Children's Art

Battleship grey day...

Fern and I went for a walk out at Fort Rodd Hill...hadn't been there for years.

Pirate's House at West Bay Marina

I think everyone would get a chuckle when they look at this whimsical "pirate house" across from West Bay Marina. I couldn't see any info on it but I felt it was very well done whoever was responsible.

Itty Bitty Book Reviews

"Three Day Road" by Joseph Boyden

A pretty amazing novel and certainly Boyden is someone to watch. Loosely based on the real-life WW I Ojibwa hero Francis Pegahamagabow who was a famous sniper in WW I. Wasn't quite ready for another WW 1 horror novel but I picked it up on a 7 day fast read and was totally engaged by it. Our bookclub heard Boyden read a passage from the novel earlier in the year and that whetted my appetite.

"Girl with the Botticelli Face" by Bill Valgardson

A very disappointing novel after having been quite impressed by some of his short stories. He came to our bookclub meeting and we all enjoyed chatting with him but I did find it interesting that he did 40 drafts of his excellent short story "Bloodflowers" but wrote this novel in 33 days without doing any revisions...I think that tells the tale.

Annette's first painting

I got my friend, Annette, painting yesterday and Jim and I were both very impressed with her first attempt!




“Camus Flowers”
by Annette Louise
8 x 10 acrylic on paper
May/06

First Painting

My latest painting

I've been wanting to do these wonderful old wooden boats you see in the south of France in our favourite Mediterranean villages. They are called "les pointus".



"Les pointus"
11 x 14 acrylic on canvas
May/06

Esquimalt Library

I passed by the Esquimalt Library the other day and noticed the mural on the side so just had to stop to take some pictures. I was very impressed!

Latest painting

Having fun doing these mats of designs I've done while I frustrate myself trying to do some subjects that seem to keep eluding me...


"Arbutus with Olympic View"
24 x 29 acrylic on linoleum mat
May/06

More Children's Art

Children's Art

Wonderful blue camus everywhere

This photo was taken near the summit at Mt Doug but camus is blooming everywhere in Victoria at the moment.

Smile for the day...

I got a kick out of this floral display at the corner of Blanshard and Finlayson.

Itty Bitty Book Review: Story House

"Story House" by Timothy Taylor

Wow...this is quite the read. Very impressive and about a gazillion things to think about. I'm sure the world of academia could spend forever with it. Alway rather neat to have a Vancouver background (Taylor is a Vancouver writer...previous first novel was
"Stanley Park" which I didn't finish although I felt it was quite good but too many other books awaited). This one has lots to say about fame, authenticity, counterfeit, etc.

Robin drinking from the pool

And here is Robin who loved drinking from our pool and also was on the hunt for our doves. When the Wisteria was in full bloom I noticed Robin climbing stealthily along the arbour but couldn't see what he was after. Then all of a sudden our doves flew out....good thing I was there but Robin was unimpressed!

Our Turtle Doves in Carqueiranne

I just got around to printing up and posting to Flickr a number of photos I took in France Feb-May last year. The great thing about a digitial camera is that you can take sooo many photos but doing something with them is the next challenge!

These are our doves that took up residence in the arbour of wisteria at our villa.

Children's Art

Latest Painting

I'm having fun with these mats (and avoiding trying to paint my California poppies beside the house...somehow I think that might elude me.)



"Tuscan Hills with Sunflowers"
23 x 30 acrylic on linoleum mat
May/06

My faithful "volunteers"

I love this time of the year when California poppies appear beside my house:




This is a photo I took at Butchart's...quite lovely but I love my "volunteers" best!

Could almost be the south of France...

A couple of photos taken in Sidney last weekend:


The tulips remind me of Carquieranne.



I think I must paint more lavender fields.

Itty Bitty Book Review: Two Short Story Collections

"My Father Took a Cake to France" by Cynthia Flood

A contemporary Canadian writer who I hadn't read before. Some stories seemed just a little forced, too unusual, some meant to shock perhaps but didn't quite ring true. All were interesting to read.

"The Blush and other Stories" by Elizabeth Taylor

A British writer (1912-1975). I believe I've read her novel "The Wedding Group" and must read more. She is really very good and more along the lines of an Alice Munro that can mine the ordinary in extraordinary ways. I see she's written "Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont"...heard of that lately...an upcoming movie perhaps?

Billie's Calendar: May