daysgoby

things that go scritch in the night, or I get itchy just thinking about it

2012-01-15T22:43:00.000-04:00

I didn't get a lot of co-operation when I suggested ripping the bedclothes off and letting the beds air a bit today, (actually, I got the rudimentary beginning snortings of a snit from one and the total involvement in a video game from the other) so.... so I pulled out the big guns and gave them a science lesson about dust mites. How they live on dead skin. How a protein in their feces (we

and then we'll find shelving for the garage

2012-01-15T00:10:00.000-04:00

Or something. The list for next spring is growing. Ominously. Paint the house, including the trim around the windows. Finish the ceiling in the livingroom Choose a colour for the livingroom and paint it. Repaint the bathrooms, the kitchen, the kids' bedrooms and the upstairs hall Put MAJOR MONDO shelving into Cass's room Put some bookshelves up in R's room Hang R's chandelier Bathroom floor

most of the time, she looks like a cat

2012-01-10T23:57:00.000-04:00

but then at night when she sucks her toe before she falls asleep, it's obvious she's still a baby. Sweet dreams, y'all.

love is...

2011-12-29T23:28:00.000-04:00

giving the dog a ham-bone, even though you are unabashedly a cat person. Cleaning up dog sick this morning. What could he have gotten into? Oh, yes, the hambone... Cleaning up great gouts of dog sick tonight while murmuring sweet things to the frightened dog, kicking yourself for freely handing him the bone. Cleaning his kennel, scrubbing out all nastiness while the dog comes over for a pat,

Why you should never use something given to you for blogging for a Christmas present. In one easy lesson.

2011-12-28T18:50:00.001-04:00

One word: Floorspace. Back in September, I got a very nice email from a company that specializes in eco-friendly playstuffs asking if I would like a cardboard, paintable playhouse for R. Something she could play in and colour? Where did I sign? It arrived promptly and I tucked it away under my bed for a rainy day project and forgot it. Until Christmas Eve. Bear and I spent about a half an

it must be Christmas break...

2011-12-19T11:46:00.000-04:00

Because Good LORD, my two have decided they are mortal enemies, MORTAL ENEMIES I TELL YOU, and that someone MUST BE STOPPED. And no amount of 'Santa knows!' 'Santa sees!' 'Stop before I stuff YOU in a box!' is working. I remember this: the sibling rivalry, how breathing the same air as your brother made you want to annihilate him for the simple reason he was there, how I swore up and down I

Well, that didn't take long

2011-12-11T21:15:00.000-04:00

What's Christmas without a little extra something in the tree?

too busy to blog

2011-12-07T21:49:00.000-04:00

But not too busy to have long, post-worthy conversations with myself. And definitely not too busy to miss it. It's a rhythm, blogging. And sometimes I lose the thread of it. Our Christmas tree is up, although it's unadorned and unlit - the two young cats have decided it's a giant toy that their humans put up, and have been popping in and out of the branches. Honestly, I may just leave it nekkid

literacy rocks

2011-11-17T22:28:00.001-04:00

I did something I'd never thought of doing the other day. I started a library. Last summer, I contacted the local public library system here, and asked them if they'd be interested in setting up a branch in our village school. The mobile library is wildly popular around here, and pairing the books with a permanent home in our town's most easily recognizable and central building seemed perfect.

i can be

2011-11-09T22:14:00.002-04:00

anything I want to be.... The song is a little annoying (especially when it gets stuck in your head and you're making up bawdy lyrics and humming because you can't remember the original wording) but it's unabashedly bouncy. Also, true. Rosey has decided she can do anything. Or several somethings, all at once. She's got grit and determination, that one. She has several terrific non-traditional

dusk

2011-11-08T21:54:00.000-04:00

halloweens past

2011-10-26T14:58:00.000-03:00

My mom made all my costumes. Well, okay, there was the one year I went as a bride and she had to cut down the Southern Belle monstrosity we'd found hanging poofily at the thrift shop, but for the most part? I was an original. I don't make all my kids costumes, though. Crafty skips generations (or so I'm finding) and they're still delighted with bits and pieces. Last year, I made my son's

life underwater

2011-10-23T19:30:00.000-03:00

One of the really beautiful, amazing things about living near a watershed is You don't have to look up to see the sky.

kicking it with ponies

2011-10-22T20:05:00.000-03:00

It's been an amazing week over here. Last week, Cass went to his first judo lesson, and walked out an hour later beaming. He broke a board. WITH HIS FOOT. On PURPOSE. This month alone, he's started drama club at school, a soccer program, and judo. He's trying new things and figuring out who he wants to be, and it's fun to watch. Today, it was riding a horse. It was Rosey's birthday party, and

thanksgiving

2011-10-10T20:56:00.000-03:00

That was the best, the best Thanksgiving weekend ever. My lovely-and-wicked-smart (and they are) sisters-in-law put their heads together and came up with a fantastic way to celebrate the holiday. Bored with the usual, they hatched a plan to get us all away from home - a way to have us all relaaaaaaaax this year. Barely an hour from home, the spot we ended up in was amazing. AMAZING. THIS is the

charmed, I'm sure

2011-09-23T20:10:00.000-03:00

I was cleaning the bathroom tonight and found, coiled in one of the wooden cigar boxes that hold my mothers jewelry, something I haven't seen in years. Something that I'm so glad I have of hers. I can still remember how it looked against her neck. It started out as bracelets. Charm bracelets. Someone - Mom? - put them together and created a necklace, a chunky, fun piece that she wore with many

do something little, help something big

2011-09-21T22:01:00.002-03:00

Go here to see how Energizer and Evergreen are teaming up to make our world a better, more sustainable place.

slipping in the snark

2011-09-20T23:41:00.001-03:00

It's hazy out here, where I've been lately. The weather is foul, murky-green shot through with bilious colours, and the footing is decidedly treacherous. If you ignore both the pond-stink of old water and whatever that was that just went squirming and shrieking off through the underbrush, it still looks sorta normal. Kinda normal, anyway. Ever get caught up in a relationship you look back on

purrs and mews

2011-09-12T23:40:00.000-03:00

Surprise! We adopted the kittehs. (You never saw it coming, did you?) They had their booster shots yesterday (and a feline leukemia test and a squirt of revolution) and were perfectly behaved, and now they're officially part of the family. They're lovely and playful and fierce hunters of toes and a lot of fun. They spend less and less time under things (Jasper still freaks them out a bit) and

black and white redux

2011-09-05T01:04:00.000-03:00

Boy, things are quiet here when the kids are gone! B and I just rattle around... The two are having their last adventure of the summer - a weekend at a cabin on a lake with fun aunt, smores, and no parental supervison. and I'm trying to keep B from going dotty over the fosters. It's not easy. Just look at the wee faces! This is Cirrus. (But we call her Boo.) And the handsome fella is Nimbus

black and white

2011-09-02T22:26:00.000-03:00

We have been watching the sofa intently for the last few hours, with breaks to go jiggle toys behind the couch and shake treat bags. No, honestly, we haven't gone insane. We're fostering two wary kitties. They were found in a port town near here, and were not socialized as tinies, and it shows. They came today from a foster home where they learned to trust enough to jump up in people's laps

pontificating

2011-08-28T18:43:00.000-03:00

Waiting for Irene...(and feeling a little wordy) I was darn near late getting back from my lunch break on Friday - I was listening to a great report on CBC radio about technology and 'unplugging'. (The interview is here - it starts at about 14:00) Fascinating stuff. There have been studies done that say that when you read a computer screen, if there is a block of text (much less a picture) that

the third act

2011-08-25T19:41:00.000-03:00

When I moved to Nova Scotia from Michigan, I brought three cats with me. (Hey, noone ever accused me of packing light!) Panda, Katie, and Chumba. Panda died some years back, Chumba last year, and Kate.... well, we put my sweet old girl down today. Last night she had (we think) a series of small strokes, leaving her blind, unable to walk more than a few feet, and with a permanent head-tilt. It

under cover of the night

2011-08-18T23:56:00.000-03:00

Did I really not tell y'all about these? But they're so awesome.... We have four. Flossie, Freddie, Bert and Maeve. They live happily downstairs (I think the main nest is towards the back of the coat closet, although last fall they were in the pantry under the cold storage for a bit) and seem to enjoy pilfering mittens and the odd sock

the cusp of the weekend

2011-08-13T17:14:00.000-03:00

I hate how the edge of Sunday bites deep with the incessant chant of 'You have to work tomorrow'. Whispering in the back of your head, tainting all the joy and fun of the last day of your weekend. Can we do something after supper? Wow, that looks like a great show. Should I stay up and watch it? A meteor shower? Sounds great! But.... I have to work tomorrow. Blech. And Urgh. Today is my