Letters to Juliet

While this is a Harlequin Romance type movie that is entirely predictable, the beautiful Italian settings makes this a perfectly acceptable way to spend a summer evening.  Vanessa Redgrave portrays a grandmother going back to find the love of her life after fifty years.

This is really a made-for-TV movie.  Except for Redgrave, the acting is not particularly strong.  The plot a little contrived.   Everyone is a little too beautiful.

It does make you want to visit Italy though.

Deck Trees and Garden June 1st

All twelve of my cedar trees/shrubs survived the winter.  Last fall, I purchased and transplanted these trees to form a screen from my neighbours.   As they were end-of-season cast-offs, I was not entirely sure if many of them would survive.   Luckily, all of them are showing some new growth.  It even looks as if the smallest ones (the three yellow ones in the top row) need transplanting again.

Unfortunately my garden plot is not doing so well.  We have had a cold and wet Spring.  I have just replanted squash, cucumbers and zucchini seed after my transplants withered.  So far this year, I have had only a few radish, some rhubarb and chives.   My beets tops are almost ready to thin and eat.  I do have lots of garlic and spinach but have not been eating either lately. 

And, my six year old, well worn camera seems to be giving up the ghost.  I can't seem to get rid of the pink tinge at the top of my photographs lately.

Salmon Berries

This is a photo of the Salmonberry blossom. In very short order these flowers become berries.

I notice the salmon berries are ripe now. These are usually the first berries to ripen around here. While they are not as flavourful as raspberries, they are usually available about two weeks before our garden variety raspberries.

I haven't picked any yet as they grow wild and I am waiting for some company to help me. I don't want to compete with the local bears. If there are two or three of us, hopefully we can make enough noise to keep the bears away.

NINE

The Production Nine at Presentation Theatre on Granville Island was highly entertaining - it is unfortunate that it closes today - last performance at 7 p.m. tonight.

This musical about Victor Contini's mid life crisis was on Broadway in 1982 and ran for 729 performances. The latest film version released in 2009, starred Daniel Day-Lewis, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren and Kate Hudson to name just a few of the stars.

In the Vancouver production, twenty three women and one man give us everything - amazing dance numbers, great singing and a story you will remember.

Now I need to rent the film version so that I can compare the two.

Letter Writing

I wonder how many bloggers were avid letter writers in the past. I know I was.

For years, if I was home on Sunday, I wrote my weekly letter to my parents and then answered the letters that I had received that week from friends, family and acquaintances. If this didn't happen on Sunday, I pushed to get all my correspondence written and in the mail by Tuesday night.

And, I loved receiving mail. For a long time, I got far more mail without windows. Now, unfortunately most of my mail is either window mail or junk mail. And now, for some reason, I am terrible at responding to the few letters I do receive. I seem to have lost the knack.

Unknown Great Canadians

This man, at the ripe old age of eighty-five years, held the following jobs all at the same time, in Canada, in 1905:

- Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company

- President of the Bank of Montreal

- Director and Executive Committee Member of the CPR

- President of Royal Trust

- Canada's High Commissioner to Britain

- Chairman of Burmah Oil and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company

He ran the HBC, a railway, a bank and a trust company, and a couple of oil companies all while holding a high position in government.

This was Sir Donald Alexander Smith who was born in 1820 in Scotland, arrived in Canada 1838, and died in 1914 at the age of 94 in London, England. Most people remember him for driving the last spike at Craigellachie.

I have just started reading Peter C. Neuman's Merchant Princes and have discovered this intriguing character from our past and will tell you some more about him in the next few days.

It has me thinking again about retirement and the work ethic. Here is a role model to consider.

Decisions, Decisions

Our doubts are traitors,

And make us lose the good we oft might win.

By fearing to attempt.

William Shakespeare, "Measure for Measure", Act 1 scene 4 ...

On one hand, we are encouraged to trust our gut. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it.

On the other hand, we may be missing out on opportunities just because we have doubts - about timing, about value, about the future.

A number of decisions lately have not been black and white and my tendency is to do nothing. I used to be good at making decisions, even if some weren't the best ones. Overall, I was willing to take some chances, or at least a few leaps of faith. And, most

of the time, everything turned out o.k.

Lately, I have been trying to decide whether to look for a new car or stick with my old car; take a major vacation now when the dollar is good or in a year or so when it may be much more convenient, redecorate my condo (remove old carpet, paint, etc.) or wait awhile.

Dragging my feet on redecorating this past year means I have lost out on possible tax credits for this. Dragging my feet on my car might mean major repairs down the road.

I don't even know which should be a priority, if any.