Of Tea and Cadence

I don’t exactly love tea, but I missed it on the weekend when Sue absconded to her sister’s in Toronto. Après lunch and dinner tea has become part of our cadence of living, so there was a bit of a void when Sue was gone and when my routine became a non-routine. 

While it is within the realm of possibility that I can brew tea, I didn’t. Then, the problem became what to drink in its place, especially with that stabilizing routine temporarily lost. So next time, I will do it differently and make tea, but I will still be out my routine and rhythm and a little bit lost. Or not lost really but just a wee bit untethered.

When she got back home on Monday afternoon, we had tea at supper and watched tv during and after dinner, and it seemed right.

Sue brought back some photos from the collection that Heather inherited from their mother. This, below, is of Sue’s grandmother, Alice, and her mother, Pearl. It was early in the war when Sue’s dad was off the fight the Hun, and of he who was in the womb was destined to later become Sue's big brother.

I had hoped to recover grandmother’s shadowy face and instructed AI to do so as I had in a previous old photo that I posted some time ago.  Unfortunately, AI just made new faces, so I discarded that attempt. I then tried to fix the face on my own, but it was beyond my ability, so I was only able to touch up the old photo in my usual ways. 

Before I switch from my tablet to the computer to find the photo, I will add that Sue’s family lived with her grandparents until they passed on. Her dad kept adding to the house to make room for everyone as Sue and her three siblings began to fill the space, but for awhile, Sue and her two sisters slept in a little room that wasn’t much more than a narrow passageway  

Lip-Smacking Good

When Sue and Sha were just a little over an hour from home, they stopped at Kingston for food and fuel. Sha sent this photo and wrote: "Amma discovers Popeyes."

When they were back on the road, Sue shared her endorsement: "That was the most spectacular chicken sandwich I have ever ever had. It’s gonna go down in the Hall of Fame wonderful food."

I had barely heard of Popeyes, and now I am wondering where the closest one is. I guess the full name is Popeyes Louisiana Chicken, and GMAP tells me that the nearest is in Smiths Falls, just a half hour away. There are several in Ottawa with the closest also being about a half hour away. But then we'd have to pass Swiss Chalet to get to it, and that would be tough.

A few hours later, she was home, but she didn’t require much for supper for some reason.  

Jiggered

I wrote it in a comment: "I'll be jiggered."

Where did that come from. It is not part of my vocabulary, but there it was popping onto the screen. It's an expression of surprise that my maternal grandfather used to use — the grandfather whom I haven't conversed with for 66 years. I had to look it up to be sure that I was remembering correctly and also getting the usage right. Strangely enough, I was.

adjective

Informal.

1. confounded; damned.

   I'm jiggered if I know what that sign means. (dictionary.com)

Meanwhile . . . 

Sue left me for the weekend, but I carried on as usual, within reason. On Saturday I parked at Market Square and walked north toward the trail bridge but not quite all of the way. I keep hoping for a good snowmobile photo, but those boys tend to ride black machines and wear black clothes.

I bought a coffee and breakfast sandwich and parked in our usual spot. I decided to maintain tradition and take a selfie without Sue. I did roll up the rim, but I am afraid that I didn't win. My open coat testifies that it was a mild day although the next day was extremely cold.

Soon after getting back home, Danica and Jonathan dropped by to keep me company, and we played cribbage. I am sure that Sue requested that they visit me. We were busy trying to remember how to play three-handed crib, so I didn't take pictures. We were figuring the game out by the end.

I shopped for groceries on Sunday, but it was so cold that I put off my walk until late afternoon. There is warming in the forecast, but that begins tomorrow. I did walk in the afternoon. After parking at Market Square again, I walked south along the trail and ended up at the rink where one kid was doing his bit with a stick and puck on the very bumpy ice. With the impending warmer weather, the outdoor skating season is about to end. I decided to replace the banal suburban background with snowy mountains.

Good grief! It’s -28B/-19F this morning, before we head into two weeks of daytime temperatures above freezing. No walky for me this morning. Sue will return home this afternoon. 

Fragile

In my recent tee shirt photoshoot by Sue, I was struck by something, particularly in this ↓ take, which I haven't shown until now.

It was how frail I looked.

I took the phone down to Sue to show her what I was seeing. Did my beloved reassure me that such was not the case? Did she tell me that I looked robust? No, she didn't! She just agreed that I look frail and said that I was almost 80. I was shattered, I tell you.

And then, when I met with the boys and showed the photo and told them what Sue had said, Bob said the words. "You are frail." So, there we are, and here I am. 

Now I have an ex-friend and a wife who is on shaky ground. ;)

But then I got this question on my previous post: "Has anyone told you are just too darn cute?" Well no, not until now or at least not for a very long time. This makes me feel better, and could I please have your phone number? lol

There's nothing more to say about that, so onward to some talk about photo editing.

I wanted to either crop the photo ↑ to eliminate the vacuum hose or just edit it away. Then I thought to see what photoshop could do if I asked for a "cream colored wall background" The result ↓  Unfortunately, it added some floor which I didn't notice at the time or I would have tried again.

I got more ambitious and wondered if it could take Sue out of this ↓ photo and put me in it. 

Photoshop did a good job. While such a merge would have been theoretically possible in the old days and ways, it would be been a very difficult and time-consuming task, and I, personally wouldn't have had the skill.

While I have very mixed feelings about AI creations, I think it is fair enough to use it for editing tasks that I would have liked to have done without it but couldn’t quite summon either the time or skill or both. So, I do find it acceptable to allow AI to do some of the heavy lifting for me. AI does it easier, quicker and usually better. 

Here's another result from the tee shirt shoot in which I replaced the background differently and then merged two photos into one composite. I think I should have been bigger in the goose shirt, but that is my fault; Photoshop AI just handled the actual blending (ie lighting) of the two images.

I have some fun experimenting with the new editing tools that make it easier to reach my vision although that seems to be too strong of a word for the basic work that I do.

Fit to a Tee

Last summer, with the Trumpian threats to Canadian sovereignty abounding, patriotism and messaging were expressed in various ways. Myriad tee-shirts expressed myriads of sentiments, or at least the same sentiment in myriads of ways. I wished to display my own patriotism in an understated and tasteful way, so I purchased one of these ↓ so, of course, I opted for the shirt on the bottom right with the red maple leaves.

I did post a few photos with it on last summer (first photo below), but I don't think that I ever drew attention to it. Now, so you can see it better, I've had Sue take a new photo, the second photo.

Now, go back ↑ and guess which one you think I have now ordered? Don't scroll until you guess. Answer will be revealed below.

Sue and Other Random Photos

I have nothing but pictures these days, but what else is there in February? I have had some thoughts about politics and hockey at the Olympics, but I think I will just let them subside. So, I'll just keep plodding on, doing what I do.

I begin with two photos of Sue from a recent walk. The bridge photo required removal and replacing of the background houses, but I liked the basis, so I went ahead and made the edits. For the bench photo, I had to get Sue peeking through all of the messy branches. Believe me, there are other recent Sue photos, but I am showing at least some restraint.

I posted the candle scone from the coffee shop recently, but decided that it needed to be lit.

Snow on branches as I look down from the trail bridge. What looks like a wall; in the background is actually the river from this angle.

Two ladies and their dogs in the park and by the trail. Most of the dog-walkers are women. They kept fidgetting, so I had to blend two photos into one.

Snow on and around our mailbox, but it doesn’t matter because the mailbox is quite redundant since our mail is delivered to community boxes just a little way down the street.

Finally, and at long last, I thought the ice and snow patterns on the distributary that flows around the mill that is being converted into apartments were interesting. Of greater interest to me, however, was the fellow just standing on the ledge by the wall, so I zoomed in and took a second shot. It's seemed like an odd place to hang out.

The Snow Pile and More

There is quite a mound of snow on the front lawn.

But it's not like last year, which was taken a few days earlier in February than this year's photos.

We had a good walk yesterday. The weather was rather nice, so we walked a little farther than we have been lately. We walked the bridge trail although this photo is from a little beyond the bridge. This is a shared-access trail. The pedestrian part is plowed, but the snow is fairly thick on the snowmobile side.

Then, we did our coffee routine, but we did the selfie differently. I got out of the car, went around to Sue's side, and stuck my head through the window. By the way, it's Roll up the Rim time at Tims. No, we didn't win anything on our first try and likely never will.

Meanwhile, light is returning. This was our living room at 5:17pm. I was so delighted that I had to take a snap.