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Andrea Murphy

@andreamurphy12.bsky.social
337 followers 373 following 871 posts

Lives near that river, in Ottawa, Canada. Has been known to edit & work in arts orgs. Appreciates your book posts.

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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
“And still more, later flowers for the bees”. (Maplelawn Garden, Ottawa, 5:30 p.m.)
Dusk. A walled flower garden, next to a Georgian-style stone house. Cloudy sky with sun poking through.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Crisp day, clear sky. Good to get out.
Along our neighborhood high street, a young fellow sitting outside at a café next to a yellow-leafed tree.Our shadows, as we walk along the Ottawa River, which is quite low.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
John Southworth, “Niagara.” Tin Angel Records, 2014. A favourite of mine.
A CD case next to two CDs: a red one that says Canadian side, and a blue one that says American side.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
3:50 pm. Lord give me strength not to let the sister I haven't seen in eight years (but who comes to town regularly to see our elderly mother) destroy my entire day, a beautiful day I might add, that went sour from the moment I looked at my emails this morning.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Canadian art history-related. The Ottawa house where artist Kenneth Lochhead (1926-2006) lived is for sale. A lot of his artwork can be seen in the photos so I'm guessing his wife lived on there. www.realtor.ca/real-estate/...
realtor.ca
Check out this listing
35 WILTON CRESCENT, Ottawa, Ontario   K1S2T4
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Sunday, 6 p.m. Gazing over at Quebec through the willows.
View through large willow trees of the Ottawa River from a café near Remic Rapids.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Hey, phlebotomist. You had one job. 😠
My very bruised arm after going for bloodwork today. (The person stuck the needle in too far.)
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The Happy Goat café at the National Gallery of Canada could be renamed the Crabby Goat. “We close at 5:00. After 4:30, no plates, and only takeout cups.” So you sit there eating your pricey sandwich on a piece of flimsy paper bag, feeling they can’t wait for you to go.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Ian bought this scarf for his daughter’s birthday and I think he looks good in it.
An older man wearing an an old grey hoodie and a magenta & brown scarf with a leaf design taken from an old French Toile de Jouy engraving.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
A friend sent me this AI cartoon version of a selfie we took recently. I am sort of horridly fascinated by it.
Heads of two women smiling. They are resting on the (unseen) steps of the Vietnamese Catholic church in Westboro, Ottawa. Saints in backround.AI cartoon version of the photo.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Just noticed Matthew Rankin's film "Universal Language" is playing on CBC Gem. Yay.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Years ago I was assistant to a young lawyer from Quebec City. Fed up with a group she was doing work for, she let loose with “gang de poireaux!” I asked her what it meant and she said “bunch of leeks.” Anyway this made me think of her. (R.I.P. Ève Poulin 🤍)
A display of leeks at a market. Sign reads “Leeks/Poireaux $3 or 2 for $5.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Seen at hospital gift shop. Gotta love the two “should be”s.
A small flowery paper plaque that reads “Family. Family should be where you can be your most complete self,” etc.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I noticed something was making a pretty shadow—prettier than the thing itself.
My shadow, holding an object that creates a pretty cut-out design.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
There's an ice cream truck roaming around our neighbourhood, loudly playing the opening of "Old Folks at Home/Swanee River" over and over. And I just read that it's Florida's official state song.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Weighting for the laundry to dry.
A backyard clothesline against a verdant background.Seen from behind, a man in a grey hoodie sitting on a back porch, lifting hand weights.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
For no particular reason I am just sitting here looking at map of the Great Lakes, and noticed this. (Sh, nobody tell him.)
Map showing the western part of Lake Superior. An area of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is called “Ottawa National Forest.”
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Clouds, 4 p.m.
Clear blue sky, big bright white clouds above a row of trees in downtown Ottawa.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
💥🥦💥
A burst-like display of broccoli at Parkdale market, Ottawa.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
"He spent many happy hours launching frozen chickens at jet engines in the wind tunnel at Uplands." - from an obituary in today's Globe for Ottawa engineer Phil Cockshutt.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
August 18. Watercolour sketching with a friend down by Hartwells Locks on the Rideau Canal.🤍
Viewed from behind, two women at a picnic table sketching, looking out on a grassy treed area alongside a canal.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
What’s wrong, little buddy? Do you miss the others?
Bottom of a single large tomato. It looks like a little sad face. ☹️Vegetables grown by a friend on her balcony in the Glebe (Ottawa). Tomatoes, both large and tiny, cukes, onions, and jalapeños.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Bee in bee balm.
Side view of a bee that is gathering pollen from a mauve bee balm flower.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Your book arrived today, @julianisland.bsky.social. (Ordered from UK, mailed from Malmo. 🤷) Looking forward to reading!
Outside. My hand holding up a small paperback: “Island” by Julian Hanna. Cover is black with a green and white image of a single palm tree on a tiny island.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I would never!
Display of peaches at Parkdale Market, Ottawa. A sign above says “Please don’t squeeze the peaches!”
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
One year ago today.
Head & shoulders of a woman (me) looking weak, grim and bald, after a fourth round of chemo for ovarian cancer.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
That's kind of alarming info about Adisoke, the huge new Ottawa Public Library that's being built. I was surprised that they had no copies of two Canadian authors I recently looked up: Morley Torgov and John Newlove. (You can only read Newlove if you go in person to The Ottawa Room.)
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
“May contain eggs.”
A packaged frozen silkie chicken.Close-up of same. It says “May Contain Eggs.”
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Hellish: It’s 30C and I’m sitting in the car at the grocery store waiting for Ian. Guy in the car beside me is idling, windows shut, his car idling, presumably so he can run the AC, working on his laptop. Aargh.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
My visiting sister discovered a car “spa” at 1112 Gladstone Ave., Ottawa, where they’ll clean your car thoroughly, inside and out. Run by Francis, this friendly Nigerian guy.
Exterior of Premium Detailing & Auto Spa.A fellow with a dazzling smile posing for me.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Find the typo!
An Ottawa Hospital sign with a typo. It says “Sklills and Simulation Centre.”
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Lazing about, reading.
Hand holding Gwendoline Riley’s “The Palm House.” A man (mine) is visible in the doorway. He has already read it.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
There is a kid somewhere in the neighborhood who’s been letting out very high-pitched squeals for more than two hours and I am wondering how she can keep doing that for so long without hurting her throat. (And yes, it is beginning to wear on me.)
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Bhat Boy’s painting outside Starbucks in the Glebe has developed quite the texture.
A painting, attached to a brick wall, outside, in the sun. Shadow of an umbrella over part of it.Detail of the painting, paint dried out and disintegrating.Close-up, detail of same.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Outside the grocery store, a young Ukrainian mom with two little kids saw me looking with curiosity at her bicycle. She told me she was taking these apples to her mother for jelly-making.
A pink bicycle with an interesting green-apple-carrying setup taped to the crossbar. Two Ukrainian books form the lid.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya. It is unbearable to think of him in an Israeli prison cell, beaten and tortured.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Last night’s viewing was “The World of Apu” (R). The little masked son reminded Ian and me of Lee Lai’s graphic novel Stone Fruit, which we just read. Both excellent, BTW.
B+W illustration from a graphic novel of a little running creature with big eyes and mouth and pointy face.From a GIF, a B+W image of a little child wearing a pointy mask with big eyes and mouth.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Oh, here comes the knife-ruiner! I suppose it could be a different guy, but they once wrecked a good French knife of mine. Don’t be fooled by bell-ringing quaintness!
A square blue truck going down a leafy street. “Carlo’s Sharpening Service” and sundry items that could be sharpened are painted on the side.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
They’re building a seven-foot fence next door. I suppose I’ll get used to it eventually. 😐
View through bedroom screen. A guy in stands on a ladder working on construction of a fence.View of fence construction. A shorter fence (ours) has been temporarily dismantled.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Who knew? I didn’t until today. Currently 34C, humidex 40.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Happy Canada Day! It began as a hot sunny day in the nation’s capital, then got very dark, with thunderstorms and rain. (I know this is dull but the heat really saps me.)
View from a front porch onto a leafy street. A Canadian flag hangs, attached to a rough wooden “pole” (branch).
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Reposted by Andrea Murphy
Shirley Tillotson @stillots1.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Thanks to @theglobeandmail.com for giving me a little space to talk about a moment in my life. I hope maybe it'll be useful to (possibly give a laugh to?)others with metastatic cancer? share.google/8dRbC0go2heN...
share.google
I am still physically fit, but metastatic breast cancer took away my ability to plan ahead
Patients are living longer with MBC but don’t tell them they look ‘great’ in spite of the disease
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Ottawa, Saturday, 6:30 p.m. Sitting by the rushing water of Hartwells locks on the Rideau Canal, admiring the structure of a pine cone.
On a sunny late afternoon, a hand holding up a pine cone, in front of a set of locks. Same, but showing base of the cone in all its remarkable geometry.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Walked along the river on this perfect solstice evening.
View through trees of the Ottawa River, looking across to Quebec.Remic Rapids, looking downstream  towards downtown Ottawa. John Ceprano sits looking at his rock sculptures.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
This is pretty disturbing. One detail: the Minister of Health met at least three times with CropLife, the pesticide lobbyists. Shudder.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
The physiotherapist put an app on my phone that dings three times a day with the message “It’s time to do your exercises!” The effect it has on me is this.
Upper legs of a person sprawled on a sofa.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Out for a little walk, I said hello to the fellow who’s been doing renovations nearby. I was curious and asked if he was from Ukraine. Close, he said. From Romania/Moldova. I ventured (showing off a bit) that Moldova used to be called Bessarabia. “Yes! Not many people know that.”
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Good thing you didn’t hear me when my partner told me the neighbour we try to avoid came over to ask if we’d like to contribute $4000 to the backyard fence he’s having built. 🤯
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Walk to the river, 7 p.m.
View through two white pines to the Ottawa River, across from Bate Island.
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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Rainbow, Ottawa, 8:20 p.m.
Residential street at dusk, rainbow in view. A father is letting his young kid “ride” an adult ten-speed bike.
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