dead end road

Click the pic for the latest in my Chebucto Road widening saga...

Loving Summer

Sunny and warm, summer has blown in with a gentle breeze. The back patio door stays open all day, as do most windows and the fresh air is exquisite. When I wake in the mornings and come upstairs to start the day, the air is already warm. I water the plants in the garden and delight in their growth. I drink my coffee on the back porch and leaving for work on my bike, I leave my sweater behind.

The days linger, long and light. Already there have been a few chances to swim in lakes. If only it could be summer forever.

Things here are good indeed. The baby keeps growing and Chris and I are happy to welcome her/him. Work is strong and good. And friends, family, cats and house are well. All manner of things, then, are well indeed.

Some pictures from our backyard. Much love to all of you! ~Miia

The Belly

The top two photos were about a month ago as she just starting showing a wee bit. The rest are recent and you'll notice two changes: 1) slightly larger belly and 2) a neat little temporary tattoo courtesy of our friend Isabelle, who recently returned from a trip to the Amazon with this cool plant-based tattooing ink.

Chebucto Disaster Planning

Hi folks, all is well with the pregnancy (baby is now the size of bell pepper, in case you were wondering, 5 inches long and 7 ounces). We'll try to get some belly shots up soon.

The first picture links to my latest column. The second links to a story I didn't write but that I've reported on - it's just FYI, sad conclusion to a sordid affair: cars 1, people 0.

Good News About Exposing the Bulldozers

Hi folks, some more exciting news for me today. I have been invited to join the Writer's Council of the Writers Federation of Nova Scotia. This, in my mind, sort of lands me as an official professional writer/journalist in this province. By year's end I should have a website up with the Federation featuring a list of publications, bio, and photo - sort of an online brochure.

Also, two stories in the Coast again this week. Click on the pics to see those. The second story is some surprising good news on a story I've been following for some time.

--CB

Quick Update

Hi all,

Quick baby updates: Miia's starting to show (we'll have to post some belly pics soon) which is super-exciting; and we've heard the baby's heartbeat on 3 separate occasions now (twice with the mid-wife and once with a nurse practitioner). The first time we were so excited we cried. Baby's heart is beating a steady 140+ beats a minute.

I leave you with a few pictures from Halifax's largest ever critical mass bike ride (which I wrote about in the Coast), the subsequent Bicycle Idol singer/songwriter contest, and a dandelion festival (which included a Samba/Bossanova concert and a stay in a windmill-shaped motel) we went to on the Northumberland Strait (NS side) last weekend, and a couple from around the house.

Liking Biking in a Faux Democracy with Fewer Schools

Three new publications this week: my Coast column, a Coast cover story/feature, and a cover story/feature for the NS Policy Review. The latter doesn't publish its stories online but I linked to its table-of-contents just for fun. You can read the other two by clicking on the pictures: