Musings on a Small Life

[Flash off, so grainy/blurry. Plus he was moving!]     Comments are off. Peace .

...if anything has changed in the past three months ( yes , I go every three months), do NOT mention the sore crown tooth (a bottom right molar), presumably caused by clenching your teeth together too tightly, too often (bad habit of mine). Mentioning something innocuous like this could entail x-rays (along with the regular x-rays taken every couple of years). And this could entail discovery that the crown tooth is abscessed and that you should start taking antibiotics today . Oh yeah, and that the tooth needs a root canal, and possibly a new crown too (if the porcelain chips, which it likely will). So when you go for your regular cleaning, just say all is fine and leave it at that!  :-O BTW: All the times I wondered if I'd rather have a root canal or be at the office? And I couldn't decide? I'd rather be at the office. Peace .

Yet another sweltering weekend wraps up. Every day I think, how long can this possibly go on? And every day the forecast pushes the "cool" temps further into September. You all are free to remind me of this desperately, insanely hot summer when I'm complaining about the bitter winter temps. **** There wasn't anything out of the unusual for me. I stopped in at a thrift store yesterday, found a Denver Hayes mock turtleneck (fuschia) and a coordinating scarf. I'm on some sort of bizarre scarf kick at the moment, will not publicly admit how many I have now. It's just so easy to dress up a simple top and slacks with a pretty scarf--presto! Ready for work. I went to another thrift store today, had a good look around, talked myself out of a couple of things, but did buy an apparently unused small (boy's) back pack. Ugly colours, as you can see, but for $8 plus tax, I'm okay with that. I do have bigger back packs, but I'll try this one, as...

In no particular order... This morning there was a big, dead rat on the grass between my unit and the next row of townhouses (remember I'm an end unit). Ewwww. I know someone in the complex has been having a rat problem for quite a while, so it's possible this was her rat, dead from ingesting poison. I did snap a couple of pics for our property manager (for proof and location), and emailed him right away when I got to the office. Said there was no way I was touching it, even with a shovel and gloves, and could he please have it removed. It was still there when I got home at noon (short work day for me today), so I emailed the condo board president, then almost immediately afterward had an email from the property manager, saying he'd have our pest control guy come out. Yeah, you do that. So I'll see if it's still there tomorrow. ::Shudder:: (Not that it's a rat per se, but that it's dead.) Recent evening sky from the guest room window I talked ...

We're wrapping up the Olympics now, and I have to say I'm so proud of Team Canada. We're a small country, population-wise, and while more money goes to athletics now than in the past, it's still not much. So huge congratulations to all of the participants, whether they won medals or not. (And many were superb during these games.) Frankly, I think just being good enough to compete on the world stage is amazing! I have to note, however, that nothing can top the flag bearer for Tonga (their Taekwando athlete): Photo snagged from one of many online! Whew! Honey, I'm middle-aged, not dead!  The weekend has been uneventful, the usual on Saturday and an indoor, cooking/baking/puttering-around day today, because we had an absolute deluge of rain till early afternoon.  I'll be curious to see the local news with regard to last night's Tragically Hip concert; I've seen some national coverage. Seems to have been a highlight for fans. I did see...

In this case, not a deity, but Nicki, and okay, not a sparrow, but two of the squirrel family in the tree behind our fence last evening. The old Gospel hymn "His eye is on the sparrow" is what popped into my head, as I sat and watched (and snapped pics). BTW, last week Nicki went for his usual anal gland expression, and I had blood drawn at the time for the ionized calcium test, to determine whether he has hypercalcemia. I got the results a few days ago: negative. The test range is 1.0 to 1.4 (whatever the units are) and Nicki came in at 1.33. So toward the high end, but fine at this point. So that was money well spent, IMO. That's not to say he won't be hypercalcemic (is that a word?) next year or in a few years, as his calcium is trending upward as he ages. But at the moment he's okay. As for the work-week: The usual. My step-dad moves today from the private care facility to the in-Halifax, publicly funded one. I called Mom from my bus stop ...

I adopted Annie 15 years ago today, on August 18, 2001. One of my few early pics of her, scanned in from an old film snapshot.  A few of my favourites, below, all of which you've seen before, year after year.      Caught trying to escape! :-D   I miss my silly girl, my wild child. She never was the same after Nicki came and then after her diagnosis of hyper-thyroidism, but in her healthier, happier days she was full of beans. Ahhhh, my dear heart, so loved.❤ Peace . Comments are off.

Derry: Are you calling me a sow's ear?! No, baby bear, I'm not. I'm referring to this house! Friends Robin and Chuck came up today for several hours, and once again I have to thank Chuck in particular for doing his best to "make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." This time he installed my bathroom vanity doors, purchased at Home Depot in the spring and sitting on my spare room floor since early June. He did a great job and they're nice doors for inexpensive (albeit custom order) MDF ones. They're heavy and smooth and close beautifully, unlike the old 30+ year old creaky, stiff doors that had been there before. They do, however, emphasize how crappy the base cabinet and old laminate counter top are. I'm not keen to have the cabinet itself ripped out and replaced, especially now, but at some point I'll have the old sink and counter top done. Even so, nothing can turn a sow's ear into a silk purse! I also have to th...

Actually, it's been a pretty easy week. Several of our staff are away, either on vacation or out for medical reasons, so it's been nice and quiet, a great time to plug away at a couple of projects that are due soon. Mom called last night to tell me that there's a bed for Harry in a publicly-funded nursing home in the city, at her preferred choice, in fact. (Really good care of the patients, great staff.) So I think she'll go early next week to sign all the papers, then Harry will move on whatever day they indicate, presumably next week also. He'll have an adjustment, especially since it's a shared room (one other person), but once he's settled he can go on the wait list for a private room. Each floor has its own doctor, who comes in every week to check on the residents, there are social activities, etc. Far, far better than Harry's current circumstances. The huge bonus is that this will save Mom $22,000 in annual costs, compared to what she's...

Only one more day of "staycation," then it's back to the routine. That soul-level voice inside me keeps saying it can't do this anymore, can't go back there, can't live this life anymore, but of course current reality is bills, mortgage, etc. That's not to say there won't be future opportunities that are more in line with my soul's needs, but right now this is what I have--and I know I'm lucky I do have a decent job to return to. Still...Life is fleeting, and how dreadfully sad to say I lived the length of it, but not the breadth of it. (Thinking of a recent quote I read, can't remember who said/wrote it.) Another quote I saw on FB yesterday: Stop. Overthinking. Everything. Touché! LOL! So, with that in mind, here are more pics from the staycation, in order (best viewed larger): The frequent bus stop visitor, such a sweetie he is!    I spied this girl or boy while heading to my hair appointment on Friday morning...

Remind me NOT to take a week in the summer next year, unless I have a/c in the house by then. Ugh! Anyway, Thursday was staycation day 7 and I went down to the water again early in the morning. I'd hoped for some CORK participants, but either they were at a different venue, were not competing yesterday, or it was too windy and choppy to be out on the water. I walked along from Portsmouth Olympic Harbour up to Lake Ontario Park anyway, took a few pics along the way, the usual shots when I walk in that area. This poor house looks like it needs to be gutted and restored or condemned. It's far more ramshackle in person, but even so, it's still occupied. I wonder what the story is behind it! The other homes around it are updated/restored/pricey.  Looking across to Wolfe Island.      The former Kingston Penitentiary in the background, below.             That was the highlight of the day; now I can't even r...