Christmas Day

Tags

Christmas, Cornish Hen, Food, home, life, Plum Pudding

A quiet day it is, it started to snow around 8am this morning, no wind, just gently falling flakes of snow, sort of dancing around and covering the green fields with just enough snow to make it look like Christmas day.

My best wishes to all of you who celebrate Christmas, I hope this to be a good happy day today with your friends and family. If you are on your own, enjoy the Peace of the day.

So this Christmas meal will be very different for us this year, no one has been invited and it is only Will and I at the table. Will of course is restricted to his special hospital diet, he insisted in preparing a festive meal for me, with a Cornish Hen with an apple stuffing and a glaze. Vegetable roasted and of course the Rum butter sauce for our plum pudding from our friend in Vancouver, Ginny. We have our Christmas crackers and the festive silverware and champagne. I will start the meal with some good Smoked salmon with capers and onions.

Nicky and Nora those little sweet dachshunds have given me a gift certificate from Amazon. They are elderly now but remain the best little companions.

Watched the message from St-George’s Chapel of HM the King, what a beautiful message, so well done and addressing the King’s message of interfaith dialogue. The King wants to be the Defender of ALL Faiths not just the Anglican Faith. To do so, Parliament will have to pass a Law to allow him to do so. There is apparently no time now before Coronation Day when HM will take the Oath to change that detail, will see if the Prime Minister will move on it quickly.

This week we invited friends to visit Will for coffee, we certainly have the cakes and cookies all home made to pass around. We also have Geld which I buy for Hanukkah and give away. I always buy too much Geld.

Some pictures of Dec 25 in Charlottetown. It really taking me many days to write this one. We are now the 27 Dec.

Do you see the nose, Yes this is Nicky all wrapped up in his blanket and snoozing away on the sofa. He prefers it if I come and sit by him, then he snuggles right up to me and sleeps profoundly. Let sleeping dogs lie, goes the old saying.

A more simple table setting this Christmas for dinner, dinner for one and Will already had his special medical dinner. He made me dinner, starting with smoked Salmon and capers, then vegetables and roasted Cornish hen and of course flaming plum pudding for dessert. A beautiful brandy fuelled blue light, so festive. The best part WILL was able to eat some without difficulty, now that is a big step, a first in 6 months.

Christmas Morning finally some snow, just a bit but nice enough in the quiet streets and with some sunshine.

Now onwards to the New Year Festivities which will be calm and quiet also.

The Eve of

Tags

Canada, Christmas, life, PEI, winter

The storm announced yesterday turned out to be largely a non-event. High winds, no ferry crossings, bridge to the mainland closed, but that was it. We are without snow, all green everywhere so this is Christmas in PEI.

The city is quiet tonight, because of the storm of yesterday, no one could leave the Island, no flights and bridge closed. Moral of this story, just stay home for the holidays.

So tonight we are quiet at home, the wind is still strong and it is cool. In the city there are not many displays of lights on private homes, this is more a suburb and rural area thing. We are not having company or dinner parties, but this week people will come to have coffee and cake every day starting with Boxing Day.

As for New Year’s Eve and Day, well will see, no plans yet.

I only hope that 2023 will be a better year than the past 3 years. I would love to travel a little bit even if it is not far.

Winter scene in a Quebec village by Clarence A. Gagnon.

Promises!

Tags

life, PEI, winter, XMAS

Living on an island in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence means that the weather can change in a blink of an eye, as they say here, if you do not like the current weather just wait 10 minutes it will change.

Today around 2pm the wind picked up and sleet and snow started falling, then the wind picked up some more and became nasty North Eastern. So it is not so much snowing now as very high winds. The streets are deserted and many businesses closed at 3pm. Schools were closed all day and tomorrow will be the same. The majority of kids live on farms on frozen mud roads and it is too dangerous to drive school buses on such roads in very high windy conditions. That is Winter in PEI, not as charming as Summer.

Had a tea and cake with friends this afternoon at the home of another friend on Sydney street just a block from where I live, the house is known as the Music Teachers House circa 1860 at one point the Presbyterian Church next door use to house its music director in that house. The church was pulled down a long time ago and moved one block to a far larger stone building. The land was bought by the Catholic Church for a community centre in that ugly 1950 architecture. The house remained on a street full of similar houses now all attached to a luxury hotel, The Great George. A beautiful house with a very nice garden. Was pushed home by the wind at my back.

Walk the dogs tonight just around the house, the wind is strong, the streets are totally deserted and the city plows have started to clean streets which they will do all night due to the drifting snow. I do like the quiet of Winter in the city, no traffic and little noise.

The rest of the week will be quiet, Friday is the Xmas party called Winter’s Light with dinner and show. Should be loads of fun. A slow end to the year. A strange year again, since March 2020 nothing has been like it has ever been before and there is no end in sight it seems. I am focusing now on Will’s health and hoping for a full recovery by end March, fingers crossed.

The Great George Hotel on Great George street.

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.

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.

Grieg

Tags

Bergen, Grieg, life, Norway, piano

On our trip to Norway a few years ago, we visited the City of Bergen where composer and pianist Edvard Grieg 1843-1907 and his wife Nina Hagerup, 1845-1935, a soprano, lived. We visited his home at Troldhaugen dedicated to his legacy. A beautiful wood building and by the lake in the rock face the couple’s tomb. A very romantic place, quiet beauty. This visit to Troldhaugen was the high point of the visit to Bergen.

A view from the back of the house.

Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway. His parents were Alexander Grieg (1806–1875), a merchant and the British Vice-Consul in Bergen; and Gesine Judithe Hagerup (1814–1875), a music teacher. The family name, originally spelled GREIG, is associated with the Scottish Clan Gregor. After the Battle of Culloden in Scotland in 1746, Grieg’s great-grandfather, Alexander Greig (1739-1803), travelled widely before settling in Norway about 1770 and establishing business interests in Bergen. Grieg’s paternal great-great-grandparents, John (1702-1774) and Anne (1704-1784), are buried in the abandoned churchyard of the ruinous Church of St Ethernan in Rathen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Edvard Grieg was raised in a musical family. His mother was his first piano teacher and taught him to play when he was aged six. In his lifetime he became friends with Franz Liszt and Percy Grainger.

Throughout his life, Grieg’s health was impaired by a destroyed left lung and considerable deformity of his thoracic spine. He suffered from numerous respiratory infections, and ultimately developed combined lung and heart failure.

While we visited his home, we heard a beautiful concert of his music in a specially constructed concert hall concealed in the garden of his home. Tonight I found on YouTube 37 pieces played on the piano by Walter Gieseking, such beautiful music and so Scandinavian.

Brahms

Tags

Austria, Brahms, life, Music

You know how sometimes you listen to some piece of music and you wonder what is it. You don’t know and you search.

The other day I was listening to the CBC radio Writers and Company with Eleanor Wachtel who has the most beautiful radio voice she was interviewing this award winning French author Hervé Le Tellier on his latest book. It was a fascinating interview on his life, his family and on his book. At the end of the interview they played this music and I thought I know this but could not name it. A few days later I found out it was Brahms Intermezzo op 117, no1, 2 and 3. Brahms composed the three Intermezzi of Opus 117 in the summer of 1892 while staying at the Spa town of Bad Ischl, Austria. A lovely area of Austria, it is close to Salzburg and the River Traun crosses the city.

If you listen to it at night before going to bed, it is very relaxing.

End of October

Tags

CANCER, Food, inflation, life, spaghetti

Well the weather in PEI so far and despite hurrican Fiona has been very very mild, take today 27C with humidity, that is NOT normal folks and points to a climate crisis. Despite this our politicians will not speak of it, except in bland generalities so as not to scare the horses. Everyone complains about the price of gas and when it is suggested they look at EV cars they claim they are too expensive to buy despite a rebate of $15,000. They also drive a fossil fuel car worth $45,000 so that is not much of a logical arguments and they will wait 30 minutes, motor running, at the drive through for a coffee. Yes people are funny.

I had a bit of a difficult day yesterday, the weather was bad but mild and I was really depressed. I always try to be up and smiling for Will, he is the one who is sick. So being positive is important, though as I told him I do not like to go to the Cancer Treatment Centre, it is a depressing place starting with the lighting and the beige colours. The staff is great and very good. It is also a quiet place unlike the hospital next door which is a zoo.

Our friends on the Island have been great, bringing home made foods and giving support. A friend brought some Borscht, it was excellent, the beets on the Island are very sweet, it makes for a very good soup. Another friend brought a Persian Beef Stew and that too was very good. Others have brought vegetables from their garden and zucchini cake and a very nice piece of paté.

Speaking of food, I saw another spike in food prices yesterday at the grocery store, a few months ago any item was $5 or at least it started at that mark. Now its $10. despite the supply chain arguments, this no longer bear any credibility and it has been revealed that the grocery chains are making record profits in the billions. The Federal Government is finally looking into the matter.

Today the good news is that Will has put on 3 lbs the doctor was happy and he has to put on more. So fatty foods is the solution. Will also made today his spaghetti meat sauce, which is a combination of Veal, Beef, Meat of Italian sausage no casing, there is also carrots, onions, herbs all put into the food processor. Then into the slow cooker for 5 hours and voila. So for dinner I will have spaghetti, looking forward to it.