manamana

Mr. Mortensen is leaving the building...

Sweet Viggo(Vigen) is going home today...I know I will cry. ..cuz Dick Clark and Rent made me cry and they weren't even so sad. This will be sad. I don't see me handling "childlessness" too well. I know he will so excited to see his moms, but I secretly and selfishly hope that he misses me LOTS.
At least as much as I will be missing him...though he does just live around the corner! And I am sure I can borrow my hiking buddy lots....and maybe even provide doggie daycare on their long days of school and work....and, well, maybe we won't really be "missing" each other too much, eh?

Enough said?

Talk to you all tomorrow......

Martha don't live here!

So my busy weekend is over and done with...I made Spanakopita, which is easy though time consuming...it was gone in a heartbeat in an impromptu Happy and Appy Hour in our neighbour's yard Sunday evening. Michael came home with fresh caught Coho salmon and we feasted with friends on fish and a scrumptious salad with greens from their own garden.
This is Ramona, the belly dancer...she is pretty freakin' amazing...the amount of strength she has in her body!!! Holy crap. I could pilates every day for the rest of my life and never come near that...is it too weird to admit a desire to take belly dancing lessons?!? I would never dress like this... don't worry, too much...I just like the dancing part.
I recovered this chair with lots of help this weekend...I wish I had taken a before picture because it was so horrible. I kinda thought it wouldn't turn out so I didn't take a picture. But, holy cow, this is the nicest piece of furniture I have now!!!! Thanks to my pal, DB.
And then last night I watched Rent...finally. I have a mad crush on Jesse Martin so I am suprised that I waited so long...though, I have yet to see the second Pirates movie, either. But, the point is, aren't musicals supposed to make you feel good? Christ, I was bawling all over again. First Dick Clark and now a musical? C'mon, what gives? I don't even particularly like musicals, but the characters were pretty damn good. Honestly, if they would just have quit singing, it would have been a damn fine movie... and that's about it for me tonight....

what a f'ing goonie

Is anyone else watching the emmys? I just saw Dick Clark and started bawling...I love him...remember all the jokes about how old he is, about how he just keeps going and going...and then seeing him tonight...is it his first public appearance since his stroke? What a strong and funny and absolutely endearing man. I know he may not mean as much to the kids after my generation, and I know he probably means MORE to adults a bit older than my generation....but there has NEVER been a time in my life that he wasn't on television....and up until last year, I never rang in a New Year in my life without him. God bless Dick Clark...many years of joy.

Nanaimo's new tourist destination....

This is our new traffic circle...woo hoo, folks. We don't get new sewers, we don't get curbs or gutters or street trees or street lights, litter patrol or police patrol, for that matter...we get a circle. Don't get me wrong, folks fly through this neighbourhood so traffic calming is definitely a good thing...I did almost get t-boned in here the other day though(guess it will take some folks a little time to figure out just how it works). But the city just left it there with a big pile of dirt...if this was in on the north end of town, they would have $10,000 worth of flowers and a palm tree smack down in the middle of it.
And since the city is trying to find ways to suck the money out of tourists arriving in things like these.....

giant cruise ships lumbering into port, I thought I might be able to help the city with at least one or two tourist-trappish things...since the tourists will be arriving BY BOAT to downtown and the SOUTH END OF TOWN(CAN YOU HEAR ME CITY HALL?)and probably WON'T be walking to the north end, which really isn't within walking distance...can you see where I am going with this?!? Invest some frickin' money in the south end. Here's an idea for your traffic circle....
Isn't that nice?!? You could charge a dollar a ride in the daytime, and in the night, you could let the south end hooker brigade ride for free and all the johns could just come here instead of cruising my street all night, and when the New Nanaimo Centre is finished(ha ha, good joke!), you could bus all the vast amounts of conventioners sure to arrive to Nanaimo(ha ha, good joke) up here, too, cuz you all know what happens at conventions, don't you? They're all out for a really good time and what's a better time than a MerryGoRound? A MerryGoRound filled with hookers, that's what. Two, two, two tourist traps in one.

Whew...glad I got that out of my system...I can play nicer now.

Michael's footprint with a heart

Isn't that the sweetest thing? I love it. I love it. I love it. My guy is off fishing overnight...salmon are running. Cross you fingers, everyone. Good luck, Michael. Miss you. Tonight is girls' night out...Katz Martini Lounge and belly dancing, if you can believe that one. So, no photos will be allowed tonight by myself or any one of my girlfriends. At least I hope not. I guess it all depends on the amount of martinis we consume. It's a good thing we are all within walking distance...course, in this neighbourhood, coming home in our finery, who knows who will be stopping to chat us up, eh? Lordamighty...be ready for some stories tomorrow, all! Oh, kidding, really.
Honestly, if anything happened, I would have to keep quiet, anyway, lest the RCMP find out!!! Kidding, again, folks...kidding. Honestly.
G'nite, then.

You can tell it's been a good day

when this is what my feet look like at the end of it. It means good weather in sandals, no socks. It means a long walk down a dusty trail with good friends and good dogs before a rousing game of "sticks in the river" where we all get wet and all our feet get good and dirty. I still have the hot dust smell in my nose and the dog is snoring on the living room floor. I have a cold beer open already and we have pizza for dinner(with feta cheese and pesto). It has been a good, good day and I hope you all had the same. Enjoy your weekend, all.

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your....

.........um, crack? Yippur, folks. I know the photo is awful, but peer around my planter box and there are two folks on the ground making a crack deal with Rapunzel in the window...you are not invisible and I CAN hear you.... sweet jesus....and the door to the store is wide open, I guess so they can come inside for their pipe... aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhh.

Shake down, take down, you're busted...

Something exciting is happening in the alley here...though the cops won't tell us what...nor the newspapers. Guns drawn on this one, folks. But I guess we won't know, maybe it's in our own "best interest. " I can create a better story without their input anyway!
I think perhaps it was one of the last seven outstanding warrants from the major drug bust last week...lord knows, you could probably find them all in this hood. Front page story on the paper today was about the problems with the drop in center up the block, like the open dealing, the open drug use, the accosting people trying to do legitimate business on the street, the break-ins....and EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO TOLD IT WAS TEMPORARY LIED. Now the Salvation Army doesn't want it and it is rumoured to be staying right here in the middle of our residential neighbourhood. People are making shitloads of money somewhere but nobody is really getting helped. Makes me want to drink so it's a good thing that....
Michael's stout is ready for drinking soon...a little about me...I grew up downwind from a large brewery and the smell of Michael making beer makes me feel like I am a kid back home...It is one of the most comforting sensations, the smell of warm hops. A drunkard in the making. I think that if someone did some kind of study about kids who grow up downwind of a brewery, you would find that we are almost all beer drinkers and not wine drinkers.
I know I promised neighbourhood updates, but that requires so much more effort than I am willing to put into it. Honestly, I really have to think about it today...it isn't flowing naturally...and I hate days like that. Don't you?

zucchini bread, anyone?

Lordy, they just keep coming...enough is enough, already! Pretty pretty, enough is never enough....
and homemade marinara soon...

discoveries to delight in

My dog walking expeditions with friends and neighbours is a nearly daily activity. We all discover little treasures out there, ya know? From the blood red spread of moss at Harewood to the freshwater jellies on the river, every day is full of new suprises. I can hardly wait until the next day for another walk. Today, I discovered my dream house...how wonderful would it be to live here, directly across from an oceanfront park beach that will never be developed? I would move in a heartbeat.Duke, my neighbour's dog, made a dream discovery today, too. A dead seal carcass...mmm...he rolled and rolled. And then rode home in my car. Duke, Viggo and Yuko, the three amigos. At the beginning of this summer, the only one that could swim was Duke. Now? They could be a synchronized swim team for Team Canada! Gold Medalists, for sure.
Here is another dog walkie discovery at Neck Point Park. There were purple starfish colonies everywhere. I don't think I had ever been there when the tide was so low. These little treasures were in the shade of every rock big enough to shade them until the tides rise again. Pretty cool, eh?
Here is some cut and paste photos of the backyard, as Heidi was lamenting hers...the trim on my house is THREE different colours! It aggravates me every time I look at it!!!! There is a raised garden in there somewhere! This side yard is supposed to be paved by these landscaping bricks into a little patio area...hmmm. The awning has been there since we took it off the window 16 months ago, the grass is dead since we thought it would be gone by now, we never watered it...there is a collection of empty planters and bins of rock, for some reason.There is a pile of bricks for the dream patio, they have been in this pile for over a year. The vines growing up the deck are our biggest backyard success, kiwi and passionflower. They grow like mad and people think you know what you're doing. Oh, actually, we built that deck(with help) and that really may be the biggest success!
That's it for today, folks. Tomorrow, I will catch up with the neighbourhood happenings....things have been a little quiet around here, of late, so I have to accumulate some stories...and, by the way, I am not complaining about that at all!!!!
Peace out.

ar-ar-ar

Here is the second crop of roses of the season, not nearly as pretty as the first, nor as fragrant...but the fact that we get two blasts of colour every summer is darn cool, don't you think...
Here is Michael dressed as a pirate for, of all things, a Christmas party. He doesn't like when I put his photo up, so you must live with the black stripe of anonymity. So this photo is a little dated, but I am on a pirate theme today...however, my little pirate of the Caribbean, Sebastion the Hermit Crab, is unavailable for photos as he is naked right now. Yippur, a naked hermit crab isn't pretty, so they hide themselves. He is molting, shedding his skin right now, getting bigger, so he has buried himself in a planterbox of dirt until such time as he deems himself decent enough to appear in public again.
Another dated photograph of Pirate Maggie, oddly enough, at Christmas, again. See the bandana?!? What pirate would be caught dead in a reindeer bandana? What brought about all the pirate stuff? Yesterday, I met a friend of friend...he was quite a character, quite charming in a squeamish, bad-toothed sort of way, ya know?!? In the course of a five minute conversation with the guy, he called me a pirate, a pretty pirate, a pirate gal, about seven times. I didn't get it...I couldn't understand why he kept calling me a pirate but I didn't ask, because it was charming in a squeamish, bad-toothed kind of way, ya know? Later, at home, the moment of "AH HA... I am a pretty pirate gal..."
My only question being, was he looking at my chest everytime he called me a pirate, a pretty pirate, a pirate gal? What do you think?
I tried to upload two more Nanaimo pirate pictures, just for a full, over-the-top pirate effect, but Blogger just doesn't want to cooperate with me today. Some days you're the windshield and some days you're the bug.

forgive me, Mickey and Minnie

My hydrangea is blooming now...it is a lacy top, not what I am used to in a hydrangea, but pretty sweet, all the same. We actually have two but one is just not thriving...actually, we had four but I may have mentioned a time or two about how small our city lot is. Two have found homes elsewhere...and a third may have to find a happier home in order to thrive.
Well, I know that I said I was taking the weekend off, but Michael went into work this afternoon and I was playing game after game of Spider on the computer...so why not blog instead? Michael starts a new job after the long weekend and is trying to finish up some projects here before he goes. I hope the new job is "the one," because this last one has had him down for a while...and I miss my happy man a lot.

High drama in the hood...honestly, we see so much of this that I don't even leave my front porch to find out what it's all about anymore. Police, fire or ambulance with sirens and/or lights at least once a week within sight of our house. I just don't get it. What gives?!?
Under this bucket lies a dead mouse...in the end, it was horrible and I feel sick thinking about it. The poor thing thought he(or she) was having a lovely little peanut butter feast...the trap snapped. I heard it go and looked up to see the poor thing was not killed instantly but terribly wounded and it staggered under the fridge. A few moments later, it crawled out to die in the middle of the floor(see it's horrible little trail of death there?). The trap was a hard thing for me to think of using and because it didn't work instantly, I am mortified by the extreme pain and suffering that little creature went through. Please forgive me, mousie, because although I could not bear the thought of you in my house, I did not mean for you to suffer like that. I am so sorry. Viggo checks on his buddies whenever we go to the river...this pasture is right at the head of the trail. He loves to look in on these two and they often come to the edge of the fence to stare back up at him. We went out today and he went swimming and Michael and I picked blackberries... enough for four pies. So, with the five pie's worth already frozen, I am getting close to having enough to share. Greedy, ain't I?

We went out to see our friend's band last night...it was not the kind of venue that is super conducive to dancing. Not all of his regular bandmates were there, either, so it was not as exciting as when he normally plays. Last year he was on a tour opening for Bif Naked... his band is a load of good times!!! Usually. Plus, we were the only ones we knew there! Where was everyone?!? Hello?!?!?!? Even eating out didn't put the evening over the top, as it really wasn't very good at all. Bah humbug. Well, that's about it for the weekend coverage...about as good as weekend television, isn't it? Ha ha. Until later, then.

happy friday

I must make a real effort to get out with the camera this weekend...I am out of new photos...also need to roam the Hood for some blog-worthy news. This is our summer rental dog...his name is Vigan, though I have been calling him Viggo, or Mr. Mortensen most of the summer now. He will be confused when his folks come home. I just couldn't handle one more person asking me if he was a vegetarian when they asked his name. Argh. I don't have that kind of patience...besides, he is as handsome as Viggo Mortensen.
Well, I have some errands to run this morning...maybe I will take the camera out with me...but does anyone need a photo from the grocery store or the liquor store? Though, it is the downtown store and there are always plenty of good characters down there!!!!
Later. Enjoy your weekends, everyone!!!!

laugh or cry

See the passenger all hunkered down in the seat?!? She thinks she is invisible because she is hunkered down in the seat!!!!! High-larious, really, what you will believe when you smoke crack, isn't it?!? "I am so low in this seat that no one will possibly see me smoking crack...cuz I am so totally inconspicuous here hunched as tiny as I can get as to be nearly INVISIBLE. No one on this busy street in the middle of the day will ever know that I am sitting here smoking crack, because I am invisible. It is like magic. Crack makes me magical and smart....."

Cinderella

This is the real reason Cinderella was always scrubbing....not the evil stepmother. Want to know how I know?!? Guess what I am doing today? ick ick ick. Yes, I am preoccupied. Sorry...the dog is useless in this situation. I miss Crook that much more now. Well, better go finish so that I can go to the ball tonight in my fabulous new gown and glass shoes...well, actually, we are going out Saturday night cuz our friend's band is playing, but it requires sensible dancing shoes!!!! Later, then!

good grief

I am preoccupied with the damn rodent...maybe it's just a mouse, but my imagination is making it larger and larger...soon it will be a marmot running through our walls. Laying out my exercise mat on the floor where I had just seen this thing creeped me out, let me tell you, but I did my exercises anyway. Somebody, quick, congratulate me on that, because normally the lamest excuse not to exercise will suffice. I have done three days in a row, even though it hurts...plus dog walkies and a swimming expedition down to a new spot on the river. My tummy remembers being flat and yummy...I am already walking taller...my body remembers, which is nice...now, if only my thighs and butt could remember how good they looked without all the work!
But, honestly all I am remembering that creature....I can't go downstairs...I saw it go downstairs through the hole in the floor where the cable goes...oh, and hey, I was really shrieking/screaming this morning and no police arrived...what gives, neighbours? Was I not screaming loud enough to warrant concern?!? There is a rodent in my house!!!
Ick ick ick
This house was built in 1923, so there are issues about it...like trying to find and block all the places where vermin get in. It is nearly impossible. There are spiders in the basement(and now apparently rodents), and drafts and the windows in the front don't open anymore. But it is a beautiful old house with all the original french doors(multiple) and stained glass windows, wood floors, glass light fixtures...so I guess dealing with the creature should just be taken in stride, right? ICK ICK ICK...
So, Michael will be home soon and I should go down and unlock the basement door so he can put his bike away....I could cry. Wish me luck...
talk to you later.

one thousand days ago....

Our fridge is covered with other folks' poems...once they are up there, I cannot take down these little pieces of those I love. One thousand days ago is a line in a poem from the fridge...one thousand days ago was October 21, 2003, if my rusty math is right. ... I had been in Nanaimo for one summer....we were renters on the "right side of the tracks."
This was our view in the evenings...
This was our view in the mornings... One thousand days ago, we had deer and raccoons in our yard. Now, you all know what we are chasing out of our yard! One thousand days ago, I had a dog, a toyota corolla, a slimmer body, oodles of energy and a super annoying renter in the downstairs suite. We had horrible carpets, we had a landlord who couldn't be bothered, we had a mountain in our back yard. We had a short walk to the beach, where the dog was not allowed, and to Sprinkles Ice Cream Shack, where you can buy an ice cream cone for your dog. One thousand days ago, we were minutes from Neck Point Park and Piper's Lagoon, a short drive from the best grocery store in town and the best Pub(Longwood) and a short walk from the worst coffee shop. One thousand days ago, I had not seen a giant mouse or a small rat just run through the house(you may have heard me shrieking just now! The police will be arriving any moment, if my neighbours truly care!) , though I do recall one of the biggest, hairiest wolfie spiders over my head sometime around one thousand days ago in that house...also while I was on the computer! Well, enough of memory lane...I have a giant mouse or a small rat to take care of ...damnit...I hate them little suckers. It's almost enough to send me to the SPCA for another kitty(indoor only), though I am not really ready for that, either.

hollyhock

Yesterday, in the paper, it said the RCMP had arrested 26 drug dealers in Nanaimo on Sunday, with a warrant for 7 more. Wow. No wonder we noticed so much police presence in our hood the past few days...What do you do with 33 low-level drug dealers? You have to bust them every single day, don't you? If they keep that up, things might change around here. It was kind of funny to listen to the "wrangler"(I don't know what else to call him) roaming the neighbourhood whistling and whistling and no answer, except a couple of our neighbours who just wanted to mess with him. We were wondering what was up Sunday night because we heard him walking every street, every alley, whistling...all night. Little did we know at the time, that he was looking for his lost flock.
Well, that's it for now...it is about that time...dog walkies and blackberry picking...I did pick another bucket yesterday, even though I wore my sandals again! It's too darn warm to put on socks and shoes...besides, I don't want to mess up my tan lines!!!

Sunday morning coming down

I made my ooey-gooey cinnamon rolls this morning...I can still smell it in the house, and on myself. It is my mom's recipe, and extremely decadent, with heavy cream and lots of sugar...mmmm. Tomorrow, I start my exercise regime again...I haven't done any since I lost Maggie. I am feeling soft and I hate it, but I have never achieved that endorphin rush "they" talk about when exercising so I hate every frickin' minute of it. I believe endorphins are a lie...but I will NOT go up one more size. I just won't do it!
Spent a bit of time blackberry picking today. I wanted to fill this bucket but didn't quite get there. I won't wear sandals next time!
Some of our neighbours got together for a bit of a picnic in our neighbourhood park...beginner's luck at bocce! Who knew? Michael and I used to watch the old italians in Vancouver play just off of Commercial Drive...the yelling, the bickering, the whooping....now I get it!
Delivering prayers and wishes skyward....some especially for Gwen and Sean. Love pours forth.

Em, some days

a photo says it all....

catch up

Cara, this one is for you...I saw your comment on the flickr page...this is a digital photo of my film image so not so very clear. I am not sure about uploading it to flickr(because of the quality of it) except I would like to find out for sure what it is!
Again, my wonderful orange blooms on the back deck....I love them.
And my dahlias...this is our last year with dahlias...our city lot is so tiny and they take so much garden space. We relocated two of these to our dear friend's house around the corner...she has a nice large yard with barely anything in it. So, come fall, this one will join the others over there, leaving us a little extra room in our garden for next year...and we can still go visit!
Alright, that's enough for one day...I still haven't gone on that dog walk cuz I walked out of the house this morning without my keys...locked out of my car and my house! So....without further ado, it's dog walkies time.
bye