Birds

So I managed to snap a few of our feathered friends earlier today.  Birds have these expressions that always make me laugh - especially robins.  Here's a selection.  The reason they're not crystal sharp is because they were taken through a window screen. 

 
The cats, meanwhile, couldn't care less.  Birds? What birds? We're napping!

 I caught this squirrel digging furiously at the base of the maple.

A starling stalking a worm.  And check out the blooms on my rhodedendron!

News from the Trenches

First, Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there!  :D   I am a Mom, but sadly my own Mom passed away five years ago.  I'm hoping to get a visit from my daughter today ... my son is away in PEI at college, I wonder if he'll think to send me a note on Facebook? 

So it's a beautiful sunny Sunday morning here in B-town.  I have my coffee and cinnamon raisin toast (nom!).  There's a guy across at the park with a metal detector and shovel.  What's he going to do, dig up the City's rhodedendron bed?  The Parks Department will have something to say about that!

I figured out (all by myself!) how to set up my tripod and telephoto lens, so that I don't look like a noob.  My husband says I'm "mechanically challenged".  What I have to do is work out how to do something by myself, when nobody's around to laugh at me.  All the while I'm talking to myself out loud, saying things like "come on you bitch" and "no, you stupid cow, that's not how it goes, it goes this way" and then eventually after some cursing and fumbling, I figure out how to do it properly.  Anyway I did it, and it's set up in front of the rear window, so hopefully I'll get some shots of the birds or squirrels or maybe if I'm lucky, a rabbit.

Cats are crazy this morning, catching spiders and charging up and down the stairs. 

OH!  And we may have finally sold our house!  The home inspection went very well yesterday, and apparently the guy has his financing, plus he's sold his place, so fingers crossed!  I'm not allowing myself to get too excited ... but I didn't sleep well last night because I kept thinking about what this means.


OK that's all for now.  If I get some cute wildlife pics I'll post them here later.

Happy Mother's Day to all. 

Lovely Day for a Run

And suddenly, overnight, it's spring.

I went for a run just now.  I mean, I actually went for a run.  Twenty minutes duration, of which half was running, the other half brisk walking.  I chose the public footpath that parallels the creek at the bottom of my garden rather than the pavement, mainly because I hate being watched.  Even so, when I reached the paved section past the townhouses, quite a few people were out and about.  I always feel like someone's going to yell out "Yo, old fat mama, give it up!" - especially the skinny teenagers whizzing by on their skateboards/bikes/rollerblades.


Of course, five minutes in, my left knee started to hurt.  I should mention that the footpath is extremely uneven, being essentially a natural creek bank, and is criss-crossed with tree roots.  Anyway like hell was I going to give up before I'd even begun!  I sat down on the concrete ledge above the culvert and watched the mallards swimming down the creek, and the wild grey rabbits bounding to and fro.  I saw black and grey squrrels, as well as a variety of birds: redwings, robins, thrushes and cardinals.  I watched the sun shimmer through the delicate draperies of weeping willow.  Then I got up and started to run again.

As I reached the paved section, I remembered some advice from a runner friend (thanks Ashley!): put your heels down first when you run.  I made a concerted effort to do this; and lo and behold, the pain in my knee vanished!  I was amazed, and very pleased, and managed to run to the main road without pain.  I turned around, walked a bit, then ran again, turning off at the townhouses to take the footpath back along the creek, alternating run/walk until I reached my house.

All in all, I was quite happy with how it went.  It's been dry today, so my sneakers didn't get too muddy, and my new grey jogging pants from Winners are really comfortable and didn't make me too hot. 

In case anyone's interested, here are some photos of my running route.  (not taken today, of course - these were taken last year, but it's still the same)

Yours, Randomly

Weird things:

I can suddenly eat apples, and sushi.  Not entirely sure why; possibly something to do with running?

Irritating things:

When people refer to Prince William as "Will".  His name is not, and never has been, Will.  His mother stated when he was born that he was to be known familiarly as "Wills".  Same deal with Prince Henry: he is to be known familiarly as "Harry".  That's the end of it. 

Note to non-Brits:  Diana was/is regarded as a saint by the vast majority of English people.  You don't mess with that. 

Inconsequential things:

It's finally stopped raining.  I'll be cutting the grass tonight!

The King's Breakfast

There's one thing I've never been able to understand about Canadians: why do you make sandwiches with dry bread?  So disgusting.  Makes the sandwich so dry and tasteless, not to mention, the contents fall out due to not having anything to stick to.  When I ask for butter on the bread, I get stared at as though I have two heads.  Even expensive catered sandwiches are served on dry bread. 

Furthermore, I was at a very high-end restaurant and they served a variety of breads, rolls, etc. in a basket while we were waiting to order (as you would expect), but instead of offering a plate with butter, they gave us a little dipping bowl of oil, that not only looked gross, but smelled distinctly raunchy.  I asked for butter, and was met with baffled glances from my fellow diners, and a peremptory shake of the head from the waiter, who said that they do not serve butter as most diners "prefer a healthier option".  I'm sorry, dunking my bread roll into a vat of rancid oil is healthy?

WHAT THE FUCK, CANADA.

The King's Breakfast by A.A. Milne

Thoughts on "the Good Life"

Thoughts on "the Good Life," aka my gym:

• Why do they play nothing but angry nigger music?
• Why is my towel always half the size of everyone else's?
• Why does the fat lady in the white high-waist knickers have to sit on the bench and spend fifteen minutes slathering her entire body in lotion?  I mean, I know it's important to moisturize, but come on - do that at home.
• Why are the 5 lb weights always gone?
• Why is every TV monitor set to the Y&R?

Thanks for listening.

A Punch in the Face

I'm sick of this passive-aggressive bullshit.  Here's a conversation I had recently with a colleague:

Her: "Hey, can I ask you a question?"
Me: (assuming it's work-related, as I hardly know this person) "Sure."
Her: "Are you by any chance diabetic?"
Me: (with a slight frown) "Uh, no?"
Her: "Oh. Oh, wow. Okay."
Me: (a little irritated, but curious) "Any particular reason you should ask?"
Her: "Oh. Well, you know.  You've always had that pot belly, haven't you?  So I just assumed ... right?  That maybe you were diabetic."
Me: (woodenly) "Pot belly."
Her: "Yeah.  But don't feel bad, a lot of people have that."

Yeah, but not you, you 20-something stick-insect. 

So before I blow something or someone up, take note: if you don't like me, don't talk to me.  If you despise me, step on my foot.  If you actively loathe me, punch me in the face.  But please, for pete's sake, let's drop all this passive-aggressive nonsense.  I'm not your friend, you're certainly not my friend, so stop trying to psych me out with the condescending tone of voice and the patronising manner.  I've had it.  A punch in the face may sting for a while, it may not be pleasant at the time, and it may leave a mark for a couple of days.  But it will definitely hurt less.