Replace the Panes in the Patio Doors Blues: Wednesday, December 12th!

Our country is the world -- our countrymen are all mankind. -William Lloyd Garrison, abolitionist, journalist, and suffragist (12 Dec 1805-1879) 

Our best to all the best Have a great holiday season! Brenda and Wally Kian and Dana And Picasso Hello Brenda Louise, et al! Thank you for the lovely, lovely Christmas card. I don't think I've seen one quite as charming. The violin and other music added to the sheer wonder of the scene. Fondestos from Lady Dar at a Grandmothers for Africa meeting and Christmas Lunch, to you, Brenda Louise, and Wally, Kian, Dana and Picasso! Stay well. Cheers, Patrizzio! 

Hello busy friend! What books are you recommending at your Book Club sessions? Have any suggestions for Netflix? We are in need of some couch potato activities due to having to stay close to Picasso. Pic had an accident where he really cut his foot and tore off a claw. He is fine as long as one of us is in the room. He tells us about the pain by saying “Poor” and then asking, “Did you hurt yourself”. He needs help to eat even so we are concerned. His vet is in Kelowna so we can’t get her to look at him. I have an email out to a local clinic where I have heard that a bird vet may have finally decided to practise in Kamloops. No word back yet though. It is a good thing we are pretty well ready for Christmas. It is a quiet affair here especially compared to what I hear of your celebrations. Best wishes to all of you as well Cheers Brenda

Hi Brenda Louise! Loved the role reversal with Kian reading to Grandpa. Does Wally not want to go to bed until someone reads him a story and brings a glass of malt? Really terribly sorry to hear about Picasso and his own brave attempts to comfort himself! I do hope you have found vet relief for him by now.

As far as books for book club, Lady Dar is best source but one suggested for next gathering, so far, is Milkman by Anna Burns. I have not suggested any titles as I put forward last title. I'm just about finished the latest Reacher, Lee Child's The Midnight Line. I quite like this series, the more I read them, in between more "serious" fare. Next will be Robert Wilson's You Will Never Find Me. It's next as it's a library book and is due on January 3rd. Cannot recommend him enough. I urge you to read him if you don't already know his amazing work. We saw John Boyne two years ago at the VWF and his The Heart's Invisible Furies is another remarkable novel. Then Le Carré's A Legacy of Spies, over a year old now as it, and Reacher above, were last year's stocking stuffers! Time flies when you are wine-tasting!!!

With respect to Netflix we are currently watching a number of Scandinavian detective series, Deadwind is Finnish and we've not seen anything from there before. As well, Bordertown. Back to Iceland with The Lava Field. Want to watch Mammon and Fortitude next, both on Amazon Prime. One last suggestion for Netflix, Tin Star: "Tim Roth plays a police detective called Jim Worth who has moved, with his wife and children, from London to a small Canadian town to try and escape his violent past. However, it isn’t long before everything he’s trying to flee comes catching up: murder, deceit and twists are all around the corner and ready to make their mark." Have not watched this yet but I really like Tim Roth and the small Canadian town is probably Kamloops!

Must away, my favourite Small Town Goil as I am off to do a bit of grocery shopping for tomorrow's Open House. List left by Lady Dar before she hied herself to her to Flatlander's Christmas Walk and Luncheon. Cheers to one and all, Patrizzio!


Could you send me Rick & Ruth‘s address. I can ‘t find it here Thanks Clara.Hi Clarisse! Trust you are well! Here is the Toews' address. Ragin' Bull is driving up today to attend Open House and stay for a few days so looking forward to playing bridge with him, since you abandoned me! [When are you coming back? Have you booked your flight yet? Fly on New Year's Eve and I'll collect you in Kelowna as I'm taking Lady Dar there then!] He has become a regular so many of our friends here know him. Took out the meatballs you made and we froze, for dinner tonight as Lady Dar is at her book club. What else is new?


Must away as I need to tidy up my "office" as chap replaced the two "clouded" panes this morning. He was extremely efficient and even cleaned the windows once they were replaced! Looks terrific so pleased to have that done! Also, floor trim was installed earlier this week so nothing to complain about except Lady Dar's busy schedule! Fondestos from her, at a Grandmothers for Africa meeting and Christmas Lunch, to you, Rosita. Much love and affection, Patrizzio! Pics: Christmas Cat; Window Cats!

Today, just Karl and I. I could hardly believe my eyes. Al <https://photos.app.goo.gl/xSDKvAMLzKBtoUYc7>Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos Al. Cheers, Tim and Marian I look forward to Monday! Great pics. Aart  Hi T Rex! I can hardly believe my eyes! Wonderful to see The Sensitive New Age Mountain Men admiring the flowers! Cheers, Patrizzio!

[Here are a couple photos from 2014, not related to below.] Hi guys, While we were in Winnipeg in September I had coffee with Henri Blanchette, an old acquaintance from my days in Marchand. His wife Jeannette from La Broquerie died about three years ago of kidney failure. She had cancer in one kidney, they removed the whole kidney without knowing her other non cancerous kidney had only 10% capacity. Henri remarried shortly after that, which was Jeannette's wish for him. She said he suffered too much as a bachelor waiting to meet the right one. She didn't want him to go back to that. Henri grew up on a small farm in Cochrane Ontario. Stories of his childhood tell of a bleak life. He was a story teller, with fond memories of his life in Temiscaming. Henri and Jeannette had children of their own and took care of several foster children. They had a heart of gold.

Anyhoo, after our Winnipeg meeting, Henri was kind enough to give me the phone number of Louise and Dennie Roberts. Let me tell you about Louise and Dennie Roberts whom I worked for at Frontier Farms in Marchand, MB, an 8000 acres venture that did not last very long, but that propelled me in my own career by connecting me with the right people. Clayton Manness, a successful seed farmer from Domain, Manitoba, was a silent partner who provided the financial backing for the new farm. We produced grass seed. I learned a lot working on that farm from Spring 1980 to fall 1981, and became project manager for the Manitoba Peatland Farmers of Manitoba in Spring 1982.

This association had been formed by a group of farmers including David Roberts (brother of Dennie), who was influencial in my hiring. I also knew their mom and dad, as they spent time on the farm helping their sons. They were of Welsh extraction, as we call it, adventurous, energetic, high-spirited, generous, good looking. I can see how people like them would have defended bravely their country in the trenches of the Somme during WWI. Incidentally David lost his wife in 2002 during the SARS outbreak in Toronto, so he started to look after a handicapped person full time. This man had money. David now lives in Costa Rica still looking after this man, and he probably will not return to Canada.

After Frontier Farms went bankrupt in 1984, Dennie stayed for a while in Marchand, because he had bought a house on a small acreage (foolishly, given that the farm was a high risk venture), then he found a job managing a large grain farm for an Alberta tycoon who used the farm as a tax write-off. I went to work for Dennie in the fall 1987. I remember hearing the stock market crash one October afternoon while I was picking roots in a field North of Hines Creek in the Peace River ("Black Monday" for the history buffs). In nearby Bear Canyon, on the way to Fort St John BC, lived the Hart family, a group of Quakers who had moved North from Texas after the Lord ordered their leader to bring the tribe North to go forth and multiply. You can't make this up. Canada I love you, warts and all. Dennie eventually bought the tycoon's farm, and I was told he went broke again. It was not for lack of working hard and trying.

It is a small world, because Dennie and Louise have been spending their winters in the small town of la Penita de Jaltemba. So I'll get to see them after 30 years :-) Bruno Hi Brunello! Certainly quite a story with a real fairy tale ending to come! Trust everyone is well. Fondestos from Lady Dar to you both. Stay well. Cheers, Patrizzio! Sorry, cannot tonight Susan