Farewell Bar-B-Que

Us Snowbirds are starting to leave so Gary and his Dad did their usual bi-annual Bar-b-Q for everyone in Canyon Sands.  They supply and cook the meat….ribs,  hot dogs, and hamburgers.  A really fun time.

Big turnout….about 100 people turned out.  These are some folks from our pool area.  Great salads and other goodies!

Coffee from Ethiopia

Roger brought back coffee from his stay in Ethiopia and brought us some when they visited Thursday.   After sitting out in our patio enjoying beer and looking at our adobe roof and olive tree and thinking of France it seemed like a good idea to dip into one of my Christmas books "A Literary Paris".  And as I began reading that it seemed like a good idea to try this coffee since from the aroma it seemed like it would be very French like and it was!   I think I might make a café au lair tomorrow with it.

Another garden volunteer….

I almost pulled this out as a weed but luckily I asked Erna and she said it wasn't and that it would bloom and so it did….wonder how many blooms there will be in the end.

Beautiful day on the golf course today.

And met a very nice Canadian couple.  Finished off with Happy Hour snacks that are like a meal….sliders for Jim,  chicken quesadilla  at $3.50 each so a pretty good dinner for 7 bucks.

Roger and Kerry and Katie and Harmony and Zion come for lunch

It was just so great to see everyone today in Palm Springs!  What wonderful children…well,  the grandparents and parents need to take a bow.  A delightful day!

Kerry,  Katie, and Harmony

Zion

Jim and Roger

From "Lost at E Minor"

Just loved this paper hummingbird!  We've noticed that our hummingbirds tend not to come around in the real heat of the day.  Guess they're sleeping in the shade somewhere…smart birds!

Itty Bitty Movie Review: "Schlussmacher"

Erna recommended this on Netflix.  It may not be available in Canada.  Quite a funny romantic comedy about an employee of the firm that provides services to do the "breaking up" for people.

A few other things we've enjoyed on Netflix recently are the series "George Gently" and Archangel.

Our usual life….golf, Las Casuelas….

Jim felt his knee was pretty good so we played golf yesterday and it was just fantastic and we really enjoyed it.  Then, Las Casuelas today and saw our old pals….the guy in the red hat and the couple who are always dancing.  Then,  lounging around in our patio,  poolside…not too shabby.  We get very lazy down here.

One of the best films we've seen in quite a while..

We watched "Barbara" on Netflix last night…an excellent film.  Amazing to think those grim days are really not too far behind us.  

Synopsis:
In 1980 East Germany, Barbara, a doctor, is reassigned to a small rural hospital as punishment for trying to find work in the West.

Roger and Kerry's grandchildren…aren't they just great!

And they will all be coming to the desert next week!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152304151439402&set=vb.507494401&type=2&theater

Warm spell in Paris brings pollution...

We were in Paris the first time they made all transit free to try to deal with the smog.  We got a free trip to the airport!  I think that was 1998 but not sure.

Itty Bitty Book Review: "The Bridges of Madison County"

"The Bridges of Madison County" by Robert James Waller

I picked up the original hardcover edition of this for 10 cents today at the La Quinta Library.  I had seen the movie and enjoyed it and thought it would make a good read.  It did…a very fast read.

Lunch in La Quinta today

We began at the La Quinta library and bought a few books (what else is new?) then had lunch at the restaurant we usually end up in…The Grill.  We had the fish and chips and they were the best so far in the desert.  We hadn't had them before or perhaps they weren't  on the menu.  They allowed us to substitute fries for a Caesar on one order and the Caesar was excellent as well.  Lots of wonderful bougainvillea  all over Old Town.

 I do love the painting on their street banner.

 Could be in the south of France….I'm sure the lavender motif tablecloth is from there.

Itty Bitty Book Review: "When Johnny Comes Marching Home"

"When Johnny Comes Marching Home"  by William Heffernan

This is the novel for the next Wine Book Club and although it did keep my attention since there is a mystery involved it was rather sentimental and the characters weren't really developed very well.  Since it did take place in the time of the American Civil War that was interesting to me as I don't know much about that era.  But perhaps I'm spoiled by having read some pretty amazing novels that take place in wartime.

A couple of novels about war that really get it right:

Birdsong is a 1993 novel by English author Sebastian Faulks. Faulks' fourth novel, it tells of a man called Stephen Wraysford at different stages of his life both before and during World War I. Birdsong is part of a trilogy of novels by Sebastian Faulks, together with The Girl at the Lion d'Or and Charlotte Gray; the three novels are linked through location, history and several minor characters.^[1]

Three Day Road is the first novel from Canadian writer Joseph Boyden. Joseph’s maternal grandfather, as well as an uncle on his father’s side, served as soldiers during the First World War, and Boyden draws upon a wealth of family narratives. This novel follows the journey of two young Cree men, Xavier and Elijah, who volunteer for that war and become snipers during the conflict.^[1]

A few photos around our condo

 Our back patio….love the colour of this bougainvillaea!

Wonderful bottlebrush tree in bloom on the way to the pool.

Our tangelo tree in our front patio…amazing number of new leaves since I fed it.

Itty Bitty Book Review: "The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection"

I hadn't read a No 1 Ladies Detective Agency novel for quite a while so put a hold on his latest one.  A light but enjoyable read.  Suits the weather down here.

Sky Lad comes to visit

We had a very enjoyable time with Ian's friend, Sky, yesterday.  He's a classical/jazz pianist and he had a gig at the El Dorado Country Club in Indian Wells.  He was playing for their dinner guests.  It's a private club so we couldn't go and hear him.   He does do gigs in Palm Springs from time to time and sometimes at public venues.  I see some of the El Dorado was designed by William Cody.

Visitors from Vancouver

Brian and Linda came for a drink yesterday and loved our place.  They were our neighbours on the Mezzanine in our Vancouver apartment and have since moved to a two bedroom suite as well.  They having been spending Feb,  Mar, and April in Palm Springs at the Ocotillo Lodge.  This is a recently restored mid-Century condo units designed by William Krisel.  They're going to have us over for a bar-b-que so we'll get a chance to see the place.  We've always been curious about it.  A lot of "stars" partied there.

Hard Rock Hotel opening...

When we saw this partially opened hotel with Richard when he was here we all thought it was a bit dopey.  But really….smashing guitars like "real rock stars" but donning protective headgear….ah yes,  like real rock stars!

PALM SPRINGS — It’s not a party until someone breaks something.

Or in the case of a grand opening party at a Hard Rock Hotel, about a dozen guitars.

With a collective smash, hotel and city officials including Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet donned protective glasses and plastic hard hats Thursday night and smashed guitars like the rock stars we all dream of being, to mark the full opening of the 163-room Hard Rock Hotel Palm Springs.

Trio Restaurant

We had dinner at Trio Restaurant last night with Erna and Marvin.  First time for us and we found the food to be good and liked the "modern" atmosphere and furnishings.  Good service too!

Lots of laughs as usual.

Paint Nite

I really love this concept and there is one coming up in Palm Desert at Tommy Bahamas.  This is the painting that will be done and I can really see how you could guide people through doing this painting and them having success with it.

http://paintnite.com/pages/events/view/palmsprings/820456

Itty Bitty Book Review: "Trains and Lovers"

Novels for McCall Smith just seem to roll out rather magically.   You never really get the impression his writing is work for him.  Noticed this in the library and picked it up.  It takes place on a train trip  from Edinburgh to London where four seat mates unknown to each other share their stories about love.  It takes less time to read than the actual train trip and is quite enjoyable.  Nothing earth shattering but a pleasant read.

Jim and I have done  this train trip and had a quite a decent meal and a good bottle of wine in the dining car while enjoying some magnificent scenery along the way.

The Oscars….less of a bore than usual.

I liked the casual approach Ellen took and found the selfies  and pizza a nice break from the formality and glitz and boring speeches.  No,  it wasn't hilarious or brilliant but it provided a diversion that was kind of fun and put a more human face on "the stars".

I didn't think the "heroes" movie footage added anything at all.  I hope they deep six showing bits of old movies.  Of course it could be that it wasn't very well done….pretty badly done actually.

We haven't seen quite a few of these movies…watching too much Netflix I guess.

 Selfies are still rather funny.  Some people would like to see Twitter broken permanently.

Although not as funny as the selfies of Obama and the attractive Danish Prime Minister taken at Nelson Mandela's funeral with Michelle looking on and clearly not amused.  Somehow,  I think Mandela would be amused.

Problem solved...

I doubled up the screw eyes and put in two picture hooks so seems to be holding so far.  I really like it and the bonus is I can see it from my usual perch in the living room if the door is open.

Now,  I could have painted it directly on the wall but then it would be more permanent and also I doubt I could have managed to get the masking tape straight…just not something I  do well.

Colours are off in these photos…previous post has more accurate colours.

Amazingly,  it really does make the room seem bigger like you were looking outside….so,  final product worth all the hassles.

Latest painting

28 x 36 on plywood  (very thin plywood….)

This is based on a painting I did of the harbour and beach in Carqueiranne….the mini lighthouse on the seawall was one of the first things we saw when we went to Carqueiranne the first time to look for a place to rent while Jim was teaching in the south of France for the first time in 2002.

For the guest bedroom I want to make it my "Provence" room so the idea was to make this painting like a view out to the harbour surrounded by white shutters.   I chose the thin plywood because I don't think a canvas would have really worked as it would have stuck out too much and the plywood could be cut to the right dimensions for the shutters I bought.  Now,  the only problem is the screw eyes don't have enough thickness to really get a grip so the wire can hold up the painting.

 So,  another problem to solve.  It was a fiddle to paint on this surface and also something this big as it didn't really fit on my easel.

Rain…finally!

We're getting quite a lot of rain so that's really good for the drought situation….not so good for some communities that are subject to flooding.  Hope things don't work out too badly for those folks.

Paper was drenched this morning even though it was in plastic.  Got the last one in the box.  Couldn't do without a paper especially on a rainy day.

I was in World Market yesterday and saw these products….hope the BBC makes lots of money on this stuff.

There was also some wine but that photo seemed to end up as a movie.

Picking up the paper this morning and treated to a rainbow!

It must have rained over the mountains….we need it down here and it seems we are getting some change in weather this weekend.  Beautiful warm sunny day so far.

Rainbows…along with snow and fog,  very exciting events for me as a kid.  Snow and fog lost their magic when I had to drive to work.

 Taken outside our garage door.

I went by the pool to take some more  but I think my first one is the best.

Wine Bookclub at the Azul Tapas Lounge

Erna and I went to this Bookclub sponsored by the Palm Springs Library.  They have a librarian to moderate the discussion and Azul laid on more fruit,  cheese,  and crackers than the group could even begin to finish plus "happy hour" prices for drinks…$4 for house wine.  The discussion was interesting and we were seated beside two neat women who have been friends for 40 years and get together frequently even though one lives in Chicago and the other divides her time between Palm Springs and  Redona Beach.  When they're together they drink only Champagne…they were working on a bottle when we arrived.

In the next area there was a group doing "Paint Night"…a very cool concept.  Easels,  canvas,  paints, brushes, smock are all provided and a teacher goes through doing a painting.   Subjects are chosen so people with no experience can have fun and take something home.  The people participating seemed to be having a good time.

A little YouTube video describing the process:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpXuB7h4Kyk

Some of my photos

Hummingbird nest!

We enjoy our hummingbirds so much and they do get well fed from our feeder.  We consider them our "pets".

Marvin and Erna pointed out a nest just outside our back gate…amazing.  Look for the two little beaks and eyes.  The nest is about the size of a golf ball.  Obviously not room for the adults now.  I wonder if the parents are ones that use our feeder.  I hope we see the babies taking flight!

Hummingbird Nest Construction

Hummingbird nests are built entirely by the female bird – male hummingbirds do not have any part in raising chicks once the initial act of copulation is complete. The female, however, will spend several hours a day for 5-7 days collecting materials to build her nest. The most common nesting materials found in hummingbird nests include:

• Moss and lichen
• Plant down from thistles, dandelions or cattails
• Spider silk
• Cotton fibers
• Small bits of bark or leaves
• Feathers
• Fuzz or hairs from leaves

These materials are woven together into a dense cup that is frequently decorated with moss, lichen or other materials for camouflage. The edge of the cup is curved inward to protect the eggs from tipping out in high winds, and the spider silk used to bind the nest together gives it elasticity to enlarge as the hatchlings grow.