Zanzibar

ABC Wednesday
July 8th, 2015

The letter is Z  for Zanzibar

Zanzibar is an archipelago made up of Zanzibar and Pemba Islands located in the Indian Ocean about twenty-five miles from the Tanzanian coast.  Sixty miles long and twenty miles wide it is known for its beautiful sandy beaches with fringing coral reefs, and the magic of historic Stone Town, said to be the only functioning ancient town in East Africa.

There are no large wild aimals in Zanzibar, and forest areas are inhabited by monkeys, bush-pigs and small antelopes - and rumour has it the elusive Zanzibar leopard!  Various species of mongoose are also found on the island, and a wide variety of birds and butterflies..

The coral reefs surrounding the East Coast are rich in marine life and make them a great location for snorkelling and scuba diving.


Zanzibar's local people are an incredible mixture of ethnic backgrounds, indicative of her colourful history.  Islam is the dominant religion, and the 100,000 inhabitants speak Swahili.

People have lived in Zanzibar for 20,000 years.  History starts when the islands became a base for traders voyaging between the African Great Lakes, the Arabian peninsula and the Indian subcontient.  Although the archipelago had few products of value Stone City was a convenient point from which to trade with towns on the Swahili Coast.  Zanzibar has been inhabited, perhaps not continuously, since the Paleolithic.  A 2005 excavation at Kuumbi Cave foud heavy duty stone tools that showed occupation of the site at least 22,000 years ago.

A certain magic is attached to Zanzibar, with its aura of spices and ivory, blue waters and beaches,

and in recent years its great attraction as a tourist destination.

Cinnamon bark and nutmeg

In my own personal history I remember Saturday afternoon movies

and the "Road" series, starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour

and in particular "The Road to Zanzibar"

Don't ask me for any details, - it was a long, long time ago!

The last letter in the alphabet, and many thanks to Roger and Denise 

and all their zippy de-do-dah helpers!

For more Zzzzs zip over here to ABC Wednesday.

Summer Days

July 2nd, 2015

When my knees started whining this morning, after a couple of hours at the loom, I chided them for letting down the side, but did admit that it might be time to see what the kitchen had to offer for lunch, and them maybe find a shady spot and a new book.

I try to keep in mind the way Grandpa Sid (Charles' father) managed when he was with us in his late eighties,  and emulate his way of life;  busy during the day, but at a leisurely pace.  Never hurried or distraught, and always aware of the energy short rest periods generated, he taught us all
the advantages of pacing oneself through life....

So I made myself a toasted chicken and cheese sandwich, had a very small nap, and then gathered a book and the camera and my phone in a basket, and went out into the back garden to find a cool corner.

I finished reading Julia Blackburn's 'biography' yesterday - "The Three of Us", astounded at the lack of stability in her childhood and surprised by the maturity, and the love and forgiveness that she achieves by the time the book ends.   It kept me reading all afternoon until I closed it with a sigh, and laid it aside for Happy Hour, and a little musing about life and how different it is for all us.

Today I started to read "Habits of the House" by  Fay Weldon - a Downton Abbey kind of book that doesn't require a great deal of concentration but so far is entertaining.

This morning I was back at the loom again, and so pleased with the way the left-over linen is weaving up into small guest towels, although I have to admit that there are a few lines running through the length of the warp that could be construed as decorative, but are, in reality, mistakes in threading....  I have probably another twenty inches of warp left to weave and then the happy experience of cutting off the warp, wet finishing the material and watching it morph from a stiff linen netting type of weave to a lovely soft huck pattern, the threads all relaxed and cosying up to one another.

And so the summer days go by, - I go to town when I absolutely have to, but my days begin and end in the garden in the cool of the morning and the quiet of the late evening.  Often, if there is a particularly lovely sunset in the Chilcotin, our youngest son scans the sky with his Ipod and sends by Skype these beautiful Monet colours, - mauves and purples and roses and cream and lilac, bright golds and blue.

In the morning I can expect to see on Facebook the same sunset, beautifully photographed by our second son,  and accompanied by wonderful tales of the Meadow where they live.

Warm summery days, and life is good....

Enchantment

ABC Wednesday
July 1, 2015

The letter is Y - for Enchantment

Are you prepared to be enchanted???

Here is Yo Yo Ma with his magical rendition of The Swan by Saint Saens

Bound to enchant you....

And furthermore - the addition of Charles Riley (aka Lil' Buck) and his
dance interpretation is quite magical

For more interesting takes on the letter Y - over yonder, here, at ABC Wednesday

with thanks to Roger and Denise 

We're having a heat wave...

In the late afternoon I leave the coolness of the house and go out into the garden to check pots and open the side gate to peer at the air conditioner to see if any ice has formed around its entrance into the house as happened yesterday.  Luckily not.......

We are in the midst of an unusual heat wave.  No blazing sun or brilliant sky, but rather a grey and rather ominous cloud cover much resembling the lid of a pressure cooker - and there is distinct impression of being steamed in it as one ventures forth.

I have seen worse!  Picked peaches and apricots in the orchard when the temperature was well over 100 degrees F. (With constant  re-telling over the years the actual temperature has grown to117F but I hesitate to intrude on credibility).

We had no air conditioning in our home at that time but a large Rainbow sprinkler turned lazily all day on our flat roofed house, and as the water fell over the eaves it gave the illusion of coolness at least.

I found some of the potted plants gasping for water, even though I had been out in the garden early in the morning with the hose.  These are the days of morning refreshment -  happy hour about five, and perhaps a little sparkling water at noon.

What relief and delight to step back into a cool kitchen  - even Callie left her little damp spot in the raspberries to scoot between my feet.

She had spoonful of her soft tinned cat food that she has a passion for, and I had the remains of last night's refreshing fruit salad for supper  -  with ice cream!

Last night as I got ready for bed the eastern sky and clouds were bright with a show of sheet lightening.  I can't wish the same for tonight because of the very real danger of igniting wild fires, but it was pretty spectacular.

Tomorrow promises to be a little cooler than the 40C that was recorded on Charles' old thermometer!

X is for kisses

ABC Wednesday
June 24, 2015

The letter is X - a symbol for kisses

so sweet.....

'Tis when the lark goes soaring

And the bee is at the bud,

When lightly dancing zephyrs

Sing over field and flood;

When all sweet things in nature

Seen joyfully achime -

'Tis then I wake my darling,

For it is kissing time!

Go, pretty lark a-soaring

And suck your sweets, O bee;

Sing, O ye winds of summer,

Your songs to mine and me;

For with your song and rapture

Cometh the moment when

It's half past kissing time

And time to kiss again!

So-so the days go fleeting

Like golden fancies free,

And every day that cometh

Is full of sweets for me;

And sweetest are those moments

My darling comes to climb

Into my lap to mind me

That it is kissing time.

Sometimes, maybe, he wanders

A heedless, aimless way -

Sometimes, maybe, he loiters

In pretty, prattling play;

But presently bethinks him

And hastens to me then,

For it's half-past kissing time

And time to kiss again!

Kissing Time, by Eugene Field, who also worte "Wynken, Blynken and Nod"
and 'The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat"

The last two lines stir fond childhood memories of my Grandmother....

More Xs here at ABC Wednesday, with thanks to Denise and Roger
and all their kissing cousins who visit on their behalf....

A Saturday Morning Concert

I am going to a concert!

Would you like to come along with me?

I squeeze the last cup of morning coffee from the pot and gather together my knitting, my glasses, a library book in case I should want to read a few pages in the intermission, and I am off to my PC where the  Berlin Philharmonik orchestra has begun to gather and the seats are filling up.....

The first violinist arrives to applause, and the instruments tune up under his direction.

Ah, - here is the guest soloist, Chistian Tetzlaff.  And the conductor, Sir Simon with his white dandelion hair and baton.

First on the program is Brahms Violin Concerto in D, which has been a great favourite of mine for many years since I first deepened my acquaintance with it to a familiarity, via a CD with Nigel Kennedy and the London Philharmonic.

The orchestra begins, - and now the soloist joins in with great enthusiam, and then great delicacy; fierce in his passion and then tender in the quiet interlude that overtakes the music.  The first movement ends with a sweet solo sentence, sometimes almost a whisper until the orchestra joins in with great vigor, and we are into the Adagio.

The violins are quiet as the clarinets and flutes and oboe carry one gently along into this lovely movement.  And here are the violins again - light and meditative.

I have still not picked up my knitting; this is too beautiful to be distracted with keeping track of a lacy pattern.

After the Adagio the Allegro - joyful, lively, melodic and rythmic.  The camera catches a lady in the audience who is listening intently, but not smiling.  How can one listen and not smile and tap one's foot, I wonder.

The conductor is smiling - all is going well!  There is great applause as the performance comes to an end, and after a number of recalls an encore to an audience and spellbound orchestra (well, they looked spellbound - certainly very appreciative of this fine talent), So moving and beautiful....

In the intermission the artist speaks of his year of residency with the Philharmonic, and interjects wonderful musical examples that don't allow me to tear myself away to think about lunch.  I eventually content myself with a boiled egg and a bit of yogurt!

The intermission over the musicians return and the first violinist does his bit again to make sure all is in harmongy.

The second part of the program is a delight.  The orchestra is expanded with added instruments, - two harps, a tambourine and I think I even caught sight of a Ukulele!  A lovely program of Claude DeBussy's Images for Orchestra - a Gigue, a Ronde of Springtime, Iberia, and Les Parfums of the Night.

It ended with George Enescu's Romanian Rhapsody, introduced by the trombones.  A little wild and wonderful, inviting visions of twirling gypsies in long skirts and flowing hair.  Everybody busy and caught up in this passionate music - nobody sitting idly awaiting a cue to play.....

Before the audience dispersed and the orchestra left the stage Sir Simon Rattle made a short farewell speech in German, and I could only guess at what he was saying, but concluded that the Flautist, who I have admired since I first became aware of the Digital Concert Hall, was retiring.

There was more great applause, beautiful flowers and he replied most graciously, I presume, 

and with humour.  I shall miss him...

A lovely way to spend a Saturday morning 

and here are just a few moments of this wonderful music

for your pleasure.

Why???

ABC Wednesday
June 17, 2015
The letter is W

for Who, What, When, Where and Why

Who, What, When, and Where provide the facts,  

but Why is always up for conjecture

If your curiosity is piqued and you want to know more about W

wander over here to ABC Wednesday

with thanks to Roger and Denise and all wise helpers.....

A trip to the library....

Popped into the library today to pick up some DVDs for a friend who has been secluded in the local Senior's home as a result of breaking her leg, and is beginning to get 'cabin fever'!

While there I found three books awaiting me - books that I had just ordered a few days ago, inspired by a little roving through literary type blogs one evening last week.

I was astounded at the size of 'Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell' (Susanna Clarke) but encouraged by the Sunday Times' blurb that claimed this large tome to be 'a fabulous book....dazzlimg....highly original and compelling'.

And so I am prepared to take it on!  It may take me all summer but the library lady checked and said it was probably good for two renewals (nine weeks).  One thousand and six pages!!! 

I am going to have to stem this Protestant Ethic I harbour that (even at ninety) every day must be productive if I am going to sleep self-satisfied and with a clear concscience. I shall ignore the ethics and put aside more time for reading.....

 I am still intriqued by Jack Miles' Biography of God as the 'protagonist of the greatest book'.  

 And his introductory essay to his latest work as editor of the Norton Anthology of World Religions - 'Why God will not Die' and I gather the answer to that  lies in the belief that 

"our ignorance still exceeds our knowledge, 

and we still have eminently good reason to fear the unknown"  

....and how we reasonably cope with the "impossibility of our ever living a perfectly rational life"..

Towards the end of the essay Miles quotes Mary Oliver - "what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"  and continues....

"We never truly know how to reply to that challenge, do we, since more knowledge - the knowledge we do not have - could always justify holding current plans in abeyance just a little longer.  But when life refuses to wait any longer and the great game  begins whether you have suited up or not, than a demand arises that religion - or some expedient no more fully rational than religion - must meet.  You're going to go with something.........science keeps revealing how much we don't know.  Yet humans seek closure."   

And I guess that's why I was at the Church doing Bulletins for tomorrow's service, changing the hangings back to Green after the Red of Pentecost, checking the candles 

and putting flowers on the altar..............

I also brought home Arthur Ransome's 'We didn't mean to Go to Sea', which should provide a little light hearted diversion from great tomes and heavy philosphical thinking!!!!!!!

Yesterday, a real treat, - Simon Rattle and Barbara Hannigan (a Nova Scotia Canadian) in a cabaret type late night performance with six instruments from the Berlin Philharmoniker....

Wonderful!

Advertised as being very British and a little naughty....

V is for Vestiges

ABC Wednesday
June 10th, 2015

The letter is V for Vestiges

The definition of 'vestiges'  - "traces of something that no longer exists"

My home is haunted by vestiges, - lurking in old trunks,
packed away in cardboard boxes,
stuffed into drawers,
carefully put away in files
and hanging in the back of closets!!!!

Happy momentos of life, family, early years and places where we live only in memory.

In a chocolate box is the ribbon from my mother's  wedding bouquet,
one dried rosebud, plus a few shredded blossoms.

In the garage, in the bottom drawer of Charles' desk, there was a sewing kit
used by his grandfather when he was in the Yukon
at the turn of the last century 

(recently given to one of his great grandsons).

Stuffed in one of my sewing machine drawers is my mother's tatting device, -

 which I could still use, I think, if I was so inclined.....

In my cedar chest is the treasured remnants of a silk and lace dust cap
that belonged to my great-grandmother ,
 along with a sweater I knitted for Charles in early days,
 sporting the replica of Indian paintings he found in the hills above his home.

I have in my own 'bottom drawer' a snall leather bag bought for me in Banff (Alberta)
and a hand tooled leather wallet made for me
by one of our very best friends....  

plus a small handkerchief sent from Scotland
when Charles interrupted his RAF training

 to have the mumps....

Old report cards, - innumerable momentos made for Mother by small, chubby hands - 

the receipt for payment of my piano, dated 1925 - 

the children's immunization records. - 

a collection of old poems 

and three or four large industrial shuttles which I will never use!!!

Out of date calendars with lovely pictures, treasured letters, ancient LPs

and a suitcase full of old sheet music.

A wedding dress and a little black number that I thought quite enticing -

plus dozens of C's ties that nobody wears any more

Well, you know how it is.  I'm sure you have your own VESTIGES lying around,

 reminders of life as it was, 

whose eventual fate niggles at the back of your mind as you get older

 and are not a 'thrower-out'...

Spend a little time with them and linger a bit in memory lane.

  Vestiges are great for that and for bringing a smile to your face....

For more interesting Vs visit here at ABC Wednesday, 

with thanks to Roger and Denise and their veritable helpers....

post script - no high heeled shoes
not even as a momento....

A little of This and a little of That, but mainly garden...

June 7th, 2015

When we moved from the Garden on the Hill I slowly abandoned my Garden Diary blog, and after a while was just posting now and then some of the new little additions to this town garden.  A few days ago my granddaughter, who now tends the hill garden and lives with that marvelous view of sky and mountains and valley, brought me a lovely bouquet of roses she had snipped from the Mr. Lincoln, the Prairie Princess and the pink arbour rose.....

At the same time the roses that crowd the gateway here were soaking up

that lovely rain we had last week and reaching the best part of their first flush....

Around the garden shed the Blaze Rose, which received a good pruning this

spring to keep it from wandering into the neighbour's yard,

has recovered quite nicely and its old familiar bloom reminds me of

the roses that covered that back wall at the farm, the ones that Charles'

mother grew at her backdoor, and the wonderful Blaze climbers we had 

when we gardened earnestly on 10th!!

The peonies have all pined away and dropped their petals round their feet

but the garden is pregnant with greenery and swelling buds, 

It will soon be the time of the Lilies and the poppies (although the Oriental ones have left, except for one lone pink one which I will try to squeeze in later....

In the last day or two the spider lily, which I saved from last year, has started a magnificent display....out in a pot by the back door, with the container of hot pink and white zinnias

When I was busy tidying up the wild violets that decided they would like

to grow side by each with the Hellebore I found some blooms that

had gone to seed, -  one empty of its seed, and another still white and fresh,

although a few days in the house found it drying quickly and popping

open to release the seeds.  I thought they were structurally very beautiful, and delicate.

 Along by the front gate the large purple clematis has gone wild,and is climbing

joyously up and over the entrance - the little violet one on the back fence is being

much more prim, but still very beautiful.

and here is Callie, who hides in the garden and watches all the neighbourhood cats pass

down the lane....

and another pretty picture of the Blaze rose and the pink poppy......

I rise early these days, since the weather turned so warm (hot)

and last thing at night wander through the evening coolness.....

UNICORNS

ABC Wednesday
June 3rd, 2015

The letter is U, for Unicorns

You can read here all about the ancient history of this amazing mythical creature,  but if you want the up-to-date version tune in to the Irish Rovers who lament the failure of the Unicorn to quite make it on to the Ark.....

A few months ago I went to hear the Irish Rovers on their last world tour, and was as delighted with them as when we were all young and they were a group of wonderful vibrant young Irish immigrants who made their debut as folk singers in Canada..... 

                              They are still vibrant in a more elderly fashion, but then, so am I!!!

For more unusual Us visit here at ABC Wednesday, with thanks to Denise and Roger and all their upstanding helpers.

she said, poignantly.....

picture by Pat Perrin, - dearly treasured

...amd what are you going to do tomorrow? asked my youngest son

as we ended our nightly chat from the Chilcotin.

I thought quickly - what am I going to do tomorrow???

Nothing sprang to mind.

Oh, I said, tomorrow is a surprise - I have no idea what

I will do tomorrow, but it will be something

that pleases me.....

And that's what it has come to.

I try to remain disciplined and keep my "shoulds"  in good order

and limit my commitments

so that each day is governed by that lovely question

What SHALL I do today!!!!!

I haven't yet reached the stage where I wander the streets, running my cane along fences

and picking other people's flowers,  but I definitely pick and choose

and I only really commit to things I consider very important

and anything involving family.

So last night, as I drifted off to sleep, I thought about tomorrow,

and what I would do after the obligatory pleasures of

the early morning hour in the garden -

and I thought how nice it would be to have some buttermilk biscuits

around for a few days, and what a pleasure

it would be to make them!

And I could write a little Stone about them - which

is something I am trying to do each day

(as an 'I shall' not an 'I should')

So I got the blue bowl out and the salt and flour

and rising ingredients,  turned on the oven to 450

and in no time at all they were done, baked and cooling on the counter.

I added a little water to the last of that delicious lamb stew I made 

the other day, and put it in the blender...

Presto - lamb and vegetable soup

and fresh baked biscuits

and all on a delightful whim and a fancy that came to haunt my drowsy thoughts.

Life is good if you are creative with the 'shall' philosophy

instead of the 'oh dear, I should, I should, I should!!'

Even better if you have a certain someone to share the biscuits with

(she said, poignantly)

The Trombone

ABC Wednesday
May 27th, 2015

The letter is T for Trombone and Trombonists

A little history and a little music!

The trombone is not often heard as a solo instrument, but many legendary performers have left their marks on the history of jazz, tracing the line from Miff Mole and Kid Ory through Jack Teagarden, Tommy Dorsey and on to Bennie Green and now today's original sounding trombonists, like Ray Anderson and Craig Harris.

In the early 1900s to the 1920s Dixieland, primarily improvised music with the trombonist playing a countermelody to the cornet with glissandos and other raucous effects that could be produced with the slide trombone.

Most well known of these 'tailgate' trombonists were Edward "Kid" Ory and Irving Milfred "Miff" Mole, with Miff being perhaps more technical and with a brighter sound, avoiding the glissandos and growls that Ory favoured.  Miff's composition "There'll come a Time" (Wait and See) can be heard in the modern release of 'The Strange Case of Benjamin Button' (which I thoroughly enjoyed)

As the thirties wore on there was a new trend in jazz trombone, known as Swing, and it differed from Dixieland in several ways, the most obvious being in the greater number of musicians performing

in a band, and in the tendency to arrange the music prior to the performance, so that improvisation was eliminated.

Trombonists enjoyed a prominent role in the jazz ensemble of the swing era and were often featured as soloists.  One such trombonist was Jack Teagarden who developed a lighter and smoother tone, possessing a fluidity that many other trombonists tried to imitate.

Tommy Dorsey, who was to become one of the most popular trombonists of the swing era, so respected Teagarden's playing that he refused to play a solo while Teagarden was in the same room.

In the early 1940's a new style of jazz began to develop, known as Behop.

Prior to Behop jazz style were performed for dancing, but now jazz was being written and performed for its own sake, with smaller combos allowing more freedom than was possible in a big band.

Bennie Green was perhaps the first trombonist to play in the Behop style.  His music possessed a warm and smooth tone, influenced by trumpeters Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie 

with whom he played.

A little music to illustrate the lovely sounds of the trombone!

For more Ts - visit here at ABC Wednesday,

 with thanks to Roger, Denise and the visiting crew.