Sunshine and songbirds this morning….

We haven't heard a lot of songbirds since we arrived but there was one on our patio today giving a nice concert.  I couldn't see it.   I am missing my doves that in the past have been a constant presence.  I hope they come back!

Yes, indeed, yes….

Wow….looks like it's going to be a great year for skiing in the Vancouver area!

Cypress Mountain set to open early this Friday

Lots of good eats lately….

We had a lot of fun at the Welcome Back Bar-b-q on the weekend….Gary's ribs were excellent as usual and we met old friends and made new friends.   We really enjoyed meeting a couple from the Sunshine Coast….a very fun couple.

Then Bill's Pizza on Monday.  We have a new favourite…The Works!  As you can see Jim is enjoying it.

And pity the poor Palm Springs weather writer…

Today:  Sunny and beautiful  75 F
Wed:  Plenty of sun  81 F
Thurs:  Plenty of sun  82 F
Fri.:  Plenty of sunshine 83 F
Sat:  Sunshine  82 F
Sun:  Delightful with sunshine  79 F

Happy Birthday, Dick!

Susan posted this card she made for Dick's birthday today.  This is Palm Springs obviously and Dick will soon be golfing with Jim on this course and let's hope they both have lots of birdies!

Elegant Writer and Watercolor

 

Remember I said that I couldn't do it?  That statement proved to be a challenge that I set for myself.  This is a birthday card that I made for my husband.  On the inside it says, "Happy Birdie!"

Palm Springs this morning

A sunrise tribute to Paris from Palm Springs, CA. 11/15/15

-Eric Norland photo

A few photos from the last few days...

We went out to La Quinta for lunch and to check out their books for sale.  I got the two cookbooks for 10 cents each.  Got the Tai Chi book at a thrift store.  Sorry for the upside down.  Not many treasures today in terms of books.  The chair shoe was quite comfortable!  The bike is an electric bike…very cool and love the low entry.  My bike has this high bar even though it is a woman's bike. I seem to have some problems uploading photos for some reason…ah well.

One World Trade Center, New York, lights up with the colours of the French flag

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/260148-one-world-trade-center-lights-up-in-colors-of-french-flag

Paris, mon amour...

I went onto to my computer to post some happy joyful things from Palm Springs and learned of the terrible events going on in Paris.  It shouldn't happen anywhere but somehow it just seems so much more awful when it happens in a place you love very much.  I feel sickened and very sad for the people of Paris just as I did for the people of New York in 9/11.

A band from Palm Desert was performing on the stage when the attack happened.  They are currently reporting that they all got out safely.

We had just come in from a leisurely lunch in the sunshine on our patio reminiscing about our all our wonderful times in France…well,  we often do that especially down here since so much here reminds us of the south of France especially.

"The most fun time in the desert ever"

These were Nicki's words last night at Sons of Italy's Pasta Night Social at the Dolly Sinatra Lodge.  And Nicki and Stan have been coming to the desert regularly all their adult lives so that is saying something!  It was just so much fun last night.  Great reasonable food and wine and entertainment.  Even lots of old Elvis songs and since it was Veteran's Day,  everyone stood up for a rousing rendition of God Bless America.  We will certainly be doing this again.

12 bucks for soup,  salad,  pasta and meatballs,  lemon cake and 10 bucks for a bottle of good Sicilian red wine….wow…what a deal!   Everything homemade and excellent and served by volunteers.

Tremendous fun!

Our morning in PS today….

-Eric Norland photo

But we may be getting some powerful storms in January if this El Nino does what is currently predicted  so we are enjoying these wonderful moments!

Powerful storm to hit Vancouver Thursday….

Basking in the sunshine today….hard to believe it will be so bad in Vancouver….

Canyon Sands Bookclub

It was just so much fun to be back and what a welcome I got as the returning snowbird!   Everyone elso lives here full time.  This time we were to discuss a book with something to do with food and to bring something to eat if convenient.  Wow…wonderful goodies,  wine,  and saki…and lots of laughs.   These gals know how to have fun!

Lest we forget

Itty Bitty Book Review: "The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine"

"The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine"  by  Alexander McCall Smith

I haven't read this series for quite a while but Palm Springs Library has a "Hot off the Press" section that has popular latest titles.  I've missed quite a few in between but thought it would be fun to read one again and it was!  One does tire a bit of them but coming back after an absence made it all the more enjoyable.  At first I thought,  "same old,  same old" and it is but he does manage to charm you in the end.

The Life of Verdi (Mini Series)

I picked this  up at the Palm Springs Library and we began watching it yesterday….bravo!

If you like opera and Verdi,  give it a try.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Life of Verdi
Written by	Leonardo Benvenuti Renato Castellani Piero De Bernardi Gene Luotto
Directed by	Renato Castellani
Starring	Ronald Pickup Carla Fracci Giampiero Albertini
Narrated by	Burt Lancaster (English version only)
Theme music composer	Roman Vlad
Country of origin	Italy, France, West Germany, UK, Sweden
Original language(s)	Italian
Production
Editor(s)	Otello Colangeli
Cinematography	Giuseppe Ruzzolini
Running time	630 min
Distributor	RAI
Release
Original release	13 October 1982

The Life of Verdi is a 1982 Italian-language biographical television miniseries directed by Renato Castellani dramatizing the life of Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. Castellani also co-wrote the original script with Leonardo Benvenuti and Piero De Bernardi. The English version was written by Gene Luotto and narrated by Burt Lancaster. The miniseries first aired in 1982, and was made available on DVD in 2003.

The production stars British actor Ronald Pickup as Giuseppe Verdi, Italian ballet dancer and actress Carla Fracci as Giuseppina Verdi, and Giampiero Albertini as Antonio Barezzi. Funded by a number of European national broadcasting companies, the series is an accurate portrayal of Verdi's life.

According to promotional material for the production, it was "filmed on location in Italy, Leningrad, London, and Paris...(T)his epic mini-series took several years to create, requiring more than 100 actors, 1800 extras, and 4000 costumes."^[1]

An elephant arrives in our neighbourhood…!

Big Indian wedding at The Parker next door.  The groom arrives on an elephant.  Lots of drumming and dancing….great fun!  Fireworks later tonight.

The bride….who we didn't see.

The ring bearer and his mom.

And I see Hal Castle has already posted some great photos of the elephant!

And there were lots of negative comments on Hal Castle's Facebook page this morning and rightly so.  It is no life for these magnificent creatures.   The wedding was a wonderfully happy joyous event and it was great fun to see it all but….yes….this comment from Tanya Petrovna says it best:

Ok I appreciate how people love the elephants and are commenting but you must know that this is horrid for the elephant. This is no doubt Have Trunk Will Travel, with many allegations against him. They hate to be driven around, it's horrid for their feet and they should be roaming 25 miles a day and be with other elephants. This elephant is chained most of his life or in small quarters. If you have any questions concerning this please contact Carol Buckley at Elephant Aid International. I spend a lot of my time educating on the subject, I spent time in Nepal taking them chain free and we still do it in this country, right here in my home town. I'm sick about this. Riverside County has banned having them on public fair grounds how did they get into Palm Springs. This is not a toy clown it is a living elephant and should be in a sanctuary. If you want to learn more come to the fundraiser in Feb during Modernism Week at a fab modern home for Elephant Aid International. Carol Buckley will be there to answer any questions. http://www.care2.com/.../9-women-who-are-saving-the...