Five Things? I can do that, this Friday morning at the beginning of November. . . . Let’s see.
1. The Vancouver Opera production of Tosca, which we saw last Saturday, was sumptuously satisfying. Wonderfully big juicy orchestra sound, great set (I was going to say “if traditional” but I think traditional is the charm here), a huge and satisfying crowd scene with great choral action, and fabulous singing and acting by the principals, especially Gordon Hawkins as the most demonic Scarpia. We’re convinced we could even see his eyes glittering evilly all the way from the stage, some kind of devil action! But the man got his. You can see it all go down, if you’re near Vancouver, as there are still two more performances. Opening night, when we went, was sold out though. so if you want to see this show (which has been getting great reviews!) act quickly!
2. The Fruits of Autumn! I know, we treat pumpkin and squash like vegetables, but botanically they are fruit, so they belong right here with the pomegranate and the ground cherries — or do you call the latter “gooseberries”? The Farmer’s Market showed up again on campus this week, and I scored a little bag of these juicy sweet berries with their sweet little paper wrappings (along with another frittata or two’s worth of chanterelles, mmmmmm). The pomegranate, of course, doesn’t get grown locally — in fact, I love that it only shows up once a year, for a number of weeks. It still recalls my childhood excitement over its exotic presence on our kitchen table, my mother carefully dividing up its intricately mysterious innards for us, having diverted some of the grocery budget from macaroni or powdered milk. . . .
3. Telltale Table Scraps. It doesn’t take Columbo to know that someone’s been eating crab here, and to suspect that someone to be a generally fast-moving furry creature who felt comfortable settling in on our steps for dinner.
If you can’t quite spot the two crab shells above — they’re in the middle ground, one just left, the other right of centre — you won’t have any trouble seeing claws below. . . . Clearly no match for the mink or whatever mammal was the dinner guest here. . .
4. I love the photos I regularly get on my cellphone from my daughters. They often turn my mood 180 degrees with a happy jolt of granddaughter love. As in this one that arrived last week, two sweet cousins, both wearing the “rainbow” dresses Nana knit, because older cousin thought that would be a good idea (and younger cousin doesn’t get a lot of say yet!). Dresses also featured here and here.
5. And finally, Thing #5 is a delivery from Chapters — now I just have to make myself mark a small stack of papers before rewarding myself by diving into one of these tempting choices.
Which means it’s time to step away from the keyboard and get to it. Now it’s time for you, please, to let me know what you’re up to this weekend OR perhaps to share one of your Five or Two or Seventeen things of the week. Comments always welcome — you know I mean it!
enjoy your weekend – thanks for getting ours' started
hope it's been a good one!
Those girls are so gorgeous! Look how big Hattie is. She must be close to 1!
indeed she is, in just a few more weeks!
I love the bright knitted garments they are wearing…obviously the work of a very clever Nana!
I do love getting a package in the mail even if I know what's inside.
Enjoy your weekend.
Snail mail packages are great, aren't they? Living on the island, unfortunately, most online purchases require a trip to town to the Purolator or whatever Depot, but Chapters still sends by Canada Post so we get those packages in our mailbox. Love it!
Oh, the girls in the rainbow sweaters would put a smile on anyone's face (as they have mine). I'm looking forward to one of those "getting back on track" weekends….not particularly restful, but restorative in their own way.
Yes! I really need a weekend like that. Finally getting the laundry caught up, a few meals in the freezer perhaps, clearing my office desk down to its surface. . . . won't happen 'til the end of term, but oh, I breathe so much easier after one of those weekends. Enjoy yours! You've been so busy lately, it's much needed, I'm sure.
I only became aware of ground cherries a couple of years ago and we love them here. Can't find them too often, but when I do, yum yum.
It would almost be worth searching out seeds, although I think they're like tomatoes and would best be started in a greenhouse. . .
Well, the big news this week for me is that I welcomed another niece to the world. I can't wait to meet her in person in December! In the meantime, I am happy to also be a recipient of mood-improving photos. I hope the marking was painless and you got to dive into the fun books!
Congratulations! Somehow, looking at a baby on a cell-phone screen can perk up the worst day!
Oh you DO know how to delight me! Thank you for that adorable rainbow-girls photo.. I have an exhausting,, exciting weekend of working on a municipal election here, and voting day is tomorrow.
I suspected you'd enjoy that photo! I hope your candidate was successful and that you're basking in exhausted happiness today. If not, at least you know you were working actively for the kind of city you want — you've quickly nested yourself in Montreal, haven't you?!
A pair of rainbows must mean double the luck 🙂
I like that idea!
A new stack of books in the mail is a delightful thing.
When I was there with you and Pater, you discussed Jack Reacher, but didn't think I'd enjoy the movie. Coincidentally, that night, while I was away, Tim watched that movie on Netflix and enjoyed it. He did say that he didn't think that I would.
Paul enjoyed it as well — I noticed recently that it's on Netflix, but as much as I enjoy the books, I'm probably not going to bother with the movie.
Oh, and I pushed publish before mentioning the darling granddaughters and their matching rainbow dresses. So very sweet. Those phone texts and photos mean a lot.
Aren't they wonderful, the phone texts and photos — wonders of technology!
Girls in rainbow sweaters with big smiling faces! How delightful! Delightful also is the stack of books, which has me drooling although I have already saddled myself with a heavy reading load for a class I am taking. At least I can dream.
I am going to see Tosca for the first time this weekend! Not live exactly, but I will be going to the broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera shown at a local movie theater Saturday and am very much looking forward to it. I'm working backwards, opera wise, familiar with many contemporary and modern operas, I am expanding my horizons….
I haven't yet had a chance to check out those Met broadcasts but so many friends are very enthusiastic about them — they're broadcast too early here (live, of course) and I'm not ready to be up and about that early on my day off. Like you, Tosca was a first for me, despite having viewed a few operas now — what a treat the large repertoire is, that it still holds so many surprises.