Ducks on the Loose

What a day! I'm starting to feel like I'm in the middle of a Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom episode (loved that show as a kid!!) except the locale isn't nearly as exotic. The same day of the deer sighting (see previous post) I have a close encounter with ducks . . . of the mallard kind.

Not an unusual duck, but unusual circumstances. First the ducks decided to check out our backyard. They passed up a chance at the swings. Here's the female faintly visible to the left of the shovels:

Then they continued on to the side of the house. Here's the male:

And here they both are believe it or not. Can you see the female hidden in the middle on the far right? No wonder she can hide on a nest.

So there I was happily photographing these ducks when I decided to take moving footage because the ducks were on the move. I had no idea what they were up to. And I had no idea that our cat was out and about either...

Funny how moments like that just happen. (Okay, maybe only funny to me.)

Distractions...Deer Me

So there I am in my office trying to get some work done. I was concentrating on my computer when something caught the corner of my eye. Whoah! It was a deer! Here's the view, messy office and all: There's a deer there honestly. Look just to the right of the post. So now that I was thoroughly distracted I got up and took another photo through the window. I didn't want it to run away just yet. Then another one appeared and they seemed to want to chase one another away. There must have been some tasty greens growing right there. I wouldn't know. But later on one of them came back again. This time I took a mini movie.



Like the deer, I'm outta here!

Nothing To Write About

It's been a while since I updated this blog. That's because I have nothing to write about.

No, apparently the fact that I saw three rainbows in three days is nothing much to write about. One was a very vivid but short-lived partial rainbow, so I didn't get a picture of it. The other two were faint, huge side-by-side rainbows. Spectacular sights! But I guess nothing to write about.

The fact that I had to
a) pull over to the side of the road to discuss a matter of discipline in a very serious manner with my kids, only to
b) pull back onto the road, drive for about half a kilometre, and then
c) start yelling to the kids like a crazy person when I saw a moose having a meal on the side of the road.
We all enjoyed that sight. The previous disciplinary interlude was forgotten, and they forgave me for being perhaps a little too excitable that day. But still, apparently that's nothing to write about either.

Or the fact that due to a bathtub mishap water leaked from the upstairs bathroom floor down into the downstairs bathroom ceiling and wall and then further down into the basement, which we'd just finished with drywall this past winter, and which caused all manner of panic and mayhem with towels strewn everywhere for mopping up the mess. Fortunately damage was minimal. No, I guess that's nothing much to write about either.

Hmmm, too bad I've got nothing to write about.

May, Museums and Moose

This past weekend we found ourselves in Ottawa for a family thing. Ottawa is such a nice city! We took advantage of being there by visiting a couple museums. The Canadian Museum of Civilization was great. They have an amazing collection of totem poles. They're so tall! My favorite exhibit was the History of Canada hall. The interpretive guide in New France was truly entertaining. We could have stayed there all day and listened to her describe what life was like then, how she'd have put my daughter to work cleaning and cooking and how my son would be going off to work on a ship at age 12, a mere two years away. Here is Ottawa as seen from the side of the museum.



Another highlight was seeing the IMAX movie Sea Monsters. While I thought the sea monsters themselves would be the scariest parts of the movie, it ended up being a rock explosion scene that made me jump out of my seat. Doesn't make sense? Well, just go see it and you'll know what I mean. We also went to the Museum of Science and Technology. While I've seen them before, it never ceases to amaze me how incredibly huge those steamtrain locomotives are. I almost wish they were still in widespread use.

So on our way home we were all tired and eager to get home (not to mention the fact that I was running low on gas) but we were still hoping to see a moose as we drove through Algonquin Park. We drove and drove. We were almost through the park when there it was--no, there they were! Two moose on the side of the road. Can you see both of them here?



Then after we'd watched those moose for awhile we drove on. About a kilometre further we saw yet another moose. This one was in a marsh. My hubby got out of the car and took the still photos you see here. Me, I'm not so brave. While I love to look at them they're really quite big. I prefer to admire them from afar...like from inside my car.



The moose really do blend in with the forest. Plus it was dusk. Here were were staring at these magnificent creatures but still, it's hard to know how to feel when the moose become a veritable roadside attraction. We were the first to spot those two moose and stop, but shortly afterwards one more car and then another and then at least four others stopped. Some people came seriously equipped with their photographer paraphernalia. I'll bet they got some great shots. Almost everyone was snapping pics, obviously myself included. What must the moose think of our odd behaviour? You never know what an animal will do when you start filming it. I had a bit of fun adding embellishments to my footage. Here's my story of my first moose sighting of the year.



Made it home safely even if the car was barely running on fumes. Note to self: if you listen to your hubby as he looks at the gas guage and says "oh, that's plenty of gas" while you pass by the last gas station you can possibly stop at until you're home the resulting stress is NOT worth it.

Whirlwind of a Weekend!

In marked contrast to this past weekend, today was snowing (gack!) and full of duties such as sweeping up three days' worth of shrapnel on the floors, making muffins, baking a cake, and entertaining two five-year-olds by having them roll dough balls in sugar to help me make cookies.

I say it was such a sharp contrast because this past weekend I was at the SCBWI Canada East chapter's "Spring Thing" retreat-style conference where it was mostly sunny and I got to talk writing and illustrating with writers and illustrators ALL WEEKEND! Okay, so I was more than "at" the event given that I'm the chapter's regional advisor.

Let me extend my personal thanks here to the terrific speakers (Molly O'Neill, assistant editor at the HarperCollins USA imprint the Bowen Press; Tim Gillner, art director at Boyds Mills Press; and Elizabeth MacLeod, author of more than 30 books for kids and former editor with Kids Can Press). Thanks too to the many volunteers because without you (Alma, Michelle, Chris, Peggy, Caroline) the event wouldn't have happened, and another big thank you to all the attendees. I hope everyone returned home as determined to continue working on their craft as I did.

Returning home to everyday reality was a bit of an adjustment, but you have to think that you pretty nearly have it all when, after an exhausting and creatively invigorating two-plus days, upon your return your youngest child hands you a picture of a bright yellow flower with these words on it:

To moma
I love you.
I hope you had a great time at your conference.
I miss you.

To my wonderful family, the words don't do my feelings justice, but let me just say:

Right back at you...quadrupled!

Wauby the Wooden Moose

Isn't he marvellous? He resides at roughly the intersection of Ontario's highways 12 and the 400.

Who made him? Why? How long did it take? Who put him there? So many questions, alas unanswered by the sign which only asked people not to climb on or hang from Wauby.

Hope I get to see the real thing soon. They should be coming out of the bush anytime now. I've heard reports of people around seeing them but haven't yet had the pleasure myself this year.

Tag...with Books. I’m Game!

Fiona at Books and ’Rocks has tagged me for the book meme. Here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences, so if my math is correct that’d be sentences six, seven and eight.
5. Tag five people and post a comment to the blogger who tagged you (so in my case it’s Fiona and if I tagged you then you post here to my blog).

Here goes.

Nearest Book
The Law of Three, by Caroline Rennie Pattison, Dundurn Press, 2007

Page 123, Sentences Six, Seven, Eight

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do. How many times have you vandalized their house, Nathan?”

So go investigate that terrific newly released Sarah Martin mystery. It's a great read.

And now I tag these bloggers:

Patricia Storms of BookLust
Alma Fullerton of Procrastination Purposes
Rebecca of Rebecca’s Writing Journey
Janie Bynum of Sketchy Words
Katie Davis of Brain Burps

And as I'm writing this, turns out Rebecca tagged me too. So double the tag from her and back again...does that mean anything? Extra brownie points for both of us??? And now Alma's been double tagged too...tag is rampant today!