day lily yellow

Just wanted to throw this up there....I seem so impressed with my flowers, as if no one else in the world ever grew them before....egads. What a show off, eh? But for growing up in apartments and never even really keeping a houseplant alive, I AM impressed with myself. Can you tell? Ta for now.

bomber

Fire season is officially ON now...yesterday, this water bomber(or maybe it was two different ones) refilled out on the water behind that stretch of land out there in this top photo. They came in at least three times for more water. These photos are off our back deck. The first trip over was deafening. The house was shaking. Car alarms were going off. I didn't know what it was and ran out onto the deck just in time to watch it pass directly over the house...but I didn't have the camera ready for that pass! I was too alarmed at the noise to think clearly! I should know by now...always, always have the camera at hand!

We could watch their descent but missed seeing them actually pick up the water, as they would disappear behind that mass of land and reappear on the other side...it was so surreal to watch those giant, heavy planes head down to water. Your mind keeps telling you it shouldn't be happening, that it looks completely wrong...I hope those pilots make good money for that... it is scary watching it from the outside. I wonder what it looks like from the cockpit. Then it is a long, slow climb to the travelling altitude, which is not very high at all. The planes looked like they were going in slow motion. Again, surreal. This giant, ponderous monster crawling through the low sky so slowly. What holds them up?!? Most impressive. Good job, pilots!
My snapdragons are opening....precious, aren't they? As soon as one colour fades from my garden, something else blooms....I didn't even plan it that way!!!! How the heck did I do that?!? The day lilies are up, too. More photos tomorrow. Not too much "haps" in the hood. I think the excessive heat is keeping folks off the street. It is just too damn hot to be out making trouble right now. The temperature should be dropping back to the normal ranges tomorrow and then the gates of Crazy Town will be flung wide. Things have been too quiet round here again. Something's gotta give!

robot vs trucker

Robot vs Trucker by Russ Morland We have been waiting since sometime around Christmas to get a painting from Russ, but it was definitely worth it. We love our new canvas! Michael has one of these toy robots from when he was a kid, so it's almost as if it was painted for him! http://www.russart.blogspot.com/
Last night we went to a Beer and Burger Fundraiser for the Campaign to End Breast Cancer! Our friend is going to walk 60K! Yikes. If you feel like sending her your support, financial or otherwise, you can find her by linking to Gotta Love This Island here on my page...Michael won me a one hour gift certificate to Black&Blue tattoo during the silent auction...I think I will have one of Russ's "lurkers" done...or maybe the robot?
Later, then.

Stacy's Paper Crafts: Gin X and Square Cards = FUN :)

Stacy's Paper Crafts: Gin X and Square Cards = FUN :)

Pip's social commentary

This morning, my neighbour's 13-year-old jack russel, Pip, evil genius that she is, escaped the yard. Most of us in this neighbourhood are "dog people," so needless to say there were several of us out walking, biking, driving around looking for her, checking every garbage can and dumpster(she is a notorious garbage hound). While I was out I saw two hookers propositioning potential johns(negotiating prices). I saw two drug deals. I saw a guy come out of the cold beer and wine store, suck back a cold&frosty one, get on a motorcycle and drive away(it was 10:30 am). I saw crackheads sleeping and firing up in the park that we neighbours had to get PERMISSION from the city to use for our community picnic....a park that is supposedly on the city's "Red Zone Policy" to keep the drug pushers/users and prostitutes from taking over city spaces, by the way. I saw the little drug dealers on bikes, whistling their codes to each other. I SAW police cars, plural, in our neighbourhood. Why didn't they see anything? They were too busy "arresting" a geriatric jack russel for pooping on the street. That's right, folks. Several police passed all those same things I did but one of Nanaimo's finest chose to stop to detain a dog and drive it out to the city pound. In fact, they probably passed us out on the street calling her name over and over again...what gives?!? Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful and relieved for her safe return($40 dollars later). I really, truly do appreciate that. I mean it. But, c'mon. If I saw all that in the passing of one half hour to 45 minutes, what did all the other folks looking for that dog see? How many crimes did it add up to? Those patrol cars just kept rolling on through, except to stop and pluck one gimpy little evil, yet fairly harmless, genius from Milton Street while she was leaving a little social statement for the neighbourhood to read. Crap.

passion

Endorsing Kinky from across the border....Why not Kinky?!? God bless Texas. Have you listened to the Texas Jewboys yet? Have you read a Kinky Friedman book yet?
Why the hell not? Don't mess with Texas....Kinky will get you!

My passionflowers are opening up now. I love them. I need to get out there tomorrow and try cross pollenating some of the blooms before they open to try and get some fruit out of our vine. We had a nice visit last night with our good friends and they stayed through part of today. Not much news to report today, though. I have been trying to find out if our community garage sale is really going to happen or not....seems we are being left out of our own loop. Probably my own fault as I am not a very organized person and have been distracted by many things lately.
Anyway, as I said, not much news today...I was kind of recluse after our friends left, needing some quiet and some alone time. Still not feeling quite myself after my illness and am wondering what the hell could linger so long...later, then. G'nite.

boring blahg

Here's an arbutus(madrona) from one of my dog walking spots...these are my favorite trees and this walk has loads of them...I have heard that if you rub the bark in your palms, it is a natural laxative, though it has never had that effect on me...thank goodness because some of my dog walkies are quite long!!! Hopefully, the dogwood tree I got for Michael's birthday this year will have blooms like this next year. The blooms this year had just a hint of pink. These were in Olympia...they were impressive and I can't wait to see ours do the same.
Calalily at Donna's...I guess I am not done planting in my own garden because I don't have any of these!!! So beautiful next to my bed down there. Thanks, Donna.
Not much news today...waiting for company to arrive so I have been cleaning and mowing and getting ready...haven't watched the hood today. Walked Bowen park earlier with Deb and dogs, though. Vigan didn't know how deep the river ran and plunged right in. His little eyes grew so huge! But he liked it, all the same, coming out refreshed and full of piss and vinegar. That's about all tonight, today, whatever....just wanted a little post before guests arrived. Take care, all.

Tuesday

Vigan on our walk today...watching a bee.

This is the house that burned yesterday. Sorry about the angle but I was actually driving when I took this photo. See the guy in the truck? He was there all night, too. He is making sure no one goes in, so I believe this fire may be investigated as arson. I was just thinking about how many fires there are in this neighbourhood. We have lived here two years, this is the third house to burn basically to the ground...several garage fires, as well. Complete losses, all of them. I have probably seen more fires in the last two years than in the whole of my life put together. Go figure.
Some of the happenings of the hood...remember the guy I told you about who went after someone with a stick?!? Our neighbour across the street? He pulled a knife on his two roommates. Did I mention how much I love my neighbours before? Because if I haven't, I'd like to mention it here. Someone set off our "good" neighbour's motion detector sprinkler on the way through the yard in the wee hours of the morning. My friend opened the window cuz she could hear the guy in her back entry and told him to get the *bleepety bleep bleep bleep* out and he actually said to her, "It's alright, I am just running from someone. I'll get out of here soon." She let the dog out. I might have turned on all the lights and yelled out the window "HE'S OVER HERE!!!!!" Then again, the dog is good, too.
This is one of the puppies my friends had at their place in Washington. I absolutely adore the smell of puppies. It releases endorphins in me in a big mad rush. I must have been a dog in another life...what did I do to come back as a human? A good thing or a bad thing? Hmmmm.
Talk to you later.
G'nite

fire in the hood

The house next door to Dairy Queen burnt down yesterday...it took a long, long time. The entire block was closed off for hours. The smoke and the amount of police/fire attention drove all the crackheads up the block to land in front of us. It was quite a sight, but I just wasn't confident enough to walk out and take a photo of them...I don't know if they were living in that house or just living between the cracks up there. There were so many of them. I couldn't get on the block to take a picture of the house until after dark(cuz the final game of the Stanley Cup was on, beer was flowing...er, more like trickling, and pizza being consumed),but will get down there today for some photos. Once the street opened, the crowd of crackheads stumbled on back up the block. It really was surreal. Honestly.
More later.

thoughts of home

Olympia, WA...the postcard backdrop of my life....looks pretty in black and white. My mom worked here, too, so it really was a bit more than a backdrop, I guess.
Oly is changing so much it is sometimes hard to recognize until you see the capitol. There is not too much I miss other than the company I kept... Big Tom's burgers and cheap micro brews. You can't swim in the lake anymore, or the Deschutes near the brewery...in fact, the brewery is not a brewery anymore. The smell of hops will not permeate anymore childhoods, resulting in fewer kids growing up to enjoy Pale Ales or IPAs. Maybe that is the master plan. I know the smell of Michael brewing our beer makes me feel like I am home, almost more than anything else. If I could take everyone I wanted out of there and have them near me, there would be no reason to go back....so move here, already, you guys!!!! Island life is sweet.

blahg about home

This was my first home...we left when I was four and my folks seperated. It looked nothing like this...except those trees were there (with more lawn)then, a rusty swing set beneath them. The house was brown, dark brown(I distinctly remember eating paint chips off the door once), with no wood shed and the front door was on the side with the trees. It looks like a happier place now.
This is Spit(Mr. Buttertubs). He kept me company throughout my illness...
he liked my oh-so-apparent incapacity to fend off his avid company. Actually, I really enjoyed his presence...kinda of comforting in an overly eager sort of way.

So, I was going to come back and tell you all about my trip home...all the highs and lows, the good and bad, the funny, the sad, the sweet. Only I got sick the second night out and stayed sick through the whole trip so my stories are few and far between. I spent many, many hours in bed and my time awake was spent wishing I was back in bed(for the most part). I saw Donna in Seattle the first night, lots o'beer and stories. The next day was the Freemont Street Market. I saw overpriced Garlic Farmer's Clogs and revelled in the price I paid at Canadian Tire. Tee hee. That night, though, the Sick started and I drove into Olympia the next day feeling like I just needed to be put in some dark corner with lots of blankets, some cool cloths and quiet. I stayed that way for three days. The rest of my time was split between visiting family and friends and visiting the bed again. So lame. I'm sorry everyone for the lameness of the visit. I managed some nice but brief visits with the folks, one dinner with my sis(which I barely picked at cuz the medicines I took to get me outta bed ruined any appetite I might have had), a couple of drinks spread out over several days at our local dives(thanks for coming out to Joe and Maura and Rhiannon and Beth)....it was SO good to drink excellent micro-brews on tap for cheap...mmm, though in my condition I did it no justice. I drove home sick, stayed sick at home two more days with even more visiting thrown into that mix(sorry Em, for my lameness)...and then two nights ago we lost our kitty to traffic on Victoria Road...so there wasn't too much to really draw the stories out of me anyway.
I took few pictures but will put up some of what I did take in the next few entries and will catch you up a bit at a time on Olympia highlights and what's been going on in the Hood back here....some good stuff, man. Later, then. G'nite.

so sorry, Crook

Dear Mister Crook
We are so sorry we couldn't teach you to stay off the street, you were so determined to escape us. We are sorry we couldn't love you as much as your SPCA heart craved, but we tried. You were a total monster at times, but you were our monster. We love you. I will miss playing tag and smouse with you, will miss chattering with you, will miss you purring against me at night. I will miss you and Michael reading the paper together. Michael will miss you more than he will admit, but I know...and you do, too. Be good to Maggie over there. Play nice. We'll see you when we get there. loveloveloveyou, mister.

things I will miss

Though I have travelled a bunch in my life, it usually entailed moving my whole home with me. I don't travel well...though I will be gone less than two weeks, there are things I will miss tremendously, like Michael, my touchstone. To a lesser extent, Crook, my antagonist.
Impromptu expeditions with friends and neighbours. Today a last minute phone call and we were off to the farmer's market where I bought the last two basil plants. It's all about timing...I am bound and determined to make some delicious organic pesto this season...with goat parmesan, if I can find it here on the island.
I will miss dog walkies....after walking to the farmer's market, we loaded my car with dogs and neighbours and headed to Harewood Mines for some much needed doggie-energy-expenditure....
I will miss Faxe...I know I am heading to the land of micro-brews at reasonable prices but still....there is something about a strong Dane that I like very much.
I will miss my house. Lots. I miss the feeling of home when I am away. And though I am heading to the place where I was born, I do not think I have ever felt at home there. I have fun. I like seeing everyone, friends and family(mostly), but I am, and always have been, so relieved to see Olympia in my rearview mirror on the way to somewhere else. I don't know if that is sad...it just IS. So, anyhoo, good folks who are reading, I don't know how much blogging I may get to. Surely not lots...I will miss this, also, I think.
Talk at you later....G'nite. then.

pink or green, pink or green, hhhmmmm

Um, do you think they .......
A) Got tired and gave up?
B) Ran out of greenish-blackish paint?
or
C) Realized that the original fleshy pink colour looks better than what they are covering it with?
Whatever, they need to finish this project. It looks like....well, I won't say it. I won't. You can't make me. They have had plenty of time to rethink the entire situation, already. The rest of us around here are trying to make things look nicer...oh, hey....I get it. The answer is....
D) They are hoping the neighbours all crack, buy them new paint in a great colour and come finish up for them.

getting ready

As for neighbourhood haps, I have been so busy the last couple days that I have hardly noticed a thing. I am getting the house in order so that I can leave with happy feelings for 10 days back home...well, two days in Seattle, two days devoted to travel, and the rest "back home." Stresses me out, the whole travelling thing but I always have a good time once I get there. This is my first trip home since losing my travelling companion, Maggie, so it will be very different. More freedoms, I guess, but less enjoyment. Still so painful. She will be gone six months on the 4th. I can't help but think of the 4th of every month since as some lame anniversary. Well, enough of that, eh? So I leave on Saturday on the earliest ferry and arrive in Seattle by 11 am, I think. Hang for a couple of days with Donna(and John, whom I have yet to meet) and then on to Olympia. Not sure if I will be blogging or not from there but I do have a couple more days here.
Just a little photo I took while in Emily's mom's garden....you like?
Here's Vigan again, posing for me. It's difficult to get a good photo as he is so black all over...but I do like this one in the wildflowers at Harewood Mines.
I have a lot of photos I want to put up but they have little or nothing to do with the blog here...countless flower photos and dog photos and yadda yadda. I have the free Flickr account but I have to be choosey about what I put up there because I am running out of room. After the summer when we have all our family and friends' fun and adventure photos to share, we will probably get a paid Flickr and then there will be no stopping us!!!
So, this entry is kinda boring and not too neighbourhood newsworthy, is it? It is still early so anything could happen yet. I'll certainly keep my eyes open and let you know.
Later.

a smile on a cat

This was Crook today at his most glorious...sleeping on the front porch in the afternoon sun. See his smile? He caught a snake in the garden today but dropped it when he heard the sound of the spray bottle. Guess he's trained to that. My own batch of Rude Barb's Alycksar...or rhubarb nectar. Mmmmmm.
And one more shot of this fantastic pink iris...can you see the angry face in the middle? Kind of creepy, eh? This flower actually, really, truly glitters. I don't know if it comes across in the photo, but maybe if you click on it so that you can look at the bigger size. It GLITTERS!!!!
Today in the hood, we called 911 twice. Big day, eh? One of the guys in the house across the street got into a huge arguement with someone walking down the street. Yelling and swearing loudly....really loudly. Then the guy from the house went inside and came out with a big stick. The other guy took off before anything violent happened. Gosh, we love our new neighbours so much...so much!!!!
Later, there was a fight between a guy and his wife(both looking mighty strung out). I doubt their wedded bliss will last. I think they both went to jail tonight. After a long drawn out screaming match down Victoria Road, they went at each other. Crack can make you cranky, that's for sure. They had quite an audience too, considering it was a nice sunny day out. It's funny how quickly the police actually CAN arrive when called for a domestic. Of course, they probably got ten calls at the same time! Call them for a drug deal going on in front of your house, it takes them an hour or more, if they bother at all.
That's about the extent of it all today.

why not kinky?

I would just like to say.....WHY NOT KINKY????? If I still lived in Texas and was a registered voter there, you can bet your ass I would vote KINKY.
And DO read Roadkill by Kinky. You'll love it. Read anything else he's written. Buy some Texas Jewboy music, while you're at it.

jiggety jig

Home again, home again...look at what was waiting for me....a pink iris. Have you ever seen anything so lovely? We put these in last year but they didn't bloom. We actually had no idea what colour they were....I hope no one picks them from the front garden...Buddha watch over them, please.
And the first of the roses are opening. Though I don't love dealing with rose bushes, they remind me so overwhelmingly of my grandma that we keep them. This one smells delicious, especially when the sun shines down and warms the air....
One of the neighbourhood landlords was collecting these in his backyard of his rental house for a while...I guess he got tired of his tenants parking them in the front yard! But, enough was enough, and he put them all out in the street in front of our place. I think he thought they might slowly migrate back to the store....like salmon going upstream or something. You can see that they did move from one side of the house to the other overnight. I almost helped them migrate to said landlord's front yard but Michael is more level-headed than I. He called Thrifty's and they sent someone to pick them up the same day...takes so much effort, doesn't it?
Oh the haps around here! The news of the hood continued while I was away in Sechelt. One of our neighbours had enough of the crackheads in the alley and followed them through the hood, right on their heels, giving them a little of the grief they have been giving us every day...he continued his work in the store where crack pipe making supplies are sold...he continued some more with some of the residents and property owners that make things "difficult" around here. I wish I had been here to cheer him on. Anyhoo, the police came(called by the lady running the store) but no one went to jail. Wouldn't it have been just friggin' peachy if our good and outraged neighbour went to jail while the dealers, pimps, hookers and lady selling pipes simply walked away from it all? So then, barely a day later, the crackheads he followed from the alley were back and creeping through his yard in the wee hours of the morning, peeking through his neighbour's window... ARGH!!!!
Yesterday, the RCMP were patrolling the hood looking for a man running naked through the streets. I jumped out there with my camera, on the hunt to bring you all PRIME south Nanaimo(Gates of Crazy Town) news and photos. I had my finger on the button throughout my "investigation" but never saw the naked man...sorry. I so wanted to do that for you...have no fear, though. I am sure it is not the last time...just as I am sure it was not the first time!
Well, folks, time is fleeting...miles to go today. Talk at you all later.

blahg about Sechelt

Days spent with a good friend are so filled with treasures...walks on the beach spotting crabs and beach glass..... A meal so excellent we had it two days in a row. Mmm mmm good.
Butterflies.....
Rhubarb nectar....
....and garlic farming. Thanks, Emily, for a great time. I'll be back as soon as I can...g,nite.

3 poppies

Three poppies this morning!!! Yay. Don't you just love them? They are my favorite thing out there...in the garden, that is. So in a matter of hours I am boarding a plane that takes off and lands in water....for 5, count'em,5 days in Sechelt. Some people pay good money for that. Me? I arrive with Mambo's pizza(with artichoke hearts and pine nuts) and beer...at my very good friend's house. Sigh. Thanks, Em, for my vacation destination.