Musings on a Small Life

Spied while walking home from the bus stop after work. An entire flock of robins in someone's tree. I've never seen robins this early, let alone an entire flock of them. All puffed up in the minus double-digit Celsius temperatures. I have no idea what they're doing here so early, with so much snow on the ground and freezing temps slated to continue to at least mid-March. Yes, I do know robins will hang around all winter if there's a food source, but they don't here, at least not in our neighbourhood. This is a first! Maybe their "spidey" senses know something about spring's arrival that we poor humans don't! In any case, seeing them definitely was the highlight of my day. Here's to spring...whenever she comes! Peace.

What's a kitty to do when it's pouring rain and looks like this, before it all freezes again?   Sunday afternoon. (a) Pray for an early spring. (b) Hide from it all and pretend winter will go away soon. That sums up the boys' weekend. My weekend was busy and productive on Saturday, but I pretty much mirrored the cats on Sunday. Rumour has it, though, that we actually MIGHT see spring weather during the latter part of March, which would be very, very welcome. Maybe Derry's "prayers" for an early start to the new season will come true.  Take care, folks, and have a good week. Peace.

It's another week closer to spring; woohoo! The second Sunday (this past Sunday) was even better at the greenhouse than the first, because the tulips were starting to bloom. My four days off were wonderful! Saturday was productive, Sunday was good company with friends Robin and Chuck (and the greenhouse visit), Monday I did almost nothing whatsoever except veg on the couch, and Tuesday was another busy, productive day. I could get used to a three-day work week (for full pay, of course -- lol). I think the boys appreciated having me home for an extra long weekend, though they slept most of it away. What else is there to do when it's minus gazillion out and the back space is covered in snow and ice? Derry did venture out as you can see, above, but not for long. Too cold! Nicki went out from time to time as well, but for even shorter periods. We're bracing for yet another round of ice pellets and freezing rain tonight and tomorrow morning, before it tu...

It's 8 years now that Annie left me, seems so long ago now. Pics are from January 2007.   I can't say with truth that she was my "heart" cat, as really I've had only two soulmates in my life, both horses. But Annie was what we now would call my emotional support companion. She always knew when I was low or sick and needed comfort, and she brought much joy and happiness into my life. Maybe in a way that does make her my "heart" cat, after all. There have been many times in the 8 years that I've wished she still were here, to offer her brand of "therapy," to be my silly Annie Bananie, my "wild thing." She certainly did make my heart sing.   Summer 2007,  I think. My memories have faded over the years, but my love has not. I'm thinking of her today with a full and grateful heart, glad she was in my life for those years, sorry that all our animal companions leave us so soon. Hold them close while you ca...

We didn't get 40 cm of snow here, but we did get 28 cm (about 11 inches) on Tuesday, then a little bit on Wednesday. So approximately 30 cm all told, which is a foot of white stuff. That's more than enough for me! Cleaning up on Wednesday morning, below. The campus cleaning crew is on the ball. Earlier in the morning, at home, Nicki was so desperate to get outside and check his territory that he leapt off the step as I was sweeping it, and into the snow. You can see his paw prints to the fence, then to the corner and back. Fool cat. It's milder today, with a bit of light drizzle, so now it's a slushy mess that will freeze overnight, as temps go down again. What a winter! Still, February is half gone (yay!) and we're inching toward spring. It's a long weekend here, with Monday being Family Day, and I'm looking forward to that. I'm taking Tuesday off, to make an extra, extra long weekend; hurrah! Friends are coming up on Sunday a...

The bus I took home yesterday was jam-packed with students, and along the way three people got on: this kid, a young woman, and an older woman. The boy first sat in the seat ahead of me, then when the bus cleared a bit, moved over with his family. It took me a moment to realize what I was seeing on his back: OMG, the poor cat! I asked the young woman if the cat was a girl or boy (female) and if she had been to the vet. She said yes to the vet, but as they were not English-speaking, I really don't know if she understood. Anyway, I felt awful for the poor cat, stuffed into that carrier on a packed, noisy bus. She meowed piteously at one point, but then was quiet. The boy was not careful with that backpack carrier, either, he banged it around a lot, which I'm sure added to the cat's discomfort. Bloody stupid thing to do, IMO, especially during the afternoon rush hour. Take a taxi, people. I'm actually surprised the driver let them on, but as it was so bus...

I'd gone to the city greenhouse yesterday, the first Sunday of their annual open house, to soak up some much needed colour and warmth. When I was heading home, I could see a military plane circling around overhead. Since we have a base here, and there's a larger one just west of us, I assumed it was a training exercise of some sort. Not an uncommon event. However, what was uncommon for me to see was two jumpers parachuting out of the plane! Even at a full 40x zoom, that was the best snapshot I could get, being so far away. I presume their landing target was somewhere on the base...not out on frozen Lake Ontario! The plane continued to circle for quite some time, but I didn't see anyone else jump. Maybe all but the last two had done so while I was enjoying the flowers! Anyway, it was an interesting sight, as I was standing in the cold, waiting for my bus! Now we're bracing for another snowstorm tomorrow, with snowfall amounts expected in th...

"Slip slidin' away Slip slidin' away You know the nearer your destination The more you're slip slidin' away...." Winter in this part of Ontario isn't quite what the song means, but hey, I'm just going with it. And the words are appropriate! Below: The view from my bedroom when I got home yesterday afternoon. Our director let us go early, and a co-worker drove me (carefully and slowly) home. It got worse from there, but we were lucky in that most of it fell as ice pellets, which are granular. So while everything has a coating of ice, it's not the sheer skating rink it could have become. Getting into work this morning was pretty straightforward, actually, no delays. I was smart enough to wear my ice grippers on my boots, though!   The trees looked pretty, their berries with a light coating of ice. Still, you can see how messy things are, below.  Anyone else other than me ready for Spring? If you're dealing with si...

Well! When I was still blogging for the cats, people around the CB used to "talk" about the Kitten Bowl , run on Super Bowl Sunday and featuring kittens from a well-known shelter/rescue in the States. This year I got to see what it was all about, thanks to it airing, for the first time, on a cable station I actually get.   Image copyright Crown Media (presumably), and from the web site: The action was interspersed with heart-warming stories of special needs adoptions, so I went through a lot of Kleenex. (I admit I watched about the first half hour or so, then kept it on in the background while I was puttering around.) It was quite entertaining, and I can just imagine that all those kittens would have crashed hard after the action! My own two crashed hard just from watching them. (Okay, truthfully it wasn't until almost the end that Derry actually sat up and noticed the kittens on the TV. Both N & D generally are oblivious to the television.)   ...