Vintage Trailer Show at Modernism Week

We went to this one year and really enjoyed it. While I'm quite fascinated by living in small spaces and like the idea of the "open road", I realized long ago I don't really like being in small spaces as I'm a bit claustrophobic and I'm a nevous driver and passenger :) 

Join Modernism Week for the Vintage Trailer Show - one of the most celebrated and exciting events of the second weekend. This year’s show promises to be bigger and better than ever! This thoughtfully curated collection of vintage trailers, campers, buses and motor homes is arguably one of the largest and most attended vintage trailer shows in the United States. Year after year the Modernism Week Vintage Trailer Show continues to surprise and delight attendees with some of the most stunning, unique and rare vintage RV’s. Trailer owners and custom restoration craftsmen will be on hand Saturday, February 22 and Sunday, February 23 to meet the public and discuss their trailer’s unique history and travels. The show will also have a fun mix of retail vendors whose products complement the vintage trailer lifestyle and will have you ready to hit the open road! As an exciting bonus, attendees on Saturday, February 22 will have the opportunity to vote for the prestigious Peoples’ Choice Award and show their love to these one-of-a-kind treasures. Don’t miss this great Modernism Week tradition!

Itty Bitty Book Review: "A Woman of Means"

"A Woman of Means" by Peter Taylor

This was one of my Christmas books and I am always happy to be introduced to new authors. Peter Taylor is an American writer and won the Pulitzer Prize for "A Summons to Memphis".  It's a story of class and status in the South and takes place in the 50's. Complex relationships between adults and children and between adults. An interesting read.

Modernism Week in Palm Springs

Missing Modernism Week in PS but then every week is Modernism Week there.  It's was sunny here yesterday and we'll soon be in Palm Springs.

This tour sounds interesting but we can pretty much do these things ourselves when we're there.

Tour of the Sunrise Park Neighbourhood.

Innovative and influential architects like Donald Wexler, William Krisel and Richard Harrison created this eclectic collection of homes developed by the Alexander Construction Company and Jack Meiselman between 1956 and 1967.

Sunrise Park presents a mix of architectural styles that evolved over time, from Atomic Ranch to late 60s mod. Developments with names like Enchanted Homes and Desert Palms Estates are centrally located near the civic center with the Albert Frey designed City Hall and Wexler’s iconic airport that opened the desert to a world of international travelers. 

Architects William Cody and Hugh Kaptur designed landmarks throughout the Coachella Valley but chose Sunrise Park to build their family homes. Huell Howser, the host of PBS television’s long-running series “California’s Gold” lived in the neighborhood for many years, as well as hotel magnate Conrad Hilton.

The Kaptur family home will be featured and showcases the architect’s rounded angles seen in public projects like the Palm Springs Swim Club, Fire Station #4 and Casa Blanca Hotel (now known as The Musicland).  Also on tour is a home renovated by famed interior designer Christopher Kennedy sporting a hi-style aesthetic that honors and celebrates the home’s midcentury modern roots.

Proceeds from this tour will be used to support Palm Springs Public Library, Well in the Desert, and other local agencies, and operating costs for the Sunrise Park Neighborhood Organization.

Itty Bitty Book Review: "Fishing for Birds"

"Fishing for Birds" by Linda Quennec

This is a novel by a Vancouver area writer and I just loved it. It takes place on a large island near Vancouver and also a smaller island. Could be Nanaimo and Gabriola Island or perhaps Saltspring but they are given different names in the novel. Also, probably the "smaller" island is a combination of Gulf Islands. Although I personally have had enough of islands, large and small, the settings did bring back good memories and I certainly could relate to quite a lot to the settings and the people.

There are three female narrators from three generations...a mother and daughter and a very old lady who is a friend of the daughter. The old lady is a wonderful character and we learn a lot about her time in Cuba in the "roaring 20's".  It's about women and their struggles, life in general, and it has quite a bit of suspense.

From a Tourist Guide for Palm Springs in 1956

I wonder what Linda's son-in-law would think of these recommendations under Order Wine With Your Meals. He's a product and wine consultant with B.C. Liquor Stores. Lots of Champagne recommended. Don and Elaine often just had a bottle of Champagne for the various courses of a meal out if there was just the two of them. We're not big fans of Champagne.

Jane Austen Society Meeting

Well, a lively discussion was predicted and it certainly was!

The topic was "She said "Yes!"

The responses of Charlotte Collins and Jane Fairfax who said yes to men not exactly desirable but the times were such that women didn't have many options. All sides for and against were excellently presented and a very lively discussion ensued amongst the members present....an especially big group
yesterday.  What fun!  A visitor and now new member remarked she hadn't been so stimulated and had so much fun for ages.  It was a super meeting and the food was fabulous for lunch. Sometimes potlucks work out perfectly.

Celery top soup

We've been eating a lot of celery lately with our before dinner aperatif instead of having nuts or unhealthy stuff. So, I have all these celery tops and thinking you should be able to make something out of them.

So googled and brought this very simple recipe up...not much in the way of quantities.  I kind of like that about it. We'll see how it goes. Guess I'll use what's around.

Recipe:

Chop the celerytops and scallions and saute ..add a big peeled, cubed Russet potato, some garlic, chicken broth and simmer until everything is nice and tender and soupy. Add a little cream Puree...

So, it turned out really well and I loved using up these celery tops!

My Recipe:

4 cups chicken stock
one small onion
celery tops from two stalks
1 large cubed Russet potato
1 large carrot (I didn't use this but will add it next time)
4-5 cloves garlic
1/2 cup 2% milk
1 tsp Italian or Herbes de Provence seasoning

Then basically follow the original recipe in terms of cooking.

I have a recipe for Celery and Stilton Soup so I will crumble in some Stilton next time. I was going to make this soup so I bought some Stilton then we ate all the celery....

 The final product.

Valentine's Day 2019 in Palm Springs

Well, it's a nice sunny day in Vancouver today. Quite a change from "sheltering in place" as we were told to do last year during the worst rainstorm in about 50 years in PS.  Some people in Canyon Sands had some flooding issues. Thankfully we were fine but I was sure glad when that rain stopped.

From The Desert Sun today:

The Coachella Valley is in store for a dry Valentine's Day on Friday — a far cry from last year when a devastating rainstorm pounded the desert, which still hasn't fully recovered.

On Feb. 14, 2019, Southern California caught the tail end of a West Coast storm that dropped 3.7 inches of rain on Palm Springs in one day. That accounted for about 41% of the city's 9.1 inches of rain in 2019.

It capped off a wet period that has — so far — gone unmatched in 2020.

At this same time last year, Palm Springs had recorded 5.53 inches of rain by Feb. 14. But this year, the city has only recorded 0.04 inches of precipitation and Friday is on tap to have clear skies with a high temperature of 73 degrees.

National Weather Service meteorologist Jimmy Taeger described the 2019 downpour as an atmospheric river storm and heavy moisture was the game-changing factor that intensified the conditions.

Stephos on Doordash...wow!

We didn't really think they would deliver to UBC but they did and it was even better.  Wonderful, copious roast lamb, rice, pita bread, greek salad and now real lemon potatoes....before they had these burnt up roast potatoes. Fabulous and getting it delivered from the West End...fabulous.

The photo was taken after most was eaten.

This is a better photo from the internet.  We always just share one and can barely eat that. Cost $18 and then it ends up being $30 on Doordash with delivery charge, tip, etc.  Still a deal.

And I made peanut butter cookies...the cookies jar is full and lots in the freezer.

Needing our glasses...

Yep....that just about sums it up for a lot of people.

Itty Bitty Book Review: "Clock Dance"

"Clock Dance" by Anne Tyler

This is the Brock House Bookclub choice for this month. I think I've only read "Accidental Tourist" by Tyler and forget what that was about. This was a comfy read. A reviewer said reading Ann Tyler is like getting "a big hug".  It's rather like what the No 1 Ladies do for me.   don't think  I could take a lot of this type of novel although I've read all the the No 1 Ladies. She's written over 20 novels so lots of reading hugs if I need them.  I may try "Breathing Lessons" which won the Pulitzer in 1988 or
"A Spool of Blue Thread" which was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize" in 2015.

A little bit of humour

And from Colorado:

Itty Bitty Book Review: "To the Land of Long Lost Friends"

"To the Land of Long Lost Friends" by Alexander McCall Smith

His latest in this series... #20. I still like these the best.  It's like putting on an old comfortable shoe. There will be some intrigue, humour, and lots of reminders of what's important in life. And it's always a pleasure to see his love of Africa shining through.

Actually watched the Oscars and enjoyed it!

Saturday night we watched "The Two Popes" and liked it a lot so we had seen two movies. Well, the idea of the Oscars is to create interest in the movies and it did that for us. I guess we haven't watched it for quite some time.  They have have made improvements for sure!

Anti-LEGO slippers...where were these when I needed them!

Few forms of sadistic torture in this world are more excruciatingly painful than having to walk across a field of LEGO bricks left on the ground by a careless child or a short-sighted adult. Fortunately, there is now a way to protect yourself from these domestic land mines: the famous building blocks, working together with French advertising agency Brand Station, has invented anti-LEGO slippers! It only took them 66 years, too!

Avodado Toast with Carol

This is a ritural now and my gift to celebrate getting her Master's finally arrived from an Amazon seller. I thought it was perfect....her "cap and gown" made with a design of books. She read and referred to a whole lot of books when she was doing her thesis on immigration patterns in Ancient Rome. You never quite know what these things are like that you order but it had a wonderful cosy feel as well....a bonus.

The cards....a stack of books, of course.

Photos taken at 5:15 pm Friday from our window recliner

We almost enjoy the rain sitting in our "sunroom" recliners and having a scotch.  Apparently going to be sunny on the weekend...we'll see. A bit of a sunset.

Some cool buildings coming to Vancouver

Being a bit of an architecture fanatic, I think I'm going to love these especially when the first high rises in Vancouver were these horrible concrete things that looked so dismal in the rain. Of course, we'll always be living in an older type of building because we need walls to put our posters and artwork on. I couldn't give up being surrounded by these things.

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/real-estate/12-architecturally-interesting-developments-coming-to-vancouver-2054713?utm_source=Vancouver+Is+Awesome&utm_campaign=9a4b21861a-Daily+013020&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f592a7afc0-9a4b21861a-136521497

The Battle for Notre Dame

There seems to be quite a battle as to whether Notre Dame should be restored to as close as possible to what it was or is it better to do something more creative. I love Notre Dame and I love Paris and I think going for something more creative is the way to do. This is the city that gave the world the very controversial (at the time) Eiffel Tower, the glass pyramid before The  Louvre, and Le Centre Pompidou.

President Macron is for something more creative and it seems it will pprobably come down to his decision. I say go for it!

Interesting article in The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/entertainment/notre-dame-history/

Photos taken at 2:30 pm yesterday and still lots of snow coming down

Well, I'm glad I rescheduled my eye doctor appointment. I wouldn't have wanted us to be out in this.  I needed Jim to drive since my eyes were going to be dilated. It is cosy inside and I loved watching the snow fall while I was swimming this morning. It makes a change.  Hey, every winter since 2002, we've been in the south of France or Palm Springs. Can't complain.

I feel for all the people who were so impacted from the recent heavy rains and this won't be a delight for people who don't have the choice but to get out in it.

Definitely best to stick to comments on the weather than to reflect on anything going on in the USA.

My "young" bookclub

I was the host Sunday and we all have a lot of fun even though I'm the oldster at 72. They are in their 50's and still working...all working in the Vancouver School District as Speech and Language Pathologists. Liz, the daughter of old friends in Victoria, used to babysit Richard. We have reconnected since we moved to Vancouver.

We are almost one of these bookclubs that sometimes don't get around to discussing the book much. It begins at 1pm and we have lunch. Everyone brings something...always lots of food. When Jim came home around 4pm we had just started to discuss the book.

There are always some things that come up that make me realize we really are of different generations. They didn't know that the local newspapers used to do things like free swimming lessons and a fishing derby (the Sun) and the bridge tournament the Province sponsored. At the last meeting one of the members almost passed out when she saw all the single-use plastic containers that held various dessert stuff I had bought. Single-use containers, especially plastic, are a complete no-no.

They are very good at helping clear the table and deal with food scraps but I had to confess I don't do that. I justified  it by saying I had a compost and did the green thing with all food and garden stuff for 40 years when it wasn't mandatory . They're pretty good at cutting me some slack.

It's good to be reminded of things I don't think about too much.

Is a real French baguette coming to Vancouver?

We can get them in Palm Springs at Peninsula Bakery but I wonder if they'll get their flour from France like Peninsula Bakery does. They are now in 30 countries. This approach generally doesn't lead to the local Artisian touch.

A slice of France will soon offer yet another sweet temptation along Vancouver's Robson Street. 

Paul, a French bakery with an origin story that dates back to 1889, is opening their first Canadian location in Vancouver.

Signage for the bakeshop has gone up on the exterior at 1164 Robson Street, previously a retail space that had been home to Joe Fresh and RW & Co in past years. 

Paul began, to some extent, as a family bakery run by Charlemagne Mayot and his wife in Croix, France. Their granddaughter married into the Holder family, who, by the early 1950s, were running a bakery called Paul. The families and businesses merged, keeping the name Paul. It would be 30 years, though, until Paul opened up outside of France, starting in Barcelona. 

The Irishman

We finally got around to watching this movie and we both really liked it. I especially liked that the violence was muted and not sensational. We figured we better watch at least one of the movies that are up for the Academy Awards...not that we watch these awards anyway even when we've watched more movies. We might turn it on this year for a few minutes just to see if it's the usual bore.

They had some rather interesting techniquesin this movie.

Al Pacino's face before and after de-aging technology is applied.

Well, I guess no one wonders why I like this....

Another gem from Heather James Fine Art

GABRIEL OROZCO

Samurai Tree - Invariant Gold 2, 2005 acrylic on canvas, 47 1/4 x 47 1/4 in.

For his Samurai Tree paintings, Gabriel Orozco uses a set of rules and constraints based on the knight's chess moves to dictate composition and color. The result is a stunning array of abstracted elliptical variations. Click below for detail photos and additional information.