Category: Food

Lighter hearts

Listen children and let me tell you a story.

 

Once upon a time there was a man who loved a woman but didn’t want to live with her.  She was okay with that.  She had to move and at the last minute the landlord said no and at the last minute she had to make arrangements to move in with the man who didn’t want to live with her.  They lived together for years.  Their love ended.  Their living arrangement did not.  Six months went by.  The woman made arrangements to move into a shelter because she figured out that accusing a man of being abusive would move her up an intake list.  She called movers.  The day was set.

The elevator broke.

The man looked out across his life and wondered why despite all his rationality he believed that this event wasn’t random. Couldn’t be random.

 

 

Mike, Keith, Kate, Jeff and I got together yesterday.  Keith put too much pressure on one part of the hammock and it split.  We congratulated him on taking one for the team, because if it had broken when Katie was it in we all would have been very sadface, although an eight months’ pregnant woman would not get in a hammock.  Keith was uninjured.  Mike demonstrated yoga.  Keith rode off in search of beer.  I massaged Katie’s feet.  We mostly stayed on the back deck, as brilliant afternoon turned into brilliant evening.  Keith rode home after dusk; Mike drove home; I put Katie in a cab.  We ordered pizza and talked and were together and laughed.

So blessed.  I told Mike that we’re part of his tribe.

 

Chris O’Shea, filker, is responsible for this charming instafilk.

 

“I woke up ever so slightly later this morning …
… And I was feeling ever so slightly more blue.
Yes I woke up ever so slightly later this morning…
… and I was feeling ever so slightly more blue.
Hard to tell the difference from yesterday.
I’m sufferin’ from the Delta Blues.”

Milestones and mealtimes

Katie cooked dinner for me, Jeff, Keith and the Birthday Boy Hisself, Paul; it was roast beast, gravy, yorkshire pudding, asparagus, carrots and smashed potatoes.

It was very pleasant.  Poor Paul was late for his own dinner by the best part of an hour.  Planes don’t wait.

We were sitting in the dark in the back yard when a skunk wandered through (this years’).  Ayesha maintained a goodly distance.  She was all over Jeff, it was very cute.

Paul has NO PLANS to retire!  He really doesn’t look his age.

Drew, Tre’s baby brother, has been born, congrats and all well.

 

Nobody should care about my lunch

But it’s important to me, because Jeff caught the fish I am eating.

I’m having smoked salmon pâté with Natural Pastures brie, sliced purple onion, on a very expensive toasted crostata bun. With a side of raw baby carrots and Assam/Darjeeling blend tea.

Jeff is vacuuming downstairs. I should probably do something about the kitchen floor since he’s being so enterprising.

Just got off the phone with Sandra; she had a reasonably good visit with Paul and she just got buzzed by three pileated woodpeckers, so there’s that.  I hope the rest of his travels are safe and fair.

Today’s decrufting

Mostly today will be clothes and books. Katie needed her toesies dealt with (she don’t bend so good) so I gave her a mini-pedi, and then worried I’d taken too much off and called her. She said, “Aw, have you been worrying about it?” and I thought, well, no, but I was concerned.

Made word count and then some yesterday. I haven’t been practicing, but I’ll get busy today.

Jeff went fishing yesterday with his buddy Rob and caught a coho – we’re gonna barbecue and eat it today. Hm. I suppose I should see if I have to decap and gut it. (Just check, no thank god)

Charles Brackett’s Hollywood diary is about to be big news; he was Billy Wilder’s creative partner for more than a decade. He is alleged to have recorded Groucho Marx describing Victor Mature: “He looks like something the cathouse dragged in.” I suspect I will enjoy it. Anyway, here’s the article which brought the diary to my attention.

Thanks Jeff for brekkie.

Former rellies in law are encouraging me to move to northern BC. I am investigating, and may fly up there in September. There’s work, but sheesh the winters, and it would make getting to see the parents and grandbaby rather epic.

Increments

Sandra posted a pic I sent her of the Chanterelle mushrooms; it’s at the FAQ part of her site. I am also thinking of her these days; a mutual acquaintance is a professional German translator so maybe since all of her best customers are German tourists we can get her site translated.

I am getting fairly nasty arthritis pain and loss of mobility in my finger joints; practicing each day does not improve it, but I’ll lose all my skillz if I don’t keep on it. I’ve been practicing almost every day for a year now and everybody including me can tell. Bless Interfilk for sending me to Georgia! I had such a good time. I’ve got Conflikt 8 to look forward to… I’ve never missed one!

Paul took me walking in Oakalla (otherwise known as Deer Lake Park) yesterday. It was a simply gorgeous day, and we saw a green frog sitting up in one of the little ponds next to the walkway. Thanks be, they’ve put in a portable potty in the parking lot on the Royal Oak side, I sure needed it as I was exiting the walk. Then back to Geekhaus for beers on the back deck. Paul brought jello! it was a welcome respite from the heat. I got the ceiling fan fired up in my room and it’s been much more pleasant sleeping… most mornings these past two weeks I’ve woken up collared in sweat, bleaugh. I swapped parsley salad and nuts for the jello.

This morning I’ll be off to a late breakfast with my friend Sue.

Too darned hot

It’s been absolutely sweltering here in Vancouver, but some things are great….

The dogwood is in flower again, astonishingly, all over; it shines in the sun.

Still all happy about Guardians of the Galaxy. It won’t be as much fun the second time but I am looking forward to it.

Saw Zero Theorem, a film by Terry Gilliam, and it’s interesting. I liked the end and thought it made sense, Jeff was kinda meh about it.

Finally finished Europe Central; I’ll be heading back to the library today after my dentist appointment. I’m having a filling replaced. Not looking forward to it.

Paul and I are supposed to get together and do something exercisy today. Maybe we’ll swim in Katie’s pool cause it’s damned hot for a walk unless we’re going up in the hills to hike.

Right now all the doors are open … we’re trying to cool the place down since it’s like an oven in here even with the air conditioner.

Thick cut porkchops for brekkie.

Breakfast adventure

We braved the Vancouver morning rush hour to get to the Tomahawk, the lamentably named Vancouver institution which has been serving breakfast since 1926.  It’s also directly upwind from a mosque – how tired they must get of the smell of swineflesh cooking.  It was lovely; we got to eat outside in a lovely arbour, hemmed about with nicely draped weeping sequoias and enlivened with the cheeping presence of a white crowned sparrow.  The food and service were excellent, but since it involves driving across town in rush hour to do breakfast, we won’t be doing that agin except for very special occasions. Like Jeff’s birthday.

On the way we got treated to the excrementally bad signage (go right, no not here you idiot, ignore that previous sign), being forced to stop in the Cassiar tunnel, and you KNOW how I feel about being forced to come to a standstill in a tunnel, and the ludicrously self important driving of many, many miscreants.  We stopped off at one of Jeff’s clients’ place of business on the way back to save him a trip and I got a little work done on the novel.

The Amazing Spiderman 2 is one half of a good movie.  The script made me long for lightning to strike, somebody, somewhere.  Jamie Foxx was entirely wasted and the little nimrod who plays Spidey, whose name escapes, has all the energy of re-wetted papier mâché.  The action sequences had us cheering; the talking sequences had both of us begging for swift unconsciousness.

Jeff enjoyed Dead Snow II – a Nazi zombie movie sequel that was, so I’m given to understand, more inventive, scarier and funnier than the first.  Zombies using a length of intestine to siphon fuel?  Clever people, these Germans.

Sandra informs me that her cat, Shadow, has been stomping around the house calling me, which is funny because all I did was take pictures of her butt and skritch her a few times, also I did the doorwarden cause you have thumbs thing a couple of times.  She is a magnificent beast, and a mighty hunter, which when the cabins get varmints is a good thing.

I made a meatloaf!  It is so garlicky that vampires two counties away suddenly feel ill at ease.

Today I may or may not make coleslaw.

Barry’s Bay

July 17

Today we went in to Barry’s Bay and in short order ditched the empties and got more IPA, went to the bank, got Sandra into a newly cropped set of hairs, visited the two grocery stores in town plus the health food store, and saw Clem.  Clem has a fine homestead on 120 acres just south of town. There’s a dock and lake and geese who march up and down and eat all the bugs and a dog with his own sandpit, (he was completely recessed in it when I came out, imagine being a dog encouraged to have your own little sandy pit) and an enormous garden and quaintly rusticating farm machinery and cars and a bunkhouse overlooking the lake and two big old wooden barns and fields of wildflowers including milkweed which meant there were monarch butterflies to be seen flitting among the flowers.  It’s like somebody took two generations of rustic Canadiana and mashed them together; the whole place was a photo op, and me with just my memories and neither camera nor smartphone. The message on the wind told me to go there and once I got there the beauty of the place put me into a high state of aesthetic intemperance. I mean this is a guy who can throw a busted geranium stalk at a wall, and it blooms. Entirely amazing. I am glad that the message on the wind did that.  And when I got back the message on the wind said CALL YOUR MOTHER and I did and when she didn’t answer I fretted.  Yes, I did, such a sap I am. Because you should call your mother, and certainly not assume the worst when it’s a lovely day and they are journeying in their VEHICLE OH MY GOD THEY’VE BEEN IN A CAR ACCIDENT THAT IS WHY THEY ARE NOT really, Allegra, wait upon events.

Now it is Friday already.  I’m going to go play with George.  Ah, 610 words later  I scrubbed out Sandra’s tub (I got the impression it was the epitome of filth and I’ve taken baths in tubs that were FAR less clean) including the interesting purple marks, and once it’s a better time of day to have the hot water on I’m going to have a soak – it’s a massage jet tub and working much better poor lamb since the filter was put on the water system.  The water is good but a tad too much iron.

Still kvelling on the radishes Clem gave me yesterday.  He pulled two ordinary sized and four potato sized radishes out of his immense garden and I IMMEDIATELY took them home and cut them up with a) rather more salt that you’d think justified or necessary b) fresh ground black pepper c) enough pecans to make it interesting, two palmfuls say and d) drizzled all over with white balsamic vinegar.  I ate ALL of it in two sittings and nothing repeated because fresh radishes don’t repeat.  Also amid yesterday’s comestibles was the amazing beef liver and pineapple with onions and ginger. The beef liver was barely thawed and barely cooked, set aside, then the fresh cut pineapple was added to the reduction and then the onions and ginger were cooked in what was left over from that and then it was all added together.  The first bite had me sliding off my chair with my eyes rolling back in me head, ’twas of such surpassing excellence.  mOm, you would have been enchanted.  We ate it over noodles from the previous day’s linguine and beef tomato sauce.  Then we watched the Bobby Darin biopic, in which Kevin Spacey once more reveals himself to be an actor of such calibre that I can’t imagine there’s a role he couldn’t convincingly play.

Wrote a little ditty on the 17th – think I’ll go practice now.

Life is beautiful, for the guest…..

Earlier in the day I watched Sandra work.  Apart from being her driver, turning a few lights on and off, scrubbing the tub and pulling some weeds I have loafed and lazed with startling ease; I have neither touched a dish nor cooked a meal since I got here (I don’t count tea and toast).  It’s marvellous.  I wish the bedroom door closed all the way, but since Shadow isn’t in at night there’s no cat to come importuning and shedding half a campground of debris all over my bed at night. She was fresh off a catnip buzz when she came nuzzling this morning as we stood outside.  I performed a brief interpretive/vocative dance, addressing the spirits to send business Sandra’s way.  It’s glorious, and the campground is practically empty.  Sigh.  As soon as I finished my dance a car pulled in but it was somebody in the cabins. Sandy really could have had me going there….

Trip to Bancroft

Flying squirrels have a really weird distress call.  There are plenty of them here.

Yesterday we made the trip to Bancroft since the weather didn’t cooperate with respect to grass cutting.  We provisioned and avoided big piles of junk food or beer.

Military aircraft just went by about 30 meters off the deck.

The cat here, Shadow, is an elegant longhaired tortoiseshell who hides in the catnip bush and minces through the tall grass.  I’ll have pics later.

Today I pulled tall grass out of the rose bed and deadheaded the roses.  They will probably set on more blooms.

The Least Flycatcher female sat still and let me admire her, then her hubby came by and told her to move along.

Sandra made me roast lamb and red wild rice and I just et a really fabulous mulligatawney soup.  World is a tasty place here.

I hope everybody is having a good day.

A child I once went on a camping trip with has turned out to be an evilly-reputed international call girl.  What a world.

a reasonably satisfactory day

I got to hang with Katie and Paul, and it was lovely.  We ate on the deck overlooking the Fraser at Wild Rice at the Quay. I didn’t think much of the kangaroo buns (kangaroo meat is gamey) but the chicken wings were the best I’ve ever eaten, and the lamb gyoza and vegetarian spring rolls were esculent, and the gluten free chocolate cake served a la mode was nommers.  Prior to that I hung out with Suzanne (we ARE going to be joint grandmothers, so…) and that was also a most satisfactory visit. Prior to that I hung out with Katie and visited Village de Valeurs and picked up travelling clothes as I don’t have any summer weight pants or shorts.  Prior to that I took Jeff to breakfast.  It was a really really tasty day.  Also showed Otto off and practiced lots.

Today, laundry and packing for the trip east.

Farmers Market

After five years we’ve finally gotten to the Burnaby Farmers market.

The radishes are so yummy and crunchily perfect. We came away with pork chops, potatoes, blueberry pie, radishes, carrots, artisanal chocolate (lemon basil OMnomG), snickerdoodles and egg bread. Brilliant, brilliant sunny day in the lower mainland, full of wonderful things to do.

Iran and Argentina are going at it for the World Cup; there was a hilarious joke on the internet this morning which I repeat here for your amusement; “What’s the difference between England and a tea bag?”  “?” “The tea bag stays in the Cup longer.”  Seeing has how my grandad played for the Sons of England futbol club in Saskatoon back in the day, I should prob’ly have more respect.  But no, I really don’t.

It is a strikingly gorgeous day.  I am still feeling the effects of Keith coming over here and helping with the lawn, because a) he just melted me with maternal pride, and b) it really needed to be done and c) I did the weed whipping and my shoulder hurt afterwards but more in a “Ha you used it” not “OMG I’m dying” kinda way.

Dog listens to music.

Rounding up

Marylke’s taking me to Spamalot tonight!  Woot!

The slow leaking death of the commentariat. Metafilter founder has some comments.

I won’t believe it until the cat is sleeping on the results.  Washerless clean clothes.

Wanna know the current position of the ISS?

According to the Ubisoft What’s Your Hacker Name meme going ’round the internet, my pOp’s hacker name is M4ster Zero, and mind is Sh4dow Root.

Jeff loaned me the car yestterday, and I feel much better today!

The tiramisu I bought from Balkan House Restaurant yesterday was freezer burned, then thawed and left at a nasty temperature, and then re-refrigerated.  It took about 45 minutes for the taste to get out of my mouth but I guess it had so many preservatives in it that it couldn’t sustain microbial life.  Jeff, don’t eat it.  I should go throw it out.

I ran into a pest control specialist yesterday who told me to abandon all previously purchased music programs and get this instead.  I don’t feel like spending a thousand dollars on something that won’t likely run on either of the computers I currently own, but it sure would be nice to be able to sing into a computer and have notation spit out the other end.

A crazy ass seagull banged its bill repeatedly into the front door at work.  Scariest sound I’ve heard in a while.  In more pleasant news there are many geese families right out front of work right now but you can’t get too close because the parents will assault you.

Interviews for my replacement have commenced; the good candidates all want too much money.  I don’t imagine they’ll get somebody like me any time soon for the price.  And that’s the last I’ll complain on the subject, and I’m not naming names.

 

Pictures of food

There is a long standing tradition of people showing other people food on the internet.  And there’s a long standing tradition of people being bitchy about it.  If you google “people who take pictures of food” you will get an assortment of comments, some going so far as to say that it’s a sign of mental (deep breaths) illness, that it’s selfish, that it’s faux-arty, that it’s a status thing, that it’s a hyped up kind of cluelessness with a side of privilege.  I suppose it could be all of those things, but I like putting the scalpel in past the bone.

I return to my original thesis, which is that every human behaviour has its roots in biology, and that the cultural overlay determines how we express that biology. Nature brings the players and the culture determines the game, so to speak.

From the top; in a state of nature, human beings share food with close family and kin; the traditions of hospitality, of sharing food with strangers, goes back so far that in my view it’s one of the behaviours that allowed humans to differentiate themselves from animals when we became self aware.  Bonobos, who share just under 99 percent of human DNA, share food, trade food and bribe with food among and across troupes.   In a state of nature which includes the internet, we will share virtual food with our virtual friends, most of whom exist in real life and aren’t going to judge the living fuck out of us for wanting to prove that we get to eat yummy food.  The reasons for doing it are the same as we do in real life.  We will share out the yummy stuff, and that is what we prefer to remember.  I don’t see people posting pictures of the power bar that prevented them from passing out from low blood sugar, or the lunch they brought from home; they share pictures of high quality calories and artful tastiness.  Sometimes if they get something gross they will share a picture of it; “I bit into my KFC and lookie here at the special treat they gave me!” because they were disgusted and they know that even total strangers will see the picture and feel the disappointment, disgust and aggravation they felt.

Pictures of food are a completely normal and natural movement of our biology into technological space. You can shame people into doing it less, but you aren’t going to stop them, and even the people who say they never do it or find it really offputting occasionally do it.  Enough with the shame.  We’re sharing food, and IF YOU WERE HERE you could have some. I’d really like you to join me!

Paddy’s wake starts at six on Friday.  Mike and I are going.  It is going to be very tough and probably some fun too, as wakes often are. We must love each other while we can.

Had a lovely long chat with Katie and a briefer one with mOm to catch her up, yesterday.  Now to see if I can get Jeff to watch Costumes of Assholes with me.

 

 

Gratitude

Rev Samaya did her thang at church yesterday, and it was a wonderful, chatty sermon on gratitude.  In gratitude for the weather gods lightening up, I actually got Jeff to examine the gas mower and get it running (after sitting idle all winter I didn’t find myself competent or comfy with doing that, and I am very glad I did the mowing yesterday because the grass was getting big enough to hide hunting cats in.  I also made meatballs.  They are quite tasty, Jeff appears to approve.

It was a restful weekend, and I’m ready for more training.  I think I’m getting my feet under me, but I should not be over confident….

Cousin Alex fed Keith and Paul yesterday, which was awesome.

It wasn’t very good banana bread

But it all got et anyway.  It certainly wasn’t good enough for church but Jeff didn’t mind.  I took some nice bag tea into church, and Sue did too.  Soup lunch was yummy.

Yesterday was a laundry and church and mini relaxicon kinda day, with phone calls interspersed to various people.  I am woeing at the moment over various things, but I had a nice long talk with Sandy yesterday.  We were messing about with tarot again.  She asked recently for pull cards for purpose in life of various family members.  The deck was messing with me again and most of the cards were correct if reversed.  I said to the deck, are you for real???? and pulled a card she hadn’t asked for, for her.  It was the same card we pulled the last time, which had me laughing most immoderately, because that is what the deck is like.  Just at the point everything is random and screwed up, it reminds me to look harder.

Then I pulled the Hierophant for me.  (Sandra said, what you haven’t already?  I am incurious about some things.) Well well, telling me I’m an institutionally based spiritual authority less than a month after my last homily is not exactly a slap, but it was pretty funny, and got me thinking.  I know that UUism is my spiritual home but it’s annoying.  Do I set myself up in authority?  If so, what can I do to stop being like that?  I’m not a minister or even a good candidate for ministry (although given my gabbiness in the pulpit I get asked about it occasionally).

I was proud and humbled when this was read in church on Sunday. This is part of the context for the anti racism curriculum.

Brother Jerome called me!  He congratulated me on my new job.  (Woke me up from a sound sleep too, but other people are not responsible for keeping track of my goofy sleeping hours).  I forgot to tell him about how the Green Man came back into my life since he’s one of the few people who’d appreciate it.  I am so blessed in my friends, they’ve been really good to me.

Did cat coverage for Paul this weekend, Ayesha is a sweetie.

Yuck, I’ve had two spiders crawl across me in the last twenty four hours. I flung the last one onto the floor.  I hate killing them.

There is brie in the house. And fresh sourdough bread. And smoky, luscious Russian Caravan tea. I know what I’m having for breakfast!