Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been adjusting to SCHOOL and I've also been sick. SO SICK.
Anyway, I'm not going to bore you with the details of SO SICK. I recently discovered Our Broken Garden on a site called The Black Cab Sessions, which is very cool.
lovelovelove.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
A Garage Sale Run of the Decade
Labour day weekend! For me this year, a celebration of a last and a first. This weekend is the last time I will have two days off in a row until Thanksgiving, as I will be going back to school and restructuring my work week to fit everything, much to the chagrin of my days off. As I ordinarily work on Saturdays, this was the first one this summer that I was able to spend with my husband. In preparation for this momentous occasion, we both did a lot of thinking about what we should do together. And of course as the passionate romantics that we are, we settled on garage-saling.
I proceeded to make a map (which I later discovered I couldn't print, damn you Google terms of use!) that would enable us to efficiently visit every sale in a tidy circuit.
View Terrace Garage Sales Sept 5 in a larger map
Having successfully overcome the obstacles of The When and The Where, we proceeded to search for little gems amongst the usual clutter that is the Garage Sale.
Exhibit A:
Two to three years worth of reading, all great books, most of which were already on my reading list.
Exhibit B:
Let's get ready for some good old retrotainment!
Exhibit C:
A SNOWBOARD. The guy just gave it to us, literally. He was like, 'oh, you're just learning how to board? Here, you go, it's yours.' Karma? I don't know. Bindings are awful, but we have another set, as well as boots. I'm officially OUTFITTED PEOPLE!
I proceeded to make a map (which I later discovered I couldn't print, damn you Google terms of use!) that would enable us to efficiently visit every sale in a tidy circuit.
View Terrace Garage Sales Sept 5 in a larger map
Having successfully overcome the obstacles of The When and The Where, we proceeded to search for little gems amongst the usual clutter that is the Garage Sale.
Exhibit A:
Two to three years worth of reading, all great books, most of which were already on my reading list.
Exhibit B:
Let's get ready for some good old retrotainment!
Exhibit C:
A SNOWBOARD. The guy just gave it to us, literally. He was like, 'oh, you're just learning how to board? Here, you go, it's yours.' Karma? I don't know. Bindings are awful, but we have another set, as well as boots. I'm officially OUTFITTED PEOPLE!
Friday, September 4, 2009
A Dumping Ground Free Home
When we moved into our first home, it was clear immediately that the spare room needed a little sprucing up. The walls were a horrendous color of peach, accented with mullberry blue curtains and trim. Horrifying.
The old ceiling tiles are sagging and we were planning to drywall, as well as remove the carpet in favour of laminate.
In light of the amount of work needing to be done, we didn't take the time to create a usable space. Instead, the room became a place to dump the laundry when we didn't feel like folding, or hide things that you didn't really have a place for. A bedroom sized junk drawer, in an already tiny house.
A year and a half later, we still have not done one ounce of the work that is needed in the spare room. One reason could be that we haven't really ever had enough money to supply materials (which isn't reeeeally true), or that we aren't using the room anyway, so why fix it?
Finally the time came when I couldn't take it anymore. We needed to stop wasting the valuable space, ugly or not. My wardrobe has recently outgrown my closet, thanks to a generous friend who provided me with an enormous number of closet-castaways. (A good friend, indeed). We needed to buy a wardrobe, and while we were at it, I was really ready to get my books out of the prison of cardboard they had been in for the past two years, and to do that we were going to need bookshelves.
As stated, the room is still extremely ugly and we have in no way abandoned our plan to renovate. (We actually are hoping to claim some writeoffs from renovations, and we could easily spend over a thousand big ones in this room alone). So, before Christmas, CHANGE WILL COME. In the meantime, we have this:
The old ceiling tiles are sagging and we were planning to drywall, as well as remove the carpet in favour of laminate.
In light of the amount of work needing to be done, we didn't take the time to create a usable space. Instead, the room became a place to dump the laundry when we didn't feel like folding, or hide things that you didn't really have a place for. A bedroom sized junk drawer, in an already tiny house.
A year and a half later, we still have not done one ounce of the work that is needed in the spare room. One reason could be that we haven't really ever had enough money to supply materials (which isn't reeeeally true), or that we aren't using the room anyway, so why fix it?
Finally the time came when I couldn't take it anymore. We needed to stop wasting the valuable space, ugly or not. My wardrobe has recently outgrown my closet, thanks to a generous friend who provided me with an enormous number of closet-castaways. (A good friend, indeed). We needed to buy a wardrobe, and while we were at it, I was really ready to get my books out of the prison of cardboard they had been in for the past two years, and to do that we were going to need bookshelves.
As stated, the room is still extremely ugly and we have in no way abandoned our plan to renovate. (We actually are hoping to claim some writeoffs from renovations, and we could easily spend over a thousand big ones in this room alone). So, before Christmas, CHANGE WILL COME. In the meantime, we have this:
Thursday, September 3, 2009
A Very Special Day
This photo is one of just a few that I have of David's Grandma and Grandpa Hannon, (which is ridiculous, considering how many pictures get taken when we are all together!)Regardless of the quantity of photos that I have in my possession, this particular image perfectly captures their silly, loveable nature, which is not reserved only for their many grandchildren, but also for eachother.
Happy anniversary you two!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Black Beauty - Sewell
A beautiful, eloquent novel written from the viewpoint of a horse, Black Beauty, and spans his life and his experiences, which range from pastures in the country to the cobblestone streets of Victorian England.
Sewell draws attention to the mistreatment of horses, emphasizing that while horses may be 'dumb animals' they are no less affected by the treatment of their masters.
"I said, 'You used to stand up for yourself if you were ill-used.'
'Ah!' she said, 'I did once, but it's no use; men are strongest, and if they are cruel and have no feeling, there is nothing that we can do but just bear it - bear it on and on to the end. I wish the end was come; I wish I was dead. I have seen dead horses, and I am sure they do not suffer pain."
Monday, August 24, 2009
A Personal Goal
I am a person of lists. They give me a feeling of control in my life, of intentionality in my decisions. I make lists for my grocery shopping, my every day to-do's, my personal finances, wish lists, and most recently I have decided to make a LIST OF THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE. (The inspiration for this list came from MightyGirl, check it out).
I won't disclose the contents my list at the moment, but I will say that one of the items on that list is: Read 100 Classic Novels.
So naturally, I made a sub-category list of classic books that I want to read. So far there are 63 books on this list and I am needing assistance to fill in the remaining 37. I am very interested to hear what your favourite classic novels are, and I'd love to add them to my reading list. Please comment!
I won't disclose the contents my list at the moment, but I will say that one of the items on that list is: Read 100 Classic Novels.
So naturally, I made a sub-category list of classic books that I want to read. So far there are 63 books on this list and I am needing assistance to fill in the remaining 37. I am very interested to hear what your favourite classic novels are, and I'd love to add them to my reading list. Please comment!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
The Horror Part Two: The Disclaimer
The first thing you should know about Vampire-Field-School-of-Hell-2009 is that, well, parts of it were really fun. I know you guys are all looking for a good rant, and you'll certainly get one, however I consider it is only fair to say that there were moments, even hours, that remained miraculously unscathed by the administration's fastidious work at crumbling the foundations of my education. Usually these shining moments occurred when the teachers were either missing or their power was usurped by provincial park workers.
If you would like to read the original post click here.
One more disclaimer: If, by some incredible fluke of the internet, you happen to be a student of NWCC and are reading this, please bear in mind that I am writing an exaggerated rant on some of the lower points of the 2009 "Kitlope" Field School. I originally signed up for this program because every single person I spoke to who had been said that it was an absolutely incredible, life-altering, revelatory experience. Please don't let the rantings of a morbidly over-opinionated blowhard change your mind, because you would undoubtedly miss out on the event of a lifetime. Even having experienced some of the lower moments of NWCC staff that often resulted in a lot of frustration, I have every intention of signing up next year for the Haida Gwaii field school and so should you.
Phew, now that that's over, let's talk some smack!
If you would like to read the original post click here.
One more disclaimer: If, by some incredible fluke of the internet, you happen to be a student of NWCC and are reading this, please bear in mind that I am writing an exaggerated rant on some of the lower points of the 2009 "Kitlope" Field School. I originally signed up for this program because every single person I spoke to who had been said that it was an absolutely incredible, life-altering, revelatory experience. Please don't let the rantings of a morbidly over-opinionated blowhard change your mind, because you would undoubtedly miss out on the event of a lifetime. Even having experienced some of the lower moments of NWCC staff that often resulted in a lot of frustration, I have every intention of signing up next year for the Haida Gwaii field school and so should you.
Phew, now that that's over, let's talk some smack!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Just give one of these to Kim Jong-Il
My girlfriend Elizabeth grew up, and still lives, on a farm. When she first told me this I remember feeling kind of bad for her, like, that's too bad you never got to do x-y-z in the big city.
My feelings changed in that regard the first time I went to her farm and met her many nuzzleable and smoochable 'pets'.
Three weeks ago the family golden retriever Missy gave birth to 10 puppies. Yep, count em, 10. So of course when she invited me and a few friends to come over and, ahem, inspect their pedigree, I jumped at the chance.
I may have screamed 'PUPPIIIIIIIIIEEEEES!' and lept into her arms, I don't really remember.
My feelings changed in that regard the first time I went to her farm and met her many nuzzleable and smoochable 'pets'.
Three weeks ago the family golden retriever Missy gave birth to 10 puppies. Yep, count em, 10. So of course when she invited me and a few friends to come over and, ahem, inspect their pedigree, I jumped at the chance.
I may have screamed 'PUPPIIIIIIIIIEEEEES!' and lept into her arms, I don't really remember.
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