happiness is a warm beer.

missing pages

Update: I have opened up the blog but have hidden some posts (see below). When I opened the blog I thought that these people must have moved on from worrying about me 8 months after our business relationship was terminated and 5 months after the letter was sent. I have learned that as recently as June 1, 2011, this was absolutely not the case. C'est la vie.

I have not gone in and changed all the links so some links in some posts may take you to an error page. Sorry about that. One day I'll go in and fix all that but for now...

from Jackson Creek Press

_________________________________________

I have made the blog private for now.

I received an email from an Ontario paralegal on behalf of a certain group of people with whom I have had a rather unfortunate association requesting that I remove all posts referring to that certain group of people, their property and any situation with which they were involved. The request went further to characterize the posts as libelous, slanderous, and salacious and to threaten legal action.

I refute this characterization as both a matter of opinion and as a matter of legality.

My writing cannot be slanderous. Slander refers only too spoken communication.

slander |ˈslandər|
noun Law
the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation

The things I have written are not salacious.

salacious |səˈlā sh əs|
adjective
(of writing, pictures, or talk) treating sexual matters in an indecent way and typically conveying undue interest in or enjoyment of the subject
• lustful; lecherous

I have never referred to any sexual matters. Hee hee. And ewwwwwwwwwww!

My writing is not libelous.

libel |ˈlībəl|
noun Law
a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation; a written defamation.

Nothing I have written is false. The posts on my blog are accurate observations and descriptions of my experiences.

I decided, as a gesture of goodwill and without prejudice*, to remove all the references and photos mentioned in the email and more. I decided to interpret the request as broadly as possible and have complied with the request even though I am under no obligation, legal or otherwise, to do so.

Of course, that was not enough. Several emails later, I have decided to make the blog private for a little while.

So read on. And rest assured, Apollo will rise again!
*Without Prejudice: A reservation made on a statement or an offer that it is not an admission or cannot otherwise be used against the issuing party in future dealings or litigation with any determinative legal effect.

woof woof

Drinking beer from the Barking Squirrel glass my sis snagged from a kindly publican.

i yam what i yam

Mum made the most excellent spinach pate EVER for the 1st time in 10 years! Woot!

loopy

Special Christmas Eve loo paper. What will they think of next?

coach house update

I went by to see what had happened since yesterday afternoon.

The pressed tin doors and the plywood that covered them on the east wall have been removed and replaced with brick. New insulation has been installed.


On the south wall, the chimney has been removed. The landlady's sister had told me of this plan in the summer. The air conditioner has been removed and the hole bricked over. The window had been covered in plywood. The sill has been removed and the hole has been bricked in.



Perhaps these are the type of renovations for which one does not need a building permit.

the last penguin is a polar bear!?!? #penguinadventcalendar

red sky in the morning...

gotcha!

Dear Landlady-who-evicted-me-so-she-could-move-into-my-unit,

Your N12 seems to have misrepresented your intentions.

Here comes my T5. Bwahahaha!

If only you had served me an N13.

Sincerely,

(In)Tractable Tenant

P.S. Where is your permit?

merry dongle

Little Christmas toys knit by my little sister.

the tree - stage 5 (final!)

the tree - stage 4 (ornaments)

the tree - stage (tinsel)

the tree - stage 2 (lights)

the tree - stage 1 (secured)

of twinkle

...until I turned the corner and saw this.

a sprinkle

I thought this house was pretty spectacular...

today's penguins

are in the chimney.

my new penguin advent calendar

Every day a new penguin.

errands west of Dufferin

... where I now live: My bike was just repaired most expertly and quickly at Sweet Pete's and I picked up some treats and necessities at the newly-opened and Christmas-sparkly Nuthouse - a perfect shopping spot for a squirrel like me. I ran into some "I haven't seen you in ages" friends there.

West of Dufferin where I now live is starting to feel a lot like home.

oranges and lemons

Okay - so what has been going on you ask. Why no posts?

I got behind and then more behind.

I went to London in July and stayed there for six weeks. I planned to keep you updated but just got too busy. I still plan to add some photos from the trip. Heh heh.

While I was away the people who bought the house where I lived evicted me. They said that one of them needed to move into the coach house. There was a hearing and a lawyer and endless emails. All while I was trying to pack up and find a new place to live. Which I did with the help of many.

I found a nice new apartment not far from the old one and moved on October 5. Now life is easy peasey lemon squeezy for me again. Difficult, difficult, lemon difficult is all over.

I have been getting sorted. Unpacking was more fun than t should have been. Mum and Dad came over every day for the first week and helped unpack and fold paper and boxes. They kitted out my bathroom with curtains and mats and hooks.

My cousin took me to that Swedish housewares store and I ordered some bookshelves and a fancy fold-away desk. I have been assembling furniture and moving it here and there.

And I have started a couple of new projects.

So busy lizzy orange fizzy is why there has been no juice here.

holee flurries batman

- there is SNOW ON THE GROUND!

sunshine on my shoulder

It is a frosty morning but the sun burst into the Bickford cafeteria just now and we are warm as toast.

October 24, 2009 - August 9, 2010

This happened and yada, yada, yada, eight months and sixteen days later, this happened .

squirrel on the move

Housemate: Just went to check the mail and see you have a hand addressed envelope dated 3:15 Aug. 9 (today) -- I assume it's from the "owners" -- let me know if you want me to open it or just leave it there or put in your house (which I've been doing with your other mail).

Me: Erk. Can you open it because I am having a slight panic attack :)

Housemate: I'm sorry it's not good news but it's what I suspected it was. It's a notice to terminate for landlord's own use that's effective Oct. 31, 2010.

Me: [redacted because of this "request" ]

Not completely unexpected of course.

I was having a drink on Carnaby Street with my cousin, his wife and my sister when I got this news.



The eviction notice arrived on the day I was scheduled to return from London but I have extended my stay for a couple of weeks. At least I will not be reading the notice as soon as I enter my long-loved home all weary from travel and jet lagged. That would have been a bit brutal. This way I have time to shake it off before I get back. And we got started on that right away.

My cousin and his wife had to head for home as the last train from London leaves before midnight. My sis took me on a mystery tour through the nighttime streets. We suddenly ducked in the side door of a building and dashed into the most splendiferous toilet I have ever seen. It was like a secret garden. Oddly.


I have no picture. This is from flickr. Click to see original.

I still didn't know where we were. We came out of the toilets and we were at Claridge's having a Breakfast at Tiffany's moment.

We went to the Fumoir. I had a Sazerac. I have never had one before but have wanted to try this delicious nectar ever since I saw State of the Union (Frank Capra's movie). The waiter was as perfect as the jewelry salesperson in Breakfast at Tiffany's and comfort and optimism were restored.

the real swiss chalet

In SWITZERLAND!

geneva

Telling Tales and I decided to leave Londontown and visit our friend Michelle in Geneve.

Geneva is a lovely city. The buses and LRT are beautiful. You want to stay on them forever. Are you listening TTC?

We stopped by a corner store on our way to the apartment to grab some supplies - wine and crackers and cheese. In Switzerland even corner store cheese is delicious. In fact we liked the corner store best of all but more about that later.

Here are some of the things we saw on our first day. We strolled around the old city, learned a few things about Calvin, tried not to spend all of our holiday finds on one lunch and wandered around the lake before meeting up with Michelle. Isn't it pretty?

jacob two two

grew up, moved to Brighton, got married and had twin daughters.

a day out in brighton

A perfect day trip to Brighton with Michelle.
The lanes, the Royal Pavillion, the beach and the pier. Plus beverages.

greenwich

I went to Greenwich for the RaPAL conference. Telling Tales came out with me on the boat and we had a wander and a snack.



One of the workshops I attended was called "To the meridian." We went out with cameras and took pictures of signs around Greenwich. We had a funny encounter with a restaurant worker who was watching us quizzically while we photographed the wheelie bin he was dumping garbage into. We explained what we were doing and he laughed and said, "I thought you were the weirdest tourists ever."

Here is some of the stuff I saw in Greeenwich this time.



Telling Tales came back when the conference was over and we went to the craft market and did our bit for the economy and had another snack :)



(What I saw on last year's trip to Greenwich is here, and here, and here.)

paddington dumplings

We visited a friend in hospital and then wandered about Paddington Basin not taking pictures.

We got hungry and went to Pearl Liang for the best dumplings EVER!

southbank evening

update

You can see what this looked like last year here.

back in london

twengland 2011

The airport was sparkly this morning

My seatmate slept practically the whole way to London