A Delicious Dinner with Great Friends

Saturday morning, although very wet, was pleasant. I made the guest beds up, cleaned the guest bathroom, vacuumed and then, best of all, I made shrimp and egg fried rice to serve with the fish dish that I was so looking forward to eating last evening. What a great dinner we’re going to have!

And when I was done, Her Highness and I went for a damp morning walk, after which we dropped into the village to fetch some groceries. My cash reserve is quickly being depleted. Back home, I found things to do to keep me busy. I dusted my shelves and then watched two episodes of a rather intense and very clever show about a murder of a child. It’s called The Victim and it’s very provocative. I’ll be thinking about it for quite a while.

Julien, Marleen and Sorin arrived at 16:30. Finally! They got settled, but it took quite a while. Sorin is eleven months old; he comes with a lot of luggage. But what a charmer. He is constantly making sounds; he’s going to be talking very soon. And he is endlessly curious. He is a very active, interested little boy and it was love at first sight for me.

Marleen put him down at around 19:00, so then we had dinner. It was a total hit, especially with me. The fish with its delicious crust of pistachio and the beautiful delicious light green corn/basil sauce. Oh my God it was good!

After dinner we had a lovely visit. I went to bed just before 23:00. I haven’t stayed up that late in a long, long time. And I slept like a rock until 4:50 when Fred started howling and climbing all over me. I was already awake, but I could have enjoyed a lot longer in bed. However, I got up, fed everyone, lit a bonfire, and did all the dishes.

They are leaving early this morning, heading off to Tofino for four days. And that is perfect for it gives me almost all day on my own and with a lot of delicious food to eat. I’m going to have an excellent My Day today.

A Very Busy Day

When I turned on my computer yesterday morning at 5:15, I noticed that Julien and his family are due to arrive today. I thought they were arriving on Sunday, do yesterday was all about shopping (with the last of my available money), cooking and baking. This morning, I must vacuum and make up the guest beds and clean the guest bathroom. There’s always a lot to do when guests visit.

We were at Nester’s shortly after 8:00 so that I could be home all day in case the courier arrived with my new debit card. On the way home, we stopped at Rollo Park to walk, and then I came home to make a big batch of African soup (I hope they’re not vegetarian), and a blueberry tart. 

I also prepared a pistachio crusting mixture to put atop the cod I bought to serve for dinner tonight. It’s a mixture of panko, crushed pistachios, honey, olive oil, chopped parsley, salt and pepper. It will go on top of the fish while it bakes. I also made the very complicated sauce in which I plan to serve the cooked fish. 

I blended well quite a bit of corn, a jalapeno, lots of basil and a bit of water. Then I strained the mixture in cheese cloth, cleaned the blender, and poured the filtered mixture into the clean blender, adding coconut milk, olive oil, shallot, lime juice, honey and salt. That gets blended and it looks beautiful and enticing and it tastes divine. I can hardly wait to eat this dish tonight.

I was non-stop busy all day. I finally stopped at 16:00. I’d been going hard since 5:30! It felt so, so good to get on the chaise and to get off my bone spur foot. I fed the brood before getting into the evening position, and I was content to rot there until bedtime.

The best thing to happen yesterday was receiving my new debit card. I must talk with Issam, my bank manager, on Tuesday to get the pin added to my card. Then I’ll be able to withdraw money from my account. Next week, my new VISA card comes.

Beth wrote to tell me about a program on the CBC about scammers. She wrote: “They're doing a program on scams, how nearly half of all Canadians will be scammed, how common they are, how easy it is to be scammed. Surely it would help you feel better about your own experience. They're brilliant at what they're doing, and many, many people have fallen prey.” It made me feel much better to read her email. 

This morning will be busy. I’ve beds to make, a bathroom to clean, and a rice dish to make to serve with the cod, but I plan to chill from mid-day on so that I am rested when Julien et al arrive sometime mid-to-late afternoon. I. believe that they are leaving tomorrow to go to Tofino.

Although I love company and Julien is a great friend, I’m already looking forward to tomorrow when I say goodbye and I return to peaceful solitude. Yesterday exhausted me and having three people here, one a very young one, will be trying, I fear. Julien’s visit marks the end of the holidays. I have no more visitors on my calendar for months and months.

Parsing the Scam

During the scam incident, the conversation involved a lot of numbers. Yes, those ones: the one’s I should not have shared. It was brutal for me; numbers are impossibly difficult for me to say. However, from the experience, I discovered something very, very odd—and interesting: I can’t say numbers, but I can say all numbers divisible by five. Go figure.

I’m the sole member of our dog walking group who is almost always on the walk, three times a week. It was different when Her Highness had foot problems, but now that she’s on prednisone, she only very rarely can’t go on the walk. Regina is the next most regular. She comes twice a week. It’s not uncommon now for a group walk to consist of me and one or two other people.

I haven’t yet shed my obsession about being scammed. I haven’t read the bible. Religions are cults. I have no desire to be in one. But, of course, I’ve been exposed to biblical stories because I studied English Lit. I believe it is full of crime, war and unethical behavior. The history of man is the history of conflict, both state and individual … and crime.

When pondering some issue in my mind, I often think about something as being one point in a continuum. It’s the ying yang thing. For there to be ethical people, there will be unethical/immoral ones. Every one of us is a point on the continuum between these two extremes.

I’m powerfully moral and ethical. I’m not bragging; it wasn’t a conscious decision I made. Here’s my theory as to why: I was deeply invested in Catholicism as a child. Jesus was my hero. I inherited the church from Françoise, my birth mother, who gave me to the church.

I went to church—in fucking Latin—every Sunday. It was torture. I was bored to tears. But then I was invited into the choir. I loved church after that. I loved singing. I loved being at the back of the church singing to people’s backs. I loved the harmonies we imbued in every hymn. I went to cub scouts at the church, and I went to Catechism classes on Wednesdays after school.

The Tyrells introduced me to their families. Some of them were nice people, but they were not relatives to me. The Tyrells never mentioned my adoption. They never asked me if I was curious about who I was. But then, they never talked to me about anything. Besides church, I wanted to be in our local band. But not for the music, for the uniform. I wanted to be seen as belonging.

The church was compelling for me because it gave me access to people who liked me and welcomed me, and it gave me a sense of having a history. I was active in the church drama group and a soloist in the choir. More importantly, the stories of the bible and the commandments took root in my soul. All through school, the back of my ruler had the golden rule written on it: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The golden rule made sense to me. Having no parental involvement and no siblings, I wanted to be a person who could earn friendships.

As I said, becoming proudly ethical, wasn’t a decision I made. It is a consequence of my life experience. When I left the church, I didn’t give up the values it taught me. Am I bragging? No. I’m merely positioning myself on the ethical/non-ethical continuum. And why am I talking about this? Because it’s the best way I know to explain why I feel that society is rotting. I’m glad I’m old and getting out before it gets really nasty.

We are a flawed species. Ergo, I get scammed.

Healing

It was one of those days when the cloud is low or the fog is high. The treetops fade into the haze that hovers over the forest. It often means that the sky is clear above haze, so as we walked, I wondered if we might have some sunny patches for our afternoon walk.

We went into the village to go to the pharmacy. Sadly, most all my medications are free, but not at the beginning of the year when I must pay down my deductible on my drugs. Thankfully, my payments are not exorbitant. I have some cash from Regina with which I can pay for my two puffers.

I spent much of the morning, once we were home, answering emails and sending thank you emails to everyone who sent me a Christmas card. In the afternoon, I watched an edition of Grand Designs, and then Her Highness and I went to Elder Cedar to walk the trail. 

The best thing about the day was the progress I am making with the wound on my right foot. I put a protective cover over it when I shower, and when we go for our walks, otherwise, I keep it uncovered and exposed as I sit and read, watch telly or sit at my desk. I was overjoyed to finally see the swelling going down.

The evening was the usual, except that I am still battling the voices in my head that want to shame me for my mistake with the scammers.

Today is cold. It’s 1° as I make this post this morning. The entire coming week is predicted to be wet and cool. Sigh. Thankfully, the days pass pleasantly and comfortably (except when a scammer calls).