Category: Family

what a day

Spoke to both of my former sisters-in-law regarding Paul’s medical situation. Lois had to call back and then we had quite the earflapping. Ruth was as smart and kind as I remember her. Terry, may he receive his recompense, had already told both of them what was going on, so they were not freaking out when I called.

Got Keith over here (for pay, expecting broke rellies to work for nothing is horky) to rip out as much of the deadly nightshade as possible (including the nightshade that was growing up into the air conditioner water outlet) while I mowed the lawn. Jeff, you need to buy some gas, cause all that’s left is in the lawnmower.

Got a splendidly indulgent supper delivered after a splendidly indulgent breakfast (I ordered two coffees just in case Keith wanted some later). SO MUCH FRUIT nom.

Tried to write. 2330 words.

Watched some more Sandman again.

I have a long list and no desire to do a damned thing about it

VR headset and Alex

HE IS SO CHUFFED. His mouth keeps falling open in wonderment and discovery. BUT

setting up a meta account fucking near killed me I am now officially pissed and I can’t ‘go forward’ from the groundhog day set up experience.

Gruncle Jeff has definitely definitely won the cool relative sweepstakes for the week. ALEX has found his way to youtube. Now he says TIRED NOW BACK TO PEGGLE (an xbox 360 game)

Jeff couldn’t book for a Sunday return thanks to the MURDER ON THE BC FERRY which turns out to be not a murder but a miscount of clients and who knows where he ended up. (walked off the ferry abandoning his car? wht the heck) so Jeff’s now coming back Monday. Sigh. Buster will be so so so very glad to see him.

metformin, coffee and a short walk

The foregoing combination was poopulous.

CONTENT WARNING POOP

Fortunately I had my grandson Alex with me (full of Tim Horton’s finest) and he said that there were no brown stains, so I made it home without public embarrassment, just that drawn face and awkward gait that accompanies an er accidental blowout. I’m only sharing this so my mOm can smile sadly and nod. Getting old BLOWS I tell ya. I knew better, and got coffee anyway. On the plus side, I managed to avoid pooping myself until AFTER I picked up the amlodipine at the drugstore. So I managed to run an errand AND poop myself this morning, go me…..

TIME TO DO LAUNDRY well it was anyway but NOW IT’S REALLY TIME TO DO LAUNDRY

Did I ever tell you about the time I pooped my pants on the transit in Montreal? This would have been when I was in my thirties…. it’s a sad and smelly tale with a happy ending.

2238 words

 

JUST TO MAKE MYSELF FEEL BETTER, here are all the comments (all of them) for my “Accidental Mr. Right” destiel story. Look at all the strangers I made happy!

I really really liked it

This was…. everything :}

Another lovely story. Thank you for sharing.

This was absolutely fantastic. Xx

You made me cry

Amazing!!! This was fabulous and I plan on reading it again so that I can take it all in. I loved the internal monologue from both boys and I was ready to cry both when Cas went back to Georgia and when he came back to Dean. THAT SIGN AT THE AIRPORT!! Great job, thanks for sharing.

This was GORGEOUS

Your stories contain some of the absolute best banter I have ever read, ever. Coupled with the sweetness and cuddling and softness, the wit and cleverness works so, so well. One million kudos to you, lovely.

This was so good! I loved it.

Do you know how adorable this is?!?!?!?!? Do you?!?!?!? Because I loved every tooth-rotting fluffy moment of it, from the gorgeous start to the fantastic finish. This is the perfect combo of angst, thickheaded characters, fluff, and pure unadulterated love. I almost wish I could go back in time just to appreciate this from the very beginning.

Holy mother fucking shit. That was so BEAUTIFUL! Everything about it! Beautifully paced, beautifully written, beautifully characterised! I can’t get over it. So many moments made me gasp and made my heart flood with emotion! ‘The love of my life’ what a perfect realisation for the two of them! And it was truly written as a love story. I could see them truly being in love and not just ‘here’s two hot guys. Now they’re fucking!’ I can’t get over this. I’m going to reread it so much!

aaaaaaaa this was wonderful!!! I love the characterization!!!!

Very nice!

Those adorable dummies! Their banter is just perfect, especially at the diner at the beginning, comparing views on politics and sports and religion. I’d kill to write so well!

I loved this

This was very sweet. ??

whoever keeps trying to break into my blog

Jeff warned me. Lots of people are visiting, good luck with breaking things; Jeff is a prudent and cautious individual and this site is protected as well as one can thriftily make it.

Russian soldier says fuck it. When this link breaks, his name is Pavel Filatyev. He has both deserted and fled Russia.

2173 words

Katie messaged me yesterday afternoon asking if it would be inconvenient to get Alex to come over tonight for a sleepover and I’m like

Crying From Happiness GIFs | Tenor

She never tries to take advantage, what a kid.

Today, prescription refill by way of a walk before it gets too warm, then over to see the kids briefly to review the ‘family spreadsheet’ and talk about our feelings because hoo boy it’s been tough this week.

The beets Zanne bought for me in Cache Creek have been PROCESSED and are now resting comfortably in the fridge. Reminder to self: That first trip to the bathroom will scare you, BE PREPARED. I still owed her a bit of money from the trip but let me tell you, my outlay ended up being a couple of CBD gummies, a 3.5 g bag of weed and 120 dollars, and for that much fun (and such COMFORTABLE NIGHTS OF SLEEP) I would have paid MUCH MORE. And I got to drive into the sunset when the mountains faded into haze and it was like being suspended in a picture postcard for hours.

Zanne told me about tabby kittens ready to go, but no ‘new’ news on the kittens. And the poor queen (owned by an unhoused woman who lives in an underpass) is pregnant AGAIN. Woman doesn’t want to give them up but I’m going to show up with a bag of kitten kibble and a hundred dollars in small bills and ask nicely. If the fates are propitious I shall name her Sookie.

Trying to learn to get by without milk in a jug… I may be switching over to powdered and condensed. Right now there’s been no fresh milk in the house for a week.

Buster has returned from catting and got his brekkie.

There was an additional episode of Sandman that I was not aware of and it had, like, ROMANCE in it which was very attenuated but also very welcome. Tom Sturridge STARVED HIMSELF for the role, and in that first episode it’s obvious, he no longer looks like a healthy human being and you can see his face plump up over the course of the show as he puts maybe five pounds back on.

folks wandering up to Neil Gaiman and saying ‘I am absolutely not racist why did you cast Black and Desi actors in Sandman’ and him responding, ‘YOU – PERSONALLY – I DID IT TO PISS YOU OFF! – DIE MAD U SALTY BITCH’ is the shprinkles in my coffee this am.

No ac today, it’s not supposed to get warmer than 19. I’ll turn it on if I need to.

Garbage day today

I get to do it because Jeff’s away still.

Something big and smelly caught fire on Mitchell Island and everything stank for a while last night. Air conditioner off until the temp starts to climb at sunup – it’s quite nice and cool right now at 19 degrees C.

Spent many hours with Paul yesterday going through all his appointments, setting appointments, putting together a family document with all of his health related to dos and contacts, then spent a while on the phone with Keith downloading. There is supposed to be a family meeting later this week. Paul’s supposed to tell his gf this week, what a non-joy that will be, following up with it.

Buster demanded to be let out this morning but he came back promptly for his breakfast. One night Jeff was gone he was out all night because the cat door was locked and he snuck out while Mike was leaving and I didn’t notice. He was super subdued when he came back at 5 am but not beat up, he had no new scratches.

He very obviously misses his hoomin.

I’m rewatching Sandman. It’s so much better with the middle of one episode, won’t say which one, gone… skipped almost half an hour. I don’t need to see that again and I understand the point Gaiman was trying to make but YUCK.

Really really re-enjoying Boyd Holbrook’s performance as the Corinthian. brrrr

49th Shelf remarks:

And Dissonance Engine (November), by David Dowker, is an exploration of time, cognition and loss; the intersection of dream and alternate reality amidst myriad systems of control.

So that gives something to look forward to.

picture me screaming about the trash

Screaming Possum Madness (40 Possum Memes) - I Can Has Cheezburger?

 

 

Jeff is off to Victoria

Paul’s appointment went very well. For privacy and security no deets.

Afterward I didn’t get the impression that he wanted to go home so I fed him an early supper at Brown’s Social House in New West. He had an IPA so strong it would melt a fucking spoon and Thai chicken soup and I had cod tacos and salad and a zero alcohol raspberry Mojito (which was spectacular, worth every cent of the five bucks it cost me). I am exceedingly fond of that restaurant in particular… I am the demographic they are seeking. And eating in a restaurant? Yes I’m an idiot. Don’t care.

I thought I’d die walking back up Keary in the heat but Paul was fine, lucky dog.

sore

Slept a lot yesterday. I’m glad I’m not easily tired in a war zone, I might lie down and never get up. Driving for five and a half hours does that. We stopped twice on the way back, once for gas in Chilliwack (and the attendant laughed when I thanked him for the clean safe bathroom because at that point I was fair burstin’) and once at Hola Tacos in Cache Creek, which had the best goddamned pork taco I ever ate, and even better for Zanne because she just got diagnosed as celiac and can’t eat fast food except for a few items. We also drank Jarritos! she got a mango and I got a mexican cola, happy sigh. Technically we stopped three times because of the single lane situation on the highway, long enough for Zanne to get out and check where she hid her candy.

Currently planning a train trip to Toronto in the fall. There’s many a slip, of course, but it’s something to look forward to, and I have a long list of people to visit.

Heard from Mike; he sounds marginally more lively than the last time we spoke; it was lovely to hear his voice.

Off with Paul to the doctor today, pray for us all.

 

home a day early

For a variety of completely NON BAD reasons we came home a day early, and glad we are we did. She did all the northbound driving, I did all the southbound.

I had a fantastic time, met one of Suzanne’s inlaws, got rather closer to a wildfire (put out in two hours though) than was pleasant, saw a lot of wildlife, and thanks to said inlaw INSISTING THAT WE SLEEP IN HIS TRAILER, I had three nights of superbly restful sleep next to a beautiful elderly lab cross named Stella. At one point I was awake and they were snoring and it was all I could do not to laugh.

Suzanne and I got along fine and laughed our asses off. I will give you a hint in life. Take HER camping, not me, she’s prepared like a quartermaster….

Many more details will come later. It was FUCKING AWESOME.

Alex Goat-Boy

 

Alex held a kid at the Country Bee

When Katie and I and her children went to Country Bee, it was with a message for the workers there that the parental dyad was feeling too punk to join us and that they knew the workers would be worried about them.

You would think this was unnecessary but IT WAS NOT. As soon as we mentioned to the sweet young grain goddess at the till that they weren’t up for it (not sick, just tired, like you’re allowed to be at however old I misremember them to be), another woman, older and shorter, popped out of the back like something in a TV show and loudly said, “I wondered.”

We had a brief but cheering conversation and then went outside to chase wall lizards, find peacock feathers and as you can see above, Alex got to hold a baby goat. It was amazing and Katie got pics.

Alex and a baby goat are centred in a picture, surrounded by goats

I love that little man so.

Katie got me a salted choco chip cookie and some iced tea, Alex got a honeybee cookie and preferred mine … I WARNED HIM. Ryker and Alex did well on the ferry wait given that it was a hot day and they were bored silly. pOp I managed to help Alex stave off the horrors of boredom in the the digital age with the

 

fanfare pls & ty

VIEW-MASTER

leaving today

Bubs the Magnificent Baby, Alex and Katie just visited me and Ryker is SO HAPPY TO SEE ME HE SMILED SO HARD HE NEARLY SQUIRMED HIMSELF OFF THE BED and his mom cotched him and threw him up in the air while he fizzed with toothy mirth.

I have finished Shirlene Obuobi’s ‘On Rotation’ and it is a very satisfactory romance. VERY. I shall exercise my critical (not very) faculties on a full scale review shortly, but not right now.

Katie’s about to order us a McDonald’s breakfast and I am here for it, quite literally.

The psychiatric attic has once more been breached! it now reveals a View-Master. The box that the View-Master and the reels are was made by my maternal grandfather and when I reached into the box to randomly pull out a reel…..

IT WAS FOR THE ADDAMS FAMILY TV SHOW, IN COLOUR.

I think I probably screeched. John Astin as Gomez in a 1920’s style pure white driving costume? It with its hair in curlers? LOLOLOL. MORTICIA KNITTING? lololololololol guess what my mother was doing all day yesterday in the sunroom, it’s just TOOOOOO RICH

Making happy family memories is a wonderful process. Only people missing as descendants were Jeff and Keith. And you were both missed!

Absolutely no writing except for the blog and a couple of tweets.

 

in Victoria

Ryker is charming his great grandparents with everything he’s got. He’s inches from being able to walk so that means he falls down and cries a lot. And then he promptly stops because he’s extremely cheerful.

Alex is also being delightful.

Trip over was nominal.

Back in Van tomorrow afternoon.

pOp showed me the two most important books in his collection. A science fiction short story omnibus with some brightly coloured and horrifying aliens, which he first ran across when he was reshelving books in the kids section of the main library in Saskatoon in the 1940s, and a Mickey Mouse book which was the first book he was ever given at the age of four, and which he had re-bound because the cover was trashed.

mOm found and donated to me and Jeff our old Viewmaster. FIRST ONE I PICKED UP WAS OG Addams Family IN COLOUR god I love my family. She also gave me Shirley Obuobi’s ON ROTATION because I told her to buy it and give it to me after she read it and SHE DID she read it and now I have a brand spanking new romance in a medical setting to read when I hit the bunk tonight YES.

dear ones

Long … long talk with Paul yesterday about his life changes, and then home made sugar free iced tea, tuna salad and a small serving of chocolate ice cream for lunch.

Buster has been in a weird mood of late. He’s been asking for stuff at odd times of day, at times when there are other people in the house, which he very rarely does. Training or ‘sitting pretty’ for brushing usually takes place under specific circumstances or times of day. I think he’s got one hell of a furball parked up in there somewheres.

Watched 13 Lives – the dramatization of the rescue of the Thai soccer team from the cave. Viggo Mortenson is AMAZING. Colin Farrell quietly disappears into his role. Viggo embodies a highly intelligent, very autistic and brilliant technical diver; the script is fantastic. The Thai people and government aren’t represented as ‘needing rescuing’ they are ‘asking for assistance on something they don’t have the expertise for’ and the way people come together for the outcome is better than any fiction. Congrats Ron Howard on another great movie and RIP Saman Kunan and Beirut Pakbara the Thai Navy Seal divers who perished at the time of the rescue or afterward from an infection acquired during the rescue.

accomplished a few things

Keith has his money. There was a little interest in there. I ran in, gave him the money, wrassled a teensy smile out of Ryker (Alex is in summer camp), and said hi to Katie who was about to toss some food down the baby.

Other errands accomplished. Shaw tried to talk us into getting another DVR box (or something like) and after a chat with the technician we tapped the table.

Fraser Foreshore was absolutely wonderful. In full sun, it was noticeably hot yesterday, but in the shade, by the river, the air was, in Paul’s words, ambrosial. The male of the nesting pair of herons whom we see with almost every trip WOULD NOT SHUT UP. I have heard herons make a range of noises but this one sat on the end of the log boom and HONKED LIKE A GOOSE at the crows. I’m not joking, and I have a witness. Every time the crows moved, he’d honk like a goose in irritation. In ten minutes, that heron made more noise than any heron not in a breeding colony that I’ve ever heard of. We got some Vietnamese food after.

This morning we’re going to do a schlep.

Buster is up and whining at my door. Me: “Wait for Daddy! No door! Daddy will open the door when he gets up!” He refused treats, skritches ALL HE WANTS IS DOOR DOOR NOW DOOR NOW DOOR NAAAAOW

542 words.

Lovely phone call with Dave yesterday but I am a BAD FRIEND because when he started to groan about punctuation in his in-the-process-of-being-edited poetry book I started laughing and unfortunately could not stop. I mean, it’s a lovely problem to have AND I COMPLETELY SUPPORT HIS COMMENTS REGARDING SPACES AROUND ELLIPSES, N-DASHES AND M–DASHES. He is correct. HOWEVER it looks like his publisher has a house recipe. Also, he’s now supposed to do a 3-5 minute VIDEO about his book. This is like asking the Groke to give a three to five minute speech about existentialism while juggling lit blowtorches. I have a number of suggestions, which I made to him, and here are more woven in with them.

MALICIOUS COMPLIANCE. Do everything they ask, but in such a way that it can’t be used.

MALICIOUS COMPLIANCE V. 2 Do everything they ask, but get someone else to do it.

MALICIOUS COMPLIANCE V 3. Do everything they ask while wearing a V for Vendetta mask.

MALICIOUS COMPLIANCE V.4 Do everything they ask but be reading a newspaper while the voice over provides the information.

MALICIOUS COMPLIANCE V.5 Do everything they ask – and let them edit it.

MALICIOUS COMPLIANCE V.6 Do everything they ask – for other books in their catalog

E For Effort v.1 Take videos of his cats and provide a voice over indicating that it would be of societal net benefit if you made a cat video rather than a commercial for your book, which you ‘will just have to take my word is a thoughtfully crafted work of contemporary poetry in English’.

E for Effort v.2. Take Jeff’s videos of the rats scurrying up and down the alley at dawn and intersperse them with a reading from the book (one of the things they wish in the video)

He’s got to the beginning of September.

Image

Nudes of the world

    1. Just a reminder that I am a proud nudist (naturist sounds funny to me, sorry) and that if you really piss me off and I don’t have other recourse I WILL REMOVE GARMENTS. Starting with the legal stuff, and moving on. Since there’s apparently hardly anything that disgusts and freaks out bigots than fat old naked women, I’m keeping that one in reserve. Also, Peter Verigin LIVETH. (This last specifically so mOm can read it to her sister lol)
    2. Also, I did not order those copies of “Grandma Was a Nudist” they JUST SHOWED UP HERE.
    3. Jeff gets a hall pass. Poor guy. It is true that one of the first things I do when he goes away is walk around the house naked and yodelling (sometimes it’s kazoo, and it’s all very much sad for Buster, who has a demonstrated preference for me remaining clothed since I make a better lap that way and he loathes my music.) (Except in the laundry room, which has a security camera vs the raccoons and since Jeff reviews the security footage once a month I don’t want him clapping his hands over his eyes and going AUGH NOMAN HAS BLINDED ME.)
    4. Which is why, although I haven’t been over there for what feels like centuries, and so not recently, the first thing I do when I get to Mike’s is AUGH FREEEEEEDOM. (I even have a cubby for my clothes like at JJ Spa – and Mike’s place IS a spa, at least as far as I’m concerned.) Also he keeps his apartment about 28 degrees, summer and winter and he’s got it set up so you can sunbathe on the balcony year ’round. Sometimes I wave at the neighbours over by the Skytrain station. I don’t know if they’re watching, but you never know, and I don’t imagine anyone I know would ever tell me.
    5. Sigh, the salt room at JJ Spa. I MISS IT SO. But with this new COVID wave, nuh-unh.
    6. I should probably call Mike.
    7. I do very very very occasionally still wear a bra and pantyhose but that’s like a church/weddings/funerals/someone’s paying for a classy dinner scenario.
    8. I made Yorkshire Gold Tea for the household (which will end up in the sugar free iced tea, most likely), peppermint tea as a day-opener for Jeff, and coffee for me. Honestly, I don’t know how many more times I’m going to get coffee and sugar and cream all in once place again, so I really try to enjoy it while I can.
    9. I played with my Kaossilator yesterday and came up with an ABSOLUTE banger of a beat, 56 bpm / g20/ c_ key/EGY scale/94&96 percussion and yowza. In my life I’ve never spent that little money for a tech toy that brought me this much joy, and Jeff commented that a small child and an elderly adult can both enjoy it!
    10. Anyone doing waste water research says the balloon has really gone up for the latest variant.
    11. Suzanne’s computer has been scanned and will be returned to her shortly. She got a scare but it’s all good. THANK YOU JEFF.
    12. Tanya Basu reporting from Corpus Christi on Twitter: The harassment has real-world consequences. The Corpus Christi area teacher’s union president’s house got shot at earlier this week. School board members are being heckled online. Educators, mostly women & poc, are quitting their profession in droves. 
    13. There are rumblings of a NEW hemorrhagic fever out of Tanzania; it isn’t Ebola and it isn’t Marburg (so saith local testing with help from WHO) and it’s currently killing about 1 in 3 of the people it infects. Tanzania is one of the countries on earth most lethally affected by mosquitoes. It sure would be good to know what other mammalian reservoirs there are for this bug.
    14. Keith and Paul are on the Island visiting various and sundry folks and by reports a mellow and convivial time is being had and mOm was enjoying FOOD DELIVERY what a concept.
    15. I sent the first half of Totally Boned to mOm about a hunnert times yesterday. Finally I stripped off all the formatting and re-sent it and now I’m mentally hopping from one foot to the other waiting to hear back. Google mail barfing on a 30k word document just seems like bullshit to me.
    16. Forced birth advocates in the US seem to be under the impression that since they repealed Roe v Wade opponents need to shut up and be nice to them and it’s NO ACTUALLY WE’RE GOING TO PROTEST IN FRONT OF YOUR CHURCHES AND THROW RED PAINT ON YOUR VEHICLES AND RUN YOU OUT OF RESTAURANTS AND GIVE YOU AAAAALLLLLL THE CIVILITY YOU RICHLY DESERVE.
    17. Putin has signed a bill banning media outlets that don’t recount the Russian War of Aggression against Peaceful and Democratic Ukraine in a way he personally likes, for starters by mentioning that it is, you know, a war. A quote: The application scope of the law covers the adoption of measures against false information dissemination, smearing the Russian Armed Forces’ performance, or disrespectful manifestations towards the Russian Federation’s society, state, and official symbols.  
    18. LOL
    19. David Osland on Twitter this morning, retweeted by Potsherd Man Paul Blinkhorn of Time Team fame: Consider Britain and Saudi Arabia. One has temperatures that exceed 40 degrees, is ruled by a royal family presiding over a corrupt government that is militarily dependent on the US, and openly represses peaceful protest. But Saudi Arabia has its problems too.
    20. Wordle in four tries this morning, good lumosity brain workout. *here I am, sighing over having to do mental math* *here I am, trying to get my response time down under 1000 ms* *Here I am, measurably 20 percent less smart than I was in 2014 HEY NUMBAS DON LIE*  I find it funny that often, the less I’ve slept the better I do.
    21. What happened to US health care? Ronald Regan was elected
    22. Jeff reports that at 5 in the morning THE ALLEY IS CRAWLING WITH EXTREMELY LIVELY RATS. Small ones medium ones some as big as yer ‘ead! When he takes Buster for an alley walk he sees them. MANY MANY RATS. ZIP ZIP ZIP.
    23. Today I shall read the most recent Capilano Review. It’s a really good literary mag y’all.
    24. Weather most fine; a/c still working well.
    25. Stomped hard on a Facebook friend yesterday. Women contestants are tired of the pure whites of tennis, and he said IT’S A UNIFORM WEAR IT and I said FOOLISH HUMAN HAVE YOU EVER HAD A PERIOD WHILE BOUNCING UP AND DOWN AND FIRING BALLS AT A 105 FUCKING MPH AT AN OPPONENT yeah I didn’t think so. Siddown and shaddap.
    26. 33487 WORDS end of Part I. Part II – Blossom’s return, Steve and Jack get their asses handed to them, Richie shows up just in time to make things a) better b) more dangerous c) more complicated (THANKS RICHIE YOU LITTLE B-) AND MORE SHIT ABOUT EMIGRATING TO CANADA THAN ANYONE WANTS TO KNOW ABOUT.
    27. I love doing research, I end up finding out things that are both hilarious and realllllly unexpected, but I now know that the Fran’s closest to TGH is open 24 hours and then I learned something actually demonstrably useful about how horselaugh bad the March time change is. See below for illustrated figure.
    29. that cliff? that’s the cliff your body falls off when there’s a time change. I had never actually seen it represented and HOOO WEEE THERE IT IS. Now imagine you’ve gone to Iceland or whatever and the cliff is literally 8 times taller.  And do you know why I saw this data set in the first place? Because I wanted to know the angle of the sun coming in to the side of TGH so I could visualize a scene (last scene in part I.)
    30. I learned that plots of land are as low as $40K out by 70 Mile House and it sure would be nice to have a family campground. This is not compatible with my current political leanings so I am irked by my inability to be consistent. If someone else tees it up I’ll help pay for it.