And the house came down...

Well this is the house that was due for demolition and sure enough, this afternoon, along came the bulldozer. I felt very sad watching this. It must have so many memories for its previous owners. A few people came along to take videos and pictures of this scene.



Only the front wall remains, and as I look out the window at this minute, not even that is standing.





And here's a depiction of the house when it was standing. It was a charming place, why did they have to knock it down? Ok I know the answer. A lot of crisp green ones in someone's bank account.

We didn't grow sunflowers this year but these were in a nearby garden. I am always amazed at how high these flowers grow.

We were observed during our evening walk last night.

This is the house I identified a couple of weeks back as being up for imminent destruction. Rather strangely, a truck arrived today and dumped all this housing garbage on the front lawn. Maybe they are knocking down more than one house and using one as a dumping ground. Anyway the days are numbered for this once fine home. Watch this space.

In the park last night, there was this couch, next to it a mattress, just a few metres away, an abandoned bike. Apart from the fact that the couch looks a little worse for wear, you could almost imagine someone sitting there, all we are missing is a TV on showing "Desperate Housewives."

Lost thirty dollars ?.... look no further.

About a month ago, as I was approaching the blogstation on my way home from work, I saw some paper on the ground. On closer inspection, I saw it was three ten dollar bills. There were lots of people around me, all scurrying for the train. I picked up the money and glanced around. Noone was looking around to see if they had lost anything. There were the usual newspapers vendors (well not vendors as they are giving the papers away) and ironically, a couple of panhandlers standing nearby. I put the money in my purse and carried on.

I felt uncomfortable. The money burnt a hole in my pocket. It wasn't something I had earned. I didn't actually need it. I was in a bit of a hurry so went straight home. I examined the bills. One was almost ripped in half, but still usable, and another had what looked like a dried ketchup stain on it. Next day I approached a blog train attendant and explained what happened. He said "Don't give me the money. If you do, I'll be the one who gets to keep it if noone claims it." Well that was honest of him. He gave directions to the Lost Property Office. After work that day I went along to the office and gave in the money and precise details of where I found it. The woman behind the counter wasn't quite sure how to fill in the form, which didn't inspire me with confidence, but it only took a few minutes and I walked out of there.

I seriously doubt whether I'll see the money again, but that's ok, it was the right thing for me to do. I just hope a transit employee doesn't take the money. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised, or maybe I just will never know. Good luck to whoever has that thirty dollars.

So much for me ranting about the cooler weather the other day. Its been as hot as all get out the whole weekend.



ElsieS has been visiting each night. I slept through it last night, but Gregoire complained that she left an odorous calling card.

I felt a bit weird posting the picture of the woman in the park. I was half expecting to read about a body being found the next day, but no, she was just sleeping.

I have been doing the litter route each week, nothing outstanding has shown up. I only go just round the houses in the immediate vicinity because my bag fills up and I need to haul it home. Most of the garbage consists of plastic bags, junk food wrappers and transit tickets. Sometimes you'll see a beer can, but the deposit to be redeemed on those, means you won't see many on the street. Thats a good thing. I hear that in Ireland they have deposits on plastic bags, resulting in a 90% decrease in the use of plastic bags. Talking of bags, I found a site that is monitoring progress round the world on reusable bags.

Life goes on in suburbia...

We've been talking to some neighbours who live near the blogstation. One of them had just chased a drug dealer away from the street corner. Dealers are a constant presence in the area, although usually down the street rather than outside our house, but we do occasionally see addicts staggering along our laneway.

In talking to pirate neighbour down the street ("pirate" because he has such a menacing appearance with a shaved head and one eye but is the nicest guy you'd ever expect to meet), there is a sign for the dealers - a pair of boots is hung outside the drop house. So now I'm on the look out. Its funny because in the past I have picked up old shoes left outside houses in our area, thinking they were garbage, maybe I inadvertently messed up a drug exchange.

Just now I was walking back from the store along by the blogtrain. I stopped for a few minutes to sit in the park, and noticed a woman lying in the corner on the grass. Her purse was open in disarray beside her and her shoes were some distance away. She was lying with her face planted in the ground. I went closer to see if she was breathing and after a few moments confirmed that she was. I noticed the soles of her feet were very dirty. I couldn't see her face. Drug addict ? Maybe. Maybe not.

This is the woman. I've doctored the picture to cover up her backside as it was revealed for all to see. Including any local children who might have been playing in the local playground a few feet away. Which reminds me, the playground was totally empty when I walked by, and probably with good reason. Anyway it did not look like a normal scene, but because she was obviously in the land of the living and just appeared to be sleeping something off, I did not call the police.


Talking of playgrounds - this is the one I was talking about. When I was a kid, you just had a swing or a roundabout, but just take a look at this labyrinth of adventure. I think I want to be a kid again just to be able to experience this with a child's eyes.

Late last night as Gregoire and I were sitting in the living room, the outside deck light came on. "I bet it's ElsieSkunk," Gregoire cried. And we both leapt up and looked out the window. It was hard to see anything as it was so dark in the bushes. At first nothing appeared, but then we saw ElsieSkunk scratching around on the grass. We've grown quite attached to her and were very pleased to see her. As long as she doesn't live with us and doesn't spray us, we don't mind her nocturnal visits.


I took this picture last week in an alleyway on our evening walk. OK, I doctored it a bit. We're actually on the lookout for an ironing board, but this one was about half a mile from home, and embedded in undergrowth. Nature covers up almost all sins eventually....


This is my current favourite tree - I've published pictures of this before. Its just so unusual, and stark. Winner of the Tree of the Month picture.