This mild weather is crazy! The temperatures over the Christmas holidays even seem to affect the gift-giving this year. My in-laws (Russ and Myrna Bennett, such wonderful people, and I’m not saying that just because they read this blog in Halifax), for Christmas they gave my husband Rob and I the coolest thing: a barbeque briefcase! It has steak knives and bbq knives and all things barbeque. It all comes in a silver briefcase which I can bring to any big-time meeting to impress executives. They don’t need to know that the contents are barbeque tools and knives. And my sister and brother-in-law (Natalie and Paul) also wonderful and I’m not just saying that, gave us a ceramic pot that shoots out a giant flame! Outdoor use only! A barbeque briefcase and an outdoor flaming pot. They’re not just for summer anymore.
Have you broken any of your New Years resolutions yet? I haven’t. I made one resolution…..to read a book. I find its easy to keep your resolutions if you don’t give them an expiry date.
Back to the mild weather…… I am quite concerned right now that my tulips are going to start poking out. Last week at the cottage, I saw a chipmunk. Are they not supposed to be hibernating by now? And one of the surest signs that this has been a mild winter, for me at least, has been the absence of mice in the cottage. Usually towards November a mouse or two appears under the kitchen sink and settles in for the winter. He has the warmth of the dishwasher and a semi-regular food source: the swinging cupboard door garbage container. Ahhhhh…the life. But not this year. The mice are just as happy to stay outside, where at least they don’t have to deal with a shrieking woman everytime the cupboard door is opened.
Sometimes there is just no justice in this world. As I’ve mentioned many times, I am an amateur bird watcher. I’ve taken a course, I have the best birding binoculars, I have the best field guides, a diary to record my sightings, and bird feeders outside the window that are always stocked. I have never seen a cardinal. Actually, once while I was driving along Limebank Road I saw something red fly over-head for about 2 seconds. Could’ve been anything. And this is the real sad part……my on-air partner JR says he has cardinals in his yard constantly. And so does our producer, Hammer. They see so many cardinals, they’re like pigeons on a statue. They have multiple cardinal sightings each and every day. I would be filled with joy if I saw a cardinal. But , for JR and Hammer, seeing a cardinal is about as exciting as seeing a street-sweeper. Actually, I think they would prefer the street-sweeper. Sigh………….
I got quite tied up just before Christmas to really delve into this situation, but I intend to put effort into it now. Shortly before Christmas, someone stole my life-sized Mike Fisher cardboard cut-out from the office that I share with Steve Madely and Lowell Green. It has yet to surface. If anyone has any information, any leads at all, please contact me. You can remain anonymous as long as you give me your name, phone number, address, work number, and extension.Thank you for your help.
