Lobster Summer at the Keg

We took Richard and Grace out to the Keg last night for lobster.  Very dark so no people photos turned out.  I ordered the whole lobster and they gave me this monster that must have been four pounds!  Everyone else had a steak and half lobster and they all had to help me with mine.

All washed down with Sandhill wine.

Grace brought over these plums from  her mom's tree.  Absolutely delicious!  Our neighbours in Vancouver had some plum trees like this and I always loved it when plum season came around.  Yum.

For my old teacher friends...

Isn't it great not to be "back to school"!

The Good Life France

The tables are laid, they're waiting for us.  Would you like to join you here at this little cafe in Bandol Provence?
Photo: Lisbeth Petterrson

Yes,  we certainly would!  Many wonderful times in Bandol.

i loved this photo of our mountains at sunset.

Tantalizing Trip - Vancouver, BC

A cruise ship passes Point Atkinson and Eagle Harbour in West Vancouver. The road you see carved into the mountain is the TransCanada Highway where it splits, left to go to the BCFerries Terminal at Horseshoe Bay, or right to the Sea to Sky Highway. Surprisingly, you can see the rugged tip of Anvil Island in the Howe Sound and Mount Tantalus still capped with snow. Regent Seven Seas Cruises Seven Sea Mariner departed from Vancouver on a 28 night cruise to #NewYorkCity with a stop over in #SanFrancisco. This was shot at the full extent of my telephoto lens across English Bay. Captured at Wreck Beach in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada ~ August 24, 2016

The annual "Beach Friends" piicnic

Usually this is on Labour Day but Bonnie,  age 90,  is heading off for a trip to Ireland so it was early. Always great fun and great food!

Chef's Table...a Netflix series

I really enjoyed the first episode...looking forward to more!

It focused on an Italian chef...a real character and his restaurant was named the best in the world.

http://www.theworlds50best.com/list/1-50-winners/Osteria-Francescana

Perfect ending to a wonderful day

We walked down to The Sylvia for the music tonight...very cool jazz band and a wonderful sunset.  We do live in paradise.

Great times with old friends...

Katy and David from London came today with Katy's sister,  Liz,  who lives in Vancouver.  Liz and Katy used to babysit Richard and Richard was the ring bearer at Katy and David's wedding.  They have lived in London for a long time now and so do their two kids.  It always a good time seeing them and telling old stories.   They come out every summer so we see them once a year and have seen them from time to time in London.  They have had a great holiday and flying home tonight...safe journey,  dear friends!

They loved the observation deck!

David and Richard

Jim and Liz

David, Katy, Jim, Richard,  Liz

David, Katy, me, Richard,  Liz

Views...

Remembering Jim's brother, Ian.

Patty and Terry posted this on Facebook today and it reminded me of how Ian loved sitting out in the sun himself and how much he loved Mr. Bean!

Translation:  Life is too short....do what makes you happy.

He also had  Mr. Bean teddy bear which we have kept and I found a place for it in our new apartment hiding between our clothes hamper and a dresser.

Ian also loved M & M figures and had quite a collection.  We gave one to Elliot (Derek and Mary's grandson) and kept one ourselves.  I found a place for it amongst my artist supplies.

I found a place for some more of my "old friends"

I have these up with double sided tape and they are just paper so no problem in an earthquake....they make a kind of "headboard"

I thought this was just so cool...

This came up on a Pinterest board today...just really appealed to me.

Just a wonderful time at The Cactus Club at English Bay

Wow...a great late lunch/early dinner!  Just a beautiful evening.

Great people watching from where we were.

The Fennie burger is unbelievably good.

And my absolute favourite...the lettuce wrap.  you have every taste and texture possible...wow!

Las Margaritas today for lunch.

We haven't been here for a while....Burrard Bridge a pain often and one thing and another.  Lovely sitting outside and the hostess mentioned "Ah...I see you're getting our world famous tortilla soup"....yes,  it is world famous for me.  Best I've had anywhere!

Auguste Herbin

I enjoy being on the Heather James mailing list.  She does get the most amazing paintings...prices never published of course...goodness knows how much they cost!   Susan and I really enjoyed the Calder and Picasso exhibit in Palm Springs last winter.  One of these days I will get back into painting and it will probably continue to be abstract.

Notre Dame de Paris is my favourite building in the entire world and I love this rendition that Heather James has for sale.  I also rather like  Herbin's other rendition...very impressionistic.

Auguste Herbin (1882-1960)
Notre Dame, Paris
oil on canvas
24 1/4 x 28 3/4 in.
1908

Provenance:

Private Collection, Switzerland

Salis & Vertes, Switzerland

Private Collection

Literature:

Geneviève Claisse, Herbin, Catalogue raisonné de l’Oeuvre peint, Paris, 1993, no. 157 (illustrated)

Heather James Fine Art is pleased to offer this exquisite painting by Auguste Herbin (1882-1960)

For more information, please contact James Carona at jim@heatherjames.com

Auguste Herbin was a French painter who worked in many styles before settling on abstraction. Early in his career, he worked in the Post-Impressionist, Fauvist, Cubist, then New Objectivist styles. Herbin abandoned figurative painting in 1927, shortly before he developed the Abstraction-Creation movement, which emphasized pure geometric shapes and bright colors. His artwork can be seen as a bridge between the Cubist movement and post-war geometrical abstract painting.

Notre Dame, Paris was painted in 1908 at the highpoint of the Fauvist movement, an avant-garde style of painting that broke from Impressionism in its undisguised brushstrokes and vivid expressionistic and non-naturalistic use of color.

The present painting is a remarkable demonstration of Auguste Herbin's uninhibited talents as a colorist. Bright colors paint the sky and the tree line, which partially obscures the cathedral, in tones of orange, yellow, blue, and green.

Artwork by Auguste Herbin is included among the permanent collections of the Tate Modern and Tate Gallery, London, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, among others. 

Great photos from our observation deck yesterday!

Thanks,  John,  for these super photos!

And Carol's blog post about their visit....some great photos as always.

http://mountdunbar.blogspot.ca/2016/08/coming-home.html

John and Carol came for lunch today...

We had lots of laughs and good conversation as always...great fun!

And they brought these wonderful sunflowers....and wine,  of course.

A super time with our old school pals!

Susan and Brian invited us and Nicki and Stan to their lovely home in Kit's Point.  It was a fast easy drive over the Burrard Bridge.  Parking is a nightmare over there so they have made two parking spaces in their backyard.

Susan cooked a fabulous dinner....wonderful bar-b-q salmon,  corn on the cob,  asparagus,  a potato dish to die for and if that wasn't enough homemade pie.  Wow...we were very spoiled!

It was great fun and so nice to see everyone.  Thanks so much,  Susan and Brian!

 Well,  I see my usual blurry photos.

 Nicki and Susan.

Brian and Stan

Jim and Brian.

Susan and Chris are in Venice at the moment...

There is no place like Venice in the world.  When we were there,  it was cold,  raining,  and St. Mark's was flooding but you can't spoil Venice!


A lavender shop in Venice...there must be quite a scent!

The canal beside their hotel.