Grrrr

… and today I left the USB-cable at work!

Summer Heat

… is not something we’re exactly spoiled with. Normally the temperatures are such that it’s handy to have a shirt or even a sweater handy most of the time. Well, lo and behold – we’re into our second week of gorgoeus hot weather, and I’m just about ready for a really good, rainy day!

I know, I know… in 6 months time I’ll be wishing for some warmth – just like everyone else.

Post 367 In Which I Blush

Shortly after I had posted yesterday’s picture on my Swedish blog, I got a comment from a good friend who is also a former primary school teacher. She could inform me that I was wrong  regarding the name of that beautiful flower which I erroneously identified as Tar flower… There are indeed certain similarities between the two – the colour is almost the same, but the petals do not look the same. Also – the name is self-explanatory both in Swedish and English, as the plant is very sticky to the touch and it will actually catch flies… at least small ones… (Picture courtesy of flickr.com/photos)

Oops!

This is what happens when someone vertically challenged is taking pictures around their taller siblings and nieces…

… I should stick to taking pictures of things at my own height…

… or even below that.

In the past year, I’ve concentrated on shooting pictures in nature so I feel like a neophyte when it comes to photographing people. I’m sure hundreds of pictures from the last few days will be pared down to maybe 50 that I will even agree to show to my family.

More Bridges

This bridge is used for snowmobile traffic just above some rapids outside town. This time of year it’s also accessible on foot, but in a weeks time it won’t be.

It’s crooked and looks pretty rickety, but it doesn’t scare me anywhere as much as this one:

I get a serious case of vertigo from seeing the water below my feet when crossing this one!

Willows

Even the willows down by the stream behind work seemed to be crying this morning….

There was 3-4 cm of new snow on the ground this morning, but thankfully it  disappeared by lunch.

Are you wondering how my organizing of pictures are taking shape? Just great! So far, I’ve sorted through at least 100, 50ish, 25ish at least five files… That took me to about the 3rd of August of last summer! This is going to take time…

Spring Update

This morning I woke up to the gentle sound of rain on my patio. Since this is my midweek day off I decided to get up and get an early start on some must-be-done-stuff before I’d head out on the bike… Right! The temperature is close to freezing and there are white flakes mixed in with that gentle rain… On top of that they are predicting increased winds later on today. I guess I won’t be biking anywhere.

Then I found this comic strip on Slate.com

I should be frakking happy that I have a midweek day off that can be “ruined” by a bit of precipitation!

Pregnant?

After I had written this, I realised that one significant event in my life was  mentioned just  in passing.

The birth of my son.

When I turned 26, I was already pregnant but since I had reason to believe I could never have children, I hadn’t yet clued into the fact that something about my body was different. It wasn’t until some time in early June of that year I had a revelation – in the shape of me standing in the kitchen, drinking apple juice. Before that day I had absolutely hated apple juice and here I was, drinking the stuff right out of the carton. Then I looked down on my stomach… and decided that a visit to a doctor would be in order.

Being a generally healthy kind of person I didn’t have a doctor I could call, so I went to the nearest medical clinic and looked for a gynecologist. As luck would have it, I ended up in the waiting room belonging to a doctor that must have been just minutes away from retirement. His nurse looked disapprovingly at me when I said that I didn’t have an appointment and turned apoplectic when I stated that I wouldn’t leave before I got to see the doctor. He agreed to see me and less than 5 minutes later he could tell me that I was about 3 months pregnant.

Curtains.

The doctor asked me if I was married, to which I had to say no… He then proceeded to tell me that I didn’t have much time on me to decide what to do. I asked him what he meant and the answer was:

- Well, I guess you want to have an abortion.

- Not on your life! I was told 6 years ago that I would never have children! How could I abort?

- Well, in that case I have to ask you to find another doctor, because I don’t accept any new patients. (As in – he didn’t approve of single mothers…)

Needless to say, I had already decided to find another doctor…

During the ensuing weeks I had some big decisions to make. First of all my relationship with the father-to-be was at the best rocky… Should I even tell him that I was pregnant? I realised I could do it all on my own – but this being Canada in 1978, I caved in and told him. In retrospect that was a stupid mistake, but that’s another story.

Fast forward to December of the same year.

Aside from some wicked nausea in the middle of the second trimester, it had been an easy pregnancy. Until I really started gaining weight, that is. Before getting pregnant I had been hovering somewhere around 50-55 kgs (110-120 lbs) – at the beginning of December I was approaching 85 kgs (185 lbs+…) and I was extremely uncomfortable. My due date was the 18th and four days before that I saw my doctor. He told me that if nothing would happen over the weekend, I was to call the hospital on Monday morning to be admitted for induced labour.

Monday morning. I call the maternity ward and they tell me they don’t have a bed for me. When one becomes available, they’ll call. I don’t leave the phone all day, but no call.

During the night I had realised that they simply would HAVE TO find a bed for me, if I came in with labour pains… So the following day I forced my feet into my boots and walked to the nearest drug store where I purchased a 250 ml bottle of Castor Oil. I went home – drank the entire, vile liquid at once – and went to bed. Two hours later or so, I woke up because my stomach was cramping.

Really. Bad.

This being December and Winnipeg, we were in the middle of a snowstorm, but I wasn’t worried – the father was coming home early from work to take me to the hospital.

We almost got stuck on a side street, because he was too cheap to pay for parking…

I was finally admitted and from there most of what happened is kind of a blur. Since this was my first time, there was not a person present who thought I would deliver any time soon… So the father was sent home, I was given a snack and… less than 45 minutes later I was rushed to the delivery room.

My son was delivered by nurses and one or two residents – my own doctor got stuck in his own driveway because of the storm.

6 weeks later when I returned to his office for a check-up, he didn’t recognize me because I was back to 55 kgs. Despite having breasts  that would have made Dolly Parton envious…

My son?

Check out his facebook page – you’ll understand why I’m so proud of him!

Oh and BTW – the taste of Castor Oil is  WICKED! But it sure works….

Set-up Time

When I moved to the apartment mid-August, I bought this…

…so I wouldn’t have to rely on anyone else when hanging pictures, setting up curtains and the like. It still took me almost 7 months to get this thing into place…

… because this basket is better used like this.

The plastic liner never really fit into this – so why did it have to take this long for me to get it done?

Go figure!

Dumb!

Went to visit my Dad for a few days at the beginning of spring break… Brought along camera, CD with program to view pictures from my camera, a book to read, Kamik boots so we can go for walks no matter what temperatures, enough clothing for a week… and left the usb-cord to the camera at home!

Aaaargh!