Early morning sunbathing ~poetic reflection

at attention

Look to the skies
Cloudy, pregnant with snow
Winter hovers over us like an angry lover
You know the break has to come
But he won't walk away
His rage encircles my soul
He haunts me, too bitter to take flight

Look to the ground
Shovelling, scarves, icy sidewalks
It's eerily familiar
I know the script
Deer stare at me
Nibbling disengorged buds
Filling empty bellies
My heart as empty as theirs

Look towards the sun
My other lover caresses my cheek
The promise of a new beginning
When the road is clear
Massive White Pine
Shelters, holds the heat
Wraps my cold heart in love.

Look to the horizon
It has been a long, cold winter
Deer friends sunbathing
Faces turned towards the sun.
Snow wraps plants in loving arms.
Flora and fauna sleep,
Dreaming of bird song.

Look to your heart
Spring is there
Waiting till this angry lover leaves
Have faith, hope, love
Look to the spring,
Finding joy in everything.

Book Review: Almost Perfect ~a novel~

Almost Perfect

If you like dogs, you need to watch the Westminster Dog Show on TV. I caught it during a workout one day. I've never been, but it is a highly staged, rigorous show where you can watch amazing canines who are beautifully groomed, well-loved, and well bred, who perform in the ring.

I was sent a book to review and it is a lovely novel, but it also explains the ins and outs of this show, whilst incorporating a joyful story. It is poignant, well-written, and well-edited. Manning learned the inner workings of dog show kennels by writing an authorized oral history of a lifetime President of the Poodle of Club of America.

I can identify with the heroine, Bess Rutledge, 'a cranky seventy-year- old' who dreams of winning the show, but, like many of us, too afraid to try in case she fails. I've given up on my dreams as circumstances have changed, it's something many of us have to do. Like me, and many of my clients, Bess is down-sizing, which includes retiring from the work she is no longer able to do, but which gives her such pleasure. Many of my clients are living their golden years, still longing for their busy lifestyles!

"Mummy wants me to do what?"

My friend, Nancy, has a delightful standard poodle, Taffy, and Manning captures the energy and spirit of these dogs in her novel. I've seen the Taffinator in action. Such amazing dogs.

While the book is about standard poodles, another facet of the novel is the character of Benny, a fourteen-year-old young man with mild autism. I've had several special needs students with autism, and her characterization rings true. Being a woman with a Ph.D. in education, and possessing much experience in this field, it is what I expected. This is a good book for educators, as well.

This lovely lady sent me a hand-written note, thanking me for the anticipated review and hoping I will enjoy the book! Her kind spirit is reflected in her story.

Nancy's Taffinator

You can tell by the photos of Taffy, Nancy's standard poodle, what their energy and spirit is like. Boundless, and playful.

Sure, Taffy could compete!

Taffy's the best!

Almost Perfect 
A New Novel By Diane Daniels Manning

Author Bio:
  Diane Daniels Manning is the co-founder and director of The New School in the Heights, a therapeutic school in Houston, Texas which helps children dealing with social-emotional challenges find success in school and life. She has a Ph.D. in Education and a post-doctoral Master of Public Health (MPH) from Harvard and is a practicing child psychoanalyst certified by the APA. Formerly, she was the Director of the Reading and Learning Disabilities Clinic at Tufts University, Lecturer and Research Associate in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at Harvard, and Chair of the Department of Education at Tulane University. Her writing awards include the Faulkner-Wisdom Novella Prize and the Women in Film and Television Short Script Competition.

When not at The New School, Diane and her writing partners, a Standard Poodle named Misty and a rescue cat named Elvira, convene at the keyboard to share great thoughts and plan the dinner menu.
 

Our crows have spring fever...

Buster on Oliver's Lot

Buster under the sumac on top of 2' of snow.

–as does Buster Brown! Buster was out listening for mice. (I captured Daisy on film digging one out! See cat and mouse!)

The blue bucket under the feeder was for water, although the deer thought it was a blue cat and were deeply suspicious. They'd been lapping up the meltwater under the feeder and I felt sorry for them. Mistake!

The natives are restless. Everyone is at the bird feeder; American crows, Red squirrel, Black squirrel (they estivate, not hibernate) and the first returning bird, a Grackle. (Robins overwintered this year. The fruits on the trees were plentiful.)

It's been unusually cold, for March. Today, it was -14 C. when I got up. The snow storm seemed to cause a crow meeting in the tree tops. Not so much a murder of crows, as a conversation, with a little creative input from my hubby!

   "It's been a long winter, huh?"
   "Yep. Just like the winter of '02! Do you remember?"
   "Do I ever. So cold I told the wife we should migrate. She thought the idea was for the birds. We're American Crows, for gawd's sake. Man up! And the only road kill in FLorida is alligators. Have you ever tried to peck one of those things when it's gone? Besides being a bird that survives the Canadian winter is really something to crow about!"
   

Grackles are back!

Life cannot be classified in terms of a simple neurological ladder, with human beings at the top; it is more accurate to talk of different forms of intelligence, each with its strengths and weaknesses. This point was well demonstrated in the minutes before last December's tsunami, when tourists grabbed their digital cameras and ran after the ebbing surf, and all the 'dumb' animals made for the hills. 

    ~B.R. Myers, author (b. 1963) 

Book Review: Balance; The Business – Life Connection

Balance

We all need balance. We balance our home, work, and play activities. We balance our stress by what we do, or don't do. We make careful choices as we chart our course in life, if we are successful.

This book is as much of an autobiography as it is a How-To-Be-Successful book. Ironically, I read the first half whilst watching my cat hunt mice under the snow pack on a -5˚ C. day. She successfully dug up the mouse out of the snow, but didn't catch it as it fled this way and that.
The mouse ran away from the cat (I caught it on video!)

cat and mouse

It was a metaphor for work-life connection. She sat, waited, listened, practiced her pounce, found the right time and jumped on its head, but the prize ran away. More often, we learn from our mistakes, rather than our successes.

Luck, on the other hand, is when preparation meets opportunity. This is one of the strongest messages of the book. Find your goal, aim for it, but understand when it's time to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. Our children, they say, will have more than one career path in their work lives. Certainly, since we are living longer, many of us are finding new goals in middle age, and have the wherewithal to pursue them.

On the shoulders of giants

Cusumano begins with the premise that we learn by perching on the 'shoulders of giants.' This is very much illustrated by Dr. Phil's concept of Five Pivotal People, not so much giants. I found that Cusumano's giants were a mix of giants (successful business people) and influential people in his life, beginning with his mother and father, but more, his giants were mentors. To my mind, this is an important part of business success, finding mentors. People who will give you wise counsel.

Now, we should be reading about successful personal strategies, since they have clues to success, but I'm not sure that I learned any lessons from the book. His target audience is quite specific: entrepreneurs and business owners.

Inspired and Conscious Leadership

He does provide some good tools, after his sections on how and why he was so successful (p. 27), based on education and achievement. He illuminates on creating your vision and mission in life, ethical principles that will guide you. He provides a means by which you find you inner compass, core values, and does and don'ts; e.g., "Don't be trapped by someone else's dogma."

Born 1942

Also, Six Spheres for Growth:

1. Professional Values
2. Financial Values
3. Relationship Values
4. Spiritual Values
5. Health Values
6. Knowledge Values

All these are important parts of existential development, he writes of finding your passion, building a successful business, Inspirational Leadership® (Inspirational Leadership-Pt. 1;PDF), performance reviews and Conscious Capitalism.

Ethical Principles

I agree with his ethical principles. His highly successful Chateau Mcely resort, in the Czech Republic, is a testament to the new world paradigm he espouses: to 'stimulate thinking as to how our world can safely and expeditiously transition to a new paradigm, a "new way of being".' I certainly agree with him that,

'The current paradigm based on excessive utilization of resources without regard to the impact on the environment and on the lives of others, may have worked since the inception of the industrial revolution, but it is now a very dangerous trajectory for the future of humanity.'

Writing Style

I edited a book my friend wrote and she did the same thing that Cusumano did, she managed to enclose in "quotes" words she wanted to "emphasize." It is a bit disconcerting.
It was well-written, although the first autobiographical section seemed to illustrate a perfect life that the author led. His scientific achievements and business decisions were highly successful, but a bit tedious to read, with much repetition.

Balance; The Business – Life Connection – (Personal Growth/Self-Empowerment/Business)  How does a 1950’s preteen from Jersey go from Rock n’ Roll crooner, to movie producer, to pharmaceutical CEO to Owner of a Chateau in the Czech Republic?  Learn how pursuing your passion to establish BALANCE  in your life.   

[ Read Chapter 1 (PDF)] 

The mouse ran away from the cat

What a lovely afternoon! We cleared yesterday's 3" of snow. Today, the sun is out and I sat in the backyard, reading a book. Daisy and Buster were there, too. Daisy sat on my lap for an hour, Buster sat on the bench. We've been doing this on nice afternoons. The last time Daisy and I heard a coyote howl. It was a bit scary!

Eventually, Daisy took off. She walked slowly across the snow, then stopped and paid keen attention to the snow. I don't know if you remember the fox video that had entertained people, but this was Daisy's strategy, too.



Daisy nearly caught a mouse from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
Just like the foxes, she sat, listened, pumped her hind legs, and pounced.

Spring fever: we're rearranging hubby's office

They're both in camouflage!
Sadie at the head, Dorah at the foot of the bed.

Poor old Sadie. She likes to sleep on her bed in the office.

She likes Dorah, who is fairly benign. Daisy follows her, in total fascination, whilst Buster likes to tease her and taunt her into playing. She won't have any of it.
She likes this room, as Buster doesn't usually go in and she can sleep safely.

We seldom use it as a guest room anymore. We decided to change it up. Hubby needs more space for his historical books. They never have them at the library, even if he buys one and donates it, they are usually sold rather than shelved. The library isn't eager to take up shelf space for these particular books. We needed more shelving, but also needed a spot for Sadie.

Sadie loves *her* office!
She looks out the window at the birds.

Of course, the big deal was to find a spot where she could sit with hubby, who is her favourite person in the whole world. First, we went to a Smiths Falls 2nd hand shop. I spotted a great dresser. We negotiated, did you know they were having a 30% off sale?!

Sadie didn't know how to get up on the dresser. We added another table. Nope. Look who likes the bed.

Tried this first.

Sadie could sleep up here!
Plus lots of storage!

Daisy, the little twerp, has taken it over.

It's a better arrangement, the cat bed for Sadie.
Except she won't get into it.

This is how hubby feels about these changes! Soon, "all will be revealed!" Grampa started this with the girls last year!

changes from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Rather than taking to her new room, Sadie has taken over the guest room bed, on the double bed, which is where Daisy usually sleeps.

This WAS Daisy's spot.

This is her usual look for me.
I'm the one that captured her and she's never forgiven me!

Do you ever get a phone call and no one is there?

We have, in the past couple of days. I am deeply suspicious.

Fabulous phone for
someone with dementia

There are a lot of phone scams about.

I did *69 and found the number: 416-342-9708. Then I did reverse look-up, as well as a Google search.

They say it is a Telus number, but I am dubious.

snopes.com: 'One Ring' Scam
Jan 30, 2014 - One-ring scam: Telephone customers return hang-up calls from foreign ... normal phone lines, letting the phones ring once before hanging up.


Calgarians warned of latest 'one-ring' phone scam - Calgary Herald


Feb 4, 2014 - In the one-ring scam, the phone will ring and hang up when or before the recipient answers. Those who are curious enough to call the number are billed.

What I think is that someone is doing this in order to have you sign up for a monthly reverse look-up account.

Here is an old scam:

snopes.com: #-9-0 Phone Scam

Upon contacting the telephone company we were informed that by using 90# you end up giving the individual that called you access to your telephone line and ...

Wicked mouse hunters

Daisy mouse hunting

What a lovely day! We took the opportunity to go into Carleton Place and have lunch, while completing some errands. The sun was warm and lovely, despite the 2' of snow still on the ground.


Dorah drinks from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
Cats are fascinated with the meltwater on the driveway.

 When we arrived home, I took the cats out for a play while I filled the feeders, and hauled in some wood for the upcoming cold spell. Lo and behold, I found a deermouse in the seed bag. A chase ensued.

If I close my eyes you can't see me!

The deermouse cleverly climbed a tree and went right up to the top! Daisy, being only 7 lbs., followed it up. 

She did not notice when it came down, nor did I, as I was filling feeders!

The sun was warm and yet a storm was approaching. We expect 15cm or so...

The twins and the deer mouse from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
They sure chased it. Daisy, having inner bigness, followed the deermouse right up the tree. The deer mouse came down well before Daisy.
See more critters: fortunately some birders don't mind my cat photos!

Saturday's Critters #16

Womens World Curling 2014

Hubby has been following this tournie. Ironically, my client (who used to be a curler), watches it when I sit with him, too. He's been giving me some pointers (not that I will ever curl)!

Kids attended the recent
Dominion Tankard in Smiths Falls!

The clever teachers, who have been inspiring their students, had them create posters for each country in the tournament. Then, because some teams have fewer fans who attend than others, has the kids cheer for that team. It makes perfect sense, and it makes me proud to be a Canadian.

Each time our Canadian women play another team, TSN shows the poster created for that country.

It was fun because I celebrated the kids, teachers and their work, and the German Embassy favourited my photo of the poster for the German team. What a great lesson for the students. I always had kids do a research project on another country. They'd learn the flag, symbols, or do research about a particular historical event.

GermanEmbassyOttawa and 3 others favorited your Tweet

Mar 19: 

Love what the kids are doing! pic.twitter.com/NdKyk0sJ5n @CCACurling #ProudToBeCanadian