See ya summer

So, the weather turned right after I wrote that post bemoaning the humidity. We are down to 12 C at night, and the sun sits long on the horizon on the evening drive home from work. These are pictures I've taken over the last three weeks and have neglected to post.

We went to see a play at this dilapidated theatre in town.
Notice the top right, where the ceiling is melting.

We puppy-sat this cute fur ball.

And used her crate as a movie-theatre extension.
LOVE the Bourne movies.

Decided the back parlour needed a design on the floor,
so started this endless circle stencil in bright white.

60% off sale at Canadian Tire! Scored 2 plums, 2 pears,
2 black currants bushes, one giant strawberry plant and
assorted other bushes for 65.00 (we used reward$ too).

Savory zucchini bake with bright beets & garden peppers.

Almost walked right into the giant spider
web in my bedroom. Gah. (see him?)

Dog pretenting not to notice I'm taking
her picture. BATFACE.

Cat *actually* not giving a shit what I do.

Writing in the margins of my boss' textbook.
Alarming lack of respect for other people's property.

Cut flowers and garden harvest.

Real furniture, walls and outlet covers OH MY.

Tools of the garden-harvest trade.

Results of the cucumber massacre 2012.

These too.

More harvest - golden beets and TWO types of kale.

Ginger beer, potatoes, apples, etc.

Let's go pack some wood.

ScienceEyeroll

"...Over the years, various researchers have shown that caloric restriction can extend life in bats, dogs, and even spiders, and on down to nematode worms and single-celled organisms like yeast. After decades of work, it remains the only way known to increase maximum lifespan [...] In the 1990s, Leonard Guarente of MIT discovered a class of longevity genes in yeast called sirtuins that appear to be activated by a lack of food. Sirtuins appeared to be “conserved” in evolution, meaning that they appear in nearly all species, on up to humans. Sirtuins are thought to have evolved as a way to enable animals to survive periods of famine. They seem to work by regulating certain metabolic pathways and reduce the amount of damage cells endure.

It appeared, then, that caloric restriction seems to activate some sort of deep survival mechanism common to nearly all life forms. If researchers could somehow identify and isolate that mechanism, they’d be that much closer to some kind of longevity pill. Except for one inconvenient fact: Caloric restriction itself does not always work." 

(emphasis mine)

From Slate

August in the maritimes

August hit and the very first day brought sweltering humid hotness that hasn't really been a problem so far this summer. I suppose every August it becomes like this, so that when September rolls around with it's cool breezes, you become thankful for the change instead of just fucking bitter.

So I've been away, and busy. Two three-day music festivals two weekends in a row. This weekend a birthday bonfire hosted for a friend, where people who have never seen the house will be visiting for the first time. Usually I freak out at the prospect of being judged (for my plywood floors, crumbling plaster and broken window panes) but either I'm loosening up, just too tired, or have decided this particular crew will have no issues with my humble abode.

Tonight I'll tidy, frame some Audubon prints to cover missing plaster on my walls, and clean the BBQ remnants still lingering in the front porch. Last night was supposed to be a clean up night too, but we sort of got distracted. You see, upon closer inspection, my husband appeared to have (bed) bug bites of the "breakfast, lunch, supper" variety on his thighs and arms. I'll save you the discomfort of linking to a picture.

So I guess we have bed bugs? But I don't have even a wayward mosquito bite on me, let alone anything resembling his red pockmarked, three-in-a-row bites. We checked the beds & we checked the couches but nothing even close to suspicious was found. Other theories: we slept in our tent during the last music festival - perhaps his sleeping bag has them but mine does not? We washed and heat-dried all of the clothing and blankets that we brought with us to the music festival. Additionally, he hung out in the communal hammock section of the festival grounds while I was dancing my butt off. Not a stretch to think vagabond festival goers would have introduced bed bugs to the cloth bags during the festival, but the shear number of bites makes it dubious. He wasn't in one for longer than a few hours. So our plan of action is to make sure his bites subside without reoccurrence, sterilize the shit out of clothing and linens, and hope he actually got the bites from no-see-ums during his Sunday night baseball game. They look pretty similar and you can find pattern in anything, apparently. Oh insect bites, why you gotta be so coy?

Buckle Down

Busiest.Week.Of.The.Summer
 House hunting with friends
Organizing High School Reunion
Financial Year End
Three days of volunteer music festival goodness


 Prep and paperwork and permits