The colours in the cushions pick up all the colours in the room and you know how much I love colour!
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Fell in love with these cushions!
We have needed to replace a sofa for a while but I just couldn't get excited about any fabric and we're rather fed up with fabric anyway since it seems to wear out so quickly. I saw these cushions at a new furniture store on Oak Bay Avenue called Studio 201 and that got me thinking black leather would work especially with our new black TV.
The colours in the cushions pick up all the colours in the room and you know how much I love colour!
The colours in the cushions pick up all the colours in the room and you know how much I love colour!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
More of Fern's Paintings...
You're on a roll here, Fern!
Boats and Castle
Tuscany Poppies
Bridge in Verona
Boats and Castle
Tuscany Poppies
Bridge in Verona
Monday, July 30, 2007
La Vie en Rose
We enjoyed this movie about Edith Piaf very much although the constant changing of time periods became a bit annoying and was unnecessary I think. We were pleased that it wasn't overly sentimental...certainly a risk with her life story since it is tragic. I felt the actress who played her was fantastic. I had searched YouTube for Edith Piaf before and brought up lots of hits but now there are 20,300!
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Monique and her new Elantra
Monique is very happy with her new car...great colour! We should have taken it yesterday to go swimming at Coles Bay. We decided to take our old convertible and it was over heating (just replaced the radiator a few weeks ago!) so didn't get swimming but did have a wonderful bouillabaisse at the Blue Peter in Sidney...highly recommended. We've had it several times and always great.
Friday, July 27, 2007
More new and old...
Thanks to Richard who not only got the new TV set up and advised us on what to buy but he also set up my new laptop which I'm loving. It was a lot of work for him this weekend but he did get to see Kristen and Karen who were up from San Francisco and also scored an old MacPlus from Stephen. These old machines have a lot of sentimental value for him as this is the computer he learned his first computer program (hypercard) on and of course the rest is history!
The MacPlus was my first computer that was mine alone so it is special for me too. I had previously shared an old Adam with Jim and Richard which saved data on a cassette tape (no kidding!) and we did email with a 300 baud modem....very slow but then everything was text based so not a big deal.
Trusty old MacPlus
The MacPlus was my first computer that was mine alone so it is special for me too. I had previously shared an old Adam with Jim and Richard which saved data on a cassette tape (no kidding!) and we did email with a 300 baud modem....very slow but then everything was text based so not a big deal.
Trusty old MacPlus
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Joe Norris
Mary bought this wonderful Joe Norris painting at the recent Winchester Gallery show. It's just fabulous and I'll look forward to admiring it whenever I visit.
Ships and Tug c.1976
30" x 50"
Enamel on canvas
Ships and Tug c.1976
30" x 50"
Enamel on canvas
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
The Sidney Pier Hotel
I felt this was going to be a monstrosity when it was being built and would effectively ruin Sidney's waterfront. I think it looks not bad and it certainly is providing a magnificent place for tourists. Quite an interesting article in the Globe and Mail today about it. I love the idea of the "black box" room service for guests staying in suites with kitchens. This consists of a prix fixe three-course meal ($50 a person). The chef arrives with an array of little pots for the "seafood black box": early harvest fava beans, spot prawns from Brentwood Bay, arugula picked yesterday from a farm near Deep Cove. The chef instructs you how to finish it or will do it for you and lay it out family style. What a great idea if you're travelling with young kids!
Sidney Pier Hotel
Sidney Pier Hotel
Monday, July 23, 2007
In with the new...
It's amazing how little room this all takes up. I love my Bose speaker with my iPod and what a sound from such a miniature speaker. It's great to get rid of all the clutter associated with old stereo system.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Out with the old....
We're taking advantage of having Richard and Ian around and upgrading to a new TV/Stereo systems. What a mess of wires!
Jim was especially pleased to get rid of the Rogue's Gallery.
I don't think I can part with these speakers. They were from our first stereo set we bought in 1968 at Commercial Electronics in Vancouver and we've never replaced them.
Jim was especially pleased to get rid of the Rogue's Gallery.
I don't think I can part with these speakers. They were from our first stereo set we bought in 1968 at Commercial Electronics in Vancouver and we've never replaced them.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
An experiment
I use my scanner for this sort of thing but I would like to free up some desk space so seeing if taking a photo with my camera works just as well.
Children's art
Signspotting
Children's art
Signspotting
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
Champagne Tasting
I really lucked in yesterday when a friend of the Curlings couldn't go to a Champagne Tasting at Brasserie l'Ecole. Even though it was just supposed to be afternoon nibbles there were wonderful cheeses, meats, smoked tuna to die for, and even pieces of rack of lamb in dijon...wow!
We tasted 5 champagnes including a Bollinger Grand Annee 1997 at $140 but I felt the reception wine which was a sparkling wine from Alsace (Lucien Albrecht Cremant D'Alsace) at $22 stood up wonderfully. The Pol Roger Brut 1998 at $77 was excellent as well but I do find it a bit difficult to pay those prices.
I loved this bottle and asked to take one home. It has scenes of Paris and the champagne is also very good at $65 a bottle.
Duval Leroy Brut Paris Label Champagne
We tasted 5 champagnes including a Bollinger Grand Annee 1997 at $140 but I felt the reception wine which was a sparkling wine from Alsace (Lucien Albrecht Cremant D'Alsace) at $22 stood up wonderfully. The Pol Roger Brut 1998 at $77 was excellent as well but I do find it a bit difficult to pay those prices.
I loved this bottle and asked to take one home. It has scenes of Paris and the champagne is also very good at $65 a bottle.
Duval Leroy Brut Paris Label Champagne
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Fern's latest paintings
I really love the style of these paintings...way to go, Fern!
San Fermo in Verona
San Zeno in Verona
San Fermo in Verona
San Zeno in Verona
Friday, July 13, 2007
Monday, July 09, 2007
Celebrating 60 years...
Jim and I both have birthdays within a week of each other so celebrations tend to go over a period of time. When we were having dinner with Derek and Mary last week they gave us a bottle of Stellar's Jay Champagne from Sumac Ridge which we enjoyed with Don and Elaine on my birthday. I just love the bookends that they gave me and they are now holding up our Time-Life Library of Art books we got for a song from a library sale down in Palm Springs last winter.
I just had to show off these bookends in the living room rather than hiding them away in my sunroom library.
Jim doing the honours.
Don and Elaine waiting patiently.
I just had to show off these bookends in the living room rather than hiding them away in my sunroom library.
Jim doing the honours.
Don and Elaine waiting patiently.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Carqueiranne Port
I will never tire of these pointus boats...my next painting will be incorporating them.
Carqueiranne Port
These are some photos I uploaded to Flickr but didn't get around to blogging...at least I don't think I did! This is one of the fishermen who go out in the traditional wooden boats selling his wares.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
A few things I've been reading
I can't believe how little I've read in the last while or so.
"From Stone Orchard: A Collection of Memories" by Timothy Findley
Bronwen lent me this and I really enjoyed reading about their adventures on the farm they lived on in Ontario. I'll have to look and see if he's written about the house in Provence.
"The Bean Trees" by Barbara Kingsolver
Great stuff...really enjoyed this.
"Nobody's Mother: Life Without Kids"
An anthology of women reflecting on not having children. I mainly read the selections from people I know or know of and these were very interesting but wasn't really motivated to read beyond that.
"Digital Fortress" by Dan Brown
I've now read the last Dan Brown. I was saving it for a long plane ride and it did the trick. Otherwise very forgettable and mediocre.
"From Stone Orchard: A Collection of Memories" by Timothy Findley
Bronwen lent me this and I really enjoyed reading about their adventures on the farm they lived on in Ontario. I'll have to look and see if he's written about the house in Provence.
"The Bean Trees" by Barbara Kingsolver
Great stuff...really enjoyed this.
"Nobody's Mother: Life Without Kids"
An anthology of women reflecting on not having children. I mainly read the selections from people I know or know of and these were very interesting but wasn't really motivated to read beyond that.
"Digital Fortress" by Dan Brown
I've now read the last Dan Brown. I was saving it for a long plane ride and it did the trick. Otherwise very forgettable and mediocre.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Bomb plot: Heathrow Terminal 4 evacuated | Uk News | News | Telegraph
I enjoy linking to the Telegraph in the morning and thought the news this week would be how the July 1 smoking ban would be working out. Alas, if only such innocent things were in the Briish newspapers these days. At this moment Heathrow's Terminal 4 (where the international flights leave from) is currently evacuated while a suspicious package is investigated. Passengers are being searched on the way out and all baggage will have to be rechecked. Glad we're not flying home today and glad that Richard got home safely from San Francisco last night.
Bomb plot: Heathrow Terminal 4 evacuated | Uk News | News | Telegraph: "Terminal Four of London's Heathrow Airport has been evacuated while police investigate a suspicious package."
Bomb plot: Heathrow Terminal 4 evacuated | Uk News | News | Telegraph: "Terminal Four of London's Heathrow Airport has been evacuated while police investigate a suspicious package."
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Musée de l'Orangerie
This was the most amazing gallery and the Monet huge paintings have their own oval specially designed rooms to house them.
To see these wonderful Waterlily paintings of Monet, press on the mouse to scan. (First you have to click on "Visite Virtuel" then the various "salles")
Mus�e de l'Orangerie
To see these wonderful Waterlily paintings of Monet, press on the mouse to scan. (First you have to click on "Visite Virtuel" then the various "salles")
Mus�e de l'Orangerie
A few treasures
I didn't buy a santon this year in provence but was completely charmed by this handmade partial "pointu" boat. The creator has even made the wood and paint seem like the old ones. We noticed some shiny new broader based fibreglass pointus in the Carqueiranne port this time. They don't have the same appeal as the old wooden ones.
Our neighbour, Chris, arrived home from the US Open the same day we got back and gave Jim this great gift of a hat from it. Chris is a keen golfer so quite an exciting event for him to attend.
And of course I couldn't resist buying another provencale tablecloth at the market...I hadn't seen this one with the poppies before.
Our neighbour, Chris, arrived home from the US Open the same day we got back and gave Jim this great gift of a hat from it. Chris is a keen golfer so quite an exciting event for him to attend.
And of course I couldn't resist buying another provencale tablecloth at the market...I hadn't seen this one with the poppies before.
Friday, June 22, 2007
New Porn for Women
Don sent me this and Jim and I got a good laugh. When I tried to send it to women friends the attachment just wouldn't attach so I figured out a way to get it on my blog.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Is Maman mean or magnifique? | France | Europe | Choose A Country | Global | Telegraph
This is a rather interesting article I read in the Telegraph when we were away.
Here's a quote and you might want to read the whole article which I've created a link to below:
"One of the toughest things I have had to get used to in an otherwise idyllic Paris is the huge gap between Anglo-Saxon parenting and parenting French style. The French are certainly sricter. They shout more. They slap more. And they enforce manners.
...in Anglo-Saxon culture, certainly in American culture, children are thought of as being the centre of the world, whereas in France, they most certainly are not....But as a result, you find beautifully brought up children..."
I must say I was quite startled in France one day when a boy of about 12 or 13 was ahead of me but stopped and opened the door of the supermarket for me and said "Madame". The courtesy of Monique's father still survives!
The writer goes on to describe various incidents of rather cruel behaviour of parents toward their children in the Luxembourg Gardens. Now we just wandered through these
gardens somewhat briefly but I didn't see any incidents like she describes. On the beach in Carqueiranne there were many young families and I can only say that the parents were interacting with their children in very loving ways.
One thing I do agree with is the idea that there is "l'heure de l'adulte". That's when children are expected to go away and leave the adults alone.
Is Maman mean or magnifique? | France | Europe | Choose A Country | Global | Telegraph
Here's a quote and you might want to read the whole article which I've created a link to below:
"One of the toughest things I have had to get used to in an otherwise idyllic Paris is the huge gap between Anglo-Saxon parenting and parenting French style. The French are certainly sricter. They shout more. They slap more. And they enforce manners.
...in Anglo-Saxon culture, certainly in American culture, children are thought of as being the centre of the world, whereas in France, they most certainly are not....But as a result, you find beautifully brought up children..."
I must say I was quite startled in France one day when a boy of about 12 or 13 was ahead of me but stopped and opened the door of the supermarket for me and said "Madame". The courtesy of Monique's father still survives!
The writer goes on to describe various incidents of rather cruel behaviour of parents toward their children in the Luxembourg Gardens. Now we just wandered through these
gardens somewhat briefly but I didn't see any incidents like she describes. On the beach in Carqueiranne there were many young families and I can only say that the parents were interacting with their children in very loving ways.
One thing I do agree with is the idea that there is "l'heure de l'adulte". That's when children are expected to go away and leave the adults alone.
Is Maman mean or magnifique? | France | Europe | Choose A Country | Global | Telegraph
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Back home
We had a great flight from London...the plane even left early! Good thing as we were pretty worn out and I guess the flying caused a bit of a relapse with our colds so been taking it very easy. Everyone is crediting us with bringing the good weather...doesn't sound like it's going to last, though. A few last photos of Carqueiranne.
This cat ran from us everyday except the last when he rolled over and let us pet him...I think we would have become great friends.
The Pins Penches Park...I am inspired again to do some more paintings of these wonderful pines.
Me and the pine trees.
Pins Penches Park.
This cat ran from us everyday except the last when he rolled over and let us pet him...I think we would have become great friends.
The Pins Penches Park...I am inspired again to do some more paintings of these wonderful pines.
Me and the pine trees.
Pins Penches Park.
Monday, June 18, 2007
On the way home...
We're at Heathrow now and leaving this afternoon for home. We survived Ryanair...1 1/2 hours in the plane waiting for Stansted to clear. Otherwise not too bad...I guess delays can happen anywhere. It certainly is great to leave from an airport 10 minutes away from Carqueiranne and no traffic hassles.
We ended up using about a half a tank of gas for our whole week in Carqueiranne. We really needed the car though and even drove it to the beach which was close but felt we had to save our strength. We had wonderful swims everyday.
On our last day we had Gambas (large prawns) au Pastis & loads of garlic with rose wine in a restaurant at the port. We met a really nice couple from Montpellier...he's a doctor and she dabbles in painting and also currently helping her youngest prepare for the ominous Bac (grade 12 basically but very difficult exams) She has recently inherited a house from her aunt in Carquiranne and they are now renting it out. They invited us over and it's just great...very close to the port and very tranquill location. Now we have two places in our wonderful little village to recommend to friends and for ourselves.
We had a lot of laughs with them as he love to speak Italian and also Spanish and also practice his English so with all four languages swirling around it was quite a babel!
We ended up using about a half a tank of gas for our whole week in Carqueiranne. We really needed the car though and even drove it to the beach which was close but felt we had to save our strength. We had wonderful swims everyday.
On our last day we had Gambas (large prawns) au Pastis & loads of garlic with rose wine in a restaurant at the port. We met a really nice couple from Montpellier...he's a doctor and she dabbles in painting and also currently helping her youngest prepare for the ominous Bac (grade 12 basically but very difficult exams) She has recently inherited a house from her aunt in Carquiranne and they are now renting it out. They invited us over and it's just great...very close to the port and very tranquill location. Now we have two places in our wonderful little village to recommend to friends and for ourselves.
We had a lot of laughs with them as he love to speak Italian and also Spanish and also practice his English so with all four languages swirling around it was quite a babel!
Friday, June 15, 2007
Carqueiranne
Our first morning in Carqueiranne...Jim enjoying a traditional French breakfast. The best bread in the world as our friends who have visited us here.
Carqueiranne
A little bird flew into our living room. Jim caught it and we had to pry it's leg off him.
Hyeres Rue Gambetta
We saw a movie on Tues cheap night...Conversations with my Gardener...quite good.
Les Mourillons
Beaches at Toulon. We often have lunch here in the winter but this is the first time we saw people swimming.
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