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I couldn't help but notice today as I was out checking up on the balcony garden that a complete yard toilet tragedy has happened next door. But before that, I must confess that I am 1) not too bright and 2) a (gasp!) nosey neighbour! OH NO! It's happened to me. I am ashamed.

Since the fun students moved out of the mouse house next door, another For Sale sign went up. I assumed that THIS time, the house would remain empty until the buyers came along and bulldozed it down. It remained empty until the long weekend. Not putting things together, I saw a girl walk in the backyard with a box with a towel covering the top. For some reason I imagined that box contained a snake and pictured her letting it loose in the basement for an all he could eat mouse buffet. I carried on doing whatever and didn't give it a second thought. Later on, while out on the balcony again, I looked in the toilet yard and noticed a bird in a birdcage in the window of the house. Curious, I put my camera up to my eye and zoomed in with the big lens to see if I was correct. Yes, I was correct. And then I saw a guy in the toilet yard looking up at me. UGH. Busted. I put my camera down casually, waved, and said, "Oh hi!" all smiley. Oh crap. Now THAT is not a good first impression.

Since that day, I've been very friendly to them all...three of them so far...whenever I see them in the front yard smoking, next to their blow up 2 man boat. And I see them regularly, since I'm often out front talking to my pumpkin plants. Yup. I know. I AM the crazy neighbour.

I hate to think of where this poor toilet will spend it's toilet birthday. *Sigh*

***Please note: The white colouring at the bottom of each picture is the top of the balcony. Due to my nosey-ness, I couldn't risk being caught again with my camera pointed in the neighbours yard, so I had to stay back a bit and inadvertently got the top of the railing. Whoops.*** ]]> Home http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2131 Sat, 5 Jul 2008 19:12:04 -0700 http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2129

Oh dear. It's the naked shows. And I can only imagine what the inside must be like. Wait, scratch that. BLECH. Actually, is that a theatre or just a "marital aid" shop? Hahaha! One of those signs actually said that, so I'm not making that up. Besides, haven't these people heard of the internets? Sheesh. Nekkid shows are practically free. Or so I've heard. Anyway, moving on...

Wait...I photoshopped that picture I took on Granville Street to make it look more filmy and dirty. I like how my racy photo turned out. I must have been influenced by that corny show Swingtown last night. Snort! Did you see that? Last night's episode involved an adult movie star (with a big moustache) being arrested or charged or going to jail or something involving the legal system for starring in a cheesy old-school "exotic" movie. The episode ended with a rousing version of I am woman, hear me roar! Oh man, that stank. And I'm very sorry Helen Reddy. I hope at the time the song was written it was meaningful. But now? Yeesh. Also, I read somewhere that the Restricted Panther symbol was actually created in BC, and then it just took off from here. Good to know.

Anyway, as I was walking down the kinda shady part of Granville, this little guy caught my eye. Cute! A Satan ducky.

It was just sitting there, and I have to be honest, I wanted to take him. But, I thought someone might miss him, so I took pictures instead.

I took some pictures of the front of the duck and noticed the writing on his chest. What could this mean?

Once I got home, I looked it up. Here's what my sleuthing turned up:

I guess I won't be welcome at that party. But that's okay. You boys have fun and I'll just tip-toe out of the room like this never happened.

Mind you, I was a bit curious about the men in kilts section of the website, but decided not to risk it. Oh, okay, I peeked a bit. But just a little! I swear.]]> Photos http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2129 Fri, 4 Jul 2008 20:56:26 -0700 http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2128

I'll keep trying and experimenting and I'm sure by the Fall, I'll have a good shot.]]> Photos http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2128 Thu, 3 Jul 2008 20:16:22 -0700 http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2127

Then I found myself feeling rather clever after seeing this shot. Clever like Forrest Gump. Hi Jenny! Hi Lieutenant Dan!

Anyway, in the MORE good news department, Mike's new job comes with a cheap parking spot. Cheap as in 60% of what one of us would pay for a two zone bus pass, so we are now driving commuters in the HOV lane. I can't even begin tell you how grateful I am for that added bonus. Honestly. Mike drops me off at my job in the morning because he starts later than me and then I walk over to his office and wait for him to finish work and we drive home together. This works out perfectly because now I walk from my office all the way over the Granville Street Bridge to his office on Broadway Street. It takes about 50 minutes (without stopping for photos). And after checking the distance, it's just under 4 KM. So, if I want to, I can add some more blocks on to add extra distance once I get:

a) bored of the photos over the Granville Street Bridge or

b) enjoying walking some much I just have to add more distance to satisfy my intense need for exercising or

c) have to kill time while Mike's in some staff meeting or schmoozing with someone.

Here's what the Granville Street Bridge looks like looking toward downtown, extremely overexposed and then doctored up with some photoshop magic:

I do have to say that this tan/brown hue that the photos turned remind me of the light in Saudi Arabia. I looked at my overexposed photos and could hear the wind of a sandstorm called a shamal. I could hear the wind in my ears and feel the heat of the desert and the pelting of the tiny pieces of sand that would get in every nook and cranny - even in my mouth. I could taste the grit as I looked at those pictures. Spooky.]]> Photos http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2127 Wed, 2 Jul 2008 23:08:15 -0700 http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2126

As I remember it, there were women crocheting these bedspreads and tablecloths off the side of the road near the city. I can't remember if it was in KweKwe or Harare.

Our bedroom is pretty Plain Jane at the moment. I hadn't really thought much about decorating it, honestly, but this bedspread has inspired me. I bought some sapphire blue sheets to match the lamps on the nightstands and so far it looks really, really nice. I love the fringes and the crochet pattern. It's beautiful. Thank you, Mom!

This is my side of the bed - you can tell by the bird clock. Now I need to think of something to put on the wall above the bed. Right now it's empty and needs a lovely photo arrangement. I'll get started on something and I'll stick with the blue and white theme, I think.

Ew...and speaking of bed, I'm going to have to go to bed at a reasonable hour because tomorrow I am expected back on the job. Yikes! I have gotten used to living the life of leisure. And of gardening and planting. And waking up at a civilized hour, like 9:00 am. Or later.]]> Home http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2126 Tue, 1 Jul 2008 20:17:51 -0700 http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2125

This is the lime nicotiana (also known as the tobacco plant) and I purchased this yesterday after being reminded of this plant on yougrowgirl's flickr page. It's supposed to smell lovely, but so far, no scent. I'll give it a bit more time to generate a lovely smell, but for now, this plant is looking pretty. Mike approves of this plant on the balcony as he does still miss smoking. Having a nicotine plant on the balcony makes him smile. Now, if I find him trying to roll a balcony tobacco plant cigarette, we may have to have an intervention.

Full disclosure: Me? I don't miss cigarettes anymore, but I do think about smoking cigars, which I know is just a gateway drug back to the smokes.

And yes, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. :-)]]> Plants and Gardening http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2125 Tue, 1 Jul 2008 12:42:22 -0700 http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2124

I'll give you a tour soon of the plants on the balcony, but for now, here's my favourite drink. I've been drinking it for the last 2 days straight:

Ingredients:

-sparkling water
-gigantic cubes of ice made from the Daiso ice cube trey
- some mint leaves from the garden (the ones pictured here are of the chocolate mint variety.)

**Please note: this drink must be drunk from a mason or jam jar. It tastes the best that way!**

Mike took one look at my sparkling beautiful beverage and asked me if I was drinking moonshine. Sheesh. Just when I thought I was being all classy and everything. Well, I guess it's back to the drawing board on that attempt.]]> Plants and Gardening http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2124 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:41:03 -0700 http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2123

I have been feeling confident in my plant care skills since I haven't killed my mini-terrariums yet.

Not only is this plant carnivorous (watch out, bugs!) but the company that sells these plants doesn't collect them from their natural habitat, but they grow them in some kind of mysterious lab out in the Okanangan. Oh, spooky! It's a Re-animator plant. That's an even scarier than a plain old bug eating plant. Wicked.

I'll be sure to keep it moist (Yuck. I hate that word.) and it also said to use distilled water or rain water. I should set up a rain barrel system downstairs for that. And my next carnivorous plant will be a pitcher plant. But I'll hold off on any more plants for now. For this very minute, anyway.]]> Plants and Gardening http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2123 Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:41:28 -0700 http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2122
Mom bought me this Dwarf Asiatic Lily for the garden. So I took a picture and added a texture to it. It wasn't that hard. I just put another picture on top of the lily and lowered the opacity in photoshop. Tada!

I'll get back out in the garden tomorrow. I took the day off today. I totally vegged. What can I say? My mom and sister wore me right out.

Also, it turned out that there was a big accident on the highway today out near Langley. C@thy called me to tell me there was a rig that caught on fire and then the load caught on fire. They were stuck on the highway for about 2 hours barely moving. They should be home in an hour or so. I'm sure that made for a long day for them both.]]> Photos http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2122 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 22:03:37 -0700 http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2121 Family & Buddies http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2121 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:38:24 -0700 http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2120

It turned out to be the most perfect-est day for kayaking. I guess that means yesterday was the perfect-est day for chocolate eating. Well, it sure doesn't matter because today we paddled.

We ended up in Deep Cove around noon. Luckily I called Belcarra Park to book a kayak, but they aren't open during the week yet. That starts next week. Right now it's weekends only. When I called over to Deep Cove, they didn't answer the phone and I assumed it was because they were pretty busy. Since the weather was sunny, we headed over and tried our luck. We did luck out - they had a double kayak and many, many singles available. Woot!

Mom and I shared a kayak and C@thy paddled circles around us. We paddled the two-seater at our leisure up Indian Arm to Lone Rock Point and we could see Raccoon Island from where were were. Mom sighed and said, "This is why people move to BC." Yup. It was that dreamy. We also saw a seal pop his head up out of the water in front of us just as we were heading back in. I feel really, really good after our outing and I think I'll go back out again.

Now I'm going to shower off all the seawater I can feel dried on my skin and get ready to go out for dinner at the Macaroni Grill. We want to show Mom & C@thy a good time before they head out tomorrow.

Just for good measure, we stopped by Gardenworks on the way home for a bag of Sea Soil for mom to take back with her to Calgary. Those plants won't know what hit them!]]> Family & Buddies http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2120 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:31:49 -0700 http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2119

Hey, wait a minute...that looked like rain. Oh well, we decided we'd be going to go kayaking in the rain then. We're tough. We can do it! We got to the pier and were greeted by two lovely dogs at the kayak shop. Sadly, the owner denied us the kayaks after pointing out the wind factor. Since we're amateur paddlers, he suggested we come back later if the weather clears up. So we went for a little tour of the island on foot. We spotted a lovely wooden bear:

And after walking for about 2 hours straight uphill - or 300 meters straight uphill that felt like 2 hours - we found an organic chocolate shop with the most beautiful chocolates I've ever seen. The teddy bear is really cute and is still intact as none of us want to eat him up yet:

After our hike and a little exploring to a nearby park, we headed back to the pier knowing we'd be turned away again. Denied! The weather was actually worse than the morning, so our day trip to Bowen was over.

Even though our kayaking plans were a bust, Mom and C@thy were still in good spirits while we waited for the ferry to go home:

Tomorrow we're going to try a local kayaking place that Suzanne told me about at Belcarra Park - it's a quick drive away and Mike doesn't have to worry about us getting swept away to sea on a lake.]]> Family & Buddies http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2119 Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:43:59 -0700 http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2118

I had to expand the width of the flower bed by rolling the big log over once. And then I dug a trench along the base of the retaining wall and filled it in with compost and planted 3 more pumpkins there:

Tada! It doesn't look like much, but sheesh...we were out in the garden from 9:30 this morning until after the soccer game at 2:30. At some point in the near future, this will look different, I promise.

Tomorrow we're going kayaking on Bowen Island. I'll bring my little camera for that excursion. In the meantime, here's a black and white photo I played with today from our walk at Burnaby Lake yesterday.

]]> Pumpkin Watch! http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2118 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:32:27 -0700 http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2117

We are currently recuperating after spending about 3 hours weeding the front yard. It seems my current casual weeding style needs to be a bit more disciplined as some of the plants aren't doing well and/or have some kind of fungus problem. The pumpkin seedlings are doing pretty well, but do need to be moved - they need more room. A few of them have grown really big. Oh, and I did I mention that Kellie gave me two - 200lb pound pumpkin producing plants? I need to find some more room for those big ones.

In order to get rid of the black spots on the rose plants, it's important not to let the leaves that fall off the plant stay on the ground under the plant. It needs to be weeded and cleaned up. Here I thought I had it all under control with just a bit of weed whacking...but not really. I have more work to do and for some reason my mom wants to spend her vacation helping with this. I have no idea why, but will roll with it. We make sure to garden during Wimbledon so my sister watches that while we work away in the garden. So far, so good. Well for me, anyway. Heh.

Tomorrow I think we'll be going to Chinatown and then on Thursday, my sister wants to rent kayaks, so I'll track down a place to do that. I'm thinking either Bowen Island or Deep Cove for the kayaking.]]> Family & Buddies http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2117 Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:22:31 -0700 http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2116
This is pretty much how I felt this morning when Mike said goodbye as he was leaving for work. Oh man...just passed right out sleeping looking all pretty with my tongue sticking out, even. This walrus (sorry, sea lion) must have been doing a lot of gardening. I'm finding the hours we've spent in the garden is really wiping me out.

So where are we off to next? Back out in the garden. Mom's chomping at the bit to dig up some crab grass and dandelions and I can't disappoint. After that we'll go over to Burnaby Lake for a walk. Sadly, there's no walruses or sea lions at Burnaby Lake, but we may see some beavers and lots and lots of birds.

On another note, don't you like that big walrus' - oops, I mean sea lion's tiny ear? ]]> Photos http://carolbrowne.com/index.php?itemid=2116 Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:13:10 -0700