I think I am now fully in that category that angry Woke types love to refer to. I laugh because they too will join that Club sooner than they think.
Yesterday was my birthday celebration, it was quiet at home with Will and the old puppies Nick and Nora.
Very nice dinner of PEI Mussels and Salmon filet with grilled vegetables. Dessert was Poached Bosc Pears in Sicilian Red Wine and some hand made chocolates. The poached pears in wine we discovered in Rome, it is a favourite in Italy.
The gifts were what I wanted from Truefitt and Hill of St. James’s Street, London, purveyor of gentleman’s hairdressing products and Perfumery since 1805. Their first client was King George III and Admiral Nelson, they pride themselves on serving the aristocracy to this day. They have a Sandalwood fragrance that I love. All arrives in a beautiful box very nicely wrapped in silk paper.
Some beautiful flowers from Will and lots of good wishes. No cakes this year or so I thought, on Saturday we had a Birthday celebration for one very active member, his children had organized the party, lots of good food and a cake, some 80 guests, a great orchestra to play great music. The Birthday song was sang and then his son who had arranged for the food, most of it he cooked, says to the assembled crowd that it was also my Birthday and produces another cake and the group sang to me. Well it was very lovely and the weather and sunshine streaming into the house made it all perfect.
And now I am off to get my discount and play the victim if I do not get what I want for the camera of the 6 o’clock news.
I was watching a short clip about Paris in 1957, I was 1 year old then. The little clip was in black and white, a street scene near the Pantheon. I looked at it several times and thought, none of this exist anymore. The Paris of 1957 is gone, so is the Paris of 1989. Paris today is unrecognizable from what most people think the city is like, since the image we have is of a Paris of the movies which is not reality. I first visited Paris in 1969 and again a second time in 1989, more recently a few years ago. Can’t say I like it much, I found it dirty and sad looking, France in the last few years is a country in serious social turmoil.
But the little film about Paris in 1957 is a metaphor for time passing, for how things, life and myself have changed. I am now clearly in the last chapter of my life, still in good health, but my interests and priorities are elsewhere.Yes looking at this little film made me nostalgic for a time when life was very different, no computers, no internet, no social platform. A calmer life, where education was valued, nothing had to be immediate. It was not perfect but different. My memories are of a different places, a sometime happy place, exotic places where I lived, now belonging to the past, that seems so far away to me.
This year will be a quiet Birthday, am not sure what it will be, probably just me and Will. I was born in Spring and in early evening as my Mom use to say. She use to believe this had some kind of astrological significance, like messages in reading tea leafs. I always found that fun, there was mystery to it all but it was rarely accurate.
I remember that day, Tuesday 4 September 1962, my brown leather school bag was new and had that very nice smell of leather. Mom took this picture in front of our house and then sent me off down the street to school 2 blocs away. So many decades have past since that day. You could say I am all grown up now.
Looking back it has not been a bad life at all. You could say I have been very fortunate, health wise, work wise and in my relationship of 44 yrs. Life is such an unpredictable affair at the best of time. So Birthday is an opportunity to be thankful.
I will start this entry with a photo of a Roman Caffé or it could be any Italian Caffé, they are all pretty much the same. But here you have this little demi-tasse for a coffee, there are so many types of coffee you can have in this little cup which is 2 gulps for 0.90 cents and so satisfying. A Barista can make 5 of those in different order depending on the clients wishes in a blink of an eye, no they do not ask your name. Usually the Barista is a fellow who is of mature age, wearing a little black bowtie and a white short sleeve shirt. Probably been doing this for decades and he knows all his clients and their habits. This to me is real client service and you get a greeting with it all.
No coffee is never served in a paper cup or large amount, it is always porcelain cup and saucer and always as a demi-tasse. You can, if you ask, get your coffee in vetro, meaning in a small glass. The only large coffee drink is a Café Latte meaning coffee with milk. Segafredo Zanetti is a family owned coffee/drinks company from Bologna and their coffee grows in a plantation in Brazil. This photo brings back good memories of our morning ritual in Rome at 10am.
In recent days, our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau got himself again in hot water over allegations of Communist Chinese interference in elections in Canada. Again he demonstrated that he lacks judgement, he knows nothing about Foreign Relations, he has been very naive about China and the role of the Communists Chinese government in Canada and their nefarious actions. If the USA is our no.1 Trading partner, China is our no.2 and we are stuck in this relationship. To put it mildly our politicians are afraid of China and what they might do to us.
The revelations came from an intelligence agent with CSIS, who appears very mixed up, betrayed is Oath of Office to the Sovereign and gives the media a mumbo jumbo of american jargon which has no connection to Canada. The other problem is that in Canada our politicians do not take security questions seriously and dismiss them because for 90 years we have been under the USA umbrella protection, this explains why we have no armed Forces to speak of.
The Prime Minister chose to have a special rapporteur write a report and make a recommendation on having an enquiry or not. He chose the Right Honourable David Johnston, a retired/former Governor General and a man of distinction, he is of advance age at 81 and will produce a report but this is all a delay tactic. We could have an election in the Fall or in the Spring of 2024. However a recent column by Paul Wells, a journalist I like suggest that maybe it is time for the PM to simply retire. Justin had been warned about the Chinese intelligence agents for years in reports by our service CSIS but ignored the warnings, until someone (the leaker) in the service leaked documents to the media, to Robert Fife to be exact at The Globe and Mail and the leaker sees himself as a hero, good grief, what a mess. I really wonder what our colleagues in the intelligence community in other countries will think of Canada now.
In the meantime the RCMP is now looking for a new Commissioner, Miss Luki resigned on Friday, she was suppose to be the magic solution when hired in 2018 because she was a women, oh well, another disaster, a poor manager, she left of her own accord when she realized she was not competent to be a good Commissioner of the RCMP, a deeply troubled institution.
I read yesterday something very disturbing in the media, several University and one National Institution, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, now have events segregating participants based on skin colour. The University of Guelph was promoting through one of its associated professor a black only yoga class. No non-black person could participate. If you are indigenous, white, asian, mix-race, you are not welcome and cannot participate. Questions were raised about this, the answer is for reasons of Equity and to promote the sacredness of the yoga session for Black person and also to promote safety, no other racial group is allowed. This professor then said that white supremacist who represent 70% of the population are to be excluded. Well what about the other racial groups? Same story. Black people must be free to go about their lives without any other racial groups around. What is shocking, the University defended this person and justified the event in the name of Equity and Safety.
This is not the only University doing this, many others have started such programs, this also includes scholarship given on the basis of race and gender. You do not fit this definition, sorry you belong to the wrong skin colour or gender you get nothing. Federal Funding of any institution is now based on implementing this policy and you cannot escape it.
McMaster University holds graduation ceremonies for Black Students only, all other participants are automatically excluded. Obviously George Wallace is now being vindicated in Canada.
The National Art Centre in Ottawa which is like the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC, has similar policies, they have BLACK OUT NIGHT which is theatre for black audience only and your race is checked at the time of purchase, if you show up for the show the lobby is patrolled by Management who will explain that you must leave this is not for you. That this should happen in Canada today is beyond shocking. They are a Federal Institution funded by the tax payers of Canada. So segregation is now an official policy under the Trudeau government. But this started some time ago back in 2015 and has been creeping into civilian life ever since.
Well yesterday I drove to Kensington some 45 minutes from Charlottetown down HWY 2, the wind was high and snow drifted across the highway but the sun was shining over a bright blue end of Winter sky. The country side is quite picturesque. Nick and Nora were snoozing on the back seat of the car wrapped in their blankets. They were going to the groomers who live on a farm. After leaving them, I went to Kensington and then to Summerside which is just about 5 minutes away and I like to have a coffee at Samuel’s, they truly serve a wonderful coffee, rich and flavourful and I had their raspberry jam cheese pie, again wonderful dessert.
Around the countryside of PEI there are lots of place where home made desserts, pies, breads and jams are always available, you could say it is a culture of the home made. It is very good and so much more pleasant than the usual factory made dessert.
So in about 8 days we go back to Summer time and that makes a big difference. This weekend the Canada Games are ending and we will have fireworks tonight at 8pm on the cruise ship docks about 500 feet from our house.
Today I went to the Vet to get some food for Nora and the place was busy with humans and their pets. It is quite amusing to see the interaction and how pets are far more than that to us humans. We talk to them and comfort them at the Vet and no one thinks you are crazy. The Vet and staff do the same thing. I wonder what the various pets make of all this.
My Bialetti Coffee maker and what I have discovered thanks to Matteo D’Ottavio on YouTube. I have learned quite a bit from him on how to take care of my Moka. You would think that after 40 years using one I would know. There were somethings I did not know. Life is a learning experience. I now clean my Moka with white vinegar and water, the boiling effect on the stove gets rid of the excess coffee oil and other residue. I also only put the heat on medium low or low. In the past I always used high heat and Matteo shows how that is a mistake, a Moka is not an espresso machine. I am happy with the results now and enjoy my coffee even more in the Morning.
Tea not all the same around the world and how people drink it. I remember that depending on the geographic location of the country where you are having your tea and also on the capacity to pay for packages of tea, the quality is vastly different. In Egypt where tea is a all day drink served in small glasses, it was mostly stems and very bitter, to tone down the taste half of the glass was filled with white sugar. I simply brought high quality variety of boxes of tea from the UK or Canada. I also gave boxes as gifts to staff at work and they marvelled at how nice it was, for them it was a luxury. In China, in Beijing, I discovered the tea market which was a gigantic modern warehouse with all manners of tea merchants and tea furniture and exquisite porcelain tea services. I would go there with Chinese friends who knew the culture and the many varieties and which tea pots to use, glass or porcelain. I do prefer loose leaf tea and I really do not like the cheap brands sachet powder teas or orange pekoe tea.
So last night the Premier announced that he was calling for an election on April 3. It was no surprise but the media took it as if we were going for a picnik and it was going to be so much fun. The issue is healthcare which is a disaster and wait times now are year long. Of course Conservative Premiers like ours are calling for privatization American style. The only problem, the majority of people have no money to be able to pay for private care and have no memory of Canada before 1965 when you had to pay for any and all medical services. The other issue is housing construction, there is very little of it going on. The population is growing rapidly each year, in fact little PEI has the highest population growth in Canada. The situation is beyond the crisis point. For our size we would need 1800 units per year just to stem the crisis, not resolve it and that is not happening.
The Official Opposition in the Legislature is the Green Party, they have not been very effective and the Liberal Party is no where to be seen. So it looks likely that the Conservatives of Mr King will get reelected.
Morning routine, well you know a lot of influencers always have a morning routine, well so do Nick and Nora as the No1 influencer in Charlottetown. Look at those pictures, this is their routine, as I sip my Espresso surrounded by two Dachshunds snoozing/snoring away in their blankets, it is a must, they are so Zen. Of course they insist it has to be this way, the whining alone forces you to do as they wish.
Here is Nicky in a deep sleep after his walk and breakfast, time to enjoy a morning snooze. But I have to be sitting next to him, otherwise the routine is disrupted and that is not acceptable for a dachshund.
Nora snoozing and dreaming, her little paws twitching and she huffs and puffs at imaginary figures in her dreams.
Lately I have been watching on Instagram various people visiting and tasting food. One is Francois Simon who devotes all his posting on Instagram to food, restaurants and dining in France, in Morocco, lately in Abu Dhabi in fine restaurants and hotels. He is a well known award winning author and critic on gastronomy. He makes a few observations on the food, the philosophy of fine dining, service and atmosphere. It is very European in its approach and you see how very different North America is in comparison to Europe when it comes to food culture and dining. It is a way of life and a philosophy appreciating the ingredients and how they are prepared but also the Chefs and their craft, getting to know them and their own views on food culture.
The other site on Instagram is about wines and how to appreciate them, Les Secrets des Bouteilles this fellow, Eric knows his stuff and the presentation is interesting, he does it as a conversation between himself and his off camera son, Hugo and us the public watching. Both are Sommelier with 30+ years of experience. Another one is Le Canon Francais, they drink and eat fine French Food and part of their proceeds go to protect French Heritage and restore Chateau like Fontainbleau, this is a very French site and even I would feel a bit out of it with such a crowd.
There is another fellow on YouTube called Lussier L’Affineur, he has a cheese cellar and his talks on cheese are nothing short of amazing with the detail and what to look for. Today I watch him how he described 6 sorts of Raclette cheese depending on the region it is made in. Another one was about Camembert at 1.50 Euros and one at 10 Euros, these are French prices, but all to say that if you look for quality you will buy the 10 Euros Cheese and he explains why you should.
On YouTube there are lots of French language sites on Wine and their age, what to look for in the colour of the wine if it is red to determine if it is young or older. White wine can tell you by their colour what type of grapes are used, etc. Some sites will only recommend the great names in wine and the idea behind this is to say, if you drink wine at a meal, you must have the best. In such cases the expert will name wines by regions of France and a meal can easily have 3 types of wines both red and white depending on the dishes being presented/served. Not to forget a Champagne not just for special occasions, but simply because it is the best option with certain foods. Well if you can do the 3 martini lunch why not, enjoy. Do remember that any wine expert will tell you to stay away from strong liquor prior to a good meal. You can have a Campari soda, or a Pimm’s or a sherry or sweet vermouth instead.
I learned the other day something I had been suspecting for some time that restaurants in PEI do not have a wine cooler or special room for keeping wines. Lots of box wines on the menu and wines in the lower price range which could be seen as house wines. In the white wines Pinot Grigio is always featured, in the red there will be wines from South America and USA but they tend to be in the affordable range at the Liquor store, nothing special. One chef told me that he found the wines have a sour taste or moldy taste, the reason being poorly kept in less than optimum conditions, most people do not know since this is a beer drinking island. Which is a real shame, given how tourism is suppose to be so important to the Island, you would think that restaurant owners would be more careful, not the case. What we need in PEI is a professional critic who will survey restaurants and write truthful and accurate food/restaurant reviews. That brave person will make a lot of enemies for sure. What I find sad it that because many think of PEI as a vacation style resort, the mentality is that there is no need to offer anything out of the ordinary. This does not mean that food is cheap in restaurants or snack bars, you pay big city prices. In the Summer a Lobster roll which is served on a hotdog bun of varying quality starts at $22. which is not cheap.
When I mentioned to someone how I found the food on Les Iles de la Madeleine which sits 5 hours from us by boat in the middle of the Gulf of St-Lawrence of very high quality and prepared with much imagination and attention to details, the person pointed out to me that the clientele who go to Les Iles go for the gastronomy and the vast majority are French speaking Canadians looking for that sort of experience. Again it is a matter of culture and the eternal difference between French and English in Canada. I doubt PEI will ever come close to what you see in Quebec or New Brunswick because of the Acadian culture when it comes to food.
During the Canada Games in PEI, many other art and cultural events are held. Nightly concerts at the Cruise terminal building and in Founders Hall other activities such as cooking demonstrations.
So last night I went to see my friend Pico who is a great chef but works mainly in the Bio Medical field for a big Corp do a presentation on Patatas Bravas, also called patatas a la brava or papas bravas, all meaning “spicy potatoes”, is a dish native to Spain. It typically consists of white potatoes that have been cut into 2-centimetre-wide cubes, then fried in oil and served warm with a spicy sauce. It was great fun and there was a big crowd.
Pico is Canadian but was born in Senegal, wonderful fellow and so talented. Nick was helping out and this is another talented guy, who came to PEI a couple of years ago and got a job in the fishing industry on a boat and also does all kinds of stuff. He lives in a beautiful house with his husband out in the countryside.
Chef Pico and Nick both very nice people and fun.
The torch of the games and Founders Hall illuminated, lots of people walking around and this is just a few minutes before the fireworks over the river. We can see it all from our window.
TULIPS
Like every year in February Vanco Tulip company has their early Spring tulips, I love buying them for the house, beautiful colours and reminds you that Winter is ending, though this year there is so little snow and lots of bare ground, it never looked like Winter and now March.
Little snow everywhere. It really felt like early Spring all Winter.
Tulips are everywhere and I love buying them, so colourful and happy flowers.
Jerry and I get around. In 2011, we moved from the USA to Spain. We now live near Málaga. Jerry y yo nos movemos. En 2011, nos mudamos de EEUU a España. Ahora vivimos cerca de Málaga.
Telling the stories of the history of the port of Charlottetown and the marine heritage of Northumberland Strait on Canada's East Coast. Winner of the Heritage Award from the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation and a Heritage Preservation Award from the City of Charlottetown
Larry Muffin At Home 