Musings on a Small Life

A couple of weeks ago the university posted info on voluntary early retirement for eligible faculty and librarians.   On Tuesday they posted an exit incentive for (only) Faculty of Arts and Science staff. (Four weeks pay for every year of service, up to a maximum of 52 weeks pay. Those who are eligible for retirement would be able to take it.) A&S has the biggest deficit, so that's why this is limited to their staff right now. The article stated that if successful, and needed, the admin would consider rolling it out more broadly. I'm not sure they would roll it out to us as well, even if they did extend it to other faculties (we're not an academic department), but let's just say that things are becoming a bit more interesting now! Sunrise on Tuesday     As for other things, I'm getting ready to head west to visit Dad; the trip is coming up very quickly! My travel anxiety is ratcheting up, but on the flip side, I'm so over-tired that perhaps by the time I go,...

Leonard this morning. I don't think I've noticed his long whiskers before. He squirms around so much that it's almost impossible to get a pic that isn't blurry. He's a sweetie, though I know he's just coming by for treats.  I haven't seen the grey and white cat again, though. I think he and Leonard move in different circles, so to speak. Have a great day, all. I'm slogging through work today, with a lot of files to wade through, and I want a tee-shirt like Dad Terry is wearing in today's post on angel Brian's blog:  https://brianshomeblog.com/2024/03/wordless-wednesday-nope-not-today-with-tinslee-and-dad.html Ha!

A belated Friday post. I'm trying this via my phone, so who knows what the published version will look like! Apologies if I've posted the cat flow one before. I know I've posted one in the past, but didn't think it was this one. 🤔 Have a great weekend, everyone. We're slated for up to 15 cm of snow later today and overnight. I'm NOT impressed.

 

 I was putting out the garbage, recycle, and compost last evening, when Leonard came running over (again) for (more) treats. (Pic was snapped Wednesday afternoon.) Leonard does have a home, if you recall, just a few units down from mine. What a mooch. Anyway, this time he was joined by someone new to me...or at least someone I don't recall seeing! I tried to see if they were male or female, but I wasn't able to get a clear look at their backside. A very quick glimpse didn't seem to show any dangly bits, at least. S/he did eat some Greenies, though they weren't as treat motivated as Leonard. They were more concerned with keeping an eye out on what was going on in the street (kids running around playing). I noticed that Leonard didn't attempt to eat this cat's treats, though, not until they left a single one behind--and Leonard only ate it after s/he had moved to the bottom step. There was no hissing, growling, or other aggression between the two, though they didn...

I'm happy to report I have a bit more progress on the kitchen reno now. I'm also happy to see the snowdrops and crocuses in bloom! (Pics from a lunchtime walk last week.) With regard to the kitchen, the planner and the installer came out Friday AM (rescheduled from Thursday due to an emergency down at St. George's Cathedral involving sewage backup and having to tear up a good portion of the beautiful old hardwood flooring in a large back room). The planner brought the additional samples and I made a snap decision on both the counter and the floor. The pic of the quartz countertop, below, is snagged from the web. It's very subtle and has both grey and beige running through it, so I hope will be fine with either warm or cool tones, depending on the next person's preferences. I prefer beige tones, or at least greige, so this is not what I would have chosen were I in my "forever" home. The floor is too, as it's a "marble" (vinyl tile) that is gre...

A few "funnies" from my Pinterest feed, to mark the day.         Below: I thought this was cute, given my travels in a few weeks. I'm certainly not flying first class, or even business class! (If my budget extended to either, I most certainly would; flying economy means being squished into small seats, definitely not meant for those of us with wide hips!) 😁       Apologies if I've posted this one before. It will be garden centre season in another month, and this one also seemed appropriate for me!       Thanks for stopping by; take care.

First, look who's back!  I've seen Leonard's kitty prints in the frost and snow on my step through the winter (the little snow we did get), but other than once (maybe twice), I've not actually seen him face-to-face until this morning. It's nice to see that he's as food motivated as ever. LOL. As for the reno...Arrgh, it's so much harder than I thought to choose countertops and flooring! I had gone up to their showroom last Friday over lunch, brought back a few samples of each, but while I really liked them in the showroom, I wasn't happy with how they looked in the house. So yesterday I popped up over lunch again (all those taxis are NOT cheap, but buses don't go out that far) and, with the help of one of the staff, found a few more possibilities. The designer and installer are coming to the house on Thursday morning for final measurements and will bring the samples then, so I really hope I can come to a decision. I don't want this place to be my...

Those of you who have stuck with me for years probably can guess what this post will be about: picking (subconsciously) one of the coldest days of the season to feel like taking my little pocket p&s camera down to the water.  That day was Monday (Feb 19th), our Family Day holiday. (It's called various things, province by province, like "Heritage Day" in Nova Scotia. But here in Ontario, it's "Family Day.")   So I took myself off to Trailhead Place and Lake Ontario Park and thoroughly enjoyed traipsing through the snow, meeting a few people out with their dogs, and just reveling in the glorious sunshine and invigorating air. After our snowstorm of Sunday, it was fabulous to be out!   And while I was warm, bundled as I was in thermal layers, I think I'll wait for Spring to do this again. 😁   Pics are in chronological order. There were SO many geese, as well as a few ducks. Often the water is frozen (at least along the shore if not further out) at this...

It's Sunday morning just before 11 AM as I start to type this and whoo boy, do we have winter! What a contrast from a week ago, when last Saturday was plus 11C and I was cleaning windows, it was so glorious out. We've been having snow and snow squalls since late yesterday and are still in the middle of it, 80 km wind gusts. The big plow came through in the middle of the night, then again around 9 AM. He'll have to come back when this all dies down. However, while we have no progress on Spring's arrival right now, I have made progress on the kitchen.  I took Friday afternoon off work to go to the showroom again, was there for almost two hours. I finally settled on the configuration of the lower cabinets, with lots of help from the planner and the other staff person who was there (office admin/manager, I assume). There's very little space to work with, but in the end, he'll be able to give me a 21" lower drawer unit (the current one is 11"), as well as a...