frothytundra - Tumblr blog

[frothytundra]

For Better or Worse

This is a “Thank you!” to my children who have put up with lots of annoying emails and messages from me this week, and who continue to provide moral and practical support in my technological misadventures. The backstory is that a few weeks ago, when I got new window blinds, the installer doubted whether my five-year-old Apple phone would be able to operate the remote controls. I was astounded.…

[frothytundra]

Bunnies!

There are rabbits in my neighbourhood who seem to have dominion over the local landscaping. It is a Nanaimo thing. They are everywhere. Most of them are black but some are grey and some have streaks of white. During the winter I didn’t see any of them. I don’t know where they went or how they survived, but now that spring has arrived, they have reappeared. This week, I think I figured out what…

[frothytundra]

Trust But Verify

If any of you are considering a move, please be aware that the images you see on realtors’ websites may bear only a slight resemblance to the lived experience. Yesterday I wanted to compare the way my apartment looks now to the way it looked when I bought it, so I asked my realtor for the photographs that had been used in the real estate listing. After I received them I was surprised to realize…

[frothytundra]

Buttertubs Marsh Spring 2024

Twice around Buttertubs Marsh is a lovely 5k walk. There were lots of people out today enjoying the sunshine and the wildlife.

[frothytundra]

Purple Sunset

On Sunday evening, the day chose to wear purple and it reminded me of Jenny Joseph’s poem Warning that includes the words, “When I am old, I shall wear purple.” It suggests a freedom of expression that has been repressed in earlier years, and warns friends and family not to be surprised when that happens. I was surprised by the purple sky, but thankful for it. It was like an old woman wearing…

[frothytundra]

I Am Hooked

I am hooked. More precisely, my apartment is hooked. A previous owner has made abundant use of stick-on hooks and I find them in some surprising places and in surprising quantities. I first became aware of them when storing my kitchen supplies. One cupboard has sixteen cup hooks. Sixteen! I use this cupboard for dry goods, and will remove the hooks if I can figure out how to do that cleanly.…

[frothytundra]

Mixing Colours

Pieris japonica. Japanese pieris. As spring comes into full bloom, I am seeing colours around my patio that I would not have chosen to put together. There are two red blooms and a pink one that are right beside each other, and I wonder if the landscape designers were deliberate in their choices or if I am enjoying an accidental combination. One of the red blooms is in a pot that I can move, so…

[frothytundra]

Feeding the Birds

Feeding the birds that visit my patio gives me a lot of pleasure. I love watching them come and go, bicker with each other, bully smaller birds, and feed their young. I also enjoy hearing them, especially the House Wrens. I have learned when they prefer to visit and when they are usually absent. I have also learned which bird species use my feeders and which species try to but are too big to…

[frothytundra]

Englishman River Falls Spring 2024

[frothytundra]

Batter and a Battery

Last night, my smoke alarm woke me up at 11:40 PM. I go to bed at 10:00 PM, so I had just started into a nice sleep when I was startled awake. There was no smoke. Just the alarm beeping very loudly outside my bedroom door to tell me it wanted a new battery. At first, though, in my not-fully-awake state I wasn’t sure if the alarm was sounding only in my apartment. I checked the outside hallway to…

[frothytundra]

Polyandry

A friend and I were discussing polyandry the other day and trying to figure out why a woman would have multiple husbands. We were having this conversation because one of her adult children is visiting Bhutan where polyandry was once considered to be normal, and that knowledge triggered her curiosity. We began, of course, from our own experience of husbands and we struggled to understand why…

[frothytundra]

Geese, Rocks, and Blossoms

On my way home from taking pictures of fog and mist the other day, I noticed two Canada Geese and tried to take their photo with blossoms in the foreground. A man who was nearby asked what I was doing, and when I explained he offered to take my photo with blossoms in the foreground. I declined, with thanks. Then, on my street I saw several star magnolia bushes blooming. A woman who passed by…

[frothytundra]

Maffeo Sutton Park in the Mist

Sunday provided a lovely combination of early spring blossoms and mist as the morning fog began to lift.

[frothytundra]

Foggy Waterfront

Some more of yesterday’s photos taken during a foggy morning in Nanaimo.

[frothytundra]

Island Mist

A foggy day inspired me to see if I could capture the ethereal effect and I found the boats in the harbour offered some pleasingly soft images. As luck would have it, the ferry that goes to Protection Island, called the Island Mist, happened to be passing as I was taking photos.

[frothytundra]

Getting It Together

The Angel Network Crafters in Nanaimo donate yarn, knitted clothing, and eight-inch knitted squares to Volunteer Nanaimo. I learned about them when I dropped off a couple of crocheted blankets a little while ago. While I was there, I offered to donate some squares and was asked if, instead, I would put together some of the squares they already had. I was happy to oblige. Subsequently, I put…

[frothytundra]

Lenten Rose

This flower, which I saw outside my building, is new to me so I took its picture in order to look it up. It is identified by my iPhone and Wikipedia as a Lenten Rose: “A perennial flowering plant and species of hellebore in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, native to Greece and Turkey.” In case you were wondering, Lent is the six-week period leading up to Easter. It starts on Ash…