Open Letter to Summer Sunshine
Dear Summer Sunshine,
Hi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It feels like it’s been a while. Do you miss Canada?
I haven’t had to strain my eyes against your boorish light in many moons and just today I was waxing poetic, missing those squinting moments. I miss the sound of your wind through the tree leaves and the cicadas, the sound of Harley jumping in to the pool and the sight of blue skies and puffy white clouds. Day after day.
Your friend Winter has been quite uneventful, he’s held back on the whole freezing tundra vibe he used to lean on for years and years. But he’s a grayish colour mostly and not romantic and soft as only falling snow can make one feel. It’s not cold enough to snuggle by a fire and if anything he’s icier than he’s ever been.
But enough about that bore.
It’s you I miss.
I even miss Spring, even though we all know she smells like dirt and can be her own shade of gray, even a little crisp but not as crisp as your friend Autumn. You three I just adore in your own little ways but between you and I, Summer you are the one for me.
This may seem forward but we should go to Vegas together and marry via some tacky Elvis impersonator.
I often dream of one day relocating to locations amongst North America that subscribe to you 9, 10, even 11 months of the year. Rainy season? Bah, totally doable. I have even considered a trip to the electric beach, just to catch three or four minutes of radioactive rays, almost as a reminder to my skin what you feel like.
I know you will be here soon, only a couple of months to go but I just wanted to tell you how much I love you and I can’t wait for you to get here. I know right now I may not look the greatest in a bathing suit but we’re working on it, I may jump out of a cake for you when you arrive.
Call or write when you have a minute.
Love you long time.
Forever Yours,
(Very Pale) Tinka O’Curry
(Surrounded by Vitamin D lozenges with unhappy look on face.)
Go Shrimp Yourself
I mean that in the nicest way possible.
If you were privy to holiday celebrations at Casa O’Curry then you’ve been shrimped, lucky you and after several requests I am giving away all my secrets. You don’t need much for this recipe but you do need a mold, we use a copper fish one Mother has had around for ages. I dream of one day having a whole several course dinner party, every course different individual molds.
For now, a wistful dream.
Shrimp Delight
1 Can undiluted Campbells Tomato Soup
1 Envelope unflavoured gelatin or agar agar
(natural gelling agent, yum, but it didn’t have a face or a parent so…worth it!)
1 Cup finely diced Celery
1/4 Cup grated or finely chopped white onion
1 Cup Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip (for those watching waistlines)
1 Eight Ounce package of cream cheese
2 Cups chopped shrimp (you can use the canned variety, the mini guys, but they must be well rinsed)
Combine soup and gelatin on medium heat until warmed through. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients, combine well. Pour mixture in to greased mold and let set overnight in the fridge.
When ready to serve gently unmold, the best way is to tap the mold on the countertop and just loosen the edges with a butter knife. If the mold does not come out immediately, remain calm and let it sit on the plate, mold upsidedown and tap a little on the mold. Give it time, relax it’s just a dip!
Tebow Love
I’m not one for the religious types but I read this article on ESPN and the only thing I could think of is that the world seriously needs more Tebow(s).
” Here you are, about to play a game that the world says is the most important thing in the world. Win and they praise you. Lose and they crush you. And here I have a chance to talk to the coolest, most courageous people. It puts it all into perspective. ” – Tim Tebow
Meow in Need!
Attention my people! My glorious people whom I love and adore and have a little tiny favor to ask of…
This little cuddlebug is declawed, neutered and between one and two years old. He is litter trained and a snuggler, he wants all up in your hug and kisses business. He doesn’t really have a name so he’ll need some sort of kicky new moniker and a new nest and some new parents who won’t let him run around outside.
I would take this little guy in about three seconds but I already have three of the finest specimens of felines and I can’t save the world of castaway meow-meows. I can foster him for a bit (and by that I mean pawn him off on Coyote’s brother for a while) but he needs a stable family life full of love and meow mix. So c’mon for the love of God it’s just one little kitty who will thank you with purrs and pooping in a sandbox you provide for him within your home.
Your karma will thank you!
So please FB comment/blog comment/eeksmail me and let me know if you can take this little guy in.
Please please please please please please please.
Monday Night
He’s eating pizza and I made myself a Quesadilla.
I had the brilliant thought of buying salsa some weeks ago when it was on sale, knowing it just had to be in stock for when this magical night arrived. I should have put the pizza actually on the pizza pan but instead went straight to the racks and things ended messily. Spent a lot of time hacking off pieces of crust from the bottom of the oven and the rack itself. Then karma got me and my dinner took slightly longer than expected because there was an incident involving Coyote and is microwave.
It was love…sparks flew. And then just like a woman she got comfortable and stopped working.
So my dinner was baked instead of nuked.
We may not replace the Microwave. Currently crushing hard on this ‘hippie-love-and-eliminate-all-toxins-and-put-the-cats-on-a-raw-diet’ kind of phase. As I get older I get more granola. This comes naturally and genetically from my mother who has been ahead of the curve environmentally for years.
I may need to get the cats a fishing boat to catch their own food.
We also need to move to a lake then.
Just last week we stumbled upon terrifying facts regarding Blistex and we all immediately ditched our medicated lip balms for their natural counterparts. This then snowballed in to a ban of parabens, petro products and sulfates. In times like these kids…read the labels. And google incessantly. And watch your recycle bin fill up with toxic castaways.
I have to get an x-ray tomorrow…chest congestion. I make art everytime I cough.
Isn’t that a nice romantic way of looking at it?
How was your Monday night?
Marley Vs. NYC Subway
It’s Marley Monday! Still sharing the fruits of Marley hits the Big Apple.
Marley, Meowers and I really grabbed the bull by the horns and bought Metrocards for our NYC trip. Cheap and cheerful and seriously the best way to get around the city. For some pre-trip preparation I suggest you read this helpful article. It’s takes a little getting used to but thankfully Meowers has an excellent directional sense. Also, New Yorkers are probably the most friendly and helpful people I have found in the world…we even ran in to a homeless guy helping people navigate.
Leftovers
The box the tree came in was sadly and unceremoniously defiled in several ways by the cats.
It was all a ploy.
Cause someone has a tree fetish.
It’s still up. Ortho Ukes Xmas was merely a week-ish past so…it’s not super weird it’s up still. I think.
Winston
This morning, in -10 degree weather, in the romantically falling snow, during my morning nicotine break, I made a new friend. He jumped on my foot and stole my heart all in one second.
I watched as he dug in the snow with both paws and nose for a little snack, looking no doubt for the rose hips all dried up under the shrubs in the snow. Because foraging in the winter isn’t easy for a little vision impaired dude I shared with him the crusts from my lunch sandwich. He was so enthused that he let me even pet him while he munched away.
Nature man, so frigging adorable.
Moon (Window) River
One of the things I wanted to see in NYC the most was the window decorations. The high end and large stores are always outdoing themselves with a team of incredibly skilled window dressers.
Window Dressing is totally an art, it combines mechandising, marketing and pure unbridled creativity given enough leash.
The dioramas in the Tiffany windows could be watched for hours. The detail is stunning.
Sparkles. Movement. Detail.
I would assume for such grandeur the holiday window teams would have to begin January 1st, brainstorming, building, assembling. At night, lighted and when the city is a little bit quieter, these are downright magical.
Won’t Sink Ships?
Finally! A smoothie to increase capacity for ‘good times’! And all this time I thought Kahlua was the key. I was so naive.