I tried changing my toilet seat covers in the weekend because they were 30 years old.
I have noticed that the screws that keep the seat covers in place were rusted, but I never thought they would cause so much trouble. I had to saw them off manually using a very small saw!
As you can see from the picture, the screw grew triple the original size!! (to almost 2cm or 1 inch)
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| huge rusted screws |
The other day, I saw this kind of apples, called "Crab Apple" in the local market. It is the first time seeing it, so we bought some home. It is the size of a prune, so for an apple, it is very small.
My son ate one which is kind of sour...I haven't tried yet, so I can't comment on it.
I have always wondered about how many crows are there in Vancouver area. Thousands? Millions?
Yesterday, after raining, the sun came out before sunset. I started seeing waves and waves of crows flying eastward. Hundreds and thousands of them. They came in 3 waves: 5 minutes a wave with 10 minutes of break in between.
Here are the pics, the crows are the dots in the sky:
I think the pink salmon, which comes every 2 years, are lingering around longer this year.
I went to Chilliwack looking for some King (Spring) salmon and Coho salmon, but instead, I got this late pink salmon. (I wished that I got other fish...but oh well)
Here it is:
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| Late Pink Salmon |
We fried it and it was delicious! It was a female, so we kept the eggs for sashimi.
It is rare to see hummingbirds share space to eat in Canada. Humminbird males don't really share space. They chase each other off.
However, Finch is different. They share space with family members. (and maybe strangers?)
Here is a pic of two young finch males being close together:
It is nice to see people sharing peacefully. lol
Today, Northern Flicker (a type of woodpecker) showed up on my balcony today.
(Looking for food?) However, it kind of scared off other birds, so I had to approach it.
It went away when it sensed my presence. I like nature and animals, but a large bird will scare most birds off.
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| Northern Flicker (woodpecker) |
I needed a winter stainless steel mug, so I went to Starbucks to look for one.
I bought the Canada edition of the |"You Are Here Collection" mug.
It is well made, and the lid is very tight.
It is a cool mug to own if you are ever here in Canada.
I went to the outlet mall in Richmond the other weekend, and I wanted to eat ramen, so I dropped by Ryu Japanese Kitchen to try it.
I ordered "Tonkotsu Ramen", and it looks like below. I will provide details at the bottom:
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| Ramen Ryu Japanese Kitchen Richmond |
More and more birds are coming for breakfast in the morning.
Sometimes, there are up to 10 birds at the same time in my tiny tiny balcony.
4 chickadees, 2 or more finches and hummingbirds...free all you can eat buffet?
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| Finches, chickadees and hummingbird |
lots of birds...and lots of poo....lol
We picked up branches from the park and my wife put decorations on the branches.
They look like real walnuts and cranberries, and the birds love them.
My wife got a couple of nice shots of Anna's Hummingbird.
It is so cute!! Bright pink!!
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| Pink Anna's Hummingbird |
Couple of days ago, we caught this strange looking yellow jacket.
It is considerably bigger than the usual wasp.
Is it a queen bee?
Its needle can actually go in and out when it wants. Very interesting.
I thought the days of waiting on the phone for a customer representative for hours is over, but it is not.
The other day, I received a letter from the BC government, saying that I should call to confirm my address so my family can get the medical service plan card renewed.
Well, the music went on and on for an hour, with "the next customer representative will be with you in a moment" phrase.
With major corporations improving their wait times, I think the government should, too.
I used to wait on the phone for all kinds of customer service such as for cable company or even choosing my university courses. Before, one or two hour is pretty normal. Now, people should not have to wait more than 30 minutes for it.
During the thanksgiving weekend, we were at my parents' place. I noticed a cute, small black-headed bird, but wasn't sure what it was. We took pictures and went back home to research.
It turns out to be a Dark-eyed Junco.
Its eyes are soooooo round and cute!
I tried to get close to it, but I think 5 meters is probably its comfort zone, right now.
I am sure I'll see it again. I heard that they are always pecking around on a sunny day in their backyard
From my experience of owning dogs, I would like to offer honest advice about pet insurance.
For a long time, I have wondered, is the insurance worth it? Why am I paying a monthly fee for something I will not use?
However, I can say, at the end, it was worth it in my case. Here are my calculations:
(You will have to do your as now, the insurance fee will be different than 15 years ago.)
My basic insurance fee started at 22 dollars a month that covers accidents and illnesses. (at the end, it became 26 dollars.) For simplicity, we will put it as 25 dollars a month.
25 dollars x 12 months x 13 years = 3000 dollars life time.
When dogs are young, they are healthy. I did not use insurance for the first 10 years: 0 x 10 years = 0 dollars.
However, the last 3 years, my medical bill including 4 kinds of medicines for heart disease, all the diagnoses and blood work and surgery fees.
The total bill is more than 10k. My insurance covers more than half of that, minus the 500 dollars a year deductible. I still covered more than what I paid.
So...if you love your dogs, and if you are not super rich, I would suggest looking into some coverage.
However, if the monthly fee is way more than you can afford, then maybe you can think about it.
Sometimes, it is hard to get a good shot of hummingbirds because they fly so fast!
However, this morning, we got a beautiful picture of a hummingbird!
The fact that hummingbirds can flap their wings so fast is amazing!!
Birds like to perch...
On a rainy day, I find hummingbirds like to perch on my balcony branches for a rest so they can stay dry for 10 minutes.
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| Female Hummingbird on green wire |
The above picture shows a female hummingbird perching on a garden wire.
First, I thought the wire was too thin, but it was just enough for a hummingbird to perch.
I find chickadees very friendly and curious, and I have always wondered if I can get them onto my hand.
Today, I was on the balcony cleaning up, and a friendly chickadee came in and started eating seeds.
I came within 1 feet and offered some food on my hand. See its face:
The chickadee was curious and hesitating. It kept looking at me left and right for 60 seconds. It was wondering what I was doing and whether it should take it. It did not at the end.
My trial for taming a chickadee continues....
Lots of chickadees now come visit in the morning. Sometimes, I feel maybe the flock is about 10 or more, and they visit my place non-stop.
chiu chiu chickadee dee dee~~~
Here is a picture of triple chickadees:
Triple chickadees
They stayed on the branches my wife set.
Might be hard to see...Finch on the left...Chickadee on the right:
The example below is perfect:
Hummingbird on the left, Finch in the middle, and chickadee on the right (bottom).
2 finches on the left (male and female) and one chickadee on the bottom:
This one might be hard to see, but flying green hummingbird on the left (arrow), and Finches on the right:
Finch on the left and hummingbird on the right (door hanging feeder):
See arrows below: 2 finches on the top and one chickadee below them on the flower.
The chickadees like to hop fast everywhere. The other birds will have to pick their places.
Chickadees on the left and right, finch on the tree branch above:
Sometimes, I find they will actually sit and observe each other in order to make the next moves.
Hummingbirds are quite curious and they will fly around the other birds to observe.
