St. Francis Says...

What you are looking for is what is looking.

The Buddha Says...

My teaching is like a finger pointing at the moon.Do not mistake the finger for the moon.

Up and Running

Finally.We are here in the new place and snug as bugs in rugs.The cat has stopped having hysterics, the floors are level, the rooms have big non-draughty windows and it is QUIET!! I heard a car go by one afternoon and remarked on it."I think I heard a car go by." That's how quiet it is. When the post comes rattling through the door of an afternoon I startle.
There are lots of cupboards though one seems to have leprosy but that can be fixed. We seem to have been here forever and it has just been a week. It's Christmas in a few days so we are gearing up in a very mild way.There is a restaurant at the Bluffs that has Christmas Dinner so we are going to try it.Dinner was going to be cooked by He Who Cooks Once a Year but there was a singular lack of enthusiasm for the project. Christmas Dinner should be enjoyable for all.
Shortly we are off to St. Lawrence Market, a mere 30 minutes away to get the necessaries for the Christmas Eve supper, then on to Chinatown East to finish the last of the shopping. I couldn't be more thrilled! It takes 30 years of living in the Boonies to make one appreciate what one had before one left for the Boonies.
Of course we found the computer otherwise you wouldn't be reading this.Happy Christmas!!

Voltaire Says....

It is no more unusual to be born twice than it is to be born once.

Gentle Reader

Dear Reader
It's oi Giles here an oi wants to thank you for your koind concern over moi liddle maids.You must not trouble yourself Dear Reader as oi as all in and so to speak.Them maids lives the loife ov Riley they does. As long as they lets down at milking toime, we are farmers ere after all! Them maids as a roight good ome for as long as they loik(see above on let down).
The Missus an oi are eadin to foreign parts this spring.Oi'm a tad nervous as oi have never left ome before but Mother can get roight peevish at toimes if oi says no too often an she as always ad an ankerin to see France,Gawd elp us!
We as the tickets and we are off to Paris in the springtime, April to be sure. Mother says that is the roight time for Paris as it is all about romance and loik, an that is when it is most romantic.Oi has big doubts about they Frenchies, never mind romance.Oi don't loik ow they treats their beasts to be plain spoke about it and their grub sounds downroight scary but what is a man to do? Oi as to live with Mother after all and if she wants Paris, Paris it is!
Oi am trying not to think about it.
Thank you for your kind concern for moi liddle maids.
Giles

Pack Em Up! Move Em On!

We are moving in ten days time and the madness is upon us.There are boxes everywhere.Most are filled, some are empty.We have given bags and boxes of stuff away and even more has been thrown out and there is still a mountain of stuff that sits there. Packed. Another mountain awaits packing. My feeling is that once the lights are out the boxes start to multiply. Like rabbits. In the dark. Horrifying thought and possibly true. All I know is that our home is in a state of confusion and I am cooking with two pots and two frying pans. That I don't mind as I always enjoy a good challenge. It's the labyrinth of boxes and bags that have taken over the dining room that gets me down. That and climbing around the massive table that has come to live in the sitting room.
However we are nothing if not resourceful and certainly experienced in these trying matters. I keep the kitchen clean and organized as that is my main area of operations. Moving takes the pluck out of one and I have taken it upon myself to keep us well nourished through our ordeal. The next is making sure the bedrooms are light and airy and an oasis of peace in the midst of the madness. Lavender essential oil on a warm light bulb sends instant calm through a room. Try it!
I could if I wasn't so nuts at the moment sit down and write "Moving For Dummies" if someone hasn't already got there before me.
This too shall pass. All things do. Patience is an acquired virtue. I am trying to acquire it.

The Royal

We went to the Royal Winter Fair yesterday. I was keen on seeing what mileage I could get out of Lola.I also like to see the cows and horses and talk to them if I can. Heinrich came along for the ride I guess as he never says what he likes or dislikes. I paid for most of it so that made him happy and he had a big shawarma plate for lunch which made him happier still.
The place was the usual madhouse with busloads of screaming kids tearing around. There was the pungeant smell of poo over all which added to the ambiance. Some of the wee ones had their jackets wrapped around their noses and their little eyes were all teary. Well, when you live in the city country smells can be a tad much.
I had a nice chat with a lovely Holstein who seemed tired of it all. Cows are the nosiest four leggeds around but this one just put her head down and wished I would go away. She had a headache.
There was a young man in a white uniform carrying a blue bucket that he was using to catch poo. He would watch for a tail lifting then sprint to hold his bucket under the cow's arse chatting over his shoulder all the while to a friend.What a job! And all in white!! I was impressed.
The horses were in seclusion in their stalls with the blue curtains drawn. Too much for their nerves I guess. The ponies were in the ring with their little girl owners some of them very small indeed.The owners, not the ponies.
Lola managed not too badly but she is aching now. I guess it was a stall too far.

Oi Wish Oi Knew...

Well Oi and the Missus as bin feelin a bit rheumaticky these past few winters. The damp loik gets into the marra and them bones do ache. Well to stop the moitherin we are set to make a move. Much as it brings grief to moi eart to say goodboy to moi liddle maids oi as to do it. We are heading to foreign parts Mother and oi. Torquay to be precise. We as sold our farm and are eading out to where they as palm trees and warm winds. We as a little bungalow near the arbour where we can see them sailboats and talk to the fisher folk though how oi can make ead nor tail of what they says oi dunno. That's the problem with they foreign parts they don't speak English!
But Mother an oi shall make the best of it, we always do.They as noice pubs and good beer and we shall learn the lingo in toime.
We ad a roight toime of it clearing out the muddle in the ouse. Give me a mucky cow stall anyday! Mother is an oarder and sentimental to boot. Oi as ad a few rough days but she as seen the loight and the Oxfam shop as been appy to ave our boxes. Mother ad her tears over that as oi shall ave over the loss of moi liddle maids. Loik family they are! Annabelle, Maisy, Molly, Juno,
Buttercup an Fruitcake will not be forgotten! As if oi could forget they.They as moi eart!
A few short weeks to go an Mother an oi will ave all the toime in the world an nary a care to our earts other than where shall we stroll next. Oi as to say oi as moi misgivings about being a townie with money in moi pocket an toime on moi ands but we will give it a whirl. Oi will wroite again after the move and tell you how we gets on.

All Hallow's Eve

Here we are again, another dark and cold Hallowe'en and I thought I would write about the scariest thing that happened to me this year.That would be the twenty four hours I spent at Bridgepoint Rehab Hospital in Riverdale in June.
Bridgepoint sits beside the Don Jail, a dark energy source if ever there was one. Bridgepoint also was known as the Toronto Fever Hospital and The Toronto Plague Hospital. It's history goes back a long, long way.
Now it's a rehab centre and a palliative care hospital with the kindest staff you could ever hope for. However, its facilities are awful. There was a washroom for every fifty patients and it was in the middle of a very long hall. A trek for the botched and the bungled who had to shuffle down to it. The loo was more often than not unusable as cleaning didn't seem to be a priority. Thank goodness for Depends!
The nursing station had bells ringing in the hall so that we could all share in the din twenty four hours a day. The beds were short with metal bars and chains hanging over them. One had to take care not to crack one's skull sitting up. One's neighbour was a scant twelve inches away and potty to boot. Deaf as a bandicoot and addicted to CBC Newsworld played at top decibel non stop.
The food, dear me, the food. I have yet to find hospital food edible and I've unfortunately had more than my share of it. I was handed a tray of something brown and lumpy for my lunch. Toria looked at it and asked what it was. I suggested it might be shit whereupon we both had hysterics. Oh a laugh always does one good, no matter what the circumstances.
I was persuaded to stay overnight so that the paperwork could be done for my rehab at home.
There was very little sleep -the bells! the bells!- and what there was, was visited by nightmares that were simply awful.That's when I found out about the history of the place. A very sweet nurse named Valerie told me the place was haunted. No kidding!
I had to get a bit shirty with the doctor to get myself sprung but I tell you home never looked so good.
There, my little horror story for Hallowe'en

Plucked Like A Chicken

Well I finally gave in to the inner voice and Did Something About My Hair. I was even to my eyes looking a lot like Methuselah's Aunty. It was something to do with the walking stick and the dullness of the gray hair. The aged visage I'm stuck with. I got rid of the stick and now I got rid of the gray. I actually gave myself a fright when I looked in the mirror this morning(I often get a fright when I look in the mirror but this was a real start). I had forgotten about my hair. The plucked part is the eyebrows. Curly (the friseur) was wittering on about my great bones!!! and how I needed something done with the eyebrows and would I step into the back room and she would fix them up. I did just that and next thing we have hot wax daubed on the virgin brow that was a second later brutally ripped off. Shriek! Then the next eyebrow was assaulted in a similar manner. Shriek again. Tweezers were whipped out and plucking ensued that brought a tear to my withered eye. Hell's bells!
Back in the salon I was shown the result and to my astonishment it did make a change for the better. Who knew?
I'm just waiting to see what happens when the salty pool water hits the coiffure. I am comforted by the fact that the eyebrows will remain gorgeous as they are all my own. Looking good is a bit of a pain.

Enough Already

Now that the house has sold we are on the trot to find a new one. The original dream was a condo in town and a piece of land in the Northumberland Hills. We drifted away from that and started in the summer looking at houses which soon proved to be beyond our means. Ones we wanted to live in did for sure.There was no shortage of others! Then we went from detached to semis but they don't seem to make semi bungalows and we are on the hunt for a stairless abode. Right! Back to the dream and on to condoland. Again anything on the cheaper side is in a basement,( very nice for mushrooms) or needs so much work that we are back up to" almost blow the budget".We are out on the prowl again today to the point that getting in the car is just another chore.This time we feel more positive than we have before and that may be that a form of real estate madness is setting in or we will hit the jackpot. I will keep you posted.

Me Nerves!!

Well we are back from our travels and rested yet ratty as the house sold while we were away much to our surprise. Now begins the search for a new home in the Big Smoke.We are on a third round of viewings this Friday and have a feeling we may be in luck.
While we were in Toronto we stopped at the Grinder for a bowl of soup and a visit. Little Jakey was there putting on his socks and boots when he scarpered out the door and I hit the panic button and hustled after him. He was only going home to his Mum down the lane and has been doing this for ages quite safely. I being a Nana of vintage years and a nervous nellie of a mother when I was younger was appalled. His parents reassured me that he was as safe as one could be while living in the world and that I shouldn't worry.They are right, I shouldn't but I am. So now I get to practise mindfulness and whenever I think of Jakey hightailing it down that alley I shift gears and put it out of my mind. However I have taken the precaution of wrapping him in white light. I have also been told that it will be many moons before Franki is allowed out on her own as she is not the biddable little soul that Jakey is. Me poor nerves!

Winston Churchill Says...

A Fanatic is one who won't change his mind and won't change the subject.

We're Off ( like a dirty shirt)

Down to the wire now.Frantic packing going on and also indigestion. Absolutely loathe travelling but need to see the offspring, so we go. Train leaves tomorrow night and we seem to have packed enough for three months not four weeks.To be fair there is an original canvas in there and gifts for all the birthdays. Three of them on Gabriola in the time we are there. Jakey we hurried up a bit as we will be mid prairie when he turns three. To add to the stress we have listed the house for the second time this year so everything has to be left in a very tidy way. Did I say I have indigestion?
I feel a bit aged for all this fleeing about. Lola ain't happy either. If I impose on her for too long she swells. It's not pretty. What keeps me going apart from seeing offspring is the thought of going for a swim every day in the ocean. Now that will be a real treat. I hope too the house sells for a ton of money while we are gone. Then of course the finding a house and moving stress will start. I will have to do as much as I can of everything reclining, in order to keep Lola happy. I think I will start now. If possible, I will post from the train as long as Lola is comfy.

13 Days and Counting

We are off to Burning B.C. on the 4th of September. We go right through the wildfires. It may be the trip to hell and back. Very exciting but not for the poor sods who live there. Our destination remains green though they are on a fire watch there too.
We have painted and stuccoed the house. I was in charge of colours while other more able souls did the painting.We have tidied the garden(this I did work on) and put up screen doors. Everything is as spiffy as it can be on a budget. While we are away the house goes back on the market and this time, fingers crossed, it sells!
Now we start with our trusty agent to find a suitable and affordable dwelling in the Big Smoke.Our other trusty agent will house and cat sit while we are away and unload it, if at all possible. Busy month September!
Oh and the fridge got cleaned.We are nothing if not thorough.

Wobble Wobble

We are back Lola and I sans walker, sans walking sticks, sans wits some days. I am fully on my two pins and have been alone on the ground now for just over a week. I was walking at first like a sailor on shore leave in a high wind. That settled to a stooped but steady creep. Now with some good advice from Avia, the therapist at the pool I am placing my feet properly and walking upright but as though my knees hurt. They do. As Avia said I have to learn to walk again just like a great big baby! I have to unlearn all the coping skills that kept me mobile while Dolores was with me. Maybe a lully would help.
I can't fall back on chocolate for comfort anymore as that is one of the things that got me into this pickle in the first place. Sugar and nightshade veg just aggravate the situation but there is nothing as yummy as a baked po with butter and salt and a new tomato salad, or perhaps a milk chocolate bar. Sigh.
So on we plod and each day a little bit better than the last.

A Day in the Medder

Oim back! Oi've bin busy with ther 'ayin but tis all in and as June as bin a gentle month. Moi maids ave bin fair clemmed for all the foin fodder we as now. Fair kickin up their 'eels to be out in the medders.

Oi'll tell you who else is bin 'avin a bit of 'eel kickin and that is Mother! Oi ask you! She 'as taken up with the Toi Cheer in a big way. She goes with the other gals to the W.I every Wednesday and orf to the medders they goes. Tis a sight Oi tell you. Oi ain't never seen the loik. They used to sing' ymns and have cookery classes and such when moi dear Mother went to the W.I. Ladyloik that were. But not this lot. There they are out in the medders wavin' they arms around and makin roight fools of theyselves. If Oi says owt oi'll end up with moi 'ead in my 'ands for sure.

Toi Cheer is from that there Orient says Mother and is to keep her rejoovinatered whatever that may be when it's at 'ome.

And what is wrong with a makin a good Devon split says Oi with good clotted cream from moi maids and good jam from our brambles? That's what ee should be doin at that there W.I. Oi says to Mother.
She rolls her ois at me (lookin a bit loik our Buttercup when the grabbag is comin on). Gives me an eathinish few words and starts wavin 'er arms and legs at me! Terrifyin it is! Oi don't know where this will end but Oi tells ee now Oi draws the loin at that there spaghetti on moi plate!
Toi Cheer. Oi ask you!

Work

I was working yesterday and it felt great! I pitted by hand at least half a million cherries then cooked the little devils in their own juice. When they had cooled down they went into a jar and into the fridge. I know it doesn't sound like much but given the restrictions I am still labouring under I was thrilled to be able to do even that.There was company too so I was up and about until later on in the evening when Lola started moaning a bit. I was very glad to put my feet up but what a good feeling to have actually accomplished something!
Today we are stiff and a little sore so perhaps nothing more than a tour around the garden and some vicarious weeding. The garden is full of honeysuckle and Madonna lillies as well as a bumper crop of rasps. I have them for breakfast every morning.I can pick the perimeter while the two legged forage in the interior. Love rasps. Just love them!

Lola Steps Out

Lola has been out and about this week in the terrific heat and humidity.We shuffled across a parking lot and into a garden centre to buy some hanging baskets. It wasn't a lengthy affair. Dragging a walker around at the speed of a snail takes the puff right out of you.Today it was off to the grocery store, again another brief encounter but we got the job done. It was nice to get further afield and be semi normal. If I thought people shied away from me when I used a stick you should see them now. Little ones stare and their elders give enough room for an aircraft carrier to get by!I ask you!
Perhaps they think whatever is wrong with me is catching, sort of a modern twist on ringing a bell and calling "Unclean!"
We are up to the 4 week mark on Thursday, Lola and I. I may go mad and have a small glass of wine to celebrate. Lola and I with our devoted Minder of course can make another trip.This time to the Liquor Store. Just one mad gay whirl!

Whatever Lola Wants Lola Gets....

Here I am again. Turned up like a new penny with that saucy new hip Lola in tow. Dolores came to an ignominious end. I was asked to donate her to science but she and I had hepatitis way back in the day so poor Dolores went to the knackers.
Lola is being good but demanding. Loads of rules and regs as to what she can and cannot do.Push her too far and out she will pop and we don't want that!
Each day we venture forth a little more Lola and I, bearing in mind I am heading into my dotage. We trotted out into the hood yesterday and had a sniff of the neighbours roses.Then we tottered home and staggered around the garden for a bit.The boredom is stupendous!!!!!
I had an uneasy feeling the operation would be the least of my worries and I was right.
What can you do when you live in a shoe? Get laced that's what! but no, Percocet has taken that small joy out of my life though I take less of it each week. All depends on how stressed Lola is. Right now she is resting easy so I can sit for a bit and bash this out.
It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye and then it's a sport!

Martha Beck Says....

"Imagine what you would do if it absolutely did not matter what people thought of you. Got it? Good. Never go back."

Trouble Ahead?

I didn't know what to call this episode. Sometimes trouble can be a blessing in disguise especially if we have a resistant personality. Moot point as we are going over the rapids this summer. Perhaps the kayak will right itself before we need to take a breath. Maybe not. It is a foreshadowing of what is to come. Here are the facts regarding the stars.
Uranus moves into Aries June 6th until August 13th. This is a fast chaotic energy that can energize or confuse. It will affect computers and the Internet. It is a preview of what is to come in March of next year only that configuration will last until 2019.
The last time these star signs appeared was 1928 and lasted until 1936. Draw your own conclusions. I consult with three astrologers every month for a general overview and they all say the same thing. We are heading in to a time of great and rapid change.
Well I am, as my new hip arrives June 10th so there is a personal reflection of the greater whole.
My feeling is that the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is going to play a part in the changes to come on a world wide basis. But that is me and it's early in the morning!
All we need do is be aware of ourselves as we are in the world and to honour our needs and those around us. I am sure the Earth has been through worse and will again. Everything is a lesson!
As more information comes I will pass it on.

Ghandi Says.....

"You must be the change you want to see in the world."


When asked what he thought of western civilization he replied,
"I think it would be a good idea"

John Donne Says... sort of.....

The bells of Hell go ding a ling a ling
They ring for you not me.
Oh Death where is Thy sting a ling a ling?
Oh grave Thy victory?

Those Were the Days....

Thank God they are over! I am now writing the long awaited epistle on frilly skirts and repression also known as the Fifties.
Now the reader who remembers the repression but not the frilly skirts was wearing trousers at the time at least we think so unless he has something he wishes to share.I on the other hand was stuffed into nylon at every opportunity. Said nylon was always in the form of a dress or a skirt as only boys were allowed trousers. Girls had to be feminine which was a synonym for uncomfortable. We had layers of net petticoats under the wretched skirts that would imprint the back of one's legs with tiny squares that itched like mad. Of course ladies never scratched! This led me to be sneaky. I blame the Fifties for my sneakiness.
This naturally led directly to repression. The War was over. We were all happy. To say otherwise was not done. One was never angry or sad or envious of others. One had to be pleasant at all times. To ask about bodily functions was another no-no and coals of wrath were heaped upon one's head if one spoke up in an inquiring manner. I vividly remember asking about breast feeding at a family gathering where a newborn was present and was shot down in flames. I'm still a bit singed from that encounter!
To buttress all this misery we had the Church breathing down our necks. God was up there in the sky watching one's every move and it seemed in direct communication with one's Mother. Step out of line and the Priest was brought in to make sure one understood one's lowly lot.This led to a great deal of anxiety in all of one's dealings. Should one swipe that biccie or not. Hellfire was waiting!!
Dear me, no wonder all of us Fifties survivors need therapy. Our poor children! It could have been worse. We had the sixties to save our bacon but that's a blog and a half. Next time.

Raccoon Love

Last night I was sleeping the sleep of the just when I awoke to the sound of murder in the garden. It was one in the morning. I gathered my sticks and hobbled to see from my window what the heck was going on out there. I couldn't, so I called to the able bodied and asked him to have a look. I was told to go back to sleep as it was raccoons having fun! I went back to bed but sleep, no. The noises were impossible. Shrieks and moans, squeals and screams, with horrid grunts and snorts and a very fierce wuffling sound. It was also a ticket selling event as the thumps and wallops of the excited observers on the roof scrambling for better seats attested. The din was utterly impossible and went on until two then stopped dead. Perhaps the beasts were dead too. One could only hope! By then I was more than wide awake so on went the light and out came the book. I got back to sleep as the dawn chorus started tuning up. It's going to thunder tonight, perhaps the hot date will be postponed. More than likely the racket the storm makes will keep me up.
We need a house in the country. City beasts are far too loud.

Dorothy Parker Says...

"She ran the gamut of emotions from A to B"

(This is in response to a less than scintillating performance given last night by Winona Ryder in a very serious and far too demanding role. Ehew.)

If Stephen King Can Do It.......

Well there were some comments after all from my faithful readers. You are all in the will! Right now I am waiting for the Percocet to kick in so it might be a different kind of blog. I was going to write about the 1950's and my loathing of them but my ears are starting to buzz so maybe I will save that for a more coherent time.
I fell on my bad hip a few weeks ago and things went from creaky to very creaky then suddenly really unpleasant. Hence the happy pills. I usually don't take painkillers but this was beyond me. Love the little buggars!
I am hearing alarming things from people about how I will end up in rehab trying to kick my habit. I don't care. A change is as good as a rest. I am keeping a little notebook of ideas to write about that will keep my faithful readers amused and entertained. I will take it with me to hospital along with a sketchbook and some music.
I am asking now for gluten free food if any of you want to come visit. I will be in St. Mikes for three days then in Bridgepoint for seven.That's on Broadview. Unless they send me somewhere else. If hospitals give you the pip then stay away. Absolutely no need for anyone to be unhappy on my account.
Feeling much better now. Next blog all about frilly skirts and a repressive society.
Maybe.

The Buddha Says....

Before enlightenment chop wood, carry water.
After enlightenment chop wood, carry water.

A Comment

There was a lone comment to my query so I will wait a bit longer to see if anything else appears. Thank you Gentle Reader for your suggestion. I will go back in time and also into the Archives and see what else I can find. I don't want to repeat myself. It also wasn't all Lardy cakes back in the day so depending on what mood I am in there may be a trip or two to the dark side. Maybe not. There seems to be something about a keyboard and a screen that makes me think of funny things. I will do my best. Be patient. Thank you.

Reader's Choice

O.K. peeps here's the deal. I have been looking back on my blogs and recently it's been ghosts, cats dead and living and The Bard. Running dry here or did you guess. So here's your chance, if there is anyone reading this stuff. I am asking for ideas to write about. It could be ancient history, I am after all an ancient myself. As you all know I have an opinion on everything, sometimes an informed one. I like to tell stories. I can talk the legs off a donkey on anything except sports or country and western music, or math or the sciences come to that, though I am willing to give it a whirl. So have a little think and if there is something you have been longing to know from an oldie but were afraid to ask in person here's your chance. Be respectful, there may be children reading! Of course you can also, if you are cowardly, remain anonymous.
Go on! I dare you!
If there are no comments then Vibrations is binned and it will be YOUR FAULT!!

William Shakespeare Says...

No exorciser harm thee!
Nor no witchcraft charm thee!
Ghost unlaid forbear thee!
Nothing ill come near thee!
Quiet consummation have,
And renowned be thy grave!

Karolina and the Tree and the Man

I am not going to get icky over this cat the way I did about Kathleen but this was kind of funny. It says a lot about the man I live with as much as it says anything about the cat I live with.
Karolina was out yesterday enjoying the fine weather as were we. She was poking about the underbrush when Betty Next Doors' idiot dog let out a great woof. Poor Karolina went straight up the maple tree and I do mean up. She came down to 20 feet off the ground and crouched there looking at us, giving forth tiny mews. Heinrich took off to get the ladder and effect a cat rescue. I advised waiting as what goes up usually comes down if you wait long enough. The last time he was on the step ladder was nearly the last time he was on anything. He climbed off it with one leg onto the roof then fell off onto the deck, flat on his back.
I was a little uneasy about the rescue but no he had to try and save his tiny familiar. They have bonded. Well the little beast would not be rescued. There was a lot of dodging and weaving on the part of the cat and a great deal of swaying back and forth from Heinrich. He gave up and put the ladder away to my relief then of course as soon as he got to the garage she came down the tree. As cats will, don't you know?
She shot into the house and waited by her food dish for a nice bit of liver cooked fresh by you know who. You know who went into the kitchen to oblige. Happy ending all around and we all know who is in charge here. Unless Karolina takes up speaking English there will be no more boring cat blogs. Promise.

Last But Not Least: 63 Victoria Street

Here is the last of the ghost posts.There have been other creepy places we've lived in but I am bored of it all now. Ghost stories should be told and not written.
Right, Vic Street. I don't even know where to start. There have been numerous sightings and special effects here over the 12 years that we've called it home. I had a basement tenant leave because he said it was too spooky downstairs and that he felt someone, a man, watching him all the time. It was my astral body more than likely as the deadbeat didn't pay his rent. Hannah and Toria talk of seeing people who are there one minute and gone the next. Hannah got tucked in one night and it wasn't by me!
I felt someone sit on my bed while I was going to sleep and when I turned to see which child it was there was nobody there but the impression of someone's bottom in the duvet was left behind.
Toria came upstairs to my room to tell me supper was ready. I was sat staring out the window and didn't speak to her. She came back downstairs to find the real me in the living room. Who then was on my bed? Who indeed.
We have had the house smudged and blessed and Scioed and the Others leave for a bit but then they come drifting back. It is after all their home too. They have been here longer than we have. We would like to leave them here in peace but the house just won't sell and we can't leave until it does. Perhaps I should ask them to pull strings and get the job done. Hmmm... it's a thought.

Mr. Murphy

Poor old Mufferpaws bit the dust today. He has been suffering for quite a while and it all got to be too much so off he went to heaven with some very costly help from the vet. Then we had a little burial in the secret garden and some funeral baked meats to follow. Toria is very sad. Murf has been with her for more than half her life. He's there in the garden with quite a gang, one of which is his brother, Benny.
I used to call the two of them the Blues Brothers as they were always in black and did everything together. If it hadn't been for Murphy's little white spot on his chest they looked just like each other when they were kittens. They were County boys and brought their wild ways to Aurora where we would find dead squirrels on the doorstep. They would follow me down the street where one day an Aurora matron stopped me to coo over them and ask me if they were Burmese. I said no, they were Barn.
Poor Benny popped his little clogs years ago when he had his second encounter with a fast car and a hard road. Murphy still had Nigel for catty company, then went off with Toria to lay waste to the Riverdale area. I don't think he was too happy about the last move to the Skybox as the opportunities for throwing his weight about were no longer there. He was confined to barracks and I think began to feel his age.
Poor Mufferpaws. We'll miss him.

Ghost Story Number Two: 33 Allister Ave.

Well we sold Winston Ave and moved east to the Bluffs to a house with a big garden. We thought we had left all the heebie jeebies behind and for a while all was quiet on the Scarborough front. About six months after we had moved I was on the ouija board with my sister. We were just messing around when the little table started whizzing through the letters like mad. It told us that (I can't remember the name) wanted her Mother. I began asking specific questions and it seemed it was the little white spirit that had frightened Heinrich back in Winston Ave. She had died in a fire and was looking for her Mother. We told her her Mother was waiting for her in Heaven and she should look for her there.
Suddenly the table shot off again telling us that someone whose name we didn't know had been pushed down the stairs. It had not been an accident and she had wanted the baby she was having. We couldn't make head nor tale of this and thought no more of it, though I had noticed that the dog would never go up the stairs but rather sat at the bottom and growled towards the top as if something was up there that we couldn't see.
A few months after the ouija session I was talking with my next door neighbour. She told me that she was wife #2 as wife #1 had taken a tumble down the stairs when she was 8 months pregnant. Her little boy had come home from school and found her dead on the floor. I have to say the hair on the back of my neck stood straight up. I never told her about the ouija board and what it had told us. Who would have believed it?

Ghost Stories: 13 Winston Ave

Okay kiddiewinks gather round, here is a real live spooky story and the house is still there!
Over 30 years ago we bought our first little house near the Beaches. It was an expensive piece of crap, badly designed and badly made. Post first world war, clash it on the market sort of construction.
We loved it. Our first little home with a GARDEN!
Once we had settled in and its flaws had become more apparent I began to wake up in the night hearing a child crying for its mama. I would stumble into the back bedroom where the offspring were, to find them fast asleep. Back to bed, only to have it happen again and again. I woke up properly one night to hear the cry coming from the closet in my room not the back bedroom. Being too tired to care I pulled the covers over my head and went back to sleep.
Not long after, Heinrich was upstairs having a nap when he came crashing down the stairs looking like he had seen a ghost. Seems he had. He had woken up to find a small child standing beside the bed. He thought at first it was Martina in a white nightie but when he looked closer the child appeared to have a melted face!
Next up, I was sitting on the top step near the bedroom feeling sad about something or other when I felt a pair of arms come around me from the back and give me a comforting hug. As far as I knew I was alone in the house. I was down the stairs and out the front door faster than you could say Jack Robinson!
The house went on the market after that but that was not the end of it. Our little lost friend followed us!

Keeping It Tidy (And Sane)

Well the hacienda has been on the market now for two weeks and a number of people have trooped through but no one seems too keen. There was one woman who came back twice then went to the town to check on zoning and seemed all confused by it. Our agent took her in hand and went to the town with her and found out that she has commercial properties. She was acting dim it seems so that we would lower the price for her to help her, I guess, in her dilemma. I ask you!
We have Maya coming on a semi regular basis to "bottom us out" but the day to day is up to us. Neither one of us is what you would call domestic. One of us never sees the crumbs and the other can't at this moment use the vacuum.
One old darling went through today and will buy it as soon as God sends her the money. I ask you again! Well what do I know? Maybe God will.
We also found out that the Town has no idea that most of the houses on our street are commercial so have been telling folk that it's all residential. !!!!. Now we are embroiled in letters and zoning maps to the idiots at the Planning Department to get this all straight. Again one of us loves all the nitpickingness of this and the other if it could wants to run screaming into the nearest wood(that would be Sheppard's Bush) tearing out it's hair.
Well that's what it takes to sell your house these days if it has any unique qualities at all. This place is loaded so we may be keeping tidy for a while yet.

Aeschylus Says...

"He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God."

Mrs. Tiggywinkle is Leaving Home

Well we've done it! After years of hemming and hawing we have listed Victoria Street for what seems to me an astounding amount of money! No sooner was the listing on line than the phone was bouncing off the wall. We are not starting showings until Saturday but that doesn't seem to bother the agents. There is a shortage of affordable houses up here it seems, hence the action.
Whither goest we? That's the question. So far we are looking in the east end of the Big Smoke but there is also very little for sale there as well. As for the prices!!!
We have a long closing date to accommodate my new hip when it arrives in May. By then there may be more on the market to choose from. Who knows. It's all a big gamble and part of me is happy and part of me is worried and part of me is sad to leave my little home and pretty garden. On the bright side I will be shot of Aurora, a place I never warmed to in all the long years I have been here. Closer to the action in Toronto if all goes well. Such an adventure! I have had a stomachache for a week! For those in the know you can see the goods online through MLS if you are keen.

Goodbye Dolores, Hello Lola!

Well it's now out of my hands. I have seen the x rays and in the words of the surgeon:
"It can't get any worse!"
So now we are bidding a fond adieu to my old right hip who I have named Dolores. She has served me well for many, many years and the time has come to let her go. The newby is Lola who is made out of some sort of metal and will last as long as I do. No need to think up a new name fifteen years down the line.
Lola will enter my life in May. There will be time out for recuperative behaviour and then we get the show back on the road. It's been a long time since I could walk with any confidence so I am actually looking forward to Lola getting me on two feet again. A walk a day keeps the demons at bay!
St.Michael's Hospital is great.The waiting room was like the seventh circle of hell but the staff were friendly and kind and very very professional. I kind of enjoy sharing elbow room with crazies and street people as long as I am upwind of them. They give one a refreshing slant on life and are just as entertaining as T.V.
I am not too thrilled about the operation itself as one is awake for it. However that is the way it will be and with Michelle's help by then I will be able to hypnotize myself into a happy place. So we are launched, and, if I think there is anything you may be interested in I will be sure to share it with you as it happens!

Oops ,My Mistake

Remember that swan? Well it wasn't a swan. It was a snow goose. The reason I know that is from Roger Tory Peterson's Bird Book. I was looking through trying to see if the" swan" was a whistler or a trumpeter when I saw a picture of a snow goose. Now swans have black feet and snow geese have pink feet and that chap or madam on the Lakeshore had pink feet, ergo a snow goose. Well that makes more sense as there are a gazillion Canada geese wandering around. Why shouldn't a snow goose to be wandering around too? She/he was, according to RTP on his/her way to Mexico for the winter. But then we do have climate change and lots of goosey company up here so why not. Stay that is, and wander the highways and byways and give drivers a thrill. So... we have seen a snow goose up close and personal. My first.

"Swanny, how i love ya..."

We were on our way to Franki's open house first birthday bash when we encountered a swan. We were travelling east on Lakeshore Blvd and Swanny was travelling west in the eastbound lanes. We were in a vehicle and Swanny was on foot. Pedestrians always have the right of way so we stopped and watched Swanny plod down the inside lane at a very leisurely pace. Last seen heading west!
On to the open house and the birthday girl who took it all with her usual aplomb. She generously shared her blueberries and bits of bread and any other food she could get her hands on with all who seemed interested. She even managed a tiny sip of prosecco but didn't care for it. When we left she was meeting and greeting and looking forward to more birthday grub.
I wonder if the swan was an omen for her future. Were I a Roman I would know this but my Roman ancestry is far away and long, long ago. I have no idea what a swan on one's birthday could mean. If anyone does know I would be pleased to hear from you.

A Likely Story....

This is a true story about ghosts. I think that is what I am seeing. I don't really know what it is so if anyone reading this has some insight it would be nice to hear it.
Several years ago Heinrich and I were in Kingston for a week. We had gone to Fort Henry only to find it closed but we could wander the grounds if we wished. While we were passing a wall with a cannon poking through it I saw a shimmer standing beside the cannon about two feet off the ground with an oval shape to it. I stood there looking at it for at least a minute then called to Heinrich to come see what I was seeing. Of course when I turned to look at it again it wasn't there.
Last summer I started seeing these shapes in the cedar hedge at the back of the garden. I thought it was my glasses reflecting something but they were still there with or with out glasses. These were smaller shimmers but several. They came and went all afternoon.
Yesterday while shopping there was a shimmer standing two feet off the ground in front of Staples. I watched it for a good five minutes then when I turned to talk to Heinrich and looked back it was gone.
There is also that awful smell of cigarette smoke that comes up very strongly in the kitchen now and again. As though someone was sitting at the table having a relaxing cig and waiting to chat.
This is an old house and there have been many strange things happen in it. Just ask the younger offspring and they will tell you, but that belongs to the house .
Who or what the shimmers belong to is the question. At least for me. I have theories but I just don't know!

Karoline With A K

An update on the Christmas kitten just in case anyone is interested. She is now three times the size she was when found. She can mew and gives voice when she hears action in the kitchen. She is still tiny so that is why her Dad who is totally under her minute paw is feeding her on demand. He went shopping for her second fave, sardines, as her first fave, turkey, is all gone. After dining she likes to relax on the big bed with her Dad keeping her company. She is enjoying watching The Wire with him though at times she gets carried away with the excitement of it all and has a biting, slashing session. Dad's hands are a mess!
We were out yesterday and Auntie Kath came with Meals On Wheels for lunch. Karoline wouldn't surface but made a lot of noise while in hiding. Finally Auntie Kath realized that her company was not needed and that there would be no feeding while a stranger was in the house.
We came home hours later to piteous peeps of starvation. She had cleared the decks.
She has her furry mice now that have to be killed many times a day and of course tail chasing when all else palls. Speaking of the tail it used to trail behind her like an afterthought. It's now upright like any other self respecting cat. Another milestone on the way to growing up.
I can't believe I wrote this drivel. I need to get a life!