Opportunity Knocks....

... I think. I think so.

I had my assessment at work today. Long overdue. Got a small raise (thank you). And was offered a different position in the company, which months ago I had coveted, but was not allowed as I hadnt the computer skills and there wasnt a place for me. At that time I had covered another employee who was ion holiday for two weeks and I loved it so much upstairs that I had asked to be transferred. But it didnt happen...Turns out things are shifting now, months later, as a result of my hard work learning how to use the computer (I hate PC's) and the departure of the former furniture buyer/manager.

I was praised today for my creativity and for how far I've come since I started. That was nice.

Did I mention that a few weeks ago I told management I needed to cut my hours, at least for the summer? Well I did.

Today I told the company that I would think about it (quickly) and let them know. I told them that I, quite frankly, couldnt afford to work there full time or even four days a week, but I really LOVE my job there, and I love the company. Which I do. So I thought about it...for about a nanosecond. Though I wanted to give myself some space and to talk to B about it (He's all for it) and to let them, well, really WANT me. I know already. I'll take it. My raise isnt contingent on me taking this new position, but moving UP is, and I know that. This is an offer to at the least have a chance of moving forward there.

Down the road I will hopefully have the possibility (assuming all goes well) to become a buyer - as had been promised me when I started- however, that plan fell through when the combination of characters involved didnt 'gel'... as in I found myself in a nest of viperous bitches, none of whom wanted to relinquish their petty control and train me, so that I was left rudderless and swinging in the wind, utterly insecure.... but most of whom I liked well enough, it has to be said, each on their own. The combination of people, and their brand of clique-ism, and negativity was deadly for me. I had to get out.

So I've been cultivating my skills meanwhile, and charming our clients, and generally making everyone happy.

I have a good feeling about this. I will be surrounded by beautiful things. The job will involve sales, some interior design elements and the usual...Freight. But that's ok. And I like the main person I'll be working with. She's 'animal people'.

So, we have options. And life moves forward. Tune in next time. Same Bat time, same Bat channel.

(Did I tell you that New Life in the house would bring new energies and new options? That Life/The Universe would respond and so would I? Huh. When I'm right I'm right!)

Off to See the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.....

Greetings fellow blogsters! Long time no write. I've been remiss, and have little time right now but am going to give you a quick update. Aren't you thrilled?

Its been a month of dragging my heels fighting a not-flu flu which migrated from body region to body region. Not sick enough to be sick and not well enough to be well. Exhaustion. One week I was intestinally challenged, the next week I was coughing all night with a weird dry cough that had nothing to do with congestion in my lungs. Post nasal drip sucks.( Oh, I'm just so hilarious.) Then I felt okay for a day or two and then I'd relapse. I wont bore you with all the gory details. Suffice it to say, after being ill for so long I might have expected my body to have shed a few pounds, as a slender silver lining, but no such luck. My appetite didn't get sick. It was voracious, my body demanding fuel to fight the lurgy.

A side effect was that I've been depressed. I don't think I've felt actual sadness, as such, but I've been a slob and a sloth, lethargic and unmotivated. Bursts of misdirected anger. Feelings of huge resistance to everything. The inner judge has been loud. All symptoms of depression (or adolescence, and we can have a dialogue about that if you like, so long as its funny...it might make a good conversation.)

Tomorrow we have an exciting plan. (I hear the song in my head, dippy and silly, "We're OFF to see the WIZARD..." I'm SO excited!) We are going off island to buy a vacuum cleaner. Now this might sound slightly mundane, if not in fact inane, but you have to put things in context. For one thing, we hardly ever leave the Island (why would we?!) And for another,my ancient (20 + years) vacuum has bit the proverbial dust, pun intended. The sound effects were amazing: Rhuuuur! Rhuuur! Rhuuur...ppppthththtthpt! Huuuuhghghghg. Ugh. Pthththtt. Nothing.....The smell was frightening. Charred plastic and slow roasted dust, marinated in worn out parts, or vice versa. Poor thing died a slow and choking death, over a matter of years to be sure, but the last few weeks it went downhill fast. A familiar story.... not unlike Vaudeville. With 2 cats and 4 dogs, all of whom shed like they invented it, the sheer amount of animal hair in my house could be woven and knitted quite literally into dog hair blankets that might warm the population of a middling sized community in the Himalayas, or Siberia, even. Cobwebs hang from the ceilings in waving swathes, quite rude, if you ask me... Dust bunnies the size of hyenas, with a similar malevolent presence gather like their proverbial pack in the corners of the hallways, the rooms, under the bed, behind the couches (dont for Godsakes look back there!) and they move softly too and fro in the breeze when a door opens, quite like a stalking predator. I worry that one (or the lot of them) will take it into their hairy heads to choke me in my sleep. Visions of being suffocated by a van sized dust bunny.. it sits on the end of the bed, watching me sleep, biding its time until it senses the right moment to strike.

Yegads! Move over Stephen King! :)

Tomorrow we'll go to Canadian Tire and get "The Shark" vacuum, which seems to be a Dyson knock-off. (I'm a big believer in knock off's these days. I got myself some pretty purple knock off Crock clogs the other day for 7 dollars. I call them my 'Crock offs'). This hoover is highly recommended for animal hair. I am sure I could write a testimonial and get myself my own very personal (and probaby embarassing) tv commercial. I just cant wait. Have you ever been excited about getting a cleaning implement? Its weird. Gross almost. Kind of surreal. And utterly uncharacteristic of me, but that only underscores the point of how desperate I am.

I cant even remember what a clean house looks or feels like. But I will know soon. Woo-hoo!

Meanwhile, the faux finishing goes well. The owner lost one of her little dogs to a car the other week and when I arrived on Tuesday, after having been away sick for so long, I brought her a dwarf red rose bush in Ruby's memory, and a card. As soon as she saw it her face crumpled and I just threw my arms around her. She cried. We both did. That was a fine little dog. She was. You cant understand what it feels like unless you have a dog. They live in your heart, you see, almost as deeply as a child, and when they go, a piece of your heart goes with them. Having your heart torn out hurts....You cant understand how people dont get it that when you experience a loss like that it is very real. I have a feeling that she hadnt gotten a lot of understanding lately for her sadness, and I just cried with her, knowing what I will one day feel when I lose my own dogs.

Meanwhile, the garden is waking up, but late. Things are filling out with green, but its still quite unseasonably cold and I worry about the crops and the bees. The fruit trees are all bursting into bloom and hardly anyone has seen a single solitary bee. Its been too cold and wet. I worry that the crops wont be pollinated before the blooms are blown to bits by the mercurial weather (WHY is Winter hanging on so hard this year?) and that our produce will be damned to an infertile season.

In other news, back to the off-island obsession, I have been scouring the SPCA's online photo galleries and have set my sights on a young boy cat. He is named Tommy and is 6 months old, orange and white with a look that says, "I am here!" and which makes you take notice. I'd like a very wee baby, frankly...oh, wait a minnit...What's that? You have something to say? You think I have too many animals and that I am certifiably, completely and unquestionably crazy?! Nuts to that. Huh, took you long enough to figure that out. And might I just ask, what is your point? All of the beasties are getting on, you know. The youngest, Dolly, is 5 and I'm hankering for a baby. Zeus was my last baby and he's seven. Its time, okay? Pushkin is 13 now and when he goes, Dolly will need to have a friend by her side. So we need to think about that.

I havent decided if Tommy is our cat or not, but my hidden agenda is to convince B to take a swing by the SPCA so we can have a looksee. Dont know yet if they are open on a Sunday. Or if B will be convinced. He says he'll come with me to the local SPCA on Tuesday, but I dont know that thewy have any kittens....

Meanwhile, B is taking the dogs to the ravine as I write and I have to get ready because we are going to Dad and Kathleen's for dinner. He's been ill and has walking pneumonia, which is rather a serious concern at his age ( he's 82 and kickes the ass out of any statistic you might care to throw out), so why he thinks hosting us is a good idea right now, I dont know. But he says he's much better since I brought him a basket of food and home-made chicken soup early in the week. Kathleen was away in Oregon and he wasnt eating. Gods, my heart nearly dropped out when I heard. And there's nothing worse than cooking for yourself when you feel like shit, is there? Anyway, Dad says he's on the mend and we'll have his famous pot-roast and chat and play crib, no doubt. A nice evening.

Thanks for listening. Its been a while since I vented and having your ears does me good. Hope all of you are well out there in blogland.

Love, Bird.

Flipping flea

Long time no Post.

I found a flea IN MY SOCK today. Yegads. Mild winters are not always all they are cracked up to be. Time to get flea drops again. Like ASAP. And you know where the goddam flea population is coming from? I'll tell you. From the rats.

Apparently the rat population (mild winters, what did I say? Definite down side...) has quadrupled in the last two years. Lovely.

Other than that, I've been working 6 days a week. Loving the faux finishing, but feeling tired.I'm treating us to a pot roast tonight, and the house, if not sparkling and shiny, is at least relatively devoid of chaos. A Very Good Thing, said Pooh.

Last week I had a day from hell during which I was insulted, annoyed, breast groped and dismissed. On 4 separate occasions.

Nut shell version. Some guy flipped the edge of my vest to, ostensibly, better view my name tag, but pressing against my breast was what he did. I dont know him. Told the manager, and (the dismissal) "Oh he's just like that, he's actually really nice, just tactile and huggy'. Right. Later she said if it happens again I should let her know and I said, with a smile, "NO, I dont think I'll bother, because if he tries that again I'll take his nice hand off at the wrist". Thank you. Thank you very much.

And then I was irked at the till by the general handy man for the place who proceeded to use my phone (to conduct his own sideline business), which doesnt allow me to serve the customers I am hired to serve. ARGH!

So feeling already like a piece of groped meat, and having been told, as I was told as a child I'm WRONG to think I was touched inappropriately, and had my space invaded by jerkola, a guy comes in whom I've painted for in the past, and says, "So, you're selling paint now? haha. You like selling paint do you? The paint seller...haha" Laughing at me and acting as though the mighty had fallen SO far and he wasnt going to let me forget it. Bastard coke-head.

I can laugh about it now, but it really upset me at the time. The other thing that really turns my stomach and isnt funny at all is this:

A woman at work is leaving the island (her good luck/ going away gathering was held this evening) to move across the continent to Michigan to live with her on-line lover. Okay folks, seriously! She has a son. She's never met the on-line guy except on net-camera, and she's taking her boy with her, without a working Visa ("I dont need one, we're planning a family right away, so I wont be working") and no health care insurance. Jesus God wept. She's just lost her mother to cancer, and now she's running into the arms of a man who was turned away at the Canadian border.... she's getting on a bus, her little boy in tow, on Wednesday. I dont especially like her, nor do I dislike her. But I would not want to see ANYONE make such a scary choice. Such a final and detrimental, potentially dangerous move.I have a bad feeling about this.

Meanwhile, the good news is that B and I are busy with working on the principles of abundance and positive thinking. Everything from Wayne Dyer to 'The Secret' (law of attraction) and 'what the bleep, down the rabbit hole'. Haven't progressed to Depak Chopra yet, but I was watching a programme on John of God in Brazil and B said it put in him a state of such positive head space and openness that the day seemed to just flow and everything fell into place.

Things are shifting. For the first time in my life I seem to have a partner who suddenly ( well more and more over the last year) is on the same page as I am. We are making changes on a fundamental emotional and spiritual level, and things are coming out of that which are all good. We are in a really good place with one another.

Gods, I love him! :)

Pot roast is in the oven. Smells heavenly. I'm about to chop some kindling and will make a nice cozy fire. Swinin' standards are playing on satellite, and it looks like a good evening in the making.

Hope everyone out there in the big world is well...

Does it Get Better than This?!

I am doing one of those jobs right now that dont come along every day. Faux finishing is one of my great loves. I'm good at it. I've been doing it for about 15 years now. It is labour intensive, most of the time, and pays well. Coming from a client who, according to the site manager, is never completely happy with anything, I nearly jumped with euphoria when I heard the words today, "It's amazing. Better than I had envisioned. Its perfect! I love it!" High praise indeed. For doing something I absolutely love. I'm all charged up and full of creative inspiration. Its like a window opened inside me and let the sun in. Gods, I wish I could do this every day of my life!

I went to the Doctor's today to renew my 'script, and he was frankly amazed that I am working 6 days a week at the moment, and loving both jobs.... He asked me, having known that I was struggling at my other job, and I told him quite candidly that I cahnged my mind. I change 'the way I looked at things, and the things I looked at changed..." I said that I used to be an expert in my field. I used to teach. I used to run a business, and I had felt like a failure, as a 'lowly till jockey'.... but then I changed my attitude. It isnt about the money, obviously, because I can barely afford to work at the General Store, the pay is so shite. It isnt about the work either. No. Its about the people. Its about contributing and being valued. Its about making people happy. Making them smile. That's my job. The staff, the customers, the feeling I have of being connected to the community now is what makes it great. And that's why I love it.

He said that he was amazed. That 3 months ago my life was such a different picture and he was really impressed with my incredibly rational and determined choice to see things in a way that was healthy to me.

I got some high praise today from two people I respect a lot, and that feels really good. :)

Meanwhile, its one of those gentle evenings with a mild rain. The feel of it makes me think it heralds Spring, but maybe its a tease. But I dont know. Mother Nature knows best...The buds on my Forsythia are sprouting and they seem to think Spring is on her way. I need to stop and notice these things. I need to stop and be aware that my poppies are sending out leaves, and that the soil smells fecund and fertile. I must be conscious of the world turning, shifting and making ready for another season. This year is going to be very different. Why? Because I am. That's why.

I was in a state of somnolent, dragging despondance. But I pushed through it somehow (damn good happy pills I tell you). I've been going full tilt.

An this evening I'm making a soup from the stock I made on Sunday (my only day off these days, which involved the usual domestic bliss of laundry - motherloads of it - and cleaning, shopping, running the dogs, and then flopping in exhaustuion on the couch where I stayed for hours until I had regained enough strength to eat dinner which B made, and crawl to bed). This soup, my darlings, she will be delicious! An Italian recipe I got out of Boulevard Magazine. A bean and veggie soup which I will spice up with Churizo sausage, as I dont have the jalapenos the recipe calls for. Glad I made the stock for the puppies too, with lamb and beef bones, to make their 'haggis'.

Tomorrow I am back at work at the General Store, and although I wish I could do the artsy thing every day, I sense that it will grow, and I'll get more of that work in time. I am holding that 'Intent'. Its coming....All in good time....

Today was a very good day.

And now I'm off to have a nice bath, and a glass of wine. I'll read a best seller pulp novel - one of those semi-esoterical, historical thrillers in the style of the Davinci Code...which has sparked a whole new Genre, it seems. (But let me tell you that Catherine Neville had that genre craked in the eighties, okay? She did it first and better if you ask me. Read her. She's great!) I will stop reading and breathe deeply, now and then, and think, 'what this smells like is... Home...' The soup will bubble slowly and gently, scents filling the house, as it comes, in its own time, as all things come in their own time, to the ready. And then we'll eat. And it will be utterly Yum!

Ennuie..... But Ultimately, its all Good...

The earthquake came and went, apparently, with hardly a blip on the radar screen. A 2point something. I didn't notice and I probably slept though it. Only one earthquake I've ever felt in my life, and that was in Ontario, which is rather rare, but it was very interesting at the time. Small. Not scary.

Work was boring. I didn't even bother trying to spice things up with flashing the security cameras, wearing weird accessories or making silly displays. I didn't sing to the satellite radio (oldies) as I often do when inspired to make things more cheerful. I didn't get upset about it either...though I did wonder if the day would ever bloody end; today was a blanc mange.I stalked the ailes and even the manager apologised to me for things being so slow. "You mustbe so bored...it isnt always like this." "I know, Its okay" . Tomorrow we have a HUGE shipment arriving, and I anticipate it with baited breathe, being run ragged and off my feet with stuff to do looks like a good thing compared to the dreaded pacing of ailes with a duster in my hands. Give me strength.

Huh.

It was so boring I couldn't bring myself to be the quirky and weird freak that I am...I was boring myself. And tired. Exhausted. I was too tired and sore. Painting hurts my body. The last two days did me in, working for my brother on a high-end home/estate. These people have more money than God, and actually pretty good taste. I love the faux finishing, don't get me wrong, and that part was great, but mostly, for the time being, I did regular house painting (trim work, Canukifornia, I'm with you and know you feel my pain). Next week will be the fun part after my brother's crew have prepped everything for me and done the hard part....but man, am I sore. Carpal tunnel. Shoulder impingement injury saying, "Oh SHIT! Not THIS again...!" But there may be a stained glass window commission in this for me so I pretend to be a trouper and work doggedly on. So far trhe owner seems pleased with where I am going with the painting.

Its good money and I cant turn that down. My benefits package came today and next week I should get my card which means full dental, for me and 90% for B, full prescriptions, naturopathic - partially covered, and physio therapy partially covered...good stuff. (In my most wistful moments I wonder if I can push the envelope and get some coverage on fertility treatments but that will take time to investigate, and I am pretty much out out of time here... or very nearly). I'll make enough money to cover the physio, and maybe get my arms and hands in better shape. Meanwhile, with the damp and cold, arthritis is really adding insult to injury.

Whine, Whinge, Whine. Whatever. Its my prerogative.

Xena's foot is healing nicely and she is not longer limping or upset. That's a good thing. We count our blessings. Every day. Ultimately, reality being relative, it all okay. Hope its all okay with all you out there...

Meanwhile, I'm going to have a bath, with bubbles, and a glass of wine, and read a silly fluff book whilst B makes a dinner of rack of lamb, salad and broccoli. B has put on some country music which plays happily in the background. He's a convert now, after balking with large attitude in the early days, guy-like. I know that music is innane sometimes, but it is cheerful, frankly, and having songs mostly about love and life, and sex, and family filling our house rather than angst and oh woe is me, is a relief. I'm not so proud, at my age, to be reluctant to say I'm mellowing....

B and I, after almost 4 years together, have settled, finally, into a gentle rhythm of loving existance and gentle appreciation. We applaud one another our truimphs and support one another through our stresses. We dont pick at one another but rather always focus on the positive, and respect the gains we make, individually and as a couple. Conflict comes rarely and when it builds up, resentment over undiscussed or unresolved stuff,it can be explosive, but is soon resolved with the greatest desire being a need to be kind, and a way to make the other understand, and feel better...We've become best friends, after having bonded through that incredible initial attraction and passion that so often goes no where, or to a bad place. We've always said we are lucky to have found one another, and its true. I thank my lucky stars every single day. Counting blessings makes me able to deal with the every day shite.

Life is just fine, thank you. Thank you very much. :)

The Fat on the Skinny....

Here's the deal.....Sorry to everyone for locking you out of my site. We have family who are travelling right now and I set up another blog specifically to post comments to them and keep in touch as they relate their adventures (I could do with a little bit of Mexico myself right now, who couldnt, but bless them, they deserve it and more power to them. So what if I'm green with envy).

Blogland being what it is combined with my lack of computer nerdness meant that I accidentally posted from THIS site, which as you all know is quite personal. I panicked. I changed the settings and now I've come to the conclusion that after asking them to delete the link to H-bird, either they will respect that and do so or they wont, and I refuse to censure myself. This is my space and you are my friends, and welcome. And if they read this, so be it.

I've begun making a dinner which I hope will make it to the all-star team. Breasts of duck, flash-braised in the pan to crisp the skin, then added red wine and orange juice, churizo, tomato slices and garlic; now baking in the oven. Accompanying the duck will be asparagus, which was on sale, and slices of baked squash drizzled with walnut oil, walnuts and a bit of maple syrup, with a plain salad on the side.

I have a fire going in the wood stove, swing/jazz classics on in the background (sing it Ella!!!), which I love. I feel like I am in a black and white movie from the fourties.... Silly sentimental music with lots of saxophone. Its okay, expected even, to smoke and have a cocktail or two before dinner, changing out of painters garb and into a long slinky gown, cut on the bias, which will not show the spare tires I have round my middle. Not in THIS movie! I wait for my man to arrive, and the stage is set. (Yegads!) Anyway, to set the scene, you should know that its foggy outside. Very mild and everything is shrouded with that grey diaphenous membrane, shifting here and there. Now you see it now you dont. A very romantic site. A lantern is lit and I feel safe to light it now that the earthquake scare is officially over. Despite not having heard the fat lady sing, I am doing ostrich head in the sand right now and will not think of natural disasters. There are enough disasters going on as it is. I am in a movie of my own making, and it looks cool, baby, real cool. We'll play cards later. Dance the cha-cha...(oh, no, that was the 60's wanst it? )We'll talk about the fact that in the US the State of the Union address was retracted by the White House...is that like saying the President is a big fat Liar?

Huh.

I painted for my brother today, only a 1/2 day and it was good. I feel sore but sense that that is more about being out of shape, and less about being arthritic and having inflamed joints.

B is coming home soon after doing his thing networking and touching base with his guys at the pub. He doesnt know I'm making this dinner. Its a surprise and I hope it turns out. Its a thing I kind of made up as I was ambling through the ailes of the grocery store this afternoon...wish me luck.

It was a good day, y'all. I'm really sorry about the panic privacy thing. I miss your comments and hope to see all of you back tomorrow! I espcially miss Lisa. Hope you're okay Cookie....

And that's me, chewing the fat and giving you the skinny. Ninight, and sleep well.

More Good New Year's News.... Happyhappyjoyjoy! :)

Well, guess what?! Having realised that I AM, in fact, totally devastated by the loss of my iblogs archives over the past year, I went and searched Google. And have been searching for the last two hours. For those of you in the same boat, here is what I discovered. Iblogs is a real arse, and yet, Google has us in cyberspace it its cache!

I searched with keywords using my blog site name, the arse-wipe server and the word 'archives', Like so:

chupaflor, ' a day in the life', iblogs, archives

And tickety-boo, a whole score of my pages turned up. Utterly inaccessible, of course as the aforementioned dregs of the derriere is defunct. (Bastards). And yet, intuition being what it has to be when one is as computer illiterate as I am, I pressed the highlit 'cache' button, and lo! and behold! There they were. Months of them. Not all, but months of them, which I copied , and now have to find a way to insert them into a file but they are safely saved in a drafts folder of my mail.

A small triumph. Another bit of New Year's good news!

Mostly the photographs didn't copy, and I am especially choked about that one as I think of Zeus up in a tree, playing 'Hound of Hell', with fiery camera red-eye, making him look like a daemon. You'll remember of course. And I still have that photo in my hard drive, but havent yet learned how to post pics HERE. You might recall the time it took me to learn how to post photos on iblogs. Learning curve was steep!

You know, many native cultures believe that if you take a photograph of something, you capture a bit of its essence. I dont necessarily think that is a bad thing, as I think my own essence is limitless (I'm so modest). But seriously, on a soul level, we are limitless, right, so why would I care if someone has a piece of me? Its like a hologram. Or a drop of water. Each piece is whole unto itself, and yet the entirety isn't diminished at all for having a drop of itself here and there. Its all infinite. A fanciful analogy, maybe but I am sure you get my point. (Actually I think that The DT could explain it more articulately).

And yet, that point being made, I felt somehow that there were pieces of me floating around in cyberspace, or worse yet, gone into the ethers, completely gone. I imagined them lost in space, lonely without me, and without each other....Horrible. Silly, but horrible. (Abandonment issues?!) That's a years' worth of my journal, my thoughts and my experiences. And all of your comments! Okay, so it wont change the tide of life on this planet, and isn't that important in the grand scheme of things, but dammit, it matters to ME! Those are pieces of me/us floating out there, and I'm happy for others to have a look at them, but I want them under my own wing, so to speak. You know? Because words have power, and when I put them out there, I offer them, as a gift, but I when they are stolen from me, I don't like it.

Anyroad, I've got some of them back. Have no idea how to import or transport or teleport them to this blogsite. But they've been brought home. I take comfort from that. They are home, back with me where they belong. Looking rather a lot worse for wear, with keywords being highlighted, and arrows everywhere, and no photos, no background blog template to show them off as they were. An intent. An offer. A place to express myself, and vent....An invitation to a conversation....and a moment of life. Yet, I feel so much happier knowing that they are home.....

Bloody, Bloody bastards, those iblogs. Yeah, so it was free, but you don't give someone a home, let them get settled in for over a year, make friends and form bonds, and then say, "Ooops. You cant have that now, piss off". And now we can't even contact them and tell them how annoying this all is?! Or ask them what can be done about it. I still hope against hope that the site will come up again so I can retrieve the rest of my lost stories. Particularly, 'Muriel and the Christmas cactus', which meant a lot to me. And to her, I'm sure, dead though she is.....

So aside from that little achievement which nearly made my eyes cross in frustration whilst searching and figuring things out, Sunday was lovely. Mostly, or totally spent on my own, but that's okay. I chopped kindling, played ball and Frisbee with the dogs, brought some stuff for mosaicing into the studio - then panicked and left. But I DID go in there. I must have a phobia or something. I blogged and read a lot. A real Sunday.

Got a fire going in the wood stove, and of course I found the lost children (or some of them) from the old blog...... A successful day, in my opinion. :)

It was lovely to revisit the comments made by everyone, and realise what a tight little community we had there. I hope Claudio is okay. And am hoping that Reg will be blogging from her apartment soon. I miss them. Miss you all. Mostly I miss Bloomsie. Haven't heard much from her but got a brief note recently saying she's okay.... The tribe.....

I've been reading some blogs by people with infertility issues quite a lot lately. Its been a comfort to me. Will make a list soon of various really good blogs I read. There are a lot of very big hearted, strong, fragile, feeling and wonderful people out there!!!!

I was given a HUGE bag of fresh basil from an importer the other day (a few bunches of which I gave to fellow workers, to their apparent delight), who swanned through my till with the querry, "Do you like Basil?" Huh? Who doesnt. Somewhat bemused, I said of course I did, and he came back into the store a few moments later with the bag, saying he had a large shipment from Guatemala bound for the distributors in Vancouver and Toronto. Wow, how nice is that?! (Good thing I have a policy of making sure that everyone who passes through my till leaves the store with a smile!)

Tonight I plan to make gnocchi, with butter and basil pesto. I've never made it before, of course, so am a little concerned, but what the hell, at least I'm not doing what I usually do....which is try a new recipe when I have company! I have no anchovies, but DO have pine nuts. And how hard can it be, really? Olive oil, Basil, pine nuts, salt, pepper, parmagianno porfavore, and garlic. Wee potato dumplings, boiled and then sauteed in butter before being drenched in the pesto. Utterly yum. (A few slivers of lemon rind maybe, do you think?)

Yo, Cuisinart, here I come!!!!

Have a good night, everyone, and a happy tomorrow! Ciao my Chickedees!