iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

This prompted me to pull a book off my shelf. Interesting, but the tiny font makes it very hard to read!

A paperback copy of “The Prince and his Lady” by Mollie Gillen. Cover art shows the couple embracing in front of the Rotunda of the Lodge.

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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 · 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 · 20/09/2026

On the other hand, some of us hate it!

A display of books in a bookstore, with a hand giving the finger to Stoner.

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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

A stroll around Kiweki Point behind the gallery was a good head-clearer.

View from a Kiweki Point, Ottawa, looking across to the cliffs along the river’s edge, above which are the Parliament Buildings (undergoing a huge renovation).

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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.

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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 · 07/09/2026

Not a title, but I was tidying up and came upon this, thought you might like.

A card that says “This is to certify that (space for name with my name on it) is a citizen of NOWHEREISLAND / signed by Alex Hartley, artist”.

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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Source of yesterday’s shadow revealed:

One of those cardboard holders for take-out coffee.

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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 · 29/08/2026

Are these relatives of your mousies? (Spotted at a toy store in Westboro.)

A small display case with 3 toy mice hovering about a kitchen stove & sink. One is standing on a chair to reach the sink.

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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 · 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

Just to assure you you’re not the only old one here. ; )

Hand holding an R.E.M. cassette tape from 1998.

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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 · 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 · 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.

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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 · 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

A last glimpse before we are walled in.

Their fence in mid-construction. Our old fence being disassembled—“temporarily” we are assured. 🙄

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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 · 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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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 · 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 · 25/05/2026

Waiting to renew driver’s license. An Angine de Poitrine fan just came in.

Woman wearing polka dot pants, white dots on navy background.

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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

A sweet find at a small bookstore in Perth, Ontario, yesterday. Thanks, Peter Crabtree.

A hardcover book with a pattern of vaguely samovar-esque shapes on a dark orange background. Behind, a red box that it fits into.

Title page, “Anton Chekhov Short Stories” and an embossed circle with “Library of Peter HA Crabtree.”

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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

At the National Gallery of Canada the Helen McNicoll exhibition has just opened. Her work is impressionist, shimmering. There was a certain poignancy about it; she died of diabetes in 1915 when only 35.

Oil painting. “The Open Door,” 1913. A young woman in an interior just inside an open door with sunlight coming in. She is dressed in white and looking down at a cloth in her hands. On the left behind the door are garments hanging and a shaft of light coming under the door.

“Girl with a Washbowl.” A small
impressionist painting, oil on wood. A girl is sitting on a step in the sun, in front of a doorway. She is dressed in white with a pointed cap and her feet in dark boots are crossed. All warm tones, browns and creamy whites.

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Andrea Murphy @andreamurphy12.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

May 12, but still not quite warm enough to eat lunch outside.

Some avocado & cheese toast on a chipped blue and white ceramic plate. Pistachios and chocolate too, and a mug of tea.

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