It's a new year: random pics and reflections from Sidney

So, it is a new year, and about time I posted something!
In addition to the year, what's new is that Maui the cat has finally moved in. He has adopted us, so to speak. His true owner is fine with this, as long as he is happy. I guess Maui is too free of a spirit to share a house with three other cats. And he does have it made here.... this is him when he crawls up on my chest for a chin scratch session.

Same position, differnent view. This is before his recent scuffle with some unknown creature that left a scratch on his nose (healing now). BTW, his real name is actually Meowee.... he was name that after his barely audible meow after she rescued him as a stray.

It's winter, so I am tucked in doing my light therapy (for SAD). I am cozied up here in the slippers I bought in Barcelona last January when I was staying in a flat with no heat (it doesn't usually get cold enough there for all homes to have heat, though it was cold at that time!).

Another current activity involves feeding the birds that congregate in our backyard. This was me preparing little thingees of suet to hang in the trees. They also get birdseed.... though the squirrels eat as much as the birds. No worries, as squirrels need food too :-)

This picture gives you a sense of how blustery it can get here in Sidney. This was taken down on Lockside drive (where they have finally finished the roadside parking/walking/beach access improvements, thank goodness!).... mom and I were sitting in the car watching the waves and birds and boats (she loves doing that), when these people pulled up and started hamming around taking pictures. The guy wasn't really going to blow over, but someone more slightly built might have. At our house, when the sea winds really get going, you can feel it in the yard, the wind, the ocean aromas, the misty, sometimes the fog. We are only a half a block from the ocean, a fact that the the ocean reminds us of during stormy weather.

Having said that, it doesn't get too cold or snowy here. Only two bouts of snow so far, and they disappeared in a day or two. But enough to have everyone hoping nothing like the storm of about 15 years ago, when there was a foot or two.

Now for some random reflections and thoughts on what I have been up to:

• I can't believe I haven't posted since December
• That may be a sign that there isn't really much going on in my life... or maybe a sign that there is a lot going on right now... heh heh
• Right now I am in the sunroom and I hear what sound like squirrels on the roof (either that, or mice in the ceiling - I am hoping it is the former, though we do have a good resident mouser now)
• Christmas was a quiet affair here, just me and my mom, which she appreciated, as it was calm and free of fuss; a neighbor puts up coloured lights on the tree outside mom's front door, so that was our decoration - we loved looking out at them
• New Year's Eve was a little less quiet, so to speak, as we engaged in our family tradition of banging pots and pans outside at midnight, and yelling "Happy New Year!" at the top of one's lungs.... amusing here as there was only one other neighbor doing the same, and so different for me from when I used to do the same in downtown Vancouver - here your neighbors can recognize your voice!
• Reminds me that the previous year I had celebrated New Year's in Athens - fond memories; also spent Christmas in Athens that season - there are some interesting pics if you care to follow the links
• Let's see, what else.....
• I almost cut my hair.... that brings memories of a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song... and the time when I was in Europe and cut my hair myself; this time I managed to stop at just getting rid of some annoying long locks at the back of my head (though, amusingly, just as in Rhodes, I did it before morning coffee and without a mirror, lol)
• Exciting times her, as mom just got her new lift chair... it is a lovely light green - and she has a comfy new spot by the fire, with a view out the front window, books stacked at her side, and her toes by the fire
• Oh, soon I will post something about art clocks, a wee project that emerged from a craigslist posting and a whim..... start guessing, or check out what I've said on twitter - I am @citytravelbug)

OK, that's all for now, or at least all the news that's fit to print!