time to get warm!

It's May 31. Who do I need to speak to about this weather? It's chilly out there this morning, my friends.

Thought I'd give you a garden update. Because I know how deeply you care. (Remember, on this blog, we pretend to care about my garden, just out of courtesy. It's awfully nice of you to go along with that.)

Planted:

• green beans
• yellow beans
• strawberries
• rhubarb
• tomatoes
• watermelon
• lettuce
• fancy lettuce
• spinach
• more ivy
• more moss
• various flowers in various pots and hanging baskets

Transplanted

• A houseplant that does well in the shade outside. Don't know it's name.
• hens and chicks (I'm really learning to love those things; they need no attention at all and happily spread wherever you ask them to.)
• oregano
• blackberry bush

Disappeared

• the kittens

I have also trellised, hoed, dug, weeded, trimmed, lopped, bundled and collected rain water. And stared. I stare at dirt a lot at this time of year, willing seeds to sprout.

And I'm a little concerned that last night's storm - spectacular as it was - may have overwhelmed and drowned a few tender seeds that were only planted a few hours before it rolled in.

Still. A spectacular storm is not a bad trade-off for spinach.

not my best day

Today, someone very kindly came to the office to install a software upgrade for me that I really, really need.

And then they left, assuming that I am at least as smart as, if not smarter than, the average bear. Probably a poor assumption on their part.

I started watching the tutorial. Halfway through the tutorial, I got tired of the over-enthusiastic voice pointing out obvious things to me.

It's like listening to the cheerful instructor, clad in spandex, on the Pilates DVD I bought in a moment of insanity. "Just balance on your tushee while you draw your knees up to your chest, and wrap your arms around your ankles ... now gently ... roll backwards ... hold it ... hold it ... and roll back up. Wonderful! Just 572 more times now...." Meanwhile my arms and legs have exploded in all directions, and my tushee took out the DVD player altogether.

Where was I? Oh yes. Over-enthusiastic tutorial voice. I decided, rather than finish the tutorial, to implement what I thought I knew.

So I did.

After all, what could possibly go wrong?

The whole thing crashed.

And now the program won't even boot up.

Which means I'm on my knees, figuratively speaking, begging the person who installed it as a favour in the first place, to please come do it again. Right now. Please.

--

Later this afternoon, a friend on Facebook invited me to take a quiz to discover if I have a psychological disorder.

!!!!

I'm inventing a few right now, and trying them out ... does that count?

answer these questions

One of those "answer these questions and forward to all your friends" things came through my inbox the other day. I ignored it the first 4 or 5 times, but then I had a sense that my college friends - fondly known as The Swine - just because - were going to band together and hunt me down if I didn't return the email.

So I did.

And instead of forwarding it, I decided to pose some of the questions here. Feel free to answer any or all of them. Or you can even pose a question of your own. I might answer it. Maybe.

Are you ready?

OK.

Here we go.

---

Bacon bits or croutons?
(My answer: both, and hold the salad)

What colour is your bedroom carpet?
(My answer: dark hardwood - carpet makes me sneeze)

What do you want to do before you die?
(My answer: hang-glide, and watch my college friends act weird in their old age)

How many tattoos do you have?
(My answer: 3. All on my husband. I see no need for voluntary pain. That is also why I have no kids.)

What is your usual bedtime?
(My answer: 10 PM. Unless I collapse before that. I'm not really a night person.....)

---

I await your answers.

kittens!

Last evening, I glanced out my patio door, and saw movement in my veggie garden. And by veggie garden, I mean rectangular area of dirt, yet to be planted. Took a closer look (we've had bunnies before, to my delight) and saw ... ohmygosh ... kittens!

Five perfect little furballs, exploring their 3-inch high world. They aren't walking yet, so much as doing those four-legged leaps that make them so darn adorable. Clover was an obstacle to jump over, a patio stone was a mountain to climb, and the forget-me-nots a jungle in which to get lost. Every now and then, one of them would bat a leaf (or another kitten) and then bounce around with excitement.

Mama cat eyed me firmly, then wandered off. (I suspect she was thankful for a babysitter so she could get out for awhile.)

With Mama out of the way, I made my way slowly closer to these joyful little piles of fluff. But Mama has them well-trained - they tolerated me up until about five feet away, and then silently withdrew in unison, backing into the bushes. I squatted down and waited, and a few minutes later - pop! - the bravest of them poked her head up just high enough to see if I was still there. Giggles on my part.

This morning, I didn't see them. Until Mama returned, eyed me again, and then went into the bushes to wake up and feed her little brood. This time there were only four. And then she led one of them away through the hedge.

Tonight - they're all gone.

But my smile is still here.

it's all good

I can't remember when last I was not tired.

It's not a complaint. It's a combination of allergies; and allergy medication that stops me from sleeping and dries out my eyes, so I feel sleepier; and working a lot at a job I really, truly love; and reading things lately that make me think.

So I'm tired.

But it's all good. Life is good. Contentment is so good.

We live in a little house that I just adore (even with the random toilet), no matter what anyone else might think of it.

My front garden that I worked so hard on last year is coming up beautifully this year, with hardly any effort on my part.

The back yard has room for all kinds of experimental possibilities, and I don't have to consider what the neighbours might think of less-than-successful experiments.

I'm pursuing secret goals ... nope ... not telling.

And I'm married to this great guy, with spiky hair, who brings me flowers, and makes me laugh.

And you know what else? For a person who tends to be a bit of a loner (I think a few vacation days of solitude, with no conversation, are just DELIGHTFUL!) I find lately that I have a lot of friends. Good friends. People that matter a lot to me.

Friends that have been around forever.

Friends that have re-surfaced.

New friends that feel like old friends.

And I'm really grateful for the opportunity to share in their lives, and have them share in mine.

So even though I'm tired ... it's all good.

vacation

I'm on vacation this week. It's the perfect kind of vacation.

Monday and Tuesday, I didn't have to talk at all, really. Spike had to work, so it was just me and myself, reading, cleaning, gardening. I washed the outside of the house. I say that, not because it's particularly impressive, but because it SOUNDS impressive. Aren't you so impressed?

Wednesday, my nephew the Punk came over. He had a few days off school, and was bored, so he offered to help with my gardening. So he hoed and shovelled and clipped and lopped and played in dirt with me.

And then we went for lunch, where birds crept closer and closer, waiting for crumbs to fall.

And then we came back and Peggled.

Prompting his laughing response - "This game is soooo lame .... but it's soooo addictive!"

And now Spike has a few days off with me.

Yup. The perfect spring vacation.

name that NHL team

Note: This may be the one and only time you see a post on this blog about hockey.

Hamilton's getting an NHL team!!! Yes, it's true. Based on all of the unfounded rumours and wildly speculative headlines, Jim Balsillie (the knight in shining armour of Southern Ontario) has only to slay Gary Bettman (the evil dragon of the NHL), and the Phoenix Coyotes (damsels in distress) will be rescued, and live happily ever after, right here in my town.

And you know what that means. It means the team needs a new name.

Coyotes in Hamilton only spark a debate between the "move them somewhere else" side and the "kill 'em where they stand" side. Coyotes are not welcome in Hamilton.

So there will be a contest. You know there will. And the winner of that contest will win seasons tickets for life.

You hadn't thought that far ahead, had you? Neither had I. But Spike is already deep in thought, determined to be at every Hamilton "____" game from this fall until the end of time.

Through an accidental combination of tripping over my own tongue, and recently returning from my denominational conference where we elected Very Important People, I suggested the "Hamilton Presbyters". Scoff if you will. But how is "Presbyters" a worse name for a sports team than "Senators"?

I thought about the "Hamilton Splash" - this being the waterfall capital of the world, or Ontario, or something. Spike's withering gaze killed that one.

Steelers (because we're a steeltown) and Blues (because we're a blue-collar town) are both already taken.

How about the "Hamilton Surgeons" - since the health industry is now bigger than the steel industry?

I'll tell you what. You answer the question - what name would YOU give the NHL team that is most certainly coming to Hamilton? And if the name wins, we'll go to the games together.

or maybe....

Up early this morning, had to have Spike in a town an hour away for 7:30 AM. Not so early, you might say. Agreed. Except it's my day off. So it's not the getting up that's the issue, it's the getting dressed and driving somewhere.

Ah well.

Bought some seeds on the way home, so all is well!

Here's my Terribly Profound Thought for today. Heard a radio commercial about Quaker State oil being so wonderful, especially for commuters. A random man moans - "I have the worst commute in the world! Fifty miles, and it takes two and a half hours!" And apparently the solution is to use Quaker State oil.

Or ... and I know this is crazy ... maybe you decide that five hours a day getting to and from work is an insane way to spend your life ... ??!!! Aside from the whole environmental thing - really??? You are happy to spend FIVE HOURS A DAY just getting to and from work?

I live 3 km from work. I can walk there if I want. I shudder at the thought of two and a half hour commutes.

But anyway. If you are a commuter, and I have just depressed you, I apologize. But good news! Quaker State oil will save your car (if not your sanity).