Breakfast of champions

For better or worse, it seems that I start most weekend mornings by finishing the dishes that magically appear overnight.  And it seems that no matter what I do the day before, there are always at least a few dishes waiting for me in the morning.

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Fortunately, in recent weeks, thanks to a great segment on the Going Deep with David Rees TV show, I've improved my dishes game a fair bit.  Not only are we using much less detergent and water than we were before, but we're also washing dishes much more quickly.  

Cameron - 9

Neil - 0

New Neighbour Day

My gut is that just about a year ago a neighbour across the street decided to move to BC to be closer to her children.  Not surprisingly, this same neighbour placed her house on the market.  Though it did take a few days for the house to sell, it did sell a fair bit more quickly than many of the other houses in our neighbourhood that have been on the market recently (there are two on our street that have to be approaching at least 2 years with no movement).

Sadly, soon after the sale was announced it became clear that the house hadn't been purchased by an individual but by a developer interested in demolishing the cute yellow house occupying the lot and replacing it with two much larger homes.

I get a little hazy about the order of operations, but at some point not long after the sale closed the house entered a partial demolition phase - though the demolition was definitely just partial.  I know the front door was removed and I heard rumours that a few of the fixtures were also removed.  Conveniently, the windows were left handy so that they could be smashed at a later date.

At some point between the point of possession and the time of the final, complete demolition the houses being advertised by the developer were removed from the market.  Though we didn't know what, we could tell that something was in the works.

Eventually, as Summer transitioned to Fall, construction began in earnest on the two houses - which now appeared to be mirror images of one another.  Much to our surprise, the houses went up quickly and work on the finishing touches has continued throughout the Winter.

Of course, during this entire construction phase there has been a single, common For Sale sign between the two newly subdivided lots.  As far as we could tell, neither had sold, nor was there much apparent interest in the semi-complete houses.

Of course, it was just about two days ago that I finally clued in to the fact that these 'houses' aren't really 'houses,' but two suite mini-apartment buildings.  Each building seems to have an upstairs and main floor apartment.  How we didn't clue into this fact until earlier this week I will never know (though I think it's fair to say that the developers didn't make a show of it either).

Anyway, today, just days after noticing the two-flat situation we came home from a walk to discover people moving into one of the main floor flats/suites/units/apartments.  Pretty exciting.

Then, after a few errands, we both came home to a second move-in a little later in the day.

Definitely an exciting development for the two new, as-yet-unstuccoed and unlandscaped buildings across from us.

Though I haven't yet seen much activity from the newly arrived residents, I imagine that over the next few days we'll begin to see a little more of them as they get to know the neighbourhood?

Cameron - 8
Neil - 0

Apparently it's February

So our unseasonably warm winter has continued.  Today we're experiencing temperatures quite a few degrees above freezing accompanied with intermittent blue skies.




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On the whole, the effect is quite palatable.

Unfortunately, we may be due for some rain later this afternoon.  Of course, the upside of any rain would be that it would likely go a long way towards eliminating the small amount of snow that we do have remaining on our lawn.  The downside would be rain in February - and one of the best things about Regina is that it doesn't typically have rain in February.

Cameron - 3
Neil - 0

A Few Quick Notes 624

-We are in the midst of an almost perfect fall in Regina.  After a few near-frost days the temperatures have really warmed up and the skies have been free of intrusive clouds.

-Of course, while the weather has been great the leaves have been turning (and falling) at a remarkable rate.  In just about a week the tree in our front yard went from green to yellow to empty.

Of course, other trees aren't changing quite as quickly and it is a great time to walk around on many of Regina's well-maintained trails.

Seriously, it's hard to imagine a much more beautiful time of year in Regina.

-And of course, I wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to take a related time-lapse video



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-For some reason I've been quite pie-inclined for the past few weeks.  I'm really having to restrain myself from cranking two or three pies (as I did last weekend).

I think I'm going to crack.

Nasty hail storm in Regina

After weeks with no precipitation of consequence, we finally experienced a long-brewing summer storm in Regina.  After a few minutes of rain the hail began - and then really came down.


 

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We weren't quite a golf balls, but these marble size hail stones were still capable of doing damage.  By the end of brief hail shower our garden had really been hit hard.  Hopefully we'll be able to recover - though I'm sure many of the plants will be set back by at least a few weeks.

Then, almost as quickly as it all began, it stopped, reverted to rain, and then became sunny.  The whole interlude was maybe only 15 minutes.

Very weird.

Definitely a storm

I rather prematurely doubted the severity of today's forecast storm.

Soon after my post things really began to pick up.



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Of course, just as things were picking up we had to head out for my optometry appointment (and a trip to the local Asian grocery store).

Not only was the blowing snow really quite good at reducing visibility, but the cold temperatures (almost -40 with the windchill) and high humidity (about 80%) were causing cars' windows to frost up in a most impressive fashion.  I've never experienced anything quite like it.

Normally, when it's this cold the major upside is low humidity (including a low risk of snow).  Somehow, we've managed to get everything today.



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Fortunately, the snowing is supposed to stop in a few hours.  I guess once it does I will have to head out and take care of some shovelling.  Yum!

Cameron - 11
Neil - 0

An easy way to spend an evening

Several years ago I received a dollar store laser pointer as Christmas or Easter stocking-stuffer type gift.  Since receiving this item I haven't had a reason to use it so I have kept it in its original packing and moved it from residence to residence waiting for a justification to open it.

For some reason, though I've long known that laser pointers are the toy equivalent of catnip for cats, I didn't ever think to open it and use it with our cats.

Finally, last night I opened it up and immediately was able to confirm that our cats, like so many other cats, love following the little red dot around the floor and walls.  They go crazy for it.

Of course, I was mindful enough to snag a few hot vids of the action.



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After a break so that the exhausted kitties could rest, they were happy to be back for more.

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And more.

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And even more (unfilmed) this morning.

Cameron - 7
Neil - 0

High points of the Canadian entertainment scene

Though we normally live a relatively quiet life, for the past week I have really been hitting the town in an attempt to up my Can-con street cred.

Last Sunday Jeannette and I attended a screening of the made-in-Saskatchewan movie Corner Gas: The Movie (obviously a spin-off from the similarly named TV show Corner Gas).  Though ravaged by a Globe and Mail review (that hardly discussed the movie), Jeannette and I both enjoyed the experience and thought the movie was pretty much what you would expect from a TV to movie translation of the show.

On Tuesday Jeannette and I attended the annual Vinyl Cafe Christmas show (an event we also attended last year).  This is the third time I've attended a Vinyl Cafe live show and the third time I have enjoyed the performance.

On Thursday a friend was kind enough to invite me to the Regina stop of the Trailer Park Boys Christmas tour.  Though not the greatest theatrical event of the year, it was nice to see Ricky, Julian, and Randy in person (while living in Halifax Mr. Lahey could routinely be spotted near our apartment and Bubbles could be seen at Bubbles' Mansion events - like the shopping car race we once happened upon).



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This weekend, if I can get my act together, I hope to catch one of the Cirque du Soleil shows happening in Regina.  Because of Jeannette's clown phobia there's no way I'll convince her to attend and as I haven't made any attempts to find someone else to attend with if I do end up going I think it will have to be alone.

And if I really wanted to 'do it all' I could also attend the upcoming Tom Jackson Huron Carole event (though at this point it seems very unlikely that I will be going this far in a quest to consume as much Can-con as possible).

A Few Quick Notes 613

-Much to my surprise, we've had a few grey days in the past few weeks.  Maybe even more troubling, these grey days (as well as some of the non-grey days) have been rather humid (though not quite New York/Ottawa humid).  In any event, the temperatures have felt very summery (though that may just be the humidity speaking (as it's supposedly only 19 today and it feels borderline miserable).

-Last Friday night we experienced one of the most impressive lightning shows I've seen in my life.



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For several hours there were near constant lightning strikes lighting the sky.  For the first while there wasn't even any rain or wind where we were.  If you watch the above video you should be able to hear when the rain and wind really started.  It eventually became much more intense and several nearby areas are still cleaning up from the damage caused by the storm.

-Apparently I haven't been very good at keeping this up to date recently.  Not entirely sure what's up with that but it certainly my plan to improve.

-I knew I didn't sleep well last night, but I was still surprised when all of us (Jeannette, the cats, and I) fell asleep in the living room for three hours (well, Pierre and I fell asleep for three hours - the ladies were still sleeping when we left).  Now that I've had that rather long nap I'm feeling much more refreshed.

-I guess now that I'm so refreshed I should consider tackling a laundry folding project I've been putting off for some time?

Conflicted viewing

As most of the world knows, FIFA's World Cup started on Friday.

Aside from a 1994 World Cup t-shirt I received as a gift, I recall that when I first remember hearing about the World Cup in 2002.  I was in Newfoundland at the time and was relatively upset to hear people who otherwise seemed to have no interest in soccer/football acting as though this was an event they cared about.  I couldn't understand how something that I basically hadn't ever heard of could be used as an excuse to cancel classes at university or motivate departments to book lecture halls for mass viewings.  Just about everything associated with the World Cup seemed implausible and upsetting.

In 2006 just as the next World Cup was getting underway my parents began hosting a Brazilian grad student for the summer.  Not surprisingly, she was interested in watching the World Cup - or at least those games in which Brazil was playing.

My recollection is that my parents didn't have cable or maybe they didn't have a functional TV - in any event, it was decided that World Cup viewing would happen at the house in which I was staying at the time (and that just happens to be adjacent to my parents' house).  As I didn't have all that much furniture we were able to arrange everything in the living room to maximize our comfort while watching Brazil's games.

Of course, it didn't take all that long for Neil and I to enjoy watching the games and start rooting for Brazil.

Somehow in this midst of this increasingly intense World Cup experience a English friend without cable called out of the blue and asked if he could bring his Canadian-born kids over to watch England play for the first time.  Within a matter of minutes they were in place for the game.

We were then drawn into the World Cup experience in a way I could never have expected even a week or two before.  All of a sudden I began to see why even people who otherwise aren't particularly soccer fans might enjoy following the event.

By the time 2010 rolled around I was living with Neil and Rebecca in Halifax and most of the games were easily streamable.  Instead of studying for then still-unscheduled comps (in my defense, I likely didn't even have a reading list by the time the event started) along with Neil (and sometimes Rebecca and Jeannette) I watched many more games than was likely healthy.  I was fully hooked on the experience and even more convinced that of all of the non-annual international sporting events it was the best.

It's so clearly the best because it happens only once every four years.  Or to put it differently, not so frequently that its appearance isn't noteworthy or that you're still burned out from all of the soccer you watched last time around.  On top of that, and very much in contrast to the Olympics (Summer or Winter), by including only one sport it is almost possible for an dedicated individual to watch every game.  And even if you don't watch every game there are few enough games that it is quite easy to keep up with the developments occurring in those games you don't watch.  Of course it's also nice that even though soccer is played world-wide only a limited number of the best teams qualify for each World Cup.  And even better is that when you live in a place like Canada that isn't likely to qualify this means that you (and also the networks covering the event) can focus on good games rather than distracting national allegiances.

Of course as enjoyable as the World Cup is as casual viewer, it's not entirely without its issues.  Last Week Tonight with John Oliver did a great job of introducing a variety of these significant issues in a recent episode.



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So, eight years after Neil and I first began watching World Cup coverage Neil opted out because of dissatisfaction with the organization behind the event.  I, on the other hand, am also disappointed with the organizing body - but obviously not to the extent that I have decided to skip the event.  Instead, Jeannette have taken advantage of several cancellations this weekend to watch as much of the coverage as possible.

Build-a-bed

When Jeannette moved from Wolfville to Ottawa a few years ago one of the first things she purchased was a relatively inexpensive, easy-to-assembly bed from a major Scandinavian retailer specializing in such things.  Not surprisingly, by the time I arrived in Ottawa a few months later and we needed to disassemble the bed for the first time we began to notice a few signs of deterioration, though at the time they were all relatively superficial.

Despite these weaknesses we continued to use the bed, and even moved it from Ottawa to Regina.  During this move more substantial damage to the bed was sustained, so much damage that the moving company compensated us for the cost of the bed.  Of course, despite the damage (and likely because our belongings were delivered on the evening of December 23rd) we continued to use the bed.

While no new damage to the bed occurred during our move from our apartment to new house, it quickly became clear that our bed was on borrowed time.  The absence of a head board which meant that almost every time one propped pillows against the wall behind the bed the bed would be pushed further from the wall was incredibly trying and maybe the single most compelling justification for us to get a new bed.

Because of our relatively unsatisfactory experience with our previous bed we began compiling a list of features, or characteristics, we hoped our new bed would have.  We soon agreed that the bed should:

• be made of solid wood rather than some kind of fibreboard
• have a sturdy headboard
• not have a footboard (so I can hang my feet over the edge of the bed)
• match the other furniture in the room
• allow for storage underneath the mattress

After several months of relatively unsatisfactory, though lackadaisical, shopping Jeannette eventually realized that an option might be that instead of buying a bed we could try making one ourselves.  This way we could ensure it would meet our various specifications.

At first I was quite hesitant to undertake such a project as I feared we might end up sinking quite a lot of money into the project and ending up with either an ugly or unfinished bed.  Jeannette, thankfully, was quite insistent that we would be capable of successfully building an attractive bed.

Eventually, particularly once Jeannette found an appropriate non-plywood building material, I was won over and we started to make plans to build our bed.

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In the end we used composite spruce boards we had cut at the store and some of the still functional hardware from the old bed.  Somewhat later in our design process we also decided to cover all of the corners with corner moulding - a process that took hours because of the labourious process involved in making compound cuts with a hand-powered mitre saw.

The head board, a feature of which we are both particularly proud, came together once we'd more-or-less finished the rest of the bed and knew which materials we had left and once we'd made a trip to the fabric store and purchased some upholstery materials.

Now that we've been sleeping on the bed for about two weeks I think it's safe to say that the bed works and that we're quite pleased with the results of the project - it is neither ugly nor incomplete (my two fears).  The only downside of the bed is that it is so large that it won't be possible to get it out of the bedroom without entirely disassembling it (the corresponding upside is that a huge amount of crap can be forever hidden under the mattress).  (Fortunately we had the floors refinished just before we began work on this project.)

Trial run

A few weekends ago, on our drive to the Qu'appelle Valley I realized that I could take a slightly different approach to some of the time-lapse driving vids I've made in the past.  Making use of a new double-sided suction device I purchased a few months ago I was able to position my time-lapser near the rear-view mirror.


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Now that I know that this works I'm curious to see what I can do on a nice day in a non-urban setting.

Cameron - 2
Neil - 0

Play time

Jeannette thought I wash't spending enough time playing with the cats.  I thought I wasn't spending enough time playing with YouTube.  Turns out after a quick vid sesh we're both happy.



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Forget toys, cats love boxes

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These guys probably love boxes more than life itself.

A Christmas Miracle for Jeannette

Not surprisingly, Marie wasn't particularly pleased with Pierre's arrival.  For the next few days every time Marie saw Pierre she hissed in his direction or at anyone she associated with Pierre.

Fortunately, with more exposure to Pierre the frequency and intensity of the hissing diminished.  Sadly, at first it didn't seem that the absence of hissing necessarily implied a fondness for Pierre on Marie's part.

Then, after a little coaxing on my part, I managed to get both Pierre and Marie on my lap yesterday afternoon.  After a little aloofness from Marie she started grooming Pierre, eventually rather furiously.



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Since this display of affection things have definitely been better between the two cats.  Though I haven't much outright inter-cat cuddling, I'm confident that it will be a common occurrence before long.

That time of the year

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Not only is it time-lapse season, it's also baking season.

After this batch I decided to make a special, vegan version for Jeannette.  Hopefully the vegan version's as tasty and sought after as the original.

Being relentless finally paid off

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For months, maybe even just days after we picked Marie up, Jeannette's been insistent that we need another kitty.

Despite my best efforts to drown her requests out, yesterday morning I finally relented and agreed to the acquisition of a second cat.  Of course, having a second cat (or even a single cat) goes against almost every grain in my soul - fortunately this time I made sure to obtain a promise that no matter what two cats is the maximum number of cats that we will ever have (and I have a previous promise that agreeing to a particular cat is not a perpetual agreement to have a cat).

Ugh, at least they're cute(ish).

P.S. This guy has the unfortunate name Tiberius.

Grey Cup Parade

Growing up in Newfoundland the CFL seemed like a myth.  Of course I'd heard the existed but I'd never actually met anyone who supported a team or seemed to care about it in the least.

Things didn't get much better in any of the other cities I've lived in in Canada.  I guess I knew that the BC Lions existed while I lived in Vancouver though they didn't seem to be as significant a sporting venture as the Canucks - who just happened to be having a particularly good season the year we lived there.

In Montreal I eventually learned that I'd lived about a block a way from the stadium in which the Alouettes played.  While I lived there I had no idea where the Alouettes played.

The impending arrival of the then unnamed Ottawa franchise seemed to be of little consequence to the locals.  I can't recall even a single person I spoke to expressing either interest or disgust at the thought of there being a team there.  It just didn't seem to rate in the face of the LRT talks or Senators trade speculation.

Of course, in Nova Scotia, though there is university football, the CFL seems as distant to life as it did in Newfoundland.  It just wasn't on anyone's radar.

When we arrived in Regina last year we immediately got to see that the CFL certainly does have a fan base, and it seems to be based in Saskatchewan.

You can't go out in Regina without encountering people wearing Riders gear.  Hats and jackets are probably the most common forms of attire, but mitts, scarves, and jewellery aren't uncommon.  And lets not forget the provincially issued Riders license plates.

This overwhelming level of support means that even when it's -21 (or -33 when the wind chill is taken into account) fans done up to the max will be in attendance for a Saturday morning Grey Cup Parade.

The parade route was lined with people of all ages.  We saw dozens of strollers and more adults in snow pants than I've ever seen anywhere else.  There were also quite a number of cars with handicap parking badges parked in intersections facing the parade route.  I think it's fair to say that those in attendance were a pretty representative cross section of the Regina population.



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And though it took a while to get to us, we did eventually to get to see the horse-drawn championship trophy.

If anyone had asked me as a child if I would one day stand in frost-bite capable weather for over an hour to see any of this I likely would have laughed (or the very shy child equivalent of public laughing).  Apparently, spending a year in Regina has a strange effect on people.

It was my first rodeo

Earlier this week I attended my first rodeo.  Now that we're living in the 'west' it seems appropriate that I've seen a rodeo, though I'm not sure if I'll have to attend too many more in the future.  Of course, Jeannette, as a militant (her preferred word is 'passionate') vegan, is "absolutely disgusted" that I've even seen one rodeo and insists that it will be my last (if she has anything to do with it).

While there I managed to snag a few hot vids.  Of course, they're posted here only for educational, not entertainment, purposes.

The steer riding was almost a little hard to see.  I suspect the more technical manoeuvre is typically blocked by the horse the cowboy is riding.



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The 'bull fighting' was something I didn't expect to see.  My guess is that this event was created to give the rodeo clowns a chance to shine/get worker's comp opportunities?



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Barrel racing was the only 'cowgirl' event of the rodeo.



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For one event, kids were even involved.  Not surprisingly, I managed to get one of the less successful riders (though I did get the one with enough foresight to equip himself with a helmet cam).



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Calf roping also took place.



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Some bull riding also happened.



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It was definitely an experience.

A Few Quick Notes 603

-After a few false starts, we've finally had a full-fledged snowy winter's day in Regina.  At the moment I'd say that we have somewhere between 5 and 7 cm of snow on the ground, though I guess my estimate could be a little off due because zero-ish temperatures are leading to some simultaneous melting.

-Because of the snowfall I'll have to head out for some shovelling later today.  I tried to do some shovelling a few weeks ago when we had another small snowfall but there wasn't enough to really clear.

-Last weekend we purchased a discount vegetarian Indian cookbook.  The night we purchased the book we prepared about four of the dishes in the book.  They were great.  The only problem with the book is that it has lead us to over eat.  Of course, this overeating hasn't discouraged me from fantasizing about preparing even more dishes from the book this weekend.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

-A few months ago we purchased a food dehydrator.  Since that time we've been really into dried apples and fruit leather.  Turns out that with a few hours of dehydrating time you can turn a dozen apples into nothing more than a few grams of dried apples/fruit leather.  The problem, if you can say there is a problem, is that the dried fruit can be consumed almost instantly and without the feeling that you're chewing through multiple apples in a matter of seconds.

-Turns out I should probably do some fish tank cleaning today.  Do Saturdays get more fun?

-Last weekend, while socializing with neighbours, one of the guys recommended a pomegranate de-seeding technique.  When I finally got around to trying it last night I was amazed that it was actually as easy and effective as promised.  You really have do the whole thing in less than a minute.



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