September the 1st!

As someone who lives in a climate that may contain snow for 8 months of the year, I know how sacrilegious it is to hurry summer along.  And I do love the heat – and Fudgesicles , and the lack of endless layers and wet wool mittens.  Before we get to winter though, fall casts a lovely spell over the city and me.

I have been thinking about all the fun things I want to do this fall*, and all the events I want to go to – wearing corduroy, velvet, and tweed of course.

1. Compete in the Pumpkin Regatta.
2. Book Club.
3. Bake more pies!
4. Apple picking in the valley.
5. Atlantic Film Festival
6. Carve Pumpkins.
7. Nocturne
8. Go for long walks.
9. Have chess dates in the park.
10. Atlantic Fringe Festival.

*Secret addition to the list? New tattoo at some point….

Image Source

It’s not easy being green

I’ve been waiting to put this photo up for a few days – doesn’t it pull at your heartstrings in a way that is completely non-nonsensical? Then I heard that the original Kermit is going to be donated to the Smithsonian, so I think it’s about time.

I will have to add a visit to the museum to my list of “future things do to.”

Road trip anyone?

Image via ffffound

Enforcing the law…with Grammar

Unfortunately, you may have to click on the image to properly see all the punctuation involved here. This is part of a book of practice Police Officer Exams. This part is apparently based on the test for officers in Seattle.  Shocking!

Image from Mcgraw-Hill’s Police Officer Exams

Desk Makeover

This desk was a hand-me-down that was originally found on the side of the street.  Normally, you can’t see the desk because it is hidden under a nest of papers, fabric and magazines.  I’m hoping that now it’s so pretty, I will make a better effort to keep it clean and visible. I love the shape, the scale, and now – the colour!  A few tips for your own furniture makeovers:

1. I wish I had used an even glossier pant. I used eggshell, and while it looks good, it’s kind of flat. I may go over it with polyurethane.

2. All you need to clean metal is vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice. The handles were so crusty that I had to pre-soak them in vinegar on the stove (and yes, hot vinegar and metal smell just as bad as you think they will). Then, rub them with a paste made from the baking soda and lemon juice.  They come out so shiny!

I can’t wait to write some letters on my new desk!

Road trip treasure

My love and I were on the road last weekend, for an out-of-province wedding.  We stopped to get gas on the way back and I gasped out loud when I was what was in the back of the truck in front of us: a vintage tandem bicycle, with a basket on the front and the back! I was seriously tempted to tell them to just name their price until I realized it would never fit anywhere on or in our  little Corolla.  Maybe one day.

fleurs

Including one previously un-identified species in my garden – which turned out to be Bee Balm! This is another wild, self-seeding plant that randomly appeared this year, and is supposed to cure everything from headaches to sore throats, as an “antiseptic, carminative, diaphoretic, diuretic and stimulant” (source).  I don’t even know what carminative means, but it sounds helpful.

Tiny Buried Treasure!

I was poking through some old papers the other night (not so much organizing as just being nosy) when I came across an envelope…full of other envelopes. This is not an unusual thing for me – I had lots of pen-pals growing up and still do. However, there were no addresses written on the front of these envelopes, but instead  names of countries in alphabetical order. Inside were hundreds of postage stamps, from all over the world.

I had completely forgotten I had a stamp collection!  I think that I was actually the recipient of several hand-me-down stamp collections and that was how I ended up with such a great variety: Japan, India, Iraq, Croatia, South Africa, Chad, and on and on!

So now the plan is to resurrect the collection and the goal is to one day see all the countries whose stamps I had hidden in back of a drawer.

Spider babies

These little guys were living on some of our patio furniture, but have since moved on. I hope they eat all the fire ants.

Summer Reading:

I do love Ruth Reichel.

And I am so curious to learn about Mata Hari:

(Image Source)

The freak show out back

 

Is it weird that my garden makes me laugh? It seems that there are some peculiarities in the natural world that are just waiting for adolescent humor. 

Exhibit A: The hairy anatomical plants.

This is a poppy.  I think.  Except that poppies are bi-annual plants and we had poppies last year. It’s also possible I have two different kinds of poppies, set on alternate years.  Whatever they are, I giggle every time I get out the watering can.