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.