While at Lee Valley yesterday, purchasing a super sexy Christmas Tree stand, we picked up the most fabulous CD - it's called A Toolbox Christmas. A man confused: does he follow his dream of being a musician, or get a job that actually pays his bills, in his case become a carpenter? Heck, why choose one over the other? This dude plays Christmas Carols in his shop - shop vacs, 2 by 4's, pipes, framing squares and (my favourite) a power nailer are just a few of the instruments in his orchestra. Accompanied by a few "traditional" instruments he does some pretty good stuff! I just hope ol' Woody (that's actually his name!) is wearing his safety glasses through all this, and not operating more than one piece of machinery at a time, which it sure sounds like he is! Never the less, this CD is providing me an incredible amount of amusement on this grey and somewhat dreary day!
(On a side note, Lawnmower Dave and his wife put up their Christmas lights today. I've been after Steve for weeks to get the lights up, but now theirs are up first. Again, incredibly jealous of Lawnmower Dave.)
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Oh, the weather outside is frightful....
As is the fact that the only snow removal equipment that we currently own is 2 slightly flimsy shovels and a snow-eating dog. I think the dog may actually work quicker than the shovel!!
Ah, the saga of the Snow continues (and yet, it has hardly even begun!) First we suffer the humiliation and terror of the realities of purchasing “One of those cute little tractors.”
And now with the threat of the first large dump of snow looming, our pitiful substitute for the 2210 Tractor sits in a garage not too far from here, still in pieces. The SnowBlower. The “free” snowblower that is going to cost us at least $600.00 in repairs by the time it is returned to us (which, as you will note, will not likely be in time for the aforementioned large dump of snow.) I hope it works. I hope the years of neglect that it has suffered will be forgiven. I hope that the Snowblower thrives in it’s renewed state, and repays us over and over for rescuing it from certain death.
In the mean time, we’re stuck with the shovels. And a snow eating dog. AND, I forgot to mention, that Lawnmower Dave of course has a blower attachement for his 2210. So we get to watch him plow his driveway all pretty clean all winter long. And be very jealous of Lawnmower-Snowblower Dave. Again.
Ah, winter!
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!
Ah, the saga of the Snow continues (and yet, it has hardly even begun!) First we suffer the humiliation and terror of the realities of purchasing “One of those cute little tractors.”
And now with the threat of the first large dump of snow looming, our pitiful substitute for the 2210 Tractor sits in a garage not too far from here, still in pieces. The SnowBlower. The “free” snowblower that is going to cost us at least $600.00 in repairs by the time it is returned to us (which, as you will note, will not likely be in time for the aforementioned large dump of snow.) I hope it works. I hope the years of neglect that it has suffered will be forgiven. I hope that the Snowblower thrives in it’s renewed state, and repays us over and over for rescuing it from certain death.
In the mean time, we’re stuck with the shovels. And a snow eating dog. AND, I forgot to mention, that Lawnmower Dave of course has a blower attachement for his 2210. So we get to watch him plow his driveway all pretty clean all winter long. And be very jealous of Lawnmower-Snowblower Dave. Again.
Ah, winter!
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Wind Warning Indeed!!
While most of Southern Ontario has been in the midst of a wind warning for the past few days, let me share with you what a wind warning means for us up here on the “Roof.”
Think of your home, or your place of residence, whatever form it may take. House, apartment, shanty, whatever. And consider your surroundings, the property you live on, your neighborhood, etc. Now consider an incredibly blustery day. A blow your had off and down the block kind of day. A whip the screen door off it’s hinges kind of blustery day. A bad day to put your recycling (paper, plastics, a couch, whatever) on the curb because there’s a good chance it’ll end up down the block kind of blustery day. Keeping in mind your home and it’s property, where would be the LEAST logical place to hang out on said incredibly blustery day? If you guessed the roof of your house, you’re absolutely correct! It’s windy up there on your roof on a day like today. Nothing to block the wind, nothing to prevent it from slamming into you at 90 miles per hour and knocking you flat on your butt!!
Well, we live on the Roof of the Province. The highest point in Ontario. Not the smartest place to be on a blustery day! The province’s first large scale wind project is just around the corner from us. One would deduce that this is a windy sort of place then!!
Last night the howling of the wind woke me up at 3am. I feared for our pretty little home. I feared for the poor plastic greenhouse (ie: wind tunnel) outside in our driveway. I even feared for the cast iron furniture, placed quaintly outside the glass garden doors. I seriously feared for the glass garden doors!! The wind was coming from a different direction than it usually does last night, and the pictures on the wall above our bed were vibrating, because the wind was slamming into the side of the house just that hard. I’ve been filling the birdfeeder on a daily basis, because the effects the ride that I have since christened as the “Birdatron” (see previous post entitled "I'll Huff and I'll puff" for an explanation of the Birdatron) is that the bird feed gets strewn all over the porch and yard in a circular fashion. I think the birds may have to find their own damn food until this windy thing passes.
Last time it was windy like this, we were woken at a similar time by the sound of our garbage cans tumbling across the backyard. Fearing for my neighbors glass garden doors, I strapped them down good. They didn’t wake us this time! Ha Ha!
Now if only we could figure out how the harvest the power in the pretty little ornamental windmill on our front lawn, we’d be set!
Think of your home, or your place of residence, whatever form it may take. House, apartment, shanty, whatever. And consider your surroundings, the property you live on, your neighborhood, etc. Now consider an incredibly blustery day. A blow your had off and down the block kind of day. A whip the screen door off it’s hinges kind of blustery day. A bad day to put your recycling (paper, plastics, a couch, whatever) on the curb because there’s a good chance it’ll end up down the block kind of blustery day. Keeping in mind your home and it’s property, where would be the LEAST logical place to hang out on said incredibly blustery day? If you guessed the roof of your house, you’re absolutely correct! It’s windy up there on your roof on a day like today. Nothing to block the wind, nothing to prevent it from slamming into you at 90 miles per hour and knocking you flat on your butt!!
Well, we live on the Roof of the Province. The highest point in Ontario. Not the smartest place to be on a blustery day! The province’s first large scale wind project is just around the corner from us. One would deduce that this is a windy sort of place then!!
Last night the howling of the wind woke me up at 3am. I feared for our pretty little home. I feared for the poor plastic greenhouse (ie: wind tunnel) outside in our driveway. I even feared for the cast iron furniture, placed quaintly outside the glass garden doors. I seriously feared for the glass garden doors!! The wind was coming from a different direction than it usually does last night, and the pictures on the wall above our bed were vibrating, because the wind was slamming into the side of the house just that hard. I’ve been filling the birdfeeder on a daily basis, because the effects the ride that I have since christened as the “Birdatron” (see previous post entitled "I'll Huff and I'll puff" for an explanation of the Birdatron) is that the bird feed gets strewn all over the porch and yard in a circular fashion. I think the birds may have to find their own damn food until this windy thing passes.
Last time it was windy like this, we were woken at a similar time by the sound of our garbage cans tumbling across the backyard. Fearing for my neighbors glass garden doors, I strapped them down good. They didn’t wake us this time! Ha Ha!
Now if only we could figure out how the harvest the power in the pretty little ornamental windmill on our front lawn, we’d be set!
Monday, November 14, 2005
Cancer, and Horses (2 totally unrelated topics)
So my Dad died last week. It was a pretty shitty week, to say the least. In fact, as far as shitty events in my life go, I think this currently tops the list. Although I can’t say that it’s a terribly long list, so I guess I should consider myself lucky that way. Except I don’t feel very lucky right now.
Dad died last week on Monday November 7th, at 5:55 in the afternoon (a time my Mom predicted, in fact.) He was in the hospital, only briefly, and went peacefully and quietly, just the way he wanted to. He fought like a S.O.B. against the cancer that started to attack him about 4 years ago. But he lost.
Cancer is evil. Cancer sucks. The thing that sucks even more about cancer is that something like 1 in 3 people will get it. There are things that you can do to keep the evil away, and I highly suggest that everyone take a look into it, cause chances are pretty good that you or one you love is going to end up with it. My dad never had time to go to the doctor, never thought too much about his health at all. He saw more doctors in the past 4 years than he did in the 53 years preceding that. But it was too late. And although I think he lived longer than an ordinary person might have done, faced with the same circumstances, he still went way to fricking soon. So stop smoking all you silly people, eat well, live right, and when something feels “funny”, swallow your stupid pride and go to the damn doctor!! Unfortunately sometimes it sneaks up on you and it’ll get you anyway, but do everything you can do to avoid it. It sucks.
When I got home after spending the past 2 weeks between Mom and Dad’s house, the hospital, and my brother’s house, I discovered something that made me pretty happy in the midst of all this sucking. Horses, 2 of them, that had previously been residing way way far back in the neighbors field, have been moved to the pasture that is outside my kitchen window. I decided that I was going to bestow them with names, since if we were going to be friends we should be on a first name basis. I’m sure they already have names, but I don’t care! One of them is a dark black beauty, I decided to call her Grace because I like the way she walks. The other one is a massive Palomino, with hooves bigger than my head. She is a soft luscious brown colour, with a white wispy mane and tail. I named her Willow, something about her size, and the way her tail fluttered in the breeze. Now a cynic may notice that I have a pair of horses essentially named Will and Grace, but they bear no relation whatsoever to the TV show. Grace (Or Gracey as I’ll call her) and Willow are fantastically beautiful creatures, and I’m so happy that they’ve decided to move into view of my kitchen window!
Dad died last week on Monday November 7th, at 5:55 in the afternoon (a time my Mom predicted, in fact.) He was in the hospital, only briefly, and went peacefully and quietly, just the way he wanted to. He fought like a S.O.B. against the cancer that started to attack him about 4 years ago. But he lost.
Cancer is evil. Cancer sucks. The thing that sucks even more about cancer is that something like 1 in 3 people will get it. There are things that you can do to keep the evil away, and I highly suggest that everyone take a look into it, cause chances are pretty good that you or one you love is going to end up with it. My dad never had time to go to the doctor, never thought too much about his health at all. He saw more doctors in the past 4 years than he did in the 53 years preceding that. But it was too late. And although I think he lived longer than an ordinary person might have done, faced with the same circumstances, he still went way to fricking soon. So stop smoking all you silly people, eat well, live right, and when something feels “funny”, swallow your stupid pride and go to the damn doctor!! Unfortunately sometimes it sneaks up on you and it’ll get you anyway, but do everything you can do to avoid it. It sucks.
When I got home after spending the past 2 weeks between Mom and Dad’s house, the hospital, and my brother’s house, I discovered something that made me pretty happy in the midst of all this sucking. Horses, 2 of them, that had previously been residing way way far back in the neighbors field, have been moved to the pasture that is outside my kitchen window. I decided that I was going to bestow them with names, since if we were going to be friends we should be on a first name basis. I’m sure they already have names, but I don’t care! One of them is a dark black beauty, I decided to call her Grace because I like the way she walks. The other one is a massive Palomino, with hooves bigger than my head. She is a soft luscious brown colour, with a white wispy mane and tail. I named her Willow, something about her size, and the way her tail fluttered in the breeze. Now a cynic may notice that I have a pair of horses essentially named Will and Grace, but they bear no relation whatsoever to the TV show. Grace (Or Gracey as I’ll call her) and Willow are fantastically beautiful creatures, and I’m so happy that they’ve decided to move into view of my kitchen window!
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