Swedish Oil Blues: Wednesday, January 27th!

A fellow of mediocre talent will remain a mediocrity, whether he travels or not; but one of superior talent (which without impiety I cannot deny that I possess) will go to seed if he always remains in the same place. -Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer and musician (27 Jan 1756-1791) 

Pat, My Richmond firefighters' t-shirt is still in very good condition and at least good for another 10. Good thing to do the snowshoeing, I'm sure. Great exercise and a way to meet new people. I met a fellow when I was at dinner at Mike and Pauline's home who had done exactly the same when they moved here from Ottawa to be closer to their children and grandchildren. Ironically, they live in False Creek.

Very busy time for me with mid-term exams but I am keeping up regular gym activity but nothing on the bike. Hopefully, I'll start again in the spring. Sylvia has joined a walking group on Sundays as practice for the Sun Run, although I'm not sure that she intends to do it.

Met up with a couple I knew at UBC in the early 70's last week. I had not seen Susan since that time and had only seen Tom once. We spent a very enjoyable evening together. They presently live in Kelowna.
 
A friend has offered me a ticket for the Sevens, so hopefully I will be able to attend on March 12. Not sure about summer plans. I have a friend over from England in August/September and we might do some of the KV ride. Not sure about his present fitness, so we'll see. Might go to Kimberley during that time as well or instead of. Please pass my regards to Corinne. Ray

Hello my Darling Jean! Thank you for your lovely letter of January 14th. I do apologize for not replying sooner but have been pretty busy ever since Cora Lee's parents arrived on the 12th. Dusty is simply amazing and I'm hard pressed to keep up with him, although he's 91 and I'm a Saggitarian, as you remarked! He designed more shelving for the garage and we spent a fair bit of time installing that. Pretty much finished with this project and now we are working on the steps to the back patio. I might have mentioned that we had a sliding door installed this past summer and were using large rounds of firewood for temporary steps. Dusty made all the cuts for the risers yesterday and today we put everything in place to see that things fit as he had planned. All well on this count so we put wood preservative on all the risers and other planking and will assemble the stairs tomorrow, weather permitting. 

Next project is for shelving in our living room, primarily to house our stereo equipment. Have already looked at the material with Lady Dar but will take Dusty to Rona on Friday to see what he thinks about our choice, given design he has already come up with. At the moment we have our close friend, Tina, visiting from Adelaide, via Sun Punks, an hour or so north of Kamloops. She and Trevor, her husband, have been skiing there every year for the past 19 years. Trev is still at Sun Peaks but Tina wanted to visit us, particularly since Clara and Dusty are here. She and Trevor have even visited them at Falcon but first met when we lived at Granville Island. Anyway, we are driving her to Kelowna tomorrow to stay with friends for a few days before she buses back to Sun Peaks.

She joined me on my hike on Monday and enjoyed herself immensely. Last night Tina took us to dinner at Theos, a wonderful Greek restaurant but a few blocks from our house, although we drove as it is a bit of a stretch for Rosita. (She celebrates her 91st birthday on Thursday and has taken charge of the fireplace since she arrived!) Teens and I had the rabbit which was simply delicious. Cora Lee opted for the lamb and we even have plenty of overlefts as the portions were more than generous. Enjoyed a bottle of 2014 Lake Breeze Pinot Blanc and a 2012 Cabernet Franc from Tinhorn Creek with our food so a most convivial meal.

TNT joined Mme Coriandre on her Flatlanders walk, (10 km), this morning and after they returned they planted our live Christmas tree in the front yard. Great to have house guests with such skills! Flamin' and Sarge, (Freeloaders, in the extreme, as they only drink wine when here!), will be staying overnight this Saturday. Not sure if another friend, Jo-anne, from the building, will join them or not. Think it has to do with their respective schedules. Before we left for India, this past October, we stayed in Jo-anne's gorgeous apartment as she was visiting one of her daughters in Phoenix. Following weekend, Ayn and Chloë will fly up on Thursday, for rest of the weekend as they both want to see their grandparents. So, a pretty busy social schedule.

Very, very pleased to learn that you are writing again. Couldn't agree with you more about the exhilaration of putting one's thoughts into words. However, I simply cannot accept the fact that you, Jean, with your myriad, unbelievable creative endeavours, (pewter, painting, phenomenal garden, baking/cooking/entertaining, to mention but a few), should worry about vision or lack of confidence. I'd give almost anything to do just one of those things as well and as wonderfully as you are able to. We have a number of your divine pewter pieces in our guest bathroom, on the window ledge, and I am thrilled every time I look at your delightful, charming, whimsical creatures. Onward! Fight!!


With respect to our next travel plans I don't think we will be able to make VI before the early summer. (Already have our first booking for early June!) We intend to be in Vancouver over the 11th/12/th/13th of March for Cuffed, the first Vancouver International Crime Fiction Festival and Cora Lee will bus down at the end of February, for a few days, to attend her Book Club. At any rate, we certainly want to see you and John so will be in touch once we know a bit more about how we expect to organize such a visit. Of course, you are more than welcome to take the plunge, so to speak, and visit us. We can have a wine-tasting re-union, of sorts, in reverse, going north instead of south!

Must away, as I have to have a shower, to wash the sawdust out of my hair, before dinner. Lady Dar is baking a ham and Rosie-the-Riveter prepared her famous scalloped potatoes, one of my favourite dishes. Fondestos from Mme Coriandre, reading the paper in front of the crackling fire. Cheers, Patrizzio.PS: See below for account of Monday's hike.

Pics: Patio steps; Master Gardeners. Teens had to use a hammer and crowbar to remove the large stone at their feet. Dusty applying preservative to risers. We hung the stained glass window a few days ago. Newly transplanted Blue Spruce! Priceless pewter! 

Good-morning everyone!! Just saying Hello and letting everyone know I'm alive and well here in SantaBarbara and managed to hike to this Inspiration point overlooking The Pacific Ocean and Santa Barbara last Saturday!...Studio suite is complete and ready for tenants so looking forward to more leisure time on hikes and beaches!!..weather is in low 20's this week so warming up!! Hope everyone is staying warm and healthy!!! I sent them all as these were forwarded by Adelle and I don't know how to just select a couple!! Justice made it all the way to the top and he was just 5 last Dec.18 Presley will be 2 at the end of March Mima?? well let's just say she needs to do this more often to stay in shape!!!😃👍

INSPIRATION POINT

Remember Ghost - the Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze movie? Well this is like Ghost, except that the tragically deceased and much mourned Nina (Fiona O'Shaughnessy) isn't much like the soulful Swayze; rather, she turns up (and turns on) in bed when supermarket clerk Rob (Cian Barry) and his new girlfriend Holly (Abigail Hardingham) make love, oozing blood and demanding her piece of the pie. Perhaps surprisingly, after she gets over her initial shock, Holly determines to make the best of the situation, and an unusual menage-a-trois starts to develop...
This deliciously macabre Valentine from Britain's Blaine Brothers maybe sick and (literally) twisted, but it's also moving, funny and sexy as hell.
"Nina Forever is a superb horror movie in every respect... The Blaine brothers make the movie so much more than just a clever idea. It has the energy, tension and gore genre fans are likely looking for, but rather than spilling blood for the sake of spilling blood, the carnage actually facilitates character growth and enriches the story making Nina Forever a far more engaging and satisfying watch than most...” — Perri Nemiroff, Collider

Nina Forever