White Christmas

Historically, there is a one in three chance that Nanaimo will have a white Christmas.  This is according to Bruce who is quoting a weather source somewhere.  He's much more weather dependant (and weather interested) than I, so I'll just call him an "expert source."  I can count on him, any time of day, to know what's going to happen with the weather today, in two hours, tomorrow or for the next 10 days.  Yup, he's that kind of interested.  I realize that weather is almost a uniquely Canadian chat topic since I chat with a lot of people from all over the world.  We love the stuff; be it rain, snow or sunshine.  Any chit chat starts with talk about it, as well as the quality and quantity.

That being said, December has seen the rain come down steadily, sometimes sideways.  We've had a few days of rare "Alberta sunshine" so bright that you forget Albertans travel with sunglasses even in winter.  The really unusual weather for us here has been the snow .. so I took pictures.  After all, its only fair that if I laugh at you poor folks cocooned in your homes at -30° (like Grande Prairie is today) .. you get to see what its like when the shoe is on the other foot.  Not that its -30° or even the -20° of Calgary.  It's a darned chilly 1°.  Yea, I know .. poor princess.  ::snicker::

Here's my photo lineup for the day.

I love wreaths.  My pal Bev and I enchanced one with a garland of sparkly
bits and a cheery red bow.

I'm surprised the birds don't like these berries.

Looking out my front room window onto Georgia Strait

Someday, you might see this on a Christmas card.  I love how it turned out.

These two are the same photograph, with different post-production treatments. The first reads as very cold and wintry, albeit pretty; while the second, more saturated photo almost looks like a magical fairyland..  That poor greenery on the left is my normally upright bamboo.

A 1960s color treatment created a surreal feel to this photo.

I hope today finds you in a cheery Christmas sweater, with enough rum n eggnog to not care about the pictures they'll circulate of you .. I hope you're surrounded by friends or family (maybe both) and have enough board games or puzzles or genial atmosphere to keep you entertained all day.   And I hope your Christmas dinner has at least one spectacular dish.  

Also .. get in a Christmas nap if you can; they're good for your soul.  That's where I'm going now.  ::big hug::

Seasonal decorations

My chiroptractor's office decorations .. well done, don't you think?

Heavy day in traffic

This time of year brings out Christmas mayhem in traffic.  All of a sudden, mall parking lots are full on Tuesday afternoons and just negotiating the parking lot at the grocery store can be tricky.  (Which says nothing about negotiating around blue-haired ladies who forget their carts in the middle of the grocery aisles .. which may or may not be one of my hot buttons .. and which may or may not be the subject of my own brand of in-depth journalism one day.  lol. snerk)  

Anyway, a raft of seagulls and a lonely crow decided to squabble over a loaf of bread someone had dropepd, and it was creating backed up traffic at the store as people tried to drive through the milling birds without actually either hurting them or the bread.  Hey, everyone's got a right to eat, no?

I know its not Calgary traffic, but it tied me up for five minutes and in Nanaimo, that's gridlock!

You've got to be shitting me.

Years!  Not one or two.  Not even three of four.  I've tried to grow freesia well over half a dozen times, probably edging closer to the ten mark.

The result .. a big fat nothing.  I fail at freesia, apparently.  I'm not sure what it is because they're supposed to be zone friendly for Calgary or Nanaimo.

This summer I even took a picture of the empty flower bed with its little popsicle stick markers looking so much like Boot Hill tombstones.  We've actually taken to referring to that area in the flowerbeds as Boot Hill.

So it was surprising to walk by the beds the other day and see this ....

Perhaps all I needed to give it, instead of love and encouragement, water and fertilizer, was the cold shoulder.  It hasn't flowered yet, so I may still be zero for ten.  If it does flower, I'll definitely be taking pictures of the triumph.

I'm not holding my breath.  I'm giving it the cold sholder now.

It's been a while ...

Before I pelted through our yellow front door yesterday to jump into my car, I'd scrounged through a batch of boxes marked "office" that are in the storage room and had managed to dig up my set of pencils.  The grade school lime green case makes me smile when I see it because I know the friends that are waiting inside.  I briefly searched for my coloured pencils, but gave that up because I was a bit late, having forgotten the date I'd set.  Thank you, my husband who often reminds me of things I can remember quite well on my own, thank you very much anyway.  In this case, however, it was a good thing he did.  I was having one of those "I know I'm supposed to be somewhere" days, but thought it was for my workout that was getting pushed back farther into the day as I sat at my computer and got lost in time, as I often do.

Cécile and I sat down at her big teak dining room table where we'd planned to spend the afternoon drawing a still life. She set up a beautiful stargazer lily and then wandered off into her artroom, coming back with treasure after treasure in the form of art media.  I settled down with a cup of herbal tea and my pencils, but before the first half hour was out, my fingers were covered with pink chalk.

Four hours later, the result was this piece of work.  As it goes, its got a batch of faults, but I'm happy to have my hand back and having produced a semi-respectable piece.  As a starter piece to remembering my art, its acceptable and I'm happy.

Coca-cola is a gateway drug ...

... to puppies!!

This little darling, named Cola, belongs to Melvin and Sandy.  We kidded them about finally succumbing to the pressure to become parents.

Oh my gosh .. can you say "squeeable?"

Not really a huge fan of winter.  Just wait til they take her skiing.

Congrats you two .. she's adorable!

For you Albertans

This is growing on my front step .. and no, its not an evergreen.

Hope you're enjoying the snow.  Ha ha ha ha ha ...

Pink leaves

I had all the ingredients laid out for apple pie ... I really meant to make that darned pie, but somehow a rush of creativity  overtook me and I painted the still life instead.  The result of that can still be seen on my dining room wall.

The scene below of my Japanese maple is somewhat like that.  I prefer to play with the picture in my graphics program rather than rake leaves.  I may even paint it.

By the way .. where are all the neighbour's kids when you need stuff like this done?

Patterns of the month

This last little bit has seen a variety of new rugs and furniture show up to replace the aging furniture that our mind still insists is new, although we got it over fifteen years ago.  The effects of multiple sets of cats was clearly showing.

I priced out recovering the furniture and it turns out that to simply recover a comfortable chair costs less than ordering a new one from Japan .. with the fabric of my choice.  How is this possible?  My mind simply boggles.

Anyway, the cats are happy, Bruce is happy, I am happy .. and very importantly, I can invite people over and not be embarrassed by the state of the furniture, which .. while comfortable, you'd have to have a very generous spirit to upgrade from 'shabby' to 'much-loved.'

The rug under my coffee table.  The cats are in favour.

My chair.   Mine.  Not Bruce's ... mine.  Finally, I have a recliner
of my own.  Thank you Lazyboy.

The rug at the front door.  Again, the cats are in favour of this
one .. Murray in particular.

Bruce's recliner .. no more flowers for him.  It sits beside my
chair.  Did I mention how much I love having my own chair?

Two wing chairs are covered in this fabric.  I would not have
originally chosen this, but  once it was pointed out to me ...
it has a ton a ton of texture and patterns I like
and will stand the test of time.

The best intentions ...

... make the best meals.

When I painted my door yellow, I moved the plants out of the deep, perpetual gloom beside my door where one in particular struggled for years.  A glossy dark green with whitish spots, when we originally purchased it, it was the big brother to the yellower version that is threatening to burst of out the back garden bed it calls home.

Due to the lack of light, it was never a huge grower even though well fertilized and loved.  So when I painted, I moved the two pots closer to a light source .. and they went bananas.  The small pot that contains the white fuschias had one single struggling planting .. and is now a going concern.  I'm surprised its still alive, given that we've had 0° temperatures a couple of times now.  Nevertheless, it thrives and even now has a couple of flower buds.

The broadleaf whatever its called has not been so fortunate.  It stretched, it grew, it reached for the sun .. and then caught the attention of the local deer.

New Neighbor

Meet Squirt!

Chloe is her real name, but she answers to Squirt.  Excitable as all get out, you have to be careful about picking her up because she will ... well, squirt.  

I love this puppy.  She's a digger and has found multiple ways to get out of her fenced yard already.  I'll drive up and she'll come running over to my driveway and as soon as the car door is open, she'll hop in and wiggle around the floorboards under my feet.  My heart melts when she does that.

I'll fuss over her for a few minutes, toss sticks for her for a few more and eventually pick her up and lock her back in her yard before I head into the house.  As I close the garage door, I hear the muffled, plaintive whines because she still wants to play.  My heart melts a bit more when she does that.

Whenever I am in the area along with her owners, she's really in a quandary trying to decide who is more exciting and she runs in circles from one to the other.  When I snapped this picture, her tail was wagging so hard you'd have thought she'd shortly achieve liftoff.   So I think its safe to say we're both besotted with each other.

Today's Smile

Elina about to truly discover the wonder that is Halloween.  Elsa's got it down pat already, you can tell.

Thanksgiving

We just had a highly delightful visit with my Aunt Brenda and Uncle Reg who were visiting the island in order to celebrate a milestone birthday with a friend.  They, travelling with Brenda's lifelong BFF, Betty and her husband Warren, decided to do a bit of sightseeing up the island and dropped by here on Thanksgiving Day.   It was my chance to have a feast, the likes of which I haven't had an opportunity to create in just about a year.   It was also a chance to make sure our house sparkled.  I cooked, Bruce cleaned.

And .. with the exception of an overly runny lemon meringue pie, it was a resounding success, I'm pleased to say.

Reg and Brenda are still the same lovely people that I've known all my life.  I loved their interaction with Betty and Warren and the banter around the table and Warren told a story about a little log house in the Okanagan that still has me chuckling.  You can tell that Betty and Brenda have been friends forever.

All in all, a lovely day.  Thank you for the visit!

Mists of Pandaria

If I've been quiet this week, blame it on Blizzard Entertainment.  I've been immersed in the  World of Warcraft, Mists of Pandaria.

I've been blown away by the story, by the textures and graphics, by the entire expansion so far.  

The forecourt of the
Temple of the Jade Serpent

Questing near the Temple of the Jade Serpent with its namesake

The brooding qualities of the ominous Shado-Pan Monastery gave me chills the first time I saw it

So yea .. if you're looking for me for the next while .. I'll be in Pandaria.

This Ain't No Place

Stuck in my brain today ...

I've been watching a show on Showcase called Strike Back .. and this is the song over the slick opening credits.   Its "Short Change Hero" by a band called The Heavy.  In case you're interested, here's a link to a synopsis of the show "Strike Back."

I can't see where you comin' from
But I know just what you runnin' from:
And what matters ain't the "who's baddest" but
The ones who stop you fallin' from your ladder, baby

And you feel like you feelin' now
Doin' things just to please your crowd,
But I love you like the way I love you,
And I suffer, but I ain't gonna cut you cus

This ain't no place for no hero.
This ain't no place for no better man.
This ain't no place for no hero
To call "home."

This ain't no place for no hero.
This ain't no place for no better man.
This ain't no place for no hero
To call "home."

Every time I close my eyes, I think,
I think about you inside,
And your mother, givin' up on askin' why -
Why you lie, and you cheat, and you try to make
A fool outta she...

I can't see where you comin' from,
But I know just what you're runnin' from.
And what matters ain't the "who's baddest," but the
Ones who stop you fallin' from your ladder, cos

This ain't no place for no hero.
This ain't no place for no better man.
This ain't no place for no hero
To call "home."

A final salute

I love my husband for ... well, for many reasons.  Today, it was this note.

Rest in peace, General Electric;
good & faithful soldier of the top drawer.

Bruce is the person who breaks things in this house ... I cannot count the number of chipped dishes I've found .. but I don't think this knife really owes us anything.  Since we arrived in Nanaimo, its been employed many times every week for Bruce to slice fresh Italian bread .. there's just something so deliciously wonderful about bread you slice yourself.  And I think we received the knife as a wedding gift .. so yea ... it deserves a final salute.

Mornings

I've never been the best at mornings.  It seems to me that a body should lie abed until a decent hour of day ... at least until after the clock reads 8:00 or 9:00 .. possibly 10:00 if you're feeling especially sluggish.  Although I've been known to do the last, I really prefer to be up and about before 9:00 .. gives me time to quietly sip my morning tea and read email and online forums before hitting the shower and getting my day solidly going.

Once I lather and rinse, my next half hour comes in tubes, bottles, sprays, oils, sticks and perfumes.  These are the shapes of my morning.

A quiet moment

Murray loves to be combed and usually rolls over to show off his tummy when Bruce wanders into his line of vision, comb in hand.  On this particular day, Murray was drowsing in Bruce's favourite chair and couldn't be bothered to wake up enough to roll over.  That didn't, however, stop him from enjoying simple pleasures.

The essence of peace

I was messing about in the kitchen .. and believe me, that's the right term .. when I turned around and caught our normally rambunctious Mr. Tippy simply enjoying a beam of sunshine.  This is a bit out of character for him ... I have a hard time catching him with my lens because he moves too fast.  My camera happened to be in range, so I took a couple of shots.

And then he pounced at the window screen and attempted to gnaw at a fly caught between the screen and outside window.

I really should have known.

Fractured Lily

I love the way the windows in my front door create multiple images of the outdoors.  Here's a picture of the lilies in the vase on the front step.

Labour of Love?

Deep in my bones I know that Labour Day is all about taking time off from your labours to enjoy friends and family.  So why did I go crazy and buy paint and brushes?  No idea, but I like the results!

Before

After

I thought this would be simple.  Pop the door off, paint it a couple of times, let it dry all day .. put it back on and you know .. Bob's your uncle.  It was a long day to do two doors and their trim, starting with washing and rinsing and getting garage and drop cloths ready.  Ending with fiddling around with  reluctant handles and hinges that during the day became like two depolarized magnets.

The back door took only two coats, but this front one took five.

Two more doors to go, only one with trim, so it should go faster.  Famous last words right there, folks.

I Want to Show You Something

There are certain words that cause trepidation among spouses, a trigger for what you fear in your bones will just not have a happy outcome.  In our house, its "Hey, can you come here?  I want to show you something."

Pretty innocent sounding, right?  But its often followed up by a finger pointing at the garbage you forgot to take out, even though you were in the middle of it and something else just took your attention away ... paint that got spilled ... a toothpaste tube squeezed in the wrong spot ... something that was left out and the cats played with.  All causes for a finger-wagging at the very least.

In the latest case of "I want to show you something," Bruce brought me out to the balcony and handed me a pair of binoculars.  This is unusual.  Normally, whatever the big show, it's within touching distance.  Bruce asked me if that tree had always looked that way .. and pointed at the dogwood.  Now, if you've been following my blog, you know I've taken a gazillion pictures of that tree this year.  Spectacular is a word I think I've used more than once.  So yea .. I was familiar with it.

However, what he was most concerned about was something I'd not seen before that point in time .. and it caused a great deal of consternation for the pair of us for the next hour as we determined what it was and how we'd deal with it.  Not just "it" as it turns out .. we have a pair on the property.

The one in the dogwood is about the size of a volleyball and sits high in the tree over the birdbath.  The second is the size of Bruce's fist and is waaaaay up in the eaves.

So today, the exterminators came with their ladders and spray gunk and took care of things for us.

Neumans:  2 .. Hornets:  0 .. Exterminators:  $100.

Best $100 I've spent in a long time.  

Pretty little street

Although quite tiny, Coombs packs a huge punch as far as interesting pictures go.  Here is the last bit for you .. the actual shops and scenes along the street.

Like cheerful kites and flags, the clothing in Coombs draws your eye and pulls you in.  Bev and I spent a few wistful and wishful moments basking on imaginary tropical beaches and patios wearing some of these summer dresses.  I'm not sure about her vision, but mine also had a tiki drink with a little umbrella.  I think its important to keep perspective on important vacation details while daydreaming.

This last one shows that even in the heart of British Columbia bohemia, you can still find Alberta pajamas.  Ha ha ha .. I actually thought of my brother George.  Wish he knew how to operate a computer because I could find grand new ways to tease him.