Richard makes breakfast....such a treat!

Yum,  yum, yum....

Great bacon from Trader Joes and free range eggs and blueberry waffles.   So nice to be called in from sitting in the sunshine on the patio to have breakfast all ready.  Thank you,  Richard!

Just so you know,  Richard also had breakfast with us.  He hadn't put his plate on the table yet.

Las Casualas, Modernism CAMP, Bevmo...

Crazy downtown today with the last weekend of Modernism Week but we lucked into a nice private booth at Las Casuelas which was perfect for chatting.  Normally we like being close to the music and dancing but all full there and when we left they were telling people it was an hour wait.  Excellent food as usual....Richard loves it!

Then we strolled into  CAMP but it wasn't as good as last year.  Of course,  last year they had this great display of stuff from the Madmen series.  Hard to beat that.  I found some things in the gift shop...a cool orange umbrella,  fridge magnet,  and Modernism Map.  After Bevmo,  that was about it for me so they took me home then Jim and Richard went in search of treasures at Revivals.  Susan and Chris,  you'll be happy to know there is a Bevmo downtown where the old Alley was.

Richard didn't have any luck but Jim got some slipper/shoes he liked and a pump for the pink raft he's been threatening to inflate and use in the pool.  And Jim picked me up a pain au chocolat from the great French bakery close by.  Maybe that's a bribe not to photograph him in the pink raft....

 A cooking demonstration was going on.

Richard and Jim don't seem too impressed.

These kleenex boxes were rather cool but a bit pricey for me.

The old lunchbox was kind of cute.

I guess you could use the ashtray for nuts.

I hope the fridge magnet doesn't feel too out of place.  All the others were Christmas gifts from Elaine and all relate to France....our other "amour".

Richard arrives...

No snow out his way although Linda is saying they are talking about snow coming Saturday.

Of course I have to have sunflowers.

These little daffs always come out.

And of course Richard gets dragooned into helping Jim with tech almost the moments he arrives.

Jim and Richard went on a "lemon run".

Wow....what a wonderful 150th Anniversary Gift for Canada from the Netherlands!

It really does look like the Canadian flag!

Quite an interesting story.  I knew that our troops liberated Holland in WW II but I didn't know Canada gave sanctuary to the Dutch Royal family and a princess was born in Canada.

https://www.mtlblog.com/the-netherlands-bred-a-special-tulip-to-look-like-the-canadian-flag

Now that's a welcoming bouquet of flowers!

Erna's bougainvillea  falling over our shared patio wall is just amazing...I've never seen it so big on our side.  I can't wait to see it from her side.  I guess it must be the unusual amount of rain they have had.  The photo doesn't do it justice....too much sunlight,  not the right lens I guess.

My wonderful San Jacinto Mountains....still no snow pack on them like in the old days.

The bougainvillea by our back door are doing well too.

Arrived safely to our wonderful desert home...

Unpacked and everything working so far.   A bit chilly today which made it nice for arriving and unpacking.  I still had to seek the shade while waiting for Marvin to pick us up,  though.  Jim's gone to get makings for breakfast.  Herbal tea is brewing.  There's a pizza in the freezer which will be dinner.

People playing tennis and golf....all's right with the world.

Photos taken during a walk in the "hood" today.

Four years ago today....memory on FB....

Celebrated our successful house inspection with lunch in the sunshine at Pommes 
Frites...roasted tomato soup, authentic French frites and wonderful grilled tilapia, Floating Island and Creme Caramel for dessert washed down by a California Cab. Then to see "Marilyn".

Maya Angelou on PBS

I really enjoyed this two hour special last night.  I had read her autobiographical "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" and was very moved the powerful poetry but I didn't really know very much about her life or that Bill Clinton asked her to write and present a poem on his inauguration.   A  wonderful powerful poem and to hear it read by her was amazing.  In our current very disheartening times,  it does the heart a world of good to remember there are many amazing people in this world.

I went looking for my copy of "Caged" but remembered  I gave it to a First Nations student who wrote wonderful poetry about very bad things that had happened to her.  Frida,  I hope Maya's words gave you hope and courage and that you are living a good life.

Some quotes:

've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

 I love this photo with The Cookie Monster...Richard's favourite Sesame Street character.

Inaugural Poem

Maya Angelou
20 January 1993

---

A Rock, A River, A Tree Hosts to species long since departed, Marked the mastodon.The dinosaur, who left dry tokens Of their sojourn here On our planet floor, Any broad alarm of their hastening doom Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages. But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully, Come, you may stand upon my Back and face your distant destiny, But seek no haven in my shadow. I will give you no more hiding place down here. You, created only a little lower than The angels, have crouched too long in The bruising darkness, Have lain too long Face down in ignorance. Your mouths spilling words Armed for slaughter. The Rock cries out today, you may stand on me, But do not hide your face. Across the wall of the world, A River sings a beautiful song, Come rest here by my side. Each of you a bordered country, Delicate and strangely made proud, Yet thrusting perpetually under siege. Your armed struggles for profit Have left collars of waste upon My shore, currents of debris upon my breast. Yet, today I call you to my riverside, If you will study war no more. Come, Clad in peace and I will sing the songs The Creator gave to me when I and the Tree and the stone were one. Before cynicism was a bloody sear across your Brow and when you yet knew you still Knew nothing. The River sings and sings on. There is a true yearning to respond to The singing River and the wise Rock. So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew The African and Native American, the Sioux, The Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek The Irish, the Rabbi, the Priest, the Sheikh, The Gay, the Straight, the Preacher, The privileged, the homeless, the Teacher. They hear. They all hear The speaking of the Tree. Today, the first and last of every Tree Speaks to humankind. Come to me, here beside the River. Plant yourself beside me, here beside the River. Each of you, descendant of some passed On traveller, has been paid for. You, who gave me my first name, you Pawnee, Apache and Seneca, you Cherokee Nation, who rested with me, then Forced on bloody feet, left me to the employment of Other seekers--desperate for gain, Starving for gold. You, the Turk, the Swede, the German, the Scot ... You the Ashanti, the Yoruba, the Kru, bought Sold, stolen, arriving on a nightmare Praying for a dream. Here, root yourselves beside me. I am the Tree planted by the River, Which will not be moved. I, the Rock, I the River, I the Tree I am yours--your Passages have been paid. Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need For this bright morning dawning for you. History, despite its wrenching pain, Cannot be unlived, and if faced With courage, need not be lived again. Lift up your eyes upon The day breaking for you. Give birth again To the dream. Women, children, men, Take it into the palms of your hands. Mold it into the shape of your most Private need. Sculpt it into The image of your most public self. Lift up your hearts Each new hour holds new chances For new beginnings. Do not be wedded forever To fear, yoked eternally To brutishness. The horizon leans forward, Offering you space to place new steps of change. Here, on the pulse of this fine day You may have the courage To look up and out upon me, the Rock, the River, the Tree, your country. No less to Midas than the mendicant. No less to you now than the mastodon then. Here on the pulse of this new day You may have the grace to look up and out And into your sister's eyes, into Your brother's face, your country And say simply Very simply With hope Good morning.

It's a pretty nice day here at partly sunny and 7 C.

...but apparently it's going to snow Friday!  I hope Richard doesn't have trouble getting to the airport.

Meanwhile in Palm Springs this morning....

Tuesday morning magic. Palm Springs. 6.30AM. 2.21.17 Eric Norland photos.

Looks like a pretty good week coming up in PS....low 20's C. and sunny and mainly sunny.

Four years ago in Palm Springs...memory on Facebook.

Another day in paradise...swim in the morning, trolling consignments shops, another swim, then off to one the Modernism Week's events called "Paris Loves Palm Springs" at the Purple Room in the Club Trinidad... very cool mid century venue. We happened to be sitting exactly where Frank Sinatra proposed to Nancy!

Finished at last....

Jim and I just watched the sun go down and enjoyed the glow over Lost Lagoon with a glass of wine. Jim is now making his famous  spaghetti bolognese....gee,  looks like he has cooked the last three days...and I have steak planned for tomorrow so that will be another cooking day for Chef James....must keep up the momentum!

Feeling tired and the side effects are not pleasant but they will pass away and we'll soon be in our wonderful desert home!

Carol's blog post

It's really fun to see yourself in someone else's blog!  And John took some cool photos.

http://mountdunbar.blogspot.ca/2017/02/the-adventurers.html

Chef James inviting people to the table.

P.S.  We had some of the sausages with perogies and peas tonight.  Jim cooked.  This has become another one of his feature dishes.  And we won't be getting perogies in Palm Springs...narry one to be had anywhere.

John and Carol come for lunch...and Jim cooked!

Jim made spaghetti Alfredo with shrimp and clams...yum!  Well done.  It must have been particularly good since he wore his chef's jacket.

Always lots of fun!

Thank you again, Fern,  for doing this great embroidery.

The men at work....Jim at his cooking,  John with his photographs.

And they brought these wonderful asiago sausages from Stong's....future yum!

The Purple Room

I pass this room on my way to radiation and have admired it.   This is where I wait now to get treatment from a nurse for my radiation burns.  It's not a lot of fun adding more time to the whole procedure but it's almost over and I know how to do the treatment myself now and have all the materials.   My radiation oncologist is totally ok with me going to PS and told me to email her with a photo and any concerns.  It's nice to have that insurance and I hope I'll just be taking photos of palm trees and my San Jacinto Mountains!

But,  back to the "Purple Room".   It has very cool murals and to top it off today,  the therapy dog (Bobo)  and owner made a visit!   You'll see from the photo that the dog is in motion.  Bobo is 17 years old but acts like a puppy,   It was fun to pet him and the owner has sanitizer you use afterwards.

I look forward to getting to the Purple Room in Palm Springs!   We had a super evening there one night with Susan and Chris.  Hey,  guys,  we'll have to go there again where you're in PS in April!


One of the performing haunts of the Rat Pack back in the day.

https://www.purpleroompalmsprings.com

And another nice treat was meeting Maureen at The Sylvia.  It was a wonderful warm sunny day today.   Maureen commented it was the first time in a while we were not burdened with umbrellas and raincoats.  I wondered why it was so busy.  Maureen reminded me it was Friday.  Ah...you forget what Friday means when you're retired!

I'll be missing The Sylvia and my "Happy Hours" with Maureen.

The old bar area where we head to.

But one day I think we must sit up at the new fancy bar they put in last year.

This was my "memory" on FB four years ago...

I was going to buy a digital SLR camera the day we bought the condo so will have to do that soon. Will be interesting to compare the photos with my iPhone photos. Quite pleased with some of these from the other morning.

Laughter is the best medicine....

I began by reading some selections in "Hard Knox"....a collection of columns by Jack Knox that Grace and Richard gave me the other day.  The B.C. Ferries one is hilarious and I think it is one I missed.

Linda sent me these Phyllis Diller jokes.   They are really very funny and I've been watching her on Youtube tonight.   I remember thinking she was just kind of weird when I was a kid but she is really quite a brilliant comedienne.

Whatever you may look like, marry a man your own age. As your beauty fades, so will his eyesight.

Housework can't kill you, but why take a chance?

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the sidewalk before it stops snowing.

The reason women don't play football is because 11 of them would never wear the same outfit in public.

Best way to get rid of kitchen odours: Eat out.

A bachelor is a guy who never made the same mistake once.

I want my children to have all the things I couldn't afford. Then I want to move in with them.

Most children threaten at times to run away from home. This is the only thing that keeps some parents going.

Any time three New Yorkers get into a cab without an argument, a bank has just been robbed.

We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next twelve years telling them to sit down and shut up.

Burt Reynolds once asked me out. I was in his room.

What I don't like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day.

The only time I ever enjoyed ironing was the day I accidentally got gin in the steam iron.

His finest hour lasted a minute and a half.

Old age is when the liver spots show through your gloves.

My photographs don't do me justice, they just look like me.

I admit, I have a tremendous sex drive. My boyfriend lives forty miles away.

Tranquillizers work only if you follow the advice on the bottle. "Keep away from children."

I asked the waiter, 'Is this milk fresh?' He said, 'Lady, three hours ago it was grass.'

The reason the golf pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing.

You know you're old if they have discontinued your blood type.

And this is real class....good on Lyndon Johnson!