My Darling Man

My most darling man

Seamus Heaney

was just awarded the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry.

I know I wax poetic (excuse the pun) about this man...but just read/heard this, the poem he chose to read on CBC after he was awarded this prize:

Postcript

And some time make the time to drive out west

Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore,

In September or October, when the wind

And the light are working off each other

So that the ocean on one side is wild

With foam and glitter, and inland among stones

The surface of a slate-grey lake is lit

By the earthed lightening of a flock of swans,

Their feathers roughed and ruffling, white on white,

Their fully-grown headstrong-looking heads

Tucked or cresting or busy underwater.

Useless to think you'll park or capture it

More thoroughly.  You are neither here nor there,

A hurry through which known and strange things pass

As big soft buffetings come at the car sideways

And catch the heart off guard and blow it open.

Listen

and tell me you aren't totally in love with this man!

My Brain Hurts!

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

I have spent the past week 

'in training'.

I'm amazed at the quantity of information that I can, have, and continue to retain.

I had genuinely thought I was 

'passed it" and getting a little 'soft in the head'

so it was time to challenge myself.

And you know what?...

It's simply not true.

While the old noggin' creaked and stuttered a bit while firing up,

I actually coped really well.  And I'm finding the more I do, the more I can do.

It's oil to the cogs.

So the old adage..."use it or loose it", is proving to be true.

Should you be in the category of a 'person of a certain age'...put yourself out there.

Firstly you ARE capable, and secondly, you ARE needed.

There is a dearth of common sense and general knowledge in the world.  We have become a place of formulae and routine, with people spouting trite phrases with no foundation of their understanding or meaning.

It's time to take the reins back, be it ever-so gently, to remind those at the forefront of our world that

"Good Morning, how may I assist you?"

actually has a definition...

is the initiation of a relationship...

and if spoken sincerely, feeling is communicated over the words.


Hallelujah...getting old does have it's merits!

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

"Everything will turn out alright in the end.

And if it's not alright...it's not the end."

One of the nicest movies I have seen in a long time.


Update
Rudy, Lindsay and I haven't stopped discussing this movie since Saturday night.  I disagree John, it's neither light nor frothy (but does have a cast to die for!).  


The superficial themes of the usefulness of age and experience - Evelyn being hired by the call-centre), Mrs Donnelly saving the hotel, Young Wasim saving Sonny's marriage and old India versus New India, are fully overshadowed by exploring loyalty over of love (Douglas and Jean); truthfulness and sharing over love (Evelyn and Anoki); honesty over cliche (Norman and Madge); and the most bittersweet notion of all for me - that time doesn't change any of the power or emotion of true love. (Graham and Jay)

House-y Stuff

Today it was...

sump pump needed a check valve (so the water doesn't just circle round and round and round ad naseum)...

attack 4 on the carpenter ants that are eating away the fascia board at the front of the house...

and attack 1 on the carpenter bees that are making

holes like this

in the garden fence!

Now...we aren't killing the bees, just trying to send them away (to wreck havoc on someone else's fence?).

The ants, however are an entirely different matter.

The joys of living with nature!

Funny Old Life, Isn't It?

Funny how we get this wrong, isn't it?

Life...

Lots of home-y stuff going on at the moment...planting...paint-touch-ups...weekend house guests...a little golf.  All good stuff. 

Eldest daughter is coming down next weekend, time to catch up with her and all the exciting things going on in her life.

  Trying desperately to work out a trip to Miami to see my younger daughter and son-in-law, and catch up on their life-changing opportunities too.

Summer always seems to bring a sense of hurry with it.  Don't understand where the saying "lazy days of summer" comes from.

Niagara-on-the-Lake is in full swing with this year being the 200th anniversary of the war of 1812.  Costumed characters roaming the streets, pointing out all the important historical sights.  

A huge party is planned for Canada Day - July 1.  Tragically Hip will be playing on the Common.  We are expecting 20,000 attendees.  That might just be a day to stay home.

Major-General Isaac Brock commanded British forces in the War of 1812.

Tragically Hip

The weather now is glorious.  Sunny, warm...with just an edge of a cool breeze in the air.  If it stayed this way all summer, I would be thrilled.  But it won't.  The sultry, humid heat of July and August will come soon, and we will all migrate to our air-conditioned sanctuaries while the dog-days of summer roll on.

A couple of doctors' appointment scheduled soon, but serious treatment won't begin until August/September.  Hardly seems real right now.  We are happy to stay in this little dreamworld, if only for a while.

Goodnight Sweet Prince

Goodnight Wilf...

you elegant fellow.

Thank You Angus

for sharing Wilf with us.

For teaching me the meaning of dignity...

kindness...gentility.

Lessons I will never forget.

The Little Garden

While the weather for the last week has been glorious,

a few black clouds are rolling in today, and there is a cool breeze coming off of the lake.

Gardening has begun, with pots of herbs nicely planted out

and moveable should they get not enough/too much sun.

Coriander, chives, leaf basil, creeping thyme, hot and spicy oregano.

I'll pick up a mature pot of rosemary at the garden centre,

(it's just is too slow growing here).

The hostas are almost up, and the hydrangea and sixteen candles are greening up nicely

In a couple of weeks the black-eyed susans will show their sunny heads

and the next dry day it will be white new guinea impatiens for the baskets on the fence.

Before you know it, the little garden will be all set for the summer!

I Love You More Than You Can Ever Know

"Hi Babe."

"Hi Hon...how did it go?"

"Well, it was always a choice between bad and worse...we knew that right?"

"Yes, okay, so?"

"Well, it's only bad."

"Meaning?"

"Prostate cancer...but confined, moderate and curable."

"Okay, so...what do we do now?"

"Urologist, oncologist...and we make a plan."

"You okay?"

"I'm fine...you?  Worried? Scared?"

"All of the above, I guess."

"Do you have any idea how much I love you."

"Sure...just as much as I love you."

"Are we going to be okay?"

"Yes...we are going to be fine."

House Of Fifty

For those of you who may not have read this on-line magazine,

may I introduce

House of Fifty

This, issue Five, is the one-year anniversary issue.

While you listen summer music  (page 22), read the touching story of the origin of the magazine, written by founding editor

Jeanelle Beal's husband (page 90).

Take a look at some delicious summer recipes (page 24+)

feta and watermelon - my fav!

Read about fashion bloggers (page 120+); artist Lulie Wallace (page 40+); be inspired to Salvage Beauty by Andrea Mihalik (page 110+)

and tons more.

An intelligent, entertaining,visually delicious on-line magazine. 

Beauty

So had to get beyond that ugly

HATE

photo...

Here's something pretty to look at on this brand new start to the week...

There I feel much better!

Have a wonderful week.

I Hate Daytime TV

Now...because I am quite a proper English girl, 

I rarely use the word 'hate'.

It's just so, so very dire.

But I really, really hate daytime TV!

Because of this bloody awful weather, I have been confined to quarters today and there are only so many closets you can organize.

Out of desperation I flicked on the TV to see what was what.

We do not have extensive coverage, so I meandered through things like

the Nate Berkus Show (why must audiences yell so?) and Steve and Chris (why must audiences yell so and why is beige so amazing?), until I thought I would go mad!

I finally found a show on the radio discussing Edith Wharton...but I have to say it was less than inspiring.

Please let the rain stop...I want to go outside and play!

Weather Forecast

This is our weather forecast for the week.

There will be no cycling or playing in the dirt.

Hopefully, between showers and dressed appropriately, a walk or two

Roll on Friday!

Happy St. George's Day