Author: still a dreamer

Touched By an Angel

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

She’s just a bit of a thing – her name is Pipsqueak and she’s a female betta fish. I first met her when my neighbors prepared to go on vacation, a time when I mind their cats and their pond fish. This year, one of the girls brought over a vase with her new pet, Pipsqueak. My experience of Pipsqueak was so enjoyable; I never imagined such a tiny creature to have such a personality – not only curious about everything, but also very responsive to me as we got to know each other over the 3+ weeks of her stay.

Pipsqueak and one of her favorite friends. (Pipsqueak is not actually that big, BTW, nor are the marbles – it’s a distortion of the glass.)

Pipsqueak often stayed on my computer desk while I worked, though not too close to the computer, and sometimes on my other work desk. I often placed various items next to her, as she seemed to really enjoy checking out new objects. But one struck her fancy, as you can see in the photo … a Willow angel given to me as a gift. She is an Angel of Wishes.

Pips was fascinated. She checked out the angel’s face, (which, if you know Willow angels, you know their faces have no features), but then every aspect of her from top to bottom. She really seemed to enjoy spending time with her. Sometimes I rotated the angel a bit, and she became interested all over again. Of all the things she had the opportunity to see, the angel and my bringing my face up to the glass and waving at her – which brought out actual body wiggling and fast and furious front fin action – were Pipsqueak’s favorites.

I think I was touched by a little angel, too.

 

 

My Mom’s German Plum Cake

/ still a dreamer / 6 Comments

For the moment we’ll forget the irony of a German Plum Cake being made with Italian prune plums; I’m guessing it’s so because they’re perfectly delicious in it! This is one of my truly favorite recipes to make. It’s surprisingly easy, absolutely delicious, (assuming you think great baking includes butter, sugar and eggs), and always comes out fabulous. What more could one want?

Above, prepped in a flash and ready to go in the oven …

I don’t know where my mom originally got the recipe, but I’ve been making it for years. Five simple ingredients in the crust, which you mix right in the pan, fresh fruit, and two ingredients on the top. Voila! The Italian prune plums are the basic recipe, but it’s easily adapted to peaches or apples with just a bit of cinnamon added to the topping sugar.  In fact, I was planning to stop at the farmstand for peaches for my Labor Day dessert contribution – summer’s last hurrah – after grocery shopping, but while in the supermarket, thought to check on the plums.

Much to my surprise, there they were! I asked how long they’d be in stock. Two or three weeks tops the produce manager told me! Plums it is then.

Crumbly butter crust, sweet fruit and some good vanilla ice cream. Does it for me!

p.s. I have now added the recipe for this here.

A Balance of Fiction and Non-Fiction

/ still a dreamer

Here’s what I’ve found … I really do like reading a balance of fiction and non-fiction. I usually am reading one novel, be it adult, MG or YA, and also one non-fiction book (generally) of a metaphysical nature.

Recently, after finishing my last novel, I started reading Dying to Be Me by Anita Moorjani. I have been slowly working my way through Wayne Dyer’s Wishes Fulfilled a second time because it is so spot on, but I  found I miss the thrill … the immersion in  a story that I can’t put down. I want a book that nurtures my heart and soul as well as one that calls upon my mind and emotions and takes me places I’ve never been.

So I am going to Paris with the vampire Pandora by Anne Rice, a selection I’d made at The county library’s annual book sale. If you’ve never read Anne Rice, you will find her riveting. I read Interview with a Vampire, The Mummy and several others, but I loved the New Orleans Mayfair witches trilogy the best – The Witching Hour, Lasher and Taltos. They remain on my bookshelf as worth keeping and reading again. I’m looking forward to sitting with Pandora in a Paris café where she recounts her history; she was once a highborn woman in Augustan Rome who later named herself after the Pandora of mythology and in time, came to pursue Lestat.

Balance restored. How about you? Are you a one-book-at-a-time reader or do you multi-read, too?

The Spot that Must Be Had

/ still a dreamer

If you have pets or children in the amount of two or more, you will know exactly what I’m talking about. There is an item in your home. It could be a bed, a toy, a bone, a blankie … whatever it is, no one has expressed one iota of interest in it for eons. Suddenly, it becomes THE hot item and everybody must have it. Scuffles, fights, crying ensue … MINE!

Gypsy Rose, above, claiming The Spot for her own.

In the world of my cats, there is a particular bed in a particular spot in my office. No cat has lain there for so long I can’t even remember. I thought of putting it away, but you never know. Suddenly, it is the most desirable spot in my house. If one is on it, the other wants on and vice-versa. There is posturing, some occasional swatting, and that’s it. Usually Claude gives it up to Gypsy Rose. Sound like a familiar scenario?

Easygoing Claude just moves to another spot.

In this case, it’s probably a good thing, because after Gypsy’s last emergency trip to the vet, the dose of prednisone she needed to be on for a month left her quasi-comatose. She ate, went around the house a bit, upstairs to the litter, but was for the most part, a sad lump, and a lump who was gaining more weight which she didn’t need. It worried me; this was no life. After the month, we cut back the dosage to half for the next two weeks. With that, we saw her begin to brighten up. At the end of that two weeks, she gets that dose every other evening. And here’s where it gets tricky.

We, my vet and I, are trying to find the balance between the lowest dose possible she can take and her not having another horrible episode like last time. Her frightening symptoms are caused by inflammation which is in response to something in her brain – very likely cancer, a tumor, etc. So it’s a constant appraisal of how wobbly – or not – she is on her feet. Does her head shake more when she takes her treats from my hands? Such surveillance is not a job I enjoy, but it is how we’re going to keep her going as long as we can.

The bottom line is that Gypsy Rose – also known, BTW, as Bitchy Rose and Miss Bossy Boots – has brightened sufficiently to being back to her old pushy, dominant self. She’s alert and coordinated enough again to be jumping up on the sofa … even the window sill … without falling. I’ve assured Claude that her desiring that spot is actually a good thing. And he seems OK with it.

Me, too.

The Guest on My Porch

/ still a dreamer / 10 Comments

As I opened my front door this morning, I noticed a visitor between the door and the porch railing. At first I didn’t see him as he was camouflaged against the naturally weathered wood of the decking. He turned to look at me.

“Never mind,” I said. “You keep going and I’ll water the plants a little later. No rush.”

He took that quite literally. It was about an hour or so later that he finally made it to this side of the railing. I knew if I’d gone out when I planned, he would have been stampeded by next door’s two cats who would be eager to see me. The plants could wait.

My neighbor came over to gift me with three gorgeous peppers from her garden, and then, having gotten my camera, we admired the mantis. While we were talking, Pumpkin, one of the cats, came over to see me, brushing by the praying mantis without even seeing him. The poor guy was in total defensive position, front legs straight out and apart and trembling all over. What amazes me about praying mantises is that they don’t get out of harm’s way; they face it head on. Considering their size, that’s pretty brave.

After being petted, Pumpkin went back to lie in the sun and the mantis continued to watch me. I sent him good energy and assured him he had nothing to be concerned about. He soon tucked himself under the railing and began stalking some insect, his front legs in the prayer position, and moving so slowly it was barely perceptible. I went around to the outside of the porch for another photo. He turned that triangular head to me and resumed the defensive position.

“Bring it on,” he said.

“Only with my camera, little dude,” I replied. So after a couple shots I turned away and so did he. I’m sure he calmed down and resumed his hunt.

Here’s why the praying mantis is so fascinating –

  • The strike for their food happens in 1/20th of a second. You only see a brief blur.
  • They have exceptionally keen eyesight and can rotate their heads 180˚!
  • They catch and hold their prey with their sharply serrated front legs and usually eat them head first
  • They are carnivores, and in addition to a staple diet of insects, also eat small frogs, lizards and even small birds
  • There are 1800 species of praying mantids around the world; 20 of them live in North America
  • They are very beneficial in that they keep the insect population down, so if you see one, admire, appreciate, and leave him there.