Musings on a Small Life

I'm behind in my posts on the Fuzzy Tales site, got derailed by Nicki's escapes yesterday and attempted escapes today. I have a medal post to do from the Cat-O-Lympics and also want to pass on my Picasa album link for yesterday's cat show snapshots (most of which are crappy, I admit). With regard to the cats, I've decided that there are only two options: keep them all inside 24/7 or tear up half the garden for a cat run. As much as the thought of tearing up the garden hurts (I literally have blood, sweat and tears in it), it would be worse for the fur family if they never could get outside again. Nicki's repeated escapes and attempted escapes have my stress level through the roof and I have to do something. Thought I might check with our local seniors association to see if anyone there is a retired handyman or carpenter. Probably not, but well, the worst they can tell me is "no." I can't see me being able to pay $50 or more an hour to have an enclose...

Most of the day was fine, with the usual post-payday grocery run at 7:30AM, then the cat show. Lots of gorgeous kitties, both purebred and house cats (predominantly rescues). I did take quite a few pics, but many were blurry because I was trying not to use the flash, so as not to disturb, and of course there wasn't quite enough light. I haven't quite decided if I'll post the pics on the Fuzzy Tales site or just dump them into a Picasa album and post the link. Probably the latter, easier that way. The "hell of a day" part came in with Nicki getting over the fence this afternoon, then again this evening. Details on the fur kids' blog, of course. I'm still wound up, as the second incident took place not that long ago. (I had been wrong in my initial assessment as to how he got over the fence, so wasn't quite prepared when he did it the second time, right in front of me.) Anyway. No floral pics today, though I still have plenty. Instead, a couple of ...

I know, I know, two posts for one day is excessive, but I'm almost swooning right now (get the smelling salts). We have--I can barely type it-- sunshine . Glorious blue sky and blinding sun out there right this minute . So even though it's a mess on the ground from last night's few inches of heavy, wet snow, and today's slush and water, the sun just makes everything so much more bearable. It gives me hope that in a month or so we might see crocuses and daffodils and green grass! Also so bright that it almost hurt my eyes was last Sunday's main room in the greenhouse. Happy Friday!

David Conrad, co-star of "Ghost Whisperer," a program I didn't even know existed until fairly recently when I caught it in reruns. CBC airs it week days at 4PM now, so at least I understand the premise. I think he's a cutie, only three years younger than me, but alas a Leo male. And while I don't follow my horoscope, I could never deal with another Leo man. He'll have to live out his life without me, poor guy. I hope he has a good therapist. A shot from the show; he plays a paramedic.

I'm not going to whine and moan and complain today, I'm not. I'm going to practice thankfulness instead. I'm thankful I have an indoor job, a bus pass, and winter clothing. LOL. I'm thankful we're almost at the end of February! Spring officially starts in 23 days, on March 20th at 2:35AM EST. I'm thankful tomorrow is not only Friday, but also our once-a-month payday. Groceries; yay! I'm thankful for my fur family--they are my best companions. I'm thankful I have fingers to type with, eyes to see the computer screen with, ears to hear my jazz music with, legs and feet to walk with. (Cat Steven's song "Moon Shadow" will start running through my mind now.) My stomach was very thankful for the yummy chocolate chunk cookie I had earlier--heh. (C'mon, you know chocolate and sugar will be involved in any "thankful" list I make.) And I'm very thankful to my dad for giving me my camera those three and a half years ago! ...

I'm in a superbly pissy female mood today, but rather than rant about things over which I have no control--like winter--I'll just toss out a few more pics from Sunday's jaunt to the greenhouse. BTW, I'm pretty sure I'll go to the cat show this weekend, probably Saturday. So maybe I'll have a few snapshots from that event, to post next week.

...it terms of weather, for the week. More snow expected for the next several days, possibly 20+ cms. We actually didn't get much last night, but it was the heavy, wet kind, mixed with rain. It's a sloppy mess out there right now, and I gave up slogging through it after 2kms this morning, took the bus the rest of the way in. The courtyard at work, facing our building Sunday evening's sunset, just for a bit of colour!

I was delighted to see that yesterday's forecast of 30 - 45 cms of snow over the next several days has been downgraded to between 15 and 20 cms. Maybe later today that will be halved again. LOL. Well, I can dream.... Anyway, since it's Monday morning and I've nothing to report, I'm just going to post a few more pics from yesterday's jaunt to the greenhouse. Remember to click on them for full size. Enjoy the colour! I was particularly pleased with this super-macro snapshot, because without a tripod, getting a sharp image when that close is difficult.

Yes, I went to our City's greenhouse this afternoon, for a taste of Spring. It was a 7 km round trip walk, so not far, but let me just say that while one needs long johns to get there, one does not need to wear them inside a greenhouse! I was overheated in oh, less than two minutes. I wasn't even there long, half an hour. Actually, I had dawdled on my walk, thinking I'd be too early, but they were open at 1:40 when I got there, with people already inside. So I was fortunate to be able to take a slew of snapshots before 2PM and the subsequent hordes of people. "Hordes" being a slight exaggeration, but the greenhouse is made up of several small rooms, and there isn't much in the way of space to maneuver. When I left, around 2:15, the parking lot was full, so I had good timing this year. I'm not going to post 20 or 30 or more snapshots at once (lucky you!), but just a few today. I'll have plenty to post on upcoming days this week, as I kept 71. And I ha...

I've been home today, de-cluttering the house in a burst of pre-Spring cleaning. You should see the garage; it's filled with "stuff" for donation, again. ("Again" because I'm not a pack rat and de-clutter a couple of times a year.) Wait, maybe it's better that you don't see the garage! Anyway, that has absolutely nothing to do with old family photos, other than I pulled these off a shelf while going through one of the spare rooms. The very old photos are of my paternal grandmother's parents, when they obviously were quite young. I think my uncle, Dad's younger brother, has the originals. They need a professional photo-restorer, really. Auguste Scheffel, born 1879, Libau, Latvia Johan Borowski, born 1880 in Libau, Latvia If I have the details incorrect, I'm sure Dad can let me know. I got this information from a genealogy my mom had done a few years ago, and she got the information from Grandma, via a written account, year...

I'm in need of a bit of cheer today--nothing wrong, just tired and well, it's PMS week.No further explanation required and possibly TMI. LOL. Never let it be said you don't get reality and honesty from this blog! So I thought I'd just post these photos of Alan Rickman, obviously older pics, as he's almost my dad's age and looking a good deal craggier now. I've never thought him handsome in the typical screen star way, but oh, that voice! Is there a woman alive who couldn't just melt from his voice alone? Honestly, he could whisper anything in my ear and that probably would do it for me. And those eyes--he can do The Look so well. Really, I must watch my copy of the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility again.  :-)

I'm off tomorrow, taking Annie to the vet for a check of her mouth (the stitches), so will take a vacation day. By the time I would get home with her, then in to the office, at least half a day would be over. And frankly, I don't feel like going to the office for only a Friday afternoon. There are a few events I might take in over the next few weeks, two of which I've mentioned in previous posts: The City's greenhouse is open now on Sunday afternoons from 2PM to 4PM. Started on the 14th and runs for 5 consecutive weeks. So if I don't make it this Sunday, I still have 3 additional weeks from which to choose. I confess that it's always a bit of a bother to me to go out in mid afternoon, mainly because I'm up at 4AM or so every day and just want to curl up by 2PM. But we shall see! I forced myself to go last year and it was wonderful. All those glorious flowers! There also is a cat show coming up on the 27th and 28th. The Canadian Cat Association National S...

What a surprise that we have overcast skies and snow today. Some of us--not me, of course--will be almost stark-raving mad before the glorious greens of Spring arrive. So to combat the dreariness, the utter dullness, I'm posting a couple of older floral pics, the first in August 2008 in my garden, the second in September 2008, can't recall where. Not super pics, but definitely sunny and cheery.  :-) The last pic was snapped in July 2009, hanging out the guest room window, just to show the entire tiny 16 ft x 16 ft back space. I had split the hostas last year, the gigantic ones flanking the back step, and planted them along the far fence. I had hopes that the boys wouldn't destroy those, as they have destroyed almost every other plant in the back. Eventually I want to have ivy growing over much of the fence (have it in three spots now, though it's a slow process) and maybe this year I'll add some hanging baskets again (did in 2008). Of course, what I really n...

Thanks to my co-worker, I came home today from work and flipped through my camera's manual regarding white balance. I haven't played around with the default settings, except for pixel size at which I'm shooting. I've trusted the camera to have the best settings for the auto and scenic modes I mostly use. But just for interest, I switched the white balance setting to cloudy (in Program AE setting/mode) and this is what I found: The first picture of Nicki, taken with the cloudy white balance setting, gave me a warmer-toned photo. The second picture, taken with the default white balance setting, gave me a cooler tone. Okay. So why, if the camera's default is supposed to be optimal, did I get two different results? One is not better than the other in this instance, IMO, and actually the cooler image is probably closer to the actual lighting conditions. But I do like the warmer effect. So can anyone explain this to me? Dad? Using a "cloudy" setting fo...

Ooh, another award passed on to me, among others, from Old Kitty at Ten Lives and Second Chances . Thank you, thank you, thank you! Er, but now I have to list 10 honest things about myself! 1. I met my ex through Star Trek --LOL! 2. We used to love going to an annual Trek/sci-fi convention held in Toronto. Did it for a decade. 3. Science fiction hold no appeal for me anymore...Hmm, can't think why.  :-D 4. I have three tattoos: An OM on my left ankle, a prehistoric, cave art horse on my left shoulder, and a turtle on my right shoulder. I didn't pass out. The shoulders hurt more than the ankle, though. 5. I wanted to spend my life working with horses. 6. I'd rather scrub kitty litter boxes than cook. 7. I swear like a sailor when I'm riled up. 8. I prefer the company of trees and most non-human animals to that of most human animals. 9. I work in a statistical analysis office yet am terrible with math. Good thing I'm "just" the admin/web person. ...