What to take on vacation

Tags

Beach, Friends, PEI, sand, Summer, surf, vacation

Every time Summer rolls around, reading lists appears, all manner of books are proposed. Thing is, many of those books are for general appeal and some make the best seller list. But I am never interested in them and if I am going to buy a book I want to make sure I will read it. So the topic has to appeal to me in some fashion.

We are going to the cottage at the beach and I am looking for books to read. I got one by Cicero written of course some 2070 yrs ago on how to rule a country, I may get tips on how to do it best, if ever I intend to rule Canada, one of the most difficult country to rule give our 6 time zones and enormous geographic space bordering on 3 oceans, we could be called an Empire based on size alone, but we settled for Dominion (Kingdom).  I also found two other books on Kindle but I just realized they will be available after 28 July, so I will have to wait. One is by Lady C. the Duchess of Argyll, her newly released best seller on Meghan and Harry. The other is a book recommended by Nicholas Hoare who use to own a famous bookstore in Ottawa on Sussex Drive. It was such a beautiful bookstore and guaranteed you would find something to your liking. Hoare recommended a book based on letters written by Sir Alan Frederick ”Tommy” Lascelles who was the private secretary of King George VI and later his daughter Queen Elizabeth II. This book was made possible by special permission from H.M. the Queen, usually such letters never see the light of day. The letters cover the War years and shine a light on historical passages that might otherwise remain obscure. Lascelles being an Oxford graduate writes beautifully, the man had vocabulary, something that is lost nowadays. He was also part of the Courtier network around the Royal Family.

So I am now looking at my home library and what can I find on the shelves, there is a wide choice. But then I wonder how much reading I will do all together.

So off we go on Hwy 2 towards the West and French River, the area has many little settlements, then turning unto Hwy 20 and on the road we will pass, near our destination, the birthplace of Lucy Maud Montgomery, a simple little house in a field. She is of course the famous author, who in PEI is revered.  The last few kilometres is a red dirt road amongst fields and marshes which ends at the Sand dunes, the New London Range Lighthouse and the sea. This is where we will be. I am looking forward to seeing the night sky which in such a remote location reveals itself to be ablaze with unimaginable number of stars and galaxies including our own Milky Way. Also the silence of the place, disturbed only by the surf and songs of birds and maybe one or two coyotes howling.

Quiet Saturday

Tags

Big Band, Canada., Friends, Jacques Saucier, Music, Radio Canada

Another quiet day here in Charlottetown, it is in a way very nice, you can actually hear the chimes of both the R.C. Basilica and the Anglican Church up the street on the hour and half hour. Nice sunny day with a light cool wind.

The Prime Minister at his daily briefing told the Nation that the borders will remain closed for another month. The US Administration agreed that this was the best course of action, despite the Donald telling everyone that he wants to go back to normal pronto. Seems our PM has a way to sooth the evil beast in the White House, he reminds him that if you take one course what might happen. It has been an education for the gang around Trump that Canada does matter to the US economy and well being.
I do have a feeling that our border will remain closed for a few more months or at least as long as the Covid 19 rages in the USA. Here in Canada in some Provinces it appear that the curve is flattening and we will know more in 2 weeks time. It seems that all the measures taken by the Government of Canada and the Provinces are working. It is just a bit boring, but I am continuing to read and walking in the park by the river.

So no visitors this Summer and none of those awful cruise ships. I use to love cruising but not anymore. All the Summer Festivals have been cancelled all over Canada. I am phoning friends and sending SMS to people we know keeping in touch, so far no one we know is sick. My brother and sister-in-law and my sister and brother-in-law in the USA are well. So we are lucky in many ways.

The radio show C’est si bon on Radio-Canada with Jacques Saucier plays music from the 1920 to 1970 and has he says, it is nice to have this music to make us smile in a time of trouble.

 

Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadian Orchestra with singer Bill Flanagan.

Azzurro

Tags

anxiety, Canada., coping, danger, Friends, Italy, Stress, troubles, World

Italy has been hit very badly by COVID 19, the number of sick and dead amongst the elderly population is staggering, 60% of sick people are over the age of 60 and 100% of the dead are over 80 yrs of age. The Government in an effort to control the spread of the virus has ordered people confined to their homes. But those dear Italians are resourceful, people all around Italy organized themselves to sing from their balcony or windows or terraces in the afternoon at 6pm each day in an effort to socialize with neighbours. Italy gave us the Opera more  than 400 years ago and so it is normal to sing in times of joy but also of great stress.

I know that friends living in Italy have told me that they will sing this afternoon Azzurro and on other days Volare will be sung, etc.. The idea is to sing a song that is well known and popular with everyone, Italy has lots of those. Here is Adriano Celentato singing Azzurro.

Porto Azzurro is a comune in the Province of Livorno in the Italian region Tuscany; it is on the island of Elba, located about 130 kilometres southwest of Florence and about 90 kilometres south of Livorno. A beautiful place.

 

The Sun rises again for us all

Tags

art., Food, Friends, happiness, life, Music, New, year

The Sun appears as the Earth rotates for a new day. May 2020 bring you many good things in your life and that of your friends and family. Thank you for reading my blog and for commenting. Though I may not know all of you, I know some and through this journey we have become friends.

I also look forward to reading the blogs of those I follow and those I will discover in time.

All the best to you all. BONNE ANNÉE!! Meilleurs Voeux!!

 

The bucket list

Tags

Friends, Holiday, home, memories, Music, New Year, Travel

In the 1980’s the expression my bucket list started to appear in conversations when people spoke of things they wanted to do or visit. Then silly lists started to appear of the 10 things you had to see or do before you died. The expression the bucket list is now part of general conversations and it seems most people expects that you have a bucket list. I don’t!

Always being the contrarian, I don’t have one. I do not see why you need to do or see this or that during a life time, I just don’t get it.  Until the 1970’s travelling far and wide was not common, until the age of mass tourism and cheap destinations, few travelled. Nowadays it seems everyone travels and have a bucket list, though travelling now is not has cheap as it was once when you could visit a country on $10. per day, remember those travel guide books, impossible now.

I can say that I spent my life travelling and living abroad so travelling some more now is not appealing, unless it is to a favourite city where I know where to go and who to see, like Rome, Vienna, Salzburg, London, Berlin, Palermo. What I have not seen in the world is no big deal and I do not need to go. There are places I really do not want to go back to, I did not enjoy them when I was there, example China. Some place have changed so much I don’t think I would enjoy them today as it would clash with my memories of them, example Egypt.

Travelling at Holiday time is also something I do not want to do, it seems that stories of things that went wrong and exhausting tales of family gatherings and all manner of unpleasantness abound. As someone said, you do not choose your relatives it is an accident of birth. Staying in town and with friends is our tradition. A nice meal at home with people we enjoy and same for New Year’s Eve, quiet and pleasant.

Now we still don’t have any snow maybe a sprinkle would be nice, not too much, just like icing on the cake.

And because this is the Season, my favourite Christmas Hymn heard in Roman Catholic Churches at Midnight Mass in French Canada. It was de rigueur as part of the religious service then.  Ça bergers, assemblons-nous!

 

Shopping street in Rome, Via dei Condotti on the left is BULGARI at no.10 and just a few steps further you arrive at Piazza di Spagna and the famous steps, all decorated for Christmas.

Getting ready

Tags

cuisine, Food, Friends, home, Noël, ornaments, PEI, Tree

This Monday we had another Birthday party for Will this time with a few friends across the Street at the Water Prince, we had Malpeque Oysters, Lobster and Halibut one of my favourite fish. Will had coconut cream pie made on the premises, it is so good. A friend who is a baritone and actor came in to sing Happy Birthday to the boy who was surprised. It was a fun afternoon.

Well we are getting ready for the Holidays, Will has been cooking up a storm, muffins, cookies, Christmas Puddings 2 big and 2 small, a very rich recipe with lots of Brandy. He also made bread (no machine) by hand, mince meat pies (45) small ones. Today it was Tourtière or French Canadian Meat pie, something English Canadians find exotic and cannot make on their own, one of those strange Canadian Factoids. The Tourtière is no longer made with the Tourte Bird which is extinct since 1914. It is a mixture of veal, pork and beef, very nice and the smell in the kitchen screams Christmas Season. This meat pie should not be confused with the Acadian Meat pie which is a very different recipe and preparation, made of shredded beef and mash potatoes. The Acadians live in the Maritimes in Canada and are a distinct French speaking group from other French Canadians in Canada. We already have a year old Fruit Cake soaking in Brandy which is a traditional gift from our Friend John in Ottawa. Every year for the last 38 years no matter where we might be in the World, he makes one for us and sends it to us. It is truly a marvel unlike any other Fruit cake I know of.

Our one and only Pointsettia which is a mixture of pink, red and yellow, it stands 2 feet across.

We are going to make Amuse gueule for our Xmas Eve Party, note that I use the old French culinary expression Amuse gueule and NOT Amuse bouche which is so common today amongst the prissy class. The word gueule is an old French word and refers to the mouth of the lion or wolf, meaning that the food in small bites is so good you devour it. The new expression means nothing to me and is frankly silly, a bit like saying; Oh I will have one but should not because I’m on a diet. Well then honey let me show you the door.

I am looking for a good Stilton Cheese and I may have found one today. No Stilton is not like other blue cheese. Stilton is an English cheese, produced in two varieties: Blue, which has had Penicillium roqueforti added to generate a characteristic smell and taste and White. I want the Blue. Which I will put into a light pastry and served hot.  Will also wants to make other little bouchées for our guests. We will also have sweets like the mince meat mini tarts. We make all of this from scratch which means that I go out with long lists of ingredients.

Cheese star crackers made with very old Cheddar for that extra sharp taste, you cannot eat only one.

Mince Meat tarts, first make the mince meat and store in jars and then the pastry and assemble. Again very nice to have with a drink or coffee.

Today I also went to the dentist for a cleaning and well I was told I have beautiful teeth, again the Colgate poster kid, what can I say… Afterwards came home and polished the famous 30 Sterling Silver Christmas balls and the 10 Towle Sterling Silver Floral Ornaments,  so tomorrow we can decorate the tree. We have Delft ornaments this year to add after our trip to The Netherlands. Photos coming.

Sterling Silver ornaments all hand polished each year. Neiman Marcus has them each year.

We have our menu planned for Lunch on Christmas day, we will be 6 people. As for New Year’s Eve I really don’t know at this time, I prefer to either stay at home or maybe we will go to the Club for a drink. Then for January 1, 2020, Levée Day in PEI, I am wondering if I will go either to volunteer at Government House or to the Club. Not sure what to do. In either case you greet hundreds of people in 2 hours, a little exhausting.

So it is all coming together. Not to forget there is also Hanukkah on 22 December, in fact every year at Christmas lunch we give our guests some chocolate geld which come in the form of Canadian $1 and $2 dollar coins.

 

 

 

 

 

Wonderful Happy Hour

Tags

Birthdays, Charlottetown, clam chowder, Friends, lobster, Oysters, PEI, Seafood

Today was a bright but cold sunny day,  tomorrow a storm is coming and it will not be fun. Around 3pm we got a call from across the street from friends asking us to come and have a drink at the Water Prince Corner Shop our local and famous seafood restaurant.

Shane and his son Coady Campbell are the owners and it is all about quality seafood, oysters and lobsters in a simple decor. We went and met our friends over oysters on the half shell, Shrimps in cocktail sauce, Clam chowder and lobster with white wine, what a wonderful happy hour it was. Never going back to peanuts and chips or whatever.

We will repeat this experience next Monday for another Birthday. It was great fun and gave us that wonderful feeling of ” Oh life is so good here”.

The Holidays are coming…

Tags

Cards, cuisine, Food, Friends, gifts, Holiday, Nigel Slater, traditions

For those of you like my friend Dr Spo in Phoenix who wonder if Christmas is near, well after Thanksgiving back on the first Monday in October, we all know there is Halloween but heck it’s time to plan and set dates and menus. Just this past weekend we went to two cocktail parties and two dinner parties. We have already planned our Christmas Eve and Day, menus set etc… For New Year’s Eve 2020 things are in motion and should be well organized fairly soon.

Today Will and I were looking at Nigel Slater’s recipe for Plum Pudding. He is a British Chef and we love his recipes. He writes for the Guardian newspaper in London. So off to the Bulk Barn to buy all the fruits needed for the Plum ”Christmas” Pudding. Buying these ingredients, it really put me into the mood. Next Sunday 24 November is stir up Sunday so time to start the process.

Ingredients

• 350g/12¼oz sultanas
• 350g/12¼oz raisins or currants
• 150g/5¼oz dried figs, chopped
• 125g/4½oz candied peel
• 100g/3½oz dried apricots
• 75g/2½oz dark glacé cherries, halved
• 150ml/5fl oz brandy
• 100g/3½oz ginger in syrup, chopped, plus 2 tbsp of the syrup
• 2 apples grated
• 2 oranges, juice and zest
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 250g/8¾oz shredded suet
• 350g/12¼oz soft muscovado sugar
• 250g/8¾oz fresh breadcrumbs
• 175g/6¼oz self-raising flour
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 2 old sixpences or coins

Method

1. For this recipe you will need two 1.5 litre(2½ pint) plastic pudding basins with lids.

2. Soak the sultanas, raisins, currants, figs, peel, apricots and cherries in the brandy overnight, giving it a good stir now and again.

3. The following day, in a large bowl mix the ginger, syrup, apples, orange juice and zest with the eggs, suet, sugar, crumbs and flour.

4. Stir in the soaked fruit and spice.

5. Grease the two pudding basins and divide the mix between them. Add coins now if using.

6. Cut two circles of greaseproof paper to cover the top of the pudding and fold a pleat down the centre to allow pudding to expand.

7. Put lids on the basins and steam puddings for 3½ hours.

8. Let puddings cool before removing greaseproof paper and covering tightly with cling film and lid. The puddings can now be stored in a cool, dry place until Christmas.

9. To reheat, steam pudding for a further 3½ hours, turn out and flame with brandy.

Can’t wait to flame the pudding, such a treat.

 

I also added this recipe by Nigel because it is not Christmas without Stilton Cheese. 

 

 

Stilton Cheese for me always brings back wonderful memories of Christmas and stops on the way home in London to shop. The quality and variety on offer in London is truly amazing. In Rome Christmas shopping was wonderful for wines and quality chocolates, cheeses, meats, olives, etc… Munich and Dresden Christmas Markets loads of fun, great food and tons of atmosphere. In Warsaw we had the most beautiful trees and again all the special Christmas food much of it borrowed from Jewish European Cuisine. Copenhagen was also great for Christmas Shopping so many beautiful things in the shops, style and elegance.

Also this year we have decided to return to good old fashion Christmas Cards and mail them with postage stamps to friends. We had been doing a lot of electronic cards in the last 10 years and well it is not the same and we enjoy receiving cards in the mail, it is so much more personal.

Finally today we went to the Pharmacy to get our Free Flu shot. In Canada everyone can, if you want get a free Flu Shot. It takes minutes and that is it, simple, how civilized.

So yesterday I took a little nap on the sofa and my Nicky wanted to snuggle up and he, like all Dachshund loves to squeeze in, so there with his big nose breathing in my face. He is just keeping an eye on me.

The Cows Ice Cream shop love to sell souvenirs in the form of T-Shirts, Sweaters, caps etc. All of them have a funny saying on them and I saw this one in the window and I thought this is the sort of thing you want for Christmas, you know for that special cousin.

Carnevale Season

Tags

Carnevale, Friends, Italy, mask ball, party

This is the Season for the Feste Romane, think of the music of Ottorino Respighi and also elsewhere in cities like Venezia. It is also the time of parties given by the aristocracy. I am happy to think that once in the not so distant past we went to such parties in Rome. What elegant parties they were. Here are some photos of our friends at the home of Prince Jonathan Doria-Pamphilj in his palace in the centre of Rome near Piazza Venezia last week. I remember when we first visited this palace and wonder how can anyone today live in such a grand place, it is beyond real. But family tradition and owning such a place for several centuries brings not only attachment but also a sense that you owe it to your ancestors to continue. Other princely families in Rome like the Colonna, the Palavincini, BonCompagni-Ludovisi or Torlonia, the  also have spectacular palaces but they are not open to visitors, you only enter as a guest invited as a friend.

Side view of the palace Doria-Pamphilj on Via del Corso (Via Flaminia in antiquity)

The interior courtyard of the palace.

It was a mask ball, here friends in the Mirror Gallery. (name withheld)

The Prince has through his family history a very large art collection of antiquities,  Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces. Our dear friends C.E. and her husband P.C.

Palazzo Doria Pamphilj—the colossal, 1,000-room family seat, which dates from 1505 and is among the most treasure-filled palaces in Europe. Said to be nearly two-thirds the size of St. Peter’s Basilica, the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj may well be the largest private residence in Italy. It houses one of the nation’s most important private art collections, with 650 works, including masterpieces by Raphael, Caravaggio, Titian, and Velázquez. The Doria Pamphilj clan—whose family tree includes the renowned Genoese admiral Andrea Doria and Giovanni Battista Pamphilj, who reigned as Pope Innocent X from 1644 to 1655—is one of just a handful of Rome’s ancient princely families who have survived with their palazzi, fortunes, and staggering art collections intact.

Prince Jonathan Doria-Pamphilj and his husband Elson Braga with their children Emily and Filippo Andrea VII.

Recent photos

Tags

Campaign, Election, Friends, GenZ, life

Lately I have had my picture taken quite a bit at varied locations, some I am using in my municipal campaign and others I am keeping as a memory of this year 2018 and life in PEI.

Speaking with a group of young people, students who I learned today are part of Generation Z born before 1997. They replace the Millennials who are now over 30 or over the hill so to speak. Pollsters and social scientists say that GenZ is very different from the millennials in their outlook on life, they are the first generation who do not know a time before electronics or dial up internet.

At a public meeting recently speaking with a participant about a big infrastructure project in our town.

At another public meeting, I seem to be doing this a lot in the last 5 months.

Very happy with this picture, here with Her Honour the Lieutenant Governor of PEI, Antoinette Perry in the great hall of Fanningbank, her Official Residence.

A group of friends on Rochford Street this past weekend. Will is looking very good in this photo.