Jubilee Luncheon

God Save Our Gracious Queen

I got up early this morning to watch Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee flotilla on TV.  What a spectacle!  Such pageantry!  And can we please talk about the queen?  Eighty-six years old and she stood ramrod straight on a moving boat for over 3 hours.  In the rain.  I couldn't do that and I'm 30 years younger than she is.

The television announcer mentioned that there had been over 9,000 road closure permits given out to allow neighbours to host 'Jubilee Luncheons' throughout England today.  I am a big fan of the street party.

Alas it was too late to ask permission to close off Kingswood Road, but I said, "We could still have an indoor Jubilee Lunch."  Joe quickly ran to the grocery store for a few key ingredients, we made several sandwiches, and hauled out our Brown Betty.  We invited friends to join us and we were off to the races!

Is it wrong to serve French tea at an English Jubilee Luncheon?  
(Well, at least it was Earl Grey.)

Joe lovingly prepares the ubiquitous English cucumber sandwich.

Again, Joe with the loving hands.  Here he is peeling the stems of asparagus stalks before the boiling the crap outta them.

And you thought I couldn't cook!  My Auntie Isabel would be so proud of me rolling these asparagus and cream cheese sandwiches.

Thank goodness numerous relatives have given us their old teacups over the years!

Our table centrepiece: English rose 'Gertrude Jekyll' in a Stilton Cheese crock.

It takes measured skill to create a fascinator.  And to tie one's crown to one's head with dental floss.

  The Queen Mother was partial to drinking a gin and tonic every now and again.  And she lived to 101.  We drank a toast to her memory.

"To the Queen".

Sheesh...could we find a larger strainer for the tea?

Congratulations Queen Elizabeth on 60 years of service!  You are one amazing woman.

Good-Bye Papa

We said good-bye to Joe's grandfather today.  He was in his 102nd year of life.  He was a wonderful man.  A caring man.  A loving man.  

By the time I was a teenager, both my paternal and maternal grandparents were gone.  But when I married Joe, I had grandparents again.  They accepted me into their fold.  It felt warm and safe.

Papa was born in the summer of 1910.  He was born in a village in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  What changes he must have seen over the past century!  

Joe's grandparents were married for over 79 years.  SEVENTY-NINE YEARS!  

Theirs was a true love story.  In 1933, Papa's brother was seeing a very nice girl.  Papa said to him, "Does she have a sister?"  Well as a matter of fact, she did.  Papa and Omami had their first date on January 1, 1933 and were married on January 24, 1933.  The only reason they waited so long (23 whole days) to wed was because their banns needed to be read in church for 3 consecutive Sundays.

Papa treated his wife like a queen.

Soon after they married, two daughters were born.  Not long after that, Omami could sense the rumblings of war and she persuaded Papa to move their family to Canada.  They arrived in the New World with a few dollars in their pockets and hope in their hearts.

Papa and Omami settled in Vancouver.  Their daughters grew up, got married, had children.  The grandchildren grew up, got married, had children.  The great-grandchildren grew up.  Four fabulous generations.  

Papa lived a very long, very happy, very healthy life.  He only started to slow down well into his 101st year.  He passed away peacefully, surrounded by his devoted family.

He liked to say, "I am a lucky man."  

I was lucky enough to call him 'Papa'.

Good-bye Papa.  You will be missed.

Fifty-Three Days

It was recently pointed out to me that I hadn't posted anything on my blog since April 3rd.  Wow.  I guess since our renovation is (almost) done I figured there wasn't anything to write about.  So I went through my photos and picked out a few pictures that represented the past fifty-three days.

Joe and I celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary with a bottle of 2002 Dom Perignon champagne, a wedge of Stichelton blue cheese, foie gras, Spanish sardines and a few crackers.

We hosted my mom, sisters, brother-in-law and our kids for the Easter weekend.  Even when it is chilly, we force our guests to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air.  Such nature lovers.

Ever since our kids were small we've had an outdoor Easter egg hunt.  Now that our kids are in their twenties, nothing has changed in that department.

We celebrated my father-in-law's 77th birthday.

Will's 1980 Oldsmobile Royal Brougham was finally removed from our driveway.  The car was donated to the Kidney Foundation.

I met Molly in Vancouver for lunch one day.  We went to 'Nelson the Seagull' at 315 Carrall Street in Gastown.  Delicious, delicious sandwiches.  And great coffee.

My friend Donna held an art exhibit for her sister who is an accomplished painter.  I went to show my support for the arts.  (That's code language for I didn't buy anything.)

Joe and I attended two 'wine and food pairing' events here in Squamish.  The latest one was held at Kozo Sushi.  The food and wines were incredible.  Such good value!  We are looking forward to the next one in June.

We had the fam damily up to celebrate Mothers Day.  This time the weather was sunny and hot.  Again, we forced everyone to sit outside. We kindly passed around hats and sunscreen for our guests as they sat in the blazing sun.

Young love.

The family that plays together, stays together.

And THAT, my friends, is a small sampling of the past 53 days.  Fun, food, friends and family.  With a little mirth and merriment thrown in for good measure.

Fud and Pud Hang Some Pictures

I was talking to my youngest sister the other day about how to hang a group of pictures.  Chrissy is a devotee of Steven and Chris of 'Designer Guys' fame.  She told me what she has learned from faithfully watching their TV show.  It was excellent advice!  And I want to share it with you.

How To Hang A Group of Pictures in 10 Easy Steps:

Step #1
Get yourself some picture hanging tools!  The 'Hang and Level' can be bought at any old Home Depot or Canadian Tire store.  It takes the guess work out of where to hammer the nail.  And speaking of nails, don't!  Get the 'Monkey Hook' picture hangers.  They are super easy to use and work like a charm!

Step #2
Lay your grouping of pictures on a big sheet of paper on the floor.  Trace around the frames.  (I should have had a wider piece of paper as my pictures didn't quite fit.)

Step #3
In addition to tracing around your photos, add the extra step of putting down brightly coloured tape for a more visual cue.

Step #4
Remove the pictures from the large sheet of paper on the floor.  Now tape the paper to the wall where you want the pictures to hang.  Get your helper to use his level at least 432 times (both horizontally and vertically) to make sure it is perfectly level.  Move the paper around on the wall several times until it is exactly where you want the pictures to hang.  Insist that your helper use his level 12 more times.  Ask your helper "Is it level?" at one minute intervals.  Remind him of how you are about the Christmas tree being straight.  Ignore your helper's groans.

Step #5
Measure 57" from the floor.  The centre of every picture, or group of pictures, should be exactly 57" from the floor.  It is the perfect viewing height.  Oops!  We are off by a couple of inches.  Good thing we measured!

Step #6
Get your helper to position the first picture with the 'Hang and Level' tool.  Remove the picture.

Step #7
Push the button to make a small mark in the wall.  That is where to put the nail!

Step #8
Now hang the picture in the perfect spot!

Step #9

Repeat steps 5 through 8 until your group of pictures are perfectly hung on the wall.  And be pleased you haven't gotten divorced or murdered anyone in the process!

Step #10

Remove the sheet of paper.  Stand back and admire your handiwork!

Renovation Update:

The blinds have been installed in the TV room!

The drapes have been installed in the living room!  

No more bed sheet hanging in the window!  

(This picture does not do these drapes justice.  They are beautiful and we love them.)

Our computer is now tucked in under the stairs.

In Other News:

Daisy's favourite TV shows are about birds.

Spring has not yet sprung in Squamish.

Enjoy your Tuesday everyone!

Evolution of A Basement Room

Our kitchen renovation quickly turned into an upper floor reno, which then evolved into an 'entire house' renovation once we broke ground back in November.  I mean, seriously, were we going to have a fabulous kitchen (and dining room and living room and hallway and stairwell) with a hideous TV room in the basement?  I think not!  And besides, we figured if we were having the top floor of the house torn apart, why not have everything torn up at the same time?  Why wait?

The blinds have yet to be installed in the window and pictures need to be hung on the walls, but besides that the TV room is pretty much D-O-N-E!

Here is the evolution of our TV room......

January 8th

January 9th

January 11th

January 29th

January 29th

February 22nd

February 25th

February 29th

February 29th

When we decided to go ahead with this house renovation, I only had two requests.  I wanted a broom closet in the kitchen.  And I wanted a built-in bookshelf in the TV room.

March 1st

March 1st

March 1st

March 7th

I am absolutely THRILLED with the built-in bookshelf that Nathan Webb built for me.  My vision was to have my books and travel mementos all live together on the same set of shelves.

I am not much of a stylist.  In fact, I'm not a stylist AT ALL!  I looked at various websites for ideas as to how to tastefully incorporate lines of vertical books, stacks of horizontal books, and tchotchkes.

Books and reading are my life.

Once I got all of my books together, I culled 4 banana boxes of books and donated them to the Women's Centre.

I organized my novels into alphabetical order by author and piled the stacks of books from A-Z all around the room.  From there I placed them on the shelves, hoping they would all fit.  I put my reference books on one shelf, my gardening books on another, my travel books on yet another.  The books from my childhood were placed on the uppermost shelves.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the finished product:

March 22nd

March 22nd

I love my basement TV room.