LM's Corner

Sherbrooke city in June went by quite quickly. Rainy days like the month of May and some very hot days like July that had the windows all closed up and air conditioners turned on blocking the sounds of outdoor life replacing it with the low hum of a motor running, cooling the place down.

Today, the last day of June, the day before the Canada celebrations of 150 years old; no work assigned for me. The street is quiet from traffic and children’s laughter and play, there’s a day care not too far away. A ping of construction sound on metal could be heard as I sat outside with Marley; some voices from the building across from me, of two people chatting outside. I heard a distant boom, boom sound of a base from some music playing in some neighbor's home. I could hear my neighbor moving out beneath me, fetching last minute items she left behind from the big move of a week or so ago. Morning broke at 6:10 am for me as I peered outside to a pea soup like view of thick fog covering the mountain and roof top views from my vision. The sky so white from the rain all night, the day promised to be the same way. My balcony garden shimmered and trickled rain from their leaves and flowers petals, it was going to be very warm for them all later on in the day or so it reads. It rained the night of our Province’s 375 year old celebrations

so I didn't hear or see the tradition fireworks that night, as families had gathered to partake in the daytime festivities under the sunny day time skies. Tomorrow will be the same as Sherbrooke city is very family oriented and the focus will be on family fun and outings as Sherbrooke city setups designated areas of planned activities. I lugged my mountain bike out of the storage area in the basement two days ago and washed the bike from cobwebs; the landlord had a machine to put air in my tires, he was kind enough to do it for me and saved me time and money. It now costs $1.00 to add air into one’s tires over at Couch Tard a local depennaur; it’s about the closest place to go even at 7 blocks or so away. Which I have to say surprised me the other day when I saw their machine with a charge box, ‘they charge for air now’. I plan to go shopping at the mall I want to get items to make coleslaw, French Canadian style; I watched my adoptive mother make it enough times that I memorized it and made it myself over the years. It’s a great hit at parties.

Coleslaw Recipe

1 bag of mixed shredded cabbage with carrots

1 apple chopped ( I keep the peel on)

Chop some onion in tiny pieces

A generous hand full of raisins

A cap full of white vinegar

Celery spice sprinkled

A 1/2 tsp of salt and some pepper

Add mayonnaise to glue it all together

Place it the fridge for a couple of hours

It serves about 6 to 8 people So triple the recipe for a party size and add loads more apples I'd say about 6 for 3 bags of cabbage/carrot mix and about 11/2 cups or raisins if not more. Every bite should have some each in it. I'd say depending on the size of onions no more than two large or three small.Enjoy

Lasts about 4 to 5 days in the fridge. Add a wee bit of salt and mayonnaise to freshen it up on the third day.

If you make your own mayonnaise

One large egg yolk (room temperature)

¼ tsp Mustard or Dijon mustard

½ tsp salt or more (taste)

1 tsp White vinegar

1-1/2 tsp Lemon juice (fresh)

¼ cup of Olive oil

Throw room temperature egg yolk in blender with mustard, add salt, vinegar, fresh squeezed lemon juice a bit of the oil and as the blender is going trickle in the remaining olive oil slowly until it’s all blended and starts to thicken it takes about 4 minutes. It’s good in the fridge

for 4 to 5 days. You can also add Garlic to make Garlic Mayonnaise or add Basil to the Mayonnaise. Enjoy of course you may need to triple the recipe pending on what you have in mind to do with it. Cheers!

A mix of classical music is playing softly in the back ground keeping me company. I just turned off the air conditioner as it is now cold enough in the room. I bought a second one for 30 $ last year at a man’s home who sells all sorts of second hand items he picks up or people sell to him. It is quite powerful as it reaches and cools down all the way into my bedroom. My other air conditioner never did such a good job as this one does. I placed that one in my front room as it’s only on when the temperature reaches 27C too cool the bathroom, front room and part of the kitchen down. The front room doesn't have the sun like the living room, office and bedroom does. I used to have the ceiling fan on as well as floor fan that swirls around the air when that air conditioner was placed in my living room window. But with this new second hand one I don’t need any of the fans on at all, it’s that good at cooling all the rooms on that side of the apartment down. Best $30. I ever spent.

My garden is flourishing and looking so pretty.

I spotted flowers and pee pods growing today. The tomato pots are about 2 inches high; two stalks of cucumber or is it zucchini? I am not sure I placed both kinds of seeds in the same pot. The radish tops are high and green, The basil, parsley and garlic chives are thriving too;

I can’t wait to be able to make pesto, yum. The climbing beans that flower is growing and climbing along the balcony rails. Only one pot of flower seeds seem to be struggling, but all the others are growing tall and should sprout flowers in a couple of weeks or so; adding to my already colorful balcony.

I placed our Quebec flag in the hanging geranium flower pot and tomorrow I place the Canadian one so it can flap in the wind along side Quebec's.

Marley and I enjoy being out there looking at all the greenery and flowers, birds chirping and flying by, some feeding off the bird feeders that I can see from the mirror I placed on a pot strategically wired so the wind doesn't blow it off. It can get quite windy up here on the third floor of this house.

I can watch the birds without having to turn my head around, as the feeders are behind my table and chair and they are sensitive to moment.

I moved the second table to the side of the balcony railing so when I look out of my window off the front room I could see the table with the flowers and such on it.

Marley’s box is under it and she can look at my direction or look down to see the street action that she enjoys. I placed a carpet in front of the box since she likes to also lie in front of her box. I twice caught her and grabbed her as she jumped up on the railing on the side near the bird feeders to jump down to the stairs. I grabbed her by the scruff of her neck like her mommy cat would and placed her in the house each time she tried that sudden move. I think she is getting the message that is just not going to happen for her to venture off like that.

I placed another gate barrier preventing her from reaching the outer gate to leave the balcony leading onto the stairs. So far she is getting to enjoy the outdoors alongside me. I haven't had to go buy a harness yet, although I spotted one at the dollar store for her but it was too big. $3.00 down the drain; I will have to give it away. She is sooo cute as she runs to the front door to make sure I don’t leave without her in toe.

I was sipping on some Mocha crème coffee, freshly grinned up coffee beans I picked up at IGA; I bought some raw sugar yesterday too, a little pricey $5.00 for 500 grams, but I have cut out white sugar and most carbs and almost all packaging, anything in a box, or on a shelf no longer makes it into my home (well 99% of them anyway). I buy fresh or frozen fruits and veggies pending on the specials. Packages of chick peas, lentils and beans and items like it. No cans either unless absolutely necessary and of course I make soup a lot so vegetable broth is a stable . I am trying to maintain a decent weight and since menopause ballooned me up, I had to do a lot reading and research on how to lose and stay maintained at my age. It isn't as easy to lose as it was when I was younger, and eating whatever I want is no longer in the cards. I was also more active than I am now; I had my dog Bear and we did a lot of walking around. It helps to have companionship for walk abouts. Same with my alcohol consumption which is down to a once a month treat that lasts two nights not necessarily in a row, I usually stretch it out for a second sitting. I like a little buzz followed up with a nice meal waiting to be devoured after the buzz hits which is about 2 ½ to 3 glasses or so. Gone are the days when I could drink the boys under the table, sort of speak, I was often the last one standing, let's put it that way; there seemed to be no off button back in those days; and I could just keep on going, I didn't mind walking all crooked like I do now. I guess you can say I grew up a bit and developed a stop button which works 99% of the time. I have fond memories though of sipping grand marnier on ice suckling on a wine tip cigar, by the fire place, talking to another last one standing in the wee hours on worldly subjects and solving all it's problems. As if...

I ate green leafy salad and romaine leaves from my garden, spied three ready peas too last night, so cool to pick veggies that one has grown oneself. I feel so blessed.

I am waiting on the weather, so I can take off biking, I have an idea of where I would like to venture off to first, but the rain and or too high a heat deters the rider in me. I want to bring my camera with me too and take pictures of the trips I take.
I have a friend, in Trois Rivere. who took a bike repair course and I am hoping on her next visit to Sherbie. she will teach me the art of taking care and repairing one’s bike; I can see me having to walk all the way back with my bike after a long truck off somewhere. because of a malfunction to a tire or brakes. It’s bad enough that the mountain hilly streets will have me pushing the bike up and down on foot as it is, I don’t need more obstacles.
For three nights in a row I did a test designed by https://www.cambridgebrainsciences.com in case you're interested in partaking. Are you getting the most out of your brain? it asks. It gives 12 tests to do. The're games. It shows you how to play them and then you do them in a certain amount of time allocated. A lot of them are memory tests I failed miserably at those tests that had hidden objects and you had to remember the numbers and where you saw them, or the sequence that came in; I couldn't get past level 5. I am an artist and patterns are my thing, attention to detail, so those test I passed with flying colors; Can you spot that one that doesn't belong? match or no match? With of bunch of different patterns clumped together The first night I tried the tests I had only 41/2 hours sleep and I performed poorly, but the following night I slept 7 hours and performed beautifully on those tests. It starts off asking you when you woke up and when you went to sleep and how did you wake up feeling before you perform the tests. I got a short term idea of how well I scored in those three nights, I scored an average of 7.5 out of 12; but in three to six months a diagnostic review will be sent to my email. You have to fill out a form with a battery of questions as you sign up your email, password, but I don't believe they asked for my name or address.
So off I went shopping and stopped into the dollar store first to pick up a Canadian flag to hang alongside Quebec's flag.

When I got home after supper I ventured out with Marley and placed it up. It was one of those big flags, as it was all they had. It had a stick along side it was a ribbon and a wooden ball on top of the stick and a wooden ball on the bottom. So I hung the ribbon that was the length of the stick and I attached it to the hanging metal hook and I attached the bottom to the end of plant hanger. But it couldn't stay there the wind had the flag covering the germanium plant. So I thought of where I could put it. I moved it over to the other hanging plant across the way and that didn't work out either

So I revised my idea and tried moving the bottom stick behind the pillar and attached it to small hanging plant. Wrong again...I took it down and placed the top with a multipurpose plastic attachment and hooked it on top of the plant hook and attached the bottom to the railing. placed some of the flags material behind the ceramic plant holder and 'Voila'

I moved the other attached plant to the railing over by the table so it wouldn't be disturbed if it blew the flag that direction. Voila done.

When I had gone to the shops, I saw a landlord throwing out leftover items of a tenant's things. One of them was a rectangular flower box with flowers in them, so when I returned it was still there and I grabbed it; carrying it awkwardly back with a large bag I already had in hand, trying to balance both was challenging but I did it. I placed it where Marley has tried to jump up to jump down to reach the stairs, it's quite the jump down but she could achieve it if I'd let her. So now with the flower pot attached with those multipurpose plastic things hopeful she will think twice.

When I first tried to attach it with all those connected multipurpose plastic sticks it slipped and the soil and flowers tumbled out of the pot onto my balcony floor and all over the tools and extra bags of soil I have hidden under a large blue plastic covering, which is also what I have attached to the railing so I don't see my neighbors on the left of me and they don't see me. Privacy for us in other words. So my feet are in my pink dollar store sandals that my birth mum bought me last year when I went to visit her; they are covered in soil, it's everywhere, what a mess to clean up. But first, I was determined to attach that flower box. After it was achieved, I repositioned the flowers and proceeded to remove all the gardening tools and bags to clean up the mess I made. It's not the first time it happened to me, I did that too with the lettuce I moved over too behind the table so that the climbing beans could wrap it's self up, over and then I would train it to go down again.

So the mess cleaned up finally and everything back in it's place and covered up. I could sit down with Marley and enjoy the evening.

I placed a battery operated Christmas lights of blue, green and yellow up on the railing using the attached hooks of the flower box to keep it in place. At night I turn it on along with a frog my birth mum gave me, it has one of those lithium batteries inside, the frog turns red, yellow, blue, purple and green, it's the coolest thing. The frog sits on a gold metal frame hung on the railing.

I moved over this weave woven bamboo like material that has thick plastic in it. Planted flowers in it and had sitting on the table I sit at but moved it to the second table as it leaks when you add water and so I placed it in a large metal mixing bowl that I ruined when I had the brilliant idea of burning all my bills and government papers I no longer needed in it and ruined it. It smelled so bad that I put it out, the toxic fumes were too much. It took a year, I had a huge pile but I cut those papers into tiny strips and ripped those into tiny pieces with any that had my name and codes on it and placed it all in the recycling bin a bit at a time. I keep meaning to order a shredder and never seem to remember to do so when I place orders for office stock at Staples home delivery.

When I finally sat down and finished fussing with all the flower pots, flags and clean up; across the ways to where I have mountain and roof tops views, fire works were being displayed, a distant 'ka boom' caught my ear and I looked over and sat to watch them. Just as the performance was finished it started to down pour of rain, perfect timing, I'd say. I am lucky I don't have to run in as I have a roof over head and unless the wind is blowing the rain in my direction I can stay and watch it, even the storms.

On July 1st I drank red wine and listened to music, supper was cooking vegetable curry with chick peas and salad was made. I had gone out for a walk about earlier after house cleaning, a bit of working on a painting, I needed a change of scenery, I took some videos that later on I would discover was a wasted trip as the videos were ruined from too much shaking while walking, I don't seem to have a menu on that inside the camera like I did with my old one I used in Dorval. So I stopped into the mall on my way back everything was closed except the pharmacy and grocery store. I needed dental floss, as plaque build up harms your heart, so I read; and boxes of Kleenex were on sale. It rained on and off all day and it was windy which was good for the waving flag.

I was in bed early which had me up on Sunday morning at 4:30 am, the skies were still dark and in rain mode. I brought my coffee mug out along with Marley and sat outside. Pink petals from the geranium plant were scattered about from the wind blowing. There was silence everywhere except for the birds singing. I heard the distinct sound of the morning bird and then the robin. These tiny flocks of birds that fly together twittering as they go. At about 5: am a yellow bird flew on to the hydro line that I could see between the balcony railings and it looked right at me as I looked at it, it was so surreal. Suddenly voices could be heard, and the bird flew off. Down below me on the other street over, a man and a young woman were walking up from Wellington street, and fighting in French. The girl was loud and fiercely upset about something. A car a few moments later pulled up, and the couple walked past it. Then moments later the girl returned and the argument took place beside the car and the girl got in it as the man walked away and they drove off, bringing silence back. I looked up at the sky and like a curtain being drawn, revealed a pale blue sky with fluffy clouds of golden sunshine streaked through it.

For a minute there when the sun was shinning through the clouds in front of me blinding me from seeing I thought it was going to be a blue sky day. Later when I was making breakfast at 7:am peeling a grapefruit the kitchen got suddenly very dark and all bets were off on it clearing up. I had mushrooms cooking and two eggs with fresh grown parsley ready to scramble and add it into the pan as an omelet; the pumpernickel bread was toasting. some locally made veggie pate to spread on them. Breakfast would be ready soon. I haven't been a meat eater for quite some time now. It's that I have sworn off meat, it just more economically more sound and healthier in my view. I'll eat a turkey leg at Thanksgiving and Christmas and whatever my birth mum is serving when I visit her in the summer.

Before I had gone in at about 5:30 am I heard a very loud 'ka pow' that echoed through the sky, it made me jump, it must of been a car tire exploding. What else could of it been?

While I was watching the flag being caught up with the wind and sipping my Mocha creme coffee with raw sugar. I flashed back to the times my adoptive brother and I held up in the back seat of our adoptive parents car from Rosemere, we would travel over to New Brunswick in the summer time. This is where my adoptive father was born and raised; it was a nine hour or so drive to a cottage on a sandy beach. After the bags were removed from the car the first thing my adoptive father did was remove the Canadian flag from where it was kept and I would watch him go down to the sandy pale beach and string the flag and hoist it up along the tall looking flag pole by it's attached string and he stood there watching it flap in the wind. I could feel his pride as he watched the flag display it's glorious red maple leaf.

The water was always gray or was it murky brown in color, while the tips of the waves were white, I think it was an ocean but I don't remember the region the cottage was at. The back of the cottage had plenty of woods to go into and explore, sand was everywhere back there too, it was where I got my foot stabbed with a nail that went right through my running shoe. Some careless individual thew boards with tall nails sticking up and I was not paying attention stepped my foot right onto one. Hobbling back to the cottage to have it pulled out. Off the cottage property to the right of it, was a little wooden cutely painted cabin with a table attached to the wall, where we played doctor and nurse with the visiting neighbors kids. We set up hooks on the lawn to play croquet. We'd play pretend and board games. Went swimming in car like tires to float in the water with. One of the uncles had a water plane that we go up in, that was fun feeling the plane gliding on the water as it went up and then came down. At night some nights, they'd wake us up to out to the beach and watch fire works with our neighbors and a fire place built for roasting marshmallows and hot dogs. Our poor dog Cookie, who looks exactly like Lassie on TV; got caught by a skunk one night and she had to be washed down with cans of tomato juice, poor thing looked so mangled up after.

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A few years of using this cottage, and then traditionally traveling on our way back to home we'd stop off first to visit my adoptive father's family in other regions of New Brunswick. We would stay a few days while parties were thrown and the table full of food and smelly blue cheese. My grandmother would play the piano and sing to us. His sister had lake property over at Lake Oromocto; there a short distant from her place they built a wooden cabin, with an out house. I didn't much care for this place at all. Having to use the out house as our only toilet with smells and flies. The cabin was one long room, so we all stuck together in that one room. The other place had us with indoor plumbing and our own rooms. My adoptive brother and I actually shared a room with bunk beds. He had the top I had the bottom. In this new place we had to wash in the lake, and some mornings it was bleeping cold.

After living in England for five years, coming back to Montreal and finding a home in Montreal west we went back to that cottage on his sister's property and stayed in her house that had all the facilities needed for a comfortable stay, each of us with our own room. It was just for a night, I think. I remember waking up to use the bathroom at like maybe 1 or 2 in the morning and it was pitch black, I mean so black I thought I was blind, that I lost my eye sight. I was crying feeling my way to the bathroom, for blind or not, the need was still so great to go. Like a blind person would, touching everything and trying to remember the pattern of my aunt's house, to the bathroom, I woke up my adoptive aunt from muttering and sobbing. She turned on the light and I could see, it was a miracle, I burst into fresh tears of relief, confusing the dickens out of my poor aunt.

We stopped going to New Brunswick and rented a place out in Quebec. I vaguely remember but I think it had to do with an uncle's behavior towards us as children, we were all young teenagers now, but I can't be sure, I know in the back of my mind there were some incidences that occurred, but not towards me, I believe it was the boys.

It's Monday, July 3rd, I've been up and working since 7:am and now noon, I needed a break from computer work and marketing work. So I poured my self the last of the coffee and went outside for some air and change of scenery. There's a breeze, the sky is blue with fluffy white clouds traveling along it. I hear a squirrel screeching and chuck, chuck chucking, I recognize the sound. I grab my camera by the door and sit back down. I spy scrawny looking squirrels one by one traveling along the hydro lines. One had 3/4's of a tail missing. Then I see two traveling together, very rare you spot that. They are so very territorial that they will chase the other off the line or pole. They stopped these two in front of my view and I start to take pictures because it looks like one of them is grooming the other, although they look almost like the same size, it must be a mother and an off spring.

It was so very touching to watch, I have never witnessed this before with squirrels, they display such cleanliness and care. They are very clever creatures and so manipulative, a big smile for me when climb onto my balcony railing for some peanuts in shells that I dove out to them only in the Fall, for them to harvest them for the winter coming. This year I am lucky they only attacked my garden pot once and got discouraged. They can be quite the destructive creatures so you need to be cautious, with them, they are like humming birds they remember where the food is to return to. So I don't feed them come winter, spring or summer. The blue birds and crows all know to come to me in Fall time too and see the peanuts shells I throw on the roof next door for them to pick up and I recognize their call out to me when they come around, they have me well trained . I was thinking this afternoon after 2:pm I could maybe bike ride as I finish that thought I look to the left of me up at the sky and see gray skies traveling in again, so maybe not. I hear a chick-a- dee in the tree on the side of me and rumbling of wheels on gravel from neighbors' bringing back their recycling bins from the curb. I have to get back to work, break is over.

On the weekend a blues festival was held on Wellington street. I didn't need to attend it. I sat on my balcony and enjoyed the music from there and later on some more fireworks displayed. I have to say it's a cool place to live. I've been here since June 2013 and still discovering it when the mood strikes. I am still moving plants around as they grow. Spied a tiny green tomato growing on the cherry tomato plant today. Oh it will be ready to eat in August. Look forward to it. I should have pictures to share and of my trip to Montreal, St. Jerome visiting my birth mum too.