Stanley Park Loopage Blues: Sunday, April 6th!

I wish you all the joy that you can wish. -William Shakespeare, playwright and poet (1564-1616)

Falmouth

OK, let's go to the movies tomorrow. What theater? When do we meet? As for Easter, we plan to go to the cabin on Saturday morning, and go home on Monday. For the rest, we can be flexible. Cheers, Kjell

On our walk

 Hi Kjell!

Film is at VanCity where we saw Nymphomaniac. Film starts at 4:30 pm so probably 4:15 pm is a good time to meet, either outside theatre or in the lobby. I don't imagine it will be all that busy, given day of the week and time.

Had hoped to ride with Giggster, relatively early in the morning, this morning, as we are playing bridge in the afternoon together with him and one of the NRBCers , Kurt, who comes to town from Nanaimo, just for the book club, the bridge and the malt, of course! Unfortunately Giorgio couldn't unbind the domestic chains which shackle him so I headed out at 8:30 am. 

Violets bursting forth in the hedges

Forecast suggested showers, beginning at 10:00 am but it turned out to be a glorious day. Seawall was almost chock-a-block with hundreds and hundreds of joggers, alone or in pairs or in fairly large groups. Great to see as a sure sign of Spring! English Bay was quite spectacular as the freighters at anchor were backdropped by the mountains of Vancouver Island. I don't know my geography well enough but I suspect that the highest, shining, snow-capped peak was Mt Washington. Incredibly lovely panorama! Stats for ride:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/475001165#.U0G68dvEUTQ.email

Will confer with Cora Lee about cabin. She is attending yet another meeting this afternoon and with shower yesterday we literally haven't had a chance to talk about Easter. See you domain. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Marnie joining the "selfie" set!

Hello wine connoisseurs! Your Okanagan trip sounded nice although you obviously needed a little more research on vineyard opening times! I have checked the bottles of Bacchus and so far there are no additional moths in the bottles!

Have had some lovely Spring days here lately but today is back to rain and wind. We decided to spend the day clearing out the loft. Was not initially looking forward to it but by the end of the exercise it felt very liberating. We have a lot of stuff to take to the charity shops tomorrow as well as a car load of basically junk to take to the municiple dump! We still have to have one more crack to finish it off but basically the loft is now clear of unwanted clutter.

The weather was lovely on Friday so we opted for a long walk on the south coast starting at Falmouth. The hedges are starting to burst forth with Their Spring flowers and in another couple of weeks they will put on a stunning performance. It is probably my most favourite time of the year. Cornwall was battered this winter with ferocious salt laden gales and it never ceases to amaze me how, given such terrible conditions, the plants just shrug it off and still give us wonderful displays of colour after such a dreary winter.
 

Gayle enjoying a cocktail out with friends

Yesterday, while Gayle was busying herself spring cleaning, I decided to spend the afternoon getting the garden in order. I took out two barrow loads of weeds to the compost heap, split and replanted some perennials and planted some new plants to replace quite a few we lost during the winter. The garden is now looking respectable again and, hopefully, won't take a lot of our time keeping on top of it.

Am ordering the scaffolding tomorrow for the front of the house for the beginning of May so that we can start the not so enjoyable task of painting! Bill has been busy doing some renovations downstairs and repairing his back door. Need to get it done by the middle of May since our time is pretty much committed for the rest of the summer. Have also just booked a short 4 day cruise on the Queen Elizabeth in December to go across to Bruges to the Christmas markets. We wanted to test Cunard line before committing ourselves to a longer cruise next year.

Have not heard a great deal from Krissy lately since she seems to be busy organising the re opening of Pig on the Street. We are looking forward to seeing them again in September and spending a few weeks in Vancouver. Our friend, Wendy, has now returned from her 6 months in Australia visiting her son and grandchildren. She is now spending her time at her place in Gibsons and looking after her other grandchild in Vancouver two days a week but said she is finding it difficult to get readjusted.

Must go and feed Spuddy boy. He can then go back to sleep! Best wishes

Norm's Semi-Annual Sample Sale

Please join me: 
Where: FX Building, 222 - 1951 Glen Drive, Vancouver BC
When: 10 am to 5 pm
Monday to Wednesday, April 7-9 and
Monday to Wednesday, April 14-16
Available Sunday, April 13, by appointment only from 11-2 - call my cell for an appointment. Lots of dress shirts, sport shirts, sweaters, suits, sports jackets, outerwear, pants, belts, ties and much more from Leo Chevalier, Viyella, San Dino, Sotto Sopra, Cohen, Pier91, Cavori See you there! Norm

The Grand Départ: Cyclists tow a grand piano up part of the Yorkshire Tour de France route

18 cyclists drag piano and its player up longest continuous ascent in England to mark 100 days to go by Sarah Barth   April 6, 2014  

Grand Piano © Caroline Jane Kaye

A team of 18 cyclists has towed a baby grand piano up the longest continuous ascent in England, Cragg Vale - part of the Yorkshire Tour de France route.

imove arts and Hebden Bridge Piano Festival staged the event as part of Yorkshire Festival 2014 to celebrate the Tour’s visit to Yorkshire in 100 days.

Using a a PianoPorté – an invention by the sculptor Andy Plant to ascend the six mile climb, the cyclists were cheered on by thousands of locals and tourists along the way, with rousing live piano concertos from 15 on board pianists to encourage their pedalling. Onlooker and Mytholmroyd resident, Brenda Greenwood, told the Halifax Courier: “It’s been brilliant so far - it’s really getting us in the spirit for the Tour de France. It’s a great way to promote our village as a lot of people don’t know were here or even how to pronounce it - this will certainly put us on the map.”

 Another, Nina Wardcock said: “This is a great opportunity for us to show the world what we do and to show people what beautiful landscape we have. It’s great to see the village so full of people.” To see a film of the cyclists in action, click here