A partridge in a pine tree

Actually, it's a ruffed grouse that Jorghnassen first thought was a rock.



O hai!



It was only the second time we spotted the grouse in our backyard - the first back in October. It might not have a nest nearby, but it was welcome to sit under the branches and hang out for a few hours. Still, pretty cute!

Some other feathered friends like to come by and gorge on our backyard buffet, like woodpeckers, yellow and house finches, chickadees, and the occasional junco; but our cardinal friends are quite photogenic and I managed to take a few photos of the male today.

la Verandrye

A few of you have already come to visit our house. Good for you! Then you will know that the intersection from our street that goes out to the larger road (la Verendrye) is a pain to turn left (westbound) on to return to the highway, or to go anywhere for that matter.

To the left when you turn, there is a downward curved slope (towards the left) and an annoying hedge, juuuuuust high enough to piss you off, that makes the west side hard to tell when cars are jetting up the road at 110 km/h in a 70 zone.

To the right is a large fence and hedge that is too high to see anything coming that way, and the inclined curved slope (towards the right) also keeps anyone wanting to turn onto the westbound lanes to take it easy and turn in a safe, sane manner.

The grocery stores, commercial buildings, and everything else is to the left. (In the previous post, I mentioned that the Rav4 is in the body shop - one of the repairs is to the left turn signal, which made this turn even worse over the last week.)

The city of Gatineau decided that this intersection - with its crazy curves and slopes and idiotic lack of street light or any signs - is too stupid to exist, and will instead continue the divider down la Verandrye so that:

1. drivers will be forced to turn right from our street


2. drivers will be forced to turn southbound on rue Main* (which will be the topic of another post)


3. drivers cannot go straight


4. drivers on the main road can continue to careen 110 km/h up or down the slope like morons.

This is bothersome because that intersection seemed to have been developed just for the purpose of pissing people off. I would have preferred a standard lights intersection with crossroad and signs indicating stop lights ahead. One of the things Jorgh had mentioned when he was convincing me to buy the house (without seeing it) is this intersection, where he hoped the same thing would happen.

However, the green sheet delivered to our front door last week from the city indicates otherwise. (It's a nice FY to welcome us to the city.) Today, the city delivered another sheet stating there would be a "consultation" next week at city hall, hoping to "answer our concerns" about the change.

Let's hope the answer to our concerns is "my bad, we dum."

How we moved out of Waterloo and into Gatineau

Ha ha ha! Whoever moves in next (Eugene ^_^) will be cursed with this terrible pot of crap from the market.

Said goodbye to these babies.

Got into this baby.

Drove for 10 hours or so in total, to arrive at the house in Gatineau. After a few days, it looked like this.

And then we discovered some unwelcome neighbours.

We fed ourselves this.

And this.

But finally after hard work (by everyone else), I could now see the floor.



Yay~!

BONUS PIC:

Goodbye little plateau condo. :(