Dental Surgery Day

I unfortunately had to have emergency dental surgery. I'd had a root canal go bad, which means you get a pocket of pus in your jaw. I had an appointment up here in Whitehorse to have it fixed, but the endodontist ran out of time. When the local wore off the pain was unspeakable. the only way to stop it was to have the procedure completed, which required a trip to Vancouver.

the beginning

the middle - Hasting St

the end

More of the middle one of my favourite roofs in Vancouver

For The Birds...

That wonderful time of year is here again when the Bohemian Waxwings come for a day and denude our trees and bushes of berries.  Chris especially loves to watch throughout the day as hundreds of these beautiful birds descend on our property.  They move really fast but here are a couple of pictures...

Rock Creek Fair and a day of wine tasting

Rock Creek is a tiny little BC community just over the mountains from the Okanagan Valley. Their fair is HUGE! I think my favourite part was the series of engines being exhibited by the "Antique Power Club". Here's the video;

Also at the Rock Creek fair was the 4-H Club. I have very fond memories of 4-H, there was a whole collection of animals bound for the freezer, some little girls giving their public speech and a whole troop of little girls riding horses in an homage to the RCMP's musical ride. It was a fun day.

 

Sunny Oakanagan

I arrived at the Kelowna International Airport yesterday afternoon in time for lunch at Quail's Gate.

Then we went out for dinner with Drew, Luca, Kylie and her son Daxton. They are playing in the water feature behind me...

 

Quilting Kaffe Fassett

For years I've admired the work of Kaffe Fassett (pronounced 'safe asset'). I finally have gotten done the top of a quilt based on one of his designs using his fabric. The cats approved. this photo is while it's still in progress.

Shack Attack

Stuffs going on with the shack out back.

Little Birds

We've put up the bird feeders again as fall closes in on us. I happened to catch these two little guys hanging out in the pansies.

Red Polls and Pansies

Fine Furniture Care - Polish

Chris got some lovely furniture on a trip south recently. I asked what type of polish was recommended - Howard is the brand name and they have every kind of polish under the sun. I think their Restor-A-Finish is the best. See results opposite. The light side hasn't been polished up yet. That is closely followed by their Feed-n-Wax. I also tried their paste waxes, but am not as happy with them.

Tabby Cat Heaven

 Chris' adopted Grandma - May Roberts runs a fish camp every year on the Yukon River. We feel really good about helping her use every part of the Yukon River Chinook that she harvests. She cuts the fillets off the fish and then sliced the skin and bones to be smoked into dog food. What you see in the photos are Chinook backbones that have been cut and smoked slowly for a couple weeks. Lets just say that Jack the Cat thought he'd gone to heaven. He made a tiger sized effort to consume as much of that fish as he could before we had it strung up and put away. It was so funny to watch him gnawing on an chunk of fish bigger than him!

Grown Up Furniture

The Grown-Up Living Room

Pin Tufted Slate Grey Victorian Love Seat

.After years of living off yard sale furniture finds we decided that we make enough money that we could afford real, grown up furniture. You know, the kind of stuff people who aren't students have - things that take a modicum of care. Although it is possible for students to have nice furniture - Drew's new room mates who are students have nicer furniture than he does. Anyway, I'm talking about furniture that can't be danced on, and spilled beer will make a noticeable stain. Our former furniture we'd each had since student days or BC (Before Chris). Anyway, last year, after the dog broke her leg we thought we couldn't afford real furniture for a while. Then we went to Chilliwack. Surprisingly there is a nice antique shop in Chilliwack. We got a nice Victoria love seat for under $500. The only sad part was the colour- peptobismol pink. During the same trip we happened upon a really nice smaller scale arm chair in violent red velour at a yard sale - a $20 score. Harvey's Upholstery in Chilliwack was the answer. We dropped in on Harvey and he is fabulous. He loves his work and is very proud to show it off. He was also happy to accommodate my eccentric taste in fabrics. We are now the proud owners of a lovely slate grey Victorian love seat and a black and white arm chair.

Tabby Cat Seal of Approval

To get this lovely furniture to Whitehorse we ended up buying a trailer, which is a story for another day. Suffice to say there was room in the trailer and nature abhors a vacuum. We also had a free flight on Air North so Chris flew down and did a kamikaze furniture shopping trip to get some office and other furniture. He scored some really nice pieces including the curved corner cabinet that the cat is gracing the the photo.

Friends of Thomas the Tank Engine

Engine 52

 This past tuesday we were in Skagway Alaska to meet a friend from the cruise ship. While we were there we took a lot of photos of the two steam engines for our nephew, Luca. A few photos of diesel engines may sneak in, but I know that the diesels can be very tricksy and sneaky, so I tried to keep them out.

Engine 69 - runs steam excursions to the Fraser summit

Tabby Incognito

We have, or are owned by depending on your view of cats, two mackerel tabbies. They have an amazing ability to use their natural camouflage to become invisible in almost any environment. If you remember the penguins from Madagascar, the cats theme is; "blend! blend!".

Where's the tabby?

 Ok, that one is easy. How about this one? Where's the tabby?

 See him yet/

 Gotcha! He just glared at me as soon as I found his hidy hole. This is Murphy's favourite spot of late. I only found it because I had a bathing suit to put away and he is nesting in my bathing suit pile.

South East Alaska State Fair; Haines Alaska

The South East Alaska State Fair is on this weekend in Haines Alaska. New this year, the zombie race. I think I might enter, if I'm feeling up to it.... I'd rather be a zombie I think. There's a parade of course, with the opportunity to enter your well dressed pet. There's loggersports, fishersports, beer, music and hippies. There's also fish in the river for catching. Here's one possible outfit for the dog;

Gin & Tonic

There is something intrinsically refreshing about a G&T. Obviously it is partially cultural. The idea that a bitter, fizzy, alcoholic beverage can be refreshing on a hot day isn't universal. I hear East Indians believe that a hot spicy cup of tea is more refreshing. For those of you who share my views here's a photo of refreshment.

Shopping as Recreation

I've noticed amongst my friends, peers and colleagues that shopping has become a recreation. People shop for something to do. For an emotional lift. For fun. Sometimes because they want something, even more occasionally because they need something. Don't get me wrong, I do it to. I'll get it into my head that i 'need' something. Frankly, I live a pretty blessed life, there isn't a lot i really need. The whole advertising culture imbues us with the idea that we have "needs". Well, to deal with the fact that I am the target market for every marketer in the world and the way they make me feel I need to shop... I go yard saleing. I take my pocket money jingling around in a pocket, hop onto my bike and cruise the neighbourhood yard sales.

Today I found an Italian made espresso maker/milk steamer for all of $2. Less than 1/2 the price of a Starbucks latte. It makes excellent cappuccinos.

Then I found the perfect spinning chair. An old school chair with a drawer. I'm short, so the size is perfect. I figure I can put all my spinning wheel's accessories in the drawer. It was $20. 

My final purchase was probably the most entertaining. Our wonderful neighbours have been borrowing lawn mowers for 4 years. They have lawn and no lawn mower. So, I bought them an electric lawn mower. They really enjoy it already!

The dog approves of our Persian rug

After the dog's broken leg cost an obscene amount of money to fix we didn't have any cash left in the renovation budget to purchase the furniture we'd planned to finish off the lovely reno. We hit the yard sales and scored enough furniture to sit on. Well, the yard sale couch has given up the ghost, so we put the cushions on the floor on top of the Persian rug. It is surprisingly comfy. The dog very much approves. We hope soon to have adult furniture - it is being reupholstered in Chilliwack by Harvey as I write.

8 years later...

When we first started renovating this house we - actually I - painted all the trim before we put it up around the windows and doors. It was horrible; time consuming, mind numbing, the essence of everything evil. Needless to say, there were bits and pieces of trim that remained unpainted after that epic summer of painting. That was more than 8 years ago now I think. Well, after being home sick for a week and really spending far too much time staring at the railings around our deck I had a bit of a psychotic break and demanded a paint brush and a yogurt pot of paint and started plugging away at it. After dragooning the husband into doing the hard parts we've got a coat of red paint on one side of the railings. And, it looks good enough to continue doing it.

The whole thing exhausted the cat, Jack, who quite enjoyed telling us how much he enjoyed our company outside all day.

 

That Cat is a bit of a headonist if I do say so...

Yes, that cat. He managed to consume a half cup of very excellent Caeser salad (made with homemade dressing including a lovelying laid Yukon egg and $12 worth of Parmesan cheese), a pork meatball, and a 1cm cube of brownie for dessert.Then, he went for a cat walk on the newly painted fence to settle his meal.

New Canadians

Yesterday Chris and I trekked down to the citizenship ceremony held in a local park as part of the Whitehorse Canada day celebrations. Two friends are new Canadians. I have to admit I teared up a little. It must be my American side. Happy Canada Day!

The Gardens

After weeks of rain, the sun is bringing the whole garden to life. The little crab apple tree has lovely scented blooms. The garlic is up and some little girls helped me to plant annuals along the dog fence last weekend. Chris has top dressed the back lawn rather generously as well.