Month: February 2009

For the last few months there have been no sounds of birds when I go get our newspapers. It was cold, usually cloudy, and nasty. It was also very quiet. Last week I heard a bird call, just one repeated a few times. Now that the weather has gotten warmer the birds are talking to each other. Getting the newspaper is now acompanied by chirps and cheeps and songs. What a delightful change.

Last week Trader Joe’s had dafodils from Ireland on sale. I bought 3 buches of budding flowers and over the next 3 days they opened up. Sunlight in a vase! The foyer was transformed and my mid-winter blues went away. Strange how 15 flowers can change my mood.

Went to the Bronx Zoo yesterday. Lily and the kids were delighted in the different animals we saw. Lily especially liked the Scarlet Ibis in the aviary. Tommy liked the Bald Eagles and the chinchillas. I’m not sure what Katherine liked. For myself I loved the Golden Eagles and the Snow Leopards. Tommy loved the snow leopards as well. So what does it say about me that I found the predatory animals so much more attractive than the others? Is it a reflection of some inner nature or just that I like the sleek looks of the predators more?  Who knows and who cares!

Along those lines I must say that there is little to compare to the beauty of a hawks’ strike on it’s prey. I know that a soft little creature is killed. So what? Is PETA going to say that hawks are bad? Maybe. again who cares? A hawk is beautiful and that all I need to know. There is a circle of life and death is part of it.  Live with it.  I do.

Wow,  I realized that I started with  finding  comfort in the sweet songs of birds and ended with a paean to a hawk’s strike . Oh well,that’s me.

Snow, more snow. Now I like snow as much as the next person but really is this much necesary? Last week Leo decided that walking behind the snow blower would not tax him much. It took three days for him to recover as he forgot that we have a really long, wide, and steep driveway. That will not be repeated.

I do feel sorry for Jan & Lily as the snow removal falls on them. They use the blower and then shovel down to the pavement. At that point we start to pray that no more snow or, the Lord forbid, freezing rain will fall. The salt is being used at a fast rate this year as well. Not good for the plants or pavement.

What is more frustrating than losing something you like? About a year ago we had a barbecue and I made this lovely steak. Marinaded and quickly broiled it was wonderful.  Various factors kept me from making it again until this week. Pathmark had a special on sirloin steak that was too good to pass up.  I mean2.5 lbs of sirloin for $7! Since I cook for Leo the kids & myself this was  enough for 4 meals. Last week I just pan broiled it but this week I wanted to be different. Hah!

Nowhere could I find the recipe, not in my folder, not in any of my cookbooks, nowhere. Some of the ingredients I could remember but not the amounts. The Internet to the rescue. The recipe was still on the Food Network  web site. It only took a 15 minute search. Two copies are now in my folder one will always stay there. This will not happen again, at least with this recipe.