I have always been a big fan of Virginia Woolf

 

If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.

Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf, a celebrated 20th-century English writer, wrote often about truth, including this quote from a lecture she gave in 1940. In the lecture, she examined the circumstances and characteristics that form great writers. One virtue in her mind that stood above the rest was truth. Woolf believed that honesty breeds creativity, but the writer must tell all truths, including the unpleasant ones. It's difficult to openly paint ourselves as petty, vain, mean, selfish, unfaithful, or unsuccessful. But only after we take an honest look at ourselves are we able to see the truth in others.

This seems like good advice and let's hope travel becomes easier again

Blast from the past....August 2017

I was curious as to what we were doing in August in 2017. 

When we lived in the West End, we used to go down to Chinatown quite a lot. It was still pretty interesting even though a shadow of its former self compared to when my friends in I had lunch at the On On Garden in the 60's. We always take in Chinatown in any city that has one when we were travelling.

Full post and lots more colourful photos here:

https://janicesextonart.blogspot.com/2017/08/

I enjoy getting blog posts from "Invisible Paris"

 This is a book he wrote...looks interesting. 

http://parisisinvisible.blogspot.com/2021/08/week-32-scene-on-bus.html

From the blog of Susan K.

 I just couldn't resist this....a deux chevaux and the year 2005 in France. That's when Jim taught Jan - May in the south of France and we had many wonderful adventures.  Bravo, Susan!

I drew this for a Vancouver Urban Sketchers challenge, "A Memorable Urban Street Scene".  The reference photo was taken in Beaugency, France, in 2005.

Jim brought me a sunflower

 ....and it seemed just perfect to put it in one of our pastis water bottles.

Great Cycle Challenge

I'm really proud of Richard doing this cycling to raise money to fight cancer for kids.

Way to go Richard and if you can, please support this great cause.

Take a look here to see his rides and the money he has raised so far.

https://greatcyclechallenge.ca/Riders/RichardSexton

ONE MONTH. ONE GOAL. FIGHT KIDS' CANCER.

This August, we're riding to end childhood cancer and save little lives.

Every hill we climb and every kilometre we pedal will be to honour those lives we've lost and stand with those brave kids still fighting to survive. These kids won't give up, and neither will we.

Our goal is to fund life-saving research to develop safer and more effective treatments, and find cures for all childhood cancers.

Because kids should be living life, NOT fighting for it.

Haida Gwaii

 Linda is doing the most amazing posts on her blog about all they are seeing on their trip. I really suggest you follow her blog at this time. She is doing a fabulous job. I had no idea there was so much to see on Haida Gwaii.

https://lindaandcec.blogspot.com

She is posting lots of wonderful photos of Haida artwork but they also visited a museum with this desk in it. It was in one of the residential schools. We both sat in an exact desk like this at Carleton School.

Josephine Baker...she really deserves this honour

Josephine Baker with three of her adopted children.  She adopted 12 children.

Franco-American singer Josephine Baker will receive a burial at the Pantheon monument in Paris, the French presidency confirmed to media following a report in Le Parisien.

Baker, a revered World War II resistance figure and civil rights activist, is the sixth woman to receive the honour of being interred at the Pantheon.

Le Parisien reported that the ceremony will take place in late November.

The last woman to be buried at the Pantheon was Simone Veil, a former French minister and Holocaust survivor who is known for writing the law legalising abortion in the country.

Baker is the first artist to be interred at the monument and joins the likes of scientist Marie Curie, French philosopher Voltaire, writer Victor Hugo and other French luminaries.

After her death in 1975, Baker was buried in Monaco, dressed in a French military uniform with the medals she received for her role as part of the French Resistance during the war.

Baker was born in St Louis, Missouri in 1906 but moved to France in 1925 seeking to flee racism in the US. She became a huge star in the 1930s.

 

Haida Gwaii

Linda and Cec have been having a great time in Haida Gwaii. I thought this was an ineresting article.

 https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/08/19/Letter-From-Haida-Gwaii-As-History-Is-Made/?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=200821

Foods people miss when travelling

 Scotland Now had a rather interesting article on what the Scots miss most when away from their home.

This was #1

We tried it but didn't care much for it.

We don't miss much these days when travelling as almost everything is available.  In the US you really have to search out a really good quality strong cheddar cheese like Balderson's. 

In our first trip to England and Europe in 1972, we really missed a good hamburger. They had burgers at Wimpy in the UK but they were pretty awful. I didn't recall even having a chance to have a burger in France.  When we got home we had burgers for a week at every place that served burgers. 

We also missed having bacon and eggs for breakfast in France. You could get an omelette for lunch in France but no eggs available for breakfast. We even bought a one burner propane stove and frypan to cook up eggs in the morning. It seems crazy now that we would do that.  

We spent 5 weeks in France that summer and French bread and croissants (as good as they were) got rather tiresome day after day. We did also spend a week driving across northern Spain. I think breakfast was mainly bread but remember ordering seafood paella pretty much every day for dinner or lunch.

 We were doing Europe on $5 a day so I expect that made a difference. I'm sure the fancy hotels had everything anyone wanted.

I have very few photos as I was taking slides.  I had a few slides printed into photos.  I guess the slides are somewhere... in our storage locker perhaps? This is the only commentary I have:

"1972 First trip to Europe. London, Canterbury, Paris, Chartres, Versailles, Loire Valley, La Rochelle,  Biarritz, drove across Spain to Barcelona, then up to Cannes, Geneva, flew back to London"

Our car was broken into in Barcelona so we turned it in and took the train after that.

Link to the original article:

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotland-now/8-scottish-foods-ex-pats-24803256

Archaeology no longer in vogue

I found this rather interesting since I did think of becoming an archaeologist and also a journalist working internationally.  Looking back I think what appealed to me was international travel.

From The Art Newspaper: 

Worcester University in the West Midlands, UK, has decided to close its archaeology department at the end of the next academic year (2021/22), dealing another blow to the heritage sector after Sheffield University also confirmed plans last month to shut down its archaeology faculty. 

A spokeswoman for Worcester University says that “following a declining interest in studying archaeology, which has been seen UK-wide, the university has very regretfully taken the decision to close the remaining offer in this subject. Applicant numbers have been very low for several years and have now declined to the level where a course in archaeology at the university is simply unviable.”

These are some of the top areas young people are pursuing.

1. 1. Business. Business degrees are among the most popular undergraduate degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions. ... 
2. 2. Health Professions. ... 
3. 3. Social Sciences and History. ... 
4. 4. Engineering. ... 
5. 5. Biological and Biomedical Sciences. ... 
6. 6. Psychology. ... 
7. 7. Communication and Journalism. ... 
8. 8. Visual and Performing Arts.

Books...wonderful books.

 

Interesting research from UBC for those of us with these eye problems

 

PREVENTING BLINDNESS WHILE YOU SLEEP

UBC RESEARCHERS HOPE THEIR NEW MEDICATED DROP WILL BE ONE IN THE EYE FOR GLAUCOMA.

Although effective drugs already exist for treating glaucoma — which is the number one cause of irreversible blindness in the world — the challenge lies in delivering them to where they’re needed. Medicated drops have a tendency to roll off the eye instead of being absorbed, and don’t always reach the back of the eye where the drug is needed to repair neurons and relieve pressure on the optic nerve, which can progress to glaucoma. And although cannabinoids like CBGA (cannabigerolic acid) are effective at relieving symptoms, they don’t easily dissolve in water — a barrier to their medicinal application. The team’s solution was to develop a hydrogel and fill it with thousands of nanoparticles containing CBGA. Applied at bedtime, the substance responds to blinking and conditions within the eye to mould itself into a lens-like coating. The nanoparticles slowly dissolve overnight and penetrate the cornea. The drops are now undergoing clinical testing by industry partner, InMed Pharmaceuticals, and the researchers are exploring if the hydrogel can be used to deliver drugs for other eye disorders, such as macular degeneration.

Researchers:
Vikram Yadav, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering, and biomedical engineering; Syed Haider Kamal, research associate

Rain wonderful rain

 It was wonderful to get rain and coolness yesterday after all the hot weather. 

You can see it's been pretty dry.  The rain is falling but not really picking it up on this photo.

You can see the raindrops on the railing, though.

From: Scotland Now....whales.

I had no idea whales were off the east coast of Skye when we were there. We loved Skye and even our room in Portree which was on a slope. I actually rolled out of bed a couple of times before I changed position with Jim. 

A Scot has captured some incredible shots of a humpback whale swimming close to the Isle of Rona off the east coast of Skye. 

Cath Bain, 39, was visiting family on Skye when she decided to take a boat trip out from Portree earlier this month.

"After waiting for about 20 to 30 mins we didn't see it, so we were carrying on with the trip when I spotted a massive blow from a Whale and when we went to investigate we found the Humpback."

She was then able to capture some spectacular shots of the whale, which was IDed thanks to fellow whale expert Lyndsay Mcneill as a male called Barney (SCUK046BARNEY), as it happily surfaced not far from the boat. 

Cath, from Lossiemouth, added: "I was very excited to get such good photos. I've only had such a good camera since February so I'm very much still learning."

Remarkably, the wildlife enthusiast added that it was even more exciting to see one swimming free as she's more used to dealing with ones that need rescued.

Dinner at The Beehive

 We do love this restaurant and it was great to have dinner with Donna, Linda, and Cec!  We all went home with lots of leftovers. 

Just love this driftwood art that Terry M. posted.

 

From The Desert Sun....good on California again but the lawsuits are beginning as well

I totally agree with what California has done but was thinking there must be loads of lawsuits as well and so there are.  I picked up this on a google search:

"This article details lawsuits filed in response to policies implemented to address the coronavirus pandemic. If you know of a case that we have missed, please email us. You will find:

• Relevant litigation: In this section, there are two embedded spreadsheets. The first is an inventory of lawsuits involving state actions and policies implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The second is an inventory of lawsuits involving election administration issues in light of the pandemic."

California's latest action:

COVID-19: California requiring public and private school teachers, staff to get vaccines or tests

---

Christal Hayes, Shad Powers and Larry Bohannan  |  Palm Springs Desert Sun

California has become the first state in the nation to require all teachers and school staff  to get vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday. The order applies to both public and private schools.

The statewide vaccine mandate for K-12 educators comes as schools return from summer break amid growing concerns of the highly contagious delta variant. Hawaii issued a similar order a week ago that applies to public school employees.  

California employs about 320,000 people across more than 1,000 school districts. It has more than 6.1 million students. The order includes bus drivers, aides and custodians and says schools and employees must be in compliance by Oct. 15. The order also covers volunteers who are on-site at a school campus supporting school functions.

Newsom announced the new policy at a San Francisco Bay Area school that has already reopened after summer break. Many California schools are back in session, with others starting in the coming weeks. 

Now you know the truth...

 

Blast from the past...

https://janicesextonart.blogspot.com/2013/12/san-jacinto-mountains.html

We watched this last night

Oscar Wilde is always very witty.  It was a DVD from the library. 

We saw it in London many years ago...probably have a program somewhere in our mish mash of memorabilia. Amazing how many things Julianne Moore appears in.

 

An Ideal Husband
UK Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Oliver Parker
Written by	Oliver Parker
Based on	An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde
Produced by	Barnaby Thompson Bruce Davey Uri Fruchtmann
Starring	Cate Blanchett Minnie Driver Rupert Everett Julianne Moore Jeremy Northam John Wood Lindsay Duncan Peter Vaughan Jeroen Krabbé
Cinematography	David Johnson
Edited by	Guy Bensley
Music by	Charlie Mole
Distributed by	Miramax Films Icon Productions
Release date	16 April 1999 (UK) 18 June 1999 (US)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£6,350,000[1]
Box office	£2,891,515 (in UK)[1] $18,542,974 (total)

An Ideal Husband is a 1999 film based on the 1895 play An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde. The film stars Jeremy Northam, Rupert Everett, Julianne Moore, Minnie Driver and Cate Blanchett. It was directed by Oliver Parker.

The Keg at Granville Island last night

 I thought it would be fun to go to The Keg for their lobster fest Sunday. We hadn't been to Granville Island for ages. I loved my lobster but I guess I'm the only real lobster lover. Thanks for indulging me, Donna and Jim. Well, Jim had some of my lobster along with his steak. And I had a bit of his steak. They still do an excellent job of steak. 

Granville Island is looking a big ragged these days but good to see some businesses open.

The Keg was doing a roaring business.  The lobster was excellent.

So great to see Catfé doing so well

 Excited to announce we signed the lease today for another 5 years! Looking forward to many more meowgical moments with Junior & the gang. Thanks to our lovely customers for continuing to support us and the kitties, and our partners Heart & Soul for their amazing rescue work!

So wonderful that Canada won gold in soccer!

"Canada soccer legend Christine Sinclair, who has scored more international goals than any man or woman, wins her first gold at the age of 38. She led the Canadian women to two consecutive soccer bronze medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.  "

Jessie Fleming was spectacular with penalty kicks.

Congratulations to everyone who had a part in making this happen!

I love these sketches by Susan K.

She makes it all look so easy! 

From the Desert Sun newspaper...good to see this happening!

 

Vaccine proof, negative COVID-19 test will be required for indoor restaurants, bars in Palm Springs

If this practice becomes widespread in the US, it may change people's minds about getting the vaccine.  Let's hope so.

So very true....

 

Order of British Columbia

 It certainly was no surprise that Dr. Bonnie Henry was given this award and richly deserved.  I was also pleased to see that the artist, Joe Average, won it. I've always liked his work...colourful and unusual.

I love this tulip painting called "Floral Fatigue"

Pretty exciting for Canada!

 We don't tend to watch soccer but I think I would like to watch this one and really hope they win. You don't see the name "Fleming" very much. It seemed like a rather rare last name when I was growing up and I always had to spell it.

From the CBC:

Canada will change the colour of the medal after upsetting the United States 1-0 in the semifinals of the women's tournament at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday at Kashima Stadium. After winning back-to-back bronze medals, the Canadians will go for gold when they play Sweden in Friday's final.

Jessie Fleming scored from the penalty spot in the 74th minute to help Canada earn its first win over the U.S. since a registering 3-0 decision on March 11, 2001 at the Algarve Cup.

A bit of history about my maiden name. I think I have probably posted this before and how I felt about the name.

Fleming is a name that originated amongst the industrious people of  Flanders The name came to Ireland with the Anglo-Norman settlers that followed the  Strongbow led invasions of 1171 and 1172. 

The Fleming name is derived from the Old French word "flamanc," which means a " Flemish person" or simply a "Fleming."

A wonderful afternoon with Carol and John

It's certainly been a while since we've been able to get together.  Great food and friends...thanks so much, Carol and John!

John has really got into making bread...all whole wheat. It was wonderful...wow!

 

From "The Good Life France...Annecy"

 We did spend some wonderful times in Annecy, France. Long before blogging but I think I probably have some letters I wrote to my parents that my mother saved. I'll have to see if I can locate them.

https://thegoodlifefrance.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-annecy/