I took the partners out for a romp at Jack Darling Park this afternoon. They had a ball in the snow, goofing around with all kinds of different dogs.
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Tuffy P’s Curried Apple Couscous with pistachios
Start with one MacIntosh apple. Leave the peel on and slice it into slivers. Get a medium sized pot. Take 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melt it and add one and a half tablespoons of your favourite hot curry powder blend. When melted, add the apples and cook for 3 minutes on medium heat. Remove apples.
cooked apples and scallions
Chop up a heap of scallions. Add them to the pot with the remnants of the curry butter mix. Add one and three quarter cups of water to the pot and bring it up to a boil with a pinch of salt. Once boiling, add a cup of couscous, stir, cover, remove from the heat, and wait ten minutes.
pistachios and mint ready for chopping
Chop up a half cup pistachios and about the same amount fresh mint. When the couscous is ready (10 min), combine apples, pistachios, mint, pinch of salt, with the couscous. Mix it all together and serve.
It’s rockin’ good.
Hey Farmer!
For your daily dose of old time music today, here’s Thornton, Emily and Kilby Spencer doing up Arkansas Traveler…
Sneak peak in the studio…..
This is a small painting I’ve been working on for a while, but just finished up this evening, making it my first painting of 2015. It’s called Don’t you Rock Em Daddio…
Oh where oh where did the owls go today?
This afternoon I bundled up, leashed the partners, and we trundled off to Col. Sam Smith Park to see the snowy owls. Two of them, apparently a male and female have been regularly seen hanging out on the docks in the yacht club harbour. Last year I looked for them numerous times with no success – I think I was just about the only person in the neighbourhood who didn’t see them. I’m not about to let that happen again this year. 
It was cold and grey out there and the wind was biting, a condition which the Newfs don’t mind at all (I’m less impressed). We talked to some people at the bridge who had seen both owls in the past couple days. We had all come out to check on them, it seems. Unfortunately, there were no owls to be seen, just owl watchers. I’ll be back on the weekend at some different times. I’d love to catch a glimpse of one of these beautiful huge birds.
Five Easy Pieces
So, it’s 2015. Last night we followed our usual New Years strategy – take-out bad food (we went with fish n chips) and a movie at home. We like it that way. We watched Five Easy Pieces. Amazingly, unbelievably, I had never seen this film.
I loved the rawness and the awkwardness of the film, and Jack Nicholson’s performance was fantastic. His character was at once so unlikable yet so compelling. Haven’t we all felt at some time or another that we don’t belong, that we can’t live up to expectations, that we’d much rather avoid responsibilities and live totally in the moment?
What a collection of peculiar characters, simplified and amplified. And yes I loved the famous diner scene in which Bobby attempts to order what he wants against all odds.
On a roll, today we’re going to watch The King of Marvin Gardens.
Why traditional music #617 (Rake & Rambling Boy)
This performance by Emily and Thornton Spencer sends chills down my back.
Here are the same pair, as part of the Whitetop Mountain Band from 1990…
Emily Spencer with Martha Spencer doing the Carter family tune, Distant Land to Roam…
George enjoys some down time
New in the 27th St Book Box
There are some excellent selections today at the 27th Street Book Box. I can recommend Inishowen by Joseph O’Connor and also an excellent compendium of Indian writing, not to mention a biography of the late Doc Watson. These books are of course free for the taking. You’re welcome to take some home to enjoy. You can keep them or return them, or you can contribute to the book box by dropping off some books you think others will enjoy. The book box works best when you contribute books you really like!
The 27th Street Book Box is located in front of our place on 27th Street here in Toronto just up a few houses from Lake Prominade. You’ll know you’ve found it when you see the curious structure near the sidewalk with the sign featuring the head of a Newfoundland dog and the words Books Rock. There’s a funny story associated with this sign. Tuffy P had it made up at a kiosk at the Canadian National Exhibition. However, the fellow who did the work assumed the sign was for a place, so he originally made one for us that read: Book’s Rock, even though Tuffy provided no apostrophe.
Long Branch has been noticed…
Blog TO has identified LongBranch & New Toronto as among the top 5 neighbourhoods on the rise in 2015. They have noticed what local residents have been seeing for some time. Developers have targeted our area in a significant way – they see gold in them-thar-hills.
It’s a double-edged sword. On the one hand, increased density in the form of condos along the Lakeshore thoroughfare (such as the one across from the beer store) is bound to help revitalize a long retail strip which could use a boost. At the same time, there is a lot of development pressure on the South Long Branch neighbourhoods that unchecked will be detrimental to the character of our community.
Consider that within site of our home on lower 27th Street, at least 3 properties have been snapped up by developers. One has already had a severance approved by the Ontario Municipal Board. The owner plans to build two tall, deep and narrow homes where previously there was a single modest bungalow. In spite of the fact that this developer plans to chop down several trees on the property, and erect a pair of buildings that are each 2 stories over a garage, his team managed to convince an OMB adjudicator that this development is in keeping with the character of the neighbourhood.
On the other hand, earlier this month and further up the street, the OMB rejected a proposal to sever a lot and put up a similar development. One thing we are seeing is neighbourhood residents who are increasingly organized and willing to take the time and the trouble to get involved and fight to retain the unique character of this community.
The Committee of Adjustment/Ontario Municipal Board process seems inadequate in a community undergoing significant and rapid change. Some change is inevitable, and thoughtful development can be positive. The question is how to manage it in a way that is good for the community and good for the City. How can we bring some positive planning into the equation?
27th Street 