December 12, 2017

Trying to keep up with this so I don't forget what has been going on.

My landlady, Tula planted a cultivated Bird of Paradise plant some time ago in the garden in front of my kitchen window.  I thought it was dead, but lo and behold, it bloomed on the very day that her husband died.  Strange!

Here she is.  The wild ones are shaped the same but are all orange.

Trinity College held their annual carol service in Sunday night.  I had no idea this even went on, but now that I am friendly with the principal and his wife, I got an official invite.  It was lovely.  Mind you, there was a bit too much praying and Bible reading, but the choir was great and the sing alongs also.  A couple of the boys whose voices have not broken yet had such clear singing voices.  Just as you would imagine seraphim to sound.  They also had an Old Chorister singing with them who had a very rich baritone voice.  I imagined him sounding like and archangel.  All in all a wonderful experience that I will repeat next year.  The added bonus was that the chapel was packed.  Something very rare in Kandy.  Although, between the funeral and the carol service, I have had enough of religious mumbo jumbo for a while now.

The choir.  The round thing on the right is a Saisethe, a symbol of the Kandyan kings.  Glad to see a bit of Sri Lanka seeping into this High Anglican place.

Side mural

Other side mural

The chapel is open sided in the tradition of ancient Buddhist temples.  The line of flame is hundreds of tiny oil pots.  Lots of candles inside as well.  A beautiful setting.

As usual, finishing with my Boyos.

Brotherly love

December 9. 2017

Attended my third funeral since coming to Sri Lanka.  My 91 year old landlord passed away after having a 3rd stroke.  Oddly enough, all three funerals have been Christian.  The last was Catholic and presided over by no less than the Bishop of Kandy.  Also oddly, it is almost 5 years to the day that I attended the funeral of my dear friend Nirmala, with whom I was meant to stay upon my arrival.

As is the Sri Lankan custom, regardless of your religion, the body was brought to the house and laid out in the living room.  Thankfully, that only went on for one day and one night.  A requiem mass was held at the Kandy cemetery.  I had forgotten how much bobbing up and down goes on at a Catholic mass.  The nice part was that the chapel was full not only of Catholics, but Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus.  Goes to show that we really can get along as humans if we want to.

RIP Hu Fernando.

December 4, 2017

High time that I updated everyone.

I saw in my 66th year with an ear infection and a great party.  Preparations started a week before with cleaning and food prep.  On the day itself, I selected a sample of blossoms in the yard and floated them in a bowl to greet guests at the front door.

Happily, I only had to do a bit of food prep as Husna Faizal, the teaching assistant at the school, and a wonderful cook took on the catering.  Here's what she made:

The highlight was a caramel drop cake that more than fed the crowd.

Falafel that went perfectly with my usual selection of dips:  hummus, babaganoush, tsatziki

Caramelized onion and mushroom puff pastry.  Enough left over to give to my Stitch 'n Bitch group the following Wednesday.

Spring rolls

Mini-pizzas

 Everything was pure veg and was gobbled up.

Because of the ear infection, that I tried to cure myself without success, I wasn't sure how I would survive the party, but in the end I managed and had a good time.   (In the end, I had to go to the ENT quack.  Turned out to be a fungal infection.  The weather has been so damp.  He suctioned the ear and gave me some anti-fungal drops and it cleared up after 2 days.  How stupid was I to suffer for 2 weeks!)

Party goers enjoying themselves:

Heather Keagan, a fellow Canadian from Cape Breton, here for 3 years teaching for the British Council.

Talking with my good Visakha Kawasaki.  She and her husband Ken are the best English teachers in the world.

Ran and Patricia, two new friends.  Ran is a native Kandyan who has returned from long stints in the US and the Middle East.  Patricia has been in Sri Lanka for almost 5 years with the British Council, but has only recently come to Kandy.

Fazmina and Sylvia both teachers at the Colombo International School.  Fasmina is also our drama coach at the School of English.  Sylvia is from Austria and has been living in Sri Lanka for a long time.

Deanne and Tania.  Deanne is a native Sri Lankan who lived in Scotland for 33 years and has come back after her husband's death.  Tania was born in Britain to a British mother and a Sri Lankan father but was brought up in Sweden.  She has come to Sri Lanka to settle and find her Sri Lankan roots.

Morag, Jill and Patricia.  Morag and Jill are new arrivals on 6 month contracts with the British Council.  We get a lot of itinerant works through here.

Patricia and Visakha have become fast friends.  Teachers of a feather.

Fazmina, Achala and Senani.  Achala and Senani both teach at the school.

My dear friend Judith with a perpetual wine glass in her hand.

Ran and Brenda.  Brenda and her husband Mike have been coming to Sri Lanka for years for 3 or 4 month stints.  Mike teaches in the Medical Faculty at Peradeniya University every year.

Lovely pic of Mike and Brenda Sedgwick.

Yvonne Cooper caught me in a terrifying moment.

Sanji, Judith and Ana.  Sanji and Ana are married and came to Sri Lanka from Majorca where they met.  Sanji comes from a village very close to Kandy.

Mike and Sally.  Sally was born in Ceylon and has come back to her birthplace to run a guest house.

Visakha and Ken Kawasaki from Flint, Michigan.  Such good friends.  Sylvia talking to Anouk, the daughter of Ravana and Ayesha.  Nice to have some young blood.

Philippa and Tania.  Philippa has been here for almost 25 years, married to a Sri Lankan.

Jill enjoying herself.

The youngest guests; Keeyan and Tehan.  First time they met and getting on like a house on fire.

Ravana, the CEO of Sinhaputra Finance and the Honorary French Consul in Kandy.  Sanjika, a native Sri Lankan who came back from Holland after many years with a Dutch husband and two lovely daughters.  Amal, my good friend who returned to Sri Lanka after 40 years in Australia and the Honorary British Consul in Kandy.

Simon Lazenblatt and Deanne.  Simon has lived all over the world and has retired to Sri Lanka

More young blood.  Luc and Kanishka.

My best friends; Jez and Amal

Pauline, Simon's wife and Jerry Martin married to Sally of Ceylonese birth.

Lighting the candles on the cake with Philippa's help

A little better pic than the scary one

Sanjika and Ana

Fazmina, Achala, Senani, Husna who made all the food and Ran

George Cooper who has retired to Sri Lanka with his wife Yvonne who is responsible for most of these pix.  Brenda, Ewen who has retired here after losing his lovely Sri Lankan wife.

So as you can see, there is a real cosmopolitan mix of people.  Always interesting.  A memorable 65th.

On to more mundane things; it was star fruit season in mid-October.  The monkeys got at my neighbor's tree, so I got a lot of fruit.

Now we are into the monsoon season and all the usual rain critters are abounding like black ants, snails, centipedes and millipedes.

A snail to rival the monsters on Ile des Pins in New Caledonia

A blog would not be complete without an update on my current crop of pets.  Not to forget my lovely Patches:

One of my last views of her alive.  She was dragging herself outside into the sun by her front legs.

Her loss is somewhat dulled by the antics of the Boyos and Tsweetie.

They both nap with me.

Or they do simulcleaning while work in my office.

November 16, 2017 Happy 65th

Just a brief blog today to say happy birthday to myself for making it to 65.

I am looking forward to my OAS which I applied for in February and got a second request for more information on November 3.  Why they couldn't ask for the information all in one go in August, I will never know.  Incompetence and will no doubt mean a delay in receiving my additional pension.

Getting ready for the big party on Saturday night.  As it stands at the moment, 45 will be in attendance.  George Cooper is going to take pictures with a good camera, so I will have something more interesting to post afterwards.

There is one interesting point.  I compiled a playlist for the party consisting of songs from every year since my birth in 1952.  It was a very enlightening exercise.  I had some trouble with the early 50s which is not surprising as I was just a baby and living in Hungary so was not up on popular Canadian culture.  I discovered that the music from 1985 through about 1995 was basically crap.  After 2000, it got a bit tricky as I do not keep up on the great new groups coming on the scene.  I did find something for every year though and found a lot of great new music on the way.

Music also evokes strong memories, so I took a lovely stroll through my life while doing this.  So to celebrate on this auspicious day, itself (as we would say in Sri Lanka), I am going to cook and clean with Veenitha and listen to the music of my age.

October 20, 2017 RIP Patches

Such a sad day!  I had to have my lovely little Patches put down today.

She fell of the roof next door in heavy rain last Saturday night. I rescued her on Sunday morning from a puddle of mud, soaking wet from having been stranded in the pouring rain all night. Her hind end was paralyzed making her incontinent and unable to move her bowels. I tried everything, but in the end, she would not eat or even barely drink.  It was a hard decision as she seemed perky and even dragged herself by her front legs out into the gutter to catch a bit of sun.  But not eating and drinking is a sure sign.  The vet said her bowels were impacted and the only way to remove the stool was to operate.  How ridiculous is that?  You can't be cutting the poor thing open every time she needs to poop.  So in the end, I had no other choice.  

My last view of my poor little girl.  I did not take the picture.  My Tuktuk man, Risvi did.  He was excellent.  Seeing how upset I was, he told me to stay in the vehicle and he went with the man to do the necessary.

She is waiting at the rainbow bridge with all the others now.  

I made 3 trips to the vet, the last of which was to have her euthanized only to discover that the vet wouldn't do it.  Most Buddhist vets won't euthanize which is incredibly hypocritical of them as almost all of them eat meat which requires killing. Duh!  Anyway, he gave me the name of man who would do it.  Turns out he works at the Government Veterinary Hospital in Peradeniya.  Risvi took care of everything.  Most helpful given my emotional state and the fact that Yasu could not speak English.  Apparently, the procedure is illegal.  Who knows?  Could be given the stupid Buddhist laws here.  Yasu did know what to do though.  He gave her a sedative first and then the lethal dose and disposed of the body.  Cost me LKR.4000, but it was worth it to know she would not suffer any more.

The Universe sent me two new cats a couple of months ago somehow in anticipation of this unhappy event. The really snuggly one is Buddy Boy and the other is Aya (Older Brother in Sinhala), as they are from the same litter. The dog, Sweetie, rounds out the mix.  Nevertheless, Patches leaves a hole in my heart.

All I wanted to do after I got home was curl up in a ball and have another little cry, but no rest for the wicked.  I spent the day cooking with Veenitha.  

October 21, 2017

No rest today either as I had the plumber and electrician around.  Both toilets had crapped (pardon the pun) out so thankfully, the plumber came first thing to fix them.  Of course, he was supposed to come at 1500 the previous day.  When I asked him what happened to him, he said he had gone to a wedding.  Then why did he say would come in the first place?  He did my work and then left without doing the work for my landlady.  She didn't seem bothered.  

The electrician was here by appointment.  He put in the new plug for the relocation of the refrigerator.  I will have to move it when I get my new cooker.  He installed another plug point in the living room giving a very dark corner much needed light and he put a ceiling fan on the veranda.  Now having breakfast will be an even more pleasant experience. The hot water heater in the spare bathroom had also given up the ghost putting me in dread of having to buy a new one.  They are about LKR.16,500 (C$150) now.  Thankfully, Nandasiri fixed it so I saved a bunch of money.

All the work was done by about 1400, but then I had to clean up after them.  Hosing down both bathrooms, sweeping and dusting the kitchen, living room, office and veranda.  In the process, I discovered that no sweeping or dusting had taken place in the living room for about 3 months.  I will have to have a chat with Veenitha.

That done, I had a lovely shower in my now functioning bathroom complete with new shower curtain and collapsed into bed.

October 11, 2017

I can't believe it has been over a month since my last post.  The time has just flown by and now I am having difficulty remembering what I was doing.

I have been kept busy with my new menagerie of pets.  Like a fool, I was letting Sweetie into the house only to discover that she is covered in ticks and fleas.  So no more sleeping or even coming into the house.  She sheds like a fiend as well.  Apparently, there is a good tablet you can give them once every 6 weeks to prevent pests, but I have not been able to find it yet.  Will keep looking.

I covered the sofa which is how we discovered the pests.  Even after I locked her out, she would try to sneak in.  I had to wash the cushion covers a couple of times.

But now she has a bed that she loves behind the washing machine.  Even if I leave the doors open, she won't come in.  Took a few weeks, but she has learned.

Patches is of two minds about the new cats.  Sometimes she rubs noses with them and sometimes she hisses and attacks them.  She is fierce. 

Buddy Boy and Aya have settled right in and are now full-time with me.  Buddy Boy loves to snuggle during TV time.  He is a real lover.  The most affectionate of all of them.

Snuggling inside my arm.

One lovely event that occurred was the 21st birthday party of Kithmi Gunasekara, one of my teachers at the school.  She is a lovely young woman and as it happens, just lives down the street from me.  She very kindly invited me to her birthday party which was one of the nicest events I have ever been to.  There was a nice mix of older people, friends and relatives; and younger people, Kithmi's class mates and her friends from Toastmasters.  She is big with Toastmasters here in Kandy.

Wonderful elaborate cake along with some great catered food. 

The Gunnesdkara's used the same caterer I used for Lalindra's going away lunch which went very well and saw Kithmi get a little tipsy on wine.  Something very unusual for a Sri Lankan woman, especially one so young.  It was sweet and we all enjoyed her exuberance.

It was also my friend Visakha Kawasaki's birthday, which they celebrated with a high tea at their home.  Lovely as usual.  I discovered this fabulous Hungarian recipe for vegan unburgers made from red cabbage and flour.  I was trying to find the recipe for red cabbage stew that I remember from my childhood and came across this in the process.  It was on a Hungarian vegan web site.  I don't know why I was surprised.  Of course, there are Hungarian vegans.  But I was.  In any event, I have adapted it, replacing the flour with bread fruit.  Real fusion cuisine.  I took some to the party and they got rave reviews even though I had to make them with green cabbage as I could not find red just then.

My friend Weston also dropped in for a couple of weeks on his way to India for a few months.  We had lunch together and caught up.  He is in the wilds if Himachel Pradesh now. having the time of his life by all reports.

The party season was kicked off with a party at Deanne Dallas's.  Always the first party of the season and as always beautifully pulled off.  It is a challenge for me to live up to her standard.

After almost 5 years of struggle, my friend Sonali managed to sell her house and move to the US.  I have not heard anything from her, but hopefully, no news is good news.

You may remember me posting about "The Good Market" which started out in Colombo as an organic farmer's market.  When we were first starting the cheese business, we used to set up a market stall there once a week.  It has changed venue and content over the years and our cheese business has outgrown it, but the market goes on.  They came to Kandy for the first time a few weeks ago.  I went even though it was on a Saturday; a day I hate going into Kandy town, just to lend it support.  It is very different from how I remember it.  There were a few food vendors including a wonderful cheese stall run by a Georgian woman whose place is near Matale about a 30 minute drive from Kandy.  I bought some lovely smoked mozzarella from her that I will definitely buy again.

I don't think the market will be success here.  Kandy town is a zoo on Saturdays as it is and the prices are much too high for even middle class Sri Lankans.  For example a 300 gm. bag of quinoa was LKR.1600 which is about C$15.  Even if people here knew what quinoa was, no-one in their right mind is going to pay that price.  Certainly not me.  Plus there is a lot of touristy clap trap being sold.  Unless tourists stumble on the thing by chance, they are not going to be able to sell a lot of it.

My new project at art group is crocheted beads made for my friend Ava who makes the most incredible necklaces.  When she tires of that, I will go back to crocheting fly covers.  The three I managed to make so far have been quite successful.  At first I followed a pattern, but soon discovered that I was better off doing my own thing.  So now they are à la Julia.

Book and Film Clubs continue apace.  Book Club has switched from the Citadel to Hotel Ozo so now Ava and I have a lovely breakfast before we begin with the discussion.  I have charge of next month's Film Club as Judith is in the UK for a few weeks.

The one piece of bad news is that I went to the ophthalmologist to have my eye checked after 2 months.  My vision has not improved even with the glasses.  I had suspected corneal damage and he confirmed that my cornea looks unhealthy enough for him to say no more surgeries and not even contact lenses.  It is possible that it may heal after many, many months.  I am keeping my fingers crossed and am only wearing the glasses to watch TV.  I can see well enough the rest of the time and the glasses are just annoying.

The School is going along.  Registration settled at 36 students forcing me to combine the Stage 1 and 2 classes.  As it turns out it was a great decision.  Leonie is my best teacher (too bad I will lose her next year) and mixing the lower level with the higher has really forced the slower kids to do better.  All in all, it is working out well.  I have also managed to set up a Facebook page for the school, so check it out at School of English on FB.

The menagerie is periodically joined by wild critters.  Here is the biggest frog I have seen so far perched by the wall beside my front door bell.

The big excitement is that I have finally found a coffee grinder for a descent price.  Needless to say, I put the grab on it as soon as I saw it, so now I can drink my friend Jez's wonderful coffee.

This month's hair tattoo is a little like a trestle bridge.