updates on the hood

I have been neglecting my Junior Hood Reporter duties lately...I have been more interested in other things...I am starting with a pretty picture of flowers on my back deck though, because I am always utterly amazed that something grows in my presence...it should be a dried up old stick, but look at it!
Two evenings ago, there was quite a commotion on Nicol St. out behind us. I don't know what this is...two ambulances, lots of cops, lots of people milling around on the sidewalk, one guy down in the crosswalk. There was no car to be seen, so maybe a hit and run? He wasn't moving much but was quite vocal, so hopefully he is alright...there was nothing in the paper... I really don't want to say this, but maybe I should. Maybe he wasn't white enough to make the paper...but maybe I am full of crap. I don't know. It just seemed like a lot going on down there to not make the paper, especially if it was a hit and run, or an assault, and there were so many witnesses.

Here is the Crack Delivery Van...must be borrowed or stolen...it's in too good of shape to be full of all the crackheads who came out of this. It was like the clown car at the circus...some jumped out , some jumped in...I don't know where they came from or where they were going...but someone must have scored big and was literally driving around making deliveries...again, I say, if they put that much effort in LIVING LIFE, what couldn't they do?
Yesterday was eviction day for the some of my most annoying and scary neighbours...sadly, this is all I really saw of the whole thing. I was on a trip to Victoria. I saw these two really big officers arrive, though, and two girls started packing stuff out of the house. I know they were not on the lease, only the really big kinda scary guy is left from the original leaseholders. After I left, apparenty, the slumlord,er, landlord arrived to see the haps. He has not been around much, which is weird, cuz usually he is always out there peaking through all his tenants' windows(creepy). I think the big guy must have really intimidated him, literally, and he has been staying away...so, the cops were gone at this point and the big guy starts screaming and towering over his ex-slumlord, er, landlord. Then, he starts chasing him down the street. It would be scary cuz he is a big guy and the slumlord, er, slumlord,er, LANDLORD, is tiny and old. I should feel sorry for him, but I don't. He continually rents to these kinds of jerks...there are still major problems in the basement suite of the same house...
Someone has dumped a couch in the back alley, which, of course, has become a bed, a meeting zone...now, I guess, once again, we will have to take care of it, rent a truck, with our money, take it to the dump with our money...
Amanda(I used to call her the Bulldog before I knew her name....she looked like she could kick your ass! Lordy she looked like a roller derby queen) is back in the hood. She was one of the "regular" girls here...she always seemed to maintain herself pretty well. She always kept her weight, didn't seem to binge too much...but she's back. I have seen her four times this week. Each time, she is doing the Crack Attack Dance. She is about half the size she was...she LOOKS like a crack whore now. I am not sure what this feeling is I have...she is "lost" now, and I am a bit sad in some way I do not understand.
A known Pimp was cruising the neighbourhood (while I was away camping), keeping an eye on his girl(s). One of our dearest friends and neighbours confronted this guy and his friend in their car. These two guys got out of the car and then began to threaten my friend...threatened her, her dog, her property. Were right up in her precious space!!!! Six neighbours came out and surrounded the car, the police were called, desciptions and license numbers taken. Nothing was done about it...the registered owner of the car was "in the hospital," according to whoever answered the phone at the residence of the car's registration. No one called the hospital to check that, nor to ask who was driving his car while he was in the hospital. Yesterday, the same guy is driving through our hood again, in a different car. He saw my friend on the street and raced his engine, screaming obscenities at her, pounding on the windows...reported to the police again. They say if we see him to report his "suspicious activities." They have said to stay away from him...he is "bad news." How about this? How about he stay the fuck away from here?!? How about that? Is that too much to ask? If you KNOW he is bad news and is threatening bodily harm and property destruction to residents here, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!
Hmmm, also, two big police actions yesterday, one near the McD's on Nicol and one near the Salvation Army. No news on what they were about, though...time for dog walkies, talk at you all later.

for Life or Something Like It

So this is a digital photo of an old 135 mm photo, grainy at best. The stains are on the photo, not on the carpet or on my arms, not from the dog! He was a good boy! When I was 3 or just 4, I got this puppy. For years, people thought I had named him Henri...I guess cuz he was a poodle mix. As an adult, I think it's hilarious that they all thought I even would know that Henri is a French name...and that my little dog was even(gasp) French??? I was 3 or 4!!!! I mean, yes, of course, we'd all like to think I was such a little genius...especially me. He lived with that mistaken identity for the rest of his life. I don't even remember how old I was when I discovered that EVERYONE thought his name was Henri...but I knew his real name...and then it became ever so much more special to me. Like knowing Batman's secret identity.
When my folks got divorced and we moved into a little apartment, my Grandma took him. I saw him nearly every weekend during the school year and spent my summers with her and my dog...only he did become her dog. I didn't mind. They really grooved on each other and I am so thankful to her for saving him...they had lots of good years...lots.
Want to know his real name?


Ornery: as in.....

Main Entry: or·nery Pronunciation: 'or-n&-rE, 'är-; 'orn-rE, 'ärn-Function: adjectiveInflected Form(s): or·neri·er; -estEtymology: alteration of ordinary: having an irritable disposition : CANTANKEROUS - or·neri·ness noun

Isn't that a hoot?

wheat

These were a wedding present to Michael's mom, once upon a time. She bought a new set so I got them. I have been in love with them since the second I saw them.
Not a single missing piece... that's a lot of pressure for me. I intend to use them everyday, too...because if I only used them on "special occasions," they might never come out of the cupboard.
Besides, doesn't the dish, and how much I love it, make it a special occasion?
Absolutely right, it does.
Well, that's about it this morning...haven't even finished my coffee yet, but I couldn't wait to show off...
later, then.

birthday

Today would have been, should have been, Maggie's 15th birthday. Eight months ago today, she fell asleep for the last time in my arms. I miss her endlessly.
I was unemployed, unhappily married and living in a rental that didn't allow pets. I walked past the pet store. I fell in love. The absolute best impulse purchase ever made. She howled all the way home in my truck, sounding for all the world like she was six feet tall and just as wide. She was six weeks old and fit in my pocket. I cried for the day I wouldn't have her anymore.
I came from a family that didn't teach me how to be a whole person. I am not whining about it...there are lots of us out there. There was no such thing as unconditional love. People left and didn't come back. There were times I knew, beyond doubt, that I was a burden. There was drama, and tension and the catch-all phrase of Dysfunction. We didn't hug. We didn't touch. We all had our own lives that we had to direct ourselves. Some called us latch-key. Looking back at it, I think the term feral is more apt.
I didn't know why I kept picking lousy relationships and staying, or even that they were lousy relationships. I didn't know why I had such a drive to self-medicate. I didn't know there was anything WRONG with me at all.
As I got to know more about me, some things had to change...it's hard to change your whole life when all your whole life long has been marked, though. It took a long time. I got divorced...broke down, overmedicated more....bought a trailer and hitched it to my Jeep and hit the road...we were
modern day nomads. I was only brave enough to go because there was someone to go with me. Maggie.
Maggie was the only constant in my life. She was the only thing I let close to me for a long time. She taught me that relationships can last longer than a little while, that LOVE is not that giddy head over heels feeling that you have at the beginning(that makes you act rashly, like walking down an aisle way too soon) but those feelings that remain after. Responsibility is NOT burden. There is joy in rolling in warm sand. Macaroni and cheese is always better shared with someone you love. She taught me that in order to take care of her, I had to take care of myself...take care of myself... mmm, a strange, if intriguing idea.
There is so much more to our story but it's mine...none of it is truly exciting. She wasn't Lassie or Rin-Tin-Tin. She was just a little beagle with a dedicated heart. Sometimes we have pets. Sometimes pets have us. She blessed my life. She saved me in a way that is difficult to explain. She made me human, a full(still flawed) person. That seems like a lot to put on a little furry soul, doesn't it? But she did...or I did, for her.
I miss her little smile, eyes curled in laughter as she looked over her shoulder at me when I would take her to her favorite walking spots. I miss her pissy face when she couldn't have something she wanted. I miss her singing in the morning when she awoke to see us all together in bed, another full day together to celebrate. I miss her toenails on the hardwood.
My last thought....
I imagine that as I go out of this world, if there is anyone watching, they will see me smile just before my light goes out. My arms will open and they will hear me whisper "Maggie" as I go home.
I miss you, Chicken. Be so very good. loveloveloveloveloveyou

last camp entry

On a roadside lake on the way into Kamloops...he seemed so lonely out there.
Roadside lake coming out of Kamloops....
Tan lines...good friends. We had a great time. Thank you so much.
The littlest fisherman...
This is a pine beetle infestation...on the highway over the pass back to Vancouver...you may need to open the picture up larger in another window to see. All those trees that are tinged with red? They are dead, or will be within two years. Acres and acres, mile upon mile, hectares and hectares, kilometre upon kilometre. Any way you look at it, it is a tragedy. What will this land look like in two years? How much further will they spread? What can be done?!? I can't put into words how HUGE this devastation is. It staggers my mind...imagine the biggest clearcut you can...then keep multiplying until you cannot fathom it. It will be ugly..a cruel scar on the earth in one of the most beautiful spots there is.
Well, enough is enough. Camp is over. Thanks for bearing with me.
G'nite.

more camp stuff

The area around our campsite/resort was loaded with wildlife. These little guys were brave and foolish, coming down to sit with us, teasing and playing with the dogs...and the kids. The first night, we were sitting around after dark, watching the bats skim the lake surface. We kept hearing this high scree-ing. Some thought it was the bats but Michael and I thought it was too loud to be bats. Sure enough, all of a sudden, about 6-8 owls start swooping from tree to tree over our heads, like some bizarre nature's game of musical chairs. It was so freaky and cool! Then a huge wind storm came up, we had thunder and lightning....the sky was so big there that it was ever so much more impressive. You forget, living in town, just what a night sky is supposed to look like...out there, you feel small and insignificant in the grandest of manners. I love that feeling...that raw emotion of knowing, absolutely, that the earth is breathing the same breath you are, that it's heart's rhythm is your own. The next morning, the loons' cries greeted us. Walking the dog, I had a raven follow me for 20 minutes while we "talked" together. So many treasures on this earth. After a week of camp with temperatures in the high 30's and 40's(C), no matter how much fun you're having, you begin to become a bit grouchy. We were sleep deprived, hot, dehydrated, dirty...longing for a little "civilization." We were on our way into Kamloops where we knew we had a hot shower, clean clothes, food without that smokey campfire taste, a BED, indoors, a refrigerator with COLD beer and air-conditioning when we happened upon this godscene...as if the sky was understanding just what we were thinking. Eagle overhead....
Falkland Fire...we passed this forest fire on the way in to camp. We passed it again on our way back out...it burned a long time. This day, it was reported "Contained but not controlled." It was raining when we left Kamloops two days later, thank goodness. Just a shot of some grass...I like the colour and the texture... so, that's it for this installment...a few more shots I'd like to share in the next post... maybe later tonight I will wrap up this trip.
Until then.

finally....

Here we go...heading off in the vw. Yes, that is a vase of real flowers. Luxury and beauty at all costs. The Summer Dog loves his travel bed. It was hot, lordy, 44 and dry as a bone through the Frasier Canyon. It felt like we were breathing in an oven. We bypassed every ghost town, sorry. We were miserable in the heat and the big black dog was worse, so every stop we made was along the river...we'd stop, everybody out of the van, plunge into the water fully clothed(and furred) and then climb back in the van. We'd be hot and dry within ten minutes. I lost count of how many times we stopped to cool off. It was longest trip to Kamloops we ever took. We're going back for Thanksgiving and hopefully October weather will be better ghost-town-touring-weather.
In Kamloops, it was just as hot and dry. His folks have air-conditioning, though. Whew. Across the valley from their house, we saw this fire flare up in seconds. Luckily it burned so hot, so fast that it burned itself right out. There were other fires doing serious damage elsewhere... everywhere. We stayed one night in Kamloops and headed to Sugar Lake...met up with everyone who could make it. One of our dear friends lost her mother to cancer just the day before so, of course, their family did not make it. Our hearts and prayers, love and support, pour out of each of us, HS. We missed you. Crack of dawn and the fisher boys are out already. It's all they ever want to do...fishfishfishfishfish. Even I tried my hand at it. Sadly, all those poles in the water for days and only one fish between all of us. I guess they really are there but apparently we were not fishing "deep" enough. Hmmm.
There is a "Fire Camp" next to where we stayed. This helicopter kept flying in and there were groups of "young people" learning canoe skills like how to flip one over that's upside down and how to get back in one if you fall out. I don't know what kind of fire they will be putting out, but apparently, it will be IN A LAKE.
I spent a lot of time looking at this view. We had the use of a little boat so we were daily, the whole lot of us, out of the resort camp and off on our own little beach somewhere. Quiet(except for the kids that came with us and the two dogs) and private. All in all, it was pretty ideal. It was hotter than h-e-double toothpicks, though, and even with the lake to get in and out of, by the last day, I was really getting grouchy. So was the dog.
Well, that is the extent of the photos I can load tonight...and I have written a lot today, in general(I also made 8 loaves of zuchinni bread with my neighbour, took two dog walks, and planted all this indigenous moss in the rock path out back today). Tomorrow, I will post some more photos, Blogger willing, and tell you some of the cool specifics of camping at Sugar Lake. G'nite all.

the night before

Since I am having trouble with the photos today, I will catch you all up with the story of the night before we left...I don't have any photos to accompany that one...though I thought the RCMP might have some for me.
I know it will be a rambling tale. Sorry about that.


Okay, so the night before we left on our trip, we were loading the vw...out the back door in the garage. So I was taking the bags downstairs to Michael and he was taking them from the basement to the van. In the 30 seconds it took me to deliver one backpack to the basement and walk back upstairs, there is some f'ing guy standing in our livingroom going through the shit on the cabinet!!!! Michael is in the garage...I don't want to scream cuz I don't want this guy to freak out...who knows what the fuck he will do...so(and I don't know why THIS is smarter than screaming) I charge right up to the guy and get right up next to him. "What the fuck are you doing in my house?!?" I say in my best imitation of the Billy Goats Gruff. He had the nerve, er, not the nerve, but the incoherence to keep telling me he'd been invited!!! He was actually arguing with me about being INVITED and where was his backpack? Lordy, a crazy loon, I think. How do I get him out? He is standing there arguing with me about it! Eventually, I have manuevered him to the door, we're still YELLING at each other, Michael has finally heard just as the guy is taking off down the street. We call the police. 45 minutes later, (since there is no emergency, I guess) the police arrive. Did I mention before that we live three blocks from the RCMP station? If they had arrived in the first five minutes, say, they might have got the guy but then there is all that paperwork to do, forms to fill out...yaddayadda. Anyhoo, I give my descriptionto the officer...it is a thorough description, I was extremely close to the guy, after all. We point out that sometimes, across the street, several people often arrive empty handed and leave with new backpacks so maybe, just maybe, this guy did have the wrong address and that they(RCMP) should maybe, just maybe watch what's going on over there...and we head out of town for our trip, thankful for our great neighbours who will watch our house and water our plants. Yesterday, my first full day home, the RCMP call to ask if I will come down and look through some photos, they may have a suspect in custody. So, hey, wow, they are doing something...making an effort, right? (An aside here: One of my neighbours was verbally threatened with bodily harm and property damage for approaching/confronting a pimp last week. The RCMP were provided with license plate numbers and a vivid description by 6 neighbours and no arrests were made!!!!) So I go down there and wait around 25 minutes, even though THEY called me. I am led to a room with a video camera filming me, a detective who knows nothing about my case, has not read the file, shows me the photo lineup... uuummm, my description was a white guy...white guy, blond hair turning white shoulder length, kinda curling, blue-grey eyes...older-ish like55-60, or a real hard livin' late 40's kind of look, know what I mean? We flip through about four photos and I said to the detective..."Did you get the right photos? Is this the right file?" Page after page of younger, crew-cuttish native men...the only resemblance was that hardliving look to the faces. Eight more pages like that...all younger, all native. So the detective sends in another detective to talk to me...she says "sometimes in the stress...bad lighting...the whatever"...C'mon. I said, "did you read the file?" Nope, but there had been a rash of b&e's that night, same m.o., the suspect was native. As if that explains how my white guy can turn into their native...and are they then only looking for natives? ARGH. However, as she walked me out, she asked about that night, and did he say anything? I reiterated how he really seemed to believe he had been invited and that we were supposed to have a backpack for him...then I told her about the house across the street(whose address is one number higher than ours). She asked my address and then looked me in the eye and said..."the white house?" So they know, right? They know.
So next entry is about camping and fun times.
until then.

ah, c'mon now....

Hey, what's up with the whole photo thing right now? I come home to find I can only load 5 photos....and since I didn't KNOW that, I have loaded the wrong photos, out of order. When I take them off to load the other photos, so my story is in the correct order, Blogger won't load them at all. WTF? Pardon my language, but this is a pain...and I even got up early to catch up here and still have time to make zucchini bread with all the zukes in the garden we came home to...feels like a Monday, know what I mean? Argh.

home at last

Hello to everyone!!!!!
Holy moly...I am home and just as busy as before I left...in fact, it feels like we never left at all. There are a million other things I should be doing and I guess that Blogger agrees because I can't seem to load my photos...and what's a story without photos?!? On that note, I guess the Blogger Gods are telling me to get off my bum and finish up some chores around here that we didn't get finished before we left....so, when I can load some photos, I will be back...talk to you then.

Farmgirl Fare

Farmgirl Fare

sweet...

... pea, that is...packing up this morning. Yay! Michael is trying to find directions to a couple of ghost towns along the way....spooky. Catching the early ferry off the island and we're gone, gone, gone. I have been so attached to computer lately, I wonder how I will handle it. Have to head over to Morrell Bird Sactuary for another swim this afternoon...along with some biodegradable soap to wash the dog with. He is ripe...and the van is way too small for something that big to be that stinky. But it's hot, and he certainly can't help it...we may be just as stinky at the latter end of the ride...but once we are lakeside, it will all be worth the 40 degree celcius trek with no a/c puttering slowly along in the vw, down the hot, hot highway with hot, hot wind through the windows. I hope, anyway. I will miss you all...take good care of yourselves and I can't wait to catch up with you all when I get home!

just some stuff

This is Sebastion...yes, after the crab in the Little Mermaid. He has been with me since I lived in Texas. He, like thousands of his brothers and sisters(I have always ASSUMED he is a boy), was sold in one of the beach shops there. At the end of someone's vacation, they "abandoned" him in his stupid plastic cage at the coffee shop I worked at. These guys are not native to the Gulf of Mexico, but flown in from the Caribbean. You can't just let them go, so I took him in...and seven years later, he is still with us, our own little pirate of the Caribbean, after travelling the U.S. in the VW with us, crossing international borders...he's cute, eh?
This old heap is at one of our dog walking spots...looks like the old Partridge Family bus. Maybe it just broke down and they wandered away into the brush...not likely!
A heron...my favorite bird.
Hmm, neighbourhood haps before we go...
1) the other day, my neighbour, Michael and I watched a TREMENDOUSLY BLATANT drug deal on the road in front of our house. We saw an RCMP car drive by, slow down, even stop and watch for a moment. Then guess what it did...go on, guess. It drove away. It was so very, very, very blatant!!! Damn it all. They just drove away.
2) I guess that Vancouver and Victoria are sending their homeless somewhere...here. And the papers here, the council here, the Salvation Army, everyone here, just refers to them all as "homeless." Hell, if there was someone around these parts who is simply homeless, I don't see them. There is so much more to this story. I see crack addicts, thieves, pushers, pimps and whores. We are watching deals, crack deals, sex deals, all deals, out here in front of our homes. It had been pretty quiet up here for quite a few months. Now the City wants to sanatize downtown...and look at what's happening here... and the police patrols are less and less.
3)The slum lord, er, I mean landlord, across the street came was over there at midnight last night. He was kicking some floppers out of the basement suite. While he was doing that, a flopper/pusher/pimp and his girlfriend/addict/whore quietly left the upstairs suite...the landlord didn't even see it. We have three properties across the street, half of the block, right now that are housing pushers, pimps, whores, and are flophouses. What the fuck? Where are the police right now? Sanatizing downtown.
Alrighty then, there may be more...I am on my second Faxe(strong danish beer) and I know I am not really writing very well...so I will wind it up for tonight. I will try to make time to say goodbye tomorrow...but just in case, I will miss you all while I am gone, even though I plan on having a good time!

ripples

I really meant to get some posts on this afternoon but it is 2:30 already and I am getting ready to head out for a swim at the bird sanctuary with the gals and the dogs...so, maybe later tonight or tomorrow I can catch up just in time to take off. That's right, folks. 10 days of camping in the Okanagan. How sweet it is. No crackheads, no hookers, no pushers, no pimps. Just some old friends, kids, a couple of dogs, the old vw, and a lake...hot dogs on sticks, a little flyfishing(can you say kokanee? mmm mmm), snoozing in the shade in the afternoon...gosh, it sure sounds great, doesn't it? Anyway, I will check in with a few of the haps here before I go.

Breeders

Em, look what you started! They're just like rabbits. Soon, Michael and I will have to move because we will be overrun.

Englishman River

Another camp trip this past weekend, nine people and six dogs...if you can really call it camping. Yes, we slept in the van, and our friends all slept in tents...but it was a Provincial Campground with running water. We ate like we were at some five star restaurant, though there was the definite taste of campfire in everything. Next time out, I fully intend to blacken hotdogs on a stick over a flame...real camping! But once again, friends and neighbours laughing so long and loud. I love when we get away from the trials of our neighbourhood. It proves to me that it is not the fight that binds us, but the friendships. I like that. Also, on these trips, we don't talk about the crack and the hookers and the pushers, but we still have plenty to yak about.
You almost have to believe in elves and fairies in places like this, don't you?
Yikes! Er, hikes, I mean.
Tall trees
Englishman River
Englishman River, lower falls. There is another falls but the photos need a little photoshop help... I am so behind in my photos, still working on Butchart and now with this whole camp trip to crop and work out the glitches with lighting and all...and this weekend, we head out for 10 days camping in the Okanagan. I am so thankful that our summer dog has figured out it is alright to sleep while we are out. Our first trip out overnight with him had me worried. He never closed his eyes. This trip, he put himself to bed in the van and slept right through. Whew.
Enough for now...time for dog walkies. Talk at you later.

catching up

So the bells are actually called Angel's Trumpet....
Here are the crackheads who were dealing out front the other day... today they were in the alley behind us dealing...so we called and the bike police came and found them and we haven't seen them since...though now we are a bit worried of becoming a target...but maybe they are too damaged to really know what's going on around them.
Here they are looking for all the dropped rocks...funny how they both have cell phones but seem to have no money to live on. I believe they sleep in their truck whenever they are not moved on from parking somewhere... you know what kills me, all that effort put into this lifestyle. It's hard and dangerous work, long hours, lots to keep track of...if they could put that kind of effort into being functional people, they could possibly be unstoppable, in a good sense. Know what I mean?!?

Back to the garden...this is the Sturgeon fountain that Michael liked a lot.
Here is Vigan obsessing about the kitty on the neighbour's deck...of course, the kitty seems just as obsessed with Vigan on our deck, as well. Just these two black creatures staring across the void at each other for hours.

Okay, (back to the garden again. My photos loaded in a strange order and I am in a bit of a hurry otherwise I would go back and move it all around) these lovelies are called Painted Tongue, I believe, though the photos in the pamphlet are different colours. These are what I want most in my flower bed next year. Also in the pamphlet there is something called Tigridia that was not in bloom at Butchart at the moment. I want that, too. So, I am off for some last minute camping supplies...
Talk at you later.

Butchart Gardens

Another post, the floors are swept and mopped, dishes done, dinner is ready to go in the oven, the dog(my summer rental) has been hiked and is sleeping on the front porch, things are put away, I did a big, big clean yesterday...so I don't feel guilt over another post today when I should be doing something else. Sadly, I do not know the name of these off the top of my head. We tried to buy the seeds in the Seed Store at Butchart but they had sold out or did not have them...I will have to look over the pamphlet again to get the name of these. I want them in my garden. Here is the sunken garden...of course, it is so much more impressive in real life. Photos really do no justice to this place. We spent all day there and were awed by everything. I am sure we stilled missed more than we actually saw. The crowds were huge because it was a fireworks night so it was difficult to see all that you wanted, difficult to linger over the truly abstract.
This was cool in colour, but I like it better in black and white.
Totems and Michael...I can use this cuz you can barely see him. He doesn't like when I put his picture up. On the same note, there are lots of photos I can't put up because they involve the faces of those I love, Michael and my family-away-from-family. They know who they are, and how much I love them, but plastering their faces all over the internet is not how I choose to show it! I love the Otter on the bottom of the totem on the left. I originally thought it was a bear, but he is holding a clam on his belly and has a long tail...a dead giveaway that it is an otter! His face is most precious.

Holy Schmokes, Folks!!! Are these not the most beautiful things? I don't know the names of these either, tragically. I need to read that damn pamphlet. I GOTTAGOTTAGOTTA have these for my garden. Tomorrow I will post the other colour of these most amazing flowers. And maybe the name?
Another flower I do not know the name of...the stems were over six feet tall, though didn't seem to be trees, but flowers. These bells hung straight down over our heads. This photo is literally looking straight up! The flowers were at least 10 inches(um, did I mention I am an American living in Canada? Inches, feet, pounds, miles per hour....I am sorry, our schools did BEGIN to teach metric when I was in fourth grade and then said "F'it! We're American and the world will adjust." I don't buy in to that mentality and p-p-p-please don't hold it against me. I am in my late thirties now and trying to learn the conversion at this age is like trying to learn a foreign language. Spelling colour and neighbourhood with a U, and cheque instead of check is a huge undertaking and I understand that 32 degrees is HOT not COLD...after that, though, I am truly and utterly lost)long and five or six inches across...impressive. Fountain, obviously. It was set to a dance routine. Many jets going off in a pattern of some sort. Doesn't look nearly as cool in a photo. Dragonfly....I took lots of photos of this guy, well, gal, as some of the photos show her laying eggs(I presume). I "squandered" many photos on her that I could have used on flowers but I love dragonflies....mucho. And I don't think I really wasted anything when I see the photos I got. I like them lots! Trying to pass the beauty of the gardens off in a photo is like trying to capture magic in a jam jar. It just doesn't come across. It was truly impressive and all I could capture are these tiniest of moments...and that is what it's all about anyway, right? These tiniest of moments?
G'nite, all.

crazytown

So the green-black house is finished...lovely, isn't it? Ick. But who knew that these guys were flippers? Not that I am truly sad to see them move because I'm not. They were loud and slightly abrasive...and their dogs were scary and could clear that fence when they really wanted to get at you. However, the story goes... this house is across the street from a vacant lot that has been very overgrown as the owner in Ontario doesn't maintain it. It's hard to sell a house when there are people shooting up in the bushes across the street, ya know? So, the home owners took it upon themselves to clean up the lot...by-laws officers came and handed them a fine. At first, I was a bit outraged. Really. But then I went down and looked at their clean up job. They threw it all onto the street for the city to deal with. You just KNOW what the city is going to do, don't you? It's not like you can shame this council (or anyone in power) to take care of this end of town. It just pisses them off and they strut around, roll their eyes, shake their head in exasperation. Their ready answer to our problems? "Why don't you move?" ARGH.
See all the crap in the street on the left? That's just some of it. Then, the homeowners said that by-laws was rude to them...but I did mention that they(the homeowners) are somewhat abrasive, didn't I? So I am not sure what the whole story there is. Anyhoo, the next morning, A-Channel News is there to do a story on the neighbours who are cleaning up their block to protect the children from the crackheads, etc. Hmmm. Now, I applaud that part, I do, but no one mentioned that this house is for sale and that those kids won't even be living here once they have a buyer. Let's clean this neighbourhood for the right reasons, eh? Maybe it will last longer than the time it takes for those bushes to grow back. Why doesn't that out of province owner have to maintain this property within city limits? On the news, the RCMP said that they have "regular" bike patrols up here. I call bullshit...really BULLSHIT!!!!! Sorry. Ranting again.
Yesterday there was open, blatant dealing in front of Spanglish Grocery across the steet...with LOTS of deals and organization. However, I guess the publicity on the news was a bit of pressure, because when we called, the response time was fast. We had four neighbours calling in with us. And things happened. Quite another long story so I will just say that after some follow-up drive bys(after one initial arrest), the sorry assortment went to bother some other neighbourhood for a while... however, they did drop a lot of their drugs in the lot across the street when the first patrol stopped them(without baggies) and from the franticness spent searching after the cops left, I don't think they found a lot of it...and then it rained last night. Woo hoo! We heard one of them saying he was going back to Vancouver because he hated it here. I hope we cost them some money... and maybe something more. Next entry will be full of pretty flowers and happy things from our trip on the weekend...and we are heading out again this weekend! And the following week? Ten days of camping in the Okanagan. Sweet. Can't wait.
Okay, so later today? Flowers and loveliness.