Category: Domestic Life

everyone was here yesterday

Prior to all this Paul and I had a lovely walk at Fraser Foreshore. We saw two adults and one juvenile bald eagle play fighting in the trees and making a hell of a racket at the same time, it was quite funny. Parking lots were bung full, we had to park miles from the lot.

I decided there was no reason for Paul to clean up after his own party so after a brief consult with Jeff we threw Paul’s Father’s Day celebration here.

Paul came over first, then Katie and Alex came over next, then kMike, then the kids (those three) left, then Mike came, then Paul left, then Keith showed up and Paul came back and then Keith and Paul left and then Mike left. Nobody was driving drunk at all, like, no one.

Seafood salad consisted of, here, have a green salad (iceberg lettuce, salad mix of seeds and cranberries, heritage tomatoes sliced, purple onion in relatively large chunks, grated carrot, broccolini) and put over top of it your choice of Argentinian prawns, Digby Scallops, or Alaskan Sockeye Salmon. This was 123 dollars of seafood, mostly salmon cause I got two fillets. I know, insane. There’s just enough leftovers for salmon pate tomorrow morning with mascarpone cheese, and we got lemon juice and capers. Anyway, I cooked the shellfish on the stovetop and baked the salmon for 20 minutes at 400. On part of the salmon I put a ‘ground pecans cut half and half with maple syrup’ crust. kMike hosed that shit down like a good thing, and declared it quite fine. (I had a bit.)

Alex had to go home to eat, that’s why he left.

Mike serenaded me on the back deck in the golden hour.

quite inebriated me

I am comfortably lazy

So much so that I’m wondering why I agreed to a father’s day hike with Paul. It’s supposed to be unbelievably hot today and I am still in spring mode.

Yesterday Jeff and I ate in a restaurant (last time we went out we ate outside) at IHOP and said HI to Lorna since it’s been a year and then we ran some errands since the ants are back and we needed ant traps.

I’ve been opening Scrivener files that aren’t finished and fixing typos and sentences in a desultory way.

We’re watching an Icelandic supernatural noir called Katla. It’s very creepy, without being full of jump scares, which I loathe.

I get my molar crown stuck on tomorrow.

Today I think I’m going to make a big pot of spaghetti.

It’s possible this mood is migraine related. I just feel kind of stunned and obtunded.

Yesterday and today

Yesterday I ran four loads of laundry

did the May monthly numbers for household expenses

practiced (actually twice)

had homemade chicken fried rice for breakfast

Watched some more Sweet Tooth and Duckman and Homicide

RIP NED BEATTY AS BOLANDER

Read about 200 pages of Chuck Wendig’s Wanderers

Got most of ‘Spread ‘Em up to Heaven’ in Finale (my ghastly tongue in cheek Destiel filk, unforgiveable, rallllllly.)

Today I’m going to go into New West and do a small shop as I need to get more ant poison, the scouts are back.

the errand hang

Apparently running errands with your friends is the new hanging out… So that is me and Paul yesterday; two turns around the schoolyard park and a trip to Peggy’s to return cooking containers and a trip to the library to pick up, among other things, Chuck Wendig’s ‘Wanderers’, a book of women’s short SF, local Indigenous legends and organizing for people with ADD. I can just imagine Jeff’s snort as he reads that.

Made chicken fried rice yesterday, it was nom.

Gave Paul some chickpea curry and rice pudding yesterday as well.

Every time I try to write – even letters, I find rage and ennui flatten me out. I have no wish to reveal what is in me; it is all rotten and horrifying. This too shall pass; it always has before. It’s the pandemic talking, as far as I can see.

Plenty of nothing

I cooked rice and made rice pudding

I reserved 5 books at the library

I fed the crows

I watched the rain

I set some chicken on to thaw

I watched some TV with Jeff

I rehearsed on all four instruments – no new stuff

I brushed my hair

I checked the mail

I finished the icecream

I washed some pots

I made pancakes from mix that Jeff didn’t like so they didn’t get finished

I paid my Visa Bill (it was endodontic work and my debit card doesn’t work for that)

I made tea

I ate pizza and wings that Jeff got from Little Caesar

I set chickpeas on to soak for a chickpea curry

I mini trained Buster

and other than that I didn’t do a damned thing all day yesterday

 

cheerful but lazy

Uh, yup, that’s me.

Temporary crown has not come off yet.

Timmy Ho’s yesterday morning, followed by Time Team… happy sigh.

Fed Paul over at his place yesterday – finished off the Salad Shirazi (finely chopped english cuke, couple tomatoes, fresh mint, fresh parsley, juice of one lemon, a little onion – absolutely amazing, who needs salt?), provided him with chicken curry and rice pudding. He ate it with gusto.

Keith seems to be doing okay. He had a tiny bit of Shirazi salad and Paul hoovered up his leftovers… lol. Keith’s thinking about going back to school. Obviously I am more than happy about this and will approve whatever he chooses to study. Also, offered him shelter/respite if the baby turns out to be colicky or has a bad turn and he needs a decent night of sleep for his own health.

Prior to that we went to Fraser Foreshore Glenlyon side. Paul and I have watched any number of herons do any number of things – shit on our windshield while we’re going down the 401 at 90 kph – make a left hand turn on final descent into an airport on Christmas Day – leap into the air in front of us while we’re bike commuting – FUCK THAT’S BIG – gain three meters in altitude instantly upon taking a massive dump after take off – but we never saw what we saw yesterday before.

The heron landed sideways. It looked like it was doing a sliding tap dance on the surface of the water, and then just flung out its wings and set down. The grace, the total coolth and control… fabulous. Just wonderful. Like Fred Astaire possessed its body for five seconds.

SO MANY BEES: bumbles, honey bees.

Nice people to talk to. and Dorgles.

Amazing, beautiful weather, not too hot in the sun or chilly in the shade. Tide was EXTREMELY low.

Only grit was MUCH NOISE from Parks workers and the local industries.

Today – laundry and a quick shopping expotition.

I’ve started writing down songs again

Finally got Finale running, haw haw, so I’ve started putting Thorfinn’s song (Standard of the Crow) into musical notation. I’ve got about a hundred songs to write down, and I’ll start fitfully posting songs over the rest of the year.

It was like air and water to see Katie yesterday.

I said to Jeff yesterday, “I’m in a good MOOD I just can’t get anything DONE.”

He’s not happy because Nürburgring was called on account of fog so there was virtually no night racing, which is what he *wants* to see.

Hello my SF fans, check out this science news. It’s an article from the Asia Times about how we as a species have figured out how to jam photons together to make matter. You need a dirty great laser….

beautiful walk at Fraser Foreshore

Saw an eagle roosting in a tree overlooking Sto:lo

saw our first Western Swallowtail of the season

nearly died of cottonwood fluff

Saw a heron in the same place as the last time, fishing

Saw a pileated woodpecker flying from tree to tree

the woods were full of thrushes and towhees

We got really close to a crow

Lots of widdy dogs

Quite a mix of people with masks and without – I was without.

Afterwards we went back to Paul’s and Keith fed us pita and veggies and roast chickpeas. I loaned Paul my three-guitar floor stand to encourage him to play more. kMike came home before I left so I got to talk to him, but I missed Katie.

At home, Jeff prepped and fired up the air conditioner and I’m sure we had a much more pleasant sleep.

Tiny amount of practicing (I’m working on my hammered guitar skills) and writing.

 

busy day planned

Let’s see what comes of it. (LATER….around 5 pm)  VERY FUNNY you widgeon….. it got too hot to move around 10 am) I did manage to download Finale again and get it running (which was easy, since this version of it didn’t have stuff deleted from it by accident by me.) Also, I took Jeff to breakfast and that used all my energy (climbed the stairs at Westminster Quay) but it was absolutely wonderful and the weather was lovely and the server cheery and even the little kid at the next table only squawked for a couple of minutes and the tugboats and other working boats plying their trade up and down Sto:lo were ever so engaging.))

Guitar stand and saffron and kindergarten table and chairs to Caspell Junction (three generations of our family served, thank you Granny Rivett); pie plates back to Peggy’s; chocolate chips for chocolate chip pecan cookies (some won’t have pecans, for Jeff), need some veg, need to make another dentist appointment, hope to re-download Finale since it’s hopelessly buggered and I need it running again, need to figure out what I’m replacing this laptop with since it’s showing signs of age (the ‘A’ key is a hopeless splodge and the period key is joining it and it’s starting to get really hot when it’s charging; probably I need to replace the battery but I think I should get a jump on things and replace the unit), maybe possibly getting my speakers set up in the spare room/music room downstairs, practicing – I haven’t been, that much,  load of dishes, actually deleting all the Scrivener files that don’t have anything in them, putting the unfinished fanfics (there must be a dozen by now) in the same place and in rank order for being finished, and maybe, just maybe, a beer on the back deck when all the running around is done.

just slept the morning away

wheeeee!
Now to get up and eat something that isn’t mostly sugar!

Roasted veggies and boiled corn yesterday for lunch. The veggies came out great (brussels sprouts, yams and zucchini with a spice combo I found at Save On, lemon zest, basil and thyme); the corn was a fermented disaster. Tasted like it had been held at about 35 degrees for a day or so and then put back in the refrigerated environment. No mold, but nasty af.

Actually called Keith for cooking advice about the veggies but he didn’t call me back until after I had it in the oven. The idea that I’d be asking Keith for cooking advice, LOL but that’s parenthood for you, a brace of exploding surprises.

I have now watched 5/6ths of Maximilian and Marie and it’s filmed very dark and foggy, and it just doesn’t seem right. I quite like the principals, and the costumes and fighting and horse-stuff all seems pretty good, but there’s no real understanding of how far Austria is from Burgundy and sometimes it seems to go by a little faster than the contemporary roads would allow. Also, there were a couple of points where I thought well THAT NEVER HAPPENED but it’s the usual Dorothy Dunnett fan grousing about various things. I think they once again did not represent the Spider King properly.

Philip de Commines comes across as a right asshole, too. I did learn that he wrote a huge memoir about his time with the Spider King and is considered a prime source for this period of history, so I bookmarked it in English to look at later.

The crows are yelling at me to put out some food.

Better days are coming

Superb night of sleep, I think I’m managing my drugs much better. It was almost six when I woke up!

Curvebeak greeted me from the neighbour’s roof the other day. Very strange to be recognized by a crow.

Of course they bloody well recognize me. The hazelnuts turn out to be contaminated with something I’m allergic to, so I’m feeding them to them a handful at a time and snork snork snork down they go. This being the season when they’re bringing off young ready access to quality food close to the nest is going to be a big deal.

Buster is not happy that I’m feeding crows, but he’d still rather train than sit on the deck with his tail switching, waiting for them.

Timmy Ho’s coffee in mah belleh, I should feel shame but all I really feel is a strong urge to write a scene I’ve been putting off for about three weeks.

TIME TO GO DANCING

Gorgeous day

shootings aside this should be the nicest day this year so far in MST country.

I’ve put most of my laundry away from yesterday, I trained Buster twice, and brushed him, I ran the dishwasher and emptied it, I fed two lots of crows, emptied my purse and tidied it, put more recent medication in my spare pill bottle so I will now work my way through the older prescription, (I carry a week of my prescribed medication just in case I’m on the wrong side of a bridge when the big one comes through…), wrote a letter to Dave D and am close to stirring my stumps sufficiently to mail it…. not bad for someone who’s been up since 3:50. I had a very good night of sleep.

so much in the papers about the gang war.

Last time Paul and I went to Fraser Foreshore, which is at the bottom of Byrne Road, we were LAUGHING at the Cactus Club awnings, which look like could easily rip away in a wind and fly out onto the enormous intersection (Byrne and Marine – one of the major intersections in Burnaby as far as complexity and size and traffic level) and now right in front of those awnings one guy in the Brothers Keepers gang was shot dead (died on scene) and two of his faithful were hauled off to hospital last night.

 

Paul and I are about to go walking at Oakalla. If I see anything faskinating I’ll write it up when I get home.