St Valentine's Day Chocolate-Coated Blues: February 14th!

Do you love me because I'm beautiful, or am I beautiful because you love me? -Oscar Hammerstein II, lyricist (1895-1960)

Layla and Manjun!

Dear Poppa, thank you for being an unwaivering Valentine over the years! Love Ayn of the Sisterhood! "We don't need no stinkin' love" 

Thanks for the lovely card my friend - so sweet of you to remember the Doorbars! Happy Valentines Day to you and Corinne too xxx 

Thank you Patrick and Happy Valentines Day to you xxxx (Bev)

Patrizio! Hope all goes well for you and everyone on the west coast. I note that the email used to send the card is not the one I have on file (used for this) so, please let me have the correct one I should be using. Abrazos! Deborah
  

Hi Deborah!

Grand to hear from you! Trust you are surviving the harsh winter and all goes well. For our part we returned from Parksville on January 27th, (House/cat siting for The Millionaires!) and have been fairly busy, (or at least Cora Lee has been with innumerable volunteer meetings/shift, etc!), since then. Current email is one in this message. However, one you have works, inasmuch as it is redirected by UBC's system. Fondestos to you from Coriandre. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Pics: Foster Boy poster; Rosie's porcupine meatballs; bridge with Ted, Whirlygig and Elaine.

Pat, Ted looks well. Hope he has completely recovered from that awful leg injury. Please pass along my good wishes when you see him next. Ray

Ah, that's Sweet. Thanks for including me in the Sisterhood, I feel honored. I see a lovely Viognier in my future (actually, it's already in the fridge!). Which wine will you toast the St. V. and Cora Lee, with?
 
I rode for an hour after work yesterday - got home just as dusk was settling in. It was so warm, it felt like Spring. Cheers. Talk, ride and dine together soon....Sara 
Dear Patrick

Happy Valentine's Day!! Thank you for the lovely card(*^▽^)/★*☆♪ Please give big hugs to Corinne and Chloe for me! Love always, Toshiko  

How "sweet" of you to include me in the Fabulous Sisterhood! Hope you and Corinne have something special planned today. We are bottling the new 2012 wines and then sampling a fresh bottle or two with a special dinner this evening. Cheers! Pat

Hey, Valentino, thanks for the fun cards last night and the carpet rides and bagging.

Weather network says rain. and Environment Canada says: Rain ending early this morning then mainly cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Wind southeast 50 to 70 km/h becoming southwest 40 to 60 then diminishing to 30 this morning. High 9. The wind they seem to get right. And in fact the sun is shining...What is your plannage? G 

That was so totally sweet and delicious. Very touching, thanks. Made my morning! k 

Thanks Dad, love you, have a nice night out with your love!! xx  

Thank you for your valentines card. Will pass it on to the Sisterhood!! Am taking Gayle to a very nice Italian restaurant ! Very romantic for a 68 year old don't you think?!!

Hi Don Giovanni! Had a message earlier today from Chloë and thought immediately of Krissy and Mark. Have attached picture! For your part, Italian restaurant, candlelight, mandolins, very, very romantic indeed, no matter what age! Once again, Happy Valentine's Day to you and all Your Sisterhood, Derek! Cheers, Patrizzio! Pic: Pig on the Street's new logo!

Hi Raymond!

Ted seems fine. No mention of residual problems from his nasty fall and subsequent injury. We are back into regular weekly bridge games so I'll certainly pass along your regards.

I had a few "Valentine's" errands to run this morning. Took my Brodie and it was glorious riding. Back home to phone Giorgio and we set off for Stanley Park at just after 1:00 pm. Had become quite overcast by then and we had a bit of light rain/drizzle for much of the rest of the ride but not enough to put a damper on outing, however. Once at the top of Prospect Point Hill we decided to head over Lions Gate and then along Spirit Trail to Bewicke Ave and 2nd St W before turning around.

Drizzle was coming down fairly steadily on climb back over Lions Gate but it dried out almost completely once back in Stanley Park. I accompanied Whirlygig to Cornwall and Point Grey and then waved goodbye. On way back home I was treated with a a double rainbow over the city as I rode past the totem pole on Kits Point. Was more than happy to reach Harbour Terrace as must say I could feel yesterday's ride in my legs! Stats for ride:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/445200483#.Uv6xKuVDyTo.email

Didn't have much time to shower and change as we had invited Flamin' and Sarge, along with Dusty and Clara, for drinks and hors d'oeuvres at around 6:00 pm. Cora Lee had done an incredible job of putting together a veritable feast: crab cakes; broiled spring rolls; fried minced pork to put in a lettuce wrap topped with Hoisin sauce; diced red pepper and chorizo sausage fried with cherry tomatoes and jumbo scallops. Rosita prepared her wonderful spicy shrimp so we ate rather well,a s you can imagine. Had fun around the table and Chloë even popped by to wish everyone Happy Valentine's Day, and stay for a drink.
 

Shortly after 8:00 pm Dursons went back home and the four of us walked over to Granville Island. We had tickets to Festival Under the Bridge, put on my Edibles, part of the 2014 Winterruption Festival on GI. Since we had tickets, (These entitled us to two drinks apiece, [local beers from Granville Island Brewing and/or either a white or red BC wine], and the possibility of choosing from such "Canadian" inspired food such as Cheesy Perogies, Bison Chili, Alberta Beef Brisket or Maple Flapjacks),The Sisterhood didn't bother to bring along their purses. As a consequence, they couldn't prove their age so were allowed entry but couldn't drink!

Didn't take us long to figure out how to circumvent this silly rule. (Ironically, there was no question that Cora Lee and I were the oldest people there, followed closely by Flamin' and Sarge! Two sets of grandparents but the grandmothers weren't allowed any hootch!) After we'd obtained drinks of choice one's pass is punched to indicate you've received your entitlement. Once these drinks were gone, Sarge and I simply took our spouses' passes and repeated process! Overall, it was, seemingly, well attended but it was far too loud, (both DJ's and live band blasting out at a decibel level that required one to shout), to make for a pleasant evening, at least as the four of us were concerned. 

However, there were three large projection screens showcasing the best of the Olympics (both live and taped), and what held my interest was the archival footage from the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, and held at the foot of Mont Blanc and Haute-Savoie: figure skating on an outdoor rink and piles of fir/pine boughs used as baffles at the bottom of ski hill! Incredible really.

Another delightful activity was the game of Jenga, (derived from a Swahili word meaning "to build", apparently), which we came upon in front of a booth set up by The Granville Island Toy Company, not far from the stage where the bands performed. Soon learned that during the game, players take turns removing one block at a time from a tower constructed of 54 blocks. Each block removed is then balanced on top of the tower, creating a progressively taller but less stable structure. Quite fascinating to watch and, of course, players are inundated with advice from spectators as to which block to remove. 

Once the "tower" toppled, Flamin' and I challenged Cora Lee and Sarge to a match and we had a hoot. Far more difficult in practice than from sidelines! Cora Lee was a bit too, too aggressive after about five successful extractions and the Tower of Babel came tumbling down! Next up, two young women wanted to upset the winners so we took them on but experience soon triumphed over youth and we emerged victorious once again! By this time it was really time to go as my ears were literally ringing. Fun but unless sound level is reduced don't think any of us want to return next year. 

Walked back to Sutherlands' place and watched Jennifer Jones and her Winnipeggers beat Ayumi Ogawara’s rink in a close, well curled game before we bade each other goodnight. I was the last Valentine standing as Flamin' fell asleep on Sarge's arm during the match. She and Cora Lee both hied themselves to bed leaving Sarge and I took watch end of match. However, Sarge himself fell asleep and missed last two ends! Nonetheless, a  very, very pleasant and enjoyable St Valentine's Day for one and all.

Hi Secret admirer,

Thank you for your lovely Valentines greeting, it was very much appreciated. I have been with you for 2 Valentine’s Days and they are very special memories! Hope all is well with all of you?
 

I had an absolutely amazing holiday in Burma, the country has just reopened for intensive tourism so people are flocking there to see the sights. It is a mainly Buddhist country and as you might realise there are amazing Pagodas to see, they are built from brick, stone and some are even made from wood. The stone ones are mainly very elaborate and covered in gold leaf, I don’t know about you but I find this lavish form of religious practice in all of its forms does not sit well with me as the people are quite poor! Think Catholic churches and C of E Cathedrals.

The countryside varies from flat rural, to busy towns and low lying mountains, we stayed in one particularly beautiful area called Inle Lake staying in villas suspended above the lake, quite surreal to wake up and found a beautiful mist surrounding the villa and water as far as the eye could see.
 

The people are very warm and as tourists are still quite rare we are an oddity to them and they wave and shout “Mengolabar” hello. We saw many wonderful and varied foods in local markets, meat displayed without refrigeration, betel nut for chewing (makes their teeth red and is addictive) raw arrowroot, and beautiful plentiful fresh fruit and vegetables.

Our visits included seeing silversmiths , blacksmiths, lotus thread weaving, mulberry leaf paper making for making into umbrellas, palm sugar gathering, cigarette or cheroot making, all without electricity. We also visited a lacquer bowl making establishment, of course I made purchases at most of them except for the cheroots!! All in all fantastic!

In Adelaide we had a terrible heatwave, up to 43C and I didn’t have my air conditioner working:(( Slight problem of burst water pipes!!
 

Last Wednesday we had a major water pipe burst and in fixing it temporarily I don’t have water for the irrigation system, evaporative air conditioner, hot water heater or laundry! Taking a shower is fun as the temporary pipe is above the ground and it is being solar heated so the water is running hot and cold. I am not worrying about the laundry as it is only me at the moment but I could have done with the air conditioner.

Plus it took me nearly 2 hours to water the garden by hand, now I have the sprinkler on, moving it around every hour or so.

Then on Thursday the heavens opened and we had 119mls of rain, flooded the front part of house, walls, carpet, ceiling, curtains all got wet as the rain came in through the roof!! Insurance hopefully will cover most of the damage.

Kirsty was over from Victoria this week so we had a few days of lunching and catching up with the workings of Maccas.

Just about to mind Mya, Jade and their friend Mia (whose mum and dad are at a trade fair, they import Japanese art) I have promised them that we can go to the skate park, then to an outdoor movie, I know, I know I am a sucker for punishmentJ Must go. Love Teens xx 

PS I have not given up skiing, just having a break and will not ski for 5 weeks as Trevor does, I find it incredibly boring doing the same thing every day, however I will go again but only for 2 weeks maximum! Maybe spend a Christmas in the snow with all of the family!!!!!!

Thanks Patrick, You will be pleased to know that I completely forgot as did Claire so between the two there does not seem to be many romantic bones. I my defence I did in fact buy Claire bear some Iris’s last week just on a whim, so perhaps there is hope for me yet.
 

Thanks for your expansive letter last week, your life seems to be much more complex and vibrant than ours. Then again we are colonials. I am in planning phase for my 60th birthday in April and I intend to have far too much fun for a 60 year old on the day so if you are at loose end on 19 April drop over we will find you somewhere to sleep and to recover the Sarge is of course welcome along with your more attractive significant others. We have been steadily planning our trip to Italy, France and the UK in May over the past little while and we are looking forward to the rides from Venice to Croatia and Paris to London.    

Unfortunately, we will not be dropping in to Vancouver this year (Tony and Elly are flying the flag this year) however, next year is a whole other issue if this trip goes well, we are considering a three month or so free riding trip through France, Belgium the Netherlands and the Rhine Valley. I am going to see if I can get a bunch of likeminded crazy people together for the trip so we have company and inbuilt support. Probably about 40 to 80 k per day. Still early days yet. The other option is SE Asia.

In the more immediate future Claire and I are hoping to do a three month camping trip to Perth in Western Aus to see her daughter and then a lazy trip along the southern coast line back to Brisbane in August to October should be good . I have been watching the Olympics and as yet no Curling. I thought I would have seen you sending a few down a few or at the very least a little bit of brooming/brushing whilst tangled up in some sort of tree leaf. Our best to everyone over there. Cheers Greg and Claire

Pat, you obviously need to bone up on Marcus Aurelius. This ain't he, cuz he ain't got no ear-buds!