Musings on a Small Life

My time off went quickly, as vacation days and long weekends do.   Below: Sunrise on May 21st. Cellphone snapshot, not enhanced.     I got my little garden done over the time off, with five new perennials to replace those that didn't survive our winter, plus a few annuals as filler. I also put down 12+ bags of mulch, which makes everything look so much nicer. As small as the garden is, it still took three trips to garden centres, two courtesy of a friend and their car.   I will admit publicly that I do not like gardening. I love flowers, my soul craves flowers, and I love the end result, but the actual work? Weeding? Not so much. I don't mind getting dirty, that's not it....I'd rather be out in a barn, cleaning stalls. (At least in my mind I would. I'm not sure my 60+ year old body would agree with me on that one.)   We had a few hot days during the time I was off and that made all the cherry and apple blossoms pop, along with the lilacs.      ...

    I'm joking . In actuality, it's an experiment to see if the geraniums I wintered in the garage will come back with some sunshine, water and plant food. My mom's would, she had the knack--and the green thumb. I highly doubt mine will! Happily, even though we're now under a four-week stay-at-home order, garden centres will be open this spring, and I imagine they'll be getting set up soon. Every year I say I'm not buying any annuals and every year I do, and I don't imagine 2021 will be any different. So even if these poor stalks truly are dead, I'll have something pretty out front on the front steps in a few weeks. 🌷   The pics below are all from May 2014, with Derry in the foreground in the first two, Nicki in the back. The third pic is of Nicki enjoying sunning himself and the last snapshot is of Derry. 💖     Take care and enjoy whatever greenery is available to you. :-)

"Whackadoodle" is how the mom next door refers to herself and to family, but you know, we're all whackadoodle. Okay, maybe the young kid coming up from the complex below us and getting into the next door neighbour's garage with a lighter is more than merely whackadoodle. That's a 7 or 8 year old with a possible life of crime ahead of him. The neighbour's garage door lock has been broken and was supposed to have been fixed at the time they bought the unit, but it never was. The mom told me about the kid this afternoon, when we were chatting--she found him in their garage, which still has the former owner's old paint cans, and other flammable material. I called the admin person for the property company, expressed my concern about the kid (and others) coming up (related what the mom had told me), but of course that's a police matter, and obviously one for the neighbours to deal with. However, the admin person did say that if my neighbour called h...

Yep, another Monday has rolled around already. I'm debating taking Friday off, as next Monday is a holiday. Maybe. If I'm actually going to do something productive like paint. Otherwise, no. Saturday morning through Sunday evening was spent in blissful peace and quiet in the house, with the family away. I had the TV tuned to one of the jazz radio stations I now get, and spent my house time puttering in the garden, reading and knitting, plus doing the usual chores and errands. It was heavenly. I sat outside yesterday in my little back space and marvelled that there are people who actually live in quiet neighbourhoods, in detached homes. Without heavy traffic noise from a major thoroughfare within spitting distance, without all the neighbourhood screaming kids playing right by your fence, without adjoining families creating chaos. That seems like a complete fantasy to me, something utterly unattainable. So I really, really appreciated the calm I did have over the weekend...

I had a lunch time errand downtown today, and walked back afterward, taking a meandering route through the side streets. There are a number of lovely old Victorian bed and breakfasts in the area close to campus, one of which is The Secret Garden. So this is what I glimpsed through their wrought iron fence. I wish I could have gone in, to have gotten better, unobstructed snapshots! I'd like to while away a few hours in their garden, reading and daydreaming.  :-) It's been a hell of a week at work (just busy, a lot of projects due this summer), and I'm looking forward to our Canada Day holiday tomorrow. Our country is turning 144 -- still young. Happy birthday, Canada! I hope everyone has a terrific Friday and weekend. Universal Blessings and Light to All Beings.

I had gardening on my agenda yesterday -- I'm now done with purchasing and planting (in containers) annuals for this year, am happy with what I have. Chose to go with shades of pink and white this year. Double impatiens, I believe. Looks like a rose, so pretty! So today I hauled out the paint cans and started on the living/dining area. Got a lot done, just the long wall against which my dining table and couch are, and the north wall with the window and patio door left to do. Maybe tomorrow, if I feel ambitious, otherwise next weekend. The colour looks nice and creamy next to the stark white of the ugly stipple. After my ex moved out I swore I'd never have beige in my life again (in ever way, because he was so beige), but the reality is that when you're beige, you're beige (i.e. personality, life), so you might as well embrace your beige-ness. At least it's not builder's beige. And what did I do between coat #1 and coat #2? I bused up to the shopping centr...

I can hardly believe we have a break in the rain again today. Not actual sunshine, but bright overcast. Actually, we did have sunshine yesterday, for the first time in almost a week. On the spur-of-the-moment, I took the afternoon off to go to a garden centre for a few annuals and some soil. Had the presence of mind to ask the clerk for some plastic sheeting for the taxi trunk, since drivers aren't thrilled about having bags of soil and various plants in their vehicles (I had all the plants bagged, though). And so while I felt a bit guilty for taking the time off work (I have lots to do right now, but nothing "life-and-death" urgent), I really enjoyed the sunny, warm afternoon puttering in my little garden. I'll pick up just a few more annuals (I'm not doing much this year) and that will be it. Everything potted looks rather scraggly at the moment; the plants need a week or two to "take" and perk up. Mom's hubby should be home now; he was relea...

It will be a long weekend across Canada: Victoria Day (Monday), ostensibly to celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday. I thought it was also Memorial Day weekend in the States, but Lisa corrected me--that's the following weekend in the US! (Thanks, Lisa.) Three days away from the office will be great, but I still have all of the living/dining area to paint, as well as the kitchen. And trim. The house feels cluttered and chaotic and could use a good cleaning, but I want to wait till Mr. Handyman is done. I need groceries desperately, need cat litter, etc. I haven't been out walking anywhere interesting in what feels like forever, and given that Saturday is the only decent day in the forecast, I won't be getting out with the camera this weekend, either. (This Saturday = errands because bus service operates normally then, but runs on a very reduced schedule Sundays and holidays.)  I also want to pick up a few annuals and do some container gardening in the back space, since I...

Canada had its federal election yesterday. Pundits did say that Jack Layton's NDP was on a roll, an "orange crush" as they called it, (orange is their official colour) so I was expecting them to do well, better than usual. But I also was expecting more of an even split between the Liberals and NDP, not to have the Liberals decimated. Results: Stephen Harper's Conservatives finally have their majority, with 167 seats. Too bad, because he's an ultra-right wing, misogynistic, homophobic dictator. The NDP, for the first time in history, will form the opposition party with 102 seats, the Liberals, for the first time in history, have come in third with a mere 34 seats, and the Bloc Quebecois (a Quebec separatist party, don't ask how they ever could have been a federal party in the first place) were almost wiped out, garnering only 4 seats. They've lost official party status, thank goodness. And let's not forget the Green Party, whose leader, Elizabeth Ma...

The only thing I shall miss when I give up this townhouse (sooner or later...who knows?) is my little back space. Okay, technically it's not mine , it belongs to the condo corporation. They own the exterior of the building and all the accompanying land. Nonetheless, for all intents and purposes it's mine. It's very small: about 15.5 feet by 18 feet. I don't really have a green thumb and I certainly don't have an eye for what should go where. But still, it brings me Joy, and of course the cats enjoy the bit of greenery too. Thanks to one of my co-workers, I was able to get earth and more annuals yesterday, as well as two hanging baskets for the front, and I took the afternoon off to putter around. There's nothing quite like getting your hands into earth! I'll be moving all the containers around once the bleeding heart is done and cut back. BTW, she gave me some catnip, which you can see in a smaller pot on the right, next to the ivy. It'll be touch ...