Beer Cart

I love beer, which makes it a good thing that I'm Canadian. I sometimes do my dreadful commute by train and incredibly, there's a beer cart that comes along every once in a while.

(The picture was blurry because of the train's rocking movement and not because of the beer consumption).

Home?

Ahhh. Last night I got to visit some friends in my previous hometown. In a way, I wish I still lived there - but knowing me if I did, then I'd wish I lived in my new home. I guess it's good to have multiple places to call "home". Or places you'd move back to.

A Bug in My Hotel Room

Staying in a hotel is such a gift, literally. And sometimes, it's all part of the adventure. Like this time: I woke up to find this critter on my hotel bed. At first I thought, OMG, what next (having switched rooms at midnight due to a non-working toilet) and having had quite the adventuresome journey that day.

I didn't complain or anything because I remembered that we'd had one of these beetles in our bedroom this weekend and that we'd kept putting him outside (but you see that we have holes everywhere if you've seen previous blog posts here) (and the Hummer of a Spider post - what is it with these returning critters?) and I'd wager this poor fellow had crawled in to my suitcase and ridden in to the city with me.

Hole

Husband's doing the dishes one night and drops a spoon between the counter and the fridge. In most people's houses this would not be an issue but in ours, it meant that he had to go down in to the (country, and very rough) cellar to retrieve it - because there's a hole in the floor.

(so I later tell a friend this story who responds, well that gives new meaning to the idea "open concept")

Crack

See the crack in the floor, how it so closely outlines the shape of our (old) couch? Well, we moved the couch to that location in our tv room less than a week ago. Methinks that the floor needs some additional supports. Tomorrow I'll be posting about another floor issue.

Hummer of a Spider

This guy would climb down the filing cabinet by my desk. I'd carry him away. A few minutes later, there he'd be, climbing down my filing cabinet. So I'd carry him away. We played that game all day long. He was as big as a Hummer, though doesn't appear that big now that I look at him.

Taking the Train

I have no idea what this photo is about lol, I emailed it to my blog and have forgotten which photo I chose to send. It's probably train-related as I commuted by train tonight.

I think the blogger software is not cooperating with my Mac Firefox software - maybe that's it, instead of my having booted myself off the Island.

Oh no!

In some weird twist of fate (and not a suprising one I guess), I've managed to vote myself as objectionable (seriously!) and cannot post from my mac. So I'm truly writing from my iPhone. I'll be back later today.

Traveling For Business

Sometimes I just need a night of peace and quiet and in those instances, I welcome traveling for my job!

Sunday Afternoon Bike Ride

I love living by the water.

A Sheep Farm Pano

One of Canada's largest sheep cooperatives, taken from my iPhone with the fab Pano software.

Skyway

This is the Skyway Bridge heading from Niagara direction to Toronto via the Queen Elizabeth Highway. Nothing terribly exciting but it does close occasionally when the winds exceed 100 kmh. And tractor trailers do get blown over during wind storms.

Another Washed Up Item

Also washed up on to our little beach this winter: a duck decoy.

Horse

I love having horses and cows and sheep and owls and bald eagles wandering all over my little piece of rural heaven. Except when they eat things they're not supposed to, but generally, things are good.

My Culinary Skills

This is another example of my (lack of) culinary skills. On this particular night, I was at my inlaws', house-sitting, and had put together some of my favourite foods - beef, cheese, beer.

This same evening, my nephew and his girlfriend made jerk-coated salmon (sounds weird, but it was fantastic - I had a taste) with vegetables and roast potatoes. Later on, they decided they had the munchies and instead of reaching for a bag of chips, they made a cheese fondue.

Little Fellas

I don't know what this is, but this little fellow washed up on our shore during the winter. He's one of many items that did...

Panorama

This is the ferry to one of the islands near Kingston, Ontario. It was taken with some really nifty software for my iPhone called "Pano". I downloaded it from iTunes and have had a blast playing around with it.

Talent

My husband can draw.

Rock Star

This is a friend's MaltiPoo. She treats him better than anyone's ever treated me. He has his own Rock Star cloak and mobile dining/water station in the back seat of her SUV.

She won't let him on floors that may have so much as a hair that he could choke on (which rules out any of my floors) and she won't let him outside solo in case a bird should snatch him away.

Closed for Renovations

This type of thing matters to me on my long-distance commute - I count on my little routines on the road such as being able to stop for gas or to use the facilities at these service stations (which oddly, seem to be placed 77 kilometers apart).

Having this rest-stop closed means that I'm no longer able to spend an extra night at home (leaving first thing in the morning for my dreadful drive) because I can't do the long drive without a wake-me-up stop along the route.

Dog Dragged In Part Deux

Sigh. A few months ago I posted that our dog brought home a deer pelvis one day. Last week, in came the leg.

Living in the country has its challenges. I've decided to pick my battles and animal carcasses isn't among them, so the leg is on the floor beside me and not outside.

Here's the original post: viewfrommyiphone.blogspot.com/2009/01/dog-dragged-in.html

Sunday Train

Sometimes I take the train from my real home to my temporary, weekday abode. I should do it more often, but always forget to book it.

I'd Forget My Head

I get a bit distracted sometimes. One day, I was driving myself to the physician for some ailment or other and I'm nearly there and I think to myself OMG I forgot my car keys.

So I turned around and went home to get them, only realizing as I was pulling in to my driveway duhhhhhh, I'm driving, I have them, that would be what the silver things dangling from the steering wheel column are.

How To Wash A Dog...

Our dog likes to play in the mud. This is how I wash him - I take him to the lake and throw leaves in to the air for him to chase.

Of course, he was recently given the title: local dog most in need of therapy.

View From A Hotel in Barcelona

This pic was taken by Guy Kawasaki while in Barcelona this weekend. An iPhone picture of course! For more of his Barcelona pics, check out: http://holykaw.com. Guy's website is: http://www.guykawasaki.com

Stalling

Flying instructors use our little rural area as a place to teach students to stall the aircraft and to recover. I suppose the thinking is, there are lots of empty fields to crash in if they have to.

So I decided to put this in my blog and waited and waited but on this day, no-one flew over.

I Need One of These:

A house on wheels. Perfect. That would solve a lot of my current problems.

Jar of Coffee

I'm not sure why people think this is weird, makes total sense to me - I was invited to be on an early morning radio show (and I mean, early - I had to be there at 8a) and I made a coffee for the road. Then I thought, well, I don't want it to spill in my "new" car (see earlier posts) (but it's not as though Tim's coffee, DQ, Second Cup, McDonald's, Subway, Wendy's and all the rest haven't made their presence known in my car) (I spend a lot of time in my car, see earlier posts).

Nevertheless, I needed to transport my coffee and the coffee jar with accompanying lid seemed the logical solution.

Rat Trap

So this is outside our offices. It's a rat trap. Most people wouldn't know it was there but I notice this type of thing. On the bright side, there *is* a trap; on the down side, there's a need for a trap.

I've actually seen rats in the area - and they are the size of raccoons.

Don't Look Back

It was pretty funny - well, it doesn't take much to amuse me. I was driving along the Infamous 401 the other night and looking in my rear view mirror, remarking upon the fantastic golden glow in the sky (I was driving quite fast and couldn't pay too much attention to the backwards aiming thing of the iPhone camera, so mainly got my summer tires instead of the sky). Anyway, the funny thing (to me) was, that the song playing on my iPod at the time was Boston's Don't Look Back.

Ahhh Suburbia - Nothing But Work

During the week, I live a quasi-suburban lifestyle and it reminds me how lucky I am to really live in the countryside. For example, the streets around here are littered with these organized bags of raked leaves that presumably, the City will be collecting. What a lot of work - that's what the wind is for.

I think it's hilarious how they seem to be placed in such an orderly fashion at the end of peoples' driveways. They look like rows of little children in paper bag school uniforms, standing at attention, recess over, waiting to file back in to class. I would never be the type of person to try and organize leaves.