We went to the cinema last Sunday afternoon to see “Julie and Julia”. The story in a nutshell is that a modern young woman, a writer by inclination and training working in a dead end job, is encouraged by her husband to take on the project of cooking all the recipes in Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” (524 recipes in 365 days) and blog about the experience. Running concurrently is the story of how Julia Child became Julia Child.
Meryl Streep as Julia Child is flawless. She presents Julia’s fearless enthusiasm with such panache, you’d swear she was Julia. Julia’s experience at the Cordon Bleu Paris School of Cooking (my alma mater, so to speak) was spot on with endless hours of chopping, slicing, dicing, julienning, and cisler-ing. It was also a wonderful picture of post-war social mores (wives didn’t work and mostly took hat making courses to fill the empty hours) and how perfectly boring it was for Julia who had worked in some undisclosed capacity with the OSS (in China) during the war. I don’t know where they found all the short actors, but Meryl looked every inch the six foot two that Julia commanded.
Stanley Tucci as her husband was a man ahead of his time. He encouraged Julia to pursue her dream and as Julia’s husband loved her to distraction. They must have been a formidable couple.
Julie undertakes an impossible task, especially in light of the tiny Pullman kitchen she was working in. Although she becomes somewhat obsessed with the 524 recipes in 365 days, she perseveres and accomplishes her goal.
Julie and Julia never meet or talk to each other.
We enjoyed the film and felt it a worthwhile excursion.
Harvey
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Locavoring
For the last two weeks I've been helping myself to blueberries on various rocky outcrops. We didn't have the right combination of rain and sun to get a great crop like last year, but I've enjoyed fresh berries every morning with my cereal and put a few litres in the freezer, as well as baking muffins and blueberry lemon loaf.
Harvested a small crop of gooseberries from by bush in the front yard. Still have to figure out what to do with those.
And we are enjoying our weekly supply of fresh organic vegetables from Chestnut Farm, which now includes new potatoes in addition to carrots, turnips, beets and assorted greens.
Wendy
Harvested a small crop of gooseberries from by bush in the front yard. Still have to figure out what to do with those.
And we are enjoying our weekly supply of fresh organic vegetables from Chestnut Farm, which now includes new potatoes in addition to carrots, turnips, beets and assorted greens.
Wendy
Monday, August 3, 2009
Duck Pond Beach Labyrinth
The completed labyrinth
Walking in the same footprints out
Here’s the description of our Bay of Fundy creation for the Victoria and Albert Museum World Beach Project, open to anyone, anywhere, of any age. Building on the universal experience of making patterns on beaches and shorelines, the opportunity is to make a creation of stones and then submit your photos to the project site. For more information go to http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/textiles/lawty.world_beach/
Where
Duck Pond Beach, looking toward Split Rock. Near St Martins, New Brunswick, Canada, on the spectacular shore of the Bay of Fundy. The tides on the Bay are the highest in the world, fluctuating by up to 30 feet.
When
Sunday, August 2, 2009
A perfect summer day, after more than our share of rain and fog.
This work was created about 2 hours before low tide, on a portion of the beach where the sand is hard packed by the tide.
Who
Created by Dale Peters, Lynn Wigginton, Harvey Smith, Wendy Martindale, accompanied (but not assisted) by Comet the border collie x, all of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
Photographs by Dale, rock selection by Lynn, Harvey and Dale, design by Wendy, chocolate sustenance by Harvey
What
A simple stone labyrinth, created with a single line “drawn” in hard packed sand and outlined with rock from above the normal tide line. The rocks here are wonderfully varied and colourful; this region of New Brunswick has a complex and diverse geological history which has attracted study since the 1800s.
A large rock already well embedded in the sand was used as the stepping off point. Pieces of driftwood were incorporated at the entrance and central point of the labyrinth. The pathway enclosed by rocks was given texture with a driftwood branch.
After completion of the labyrinth, it was energized by walking around its exterior several times. Then, each in turn, we entered the labyrinth, journeying to its centre and back. On our first journey, we agreed to place our feet in the footsteps of those who had preceded us. We then experienced sharing the labyrinth journey by entering it one after another and negotiating our passage through it.
Why
The labyrinth is a metaphor for a journey. Although often confused with a maze, which may have many possible paths with some meant to confuse, in a labyrinth there is only one path to the centre and back.
Examples of labyrinths appear in many cultures, in a variety of forms and media. They are often constructed on the ground so that they can be walked, in group rituals or for private meditation. The earliest representations known are from the Greeks. Medieval labyrinths in the 12th and 13th century were incorporated in the floors of large Gothic cathedrals, with Chartres perhaps the best known example. Walking these labyrinths is thought to have been an alternate to a pilgrimage for those not able to travel to holy sites and lands. Turf mazes were constructed in ancient Britain and stone in Scandinavia, the latter often by fishing communities.
There has been a resurgence of interest in the labyrinth symbol, with one pioneering example at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. The Wikipedia entry for labyrinths provides a good starting point for more information, including reading references and directories to labyrinths.
Wendy
Why
The labyrinth is a metaphor for a journey. Although often confused with a maze, which may have many possible paths with some meant to confuse, in a labyrinth there is only one path to the centre and back.
Examples of labyrinths appear in many cultures, in a variety of forms and media. They are often constructed on the ground so that they can be walked, in group rituals or for private meditation. The earliest representations known are from the Greeks. Medieval labyrinths in the 12th and 13th century were incorporated in the floors of large gothic cathedrals, with Chartres perhaps the best known example. Walking these labyrinths is thought to have been an alternate to a pilgrimage for those not able to travel to holy sites and lands. Turf mazes were constructed in ancient Britain and stone in Scandinavia, the latter often by fishing communities.
There has been a resurgence of interest in the labyrinth symbol, with one pioneering example at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. The Wikipedia entry for labyrinths provides a good starting point for more information, including reading references and directories to labyrinths.
Here’s the description of our Bay of Fundy creation for the Victoria and Albert Museum World Beach Project, open to anyone, anywhere, of any age. Building on the universal experience of making patterns on beaches and shorelines, the opportunity is make a creation of stones and then submit your photos to the project site. For more information go to http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/textiles/lawty.world_beach/
Where
Duck Pond Beach, looking toward Split Rock. Near St Martins, New Brunswick, Canada, on the spectacular shore of the Bay of Fundy. The tides on the Bay are the highest in the world, fluctuating by up to 30 feet.
When
Sunday, August 2, 2009
A perfect summer day, after more than our share of rain and fog.
This work was created about 2 hours before low tide, on a portion of the beach where the sand is hard packed by the tide.
Who
Dale Peters, Lynn Wigginton, Harvey Smith, Wendy Martindale, accompanied (but not assisted) by Comet the border collie x, all of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
Photographs by Dale, rock selection by Lynn, Harvey and Dale, design by Wendy
What
A simple stone labyrinth, created with a single line “drawn” in hard packed sand and outlined with rock from above the normal tide line. The rocks here are wonderfully varied and colourful; this region of New Brunswick has a complex and diverse geological history which has attracted study since the 1800s.
A large rock well embedded in the sand was used as the stepping off point. Pieces of driftwood were incorporated at the entrance and central point of the labyrinth. The pathway enclosed by rocks was given texture with a driftwood branch.
After completion of the labyrinth, it was energized by walking around its exterior several times. Then, each in turn, we entered the labyrinth, journeying to its centre and back. On our first journey, we agreed to place our feet in the footsteps of those who had preceded us. We then experienced sharing the labyrinth journey by entering it one after another and negotiating our passage through it.
Where
Duck Pond Beach, looking toward Split Rock. Near St Martins, New Brunswick, Canada, on the spectacular shore of the Bay of Fundy. The tides on the Bay are the highest in the world, fluctuating by up to 30 feet.
When
Sunday, August 2, 2009
A perfect summer day, after more than our share of rain and fog.
This work was created about 2 hours before low tide, on a portion of the beach where the sand is hard packed by the tide.
Who
Dale Peters, Lynn Wigginton, Harvey Smith, Wendy Martindale, accompanied (but not assisted) by Comet the border collie x, all of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
Photographs by Dale, rock selection by Lynn, Harvey and Dale, design by Wendy
What
A simple stone labyrinth, created with a single line “drawn” in hard packed sand and outlined with rock from above the normal tide line. The rocks here are wonderfully varied and colourful; this region of New Brunswick has a complex and diverse geological history which has attracted study since the 1800s.
A large rock well embedded in the sand was used as the stepping off point. Pieces of driftwood were incorporated at the entrance and central point of the labyrinth. The pathway enclosed by rocks was given texture with a driftwood branch.
After completion of the labyrinth, it was energized by walking around its exterior several times. Then, each in turn, we entered the labyrinth, journeying to its centre and back. On our first journey, we agreed to place our feet in the footsteps of those who had preceded us. We then experienced sharing the labyrinth journey by entering it one after another and negotiating our passage through it.
Why
The labyrinth is a metaphor for a journey. Although often confused with a maze, which may have many possible paths with some meant to confuse, in a labyrinth there is only one path to the centre and back.
Examples of labyrinths appear in many cultures, in a variety of forms and media. They are often constructed on the ground so that they can be walked, in group rituals or for private meditation. The earliest representations known are from the Greeks. Medieval labyrinths in the 12th and 13th century were incorporated in the floors of large gothic cathedrals, with Chartres perhaps the best known example. Walking these labyrinths is thought to have been an alternate to a pilgrimage for those not able to travel to holy sites and lands. Turf mazes were constructed in ancient Britain and stone in Scandinavia, the latter often by fishing communities.
There has been a resurgence of interest in the labyrinth symbol, with one pioneering example at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. The Wikipedia entry for labyrinths provides a good starting point for more information, including reading references and directories to labyrinths.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Chemotherapy Update
Spent a good chunk of yesterday at the Fortress of Healing, otherwise known as Saint John Regional Hospital. Had the usual wait before seeing my oncologist, who advises that we'll do 6 rounds of chemo and then she'll order scans again to check the response.
This was followed by chemo #4, which takes several hours while I sit in a comfy chair reading a book. Yesterday's was The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey, which I recommend (also recommend her Banishing Verona, which led me to this one.)
Part of this treatment is a steroid taken by pill on a cycle the day before and several days after chemo. The after is 12, 24, 36 and 48 hours, which means setting the alarm to wake up at some odd hour for 2 nights, and having a snack because the medication has to be taken with food. Fortunately I don't think 2 days is long enough to make this into a habit!
These treatments seem to have gone quickly with #4 already. It helps that the symptoms haven't been as severe as the first round - just have to remind myself that doesn't necessarily mean it's not working as well.
Wendy
This was followed by chemo #4, which takes several hours while I sit in a comfy chair reading a book. Yesterday's was The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey, which I recommend (also recommend her Banishing Verona, which led me to this one.)
Part of this treatment is a steroid taken by pill on a cycle the day before and several days after chemo. The after is 12, 24, 36 and 48 hours, which means setting the alarm to wake up at some odd hour for 2 nights, and having a snack because the medication has to be taken with food. Fortunately I don't think 2 days is long enough to make this into a habit!
These treatments seem to have gone quickly with #4 already. It helps that the symptoms haven't been as severe as the first round - just have to remind myself that doesn't necessarily mean it's not working as well.
Wendy
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Three Days of Sunshine
Although it's raining today, we just experienced three consecutive days of sunshine!Anna and her Girl Guides were back in town as their final stop before heading home to Alberta. While the GGs shopped Uptown, we had a great visit with Anna, including lunch of salad with 6 kinds of organic greens, courtesy of our first week's supply from the farm, with strawberry shortcake.
I spent some time reading trashy novels on the deck. And yesterday Jack and Suzanne joined us for a mystery excursion - no one other than the tour guide moi knew where we were going. Our itinerary included a shopping stop at The Barn economusee in Bloomfield, lunch at the Bavarian restaurant in Knightsville, stopping to smell the roses at Corn Hill Nursery, ice cream cones in Sussex and a visit to the soap shop. It was a gorgeous day and the scenery was bucolic.
Wendy
Sunday, July 5, 2009
A Day at the Lake
Our reading group spent a relaxing afternoon at the cottage on Washamedoak Lake, thanks to by one of our members. Continuing our focus on Canadian novels, our theme was novels of rural Canada. Deborah provided a definition of rural Canada, from a book of essays edited by Wayne Grady, former editor of Harrowsmith.
Books presented and reviewed were:
Since Daisy Creek W. O. Mitchell
The Rhinestone Button Gail Anderson-Dargatz
Relative Happiness Leslie Crewe
The Birth House Ami McKay
Red Dog, Red Dog Patrick Lane
Not completed but also discussed were Thomas H. Raddall's The Nymph and the Lamp, and River of the Brokenhearted by David Adams Richards. Made available for loan were Luna and Gates of the Sun by Sharon Butala, as well as Broken Ground by Jack Hodgins.
Several poems from the vegetable series in Lorna Crozier's The Garden Going On Without Us were shared.
Radishes
Radishes flip their skirts in the wind
like a line of chorus girls
throw them over their heads.
If they were singers
they'd be the Andrews sisters.
If they had jobs
they'd be nurses who drive
red sports cars after work.
Every spring you put up with
their flirtations
for the crunch between your teeth
the quick surprise
of rain and fire
they've saved all season
just for you.
A delicious lunch was shared and an eagle spotted overhead. (There were no further bird sightings once I remembered that I'd brought binoculars.) Comet greatly enjoyed the outing, which included almost sufficient stick throwing.
Next month's theme - Canadian novels related to bodies of water. Reading suggestions welcome.
Wendy
Books presented and reviewed were:
Since Daisy Creek W. O. Mitchell
The Rhinestone Button Gail Anderson-Dargatz
Relative Happiness Leslie Crewe
The Birth House Ami McKay
Red Dog, Red Dog Patrick Lane
Not completed but also discussed were Thomas H. Raddall's The Nymph and the Lamp, and River of the Brokenhearted by David Adams Richards. Made available for loan were Luna and Gates of the Sun by Sharon Butala, as well as Broken Ground by Jack Hodgins.
Several poems from the vegetable series in Lorna Crozier's The Garden Going On Without Us were shared.
Radishes
Radishes flip their skirts in the wind
like a line of chorus girls
throw them over their heads.
If they were singers
they'd be the Andrews sisters.
If they had jobs
they'd be nurses who drive
red sports cars after work.
Every spring you put up with
their flirtations
for the crunch between your teeth
the quick surprise
of rain and fire
they've saved all season
just for you.
A delicious lunch was shared and an eagle spotted overhead. (There were no further bird sightings once I remembered that I'd brought binoculars.) Comet greatly enjoyed the outing, which included almost sufficient stick throwing.
Next month's theme - Canadian novels related to bodies of water. Reading suggestions welcome.
Wendy
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Happy Canada Day
Hope you enjoyed Canada Day, as we did. The rain held off, a relatively rare occurrence here lately, except for a brief shower in the late afternoon - and then the sun came out!
I spent some time lounging on the deck - my very Canadian reading material was a recent Maclean's and new biography of Champlain.
In the evening we entertained with strawberry shortcake followed by fireworks viewed from the deck. We can't see the low ones from here, but enjoy the sounds and any that go up into the sky. After his years on the pyrotechnic crew, I think Harvey appreciates the view from this distance - although there was some talk that next year we might watch from the roof (or remove trees on neighbouring properties).
Three month old baby Eve enjoyed her first fireworks display, although I think she was actually more interested in our cats, who certainly found her fascinating!
Wendy
I spent some time lounging on the deck - my very Canadian reading material was a recent Maclean's and new biography of Champlain.
In the evening we entertained with strawberry shortcake followed by fireworks viewed from the deck. We can't see the low ones from here, but enjoy the sounds and any that go up into the sky. After his years on the pyrotechnic crew, I think Harvey appreciates the view from this distance - although there was some talk that next year we might watch from the roof (or remove trees on neighbouring properties).
Three month old baby Eve enjoyed her first fireworks display, although I think she was actually more interested in our cats, who certainly found her fascinating!
Wendy
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