Our Christmas Visitor

Yesterday turned out to be a bit unusual here at Possum Central.

I know that in the past I've mentioned stray dogs wandering around the village. For the last few days there has been a very sweet, GSD-X hanging out, mostly at the café. However, yesterday I noticed that he was limping. He was getting thinner and thinner and the weather turned really cold (it is, after all, almost Christmas),



I gave him something to eat and he hung around at the door for a bit. Then, JM and I decided that I really should take him to the Vet to see what was wrong with his foot. After lunch, I found him, called him over to the car and opened the door. He just hopped right in, lie right down on the seat, and stayed there without budging all the way to Lavalenet.

His foot turned out to be not too serious; he had broken a toe nail down to the quick. But it still needed anesthesia for Dr. Un-Ren to remove it. After that, what was I going to do? I had a semi-comatose dog with a bandaged foot who needed antibiotics.

So I brought him home. I was a bit worried about how our Diva would take this, given her status as Queen of Possum Central for lo these many years. It hasn't been too bad, all things considered. The worst moments are where food is concerned as there is lots of snarling and a couple of minor fights. I do feed them at separate ends of the room, but they each think that what the other is getting HAS to be better than what they are getting.

Also, Maggie is not wild about Shmooey (I love Al Capp's Shmoos!) trying to get on any of her places, which sadly means he's limited to about 10% of the house. Still, she allows him to come near me for attention, which is something I was worried about.

Shmooey appears to be about 12 months to 18 months old. He is very intelligent, very sweet, totally housebroken and affectionate. We would like to find his family, but if he is abandoned, would then like to place him in a more active home than ours. We will keep him if need be, but for his own benefit, we think he would like a garden and maybe a couple of kids to play with.

Ciao for now.

Randy

Pot Luck Aftermath

We are now fully recovered from the events of Saturday night, Possum Central is back to its usual self and most of the leftovers have been eaten.

It turned out to have been quite the successful evening, with around a dozen of us finally showing up and having a really lovely time together. The two couples that canceled really DID have good reasons for not showing up and were not at all put off by the concept (which made me feel relieved and vindicated). Our baker and his wife were just too exhausted with getting ready for the big Christmas rush, so they couldn't make it and two other neighbors were feeling poorly and weren't up to an evening out.

Still, as it stood, 12 was the ideal number anyway. We were all able to fit nicely in one room so we didn't have to split up. There were none of those embarrassing moments of dead silence when everyone is looking around trying to come with something to say, and everyone's dish was eaten and enjoyed; although as is always the case, there was way too much food for the number of eaters! Everyone did their best to pile in as much as possible though!

The final menu turned out to be:

Possums: Chinese style bbq'd pork tenderloin, twice-baked potato casserole, roquefort-onion dip with carrot sticks, homemade brioche rolls, salad (provided my M. Martinez) with parmesan vinaigrette and homemade croutons, white chocolate chip banana bread and cream cheese pound cake

M. & Mme Gimenez: Spanish style chicken croquettes, star-shaped sugar cookies that were extraordinary!

Antionio clan: Boudin blanc (made that day in the shop) with apples

Mme. Grandma: quiche lorraine with the flakiest pastry crust I've ever tasted.

Of course there were several contributions of excellent wine, not all of which got tasted that night. I also made a fruit punch which everyone drank, even the adults. The three kidlets seemed to have fun when the two sisters weren't trying to kill each other (ah, siblings), and Diva Maggie was, as usual extremely well-behaved although not happy that she wasn't allowed to share in the feasting.

I regret the friends who weren't able to make it, but hope that this will become a tradition for future years, and, who knows, maybe we'll need to do another one when it's not a holiday, just to get us through the dark winter evenings.

Ciao for now.

Randy