We saw a TINY BABY BUNNY at the allotment plot! So small I could have held it in cupped hands, and teeny short ears. We did not get pictures, but it came near our feet & ate fallen rose petals!! Literally #TinyJoys

Yesterday I bought new earbuds at a big box shop. I asked about the return policy; the cashier told me, & asked why. “Because once I’ve bought these new I’ll find the old pair I’ve misplaced. See you tomorrow.” Today, I walked in to return them unopened. Wearing my old pair. #SmallOrdinaryMagic

The world is burning; so many leaders are turning towards fascism (or are already there) & encouraging cruelty for its own sake (& b/c it’s profitable); “AI” is encouraging people to think less critically or not at all. Today the air is fresh & the garden is beautiful. All of this is true at once.

Just spent a delightful hour listening to CBC’s Ideas, the 1st of 5 talks on Inventing Peace recorded at Stratford in July. This one concerned the Northern Irish Good Friday Accord; among the speakers was a beloved prof from my Celtic Studies undergrad days, David Wilson. www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

Just discovered the “paused reading” option on Storygraph! I love it. I have a lot of books on the go, but some of them I put down a couple of months ago; I *will* go back to them, but they’re not really “current reading” and also not finished... This option makes me happy. #TinyJoys

Saw a muskrat swimming last week - it took its seaweed right under the dock on which I was standing. #TinyJoys

Mistakenly posted the photo instead of the video last night. #TinyJoys

I has flowers, but this bee has them more. #TinyJoys

My mom & I spent the whole day in our shared allotment plot, even though it was over 30 degrees celcius. Partway through the day we turned the hose to its mist setting & worked under it. I felt like a kid playing in the sprinkler. #TinyJoys #SmallOrdinaryMagic

Dill pickles & pink pickled white turnips (toorshi-style) - the turnips came from the allotment garden. #Homegrown #allotment #TinyJoys #SmallOrdinaryMagic

My shadow has a rainbow halo, which suggests that my shadow is nicer than I am, but definitely as queer. #TinyJoys #SmallOrdinaryMagic

While I read little of the NY Times these days (and it was the only American news I *did* read), I'm loving this line: "Have you longed for a show portraying the unification of the Hawaiian islands through the medium of Jason Momoa’s torso?" #TinyJoys

Cancelled my audible subscription this morning - the last bit of Amazon’s hooks in me - in favour of Libro.fm audiobooks. This way I still have lots of books to listen to (between them & my library), but I can support the wonderful @bakkaphoenix.bsky.social with my account. #TinyJoys

First black raspberry is ripe. #TinyJoys, #SmallOrdinaryMagic

It's catalpa-blossom time. ( #TinyJoys but it's not really tiny, since it feeds my heart in a time when so much of the world makes me want to scream.)

Yesterday: *we saw THREE swallowtail-butterfly caterpillars on the dill stalks at the allotment *the red currant berries glowed like small jewels against their leafy branches * a house finch kept us company while we worked Pics: 1 caterpillar & some berries, no finch. #TinyJoys #SmallOrdinaryMagic

The birdfeeder camera I got my mom is, right now, a squirrel-cam. It's kinda delightful. #TinyJoys

My cherry tree is FULL this year, and the fruit's just ripe. This is just one little bundle. #TinyJoys #SmallOrdinaryMagic

Celebrating the solstice before its actual 10:42 p.m. (EST) mark: bubbles & roses on my back deck.

Flanders poppies in the allotment garden & Lady of Shallott roses in the backyard. #TinyJoys #SmallOrdinaryMagic

Kind of madly in love with @amalelmohtar.com’s writing, as usual. Have you read The River Has Roots yet? Have you HEARD the audiobook, which has songs behind the narration? If you like British trad songs (especially “Bonny Swans” songs & Tam Lin tales) you NEED this. And oh, the Professors’ Hymn.

The first peony in my garden has begun to open.

"Nobody’s born unwedged between dirt and sky." From Monica Gomery's poem "The End Is the Beginning", in the Poem A Day feed this morning: poets.org/poem/end-beg...

It’s book day! My audiobook was delivered this morning, and the physical copy is waiting for me at Bakka-Phoenix books, already signed by @guygavrielkay.bsky.social. Looking forward to the read AND the listen, narrated by @simvan.bsky.social.

Again: giving Premiere Doug Ford a majority was a Really Bad Idea(tm). Bill 5 will, among other things, remove protections for endangered species in favour of fast-tracking building projects & no longer needing environmental oversight. Indigenous lands, green spaces? Bye. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

And, for those folks celebrating May Day as a day of resistance/labour day/day of activism, either in addition to or instead of the comin’-in of summer: youtu.be/INy0ewoqD4g

May 1st #SongOfTheDay 🎶 youtu.be/9Ruvmo5bCGg

Toronto fans of G.G.Kay:

This is how my garden grows. And Lady Jack Skeleton is feeling springy.

Oh, I SO want to see this live - Liz Duffy Adam’s play Born With Teeth - and casting Ncuti Gatwa as Marlowe seems like a great choice. Maybe it will at least get streamed eventually, since it’s the Royal Shakespeare Co. www.rsc.org.uk/born-with-te...

Some of you know that I saw & LOVED the Donmar Warehouse production of Macbeth w/ David Tennant & Cush Jumbo. MarqueeTV just made it available for streaming, and I will be re-watching it (multiple times) with headphones, as the live audience did. www.marquee.tv/videos/donma...

Yesterday's wildlife: a coyote in High Park.

Today's campus wildlife photo: one groundhog. I hadn't seen her in ages.

Lady Jack skeleton's hat looks good with the flowers coming up today.

My reading list just got a LOT longer. And I was already excited for Kay’s new book. www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/a...

Today is, of course, St Patrick's Day. But it's also the feast day of St Gertrude of Nivelles, a 7th C abbess recently lauded as patron saint of cats & gardeners. I posted garden snowdrops yesterday, so here is Wee Dangerous Spike at the top of my four-poster, with Awfully Brave Turtle below.

There are snowdrops coming up in my yard. These are worth celebrating.

Anybody in Toronto wanna own a mystery bookstore?

Entrepreneurial mystery book lovers in Toronto! The owner Toronto's mystery bookstore, SLEUTH OF BAKER STREET, is retiring. He is looking for someone interested in taking over the bookshop, gave me permission to post publicly about this. sleuthofbakerstreet.ca #Toronto #IndieBookstores

On hold with my internet service provider over two hours now. They note that even on-hold parts are recorded, so I’m singing along to the muzak - sometimes making up lyrics, sometimes scat-singing, sometimes singing old songs to the faux-jazz riffs. Sometimes belting Hamilton at the top of my lungs.

Fairy Tale & Folklore collagues: Recordings from the Disability and Fairy Tales Symposium are now available online. I haven't listened yet myself, but will do so soon as I'm definitely interested in the subject. www.disabledtales.co.uk/programme-20...

Is anyone else wondering if Deranged King Donald’s tarrifs (and the extortion that accompanies them) are intended to force other nations to side with him on the day that he openly allies the US military with Russia?

Well, a few weeks ago it was a beaver in a local pond, and yesterday it was a mostly black skunk on campus. And today I am sitting (briefly) with the windows open in my bedroom, listening to a TORRENT of bird chatter: sparrows, jays, cardinals, and starlings. No pic of them, but here's the skunk.

Ontario Premiere Doug Ford has tried to brand himself “Captain Canada” in the run-up to this (entirely unnecessary) provincial election. I’d be fine with that if I thought he was actually going to punch Nazis instead of cozy up to them in Washington.

Sprocker Assist & Rescue, a nonprofit organisation that rehomes Sprocker Spaniels, is holding a fundraising auction right now. In honour of our Sprocker, Lottie, I've donated a copy of my novel The Wood Wife -- which I'll sign and mail to the winning bidder anywhere in the world. More info below...

Went for a walk in the Brickworks on the weekend, and saw lots of wildlife. This was the best, though.

Lady Jack Skeleton has a nice Carnival-ish hat, and doesn't mind the snow.