Point Grey Lawn Bowling Open House

Donna joined us so now she knows what lawn bowling is all about!  It's a wonderful setting although the dull weather yesterday doesn't quite do it justice.  My grandmother,  Phoebe Fleming, was a member and a very keen player.  They even seem to have a tournament named after her.  I'm sure there would be photos but they had a fire in the clubhouse and lost a lot of their history.

Lawn bowling doesn't agree with my back but I joined as a social member and Jim will be a player.  He quite enjoys it...reminds him of bocce in the south of France, I think.  It's just minutes to drive there.

Jim was very pleased with some of his shots.

Then we went to our "local", the University Golf Club for their happy hour wings and a pint.  We were seated with a view of this wonderful tree and my photo caught the crow just as he left.

A great deal at $6....9 wings and a bowl of fries and you can substitute salad which I did.  I did steal a few fries from Jim and gave him some of my very copious salad.  All 19 oz draft pints are on for $5.64.  Even the best happy hour in Palm Springs doesn't give us this kind of a deal

UBC Opera School

I've had very little sucess uploading videos to Blogger to the point I stopped filming them but this seems to have worked.

Justin Cho singing "O Sole Mio"...wonderful!

Dick and Susan come for dinner

We had a great time last night with lots of laughs especially at Jim's latest retirement plans of being a TOC at West Point Grey Academy...the private secondary school where Justin Trudeau taught.  I made ribs and Caesar salad and I got this great bread at Safeway.  I forgot to take photos so I will explain the menu.

Now,  I usually make my own Caesar dressing but since our local Safeway is closing soon they don't have all the usual products and I couldn't get anchovy paste.  I decided to give this dressing a try and it was very good.  I'm not sure I'll make scratch dressing in future.  For the ribs I usually use Bullseye Smoke House but this wasn't available so I substituted this Kraft product.  It worked just fine.

The tulips seem to be particularly good this year.

This bread was super.   It will be on my list and I really like it that you can get a demi baguette.

My rib recipe...dead easy and perfect for entertaining as no last minute fuss and the timing is flexible.  Just turn the oven down if you're not ready to eat.

1 full rack of back ribs
1 bottle Bullseye Smoke House or Kraft Hickory Bar-b-q sauce.
I large onion sliced.

Cut the rack into pieces at each bone.  In a roasting pan with lid, mix up the ribs,  sauce and onions.
Cook at 350 F for 2 1/2 - 3 hours.  I usually turn the heat down to 325 after an hour.

*Note
For whatever reason,  a "granite ware" roasting pan works best.

Raining again in Vancouver

We did get a lovely spell of wonderful weather and I quite enjoy the rain...in small doses.  But it did seem like a good time to book Palm Springs so our first trip will be Oct. 28-Dec. 28.  We'll go back in late Jan. and stay until the first week of April or so.  Chris and Susan have booked a place in The Ocotillo for March so it will be great to have them very close to us and The Ocotillo is such a cool place.

Looking out at the rain but thinking of the sun and our little piece of paradise in Palm Springs....

Jim's latest Huxley publication....

I love the cover!  McGill-Queens University Press is publishing it.  There will probably be a launch in NYC in December and the Huxley grandchildren will be there since they live there. I don't think we'll be wanting to leave Palm Springs.

Photos from Google Sreet View....real ones!

From John today:

 I forgot that it's hard to make screen captures and export them as jpgs if you don't have photoshop.

Here's what Carol's condo looks like on Google street view. She's on the fourth floor overlooking the street.

There's also a farmer's market at few blocks away, last pic.

John came for lunch yesterday...

Just in time as he had eaten all the goodies Carol left him.  She is staying at  Via Federico Ozanam, 75 and apparently the streetview is very nice.  I googled the address and picked up these images...not sure if they are really images from around there as the Trevi Fountain also came up.  Carol is still having technical problems but I think she is reading my blog so perhaps she can tell me.

Well, none of thos photos would upload so here''s a few of Rome anyway.

All set for summer

Well,  we can't see kite surfing from our balcony like we could in Almanerre in the south of France but this skateboard (got it at the Oak Bay Dump) that I painted gives us a flavour of it while we're enjoying our zero gravity chairs and our first pastis of the season.  

This YouTube video was taken at Almanerre.   Kite surfers come from all over Europe to catch these very special winds.  The beach was about 10 minutes from Carqueiranne and we were always passing it and usually stopped to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9AMWIECO5g

And yesterday,  Maureen and I had a wonderful lunch at the University Golf Club.  It was great to see each other again and we had a lot of laughs.  Wow...it was so busy.  I guess the good weather brought everyone out.

And the Blue Jays beat the red hot Boston Red Socks!

Lunch at the Jericho Sailing Club yesterday....

It was just an amazing day so we headed out to the Jericho Sailing Club for lunch.  We parked for free at Locarno Beach and had a few minutes walk along the most wonderful views of mountains and ocean.

This is the best view in Vancouver and quiet today but will be packed when the real warm weather arrives.

View from our table waiting for our order to be filled but just a fraction of this panoramic view.

We had this great beer to pass the time while waiting for our meal.

We split a two piece fish and chips.  I think you can see why we split this.  Two huge pieces of wonderful fish!

And walking back we saw that someone had set up a hammock...now that's the life!

Sunday Carvery at The Diner last night.....

We experienced  "The Diner" for dinner last night.  It's just on 10th across from Safeway.  It was great fun and Stella is super.  We had the Sunday roast beef dinner served also with a cup of soup to start...minestrone but it changes.  A real traditional roast beef dinner and homemade soup.  Excellent.

Self-described "battle axe" Stella Shurety has been serving up British fare such as fish and chips, steak and kidney pie and all-day "British Breakfast" at The Diner, 4556 West 10th, for the past 53 years.

Photograph By DAN TOULGOET

"As part of the Courier's Vancouver Special neighbourhood series, we visited The Diner in West Point Grey, where Stella Shurety and her family have been serving up British delights since 1959."

I didn't have my camera with me but I took these photos when we came home.  I could only eat half of my dinner so these are the leavings...make a great lunch tomorrow.

They have a banner saying "50th Anniversary".  Actually they are in their 54th year.  I mentioned we were celebrating our 50th Wedding Anniversary and at the end of the meal she presented me with this "candy" ring and made Jim hold my hand and promise to be with me for the next 50 years.

They have a big Robbie Burns celebration so if we're here we'll definitely go.  Jim will have to borrow his kilt back from John.

Lovely sunset tonight

Chawton House Library

I just started doing an online course on Jane Austen and in a couple of the short videos they have the librarian and one of the presenters pawing with ungloved hands over these very fragile materials. The materials were at least supported.

I helped Jim out at the Harry Ransome Center in Austin, Texas one day when he was doing research there for a month and before they even let me near these materials which weren't as fragile and precious as the materials in the Jane Austen Library,  I had to fill out an extensive form,  watch a video on how to handle the materials,  be interviewed, and of course,  wear white cotton gloves.

Chawton House Library Information for Readers
Visits to the Library are by appointment only, and readers must complete an application form on their first visit and show two forms of identification, one with a photograph and one with proof of address.
Lockers are provided for the storage of personal belongings, and coats can be hung in the hallway.
Reading Rooms
The reading rooms are kept at a specific temperature and humidity levels (in accordance with the British Standard 5454:2000) this is to make sure the collection is kept in a good condition. Whilst efforts are made to compromise on the conditions best for the preservation of the collection, and are comfortable for readers it may feel a little cool overtime, therefore we advise readers to bring an extra layer when they visit.

• Laptops can be brought into the rooms and there is a WIFI service available
  
• A reproduction service is available and there is a small charge for this service
  
• Only Pencils are allowed to be used, and can be provided by staff
  Please note that CCTV is in operation in all of the reading rooms
  The Library Collections
  The Main Collection and increasingly the Knight Collection are on our catalogue system which is available online and on a computer in the reading rooms. Items can then be requested by filling in a call slip and retrieved by staff.
  Before handling items from the collection:
  

• Make sure your hands are clean before handling the material
  
• Support items while using them, suitable supports are available and weights
  
• Loans are limited to 10 titles at one time for all visitors
  
• Please do not place any items on the floor, crease, lean on, fold over, write on, or
  rest anything on top whilst using them
  
• Please do not take any items out of the reading room, and do not stack books
  more than 3 high or put heavier material on top of smaller items
  Please do not hesitate to ask the Library staff with any queries, questions or problems during your visit 
  

Itty Bitty Book Review: "Stamboul Train"

"Stamboul Train" by Graham Greene

I enjoyed this novel very much.  I thought I had read all of Graham Greene but I guess not. Quite the cast of characters and quite the intrigue...of course,  it couldn't end happily.

Jane Austen Day

I have really enjoyed the Jane Austen Society meetings.  Saturday's meeting was a very special one with a speaker from Dawson College speaking about Persuasion.  An excellent presentation and then a wonderful lunch,  some fun readings from members, and a real highlight was the performance of two students from the UBC Opera School.  Wow,  they were just tremendous even if the link to Jane Austen was a bit tenuous.  We were a wonderfully appreciative audience and there was a great question and answer period.

The students were Ivy Calvert from Austin, Tx and Justin Cho from Korea.  I wonder if I might be able to brag that I saw them for free.  I love saying I saw Placido Domingo for $1.  Jim and were UBC students and we could get last minute tickets that weren't sold for a dollar as students.  Even though it was opening night, that was before opera became really trendy.

And we learned the North America Jane Austen AGM is going to be held in Victoria in four years just after Canadian Thanksgiving.  That's a really big deal.  Donna signed up to volunteer.  I'll play it by ear as we may be in Palm Springs but if not,  I will probably go.  It's going to be at The Empress.

Joan does such a wonderful job with the table decorations and I got to take the flowers home as did Donna and many people.  And Jim bought me roses while I was out so lots of blooms.

Very cool Jane Austen socks.

This was an advertiement posted in the hall of the church where the meetings are held.  This could be fun...not far from us.

Our wonderful singers,  Jason and Ivy.

Two of our members doing a reading from Persuasion.

My lovely roses that welcomed me home.  I put them in a Ricard water pitcher as I can't seem to find most of my vases.  I also can't seem to find my mixing bowls...well, lost in the shuffle with the move I guess.  It will soon be time for pastis.