Caturday 24: She Must Have Heard

You probably don't remember, but about six months ago or more, before the pandemic anyway, we purchased a cave sort of bed for Lacey.

Since then, it has sat on the floor behind my computer chair totally ignored.

We had all but decided to donate it to the cat rescue lady.

Lacey must have heard because when I came upstairs after lunch yesterday, there she was, curled up and asleep.

Of course, she awakened when I tried to take a picture.

We'll have to see if this was a one-off or whether she will begin to use it on a somewhat regular basis.

Reunion

We met halfway on the shores of Stoco Lake on the Moira River in the village of Tweed.

Sue's sister, Heather, on the left.

Heather lives in Toronto and what with COVID and all, we haven't visited for a little over a year. So, as I wrote above, we met approximately halfway and had a four hour visit in very pleasant spot.

As you can see, she brought her dog, Callie, whom she actually adopted here on her last visit, 13 months ago.

Tweed Memorial Park proved to be a fine venue for our rendezvous, both for humans and canid.

Heather brought little gifts with a rainbow theme, and I guess we also brought a gift, if garden fresh tomatoes count.

But the main thing was to enjoy our reunion: true for all of us, but perhaps especially for Heather who has had a very difficult year.

In all there and back, we drove for four hours for a four hour get-together, but it was a good thing to do. Hopefully, we can do it again before winter closes in on us once more.

And that dog, Callie; I think I'll have to devote a whole post to her.

Dreams and Coffee

 I swear that I had never done this before -- ever -- but now I have done it twice within one week.

I made coffee with my tassimo without inserting the mug.

Thankfully, there is a removable mug-size container underneath for dolts like me. And I didn't spill this time when I poured the contents into the mug. At least not much. Not like last time anyway.

What can you expect from a codger when he wakes up at least an hour, if not two or three, too early at 4AM? 

That's just stupid, but there's a reason, just not a good one.

Despite having retired almost two decades past, I had a wild school dream that had got my mind going. It wasn't a first day back to school dream, but I had done something really stupid and embarrassing which had irked my fellow teachers. I was trying to explain my action away, even to myself after I awoke. Some dreams are like that; you are still trying to sort them out as you awaken.

It was then that I also realized that my throat was scratchy, and I started thinking COVID after a day when I had been in a few shops.

So, my brain and I went over the symptoms. My breathing was okay, but as far as taste and smell, I couldn't tell yet, there not really being anything to taste and smell in bed at 4 in the morning. I didn't remember scratchy throats being a symptom, but on the other hand, my throat is  a weak spot and gets included in almost every ailment that finds me.

That was that! With mind spinning haplessly, I arose, which didn't altogether thrill me because I have a full day ahead with some travelling involved. Sigh.

Back to coffee: there was also the time, not too long ago, when I made a pot without adding the coffee.

Oh dear! Are these symptoms of you know what? Could be. But I am somewhat consoled by the reality that I have always always been absent-minded, so perhaps it's all just a fluke -- a fluke brought on my a lack of sleep.

For it is true that I am simply not getting enough sleep and haven't been for weeks. Too often my sleeps are less than six hours, and last night it was less than five. 

The Front Garden

I go on and on in this post, describing our garden. It's partly for my personal future benefit because over the long winter I will forget much of it. Don't feel obliged to linger.

Yesterday, I took a few quick snaps of our garden what passes for our garden at the front. It was quite sunny, and I could barely see the LCD screen, but y'know . . .

In addition to the garden itself, we have mulched over most of the space that isn't actual garden because growing grass is not for the the amateur around here. The mulch goes all of the way to the back, leaving only a little in the front. Keep in mind that our property is to the right, the neighbours' to the left. They have done nothing. Around the tree, however, our garden extends to their side.

From the above, you can see the layout, such as it is. We have a border by the driveway and an area around the tree. In the border, near to the sidewalk, there is a pot of geraniums and petunias. Up the side there are several varieties of yellow daylilies that thrive in the awful soil there. The daylilies are almost done blooming. To my shame, I haven't deadheaded yet although Sue has done some in passing. They also need to be divided, but alas . . .

In the centre part around the tree, there are three pots of white begonias at the front and one dwarf phlox on the extreme right. We have had ground phlox (sublata) at the front but recently pulled the scrawny remainder after years of trying. Even though I try to improve the soil in the hole where I plant, it is extremely poor underneath. Bedrock is near the surface hereabouts. Where we have the one white phlox, I once tried to grow a row, but only the one plant remains. We have tried other plants at times, such as penstemon, but none have done well. So, for now at least, we make do with pots of annuals.

Above, Sue walked into the photo and is watering the star of this year's garden. a pot of impatiens. We didn't even purchase this ourselves; daughter picked it up for us. As glorious as it looks, the container is small, so Sue (and sometimes, I, under her instructions because I never seldom think of it) water frequently.

Here is a closeup of the impatiens.

Also in the second photo, above, you can see echinacea to the left. They also extend around the back where they were originally planted. The echinacea is one plant that does well enough for us and it has extended itself, with some help, along the left side after the originals failed.

This is taken from the back of the garden, looking toward the street.

So, daylilies and echinacea are pretty well all that remains from the various perennials that we planted years ago. I think it has been the growth of the tree and the subsequent increase in shade that has done in some of the original plants, like the very pretty penstemon that we once had, and I even forget the other flower that didn't last. They did well enough for a few years, but then the tree did what trees do, and grew to cast more shade.

What you can't see is that behind the echinacea (or in front if you were looking form the street, where it is is quite shady, we have planted some shade plants such as heuchera and hostas. We would probably have made more additions this year, had it not been for the pandemic which caused us to avoid nurseries for the most part. The only new plant has been a single hosta which I planted  a little late when I finally felt brave enough to go to the nursery.

Finally, for now, because I have been incomplete in my picture-taking although at the same time I have prattled on at length, I show you the strip of petunias between the walk the driveway. The crazy thing is that many of these flowers are volunteers from last years flowers.

As hard as it is to believe, we didn't plant any white this year, and some of the other darker flowers are also volunteers. The bedraggled looking plant to the extreme left is a chive that we brought across province 15 years ago, It originally came from a beloved neighbour's garden, so it has history and causes nostalgic feelings.

It is almost 7AM; fall is in the air, for it is still only 13C/55F, and I have been forced to don a sweatshirt over my pjs. However, I must now put on normal clothes, for it is time to take out the trash.

Feast after Famine

It had been 8 months between sales, but as you know, I recently sold 5 framed prints. And now, lo and behold, someone else has purchased another 5. It may be another 8 months or even never before my next sale. Who can know?

This was a private sale, so without having to pay commision or reinvest in new frames (I just sold the actual prints this time), I take home a few more $. That is rather appreciated because I will soon need to invest >$100 in photo paper. That's what a package of 50 costs. After expenses, this hobby doesn't really yield much, but it still pleases me to do this.

Autumn in the Old Growth

Flooded Tree

Blossom Sunday

Gently the Dawn

Autumn Lane

More Britishisms

After posting of the way that Brits use the word, presently (as in soonish), and also mentioning their cute use of telly instead of tv, I decided to mention a few other variances.

I only decided to do this when I saw the word fracas posted somewhere or other. While most of us say FRA-cas, I hear them saying fra-CAW. We say the S and tend to emphasize the first syllable; they don't say the S and emphasize the second syllable. (By the way, if you can't tell, I don't know how to properly write phonetically, so I do my own thing.)

We do the reverse with café, however. We emphasize the second syllable (caFAY) while they say CAFay.

Oh, and by the way, with their myriad of local accents, I don't pretend to know how all Brits say these words but am repeating the way that I usually hear them on telly.

Another difference is not pronouncing the ary ending in words like secretary but skipping a syllable and just saying tree as in secretree.

However, when I recently asked a Brit expat how he said it, he did use the two-syllable ARY ending. He claimed that this was part of his public school education, which is another odd difference because their public schools are really akin to our private schools.

It's breakfast time, and I could really enjoy a bacon sarnie rather than cereal. Alas, I am on the wrong side of the pond.

Marmite anyone? Mushy peas? Brown sauce?

No to all, but I'd love fish and chips for supper, just with regular vinegar, however, and not malt vinegar.

Finally do you know what a porkie/porky is? If not, scroll down.

Porky Pies is Cockney slang for Lies.

"Stop tellin' me Porkies!"

One of the most well known slangs throughout London and the UK.

I love it. Jack Frost (telly detective) said porky a lot.

Bits and Pieces

I just have a few odd bits for your delectation today.

Presently is a word that we hear on British tv, of which we watch a lot. In that context it means soon but not just yet. On this side of the pond, we don't use presently in that form. To us it just means now and even then we don't use it often.

I can remember my grandfather using the word more than 65 years ago, and I doubt whether I have heard it used that way, in person, in all of these subsequent years. But I am pleased to hear it used that way on tv, or in keeping with the spirit of Britain, perhaps I should say telly.

In a different vein. Here is an FB ad that I was seeing over and over and that I had to put a stop to because it was driving me crazy.

You see, don't you? As written, it's a declaration that Somersby isn't all that wonderful or maybe that Canadian isn't. It needs either a question mark or rewriting. The ad actually stopped me in my tracks when it first came up, trying to figure out what they meant. Then, when it kept reappearing in my feed, over and over and over again, I just had enough. Who in tarnation proofed this and thought it was a good ad?

Finally, we don't do many selfies anymore, but we do some. So here we are from me to you with approval from the cat. Happy Sunday or happy whatever day you read this.