11 posts from May 2008

The sun is out and it's a lovely day!

We are scheduled to have rain this weekend so I am thinking about seeding some more of the lawn. The bits I did a couple of weeks ago are flourishing. Baby grass is so fresh and sweet. I have a patch of lily-of-the-valley spreading out onto my lawn, so until it has stopped blooming , the lawn mower is going to make a detour. The scent of those tiny white flowers is intoxicating.

Tomorrow is a birthday lunch for a good friend. Myself and another friend have been organizing it and I am really looking forward to getting together with the "gals" for good eats, lots of laughs and some music. We are going to a local pub/restaurant. Instead of gifts, which the birthday girl said no to, we are decorating a box and asking everyone to write a memory of something they've shared with her or what she means to them, and include a funny joke or two. They will pop it into said box, and she will then take it home and can open it privately and enjoy the messages of friendship and love at her leisure.

H has been busy picking out her courses for University next year. What a complicated chore that is. Organzing the timetable, looking for conflicts, checking to see that she has some required courses, trying to keep options open if she decides to get into a BSc. Wondering how she'll cope. Registration starts Monday. We didn't get a deposit in until yesterday. I had no idea it was even due and she nearly lost her spot. When I called they said they had canceled her application! Anyway, it's been sorted out and I hope the payment goes through in time for Monday. I guess students sit at their computers waiting for the lines to open so they can register and get into the courses they want before they fill up. We shall see.

She's off today until noon and I was going to go to the gym and then paint and then plant and then decorate that box. So I'd best be on my way:)

Gosh, it's been three years almost to the day that H and I visited Monet's Garden in Giverny.
This picture of H on the Japanese bridge was taken May24th, 2005. The wisteria was in full bloom as were poppies and lilies and iris and geraniums and roses....it was glorious! Seems like it was much longer ago. I would go back in a heartbeat.

A lot of my trips through the years have started in May. Funny how that is.... I moved to Bermuda in May, departed for my first solo trip to Europe in May, left for a trip round the world in May starting in Egypt but ended up spending most of the time in Greece, went to Britain countless times in May, won airfare to New Zealand and left in May ( their autumn), Vancouver twice in May..... hmm,  just casting my thoughts back, it is quite interesting, I wonder why May has been such an escape month? Spring fever?

I am hoping to do the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, the lovely long walk across Spain,and guess what, I was thinking about starting it in May 2009 or 2010!  I just have to save up the money and get fit and organized.

I'll leave you with another picture...of Monet in his studio at Giverny. A most beautiful and inspiring place.

H is in green, dancing as one of the chorus in her school musical, Kiss Me Kate !
Tonight is the last night and I was there last night and the night before:)
They put so much work and effort into these musicals it is sad that they are over in the wink of an eye.
The music in this is all Cole Porter and absolutely wonderful!  Wonderful I say!
This is what our local newspaper had to say.
If there is anyone locally who might like to go, the doors open at 7:30 and it is at Halifax West High School in their new theatre.($12.00)

H and friend hamming for the camera. She's the one with the mile long false eyelashes!

Blue Poppies

Just taking a break.
 
I am cleaning out my computer/junk/spare bedroom/garbagecan/storage room in preparation for a visitor arriving the end of June. It is a cousin H's age and she is here from England for ten days. We are thrilled she is coming and it is a great motivator to get this room clean!! There will be trips to drop off stuff at Value Village and spare magazines to the hospital, and bags of stuff to donate to whoever needs/wants it. I also have to figure out how to efficiently store all my packaging, shipping materials etc. Big job this!

Today is a rainy drizzly day so it is perfect for this kind of cleanout. I have been listening to various radio stations from around the world thanks to my computer being in here. Found a terrific one playing old French chansons, was listening to Putumayo for a while, then  a traditional Iranian  station, some Bollywood , and now I am thinking some Celtic music might be nice. What fun.

H is at a conference at Acadia University  for the weekend. She'll be home tomorrow. I am going to see a film with a friend tonight. Not sure what yet, but I'll be sure to have a big bag of popcorn! I cannot watch a movie at the theatre if I don't have popcorn. Just walking into the cinema and smelling the stuff gets me going:)

emma

I have just finished the most extraordinary book, England's Mistress, the Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton

Emma was born in 1765 in the most dire of circumstances and became the most famous woman of her time. She moved to London on her own when she was 12!  She was the Paris Hilton of the eighteenth century, everyone knew of her. She had an extraordinary life, eventually moving to Naples and hobnobbing with Marie Antoinette's sister, the Queen of Italy.

She was a sought after artist's model for a time and because of that, images of her were everywhere.
She became mistress to Admiral Horatio Nelson and eventually bore him a daughter. What is so fascinating is the portrayal of the times and the way people lived their lives. The stuff about Nelson was remarkable, he was a tiny man with one arm, a torn ear, no front teeth, scars all over and she was absolutely smitten with him as was ALL of Britain. The fashion was to wear clothes with his image on them, anchors and his name emblazoned everywhere. He was a superstar.

Emma worked as a courtesan for a while as one of the "Kelly" girls.

Mini makeup lesson circa 1770 follows......

Thick makeup was the fashion and there was a law passed that men could divorce their wives if they could prove she fooled him into marriage using her make up to hide her age or ugliness!
Courtesans were the most heavily painted.

First there was a layer of cold cream and then a heavy layer of white lead(!) paint.(sometimes mixed with vinegar)
Eyebrows were shaved off and replaced with false one made of mouse skins darkened with lead.
Cheeks were ornamented with beauty spots cut out of silk and glued on in various colours.
Mouth was coated with a dilution of red plaster of paris.
Painted blue cream on eyelids
Cheeks were rouged brightly with mercury sulphide.
Teeth were sometimes whitened with plaster of paris or chalk!
Despite all of this, the nails were left unadorned.
Orange water or rose was used as  perfume.

The hair styles were elaborate and HIGH. the hair stylists had waiting lists months long. They took three to four hours to create styles three feet high abd added fake pearls, feathers, flowers, models of houses and boats! The styles were kept for three months and then redone. It was common to have infestations of lice, bugs and sometimes even mice!! This fashion was started in 1765 and was most extreme in the 1780's. Women had special head rests to sleep on and when they went outside they wrapped their do's in gauze.

Fake boobs were made of cloth or porcelain and they even had fake bottoms and hips made of cork.

Can you say slave to fashion? I cannot imagine.
Anyway the book is a fascinating read and I would recommend it.