward Rutherfurd writes some great historical fiction, and the book was 20% off - yay for me!

For the rest of the weekend, we have some pressing social engagements with Very Important People. If I don't check in over the next couple of days, don't be alarmed. I'm hobnobbing.

Happy Weekend!

vacation day #4

Injury:

• Got out of bed, stood beside the bed to stretch sore muscles, back immediately went out. Crud. Chiropractor appointment tomorrow.

We have a new favourite tool. It's a lopper. It lops things. I like it a LOT. I used it last night on that gargantuan juniper bush. It fought back, and so did the hidden rose bush within it.

Today, Spike lopped the living bejeebers out of two cedar trees, another juniper bush and a hedge, which is now about a foot shorter. He did this while hanging off various ladders, precariously placed. No ladder-related injuries. (Still, you probably shouldn't try his ladder methods. I'm pretty sure there are safety films that use Spike as an object lesson.)

I bundled all the branches - I'm pretty good at that now. Also picked up a surprising amount of garbage and dog poop. Good times. Our garage is full of bundled branches and stuffed yard bags. The next "unlimited" garden garbage day may test the good nature of our garbage people.

Injury:

• Both our forearms are covered in scratches, pricks, and rashes from hostile junipers and rose bushes. FYI, if there ever IS an invasion in the north end, I have rose branches that we can use to defend ourselves.

Went to Terra to buy some groundcover and two clematis bushes.

ATTENTION GARDENERS: TERRA HAS A SALE ON!!! 30% OFF PERENNIALS UNTIL APRIL 30!!!

I thought you should know. I almost didn't make it out - no one warned me there was a sale, and I went into shock. Spike brought me back from the brink.

When we got home, I hoed out the grass that was rototilled down the side of the house on Tuesday. Also raked a lot of rocks. Yup. Rocks. Good times. Our driveway was originally a limestone driveway that went from the end of the real driveway, back to the garage door. Over the years, the limestone has crept beyond its bounds, in an obvious, yet sly attempt to take over the yard. It almost worked too. But we're raking it back. We expect to be raking it for the next several months ... or decades.

Also, I went to cut one dead branch out of the lilacs, and discovered an entire dead ... bamboo tree? Is bamboo a tree? Does it grow in Hamilton? I don't know. It was the height of a small tree. The weight of a feather. Hollow stems. Trying to hide and look like a lilac. Almost got away with it. But while I was hoeing grass, I spied it. Lopped it. Bundled it.

Oh yes - found another steel pipe today.

Now we - and by "we" I mean Spike - are watching the game. Hockey, of course. Who's playing - I don't know. All I know is, I randomly chose the New York Rangers to win the Cup, and Spike tells me they're still in. It's a shame that I don't really care.

vacation dayzzzzz

Today was much less productive, work-wise. Much more productive, rest-wise.

Dragged our sorry butts out of bed to return the rototiller on time.

Went out for breakfast. Minimal conversation - mostly pleasant silence.

Came home.

Napped. Seriously - conked right out for a few hours.

Got up.

Walked to Bayfront Park, where we fake-fed geese and ducks. ("Fake-feeding: the act of waving your arm as if you are flinging bread, but really - you have nothing.")

The boats are moving into action again, btw. Owners are scrubbing and polishing their boats, in anticipation for when they actually get into the water. I saw one guy whose girlfriend was getting a headstart on the season - she was tanning in the boat, which is odd to see when the boat isn't in the water, but is just suspended in a parking lot (boating lot?) with all the others.

I am now staring at a juniper bush in the corner of the yard. It's trying to blend in and be cool, but it's a little like Goliath trying to blend with the Lilliputians of Gulliver's Travels. It's huge. It needs to be chopped. I may just do that before the sun goes down.

No injuries today!

vacation day #2

Today's list of accomplishments:

• Invented a new breakfast - scrambled eggs, with fried onions, mushrooms and peppers, rolled into a tortilla. Not bad at all!
• Rented a rototiller from here. We were going to rent it from there, but "there" cost $43 for 4 hours. "Here" cost $44 for 24 hours. Seemed a no-brainer.
• Spike rototilled down the side of the house, where no one can see, and where mice like to go on luxury vacations. We're replacing the grass with a ground cover that doesn't need mowing, and that mice can't hide in. Our mouse-fearing neighbour is pleased.
• Spike also rototilled the vegetable garden.
• Then he came around front and followed my twine-and-brick outline to create a new and improved shape for the front garden. He's a good man, Spike is.

Also today:

• Ripped down Christmas lights on the garage from 1892.
• Pruned a rose bush that had been secretly plotting to take over the world.
• Also chopped back its associate around the corner of the porch, the silently ever-increasing round shrub thingy.
• Discovered 5 more steel poles in random places.

I don't think I've mentioned the steel poles. Apparently, previous owners had a steel pole obsession. They are everywhere, and we keep discovering more (steel poles, not previous owners). One of them will NOT come out of the ground, and looks like a spying periscope. Others are hidden in shrubs and hedges, hoping to destroy you and your hedge clippers when you're not paying attention. One of them was staked to a tree a century or so ago. The tree has now grown around it. The whole thing is getting kind of funny.

And we bought some lawn fertilizer and a weed-digger today too.

Today's Injury: The rose bush fought back, penetrating my leather gardening gloves in several places. Also, some evidence of sunburn in a few places. No flying rake handles.

Oh - ordered a bag of dirt today - it arrives next Monday!

vacation day #1

Well, I'm on vacation. Thought I'd give you a "day in the life" report.

Slept until 9:20 AM. That's right. Apparently I was tired, and our new mattress is just ... mmmm ... lovely.

Side note - Did I mention we got a new mattress last week? Here's the deal. Over 16 years ago, we bought the cheapest mattress and boxspring we could find, because we were broke newlyweds. Then, about 10 years ago, we moved into a 3rd-floor-of-an-old-house apartment which we LOVED, but which had stairs that the boxspring WOULD NOT navigate. So we ditched the boxspring, and have been using plywood under the mattress ever since. That's right. Plywood. In several pieces, no less.

A few months ago, we decided that our no-longer-newlywed status (not to mention our no-longer-20-year-old backs) deserved a new mattress. So we watched for a sale, and got a new one a week ago. It is heavenly.

So vacation day #1 started a bit late, because I was sleeping in.

Then I had two coffees, breakfast, and a Claritin.

The rest of the day is as follows:

• Bid on a bag of dirt.
• Went for a walk by the bay with Spike. (how lovely!)
• Opened up the garage and gazed upon my gardening tools with fondness.
• Took "before" pictures of our yard, and went to work, raking, removing brick edging that other people like, but I don't, removing an old bench that actually fell apart when I picked it up, and tying bundles of sticks and branches to be magically taken away tomorrow by a big garbage truck.
• Meanwhile, Spike took off the front door and belt sanded a part that was refusing to co-operate with our new floor. It has now been sanded into submission.

Today's Injury: Took a bag of garden garbage out to the curb, carefully circumventing a rake that was leaning against the house. Sadly - I misjudged my circumvention, and "carefully" changed to "almost". Stepped on the edge of the rake, slamming the handle directly into my nose. Classic Three Stooges or Sideshow Bob, I know. Wow, it hurt. Applied a bag of frozen peas to my face. No permanent damage.

• Got outbid on my bag of dirt. Guess I'll have to pay regular price - oh well, it was worth a shot.
• Showered.
• Blogged.

And just now remembered the pan I put on the stove 15 minutes ago, and promptly forgot about. Oops. It's pretty hot now....

Happy Monday to you!!

on strike?

Well, I'm thinking about my friend who finds out in 18 minutes if he's on strike or not - works with the TTC. And if they ARE on strike, I'm feeling sorry for the drivers between 4 PM today and 4 AM tomorrow, who have to keep driving until their shift is over, listening to customers who now KNOW they are going on strike, and thus are yelling and spitting (seriously?? spitting??!!) at the drivers.

Because...well, because human nature always yells at the nearest person.

How very frustrating for everyone involved.

apologies

Three things have converged in my mind today.

One - I was reading a book last night that I have greatly enjoyed. This one is the end of a trilogy that I think is nothing short of brilliant, even if I don't come to all of the same conclusions as the author. In this third book, part of the story is about a pastor being destroyed, emotionally, in his career, extending to his family - because he has sincere, heart-wrenching, faith questions. The one initiating the destroying feels that questions are not acceptable; only answers are.

And I cried a little bit, reading the story, because although it is fiction, it is still real. I know people who have lived various versions of this "fictional" story.

I thought to myself - "We get so angry. SO ANGRY when another person dares to question their own beliefs, or worse, ours. We aren't kind. We get so mean."

Not all of us, I know. But it's not rare, in my experience. Our first reaction is to defend, to attack, to explain, to answer, to prove, to declare. Compassion and kindness and empathy get way down the list, sometimes. Ugh.

Two - On the radio this morning was reference to this story. An Apology Bill being introduced in the Ontario Legislature. Meaning that people can apologize like a real human being, without being automatically liable and open to lawsuit.

I know there are a million technical and legal reasons why this is crazy. But as a member of the fallible, relational, human race ... I'm all for the principle behind this. The right to say, "I'm so sorry" or even "I made a mistake" or "I'm not perfect" without having it thrown back in one's face in a court proceeding. Not that people shouldn't face consequences. But we're afraid to apologize ever, in the worst of situations, because later it will be used against us.

So I'm going to write my MP and say so.

Three - In considering different responses people will have to this Apology Bill, it occurred to me that this book would help to explain the different responses. I haven't read it yet, but I've heard about it from several very different sources, all saying it is an excellent book. And somehow, for me today, apology bills and apology languages tie in to the beginning of my post.

Some days, I guess I would very much like to do away with all the rules, and the politics, and the rights, and the fights, and start all over again, as ... people.

Imagine that.

eezveenetya, pazhalsta

I don't laugh much at movies. I laugh inside, if they're funny. But not out loud. Most movies just aren't that funny.

But last night, there was a movie on TV, and I mostly got hooked into it because the beginning was all in Russian. I was listening to see if any of the words spoken were on the list of 9 Russian words that I know. (I do that with The Hunt for Red October too.)

And they were, by the way - "Eezveenetya, pazhalsta!!" Anyone know what that means? I do! I've said it, in Ukraine. And I even got an appropriate response to it from a stranger. But I digress.

The movie was The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!

And I laughed, and I laughed, and I laughed. All by myself. Mostly at the crazy little tourist town that panics so thoroughly for little to no reason. Oh my. That is ONE FUNNY MOVIE.

morning glory

As you may know, I am a huge fan of morning glory. It's the easiest thing in the world to grow.

Plop a seed in the ground.

Walk away for a few months.

Graciously accept the admiration of all your neighbours who now think you are a gardening genius. It's just that easy.

Note of Clarification: I have heard rumours that morning glory seeds or plants or roots or leaves or something can be used to make illegal drugs. I would like to take this opportunity to clarify that the joy I take in morning glory is purely aesthetic. Can't you see the headline now? "Local Minister Deals Glory of A Different Kind"

Sadly, morning glory doesn't bloom until late August. When it does, it is truly glorious. Until then, please enjoy another version of morning glory, personal to our home on a Saturday morning.

Spike thinks I look like Tweety when I do this.

It makes him laugh. A lot. And then he tries it.

Good times.

Ah, yes.

Good times.

how can this be?

Have you noticed it's a beautiful day outside? I have.

I've been outside today.

Been driving with the windows down.

Came home, opened my patio door, and am sitting in front of it.

I've only sneezed once.

How can this be???

Beats me. My allergies are a mystery.

HOWEVER - I've been using the Febreze allergen reducer in my house on an almost daily basis, and it seems to be making a difference. Maybe dust is the huge culprit in my life. Which means I should dust more....and that's not gonna happen.

Oh well. Stuffy nose and itchy eyes aren't so bad.

invasion in the north end

Last night, Spike and I were driving home in the later part of the evening. We always take the scenic route to our house. If we drive one small block out of the way, we get to look at the Bay.

We had just passed the scenic part, and were at a stop sign, right around the corner from our house.

"Hey - what's happening here?" I said.

"What?" Spike said.

"Um, there's a soldier standing on the corner," I said.

Spike squinted into the darkness. "Huh," he said.

We both looked a little harder. "There are a bunch of soldiers, all down the street!" I said.

"Huh," he said.

And there were. Soldiers, in camouflage, carrying guns and gear, slowly walking down the street, looking from side to side, in that relaxed but incredibly alert way that soldiers do. I looked around for TV cameras - are we in a movie? More to the point, is Bruce Willis nearby? Nope, not that I can see.

Spike rolled down the window. "Everything OK?" he asked.

"YES SIR, THERE'S NO PROBLEM, JUST A ROUTINE TRAINING DRILL, SIR" was the instant and very soldier-like response.

"OK," Spike said. "Nice gun!"

We pulled into our driveway, pondering what we had just seen. Then Spike chuckled. "We've got everything in this neighbourhood!"

We love where we live!