Category: Blog

Pigeons!

In an effort to create a least a little bit more space in our apartment, James found a way of storing our bikes on the balcony (instead of in the tiny storage locker in the basement — so now we can use the storage locker for a lot of other things!). He ordered some bike covers and we were happy to get the bikes set up out there.

This apartment is the first place where either of us has lived with a downtown balcony. It’s great to be able to have an actual door that opens to the outside world, even if the balcony and the view aren’t all that much to look at. We’ve managed to eat out there a couple of times, and some friends gave us their patio set when they were moving so we even have a table and chairs outside.

The only problem — pigeons! They absolutely love the balcony. James has made a big effort to deter them from landing on our balcony. But nothing seems to stop them.

And then, on Saturday, James found the following, nestled so cozily under a covered bike:

Next step? A visit to Lee Valley to get one of those fake owls.

Tree behind our place

Last year I noticed a little tree behind our apartment building. It’s a fairly small, almost scrawny thing, but I liked how it was sort of growing around a rock. What also surprised me was how quickly it went from being all branches to having lots of little buds, to being in full bloom. The look of the tree really changed drastically. Over the course of the summer, I wished I had taken pictures of the different stages (by the time I realized this, it seemed a little late to start). I thought at the time that if we were still living in this apartment the next year, I should try to take photos of it. So here’s the first one…

My plan is to take one photo of it a month, starting roughly in April and going through the summer (if that’s possible for me this year!). Since today ended up being a warm and sunny day in Ottawa, I thought I should take the picture now. Other trees nearby are just starting to bud, and I didn’t want to miss the all-branch stage.

I also took a photo of this chalk drawing a few steps away. It looks like something I would draw if I were to doodle on the sidewalk.

New addition

James and I finally got a dishwasher!

This is a really big deal for us. Having a dishwasher was pretty much the number one reason on our list of why we’d even consider buying a house, so it’s a relief to take that off as a priority (so now we only have to get a house if we are actually ready to buy a house).

Using the dishwasher is such a novelty right now. I think James ran the fourth load of dishes through it today (fourth since having it delivered to us on Thursday last week).

Here I am standing in front of the dishwasher:

And here James is getting ready to unload the (clean!) dishes:

We wheel the dishwasher into the kitchen when we’re ready to run it. So far, we’re pretty happy to have this as an option.