overcast, cool. windy, temps minus 5
Michael and I went out for breakfast - to Knowlton. To one of our favorite restaurants in the area...Cafe Floral. And heard the fabulous news that one of the owners, Janet, had been named a Woman of the Year in our area! And...wait for it....another one who'll be honoured as Woman of the Year on International Women's Day in march is...Lucy!!! From Brome Lake Books. Lucy McAuley. Some of you might have been in touch with her when ordering the Vive Gamache mugs - so you know how great Lucy and Danny are.
We are so proud of both of them...imagine we know two of the women honoured! This also hard on the heels of Brome Lake Books being named the Bookstore of the Month in Canada!!! they're on a roll - and deserve to be.
Congratulations to Janet and Lucy.
Am watching the torch relay through Vancouver. Lovely. But terrible news about the fatal luge accident. I was extremely surprised that CTV, the official Canadian host of the Olympics, showed the accident. It was clear to Michael and me, and I suspect anyone watching that we'd just witnessed a fatal accident. No one could survive that. Then they replayed it.
Even CNN, reporting just now, chose not to show the video it was too horrific. They might change their minds - but I think that's the right decision.
My Assistant Lise came by today for a meeting here at World Headquarters. She's working on designing and ordering Three Pines book plates, and those special perpetual calendars that are for birthdays and special anniversaries...that are not year specific, but remind you year after year that your anniversary is Feb 12th.
Oh oh.
Lise is putting all that together, so basically she comes by, tells us all the things she's done while we roasted on the beach, we hug and kiss her and say, "Yes, Lise - please never leave us."
Will be watching the Olympic opening ceremonies tonight.
Showing posts with label Janet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Janet. Show all posts
Friday, 12 February 2010
Monday, 9 November 2009
Common ground
mainly sunny, cooler, temps 6
Chilly day, but very nice for walking. had breakfast at home - fruit and a piece of toast...and coffee of course. Then answered some emails. Very odd being here...feels like we've been flung five hours ahead of the 'rest' of the world. So used to being on Eastern Time - not UK time. Most of the people - friends, family, work - are in Canada or US. So they don't start stirring until after lunch here in London. But we get emails well into the night. So i wake up to quite a few.
After breakfast and emails we wandered down to sister Carol's place just off Sloane Square. Her husband is David Lloyd-Jones, an opera conductor. he helped establish Opera North and does a lot of recordings now. And writing. I remember the first time I met him, 15 years ago now. I'd heard so much about him, and of course I'm a complete opera dolt. Been to a few when i lived in Winnipeg and a lovely friend there - janet ringer - decided it was time this heathen was educated. So she took me to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Symphony and the Opera. And it was thrilling. There were times I sat in my seat next to janet and felt my heart leave my chest and soar around the concert hall. sometimes it was on unexpectedly hearing music I knew...sometimes, like with Saint Saens organ concerto or Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, it was hearing stunning music for the very first time and falling in love. Janet has a great deal of tolerance. She hated smoking and I was a smoker at the time...and not just a smoker, but I smoked between courses. We'd go out for dinners before the concerts and she's have to suffer through me puffing away. I cringe now when I think how selfish that was. And how kind she was to tolerate it...and to introduce me to such amazing music. And performances. Some of the ballet left me speechless. Some - it must be said - left me snoozing. Indeed, I never did 'get' opera...though another wonderful friend in Winnipeg - Pat - adores it.
So when it came time to meet the famous David Lloyd-Jones I was quaking. I'd also heard he was quite formidable. And sure enough, we got off the train and he was there to meet us. Over six foot tall, athletic build, and a full head of dramatic white hair.
He was far too gracious to ever treat me like a moron...and I am not a moron, but it seemed everything he is passionate and knowledgeable about I know nothing about. Most of the names he said meant absolutely nothing to me. and so for ten years I smiled and nodded and buried my face in the canape tray. He must have thought, on top of being slightly idiotic, that I had an eating disorder. or at least a fascination with things on crackers.
And then, one visit, we were staying with them in their country home and loe and behold - David loves roses. And I love roses. And grow them at home. And suddenly he and I are burning bracken and comparing notes on old garden roses, on hardiness, on blights. And now we hardly ever speak about roses, but I suddenly see him as human and he sees me as human too.
Common ground. What a blessing to find.
So off we went to visit them and see how Carol is doing after her operation. She looks and moved a lot better than when I saw her last week. that's a relief...though she still has a bit of a way to go. The good news is, she can feel the improvements everyday.
Then home in time to meet Erika for lunch. She took us down Walton street to a new restaurant...small, crowded, vibrant. Very alive. And terrific food. Then she took us on a whirlwind spin around the neighborhood, showing us the best, hidden, restaurants. and some not hidden at all. Part of the problem in London - like paris or New York or any great city, is an embarrassment of riches. How to choose? And how do we know which ones are really good and which are just not worth the considerable amount of money for a meal? Happily, Erika has very definite opinions and we're happy to believe her. So now we have scouted out two Oyster bars and a sushi place. Yum.
tomorrow I'm hoping for a quiet day to write and edit. Dinner Wednesday night with Mike and Dom. Mike works at the Guardian and they are announcing quite large layoffs Wednesday...tense time. If you're among those cut you feel sick and frightened...if you survive you're relieved, but feel guilty. Still - better to survive. Mike is a fabulous journalist and a natural leader - I'd hope that would be enough to keep him on...but who knows how these things are decided?
So there you have it...another day in London-town. Cor.
Chilly day, but very nice for walking. had breakfast at home - fruit and a piece of toast...and coffee of course. Then answered some emails. Very odd being here...feels like we've been flung five hours ahead of the 'rest' of the world. So used to being on Eastern Time - not UK time. Most of the people - friends, family, work - are in Canada or US. So they don't start stirring until after lunch here in London. But we get emails well into the night. So i wake up to quite a few.
After breakfast and emails we wandered down to sister Carol's place just off Sloane Square. Her husband is David Lloyd-Jones, an opera conductor. he helped establish Opera North and does a lot of recordings now. And writing. I remember the first time I met him, 15 years ago now. I'd heard so much about him, and of course I'm a complete opera dolt. Been to a few when i lived in Winnipeg and a lovely friend there - janet ringer - decided it was time this heathen was educated. So she took me to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Symphony and the Opera. And it was thrilling. There were times I sat in my seat next to janet and felt my heart leave my chest and soar around the concert hall. sometimes it was on unexpectedly hearing music I knew...sometimes, like with Saint Saens organ concerto or Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, it was hearing stunning music for the very first time and falling in love. Janet has a great deal of tolerance. She hated smoking and I was a smoker at the time...and not just a smoker, but I smoked between courses. We'd go out for dinners before the concerts and she's have to suffer through me puffing away. I cringe now when I think how selfish that was. And how kind she was to tolerate it...and to introduce me to such amazing music. And performances. Some of the ballet left me speechless. Some - it must be said - left me snoozing. Indeed, I never did 'get' opera...though another wonderful friend in Winnipeg - Pat - adores it.
So when it came time to meet the famous David Lloyd-Jones I was quaking. I'd also heard he was quite formidable. And sure enough, we got off the train and he was there to meet us. Over six foot tall, athletic build, and a full head of dramatic white hair.
He was far too gracious to ever treat me like a moron...and I am not a moron, but it seemed everything he is passionate and knowledgeable about I know nothing about. Most of the names he said meant absolutely nothing to me. and so for ten years I smiled and nodded and buried my face in the canape tray. He must have thought, on top of being slightly idiotic, that I had an eating disorder. or at least a fascination with things on crackers.
And then, one visit, we were staying with them in their country home and loe and behold - David loves roses. And I love roses. And grow them at home. And suddenly he and I are burning bracken and comparing notes on old garden roses, on hardiness, on blights. And now we hardly ever speak about roses, but I suddenly see him as human and he sees me as human too.
Common ground. What a blessing to find.
So off we went to visit them and see how Carol is doing after her operation. She looks and moved a lot better than when I saw her last week. that's a relief...though she still has a bit of a way to go. The good news is, she can feel the improvements everyday.
Then home in time to meet Erika for lunch. She took us down Walton street to a new restaurant...small, crowded, vibrant. Very alive. And terrific food. Then she took us on a whirlwind spin around the neighborhood, showing us the best, hidden, restaurants. and some not hidden at all. Part of the problem in London - like paris or New York or any great city, is an embarrassment of riches. How to choose? And how do we know which ones are really good and which are just not worth the considerable amount of money for a meal? Happily, Erika has very definite opinions and we're happy to believe her. So now we have scouted out two Oyster bars and a sushi place. Yum.
tomorrow I'm hoping for a quiet day to write and edit. Dinner Wednesday night with Mike and Dom. Mike works at the Guardian and they are announcing quite large layoffs Wednesday...tense time. If you're among those cut you feel sick and frightened...if you survive you're relieved, but feel guilty. Still - better to survive. Mike is a fabulous journalist and a natural leader - I'd hope that would be enough to keep him on...but who knows how these things are decided?
So there you have it...another day in London-town. Cor.
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Pathetic Fallacy
sunny, rainy, cloudy, cool...where is summer??? temps 18
A mixed day, like the weather. Great day editing...and lots of other things getting done too. Long day. Started at 9am, and now 9pm and just finishing. But better than wondering what to do with my days! I dream of going on a cruise. The Queen Mary 2...through the Panama Canal. In the Queens Grills suites of course.
This would kill Michael. Not only the expense but being stuck on a boat for 2 weeks with nothing to do. He's not the ballroom dancing type. Actually, neither am I. And my fear with cruises is that we'll be stuck with a bunch of people who bore us to tears. I can smile and chat and pretend for a couple of nights, after that better wear your life vest.
But for me I love the thought of enforced relaxation. Nothing to do but eat, read, get sp treatments, watch the world go by.
We're actually considering a vacation this winter in Sanibel, Florida. But I suspect we'll stay home by the fire and relax. Not a bad option either! But I love to dream...do virtual vacations. In fact, I have a couple of scenes in Bury Your Dead where Clara, Myrna and Gabri are going on virtual vacations, but Peter can't quite let himself 'go'.
I think dreaming is a fine quality, and I plan to be doing it quite soon.
On the down side, found out a friend in Winnipeg has cancer...she'd been operated on 10 days ago and we were all awaiting the pathologists report. It came in yesterday and she wrote today. Ugh.
Was talking to someone else today who was also saying she has so many friends now with cancer. I feel at times like a soldier on a battlefield, seeing others hit, at random.
Got in touch with my friend, and she'll have chemo and radiation...and I'm sure by the time her hair grows bad the cancer won't.
But so hard for her. And for those who love her.
A mixed day, like the weather. Great day editing...and lots of other things getting done too. Long day. Started at 9am, and now 9pm and just finishing. But better than wondering what to do with my days! I dream of going on a cruise. The Queen Mary 2...through the Panama Canal. In the Queens Grills suites of course.
This would kill Michael. Not only the expense but being stuck on a boat for 2 weeks with nothing to do. He's not the ballroom dancing type. Actually, neither am I. And my fear with cruises is that we'll be stuck with a bunch of people who bore us to tears. I can smile and chat and pretend for a couple of nights, after that better wear your life vest.
But for me I love the thought of enforced relaxation. Nothing to do but eat, read, get sp treatments, watch the world go by.
We're actually considering a vacation this winter in Sanibel, Florida. But I suspect we'll stay home by the fire and relax. Not a bad option either! But I love to dream...do virtual vacations. In fact, I have a couple of scenes in Bury Your Dead where Clara, Myrna and Gabri are going on virtual vacations, but Peter can't quite let himself 'go'.
I think dreaming is a fine quality, and I plan to be doing it quite soon.
On the down side, found out a friend in Winnipeg has cancer...she'd been operated on 10 days ago and we were all awaiting the pathologists report. It came in yesterday and she wrote today. Ugh.
Was talking to someone else today who was also saying she has so many friends now with cancer. I feel at times like a soldier on a battlefield, seeing others hit, at random.
Got in touch with my friend, and she'll have chemo and radiation...and I'm sure by the time her hair grows bad the cancer won't.
But so hard for her. And for those who love her.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)