Sunday, March 22, 2015

Laurent Martres

We really enjoyed looking at Laurent's photographs at Art Under the Umbrellas show.  He's done some super photos of Cassis,  what I consider the most picturesque of the French villages on the Mediterranean.   You approach Cassis by driving down through wonderful vineyards…some of which produce this fabulous white wine that goes perfectly with oursins (sea urchins) and raw oysters which must be consumed at the Le  Grand Large restaurant located on the harbour.

His website:  www.martres.com

Jim admiring his work.

 Well,  this is my photo from 2005.

Laurent's photos:




Another thing you must do in Cassis is take a boat tour around the "calenques"…white cliffs.  This is the easy way to do it.  Laurent told us it was quite a hike to take this photo.


Photo from Le Grand Large…sea urchins are at the back of the plate.


Saturday, March 21, 2015

Art Under the Umbrellas

We went out to La Quinta today to catch the last Art Under the Umbrellas and dine at The Grill on Main,  our favourite restaurant in La Quinta.  It's always interesting to have a look around and there were a couple of really interesting booths and then off to the library to check out their books for sale.  Got a few for 10 cents and others for 25 cents.

 Now,  this is the coolest thing….a purse made out of a book.  I can't wait to make one…Susan K.,  you'll have to help me out and I'm sure you'll have everything we will need.  The book is turned inside out so the spine with the title is inside.





We always get the same to eat….burger for JIm and calamari (always fabulous with a Japanese type sauce)  for me  washed down with a Malbec. I always steal a few fries from Jim….they are excellent as well.   The sauce is Yuzu-Sesame Dressing  






And then we were treated to seeing this uber cool 1949 Buick convertible in perfect shape…wow!




And we met this Frenchman who had amazing photos on canvas from lots of places but the ones we were especially interested in were from the south of France and Italy.  That will be another post.

Friday, March 20, 2015

Palm Springs Forever

It is so wonderful that so many mid-century modern houses and neighbourhoods have been preserved here.  By chance and circumstance really.  Property values were such that originals weren't worth tearing down and rebuilding monster houses out of character.  Lucky Palm Springs!

It's such a pleasure to go into these areas and take photos and admire the houses and gardens….and of course the San Jacinto Mountains are usually there as well.  It makes up a bit for the sadness I feel about my wonderful hometown of Vancouver  where lovely old character homes are being torn down and replaced by ugly (to me) monster houses.

A few photos today from the Deepwell neighbourhood.













Review

Jim's open textbook that he created last year for B.C. Campus has been reviewed and it received 4.9 our of 5 and excellent comments.  Congratulations,  Jim!




http://open.bccampus.ca/find-open-textbooks/?uuid=f373dca8-65c1-4a28-974a-035fe681f15a&contributor=&keyword=&subject=English

Thursday, March 19, 2015

More on the Stanley Park herons

They also now have someone you can email with questions.  This is her reply:

Dear Janice,
Thank you for your interest in the great blue herons nesting in Stanley Park.

After the fledglings leave the nest, the herons disperse to local feeding grounds such as Lost Lagoon, Beaver Lake, the Stanley Park shoreline, Coal Harbour, False Creek, and the coastline from Jericho to Wreck Beach. Some likely move to Ambleside Beach, the West Vancouver coastline, the inner area of Burrard Inlet, the Fraser River, Iona Beach and to some of the islets and islands off the mainland. In winter, adult and juvenile herons can be seen feeding around the shoreline and in agriculture fields around the Fraser Delta.

Breeding Pacific Great Blue Herons require accessible prey within about 10 km of a nesting location. Adults from the colony have been observed around the Stanley Park’s coastline, as well as along English Bay and Burrard Inlet shorelines. Although they used to feed mainly along Spanish Banks, the majority of herons now fly across the city at the north arm of the Fraser River. A few herons have even been observed flying past Point Atkinson towards Horseshoe Bay or Bowen Island. There is actually a very large colony of herons nesting at the base of the ferry terminal jetty in Tswassen, and those birds all feed on the mudflat there.

For more information on herons including FAQ’a, nesting timeine and history of the colony or to join the Adopt a Nest program, please visit: http://stanleyparkecology.ca/conservation/urban-wildlife/herons   

Sincerely,
Robyn Worcester, RPBio

Stanley Park Heronry Webcam
#HeronTalk   

Good times at Catalan Restaurant last night.

We had lots of laughs and good food last night with Erna and Marvin.  They make a pretty decent paella….not as good as mine,  of course!

 My chicken livers on cauliflower puree.


 Jim's pork belly and argula salad….we shared our appies.


 Erna and Marvin had salads to start.


 JIm and I both had paella.


Erna and Marvin both had the scallops on a butternut squash puree.  They were excellent if a bit minimal….I think they could have added some rice or roast potatoes given it was a main course.

Desserts were rice pudding for Erna and Marvin and a lovely raspberry sorbet for us.  The rice pudding looked good too.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Itty Bitty Book Review: "The Chameleon's Shadow"


 "The Chameleon's Shadow" by Minette Walters

I hadn't read a Minette Walters for a while.  Elaine picked up The Echo at one of our library book nooks and so was reminded how much I enjoyed her work.  The Echo is a nice little paperback so I'll save it for the plane.  I picked this up at the library.  She hasn't disappointed so far….a good psychological thriller.

Herons in Stanley Park


This part of Stanley Park is just steps from where we live and we enjoy watching the "heron drama" especially the birds flying out for fishing and the fledglings.  The newspaper article mentions a webcam the Vancouver Parks Board set up but it doesn't seem to be functioning at the moment.  That will be neat because you can't really see much once the trees have their leaves again.

It was interesting to know both parents hunt for food as we were under the impression it was the female only and also that they eat more than fish which must make it a little easier for these overworked parents.  We see them flying in with gullets full of fish and the chicks are always chattering for more food!

Story in the Vancouver Sun today:

http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/close+with+Stanley+Park+herons/10897791/story.html

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Good as new

We have used our fireplace a lot over the past two years and noticed the log was getting very black.  We thought we were going to have to buy a new log set but learned from googling and also having it confirmed by a local fireplace shop to clean it with a paint brush.  We weren't hopeful that a simple brushing would get rid of the soot but lo and behold it came off very easily….who knew!

 Before….


After….

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

On my cat calendar today…"Who would believe such pleasure from a wee ball o'fur?"
-Irish saying



Sunday, March 15, 2015

Having fun Sunday afternoon at Melvyn's in the Casablanca Lounge

I've been wanting to go to the Sunday afternoon music at the Ingleside Inn and we went this afternoon. Quite a crowd and the only seats were at the piano…literally a "piano bar".  Now we know you can reserve and that would be the way to go but it was fun to sit at the piano!




 I took a little video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfg1jQ8NBOk&feature=youtu.be


It's a crazy world out there….

Is this really for real….buying bonds that will pay a negative yield in order to get a secure investment?   And I thought 1.5% on GIC's was bad!  I remember my Dad getting 19.5% on Canadian Government Bonds that were completely secure.  Of course,  at the time we were paying 22% on a mortgage…

http://www.desertsun.com/story/morrisbeschlosseconomics/2015/03/02/morris-beschloss-economics-inflation-interest-yield/24259625/

And the Euro tumbling.

Listening to our rockers at Las Casuelas.

There is certainly better Mexican food around but we do love the music and the ambiane.

 Very warm day so decided to go with margaritas instead of wine….a small one would have done!


This young man was having a great time break dancing.


Saturday, March 14, 2015

Canyon Sands Yard Sale

It's always fun to take a look round.  We usually pick up something.




And since our place and down here in general remind us so much of the south of France,  it seemed perfect that there was a Ricard pastis water pitcher for sale!  We picked up a lot of our pastis things in flea markets in the south of France.


A pretty good deal for five bucks.

And these two cheese plates for a buck.