I got a million of 'em

No. Really. I do. I promise not to post all of the hummingbird photos I have but you should see the caverns of my hard-drive. Or not.


So let me say straight off, today I got nothin'. Oh my, a contradiction - first I got a million, then nothing. Well that certainly made my brain go all wobbly and run about looking for a point. Ah, dear friends, such is my life.

Good grief, I'm starting to feel like I'm being directed by Tim Burton with Johnny playing me ... and no, out of good taste, I shall not pursue that latter thought. As much fun as that would be.


I remember a time when I used to speak in whole sentences and didn't place periods everywhere. For emphasis.

And in my land of no rhyme nor reason -

....you get a dog. Not just any dog, of course. Oh man, is she not just any dog. As illustrated, this one sleeps with her head elevated, thank you very much and has done since we brought her home on her 56th day of life. The only thing I can half-figure out is that the rest of her is so ... um... hefty that she needs the circulation to her brain?


Okay, the reality is she's one of US for pete's sake and is just quirky. Yep, that'd be it.


For the record though, she was a 12-pounder on the aforementioned day which made her over twice the weight of the other puppy.

I have taken several photos at the not-in-Toronto place that I now call home; many birds, pics from the surrounding orchards, animals and such - and, so, you get the dog. Makes perfect sense to me.

Yes I am that scary to everyone who tries to follow the bouncing neurons that are my brain.

Oh and look at that; because I did nothing to this photo except "shrink to fit", you also get the toe of my slipper. It's too bad you can't see the whole giraffe that's stitched on it and its mate. It's odd the things that I now find amusing or catch my eye or please me now that I live where I live. I think I'm more me here than anyplace else I've ever lived, including where I grew up which is a place I never once felt I belonged but man, is that a story for a blog not not about nothing.

So, how does this go again?

"So if you want to...", she said.

"But I have absolutely nothing new in my life, nothing to talk about", I replied. "I LIVE IN THE COUNTRY NOW!!"

"Errrrr, you've noticed the NAME of the blog over the past few years, right?", she admonished.

So here we are then - at least you and me. She, being the owner of this space, is off somewhere doing something or the other ... so she said.

I fear she has plunked me down here, metaphorically speaking, just to prove to you that my brain is empty. Oh, look! A bird! It was a grey and misty/foggy day .... no, seriously. It was. But he's a pretty bird ..... squawwwwwk! A pretty bird!

Um, yeh. I did mention not much is happening on a daily basis now that I live in the COUNTRY?! Nope, not much at all. No traffic. No smog. No noise. No stress from dealing with idiots on the roads, in the shops, walking the pups. It is precisely the way my life was meant to be lived all along, I suspect.

I even know already that after the pups are over the rainbow bridge, there will be cats in my life again and I will finally fulfill my destiny of being known as "oh you know who I mean - that odd woman up the road with the house full of cats" .... as opposed to the phrase "cat house" being used in a sentence referring to moi. That would be just wrong. Or, you know, certainly by then it would just be wrong.

And yes, I DID try to see if I could make the labels for this post longer than the post itself. Thank you for noticing!

And so this is Christmas

Well if the ear worm is now in your .. erm, ear ... my job here is done. What are subject lines for anyway.

I'm sure if you've been paying attention, on this blog subject lines actually mean very little. And being only second banana here, I wouldn't want to stray outside the box.

Well, you know, if you look at this thing from where I'm sitting, it's actually a rectangle, not a box exactly and ...

Oh never mind. My mind wandered and clearly has taken a slight shift somewhere and veered off the road.

Enjoy the out-of-doors ornaments then. They're from last year (and cheap yes) so the finish on them isn't all it originally was but in the sun they shine and sparkle and shimmer and at this time of year - winter - that, my friend, is what it's all about to lift the spirit. The magpie in me wants sparkly, shimmering things surrounding me.

Or you could send gem stones. I do like gem stones.

This concludes today's installment of free association.

Was going to say pointless ... but it's neither here nor there

And so here I sit with absolutely nothing (shut up) on my mind; that could primarily be that it took a bit of effort to shake my cellphone to get this photo from it on to the hard drive of the computer to upload it to ... oh, you get the drift.
The preceding paragraph was meant to be in English but since it turned out the way it did, I can wait a second while you go back and take another shot at making sense of it.

Okay, ready? And .... five, six, seven, eight ....

Thinking back, kids, you can put one and one together and figure out how this useless photo rounds out yesterday's bordering-on-the-insane rantings of the owner of this place.

All said with the appropriate amount of respect and affection. Yes, sir, the measured and appropriate amount.

The funny thing is that if you stare at the sky portion long enough, you can ever so faintly hear "manamanah ....." and swear a little green guy is skipping over the hill.
To those paying attention, yes, that was a mixed reference and if it caused you a sense of unease - well, my job here is done. Life ain't fair you know and the sooner you learn that ... oh, sorry. Forgot where I was for a moment.


Okay. Seriously? Neither of us uses any substance that makes us go wobbly - well, nothing illegal anyhow and this blog is still what you get. Yet you keep coming back. Hmm, yet we keep coming back.

Well isn't life funny sometimes.


As to the labels on the post, well I just wanted to set some kind of record today. I guess the Olympics are getting to me. They're going on now, right?

Upside-down to whom

Yes, it really does work. You'd think there are people out there, manufacturers even, who know more than I do about these things. Well, okay, there are a triple-gazillion people out there who, etc.

And if you question the different slant on things, you can indeed see the silver cap at the top of the page which indicates the hungry bird is indeed on his head to feed.

I'd say within ten minutes of putting this one up, I had two finches begin the feast. What has always intrigued me - and yes I really mean that - is how do they KNOW it's fresh meat, as it were.


The same thing happens when I fill my birdbath. They ... just ... know.



Rather than have you roll your eyes in anticipation of seeing nothing but bird feeders in the coming days, I'll post the second one now. You're welcome.

Oh c'mon. It was nice of him to turn and give us an up-close-and-personal viewing of his being. I know I'd never do that.




Oh and we can all see the obvious, can't we and we won't rag on the writer for it either, that the birds I seek to attract are, yep, yellow.

I did see a pair of purple finches the other day which of course aren't really all that purple.

Oh, look. I'm blathering. My job here, then, is done.

Do I need to clarify that the feeder is photographed with the maple behind? Nah, the delineation of the clear plastic on the right side should be good enough. So I won't type this in then.

Pointless ... but then that's why you come here

This is to toss out the thought that spring will (insert flute and piccolo music representing hope here) arrive in no time.

Well I guess if it came in no time, it would be here and it most decidedly is not. The temperature dropped a tad overnight, to wit: hoods -yes two- and gloves & a third layer of warmth just to walk the animals in the middle of the afternoon.

The photo, by the way, is from last years Spring garden. If you've paid attention at all, you'll realize just how much rust, purple and truly odd colours I favour in my gardens. Most Astilbe in these parts is green. Yes, I have just that much talent to have found this particular plant.

And with that, I shall go unload my dishwasher for I have just that type of busy and productive life also.


Yep, still got nothin' - but then, seriously, would you want to read this if there were any actual points to be made?

Uphill even

So.... in order to bring today's photographic offering to you, it was necessary for yours truly to don winter garb including boots, fer-cryin'out-loud.

And off I went, into the cold, uphill both ways to snap this which illustrates why it feels so damn cold out there. Because it is cold out there. The proof is in that brilliant blue sky which means there are no clouds to hold the heat in. Er, rather simplistic, yes, but you get the drift.

The pretty things are tree-hugging leaves which have had the good sense not to fall into the snow yet. Leaves can think, right?


The dogs were standing beside me as I took this. That counts toward having dogs and posting, as I see it.

Hey, it's chilly and I wasn't all that mentally prepared for the hour I just spent frolicking with them. This post needn't make sense and, look! It really doesn't.

Just gaze at the photo now. Nothing more to see here.

No, really.

Stop reading.

Hey!

Well fine. I'll go then.

And cats

Well, cat, singular.

To go with the dogs, yes.

As the great philosopher OLF once said ... I got nothin'

Lets's see ... I AM going to keep my eye appointment today even though I have an impending migraine and I know the doctor will put those damn drops in my eyes for the glaucoma check.

But on the other hand ... I have the animals to keep me warm.

As to the photo, it is a lovely composition of the subject, isn't it. Until you look past the animal and realize that's not spray-on fake snow and ice on the window behind her.

So, I need to keep my appointment. But it snowed last night and the driving is amazingly slick. But I have animals to lower my blood pressure.

As you can see, my world is full of buts today. Let's hope they all stay the single "t" kind as I hesitatingly go forth into the world.

So ... it's Fall and that usually makes me feel like running away

... so you get a photo of Alcatraz. I understand it's fairly remote and quiet. Oh and it's a real photo yes as the marital unit was just there. In the U.S. on business, that is; not actually being held there.

Anyway, it's Fall on the calendar but Summer in our hearts as the temperatures confirm an all-too-warm planet.

It's to go up to 25 C today and the bulbs in the garden out front are totally confused, what with the little purple things I can't think of the name of poking little shoots above ground.
Oh go back and read that again. I'm sure there's English in there somewhere.

I don't see any vegetation at Alcatraz, though. Maybe it's just too long a shot. I'm sure that's it, yeh.

Whatcha get is whatcha get

And so, gentle readers, this is the Toronto office coming across the ozone and into your lives. Hmm, now that's kind of creepy when you really think that through, isn't it.

Today's pointless photo could have come to you from just about every night this summer so far as, yes, (and watch me lapse into a true Canadian topic, the weather) each evening has been cruelly identical.

Never before have I so looked forward to cooler weather and I'm sure hoping it doesn't take until October for that to become reality.

It's been difficult to take my yearly pointless photos of flowers, of flowers and insects, flowers and flowers, insects and insects. I've been imagining the odd (as in strange/odd) searches that have brought people to the blog because of the insect "porn" mentioned, though. Er, yeh, anyyyyyway ... difficult to take my garden photos because it's just too dry for things to have much joy and beauty going on in that parched clay soil out there.



Well I just typed a bit and deleted same. You're welcome.

It's hot. It's humid. I cannot remember the last time the a/c wasn't on and I'm ... oh a bit cranky and sleepy, I guess. I hate air-conditioning. It offends most of my senses. I'm grateful to be cooler but the constant background white noise makes me a tad irked (read: aggressive). Oh and that's central air; I have no clue whatsoever how folks who use room a/c's don't end up jumping from ledges or seriously harming anyone who crosses their path.

I posted a pretty picture though! Couldn't let SWMBO down, you know.


Now if this isn't up there with the best of the pointless points, I sure as heck don't know what it takes.


And yeh, tired - did I mention? Time for a serious nap.



Just on a personal note, my thoughts are with the family of Det. Cst. Robert Plunkett.