No More Pigeons - A scene from "JillCSI"

I should have listened to my friends - see my previous post - An inadvertent Avian Grandparent. First I could not addle the eggs. Then once the baby birds were born I did not have the heart to destroy the nest.

So off I went on my babysitting duties for my real ie. human grandchildren in California - and then home via a quick trip to Toronto to help my daughter finalize her move back to Vancouver.

Came home to find my patio a pigeon-poop biohazard area, and a pigeon having wedged itself behind one of the metal strips.  Phoned Wildlife Rescue. They don't come out to get injured birds- you have to take it to them.

Well I am a bit too squeamish to handle flying things (no doctor jokes please!) and I was not sure if I was dealing with a dead bird or not. I thought that the area was a definite biohazard, so got a-googling for biohazard cleanup in Vancouver.

A most helpful man from Trauma Scene Biohazard Cleanup Services called me back, and I booked an appointment for them to come here today. Punctual and efficient, Chantelle and Jacob arrived,  suited up and got to work while I escaped to the gym to be tortured by my great trainer, Cale. He was not too hard on me today as I told my tale of woe so I could think mean thoughts about pigeons instead of him.

They were marvelously efficient and shortly after I got back from the gym they were done.

So with a spotless and biologically clean patio -  and a much emptier bank account, I will be absolutely ruthless if any future pigeons try to land at Hotel Jill.

An Inadvertent Avian Grand-Parent - that's me!

Mummy or daddy?

Some days after I returned home after the Wine Country Cruise from LA to Vancouver, I realized that a pigeon pair had made a nest in one of the unused planters on my patio. Mea culpa for tempting them. I should have put in my summer plants before I left.
In this nest were two small perfect white eggs, and the pigeon parents were very diligent about sharing the "egg-sitting" duties.
At a dinner party that evening my friends, more pragmatic than me, emphasized the importance of not letting these eggs hatch in my planter. Dire consequences as bird droppings fouling  my patio, and the parents thinking that this could be their permanent residence for annual reproductive ventures, were proposed and I was warned to either remove the eggs, or shake them to addle them.

And the grand-kids

Unfortunately I romantically anthropomorphized these creatures to the extent of imagining their anguish when the eggs disappeared or failed to hatch as they should, and as the days passed I just could not bring myself to do anything.
"Well"  announced my house-guest, "you are now an avian grand-parent." And there in the nest were two little yellow balls of fluff. When I attempted to approach to take a peek, the parent bird flapped around so violently that I feared she would injure herself, but several days later when the nest was empty of a parent guardian I managed to take a picture.
This has been my year for pigeon encounters - see Let Them Eat Pigeon - Unless I win the Lottery! But unlike my previous experience, this has been interesting to watch- so far. But hopefully it will not be long now before the babies can fly and my planter will  be my own once again.

Vancouver Culinary Delights

Leek and bacon quiche at Cachet

It's Tuesday, May 1st, the day after the A to Z Challenge officially ends. This is my first day at attempting for once to be consistent in daily chronicling of significant events in my day. I am a disaster at keeping a journal. My cupboard is full of journal starts that last at the very most a couple of weeks. But this time, maybe an electronic record will work.

A taste sample at Dockside

At noon today I met a friend for a lunch and a news catch up at Caché , a fairly-recently opened restaurant on Hamilton in Yaletown. The service was excellent and the food perfect. You can read my full review at Supping In Vancouver: Caché Bistro and Lounge.

Later I took the Aquabus ferry across to Granville Island and walked up to the Granville Island Hotel to the Meet the Chef event. Intended to introduce new Executive Chef of Dockside Restaurant, Simon McNeil, it was  a great way for me to meet the Food and Beverage team, and fellow Food Writer/ Photographers, while enjoying samples of Chef McNeil's menu items and wine from Joie in the Okanagan.
Tonight is Dancing with the Stars: Results show - while I fold laundry and start packing for my upcoming California trip. This year there are several really good dancers among the Celebriies. I don't know who I like the most.

Z is for Zebra and Zinc

Z Zebra and zinc - what could they have in common other than the letter Z?

Picture from Wikipedia

Zounds! I can't believe I have actually made it through this challenge, sticking to my themes of travel, food, culture and dance. For this last posting however, I will let my arty, creative Gemini inner twin take a well earned rest and let the scientific twin have at least one chance to be heard- or rather, read.
Zebra, to me, does not conjure up images of striped animals grazing on grasslands in Africa but rather brings to mind an aphorism used to teach medical students to consider common diagnoses before the more interesting rare disease they may have just learned about. "When you hear hoofbeats behind you, expect a horse not a zebra." It is a more polite way of saying KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid).
In keeping with my concept of me learning something with each post- here is my summary of Zebra. Part of the genus Equus, together with horses, asses and donkeys,  these mammals are characterized by having long heads, a mane, and a legs ending in a single ungulate or hoofed toe.  Unlike the domesticated horse, zebras are rare and some breeds have been hunted to extinction.  Hence the hoofbeat aphorism. Zebras have black and white stripes which have distinct patterns for each animal. This makes Zebra a really easy animal for toddlers to recognize and name. In the same way, rare diseases are so much more interesting than the things one would see every day, so they would first pring to mind when asked to identify a spectrum of symptoms.
And finally Zinc:
Zn Atomic number 30 Atomic weight 65.38 was the subject of my  first research project and first presentation as a Medical Biochemistry resident at a scientific conference, many many moons ago. I was studying zinc deficiency in a neonatal intensive care unit in premature babies who were being fed intravenously because they were too tiny and sick to tolerate feeds. That project started me on a lifetime of research in the nutritional and toxic biochemistry of trace elements, the biochemistry of infants and children, and pregnancy, and led to an all-consuming and fulfilling professional career. Sometimes when I look back on my life in medicine, I think of a humor column writer way back in my youth in South Africa, whose favorite signoff was "it's all a matter of zinc."
And thinking about what got me to this point in my life, a retired medical professional writing an Z to Z Challenge blog - indeed it was all a matter of zinc.
Au revoir till next year's challenge - but keep reading AtJillsReviews for brief snippets of where in the world  Jill is now, and also what's happening on www.reviewfromthehouse .com, Ciao!

Y is for Yogurt

Y Yogurt with almonds, walnuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, sometimes with strawberries and blue berries, comprises one of my two usual breakfasts.

my favorite yogurt

The other is an omelet with chives, mushrooms and parmesan cheese. Both yummy and a great start to my day.
As for yogurt, I eschew any flavoured forms, preferring to add my own fresh fruit to the mix. I also shun the "healthy" non-fat yogurts which taste thin, acidic and often a bit slimy to me. My favorite yogurt right now is one from La Belle Provence. Quebec's Liberte, who have been producing cream and cottage cheeses since 1936, make the absolutely most delicious plain yogurt shown in the picture. It is smooth and creamy, almost a dessert on its own.
Yogurt is of course a milk product produced by the fermentation of milk by bacterial cultures. They break down the lactose or milk sugar to produce lactic acid. The milk is first pasteurized to kill any harmful bacteria and then cultures of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus, are added to start the fermentation process. When the amount of live bacteria present in food is sufficient to have a biological effect, such as preventing antibiotic related diarrhea or digesting lactose, the product can be labelled probiotic.
Because the lactose in yogurt has been broken down, yogurt is a great source of calcium for people who are lactose intolerant and otherwise would avoid milk products.
Well I am off to enjoy my yogurt, with nuts, seeds and berries, and a large mug of steaming coffee.

X for X-ploring the X-Factor in Java

Made with my frother and K-Cup system

X X-factor.  As a follow up to my J for Java post I was interested in delving into that indefinable factor that makes different coffees appealing for different tastes. And (yet another confession) I used to avoid ordering coffee at places like Starbucks because I was completely intimidated and confused by the terminology. So I figured it was time to seize the coffee cup by the handle so to speak and get over this intimidation.
In June at the upcoming Eat!Vancouver Festival, I plan to go and observe the Western Canadian Regional competition of the Barista Championship so I really want to be able to appreciate what I see.
I found a couple of resources. Ironically one was the Starbucks website. Another was a post on coffee terminology by Jason Haegar that I found on Baristaguide.com. It turns out that it is not as complicated as I thought, its just that people seem invent their own terms for the same thing.
Anyway for coffee naivetes like me, here is my summary extracted so to speak from the resources cited above. Espresso is a beverage made by high pressure extraction of a little water forced through very finely ground coffee compacted into a puck. Haegar defines the "body" as the weight of the liquid portion on the palate, the "heart" as the complex flavour of the coffee and of course, there is the all important "crema".
Americano is espresso diluted with hot water to consistency of drip coffee but with crema;
Macchiato is espresso with foam or frothed milk.
Mocha is espresso plus chocolate, steamed or frothed milk and topped with whipped cream- yummy.
Cappuccino is one third each of espresso, milk and foam and latte is milk with a little foam and a little espresso.  Skinny means made with skim milk.
 As to the all important coffee roast: The roast can be Light (Blonde at Starbucks), Medium or Dark, and I think Extra Bold means more ground coffee used in a brew, at least that's how the K-cup people define it.
Well I think I am ready to order a coffee at a real coffee shop- if I can only figure out what word to use for small. I think at Starbucks "small" gets you a Tall (12 oz) when what I want is an 8 oz so you have to ask for a "Short"- and then there is a medium size which is a Grande  Spanish for large). Go figure. Maybe I will stick to my home brewer after all.

W Wanderlust or "where in the world does Jill still want to visit?"

Digital World by Petr Kratochvil

W Wanderlust or "where in the world does Jill still want to visit?" It is really fascinating to me - yeah I guess I find a lot of things fascinating - to talk to my friends about their wanderlust.  People's motivations for travel are so different. One friend wants to wander around India and Nepal on her own. Not on my travel bucket list at all. Another friend does volunteer travel - working in parts of the world where she can use her skills in writing and teaching to help others.  Yet another friend is all about wild animals- Africa and safaris feature prominently on her list. Then there are the oenophiles who want to visit vineyards, the cyclists who bike around Europe and Asia. and those who enjoy leisurely river boat cruises.
My ideal BIG travel adventure if I could find the time and resources to do it properly would combine a "round the world cruise" picking segments from cruise lines with Dance hosts like Cunard or Crystal, with land tours of great New World wine areas like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Chile, with cultural stops for theatre in London, culinary explorations in Europe and Asia, and maybe a n intensive visit to Argentine to work on Tango and improve my Spanish at the same time. Also on my list is to cruise the Norwegian fjords, and the Baltic area. I promised another ex-student of mine from Moscow that I would visit her one day and its time to keep that promise.
What tops your list?