Another lovely lunch

We had lunch....a very long and enjoyable lunch at Fern's with Carole yesterday. Wonderful to see them both. We always enjoy Fern's view on the Gorge. Fern spoiled Jim by making paella...one of his very favourite meals.

A lovely lunch with Donna

Yesterday, Donna was in Victoria and we went to Oaks for lunch. It was great to see her and we all enjoyed our lunch

Robot pets

It seems kind of crazy but why not? By Neal Broverman on February 5, 2025 "Technology is often viewed as a contributor to our culture's epidemic of loneliness and isolation, but one company is trying to prove the opposite. Ageless Innovation's meowing "cats," wagging "dogs," and chirping "birds" have lifted the spirits of many seniors, with numerous state-sponsored programs funding the interactive, animatronic pets for veterans and those in hospice care. Three Washington, D.C. wards recently began distributing the Joy for All Companion Pets to residents 60 and older. Ted Fischer, CEO and co-founder of Ageless Innovation, tells Mashable that the comfort and contentment seniors receive from the robots is not just anecdotal."

Lobster bag

It's too pricey for me but I do love the idea of a lobster bag since I love lobster and will never forget all the lobster I ate when taking students on a trip to New Brunswick many years ago. "Not on your plate, but this Louis Vuitton lobster bag by Pharrell Williams deserves a spot in your closet. For $18,000, this crustacean clutch might just be the French luxury house’s wildest creation, literally!" by Neha Tandon Sharma As usual these days having trouble getting an image uploaded but my readers can always google it.

Itty Bitty Book review

"The Most Cunning Heart" by Catherine Graham Another one of my Christmas books from Jim. I really enjoyed it. "In the early 1990’s, Caitlin Maharg, grieving the loss of her parents, leaves everything she knows in Canada for Northern Ireland to pursue her love of poetry while living in a cottage by the Irish Sea. Feeling like a child again in a distant land still affected by the Troubles, she is haunted by the secrets her parents’ deaths unearthed. In her longing for emotional closeness, she befriends Andy Evans, a well-known poet with a roguish charm. Their attraction soon leads to a love affair. Flouting the paisley headscarf of respectability, she plunges into a relationship that gives her an entry to the literary world, but at a price. Filled with insights into grief, longing and creativity, The Most Cunning Heart is a novel about how a quiet heroine learns to navigate deception, love and loss."

Itty bitty book review: "The Girl Who Was Saturday Night" by Heather O'Neill

This was one of my Christmas books Jim gave me.I really enjoyed it and all the crazy characters. I know it's a bit lazy to just post a summary someone else made up but it was a rather complex story. Summary from Kirkus Reviews. "Nouschka Tremblay's family ties are stronger than most; when she was young, her father, Étienne, a folk singer, catapulted her and her twin brother, Nicolas, into the small but intense spotlight of Montreal media by using them as props on late-night TV shows to help promote his music and the cause of French-Canadian separatism. At the start of the book, though she is now 19, she and Nicolas still sleep in the same bed and are still embedded in Montreal’s consciousness. When Nicolas dropped out of high school, she followed—no matter how many bad choices she makes about men, no one else is worthy of her devotion—but now she is starting to regret it. When a documentarian starts filming her family to see what has come of the famous Tremblays, Nouschka starts to imagine a life beyond her family, first going back to school for her diploma and then getting married to a man her brother loathes. The story is delightfully bizarre, flush with the free-form vacuity of early adulthood, but what really shines here is O’Neill’s writing. The author (Lullabies for Little Criminals, 2006) stuns with the vivid descriptions and metaphors that are studded throughout the book, such as “[h]e looked at me some days like I was a hostage that no one was paying the ransom for” and “[The swan] held its wings in front of it, like a naked girl with only her socks on, holding her hands over her privates.” As Nouschka begins to see herself as a separate person, O’Neill’s writing grows ever more distinct and direct. This vigorous writing makes the book; the story is surprising and satisfying, but the real star is Nouschka and how she tells it."