Sunday Stills - motion

Sometimes, Life gets in the way of having fun

We run and run, trying to get away

Sometimes, Life is the fun

we run and run to keep up

and when we reach the finish line

it should be with a joyous smile and laughter and a feeling of pride.

(cheering on my friend Sylvie, on her first half marathon.

she's not in these shots, but had a great finish time!)

see SundayStills for more photos on this week's theme of motion

cold front

It was 9C about an hour ago. Now it is only 1C with a windchill of -6.

I could feel the temperature cooling as I walked to the mailbox to send off my latest postcards.

By tonight it will be -15C, with all the rain from this morning freezing.

By tomorrow the windchill will make it feel like -24.

So far the weekend is looking nasty.

March - in like a lion?

gagnez un cafe

It is Roll Up The Rim time at Tim Hortons!

And after only 3 coffees bought,

I WON!

A coffee.

But still,

I WON something!

Every year from the last week in February until whenever the special cups run out in April, you get a chance to "roll up the rim" of your medium, large or extra large coffee cup and see if you've won a coffee, or donut, or money, or gift card, or laptop, or a 2009 Toyota Venza - oh, I'm breathless with anticipation. I am actually quite happy with the coffee and food. Since I've never won anything more than that, I keep my expectations low. In the coming few days, there will be calculations in the media of your chances of winning each of the prizes depending on which province you live in - and they will vary wildly.

~~~~~~

Three years ago there was an infamous case of two school girls who found an unrolled cup in the garbage. The one who found it, couldn't get the rim rolled up but her friend was successful. They were surprised to see that it was a winning cup for the SUV. The parents got involved and a court case ensued over who actually won the prize - the finder or the roller-upper. Then, the school janitor claimed that it was his cup that was thrown out before he rolled up the rim and that HE should get the RAV4. DNA testing was requested to prove it was his. Eventually, after much debating and media scrutiny and derision and arguing ... Tim Hortons decided to get involved afterall and awarded the car to the family of the girl who found the cup. It was at least an interesting diversion for a few months.

cheap cheep

After swearing to never set foot in the place. After going to the community meetings to see what the city was doing to keep them out of the area chosen. After bitching along with everyone else about the city eventually caving in to the demands because it became clear it was a losing battle we didn't have the money to waste on fighting any longer. I went into the new WalMart that opened a week ago.

It wasn't so much the WalMart that was the problem. We already have one at the top corner of the city and two others about 10 minutes away in neighbouring towns. It was the location. Right at the already busiest intersection. The one where everyone who wants to get in to, or out of, the GOtrain station to the east, or on to the highways one to the north and the other to the west, or downtown to the south, must endure long line ups to get through. The one that now has three new traffic lights within a half mile.

There about two or three items I go to WalMart to buy, because I haven't found them anywhere else. Or they are just so much cheaper. A few cents wouldn't make me trail up there, but a few dollars will. This allows me to buy more at the more expensive shops for other items.

But, out of equal parts laziness, curiosity, and a desire for my mango flavoured yoghourt, I went to see what the fuss was about. This much closer location is a SuperStore. I didn't realize that made such a difference from the other store that also sells food. This one is a full grocery store, with a deli counter and bakery and veggies and hot stuff and.... I was momentarily seduced. It was, of course all so clean and fresh looking as all brand spanking new stores are. I wandered the aisles and marvelled at the cheaper prices of their baked goods. Noticed that the fresh produce wasn't much cheaper. And that the dry goods were very limited in variety. But that, joy oh joy, they had my Dairyland Vanilla Mango yoghourt.

Then I spied their meat counter with the roast chickens (maybe $1 less, but smaller), and the packaged chicken. There were several that were marked "special" for $2.97. The chicken strips looked okay, the right colour, enough for three or four meals. I decided to pick one up. For that price, I certainly got a bargain. What I didn't get was any flavour. Even smothered in Butter or Korma sauce with extra onions, red peppers and broccoli and roast potatoes thrown in, your mouth asks what is this unidentified hunk of tenderness? Tofu had more flavour than these chicken strips. What did this poor chicken eat? It seemed such a waste of a chicken's life. Your destiny is to provide food but to end up as a tasteless morsel of blob ...

Are there even any nutrients in something with no flavour? (tofu excepted).
Am swearing once more.

urban animals

The city is no place for wild animals. Or that is how some people see it. That is why there are developments growing up on lands where deer used to be free to roam. Highways are laid where turtles need to cross. (or moose, and many others, but there are no moose in Toronto, well, except for the fibreglass ones still on display, but I digress...)

Some animals have clearly gone through a remarkable adaptation. Think raccoons, with their deft fingers, keen eyes, nocturnal garbage hunting ways. They will never go hungry. Run over, yes, but starve, no. Do raccoons ever get sprayed from skunks if they both struggle through the same garbage bag?

Where I live there are thousands, if not millions, of rabbits. This could be partly due to the number of foxes in the area. This number is very low. Not a night goes by that I don't see a dozen or so bunnies. There is one fox I know of, but I haven't seen him more than 3 or 4 times in the last year. At one time, only about 6 years ago, there were many foxes to be seen. We even used to have a 3-legged fox who lived downtown. You'd see him loping up Brant St (the main street) almost every night, window shopping, crisscrossing the street from one bar to the next.

I have seen many possums during my nightly excursions, a few mice, toads, some cats and once, a beaver. The best sighting by far were the deer. The first time was winter just after a long ago Christmas and I was walking up to a house, newspaper in hand, thinking: I'm tired of seeing all these willow deer on front lawns when I suddenly realized, one of then was a real deer. He stood there looking at me and I stood there looking at him, barely wanting to breathe. After what seemed like hours, but was probably only a minute, he turned and walked up to the front porch (I should have given him the paper, I know) looked around, then left to walk around to the back. I walked to the porch, turned around and realized there were three more deer just standing on the neighbours' yard. This time I stopped breathing. These animals are HUGE. I have almost run into a group, which was more scary than amazing.

And now, there is a coyote in a beach and ravine area of Toronto that has become rather used to urban life. He has possibly feasted on a few cats (suddenly many cats went missing during a particularly sad month) and found himself a little chihuahua the other day. Now there is some talk of killing the coyote. But, most people in the area are aghast at the thought. It is sad for the little dog (and the missing cats) but the risk of a car hitting a dog is greater than being carried off by a coyote. And the risk of a dog mauling a child is much greater than a coyote attacking a child. And your cat, who roams out all night? Remember the songbirds? Yeah, it could easily have been your cat that got them. Besides, coyotes will help with the mice and rats and skunk population. And the feral cat population. Which will help the songbirds.

Monday AMuse

SundayStills - architecture

My favourite - architecture - is this week's theme.

I still feel a bit self-conscious taking photos of people's homes

but really, if you are going to live in such houses and renovate them so beautifully, then perhaps it is an honour to have people come by and take pictures?

click on any picture to bigify for details

Below, we have an adorable Gothic Vernacular next

to a majestic Queen Anne Revival

Here is a better view of the seamless renovation and winter landscaping that begs a visit in summer.

And in case you thought the Gingerbread House wasn't quite big enough here is the east view.

This has been an ongoing project for years, and is still ongoing, as you can see. This side isn't quite as seamless as the other and the sliding glass doors and wrought iron railings are just so wrong.

And one more (because I had so much trouble choosing...)

Just in case you think I only like old things,

I find this remodel of an assuming bungalow on the corner up from the other two quite appealing. The window arrangements add so much simple character and match perfectly with the lines of the design. Even the shed doors in the small garden area have a zen feel to them.

Again, begging a visit in summer.

For more architecture views see SundayStills

Photo Hunt - Warm

This week's PhotoHunt theme was WARM

and this, though not the best Scotch by any means, definitely is warming.

For more variations on the warm theme see PhotoHunt

go out and explore

There is a new atrium at the Botanical Gardens that opened last week. It looks wonderful, though still has a few bugs to sort out.

Monster Bugs
like this Caterpillar who looks ready to chomp on the Living Wall (and the kiddies heads - who squealed with mock fear)

there were boards with insects from exotic Malaysia and Thailand and other tropical climes

which vied for attention with the giant fighting beetles

beautiful creatures that fly

there were live bugs to see
like these grasshoppers

and this monster (rose tarantula) who is apparently very soft and light as a feather and who would explode if she fell even 3" due to her internal organs just floating around that enormous abdomen

There were robotics to play with, levers to push, ropes to pull, knobs to turn, mechanical legs to move, movies to watch, bugs to colour, all aimed to teach about the physiology and anatomy and purpose of bugs. And there was food to eat

like these freshly made 'gourmet' chocolate covered crickets

that tasted more like chocolate than anything else

or so I heard.

go ahead click on any picture to make them bigger

gratitude

On Sunday last, I came out of the grocery store to find a glorious full moon complete with halos and interesting clouds. And no camera. When I got home, I read that the next SundayStills challenge was to be ... the moon. I was so excited. Perfect, I thought. This will be easy (afterall, I work nights!) Wasn't to be. The moon barely even deigned to appear through the overcast sky. It didn't come to me, so I had nothing to offer on Sunday.

I didn't even have anything to offer on Saturday for the PhotoHunt challenge, the theme of which this week was: nautical. Perfect I thought, for HMCS Haida, the most decorated and successful battleship in Canadian history, is docked not far away. I could have made an effort, but I couldn't be arsed to get out find the energy to venture outside and look for it.

I was feeling a little down about my lack of energy. And my lack of enthusiasm.

I was tired of feeling lazy, but too tired and lazy to do anything about it.

Then, I read Delwyn's post and found she made me a postcard!

Violet has provided me with much joy through her variety of photographs allowing me to live vicariously in a stunningly different part of the world. She is warm and generous in her ongoing comments. I am glad I have met Violet.

You should see her other great hand crafted postcards, especially these ones.

She's over at A Hazy Moon and well worth the trip to her little part of the world.

So, today (Monday) I ventured outside. Into the throngs of people enjoying a holiday.

And took pictures.

But that is for tomorrow's post.