Happy Birthday, Lilli

I called Lilli today. Lilli was a tomboy that lived just kitty-corner from my home when we were growing up. We went to the same primary school and the same highschool, and grew to be good friends over the years. So much so that we have a tradition of calling eachother on our birthdays. Lilli is 33 days older than I am, and I've always gotten a kick out of calling her the "older woman". When I called her last year, she wasn't home, so I left a message on her machine. Today, I got through to her in person, and she confided that the message I left for her had remained on her machine for over 6 months - as a reminder of our friendship.

I hardly ever see her... she and her husband and family live in a different city, and I think it's been over ten years since I saw her last. Still, she sounds just like the Lilli I remember as a boy, and I still see in my mind's eye the young girl who went nearly two years without saying a word to me in response to my accepting her dare to do something ungentlemanly (I think I was about 12 or 13 at the time). So today, some 40 years later, we celebrate our continued friendship.

I think tomorrow I'll leave a message on her machine, to keep her company for the next six months.

For Lindsey...

You'll need patience or a high-speed connection to get the best enjoyment from this post - high resolution pictures of the pup. Due to limited bandwidth on my account, the 25MB movie clip will only be available to those that send a request (including your email address) in the comments - and then, you might still have to wait if my bandwidth limit is exceeded (sorry).

Edited to add: I noticed that when the post is actually on my blog, the original links don't work (they work fine in PREVIEW mode). I guess the hosting company doesn't allow referral links, and requires that you either enter URLs directly from the browser, or visit through an HTML page on their server. To make things more convenient, I have RELUCTANTLY been forced to supply an HTML link to an unformatted page thrown together on their server.

Link to pictures page on my hosting service - sorry for the banner ads!

Happiness is...

A brand new bouncing puppy! Jasmine is so full of life - and pee, and poop! And she's so fond of letting fly whenever the urge strikes her. It's so much fun to watch my frazzled wife running after her, trying to catch her before she squats in the house. And Rosie is finally coming to terms with the loss of her older sister. Who would have thought that dogs would be so broken up about the loss of a room-mate. Rosie didn't eat for three days after Daisy was taken from her... just starting to show signs of a returning appetite this evening. But Rosie has been very friendly to the new puppy, and the games they are playing are ones that Rosie never got the opportunity to play with her more sedate, lethargic, sister. Tag, keepaway, and spin the puppy (a game where both dogs grab opposite ends of a pull-toy, and Rosie does her impression of an on-the-spot spin, while poor Jasmine, feet off the floor, hangs on for dear life!).

What a hoot they are to watch!

The other hoot is watching Jasmine try to emulate every move Rosie makes - including an attempt to drink from a rain bucket sitting a good 14-16 inches off the ground. For Rosie, it's a comfortable height; for Jasmine, she has to drag herself up the slope to get a tongue in. I have SO MANY PICTURES, it's hard to decide what to post. I could easily run out of server space. I'll have to investigate some free space for hosting pictures. And the MOVIE CLIPS we've been able to take are just stunning. We're all so happy with the new puppy!

Meet Jasmine

The last time we lost a dog, it was devastating. Not only was the loss immense, but the feeling of loneliness and despair that it caused us was indescribable. We waited nine days before replacing our beloved Shasta, and it was an agonizing time for us all. This time, we've decided not to wait. Today, we purchased a new black lab pup, which we have named Jasmine. She'll come home tomorrow, and, subject to an inspection by our vet, will become the newest member of our family.




There is a two-dog-maximum ordinance in our community, so we won't be able to keep Daisy much longer. In a way, putting her down before her disease robs her of her dignity and lifeforce seems like the right thing to do.

Daisy Dog to Die

Daisy, the older of our two black labs, is living on borrowed time. She went to the vet yesterday for tests, after we noticed a recent drop in her appetite, and a change in the colour of her stools. The tests were expensive, but the very least we owed our beloved companion. The vet praised us for noticing her change so quickly. Unfortunately, the downside to our quick reaction was that the results of the non-invasive test were inconclusive. According to the vet, we can proceed in one of two ways. We can start giving her expensive medications to try to help her recover some liver function (it's not a cure, just a way of helping her cope), or we can perform exploratory surgery, which might help locate the source of the problem, but would not guarantee that a cure would be found.

The cost of the medication or surgery is prohibitive given our financial situation, and she's already approaching the twilight years - where the amount of time left in her expected lifespan would not justify the expense - so we need to come to terms with the fact that Daisy's days are numbered. She looks so sad - seeming to know that her world is about to change - but she's trying to be a trooper. I think she's providing more comfort to me (sensing my dread) than I am to her.

I personally chose Daisy among several puppies in her litter. She's so sweet, calm, and adoring - all the traits of the black lab, without the over-exhuberance of her younger "sister". It will be very hard to put her down, and I wish there was some way she could live out her remaining time happy and pain-free. Now, I just need to get up the nerve to take the next step.

Tax day - come and gone

Yesterday was the deadline for U.S. tax return submission. It's due April 30th in Canada. This year, I filed early, and by sheer coincidence, my refund arrived yesterday. That same day, I finally heard back from the framing gallery that my pictures were ready for pickup. And today, we had to take one of our dogs to the vet for a fairly expensive set of x-rays and examinations. The framing gallery and vet bills will just nicely eat up that tax refund. Oh well...

Small minds

There are times when my mind is at rest, and a visual stimulus will just strike me as funny. I was reading a news article online, and my mouse cursor just happened to be off to the side resting on a picture. When that happens, the standard arrow changes to a little hand, with the index finger extended. The index finger just happened to be positioned on the nostril of the man in the picture. At first glance, I didn't even realize it was my cursor... I thought the guy had been caught on camera picking his nose.

Just thought I'd share that.

Close call

I'm back. Since last Monday, I've been in Phoenix. I had to rush down there to be with my father, who suffered congestive heart failure on Sunday, April 4th, just two days before he was scheduled to return to Canada after his winter vacation. It was a frantic week. Having experienced an all-too-close brush with death, my father finally was released from the hospital on Thursday night. Good Friday was anything but... since, due to the holiday, I was unable to buy the medications that had been prescribed by the doctors who treated him. By Saturday morning, my father had taken another turn for the worse... luckily, he responded very favourably to the drugs once I was able to find them (one in particular was so rare, I had to try four pharmacies before I found one that stocked it).

Finally, I had to reschedule his (and my mom's) flight back to Canada, since they had missed the original one on April 6th. I scheduled myself on the same flight, so I could take care of anything that might go wrong on the plane, and so that I could co-ordinate transportation from the airport back to my parents' home.

Since my parents had a whole winter full of luggage they wished to bring home, I had arranged an Airport Shuttle for them. I had to travel separately, so I could return the rental car before going to the airport terminal. Unfortunately, the main highway link from my parents' part of the city to the airport was under construction today. The detour was overcrowded, and by the time I was able to make it to the car lot to return the rental, it was too late to catch my flight. That meant that my parents were on the plane without me, and without transportation home.

I had very little time to arrange alternate ground transportation for my parents, since I was also trying to arrange alternate air transport for myself, and the next available flight was so close to my arrival time at the airport, there was scarcely time to make some calls. Luckily, I was able to contact my wife and sister, and between them, they were able to make alternate ground transportation arrangements. I was also lucky enough to find time to leave a phone message at the ticket counter for my parents, so they at least knew I would be missing the flight. I had been concerned that if I didn't show up, they would purposely not board the plane so we could remain together.

Thankfully, everything worked out, and my parents made it home ok. I got home about a half hour ago, so the entire saga came to a happy conclusion. Everyone alive, home, and safe.

Back by popular demand

Last year around this time, I had talked about how delicious my sister's recipe for potato pancakes was. A quick check of my sitemeter statistics show that many of you have been searching for Bubalech Recipes and came across that article. Since I didn't actually publish the recipe, those searches were pretty much fruitless. Today, I will remedy that oversight by publishing the actual recipe.


My mom's recipe for bubalech - lovingly revised and transcribed by my sister

This will yield 5 small pancakes (each pancake made with two soup-size spoonfuls of dough):


You'll need

• 2 eggs (separated)
  
• 1/8 cup (=1oz. or 30ml) milk or water (I use skim milk)
  
• 25ml (=1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons) matzo meal
  
• 1/8 cup (=1oz. or 30ml) cake meal
  
• 1/8 teaspoon (i.e. half of 1/4 teaspoon) sugar
  
• Oil for deep frying (my mother used peanut oil, but I use canola oil)
  
• Applesauce, powdered sugar or cinnamon for topping
  
• Electric blender, soup spoon, pancake flipper and large spoon
  
• Paper towels to absorb excess fat
  
• Oven-safe warming plate (optional - if pancakes will not be served immediately)
  

Instructions

1. Beat the egg whites on high speed until as light and fluffy as possible without becoming stiff. (**this is the secret of my mother's recipe)
   
2. Add egg yolks and beat on high just until blended.
   
3. Add liquid and beat just until blended.
   
4. Stir in dry ingredients BY HAND until blended. The dough should be thick enough to drop from a soup spoon. It will thicken a bit after stirring as the matzo meal absorbs the liquid, but you want it to be loose enough that it will result in a light pancake rather than a stone.
   
5. Pre-heat the oil on medium heat. The oil should be deep enough to fry the pancakes, as they will absorb less oil if they are fried in deep fat.
   
6. When you are transferring the mixture from spoon to fry pan, you need to just keep the bowl very close to the pan, take a generous spoonful and drop it into the oil (2 spoonfuls per pancake) working your way around the perimeter of your pan.
   
7. Fry them on medium heat (or adjust lower if needed) and only turn them once. It's easier to flip them if you use two implements (I use a flipper in my right and a large spoon in my left).
   
8. Transfer to a paper towel on a plate to absorb excess fat. They can be kept warm on 200F in the oven for a short while before serving if you are making multiple batches, but are best eaten fresh.
   

Topping suggestions

As a topping, I suggest spooning on some applesauce or sprinkling with sugar and/or cinnamon.


If you find this recipe of use, please leave a comment and I'll be sure to pass it on to my mom and sister.

Have a Happy Passover!