An uninvited guest at Linda's buffet

Thursday, for a variety of reasons we went to Charbar in East Village. It's in the old Simmon's mattress factory building. It wasn't so long ago this building was fenced up, and the entire area was a no-man's-land where the homeless and the addicts fought for turf. It wasn't a place to be in broad daylight, and I can only imagine what night was like.

After decades of neglect the area is being spruced up. New buildings are going in. There is a young hip vibe happening. It's a nice place to be. The riverwalk is a wonderful place for a stroll. We were hoping for a table on the roof top patio, but it was all booked. We sneaked up their after dinner anyway, and it's really nice. There's a lovely view of downtown, and the river.

I'm not big on doing restaurant reviews, but here's a mini review. The food is all a la carte, and it's pretty good. The problem is that pretty good doesn't cut it for an expensive place. Once seated we waited for a while to get drinks, but after that everything else arrived in a quite reasonable time.

We talked about the niche they're trying to fill, and we aren't sure if they nailed it. For a dinner out, it doesn't quite work. For drinks with buddies, I'm not sure it works, since the munchies are decidedly non traditional. I'm sure there is a niche that doesn't mind dropping lots of money, but I don't know if enough of them will find their way there.

We likely won't be back. Not that we are unhappy, it's just that there are many other places to try, and some old favourites we haven't been to in a while. We got out of the habit of eating out when I wasn't working for a year, and Linda is a better cook than what the food indicates for many restaurants. And nobody does rack of lamb like I do.

The big thing is that when we (mainly Linda) cook, we know what's been done to it, how it's been stored, where and when it was purchased. There are many food safety regulations, and it's depressing reading how many places are written up for various violations. We can make it exactly the way we like, for the time we want, and in the quantities we want. I would be surprised to learn there is a restaurant patio with a garden as nice as ours. Doing dishes after is a small price to pay.

I did get a really good picture of Linda there, though, so there is that.

Here's the uninvited breakfast guest. Not shy at all about strolling up for a mouthful. It wasn't afraid of me, though it was wary. I didn't want to startle it onto the street where there were a few cars, and just our luck it would choose that moment to bolt.

 Later in the day my neighbour texted me that it was snoozing over by the skateboard park. Here's the actual bit of breakfast.

Swim warm up took a long time. A really long time in the dive tank, slowly working it, and undoing the creakiness. I'm not sure why, but I'm sure feeling beat up. Then one of the swim teams left and we got into the 25 m pool. I banged out a 18:10 1000m so I'm really pleased about that. Fastest in a long time. Considering I could barely walk getting into the building, I was happy with the race pace flip turns. Well, all but a couple of them.

And then TEDxYYC. I'm glad I went. Most of the talks were good, though I should have worn my ear glasses. I found it very hard to make out the person talking about printing 3D food. I was fascinated by the guy who had a brain tumor the size of an apple, discovered accidentally. There was a 30 second time lapse video of the tumor being removed. His talk props were a 3D skull made to be a model of his, with a flap showing where they cut his skull open, and a bright red blob of something to represent the tumor. He called for more open medical data, and got the only standing ovation.

Days of wine and lilies

Hmmm, doesn't quite scan. Oh well.

A busy wine weekend, bottling 2 reds, racking and stabilizing another, and starting a white. Some of it with Curtis supervising.

The Volcanic red was 30 bottles and a slurp from the siphon, just enough to know it's really good. A little sweet, a little fruity, a little tart. Can't wait for my first glass. Normally after bottling there is a partial bottle left and we try that with whatever is on the menu that day. Linda gave me the sad big-eyed look when I told her there wasn't any left over.

Then 29 bottles and several slurps for Linda of the Super Tuscan. I'm a big fan of the Super Tuscan. What am I saying? I'm a big fan of a lot of Italian, Spanish, and South American reds. No, I didn't step on Curtis throughout the process. Later he took a more dominating position on the sink.

Linda has been hard at it, trying to get the last of her lilies and other plants into the garden. She has had them in temporary pots. The main beds need to be amended and have lots more soil added. She has used up a whole big bag of garden soil compost mix, and we've ordered another. A big bag is a hair over .75 cubic meter. Seems an odd size to sell.

Here's an assortment of various garden shots.

Linda did this bit the other day. The day lilies look a little sad, but they'll perk up.

The flowers in the back garden look very happy, and well they should be!

Last year the day lilies in these front beds looked much the same as the scraggly transplants.

The mint is happy and attracts lots of bees. To the right is the latest bit of soil amending.

The red and white peonies are about to bloom.

The temporary pots with just a few lilies left.

One of the big ceramic pots in the front patio.

Another view of the recently amended soil with a few plants so far, and I think more going in there.

Another view of the front after more soil amending.

Don't ask me what they all are. I love lilies and can recognize them 4 times out of 5. The peonies I know because there's two, and they've been there a long time. Other than that, I don't know. You'll have to ask Linda.

And lastly, one of Celina writhing in a patch of sunlight.

The Pastafarian resurgence, more garden

Sunday I felt pretty good, even with the yard work. A 5K, 36 min run had me tired out again, with more yard work in the offing. It was an odd run in that my feet felt really light and happy to be running. My quads and hams were less happy.

Monday was Pastafarian worship again, as my arms channeled his noodly appendage. Short and slow. Enough of that.

I'm working on another essay, and hope to have it up by the end of the week.

There are many flowers coming up, prominent among them is the Alberta Rose. This thing is fearsome! It's already trying to take over it's corner. There are some other roses channeling it. For Alberta, this is really early in the year for flowers to be growing. The brief snowstorm this morning was nothing important, nothing to slow down these flowers. Enjoy.

We all know what these are.

Here's the rose.

Look at the thorns on it!

Another rose looking for the big time.

And another in hot pursuit.

No thorns, but the mint is quietly and firmly territorial.

One we cleaned away the debris from last year, the peonies are up and at 'em again.

The retirement whisperer

Once again the retirement whisperer showed up.

Friday Michelle and I were off to the pool. You never know what you're going to get at Talisman on Fridays. This one turned out to be a semi-gong show, redeemed later for Michelle. We started in the training pool, then even though the whiteboard said it was open, they kicked us out part way. We had to find a lane in the competition pool.

Michelle chugged away working on her stroke. I played chase with the other girl in my lane. I was trying to stay just far enough back that I could get a bit of draft, yet not so close that she'd think I was pushing. After maybe 500 m she paused, let me go by, and darned if she didn't tuck into my draft! That was kind of fun, actually, and made me pay attention to my pace.

Eventually I moved back into Michelle's lane when the water runner left. 100 m 91 seconds, really feeling a strong rhythm with stroke and breathing. Then a bit of drill, and 50 m 41 seconds, still in the groove. I've love to be able to swim longer at that pace, but I'm pretty sure that even going to 75 m I'd see my pace drop off dramatically.

We had a lovely chat after, Michelle's eyes wandering to the pool occasionally, where the male water polo players did their thing. Nuff said about that...

Then in the afternoon I met up with my financial advisor. Some of that was routine shuffling of money to top up RSP and TFSA and other stuff. I'm very pleased with my investment performance. It's mostly clear I can't stop working right now, never work again, AND live to whatever age. Unless I was really lucky I'd likely run out of money. Maybe. It's getting to the point the uncertainties of market return, and figuring just how long I'm going to live, and just how much money I'll want to spend, all combine to say 'maybe.' But when you consider I'm planning to work at least part time for a while yet, that calculation gets interesting. Depending on the assumptions you make, I could semi-retire right now.

Saturday was a cold day. We had expected snow and rain, but it was just overcast. I hung out at home, relaxing. It was lovely, in between visits by the furnace guy. Friday we noticed it would go through the startup cycle, but the main burners wouldn't fire. I figured it was a sensor, but it turned out to be the main gas valve. Twice. He had to come back the next day and replace it again.

Sunday we had brunch with the retirement whisperer. This time it was Linda's cousin's wife, who recently retired from the City. She is loving it! There were no regrets at all about signing the paperwork. Her husband is still winding down his affairs, and is working part time. I was picking their brains about how this is working out for them. She's taken to it like a duck to water, and given how I got through 2009, she thinks I'll do the same.

Ran 4.3K, 30 minutes, feeling pretty good about it. Average pace was 6:54 per K, which is good for me. The last half K was a bit of a struggle as my legs were getting heavy. Still, for legs that were starting a bit tired from last weekend, I'm pretty pleased.

Then I was put to work at one of my specialties. Nuclear gardening. Today was cutting back the ambitious mint plant, then getting rid of some tree-ish herb that is taking over. Tough stuff. Linda thinks it's Hyssop. I managed to not dig up the little hens and chicks that are being slowly over run. The daffodils are still there, and two huge day lilies. We are budgeting a day each for those to divide and replant. I am seriously thinking about renting a chainsaw for that. There is a lot more work left to actually dig up the beds, amend the soil, and plant the split up day lilies and other stuff. (I wonder if Runkeeper has a gardening activity?)

There is still much to do out front. We could probably both take a week of vacation and do nothing but work on it. Considering how much we've ignored it over the years, this isn't a surprise. The Alberta rose is doing really well, winning the early growth contest. We figure it's getting ready to take over that whole bed. The plum is almost blooming, as are some of the other roses. Photos then.

Do I really need to mention BBQ bison burgers with wine? This weekend has passed in a blur.

The dandelion dominator

And there she is, hard at it, digging them out, imposing her will on the lawn, repressing guilty living creatures only trying to grow,  ruthlessly rooting them out and leaving them to wither in what little sun we have today. The heat of her merciless glare killed many others, and if the grass hadn't been so wet from the recent rain, the fire department might have show up purely has a precautionary measure. There was a whole green garbage bag of dandelions and other weeds before I went for a run, and she was still at when I got back.

In the meantime I was busy trying to get the garage at least somewhat organized. What with big cardboard boxes, the back yard renos, and some other stuff, the garage is full, and not with our car. Canadian garages usually need a big day of cleaning sometime in the spring anyways, just to dig all the crap out of them that have fallen off the car over the winter. This was just a pre-cleaning. A before and after pair of photos for you.

If it wasn't for the glass the car would have lots of room, and the glass will be gone soon. There's still a lot of junk lurking along the sides, but at least I can see the floor again.

Part of the task was to finish tearing apart the cedar lattice that used to be our back fence. It turns out that an IKEA box makes a surprisingly sturdy work bench. Who knew?

The firewood supply is much larger now, and much more neatly organized. The bonus out of it all is that I only got a couple slivers.

The tear apart was spread over 2 days. This was my view Sunday afternoon, just as I started wrapping up. I timed it pretty good, getting only a little damp putting the last bit of stuff back in the garage before the real rain hit.

A cat photo or two for your amusement. Celina is showing off her tawny spotted tummy.

Curtis savaging his string.

With all the activity outside, Celina has been working on her supervisory skills. The message is clear, I should get back to work, and stop fooling around with the camera.

Speaking of the cats going cold chicken on the food supply. The jury is out on how they feel about our home made food. Still looking for the actual recipe.

The run was pretty good today. About 4 K, about 28 minutes. I don't really believe the distance. The map is well off where I ran, so I won't publish it here. The pace graph is all over the place. Overall, my legs felt pretty good once I got going. They were very heavy at first. If anything my left calf and hamstrings were the unhappy bits, and my right knee and hip were fine.

Even knowing the half marathon in a couple of weeks is going to be an easy training run, my training has been shite this year. I can't remember the last time I ran that distance. So I'm a little spooked by it, and hope it all goes well.

Another 4 day weekend comes to a close. I got the garage back into almost civilized shape. I got some work done on the novel. I got a couple runs in. I had a very peaceful Saturday, doing little more than being a mostly horizontal space for cats. Two wine kits bottled, and another one started. All is good.

minus 26 isn't the problem, and a snippet

Today started with some writing and a cat looking for lap space coming into conflict. Curtis gets very grumbly about the laptop if he thinks he's being shorted on lap time.

It's a beautiful day out there. Cold, clear, sunny. A perfect winter day in Alberta. I haven't run for a week, letting my calf get all calmed down, and it's fine now. The snowshoeing the other night was fine. So I bundled up and went out for an easy 3 K, 22 minutes. Here's some photos. Getting ready to go.

The furnace exhaust sometimes has very interesting sculpture. I think it looks a little bit like a little creature peering in, wondering if there is food in there.

The snowshoe tracks from the other night.

As I said, a brilliant sunny day.

Needless to say I was careful with layers.

Just setting out, no tusks.

Now tusks. Not as good as some I've had, but it was a very short run, just over 20 minutes. Everything was sweaty when I was done, so I suspect I was a bit overdressed. The problem is my neighbours that don't shovel their sidewalks near the plowed road. I had to leap over several mounds. The other problem is tree branches weighed down with snow. I'm pretty dialed in how low I need to duck, or weave around to avoid hitting branches. Good thing I was wearing a hoodie or I'd have had snow down my back. RunMeter map was all over the place so I didn't put it here.

Linda out working on the Christmas decorations.

Some of the completed decorating. Sorry about the window smudges. I have no idea who Nadia is. I'm just guessing she lives in the cup de sac behind us, and someone is sweet on her. This has been done a few times now.

No entries in the AMA feature. Ask Me Anything over the next little while, and I guarantee an answer. Leave your questions in comments, email, or other social media.

Book news! I had a brainwave for my book this morning and I've started a new chunk. I figured out what happens to one of the characters. I had added more info about him earlier in the book, so now you'll be broken hearted when he dies tragically. When I wasn't looking one character met a hot guy in Kona, and I'm writing about them just now. They house sit for some minor characters that are doing some traveling. I know how two of the major characters meet their spouses, and I'll be writing about that. Lots on the go. I figured out one chunk that goes away. I added a long conversation between Kelly and Janice, during a quite time in Kona just before Janice heads home.

The recent chunk I wrote is during an easy training ride in Kona, after several of the other characters join Kelly and Ronnie. Elsewhere I note the laws about toplessness had changed, as part of other societal changes. This is all pretty much how it flowed out of my brain, very little polishing or massaging.


Kelly stood in the parking lot reading from a checklist on her phone. “Ok guys, I know your bikes are perfect. Everybody has their sunscreen on? All your gear? Nutrition? Water? Electronics? You know how to get out to the highway?”

Ronnie, Hardisty, and Penny all nodded. They were about to go on an out and back on the Queen K highway. Ronnie had been through this many times already.

“All right. I’ll meet you at 50 K where Penny wants to turn around and I’ll have refills for you, and you’d all darned well better need them. Hardisty, Ronnie has her plan and I know she’s going to stick to it. You know it’s an easy ride for her, and in your head you think you ought to be able to keep up. I’m telling you now the heat here is like a creature with teeth. You won’t. She is way faster now. I’m telling you not to try, but I know you will. Call when you bonk and and Janice or I will come get you.”

Hardisty nodded, but Kelly didn’t believe him. They waved as the riders headed out.

“What now?” Janice asked. “We’ve got, what, an hour before we have to leave here?”

“I’ll start getting things ready for the post ride snack, and dinner tonight. Always something to do.”

A little while later Janice helped Kelly load supplies into the van. “Do you think Hardisty believed you? I can already feel the heat.”

“No, he didn’t. He’ll still be ok when Penny turns around, but I don’t know how much longer he’ll last. It can get hot fast.”

“That’s my guy for you. I can’t believe you guys don’t have the air conditioning running.”

“Ronnie unplugged it as soon as we got here and told me she’d spank me if I turned it on. She wanted to get used to the heat, so I had to as well.”

“Which is why you’re standing there in those shorts and nothing else. Aren’t you going to put a top on when we head out?”

“Nope. And you don’t need to either. If I was running I would. We’ll see a bunch of other athletes and Sherpas today and most of them will be topless. Only reason Ronnie is wearing a top is that the race requires it, and she likes to train like the race.”

“I’ve heard her say that a lot. Don’t you have way too much stuff here for our guys?”

“Oh yeah. And I’ll probably bring most of it back home again. Better too much than not enough. Any athlete that stops will get a refill. That’s part of the deal. You’ll see. Ready to go?”

Kelly got set up where she and Penny had arranged. She put up a sign, “Team Ronnie Refills” about 50 m down the road. Once that was done, she yelled and clapped for every bike rider that passed. Most waved and said hello to her. A few stopped for a refill or to chat a bit.

“That last guy only wanted a better look at your boobs, I’m sure of it,” Janice observed.

“Maybe. I don’t mind. He was also out of water. I haven’t seen him before so he’s probably new, and not used to the heat. He might not have someone at turnaround. I’ll have to watch for him on the way back. I’d mind if he got heat stroke.”

“Will you really?”

“Oh yes. I take care of Ronnie as best I can, but we all look out for all the riders and will help if needed. One of them helped Ronnie with a flat, so it’s not all one sided. Sometimes we get a whole group of Sherpas together. That’s fun, and we can coordinate aid stations and rolling support.”

“There’s more to this than I thought.”

“It’s the big leagues here. The athletes are out here sweating their balls off training for the big day. I can scarcely do less. We should see Ronnie any time, keep an eye out.”

“Do you think Hardisty will be with her?”

“Maybe, but I doubt it. She’s way stronger now than he thinks, but it isn’t really hot yet. Can I make a suggestion?”

“What?”

“Hardisty doesn’t yet really know about the heat. Take off your top and try to drag him off the road for a quickie. The break will do him good.”

“He won’t, if he’s trying to keep up with Ronnie.”

“None the less.”

“It’s really all right?”

“You have eyes. What have you seen?”

Janice looked around. “All right. I’ve actually been feeling a little over dressed.”

Kelly’s timing was good. Ronnie coasted to a stop a few minutes later, tossing two empty water bottles into a box near the van. Kelly had two more ready to go, with a third in hand. She poured that over Ronnie, and handed her another baggie of nutrition. “Have you peed?”

“Yup, just before getting here. Hardisty dropped back a little while ago, not sure if he’s riding with Penny or solo. Going good.”

“Good! See you in a bit!” Ronnie pushed off.

“That was like an F1 pit stop.”

B&A shots

So here we are. Friday afternoon the guys came with the picker truck and took away all the pallets of left over tiles, and the rubble. There's still some siding to go. There was a 5 car collision on NB Deerfoot that backed traffic all the way past Douglasdale, which is a very long way. The only way they can get from the shop to here is NB Deerfoot. I hope they had the sense to realize the traffic wasn't getting better, and not to try.

So without further ado, here's a Before shot, noting the blue siding, naked flower boxes, and a matted surface that could be called a lawn only by the generous, the blind, or the flatterers.

Here is the After. Note the complete lack of blue. There is the privacy lattice and flowers in the boxes. The roses and climatis are doing really well, growing and blooming like mad. The transpanted day lilies are blooming as well. The lawn still isn't all that green with grass; there's lots of other stuff growing in there too, but I've never been fussed by that. Something that is a bit harder to see is the copper rain chain hanging just beside the chimney. We are pricing out doing the evestroughing, and will get the chain properly hung.

Here's one of the day lilies.

Here is Curtis supervising my post run stretching, coming over to tell me I'm doing something wrong. Or to pet him.

RunMeter was out to lunch during my run. It said that the 30 minute run was 6.4 K. NOT! I was running very easy, maybe 4.5 K or so at best. Here's a screen shot of part of the run, which explains why it thinks I ran so far.

I felt a little heavy during the run, with slow feet. Stretched well after, although later in the day my left calf isn't all that happy with me. Maybe it's all the gravel shoveling trying to raise up some sidewalk slabs that had settled.

Fair warning! There is only my feeble attempt at ornate flowery shit after this. Stop reading, unless you're into that. During our writers and bloggers meet up we were asked the part of writing that we hated. Mine is doing the ornate flowery descriptive stuff, with allusions, similes, and adjectives, or maybe it's adverbs. Whatever it is that describes nouns. Bah. See? I don't even remember what little grammar I once knew.

One has to know that 5 out of the 6 ends are sharp, but when they're amiable you'd never know. The soft rumbly purr is very soothing when they sit on your lap. Sometimes when I'm lying down stretching I like to grab them if they're nearby and give them a forcible cuddle. Sometimes they pad away, other times they sniff the sweat and start rasping away. That alone would convince anyone they have no taste buds in their tongue.

When we rescued Curtis from MEOW he'd been on the street for most of his life, perhaps all of it. It was obvious where some matts had been cut out. More remained in the coarse and greasy feeling fur. He loves being combed, even as we were pulling on the knots and matts. We'd do a little and stop, to show him that we would stop when it got to be too much for him.

The fur on his head, neck, and chest was cleaned up fairly quickly, and he would work on that. However his back and flanks stayed coarse and somewhat greasy, even after we'd had him 6 or 7 months. Steady combing with a bit of judicious snipping had removed fur clumps that gradually filled in again. Then he started working on it too. I don't think he had known where to start, or maybe he thought there was no point.

The big change happened as summer began. We call it the Big Shed. A few strokes of the comb would produce a cloud of fur. Static made it cling to the furniture and our clothing. We went through several lint rollers. They weren't designed for cat fur, I don't think. Certainly not long, fine, orange fur. We combed every day for weeks, sometimes twice a day, working especially on his gradually rotunding flanks, back, and the very soft and fluffy tail.

Working on his tail is a bit tricky, since he likes to have us work on his other end. He squirms around, making it difficult. Almost suddenly we noticed his fur changed. I think we combed out all the old tired fur, leaving just the fresh new growth, unstressed by life on the street, nourished by love, and the good food that he is so ungrateful about. What cat turns down salmon? What cats get lamb, venison, turkey?

Now you feel fur all aligned the way it should be, glistening with a silky softness that does not disguise the muscle underneath. The orange stripes have come in to provide a beautiful background to his deep, intent, double amber eyes. Warm cat fur is one of the smells of summer for me, evoking a memory of flying a kite while lying on my back, looking up into an infinite blue sky. A gray and white cat named Fuzz on my chest or looking for prey nearby. Listening to the sound of a big old radial airplane engine.