Pushing my luck

It seems I'm doing that fixating thing again. This time it's the new Rihanna song "Umbrella." I hadn't noticed that I've been listening to it non-stop until the video came on TV and M said we'd heard way too much of that song in the last four days and changed the channel. I couldn't bring myself to protest as it would require admitting that I wanted to watch the video to admire Rihanna's new hipster haircut.

Other than overplaying a new song, the long weekend was very full. WE had a lovely dinner with Graeme and Elisabeth on Friday (check out Graeme's blog as it is brimming with nifty) and learned that there are few people in the world who can actually eat a steak almost the size of their own head. I planted my patio garden on Saturday with Gerber Daisies, Dahlias, Wave Petunias and peppers galore. I am pretty much ready train Zeus to kill squirrels now as all the bird feeder traffic is making the containers all to tempting. I also made a screen for the kitchen window and we had the gang over for some lamb goodness.

Saturday was extra fun when M mistook his finger for an onion resulting in some extreme makeover: finger edition. He just took a little off the top of his left index finger, and it's healing nicely, but it was still kind of freaky. I'm not allowed to talk about what the removed bit of fingertip looks like cause it makes people queasy. I can only say I found it fascinating and maybe I should stop watching CSI.

Sunday was far less dramatic. I worked out at my new gym (lovely treadmills) and finally made it to see Hot Fuzz and laughed myself silly. Excellently good times.

Today was more sedate. Laundry, bird watching (I saw an Indigo Bunting and caught a glimpse of a Baltimore Oriole... and holy crap when did I start to find this stuff interesting?) and naps. Many naps. I'm capping off the holiday weekend with the 24 and Heroes finales tonight.

The only thing that would make this weekend more perfect would be if it was somehow extended for just another day, oh and if M had that little bit of his fingertip back.

Today's sing-a-long song: "Umbrella" by Rihanna & Jay Z

HRH

Sakura

Before I even noticed another week and weekend have rushed by. I guess it's been busy, but I've been so caught up in enjoying spring that I hadn't noticed.

Today I was finally able to see the cheery blossoms in High Park in bloom. I've been wanting to do this since I moved to Toronto. I've been slightly obsessed with cherry blossoms ever since I saw The Makioka Sisters in film school. One day I will walk through an orchard of cherry blossoms in Kyoto as they lose their petals.

I've been having trouble finding a sunscreen that doesn't do bad things to my skin, so I've taken to walking with a parasol to give me a modicum of sun protection. It's not ideal, but it works. A lot of the Japanese people in the park today gave me wry smiles when they saw it, but mostly I think people thought it was cute. I'm not burned so at least it was effective.

Today's sing-a-long song: "The Grace" by Neverending White Lights

HRH

All the birds in the sky

M and I did a good job of making the best of this long weekend. Rainy Friday provided the perfect opportunity to get some housework done, get all necessary couch potatoing out of our system and the weather cleared in time for a nice walk and dinner at The Local.

Saturday we took advantage of the sunny sky and hit High Park to look for some birds. We saw heaps and heaps of Grackles (//Lisa Simpson: I saw a grackle!//), a Northern Shoveler and a Bufflehead. M was much impressed by all of this. Me, I was looking at the trees. I like trees.

We had a great lunch on a new full-service patio at the Grenadier Cafe, later met M's parents for dinner, then made our way to Mike & Tyla's to watch the end of the hockey game and to unite me with my very pretty wedding shoes.

Today we were good birders (I'm more of a birder sherpa) and drove up to Beamer Memorial Conservation Area to catch some of the hawk migration. I'm not sure if any hawks were seen. I did see two Turkey Vultures from less than 20 feet away (shouting to M like Newt from Hercules "Look at that! Look at that!"), saw what real live birders look like up close (impressive equipment and bird knowledge) and I got to see a bunch of Blue Jays. It's always a good day when I can see a Blue Jay. We had our lunch beside a babbling brook and walked through the conservation area for three or four hours. As much as I mock M for getting into this hobby (I snidely remarked as we walked past the collection of serious birders "Look at your future."), it's actually a very civilized way to spend a Sunday.

Today's sing-a-long song: "Freebird" by Lynard Skynard

HRH