furry visitor

Welcome back to the ongoing saga.
Documenting our little lives here in Nova Scotia in a world of so many human stories may seem trivial in a world that seems so full of real life drama and relevance. But we keep it small on purpose.

The famous Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo, who created small vastly moving paintings out of her own suffering, once said, "Nothing is worth more than laughter. It is strength to laugh and abandon oneself, to be light. Tragedy is the most ridiculous thing."

Another quote from her that succinctly ties it up: " Pain, pleasure and death are no more than a process for existence. The revolutionary struggle in this process is a doorway open to intelligence."
I believe the revolution is reinterpreting our fear and pain as a portal to enlightenment. Enlightenment? I'll leave that to someone more eloquent.

Here is Muji on a mid-morning romp that he and Babu do before breakfast every morning.

Muji, after high fiving me,

a fairly recent gesture in the sports world compared to the ancient cat world

Wally amid the crazy book clutter and donation boxes, getting ready to take apart the old shed floor.

Starting with a reciprocating saw

he moved onto a chainsaw and promptly hit a nail which sent us onto our next venture

to get a chainsaw file, a specialty item I never knew about.

As I documented Wally's progress I barely caught this starling whizzing by the old chimney on Forget-Me-Not Cabin. Wally is torn about rescuing it or replacing it with a cupola.

Suddenly I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye.

a furry little groundhog

also known as a woodchuck, I didn't know that they belong to the classification of ground squirrels

Curious, he begins to rummage about in Wally's unfinished project

then scales the rocks

and reaching the summit

his round furry descent

and departure

This day's events are not over as we must head off to my favourite health food store in Greenwood,

a trip I've taken you along with in other posts.

Our day was somewhat extended so I'll share those pictures tomorrow.

spring birding

Here I am, intrepid bird photographer that I am with my pocket sized Sony Cybershot, with some more fuzzy pictures from my bathroom window.

I spent a long while trying to get this robin from behind the maples

It spent a long time with it's back to me once it spied an intruder in the valley

The raven has been back for 3 days in a row.

It spends its time rifling through the dead grass for things to eat.

After the rain last night, much needed, the valley is hazy with mist.

Other birds that seemed disturbed by the raven in their midst was this flicker.

The starling didn't seem perturbed at all, and with his back to the raven, ruffled its feathers

on the peak of Forget-Me-Not Cabin.

But this crow was very unhappy and dive bombed the raven who ruffled up so quickly that when I looked up from my camera, it was already back at breakfast.

The disassembled shed was taken away on Thursday evening just as Wally got home from work. Here he is bringing the doors to lay inside the shed roof that's looking a bit like a small barge.

What a fabulous trailer to hold a 9 feet wide shed roof! Thanks again Nick (in the grey t-shirt) for helping Wally drill through the rusted screws and take the old thing apart.

This is our last weekend to assemble whatever we want to get rid of for big pick up day. Wally must break up the old floor of the shed that is much rotted and I must pack up the last of the old roof shingles from the cabin. It's good energy to get rid of junk.

And with that April will be over. Time and our busy lives, not much different from the birds,

busy nesting, making meals, staying safe, ruffling nobody's feathers but our own,

and learning eventually not to do that to ourselves- that latter bit.

peaceful times

shed be gone

Since my last post, five days had gone by since the first attempt to take the old shed away and

By Friday afternoon, Wally and his friend from work, Nick (whose father will take it away),

had regrouped to dismantle the old shed.

Upon further examination (and a succession of 2 dead screwdriver batteries and 2 hours)

Wally and Nick decided to meet up again after the weekend when Nick would return with his bigger batteried screwdriver

Worried that Wally would be disappointed after investing so much time, I turned and took this picture of my handsome Muji in the evening light and went to dish supper out.

Wally wasn't disappointed in the least. He is very philosophical about the time it takes to do things- especially preparatory work that always bores me to distraction.

When Nick returned last night (Monday) after both he and Wally had put in a full day's work,

they set to drilling through the rusted screws to release them.

Sometimes Wally had to hold a screw from spinning while Nick drilled.

Already the sliding doors are somewhat dismantled.

Determining how to lift the roof,

they decide to remove the doors first.

Then, dislodging the roof,

they raise the roof

and slide it over.

She's Off!

Maybe now is the time to tell you how sentimental I had begun to feel about losing this ugly old shed.

We have the original permit from May 1983. That's 34 years ago less 2 weeks.  Every time we remove a piece of the past I sense the dreams of the past. I will write more about this towards the end.

Nick and Wally move the roof out of the way.

Wally told me afterwards how very heavy it was.

Babu and Muji enjoy their after dinner show (on the one day I didn't make the bed)

I was surprised how relaxed Babu was who is usually terribly shy.

Muji soon lost interest with a full belly.

Next it was time to dismantle the walls.

the last wall to go

stacking it onto the pile with the other 2 walls

What remains, the old oil drum wood stove, the rotting wood floor, and of course

THE VIEW!

We have a week to remove all the debris if we're to take advantage of Big Pickup Day by the township. My sentiment for the entrenched past quickly dissolves as we get a slice of view that I've so missed, being surrounded by buildings. I think of Carolyn Myss's view:

"The dead past cannot give you life force."

Embracing the life we have today can be brought up short with gratitude.

There is more in place than is not. Let us remember to remember how lucky we are so we do not slide into false concepts. Carolyn Myss suggests that if we were to remove 3 words from our vocabulary they would be:

blame

deserve

entitlement

This is heavy stuff in a world where so many are, or feel they are, victimized. The trick to letting go of all the pain, "wounds" as she calls them is:

Forgiveness

This includes forgiving ourselves

I found this video particularly helpful in understanding Why People Don't Heal

thank you as always for caring to drop by.

I will have some artwork to share next time.

peace