Snow on the mountains

There was fresh snow on the mountains today and it will be a little cooler for a couple of days...high 60's but will feel like low 70's...perfect really since completely sunny. Went to the Street Fair yesterday then lunch in La Qunita. Jim had a great pulled pork sandwich and I had a hot dog...with guacamole, bacon, and sweet peppers...very tasty. And we loved the microbrew beer from Healdsburg, Red Rocket Ale. It made us nostalgic for our wonderful time in the Sonoma with Don and Elaine.

Then dinner at Nicolino's with Tom and Claire. For me a wonderful veal picatta with loads of lemon and capers and Jim had a traditional chicken caccitore.

Just back from our swim and sunbathe and now out to play golf.

Villa Royale Inn

We had a super dinner and fun evening with Erna and Marvin last night at the Europa Restaurant at the Villa Royale Inn. It's a charming place and I think it would be fun to stay there...rates seem pretty high, though.

Cool display at the Palm Springs Tourist Bureau

I always make a trip to the tourist bureau because they always have some interesting books. This year I was attracted to and bought "Palm Springs Holiday: A Vintage Tour From Palm Springs to the Salton Sea". Also, the Palm Springs Modern Committee had a neat display with lots of memorabilia. I just love this stuff!

Mid-Century Modern Shopping District

In Uptown Palm Springs they have number of stores selling mid-century modern type furnishings. I hadn't browsed these stores before so was rather interested. These are new, not originals and the prices are unreal. I thought of getting one of the beach towels or a cushion for a souvenir...beach towel was $200 and the cushions were $400. Furniture is in the thousands. Didn't see many customers but I guess someone buys this stuff. Anyway, fun to look at and take photos of...that will be my souvenir of this area of PS.

Lunch at The River

We had a super lunch at P.F. Changs at The River yesterday after our golf game. We always really enjoy the food there even though Jim isn't a big fan of Chinese food he does love this food. It's always very fresh tasting and sitting outside looking at the fountain and the mountains makes it taste even better.

I'm so glad we finally made it here and I am feeling relaxed for the first time in months.

Hummingbird in our fountain

The hummingbirds love to get a drink and have a bath in our fountain.

I love the views at this golf course...

We never tire of the Elephant Bar. Strange looking 3 wheel, 2 footstand scooter...?

Views of the San Jacinto Mountains everywhere

Took this while driving into our condo complex.

We had lunch with Tom and Claire yesterday in Palm Desert and then hit some thrift stores to get a few odds and ends. Always fun to go through these stores and Jim found a Flannery O'Conner novel he didn't have. Out to play Par 3 golf today then the Elephant Bar for lunch.

Another lazy day in PS

We listened to the group at Las Casuelas for a while but too long a wait to get in for lunch...we'll try again next Saturday. Had a super lunch at a Thai restaurant. We haven't had Thai food for a while and it was very fresh and tasty. Sitting people watching in the sunshine with Singha beer and good food then home for another swim, hot tub and sunbathing. Now time for a nap. Richard, I thought you'd like the In and Out Burger tee-shirt.

"Sunny and pleasant, sunny and nice, bright and sunny..."

I do pity the poor weatherman around here...forecasts do get rather boring. Mid-70's -80 for the upcoming week which means like it will feel like above 80. Just perfect...not too hot. Off to Las Casuelas for lunch. Saturday is always a fun day because they have these old rockers playing music.

Walking around Canyon Sands

I was pleased to see they have made even more desert type plantings and replaced the water thirsty ones. I never tire of the palm trees and the mountains...no mountain shots as the sun was right there. Lots of mountain shots to come.

Our condo this year

We're really loving our condo this year. The owner has it decorated with great earth tones and lots of use of stone. He also has some very cool enlarged photos of the desert. Our closest pool (very close) is the big one but our usual small pool isn't too far either so we will go there to socialize with people we've got to know. The fruit is really juicy this year and a perfect ripeness at the moment. Picked oranges and tangerines from around the pool and lemons from our own tree in the patio. Nothing quite like it!

Cat in a box...

For all you catlovers...

Getting settled in

Great to get up this morning to blue skies and sunshine and this view from our kitchen and dining room. Went for a swim this morning and again this afternoon. May go out again tonight but had a busy day shopping and getting odds and sods.

We're really enjoying our patio and had a lemon pepper chicken and very yummy coleslaw and mustard potato salad from Walmart. Apologies to Walmart haters but it really is the best place to get various things to get settled in. You get pretty lazy pretty quickly around here so Trader Joe's will have to wait until tomorrow. We're in slow mode already.

Palm Springs, mon amour...

Two photos from the airport...waiting for a plane isn't so bad in these conditions!

It was just so wonderful to arrive in Palm Springs to wonderful sunshine after a brief 2 1/2 hour flight, direct from Vancouver...no stops and changing planes. We're very impressed with Westjet. Less tiring than taking the ferry. We love our place this year in Canyon Sands. Sunbathing and swimming this afternoon. Trader Joe's tomorrow.

Photos: Top images from around the globe

I really enjoyed these photos yesterday while reading the Vancouver Sun online.

Photos: Top images from around the globe

Back home again...

After enjoying being in Victoria, seeing friends, and enjoying our house I was wondering how I would feel about being back in our Vancouver apartment. It really felt like home as well even thought we still have quite a bit to do in terms of getting completely settled here. And it was great waking up to the birds singing. There seem to be birds all year round here and many more than what we hear in Victoria.

Off to Palm Springs tomorrow for three weeks. I'm looking forward to lots of sun and swimming, golf , Trader Joe's, the Elephant Bar...and of course my wonderful San Jacinto Mountains. I printed up the condo instructions yesterday and Cal (the owner) has them on a deep blue background with a photo of the mountains....great idea and really made me anxious to get there!

A Nice Professor Christmas Eve

Bronwen posted this on Facebook and I got quite a laugh out of it. I think she's a student all post-secondary teachers have had. Soon we'll be in the sunshine in Palm Springs and all such memories should fade from Jim's mind...

A Nice Professor Christmas Eve

Coffee shop offers free iPads instead of newspapers - Telegraph

While I have been enjoying reading the TC on my iPad I think I am missing quite a bit in the online version. Cool idea for coffee shops to offer reading on iPads , though.

Coffee shop offers free iPads instead of newspapers - Telegraph

Itty Bitty Book Review: "Nocturnes"

"Nocturnes" by Kazuo Ishiguro

I think you can count on Ishiguro to surprise you. The reviews say these are stories linked by music but I think they are overwhelmingly linked by unusual point of view. They are primarily in the first person which isn't all that common and in most cases it is a narrator that we question in terms of perception. So often first person when it is used has this very perceptive narrator. Intriguing stories and also a lot of comedy. I don't really associate comedy with Ishiguro so again "surprising".

Being into Ishiguro I suggested to Jim we watch "Remains of the Day" on Netflix (we had seen it of course). An amazing movie and wonderful acting by Thompson and Hopkins...definitely worth a second view.

A morning laugh

I got a real laugh out of this...warning...some foul language. For those who love cats and those who get frustrated by computer technology...this could be just about everyone, n'est-ce pas?

Stuff White People Like

I was reading this blog regularly then forgot about it for some reason. I've put it on my toolbar to remind myself to read it. I do find it quite clever and funny. Scrolling through today I found this on the TED site and thought it was very amusing and yet I had to think (of course I think like a white person...) that is it all that bad that people are interested in familiarizing themselves with ideas even if on a superficial level. After all, one has to begin somewhere.

Of course, the "Stuff" site is meant to be ironic and make us question our assumptions and it does that very effectively.

#134 The TED Conference � Stuff White People Like

Itty Bitty Book Review: "Girl with the Dragon Tattool"

"Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson

Well...I'm hooked. I picked up the second one in the trilogy when I was at Bolen's yesterday because I knew I would have to finish it today. Very gripping and engaging story even though the writing is a little uneven. I also bought Ishiguro's "Nocturnes" and think I will read that first to give myself a break from the thriller/mystery mode. I also know I probably won't be able to put "The Girl Who Played With Fire" down...

Arizona Tragedy

I feel very saddened and disheartened by this senseless act of violence and disturbed by Sarah Palin's crosshair ad.

This from the San Francisco Chronicle today:

No motives have emerged from today’s senseless shooting in Tucson, but Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has a long history of being targeted by the Tea Party—sometimes in violent terms.

In the run-up to 2010’s heated midterm elections, Arizona Democrat Gabrielle Giffords was placedon Sarah Palin’s “target map,” released in March, which featured gun crosshairs superimposed over her target’s districts on a United States map. The graphic was removed from Palin’s website today. Palin has released a statement, saying her “sincere condolences are offered to the family of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of today’s tragic shooting in Arizona.”

Giffords’ Republican opponent in the race, Jesse Kelly, whom she narrowly defeated, held a campaign event in which he invited supporters to shoot a machine gun. “Get on target for victory,” an ad for the event read. “Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office. Shoot a fully a automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly,” the ad continued."

Excellent comments by Keith Olbermann:

La Femme Nikita

We really enjoyed this movie on Netflix last night. Very impressed with the acting of Anne Parillaud and the writing and directing of Luc Besson. Great to see some shots of Paris and to have a French atmosphere.

Nikita (1990) - IMDb

Lemons into lemonade

Lemon # 1

I brought in the DVD player from our Victoria TV and it messed up getting TV here. They're coming out to fix it Sunday but this motivated me to try Netflix again so we could watch something. I was rather frustrated with what they didn't have but Jim found lots of interesting stuff in the category of "Foreign Classics". I'm pretty impressed with it now...how can you go wrong for $7.95 a month for unlimited streaming video. We just finished watching this one and it was great. I have it set up so we can watch them on our big screen TV.

Another good feature is they keep track of where you left off and it's easy to resume...no trips to the video store and sticky DVD's. I could really get into this.

Bicycle Thieves (1948) - IMDb

Lemon #2

Since we're in Victoria for so little time there really wasn't any point getting the Times-Colonist started again and most people who know us know how much we love our newspaper. So, I got the TC app for the iPad and started playing around with the iPad again. It's just seemed too hectic and too many new things to really play around and learn it...but I think I'm getting hooked.

And I also got the iPad app for Global TV so can watch that the news and other programs.

Chirpstory - Aldous Huxley quotes

Ah yes...definitely a new toy for me!

Chirpstory - Aldous Huxley quotes