Dodging Doggy Dung

Lately the trail in the park has been peppered with dog turds.  Large ones.  One night last week we cut through the park on the way home from our walk to the waterfront.  Guess who ended up with dog poop in every crack and crevice of one shoe?

Me, that's who. 

This morning I walked a bit later than usual and met a guy walking a big German Shepherd.  We used to run into each other daily when Seymour was still alive and he had a different dog.

Today, as we were saying good morning, his dog took a major dump right beside us, and he just carried on like nothing was happening.   If I had had a bag in my pocket I would have offered it to him, but since I didn't -  I did nothing too.  Except fume silently.

Judging from the size of the poop I observed, and the other poops along the trail, I am pretty sure this is the culprit of all of them. 

Next encounter I will be sure to have a bag in my pocket and will offer it and will tell him I use the trail daily and don't want to have to dodge landmines.

In the nicest way possible, of course.

 

A Poem for Mom

I have a daily phone conversation with my parents.  Lately their health has  featured in the conversations often.  At 89 Dad decided to have his few remaining teeth extracted and plates put in.  That was almost 2 weeks ago now and he seems to be improving. 

 

Mom has been waiting for surgery for carpal tunnel for ages and ages.  She is usually unable to sleep in bed because of the pain, so her nights and days are spent in her recliner in the living room.  If you ask, she says she's fine.  She is not fine, she is in agony and uncomfortable all the time.  I know she had a bad night last night because she was asleep when I phoned this morning.  Sitting here, thinking about them, I wrote this little piece about mom.

 

I send my dad emails often and he gets a lot of pleasure from receiving them (I think he does, anyway!).  Since mom doesn't use the computer, I sent this to Dad and asked him to print it out and give it to Mom.  Just to brighten her day.

 

My Mother is Many Things to Me

 

 

My mother is strong                                My mother is resilient

My mother is intelligent                         My mother is soft

My mother smells nice                          My mother is funny

My mother is beautiful                         My mother is thoughtful

My mother is gentle                              My mother is loving

My mother is a great cook                   My mother is a reader

My mother is aged                                 My mother is kind

My mother is determined                    My mother is stubborn

My mother is wonderful                       My mother is sensitive

My mother is English                            My mother is special

My mother is gifted                              My mother is essential

My mother is happiness                     My mother is freckled

I love my mother so much and hope she feels better SOON!

 

Sanctuary

Cold. Sunny.  The park was like a bird sanctuary this morning with peeps, caws and squawks from every tree as the birds celebrated the sunshine.

Around a bend in the trail I met Mario, a mechanic who I often see jogging through the park in the morning when I walk.  He was having a conversation with a fat robin.  Really.

At first he seemed a bit sheepish when I encountered him, catching him talking to the bird.  When I told him how the treed area reminded me of a bird sanctuary and how thrilling it was for me to hear all that birdsong, he relaxed.

When I told him I look for the heron every morning we bonded.  He does too! 

 

Suddenly

Suddenly, it's time for a new dog.

After 15 months of dog sitting for others, meanwhile scrolling through pages of pets for adoption on the internet with no real intention to take action, we are both motivated now, for some reason.  Spring around the corner? 

I have contacted agencies about dogs three or four times in the past few days, and for one reason or another those leads haven't panned out.

We are going to meet a dog tonight, we will see if he is the one.  I am hopeful.  Enough said.  Will fill you in with the details later.

Fingers crossed.

Cabin - et Fever

It has been cabinet finishing time lately. 

You might not remember the built in cabinets in what was the dining room of the country estate house.  They were butt ugly.  Seriously.  Unfortunately the flooring was installed right up to them but not under them, making removing them somewhat of an inconvenience. 

Okay, no one could argue that these are attractive.  Definitely '70's looking.

This room is going to be our home office, so the two corner units will be able to house books and files.  The big built in leads right into our dining area, so once it is finished, I will sell or repurpose the dining cabinet we have been using and move all the contents into this one.

This project has started and stalled many times.  Before Christmas I got rid of the sliding glass doors and the tracks, and sanded off all the residual glue from the tracks.  Then nothing happened for some time.

A few weeks ago I removed all the hardware, doors and drawers and sanded everything down.  We took the drawers into work with us and used some evening time to paint them there.

Here are the drawers on the workbench being painted.

This weekend we finished the filling and sanding, and I painted the cabinets while Chuckles made a new shelf for each.  In some of these pics you can see the new shelves sitting out front with white primer on them, they are still needing to be painted with the colour which is Monashee Mountains by Sico. 

Above, the big cabinet with the cutting of the new colour.  Below, with the first coat of new colour on.

Above, one of the corner cabinets with the cutting in done, below, with the first coat of colour on.

Below, all the cabinet doors needed one final coat, here they are laid out on floor.

I admit that part of my hesitation in moving the project forward was our colour choice.  I have had the swatch for ages and kept on holding it up to the cabinets and trying to picture them that colour.  Problem is, I am not good at "picturing".  We chose this colour because we wanted them to be darker, and this colour really picks up colour in the backsplash kitchen tiles as well as the living room carpets, so it seemed like a good colour in this transitional space.  But, it's so hard to know for sure until you do the painting, and then, if you don't like it...?

Luckily we both like it a lot!  I think it's going to look fantabulous when it's done.  And the hardware I chose is really pretty too. It's brushed copper, really cool.

 

The new hardware in package, I should have photo's someplace beside the counter top, which has a busy pattern.  Oh well, you get the idea!

 I like it much better than the hardware that's in the kitchen..oh no, does that mean another project?

Another Friday

Egad!

I haven't even logged in with last weekend's progress report on the shed and here we are, another Friday!

So, last weekend was gorgeous and sunny and we (when I say "we" I really mean Chuckles) slaved away on the shed and got the whole roof on, as well as the drip rail around the bottom of the siding.  After the sun rose in the sky it was T-shirt weather!  I was the go-fer, swept up the inside of the shed and picked up all the debris left outside from the prebious weekend's construction
on Saturday morning first thing.   Then I held the ends of the drip rail while Chuck fastened them on, steadied the ladder for him and kept the meals coming.    Actually we went to the Mexican restaurant on Saturday night - love the Chile Rellenos so much!!

On Sunday I moved the truck around for him as he stood on a platform he built in the truck box.  Faster and easier than building a scaffold!

 

 

 

 

Leo was VERY happy at the country estate.  He could not stop carrying sticks around and he was so busy he forgot to eat until we got back to the city, then he gulped down some dinner.  We went for a walk each morning and then he amused himself outside until dark.  Occasionally Chuckles or I would toss a ball or a stick for him but mostly he just followed his nose.

 



 

 

 



 

In between helping on the shed I started on a little project I have been wanting to do for some time. Filling some wrought iron containers I have had for ages with moss.  Inside the moss I put soil,  and I am going to plant some succulents around the outside and probably primulas in the middle.  I have three of them in total.  Here is where they are at so far.  They will be cute on the deck I think.

 

 

 I also have spread this tarp on part of what will be the veggie garden.  The tarp should kill the grass to make it easier to remove it and then I can till the soil and add some compost.  In the photo, middle left you can see a stack of 4x4 posts which we are going to use to build some raised beds.  I have the fence posts from the horse turnouts we dismantled, so we just need to get some wire to fence this area to keep the bunnies and deer out.  In the background is our camping collection - the Alaskan camper used on hunting trips and our travel trailer wrapped in a tarp beside it.  That riding ring is coming in handy as a parking lot!

 

 

Leo has gone home now.  On Wednesday his "parents" came to pick him up and both of us have missed him.  It's weird how in two short weeks we got so used to him being around!  We both keep thinking things like "after work we'll walk Leo on the Spirit Trail" or looking for him in the shop.  He was great fun!

 



 

 It's a spectacular day today, so I hope this will last for the weekend and we can make some more progress on each of these projects, but mostly the shed! 

 

The Park, My Little Piece of Urban Paradise

This morning, like almost every weekday morning, I went for a walk in the park.

With the crunchy frost on the grass and the bright blue sky above with a few stars still visible, this morning's early morning walk was especially nice.

Most mornings there is a heron which stands at the edge of the creek, right where the water tumbles over some rocks as it rushes to the ocean, just a short distance away.  I assume he is feeding there.  While he always looks a bit wary when he sees me, he stays put and I pass by without disturbing him.

This morning, a bottle collector was on the trail and our paths crossed right beside the heron's spot.  This guy was decked out in a safety vest over his jacket, bike helmet, and had a bike with two huge black garbage bags stuffed to the brim with bottles and cans.  We said good morning, and he asked me the time.  Then he walked down to the water and washed his hands in the icy creek.

At this unexpected interruption, Mr. Heron (I apologize if you are a female but you look masculine) was startled into flight, in a lift off that seemed impossible as he stretched out his gangly body, with legs as long as mine poking out behind him at an awkward angle.  In slow motion, his powerful wings flapped and lifted him slowly, slowly above and over me and along the perimeter of the park.  I wonder if that was the end of breakfast for him?

Leo and I played with a stick as we walked along past the tennis courts and through the wooded section of the trail until we reached the road, where we turn around an go back along the lower path.  At the turn around point, while I waited for Leo to explore with his nose, I looked up at the sky.  Through the silhouette of the bare tree branches against the sky I saw five bird nests.  It's remarkable that birds are at home here, between the busy roads, the train tracks a few meters away and a gathering place for the homeless right along the opposite shore of the creek.  Such adaptability to a situation is really admirable.  I watch the ducks happily floating on the little bit of water that been left to them and wonder if they grumble about the changes to their home.  The Spirit Trail appropriated a huge swath of what was their habitat last year, and people regularly dump all manner of garbage and garden refuse on the edge of their pond.  But there they are, making the best of it.

There is a lesson here.

``Things turn out best for those that make the best of the way things turn out```(John Wooden) 

Last evening Chuckles got the wood all painted in preparation for working on the storage shed this weekend.

 

We are keeping our fingers crossed that the metal roofing material we ordered for it comes in tomorrow as it was not at the building supply place today.  Since the weekend is going to be a nice weather one, we really want to get as much done on the shed as possible!