On this and that

Tags

days, dogs, life, Nova Scotia, sickness

So we had a quiet Anniversary and it was nice, the weather was cold -2 C but sunny.

However today, I was sad and frustrated that given that we now have to wait 12 weeks for a final pronouncement on Will’s cancer treatment, I find all of it confusing. We have been told that you have to wait, it takes time, it is not resolved over night. My argument is “they send men to the moon, so why not?” does not work at all in this case. I just want him to get better.

So Will and I talked today and we very much think alike on this situation and we spoke of our fears and the uncertain future, but then again we do not know the future.

FRIDAY

today was a busy day, both with meeting at the Club on Membership and then about the Library in the afternoon. In the evening I was doing a talk on the Canadian Foreign Service and what it is like to serve in it for 35 years. The crowd loved it, had a few good laughs, so it went well.

Saturday

Today is blustery and very windy and it drizzles which makes things miserable and the city is doing its Santa’s parade which means they get all the Fire Trucks out and blast the sirens for 2 hours. At first I thought there was a major fire and then remembered this was the City’s idea of fun for the Santa’s parade. Huge traffic everywhere because many major arteries were closed. Thank god for climate change they still don’t get it on PEI.

Sunday

Well today we have our friend come over to do the routine with Nick and Nora. Nick’s eyes are no better and the Vet tells me he is nearly completely blind, I know I can see it when we go for walks, it is very slow. Also I seems more hard of hearing now and today his stomach was badly upset, he ate nothing at all, just water. He will be 14 in February and he feels his age. All he wants to do is sleep snuggled against me. But even is breathing some nights is ragged and he has an irregular heartbeat. I feel bad about it, there is not much that can be done but he is as comfortable as possible.

Nora well she just goes on like a little engine, but she is more stubborn now than ever. You cannot make her do anything and she knows she can get away with it, Nora wants, Nora gets.

This Tuesday morning I drive to Halifax with the oriental carpets for cleaning and I come back Wednesday, a very easy drive. What I did not know is that Nova Scotia was an Island at one time and is now tied to the mainland by dykes built by the Acadians in the 17th century. The main Trans-Canada HWY and the railroad passes over the dykes. With climate change in 50 years time the Bay of Funday water and tides will submerge the dykes according to studies. I won’t be around to see it.

Notre Anniversaire

Tags

#44, Anniversary, Family, life

Today 23 November is our 44th Anniversary, we have been together all these years. Difficult to think back so far, a lifetime really. A life spent around the world. Our first meeting was supposed to be more a social call and here we are. What a wonderful life, can’t imagine it any different.

Happy Anniversary to us.

Portugal, painted tiles, Azulejos, great scenes decorating buildings and telling a story, they are magical to look at.

On many topics

Tags

Anniversary, corn beef, Holidays, life, shopping, Turkey, Xmas tree

This week I was reading various blogs I follow and bloggers tell of their lives and ask questions.

I am not a native English speaker and the english I learned was mostly on the street or reading or watching television. So sometimes I am still baffled after 60 years of speaking English by some terms or expressions.

This week Mitchell was mentioning the word Hamburger, how to say it, is it hamburg or hamburger. I hear both every day, however if I go to the store to buy meat I always think in French and it would be Boeuf Haché, I can never think of the term ground beef. So in conversation at home I would say I am buying hamburger meat meaning boeuf haché. Now if I speak of what you eat of the BBQ I would say a Hamburger, to me that is the dish. By the way there is no French word for hamburger.

Now the other one was about Barbeque here is another one, to me the barbeque is both the machine and the way to cook. In Canada the most famous Barbeque place is St-Hubert founded by a couple some 80 years ago, it was and still is a roast chicken restaurant and it is so famous that in Quebec it has entered the everyday language.

The signs also for the restaurant say BBQ and for many this is a French expression. It means all manner of things roasted on your Barbeque at home or in a restaurant. In Montreal there is another famous restaurant called Laurier BBQ and chicken is their dish. They closed during Covid but now is re-opened as a take out counter.

So for me BBQ or in writing barbeque is the same thing. Now yesterday I notice that in Europe Corned Beef is also presented as BBQ Corn Beef, though it has no corn and is not barbeque either but boiled in a sealed container.

This week is also American Thanksgiving and the famous or infamous as you like it, turkey meal with far too much decadent food, I do not believe the Pilgrims or Puritans would have approved. In terms of grocery shopping these days, I try to go early in the day and avoid after 2pm shopping on weekdays especially Friday it becomes a little crowded. Morning is the elderly and decrepit crowd and it is slow. I also find that Tuesday or Wednesday shopping is best in terms of variety. We have cooked a few turkeys in our time, however I find that the Butterball brand is the best and all we do is to keep a keen eye on the bird to avoid any dry bits. If I buy one I will wait until just a few days before the event, the price drops dramatically. We also cook it in a bag which is a sous vide technique and it gives a very juicy bird. However this year we will most probably keep it simple, which is fine. We even have a smaller 3 foot tree for Xmas a far cry from our days with the 9 foot tree. and other smaller trees and the 12 poinsettia, garlands of green etc. The point of such holiday is to be with the one you love and not alone. People who care about you in a meaningful way.

This week is also on Wednesday 23 November our 44th Anniversary. What are we planning well nothing this year but it is a lifetime, I suppose this makes us an old couple with a lifetime of memories.

A brisk sunny Saturday

Tags

CANCER, Chili con carne, Haviland Club, Montreal, PEI, Santa Claus, Weather

Well today is the traditional Santa Claus Parade in Montreal, it has always been a big affair and indicates the start of the Xmas Shopping Season. In the old day, maybe 40 years ago EATON’s dept store hosted the parade and it always ended at the Store on St-Catherines street in Montreal. Now the dept store is gone like all great dept stores and the parade is on Sherbrooke street, still downtown of course and still a very nice parade. The one thing I do remember was that in the old days Santa had to enter the store through a window on the 5th floor of the facade of EATON’s this was way, way, up there, I always thought he would not make it, it was so high, it was all part of the spectacle.

This morning I got up and after walking and feeding Nicky and Nora, I prepared all the ingredients to make a Chili con carne in the slow cooker. It will be ready by 6pm. I follow a recipe which is fairly simple and I add to it celery, a carrot to the usual garlic and onion with one Jalapeno and one red pepper. I do not like it too spicy, it does not agree with my stomach. I also mix veal and beef in the recipe. What I do not eat right away can be frozen.

The newsletter is done for this week and it is about all the preparation for the various events at the Club in December. We also had our Annual general Assembly and I was elected Chair of the Membership Committee. Recruitment is a big portion of this job.

Will is completing is cancer treatment on Monday, he has done well all along and was quite brave considering the aggressiveness of the treatment over the 6 weeks. Now we wait and return to the centre in December for further assessment. Only in March will we have the final word. Patience is of the essence and a certain degree of serenity.

Other than that, life is very quiet now socially speaking. This coming week I am giving a talk on diplomacy at the Irish Benevolent Society. In PEI a very large number of the population is of Irish descent or Scottish, in both cases, descendants of poor people who were deported by the British to PEI with the promise of a better life. A lot of people I know told me they were coming to hear me talk. So I better be prepared to say something half way intelligent.

Victoria park, Charlottetown

A birthday message

From the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada

November 14, 2022
Ottawa, Ontario

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on the 74th birthday of His Majesty King Charles III, King of Canada:

“Today, I join people in Canada and around the world to celebrate the 74th birthday of His Majesty King Charles III.

“This is the first time Canadians mark the birthday of their new King. It is an opportunity for us to recognize His Majesty’s dedication to service as well as the close and special relationship he has maintained with Canada throughout his life.

“The King has been visiting Canada for over 50 years, and has met with Canadians in all 13 provinces and territories. This includes his most recent visit with the Queen Consort, last May, to mark the late Queen’s historic Platinum Jubilee. Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting with His Majesty on many occasions and witnessed his commitment to building a better future.

“On behalf of the Government of Canada, I wish His Majesty a very happy birthday.

Photo taken for the King’s 74th Birthday in Windsor Great Park, His Majesty resting against one of the great Oak trees.

NICOLE

Tags

Canada, King Charles III, Ritz crackers, shopping, XMAS

Well the tropical storm Nicole is in PEI now, we have warm southerly winds and 19C in mid-November, very strange. It has not rained as much as forecasted, in fact this afternoon it was partly cloudy and sunny with brisk winds.

A lot of people now talk of how weird the weather has become, even the Atlantic around the Island is not as cold as it use to be. We should have had at least a snowfall or some snow flurries and the temperature should be around zero but it feels like Spring.

CONTINUING this post we are now Monday and it is the King’s Birthday who is 74 today. So it it the first Official Birthday for our new King of Canada. Now it appears that in future years there will be an Official day for his birthday but it will not be the actual date, given how terrible the weather can be in October. I think that in Canada we will continue to follow the 24 May as the Official Birthday of the Sovereign, unless Parliament decides otherwise.

Because the Holiday Season is only a few weeks away, stores have all their lights and decorations up. It started for us just a few days ago. Music thankfully is on low in the stores. At the grocery store I always look for special foods at this time of the year. Yesterday I was a new product, RITZ Crackers dipped in chocolate, completely nutz. I would never buy that, RITZ crackers use to be all the rage in the 1960’s when other type of crackers were not available. The other favourite was Danish Butter cookies in blue boxes and then more recently Panettone imported from Italy, but they are always a bit stale tasting. The truly novel here in PEI is Stollen from Germany, it is still relatively unknown. The Rotarians are flogging their awful fruit cakes, which should be declared a lethal weapon.

I remember in Europe how shops truly had lots of very nice food stuff and an abundance of specialty products, here no it is always the same cheap stuff offered in a red box.

This week is our general assembly at the Club, we will get a new executive, I am looking forward to the changes.

This is also Will’s last week of cancer treatment, I am sure he will be relieved when it is over. Then comes the evaluation by the doctor (s). We are hoping for the best.

Collections

Tags

Art, culture, life, London, shopping

A few years ago I was in London and was told about the Wallace Collection at Hertford House, 
Manchester Square, London. The house is a beautiful building and was the principal house of the family of the Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace, the likely illegitimate son of the 4th Marquess. It was bequeathed to the British nation by Lady Wallace, Sir Richard’s widow, in 1897.

The collections are superb and shows the knowledge of the four Marquesses and Sir Richard in acquiring the objects. What I really like seeing was the wonderful original furniture from the Palace of Versailles. In 1792, the revolutionary government sold the contents of Versailles to whoever was interested in buying the contents of the Palace. The agents of the Marquess of Hertford bought the finer pieces for little money at the time. There is such a great collection of furniture, paintings and other personal objects belonging to King Louis XIV, his grandson Louis XV and King Louis XVI and his wife Marie-Antoinette. I found I enjoyed seeing it all at Hertford House because there was no crowds and they are displayed in such a way as to really enjoy them.

There was on amusing note on all these French treasures, the original bill of sale given to the agents, if you read the text it says that the furniture, paintings, objects come from the estate of the Widow Capet, meaning Marie-Antoinette. When the sale took place King Louis XVI was dead and the Queen was in jail waiting for her execution.

If you are in London, do go and see the Wallace Collection it is well worth it.

My other recommendation for a London visit is the house of artist and painter Frederic Lord Leighton who is buried in Saint-Paul. His home in London’s Holland Park was formerly also his studio, known as an enthusiastic orientalist he lived from 1830-96. The house is a treasure trove of antique ceramic tiles and melodramatic Victorian painting. He was a favourite of Queen Victoria. 

He was a life long bachelor and led a secret life despite being very much a public figure. The photos below shows the entrance and the Arab Hall. It was built specifically in this style to show the enormous collection of tiles of Lord Leighton. It is a very peaceful house full of beauty despite the decor the rooms are comfortable.

The second floor has a different decor as seen in the silk room. The most austere room is his bedroom which is plain in the extreme with a single bed, a small table and a chair. A beautiful garden at the back of the house and you can visit his studio in the attic where he work with natural light coming from the giant window, it is arranged as if he just stepped out for a moment.

London is full of such gems most tourists do not know about. It is worth going to them instead of flocking to the usual tourist trap sites. Even if you go only for shopping there are lots of very nice shops with specialty quality items, skip Harrod’s.

Sirius XM

Tags

covid, elections, Fiona, paintings, PEI, virtue

Yesterday I got the Sirius XM system for my car, I was tired of having bad reception and very poor radio choice. Preachy radio hosts and always the same music over and over.

Sirius has a great choice of music and no commercial and no news, I mean at least I can get the news I want like NPR and BBC World service. The sound is also very good.

Today we bought SONOS speakers for the house so we can use them with Sirius, again the sound is very good, it is a big improvement.

I got the car tuned-up for Winter and bought new Winter tires replacing the 11 yrs old ones I had. In the Spring I may get new Summer tires the current ones are 5 yrs old.

So the last cruise ship left us a few days ago and the next day all the tourist restaurants closed, so it makes for a much quieter city now and the evenings really give the city a small town feel.

The municipal election came and went yesterday, it was a dismal affair from the point of view of public involvement. PEI has a national reputation as a place where voter turnout is always very high, around 84% or so about. Well this campaign was super quiet, no lawn signs, only one Q&A with mayoral candidates, no debates.

Of the 57 municipal councils on the Island 16 had no candidates to replace the municipal council leaving office including mayors. So now the Province has to find people to be appointed to serve, not an easy task, no one wants those jobs it seems. So they will be under trusteeship of the Minister of Municipal Affairs until some people can be found to fill those positions. This has never happened before and it is a puzzle, what happened?

The voter turn out is also very low, I voted early and was the only one at the polling station. I went back the day before the election and spoke with the returning officer who confirmed that indeed it was very quiet, abnormally so. The Official count in Charlottetown gives 47% total voter turnout. Some Councillors were acclaimed no opponents, others won with a handful of votes. This does not bode well for our democracy, but it seems people have become cynical and have lost faith in our politicians. In other municipality it is as low as 33% turnout, really not acceptable but there you go.

On the Covid front it seems that more and more people are affected, because people in the large part are vaccinated and or boosted, many are sick for 2 to 3 days and it is mild. Nonetheless we are really careful and we are getting our third booster shot, just in case.

The clean up from FIONA is continuing around the Island and it may take more months until Spring probably to complete the job. Nice to know that PEI was totally unprepared for this storm, no emergency plans, no generators at gas stations or pumping stations. Critical infrastructure totally vulnerable, politicians absent from the scene. Why you ask, well the short answer is; That’s the Island Way. Sad but true.

This week is Remembrance Day, Le Jour du Souvenir, it usually speaks more to the First World War 1914-1918, but nowadays the veterans we have are from the war in Afghanistan, the longest war Canada has been involved in, 11 years, with no results to show for it.

Finally I always like to look at paintings of the 16th or 17th century for all the hidden meaning and symbolism. One painting I saw recently was of a girl with a basket of eggs, she dropped it and some eggs are broken. Standing near her is an older women pointing and irate at the girl, the older woman is speaking to a man and is denouncing the girl. But is this about broken eggs? Only 1 broken out of several dozen, why the fuss?

Well the question is what do broken eggs mean in this case? The painting is called Broken Eggs, by Jean-Baptiste Greuze, 1725-1805.

Well the broken eggs mean Lost Virtue, the girl lost her virtue possibly to the young man and the old woman is irate because of this fact. Even the little boy as a side glance as if to say; oh she is so naughty.

US Marines and Me

Tags

Cheese, diplomatic, Marine Corps, parmesan, Poland, USA, Warsaw

Years ago we were invited to the USA Embassy in Warsaw for the US Marines Ball. This is a big affair and is organized by the US Marine Corps stationed at USA Embassies each year. Each USA Embassy has a number of Marines present to ensure security inside the building. In Poland the diplomatic corps would be invited to this ball and dinner and it was lavish in terms of the food and the evening itself, I wore black tie but all the Military Attachés wore ceremonial dress.

I forget where this event was held, probably at the Marriott Hotel. The food was spectacular and truly 5 stars. At the reception before the dinner young marines, I think they were 18 served guests and they were very formal and polite in a rather sharp Marine way. There was this huge wheel of Parmesan Cheese, the wheel had a diameter of 4 feet and was 17 inches thick. It had been imported for the evening from Italy. There was quite a lot of canapés served before dinner and you had to pace yourself simply to be able to get through the meal. Everything was paired wine and food. We could take a good piece of parmesan which had been roughly cut to have with your glass of wine. It was very good and since I do enjoy eating good Parmesan that way.

The evening is hosted each year by the Marine Corps on the date of their creation as a military unit. So there are lots of speeches etc about the USA and the glory of the Corps. One element which I cannot forget and appeared very strange to me, all marines had to have a girlfriend as an escort. No such thing as a single marine and she had to be American. We were in Poland so it is not customary for Marines to bring girlfriends on assignments. It transpired when speaking with their commanding officer that the girlfriends were brought over from the USA for this evening. It was very artificial and strange, it was obvious that these young ladies were there for the purpose of presenting a heterosexual image of the Corps. Now I was told that the US taxpayer does not cover the expense of this Dinner/Ball but the Marines do. It was a fun evening if a bit stiff but then a lot of diplomatic functions are.

enquiry from Parliament

Tags

Canada, convoy, emergency act, Ottawa, police

Last March, the capital of Canada, Ottawa was occupied by a bunch of clowns for 3 weeks, they took over the city and the police were powerless “apparently” to stop them and were very nice to them. Because Ottawa comes under the authority of the Province of Ontario, the Provincial police and the Premier Doug Ford were slow to act. It quickly became a nightmare and the stated goal was to overthrow the Government of Canada and assassinate the Prime Minister and other members of his Cabinet. The Official Opposition in the House of Commons, the Conservative Party gave open support to the protesters, going out to dinner with them in fancy restaurants and providing them coffee, donuts and photo ops. Finally the Prime Minister invoke the Emergency Measures Act, which gives the Police extraordinary powers to arrest and clear the streets. The Prime Minister could have called on the armed forces but did not. The Emergency Measures only lasted 3 days and now a special enquiry is being conducted by a retired senior Judge to determine if the Government of Canada was justified in implementing this Act for the first time in 22 years. This Act replaces the War Measures Act which was far more draconian and had been used by Pierre E. Trudeau in 1970 in Quebec.

The testimony has revealed facts unknown, many bombshell statement which surprised everyone. This past week the convoy leadership gave testimony, we learned that the Police of Ottawa, the Provincial Police and the RCMP were openly sympathetic to the cause of these grifters, this included one retired army soldier who was a sniper and worked on the Prime Minister’s security detail. He gave to the convoy organizer the PM’s agenda and where he would be during the day. This is a huge security breach and shows the level of hate these people have against the PM J. Trudeau. Another organizer claimed that he received daily from the police information on what the police would do on that day, if there was going to be a raid, suddenly these revelations explain what was going on and why the police did so little. As for the former police chief of Ottawa, Peter Sloly, he played the race card, he now claims that he was pressured into resigning because he is black, actually cafe au lait. He was so incompetent it was beyond belief but hey, that is just a detail. Another incompetent was the RCMP head, Brenda Lucki, who was appointed based on gender politics and has shown that she can do no good on her job. As for the Premier of Ontario Doug Ford, he too was in on it, his office was openly helping the convoy organizers and now Doug Ford refuses to testify at the enquiry, too many sticky questions on his behaviour.

The enquiry has established that this occupation of Ottawa was not about the Covid Vaccine or Mandates on vaccines imposed by the various provinces in Canada. It was a white supremacist movement who feel very threatened by the feminist and woke agenda of PM Trudeau who is seen has trying to change society to quickly and against the will of the people. Of course that is only one point of view and of the extreme right wing. What is unfortunate is how no one amongst the organizers of the convoy expressed any sympathy for the people living in Ottawa who had their lives completely disrupted by their illegal actions.

The diagram below also shows that money came from the USA, mostly from the GOP and yes, Donald Trump who has always had a very bad relationship with PM Trudeau. They were hoping to be able to help overthrow the government in Canada.

All this is very disturbing and I really wonder where it will all end.