Musings on a Small Life

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Aggghhhhh!!!! As someone who grew up watching Start Trek: TOS in reruns, and then Star Trek: TNG as it aired for its seven seasons, I'm so saddened to read that both Walter Koenig and Patrick Stewart passed this week. 😭😭    Many years ago, in the early days that my ex and I were together, we had gone to Toronto for the annual "Toronto Trek" convention and Walter Koenig was a guest. I recall him being very gracious with the fans, wandering around from table to table one morning at breakfast, looking so tired, yet being very generous with his time.    I know Walter Koenig was 90 and Patrick Stewart ill, but even so, this feels like rip in the fabric of the Universe.   Actually, I think there was a rip in the fabric of the Universe in 2017 and we've all been living an alternate reality since then, but that's another matter!   Below: A few pics from the trip west.    Crescent Beach Black Spit Park The winery where Dad and I had lunch for his birthda...

I got back from my visit with Dad late on October 6th. Long travel days at each end, but no serious delays or hassles, which was a minor (or not-so-minor) miracle.   It was great to see Dad. He did pick me up at the airport when I flew in on September 28th, but I took a cab to the airport on Oct 6th -- it was early AM and very foggy and I didn't want Dad driving me anymore than he wanted to drive in the foggy dark.   Tuesday was a rainy day, so errands, but Wednesday September 30th we went to Britannia Shipyards/Steveston Village , both of which I've been to before. (Click to enlarge the pics for best viewing. All taken with my phone, I didn't really bother with my little pocket Canon.)     We had delicious fresh fish chowder at the Blue Canoe for lunch; yum. Steveston is an active fishing community; the fishers sell their catches on the wharf, at exorbitant prices, for the tourists.   I won't bother posting all the pics of the shipyards and quarters for the wor...

Or, westward-ho! It was a long haul out west to visit my dad, a three hour bus ride to Pearson Airport and then the five hour flight, plus all the wait times in between. It was good, though, and luckily I had a great seat mate on the plane who actually lives just outside of my city. He's travelled extensively world-wide for work and he and his wife recently were in Ireland for pleasure (he has family there). Oh, the pics he showed me! Gorgeous! We were of an age, so we chatted almost non-stop the entire flight! It was a terrific distraction and I didn't even bawl on takeoff as I usually do. 😭😆 Oh, and long time readers might recall that I tend to spill food all over myself when I fly; this time it was only a little bit of the free, crappy white wine I had. I always have those Tide stick-things with me, so a couple of dabs took care of it. 🙃 

(Comments are off for this post.)     I'm not able to comment on blogs today--or at least it appears that I'm not. I'm logged in with my main Google account as usual (have to keep it because of blogging!), but comments won't publish.   I'd like to cheekily (or not so cheekily, perhaps) suggest that it's Google's retaliation for trying to move away from them, but I suspect there's a glitch. I did read on someone else's blog this morning that they also are having difficulty leaving a comment.   So if I'm not around...I really am , I'm just apparently persona non grata at the moment!   Below: George as I was leaving for campus yesterday morning, as well as last evening's sunset.   

Feel free to skip this, as it's only Proton-related and of little interest to most.   I am going ahead with the migration (slowly!) from Google to Proton and took advantage of their current 12-month deal for Proton Unlimited. (Note the deal price was cheaper when accessed via one of the emails they sent to my new account as opposed to their web pricing.)    So, importing all my Gmail was easy ("easy switch"), though as I cannot delete my main Google account at this time, it means I do get the email both in Gmail and in Proton Mail. It will be slow going to update my email with the many dozens of organisations/companies that have it.   I have deleted the Fuzzy Tales account, including the blog, though of course downloaded it first. The blog is 11+ years inactive anyway.    Of course I'm keeping this blog for the foreseeable future, unless/until I find another comparable blogging platform that works for me.   Transferring the few files I had on Google D...

I met this 12-week old girl, Umi (spelling? pronounced Oomi) yesterday at HomeSense.     She's so gorgeous I was almost swooning. LOL. She certainly was drawing a crowd, and was very relaxed about it all. She'd been with her family only two weeks now, too. She's gonna be a big girl!   I hope everyone's week goes well; take care. 

I'm contemplating de-Googling my life and am wondering if anyone has experience with Proton Mail . (If you have to look it up, or search for why someone would want to, then that means no. LOL.) They do offer a free (limited) account, as well as various paid plans for those with greater needs. They also have cloud storage , which I'm looking into too, though trying to move almost 20 years of photos from Google to another platform could be a bit problematic. (I would pay for Proton Drive, which would also give me access to mail, calendar, etc.) I don't think I would move to a different blogging platform for the little I post, though. It's always helpful to get user feedback, if anyone else has or is considering this, so thanks in advance if you do and take the time to respond! Below: Rose of Sharon "hedge" in the general neighbourhood. I take pics of this every year, just because it's so gorgeous!

Happy end-of-work week for those who work Monday to Friday! Happy Friday (or whatever day you are seeing this) in general.   Some random stuff:   This morning I went to open the living room curtains and patio door and caught this fellow in my garden. The pic is grainy/slightly blurry because the light was too low for a decent snapshot. (And yes, I can see I have to cut the weeds again!)     There was a large depression around the ground cover (at the top of the image), and now I understand part of the reason that ground cover hasn't been doing well this year! 😁 I watched him (or her) squeeze himself under the corner of my gate, which considering his size, was impressive. I'll probably block off that corner with a large rock (saved a few from the limestone border I used to have around the perennials). As much as I like cottontails, I'd like to keep at least a few plants alive out there until I decide what to do with the space next spring.   I had another assemb...

Happy Mancat Monday, featuring the neighbourhood mooches, Jake and George. Below: Jake as I was checking my mailbox...being his usual goofy self! Of course he followed me back to my unit for treats. Below: George being his usual moochy self! My week vacation has come and gone and I'm in the middle of catching up on email and tackling the more "urgent" things first. Drinking no-no coffee (because of the GERD) and trying to get my sluggish brain in gear. I had only one day trip, though that's one more than I managed at the beginning of July! Just to visit friends for the day, catch up in person. Below: One of her neighbourhood mooches, very demanding. (Also very congested there, with a bad URI, poor baby. I'll refrain from commenting on what I think about his human "caretaker".) Sadly, there was another great loss in the Cat Blogosphere this weekend, (so many losses this year, both human and non-human). Beloved Katie of  katieisabella.blogspot.com/ . Sendi...

I don't actually know George's "sibling's" name ("siblings" from different parents), and the little tuxie might actually be a ladycat. H/she is very skittish, unlike George the Moochiest Cat Ever, so it was a bonus to be able to snap a pic of him/her last week. (I had tossed out Temptations, though they're not as food-motivated as George.)     George's pic was snapped this morning. He'd already had two rounds of treats and was looking for a third (not a chance). He's very hard to photograph because he comes too close, too quickly, but I lucked out today.   Jake's been around too, was here this morning when George was on round #2, but I didn't get a pic of him. 🤷   Have a good week, everyone, and take care. I'm on staycation next week, so I think this week will feel long !   

By "assembly," I don't mean the Regency-era variety where the idle rich went to gossip and spouse-hunt.     I mean yet another flatpack assembly, a shoe cabinet this time, to replace the Ikea console table I had there (now moved upstairs). I don't think I've purchased any furniture needing assembly in a year or two, so I guess I was overdue.   It took me about five hours to assemble, get everything moved (old/new) and set up, then clean the downstairs. I had to carefully turn that old Ikea console (solid metal and heavy ) onto its top and drag it up the stairs. I told my Mom (in spirit), out loud, that I hoped she wasn't watching. LOL. I managed, though, and I switched out an old table used as a desk for the Ikea piece. The old table/desk was almost as heavy as the console table, but I managed to get it down the stairs and into the garage without hassle.   I'm a Goddess!    Ha!   What I was, was a hurtin' human unit last night. I thought I'd be sti...