Free Range Thursday/Friday and some Other Things

Yes, I know it is Thursday, but I can't wait to share this with you, and Friday mornings are a little crazy around here, so...get into Culebra Time!

The parsley is thriving! Hooray.

The other day I was at Milka's and happened to glance at the frozen fish spot (in the meat area, with the fruit and potatoes area). For some reason, a package of fish was calling to me, two big filets, $3.71, what a price! Everything looked right, maybe it would be! And it was, grouper as sweet and clean tasting as any fish had a right to be, fresh or frozen. It was grouper that I pan sautéed, with just salt and pepper and garlic. Wonderful! And of course, I forgot to take photos. The next day, for lunch, I took the cold left over fish, cut up some avocado and a bit of minced red onion and made a fish salad out of it, breaking up the fish first before adding the avocado (cubed). And of course, I forgot to take photos. But, no worries!

Fabio and his mother. Credit: unknown

I ran across this guy, Fabio Viviani, the other day, my top of the list new food guy. He's funny, he's good at what he does and he loves his mother (who is pretty funny too). She's not in this video, but if you like him and watch more of his little videos, you'll run across her eventually.

This is his recipe and video for herb encrusted halibut. I think it would work well with any good fish, or chicken, or even a pork chop. Or roast. But wait, I digress. All of his videos are only a few minutes long, so check him out!

Ok, enough of Fabio and fish.

Yesterday, Timmy and Pan were over here to do some work on a few things. Of course, Timmy had his dog Zippy with him. Even if you don't know Timmy, if you've been around Culebra much, you've seen him, the skinny older guy with the little white dog. Always, with the dog. They'd been here about half an hour when Timmy said Zippy had been hit by a car. He was carrying her and she looked bad, trembling and unable to move. As we looked closer, Pan said, she's not been hit by a car, she's been poisoned. She started foaming at the mouth, and shaking more. We tried flooding her mouth with water, along with hydrogen peroxide. I got on the phone to the usual suspects, but Timmy called to me that she was gone, it was too late, she died less than 20 minutes later. Somewhere between my yard and next door, someone had put down some powerful poison and she'd gotten into it. Not the first, and horribly, I'm sure not the last,

Zippy is one of a long line of animals that has met death through poison. We don't know who is doing something so horribly cruel, and I don't even like posting this, but someone out there knows who is doing this and hopefully will do something to stop this insanity. This little dog, who brought joy, love and devoted companionship to Timmy, is gone now, despite efforts to save her (thank you, Teresa, Jane and Terrie, particularly Teresa). Culebra is a beautiful place, with beautiful people, but as with every place, there are spots of darkness and this is one of ours. It's got to stop. Good-bye, Zippy, you gave a lot of us a lot of laughter over the years. We'll miss you; though not as much as Timmy will.

Before the above happened, I watched this hummingbird awhile, its crest blinding green. My yard is loaded with birds these days, singing, chirping, zooming around on food quests. making the cat crazy always just out of her hopeful leaps. That's a good thing.

This morning dawned with a good color show. Here's the peaceful part. When I first moved here, the mangroves and trees were not as big, but now they've made a perfect arbor of tranquility. I love my yard.

Have a tender Thursday. Do something thoughtfully.