Split Pea Slow Cooker Blues: Friday, February 12th!

I own that I cannot see as plainly as others do, and as I should wish to do, evidence of design and beneficence on all sides of us. There seems to me too much misery in the world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidae with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of caterpillars, or that a cat should play with mice. -Charles Darwin, naturalist and author (12 Feb 1809-1882) 

Good Morning Pat & Corinne - We hope you are enjoying Dusty & Clara’s visit.  We had hoped to come your way & see Tina & Trevor at Sun Peaks but both our cat sitters were fully booked and we just couldn’t leave Cimcky with only a daily pop-in for that long.  He’s just too attached to his human company.  We are doing a special dinner tomorrow night for 9 widows on the street.  I want to make a melt in your mouth shortbread to go with the lemon mousse for desert & see 2 styles of recipes.  Can Clara help me?  One version uses cornstarch and the other only butter, flour, icing sugar & a pinch of salt.  Which does Clara make?  Thank you, Francesca 

Hello Madroña Manor and Falcon Lake Fontainbleu! Hi Lurch! Pleased to hear from you but you just missed Rosie-the-Riveter at The Burns Street Gin, (Rum, as far as No Good Durston is concerned), Joint as they flew home on Wednesday! However, their return flights went well and after spending the night in Winnipeg, Giorgio drove them back to Falcon. As you can tell, from address line above, Clarisse is very much plugged in, [iPad Great-grandmother!], so you can contact her directly of call at: 1-604-349-2634.
 
Unfortunately, Rosita did nothing but read although she kept a pretty good fire burning while Dusty and I slaved over garage shelving and patio stairs! This morning I made my first attempt at making soup, slit pea and ham, in the new slow cooker, a lovely gift, this stay, from Rosita and Coat-Hanger, as the former felt guilty about not cooking! I found an easy recipe on the Net and used up all the bits and pieces of vegetable we had, in the crisper, as well as called for ingredients. 

Looking forward to tasting the results. Should be ready just before we head to the cinema to see Hail, Caesar, the latest by the Coen Brothers, at 4:30 pm. Lady Dar has already printed out our tickets and we have our "regular seats". She'll have to leave around 2:00 pm as it will take her that long to hobble to the theatre!!! Cheers, Patrizzio!

Dad, do you think i should increase my insurance decuctible from $500 to $1000 and save $70 a year on my premium? xx

Hello Ms Airbnb! Your Mama told me about your latest entrepreneurial endeavour last night. While I applaud your initiative, I think you need to ask the insurance company what the implications are/might be for such rentals before you make any change to deductible. [Is this different from "decuctible"?]

I would suspect that the insurance will go up under the circumstances so you need to find out, quickly, as if something happens, when rented, and place is not covered, catastrophe! Nevertheless, saving $70/year is hardly worth jump in deductible, even if all else stays the same, so I would urge against. Looking forward to our slice of the Airbnb pie! Much love, Dad!

I meet you in Summerland looking for your hiking group. I showed an interest and you gave me your card, the phone isn't good now, so I thought I would email.You had said it wasn't the Penticton group,so I am interested in a contact, Thanks. Larry 

Hi Larry! I was wondering if I'd ever hear from you. Sorry about phone info on my card but that was our Vancouver number, as I think I mentioned. Nevertheless, you can reach me at this number. The group alternates between hiking out of Penticton and Summerland. During the winter we meet at 9:00 am at the IGA parking lot in Summerland or at the Home Hardware lot in Penticton. Depending on where the hike will be, people usually car-pool, meeting at 8:40 in Penticton, if hike is out of Summerland, and vice-versa if hike is out of Penticton. This week, I believe hike will be out of Summerland as this past Monday it was out of Penticton, near OK Falls. 

I have included Al Tinka's and Pam Krannitz's email addresses as one or the other usually sends out a message alerting group to coming hike. If you are interested in joining, ask to be placed on the mailing list and then you will receive notification each week. It is simply up to you to show up, at appointed time/place if you wish to go on a given hike. There is also a snow-shoe hike on Thursdays so you can ask about that if you are interested in this activity. Give me a shout or another email if you have further questions. Look forward to seeing you, at some point. Cheers, Patrizzio!  

Hi again, Larry! Here is an account and pictures from this past Monday's hike, to give you some idea of the group and outing. Cheers, Patrizzio! Hi, once more, Larry! This will give you some idea of snow-shoe outing. I have yet to join this group but hope to do so. Cheers, Patrizzio!  

Hi Giggster, and The Sisterhood! Quite surprised that I wasn't castigated for any "Gongorisms" in your last email. I imagine you are so overwhelmed with the twenty year plan that you are not operating in your normal, critical, editorial mode. This being the case, I have taken the liberty of booking you in  for a year's worth of therapy, with Agneta, in Guayabitos. You will fly directly to Puerto Vallarta, from Penticton, after you spend time here with us in March. Only drawback is that you might require ten years of shock therapy after your forced confinement with Agneta The Dominatrix!
 

We were planning to leave Vancouver on Monday morning so just let us know your schedule and we can caravan, you and I and Morita-San in lead car, The Sisterhood, towed, crack-the-whip-style, on roller skates, behind! Fondestos from cane-wielding, ice-pick toting, overly demanding krankoid. Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics: Slow cooker magic and rain barrel at front of house. 

Hi Pat Great that you are visiting us in March . We look forward to seeing you and Corinne Friday pm sometime. I hear that the tournament has received good fan support, so will be a fun weekend. I like your idea of bridge and pot luck dinner with the Keatings on the Saturday evening so will leave you to arrange.
 
I have spent most of this week putting drops in my eyes, , and both eyes feel good and now I have to get used to being "specless" for the future. I see the doc for the last time next Tuesday and hope that he gives my eyes a clean bill of health. 

Horrible rainy weather here this week so have not missed much golfing activity.
You are correct that we seem to have a constant flow of children to babysit , but Polly takes it all in stride and enjoys being mum again , I grumble and complain about their poor behaviour, but go largely unnoticed.
 
I don't know whether I told you but Davey and Michelle are expecting their first child in June, another baby boy, so Charlie will have a friend.
Look forward to seeing you both in March and catching up on all your news.
Mick PS not sure why this is in such a small font!!!

Hi Grumpy, (on the outside, ultra-softy on in the inside), Gramps and Picture Perfect Grandmother! Yes, you did mention next baby boy so congratulations to Michelle and Davey! Quite surprised, Former Coke-Bottle Mick, that you don't have X-ray vision by now! Will make reading the oppositions' bridge hands much easier when you do! Looking forward to playing over the course of the weekend. The only session I plan to attend, at Cuffed, is at 8:00 pm on Friday so we will probably "move in" once we hit Vancouver. (I only have a small knapsack but Lady Darjeeling is travelling with twelve steamer trunks!) Venue is at Performance Works, on GI, so we'll probably head down there, a tad earlier.
 

I see, from the Canada Sevens web page that 8:00 pm is latest match on Saturday, 7:30 pm on Sunday. If we do play bridge, Sunday would probably be best. The Sisterhood could visit until rest of us arrive. I'll suggest this to Ted and Elaine. If you think this might just be too, too much activity, let me know and we'll plan accordingly. However, it doesn't have to be a very late night in any event and after all we don't usually go to bed until 9:00pm!!! Cheers, Il Conduttore!
 

Just after 4:10 pm I chauffeured Lady Dar to the cinema and dropped her off inside. I found our "regular" parking spot on the street and walked back, a little less than a block. She was patiently waiting, near the door, supported by her fashionable cane, and we were soon inside Theatre 5, ensconced in our favourite seats, first row up from the aisle, so nobody in front to block our view.
We were there to see Hail, Caesar, the latest from the Coen Brothers, and I enjoyed it immensely, Lady Dar not quite as much. Of the few reviews I read after seeing the film, this is the one that captures much of what I felt. By Peter Travers, The Archives Issue 1255, February 4, 2016: 

Hail, Caesar! is set in 1951 Hollywood, when studios turned out movies on an assembly line that sometimes, often accidentally, produced art. The irony is that making movies is often easier than keeping the talent in line. That task falls to Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), a studio fixer who can't let the gossips – the brilliant Tilda Swinton plays two of them – know which star is secretly cheating or pregnant or gay or crazy or a Commie bastard.

Hail, Caesar! is basically a day in the life of this studio cop, whose job is his religion. And Brolin, in a heart-and-soul performance, takes this crazy quilt of a movie about a man surrounded by nut jobs and plays it for real. He's just tremendous.
 

"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned" are the first words we hear from Mannix, a married Catholic who exasperates his priest in Confession by asking forgiveness on an almost daily basis. On his own, Eddie is an insecure mess. Prowling the studio, he's a scary lion.
He has to be. Working for Capitol Pictures makes this ex-bouncer an executive baby-sitter. And what babies. Scarlett Johansson is a treat as the studio's swim-star sweetheart (think Esther Williams) with a mouth like a gun moll. Channing Tatum is a knockout as a song-and-dance man (think Gene Kelly) with a political agenda. Tatum so nails his joyous tap routine with a chorus of sailors that you long to see a musical built around him.

And cheers to the terrific Alden Ehrenreich as the studio's cowboy star (think Roy Rogers), a drawling rube who is forced to star as an urban sophisticate, a role for which he is unforgettably unsuited. It's howlingly funny to watch a vexed Brit director (a priceless Ralph Fiennes) guide him through countless takes of the line "Would that it 'twere so simple." The scene is one for the comedy time capsule.

You don't really notice a plot until the studio's star of stars, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), gets kidnapped during production of a biblical epic called Hail, Caesar! Clooney has a blast adding Whitlock to the series of idiots he's played for the Coens (O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Intolerable Cruelty). It's blasphemous fun watching him blow his lines in a cathartic scene with a crucified Christ.
 

Whitlock takes nothing seriously, not even being a hostage. That's why Mannix roughs him up hard. Trying to stay moral in this Hollywood Babylon, Mannix wrestles with a cosmic question: Should he put his faith in the God of Job or the unseen studio deity who phones in his commandments?
Mannix sweats it. Maybe the Coens do too. But their film never loses its exhilarating buoyancy. The Coens love these debauched children and the genre films they turn out with such batshit glee. Cinematographer Roger Deakins, production designer Jess Gonchor and costume designer Mary Zophres create visual bliss. Hail, Caesar! is a valentine to on-the-fly filmmaking, from two control freaks. And everything, nihilistic despair included, works like a charm. It's not easy to whip up a fizzy throwaway that's also a serious pleasure. Would that it 'twere so simple. Yet the Coens pull it off in style. They're indispensable.

Well I've had a few days to reflect on Mom and Dad's visit and the state of their physical and mental health. There is certainly no doubt that they have slowed down which is normal for their ages. Mom is still very sharp and more able to be up doing things. Dad does physical things but really suffers for it. His breathing is laboured and he is often puffing.

Dad's drinking was out of hand at the beginning and then after an episode of yelling in a restaurant he cut down and didn't drink for a few days and then started having an ounce of rum around 4-5 o'clock which seem to be ok.He does however get annoyed very quickly even when he is not drinking and often yells at mom especially after she has been nagging him. Mom is not hearing well at all which of course doesn't help. She is getting new hearing aids.

I think they are ready to choose a place in Winnipeg to live but not ready to sell the cottage. They want to be able to be there should they wish. Mom does not feel they need a 2 tiered seniors residence as she feels if dad needs more care he would go to Deer Lodge and it would be paid for by Veterans Affairs. Don't know how dad

feels. He is definitely mentally deteriorating. He is repeating constantly and is often just looking into space or napping. He is still able to do a project and his skills are so natural to him that he can draw plans, project building needs and advise on what to do. He needs to be busy as that is when he is most happy but not too busy as he tires easily.

I'm probably not telling you anything new but felt that I should let you know my observations. We plan to come out to Manitoba this summer and would be happy to help with de-cluttering anyway we can. I understand that dad has started doing that. They still plan to replace the floors so life goes on.
 

I think we should encourage them to find a place in Winnipeg where they will be comfortable. It was hard to say goodbye this time and Dad seemed so changed.
 

However I should say the he and Patrick beat us in bridge over the course of the visit. Love you all, Corinne