Montreal is like the mob...

have i ever mentioned that we fell in love with this place because of the view? 

we were not even planning on staying in Montreal when we moved here. we had a list of open houses to check out over in Ottawa the next day, when we happened to notice a listing for this place, and it was just a few blocks away. what could it hurt, right?

then got we got here. 

the building is a hundred-plus years old, and you have to walk up four flights of stairs (oh, yes... there is no elevator). it was absolute love at first sight. 

this building... this neighborhood... this whole ridiculously cold city is just so damn charming!

i love old architecture. this is something i tend to blame on my mom's little brother. he is an Architectural Engineer. back when i was a youth, i used to love driving around NYC with him. he would pull over in random places, and get out of the car to point out all those tiny, inconsequential design elements of the older buildings around us. it left me with a lifelong habit of always looking up at those little structural touches. should i ever accidentally bump into you, because i was staring at the trim on a roof, or studying the design of a window casement... that is not my fault. just send him the dry cleaning bill.  

still, there is one frustrating thing about old buildings. no one seems to have anticipated that electricity would be such a hit. who knew, right? it probably took us more than a year to figure out the different combinations of appliances that could be turned on at the same time. the fallout from countless failed attempts has left us both so traumatized, that we still make a point of issuing a verbal warning before plugging anything into an outlet. most of all... it is firmly understood that you ABSOLUTELY MUST pause the washer-dryer before turning on the kettle or... well, just hope you saved whatever you were working on, because all the computers would definitely have turned off. so much fun! 

and, ridiculous as it sounds, that is part of the charm of the thing. we absolutely love this place. neither one of us has any real connection to Montreal, and we have already decided that the next time we move, it will be out of the City... which is what we were trying to do when we found this place. 

turns out, Montreal is like the mob. just when we thought we were out, it pulled us back in. so, here we will remain for now.

sure, there are zero electric outlets in the bathroom, and i still do not want to know what would happen should we ever open that old dumbwaiter door in the kitchen. but, seriously... check out that view. 

[sunset, Dec 10, 2023. edited to correct the year.]

be SAD with me...

there are some conversations you should never be having. but, here we are. 

me: oh, good! the balcony door appears to be unfrozen today, so i can finally get a few shots in the snow of that yarn i just spent the weekend spinning in a desperate attempt at hanging on to some thread of sanity amidst all this gloom and misery you call a country. 

him: okay, but make sure you hurry up and do that... before the Arctic Rain starts.

seriously!

so, i wrapped myself up in my favorite fleecy blanket, and went silently out into the (slightly less) gloom and cold. i considered weeping, but tears would just freeze. 

how much do i love this man, you ask?

yes! 

so, i took my photos.

those tracks in the snow belong to Norbert. we have lunch together some days. like i said... stuff should not be happening. but, here we are.

then i went back indoors, to reexamine (yet again) every single decision i have ever made in my entire existence.

craziest part is... i keep commenting about how mild this Winter is, relatively speaking. sure, we had TWO ice storms last week, but they did not even bother closing the schools or anything. so, really... no big deal, right? i mean... we have not had a single Polar Vortex yet. that is when the locals become concerned. until then... it is just me here... alone... losing my mind one gray, sunless day at a time. 

did i mention that we had like ten days of anything resembling "sunshine" for the entire month of January? madness.

so, please.... come be SAD with me, as i endeavor on a month of daily posts (which i am already regretting). there will be a lot of complaining about the absence of joy that is Winter in Montreal, but (mostly) it will be me documenting the random nonsense i do in the name of Sanity. 

i am awesome...

we are hours away from the end of a year that i look forward to bidding a bon adieu. this is usually when people work overtime, finding fault in themselves, and making half-hearted promises to do better in the new year.

screw all that nonsense!

i cannot let the year end without mentioning that time i saved someone’s life in The Great Ice Storm of 2023. true story!

picture it. Montreal. mid-April...

that is when the ice and snow ends most years (although, it sometimes lasts well into May).

this time around, we were absolutely deluged with freezing rain days before a whole lot of people were planning to travel over the long Easter weekend. most of those plans got cancelled.

this was not snow, or even stinging pellets of hail. this was a steady, heavy shower of molten ice that crystalized the moment it hit anything. and it just kept on falling, encasing every surface it met in a solid shell of ice that was reported to be four centimeters (~ an inch and a half) thick in some areas. sheer madness!

then the bough broke... literally.  

it was like being at the center of an orchestra composed entirely of giant glass chandeliers being dropped from great heights. you could hear the buildup to every single crash from miles kilometers away. it was completely insane!

first there would be the ripple of ice cracking under the strain, followed by the explosive pop of massive branches snapping, and the frighteningly glorious crescendo of ice and wood shattering on sidewalks... and streets... and cars... and homes.

total madness!

there were official broadcasts of every type warning the public to remain indoors, and drivers were told to find a safe place to park their vehicles, and seek emergency shelter.

naturally, i was seriously tempted to grab my camera and head downstairs, but my Self-Preservation Society membership is paid in full, so i stayed put. [random aside: The Italian Job (1969) is one of my favorite films EVER, and i especially love all of the music! Getta Bloomin' Move On! (the Self-Preservation Society theme) is a thing of sheer genius. well done, Mr. Jones.]

where was i, again? oh, yes... i saved a person's life.

i went out on the balcony to try to get a few shots of the icy scenery. this was the view to the right...

to the left...

and looking up at the top of the massive old maple tree. 

this was when i noticed that a massive chunk of the old maple had mostly broken away from the tree, and it was just waiting for the slightest whisper of air to send it crashing to the ground. which happened at precisely that moment, as i stood there watching the spot where it would fall.

unfortunately, someone had just exited the building next door, and they were standing there, in that very same spot, head bent, staring at their phone.

luckily, the falling branch was being slowed in its descent by the tangle of lower tree limbs, leaving just enough time for me to scream LOOK OUT... which he did!

he jumped out of the way a split-second before the ice-coated branch exploded right where he was standing. part of it pulled his hoodie back from his head, and hooked onto the collar of his coat on the way down. dude was so stunned! he collected himself long enough to get out a shock-filled "merci", before turning to run back indoors.

that sounds pretty life-saving to me!

the situation was so dangerous, the Emergency Services were advising their own personnel to remain indoors. basically, if you needed 911... you were on your own! and, all you heard was the orchestra of chandeliers, accompanied now by a horn section, courtesy of all of the honking and blaring alarms from all the damaged cars. it was next-level atmospheric insanity.

then the power went off! almost half of Montreal was without power... for DAYS!

did i mention that it was meant to be a long holiday weekend? people will be telling how i survived the great ice storm of '23 stories for years to come. good times!

it took weeks for the power to be fully restored, and months for all of the debris to disappear. Montreal zoned out the use of wood-burning stoves and fireplaces several years ago, or we would have stockpiled enough logs to keep our fireplace blazing all Winter. le sigh!

most people's holiday plans were (naturally) cancelled, and many businesses and services that would have normally closed for the whole weekend, remained open to provide shelter for the public. even major fast food chains that would normally be closed on Easter Sunday, were asking any employees to come in to work so that they could provide food and a warm space for anyone who needed it.

imagine being a kid who got to spend Easter weekend eating free McNuggets. one person's chaotic nightmare is another person's Nirvana.

despite all the property damage, the storm proved to be a (relatively) harmless one. there were the usual vehicular pile-ups, thanks to black ice on... well... EVERYTHING! people around here understand the hazards of Winter storms, so they (mostly) heeded the warnings... except for one guy who simply could not wait for the ice to melt from his car... which was parked under a very large, ice-covered tree. sadly, no one warned him to "LOOK OUT".

so, instead of pondering all the shoulda, woulda moments from a (mostly) underwhelming year, i choose to close it on a positive note. seriously, people... i saved someone's life!

yes. i am awesome!

Happy New Year!!! hopefully it will be a better one.

(those are swollen, springtime maple buds encased in ice... because i can hear you asking from all the way over here.)

betrayal of the corny variety...

after eighteen(ish) Summers of watching me lose my mind over the arrival of fresh corn season, my favorite animator recently confided in me that he is not a fan of the stuff. he only ate it because i cooked it. i contemplated walking out on him right then and there. however, i remembered that i still have the rest of the week of being solely responsible for litter-scooping and kitty-feeding on account of that bet i lost Saturday. so, i am still here... for now. but i am struggling to figure out how i will live with this betrayal of the corny variety. 

on the plus side, i no longer have to take him into consideration when deciding how to indulge in the best thing to come from this steamy, sweaty, allergy-assaulting time of the year. a short while later, i was trying to figure out how to make a meal from some leftover barbecued things on skewers... when inspiration struck!

this meal took all of five minutes to come together, and it may just be my new favorite way to enjoy fresh corn. it began with a quick search in the container of random sauce packets. one mini envelope of spicy instant ramen broth later, and i had the start of something amazing. i added that to boiling water and tossed in some sliced bits of previously-cooked kebab and an ear of fresh corn cut into neat rounds. 

while that simmered for a few minutes, i boiled rice noodles briefly in a separate pan, then rinsed them in cold water to stop them from getting soggy once combined with the broth. the noodles went into a bowl, topped by the contents of the broth pot, plus a few strands of cilantro and red onion slices. then i remembered all the nasturtiums in this year's balcony garden project, so i added a handful of freshly-harvested, locally-grown, organically-nurtured, sustainably-farmed, ethically-sourced, free-range nasturtium leaves to the bowl. just doing my part to save the planet.

then i sat down to eat. it was amazing! i especially enjoyed the bites with a bit of noodles, meat, and a nasturtium leaf. nasturtium leaves have a sharp, peppery bite similar to a spicy radish, but they also have the unmistakable earthy, borderline-bitter flavor of fresh dark greens. trust me... this combination was sheer culinary perfection. 

the absolute best bits, however, were those rounds of fresh, sweet corn cooked briefly in that delicious broth infused with the smoky, meaty flavors from the leftover kebabs. 

i sat there, completely enraptured by the slight pop of each plump, sweet kernel being bitten away from the cob, and in that moment, i could only feel pity for the animator whose life will never know such joy. sad. 

insane by association...

i broke a tooth while eating popcorn one day last week. this is not a misguided plea for any kind of sympathy. i just need you to understand the insanity that passes for normal in our home.

so... i woke up the next day to find the animator grinning from ear-to-ear, and i instantly knew that something was wrong.

him: i made an appointment for you to go to the dentist.

me: since when are you making appointments for me? aren't you the one who usually makes me do that sort of thing because you hate talking on the phone? 

him: yeh, but i made it for you anyway...

me: ... because you know i'd probably put off doing it myself for as long as i can.

him: something like that. oh, and i also made an appointment to take Titty to the vet. i did that first.

Titty (Titania, aka "Mama Kitty"), the oldest of our three two cats, has cancer. i will weep about that some other day. for now, we are trying to make her life as comfortable and enjoyable as possible in the time she has left. 

so... he called the vet before the dentist.

him: the receptionist asked if it was an emergency with Titty. is she eating? is she throwing up? or if she is meowing a lot like she might be in pain. i told her, she's eating. not throwing up. and no, she's not meowing or anything.

me: uhm... okay.

him: so then i called the dentist, and the receptionist asked how you chipped your tooth. i said eating popcorn. she asked if it's bleeding. i said no. then she asked if it's an emergency, if you're experiencing any pain...

me: and...?

him: so i said, "no, she's not meowing or anything".

so now i get to look forward to entering the dentist's office with the receptionist already convinced that i might be insane by association. 

speaking of insane associations...

mom called me one day, about a month or so ago. i was deeply concerned from "hello". 

mom: N—, i have to tell you something, and i don't want you to get upset.

me: okay...? [already dreading whatever she will say next]

mom: the plants are coming up in the garden.

then i turned toward the nearest window, and gazed out into the third (or fourth... i lost count at some point) snowstorm over the span of that week. 

i bring this up last bit up because it is currently the last day of April—Spring having officially begun more than a month ago—and we had a snowstorm as recently as a last week. but, apparently, this insanity is what i signed up for. 

it has been a while since my last post. i draw a firm line at keeping this space on the lighter side of life (dying cats get a pass for sheer sadness factor). i kept writing draft after draft, but i always hesitated when it came time to hit "publish". it is really hard to keep a lighthearted focus on the absurd side of life when so much of it feels anything but these days. still, i figured i would send up a smoke signal of sorts to say that i am still here. 

so... hello again!

i lost my crafting mojo for a while, but it seems to be back in (almost) full force. i considered doing a week month of daily short posts to try to document some of the stuff i have made over the past year... or two. however, committing to that will require an even larger dose of 'jo. 

there is one pretty cool thing that happened recently that has definitely added to the urge to get back to my crafty activities. 

i won a thing!

i left a comment on a You Tube video, which entered me into a raffle from Ewethful Fiber Farm and Mill... and i WON!!! 

this is honestly one of the two (or three) knitting-related channels i keep up with these days. the mill owner/operator Kim is a lovely person, and her YT videos offers glimpses into their life on the farm (which includes the family grass seed business and a menagerie of ridiculous animals). she also gives us regular behind the scene tours of the production process. it never stops being fascinating to see piles of dirty wool being turned into clean, beautiful yarn.

she sources fiber from small farms in her area, and she often has wool from breeds of sheep beyond the ones that get used for most things (Merino, Corriedale, Cormo, BFL, and those other "regulars"). i have been making an effort to seek out new (to me) breeds when purchasing fleeces over the past couple-few years, so i was especially drawn to the eclectic blends of fibers Kim utilizes. 

the original prize on offer included mohair, but that was more than my allergies can handle, so i asked Kim to substitute something (mohair-free) in a natural, dark color that i could blend together with some of the (closet-full of) white fleece waiting to be spun. i received a blend of Alpaca and Shetland wool (from one of Kim's own sheep named Drilla). 

i opted for un-spun fiber, so it arrived as a long rope (called roving, for the uninitiated who have made it this far). 

i found the beginning of the roving, and it was sooo tempting to start spinning away. however, i will stick to the original plan. this will become part of a lovely, heathery handspun yarn... someday. thank you so much for the generous gift, Kim (and Drilla).