Awhile back I had an hamburger-related epiphany. I asked myself, self, do you like hamburgers or not? I decided I liked sharing a great dinner with friends and family. And I liked the act of eating a burger: something hot and delicious that doesn’t need a knife and fork. I liked the toppings too. But when I REALLY thought about it, I realized I didn’t love the beef patty part of this scenario. So if I was just in it for the routine and preferred the taste of a veggie patty, why not just eat that instead?
This epiphany also applies to lasagna, chilli, and now tacos. I tried a fish taco for the first time not too long ago, and was a total convert. Now I’m moving on to vegetarian soft taco options. Here’s one I tried the other day:
These were pretty good, but you know what was missing? CILANTRO. I will not make these again without it. Otherwise I have to say that this combination of sweet potato, black beans, and jalapeños is a real winner. (I riffed on this recipe, in case you’re wondering!)
What about you? What’s your favourite taco?
Piper’s had some health issues lately, poor thing, but she’s on the mend.
It’s a long story, so I will share the short version. Piper has a ragweed allergy. For the past three years she’s been on medication called Vanectyl-P that we give to her during summer/fall season. A few weeks ago we started winding her down, lowering the dose until she was off of it completely. Last week we noticed she had these little scabby pimply things on her back. They didn’t seem itchy, but they didn’t look great, so we brought her to the vet’s.
He wasn’t sure what it was at first. He suggested a round of antibiotics and a skin scratch test just in case she had mites. The test came back, and guess what, she had mites! (As an added bonus I got to see what they look like under the microscope and I can say with certainty that it is truly a repulsive parasite. Do yourself a favour and do not do a google image search.)
Some mites are a normal kind of thing, but Piper was hosting her own Demodex population explosion. We think that the Vanectyl-P was the cause of this, but the vet can’t confirm this. Anyway, all this to say, she is on two different medications, a special shampoo, and will be going back for another scratch test in the month. And then another one the month after that.
You can only imagine how much money we’ve had to shell out so far, but if there’s a silver lining, it’s this: the mites are not contagious, nor can they be transferred to people, and Piper doesn’t seem to be overly bothered.
I wonder if she’s been enjoying the extra attention lately?
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything about our home or reno. The quick and dirty update is this: (1) our basement still looks awful (2) the flagstone patio first mentioned here is done (3) we are still looking for a new couch and I think Mark’s patience is starting to wear thin because I’m very choosy (4) there are still certain areas of the house that need a bit of help.
This is one of them:
This is the view up the stairs to the bedrooms if you happen to be standing just inside the front door. The painting at the top of the stairs is a lovely piece by Alison Fowler. (That’s actually not the part that needs help, that’s one of the few redeeming things about the upstairs landing.)
The problem, is the view looking down the stairs:
Yes, that’s the bannister I mentioned in this recent post about the history of our house!
The view is BO-RING. And there’s definitely something missing.
In hindsight, I wish we’d given this area a bit of thought before the workers left and everything got a coat of paint. There could have been a really cool light fixture installed in there or something, and now it’s too late. So here’s my question Fishies, what could I put there to spiff up the space? I’d like it to be something interesting that really fills it up. It’s a bit dim in there, especially on a grey day, but I know if we put our heads together we could come up with something.
A mobile? A web of crystals? A wall hanging? WHAT? It just can’t require an electrical outlet. Help!
