Musings on a Small Life

Aha, this is the kind of thing I want for my bedroom! (You probably have to enlarge to see the effect, and I'm still playing around with brush size in various snapshots.) I'm using the "palette knife" in PhotoShop Elements; it's one of the photo filters. I've been browsing through AllPosters.ca (yay, they have a "Canadian" site now!), but everything I like is fairly pricey. Then add in shipping costs and framing and it's not worth it. Might as well use my own pics, as some of you have already suggested, and just slap a filter on them to give me the kind of look I want. I can print them out at Costco quite inexpensively...then wait for a frame sale at Michael's Crafts.  :-) These are just examples, by the way, not the photos I'll be choosing. I find the "palette knife" filter more pleasing on a landscape, that's all. So surely I can take some time this weekend, while off for the four days, and have a bit of fun decidin...

5:47AM today and I'm leaving the house to walk to the office. A few townhouses down, on the corner, are two cats fighting-- seriously fighting. The long-ish haired unneutered brown tabby I see around a lot and one of the short-haired grey and white cats I also see from time to time. I suspect neither has a home. They are so into the fighting, in fact, that my screaming and cursing at the top of my lungs, clapping hands, stomping feet and hissing doesn't even register on them. I look for something safe to throw at them, but wouldn't you know it, the narrow street is actually without debris for a change. So I go as close as I dare, still shouting and cursing the effin' people who are too stupid to have their cats neutered, and I'm making so much noise that two people open their doors to see what's going on. And quickly close them again with all my foul language. (For someone who never said "god" except in prayer, until she was 20 years old, I cer...

"Three days" is my mantra right now -- only three days to work this week. Thursday July 1st is Canada Day, when we celebrate our Nation's birth (1867), and while Friday is not a holiday, as far as I know, none of us is coming in to work that day. I'm certainly not spending almost two hours commuting, when nothing will get done anyway, and the campus will be mostly dead, so to speak. So three days to work and four days off. Yippee! If we ever would get two dry days in a row, I have some outdoor painting to do (my rusty back step). I'm also hoping to get to the conservation area, as I haven't been since early May (I think). So Friday and Saturday, depending on weather, will be for the usual post-payday errands/groceries/cat food and hiking. Fingers crossed! Have a good Monday! More pics from yesterday's walk. Someone's clematis is growing like mad!  Hollyhock This gorgeous cat was very vocal as I was standing in the driveway, and I imagined him/h...

I broke in the new sneakers today by doing the "block," the 12 km loop from my house, over to Portsmouth, along Bath Road, then Gardiners Road, down Princess Street and home via Counter Street. No real issues, just the usual foot pain, so the sneakers held up well. Took me 3 hours and 10 minutes, but that included a lot of stopping to take pics (gardens and wildflowers), a pit stop at Tim Horton's for an iced coffee to go, a peek into mattress store for a few minutes, and a break at a civic park for an oatcake (no sitting down, though). That's only the fourth time I've done the entire loop in one shot and I just knew I could do it today without too much problem. I was fine for the first 8km anyway, it was only the final 4 that was a bit more difficult, foot-wise (nothing to do with the new shoes). I took 93 snapshots, kept 54, so I have enough for a few days' posting, at least. Lucky you, out in blog land. (I'm being tongue in cheek.) And since I lef...

I was trying to think of a clever--or even not-so-clever--theme for this post, but alas, I'll have to leave the clever and witty writing up to "Old Kitty" at Ten Lives and Second Chances . All I have is a mish-mash of "stuff." One is a universal question: Why is it that when I go out expressly looking for specific items, I can't find them? Just asking. Mind you, I did head out this AM with the intention of getting new walking sneakers, which I really needed, and managed to find those at a sports store at RioCan Centre. Sports Chek? Sports Mart? Something like that. But I had bused out to Sears first, because they have a "warehouse" sale on, and as usual, they had nothing even remotely suitable for my 6.5D width feet. In fact, that store is a mess , particularly the women's section, with racks jammed with merchandise. Frankly, Value Village is kept in better shape, is far tidier. Remind me not to bother going back there. Then I thought I...

In honour of the World Cup, I thought I'd post a few pics of football/soccer hunks. It's been such a hardship, let me tell you, Googling for yummy guys. What a burden I have to bear! ;-) Michael Ballack, team Germany  Carlos Bocanegra, team US  Oguchi Onyewu, also team US   Tim Cahill (left) and Lucas Neill (right), team Australia *Sigh* I might be middle-aged, but my hormones aren't dead yet! LOL. Happy Friday to all!

And where do we go for dinner last night? Montanas, a chain "Texas" steak/rib place. LOL. Because Peter wanted ribs and he remembered how good they are at Montanas, having been with Dad and me when he was here almost 2 years ago for a previous brief visit.(Perhaps I should explain that Peter has been in Italy now for only six years. He's originally from Germany, as is Dad, then lived in Canada for many years, then in the U.S with his second wife. Now he's in northern Italy with Mariangela.) And I admit, the ribs were good! I didn't even overeat, just had the ribs and a salad, but it must have been the lateness of the dinner hour (about 8:00PM, which is late for me) that had me awake around 2:30AM, not to sleep again. (I'm barely conscious at the moment. Both on a practical and a philosophical level.) Mariangela is a lovely woman, just a tiny bit of a thing, most definitely Italian, wouldn't guess anything else, just looking at her. She's a cuti...

Thanks for the comments yesterday, everyone. No, I'm not in need of meds yet again at this time in my life, but  certainly won't hesitate to choose that route when the need does arise. I merely was having a stress-full and chaotic work day and was overwrought. Too much sugar, not enough sleep. I know things will work out, and I do know that many people are in the same financial boat as I am--or worse. It just seems, that at 46 years of age, one "should" have savings, one shouldn't have to struggle just to live paycheque to paycheque and keep accruing more debt. But such is life. It's not fair, as Mom kept telling me when I was a child, and "shoulds" are meaningless. Life just is . And if the only things to look forward to in my life are loss and death? Well, that's also true for everyone. You're just luckier if you don't dwell on it.  :-) BTW, I certainly don't consider myself "poor." Broke, yes. Poor--absolutely not. Po...

Do I have to don the "happy happy joy joy" mask here, on my blog, all the time? I tend to, for the sake of the few followers, but this blog is for me , my own outlet, so really, I don't know why I try to steer away from darkness, when darkness is so much a part of me, thanks to my brain chemistry. But here's my lesson for the day: Just don't bother to log on to your on-line bank account, kiddo, because you'll realize that the only way you'll ever be free of the burden and stress of debt is via death--by suicide or by natural causes. At the moment, I can't fathom why I didn't commit suicide when I wanted so badly to do so, over the course of so many years. Oh, yeah, the fur kids...No, I'd never leave them, but I can tell you this life sure as hell has been shitty for the most part, particularly the past dozen years. Lots of little good things, but the magnitude and intensity of the bad seems to outweigh the subtlety of the good. That thud ...

This morning's Solstice sunrise. Not quite the same as being at a henge...any henge, but it'll do. :-) Wishing everyone a Joy-full and Blessed day!

Today's eye candy is for Reenie ; thanks for the suggestion! Jake Gyllenhaal certainly qualifies, and I especially like the second (black and white) photo! And for a Friday chuckle (thanks for this, Mom): "A real man is a woman's best friend. He will never stand her up and never let her down. He will reassure her when she feels insecure and comfort her after a bad day. "He will inspire her to do things she never thought she could do; to live without fear and forget regret. He will enable her to express her deepest emotions and give in to her most intimate desires. He will make sure she always feels as though she's the most beautiful woman in the room and will enable her to be the most confident, sexy, seductive, and invincible. "No wait... sorry... I'm thinking of wine. Never mind." Happy Friday!  :-)

7:50AM: Kevin arrives. 8:10AM: Kim leaves to catch the bus to go for groceries. 9:30AM: Kim gets home. 12:00PM: Kevin is done the fence, packs up and leaves. 1:00PM: Kim pours herself a mixed drink with at least two shots of vodka (it's 4 o'clock somewhere, right?) and heaves a huge sigh of relief. Nicki, this was all because of and for you, and I'd appreciate it if you would stop your incessant yeowling as you try to find a way out/over/through the fence. Oh, and don't you dare die on me now, after all the money I've spent. The finished gate and triangle area  The completed angled corner, a bit messier than the rest of the fence, but presumably still effective. I have lots of snapshots and even a couple of short videos of Nicki doing his best to find a way over, but I'll save those for the Fuzzy Tales site, probably next week. BTW, Kevin joked that he's seen prisons with less security.  :-D