Eggs

I do not like eggs. Not on a boat with a goat in the rain, etc., etc,.etc... It's not that I don't eat eggs, as they are rather hard to avoid, but I really just can't enjoy them, especially if I think about what it is I'm eating while I'm eating it (if that makes any sense at all). I think it has something to do with knowing where they come from (ever seen a cloaca?). If I don't think about what it is I'm eating, and if I'm hungry enough, I don't mind hard boiled eggs, or hard fried eggs, but eating runny yolk? Yech....

So you're probably wondering why I suddenly felt the need to share my dislike of all things eggish.

Two days ago, when I was collecting the eggs I found this:

What, not gross enough for you? Here's a close up:

And these things come out of the ass end of one of these:

So think about that when you're eating your breakkie.

Read more...

Tickety Boo

My cat Boo has disappeared. He hasn't come home for 48 hours, and while it still seems very unreal to me, I must assume that he is dead, most likely the victim of a coyote. There have been many coyotes around this year, and Boo was forever off in the field across the street hunting for mice. I hope his death was quick and painless. He was one of my Fort Langley kittens (just about the only good thing I took away from that place), and it is hard to look at the other two and not see him curled up with them on the couch. I hope I stop missing him soon.

Read more...

Don't Shop at Fraser Valley Building Supplies!!!!

Some days, I feel as though if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have none at all. Of course this isn't true, I am in fact one of the luckiest people I know, but as I am sure you all know there are some days when things just go sideways on you... Last Thursday was exactly that kind of day for me. I had to buy some cement to set post for my gate. I went as usual to Fraser Valley Building Supplies in Mission. Would that I had gone to the Rona. But no. As I drove into the stock yard at FVBS the gate slammed down on my hood, leaving behind a dent and a long scratch. The lady who works at the kiosk in the stockyard begged me not to yell and scream at her, and told me that it happens all the time, and that the store had had to pay to fix someone else's car in the past. Now, to be honest, I think that the accident was regrettable, but not unforgivable. I went into the store to the customer service desk, and the lady there called someone for me. The guys she called actually went out and looked at my car before they even spoke to me. How rude is that? They were very adversarial from the beginning, and one of them had the gall to suggest to me that my car was so old and ugly that it was hardly noticeable at all, and that it was just a scratch and it could be buffed out. Now, for those of you who have never seen my car I can tell you that it is neither old nor ugly. It's a 6 year old civic in very good condition, but that hasn't been washed for about a month. It's spring in BC, so of course it has a layer of road dirt on it, but it is far from a decrepit old beater.
In any case, the guys didn't promise to fix it, but told me to go to an autobody shop of their choice to find out the extent of the damage, which I did. Apparently they didn't like what they heard, and they offered first to pay half the repair cost, then when I said that was unacceptable, to pay the first $250.00. Of a $400.00 repair bill. For damage they were entirely responsible for. Heck, all I did was go to the store to buy $15.00 worth of cement. By the next morning, their offered had dropped to a mere $125.00
They were so contemptuous and rude that I will never shop there again, never mind the circumstances. From the very start, they set out to make me feel as though I was the one at fault, as though they were doing me some kind of favour by tossing $125.00 at me. Well I can assure you that $125.00 hush money is not enough. I wasn't expecting anything more than a sincere apology, and an assurance that the gate would be fixed. Perhaps an offer to pay my insurance deductible. Had they done so, they would have retained my custom. As things stand now, I will go out of my way to not give them my business. And I can promise you that over the course of the years this will cost them far more than the $400 it would have cost them to repair the damage they caused to my car. I ask that all you fair-minded, hardware shopping British Columbians who read my blog join me in my boycott of Fraser Valley Building Supplies, and head to Rona, or Home Hardware, or Home Depot instead.

Read more...

Just What I Needed

A couple of weeks ago I went to Surrey to buy two Indian Runner ducks. It took forever to find the place, and when we finally got there it was a nightmare. When we pulled up, I swear to god that no less than a dozen kids under the age of 10 came streaming out the door, none of them looking as though they'd seen a wash cloth for at least a week. The smallest one had snot and dirt crusted on her face, and one of the oldest threatened to steal my car... There were also several older kids watching out the window, and two men and a woman. I actually felt sorry for the ducks that they'd been living at this place. After a long (not too sweet smelling) ride home, I put them in the duck house. It took them a couple of days before they would go outside in the pen, and I thought they'd never get brave enough to follow my ducks out into the wild blue yonder every day (they are free range and can really travel - I've found themmore than a half kilometer away from home). As the Surrey ducks were very similar looking, I felt they needed names that went together, and so it was that Laverne and Shirley became members of our duck flock.
And then today, while I was digging a new septic line (that's a whole 'nother story folks), my mom's friend calls to tell me she's found some ducklings for me.
Yay! 5 more ducks (and these ones are still so young they are "special needs"). Definitely just what I didn't need.
But Gitche Manitou works in strange ways.
Besides they're awfully darn cute.
Should anyone out there now of any good duck names, I am open to suggestions, having named 15 or so ducks in the last four years. Names that go together would be good. I've had Thelma and Louise (sadly both deceased), and Tom, Dick and Harry-ette (apparently she was not a drake after all)...
The picture here is of the newbies. They are currently living in a dog crate in the spare room...

Read more...

A Farewell to Ad

My old uncle Addy passed away last week. He was 91 years old, and the last living sibling of my maternal grandmother. I hadn't seen him in at least two years. I wish now that I had more of an effort to keep in touch over the years. My earliest memories of uncle Ad are from my childhood years in Burnaby. He lived on Duthie Street, right behind my grandparents place on Yorston Court. Looking back now I know that uncle Ad wasn't really all that old at the time, but to me he never appeared to get any older than he was in my childhood, maybe just a little more fragile with the passing of the years. When my brothers and I were young, uncle Ad was something of a favourite with us, probably because every Christmas he would make us an absolutely fabulous gingerbread house loaded with candy. During the summer, we'd sneak through the gate at the back of the garden and visit him -he always seemed to have lime popsicles in the freezer. I hadn't seen very much of uncle Ad in recent years. He and aunt Margaret had long since moved from their Duthie street home (which, like many other older homes in the area was torn down and replaced by a much bigger house). I did visit occasionally, and once they made the long trek out to Deroche to visit us. I was always struck by just how much he looked like my grandmother -perhaps another reason why I was fond of him. I wish I had gotten to know him better as an adult -that is to say when I became an adult, and not just as a figure from my childhood. I know I will miss him, as he was the final connection to that generation of my family
Sadly "Bad Geordie" has eaten the cord to my scanner, so a photo of uncle Ad will just have to wait until I can justify spending my money on such a trivial thing. He's also eaten the cord for my camera, various bits of clothing (he favours socks), the rug, his dog bed, a rather pricey (and might I add, brand new) pair of runners...

Read more...