Saturday, December 17, 2011

LIBRARY BOOKS #2

José Saramago's novel The Cave must be the most unreadable book by a winner of the Nobel prize in Literature ever published. The long run-on sentences full of commas but lacking in other necessary punctuation (periods, quotation marks, standard paragraphs) makes this reader feel like a passenger in a car driven by a maniac who ignores stop signs and traffic lights. It's a pity since the drive could have been scenic.

More than just a bad publication, The Cave is an affront to readers. When I see the Nobel winner stamp on the front of a book, I have expectations (or at least hopes) of great literature of the calibre of Albert Camus or Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. In this case, it is false advertising. Shame on Saramago and his publishers.

Some would argue that I should look beyond the "style that looks forbidding on the page, with its meandering convoluted sentences" but a Nobel-laureate should be chosen for literary style as well as content.

* Added Sept. 2012: Lynne Truss writes in Talk to the Hand:
As I noted in Eats, Shoots & Leaves, good punctuation is analogous to good manners. The writer who neglects spelling and punctuation is quite arrogantly dumping a lot of avoidable work onto the reader, who deserves to be treated with more respect.


In total contrast to Saramago's novel, I would like everyone to read and take to heart Temple Grandin's book Animals Make Us Human. She helps us understand behaviour and emotion systems so we can interact with animals more appropriately. Grandin writes about the "blue-ribbon emotion systems": SEEKING, RAGE, FEAR, PANIC, LUST, CARE, PLAY and how they define the needs of predator and prey animals. People who use this information can go on to train and socialize animals with gentleness instead of physical or mental abuse.

Monday, December 12, 2011

WINNER!

I'm a winner! It all started when I discovered a blog called Farm Fresh Forensics. I read and I laughed. Read some more, laughed some more. Then I started from the beginning (early posts) and quickly became addicted to the funny, heartwarming and wise posts written by someone I would love to meet. Not long ago there was an invitation to answer three questions about the blog. I won something very desirable: handmade goat's milk soap from Failte Gate Farm in Texas. Yippee! It looks good enough to eat ;-)

Thursday, November 17, 2011

WARM DAYS

In this part of Ontario it sure seems like we're getting global warming. It's already mid-November yet the temperature has been 13 to 17 C until today. I had no excuse to avoid raking so the back yard looks much better this year.
I worry about the polar bears and other animals whose habitats are changing due to climate change (or more immediately, due to habitat invasion and destruction by homo sapiens). It would be easier if I could forget those concerns but I cannot ignore the plight of so many wild animals that suffer in different ways at the hands of humans.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

TICK !


Stupid me! A few days ago I felt one or two small bumps/lumps behind/below Terri's left ear. I didn't think anything about it and it was only today that I decided to feel for them again. This time I parted her hair and discovered a gray blob attached to her skin. It was a tick! Horrified, I ran to the laptop and Googled "how to remove tick" and found this very useful short video and explanation:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-remove-a-tick/

OK, I think my diet will be back on track as I don't feel like eating anything after seeing that thing. YEEECH!!!

I've concluded that the tick came from Larose Forest as it is the first one I've seen on Terri in 6+ years and it was our first visit to that forest. At the vet clinic I was told that Larose Forest is known for having ticks. We won't be visiting there again because Terri needs to have bloodwork done to determine if she is infected with a disease the tick carries and injects while feeding.

HAWKING vs SUSSKIND

It's a fun time to be alive! As if reading my mind ("no such thing as too many programs and books about cosmology"), TVO's Big Ideas program today was the the 2011 Sackler Public Lecture at the University of Toronto given by Leonard Susskind on June 28, 2011. In the lecture, he described in simplified terms (yes, we need that!) the idea of the universe being a giant hologram. If this sounds familiar, note Brian Greene's ending remarks here ("imagine reality as a hologram").

Leonard Susskind and Stephen Hawking disagreed about what would happen to the information and matter stored in a black hole when it evaporates. Since I hadn't given ANY thought to a black hole evaporating (some physicists argue that black holes themselves may not even exist), this is all new and exciting to me. Not to writers at Wikipedia, though. I have a LOT of catching up to do re: theories in cosmology. See these and other articles at Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Susskind

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hole_information_paradox


Image taken from Wikipedia (source: NASA)

Thursday, November 3, 2011

FABRIC of COSMOS

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/fabric-of-cosmos.html

Acclaimed physicist Brian Greene reveals a mind-boggling reality beneath the surface of our everyday world.

"The Fabric of the Cosmos," a four-hour series based on the book by renowned physicist and author Brian Greene, takes us to the frontiers of physics to see how scientists are piecing together the most complete picture yet of space, time, and the universe.

Airing 11/2, 11/9, 11/16 and 11/23 on PBS
What is Space?
The Illusion of Time
Quantum Leap
Universe or Multiverse?

[I get this via PBS channel #388 (at SHAW DIRECT SATELLITE) WNED Buffalo-Toronto]


Quick Summary of Part 1: What is Space?

Empty space is not nothing; it is something, it has properties, e.g., it can twist.

Newton's space: a passive framework like the stage used for a play; space is a real, physical thing.

Einstein: the nature of light - constant speed of light is 671 million mph; think of a car with headlights on - the speed of its light coming at you when stopped is same as when car approaches you at 40 mph because light can't go any faster. The speed of light is absolute.

Einstein: nature of gravity - spacetime can stretch and bend like a rubber sheet; it is dynamic and flexible; gravity IS the shape of spacetime.

In 1950's Leonard Schiff conceived a project to test general relativity using orbiting gyroscopes: Gravity Probe B. The idea is to measure how space and time are "warped" by the presence of the Earth. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_Probe_B

Quantum Mechanics: empty space is full of activity - particles pop into and out of existence and empty space has enough force to push on matter.

Peter Higgs - Univ. Edinburgh - the Higgs field was proposed by Higgs and others to provide mass to particles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Higgs

Big Bang was 14 billion years ago - will the universe continue to expand or will it collapse?

Saul Perlmutter investigated supernovae and discovered that the universe's expansion is accelerating. Something is counteracting the pull of gravity. "Dark energy" has been proposed as the cause. [Fun note: Perlmutter was mentioned recently on a The Big Bang Theory episode in which Sheldon wants to go to a lecture given by Perlmutter just so he can debunk the Nobel laureate's theories publicly.]

Einstein's cosmological constant Λ was introduced to allow for a static universe. He later called it his biggest blunder. The strange thing is: recent improved astronomical techniques have found that a positive value of Λ is needed to explain the accelerating universe.

The strangest revelation (revelation or crazy idea?) in "Part 1: What is Space?" is this:

* when something falls into a black hole it is lost forever; at least, the 3D version of that something; BUT the 2D version (information about the thing) stays at the black hole's surface

* imagine reality as a hologram -- with the 3D part = things in the universe and the 2D part = the surface of the universe.

I'm excited about the next episode: The Illusion of Time

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

BEWITCHED

Terri is so charming; I'm bewitched by her. Wouldn't you be too?


Wednesday, October 19, 2011

LAROSE FOREST

And now ... something pleasant. I drove Terri to Larose Forest Tuesday afternoon. When we got near the forest, she became VERY excited and started crazy frenzied barking "Oh boy! oh boy! I smell woods! I wanna run in the woods!" (or something like that). I poured water into her bowl and left it by a tire and let her wander around as there was only one other car parked in the lot.

Shortly after, a white car arrived but instead of parking, the driver drove around slowly, going uphill beside the road and around again slowly; stopped a distance away, drove around and finally parked. A man and his young son got out. He said that his son thought Terri was a wolf. Ha ha ha! Other owners of Belgian shepherds have heard that one before. The boy came over and petted Terri happily; then they proceeded to run around together. Terri loved having somebody chase her.


Terri and I walked along the dog sledding trails which were surprisingly dry and not slippery, despite the recent rains and fallen leaves. It was a perfect day for such a walk -- comfortable for a cozy sweater and jeans. I didn't need the jacket that I brought "just in case". Terri had fun playing with the many sticks she found along the trail. There were signs up warning not to allow your dog to chase deer. Terri has an excellent recall so I wasn't concerned she would cause trouble. It certainly isn't fair to deer to make them run in fear of wolf-like animals; they could injure themselves running fast amongst the trees and above-ground roots and branches.


Before heading home, my curiosity sent me driving through some roads in the forest and I was rewarded with sights of sunlit leaves amongst shaded branches.

Somebody is logging tall pines not far from the parking lot. The log piles appear to be made up of only the oldest, tallest pines in that part of the forest. Just past the logging area is a small pond with a sign stating: Nesting site for turtles. Respect. Do not disturb. I hope the logging operations don't disturb the turtles if they are still in the area.

There is a "Mush Larose" page at Facebook for people interested in participating in various sledding, skijoring, dog/biking activities.

Friday, October 14, 2011

UGLY TV

No, this is not about DWTS or similar "reality" TV (though it could have been). It's about the truly disgusting things I've watched recently and will never watch again, even though the info is (somewhat) educational.

I've found Monsters Inside Me to be strangely compelling and useful if you want to know how to avoid rare human parasites. I guess these stories of parasites aren't scary because they are so rare and unlikely to happen to me (I don't walk barefoot, I don't travel to third world countries).

Rat Busters NYC -- really, who thinks up these programs? The story of a rat infestation requiring breaking down walls, ceilings, and cement floors to find the source is enough to make you want to move to a clean icy igloo. While watching the exterminators setting traps for rats in a warehouse, I wondered if any pest control company has considered specializing in a pack of rat terriers to catch and kill rats and mice.

The ugliest program was on Animal Planet. Bedbugs are small creatures but they are spreading across the USA and probably Canada too. They can be picked up from hotels and other places where you use furniture.
- Bedbugs bite people for their blood.
- There are dogs trained to detect their odor.
- 120° steam can kill them.
- Rubbing alcohol kills them but it is flammable so you don't want to use it any place there could be a spark.
- Carbon dioxide can flash freeze them.
- Heating a house to 120°+ can desiccate them, but they may find cooler spots to hide in so the exterminator needs to check for cool areas.
- Heating clothes in a hot dryer for 30 minutes should kill them.
- The program didn't say whether diatomaceous earth could kill them.

Now, a pleasant photo to put that ugliness out of mind:
Freshly fallen white snow, anyone?

Monday, October 3, 2011

DOG PERSON ?

Dog person or people person ?

It would be obvious to anyone who knows me that I'm a dog (and cat) person. I now spend most of my time with Terri and Flower. They are sweet, furry girls who are a daily source of joy. I saw a sign on FB that states my situation perfectly:

The difference between dogs and people: dogs spend most of their time NOT being annoying, people are the opposite.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

REINVENTING GRAVITY

Reading Reinventing Gravity by John W. Moffat is like reading a mystery. He builds his case towards an alternative theory of gravity gradually by taking us through the history of science to demonstrate how old theories need to be updated or overthrown when more precise observations are made of nature.

The mystery of the nature of space-time is revealed and all seems well until newer observations and measurements show flaws in Newton's and Einstein's theories. Black holes, dark matter, and dark energy have been postulated to update those theories to fit new observations. They have been accepted by many scientists but do these objects really exist?

Moffat writes:
Let me state the current situation very clearly. There are only two ways of explaining the wealth of observational data showing the surprisingly fast rotational speeds of stars in galaxies and the stability of clusters: Either dark matter exists and presumably will be found, and Newton's and Einstein's gravity theories will remain intact; or dark matter does not exist and we must find a new gravity theory.

This book is a GREAT read for anyone who fits into the author's intended audience: "the curious non-physicist who loves science" or "the reader with a more technical background in physics".

Moffat's alternative theory refutes some of the statements in Timeline of the Universe shown below.

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) Radiation


The detailed, all-sky picture of the infant universe created from seven years of WMAP data. The image reveals 13.7 billion year old temperature fluctuations (shown as color differences) that correspond to the seeds that grew to become the galaxies. The signal from the our Galaxy was subtracted using the multi-frequency data. This image shows a temperature range of ± 200 microKelvin.

Credit: NASA / WMAP Science Team


Timeline of the Universe


A representation of the evolution of the universe over 13.7 billion years. The far left depicts the earliest moment we can now probe, when a period of "inflation" produced a burst of exponential growth in the universe. (Size is depicted by the vertical extent of the grid in this graphic.) For the next several billion years, the expansion of the universe gradually slowed down as the matter in the universe pulled on itself via gravity. More recently, the expansion has begun to speed up again as the repulsive effects of dark energy have come to dominate the expansion of the universe. The afterglow light seen by WMAP was emitted about 380,000 years after inflation and has traversed the universe largely unimpeded since then. The conditions of earlier times are imprinted on this light; it also forms a backlight for later developments of the universe.

Credit: NASA / WMAP Science Team

Saturday, September 24, 2011

HERITAGE FESTIVAL

There was little mentioned about the Russell Heritage Festival September 24, 2011. The only poster I saw about it was in my vet's building when I dropped in to buy cat food today. I wouldn't have been on the lookout for information if I hadn't heard about the art in the park from Heidi Oeschger when I stopped by to see her alpacas. Heidi does European floral design in addition to making alpaca yarn and products.

The art you see here is by Sheila Reid, Heather Presley, Terry Cowan.

MacDougall Park:
Heidi Oeschger:
Sheila Reid:
Heather Presley:
Terry Cowan ... http://www.terrycowan.ca

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

ALPACAS

While driving past a farm today, I made a sudden decision to drop in to ask if I could take photos of their alpacas. Not having planned this photoshoot, I didn't have a full camera battery so was only able to take a few pics. Their owner is a lovely lady who spins the alpaca wool into yarn and makes socks, etc. which she sells at country fairs. I'll try to find her at fairs that I'll attend this fall.

COSMOLOGY

Is Everything We Know About The Universe Wrong?

"Dark flow is the latest in a long line of phenomena that have threatened to re-write the textbooks. Does it herald a new era of understanding, or does it simply mean that everything we know about the universe is wrong?"

9 PM Monday on Discovery Science. I enjoyed this hour about the standard model of cosmology and various concepts that had to be added as newer data became available. It will be repeated Tuesday, September 20 2011 12:00 AM. http://www.sciencechannel.ca/

Summary: "Dark Flow" is the latest finding from examinations of data collected about our universe. The hour covers the Big Bang theory (standard model of cosmology); the need to explain why the temperature is homogeneous throughout the universe (not an expected result of a Big Bang); Alan Guth's concept of inflation that answers the homogeneous temperature problem; rotation speeds of galaxies that led to the idea of dark matter which is required to explain why galaxies don't fly apart; the curious problem of how to detect dark matter; and finally the "dark flow" of matter discovered upon examination of CMB data (the cosmic microwave background). Is there more structure outside of our universe? Alan Guth predicted that our universe was part of a larger structure.

It doesn't get more fun than the exploration of ideas about cosmology!

Herschel Views the Milky Way: looking toward the constellation of the Southern Cross. Photo from Herschel Space Observatory.

Monday, September 19, 2011

EARTHQUAKE

Yesterday afternoon I was (as usual) sitting on the back deck enjoying the sunshine and tossing Terri's Kong toy for her to catch & fetch. I heard/felt a rumbling and thought it came from some large machinery passing by on the road in front of the house. But the rumbling continued longer than traffic takes to pass by. Being busy playing games with Terri, I didn't think about it until the evening when I checked the earthquake website: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/dyfi/
You can check for "Felt Events - Last 7 Days" to see an accurate listing of quakes. If you've felt one, you can report how strong it felt to you in your town. Cool, huh?

Thursday, September 15, 2011

SHOPPING

Today, for a change, I took time out for some shopping -- just for me. I had fun browsing thru Future Shop. Oooh ... electronics, my favorite stuff :-) I spent a bit of time examining the Canon T3i and discovered it was much lighter than I expected. In fact, it felt about the same weight as my 10 year old Canon Powershot, despite the larger lens. I'll be researching cameras at DPreview.com and thinking about whether I can justify the expense. Someday .... a DSLR.

Good news/bad news ... from the folks at Toyota. Good: nothing expensive needs to be done now. Bad: I had asked them to do a thorough check and said I needed to keep it on the road for as long as possible. They inspected and told me that parts will be wearing out and I'll come to the point where it may not be cost effective to keep it. Boo hoo! I want to drive it forever.

Monday, September 5, 2011

THE GRAND DESIGN

HOT, sunny beginning for September on the 2nd; a glorious Saturday that I spent at Farran Park, watching the lovely dogs in the conformation rings. It was at least 30°C!


Monday the 4th is much colder (16°C); an overcast gray day. This combination of sun and rain made the grass grow like crazy in 4 days.

Gray weather invites me to snuggle up with Terri & Flower and a good book. The great book that I'm reading now is The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow. It's a marvelous overview connecting ideas and theories in physics from Newton's gravity through Feynman's view of quantum theory to M-theory; from the quarks that form protons and neutrons to the expanding universe/multiverse. With this model-dependent perspective of reality under your belt, various physics theories seem to fit into the jigsaw puzzle of Life, The Universe, and Everything more understandably. As some critics say, Hawking and Mlodinow may be too confident about M-theory and it may be trashed in the future but for this time and place in our universe, I like how well they explain all the concepts. June 19, 2012: Came across this set of pages about The Grand Design ... http://www.livescience.com/18035-stephen-hawking-book-physics.html

Friday, September 2, 2011

SUMMERTIME

No matter how long it is, summer is always too brief. That's why I always make the most of it by staying outdoors as much as possible with Terri. Flower often joins us when we laze around in the back yard. Once September hits, I'm even more aware of the need to soak up the warmth of the sun before the cold sets in (although I generally do this in the shade of the big spruce to avoid too much UV exposure).


Summer's shortness parallels the canine lifespan so that's another reason Terri and I enjoy as much time together as we can playing her favourite games.


Monday, August 29, 2011

AUG. DOG SHOW

Terri and I watched agility and conformation on Saturday at Long Sault. The SD&G (Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Dog Association) show is our favourite. The setting is perfect - islands in the St. Lawrence Parks, show rings of green grass nestled amongst trees and close to the shore. Space for outdoor conformation, agility, obedience, and rally sessions. The weather is usually great, although tropical storm Irene brought some wind and rain on Sunday.



We saw many beautiful dogs in the show ring. The English setters were especially attractive. We saw 3 Belgian shepherds doing conformation and 4 others running agility. But some of those in agility this weekend also do conformation and vice versa, including Ben Kenobi de la Foret de Bizy who won Best in Specialty at the National Specialty Show for Belgian Shepherd Dogs this year and BasqueLaine Ewe'r Marco Polo who earned his championship and AGI titles (incl. BOB) this weekend.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

DOCTOR OZ SHOW

I don't usually watch TV before 7 PM but yesterday I was mowing grass when it started to rain so I put the mower away and flopped in front of the TV. I discovered the Dr. Oz Show. The topics were of interest to me so I stayed to watch.

WHAT I LEARNED

Stroke signs include confusion, pain in the face, headache, feeling heavy on one side, etc.

Risk of stroke ... if you check 3+ of these, you should visit your doctor:
[ ] blood pressure higher than 140/90
[ ] cholesterol ... LDL greater than 100 ... HDL less than 50 mg/dL
[ ] diabetes ... blood sugar greater than 100 mg/dL
[ ] smoker
[ ] exercise ... not exercising is a major risk
[ ] family history of stroke

Eating saturated fats increases the risk of stroke.

You need your waist size to be less than your height!

Gallbladder
-- you can get pain after eating a fatty meal
-- it produces green bile
-- it can contain stones that are tiny to very large (almost as large as the gallbladder itself)
-- do not skip meals ... a small meal helps empty the gallbladder

Cranberries - eat often
Half a cup of whole cranberries has 4 grams of effective carbohydrate, plus 2 grams of fiber
Health benefits of cranberries
* Prevention and treatment of urinary tract infections (they are antibacterial and also keep bacteria from “sticking” to the inside of the bladder and ureters).
* Similar effects in the GI tract – help prevent bacteria from causing food-borne illness.
* Similar effects in the mouth – may help prevent tooth decay by discouraging bacteria and preventing them from “sticking”.
* Prevention of the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, which may help prevent atherosclerosis.
* Improves blood vessel function in people with atherosclerosis.
* Some studies show that cranberries can either raise HDL cholesterol or lower LDL cholesterol.
* Cranberries may also have anti-cancer properties.

Found elsewhere on the web ...
These foods have the most antioxidants per serving:
-- Kidney beans, pinto beans, black beans, and red beans
-- Blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, and cherries
-- Cooked artichokes
-- Prunes and plums
-- Walnuts
-- Apples

Black pepper is an antioxident.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

TOYS !


Today was a super day for playing outside. Flower went out, ate some grass, spit it out, walked around the house and settled down on the deck.

Terri played with her rapidly diminishing baseball, kept unravelling it when she fetched it to me and eventually came to the small inner ball. I hid that so it wouldn't be chewed and swallowed. Her next toy of choice was a teeny blue toy fragment (below the red Kong in the photo) that's hard even for me to find in the grass. We played a long game of "find the teeny toy in the grass" until our neighbor dropped by to say hello. The toy selected for a game of catch was her new red Kong which is replacing the so-far-unrecovered black Kong hiding in the eaves.

That takes us to the present which seems to be a good time to do some mowing. Cloud cover has cooled the air quite a bit. It seems such a short time since I mowed the grass but it needs to be done again before it gets too high/long.

Friday, August 19, 2011

SHOW JUMPING


Friday, August 19 -- Ian Millar (above), son Jonathan and daughter Amy all rode in the ORS Open Welcome against many other well known riders. Details will be posted at http://www.hayesco.ca/shows.html

There were riders of all ages on horses and ponies. We enjoyed perfect weather; the evening was warm and I would have stayed outside longer but the sun set just before 8 PM :-( On the way home from the Equestrian Park, I stopped at Petsmart so Terri and I could do some shopping.


Thursday, August 11, 2011

HORSES !

There are lots of opportunities near Ottawa to see horses this month. Last week I watched dressage competitions at Centaur Riding School. This weekend there are horses at the Navan Fair August 11 to 14 AND at the first weekend of the National Capital Show Jumping Tournament August 10-14. The second weekend of show jumping events: August 17-21.


A list of fairs:

Friday, July 29, 2011

RELAXATION ?

When you have a healthy athletic shepherd around, there is no relaxation in the form of uninterrupted reading or even uninterrupted gardening when you're outside. Indoors, you have a quiet sweetheart lying on the floor or couch. But outside ... she's returning her favourite toy again and again to be thrown "immediately"; otherwise you'll get an earful of barking, "Throw it now! Throw it NOW !!!"

I wonder if some of my friends who camp with their dogs manage to relax completely without interruption? And for how long?

Saturday, July 23, 2011

DOCK DOGS !

Take the Plunge I went to see the dock dogs at Rideau Carleton Raceway today but arrived late in the day due to the heat; i.e., I was reluctant to go outside under the sun because I knew there would be little shade at the site. There were a number of tables set up for dog rescue groups, dog food and toy/accessory companies, photographers, etc. I missed many demos such as the OPP K9 Unit and Treibball (teaching your dog to ultimately “herd” eight balls into a goal net). Treibball might interest Terri.

Friday, July 22, 2011

HEAT WAVE

Fri. Jul 22, 2011, 0:00 EDT 28°C
Officially, a heat wave is three consecutive days with temperatures of 32°C or higher. Given the humidex, it feels like we're in the middle of one.

Last night, I stayed awake late reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. Today, hot sunshine kept my walks outside with Terri very brief. We spent a lot of the day lying on the bed in the breeze from the standing fan while I finished the book. At 9 PM my attempt to relax in the cooling air was stymied by small biting insects. At 11 PM, Terri and I were able to enjoy the peace of a quiet deck and cooling air. She felt cool enough to persist in retrieving a half chewed up plastic toy every time I tossed it into the dimly lit yard. Finally, I insisted that she settle down and rest. Belgian Shepherds do not rest outside willingly unless it is very hot. The Canadian BSD standard includes the sentence: He should be watchful, attentive, and always in motion when not under command. Terri can certainly be described that way.

Tomorrow will be another hot day but cooler than today: 29°C with humidex = 35°C I think I'll join Terri and splash in the cold water from the hose at some point.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

KARS

Every year, this weekend in Kars is hot and sunny. Terri and I watched horses and dogs trot around in the heat this afternoon. This year they didn't have an amusement park so the attendance level was lower. In fact, it was so low, I expect that the organizers were disappointed.


My straw hat kept the sun from my face, the umbrella protected both of us while we watched parts of the dog show, and ice melting in our bottles provided cold water.


By good luck, I spotted a clump of smoke trees in Kars. I want to plant one in my back yard. I'll look for the variety that has a lovely dark colour like the ones I photographed.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

FUN IN THE SUN

... and in the shade. It was a great day to play inside the fence where the trees offer the most shade. Terri and I played catch for an hour while Flower napped.

Suddenly, Terri had to run out the front door for an emergency call to save Flower from the big bad cat that pounced at her on the porch. Terri raced around the house and looked for the culprit while I shouted "Go, get him!". She chased him to a fence/wall corner and I shouted for her to keep at him. He had to escape by going under my house. I should keep a powerful water gun handy for that mean cat.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

MISCELLANEOUS

An equine afternoon -- After mowing the last section of yard, I watched the CN Reliability Grand Prix at Spruce Meadows, Alberta followed by the Belmont Stakes in New York. Ian Millar was one of only four riders (2 Cdn, 2 American) who managed to have a clear ride on the first round of the Grand Prix. During the jump-off, only the Americans managed to jump clear. In New York, my favourite, Shackleford, was in the lead for the first part of the race but couldn't sustain that pace to the finish line.

______________
Sometimes it pays to procrastinate -- not often, but sometimes ;-) I had been planning for the past two weeks to go shopping at local garden centers to look for 2 or 3 cedars to plant in the low wet portion of the back yard. Yesterday, when I bought groceries, I found some damaged cedars in front of Your Independent Grocer. They were at a greatly reduced price so I bought two.

They're much taller than I expected to get and cost perhaps a quarter of what I'd pay for undamaged cedars at a garden center. Next door neighbour's son is planting them for me because I have enough to do just trying to get the grass mowed before it rains. Photo: Flower inspects a new cedar.

There is a sad element to this event. Just before the first cedar was planted, I inspected it and removed some of the brown bits. I discovered a tiny robin and egg :-( hidden in the branches. The parents had chosen a bad place to build a nest. Fatalities from poorly chosen nest sites must happen quite often for birds that lay their eggs in or near towns.

Friday, June 10, 2011

MOLES

The moles are back. Somekitty killed one and left it under a large shade tree for me to find when I started raking freshly mowed grass. There are three suspects that I know of: Flower, my own lovely kitty; the cat-next-door, a pretty outdoor cat; the beautiful but horrid male purebred that still comes into my yard to chase Flower (Terri is in charge of chasing him out of the yard).

It appears to be a star-nosed mole which is known to inhabit the low wetlands of eastern North America. They dig shallow surface tunnels and forage for insects, worms and molluscs. So there you have it -- proof that moles consider my yard "wetlands". That reminds me -- a few days ago, a toad jumped out of the way when I was clipping grass next to the bottom step of my deck. No wonder that I usually end up mowing wet grass.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

LOVE MY YARD


I love my shady yard in the afternoon. Terri can play there without getting overheated while I relax on the deck. Mosquitoes aren't quite so bad there as in the grass. On the hottest days we stay indoors, though.

Today it's 33°C and humidity makes it feel like 40°C. That's too hot to move! No wonder I tend to stay up after midnight to get anything done during weeks like this.

From Environment Canada:
Ontario heat breaks records ... Humidex ratings for southern Ontario are expected to reach as high as 42°C for Windsor and 43°C for Ottawa. That's 108°F !

At 3 PM radar shows a line of scattered severe and non severe thunderstorms from just south of lake Simcoe to vicinity of Bancroft and northeastward. This line is moving southeastward at about 60 km/h. Conditions around and ahead of this line of thunderstorms are favourable for the thunderstorms to persist and become severe with hail up to golf ball size, wind gusts to 100 km/h and torrential downpours up to 50 mm in half an hour.

Friday, June 3, 2011

LILACS !


What a great week of sunshine we've had! Although the first couple of days were too hot to do any yard work, it cooled down so I was able to mow, snip, clip, rake and haul hay for a few days uninterrupted by rain. I finally managed to catch up on the grass since the lack of rain meant it didn't grow (much) from my first day of mowing to my last day of raking.
Whew! All that exercise helped me lose a couple of lbs too :-)
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I'm enjoying watching my little lilac bush bloom this year for the first time. I should have cut down that smelly old evergreen and replaced it with a fragrant lilac the first year I was here. A second lilac will certainly be on my planting list.

Due to the high rainfall in April/May, the low lying yard near the back fence is impossible to mow. The Toro just fills up with grass and dies every time I try to mow a little closer to the wet area. I think 2 or 3 thirsty cedars in the middle of the "swamp" may soak up the spring water. I should spend some time this weekend shopping for shrubs.

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When not mowing, I've been sitting in the shade of a spruce and reading Peter Mayle's books describing life in Provence. His books are perfect relaxation for summer days. In "A Good Year", a man inherits his uncle's house and vineyard and travels to France to decide whether to live there or sell the property. Much tasting of wine ensues.
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Terri's energy level gets a boost when we move to the shade and she keeps me busy tossing her ball with one hand while holding a book in the other.

[The obligatory portrait of Terri]