Willows Beach

Just joggers and walkers at the moment but soon there will be loads of dogs and their owners when they are allowed back Oct 1.

Chestnuts

It must be Fall if the chestnuts are falling. I pass a wonderful chestnut tree on my walk to the beach. I always loved collecting chestnuts as a kid and Richard collected chestnuts from this tree when he was the age to treasure these mahogany beauties. I picked up a pocketful yesterday to keep the spiders at bay. Not sure if it works but worth a try. These west coast monsters (according to some of my golfing buddies from the east, the spiders aren't so huge back there...they were initially quite shocked by the size of ours) will soon be creeping inside escaping the cooler weather when it comes although it seems like this wonderful weather will never end. We had a great lunch basking in the sun at the Blackfish Restaurant in the inner harbour yesterday.








A wonderful old pine tree I pass on my way to the beach as well.

Glorious Dahlias

It's always a pleasure to walk by this wonderful display a fellow has every year...he must have hundreds of them.

CBC News - Viewpoint: Heather Mallick

I really liked this column that Richard pointed to in his blog recently..."Atheists Don't Get It".

CBC News - Viewpoint: Heather Mallick

Itty Bitty Book Review: Small Island

"Small Island" by Andrea Levy

Annette put me on to this writer (British) and I was very impressed with this novel. I see it won the Whitbread Book of the Year and Orange Prize for Fiction when it was published in 2004. Very well deserved and I'll look forward to reading more of her books. It takes place during the forties and revolves around the experience of a Jamaican volunteer soldier for the British during the war and afterwards. He returns to Jamaica then soon immigrates to Britain. Levy accomplishes an amazing feat of making us feel very deeply the hurt of racial prejudice yet entertaining us with laugh out loud humour at the human foibles of everyone. Highly recommended.

My Latest Painting

"Carqueiranne Port"
18 x 24
acrylic on canvas

Canine enrichment

Reading in the Globe and Mail that three of the 10 hot careers for 2007 are related to animals. These are "animal assisted therapists" for dealing with bad behaviours, "animal defence lawyers" for custody cases, veterinary malpractice, etc., and "veterinary physical therapists" who specialize in hydrotherapy, exercise, and massage.

I already know two people who have employed therapists for their dogs. It's a long ways away from the neighbourhood standard when I grew up where the maximum families would spend on a dog was $5.00 and nothing on cats...driven by economics not unkindness.


thedesertsun.com | Cats & dogs and other pets

Children's Art

Itty Bitty Book Review: "Mexican Days"

"Mexican Days: Journeys into the Heart of Mexico" by Tony Cohan

I really enjoyed Cohan's first book on Mexico called "On Mexican Time". This one is relatively interesting but not quite as enjoyable a read.

Congratulations Lindsay and Pedro!

We were in Vancouver this weekend for the wedding of the daughter of a my cousin, Bonnie and her husband, Jack. It was really super to see them all again and also my cousin, Georgia, who now has eight grandchildren. Brock House made a great setting even though the weather didn't completely cooperate and the ceremony had to be in the conservatory rather than by the ocean with the mountains as a backdrop. It was a beautiful ceremony and setting all the same.

Wonderful food, atmosphere, and people..what more can you ask?



These are two of Georgia's grandchildren...aren't they adorable? They loved riding in the stretch limo. As Richard says, the little ones have the best gig...lots of cake and fun, and no speeches or responsibilty. He speaks from experience of having been bestman four times and also a brideman...being ringbearer at 5 years old was the best.



Richard as ringbearer at Katey and David's wedding 23 years ago.




Jack and Bonnie ready to walk Lindsay down the aisle.




Ooo...la...la...!




Lindsay and Pedro making a good job of cutting the cake.




Jack getting a dance with Lindsay.

www.french-word-a-day.com

I'm quite enjoying the book "Words in a French Life" by Kristin Espinasse taken from her blog:

www.french-word-a-day.com

She is an American now living in France with her French husband and children. She takes a word a day (now three times a week on the blog), explains it and writes a little vignette around the word about her life in France.

Regeneration

Jim's been preparing WW I poetry for his online course so we watched the video "Regeneration" which is based on the novel, the first in a WW I Trilogy by Pat Barker. It is based on a true story about a psychiatrist and three of his patients at an asylum treating men for shell shock. Two of the men are famous WW I poets, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. It's very well done and I highly recommend it. Both Owen and Sassoon returned to the front. Owen died two days before the end of the war...his parents received the letter from the War Office as victory bells were pealing. Sassoon survived and lived to be in his 80's.

Dulce et Decorum Est is Wilfred's Owen very famous poem.

Wilfred Owen - Dulce et Decorum Est - best known poem of the First World War

Billie's Calendar - September

Back to School

Have a good back to school everyone who is going back to school. I always felt a certain excitement in the beginning of the school year; however, not having to go into the tunnel of continual work for ten months is even better!

Children's Art

Itty Bitty Book Review: Blue Shoes and Happiness

"Blue Shoes and Happiness" by Alexander McCall Smith

Another one in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency...charming as always. Continuing with my light reading...

Along the Stanley Park Seawall

We were pretty impressed with this guy's work balancing stones he finds on the beach. Seems he does it every year and sells postcards of his creations.






I could almost do a "Twisted Firs" painting from this photo.