More City Mice

Great visit with Keiko and George. Keiko's a watercolour painter and until she was with me touring around I'd not noticed how few watercolour painters there seem to be on Salt Spring. Or maybe, there are lots, just not in the galleries, except for Carol Evans.

They'd never been to any of the Gulf Islands so I hope this proved to be a good introduction for them.

I swear, living on this island, is like forget about laid back. Yesterday, I jumped out of bed and the first thing I thought was "Chicken. Must get Chicken!" I'm somewhat notorious for never having groceries in the house so I was out the door at 8:15 am, headed for GVM now called Country Grocer. I grabbed a shopping cart and was pushing that thing around like an LPN in a senior's home with an old guy in the wheelchair and 20 more patients to get to. Look out! Get out of the way. Must get chicken! Dessert. Salad stuff. Peanut Butter. Cream for coffee. Keiko drinks decaf. Don't forget the decaf. Juice. Beer. Get beer for George. Wine. Later. I'll get the wine later. We proceeded to have a really enjoyable day with me showing them as much as I could in one day.

They're off exploring on their own today. NEXT. Lisa arrives with baby Konor on the 1:40 pm. I jumped out of bed this morning, flung open the french doors to the deck and was making my coffee when a persistent whirring sound seemed to get louder. Next thing I know I realize a hummingbird has flown in, he's up in the skylight. I'm looking at it thinking, oh my god, it's going to have a heart attack and drop dead right on the floor. I try a few things, and then of course, who my gonna call? Pauline of course.

"Morning," she says. "There's a hummingbird stuck in my house," I yell into the phone. "What am I gonna do?" "Get a ladder," she says. "Get a sheet."

"I don't have a ladder." The landlord here seems to have left next to nothing for tenants. No ladder. Nothing. God dammit. I mean, you got two houses and tenants in them and you don't even have a goddamn ladder on the property. Hello! Responsible homeownership please!!!!

So, of course, Pauline comes up. She leaves her breakfast mid bite because Gayle can't deal with a hummingbird stuck in her skylight that has too tiny a pee brain to figure out that if you're bumpin your little hummingbird head against plexiglass for the 30 millionth time, maybe there's another way out. But, no.

To make a long story short, Pauline to the rescue. All is well. Hummingbird is resting (we hope). Dishes are done. Compost is stirred. Me, dressed.

And, now I gotta go and all I can say is Thank God I don't rent a cottage on the big island of Hawaii because this visiting thing would be year round, non-stop, endless.
(Seriously, it's great having the company!)