Found Poetry

Thumbing through a book on Frank Lloyd Wright architecture at the Friends of the Experimental Farm used book sale on Saturday, I came across the following handwritten note.

Desire

A red jacket
good hoop earrings
a DVD player with VCR
digital camera
someone to design my interior!
joy!
sex before dinner

time to read
time to do embroidery projects
someone to shovel my sidewalks

a clean house --> cleaning lady

diamond engagement ring.

 

Logan and Molly

Logan and I went to Montreal today to help celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday. Logan finally got to meet his cousin Molly (excuse the lousy cropping).

Duncan decided to stay home with his drinking buddy.

The Good Old Days

Not a very eventful night last night. Duncan and I just sat around with our knitting and reminisced about the good old days. It went something like this:

Duncan-the-DogCat (DDC): Remember the days when I would bring a mouse upstairs and knock it around the livingroom like a punching bag?

GeeSee (GC): I remember.

DDC: And remember when you would give me snacks and try to distract me?

GC: I remember.

DDC: And remember when the only thing that would REALLY distract me was a big can of tuna fish? Those were the good old days, eh?

GC: I miss Zoom Zoom.

DDC: Meow.

When the Girl's Away...

Picture this... I was playing Bejewled on the computer in the living room. Duncan was pawing me and meowing. I said "DUNCAN, NOT NOW!!!" The next thing I know he's playing with his catnipped mouse, swatting it across the floor the way he normally does and then pouncing, except he usually stops after a few swipes. This time it was going on for a while so I stopped to observe.

It was alive... the catnip mouse was alive!!!

It looked just like one of Duncan's toys except it had eyes that moved!!!

It was curled up in a fetal position and then he swiped it again. It rolled and quivered. Duncan picked it up and moved it across the floor and kept playing. I didn't know what to do. That poor mousey. I tried to give Duncan a salmon kibble snack but he wouldn't take the bait. I even shook his catnip container. That usually makes him excited with anticipation, but this time he only paused. He looked at me. He looked at Mousey. He looked at what I was holding. He swatted Mousey again and chased it across the living room floor ignoring the catnip. He was enjoying the moment. No point in getting stoned!

The way he handled that mouse, I wondered how Mousey could possibly still be alive. I had to DO something. I formulated a plan. I took 2 of Logan's poop bags out of my back pocket and doubled them up. I went to the fridge and pulled out some of Duncan's dental treats. I tossed them near Duncan and when he paused for a moment. I scooped up Mousey and put him on the back porch.

Then I felt doubly bad. I had taken away Duncan's pet and there was a mouse suffocating in a poop bag on the back porch. Duncan ate the treats and then looked everywhere for Mousey. I went out back and carefully emptied the bag in the laneway. I figured perhaps the drizzle might revive Mousey and he would live to tell the tale of the Monster Dog Cat... or another neighbourhood cat would cart him off as his own.

Duncan went back to the basement and sat in the bathroom staring at the hole in the wall in the cupboard. It's a fairly large hole. He just sat. I went to the computer and every 5 minutes I went back to check on him. Duncan was still there, just sitting and staring, occasionally glancing up at the ceiling. One time I went back and he wasn't there... nowhere. I looked through the laundry room, the storage room, everywhere. There was no sign and no sound. I figured he must have gone into the hole in the wall.

It was midnight... I was alone! My sweetie is away. How I miss her!!! There was a mouse on death's doorstep lying in the gutter in the back laneway. My cat had disappeared into the tunnels beneath the house. How could I possibly go to bed?!

I lay down and read. Eventually I drifted off. In the middle of the night, I awoke to Duncan licking my face. I remember thinking "Ewww, he had mouse on that tongue" and I pulled him away from my face and we gently snuggled ourselves back to sleep.

Spanning Two Cultures

Zoom hosts Christmas and Easter dinners with a roast turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries, gravy and an assortment of vegetables. I host Passover and Rosh Hashanna dinners with matzoh ball soup, roast brisket, carrot tsimmis, kugel and an assortment of vegetables. Two cultures, lots of feasting!

"Tsimmis", a traditional Ashkenazi dish is a sweet vegetable stew and has become one of Zoom's favourite dishes from the Jewish fare.

Even though we just ate tsimmis days ago at the Passover seder, I offered to make another batch for Easter dinner at Zoom's house. It would be a test to see if tsimmis could hold it's own with a non-Jewish crowd.

Well it was such a hit that I promised to post the recipe.

Fruit & Vegetable Tsimmis*
3/4 cup pitted prunes
3/4 cup dried apricots
1/3 cup raisins
2 lbs carrots, peeled and sliced
1 sweet potato, peeled, quartered & sliced
1/2 cup honey
14 oz can pineapple chunks, drained (reserve 1/2 cup liquid)
1/2 cup orange juice
salt & pepper to taste
2 tsp margarine
1 tsp cinnamon

1. Soak prunes, apricots and raisins in boiling water for 1/2 hour, until plump. Drain well.
2. Meanwhile, cook carrots and sweet potato in boiling water until tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain well.
3. Mix together the drained prunes/apricots/raisins with the drained carrots/sweet potatoes. Add the reserved pineapple juice and all the other ingredients EXCEPT the pineapple chunks.
4. Place mixture in a sprayed 3 quart casserole and bake covered in a preheated 350°F oven for 35 minutes.
5. Stir in pineapple chunks and bake uncovered 15 minutes more, stirring once or twice.

*From MealLeaniYumm! by Noreen Gilletz.

Yours, Mine and Ours

Cookie Girl told me she was looking at the Ottawa Humane Society's blog and saw a couple of lovebirds up for adoption and their names were Robbie and Suzie, just like ours. What do you the think the odds of that are? She said we just HAD to go meet them.

And so we did and you know what, we fell in love with Robbie and Suzie.

So Cookie Girl and I ran to Pet Smart, bought all the things lovebirds need: a cage and toys and different kinds of pellets and seeds and perches, and then we scooted back to the Humane Society before Last Call for Adoptions.

As I looked over the adoption papers, I smiled when I saw listed as the birds' names "Romeo" and "Juliet". Cookie Girl asked me why I was smiling. I said "Nothing" and signed the papers. We are now proud parents of two 11-month old lovebirds.

"You know," I said to Cookie Girl in the car on the way home, "it might be a little corny to call them Robbie and Suzie. Maybe we should think of new names."

"How about Romeo and Juliet?" suggested Cookie Girl with a devilish smile, but we both agreed those were stupid names.

I think we'll go with Billie and Lester (Billie Holiday and Lester Young) unless you can think of something better.

Busy Weekend

The Castlebrook Village Breakfast Club is meeting Saturday morning and has kindly agreed to an early sitting so Cookie Girl and I can get to Wakefield for 10 a.m. I look forward to CV Breakfast Club because firstly I love to go out for breakfast and secondly because it will give us a chance to catch up on all of our summer adventures. Topics will likely include Trip to Wine Country - California, Trip to the Maritimes, New Vehicles, and Discussion of Past and Upcoming Surgeries. Who'd want to miss an agenda like that!

Following breakfast, Cookie Girl and I will zoom up to Wakefield for the Chelsea/Wakefield 2009 Artists in Their Environment Studio Tour. I'm not familiar with very many of the artists on this tour, but CG is pretty excited about it and she hasn't disappointed yet! Last night we bumped into Sue Glazer at the City of Ottawa Art Exhibit. Turns out Sue's jewellery studio is part of the tour.

Then, if that's not enough... it's THE CARP FAIR!


Who could forget the silly mirrors!

For those of you who missed the West End Studio Tour last weekend, you get a second chance. Look for our favourites Garry Bea Joyce and Andrew King.

Sweet and Sour

Nesting Instinct - 2007 - Reid McLachlan

It's Cookie Girl's Son's birthday Thursday and she always makes chicken balls for his birthday dinner. When Son of CG asked if we could do chicken balls Wednesday instead of Thursday, we realized we could now go to the Opening Reception of The Collection's Cabinet at the City Hall Art Gallery. One of my local favourites, Reid McLachlan, will have at least one piece on display.
Happy Birthday Son of CG.

The Dragon and the Hospital

On Saturday, I captured a dragon and then spent the night at the hospital, but I really don't have time to talk about it just now.

A New Addition

Logan joined us when my boys were 9 and 10. I don't remember his early days that well anymore. He was a fluffy little thing and as you can well imagine he was an instant hit and was loved by the boys. Logan was the object of someone else's affection though.

My niece Tali was born about 2 weeks before Logan. Tali lives in Montreal and Logan lives in Ottawa, close enough that she could see Logan from time to time but far enough that it was infrequently. Tali's older brother and sister were mildly interested in Logan, but it was Tali who would wrap her arms around Logan like a teddy bear and smother him with kisses each time she saw him.

Tali loves animals in general and at four years old she decided she would grow up to be a veterinarian. It was about that time she also decided she HAD to have a dog of her own. She cried and whined and stomped her feet. My brother and sister-in-law told her she COULD have a dog but only when she was old enough to care for one properly. She cried "when, When, WHEN??". She was told "When you're ten years old!" "That's SO-O-O long", she whimpered.

Meanwhile Tali called my house every couple of weeks to speak to Logan. She would say hi to me but would quickly ask to speak to Logan. I told her I would get him and then I would bark into the phone while she would say, "Hi Logey, I love you, I love you, I LOVE you. I love you SO much that I ADORE you". Then she would blow kisses into the phone. I would get back on the line and ask Tali what she said to Logan because his tail is wagging and he had a big smile. She would then repeat her whole conversation to me.

That went on for a few years. Eventually she "suspected" that I was the voice of Logan, but it was okay, she still enjoyed the charade. She kept asking her parents for a dog and her parents still held firm and told her she had to wait until she was ten. Tali put pictures of Logan all around her room. She read books about dogs and studied the different breeds. Time dragged on!

Tali still loves Logan and still wants to veterinarian. Last week she made a special phone call to wish Logie a Happy Tenth Birthday!

Yesterday Logan and I came to Montreal to meet the newest addition to the family. Here's Tali with her new dog Molly!

Does Anyone Really Care Where I Buy my Oatmeal?

The other night CG (Cookie Girl) and I discovered our newest most favourite health food store, Rainbow Foods on Richmond Road near Lincoln Fields.

Here's how it happened:

CG and I sometimes fall asleep in an embrace. One Saturday morning about a month ago we woke up in the same embrace we fell asleep in the night before. My shoulder and neck were KILLING me. I thought it would get better on its own after a day or two. Well it didn't.

Day 2: neck/shoulder massage given by CG;

Day 7: neck/shoulder massage given by Shannon at LiveWell on Centrepointe;

Day 11: read Jo Stockton's blog post about Shawn the Accupuncturist and thought that would be my next step if relief didn't come.

Day 20: saw Dr. Shawn... he stuck some needles in my upper back and the pain subsided a bit. He recommended the use of Traumeel a "magic ointment" and that I should apply ice for 20 minutes at a time. All those things "sort of" did the trick... The pain is 90% gone.

Day 27: saw Dr. Shawn again, this time to discuss natural solutions for some of my age-related stuff. I take medication for diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol. These are all borderline conditions (but just over the border) and the meds help keep it all under control but if I alter my diet slightly, and walk Logan more often that may be all I need*.

Anyways, long story short, Dr. Shawn gave me a diet to follow (which included oatmeal!) and suggested a couple of supplements. One supplement was only available at NutriChem Pharmacy on Richmond Road. While looking for the pharmacy I found Rainbow Foods and went in to check it out. Didn't have much time to explore because I had to get back to work but noted that THIS would be a cool store for me 'n CG to visit.

So we did ...just the other night and as expected CG loved it and we bought lots of stuff.

These are some of the things I picked up:

1. a tin of John McCann's Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal;
2. a jar of pure Smooth Cashew Butter;
3. a box of Ginger Yogi Tea.

They also make great homemade soup vegetarian soup for lunch.

*NOTE: I haven't discontinued my meds, but I'd like to eventually if I can retake control of my blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure through diet and exercise.

Does Anyone Really Care What I Eat for Breakfast?

Here's how I made my oatmeal this morning:

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup steel cut oatmeal
2-1/4 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
1 inch cube of fresh peeled ginger
2 cloves
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper

Put all the above into a pot, bring to a boil, lower heat and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring every once in a while.

While that was happening, I did the following:

1. fed Logan (1 cup dry Eukenuba for large seniors with 5 squirts of Omega-3);
   
   
2. let Logan in the yard to greet the kids walking to meet their school bus;
   
3. emptied the dishwasher;
4. made a strong capucinno (using 3 shots of espresso);
   
5. prepared my bowl (more of a small casserole dish) to receive the oatmeal:
   • handful of fresh raspberries
   • handful of fresh blueberries
   • kiwi peeled and cut into cubes
     
   • handful raisins
   • handful of chopped unsalted cashews
   • 1/2 teaspoon of each cinnamon, ginger powder
   • 1 teaspoon brown sugar;
6. put the oatmeal in the dish and top with leftover steamed milk from step 4;
   
7. put a little oatmeal (2 tbsp) in Logan's food bowl;
8. let Logan in.
9. WE EAT!
   

I'm a Balanced, Secure and Realistic Guy

When my partner and I visit art exhibits or galleries, we sometimes play a little game. If a number of paintings or other pieces of art are in close proximity, we each choose the work of art we prefer and then see if we agree. Most of the time we do agree but occasionally we don't. Art, after all is subjective and people have different tastes. But did you know that you can determine your personality type from the type of art you like. Today at Haphazard Life, Jazz linked to an art test that makes that claim and this is what it said about me (I'm not sure I like it):

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test...

Balanced, Secure, and Realistic.

6 Impressionist, 1 Islamic, 3 Ukiyo-e, -11 Cubist, -9 Abstract and -2 Renaissance!

Impressionism is a movement in French painting, sometimes called optical realism because of its almost scientific interest in the actual visual experience and effect of light and movement on appearance of objects. Impressionist paintings are balanced, use colored shadows, use pure color, broken brushstrokes, thick paint, and scenes from everyday life or nature.

People that like Impressionist paintings may not alway be what is deemed socially acceptable. They tend to move on their own path without always worrying that it may be offensive to others. They value friendships but because they also value honesty tend to have a few really good friends. They do not, however, like people that are rude and do not appreciate the ideas of others. They are secure enough in themselves that they can listen to the ideas of other people without it affecting their own final decisions. The world for them is not black and white but more in shades of grey and muted colors. They like things to be aestically pleasing, not stark and sharp. There are many ways to view things, and the impresssionist personality views the world from many different aspects. They enjoy life and try to keep a realistic viewpoint of things, but are not very open to new experiences. If they are content in their live they will be more than likely pleased to keep things just the way they are.

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy

Obama-349, McCain-162, Undetermined-26

This week colouring night was brought to you by the voting American population with special thanks to A&J for providing the link to an electoral colouring map.

unReal Estate in the Neighbourhood

The real estate agent:
The current owners:
Logan thinks the whole thing is funny.

Thanksgiving 2008

Dancing in the Pumpkin Patch:
Taking a break at Bruce Pit:

Because I Want to Be Smarter

A new puzzle showed up on page 2 of the Ottawa Citizen a few weeks ago. It's called Ken Ken and is billed as "the logic puzzle that makes you smarter". I decided I wanted to be smarter so I sharpened my pencil and dove right in.


I love this puzzle and I put into the category of puzzles I love, which so far only had one other member... Cross Sums (aka Sum Totals or Kakura).

Puzzles I don't love and are sort of a waste of time but are alright for doing on the bus: Sudoku.

My Deep Dark Past

I was recently asked if I had any deep dark secrets. I don't have ANY! Do you????

NOTE: Platinum viewers of Logan's blog have the option of making their comments private by typing "PRIVATE" at the top.

If You Don't Want Conservative in Ottawa West Nepean

Ottawa West Nepean has traditionally been a liberal riding until John Baird won in the last election. I think the only way to prevent Baird from being re-elected in this riding is to vote Liberal. Logan met David Pratt today and asked him for a lawn sign.

Just Another Night in the Park

Logan-the-Dog here. Skylark has been too preoccupied to blog so I'm filling in until he gets his shit together.

Here's what happened the other night at the park:

1. I ran in front of Skylark's girlfriend and tripped her. She fell and I was free!
2. Skylark went to the aid of GF and I ran to the duckpond. Nothing to eat there.
3. Skylark called me to come back so I came very close to him and then ran away again. Ha!
   
4. GF called me to come back so I did because she gives me treats sometimes.
5. Chased a porcupine up a tree but Skylark wouldn't let me get him because he knows the trouble that could cause.
6. Put a frog in my mouth but it tickled so I spit it out and barked at it. He went away.
7. Skylark and GF put me in the house and then they went to get ice cream. I sat by the bay window and barked at squirrels.
8. Skylark and GF came home. Skylark rubbed my belly and GF gave me TWO cookies.

The End