Friday, April 17, 2015

A Friday Chat ( about this & that )

Our mail man is a French Canadian - he uses a Canada Post truck ( I've never seen him walk except from the truck to my house actually )
He parks outside after he delivers our mail ( around noon ) and has his lunch almost every day.

On Monday he pulled up with music blasting - BLASTING - ( I would guess he's in his early 60's )
So what was he listening too?
A French ballad perhaps?
Nope !
Good mornin' America - how are ya?
Don't you know me I'm your native son 
With a perfect French Canadian accent - it was priceless lol - and I've been singing it all week.
Without the accent.
Now you can too.
You're welcome.
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Has anyone else noticed how many exclamation points are used in Bloglandia ?
I'm over the top with them - sometimes using them in almost every sentence !
What is it with that ?
If we added them all up they'd surpass the population of the planet !
Just food for thought !

Someone should do a survey on it - bet we use them more than anyone else !!!!!!!
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Spring clean up has officially begun in the backyard
Our little dining section had John's summer tires stored in there - covered in plastic bags and the remnants of Fall leaves.
I decided to drag all the tires out to the edge of the pool.............partly as a barrier for Soda - and because I wanted to get in there and clean.
Upon depositing the 3rd tire I noticed movement on the top step of the pool.
( I am so mad at myself for not taking a picture - the camera was outside with me )

Now normally I would go BAT $HIT crazy - really I'D go into a state of frenzy over this..................
This time I just did a quick shuffle - soft shoe - side kick - picture Ginger Rogers a little frightened - and called out to John,

Suzan says - JOHN !!!  COME QUICK !  BRING THE POOL NET !
John says - I'm not ready to work on the pool - I've got things to do out here first
Suzan says - GRAB THE NET AND GET OVER HERE !  PLEASE.!

John comes over with the net
Suzan says - Get HER !!!
John says - What ?  Bash her on the head?
Suzan says - OMG - YOU MONSTER - CAN'T YOU SEE SHE'S PREGNANT?  She's ready to pop !
John says - What do you want me to do ?  Assist in her delivery ?

She was nervous, I could tell and I was terrified that she'd end up in the pool and drown.

Suzan says - Lift her out with the net !
John says - And than what?
Suzan says - Run down the street and deposit her somewhere safe.

And that's how Mrs. Mouse made it to a safe haven.

So if any of my neighbors read this blog - and thought John was losing his mind - running down the street with a pool net and me jumping up and down screaming Go GO GO !!! ( like a cheerleader ) well now you know.
If she ends up in your yard please be kind.

And what happened then?
Well in Valois they say
That the Grouch's small heart
Grew 3 sizes that day !!!

We watched as she scurried along a path and disappeared.

And I planted a big fat kiss on the grouch's cheek.

I can tell you that's the first time I've ever been moved by a mouse.  ( or directed a move of a mouse )
I have a phobia about them - but I'm obviously bigger than my phobia - I am woman - I am strong - I am invincible................

Somehow the true meaning of Spring cleaning came through
And I ?
Well I found the strength of 10 Suzan's.......................plus two.

But I still have a trap in the kitchen - I mean if they're going to have the audacity to actually come in my house - well that's a whole different story.

Still I've come a long way - P.E.T.A. - if you're looking for a model please contact my agent.

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The Grackles are back...................I've said all I'm ever going to say about them HERE
Miserable things.

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I don't know why - but I left my white net curtains hanging outside all winter.................pretty stupid and I can't think of any reason other than I was simply too lazy to take them down.

John says - Why did you cut the curtains like that?
Suzan says - I didn't cut the curtains !!!
John says -  Well I didn't - and there's no way they cut themselves.
John says - You probably cut them off for a project and can't remember
Suzan says - I DID NOT CUT THE CURTAINS !!!!!!!!!!!
Suzan says - The squirrels must have done it running across them all winter
John says - C'mon - you think I came over on a banana boat? ( see previous Friday chat for that quote )
Suzan says - Do you seriously think I came out with a pair of scissors and cut half the curtains?
John says - I don't think you did it - I KNOW you did it


My Son had come over to do some work in the den and joined us outside for a minute.

Gordie says - Wow - looks like the squirrels attacked your curtains Mom.............................
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GOOD NEWS STORY OF THE WEEK - what an amazing young man !

HUFFINGTON POST

CEO SLASHES PAY

Three weeks ago, Dan Price took a $930,000 pay cut.
Growing income inequality had been on his mind for months. But as he went for a hike with a friend one afternoon and listened to her describe her struggle with rising rent prices, he realized he had to do something for his own employees.
So Price, the founder and CEO of Gravity Payments in Seattle, decided to raise the minimum salary at his 120-person payment processing company to $70,000. At a company where the average pay was $48,000 per year, the move -- which was first reported by The New York Times on Monday -- affected 70 workers, 30 of whom saw their salaries double.
Most of the money for these raises will come from cutting Price's salary -- which is now $70,000 per year rather $1 million. The rest will come out of the $2.2 million the company expects to earn in profit this year.
“There’s greater inequality today than there’s been since the Great Recession,” Price told The Huffington Post on Tuesday. “I’d been thinking about this stuff and just thought, ‘It’s time. I can’t go another day without doing something about this.’”
The $70,000 figure is just below the $75,000 salary pegged in a 2010 Princeton University study as an ideal benchmark for achieving happiness. About 28 percent of Americans said they would feel successful earning at most $70,000 per year, according to a 2012 survey from the jobs site CareerBuilder.

That's from a salary of 1 million dollars -

Wouldn't it be something if all CEO's of major companies followed suit?

The Walmarts - Banks etc......................who are making a lot more than this young man - followed suit?

A lot of those companies CEO's are making 350 times what the workers are paid............the highest disparity in history.
Something's wrong..................something's terribly wrong with the " system ".
The greed is staggeringly shocking and I think they could learn a thing or two from this young man.
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Let's see, we've covered the Squirrels -
The Grackles
The Mice
All that's left to make an appearance are the Ducks ( last year's run in HERE ) Mr. Ground dog - and the 2 skunks.....................

Ok - I've got to take down those curtains - the squirrels obviously aren't going to finish the job !

Have a wonderful weekend everyone -
Hope the sun shines for most of it!
Much love,
Me





Thursday, April 16, 2015

Red Benches - A 10 minute makeover !

Good Morning everyone !

We've had such a beautiful week here in Montreal - beautiful enough to start the spring cleaning of the backyard which was in pretty rough shape from winter.

Especially on these 2 benches I've had for at least 10 years.


They sat outside in the front last summer as plant stands - but they aren't very curb appeal worthy
looking like this - ( which was why I hid them completely with plants lol )
I pulled out some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint - Emperor's silk - and gave them a new life yesterday -
Each bench took 10 minutes !
It was a very quick coat obviously - I didn't want perfection - and when using chalk paint on outdoor furniture you don't wax ( it'll melt with the hot sun ) so that eliminated the process I love most  ( NOT )


As much as I tend to stick with whites and greys on the inside of the house - I really do love color on the outside !


Maybe this year they'll actually be used as benches to sit on now that they've been cleaned up!


And do you remember my outdoor kitchen unit I painted last year ( you can see that post  HERE )


I was fully prepared to see the paint peeling off it everywhere with the snow we had this winter...........
But it held up beautifully !
Rustoleum !


That impresses me almost as much as the weather we've had this week !

I can't wait for summer to be in full force


and the back yard bursting with color


But for now I have to be contented with a couple of little red benches !


( that tree behind the bench is where a fairy garden will soon reside )

Have a wonderful day everyone !

Much love,
Me



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