Fill In The Blanks Wednesday

Prompts from: The Little Things We Do.



I Scream, Crockett Screams, We All Scream...

Today was just one of those days that ice cream was mandatory.

A nice cool creamy heavenly vanilla.

Crockett goes mental for ice cream.

I don't know why.

It doesn't matter if it is in a bowl or a cone.

I've tried to hide it, but he just knows.

Magical Pug super powers.

It's also a reason why I no longer eat chocolate ice cream.

Vanilla or vanilla laced with butterscotch or caramel.

Has to be Pug safe!

I'll even dig ice cream out of an ice cream sandwich for him.

No chocolate.

We once had a dog named Sheba.

She was a cheeky monkey.

Crazy smart.

She was a Daschund mixed with what looked like a Lab.

We also had Candy, a beautiful Boxer Chow mix.

( I'm getting teary thinking about my doggies of days gone by....)

My parents & I made the mistake of going out & leaving a box of wrapped

Brandy Beans under the Christmas tree.

We got home to wrapping and ripped cardboard everywhere and Sheba

having had ingested way too much chocolate

and way too much hard liquor.

Then again, there is no such thing as too much...it should be none!

Seriously, scary and bizarre.

Sheba was none the worse off and after her buzz wore off,

she was back to her intelligent lovely dogness.

Our other dog Candy just looked at us with an expression on her face of,

" It wasn't me!"

Since then, no dog gets chocolate, gets near

chocolate or even sniffs chocolate.

I wish I'd had my camera tonight to film Crockett

going mental.

I'm quite sure there'll be a few more ice cream

treats before summers end to catch on film & post!

Vandalism vs. Art

I like art.

I believe some graffiti is art.

In Toronto, we have Graffiti Alley.

There is also some wonderful art on the back of buildings that

can only be seen when you travel on the subway or GO Train.

Sadly, the graffiti that occurs across the street from my apartment

is classified as vandalism or officially as tagging.

It's done by kids with nothing better to do and no artistic talent.

Prior to the recently elected Toronto Mayor, who I think is a goof,

graffiti across the street on the staircase would be covered within 24hrs.

Our new Mayor, who I think is a goof, gives the impression that

the removal of tagging is a waste of money.

Did I mention I think the Mayor of Toronto is a goof?

This is the tagging across the street. An eyesore.



This is from Toronto's Graffiti Alley.

On the left, tagging.

On the right, art.



Here is the genius that is Banksy.

I think he's amazing.



Pugs

The Daily Puglet.

J.K. Rowling Announces Pottermore

Audio books - I wonder who'll be reading them?

29 Ways to Stay Creative

Good advice.

One More Off the Ten Most Wanted

In honor of the FBI taking yet another name off the

Ten Most Wanted List,

I am watching the movie " The Departed"

Jack Nicholson's character Frank Costello was based on Whitey Bulger.

Great film by Martin Scorsese. Not an exact remake of

Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, but inspired by and story built upon.

It's a good watch if you're ok with subtitles.

The DVD of The Departed has a great documentary

about South Boston & the time it was run by Whitey.

Plus, it's always a plus to watch a film with both

Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon.

Fill In The Blanks Wednesday

Prompts from: The Little Things We Do.



Welcome Summer...Sort Of

While tidying up the storage locker last weekend, I repacked

all our Christmas Ornaments.

I also saw a photo on Facebook that a friend had commented on that

was a shot of a snowman on a wintery front lawn.

I will admit, I wished it was December.

Fall will always be my favorite season, always, but Winter,

especially like the one that just passed is my new #2,

with Spring as #3 and Summer as #4.

I love summer weekends, not summer weekdays.

I hope this summer I can swim in a lake & sit around a fire.

During the week, I commute on a hot bus, then work in a cold office,

then get back on a hot bus.

We don't have the Air Conditioner in the window for a few reasons:

1. The windows are too big & I need to make a proper frame.

(We can't be the White Trash AC Window - you know, the kind with cardboard in it! )

2. We pay for our Electricity & I think it's too crazy expensive.

3. I like fresh air, not A/C Air

My folks bought us a new fan since our kick-ass awesome one died last summer from over use.

It's interesting. It has a timer. I like that.

Enough to cool down the room to get to sleep without having to run all night.

Thank you Ma & Pa.



Fan and Pug



We have been very lucky with the weather so far this month,

except for the few hours of the crazy storm.

I will enjoy the Summer because, it's almost July 1st and

before we know it, it'll be over.

The really scary thing is, I can remember like it was yesterday, the summers of my youth.

Like Pete Schweddy said to the ladies of The Delicious Dish,

"Good times."

It Was One of Those Days

Today was one of those days.

Public transit and its riders got the better of me.

Perverts, ignoramuses or is it ignorami, loud talkers,

smelly people, line budders, women with far too few clothes on and...and...and.

By the time I got home I was ready to become a shut in.

I told Adam that if we had a balcony or backyard that was private, I

would be happy never coming into contact with the general public ever again.

I felt like taking Adam down to Graffiti Alley and have him film

me do a rant like Rick Mercer about stupid people.

It all started with the pervert and the scantily clad girl on her cell phone

with no awareness of what was happening around her.

I seriously need to check the news tomorrow to see if

there was a sexual assault or a missing person reported.

I get on the bus and there is a guy totally staring inappropriately at

a young girl (19-23) who is inappropriately dressed.

Don't get me started on the way young women dress these days.

Lets say I am old school, a prude and proud of it.

Anyway, she was sitting facing him, talking on her cell like, y'know, whatever,

he's sooo hot, we have to party this weekend, blah blah barf barf barf.

Her boobies were on a plate and her skirt was an inch

away from exposing her navel.

He was literally looking at her in a way that made me sooo uncomfortable.

I was sitting behind him & he was turned around sideways on the seat.

I put my paper up to hide my face & try to get her attention

but she was too into her phone conversation.

She got up a few stops after I got on and as she got off, just before the doors

closed, the perv darted up and squeezed off the bus through the closing doors.

I was aghast. I wanted to do something.

His eyes did not leave her as he followed her and she was OBLIVIOUS!

I wanted to get the bus to stop, to get her back on.

I wanted to pull out my camera & take a photo of the perv.

I felt helpless and useless.

I just hope she is ok and safe.

I plunked down all depressed and pissy in front of the TV tonight

and ate for too much french bread while I watched Hoarders.

Honestly, so sad.

I am the anti-hoarder.

I throw things away that shouldn't be thrown away.

Clutter to me is like jail. It traps me & overwhelms me.

As I was sitting there judging this hoarding woman's adult children

for not helping their mother years earlier, Adam called me & said

there was a car accident on Yonge Street.

Grabbed the camera & out we went.

A young lady with 2 kids.

She was distracted by them and crashed into a light post.

No serious injuries, just a few jittery souls, a valuable lesson

learned and a story to tell of how they were lucky all things considered.

She hit the lamp post behind the Fire Engine and that is

how far back the little silver car bounced.

The airbag deployed and there was something on the ground

in front of the post the size of a car battery.

No other cars, or pedestrians for that matter, were involved.

All I needed was a little bit of perspective to remind me

that as shitty a day I had, and it was shitty, there are folks out there

who had a shittier day than me.

Up With the Birds

Considering the amount of sleep I've had over the past 3 days, it

wasn't surprising to me that I was wide awake this morning at 5:30am.

That is still a bit too early to head out for a walk with Crockett

as there are still a few partiers from the night before stumbling home.

Half an hour longer and it's folks with dogs and runner/joggers.

Thank goodness there is a 24Hr store a block north that has

a single cup coffee maker.

I went & grabbed a cup of coffee then came back for Crockett

and off we went.

Another photo heavy post today.



5:58am looking East.



When I looked the other way, I noticed the Moon was still out.

My love of close up flowers continues

This little one was singing to its heart content

These remind me of Gooseberries, only smaller

Daisies

The Daisy is my favorite flower. Always has been.
Simple and beautiful.

One should always look up.
You never know what you'll see.



When we got back home, Crockett wanted nothing to do with going inside.
I let him lead me wherever he wanted to go and all he wanted to do was walk.



I'm happy Crockett took us off course. I got to see 3 small Chipmunks.
I love Chipmunks.
Had I not had Crockett I could have got closer.
This is the only one who stood still long enough to get a blurry shot of.

I sat down for a rest & got the stink eye from Crockett.
He wanted to keep walking.

By the time we were done, the moon was still clear in the sky.
This last shot was taken at 7:08am.

Friday & Saturday in One

Thursday I came home from work early with a whopper of a headache.

Upon arrival home, I crashed onto my bed, fully clothed & woke up

a little over 8 hours later in my knickers with still a dull ache.

Friday was a half day & I felt great.

Except upon arrival home I had less than zero energy.

I again fell asleep & woke up at 7:30pm.

Poor Crockett needed a walk so I grabbed the camera & off we went.

Upon arrival home I came to my laptop to go thru & post my

picture of the day.

For whatever reason, I laid down on my bed and well.....

I fell asleep.

I woke up this morning having no idea what time it was.

Adam was snoring as was Crockett wrapped up in my legs.

I got up, grabbed Crockett and the camera & off we went.

Well, it wasn't early because the sun was high in the sky & it was hot.

Beautiful blue sky with a few clouds perfect hot summer day.

The down side...too hot for Pugs.

When we got home it was noon.

Both Crockett & I were huffing and puffing.

Adam made me some scrambled eggs.

My computer was configuring some updates so to pass the time,

I laid down on my bed and well.....

I fell asleep.

It is now 5:00pm and in the last 3 days I have been asleep

more than awake.

Here are the Friday & Saturday photos.
Friday we went for a walk around the block in the neighbourhood.
Today, we went into our favourite park next to our apartment.

FRIDAY

Such a bright color.

Noise polluter!  I don't understand leaf blowers.
Ever heard of using a broom to get the leaves off the sidewalk?
Sheesh.

Really pretty flower.

A flower pot full of Pansies

Up the side of our bldg

Good walk, he's had enough for the day.

SATURDAY



They've not tended to any of the shrubs this season.



I don't know what these are called but they smell amazing.

The smell like perfume but not heavy and thick. Very light and fresh.

A Pug in the Sun.

This looks like a path that Frodo, Samwise, Merry and Pippin might have taken
on their way out the Shire to Bree.

He didn't want to take a step out of the shade into the Sun.

It's Getting Closer

Another new trailer released today.

It's getting closer.

Exciting.

Fill In The Blanks Wednesday

Prompts from: The Little Things We Do.



Magic

We don't have kids, ergo, we don't have toys.

I wouldn't believe any adult that told me they haven't at one time

or another, played with their kids' toys.

I'm sure if I had an Etch n' Sketch or Lite Brite at my disposal,

I'd create a work of art.

I have, on occasion, bought myself some grown up toys.

They come from the awesome store

Silver Snail Comics

Now, they aren't the expensive collectible sort.

Although, the Lord of the Rings items they had available made me wish

I had enough coin to make my very own (nerd alert)  LOTR tribute room.

I still hope to one day own my very own replica of

Gandalf the White's Staff.

I got my Gandalf from Silver Snail Comics.

I bought my very own Harry Potter wand.

I almost want to bring it with me to the last film and hold it

up at the end, like they did when Prof. Dumbledore was killed.

Is that going too far?

Perhaps.

I keep my wand on my DVD player.

I took a photo of it and it is Day 43

in my Project 365 page, but here it is

in all its glory.

Pretty cool huh?

Lumos

Lumos Maxima

Nox

Love it.

The light goes on and off with a small flick of the wrist.

Loads of fun.

Damn and Blast

... and bugger all to hell.

It was one of those days where I wish I had

F-You Money.

Enough F-You Money to where I didn't have to go to work every day.

Or ever again for that matter.

I usually deal with the feelings and emotions of a day like

today by stopping off at a burger joint to nom-nom

and numb my emotions with a greasy burger and fries.

Instead, on my way home, I stopped by Loblaws

and picked up a nice ready made salad and

some cut melon.

I don't drink, I don't smoke any more and

I can't eat rubbish.

What is a girl to do when she feels like telling the

world to bugger off?
I need a new vice.

This girl laid down on her bed, grabbed Crockett

to rub his belly and escaped reality

for a few hours by watching a movie.

Breathe

Tomorrow is another day.



More Crockett and Flowers

Woke up again to perfect Pug walking weather.

I put on my runners, grabbed my camera and

Crockett and I went for a walk up in the woods.

We bumped into a few other dogs and joggers.

One woman, with 2 beautiful Golden Retrievers walked

 oblivious to everything around her, even her dogs.

She was on her cell phone.

Seriously. Sad. To me anyway.

Maybe she is one of those super women that feel

the need to multitask at all times.

Once out of the woods, by the Tennis Courts and Lawn Bowling,

my camera was again drawn to flowers and color.

I don't know why, I've just come to enjoy looking at flowers close up.

When we got home, Crockett had a bit of a sore back so I sat

with him and gave him a dog massage.

He felt better and so did I.

Then it was off to clean my kitchen.

It is cleaner, I think, than it has ever been.

I am so proud of it I've posted it as today's photo

for my Project 365.

Now to keep it this way........

There Was a Banjo Band!

Yonge Lawrence Village Day

I woke up this morning with a sore back and I was very very tired.

I decided to not go to see HP III for fear that I'd be

uncomfortable & most likely fall asleep.

I decided instead, due to the perfect Pug walking weather

to take Crockett for a nice long walk. 

To make it even better, Adam joined us!

Storm damage.

I had forgotten that today was Village Day so

it was an even nicer walk.

There were so many people out walking with their kids, faces painted

eating Cotton Candy and dogs with their noses up in the air smelling all the hot dogs

& hamburgers on the grills of multiple BBQs

I had to stop & listen to the Toronto Banjo Band.

So Cute.

White pants, red shirts, white hair.

The 1st song they played - in the clip above I posted on YouTube -

is the first song I learned to play on the Ukulele in grade 6.

It was also great to see the kids going nuts in the

bouncy castle behind the band.

They look like so much fun.

Adam left me to continue up the street to do some groceries

and I, being right there, had to stop in for a Caramel Machiatto at Starbucks.



Coffee Heaven

I tied Crockett up again, but this time he had a buddy to wait with.

I stood there for a few minutes to make sure they could be tied

up so close together.

They were both so easy going they didn't care.

They also had the eyes glued to the window watching

for their Mommies to come back out of the coffee shop.

By the time we were getting close to home, Crockett

had enough.  He had a great walk and he was ready

to come in, lay down on his pillow bed and

sleep the afternoon away.

To make up for not seeing Azkaban today at the theater, I'm

going to throw it in the DVD player tonight.

Reading with Crockett

Finishing work early on Friday is great!

On my way home, I stopped off at the store to pick

up some new cleaning supplies.

This weekend, with the nice cool air in the forecast I am going to

tackle the Spring Cleaning, windows and all.

Funny, what motivated me was a Pine Sol commercial.

New lemon scent.

The lady, after mopping her floor, was standing there

breathing in the fresh clean scent with a look

of utter peace and joy. That's what I want.

A clean, really clean, apartment makes me happy

so that is what I'll do.

Of course tomorrow morning I have my 10:30am

date at the theater with Harry Potter.

I'm reading the final book again.

Enjoying it.

I spent an hour laying on the bed in comfy blankets with Crockett reading.

Then he looked so adorable I took a bunch of photos of him.

He really has a great face.

Pugs not Drugs