The Adventures of Horatio L. Cheeky

Horatio L. Cheeky

Readers, meet Horatio.  Horatio and I have had a love/hate relationship going ever since I moved into Shangri-La.  There are many squirrels that live in the woods near my home but Horatio?  Well, he's 'special'.  Horatio is an alpha male who thinks he owns at least 17 square miles surrounding my house.  For some reason he does not fear me. 

Each morning I sit out on the deck to enjoy the view of the lake and the mountains with my coffee.  I love the solitude.  Horatio views this as an overtly hostile maneuver on my part.  Usually he perches as close as he can on the tree nearest to where I'm sitting and chirps at me like a machine gun.  I give him my best withering 'Susan' stare to no avail.  Eventually, I jump towards him and yell and he reluctantly leaves.  The other day he upped the ante and climbed high in the tree and began throwing pine cones at me.  No, I'm not making this up.  He really did. 

So, here's where the story gets really good.  Every morning I open up both my front door and the patio door  to let the morning breeze flow through the house.  It's wonderful.  Last week the real estate agent called to say that she planned to show the house later that day and I wanted to do a quick vaccuum before leaving for work.  I opened the doors then went downstairs to get the vaccuum cleaner.  As I walked upstairs, vaccuum cleaner in hand, what do I see?  Horatio.  In the middle of my kitchen floor.  I glared.  He looked at me with a glance that said "Ah.... you're in my house, Bitch."  I put down the vaccuum cleaner and walked towards him.  Nothing.  He actually looked away from me as if he was bored. 

I knew that escorting Horatio out of the house was going to take a bit of time and I pondered the situation because I really didn't want to be late for work.  Would the prospective buyers prefer a perfectly clean floor or a house without a squirrel in it?  I decided that a squirrel-less house would likely be best.  So-o-o-o-o out came the broom (yes, the same broom that I used to chase Percy with last year) and Horatio and I went to war.  Fifteen minutes later he was out on the deck and the doors were closed up tightly.  

I even made it to work on time.

(When I told my friend Mike about my cheeky friend, he decided to name him Horatio.  The 'L' stands for Leonidas.  Of course it does.)

Oh, so pretty!!!

Did I mention that Sue-of-the-fabulous-cheese is also a graphic artist?  I asked her if she would spice my blog up a bit and she did.  Ta-da!!!  I wrestled with it on my own for about an hour and wasn't happy with the results so I asked her if she would take a peek at it.  Four minutes and 27 seconds later she had it finished and I love it. 

My favourite colour is yellow.  Sunshine makes me happy so that's the only explanation I have, really.  I love the yellow-ish-ness of it!!!  It's also kind of bubbly and exuberant.... like me, no? 

Mike asked her "Are you doing pro bono work again?!!".  I replied "Hey!  I don't let people bring me amazing cheese without a cost, you know.  Sheesh."

Such a diva, I am.

*Gasp*

Yes.
*Gasp*
That is the sound you will here if you are near any of my followers when they open my blog to see that I've actually posted.  I seem to go in spurts.... and once again, I forgot my login user name and password which is a CLEAR indicator that it's been w-a-y too long since I've posted.  Thank you for not giving up on me!  It's been  3 months since my last post (I had to put it in tiny letters because of the shame I feel) and once again, so much has happened during that time. 

Some of the Blind Bay Bitches came to visit me here at Shangri-La and it was fantastic.  MyBarb, Claudette, Aleia, Tamara and Sandy showed up with enough food to supply us until 2012, booze (of course) and pajamas.  It was so wonderful to have them here; they have all welcomed me with open arms into their world and it delighted me to reciprocate that hospitality.  It was a fabulous weekend of laughter and relaxation and I have no doubt it will become an annual event.

My Beloved Seeso organized the Second Annual Halcyon Hotsprings Girl Weekend and I met some great women from Nelson.  Is it possible to have too many girlfriends?  I think not.  Again... food, booze, pajamas and laughter.  So good for the soul. 

Are we seeing a theme here, people?  I do love my girlie-friends.  Ah do.  Another hint; Sue and Mike are here pampering me and I have blogged TWICE in the past 12 hours.  Pampering Suze = Blog Posts.  Uh huh.  Think about that next time you complain about my lack o' posts, haters!

Nirvana. No lie.

I've blogged about my friends, Mike and Sue before.  I met them through my brother Darryl and they've become good friends of mine as well.  I blogged about them when they came for a brief visit last year and this year they decided to come for a longer visit.  I'm in heaven.  Holy cats.

Mike and Sue are two of the most generous people I know.  They arrived with gifts for the kids.  Thoughtful gifts that really indicated that they knew my children and really understood them.  Valued them.  Celebrated them.  They brought me a book (yay books!) and..... cheese.  Cheese.  Cheese-zilla.  Not no-name cheddar.  Oh, no.  Cheese from Quebec.  From France.  From Spain.  Triple cream cheese.  Goat brie.  Blue cheese.  Now here's the interesting part; Sue doesn't eat cheese but she knows how to buy it and how to pair it properly with wine and port.  It's entirely possible that my two favourite things on this planet are cheese and books.  Did I mention how much I love Mike and Sue?

Yesterday I came home from work to Sue in my kitchen cooking a beef tenderloin with a pinot noir sauce.  Oh. My. God.  Mashed baby potatoes and a butter lettuce salad.  Mike has been painting; he's a talented artist and has been sharing his gift with Gigi.  The two of them are very funny together and have a great banter that has kept us all entertained.

Today?  Good music.  Good food.  Great company.  Relaxation.  Being around Mike and Sue reminds me that art and literature and music are a big part of who I am.  Their company feeds that part of me and it feels really, really good.

Below is a picture from their first night here; port and blue cheese.  Heaven.  I could get used to this.... Frippeneno, I could get used to this!!!