Sometimes Moms need all the help

During lunch the other day we heard a noise. 

It sounded like a raspy squirrel or... not a bird but an idontknowwhat... like something that was slightly annoyed and grumbling about it.  We carried on with lunch and then realized a little while later that we could still hear it...

I'm not sure if curiosity got the better of me and I got up to check, or if it just caught the corner of my eye but all of a sudden I saw a possum on our wall... in broad daylight? I called the Ninja *psssst* come look quick and bring your camera I think... it's a Momma Possum!!!

Being a Mom is tough. She was pacing back and forth in this section of the wall and appeared to be awkwardly looking for a way down.  I couldn't quite see over into the neighbour's yard, so we grabbed the ladder, peeked over and sure enough there was a baby possum pacing back and forth at the bottom of the wall yelling "Mom" ... "Mom" ... "Mom"

I quickly assessed options and asked the Ninja to "fetch me some rope" (we conveniently had the "rigging" from our Halloween pirate ship still kicking around with a monkey's fist knot in the end) I had a feeling it just might work *fingers crossed*

While the Ninja was fetching the rope, the Momma possum streeeeeatched and disappeared into the hedge with her ungainly passengers.

I lowered the monkey's fist and darned if the little stinker didn't know it was for him, he walked over and climbed on up (still regularly making sure that Mom still knew where he was)!

He made it to the top of the wall and let go of the rope allowing me to back off and take it with me. Now Mom was in the neighbour's hedge somewhere, and this little guy was pacing back and forth in the same spot his Mom had been just a handful of minutes prior...

It was too far for him to jump and I think we were probably making the Mom a little nervous, so I grabbed my "straight edge" (a lovely piece of wood) and gently stuffed it into the hedge to make a little bridge for him.

He waltzed across it like it was the most natural thing in the world, and soon disappeared up into the same spot his Mom had gone. Shortly thereafter he stopped hollering and we assumed success.

It was one of those "Whaaaaaat! I can't believe that actually worked!?!" kind of moments! *grins*

Later in the afternoon I went to retrieve my "straight edge" and realized I could hear one again. I wondered what all the fuss was about, and then realized that either the same little guy or his idiot brother had fallen out of the hedge... 

Wash. Rinse. Repeat our efforts from earlier in the day, and we decided that it was his idiot brother. 

This one didn't go to the rope right away, it actually took a couple tries just to get him onto the rope... then part way up he decided to go down again *sigh* 

 

I pulled the knot up high enough that he wouldn't jump down he finally decided that the knot was a dead-end, turned around to come up and then about a half a foot from the top let go of the rope and tried unsuccessfully to free climb the concrete wall *facepalm*

So close buddy, you're so close... just. climb. the. rope.

He finally made it to the top and I had to get the Ninja to hold the rope so I could get out of the way because he was still standing on it... Here he is yelling at her:

Mom!?

He similarly paced back and forth, tried to cross the "straight edge" bridge and almost fell off (I would like to note that it is almost twice as wide as he is), abandoned that plan and then... 

*0h$#!t* are you kidding me? he's trying to climb back down the wall?!?! 

"It's okay I can still see his tail" the Ninja assured me.

I scrambled back up the ladder rope in hand and managed to get him back on the monkey's fist... now what do I do with him?!?

"Just put him on top of the hedge" she suggested... 

He doesn't seem to be that bright so I'm not sure he'll figure it out, but I'm not sure what else to do with him given that he has already fallen out of the hedge once and *almost* fallen off of the wall AND the makeshift bridge.

Then I heard a rustle and saw a large furry shape inside the hedge and realized that his Mom was very carefully monitoring our progress. I managed to gently deposit him on top of the hedge without him falling off (or through) and saw a white nose sneak up and take possession of the little stinker.

Ocean magic

After a period of attempting to self-quarantine, during which we manged to get our grocery shopping trips down to approximately every two weeks (which I'm pretty pleased with)... the rest of our contact with society while significantly reduced which has been both a blessing and a curse.

I have completed a number of house projects uninterrupted which has been absolutely wondeeeeerful.

I didn't realize how much social obligations such as dinner out and weekends at friend's were eating into my projecting time!  Don't get me wrong, there are things (people?) I miss and I certainly don't want to be quarantined forever but it has been kind of nice to be able to step back, take a deep breath and tackle some of the things that don't usually make it onto the list.

This step back has allowed me to take a closer look at things and living in a house with two other women, well don't let anyone fool you, the future should not be all female. There needs to be a happy medium in which we temper and balance each other out... male/female/everyone in between - because despite being lucky enough to have a significant amount of room per person in this house... lets just say it was past time for an outing.

And so with the tentative lifting of some of the beach and trail bans we made our way down to San Clemente.  We arrived just as the sun slipped quietly below the horizon and settled in to wait.  The Ninja having never seen bioluminescence before was edgy and excited but without really knowing what to look for or what to expect.

In contrast the beach and ocean had a completely calming effect on me. Soothing my soul the way the outgoing waves in their chaotic motion smooth the sand and wipe it clean.  This was my reset, and having grown up near the ocean I was content to settle in and wait. It will be time when it's time.

The thing with bioluminescence is that everything has to be just right. It needs to be relatively dark, with no moon light because even that light will drown out the magic.

As it grew darker I started to get excited though and went down to the water to check a couple times to no avail, finally to burn off some energy decided to go for a wander down the beach.  A little further away I thought it was a trick of the light at first, that in my excitement I was seeing what I hoped to see rather than what was actually there... but no, there it was again! We were in the right place, at the right time and the conditions were perfect!!

I went and got the Ninja and her Mom and settled in to attempt to take some pictures.  Of course, I forgot my tripod, and after cursing the photographer with his light that was so bright he could probably see what I was thinking I later realized he was using it to adjust his focus... *le sigh* perhaps I'll bring my own "see into the future" flashlight next time *note to self.

After fiddling with settings, and taking photos on long exposure without breathing I think I ended up with about 3 out of 50 that while nowhere near magazine quality are all mine.  There is a certain satisfaction to that, and maybe next time I'll be able to get some better ones.

It was interesting, often I spend a lot of time behind the lens and end up with hundreds of similar pictures, but knowing that this would be difficult to capture on film, and in my case more likely luck than anything else... I spent more time just watching it.  You see, it's the motion that makes it magical, the way the light chases itself along the wave like slow sheet lightning that is difficult to capture in a still photo... my respect to those photographers who have managed it - I've seen some shots infinitely more awesome than these.

Oh and note to self - if you're going to leave the camera bag above the high tide line... leave it even higher than you think you need to.

I had just convinced the Ninja to take her shoes off and venture out into the sand where the ocean meets the shore, so I could scoop up some of the incoming wash and swoosh it around in my hands to show her the bioluminescence up close, when I realized that the next wave was "Comin' in hot!" We both backpedaled and I sprinted up the beach stretched out as far as I could dug my hands in under my camera bag and flipped it as far as I could gently!

It was enough.

The ocean kissed my camera bag and I ended up with sand everywhere but the camera itself survived yet another close encounter with nature.  Horseshoes... seriously horseshoes. Some are born with charm others with good looks, I'm pretty sure I was born with horseshoes ;)

Damp up to mid-thigh with sand in places that never touched the beach we called it a night before we got cold and made our way back up to our rock-star parking.  The mood had significantly improved from the ride down with small smiles of wonder gracing the corners of our mouths, testament to having experienced a natural wonder in person.

Thank you mother nature for few more magical moments to add to my collection.

So this genious genius, *facepalm* I can't even spell genius properly this morning... *sigh*

whatever.

We have a three person sling-back swing that came with the house, and two small sling-back chairs we scored for free on the side of the road with a matching table! Anyways, they have all been getting less and less use as the material started to give way and sitting became a gamble, but instead of just throwing them out I was all "Wait! I can fix that!"

So the first one went pretty well actually, surprisingly well, until we got to the spreader bar part. I had initially thought we could just strong-arm them into place but had offhandedly picked up a 300lb spreader at HomeDepot because we were there for other stuff... (I'm pretty sure I have a guardian angel that looks out for me)

Yeah... the 300 lbs that I thought was overkill wasn't enough, we got one in and then with the bending/spring loading of the spreader bar we called it a day and gave up before something exploded and exchanged it for the 600 lb spreader bar - after that everything popped in like a dream and boom the first chair was done!

Ta da!

With my newfound confidence I started on the seat of the second chair.

Overconfident.

Forgot to double check my measurements after folding everything for the hem... sooooo I got to sit there and pull it all out with my new seam-ripper *sigh* ...and pick all the little bits of thread out *SIGH*

... then I ran out of thread on the bottom spool half way through stitching it again *aggravated sigh*

This one was definitely a case of "third time lucky"

Hopefully with my newly tempered confidence the remaining panels will go much more smoothly.

Some things you have to be older to understand

Dear Grandpa,

I understand now why crows in the hedge across from your condo were the bane of your existence.  How they occupied many of your waking thoughts, from spending your walks collecting the perfect pea-sized pebbles to waking up early to shoot them with your sling shot.

I get it now.

Love always,

Samantha

Morning moment

That moment when you pick up your coffee cup half expecting it to be empty and there's one mouthful left - even if it's cold.

For the love.

Oh for the love, would some lady mockingbird PLEASE take that guy home.

He has been singing at the top of his little lungs like a california car alarm after an earthquake.

*sigh*

Achievement Unlocked

Just fixed a window screen that had been pulled out of the edge... with the same screen and edging stuff *buffs nails*

#yourenotsupposedtobeabletodothat

--

The story of my life http://scubajunk.blogspot.com

Samantha Vincent about.me/samantha.vincent

I still believe in magic

The coolest thing happened last weekend... I got to see fireflies! It has been on my "list" of things that I would like to experience in real life for the longest time, and while we were driving out to visit with the cousins...

I saw a little burst of yellow, long enough to register but quick enough to test your sanity - "I think I saw something? Wait... did I really? *bouncing* I THINK I JUST SAW A FIREFLY!!!!!"

All of a sudden I could see them all over the place! It was the coolest thing, this little flash of magic and then it moved!

If I were any younger I would totally be the little kid that got lost chasing fireflies...  or followed the wisps to the witches door :p

In my hunting I caught 3 in a container that one of the cousins gave me, but I noticed that only one of them lit up while they were inside so I let them go which was super cool because they all flashed "see yah!" on their way out! and then later when I couldn't stop thinking about how cool it was that they were just flying around outside I went out and caught one in my hands!!! Ok, so I say "caught" but as soon as I thought I had it, it crawled out a little hole by my thumb and then flew away.

*contented smile*

Carbihore

We've determined that my roommate's dog is a Carbihore.

She will do *anything* for bready products.

She can be dead asleep upstairs and if you so much as open the cupboard containing the bread somehow she knows and will be poking her nose around the corner like this:

 

It reminds me of stories I head about my Dad's dog Toby, he was stone deaf... you could shoot a starting gun off next to him and he wouldn't move... but if you crinkled a candy wrapper? He would show up out of NOWHERE!

This feels kinda like that.

Mama’s musings

Sometime when Mama chuckles and says things, she reminds me of Yoda. Like when he mutters words of wisdom under his breath  nodding and smiling to himself.

Except she does it in a thick Filipina accent, and it's not under her breath... I'm pretty sure the neigbours can hear her!

Hehehe 

I'm going to watch TV... 

and then fall asleep..

And then the TV will be watching me!

Hehehe

It's uncannily eerie just how true that statement could be these days Mama 

--

The story of my life http://scubajunk.blogspot.com

Samantha Vincent about.me/samantha.vincent

Girls be trippin’

It was with some amazement, despite waking up at 4:45 and leaving by 5:30, that we made the first sailing... especially after we were warned at the ticket booth that we might get bumped to the 10:50.

My Kim also noted that it's a good thing we didn't call it "Girls gone wild" as we missed the 9:26 pm phone call.

So we find ourselves sitting in the sun outside our adorable little rental cottage it's only 9am, and we've got the whole day ahead of us!

--

The story of my life http://scubajunk.blogspot.com

Samantha Vincent about.me/samantha.vincent

Getting "Cultured"

Yesterday the Ninja and I were given the opportunity to attend the LACMA 3D: Double Vision exhibit opening on behalf of my Aunt whose University had contributed some pieces from their collection to the exhibit.

We had no idea what to expect and so erred on the side of business casual.  I have been slowly building up my work clothes attire and was able to pull out an appropriate 3D-ish looking top, but the Ninja was in need of something and so purchased a super cute flowing black and silver number for the event.

Ten. Ten minutes before our "leave at 4:30 by the latest" she discovered that some nincompoop had failed to remove the security tag from the shirt she was planning to wear.

Awoogah! A-WOOH-GAH!!! Emergency. Emergency, this is not a drill.

One look at that face and I knew, that contrary to both of her valid solutions (cutting it out or wearing something else) I had to try my very best to fix it.

I scampered downstairs, grabbed all of the supplies I thought I might need... hammer, screwdriver, towel, zip-lock, smaller towel... and ran back upstairs.  Also keep in mind that it is HOT... hot enough that I haven't put my dress pants on yet.

"Are you sure this is a good idea" she asks?

?!*?! Ha! Of course I'm not sure if this is a good idea, but we're going to at least *try* it.

While I set about wrapping the garment in the large towel so as to expose as little as possible to the potential (likely?) ink explosion it occurred to me that I should probably remove my own shirt as well... at the same time the Ninja started reading me excerpts from the internet detailing 7 different ways to attempt removing said security devices... with the eye rolling disclaimer that they should never be used for shop-lifting.

I'm not sure that I believed all of them, some of them sounded like an entry for a competition "Hit it with a hammer" I mean sure it might work, but you probably won't quite get the results you were looking for...

Nonetheless, the first suggestion was to use an elastic band to help lever the pin out. This sounded the least likely to break/trip the internal ink pack so I scrambled back downstairs to obtain some rubber bands.

One broken elastic band later, and other instructions involving a screw driver and I'm attempting it but only because the hammer claw doesn't fit when *snick* ... it's a small sound, but enough to catch my breath in my throat. I slowly turn the device over to see if it's leaking, as the bottom half falls off in my hands dropping the antenna(?) out with it.

What the... ?

As I poke and prod, still leery that there's still a hidden inkwell around the pin the damn thing falls apart in my hands and leaves only the pointy bit of the pin poking through the material.

Dun-dun-DAH-dum!!!!! *trumpets*

I got it *beaming* its only 4:34... and I didn't even wreck anything. The moments of urgency, and the moments of hot uncomfortableness wither to insignificance in the thankful gaze of my best friend.

Fixed. In a very satisfactory manner. I am most pleased with myself *buffs nails*

The rest of the evening was fantastic! It turned out that the opening meant that us as invited guests had the opportunity to view the exhibit *before* it was opened to the public which was SUPER COOL!

Since we had eaten beforehand and didn't know any of the fancy people to schmooze with we were able to duck into the small 30 person only theatre ahead of the crowd and see the entire loop of 3D use in movies from the 50's through current day.  It was amazing! It also gave us a huge list of movies that we want to watch which brought up the "where to get old movies now that there aren't movie rental places" conundrum... Nevermind, it looks like we can rent them on Amazon!

I was also able to find the University of Manitoba's contribution of seance photos which are really bizarre and interesting. Having read about them before I knew they were odd but that did not prepare me for seeing them up close, they truly are remarkable. Whether they are an advanced trick of film processing (for the time), or truly otherworldly remains a mystery but they are indeed something to behold up close and personal.

The rest of the exhibit was really cool, with some displays that prompted the Ninja to whisper back  "I don't get it... am I missing something?" to which I replied with a small chuckle "No, this would be 'Art' "

Avast me hearties!!!

Haul yer anchors you scurvy sea-dogs, we sail with the tide!!

Starting the morning with a pirate run is better than a poke in eye with a rusty dagger arrrr!

The dog lasted from the parked car to about the start line... about a block :p

Success!!! Now where be the nearest place we can get some grub?!? Mah belly is gonna eat me!!!

--

The story of my life http://scubajunk.blogspot.com

Samantha Vincent about.me/samantha.vincent

"Quit while you're ahead" they say...

There are expressions that are as much a part of the language as the words it is made of, and yet we do not appreciate them for the wisdom they contain until we fully understand them... at which point it's too late.

I had an incredibly productive weekend, I got a veritable $#!-tonne of stuff done upstairs but the feeling of accomplishment was negated in the space between thoughts. That moment when you get the sinking feeling that something is most likely about to go horribly wrong, when I dropped... *inhale*... and exploded *sigh* one of those stupid twisty cfl lightbulbs at the very top of the stairs *rolls eyes* of course it was at the top of the stairs.

Theeennnn I dropped the LED light bulb I was replacing it with... and killed that one as well (it didn't break... it just doesn't work now! - go figure)

So the price for trying to do *justonemorething* before bed was at least a half an hour of clean up, and a dark tarnish on the previously glowing golden accomplishment of having replaced the bathroom light fixture, moved the bathroom light fixture into the walk in closet, finishing painting the walk in closet, removing all carpet from said walk in closet AND the final remaining piece from my sports closet which was no small task as both closets had to be completely emptied first... and then I put everything back before anyone got home!

*sigh*

Butterfly babies!

So we're trying our hand at raising Monarch butterflies, it's been a long arc to get here bits and pieces slowly falling into place.  The winding trail you painstakingly discover while picking your way up the mountain that looks perfectly obvious when you look back.

A number of years ago we saw an incredible Monarch migration film in the IMAX in the Royal Victoria museum called "Flight of the Butterflies", the footage is incredible!

Then we ended up accidentally raising Giant Swallowtails when they chose our tiny Calamansi bush as a host and likely would have decimated it had we not rescued it (and them) lol.

Then we started kicking around the idea of having a butterfly garden which finally became a reality when we got around to planting the front planter box, and decided to help boost the monarch population.

It's been super cool don't get me wrong - but these guys are hard! They're idiots, they wander all over the place,  get stuck, and they're way harder to keep track of despite being fricken yellow! They fall off of leaves... one batch of them got sick from one of the new plants and oozed and died, and apparently there's a parasite you have to watch out for :(  The giant swallowtails were sooooo much easier and more efficient, they basically stake out a leaf, start at the tip of it and work their way back until they're done.  These guys nibble here and there, sometimes chewing on the stem of the leaf before they venture out and eat half of it, and then the leaf falls off because they sabotaged themselves. Idiots...

We we starting to think they were pretty boring until we discovered that they don't like the sound of my voice... and that their angry caterpillar face looked like this! As you can see we have angry teenage caterpillars lol

Really?!

Since when is raw flour dangerous to consume?!

May the fourth be with you!

A quiet night out

A case of vertigo, a case of laryngitis, and a case of congested hearing make for quiet dinner companions... especially if you're the one with the congested hearing.
 

Before and after

We've been looking for shelves for the bathroom, and finally found some that were *almost* perfect... so we fixed them :p

Check out the before and afters!

Duuuude! Life stories of a shopping cart

Carter: You guys are never going to believe what happened to me!!!

I'm originally from Pico, I used to work at the Harbour Freight there, but I wanted to see more of the world so one night I left with this guy. He seemed nice enough, but then he just wandered off and left me in a back alley! I was so scared, I didn't know what to do, so I tried to hide... I'm not even sure how many days I hid for.

Then the next thing I know, I'm being cartnapped! This guy was so strong, he just picked me up and put me in the back of his truck, it all happened so quickly! Well it turned out his girlfriend had spotted me and he was *rescuing* me, he took me home with him, and gave me my own space in the driveway.

It was wonderful there, he had lots of cats and stopped to say "Hi" and check how I was doing every day. They even invited me to celebrate Christmas with their friends! His girlfriend was amazing and helped me get all decked out and they even let me help deliver their presents! The look on their friends' faces when they opened the door was priceless *grins*

That whole evening was so much fun!

The next morning I woke up in the middle of the living room wondering what else I had done, but it turned out nothing embarrassing, I was so relieved. They let me stay with them for awhile, their back yard was beautiful and they had all sorts of plants and flowers and humming birds but truth be told I was kind of at loose ends. I missed helping people look for everything they needed and carrying it out to their cars for them.

I think they were a little sad to see me go, but one night they discreetly loaded me up and brought me to this new location... their car wasn't as comfortable, and I had to lie down so I'm not really sure where we went but I know it wasn't far. They promised to come visit one in awhile.

I'll never forget my new best friends, their hospitality, the car rides, and the wonderful adventures I shared with them... but I think I'm ready to settle down here, at least for a bit ;)

Thank you!