It's been a while, hey!
All is well, more or less. I will catch you up on the minutiae of my life another day...
Classes are done! I think I will have an A average unless my final assignments aren't as brilliant as I think they are. : P
Tomorrow I start at an elementary school working in a Grade 5/6 class. I am pretty excited about working at this school as it the students come from a different socio-economic background as the schools I was at last year. They are also quite a bit older--in Canada the 'biggest' kids I've taught have been grade three. (Neil and Chelle, I don't know what 'form/year' this works out to be, but the Grade 5/6 students are 10-11 (or possibly 12) years old.)
This afternoon I am working at 'Taboo--the naughty but nice sex show'!! I am volunteering with Calgary Outlink, so I think it will be fun. Apparently the board agreed that the volunteers at the Outlink booth would dress in a fetish style. *gulp* I don't actually own any typically fetish type clothes...
And this morning I am continuing with studying for my correspondence course about Canadian History (pre-contact to 1867, when we officially stopped being a colony and became our own country.)
I anticipate that I will be pretty busy the next four weeks in my practicum but then I have almost a month off until my final semester begins...will try to catch up with all your news then.
Much love!
Gael
PS Here's a link to a site I made for a school project this semester. It took me about 30 hours to do so I hope my prof likes it!
PPS Mower is still around and kicking. Apparently (a) getting the dental surgery done and (b) buying her special low-protein/high-fat cat food is doing the trick. Yay!
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
"Join me" button!
Hey gang,
I'm here--briefly! Jules and Heather, I have a 'Join this site' button two rectangles down from the photo of the rooster. I'm assuming that if you click on it we can officially be friends. Try it and I hope it works!
School is good--crazy busy but good. I am looking forward to my practicum with the wistful wish that I won't be so busy then. : )
Love and peace to you all!
Gael
PS Here's a photo of me taken a few weeks ago at a dinner party. It was a good night. : )
I'm here--briefly! Jules and Heather, I have a 'Join this site' button two rectangles down from the photo of the rooster. I'm assuming that if you click on it we can officially be friends. Try it and I hope it works!
School is good--crazy busy but good. I am looking forward to my practicum with the wistful wish that I won't be so busy then. : )
Love and peace to you all!
Gael
PS Here's a photo of me taken a few weeks ago at a dinner party. It was a good night. : )
Monday, September 3, 2012
Sunday, August 26, 2012
May Day, 2007
Ahhhh,
today I didn't have any work at all, how sweet it was. In fact, I had
crossed today off the calendar a couple of weeks ago, believing that it
was a national holiday. Uh, no, unless you are a lobourer. I realised on
Friday that actually, most people would be working, but no clients
called and booked me, so I was free, gloriously free!
The day started well. I slept in until 7 am. Now, I realise, that by most people's standards, 7 am is NOT sleeping in. However, I've been waking up between 5:50~6:30 am for about the last six weeks, so 7 am seemed like a nice lie-in.
I didn't walk the dogs this morning as both Little Fella's splints have worn holes through them! I didn't realise that the other splint was close to wearing out and on our last long walk it wore through. And continued wearing through to his foot. Which I didn't notice until the next morning when I changed his bandage (he gets fresh bandages in the morning.) Poor Little Fella. When I use his cart the wounded leg (which is the one suspended) gets all hot and swollen, I guess due to the not-yet-healed abrasions. So, no cart until he is healed up and no splints until the new ones arrive. Poor bored Little Fella.
I enjoyed my breakfast while trying to finish yesterday's crossword. I didn't succeed, darn it! Then I started a quilt for Kitty. Kitty is Angela's cat who died of FIV (Cat AIDS) the same day as LW. As I make AIDS quilts with the guys at Lourdes, it seemed reasonable to make a mini quilt for Kitty. I have been talking about it for weeks, today I finally buckled down and got it mostly done. No photos or descriptions as I won't be giving it to Ang until May 12th (her birthday!) and she reads my blog. Hee, hee, you'll just have to wait, Ang!
After a quick lunch I went to Taipei city to run some errands. First, I paid rent. I have to pay in person as I suspect my landlord does not claim this income. It's a pain in the neck as it is nowhere near an MRT station. I usually pay three months at a time, this time I paid four months, so I don't have to see him again until September. Good.
Then I went to the shop where I bought my camera and asked them to send it to Sony for me. I will find out at the end of the week if it is fixable and how much it will cost to fix. Meanwhile I am considering buying a digital SLR camera. Does anyone have any thoughts on the matter?
Next to the bookstore...because it's a bookstore, d'uh! Then back downstairs to Starbucks to get coffee for the house. I don't know about Starbucks in other countries, but here they only have one 'fair trade' coffee available. Fortunately it is delicious! It is not always available and often I have to track from one Starbucks to another, just to get a bag of coffee. (I tried Starbucks in Tai Da hospital last week and then another store in Gong Guan. I finally had success in Yung Ho! Huzzah!)
(You falling asleep yet? I know, it wasn't an exciting day but it was so very pleasant...I didn't have to meet anyone or be anywhere at a specific time...lovely!)
I took the MRT to Grandma Nitti's to drop off a couple of bolts and bearing...uh...things for the wheelchair that I returned to Animals Taiwan. Then over to Jane's to say hi and to give her a 'pizza oven', the 'surprise' in Ethan's 'Kinder Surprise' on Sunday. Jane was interviewed by some people from the 'Apple Daily' last week. The Apple Daily is a horrible, awful, trashy daily paper that is fabulously popular here. Since then she has been incredibly busy. They keep selling out of food by 8 pm! Anyway, she has new menues coming out and she asked me to proofread them. Mostly the problems were punctuation (or lack thereof) and capitalisation (or lack thereof). As payment I drank a glass of wine. ('Any time, Jane, any time!!')
Charlie and then later Beki showed up, so we chatted about this, that and the other. They both commented on my very nice new haircut. 'Er, no, not a haircut. I've lost 10 lbs.' Very amusing seeing their surprised expressions!
And so I eventually returned home, fed the beasties, enjoyed my Greek-esque salad with a second glass of wine. I still have to go up to Constance's and get some wood shavings for my dog to sleep on, I'm nearly out.
Oh, and tomorrow evening I will be meeting many of the Servas Taiwan members for an informal dinner at a coffee shop. We have a Servas guest from Japan for three days, starting this evening. She was going to stay with me, but then the organiser of Servas Taiwan asked if I could let her stay with someone else as I am almost the only person to have had an overnight guest so far here in Taiwan! A Taiwanese woman, Mei, wrote a book about her Servas experiences overseas last year. After her book came out our membership increased something like ten-fold. I went from being the only 'over-night' host in Taiwan to one of 60! As we don't get many Servas guests in Taiwan I don't think I'll be hosting anyone for awhile, if everyone is going to get a turn! :o) I did a lot of Servas travelling in the States and Europe in the early nineties. It's a pretty amazing organisation.
(If you are wondering what Servas is, check out this link (English) or this link (Chinese).)
Well, that's all the news that's fit to print. Have a great day/evening!
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
PS I need help for the last two clues of today's crossword:
1. Coral or Cortez (answer: S_A)
2. Geared up (answer: _ARGER)
Any ideas? The two blanks are the SAME letter as 1 is horizontal and 2 is vertical. Many thanks!
The day started well. I slept in until 7 am. Now, I realise, that by most people's standards, 7 am is NOT sleeping in. However, I've been waking up between 5:50~6:30 am for about the last six weeks, so 7 am seemed like a nice lie-in.
I didn't walk the dogs this morning as both Little Fella's splints have worn holes through them! I didn't realise that the other splint was close to wearing out and on our last long walk it wore through. And continued wearing through to his foot. Which I didn't notice until the next morning when I changed his bandage (he gets fresh bandages in the morning.) Poor Little Fella. When I use his cart the wounded leg (which is the one suspended) gets all hot and swollen, I guess due to the not-yet-healed abrasions. So, no cart until he is healed up and no splints until the new ones arrive. Poor bored Little Fella.
I enjoyed my breakfast while trying to finish yesterday's crossword. I didn't succeed, darn it! Then I started a quilt for Kitty. Kitty is Angela's cat who died of FIV (Cat AIDS) the same day as LW. As I make AIDS quilts with the guys at Lourdes, it seemed reasonable to make a mini quilt for Kitty. I have been talking about it for weeks, today I finally buckled down and got it mostly done. No photos or descriptions as I won't be giving it to Ang until May 12th (her birthday!) and she reads my blog. Hee, hee, you'll just have to wait, Ang!
After a quick lunch I went to Taipei city to run some errands. First, I paid rent. I have to pay in person as I suspect my landlord does not claim this income. It's a pain in the neck as it is nowhere near an MRT station. I usually pay three months at a time, this time I paid four months, so I don't have to see him again until September. Good.
Then I went to the shop where I bought my camera and asked them to send it to Sony for me. I will find out at the end of the week if it is fixable and how much it will cost to fix. Meanwhile I am considering buying a digital SLR camera. Does anyone have any thoughts on the matter?
Next to the bookstore...because it's a bookstore, d'uh! Then back downstairs to Starbucks to get coffee for the house. I don't know about Starbucks in other countries, but here they only have one 'fair trade' coffee available. Fortunately it is delicious! It is not always available and often I have to track from one Starbucks to another, just to get a bag of coffee. (I tried Starbucks in Tai Da hospital last week and then another store in Gong Guan. I finally had success in Yung Ho! Huzzah!)
(You falling asleep yet? I know, it wasn't an exciting day but it was so very pleasant...I didn't have to meet anyone or be anywhere at a specific time...lovely!)
I took the MRT to Grandma Nitti's to drop off a couple of bolts and bearing...uh...things for the wheelchair that I returned to Animals Taiwan. Then over to Jane's to say hi and to give her a 'pizza oven', the 'surprise' in Ethan's 'Kinder Surprise' on Sunday. Jane was interviewed by some people from the 'Apple Daily' last week. The Apple Daily is a horrible, awful, trashy daily paper that is fabulously popular here. Since then she has been incredibly busy. They keep selling out of food by 8 pm! Anyway, she has new menues coming out and she asked me to proofread them. Mostly the problems were punctuation (or lack thereof) and capitalisation (or lack thereof). As payment I drank a glass of wine. ('Any time, Jane, any time!!')
Charlie and then later Beki showed up, so we chatted about this, that and the other. They both commented on my very nice new haircut. 'Er, no, not a haircut. I've lost 10 lbs.' Very amusing seeing their surprised expressions!
And so I eventually returned home, fed the beasties, enjoyed my Greek-esque salad with a second glass of wine. I still have to go up to Constance's and get some wood shavings for my dog to sleep on, I'm nearly out.
Oh, and tomorrow evening I will be meeting many of the Servas Taiwan members for an informal dinner at a coffee shop. We have a Servas guest from Japan for three days, starting this evening. She was going to stay with me, but then the organiser of Servas Taiwan asked if I could let her stay with someone else as I am almost the only person to have had an overnight guest so far here in Taiwan! A Taiwanese woman, Mei, wrote a book about her Servas experiences overseas last year. After her book came out our membership increased something like ten-fold. I went from being the only 'over-night' host in Taiwan to one of 60! As we don't get many Servas guests in Taiwan I don't think I'll be hosting anyone for awhile, if everyone is going to get a turn! :o) I did a lot of Servas travelling in the States and Europe in the early nineties. It's a pretty amazing organisation.
(If you are wondering what Servas is, check out this link (English) or this link (Chinese).)
Well, that's all the news that's fit to print. Have a great day/evening!
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
PS I need help for the last two clues of today's crossword:
1. Coral or Cortez (answer: S_A)
2. Geared up (answer: _ARGER)
Any ideas? The two blanks are the SAME letter as 1 is horizontal and 2 is vertical. Many thanks!
April 26, 2007: Dinner on the fly
The other evening when I came home from work I discovered approximately 800 fruit flies doing their thing around my kitchen garbage. Yech. The garbage bag was not full and I knew I was going to generate more garbage that evening, so I put the garbage can right by the kitchen door. The approximately 800 fruit flies followed along.
An hour or so later, when I went to throw something out, I noticed that a rather clever spider had spun a very basic web about 10 cm above the trash can. I admired his style. It seemed as though there were only about 400 fruit flies buzzing about.
Fast forward another hour: no more fruit flies! The spider was still there, looking rather as if he were thinking, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing."
Having the enquiring mind that I do I left that rather horrid can of rubbish where it was overnight. In the morning there were still no fruit flies and the spider had packed up his web and moved on to greener pastures. Cool, eh
PS This photo of a spider is not the one that was munching on fruit flies, it's another one I found on a walk with the dogs.
April 23, 2012: The Hunt For A Fridge
They didn't have a fridge. Can you believe it? I returned back to my couch and contemplated my lunch: tandoori chicken on a bed of stir-fried cabbage. I had cooked the cabbage that morning and then put the cold, left-over chicken directly on top, knowing that it would go into a fridge once I got to the studio.
But they didn't have a fridge. Can you believe it? I considered the options: If I couldn't refrigerate the food there was no way I was going to eat it at lunch time, not wanting to risk food poisoning. I could throw it out, but that seemed a shame since it was going to be quite tasty and a waste of food. Plus, I would then have to find another diet-friendly lunch and eat it before my next job that afternoon.
They didn't have a fridge. I couldn't believe it. I decided to have a wander outside to see if I couldn't find a mom & pop corner store that would let me borrow a corner of their fridge for a couple of hours. As I was walking down the road I passed a small salon with two or three women in it. They called out a cheerful 'hello', to which I of course answered with a 'good morning', but I was preoccupied with my search for a fridge. A few more doors down I realised that there was no mom & pop store in sight. As I headed back towards the studio I thought, 'What the heck?' and dropped into the hair salon. Immediately they asked if I didn't live the next lane over, on the third floor?
"Ah, no, I live in Xindian. I'm here to do some work at the studio." I explained. "And I was wondering if I could put my lunch in your fridge for a couple of hours? They don't have a fridge...and it's chicken, I don't want to waste it." My voice faltered slightly at the end as they were staring at me as if I truly were an 'alien.'
The owner seemingly shook herself out of a trance, stepped forward and took my lunch. "They don't have a fridge? Such a big place, and no fridge?"
I shook my head sadly, "No, no fridge. Thank you so much for looking after my lunch! I'll be back in a couple of hours."
And off I went, back to the studio and the IRRITATING CLIENT FROM HELL. But that's another story that I can not be bothered to tell.
At 12:15 I walked back over to the salon and was given my (chilled) lunch. I thanked them all with real gratitude in my heart. As I turned around and walked towards the MRT I heard the proprietor say, "Ai~YO!!" A general-use expression used to express surprise to fear to annoyance to anger to disbelief to amazement. From her tone of voice I would say it was a nice combination disbelief and amazement. I laughed quietly to myself and thought, "Ai~yo, I love Taiwan and the Taiwanese."
April 6, 2007: Mogul Lamb
Hey, I am making a brand new dish out of a brand new cookbook from a couple of (not brand new) friends. It's called Mogul Lamb.
First, I needed to make some garam marsala. I have a tiny food processor attachment for my beaters that I love, just perfect for grinding the spices. Unfortunately, I seem to have left one of the essential pieces at Lourdes. So, I figured as there wasn't much stuff, I'd use a mortar and pestle:
Very picturesque, eh? However, after about 45 seconds of grinding I decided that this was going to take too long, so I poured the spices into the blender:
Yeah, now that was very effective! I now need to go to 'Jason's', a fabulously expensive supermarket in the 101 building to get cardamom pods, the only spice I was missing.
I have chopped and blended the garlic, onion, ginger, almonds and water for the lamb. The lamb has been cubed and is now thinking happy thoughts while marinating in this mixture. Mmmm, I think it will be nice.
This dish is what I am bringing to Andy's for dinner tonight. I offered to bring this as (a) it is within my 'diet' and thus I can eat it with great abandon and (b) it gives me a chance to use the cookbook Simon and Constance gave me for my birthday.
Talking of diet: My 34" pants are wearable and comfortable, I even need a belt to stop them from sliding down and irritating the heck out of me. 5 lbs down, 25 lbs to go -- happy Amanda!
[Later] While I was on the MRT on my way to 101, Andy called and said he had cardamom, I didn't need to buy any. Huh? How did you--oh, you read my blog! That was funny. I went anyway as I haven't been for ages. I got a few great spices but...no cardamom. Hmph. So I went to the 'good' "Wellcome (sic) Supermarket" which has a pretty good selection of foreign goods. SOL, no cardamom. Oh, well, home I went, figuring I could add the cardomom when I got to Andy's tonight.
Here are a few more 'in progress' photos. First I had to make some 'ghee'. This is made by melting unsalted butter then letting it simmer for 30 minutes while the water evaporates. You skim the bubbly scum off the top, let it cool a bit so the milk solids sink to the bottom then pour off the clear fat or 'ghee.' It seems though, that even at my absolute lowest flame my burner was still too hot so the milk solids started to burn after about 15 minutes. It didn't taste burned but had a deeper colour than usual. At the same time I dry roasted some corriander seeds and then ground them up. When dry roasted they are really easy to grind up in the mortar and pestle.
Next I put some ghee in the pan and added the cinamon stick and cloves. There should also have been some cardamom pods here but I had to use 'pretend' cardamom.
It smelled really good! I added the sliced onions and fried them until they were beginning to brown. This lot got transferred to a bowl. I then added the marinated lamb:
This got fried for about 5 minutes, turning a few times. I added some hot water then let it cook covered for half an hour. I then poured in cream, the fried onions and some more spices and let it cook gently for another 30 minutes. It was served with toasted almonds and was gooood.
First, I needed to make some garam marsala. I have a tiny food processor attachment for my beaters that I love, just perfect for grinding the spices. Unfortunately, I seem to have left one of the essential pieces at Lourdes. So, I figured as there wasn't much stuff, I'd use a mortar and pestle:
Very picturesque, eh? However, after about 45 seconds of grinding I decided that this was going to take too long, so I poured the spices into the blender:
Yeah, now that was very effective! I now need to go to 'Jason's', a fabulously expensive supermarket in the 101 building to get cardamom pods, the only spice I was missing.
I have chopped and blended the garlic, onion, ginger, almonds and water for the lamb. The lamb has been cubed and is now thinking happy thoughts while marinating in this mixture. Mmmm, I think it will be nice.
This dish is what I am bringing to Andy's for dinner tonight. I offered to bring this as (a) it is within my 'diet' and thus I can eat it with great abandon and (b) it gives me a chance to use the cookbook Simon and Constance gave me for my birthday.
Talking of diet: My 34" pants are wearable and comfortable, I even need a belt to stop them from sliding down and irritating the heck out of me. 5 lbs down, 25 lbs to go -- happy Amanda!
[Later] While I was on the MRT on my way to 101, Andy called and said he had cardamom, I didn't need to buy any. Huh? How did you--oh, you read my blog! That was funny. I went anyway as I haven't been for ages. I got a few great spices but...no cardamom. Hmph. So I went to the 'good' "Wellcome (sic) Supermarket" which has a pretty good selection of foreign goods. SOL, no cardamom. Oh, well, home I went, figuring I could add the cardomom when I got to Andy's tonight.
Here are a few more 'in progress' photos. First I had to make some 'ghee'. This is made by melting unsalted butter then letting it simmer for 30 minutes while the water evaporates. You skim the bubbly scum off the top, let it cool a bit so the milk solids sink to the bottom then pour off the clear fat or 'ghee.' It seems though, that even at my absolute lowest flame my burner was still too hot so the milk solids started to burn after about 15 minutes. It didn't taste burned but had a deeper colour than usual. At the same time I dry roasted some corriander seeds and then ground them up. When dry roasted they are really easy to grind up in the mortar and pestle.
Next I put some ghee in the pan and added the cinamon stick and cloves. There should also have been some cardamom pods here but I had to use 'pretend' cardamom.
It smelled really good! I added the sliced onions and fried them until they were beginning to brown. This lot got transferred to a bowl. I then added the marinated lamb:
This got fried for about 5 minutes, turning a few times. I added some hot water then let it cook covered for half an hour. I then poured in cream, the fried onions and some more spices and let it cook gently for another 30 minutes. It was served with toasted almonds and was gooood.
March 26, 2007: My Monday
My Monday:
5 taxis,
4 recording jobs,
3 meals,
2 portions of fruit,
1 tired Amanda.
2 walked dogs,
3 chores done,
4 fed cats (one missed dinner),
5 cats curled up on my bed,
1 happy Amanda.
5 taxis,
4 recording jobs,
3 meals,
2 portions of fruit,
1 tired Amanda.
2 walked dogs,
3 chores done,
4 fed cats (one missed dinner),
5 cats curled up on my bed,
1 happy Amanda.
March 24, 2007: Fruit and Wine
I
am turning into a piece of fruit. I have eaten about six truck loads of
fruit this weekend. And I don't even like fruit that much. (It's better
if it is fermented and liquified.)
Well then, why, you may be wondering, gentle reader, am I eating so much fruit? It's Mr Du's fault.
And who is Mr Du? Mr Du is a very nice gentleman who allows Andy and me to take scrap wood from the furniture factory to burn in our fireplaces so we don't freeze to death in winter. Mr Du's boss does not want anyone to take this wood. The boss man wants Mr Du to burn it secretly when no one is watching.
Um, WTF? Yip, that's right. The boss man was allowing all and sundry to take the scrap wood as it was, yes, Scrap Wood. Little pieces about 8~25 cm long, all different shapes and thicknesses. Until the day that someone got into a chatroom here in Taipei, jumped up onto his virtual soapbox and declared that the boss man was Bad and Evil because he was wasting all this wood, allowing it to be burnt! Boss man didn't want to deal with the bad press and told Mr Du and the staff that no one was to take scrap wood, the idea being I suppose that people might forget all about the scrap wood, or believe it was being used for something useful.
Mr Du understands that the logic being employed by the boss man is, to put it kindly, faulty. So he was allowing us to sneak by just as they were closing and surrepticiously take bags of scrap wood. Yea, Mr Du!
And then we heard the bad news. Mr Du was heading back to his hometown of Kao Xiung. Considering that Mr Du looks about a hundred and four years old he must be ready to retire. He told his boss and told Andy he'd be leaving at the end of March. So on Firday evening I prepared this fruit basket and a bottle of wine to take as a 'thank you' present. We got there only to discover that Mr Du had already gone down south--eek! He has a problem with his foot (or leg, not sure) which needs 1~2 months to recover. Poor Mr Du! And so I have all this fruit. I have given some away and heroically munched my way through some of it. More is packed for my recess tomorrow.
Oh, and the bottle of wine? I drank the wine Friday night. It was lovely! :o)
Well then, why, you may be wondering, gentle reader, am I eating so much fruit? It's Mr Du's fault.
And who is Mr Du? Mr Du is a very nice gentleman who allows Andy and me to take scrap wood from the furniture factory to burn in our fireplaces so we don't freeze to death in winter. Mr Du's boss does not want anyone to take this wood. The boss man wants Mr Du to burn it secretly when no one is watching.
Um, WTF? Yip, that's right. The boss man was allowing all and sundry to take the scrap wood as it was, yes, Scrap Wood. Little pieces about 8~25 cm long, all different shapes and thicknesses. Until the day that someone got into a chatroom here in Taipei, jumped up onto his virtual soapbox and declared that the boss man was Bad and Evil because he was wasting all this wood, allowing it to be burnt! Boss man didn't want to deal with the bad press and told Mr Du and the staff that no one was to take scrap wood, the idea being I suppose that people might forget all about the scrap wood, or believe it was being used for something useful.
Mr Du understands that the logic being employed by the boss man is, to put it kindly, faulty. So he was allowing us to sneak by just as they were closing and surrepticiously take bags of scrap wood. Yea, Mr Du!
And then we heard the bad news. Mr Du was heading back to his hometown of Kao Xiung. Considering that Mr Du looks about a hundred and four years old he must be ready to retire. He told his boss and told Andy he'd be leaving at the end of March. So on Firday evening I prepared this fruit basket and a bottle of wine to take as a 'thank you' present. We got there only to discover that Mr Du had already gone down south--eek! He has a problem with his foot (or leg, not sure) which needs 1~2 months to recover. Poor Mr Du! And so I have all this fruit. I have given some away and heroically munched my way through some of it. More is packed for my recess tomorrow.
Oh, and the bottle of wine? I drank the wine Friday night. It was lovely! :o)
March 24, 2007: Oddments
This is a picture of my coffee cup from Starbucks. In order to make sure the
right person gets the right drink, the staff write one's family name on the
cup, for example Lin (林) or Chen (陳). To show that the drink belongs to
that person, they add an apotrophe-s ('s). This is easier than writing the
character 'de' (的)
which is the equivalent of apostrophe-s. As a foreigner, it's much easier for
the staff to write "foreigner's", which is "wei gou ren de"
(外國人的),
shortened to 外's.
Which I think is pretty hilarious!A couple of weeks ago I was in the new Sogo and discovered a boutique for dogs. Yes, you can bring your dog to the store and have different outfits tried on your little 'Booboo.' The staff are ever so friendly and the little outfits are ever so expensive. But, it must be admitted, cute.
March 22, 2007: Friday evening
Mmmmm, jushadthreeeglassesvwinenIfeelfine......
However, if you haven't just had tree galsses of wine that doesn't make sense.
Gosh, typing when tipsy is a challenge :o)
Thank goodness it's Friday, friendies.
I just watche 'Little Miss Sunshine' which is an off-beat but utterly charming film. Totally unrealistic but heck, I watch movies for a little escapism, hey.
Wow. That wine sure was nice. See y'all tomorrow. Happy Friday night!
However, if you haven't just had tree galsses of wine that doesn't make sense.
Gosh, typing when tipsy is a challenge :o)
Thank goodness it's Friday, friendies.
I just watche 'Little Miss Sunshine' which is an off-beat but utterly charming film. Totally unrealistic but heck, I watch movies for a little escapism, hey.
Wow. That wine sure was nice. See y'all tomorrow. Happy Friday night!
March 20, 2007: Everyday life
Ah, another satisfying day. It
started off very well as it was SUNNY this morning. Not sparkling blue skies
and blazing sun: it was more that the sun was playing hide and seek among the clouds. But that’s the most sun I’ve seen in a
long while.
After walking two very happy dogs we returned for breakfast. I did a bit of writing, a bit of editing, practiced some songs for this afternoon. The singing case went surprisingly well: yea! The second case was interesting as I recorded with two different guys. One is American and we recorded for the first hour in our normal accents. The second fellow is Irish, we were required to record the second hour in fake British accents. This was easy for me as I often have to put on a fake accent. It was this fellow’s first time recording and man was he nervous. His voice is not suited to recording (too rough), his ‘British’ accent was poor and he was sooo nervous. It was a shame because when he spoke normally he sounded quite lovely (and he was awfully handsome, too!) I tried to help him out a bit and everyone was really calm trying to allow him to relax and become more natural. He works for the company that is producing this project and they brought him in -- so the quality, or lack thereof, is their business.
I stopped at an art supplies store to get some bits for crafting with Sophie, ear plugs for me and a can of coconut milk.
Once home it still wasn’t raining (yea!!) so I took the dogs for a shorter walk. As it was dark Little Fella had his flashing collar on. It’s pretty neat to see just this flashing red band floating in the night air. I cooked the beasties their dinner and made chicken curry for me (YUM). Leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch and dinner: happy, happy.
Did chores tonight and got organized for tomorrow. Nothing exciting! It’s now eleven pm, time for bed as tomorrow will again be a full day.
After walking two very happy dogs we returned for breakfast. I did a bit of writing, a bit of editing, practiced some songs for this afternoon. The singing case went surprisingly well: yea! The second case was interesting as I recorded with two different guys. One is American and we recorded for the first hour in our normal accents. The second fellow is Irish, we were required to record the second hour in fake British accents. This was easy for me as I often have to put on a fake accent. It was this fellow’s first time recording and man was he nervous. His voice is not suited to recording (too rough), his ‘British’ accent was poor and he was sooo nervous. It was a shame because when he spoke normally he sounded quite lovely (and he was awfully handsome, too!) I tried to help him out a bit and everyone was really calm trying to allow him to relax and become more natural. He works for the company that is producing this project and they brought him in -- so the quality, or lack thereof, is their business.
I stopped at an art supplies store to get some bits for crafting with Sophie, ear plugs for me and a can of coconut milk.
Once home it still wasn’t raining (yea!!) so I took the dogs for a shorter walk. As it was dark Little Fella had his flashing collar on. It’s pretty neat to see just this flashing red band floating in the night air. I cooked the beasties their dinner and made chicken curry for me (YUM). Leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch and dinner: happy, happy.
Did chores tonight and got organized for tomorrow. Nothing exciting! It’s now eleven pm, time for bed as tomorrow will again be a full day.
LW 12.2002 ~ 2.2007
Thank
you, everyone, for your kind words. This morning I sat with LW under
the awning on the roof for awhile watching the rain fall, giving him a
last look around. I then took him to the vet who did his job competently
and with the minimum of chat. This was a good thing because I was too
choked up to talk properly.
I brought LW home and put him in the box I had prepared. He looked very relaxed. I sat outside with him for about an hour as I had this dread of unwittingly burying him alive. When it was completely clear that he was well and truly gone I put the lid on and buried him. As the hole was not the 1 m depth recommended by the vet (to prevent my other furry critters from digging him up--yech) I piled a bunch of rocks on top.
The whole procedure was sad but I have a real sense of closure having buried him myself. I think this sounds weird as I type it, but there you go. I'm weird.
I brought LW home and put him in the box I had prepared. He looked very relaxed. I sat outside with him for about an hour as I had this dread of unwittingly burying him alive. When it was completely clear that he was well and truly gone I put the lid on and buried him. As the hole was not the 1 m depth recommended by the vet (to prevent my other furry critters from digging him up--yech) I piled a bunch of rocks on top.
The whole procedure was sad but I have a real sense of closure having buried him myself. I think this sounds weird as I type it, but there you go. I'm weird.
Feb. 23, 2007: Sweet LW
Tomorrow morning I will take LW to the vet to be put
down. He now weighs a mere 1.5 kg; has only eaten once this week;
gangrene has started in his front left paw (diabetes=bad, bad, bad
circulation=gangrene) and he has peed twice on my bed. (Er, the last is a
symptom of how poorly he's doing, not a reason in itself to put him
down!)
This afternoon I made him a little wooden box that I have filled with wood shavings and dug a hole in the back yard. Actually, I dug the hole first. Naturally it's not big enough, so I'll enlarge it tomorrow morning.
Sad Amanda.
This afternoon I made him a little wooden box that I have filled with wood shavings and dug a hole in the back yard. Actually, I dug the hole first. Naturally it's not big enough, so I'll enlarge it tomorrow morning.
Sad Amanda.
Feb. 18, 2007: Hanging out on New Year's Day
Daiyu, Charlie (!) and Tsai. Looks like Charlie had something to contribute to the conversation. :o)
Sebastian and Belle. Belle just arrived back from working in Shanghai for the last couple of years. It's good to have her home!
Tilman and Tsai recovering from the feast.
Happy and full me!
In fact, I was so full that I decided I needed a nap, so while Tilman walked the dogs and the others set up the Mah Jong, I snoozed on the sofa. Here are Tsai, Belle, Tilman and Sebastian playing Mah Jong. First, you need to mix up the tiles then build the walls.
Next you take turns taking your pieces, four at a time, until you have 16 tiles.
You sort the tiles into the four suits (separating out the flower tiles, winds and the other ones--er, 'hong jong', 'bai ban' and 'fa'.) In a very simplistic view, it is similar to the card game Rummy~you want to get groups of three of a kind or runs of three in the same suit.
Having a sharp eye and an excellent memory makes for a successful player.
I played for about an hour and a half and lost EVERY TIME. I am not a good Mah Jong player. :o) Although we were gambling it was just with plastic chips, not for real money. (Which turns out to have been a Good Thing as far as I was concerned!)
As to the rules of Mah Jong: similar to poker and pool there are endless variations on how to play and how to score. We go for the simplest version possible and find that challenging enough!
Sebastian and Belle. Belle just arrived back from working in Shanghai for the last couple of years. It's good to have her home!
Tilman and Tsai recovering from the feast.
Happy and full me!
In fact, I was so full that I decided I needed a nap, so while Tilman walked the dogs and the others set up the Mah Jong, I snoozed on the sofa. Here are Tsai, Belle, Tilman and Sebastian playing Mah Jong. First, you need to mix up the tiles then build the walls.
Next you take turns taking your pieces, four at a time, until you have 16 tiles.
You sort the tiles into the four suits (separating out the flower tiles, winds and the other ones--er, 'hong jong', 'bai ban' and 'fa'.) In a very simplistic view, it is similar to the card game Rummy~you want to get groups of three of a kind or runs of three in the same suit.
Having a sharp eye and an excellent memory makes for a successful player.
I played for about an hour and a half and lost EVERY TIME. I am not a good Mah Jong player. :o) Although we were gambling it was just with plastic chips, not for real money. (Which turns out to have been a Good Thing as far as I was concerned!)
As to the rules of Mah Jong: similar to poker and pool there are endless variations on how to play and how to score. We go for the simplest version possible and find that challenging enough!
Feb. 16, 2007: D'Oh
Ok,
a part of cleaning the house is changing the sheets. I took off the
old sheets and threw them on the floor. Later I came up with the new
sheets rolled into a ball as I had just taken them in from the line. I
put the new sheets on and took the dirty ones downstairs to wash.
Another task completed.
Just now I popped into my bedroom to put some books away. Suddenly I stopped what I was doing and looked at the bed. Yip, I had put the DIRTY sheets back on and the CLEAN sheets in the laundry basket, ready to wash.
Smooth move, Exlax.
Another task completed.
Just now I popped into my bedroom to put some books away. Suddenly I stopped what I was doing and looked at the bed. Yip, I had put the DIRTY sheets back on and the CLEAN sheets in the laundry basket, ready to wash.
Smooth move, Exlax.
February 7, 2007: Life and a story
It's been a busy day and busier days are coming: I'll
be working Thursday morning and all day Friday. Thursday afternoon I'll
be making cookies at Lourdes (and introducing a colleague to Sister
Teresa who would like to volunteer at Lourdes! Yea!) Both Thursday and
Friday evening I'll be going to a 'Wei Ya', this is a 'Year End Party'.
Remember that Chinese/Lunar New Year is on February 18th, so now is the
time for end of the year celebrations.
Which means that tonight I have to check my outfit (the same for both parties). Make almond paste for the cookies tomorrow. (You think I should buy it here instead of make it? In Taipei? Yeah, I don't think so. If I had known that pinenut cookies were such a pain I would have said "No Way!" It's a bit too late, now, my fellow volunteer has already bought the pinenuts.) Wash dishes and do some general tidying. I went grocery shopping and have pre-weighed and cut up the dogs/cats meat for the next four days. Yes! I am completely insane! They get freshly cooked meat every night! Crazy spinster lady with too many cats at your service!
So, no cruising your blogs for the next couple of days. I'll take many (many, many, many) photos and post, post, post over the weekend!
To people who've been writing to me recently: I will answer your messages probably over the weekend. Patience, friends.
*************************************************
Sheesh, making the almond paste and gathering up the tools + equipment for tomorrow only took 10 minutes. I was imagining 30 minutes at least.
Department Store Story.
On Saturday I bought three magazines in a moment of decadence. One of them, among other things, tested jeans, concealers and alarm clocks. Interesting combination, I thought. As I have mentioned 'once or twice' I've been staying up progressively later and later. One of the side effects is that I am getting bags under my eyes. Yech. So, reading this article about 'concealers' I thought I would go and buy my first one. Ever.
I got to the department store, clutching my magazine and told myself that I would not be intimidated by the twenty-one and a half year old waifs selling cosmetics. I had planned to buy a product by YSL, however it is only available at the airport in Duty Free. So I moved on to my next choice, something by Channel. Nope, not available in Taiwan. Choice number three was a product by MAC. The girls at MAC are by far the hippest: Short shorts, 'F-M' black leather boots, shiny black cascading hair and far-out makeup. I was a woman on a mission (in my Timberland shoes and Abercrombie hoodie) and asked one of the young women to help me. She was very friendly but busy and said she'd help me in a minute. Their little corner of the department store was a frenzy of women, some getting their make-up done, others browsing and debating the merits of this and that. I noticed a couple of guys discusing lip gloss and then trying them on. They were so cool: they looked completely unselfconscious as they tried different shades. I don't know of any other big city in the world (except maybe SF?) where guys could casually try on make-up and no one would bat an eyelid. Tell you what, seeing them made me feel way chilled out. When the salesgirl got back to me and we discussed what I had chosen, she suggested a different product and then tried it on me. She noticed that my skin is dry, very dry. (Oh?) I admitted I almost never put on moisturiser. "Hmm," she said. "What foundation do you use?" Er, none. It was just like a cartoon: Her eyes bugged out and I swear there were pink and green sparkly question marks floating around her head for a couple of seconds. She professionally pulled herself back together and suggested that in the future I put on moisturiser and then concealer. Everyday.
Being girly is hard work. I think I should just go to bed earlier.
Which means that tonight I have to check my outfit (the same for both parties). Make almond paste for the cookies tomorrow. (You think I should buy it here instead of make it? In Taipei? Yeah, I don't think so. If I had known that pinenut cookies were such a pain I would have said "No Way!" It's a bit too late, now, my fellow volunteer has already bought the pinenuts.) Wash dishes and do some general tidying. I went grocery shopping and have pre-weighed and cut up the dogs/cats meat for the next four days. Yes! I am completely insane! They get freshly cooked meat every night! Crazy spinster lady with too many cats at your service!
So, no cruising your blogs for the next couple of days. I'll take many (many, many, many) photos and post, post, post over the weekend!
To people who've been writing to me recently: I will answer your messages probably over the weekend. Patience, friends.
*************************************************
Sheesh, making the almond paste and gathering up the tools + equipment for tomorrow only took 10 minutes. I was imagining 30 minutes at least.
Department Store Story.
On Saturday I bought three magazines in a moment of decadence. One of them, among other things, tested jeans, concealers and alarm clocks. Interesting combination, I thought. As I have mentioned 'once or twice' I've been staying up progressively later and later. One of the side effects is that I am getting bags under my eyes. Yech. So, reading this article about 'concealers' I thought I would go and buy my first one. Ever.
I got to the department store, clutching my magazine and told myself that I would not be intimidated by the twenty-one and a half year old waifs selling cosmetics. I had planned to buy a product by YSL, however it is only available at the airport in Duty Free. So I moved on to my next choice, something by Channel. Nope, not available in Taiwan. Choice number three was a product by MAC. The girls at MAC are by far the hippest: Short shorts, 'F-M' black leather boots, shiny black cascading hair and far-out makeup. I was a woman on a mission (in my Timberland shoes and Abercrombie hoodie) and asked one of the young women to help me. She was very friendly but busy and said she'd help me in a minute. Their little corner of the department store was a frenzy of women, some getting their make-up done, others browsing and debating the merits of this and that. I noticed a couple of guys discusing lip gloss and then trying them on. They were so cool: they looked completely unselfconscious as they tried different shades. I don't know of any other big city in the world (except maybe SF?) where guys could casually try on make-up and no one would bat an eyelid. Tell you what, seeing them made me feel way chilled out. When the salesgirl got back to me and we discussed what I had chosen, she suggested a different product and then tried it on me. She noticed that my skin is dry, very dry. (Oh?) I admitted I almost never put on moisturiser. "Hmm," she said. "What foundation do you use?" Er, none. It was just like a cartoon: Her eyes bugged out and I swear there were pink and green sparkly question marks floating around her head for a couple of seconds. She professionally pulled herself back together and suggested that in the future I put on moisturiser and then concealer. Everyday.
Being girly is hard work. I think I should just go to bed earlier.
February 3, 2007, Happy life
Nothing, but nothing, beats a good night's rest. *does a little happy shimmy in her chair* So, to recap:
Friday: I decided to copy Eve, Matthew and Mandy and take photos of what I ate for one entire day. I started off with coffee (Starbucks 'fairtrade' coffee which I buy by the pound):
And then followed up with 'dan bing' at a breakfast restaurant. Here are some things cooking on the grill. Clockwise from top right: Two pieces of french toast (I have never seen this being cooked at a breakfast bar before), a slice of bacon, pieces of shredded chicken, a processed chicken burger, a hamburger (made with pork, not beef). Burgers are popular breakfast food here:
And here is my 'dan bing' and coffee. 'Dan bing' literally translates into 'Egg cake'. An egg and some chopped pieces of green onion are quickly beaten with a fork then poured onto the grill. Then, something like a very thin uncooked tortilla, but made with oil in the dough so it is not fragile, is placed on top. It's fried one one side for about 30 seconds, flipped and fried on the other side, rolled and chopped up. This is a 'high class' breakfast place, so the plates have a little built in sauce dish (usually oyster sauce, I add chilli sauce, too.) In less fancy places they slide the plate into a baggie. When you are finished eating they throw the baggie out--no washing up! It has become very trendy in the last year or so to carry around your own chopsticks instead of using disposable ones. I was given these for Christmas. They screw together (like pool cues) and look quite sporty in their blue cordura carrying case.
After breakfast I forgot to take anymore pictures. I don't just eat breakfast!
After taping I went to MaryJane's for lunch with my former colleague, Danny. As always it was good to catch up on the news. When he asked me how my trip to England was (November 2006) I realised that I really hadn't seen him for a long time!!
Ten minutes after he left Simon showed up. Then Constance, Sophie and Judy. Here's a photo of Judy demonstrating the infamous 'Xindian Tickle Torture' on Sophie.
We hung out for a bit then went ice skating! I haven't been ice skating for a good 15 years but was confident that it would be just like riding a bicycle: you never forget, right? Here are my skates. Yup, black skates. BOY SKATES!! Just didn't seem right, somehow.
I have photos of everyone skating except Simon. It was Simon's first time skating and he got pretty good at walking on the ice, hee, hee, hee. After about 30 minutes of walking slowly round the edge of the arena he sat down on the bleachers and took his boots off. Here are Constance and Jane:
Judy:
Andy:
Sophie:
And, very exciting to all Canadians...the Zamboni!!
My first time around I was totally spastic and fell down on my ass. Oh, man, I laughed and laughed. Any way, I got my legs cooperating, remembered to keep my weight forward, was able to do a 360 twirl when I stopped (though not sure how I did that) and was feeling good. I moved onto trying cross-cuts (I think that's what they are called). I was a bit wobbly but ok. Then I started going faster, having a blast, feeling good, when suddenly I went "THUNK!" Ok, that time it really hurt. I landed on the base of my spine which made me go "Oh, no." For readers who have been with me awhile you'll know that I broke my neck just over a year ago. Although I made a full recovery (yippee!) I like to think I am a little bit more cautious than before. I lay on the ice for a couple of seconds then flipped over onto my hands and knees doing a little internal evaluation.
I decided I was fine. I sat out on a bench for five minutes then started skating again. I kept going for another 15 minutes or so, (more cross-cuts even! But slower.) Then I decided I had had enough. We watched the Zamboni clean the ice (proud moment for the Canadians) then tootled off home.
I spent a lot of the evening resting on a hot pack. Ow.
Saturday:
Took LW to the vet. He had managed to wrench his IV out of his arm late Friday night so it had to be changed to his other arm. The thing is, his other arm has already been used and the vein has thickened so it can't be used again. His leg veins are too tiny. Result: he is out of veins but needs an IV. Secondary result: Stressed-out Amanda.
The vet tried to salvage the existing IV but it was a no-go. He got a bit stressed as I think he was having a bad morning with the previous two cases being dying dogs. I so appreciate him. I'm not sure how one can keep doing this job year after year and not freak out at all the sadness (owners) and pain/death (pets). Cheers to any vets/doctors/therapists etc reading this blog!
Since he is a super-vet he managed to use a different, minute vein in the other arm. He bandaged it up very carefully and securely, emphsizing that after this vein there really are no more other chances. LW is either in his cage or on my lap, sleeping most of the time. Go, LW, go!
By the time I got him home I was emotionally fairly drained and physically uncomfortable. Solution: a massage! Oh, it was sooooo nice. My masseuse is a wonderful person. I then went for a leisurely lunch at this little cafe that has Taiwan's most welcoming (but not obsequious) waitstaff and good, hearty meals. After which I went up to Eslite bookstore and bought three magazines. It was a thoroughly decadent and reviving afternoon.
I stopped to buy groceries then went home. I spent about an hour with LW on my lap, reading a novel. I then cooked dinner for the beasties and washed up most of the dishes (using my smashing yellow gloves). Constance came by and asked if she could bring people over to look at the stove. A good thing I had started cleaning up before she came by! I said "Sure, but give me five minutes!" I got a fire going, lit some candles, turned off most of the lights (looks lovely and hides the dirt), and sat down on the sofa with my wine and book, trying to make it look like if you buy a stove from Constance, you too, will have a life of comfort and ease. Hee, hee. After they left I turned on some lights, spot mopped the floor and washed some more dishes. Constance came over with more people to look at the stove so once again I lowered the lights and took up my position as a lady of leisure on the sofa. Well, that lady of leisure position was so comfortable that I just stayed there (so some dirty dishes remain.) Constance came a third time without visitors but with a bottle of wine. I had already had two glasses and was feeling *fine* so I didn't have anymore. We sat in front of the fire, chatting, listening to Jack Johnson and generally feeling that life is swell.
It's now two o'clock on Sunday afternoon. I must hang some laundry before going to visit Angela's cat, Kitty. I hope that you, too, are having a lovely weekend. (And if you go skating, strap a pillow to your butt!)
Friday: I decided to copy Eve, Matthew and Mandy and take photos of what I ate for one entire day. I started off with coffee (Starbucks 'fairtrade' coffee which I buy by the pound):
And then followed up with 'dan bing' at a breakfast restaurant. Here are some things cooking on the grill. Clockwise from top right: Two pieces of french toast (I have never seen this being cooked at a breakfast bar before), a slice of bacon, pieces of shredded chicken, a processed chicken burger, a hamburger (made with pork, not beef). Burgers are popular breakfast food here:
And here is my 'dan bing' and coffee. 'Dan bing' literally translates into 'Egg cake'. An egg and some chopped pieces of green onion are quickly beaten with a fork then poured onto the grill. Then, something like a very thin uncooked tortilla, but made with oil in the dough so it is not fragile, is placed on top. It's fried one one side for about 30 seconds, flipped and fried on the other side, rolled and chopped up. This is a 'high class' breakfast place, so the plates have a little built in sauce dish (usually oyster sauce, I add chilli sauce, too.) In less fancy places they slide the plate into a baggie. When you are finished eating they throw the baggie out--no washing up! It has become very trendy in the last year or so to carry around your own chopsticks instead of using disposable ones. I was given these for Christmas. They screw together (like pool cues) and look quite sporty in their blue cordura carrying case.
After breakfast I forgot to take anymore pictures. I don't just eat breakfast!
After taping I went to MaryJane's for lunch with my former colleague, Danny. As always it was good to catch up on the news. When he asked me how my trip to England was (November 2006) I realised that I really hadn't seen him for a long time!!
Ten minutes after he left Simon showed up. Then Constance, Sophie and Judy. Here's a photo of Judy demonstrating the infamous 'Xindian Tickle Torture' on Sophie.
We hung out for a bit then went ice skating! I haven't been ice skating for a good 15 years but was confident that it would be just like riding a bicycle: you never forget, right? Here are my skates. Yup, black skates. BOY SKATES!! Just didn't seem right, somehow.
I have photos of everyone skating except Simon. It was Simon's first time skating and he got pretty good at walking on the ice, hee, hee, hee. After about 30 minutes of walking slowly round the edge of the arena he sat down on the bleachers and took his boots off. Here are Constance and Jane:
Judy:
Andy:
Sophie:
And, very exciting to all Canadians...the Zamboni!!
My first time around I was totally spastic and fell down on my ass. Oh, man, I laughed and laughed. Any way, I got my legs cooperating, remembered to keep my weight forward, was able to do a 360 twirl when I stopped (though not sure how I did that) and was feeling good. I moved onto trying cross-cuts (I think that's what they are called). I was a bit wobbly but ok. Then I started going faster, having a blast, feeling good, when suddenly I went "THUNK!" Ok, that time it really hurt. I landed on the base of my spine which made me go "Oh, no." For readers who have been with me awhile you'll know that I broke my neck just over a year ago. Although I made a full recovery (yippee!) I like to think I am a little bit more cautious than before. I lay on the ice for a couple of seconds then flipped over onto my hands and knees doing a little internal evaluation.
I decided I was fine. I sat out on a bench for five minutes then started skating again. I kept going for another 15 minutes or so, (more cross-cuts even! But slower.) Then I decided I had had enough. We watched the Zamboni clean the ice (proud moment for the Canadians) then tootled off home.
I spent a lot of the evening resting on a hot pack. Ow.
Saturday:
Took LW to the vet. He had managed to wrench his IV out of his arm late Friday night so it had to be changed to his other arm. The thing is, his other arm has already been used and the vein has thickened so it can't be used again. His leg veins are too tiny. Result: he is out of veins but needs an IV. Secondary result: Stressed-out Amanda.
The vet tried to salvage the existing IV but it was a no-go. He got a bit stressed as I think he was having a bad morning with the previous two cases being dying dogs. I so appreciate him. I'm not sure how one can keep doing this job year after year and not freak out at all the sadness (owners) and pain/death (pets). Cheers to any vets/doctors/therapists etc reading this blog!
Since he is a super-vet he managed to use a different, minute vein in the other arm. He bandaged it up very carefully and securely, emphsizing that after this vein there really are no more other chances. LW is either in his cage or on my lap, sleeping most of the time. Go, LW, go!
By the time I got him home I was emotionally fairly drained and physically uncomfortable. Solution: a massage! Oh, it was sooooo nice. My masseuse is a wonderful person. I then went for a leisurely lunch at this little cafe that has Taiwan's most welcoming (but not obsequious) waitstaff and good, hearty meals. After which I went up to Eslite bookstore and bought three magazines. It was a thoroughly decadent and reviving afternoon.
I stopped to buy groceries then went home. I spent about an hour with LW on my lap, reading a novel. I then cooked dinner for the beasties and washed up most of the dishes (using my smashing yellow gloves). Constance came by and asked if she could bring people over to look at the stove. A good thing I had started cleaning up before she came by! I said "Sure, but give me five minutes!" I got a fire going, lit some candles, turned off most of the lights (looks lovely and hides the dirt), and sat down on the sofa with my wine and book, trying to make it look like if you buy a stove from Constance, you too, will have a life of comfort and ease. Hee, hee. After they left I turned on some lights, spot mopped the floor and washed some more dishes. Constance came over with more people to look at the stove so once again I lowered the lights and took up my position as a lady of leisure on the sofa. Well, that lady of leisure position was so comfortable that I just stayed there (so some dirty dishes remain.) Constance came a third time without visitors but with a bottle of wine. I had already had two glasses and was feeling *fine* so I didn't have anymore. We sat in front of the fire, chatting, listening to Jack Johnson and generally feeling that life is swell.
It's now two o'clock on Sunday afternoon. I must hang some laundry before going to visit Angela's cat, Kitty. I hope that you, too, are having a lovely weekend. (And if you go skating, strap a pillow to your butt!)
January 31, 2007, Happy life
I
think I have had enought pet-centred blogs for a while now. I have
mentioned 'once or twice' about the fact that it is chilly here now. (Of
course, I don't help things by having a door open on the first floor
and one open out to the roof. Hmm, on that note, I will go upstairs and
Close The Door. Back in a sec.)
I mention the cold weather because have I 'sensitive' skin: My skin does not like cold. For my skin anything under 10 C (50 F for my American friends) is Not Good. So what does this mean? It means that if, at these temperatures, I wash dishes without rubber gloves (my normal method), the skin on the ends of my fingers most distressingly cracks. Two days ago my skin showed signs of discomfort thus I chose not to wash the dishes. This afternoon, on my way back from Lourdes, I stopped to buy some rubber gloves. (There is a point to this meandering story, bear with me.)
So, I got home. I scooted around the house making sure all of my furry friends were here and well. I then pulled on my rubber gloves and attacked my two-day mountain of dishes. The point: I was listening to 'Wonderful Tonight' by Eric Clapton. As the opening bars played I experienced one of those 'perfect moments': I was at my beloved home, with my dear pets (all still alive!), listening to wonderful music, sipping a glass of wine and I felt an incredible surge of joy washing a bowl. I particularly noticed this moment because, frankly, washing dishes doesn't usually (ever!) make me feel so joyful.
I read the expression 'a perfect moment' years ago. When I came across this term I realised that every day is full of potential 'perfect moments', some of which I noticed, some I missed. To experience more joy, I simply needed to become more aware of these moments.
Today has been special because there have been a few perfect moments. One was at Lourdes as we made peanut butter cookies. (Thanks! to CP who shared her recipe with me.) The whole afternoon was good, making cookies with my favorite co-volunteer and one of my old Lourdes friends, J. As this was a new recipe for all of us we really worked as a team and boy, the cookies were yum!
1. Rolling and pressing.
2. Baking.
3. Mmmm, ready to eat!
4. Going, going, nearly gone...
On my way home I called Mr Du, the manager of the wood-furniture factory to ask him if I could pick up some wood. The wood that I burn in my stoves comes from this factory, they are the scraps of wood too small (mostly 25 cm long or less) that they cannot do anything with. Just before I reached the factory I noticed the moon hanging in the sky, looking incredibly large. Another perfect moment. I stopped to take a few photos before continuing on to collect some wood.
Oh! Another, well, not perfect moment, but fabulous moment? A few months ago I mentioned that someone had put up some HUGE storage sheds right on the edge of the river road. They were then dismantled (yeah!) but then, two weeks later, 'remantled.' (Is 'remantled' a word?). Rats. Well. It would appear that either (a) last night they were hit by a meteor or (b) someone destroyed the buildings. I don't know if these sheds are legal or not (I suspect not) AND they are very ugly so I don't feel sorry for the owner at all, ha!
OK. Last thing. I found this really neat snake skin in the basket that holds my 'house slippers.' Don't you think snake skins are just so cool? How does the snake wriggle out without the skin breaking apart?
I mention the cold weather because have I 'sensitive' skin: My skin does not like cold. For my skin anything under 10 C (50 F for my American friends) is Not Good. So what does this mean? It means that if, at these temperatures, I wash dishes without rubber gloves (my normal method), the skin on the ends of my fingers most distressingly cracks. Two days ago my skin showed signs of discomfort thus I chose not to wash the dishes. This afternoon, on my way back from Lourdes, I stopped to buy some rubber gloves. (There is a point to this meandering story, bear with me.)
So, I got home. I scooted around the house making sure all of my furry friends were here and well. I then pulled on my rubber gloves and attacked my two-day mountain of dishes. The point: I was listening to 'Wonderful Tonight' by Eric Clapton. As the opening bars played I experienced one of those 'perfect moments': I was at my beloved home, with my dear pets (all still alive!), listening to wonderful music, sipping a glass of wine and I felt an incredible surge of joy washing a bowl. I particularly noticed this moment because, frankly, washing dishes doesn't usually (ever!) make me feel so joyful.
I read the expression 'a perfect moment' years ago. When I came across this term I realised that every day is full of potential 'perfect moments', some of which I noticed, some I missed. To experience more joy, I simply needed to become more aware of these moments.
Today has been special because there have been a few perfect moments. One was at Lourdes as we made peanut butter cookies. (Thanks! to CP who shared her recipe with me.) The whole afternoon was good, making cookies with my favorite co-volunteer and one of my old Lourdes friends, J. As this was a new recipe for all of us we really worked as a team and boy, the cookies were yum!
1. Rolling and pressing.
2. Baking.
3. Mmmm, ready to eat!
4. Going, going, nearly gone...
On my way home I called Mr Du, the manager of the wood-furniture factory to ask him if I could pick up some wood. The wood that I burn in my stoves comes from this factory, they are the scraps of wood too small (mostly 25 cm long or less) that they cannot do anything with. Just before I reached the factory I noticed the moon hanging in the sky, looking incredibly large. Another perfect moment. I stopped to take a few photos before continuing on to collect some wood.
Oh! Another, well, not perfect moment, but fabulous moment? A few months ago I mentioned that someone had put up some HUGE storage sheds right on the edge of the river road. They were then dismantled (yeah!) but then, two weeks later, 'remantled.' (Is 'remantled' a word?). Rats. Well. It would appear that either (a) last night they were hit by a meteor or (b) someone destroyed the buildings. I don't know if these sheds are legal or not (I suspect not) AND they are very ugly so I don't feel sorry for the owner at all, ha!
OK. Last thing. I found this really neat snake skin in the basket that holds my 'house slippers.' Don't you think snake skins are just so cool? How does the snake wriggle out without the skin breaking apart?
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Happy Sunday (Repost, January 28, 2007)
So late yesterday afternoon I was quietly sitting in the living room,
enjoying my bowl of popcorn and episodes 11 and 12 of ‘Six Feet Under’ when my
dogs started to bark. I pricked up my ears and realized that it was my
neighbour, Constance, calling me. I gently picked up LW from my lap, put him on
the cozy sofa cushion and ran downstairs. Apparently Andy, Simon and she had
all been trying unsuccessfully to call me since four pm.
It seems that when I am sitting on the living room sofa there is no reception for my cell phone in my pocket. Andy had made stew and wanted to invite the gang around to my place for dinner. Yes!! They were scheduled to arrive at 7, which meant I had an hour to tidy the house up.
Yeah, right. I scooped up LW, placed him back on my lap, pulled a quilt over the two of us and watched the last 30 minutes of the final episode. Then, and only then, did I start sweeping, wiping and tidying like a woman possessed.
I had a plan, though. Keep the lighting low, light lots and lots of candles and have lots of alcohol on hand. About five minutes before I expected the first people (so 7:25-ha!) I lit a fire in the downstairs stove. As people entered they saw soft lighting, red/orange/yellow walls and a crackling fire: and thus noticed not the less-than spic and span appearance.
Andy had made a vast pot of Coq au Vin. Do you know, I don’t think I have ever had Coq au Vin before. When Andy opened the lid I saw that it was a deep purple colour. Apparently I hadn’t realized it was made with red wine. One lives and learns.
Dinner was fun. Good, hearty, stick-to-your-ribs food for a cold winter’s
eve. After dinner I lit a fire upstairs. Some of us enjoyed the heat while
others played pool. As there is no fire near the pool table I opted for the
warm living room! Sophie played Twister by herself as the adults took turns
spinning and calling out the next move.
Everyone left at around 11ish. I put the food away but could not be bothered
doing the dishes. (I secretly hoped that the dish fairy would appear during the
night and wash them for me. She didn’t arrive, possibly because it was too
cold.) I hopped into bed with a book, ‘The Horse Whisperer.’ I finished it this
morning. I thought it was ok. A bit too flowery, over-descriptive, for me.
Took the dogs out this morning. Little Fella started out with splints on. He
went about 200 m then lay down, exhausted! We went back home, took the splints
off, hooked up the cart and walked up about one km. Breakfast was leftover
baguette made into French (‘Freedom’?) Toast, mmm. Simon dropped by on his way
to Grandma Nitti’s and sampled the French Toast. Finished the book, played on
the computer, washed up the dishes then went to MaryJane’s for dinner.
It seems that when I am sitting on the living room sofa there is no reception for my cell phone in my pocket. Andy had made stew and wanted to invite the gang around to my place for dinner. Yes!! They were scheduled to arrive at 7, which meant I had an hour to tidy the house up.
Yeah, right. I scooped up LW, placed him back on my lap, pulled a quilt over the two of us and watched the last 30 minutes of the final episode. Then, and only then, did I start sweeping, wiping and tidying like a woman possessed.
I had a plan, though. Keep the lighting low, light lots and lots of candles and have lots of alcohol on hand. About five minutes before I expected the first people (so 7:25-ha!) I lit a fire in the downstairs stove. As people entered they saw soft lighting, red/orange/yellow walls and a crackling fire: and thus noticed not the less-than spic and span appearance.
Andy had made a vast pot of Coq au Vin. Do you know, I don’t think I have ever had Coq au Vin before. When Andy opened the lid I saw that it was a deep purple colour. Apparently I hadn’t realized it was made with red wine. One lives and learns.
- Blue Cheese and Pineapple Pizza.
- Creamy Porcini Soup
- Fabulous Mixed Salad with Balsamic Vinegar Dressing
- Red Wine (came in a carafe, don’t know what it was!)
- And happy chit-chat with friends! Which all resulted in a happy Gael.
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