Skunk - not again!

How many times this summer must Darla find a skunk and chase it??
How many times will I have to bath her in soapy, baking soda and jydrogen peroxide?
What is that raven? Nevermore? Thank you!

I just thought I would share my woes with y'all.
Darla's all clean, but the scent lingers in the air outside and through our windows. Another stinky evening.

In other animal news, Fenwick has been venturing out of the office. Today she encountered both Gryphon and later Darla. Things were not exactly amicable, but I never expected them to be on first contact. Actually, these were second crossings... Gryphon saw Fenwick on my shoulder yesterday when I carried her downstairs to find a brush and Fenwick made her own way down to the basement (unbeknownst to me) last evening and sat at the base of the stairs watching Jesse and Darla. She's a brave one on her own terms.
Fenwick "flipping out" on the carpet. I told you, she's another Gryphon.
Gryphon is on the top and left (incase you couldn't tell).

I thought I would add some more photos, including composite images of Gryphon and Fenwick side by side for your comparison. The different lightings don't adequately highlight their differences. Fenwick is considerably lighter and is a tortie, plus her tabby markings are stripes (mackerel) whereas Gryphon's are spotted.
And yes, I've been camera happy since Fenwick arrived.
Also, I have learned that her name means "from the dairy farm in the fen". Must be where she gets her CREAMy colour from. (hahaha, I'm so CHEESY! hahahaha)
Fenwick likes my jokes. She's purring away beside the laptop screen.

Fenwick says hello

I left Fenwick hiding in my office yesterday. After taking the last photos, she found her way to Gryphon's hiding spot inside the sitting-chair. Gryphon learned from his previous cat-mates (chez Tasha) how to make a hole in the bottom of furniture so that he can climb inside.
I "dumped" her out of the hole this morning by tipping the chair on its side. Picked her up and she was quite willing to join me on top of the chair.
I have discovered that Fenwick is a female Gryphon!
Yes, she twisted and flopped all around me on the chair. I can pick her up, and even though she is nervous and uncertain, I can hold her however. She loves attention. Already she will come out of hiding when I call - after just one cuddle session. She loves being brushed, and like Gryphon, she keeps moving and twisting. It's a good thing I have a fabulous zoom-groom rubber brush for these cats. Between being nervous and this being a shedding season, I gathered a lot of hair from Fenwick! She has a wonderful soft coat like Gryph too.

Fenwick is not declawed, but her foster mom says she does not scratch furniture and that she's good at using a scratching post or the cardboard type. I bought her (and Gryphon) a new toy - a ring with a ball in it and a scratching-board center.

Here is the first good photo without a flash so that you can better appreciate her colours.
Being a brown and caramel tabby-type, she is quite similar looking to Gryphon, but her tortie mixture makes her stand apart. She's also fluffier, although she is still short-haired. Most significantly, whereas Gryph is long and lean, Fenwick is short and squat. When I first saw her I had thought she might be overweight, but now that I've been able to pick her up and check her out a lot, I agree with her foster mom that this is just her build. She has a bit of a saggy-skin belly that hangs, but she is definitely not overweight. She's surprisingly light actually. Also, her foster mom mentioned that because of her short legs, Fenwick does not jump up on tables etc. I may have to reconsider the feeding arrangement since I feed the cats on a table. On the other hand, this is good - it means I don't have to worry about her being where she shouldn't be. I hope she's not a plant eater...

Given that she is similar in temperament to Gryphon, I'm confident that she will fit right in here. Gryphon is very laid back; go-with-the-flow. He's also fun-loving and cuddly.
I carried Fenwick on a little tour of the house (to find the brush). Darla is on a walk with the boys (Robin's friend Jesse is visiting) and Gryphon is sleeping by the sliding door. Gryph saw Fenwick on my shoulder, but didn't move or react (typical of him). I'm not sure if Fenwick saw him. I will introduce them soon, perhaps tomorrow.
Day two is looking good!

Fenwick

Meet the new kitty in the house.
Her name is Fenwick.



I just picked her up this afternoon from the KW Cat Adoption group.
She's quite shy right now.
But her foster mom says she's a cuddler. I look forward to getting to know her better.
So far she's being kept separate from the other "kids" in my office - much to Darla's dismay. We hope she will be comfortable in our home. However, in case she just can't adjust, we are on a 3 week trial adoption.
You can expect more photos and updates (will she stay?!) to follow.

Garden Goodies

Let me begin by admitting that my garden isn't as lucious as I was hoping for. Actually, in comparison with vegetable gardens my firends have, it's quite sparse. Next year will be better now that I have some experience.
So let's see what I have


Tomatoes are not yet ripe. These will be my largest. The rest, scattered throughout the plots, are smaller varieties such as cherry and romano (my preferred tomatoes).


Here is the one delicious zucchini that has grown so far (there are more on the way). I picked it right after taking this photo. Then I baked it into a chocolate cake! As I said, delicious.


Looking tasty. Here's a pepper I did not grow from seed :( But for the record, the tomatoes and zucchini above (as well as the beans and herbs pictured here)I did grow "all by myself" from seed. And I am very proud of that fact!


See the large patch of overgrown herbs... I really must harvest this stuff... but it's just been too hot and humid until recently to even consider, plus the mosquitos are a deterent. I've got a lot of parsley, basil, oregano, mint and thyme. Behind the herbs I planted is a whole lot of coltsfoot. I finally found a use for this rhizome... since I can't get rid of I should put it to use. I have a friend finishing up a herbalist program and she is happy to take it off my hands. I gathered a few leaves (just 40, and I mean "just" because there is much more where that came from. Note that these are very large leaves.) for her yesterday and I think she'll be coming back soon to harvest the rest with me from the bottom of the slope. She can dry it and use it for cough suppresants and such. Apparently you can also make a wine from the leaves.


And, finally, here are some beans that I picked but have not yet eaten. Perhaps a snack for later...

That's all the exciting news from the garden.

Two Years

July 2-4 has come and gone. This year I decided to stay in the country and spend time with Robin to celebrate our anniversary ;)
I will never live down the fact that I flew to Germany on the day of our one year anniversary...

This anniversary we spent the day in Toronto. We began with brunch at a tasty all-day breakfast place in the East Beaches. Robin had been there with friends and knew I would love it. I think it was called the Sunset Grill. I ordered pancakes (of course) with chocolate chips (it was practically lunch, which is how I justify the chocolate). When our server asked if I wanted the 3 or 5 pancakes, I chose 5... "Brave girl" he says... I thought I was hungry... I also thought that at that price they would be 5 smaller pancakes. oops. They were huge! Next time I'll stick with 3. Robin had a large 'hungry man' type breakfast.

After brunch (more lunch really, but we'd skipped breakfast) we took to the boardwalk and the trail around the nearby park. It was beautiful out there. From the tip of Ashridge's Bay Park we could see the CN tower and downtown skyline. We watched some boats for a while and enjoyed the water dancing over rocks below our feet.

We headed back to the beaches to the pub for a cold drink. It was extremely hot and humid out and water wasn't cutting it for me anymore. I was hoping for AC in the pub, but had to settle for outdoor shade with my beer.
Then we took in an early dinner at the Silkroad Cafe. We had wanted to go because we saw it transformed on Restaurant Makeover. The food was delicious and since we were able to order the lunch specials (still a large portion) it was also a great price.
After a long date we headed home.

On a very different note, since I'm giving updates, a few days before our anniversary we had to put down Jenny. She had a ruptured disc in her spine and subsequent neurological damage. I've blogged about this more intensely elsewhere and don't feel like revisiting that now.
I suppose I should change the title of the blog... but I'll wait until I have a new name to insert. Because, of course, we will rescue another cat. There is an "opening" now in our home for another feline to find his/her forever home. I've been talking with a rescue group in Hamilton and hopefully will hear back soon about our application.

Summer Fun in Niagara

The Gaggle arrived Monday for three fun-filled days of craziness. Four little girls 6 and under took over my home! Between the girls, myself and Robin, Ericka and Collin, we had a full house.
Monday we rested in preparation. I think arriving at Aunty Mandy's was excitement enough for the girls for one day!
Tuesday we celebrated Lammas and the first harvests with a trip to the local farmer's market, fun at Victoria Park's water structure (a summer celebration! much needed in the heat), a story-telling circle, and berry crumble (made by Robin and the girls).
Wednesday we drove out to the Niagara region (after a delicious blueberry pancake breakfast).

First stop was the carousel at Port Dalhousie. Still a mere five cents a ride!




On to the Falls themselves where we rode the Maid of the Mist. Unfortunately, my camera is not waterproof, so I don't have any photos from that part of the trip. (Plus I'm sure we looked like drowned rats!) In the summer heat and humidity, getting soaked on the Maid of the Mist was arguably the best part of the day! Well worth $14.


Ericka and I took the eldest three to the Butterfly Conservatory while the guys took the youngest around Clifton Hill waiting for us to return.

It was long, tiring, and very memorable day.
I realize now, looking through the photos, that we didn't take any group picture. Perhaps Ericka has something. I kept thinking I would take one "later" - perhaps when we weren't all hot, sweaty, sticky, and tired. I guess that never happened.

Darla meets the "cousins"

I am pleased to report that Darla flies fabulously. She didn't seem too put off by the air-travel - aside from her eagerness to be back at our side. Over the ten days she met many of her canine cousins (as well as Merlin - the cat who stayed in Winnipeg - who wanted nothing to do with another dog, although he's quite cozy with Jesse.)

Here is Darla with Rollee the grumpy old dalmation and Hudson the husky (named for Hudson Hawk) chez Corey.

Darla also made friends with Jesse, my parents dog. Jesse looked different to me, more like a horse in comparison to Darla, but I've been assured that she hasn't changed. I am definitely accustomed to how Darla looks.

And here we are at my Aunt's house for a family BBQ with Jesse, Darla and Barley (pictured here with Darla).

10 Days visiting family friends is no holiday. It's fun, but far from restful. Granted, I got to spend 5 of those days at Bird's Hill Park with my family for the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Again, fun but far from restful. On one of those days I missed the afternoon and evening concerts to attend Joe and Jen's wedding - which was well worth the sacrifice! ;)
Congratulations to the happy couple again!! While I was at Folk Fest, Robin was busy with his friends and the wedding party. And Darla hung out with Rollee and Hudson. Now we're all back to work - well, not Darla unless lounging in my reading chair and occassionally chasing the cats counts as work.

Almost

Almost in Winnipeg. 2 days to go. In less than 48 hours we'll be there. Yippee. Got some pills for Darla to ease her tension. Hopefully she won't flip out too much at the airport. I'm still not sure how exactly we move about in the airport with her. We must be able to walk her until we can load the carrier onto the plane... because we can't move her in the crate... there's no handles and she's pretty heavy.

At long last Robin got his XBox 360. Then he discovered some of his games, including his beloved soccer game, are not compatible. One of them is a game I just bought him. grrrr. He's going to trade them in.

Almost done marking my second batch of papers. Guess how many cases of plagiarism I've caught this time. I have 57 papers and I've marked just over half... I'm up to 9! Robin and my supervisor can attest that I've been grumbling a lot...

Almost have vegetables. We've been blessed with rain at long last and all the plants are catching up in their growth. I look forward to seeing their progress when I return. Maybe I'll have peas or beans to pick... I already have a teeny cayenne pepper.

Almost asleep. It's closing in on 1 am. I've been out on the deck grading papers under ths stars with a couple of candles and the deck light. I'll just input those numbers and crash for the night. I finished off the last small brandy glass of caribou earlier... makes me sleepy (unless I'm partying at Le Festival).

I'll share photos when I get home. Hopefully I'll have something worthy of sharing by then.

OMG - almost forgot to mention that I'm going to be an aunty! (By blood this time). My sister is pregnant. See the happy couple this past February.

The soon-to-be parents. Looks like we may have kids a year apart (and that's all I'm saying on that!)

Travelling

Westjet finally dropped their seat prices (at least for a short while) so we were able to get flights for $99 each, each way. Plus $40 for Darla each way. On the plus side we won't be exhausted from driving 20 hours. On the down side Darla will likely hate flying because it will require being separated from us... We anticipate having to administer drugs - which sucks. But at least she gets to be with us at the other end of the flight - and she'll love that! Plus she can meet her "cousins" Rollee, Hudson, and Jesse.

There sure has been a lot of travelling this month (for me). I just returned from near Honeywood, Ontario - which is north and a little east of here. About 2 hours away. It's along the Niagara escarpment and I was hiking through the deep cracks... I love it there. I was camping from Thursday through Sunday at Unicamp which is where Wild Ginger Witchcamp holds its annual camp. It was very hot; fortunately my tent was shaded in the pine forest and sleeping on a bed of pine needles is preferable to the hard ground. During the day we could cool off in the pond at the beach. The water was a perfect temperature - cold and refreshing, but not numbing.

Robin was hoping to take a one day holiday today up to a beach, but of course we have rain-cloud cover and possibilities of thunder showers after a long stretch of heat. Perhaps Saturday will be better for him.

We look forward to seeing everyone in Winnipeg soon. Won't be long now...

Gardening - at long last

Finally we had time to begin the backyard vegetable gardens! See:

I carefully measured and plotted the gardens. I chose companion plants and all that good stuff. Robin laughs that I spend more time planning than gardening.



A month or so ago I turned over all the sod in the future gardens. The surface was dry and sod was dead by now. However, beneath the surface is still much good activity :)



Robin picked up half a pallet with some good boards from the landfill today. He cut them in half and dug them into the ground. It's not the best, but it will do. We still need another wall in the middle. And the same for beds D-E. He also picked up a big bin of free compost. Next year we'll be able to use our own.






Yay - at long last - plants in the garden!! I added some of my extra-special worm compost for the tomatoes (and peppers). I didn't have enough to simply cover the garden with, so I'm using it selectively.



For now I'm using those small planks to walk across the garden.



Woot! More plants. I grew those marigolds from seed. Please do not compare them to the marogolds you can buy at the store. I know how pathetic mine look. Shush.



I had been growing my own peppers and tomatoes from seed, but I fried some and the rest just didn't develop well. So I finally just bought some plants! Next year I'll skip growing them from seed. It's just as cheap and much easier (for the amount I need) to buy the plants.



Beds D and E will eventually have broccoli, lettuce, cucumber and more. Hopefully very soon. Particularly the broccoli since I started it indoors.





That was our day today as well as the culmination of many months of planning on my part. I can't wait to show off photos later in the season! Well, assuming things go as planned and I don't kill everything.