What's that about?
Well, we've been CouchSurfing hosts for the past couple of years and have enjoyed it immensely! (check it out online) We've had some fabulous people come and stay with us, some funny, (Hey S!) some serious, (you know who you are) some in need of a break (bonjour Sylvain), some looking for adventure (hi Russell!)
Anyway, this year has been both busy and not busy. I've been kind of busy with stuff around the house, which I will write about in another blog one day... maybe a couple of blogs cuz it's a bit much for just one. So, not many CouchSurfers have been to stay with us. I've had to turn them down, left, right, front, and centre. I've been either booked or busy. So, when the New Zealanders asked to stay, I checked carefully to make sure that we had time for them to come. They're a 50-ish couple who were touring Canada and wanted to go (I thought) all the way East.
Check my schedule, looks good. I write to tell them to come along over. They contact me back full of profuse happiness. Give me the date of their arrival, and off we go...
Date of their arrival ... arrives... and Bill calls me on his cell phone. Where are we? Well, we're in Torbay, and I'll give you the directions to our house.
"No, no. I've got GPS. Just give me your address," he says in his quaint "Kiwi" accent.
"I don't think we show up on GPS!" I protest.
"No, no. I've got this covered," he insists.
I stop arguing and give him the address. Now, you must know that the address is already attached to the e-mail on CouchSurfing, as are explicit directions to our house. Explicit enough that EVERYBODY has been able to find us thus far.
They're going to arrive between 4 and 5 pm. 5:30 arrives and they're not here. The phone rings. They can't find the address in GPS.
Big surprise. Where are they, I want to know... Moores-something and Middridge-something... huh? Where the heck is that? I check on mapquest. Nothing to be found. I check the paper map. I find Moores-something in Mount Pearl. No Middridge, but it could be a new street since the map was published. It happens all the time. I call him back to say that I THINK I know where he is and tell him where to go from there.
Options are to get on the Trans-Canada Highway to our turnoff onto Route 20, or proceed to downtown and crawl up the long way. Either would work beautifully.
It's at least a 20 minute journey. Five minutes later, he calls us to say he's in downtown at the tourist centre. Huh? 5 minutes? Amazing! No traffic and he must've floored his car!
Where in downtown? Well... he's near the wharf... Okay. Water or Duckworth? His response was some sort of grunting noise which I took to mean he was negotiating traffic. Paul gets on the phone as I have to run off to do something else. I hear Paul asking for the name of the next side street. "Market" is the answer. My eyebrows did this upward-pointing thing. Market? New one on me.
Paul's still talking though. I hear the airport mentioned. Are we near the airport? Yes, we are! Go there and call us! We'll give directions from there. It's easy-peasy, smooth-sailing. Their phone cuts off.
A couple of minutes after Paul hangs up (I didn't know the line got disconnected), in the middle of blow-drying my hair, my mind wanders. Acting on impulse (backed by intellect), I go back to the computer.
Sure enough. They're in New Brunswick.
****************************************************************************
We try calling their cell. No answer. After several attempts, Paul tells me the phone line cut out. Okay... maybe it ran out of battery. They'll get to the airport and call us. Where's the airport from their last-known location? About 45 minutes drive from downtown St. John.
We wait. We wait more. We continue to wait. We go to a house-warming. We get up in the morning. I check CouchSurfing for a message.
There's a message. Their phone ran out of money. (?)
I guess there's no pay phones in New Brunswick.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
How to make friends in Newfoundland... NOT!!!
Anybody who knows me well enough is completely aware of what kind of person I am. Somewhat assertive (which can also be called "bitchy"), passionate, caring, understanding, demanding... yeah yeah... Y'all know this already.
So the other day I noticed a pair of motorbikes zooming around on the hill over the ridge. For the record, the ridge, while a public-right-of-way, is on our property. There's tons of blueberries growing up there! There's also tons of blueberries growing flat on the ground all over the property next door! Seriously, good pickin'!! These bozos are not only trespassing, but they're squashing all the lovely blueberries!!! Aaagh!!!
The bozos drove off after a couple more swoops. They just ... vanished...
A day later as I was walking the trail to the Big Beach, I found where the bozos entered and exited the hill. From Lower Street, onto our property, up the hill. They're trespassing!!! Aaaaagh! I'm going to have to get more of those big rocks put down there to stop the damn trespassing bikers!!
Well, yesterday the damn bozos were zooming across the hill on their motorbikes again. C'mon, Paul... come with me. I don't normally think I need a man, but I wanted an "INTIMIDATOR" with me. Paul makes a good one cuz he's big and brawny.
I dashed over our hill, across and up where the damn bikers had laid tracks through our place, caught sight of the devastated hillside they've been ravaging with their damn bikes and just gasped in dismay! Flattened brown grass everywhere! They must've been there for weeks trampling everything in sight! The blueberry plants don't stand a chance! Damn those bikers!!!
I wave my arms as the bikes turn in my direction.
"STOP!!!" I shout.
They stop. "Where are you from?" I holler. "Do you even belong here? Do you even know that you're destroying somebody's property?"
I may have thrown in some F-sharps and other assorted sharps. Hey. I was pissed!
The bozos remove their helmets. They're kids. A boy and a girl. Maybe 10 to 13 years old. They point shakily to the south. Right at the faded green house on the property in question.
Oops... New neighbours.
Daddy comes roaring up the hill in full bellow (no, not on a bike). "What're you doing to my kids?!?!"
Oy...
I have to admit that I let my temper carry me along for a little while. I was so totally pissed at the destruction on the property, the loss of the blueberries (those lovely blueberries!!!) that I'd very proprietarily taken an interest in for the last 4 years. (The house has been vacant and up for sale since before we moved here.)
Also, myself and the guy on the other side of the green house have been the de facto neighbourhood watch committee, making sure that nobody vandalized the place or set fires on the property!
For all I knew, these were trespassers. I hadn't seen any signs of life other than the bikes!
I justified my actions. Apologized a couple of times. Not with any real degree of skill or grace, mind you. Have I mentioned that I was pissed?
Father of children expresses his desire that we get off his property. Points out the property line, saying that he owns the hillside up to the top. It seems that he's implying that he owns the bushes... No no... The top of the hillside is ours! Not his! Yes, it's a public right-of-way, but it belongs to us. Pedestrians are okay, not bikes. (blueberries proliferate on the rocky soil up there!!!)
We turn to leave. Paul tries to lighten the situation by speaking gently to the man. I glower. I'm good at it.
Uh-oh... here comes grandma! Grandma is the woman I'd met last fall on the hillside. (She was on our side, picking blueberries. We'd been friendly, I thought.)
She's roaring. The kids are traumatized. Some crazy lady was swearing at them. *sigh* I apologize again. I explain myself. Again.
She doesn't care about the blueberries. "Blueberries are the last thing I'm worried about!" she says.
Looking at the destruction of their property, I guess she's decided to turn her place into a trail biker's training ground. *sad*
Not finished, Father mentions the public right-of-way. Pointing at the rocks. Paul gently points out that the rocks and right-of-way intersect at the fence of the house down on Lower Street. No more public access through since somebody built the house.
Grandma says that's stupid. I say "welcome to Newfoundland."
Kids aren't to be on our property with their bikes. Father and Grandma look at each other and agree to talk to the kids about it.
Paul and I trudge down the hill, then around and back to our house. I wish he'd been quicker on his feet so he could've prevented me from putting mine in my mouth so firmly.
I think I'll bake some pie and deliver it to the house along with a crazy-lady apology card.
Not blueberry though.
So the other day I noticed a pair of motorbikes zooming around on the hill over the ridge. For the record, the ridge, while a public-right-of-way, is on our property. There's tons of blueberries growing up there! There's also tons of blueberries growing flat on the ground all over the property next door! Seriously, good pickin'!! These bozos are not only trespassing, but they're squashing all the lovely blueberries!!! Aaagh!!!
The bozos drove off after a couple more swoops. They just ... vanished...
A day later as I was walking the trail to the Big Beach, I found where the bozos entered and exited the hill. From Lower Street, onto our property, up the hill. They're trespassing!!! Aaaaagh! I'm going to have to get more of those big rocks put down there to stop the damn trespassing bikers!!
Well, yesterday the damn bozos were zooming across the hill on their motorbikes again. C'mon, Paul... come with me. I don't normally think I need a man, but I wanted an "INTIMIDATOR" with me. Paul makes a good one cuz he's big and brawny.
I dashed over our hill, across and up where the damn bikers had laid tracks through our place, caught sight of the devastated hillside they've been ravaging with their damn bikes and just gasped in dismay! Flattened brown grass everywhere! They must've been there for weeks trampling everything in sight! The blueberry plants don't stand a chance! Damn those bikers!!!
I wave my arms as the bikes turn in my direction.
"STOP!!!" I shout.
They stop. "Where are you from?" I holler. "Do you even belong here? Do you even know that you're destroying somebody's property?"
I may have thrown in some F-sharps and other assorted sharps. Hey. I was pissed!
The bozos remove their helmets. They're kids. A boy and a girl. Maybe 10 to 13 years old. They point shakily to the south. Right at the faded green house on the property in question.
Oops... New neighbours.
Daddy comes roaring up the hill in full bellow (no, not on a bike). "What're you doing to my kids?!?!"
Oy...
I have to admit that I let my temper carry me along for a little while. I was so totally pissed at the destruction on the property, the loss of the blueberries (those lovely blueberries!!!) that I'd very proprietarily taken an interest in for the last 4 years. (The house has been vacant and up for sale since before we moved here.)
Also, myself and the guy on the other side of the green house have been the de facto neighbourhood watch committee, making sure that nobody vandalized the place or set fires on the property!
For all I knew, these were trespassers. I hadn't seen any signs of life other than the bikes!
I justified my actions. Apologized a couple of times. Not with any real degree of skill or grace, mind you. Have I mentioned that I was pissed?
Father of children expresses his desire that we get off his property. Points out the property line, saying that he owns the hillside up to the top. It seems that he's implying that he owns the bushes... No no... The top of the hillside is ours! Not his! Yes, it's a public right-of-way, but it belongs to us. Pedestrians are okay, not bikes. (blueberries proliferate on the rocky soil up there!!!)
We turn to leave. Paul tries to lighten the situation by speaking gently to the man. I glower. I'm good at it.
Uh-oh... here comes grandma! Grandma is the woman I'd met last fall on the hillside. (She was on our side, picking blueberries. We'd been friendly, I thought.)
She's roaring. The kids are traumatized. Some crazy lady was swearing at them. *sigh* I apologize again. I explain myself. Again.
She doesn't care about the blueberries. "Blueberries are the last thing I'm worried about!" she says.
Looking at the destruction of their property, I guess she's decided to turn her place into a trail biker's training ground. *sad*
Not finished, Father mentions the public right-of-way. Pointing at the rocks. Paul gently points out that the rocks and right-of-way intersect at the fence of the house down on Lower Street. No more public access through since somebody built the house.
Grandma says that's stupid. I say "welcome to Newfoundland."
Kids aren't to be on our property with their bikes. Father and Grandma look at each other and agree to talk to the kids about it.
Paul and I trudge down the hill, then around and back to our house. I wish he'd been quicker on his feet so he could've prevented me from putting mine in my mouth so firmly.
I think I'll bake some pie and deliver it to the house along with a crazy-lady apology card.
Not blueberry though.
The new storage container...
We decided that we'd like to have a "new" set of patio-type furniture for our back deck. The old plastic adirondack chairs we brought with us from Manitoba are faded and a greenish residue rubs off on clothing. No need for brand spanking new. We were going to look for used stuff. We found some at a yard sale. Yahoo! Metal chairs and a glass-topped table. The chairs come with comfy cushions! Very nice.
Problem arises. They're cloth and not water-resistant. Hmm... we could put them in the house. No... that's not a good idea. We could put them in the extra-large-humongous dog crate that's still sitting on the deck. Hmm... it's got holes for ventilation and the cushions are still getting wet... I know!! We should get a box for the deck! Yeah!!!
So... off to Kent Home Hardware. I know they've got just what I need! Tra-la-la... skipping happily into Kent and checking out their storage bins. I played a version of Three Bears with the display models. This one is too small. This one is too short. This one is just right, but it's real flimsy. Hey! Looka there! This one is beeyootiful! It's big. It's solid. It will easily take on the job of blocking the wind from the barbecue (the only reason the dog crate is still on the deck).
I'll take it!
I get it home. The Mook and I wrestle the light but unwieldy box from the SUV to the deck. Unload groceries, eat lunch, go back outside to ... Da-da-da-daaaaa!!! Build the storage box!
Open the box. Remove pieces and lay them out on the deck for assembly.
One base - check
One lid - check
2 doors - check
2 doors - ... wait a sec...
Where's the sides???
Read the assembly instructions again. Yup. I'm supposed to have 2 doors and 2 sides.
Look at pile of pieces on the deck.
4 doors.
Houston, we have a problem.
Phonecall to Kent.
This was the last box, aside from the floor model. None available at the other Kent location.
For me, the solution was easy:
"Fire that floor model over to me this afternoon and your boys can pick up the defective model."
Success.
It's raining cats and dogs today. I'll check the cushions tomorrow. See if they're still dry.
Problem arises. They're cloth and not water-resistant. Hmm... we could put them in the house. No... that's not a good idea. We could put them in the extra-large-humongous dog crate that's still sitting on the deck. Hmm... it's got holes for ventilation and the cushions are still getting wet... I know!! We should get a box for the deck! Yeah!!!
So... off to Kent Home Hardware. I know they've got just what I need! Tra-la-la... skipping happily into Kent and checking out their storage bins. I played a version of Three Bears with the display models. This one is too small. This one is too short. This one is just right, but it's real flimsy. Hey! Looka there! This one is beeyootiful! It's big. It's solid. It will easily take on the job of blocking the wind from the barbecue (the only reason the dog crate is still on the deck).
I'll take it!
I get it home. The Mook and I wrestle the light but unwieldy box from the SUV to the deck. Unload groceries, eat lunch, go back outside to ... Da-da-da-daaaaa!!! Build the storage box!
Open the box. Remove pieces and lay them out on the deck for assembly.
One base - check
One lid - check
2 doors - check
2 doors - ... wait a sec...
Where's the sides???
Read the assembly instructions again. Yup. I'm supposed to have 2 doors and 2 sides.
Look at pile of pieces on the deck.
4 doors.
Houston, we have a problem.
Phonecall to Kent.
This was the last box, aside from the floor model. None available at the other Kent location.
For me, the solution was easy:
"Fire that floor model over to me this afternoon and your boys can pick up the defective model."
Success.
It's raining cats and dogs today. I'll check the cushions tomorrow. See if they're still dry.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Go Hero HD Helmet Cam Durability Field Test
Paul got a sweet little camera that comes with a waterproof case and some very interesting mounting hardware. He's used it a couple of times while dirt-biking. This excerpt is from his first trip out (I think?). The editing was done using iMovie on the Macbook. Too funny! I've gotten a giggle out of it every single time I've played it... like half a dozen times by now!
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Weird and randomness... nothing special.
You know you're weird when you're excited to find a link to something that most people couldn't or wouldn't be bothered with...
http://blogsearch.google.com/
THIS is how to find people in blogger!!! I'm EXCITED!!! Surely people I know are on here. Surely!
lol...
So, the sun has actually been shining off-and-on during the past few days. We actually have the pool heater on (it's @ 84 degrees F) and have used it a few times during the past week. The other day I grabbed the GoPro and took some video of Sean, Miranda, and Kyle goofing around... dumped the dog in too, for good measure. (she's not that keen on swimming - weird for a spaniel, no?)
I edited the video today, on the Macbook (YAAAYYYY!!!), but need to shrink it down a bit and perhaps add some nice muzack for the background. It wasn't a very sunny day, so I might decide to scratch it down to a mere smidgen of its size and re-video on a sunny day. Add a few still photographs for good measure and it should look sweet. I've got an account in YouTube, so I'll post the link and you can watch it if you want. I'll pass the word when I've done that. Could be a while... this is Newfoundland, remember. Sunshine isn't an everyday occurrence!
Did I mention that the painting is done. Hmm... Yes, I do believe I did mention that. Robbie picked it the other day (last Thursday) and couldn't wait to give it to the recipient. She was thrilled and amazed... she cried. (I do hope it was emotional tearing up and not "Oh my god somebody did a crap-ass job of my dogs in this god-awful painting that I must somehow pretend to really love") Robbie loved it. Paid good coin for it, too.
I enjoyed it so damn (I can say that!!) much that I signed up for a diploma course in pet portraiture through the London Art College. It's a distance ed. program and it's taught by a marvellous artist whose work I really admire! It's in the mail and should be here soon. It's coming from the UK. Give it time... I want to start NOW!!! It starts with the basics of drawing animals and moves along to the more tricky bits of composition and actually painting them. It also goes into marketing and advertising yourself and your work. You work at your own pace, sending the work in either electronically or via snail-mail for a critique. They send you an audio-video of the crit with in-depth advice. Altogether, they figure a year to completion, but allow up to 2 years. After that, they want you to shape up or pay more. Makes sense.
Ah well... I have to allow my deltoid muscle time to heal. The week "off" should help. I'm going to have to look up some yoga stretches on YouTube. The description of the injury is amusing, but helpful in a visual way. My chiropractor said that the muscles are bundled up like a handful of spaghetti. Typically they run smooth from stem to stern. When they're injured, they act like over-cooked spaghetti and clump up in a bunch. The idea is to smooth them out so that they lay properly (aka smoothly) again. The horrible part is over, but I have to keep smoothing and strengthening them. Annoying that Paul can put me on the floor just by dint of taking my arm and hoisting it shoulder-height... Okay, it's annoying that Miranda can do the same. Argh...
Oooh! Hot tub time! Sunset over the ocean. Love you guys! Talk again another time. Soon.
~ Chris
http://blogsearch.google.com/
THIS is how to find people in blogger!!! I'm EXCITED!!! Surely people I know are on here. Surely!
lol...
So, the sun has actually been shining off-and-on during the past few days. We actually have the pool heater on (it's @ 84 degrees F) and have used it a few times during the past week. The other day I grabbed the GoPro and took some video of Sean, Miranda, and Kyle goofing around... dumped the dog in too, for good measure. (she's not that keen on swimming - weird for a spaniel, no?)
I edited the video today, on the Macbook (YAAAYYYY!!!), but need to shrink it down a bit and perhaps add some nice muzack for the background. It wasn't a very sunny day, so I might decide to scratch it down to a mere smidgen of its size and re-video on a sunny day. Add a few still photographs for good measure and it should look sweet. I've got an account in YouTube, so I'll post the link and you can watch it if you want. I'll pass the word when I've done that. Could be a while... this is Newfoundland, remember. Sunshine isn't an everyday occurrence!
Did I mention that the painting is done. Hmm... Yes, I do believe I did mention that. Robbie picked it the other day (last Thursday) and couldn't wait to give it to the recipient. She was thrilled and amazed... she cried. (I do hope it was emotional tearing up and not "Oh my god somebody did a crap-ass job of my dogs in this god-awful painting that I must somehow pretend to really love") Robbie loved it. Paid good coin for it, too.
I enjoyed it so damn (I can say that!!) much that I signed up for a diploma course in pet portraiture through the London Art College. It's a distance ed. program and it's taught by a marvellous artist whose work I really admire! It's in the mail and should be here soon. It's coming from the UK. Give it time... I want to start NOW!!! It starts with the basics of drawing animals and moves along to the more tricky bits of composition and actually painting them. It also goes into marketing and advertising yourself and your work. You work at your own pace, sending the work in either electronically or via snail-mail for a critique. They send you an audio-video of the crit with in-depth advice. Altogether, they figure a year to completion, but allow up to 2 years. After that, they want you to shape up or pay more. Makes sense.
Ah well... I have to allow my deltoid muscle time to heal. The week "off" should help. I'm going to have to look up some yoga stretches on YouTube. The description of the injury is amusing, but helpful in a visual way. My chiropractor said that the muscles are bundled up like a handful of spaghetti. Typically they run smooth from stem to stern. When they're injured, they act like over-cooked spaghetti and clump up in a bunch. The idea is to smooth them out so that they lay properly (aka smoothly) again. The horrible part is over, but I have to keep smoothing and strengthening them. Annoying that Paul can put me on the floor just by dint of taking my arm and hoisting it shoulder-height... Okay, it's annoying that Miranda can do the same. Argh...
Oooh! Hot tub time! Sunset over the ocean. Love you guys! Talk again another time. Soon.
~ Chris
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Finished the painting today!
Thank blooming heavens!! It's been a long project. Who would've thunk that a couple of dogs could be so darned difficult to paint? I mean, really!?! Ah well. The colours in the coats are what gave me conniptions. The first dog was my practice piece. Shiloh got worked over and over and over again... I'm embarrassed at how those turned out. Finally... FINALLY I got some good advice from a dog artist, Kathryn Beals, and watched a couple (okay okay... several... ) speed painting videos on YouTube. YouTube is my new bff... yup... They're still only my first animal paintings, so I'm going to have to keep practicing in order to get better. I think I'll clear off the kitchen table for now though. Move stuff back into the studio. Start doing laundry and other assorted housework... cooking, errands. We need a new weed whacker and I hear the lawn mower needs a new blade since the old one ate a rock. Stuff.
This is Shiloh
And this is Ginger.
And last but definitely not least, Maggie.
Ginger and Maggie are full sisters, while Shiloh is the mother of Shamus, one of the dogs living next door to us.
Enough about painting for now. I'll be working on the painting of Niki soon, but not until I've let my deltoid heal for at least a week without exerting it.
Moving on...
Miranda and her friend had a marvelous time in the swimming pool today. Fi rst swim of the year! The sun was shining, and there was this rumor of heat. 10 o'clock this morning I was standing outside in a sundress and a windbreaker, cleaning the bugs out of the pool. By 11:30, the girls were swimming! Hooray!!! There's still sun on the pool now, and it's almost 6:30. Maybe I should toss a suit on and get out there for a few minutes. Who knows when the sun and heat will appear at the same time again!
Oooh... This is also the first day that I've worn a sundress. I was so impressed with that fact that I decided to record it for posterity. So... I'm attaching a pic of me wearing my sundress.
Woohoo!!! Summer sunshine!!!
This is Shiloh
And this is Ginger.
Ginger and Maggie are full sisters, while Shiloh is the mother of Shamus, one of the dogs living next door to us.
Enough about painting for now. I'll be working on the painting of Niki soon, but not until I've let my deltoid heal for at least a week without exerting it.
Moving on...
Oooh... This is also the first day that I've worn a sundress. I was so impressed with that fact that I decided to record it for posterity. So... I'm attaching a pic of me wearing my sundress.
Woohoo!!! Summer sunshine!!!
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Wake up call
Sunrise over Torbay