Frank and Zappa's Garden

It feels like the past few weeks have been a marathon of sorts, and we have made it to the finish line, we’ve survived and come out the other side. I’ve been so tired and so busy and then more tired, but finally we’ve had a chance to take a breather.

We’ve spent the past week getting the house put to rights after the flooring installation. While we were at it, we did some cleaning and sorting and got rid of a bunch of stuff. It was a lot of work, but I feel better now.

Thursday was rainy, though by evening the sun was trying to shine through. I happened to look out the window just at the right time to catch sight of the brightest rainbow I have seen in ages.

It was a nice start to the long weekend. Friday we spent finishing up the cleaning and sorting, then Dad, Mom and Nathan arrived in the afternoon and it was time to sit back and relax a bit.

My garden shed got a little facelift that makes me smile every time I see it…

Thanks Dad and Nathan!

Mom and I had fun shopping on Saturday. Mom was shopping for shoes and a handbag and, amazingly, Mom found two pairs of shoes and a purse, and I did not buy any shoes! I did find a nice blazer though. Fun to have someone to shop with!

We had sunny weather for the long weekend, but it was chilly. Spring is certainly taking it’s time this year!

We’ve been enjoying the blooms on our cherry tree and forsythia bushes for the past week. I checked my pictures from last year, and they were at least a week earlier last year.

Today I puttered at a nice slow pace. Nice not to be rushing around, unpacking boxes or heavy duty cleaning. It was a rainy day though. Hopefully the weather will clear and  warm up soon so I can get started on the garden.

A little silliness before I say good night…

Good night!

Frank was gone for two weeks, and every day of that two weeks I cried. Every day of that two weeks I was looking out windows, scanning the hillside; every time we drove up to the house I was looking for Frank, up on the hill or on the front step.

So when I drove up to the house on Thursday afternoon and saw a big, grey, tabby sitting at the door, I prepared myself for another disappointment. It must be Zappa…Except that we had finally fixed the fence on Monday after work, so Zappa should not have been sitting there on the step. As I slowly pulled into the driveway, the cat on the step turned to face me and it was Frank.

As I pulled the car in, Frank panicked and bolted. He ran to the far corner of the cat fence, then stopped and turned back. By this time I was out of the car, going after him. I was afraid of spooking him again, but he stood there looking at me and meowing until I picked him up.

Poor Cory. He lived through two weeks of my crying because Frank was gone, and in I  walked carrying my wet and filthy cat, bawling my eyes out again. I was just so overwhelmed, and we were both amazed that Frank had made it home.

It had been raining for tow days, though by the time I got home on Thursday the sun was out. So Frank wet;  he was thinner, his fur was matted, he had twigs, branches and leaves hanging off of him and we could feel that he had ticks. He couldn’t seem to settle. He’d walk all around, maybe making sure he was really here and everything was as he’d left it? He’d go eat a little. He’d rub up against us. He’d walk around some more. And repeat.

Hungry Kitty

We started noticing little smudges of blood on the floor as he walked around, so we called the vet and they said to come over and they’d see him as soon as they could.

Frank weighed in at 14.3 pounds, as compared to 17 lb on his last visit. It’s a visible difference, and you can feel his spine, hip bones and ribs sticking out. He’s been eating and drinking steadily though, so he should fill out again.

The vet removed at least a half dozen ticks, Cory and I have removed 7 more since then.

Frank has a wound on his side. The vet said it looked like he had an abscess and it burst. Likely he got in a fight with something, and took a wound that became infected. The vet said he would have been sick and feverish. So all I can think is that he got hurt and found a place to hide out somewhere until he was well enough to come home?

The vet had to shave the area to clean the wound, and his fur was so matted that she ended up shaving most of  his belly and chest. He’s looking a little raggedy right now.

Frank Fur - iPhone Photo

The vet cleaned the  wound and gave him a shot of antibiotics, and then I brought him home. The wound on his is still open, but the vet thought it was healing okay on it’s own. If it doesn’t look like it’s closing up by tomorrow though, we have to take him back to the vet.

Frank seems to not want to be alone. We didn’t get much sleep the first night because he kept coming and waking us up. For the first two days, Frank would only settle if I was in the same room. If I left the room, even just to go to the bathroom, he’d come after me meowing. He doesn’t seem interested in wandering far at the moment. He’ll go out in the enclosure, and he likes to sleep on the deck in the sun as long as I stay there with him. I’d like to think that will last, but I suppose it won’t.

Zappa unfortunately seems to be not quite sure it’s Frank. While Frank was gone, he wandered around the house meowing like something wasn’t right. He was super clingy. Now that Frank is back, he doesn’t seem to recognize him. I feel bad for him, but I am hoping things will get back to normal.

How things should be - iPhone photo from a morning during Cory's last Japan trip

Watching suspiciously from a distance - iPhone photo

Taking to the high ground

The sun is finally showing it’s face. Since Thursday, we’ve had sun every day. My second wave of crocuses are starting and things are slowly starting to turn green.

Deer will eat these any day now

First there was this visible line in the cushion floor, just inside the kitchen. The seam turned into a crack, and we watched it grow. Finally, the crack turned into a hole when Cory was walking through and caught his foot on it. The hole keeps getting a little bigger every day. It seems like we have to bite the bullet and make a decision.

Decision being the operative word. To know me it to know that I don’t like making them. It’s a big, scary, deal. Has to be done though, so here goes.

I like spaces that are bright, and full of light. I have always liked that about our kitchen. We do have a lot of difference tones going on though.

Because of our heavy dining room set, tile seems like the way to go. It’s a very solid set, and the bottom of the chair legs are problematic in their potential to put dents in flooring.

Yesterday, we brought home 3 different tiles to look at in our kitchen. Cory and I immediately agreed on the one we liked – no contest.

Today, we brought home the one we liked yesterday, plus 3 other samples. Cory is decided. I am unsure.

Options 1 & 2

Options 3 & 4

Options 2 & 1

Options 4 & 3

Options 2 & 1

Options 4 & 3

Thoughts? Opinions? Votes?

We’ve had a spring-like Easter weekend. Lots of sun, the snow is pretty much gone, and my Firefly Crocuses are blooming. Here’s hoping spring is finally here!

Early in the week, there was still snow on the ground.

Tuesday, March 26

Wednesday, March 28

But is has been slowly disappearing (again, it was pretty much all gone before the – hopefully final – snow storm we had on March 20).

Yesterday in the garden, there was no snow to be found.

As you can see, our fence is not exactly functional at the moment. From the look of our shrubs, we’ve had some deer stopping by.

So that will have to be fixed, though the cats have been enjoying the freedom (unfortunately). We were out doing some shopping on Saturday, and looked for cable ties to fix the fence; I was hoping we could do it this weekend, but unfortunately we were unable to find the right kind of ties. Hopefully we will track them down this week.

Cory brought home more treats from Japan when he returned last week. Our fancy whiskey decanter collection has doubled and my supply of Kit Kat Dark chocolate bars has been replenished. He also brought home a good supply of barley tea.

When he first started travelling to Japan it was hard to get used to. Now we’re kind of used to all the things he brings home and we’ll probably miss it once all the travelling is finished.

We enjoyed a lazy long weekend. I think Cory was still a bit tired from his trip – it takes a while to adjust to that 12 hour time change, especially coming back this way.

Sadly, the long weekend is over and it’s time to go back to work. No more sleeping in, for the  humans anyway…

This time last year, Cory and I were starting our vacation in Japan! Hard to believe it’s been a year already. I remember that we’d had some cold and snowy weather leading up to vacation time, but the morning that I left [so very early] for the airport, it was quite warm.

This month started off with some wintry weather. I woke Monday morning to a forecast of snow, freezing rain, and rain; I decided it was a good day to work from home.

I changed my mind! Let me in!

By afternoon the snow was melting. There are definitely still large patches of snow out there, but also many large areas of bare ground.

I happened to see some posts on facebook last week about Ray’s Reptile Zoo coming to the Saint John Hilton. What caught my attention was the photo of a man – Ray, one presumes – holding a Lynx. So Thursday I headed down to the Hilton to check it out. I only spent about a half hour there, since I was on my lunch break, but I felt it was well worth the admission price.

Personally, I’m not so interested  in snakes; nothing against them, just not my thing I guess. They also had a couple of birds: a turkey vulture and a hawk – much more interesting to me.

Harris Hawk

Turkey Vulture

The turkey vulture was putting on quite a show, extending his wings and standing right up, but there was a lot of glare so it was hard to get a good photo. It was impressive though.

There were reptiles other than snakes of course.

White Throated Monitor

Curviers Dwarf Caiman

Bearded Dragon

They had an alligator and a tortoise that you could actually get close to and touch (handlers present), and they were of course crowded with kids. I happened upon the start of a demonstration that involved audience participation…

And, finally, the Eurasian Lynx – meet Hazard. In typical feline fashion, she was doing her best to ignore everyone; not that I blame her. Isn’t she beautiful though!

Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo sounds like a really good organization. They are a zoo, but they are also an animal rescue. They take in wild animals that would otherwise have no place else to go, and they work to educate, and to advocate for animals.

It was an enjoyable change of pace from the usual work day and if they come back I will try to visit again.

…So we went out for Italian!

Note: I started this post on Feb. 10 and didn’t get a chance to finish & publish. I am publishing now, back dated, as if I did finish on the 10th. Too lazy for rewrites!

It was really cold this week. The cats gave every appearance that they were determined to sleep through the rest of this whole nasty winter situation.

This week was also February Fork Off in Saint John. Many of the local restaurants had special Fork Off menus with new items to try. Starting on Wednesday at lunch, Cory and I embarked on a restaurant tour to try out as much as we could.

Blizzard Conditions

Our plan for Saturday evening was Italian By Night at Urban Deli. The forecast called for a blizzard, and we did get a storm, but we braved the weather and stuffed ourselves  silly.

We ended up not going with the three course Fork Off menu. One of the courses was a Wild Mushroom Risotto, which decided me right away (mushrooms…yuck) and Cory wanted to try the whole four course Italian dinner.

My charming dinner companion, checking his email

Meanwhile, I enjoyed the ambiance

The waitress helped me to avoid anything too mushroom-y, and we ordered our courses. Portions were bigger than expected.

His - The Fork Off Plate appetizer, Penne in a sausage, tomato & cream sauce, Lasagna (which had mushrooms), and Pavlova

Hers - Salad with pancetta, pomegranate arils, and pine nuts, Vegetable Cannelloni, Chicken & Eggplant Parmesan, Brownie

Yes, I brought home leftovers. Even though I thought I would never be hungry again.

We played Sudoku together…We are so romantic.

We really enjoyed Italian By Night. The food was good, that atmosphere was relaxed. It felt very different from the day time Urban Deli (which is also good, to be fair).

It was still stormy, but the roads were really not that bad. There wasn’t a lot of traffic, but there were some people out and about.

By Sunday morning, the storm was all over. We really didn’t get a lot of snow, but we did have a lot of wind which did more damage to our cat fence. We really need some warm weather on a weekend so we can get out and fix it, but somehow that never happens.

Looking forward to spring!

After watching the birds at the feeders in Cory’s parents yard, I decided I wanted to get a suet feeder for the winter – the peanuts just disappear too quickly! Then I discovered I could get suet balls made to fit in the peanut wreath feeder. That was too convenient an option to pass up, so by early January we were all set up.

Unfortunately, there haven’t been many birds around. I was all excited on the 16th of January when I  saw these little guys.

But I haven’t seen them very often.

Thursday, was a beautiful warm day. It was 10.5 degrees Celcius in the morning when I was leaving for work. It was lovely!

I was walking down the stairs and what do I see out the front door but a flock of birds descending on our lawn.

When I got home from work that afternoon, the suet balls were almost gone.

I’ve seen a few birds show up since then, but not the whole flock. Though I suppose I’d have to be looking out at just the right time to see them.

With all the warm weather, our snow was almost gone. It felt like spring for a couple of days this week. But of course it is too early in the winter for that to last. It turned cold again on Friday, and today we got snow.

Can anyone tell me what these birds are? I don’t have a good close up shot unfortunately; I’m shooting through windows and they don’t stay still for long!