Category: Domestic Life

Today, the ducts get cleaned

We haven’t had anybody in the house who wasn’t part of our pod for …. a year? I guess? So I think Jeff and I are a leedle stressed at the moment.

I’m going to run a load of laundry and then get back to shoving stuff in corners in my room.

Are dogs self-aware? Some more so than others.

I have a dr and dentist appointment.

As soon as the duct person leaves I’m mailing biscotti to my mOm and Jan G OR making a beef stroganoff pack from M&MMeats OR going for a walk with Paul. Life is turvy right now, topsy

to do list

My to do list looks like the hippo version of the kama sutra, kinda poopy and underwater and shit’s fucked.

Later today, singing and playing at Caspell Junction.

EARLIER today

Laundry

no writing

reading fanfic, I got a nice 150k slow burn AU destiel to read, happy sigh

room cleaning for to get access to ducts for to getting the ducts cleaned on Monday morning

weeny shop for milk maybe I get Paul to help me

breakfast run cancelled, oops cancellation cancelled, will be lunch delivery AS WELL AS timmy ho’s run, Jeff’s gone out right now for it and I’m waiting for that coffee like cawwwwwwfffffaaaay

STOPPING NOW, THE COFFEE IS HERE

Here’s something sweetly new-old-fashioned

The reason folks tell you to watch your mouth is because you’ll never stop thinking it if you don’t stop saying it.

Biscotti x 2

So the biscotti for Paul and the kids and kMike and his parents and Tom and Peggy has been delivered. Came back into the house just now and IT STILL SMELLS OVERWHELMINGLY of biscotti HA HA I win.

Got assaulted by a hummingbird (or as close as made Paul and me go holy shit as she went by) in Deer Lake Park. Watched two bush tits go twittering by and then HOW RUDE they had sex right in front of me.

We heard but did not see a pterodactyl (pileated woodpecker) and were surrounded by bird song. Paul’s rain magic continued – we ate on a patio (it was my mother’s day late luncheon, which was founded by Paul and SO KIND of him) and the rain held off until after we got to his place. kMike and Keith were there.

Told Peggy Katie’s news; she was thrilled. Her news is that she hurt her leg three weeks ago so that’s why the biscotti tin hadn’t come back yet, plus her Prius needed a new battery. Also, they are getting a heat pump and Dan T (who was there and said hi) is doing hordes of work on their garden. FUCK I wish her krankenhaus wasn’t in fucking White Rock. Imagine driving an hour to find out they ordered the wrong battery after a ninety minute wait, when your leg hurts so bad you could cry. She also got a simply spectacular haircut from Brooke’s sister.

So I have spoken to so many different people today I feel like I need to pull a blanket fort together.

BISCOTTI X 4

I have made biscotti. I am still making biscotti…. quadruple batch.  Absolute units of biscotti, they are absolutely perfect.

Some to Katie’s Mike, some to Paul, some to Tom and Peggy, some to mOm and pOp, and now I have to find shipping boxes…..

Tremendous training session with Buster this morning.

Buster has started speed running the morning training session, it’s hilarious. BUMPS LEG to start game. Paw clap x 3; run and chase x 10; jump up and catch treat single-pawed; up onto the chair paw clap x 3; PAUSE ‘I’m not chasing that’ FINALE: chases treat down the stairs THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP crunch crunch crunch

This is all designed to maximize treat consumption; he’s figured out it’s piecework and now he just goes like spit. I stopped recording him because he hates the red light, but I really wish I’d recorded this morning, it was stellar.

overcast and hives

The Goddamn Hives are back. I woke up with a massive one on the back of my hand and the entire surface of my body is one massive itch. Off to bum some loratadine off Jeff.

Mike has apparently moved most of his stuff in with Katie? I’m behind the times. I don’t want to bug her, she calls me when she’s feeling good enough to, and that’s always a nice feeling.

After a reasonably energetic day yesterday I amazed myself by getting up, loading the dishwasher and running it. I mean it was an act of will.

Then I trained Buster. He was very very heavy on the pawclap action today, not so much on the jump and run. He wanted to chase treats along the floor; but he was great and took direction to a second pawclap station, did three in a row and then we finished up with run and chase, which was really what he wanted.  All in all a very satisfactory training session, although I note that he did not do his standard “I am in training mode” signal this morning for the first time in…. months, maybe? He banged into my RIGHT leg, not my left leg. If it hadn’t been a mirror image of his usual signal (literally) I would have thought he was ha ha pulling my leg.

I have still not mailed Tish’s letter. I am a lazy bum, and also, I do not want to leave the house. I can’t contribute to a pandemic if I never get in anyone’s face.

I have no desire to do anything but eat carbs, which is kind of a problem. I’ve drunk a lot of tea, but I have to give my poor kidneys a break.

Bowen Island trip this summer is once again in prospect, and I’m so happy about it.

 

push on

push on

push on

push on you weary soul     thank you willie p bennett

 

Lovely walk in Deer Lake Park yesterday. It was exactly the perfect temperature. In response to my dream I said fuck it; I’ve been vaccinated, it’s outdoors, the wind is a steady 3 to 5 knots, I’m not wearing a mask today.  Paul put *his* on while we were on the walkway. Two of the biggest green frogs we ever did see were in the waterways by the raised walkway.

Many perching hummingbirds.

Many pterodactyls, seen but not heard.

Many songbirds in glorious voice.

When we arrived the parking lot was JAMMED and then… someone pulled out of the spaces in the shade, it was like a movie or something.

I didn’t drive, I wasn’t feeling up to it. I warned Paul about the repair work at Burris and Canada Way so we took Kingsway instead. Anyway, I don’t know whether Paul was making heroic efforts not to bug me with his driving or I was just in a good mood, but it was fine.

Then back here for lentil soup with melted cheese, tea and a bun. I sent Paul away with a container of lentil soup; this batch isn’t as spicy as usual but the flavours settled very nicely.

Cousin Alex is vaccinated. After her COVID woes recently (D. tested positive after they did everything right which is SO ANNOYING) I WAS THRILLED BEYOND WORDS when she showed her bandaid on twitter. Me, I’m doing okay although there is still an inch across welt on my arm from the 8th.

Anyway, I was feeling like death yesterday and I feel fine today, so yay, perhaps I’ll get some work done today!!

 

A mental health post

Woke up from my first COVID nightmare this morning at 6:30 am – I was trying to get on the Seabus and realized that I was alone, and I wasn’t wearing a mask, and Noone Else Was Either. My awakening was unpleasant but at least I was oriented pretty quick.

I want to believe I’ve been able to weather this thing but I haven’t, it’s weathered me. They’re saying now (Kapil Komireddi in Foreign Policy) that the death toll in India may literally be ten times higher than whatever Modi is allowing the press to report. Modi has already done more to destroy India than Trump did to the US, and that’s SAYING something. The media are lapdogs, the supreme court is silent, and Hindutva types are FOAMING at the opportunity to ‘drive the Muslim dogs’ out of their beautiful pure brahmin New India.  So sure, it could be worse in Canada, let’s hope it doesn’t go there, but the world is a dumpster fire right now.

I’m going to let my mental health go there.

For the next week, I’m on vacation. Don’t know where I’m going, besides this house, but I am going to just ignore everything until I feel calm enough to get back on the goddamned Seabus. No writing, no practicing, no moving, no thinking. I’ll update my blog but try to stay off social media.

For my mOm, a historical titles document for her reference.

using the concept of niceness to tyrannize the authentic is one of the folkways of whiteness
It’s always one breath away from calling the cops.
@gindaanis on twitter today
aanikoobijigan is the Ojibwe word for great-grandparent (or ancestor) and the word for great-grandchild. It’s a connective way of thinking, cyclical rather than linear time. And as I step into writing a chapter on restoring human relations that’s an interesting thing to think on

Hives continue

Lost a good chunk of sleep last night to them. Topical creams help a little but it was kinda rough.

I’m going to try not to doomscroll today, even though Horgan is doing his best to try to kill me.

It’s possible that what I’ve got, hive wise, is actually a mild and late reaction to the AZ shot. If so this will slowly pass. Sigh.

Jeff’s doing a timmy ho’s run and then we’re going to watch Time Team in our LA-Z-BOY CHAIR. Did I tell you folks that we set it up? I had to mess with my half, but it sure is comfy.

RIP MICHAEL COLLINS. You were, as Phil Plait remarked this am, the ultimate team player.

Earth day

I think I need to mow the lawn, and I’ve asked Jeff to set out ant traps, so go me for being a goddamned booj-hippie on Earth day. The blue bells are up, hopefully I can mow around them.

Buster saw that I’d picked up some more Temmptation Chicken cat treats and nearly lost his tiny mind, it was quite funny. He trained SO HARD this morning, many paw claps, and one spectacularly casual single-pawed treat catch. INTO MAH MOUF SHALT THOU GOOOOO nom nom crunch. After I told him we were done training he came back twice for more. He also showed anxiety when we went out for the shopping, and was very happy that we came home.

I really like the staff at the 6th and 6th Save-on. They are all really good people. I want to do something nice for them when the pandemic’s died back a bit

Apparently Jensen Ackles’ bare butt is going to make the scene for season 3 The Boys, so they show will likely inherit 74% of Supernatural’s former watchers. Show was too violent for me when Jeff and I tried it, so whatever. I guess I’m more interested in Misha Collins’ next project.

Load of laundry in; I have some foodicles to prep but not too much; it’s YET ANOTHER GORGEOUS DAY in the world’s biggest small town.

Worked on a couple of Kaossilator tunes this morning.

yet another perplexingly gorgeous day

Domestic front: I need to do laundry including masks and empty the dishwasher. I’m thinking a curried lentil soup at some point. I want to take barley soup to Caspell Junction today as well, try to patch things up with Paul. He’s still quite pissed with me.

Health: CT scan all happened with such dispatch! I was so pleased, and here I’d been thinking the emergency room would be jammed with sick people, and the place was empty. (This at RCH, my local.)

Letters: two in progress, to the two Daves.

Crows: Fed

614 words today, off to mOm next.

Buster brushed and played with and brushed AGAIN and mini-trained (paw claps, chair jumps)

Now, to dress, figure out something breakfastish, and more tea.

oh how am I to speak the truth with love to you

otherwise known as the story of my fucking life

I initiated contact with a loved one, I got what I deserved. I am a sadder and wiser person. I have cried more tears, but that’s okay. You have to be alive to cry.

I reached out to other loved ones. Both responded more or less instantly, helps that it’s midday Sunday, I guess. They got a hand under me apiece with their soft words and kindness and then I told, hopefully briefly enough, the source of my woes to Jeff. I tried to watch March Madness with him but I’m too fidgety.

Please be nice to the people you love by asking them what constitutes nice for them. And then… behaving that way. You can’t be nice to a person who interprets your every breath as hostile.

I have a headache from crying and I need to stop looking at a screen but between that word and this I’ve put in 812 words on my novel. Watching history repeat itself is so hard, but being history is worse.

Wrote a letter to Lois.

I’m going to have the last of Mike’s congee, watch an Elementary with Jeff and CRASH.

got some errands run

Many thanks to Jeff for being able to deliver biscotti and pick up Burritos yesterday. There was also a bong.

edit:

Jeff mentioned to me I might like to tell the story of how we ended up with a new bong.

Wellllll, it was like this. Around 5 in the ‘day before yesterday’ morning I’m thinking this bong is disgusting, so I cleaned it out in the downstairs sink. I cheated though; all I did was give it a sloosh and change the water and ungunk the bowl, but I didn’t do the deep clean, which involves rock salt and 99% alcohol. I go back upstairs after I practice for a while.

Jeff comes downstairs approximately two hours later. Jeff was watching a wombat come out of its cave on TV and Buster woke up in his lap, saw the eyes of the wombat (which were about the size of a cave bear’s) and HE BOOKED IT LIKE THE NINE WERE AFTER HIM. Nearly rendered Jeff scrotally challenged, but managed not to injure Jeff. However, the bong did not survive. It’s tempered glass, it broke in big pieces, it wasn’t hard to police up.

As you may know, bong water is the most disgusting crap on the planet and if you spill it the stench is lingering and disgusting, especially on an heirloom rug (Granny’s living room)…. but it wasn’t bong water, because I just changed it, so it was water. We put down towels, scattered desiccant packs, and thanked our lucky stars, and went out and got another one. I put felt pucks on the bottom of it so it doesn’t hurt the coffee table.

Honestly, I feel like the champeen of the world…. my luck is never this good.