Once more around the web

I just finished an article on Turkish pigeons for the excellent online pigeon mag Aviphilia and am getting caught up,so will I hope soon return to real blogging. Meanwhile, a roundup of things serious and trivial..

At Three Martini Lunch, Roseannn-- between recipes!-- has just posted on her recent diagnosis with breast cancer. That such a post can be brave, sane, and funny all at the same time is a tribute to this woman I am proud to call a friend. She writes:

"So as this new odyssey unfolds for me I’ll try to report the interesting stuff without turning it into a life obsession - rather, it will be a life-lesson.

"And besides, I’ve decided that if I have to have a mastectomy instead of a lumpectomy, maybe I can get insurance-covered reconstruction and order 36Cs on both sides - start a new career as a Victoria’s Secret model . . ."

RTWT. And don't forget to look at this recipe below as well.

Speaking of recipes, Pluvialis has returned to blogging after a patch of overwork and illness-- and she is recipe blogging-- "PLOV" blogging at that. I had this wonderful dish of rice, sheep, and vegetables in Kazakhstan but had no idea how to make it. I suspect the secrets are to wash much of the starch out of the rice, and this:

"Pour far too much oil into the base of a very heavy pan (I use an enamel french casserole; in Uzbekistan a giant iron Plov pot). When I say too much, I mean far too much. I reckon two and a half good ladlefuls. Then heat it until it is very, very, very, very hot."

We in the west are far too afraid of fat, as Roseann also observes.

Fear of Bird Flu is making the Koreans kill dogs (not that they have ever had many objections). HT Dog Politics.

James Swan gives Eagle Dreams a nice compliment in his ESPN column. I hope to be in his forthcoming anthology.

Last, fans of Vadim Gorbatov and Q. should check out his journey and art at the REF. Scroll down to see us and more tales of the Spur and click on the hyperlinks for art, including a sketch of Gambel's quail he made on Lee Henderson's rannch as we watched them, and the resulting watercolor.