Got home at last this weekend and I am very happy to see the daffs and hyacinths in the garden. I also have a mauve double primrose that is small but spectacular. Probably an indication of the surprises to come if I'm lucky. The garden has been gradually revealing itself as the ground warms up. We got to work this morning to take down the netting that had covered the pond area as a start to its rehabilitation. Heavy snow and tree branches weighed the netting down in the winter until it pulled down part of the fence surrounding the pond. Bob's view is here in his Flickr photos. What you can't see is the healthy population of frogs!

Posted by lynda at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm maddeningly far from my garden on this brilliant day, but still enjoying the weather. I zoomed up to King City from Leaside this afternoon for a picnic lunch with friends. I've been in Toronto for several days to cover personal and business appointments (including a perfect checkup at PMH for those who are keeping track) and I fly out tomorrow for another quick project on the east coast. With any luck, I'll be back to Owen Sound by next weekend.

With time in the evenings here to catch up on blogs and such, I have come across several worth sharing. Here's one that's definitely worth 20 minutes of your life, TED prize winner photojournalist James Nachtwey's acceptance speech.

Posted by lynda at 05:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We saw a fox crossing the road yesterday. By we, I mean me and two of the dogs, who have since been inconsolable because they failed to streak after it, but not for lack of trying. Luckily, I spotted it before they did and braced myself to put full body weight on the leashes. After I put those two into the house and fetched the other two, I saw that Foxy was still in the field across from the house, pouncing on something, then settling down to eat it, I presume. Probably one of the mice Bob so carefully trapped and gently released. A couple of women walking by said that particular fox was a common sighting (not sure how they could tell) and that he/she appeared to be quite healthy, not rabid, in case I was worried. (I wasn't, just feeling privileged.)

From the sublime to the annoying: Tonight I began to tackle what makes April truly cruel: financial stuff for the taxman. It's not over yet; in fact, it will be a voyage of many evenings, but a vodka martini and plenty of Beethoven made the task less ugly as the evening got older. Good thing the machine does the math.

Posted by lynda at 11:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My dear Auntie Marg died on Friday. She was a second mom to me when I was very young, presiding over the stable home we moved into while my own mother struggled to work and care for us as a single parent in an adopted country. It was a time of turbulence and loss and uncertainty for me, when Marg's warm kitchen was an island of safety. Not surprisingly, she became a loving friend to my mother when she most needed it, and her family and ours grew up as close as any blood relations.

You could count on Marg for calm acceptance of whatever life dished out to her, even though there was plenty to get exasperated about. She was quick to laugh, most often at the antics of her beloved life partner, Ken. Always ready with a tender word for any child, she loved family gatherings and never failed to show up to picnics and parties with her fantastic butter tarts.

Posted by lynda at 09:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Claire called this morning from Coolangatta with an update on her travels. Tomorrow is her last day at Corrumbin and she will be back in Sydney by Sunday. Then it's off again in a couple of weeks with her friend visiting from Canada to see Melbourne and a few other places. She'll take time in Alice Springs to attend a zoo conference, then finally fly out of Sydney at the end of May. She has planned to stop in California to visit a couple of friends, then finally comes home to Canada just as I am flying out to Texas. Oh, well. She has lots of friends and family to catch up with here so I'll wait my turn.

Posted by lynda at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I thought about posting a list here of all the books I have bought and haven't read yet, but I decided it would be too embarrassing. Besides, there are still many books in boxes since our move, so I couldn't make an accurate list, could I? Instead, here's the pile on my night table, the ones I have started to read or really, really, want to start.

Information Development: I know this sounds boring, but the author, JoAnn Hackos, is one of my idols and this is her latest, the book I got most recently and the one I really need to swallow whole in a hurry. (624 pages, softcover -- yikes)

The Laws of Simplicity: This little hardcover came with the Hackos book and has a much better chance of rising to the top because it's just over 100 pages and feels good with its sexy-smooth dust cover.

The Victorian Internet: I've wanted this one for ages, so I finally added it to my last Amazon order. It's all about the telegraph and the "nineteenth century's online pioneers" and it looks like a good curl-up-by-the-wood-stove read.

Wikinomics: Another must-read-to-keep-up choice that sounds interesting. Trouble with this one is that if I don't get to it soon, its trendiness will be over. Ooh, the pressure!

A Midwife's Tale: This is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel based on a genealogical artifact, a diary of an 18th century Maine midwife. I picked it up at a Harvard bookstore when I was in Boston last December and it has sat on my night table ever since. Maybe I'm saving it for a summer day in a hammock.

The Power of Positive Dog Training: Claire sent me this one and I'm halfway through it, already trying it out on her dogs and mine. The good thing about having dogs, and having a book like this, is that if the day isn't going too well, you can still feel like a positive human being by doing training exercises with a dog. Pooch+something they know how to do or can figure out+treat=success!

Paint Ideas and Decorating Techniques: I'm a sucker for these ones at the remainder sales. Anything that makes me think I can transform my house in a weekend to a designer paradise, I'm there. It comes down to a chaste, non-fattening indulgence in fantasy -- so what's wrong with that?

Posted by lynda at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)