The Best Vets
This letter arrived in the mail last week. It was a wonderful surprise. …
Animals
Thankful Thursday – The Gift of Distraction
There’s something to be said for keeping one’s mind off the thing that’s being a bother when all you’re doing is repeating the same information on a loop. It’s alluring to keep going over it in your head, again and again. But I’ve found that distracting myself can be just as healing. Instead of running repeat laps on the same mental track, when I come back to the issue or the thing, it’s like driving a car with a fresh set of tires. …
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He Made Our House a Home
It’s part of the deal. Pets don’t live long enough and we know that going in. Adopting a senior cat likely meant even less time and maybe that’s why most people don’t want to do it. You know it in your head but no one tells your heart. …
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It’s Not Easy Being Clean
When I moved into the house almost ten years ago, I ordered a large wardrobe from Ikea. It helped solve the lack-of-closet-space issue that many houses of this era have. If our home was a person, it would be getting its pension and planning its shopping trips for senior’s days. …
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Hey Ricky
One of life’s little delights is discovering that the artist whose work you admire is also a great human being. So often it happens the other way. I’m looking at you, Louis ck. …
Sibling Supremacy
My brother and I argue about the most inconsequential things. Last week, we spent more time than I care to admit in opposition over what a piece of melted cheese looked like. …
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For Better or For Purse
What a difference a name makes. When fake leather was known as pleather it was considered cheap, as in, spend a few more bucks and buy real leather. Now that it’s got a better name – vegan leather – it’s the cool and cruelty-free thing to own. …
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Off the Beaten Path
We like to get out and explore on our own. One of our favourite side trips from Las Vegas was to Oatman, Arizona. They call Oatman a ghost town because it’s settled in the Black Mountains of the Mohave and once boasted a population of 3,500. That was in the gold rush days. Now about 100 people live in the old west throwback town year round and wild burros roam freely through the streets. …
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Throwback Thursday – Winner’s Circle
It’s been nine long/short months since we lost our Dad to complications of Parkinson’s disease. Grief is like that. It’s fast but it’s also slow. I feel it most acutely on weekends because that’s when I’d hit the road to see him. His absence is huge and created a hole in our lives that will never be filled. …
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Throwback Thursday – Caturdays
It’s risky. A woman of a certain age writing about her cats. Readers might throw around phrases like “cat lady” and “crazy cat lady”. But it’s a chance I’m prepared to take. …
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Smarter Every Day
You can learn something every day if you’re doing life right. My brother introduced me to the YouTube channel, Smarter Every Day. Host Destin Sandlin delves into all sorts of fascinating scientific experiments that are understandable by non-science types like me. The videos are high quality and most are nice and short. Â …
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Rock Beats Scissors; Alpaca Beats Chickens
A couple of years ago, I wrote about how I became an unwitting subscriber to the magazine Camelid Quarterly. My subscription finally ran out and I no longer receive their newsletter. But these animals still fascinate me. …
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It’s a Wild, Wild Life
Thursdays on the News/Talk 1290 Morning Show, we host a segment titled Ask Me Anything. Our guest is someone with an unusual job or hobby. Last week, we welcomed Brian Salt, founder of Salthaven Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Centre in Mount Brydges. …
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Throwback Thursday – Sibling (Cat) Rivalry
It took a long time to figure out what Spice and Sugar were to each other. Were they reluctant spouses? Roommates? It was about a year into their relationship before they cuddled up but they still have little spats. Spice still dominates her in little ways. He’ll shoo her away from the food bowl if he feels like it. Sugar will back up and sit patiently until he’s feeling more like sharing. We’ve determined they’re brother and sister. …
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Lucky Nacho
If you cry easily or can’t stand a tragic story, even when it has a happy ending, this is your opportunity to bail. Go ahead. The rest of us will wait. Head over to Cute Things Falling Asleep or watch a cat video. …
9/11 2001-2017
This September 11th will forever be the anniversary of the day Floridians and others in the path of Hurricane Irma weathered – or perhaps didn’t weather – the massive storm. We’ve felt empathy and sorrow for the people who have lost so much and had to flee. We’ve shaken our heads at those who decided to stay, including a group of young partiers who gathered on Miami’s South Beach yelling “F— you Irma!”, and claiming the dead friend they were there to honour would protect them from harm. …
Happy Birthday Wee Gal
Today is Miss Sugar’s 11th birthday. She is the junior-senior of our senior cat duo, adopted from the London Humane Society when she was nine. The first thing we did was change her name from Kitty. Talk about unimaginative! …
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It Walks Like A Duck
Sometimes it’s a struggle to remember the positive when you’re in the news business. News is, by definition, made up of anomalies and bad things. The sun came up, people helped each other and took care of their families, children got enough to eat – those are the things that are supposed to happen. News is about when things go awry. …
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