November 2024 Newsletter

Life in Manzanillo

I remember as a kid growing up in Hamilton when, every spring, the skies over Cootes Paradise would be filled with Monarch butterflies. Unfortunately, when civic authorities launched a big clean-up campaign for the harbor, they cut down all the milkweed growing in abundance along its shores, putting paid to their habitat.

Things are still looking up in Mexico, however. When we arrived in Manzanillo, we were greeted by a fluttery collection of blue, white and yellow butterflies, as well as the majestic Monarch.

A few years ago, we trekked to Morelia to see their winter habitat. It’s well worth the visit; we stayed in Morelia’s old town, which has excellent, inexpensive restaurants and friendly people. The journey to the refuge and back takes an entire day, with several hours spent hiking up the side of a mountain, but the effort is worth it. The best time to go is between November and March, when they begin their long migration back to Canada.

Recipe: Red Curry Shrimp

This recipe is my version of a delicious dish served at Oasis Marina! It’s easy to make and very tasty.

INGREDIENTS

8 jumbo shrimp, peeled

1 cup of chopped zucchini

1 Tsp of sesame oil

1 can of coconut milk

½ cup of tomato sauce

¼ cup of fish sauce

2 Tsp of soy sauce

2 Tsp of brown sugar

1 tsp of red curry paste

1 cup of spinach

Chopped basil

Chopped Jalapeno peppers (optional)

Lime wedges

Cooked rice

PREPARATION

Fry the zucchini and shrimp in the sesame oil. Set aside.

Mix coconut milk, tomato sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar and red curry paste in a large pan. Heat on medium for five minutes. Add in shrimp, zucchini and spinach, place a cover on the pan, and continue to cook for two more minutes.

Garnish with basil and peppers and serve with rice and lime wedges. Enjoy!

Crystal Ball now Available on Amazon!

FBI AGENT JACK KENYON is back! When a bomb in Myron Buckstar’s software lab kills an innocent woman, Jack and the crew are called in to find out if terrorists are targeting the flamboyant billionaire. They soon discover that the victim was a member of Scotland Yard working undercover on a mysterious case. As Jack pursues her murder, he uncovers a race to steal the Crystal Ball, an invention that allows its owner to peer into the future. Follow Jack from San Francisco to London as he pursues a host of murderers, conmen and criminals who will stop at nothing to achieve their goal.

Book Review

I Only Read Murder

By Ian and Will Ferguson

Many of you are probably familiar with Will Ferguson; he is a native Calgarian and winner of the 2012 Scotiabank Giller prize for his novel 419, and a very funny guy. He has now teamed up with his brother Ian to write a cozy mystery series set in a small west coast town.

The novel revolves around Miranda Abbott, the former star in the TV series Pastor Fran, where she played a karate-chopping cleric who dressed in bikinis and busted marijuana drug rings.

Miranda has hit hard times, however; her long-suffering agent is reduced to offering her roles in constipation ads. Her fortunes take a turn for the better when she receives a postcard from her estranged husband Edgar, begging her to return to Happy Rock, an idyllic village on Oregon’s Pacific shores.

Miranda finds herself playing second banana to Annette, the local diva, in the local amateur theatre troupe. Things get frantic when Annette mysteriously dies of poisoning during rehearsals, and all evidence points to Miranda as the prime suspect.

As one might expect from the brothers Ferguson, the narrative has its tongue firmly placed in its cheek and the plot twists are delightfully bizarre. A second book in the series, Mystery in the Title, was published this spring, and I can’t wait to read it. I highly recommend I Only Read Murder!

TV Review

The Diplomat Season 2

Streaming on Netflix

This is a political mystery thriller starring Keri Russel as Kate Wyler, the American Ambassador to the UK. She costars with Rufus Sewell, who plays Hal Wyler, her husband.

In season one, a missile attack against a British destroyer kills 23 sailors. Fingers got pointed to the usual suspects – jihadists, Russians, Iran – but Keri uncovers a link to the British government through UK foreign secretary Austin Dennison, an ambitious politician.

But is Kate being played? In season two, husband Hal, no slouch to intrigue, hunts down the rogues who almost killed him with a car bomb. Allison Janney makes a surprise appearance as vice president Grace Penn in the final plot twist that I’m not going to spoil for you but you gotta know it’s a humdinger.

Excellent writing and acting all around has earned this series lots of accolades. I highly recommend both season one and two of The Diplomat!