Tree Hice

New listing: lovely, older home in a neighbourhood of mature trees. Former owners have vacated, and the nest of earwigs has been cleaned out. Newly renovated and available for immediate occupancy.

Don't miss: modern home in an open garden community. Just finished and put on the market. Never occupied, this is a superb starter home.

Mom is in Montreal visiting Poppa and Granny Gwen. Hannah and I have to get together to look through the Tabbatha at Higgins Beach pictures.

40th anniversary - Higgins Beach

We are all back from Higgins Beach and our 40th wedding anniversary celebration. A great time was had by all. Lots of pictures and probably many more to follow. Check out the kid's blogs for more (see the links).



Higgins Beach is still as we all remember. Maybe the tides are a bit higher, but all the places are still there.

We all took pictures, and there was mayhem and fun.

Less happy news

As most of you know, Leonard (Penny's father) is currently in the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal. I am limiting this to a brief update of how he is and what is happening.

Leonard entered the hospital about three weeks ago with a broken arm. He did not know the arm was broken when he went in, he thought he had hurt his shoulder somehow when he slipped in or exiting the shower.

The hospital staff was a bit concerned about why the arm was broken. X-rays and scans were taken over a period of a few days. The result was a diagnosis of multiple myeloma. Bone density had been a previous problem, but the myeloma was new. This is a form of cancer within the blood, specifically malignant plasma cells. The “multiple” part means it has been found in the bone marrow in more than one place (e.g. the shoulder and the hip). Myeloma cannot be cured, but it is treatable. How far advanced it is with Leonard is still being determined.

The broken arm was repaired through an operation. Radiation treament for the myeloma has started.

A hospital is a dangerous place. While there, you are exposed to many more germs than normally. So, Poppa got a bladder infection. A course of antibiotics was undertaken to remove the infection.

But Leonard is not exactly jumping around at this time. He needs quite a bit of attention as he is rather frail and weak. Walking around unassisted is not an option, so there have been many visits to Montreal by Penny, Marilen and even Dana. Some help has been found in Montreal, but the current short-term objective is to get Leonard out of the hospital and back into his residence where he can receive a decent level of care and support. That will happen as soon as the five radiation treatments are administered – to end this week,

Or that was the plan. Last night we learned that Leonard has picked up another infection – c. difficile – so named because it is very hard to control as it does not respond to normal antibiotics. Now we have another course of antibiotics being administered and Leonard’s departure from the hospital is uncertain.

But he is quite well, considering, and sounded quite bright this evening. Visitors are allowed and welcomed, as are telephone calls. We all want him out of there as soon as possible.

Spring & Mothers' Day happiness

Here are some pictures from Sumday, May 13th. They reflect the happiness of the many mothers gathered for a luncheon BBQ with the many kids and the many grandkids. The gardens are in their Spring finery and the kids were all having fun.

Another post will follow anon.

Mutterings

So Penny is running back and forth to Montreal (by train). And Linda and Rick Creese are in town. And there was a 5k run on Sunday. And somewhere in all that, because Penny was pretty fragged out and needed some TLC, I made a nice dinner with candles and mushroom risotto. So all you need now is the pictures.

The fun news is we have new tennants. Andrew gave us a neat bird house many years ago and we dutifully (with some optomism) put it into a nice neighbourhood in the back yard. It has been looked at by several bird couples of varying types and sizes, but has always remained empty - until this Spring. We have a pair of red breasted nuthatches in residence. They are really cute, about the size of a chickadee, and they walk up and down tree trunks and flit through the back yard trees and shrubs looking for seeds and bugs.

So all you need now is the pictures. A confession: I scanned the bird picture from the Audubon field guide that Chooch gave us in 1980.

Rabbitted again!

We thought we were going to get crocuses (crocii?) this year. There were 6 or so yellow blossoms yesterday, not yet open but fully visible, waiting for some warmth. And this is what they look like today. The rabbit loves the crocii. The squirrels love the tulip bulbs. So, we grow squill and daffodils. Both are getting close to flowering. Spring arrives tomorrow; better get going on the raking of lawns and thinning of perennials.

A Quick Experiment

These are photos of the family room aquarium I just took to send to a friend. The point-and-shoot camera has trouble with fish focusing (delay in shooting, fish moving during exposure ...), but these worked quite well, all things considered. The flash has to be disabled, so the light source is limited to the aquarium lights.

I know, y'all could care less.

Spring Visits & Messes

So, it has been a while since the last posting. Normal happenings and some seasonal things going on. Spring is slowly trying to arrive. The plants and gardens are responding. The corn stalk plant in the living room which we have had for at least 30 years is completely root-bound and desparate - so it flowers. The pictures are over several days with the last one showing the sticky sap that the flowers produce. Penny didn't even let the flowers open before she chopped the stalk right off.

This is not the first flowering, we have had 3 or 4. The blossoms only open at night, around 8:30 pm, and they are really sicky sweet, drip sticky sap that ruins carpets and furniture, a they are powerful. The whole house smells like very cheap perfume. Wonder why Penny dislikes them.

The next seasonal event was Easter. Granny Gwen was here for a nice visit for a few days. She got to visit her friend Marion Dunlop, and all the great grand kids. And the grand kids. And the kid.

We had dinners out, pizza in (watching the Masters golf tournament on Thurdsay evening), made a nice dinner at home, and had another nice Easter dinner here on Sunday. Erika came over for a bit before she had to head off to work. She only got a quick dinner.

Mike and Bennett stayed longer and fared better. Bennett really liked the ham.

As with any large dinner, the aftermath was a kitchen disaster.

This past weekend we had friends over for dinner. We have done dinners at our homes before and we always have a good time; however, one couple or the other has to do most of the work. So we changed the plan. Instead of just coming for dinner, we now start at someone's house at about 4 or 4:30 and completely wreck the place. Menus and ingredients are discussed and purchased in advance. It is super fun and the resulting meals are wonderful. On Staurday, we made:

• a lovely soup based on celery root and other good things,


• a warm salad with asparagus and orange,


• a pork tenderloin entree prepared in toasted, ground herbs served with an apple sauce and jasmine rice; and


• a coconut bread pudding.

Each of these courses required quite a bit of preparation, but the results were worth the effort. The recipies for most menu items came from the LCBO Food and Drink magazines.

First, the clean kitchen

and lovely dining room setting.

Then the kitchen staff - Ken, Joan and Penny.

Eventually (around 7 pm), we had the soup and salad.

Back to the kitchen for further preparation, then the entree and the dessert.

And, once again, the aftermath.

Ken had to get up and work on Sunday, so everyone went home around 11 pm. Right on schedule. Ken is working at a golf course, but that is a whole other story.

Did you notice the orchid on the window ledge in the kitchen disaster pictures?

Dammed ice

No, the title is not a typographical error (in case anyone is interested in what "typo" is short for). We have some kind of ice dam in the front eavestrough, happens every few years, and now there is water dripping inside the living room window. Wonderful! So up on the ladder with a hammer and cold chisel (yeah, I know; if it wasn't cold before, it sure is now) to whack, break and dig out. Got about 4 feet done, maybe 10 to 12 feet more to go. Looks like the problem is the eavestrough itself. I think there should be a slope encouraging the water toward one end. Must get this all looked at when the weather is warm and sunny and we have nothing to remind us of the winter drips.

On a more chearful note or two, we are out to dinner at Lemon Bistro tonight with some good friends. As the place only seats about 20, the six of us will take over. I promise to be suitably rowdy.



And then there is the kitchen garden. The amaryllis has joined the orchid in blooming. Only two flowers, but a wonderful gaudy red.



Oh, yeah, I found one reasonable photo of Leonard at this birthday party at Antico Martini. Now 92 and still making his points clearly. I just love the attentiveness of the waiter!

Dinner with Bennett, orchid away!

We had dinner on Friday with Eri, Mike and Bennett. The original plan was to make a nice supper with an Italian cheese flatbread and a Greek shrimp cassorole with feta and some attitude. But then the phone rang and we had a better deal offered - pizza at Station!


Ben is getting bigger and has more and more tricks. He has learned that, when in a restaurant, there is some chance of scoring ice cream for dessert. The picture shows the reaction to ordering strawberry ice cream.


Good fun and good food as always. And the other dinner was merely postponed to Saturday. Delicious!


The kitchen window garden is going like gangbusters. We have the first orchid opening (with another three flowers following close behind). So here's the picture of the orchid.

The other flowers are the amaryllis (just starting to open, watch for updates) and some hydrangea (actually, hyacinth - see Mom's note) bulbs a neighbour gave us. They (hyacinths) are now in full bloom and making the house smell like a cheap bordello. Actually, I have led a very sheltered life and don't know how a cheap bordello smalls, but I imagine it smells a lot like a bunch of blooming hyacinths.

Winter & I return

The spelling and typos were worse than normal yesterday. Must try to get the fingers unfumbled.


Just back from Dr. Ing, the surgeon, and all is well. The vagrant staple was quickly snipped and removed and the belly check confirmed nothing untoward. I am fully back with the next visit scheduled for May 23rd (Happy Birthday, Penny). All activities may now proceed toward the inevitable excess.


That would include making mushroom risotto on the spear of the mint. A couple of weeks ago, planning for the neighbourhood 2nd annual wine & cheese, we were looking for groceries. I wandered over to where the dried procini mushrooms would be if they were available and, lo, there they were. Bought some on spec to have available. Several aisles later, behold! Italian rice. And so we were off for a special treat that evening. Wish I could post the recipe somehow.


http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/RecipeController?action=recipe&language=1&recipeID=2052&recipeType=1


This is the link to the LCBO site with the recipe under mushroom risotto.


And this is what the morning brought; wonderful wet snow for that wonderland effect. Traffic is screwed up all over the place, but there is not that much snow. It packs and is very slippery though. Today is again above freezing, so the snow will disappear soon.


The pictures are of the back yard: one of the Dana and Jason tree beyond the birdbath, the other of the spruce boughs outside the bedroom window.





And so away to grasp the day (seizing seems so violent); gym, job search, projects in that order.



I hope Hannah is feeling better.

Hmmmm, it's been a while

OK, so I have been remiss. Much has gone on and I have very few pictures to document same.

All is well, and so are we. That is a grand thing. Back to the gym and some running, but taking it easy on the weights. Looking for work, but maybe not as actively as I might. "Final" visit to the surgeon tomorrow to check the scars and healing. Other than the missed staple, that is all going well. No, you don't want to know.

So, the list: we are set for a trip to Ottawa in March, we also have to go to Detroit in March to pick up 2 ottomans (ottomen?) that were shipped to Mike's brother's place (thanks goodness for "Eats, Shoots and Leaves"), went to Montreal for Leonard's 92nd birthday, got the gas fireplace insert up and running, found the bug fix for the Borland Pascal 7 compiler, worked out the RSP business and went downtown to get that straight, spent a bit of time researching the stock markets, and re-aquainted myself with morning radion on the CBC. I really miss Peter Gzowski. And everyone needs to read "The God Delusion".

Somehow I screwed up the camera settings and have nothing useful from the Montreal trip. Too bad really as the party at Antico Martini was lovely. We were all roudy and quite Italian. Poppa became quite overcome and had to go home, but recovered well. the party was too much on top of the full day he had with the new minister at the church and all. Seems he had been nipping throughout the day as well. 92 and still having a grand time!

I did get a great video of Marilen at the restaurant, but I am not sharing that. The blackmail opportunity is too good. Besides, when I convert it into a "movie" it takes about 7 megs. But really worth the disk space.

The fireplace is rather nice. This means I have lost both the family room and the larger tv. Penny now camps out in the (formerly too cold) family room to watch the soaps and then the evening telly. This may be good for blog writing, we shall see.