Heartline Stitch Removal Blues: Wednesday, February 15th!

Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law. -Douglas Hofstadter, professor of cognitive science (b. 15 Feb 1945) 

Berne at it best

Dearest Pat and Corinne! Your live sounds just great! Here the snow melted away and now I'm desperately awaiting spring.

[Gurada with friends] Last weekend I went on a short trip to Bologna with my boyfriend Severin. Unfortunately I catched a cold and was sick the whole time. Nevertheless, we managed to eat twice very good ("E cucina" and "Altro?" if you ever happen to be in Bologna..) which made up for the sickness. We also bought some art as there was a very nice printers' shop just around the corner of our Airbnb-flat. And Sevi is a serigrafy-printer himself, so he knew a lot about the technique and could talk shop with the printers. Have you ever been to Bologna? If not, the spirit of the city I found very laid-back and sympathetic. And all the houses are coloured orange-reddish. 

[in Guarda - one of the most picturesc villages in the Engadin] I've also organized a book club! With a few girl-friends, we are meeting all few months and discuss the book we've read. In two weeks time it's my turn to suggest two proposals of books we could read. Do you have any suggestions? I would be glad! Lisa Moore I don't know. What is she writing about?

All the best wishes from Max and Monica and Livia. Eveline and Heinz I haven't seen in a while. But when I do, I'll forward the good wishes. Have a great time and I'm looking forward to hearing from you! Love, Fiona

[The alps of the cruel swiss]

Hello Back From Bologna Barrister! Sorry to hear that your weekend trip was marred by a nasty cold! Almost nothing worse than not feeling well when travelling. However, delighted that you were able to dine so well and that you found an interesting print. Where did you meet Severin? Unfortunately, I've not been to Bologna but Lady Dar was there, for a few days, in 2013, when I was in Southern France. She certainly enjoyed city.
As you know, I've organized a book club here and it has just been agreed that we will be discussing Lisa Moore's February:  

[Gurada with friend] In 1982, the oil rig Ocean Ranger sank off the coast of Newfoundland during a Valentine's Day storm. All eighty-four men aboard died. February is the story of Helen O'Mara, one of those left behind when her husband, Cal, drowns on the rig. It begins in the present-day, more than twenty-five years later, but spirals back again and again to the "February" that persists in Helen's mind and heart.

Writing at the peak of her form, her steadfast refusal to sentimentalize coupled with an almost shocking ability to render the precise details of her characters' physical and emotional worlds, Lisa Moore gives us her strongest work yet. Here is a novel about complex love and cauterizing grief, about past and present and how memory knits them together, about a fiercely close community and its universal struggles, and finally about our need to imagine a future, no matter how fragile, before we truly come home. This is a profound, gorgeous, heart-stopping work from one of our best writers. 

[Max and my grandmother Hanna.] To this end, yesterday afternoon, I made a couple of trips to the public libraries in the area. First to Penticton Public Library where I picked up one copy of work then home to phone the Okanagan Regional Library, in Summerland, and found out I could borrow a number of copies from them. I'd not been to the new library before and it is a lovely building, opened in 2015, I believe. Staff were very friendly and helpful and I chatted with Sue Cline who leads the book club that a hiking friend, Marian, belongs to. She was the one who told me that her book club was also reading February. Quite a coincidence indeed!

Another title, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, is one of Lady Dar's favourites:
The majority of the novel takes place in the fictional town of Molching, Germany, near Munich, between 1939 and 1943. Death narrates the story of Liesel Meminger, beginning when she is nine years old and suffering from the death of her brother and separation from her mother.

[Monica and Livia on Christmas one year ago] If your group might be interested in another Canadian author, Joseph Boyden's first work, Three Day Road, is riveting, as far as I'm concerned:Set in 1919, following the end of World War I, the novel takes place in the wilderness of Northern Ontario and on the battlefields of France and Belgium. Niska, an Oji-Cree medicine woman, is the remnant of her native relatives who refused to assimilate in the 19th century. She rejected European beliefs and culture and continues to thrive in the bush in a manner befitting her and her traditions. Niska’s voice is one of two narratives that complete the novel. After getting word that her closest thing to living family, Elijah, is coming back from the war, she paddles the three-day journey to meet him in town. She finds, however, that it is not Elijah but her nephew Xavier who has returned from battle. In an attempt to heal her only relative, who has clearly been sucked dry of his soul and has hardened with slaughter and turned hollow by morphine, she begins to recount the stories of her past. She believes that perhaps this will revive Xavier and the Three Day Road will not be one to his demise. Similarly, Xavier attempts to stumble over his story for his aunt and unearths ghosts of his bullet-riddled past.
 

[Max and Monica joking]
 
The novel was inspired in part by real-life aboriginal World War I heroes Francis Pegahmagabow and John Shiwak.

If you need any more suggestions, just let us know! You are lucky that the snow has melted away. Same here, except for the surrounding hills but this was not the case a few weeks ago! Look forward to your visit, with Severin! Thank you for the wonderful pictures and hello to all The Cruel Swiss! Fondestos to you both, dearest Fiona. All the best. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Jos just called my cell to say Olly is playing Cora lee Hello Calgary Orange Eating Woman/St Vital Bridge Coordinator! Glad to know you are safely in Winnipeg. Did "Lady Dar" get left behind in Chinookville? Guess Josinta didn't realize she was calling your cell. Anyway, Glad Olga Polga is on for bridge. Thought that she would be. Probably won't be a late night as The Three Summerlanders are off to ski at Mt Baldy today so, given past behaviour, they'll be falling asleep while bidding! Might nod off myself if Josinta takes as long to play as she usually does!

You'll be pleased to know that I received quite a few bops from The Boy this morning, as well as some suckling on my wrist, although he doesn't seem to like my hand as much as yours! Even Miss Etta was wild as I didn't get out of bed until 7:45 am and carryings-on escalated to such an extent that I was worried that place would be wrecked! Duke even knocked my alarm clock off the bureau and Etta was chewing the draw strings om my shorts. Of course, the wild horses raced to the garage to go outside as soon as I made tracks to cat door. 

Back inside for breakfast. No hesitation about shaking a paw as their bowls were both empty and Etta was even eating crumbs off the floor as I mixed their pumpkin with crunchies. Speaking of which, what do you do with mixture as I'll need to refill bag in cupboard in next few days? Otherwise, tuna! For the moment, All Quiet on the Cat Front as they are back outside.

Must away as I need to bring in some firewood although it is 5º C and supposed to start raining at 9:00 am. Fondestos from your favourite wild horses and your devoted husband! Love and Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics: Mournful Miss Etta! Carly is away. Cats at Pams. Hello Fort Garry Bound Folk! I gather you will be checking in to the hotel at some point, to live the high life! Saw Paul this morning and he decided to leave stitiches in until Monday as he said the incision was a pretty deep one and he didn't want it to open up and leave a scar. He also had the lab report on the biopsy so I was pleased, obviously, to learn that "No malignancy is identified." He still wants me to wait for another week or so before heading to pool so I plan to buy earmuffs for Etta and Duke to block out squeak from stationary bike!

I took a page out of your Shopaholic Workbook and since I was at that end of town I bought a new, spiffy recycling container for under the sink, a new Dirt Devil, (current one in hallway doesn't have much, if any, suction), and two fluid lighters, from Walmart. (Parrot Boy was on my shoulder a minute ago and is now thinking about an Evil Knieval leap to cupboard above sink! Miss Etta is shaking her head, on the armchair, watching him, now atop cupboard beside fridge. Do you think he is really a Jack Russell?) To reward myself, I stopped at the liquor store and bought a bottle of Wiser's Union 52, rye whiskey blended with 52 year old malt, a taste of which Colin treated me to when we were there on New Year's Eve. Time to ride like the wind! Love and Cheers to one and all, Patrizzio! Pics: Miss Etta and recent purchases!

Hi Patrick, Yes, non-retirees indeed. I'm sitting in St. John's waiting out the second snow day (midterm test scheduled for Thurs.). Luise is stuck in Labrador but hopefully will make it to St. John's tomorrow. She returns to BC Feb. 27 so hopefully the rains will have melted the far too much snow that fell on Denman! I'll be back on Denman as an official retiree April 26 (although the official part will be effective Aug. 31). Cheers, David

Hello St John's! Trust Luise made it back from Labrador! I have some idea of what you both were going through as Pamela, Lady Dar's sister, in Vancouver, from Winnipeg, on business, for the week of February 6th, flew into Penticton, along with Chloë, late Thursday night, February 2nd, to stay for the weekend. Never stopped snowing until late Sunday evening so that was almost last flight of weekend! I spent every day shoveling for a couple of hours! Chloë was on the phone to Air Canada all weekend as it was never clear whether any flights would make it in. Etta and Duke didn't care as they loved the snow, chasing snow flakes and wading through the drifts!
By early Sunday it didn't look like anything would/could land, (They were to return on Sunday evening.), and all of Monday's flights were already fully booked, as a result of earlier cancellations, should those even be able to fly. This being the case, they decided to re-book out of Kelowna and we drove them there on Monday morning! Nonetheless, we enjoyed a grand visit, especially since Pamela had not been to our place before.
Have heard from another hiking friend, Al Tinka, that Pam K is fine, so pleased to learn that. However, she said she couldn't join book club as she only reads on Tuesdays! Look forward to your visit when you are back in BC and ready to return to the Okanagan. Fondestos to you both. All the best. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hello Bibliophiles! I do apologize for not being in touch sooner. No excuses but plenty of reasons! Trying to juggle various dates but was waiting to hear back from folk regarding titles. Have only heard from Stonewall Jackson, (Captain Corelli's Mandolin), and Luigi, (The Girl With Seven Faces). Senka voted, I think, for my suggestion, Lisa Moore's February, so I'm going to make an executive decision and declare this to be the first selection!

With respect to the date of the first gathering, in order to give people enough time to obtain and read the book, I suggest March 16th, at 7:00 pm, at 611 Burns Street. I'd have it a week earlier but I'm away in Vancouver then. Of course, this date isn't set in stone so please let the group know what might work and we'll plan accordingly. At any rate, as these things usually go, not everyone will be able to meet but it would be terrific if we can accommodate most people for most of the discussions.

With respect to this aspect, nature of discussion forum is flexible. In the past, in my experience, the individual responsible for the book in question provides a brief introduction, something about author and reason for choice of work, and then the floor is open. So let me know what you think and we'll take it from there. Thanks and Cheers, Patrizzio! 

Great travel inspirations: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/travel/places-to-visit.html?smid=fb-nyttravel&smtyp=cur&place=cyprus

Hi Ms Money Bags Tinsel Town! Wonderful pictures indeed! You might recall that we visited Paphos with Maggie and her boys in 2007, when in Cyprus. Was pleased to find that we've been to a goodly number of places shown but many, many more I'd love to visit. Great that with your latest bonus you will be providing return airfare and travel allowance for trip of our choice! Thanks and Cheers, Dad!

My colleague Alex, whom you've met, will be traveling to Cyprus in April with her Dad for his elementary class reunion. Terrific, of course, but it's a bit of a shame that you paid for their trip before ones we've already selected! Now I know how Winston feels when you leave him at home!

Dear Corinne..dear Patrizzio.. Thanks for your answer...we let you know..if we have more information of our planed visit.. Greatings Annamaria and Rudi RDear Corinne..dear Patrizzio...we have good news...our fliht to Vancouver..is on the 2nd of september....and we are going to fligh back on the 23rd of septemer...so we have time to visit you....it would be a pleasure to spend some time with you Best wishes, annamarie and rudi
 
Hello, (Nadienka), Annamaria Tremonte and Rudi Rudenheimer! [Nadienka, please forward this message to your dearest Mama as I don't seem to have an email address for her! Thanks, your Cruel Host Father! Hope you are well and still in love!!!!] What fabulous news indeed! We are both absolutely delighted that you will visit, as Nadienka didn't stay long enough! As soon as you have worked out the details of your trip let us know your itinerary. However, just to help with the planning you should know that you are welcome to stay for as long as your time and interest allow.


Trust you are both well! Fondestos from Lady Dar, to you both, in absentia. She left, yesterday, for Winnipeg and will be back home on March 1st. I'll be here to look after the feline population, currently having their afternoon naps! All the very best. Cheers, Patrizzio! Hello AMT!, I've sent a longer message, to RR and Nadienka and asked her to forward it to her dearest Mama as I don't seem to have an email address for you! Cheers, Patrizzio!

Update on Rachael 3 things that may have caused the seizure, her new medication,Abilify, fever or calcifications in basal ganglion area ( not sure they are worse than her last CT) They have there bases covered though on 2 IV antibiotics and acyclovir IV , antiviral. They did lab x2, CT head, chest X-ray, 2 blood cultures, throat culture, urine culture influenza culture & ECG. Fever gone today Was 38.2 just after the seizure, up and down yesterday and oxygen sats in low 90's yesterday as well, both better today. Most likely it was a febrile seizure. But hard to know if viral or bacterial. She is much more perky today. Pat Give our cousin big hugs from us xoxo Good to hear she is in better spirits today after such an ordeal Hi Rachael! Wishing you a full and speedy recovery. Heaps of Love from Uncle Pat and our two kittens, Etta and Duke!

Hello again, Book Clubbers! Thanks very much to my Summerland "cousin", Marian Dunn, in a rival book club, no-less, for the following message:

Hi Patrick, Are you aware that the Summerland Library Book Club (of which I am a member) just read "February" and will be discussing the book this coming Saturday. The library tends to order in "kits" of books for the book group. You may wish to contact Sue Kline at the library to see if she can hold onto the books for another couple of weeks for your group members. Just a suggestion! Your fellow reader, Marian

I am happy to contact Sue to see what might be possible if people are having trouble obtaining title. Please let me know if anyone would like me to proceed. Thanks again, Cousin, certainly appreciate the tip! Cheers, Patrizzio!

Patrick, Always a treat to hear from you and I would agree you have been busy. I emailed you to tell you we were going to be in LA from December 31 for a few days as we thought you might still be there. I was surprised we didn’t hear back - did you get the email? 

[Serpent sculpture] News since late November - We spent 2 weeks in Kauai with our Calgary friends and on our return we stayed in Vancouver and had our early Christmas with the kids. We went to Joe Fortes for dinner which I was a bit dubious about but the food and service was A+ and it was busy! Came home to Terrace for about 10 days then returned to Vancouver for the actual Christmas. Stacee and Sean had everyone to their home for Christmas dinner and Sean’s dad joined us too so that was good. All the Martin family got together at one of Gerry’s brother’s sons for Christmas Eve and it was a special night as Jeff and Stacee hadn’t seen their cousins or their children in quite a few years. Everyone really enjoyed the ‘reunion’. 

After Christmas we decided to take a little trip to LA to see the Super Bowl Parade. We thoroughly enjoyed that and especially going to see the floats being decorated the day before the parade. The attention to detail is amazing as is the number of flowers, all donated by the California flower growers apparently. One float had 55,000 flowers on it. After a few days in LA, we stayed in Rodondo Beach, we drove down to San Diego and stayed there for 6 days. We spent the best part of a day on the USS Midway and found it most interesting. Also visited Ronald Reagan’s Presidential Library which is the only one built with donations and maintained by donations. Jimmy Pattison is on the board of the Foundation which we thought was interesting. If you ever get a chance to visit a Presidential Library do so as they are fascinating - this is the third one we have seen.

[Us at the Reagan Library.] We also did a few hikes and one day drove over to the Danza Borrego Desert and went and saw the home my parents owned there years ago. A fellow who owned 1000’s of acres of land there commissioned a sculptor to make animals that had inhabited the land during the dinosaur years and then he got him to do other pieces. They are huge and are scattered all over the desert - we saw about 75 of them I would guess. They are made of metal and are rusty red - some are pretty neat.
After our trip south we came home to Terrace to stay for awhile. We thought we would just catch up on things. First we have gone through 5000 slides and whittled them down with the intent of digitizing them and second we have had people over for dinner and for visits and card games. We also have gone through our files and cleaned them up - lots of shredding! We just decided to do some renovations to our home so on Monday the fellow comes to take out a wall and open up the staircase downstairs. I am not looking forward to the dust and mayhem but I am sure I will survive.

[USS Midway] And that dear Patrick is a quick update on us. Oh yes, one more thing. Gerry is playing Pickleball and loving it. He goes 2 days a week and they have to pay $2 which I said has to be the cheapest form of entertainment available. He did get a black eye from a ball at one game but otherwise is remaining in one piece as he is the oldest one there. He also has been asked to speak at a few events lately, one being a retirement party and I have to brag as he got a standing ovation for his talk there. He was on a roll!
We are going to be in Vancouver for a check up at the beginning of March but I did see the ENT Dr. in Smithers last week and he says all is well. Always a relief to hear those words. This is quite a long email for me to write - consider yourself special! Cheers, Dawn

[One of the floats]Patrick, I forgot to mention the Ma Jong. Years ago when we first came to Terrace we learned how to play Ma Jong but we lost a bunch of money one night when we didn’t have any money so we packed it away. A friend of mine plays with a group of women and I wouldn’t mind learning how to play again. Maybe Corinne can show us how on our next visit. Dawn

Hi Mah Jong Maria and Pickleball Pete! Thanks for the fabulously newsy message, with stunning pics as well. Glad Christmas and all your various trips went so well. [You might recall that we house sat, in Simi Valley, a couple of times, for Ayn's cousin so we've been to the Reagan Library. [Also to Johnson Library in Austin. Bush Library, in Dallas, wasn't finished/open when we were there. However, I agree, simply fascinating!] I often road past the turn-off to it. This Christmas Day I rode from Ayn's place in Van Nuys to Simi Valley, on the Santa Susannah Pass Road!] I do apologize for not replying sooner. I did receive your message regarding your trip to LA but we left Tinsel Town on the 27th as we were spending New Year's Eve in Vancouver. Life was so hectic, on the road, and then once back in Penticton, that I'm still trying to catch up!

With respect to Mah Jong I wanted to join group Cora Lee is in BUT The Sisterhood would hear of no such thing. This being the case, Mary Lee will teach game to some of the lads form hiking group as I am keen to learn it. Do you have the game?

Corinne's sister, Pamela, from Winnipeg, was in Vancouver, on business, week of February 6th so she and Chloë flew into Penticton on late flight, Thursday, 2nd of February, for weekend. That was the last flight, on account of snow, for next few days and so we eventually had to drive them to Kelowna, on Monday, as didn't look like they'd be able to fly from Penticton. Anyway, it was a lovely visit, especially since Pam had not been to our place before.

The following weekend was just as busy as I think you know. Then on Tuesday both Toshi and Lady Dar flew away from me! Talked to Lady Dar this evening and her Mom's minor eye surgery went well on Wednesday. They are now home, at Falcon Lake, and her Dad, though frail, is otherwise fine. Weather is quite warm there and is supposed to rain over next few days.

Still, loads to do, even without The Babes! Lady Dar is flying back to Vancouver on the 27th, for her book club, that evening. Then bus back home on March 1st. I'll be busing to Vancouver myself, on March 8th for VWF Dram Come True and Sevens Rugby on the weekend. When will you be there? Pleased that the ENT visit went well. A week or so ago I had a tiny wart removed from top of my nose. It had been there for 15 years, or more, and hadn't changed in that time so I wasn't overly concerned. 

Neither was my dermatologist but he said I needed to see a plastic surgeon for $500-$1,000 to take it off. Since I'd rather spend the money on malt I let it be but when I mentioned it to my GP, here, he referred me to a colleague who did a biopsy. I was to have stitches out on Wednesday and when I showed up for appointment, my GP had lab results and all was well. However, he decided to leave stitches in until Monday as incision was fairly deep and he didn't want to risk any scarring. I thought it would give me character and a new nickname: Scarface! Fondestos to you, Donna Maria and The Pickleball Champ. Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics: Some of Toshi's snaps and last night's dinner!

Very sweet, Patrizio. Any dog card is, naturally. Hope you were a happy Valentine and made it a Happy Valentine's Day for your adorable trooper wife Coralee :>) Did you buy the lavender farm yet? Love Yda Hi Little Evita and The Imperiales! Glad you enjoyed the card. Great to hear from you! Trust everyone is well. When are you coming to visit? No, we are not in the lavender business. Decided dwellings on property required too, too much work to make purchase feasible, in spite of grand view. Lady Dar is still looking, however! All the best to you and Arne. Cheers, Patrizzio!

I thought you would be interested in this story I found on MSN: Vancouver's empty mansions highlight middle-class housing woes http://a.msn.com/00/en-us/AAmNjDP?ocid=se Hi Michaelo! Thanks for link on Vancouver's housing market. One of reasons we left! Trust you and Marilyn are fully recovered! All the best to you and my Darling Digitale! Cheers, Patrizzio!

Thank you for the pictures! That’s amazing…FYI, I’ve just finished getting my website up to date and there is an event on there that might be of particular interest to you as it’s in Penticton and has been on my bucket list for quite some time… The Dream Cafe! Thanks again for the pictures. Cheers, Yanti Hi Yanti! Glad you enjoyed the snaps. We certainly enjoyed the evening so thanks again for wonderful entertainment! Think we are both free on Saturday, March 25th so will probably see you realize your dream at The Dream! All the best. Cheers, Patrizzio! Sounds fun! Safe travels... I hope to see you March 25th...Cheers!
Yanti