A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/decisions-decisions/

It’s raining.  In fact, it rained on and off all weekend.  Certainly more rain in the past 3 days than in the past 4 months.  Relief!!  Wish I could stay at home today and enjoy a cozy day with kitties…

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/forever-young/

Last night Kevin and I went out for an evening with friends.  Out-out.  For reals!  We met Darnell and Bill at Hermann’s Jazz Bistro for an evening of fried food, wine, good conversation, and good jazz.   One of Bill’s grad students was playing drums with the group, which was headed by PJ Perry (saxophone) http://www.pjperry.com/.

Hermann’s (http://www.hermannsjazz.com) is an institution in Victoria (let me note that the lineup you see above was not for Hermann’s.  I took this as we were leaving and the nightclub upstairs was getting started.  Hermann’s was packed for PJ Perry though – just with a slightly greyer crowd).

As Kevin said, Hermann’s looks like a larger version of the 70s basements we grew up with – suffice it to say we all felt at home there.  Bill said Hermann’s burned down about 15 years ago, and when they rebuilt, they rebuilt it exactly the same as it was.  So, I guess it all makes sense.

I especially liked the carpet on the bar.

Here is our view of the stage before the show began.

Hermann’s does serve food, although it is mostly appies and burgers, so we opted for the fried appies (and nachos)  with lots of wine.

And a little ambiance to go with PJ Perry.

So, thanks for a really wonderful treat last night Darnell and Bill!  We have to do it again sometime 🙂

And lest you think I forgot…

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/missing-seqeuls/

Please spell “sequel” correctly.

That is all.

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/middle-seat/

Yesterday was not a good day.  Why, you ask?  Let me tell you about it.

So, I woke up with a migraine.  I knew the night before I was getting one, but I thought it would be gone by morning and all would be ok.  But it wasn’t.  I went to work anyway, but didn’t stay.  However, while I was there, I realized that it was password change nightmare day.  Our college has been told to implement a new password policy.  15-character passwords that have to change every 90 days.  Yesterday was day one of the new password policy.  They had emailed out “instructions”, but when I turned on my computer in the morning, I realized, first, that logging in wirelessly was not going to work.  I was in an endless loop.  To change my password, I needed to get onto the Internet.  To access the wireless system I needed to change my password.  See the problem?  Also, it is difficult accessing emailed instructions when you can’t log into your computer to check your email instructions.  Luckily I found a wire, plugged my computer into the system, and was walked through the password change.  Then, when I unplugged to go back to wireless nothing worked.  Took an hour to get everything on my computer to be happy.  We’ll see if it stayed happy overnight…

Then I checked my work email on my phone, and it wouldn’t accept my new password.  The “instructions” said that in order to log in on a phone or other mobile device, go to the Internet and change your password.  But I had just changed my password and don’t want to do it again.  I sent a note to IT support, but never heard back.  I still can’t access email on my phone or iPad, and am pretty sure IT support is drowning in a sea of faculty not understanding why they can’t log into their computers.  I am glad I’m not them.

Well, I lasted until almost noon at work, but then couldn’t look at a computer screen any more with the head thing, so I went home and slept for 3 hours.   Not feeling too much better, I made supper and then did the dumbest thing I’ve done in a long time.  I messed with my iPhone.  Thinking I might be able to resolve the password issue by changing the passcode on my phone, I did.  Turned off my phone, then tried to get back in.  No dice.  I had probably typed in the passcode wrong and remembered it as something it was not.  My phone locked me out.  I had to reset it.  And, before you ask, no…I hadn’t backed it up in awhile.  Yes.  I tell folks all the time to back up their devices!!  This is why.  Guess it’s time to do as I say.  Anyway, I left the phone restoring and syncing while I went to bed, and now I can see I’ll be spending the weekend trying to get it back to where it was yesterday morning.  AND backing it up.

Oh, I should also mention that in the middle of all this, our Shaw Gateway (our cable) stopped working.  Kevin came home shortly after it stopped, while I was swearing loudly at my phone and myself, and called Shaw. It was fixed in seconds.  Can’t say the same for my phone.  And I still have to figure out how to make my work email accessible on the damn thing.  Maybe it’s time to give technology a bit of a rest.

One fun thing happened yesterday.  Our carpenter, Davyd, replaced the caps on our front stairs.

Here is before (ugly spindles):

And here is after:

And here are kitties:

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/take-a-chance-on-me/

Another walk at work yesterday.  I was at the Interurban campus for the day, which meant I could walk up my favourite hill.  I haven’t done that walk in awhile, but it was lovely as usual, if looking very dry.  Except for the blackberries.  For some reason, this year they are looking good (last year they were all dried up).  They were still not ripe enough to much on during the walk, but soon…

I don’t know that you really needed a sign to tell people not to park there…the pile of wood probably would suffice.

Love this tree

Here are the blackberries – they were everywhere!

Random fuzzy caterpillar crossing the road.

I always mean to take a picture of this, but keep forgetting.  Until now.

I have no idea what this is, but I felt like I was suddenly in The Hobbit.

And now…Jasper!

And Elliot.

I’ll try to get some pictures of Nicholas soon.  I think he’s beginning to feel left out.

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/only-sixteen/

Yesterday I was able to get out for a walk at work (and I am hoping to again today).  It’s always good getting out for some fresh air and exercise in the middle of a day of sitting at a desk.  It’s changing out there though – late August, heading into fall.  It still felt like summer, but it was cooler, and there are fewer blooms as well as leaves lying on the ground.   I love fall – it’s my favourite time of the year, and I (like everyone else I know) am really looking forward to rain finally beginning.  This weekend, we hope.  Yes.  People are wanting rain so much they don’t even care if it happens on the weekend!

Oh, and just as a side note, the final painting of the house has been on hold this week as the painters vanished to another job without warning.  They have been great, but it’s frustrating to see the house so close to being done but not knowing when it will be done.  I just want it done!!

Anyway, here are some random things I saw yesterday – on my walk, in my garden – ending with Elliot!

The new pots we got on the weekend:

And a stepping stone (not on sale, but totally worth it!)

Still blooming in the backyard.

And, Elliot!

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/no-thank-you/

Warning:  if you’re a vegan or vegetarian, you may prefer to skip this post, or at least scroll to the bottom for pictures of kitties.

Today, I present:  Scotch Eggs on the BBQ.

Last week Kevin found a video – you can check it out here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3yb0uhk2BE).  We thought it looked like fun, so we decided to try it.  Scotch Eggs on the BBQ.

If you don’t know what a scotch egg is, well it’s traditionally a hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage, breaded and … (http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/eggs-recipes/proper-scotch-eggs-with-lovely-scottish-cheese-and-pickle/#v14tpMG8jUMOwhyO.97)

Now, I don’t have pictures of the assembly.  It was messy, treacherous, a bit tragic, and required full concentration from both of us.  However, here are our assembled scotch eggs – soft boiled eggs (do you know how hard it is to wrap SOFT boiled eggs without breaking them??), wrapped in sausage, and wrapped in bacon, along with a few little tiny sausages because we needed to make sure we had something to eat if this experiment went south.

So, on to the BBQ they went.

Note that we did not use a cedar plank, but rather used our BBQ stone.

And we waited…

And drank wine…

and waited…

Coming along…

And, done!

Strangely enough, they were pretty tasty (part of that was the apple sausage from Carnivore) and not really greasy at all (we were expecting grease, but it seemed to all get left behind on the BBQ stone…)

So, would we do it again?  Jury’s still out.  It was fun, but it’s kind of a heart attack on a plate…maybe our next dinner party!

And now, for vegans, vegetarians, and all:  kitties!

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/que-sera-sera/

So, yesterday was Sunday.  Ah, Sunday.  The second day of a nice, lazy weekend.  I should probably feel more guilty that I tend to be so lazy over the weekends.  I don’t, but I probably should.

We went on a quest yesterday.  A quest to find new insole for our slippers.  We knew we could get them in two possible locations.  The first, Mattick’s Farm (http://www.matticksfarm.com/), a strange little mecca of shopping – a tea room, little local grocery, wine store, other craftsy kind of shops, all next to a golf course.

The second, Muffet and Louisa (http://www.muffetandlouisa.com/) in Sidney

We found the two sizes we needed in Sidney.  As a result, on the way back, we stopped at Marigold Nursery (http://marigoldnurseries.com/) to look at pots (not pot – that is found elsewhere nearby…)  All their pots are 50% off because they are closing.  They are a family business, and the man in charge is retiring,  My understanding is that no one is taking over, so Marigold will be no more.  Maybe it won’t happen, but it’s kind of sad that after 70 odd years the business is just done.

On the way home, we stopped at a car wash for a quick soak…

Then home to finish laundry, run to the grocery, and look at kitties. And that was Sunday.

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/that-stings/

Yesterday was a typical Saturday for me.  Lazy and no real “accomplishments” to speak of.  We did, however, head up the peninsula to Peninsula Nursery (http://bonsaibc.ca/), a nursery that specialize in bamboo and Japanese maples, as well as a variety of shrubs and trees, ferns and hostas.  We are just starting to think of ideas for the front yard, now that it’s a blank slate, as you will see once I post the final pictures of the house as painted.

Here are some of the sights from Peninsula nursery – it’s not a big place, but it’s packed with wonderful things.

We also stopped in Brentwood Bay on our way home at a place called Carnivore (http://www.carnivoreandmore.com/).  Yes, it’s a butcher that sources local (VERY local) meats, and makes its own sausages (many, many flavours of chicken, pork, and beef sausages!)  We picked up dinner for a few nights while there.  I heard of Carnivore from my colleagues and friend Susan and Jen who live up in north Saanich, so visit there on a regular basis.  For us, it’s out of the way, but easy to stop at on our way home when we are up that way!

We also stopped at a farmer’s stand on the way home for some local (and very yummy) corn.

Once home, it was putting a new tarp on the roof of our garage-like structure (long story), watering the garden, and then making supper.  Sausages and corn…yum!

To end the post du jour, of course, a few kitty pictures. Here is an Elliot series for you.

And finally, something that made me laugh this morning…

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt  https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/green-eyed-monster/

Red hair,

red doors,

and kitties.