Its Resting Time

Wow.. I grew up watching Johnny Carson being introduced by Ed McMahon... and I remember him on Star Search... actually, I remember him always being on tv... he had that winning smile and terrific voice! A true legend. Ed served his country in the Marines.. making us proud, and helping secure our freedom, and fighting for us to have the rights we have now.

Granted, Ed did have some troubles in his life. I suppose when your a star, you might have bigger troubles than the rest of us. Either way, thru the marriages, the health scares, the family tragedies, and of course, the financial troubles which led to a publicly media frenzy about his home and all that jazz.... anyway, thats not how you want to be remembered.

So.... wherever you may be tonight Ed, whatever your beliefs; HEEEERRREEES ED....

May you finally rest in peace. And thanks for many highlights during your career on tv.

21 June 2009 Fathers Day (USA)

I called my dad today as its Fathers Day in the states on the 21st. There is a lot of history there, some good, and some not so good. Its kind of like the lottery when it comes to dealing with my dad~ it may be a win, and it may not be a win. You just never know how the conversation is going to go, or how its going to end.

I had a wonderful conversation with him. In fact, its been really good the last few times. He has quit drinking (again) and it was great to hear him on his saturday evening working on his cars and being sober. He holds such a special place in my heart, and whenever I speak to him, he makes me feel as if Im 5 years old again, looking up at him and seeing him smile and have so much pride in his little girl. He always makes me feel loved, and tells me how proud he is of me. I know that no matter what, I am daddys little girl.

There is something so unique about a father & daughter relationship. The lessons you learn from your father are so different than those you learn from your mother. Both of my parents taught me to stand up for myself and NEVER take shit from anyone. Yet, when it comes to my dad, he is proud as anything that his little girl stands tall amongst them all and stands for what I believe to be right. He says I get that from my grandma (and if you ever met my grandma Jane... oh goodness, well, you would never forget that meeting!). My father taught me about cars and motorcycles and engines... all that stuff. He loved having me in his garage being with him and fixing things or asking all the questions that little kids do. He loved teaching me. I remember many times watching him bake and cook for us. He makes the best choc chip cookies ever....

And now that time has moved on, and we have both grown up and gotten older and prob settled down a bit in our strong attitudes, we have come to learn & accept each other. We have a true friendship, and a love that you have for father & daughter. I miss my dad. Somedays more than others. I miss that Im not there with him some days. Its difficult to be away from your parents, and sometimes the pain is hard to deal with.

Anyway, no need to get into all that. Not today anyway. Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there. Thank you for teaching us all that you do, each day of our lives.

Love ya dad.
Tinker

Tally since May 2009 : 7 DEAD

The Sumatran Elephant is an endangered species, which is quickly becoming more scarce than before. Since May of this year, it seems that the tusks are more valuable than before and in the time period of 1 short month, 7 of these beautiful creatures have been killed.  The latest elephant, named Tongli, was 30 years old, and killed Friday 12 June 2009.  He was found dead, with his tusks removed; the assumption, according to THE JAKARTA POST article is that “he was killed by using poisoned pineapples by a professional poacher who wanted his tusks.”

Create awareness and let others know that this behaviour is unacceptable- we will not just sit by and watch such horrible things happen to these animals. Please, tell everyone you know, research it, Google it, have it as dinner party talk, whatever you do…. CREATE AWARENESS of this senseless killing of the elephants!

Your help is urgently needed. 

Check out some of these links:

http://www.elephantconservation.org/As_SumatranCenters2.php
http://www.jambiexplorer.com/explorer/holiday4.htm

http://www.seaza.org/scientific_papers/hand_rearing_sumatran_elephant.htm

http://www.elephantconservation.org/downloads/pdf/SumatranCenters.pdf

http://www.zoo.org.au/Conservation/Programs/International/Sumatran_Conservation_Program

Yes… we have HEAPS of Bananas!

My parents have banana trees in the yard, which my dad secretly enjoys I think, as he can play part-time farmer…. its great when the bananas come along, especially when the price at the grocery store is about $5.00 a kilo for bananas! So, when your parents offer you FREE bananas… you take ‘em!

One problem tho- this time all the bananas seemed to come ripe at once. AND, they all needed to be used/consumed pretty much straight away. One can only eat so many bananas… yes, I realize they are full of potassium… but seriously one can only EAT SO MANY BANANAS.

Of course, dad made his specialty of banana bread and distributed the goodies throughout the friendship trail. (He does do a fantastic loaf of bread with his latest recipe discovery… nevermind the kitchen mess… we wont go into that story). So, I knew a batch of bread was coming my way and thought… what else can one make with that many bananas? Banana Cookies and Banana Empanadas! YUMMY. My cookies are so moist… I cant even begin to describe the softness to the cookies, and the empanadas are lovely for breakfast.  Actually, they would be great with ice cream, and as Firestick J pointed out, a bit of chocolate syrup spread on them as well …. oh the creations! I doubled the brown sugar & cinnamon amounts  in them, as I thought they could be a bit sweeter, and I finished them off with a swipe of egg yolk and a dash of sugar before the oven. Oh I am so impressed by myself… but I will tell you this… the bananas are gone (for the time being anyway) and I have enough goodies to invite 4 blocks of people over for coffee & a treat!

How much....

I have to go to the bank today for work.. its not being deposited into my account,unfortunately its going into the work bank account. Lets just hope I dont get robbed, mugged, or get the urge to stop at the fantastic store full of gorgeous clothes right next to the bank....

Oh the urge.... to splurge. And besides, I could look rather cute in the unemployment line looking for a new job when they found out I bought a WHOLE new wardrobe with this money.

Damn ethics. A girl can dream cant she?