And the Recipes

what ?

Nina George ends her ' Little Paris Bookshop  ' by giving recipes. Lavender ice cream etc.

And a treatise on current and recently deceased < due to age of the book, approx 10 yrs old > authors - w/ M Perdu's analysis of their medical value to specific types of persons

Surpisingly, M Perdu's list includes Douglas Adams, w/ his 5 part ' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy ' sci - fi story. One of my favourites of all time. 
Except the movie version, not the cartoon which was not bad, old but not bad.
The movie was an ' interpretation ' - hard to bear watching it

The weather broke, as of this AM w/ a torrential downpour approx 5 - 6 AM. Way less humid and the temperatures down about 6 degrees. TG

Aargh ! Thus, after we reset the main laptop
the keys typed wrong
e.g. there was no ` @ ' and ? became E accented
We have a French on screen keyboard
obviously, our physical keyboard is the same but the keyboard on the screen ' types ' in French
to get a ? we have to do ' shift 6 ' or the ^ becomes ?

I get it !  Faster and Stupid what a laptop

No French in Paris

or so it seems

At the Cedarbrae Library, my local, I pick up books from the displays. On the grounds, that if someone set up the display, I should at least pick up a book.
And bring them home
and read them or take them back ---- or both

The latest, is a novel about a bookseller in Paris. He sells from a barge on the Seine. 
A floating bookstore and apothecary b/c
he ministers to his clients. Books are the doctor and the medicine. 
And no French, the cast speak in English w/ very French sounding names e.g. ' Manon ' and Perdu and Bonhomme etc
A very easy read. But involving
leads you on
surprises you
The author is Nina George

The day will be  H / H. And one more to come and then a break as day turns to night
and bingo bango ----- August appears

Fishing is on my mind - more so now b/c the boat, the trolley and the ramp and rails are slowly coming around.
However, last Wednesday, coming in from fishing - I decided to come in early, thus there would be daylight for the retrieval of the boat. 
The trolley jammed - immovable. After several tries
an inspection showed the N side wheel rubbed to bare metal
The rail at that point looked sunken. I shimmed the rail and the boat and trolley came up into the boathouse. 
Success.
To be fair to the trolley, the boat was not level and was rocking on the cradle.
However, the whole process is organic
< organic > is my new buzz word for situations where everything is in flux - and you adjust as the picture unfolds.
Trust me the boat and trolley and ramp is very organic
defines ' organic ' 

Sunday as July Closes Down

and it went fast

The H / H is back in full force
w/ thunderstorms likely every day

Our main laptop and house computer is a Dell Studio 17 "  - once proposed as our carry around computer   < at 6 lbs, a tad heavy >. But the main tower PC was so old and slow much like its owners. We substituted the 17 " Dell laptop for the tower.
And it was faster and handier.
The baby laptop an Acer Emachine was then the carry around model for us.
Emachine is gone or stored. In its place is the 11" Chromebook by Dell, and is great.

The main laptop has gotten progressively slower. We considered buying a slightly larger Chromebook but on the off chance things could improve.........

I hit the reset feature on the main laptop. As they say
 ' much has been lost - and much may still be lost '

Well, the laptop is faster but stripped down. Anti - virus needed to be added and ' ad blocker ' from Chrome.
I might have made a slight goof by leaving the hard drive back up attached to the Dell 17 ". That would be equivalent to 3 computers hooked up and being scanned by the BitDefender Anti-virus program.
Well, at just shy of 4 hrs, it must have been 3 computers worth.
We shall see said the Zen Master

And I lied. There is a tower PC in the basement. The PC came from a real estate office that was updating. A who works there brought it home and loaded movies on the hard drive and gave it to me as an entertainment centre that could hook to a TV. But since I was archiving old photos for the family - it became a spare computer downstairs.

And yes, even w/ BitDefender for Anti_Virus and ' Chrome Ad Block ' the Dell laptop is faster than before.
Basically, everything but the personal files and internal architecture gets tossed. Windows is re- loaded and the computer re-boots.
That means extraneous programs and add-ons by different sites gets eliminated.
Thus stripped down and sleek

Thank you reset

#2387

not very creative to-day

Well, we are missing another T.O. mega production. Its called ' Caribana ' a mass celebration of all things Caribbean and island - ish.
Thousands will gather for the big parade w/ masse dancers and floats. H / H weather for them

We won't be anywhere near. So anti-social, isn't it ?

Or - ' Far from the Madding Crowd ' by Thomas Hardy

Apparently, its that time in my life, when you try to re-connect w/ old friends and acquaintances. I received another call from J who grew up on our street, way back when. She calls every 20 yrs but this time we are meeting for coffee.
And its on - the date is set for FR coming

Reality TV

in 1998, a TV critic predicted 70 % of TV would be cartoons and reality

MY thought was ' where will they get that many shows '

Ha !  dummy ........... Ha!
U were wrong............... wrong ............ wrong

On Netflix, yesterday, while ellipticking, I watched Eps 1 of             ' Comedians Riding in Cars - getting coffee ' w/ Jerry Seinfeld and Eddie Murphy

I thought up ' Teachers Riding in Cars - getting coffee '

The differences : Seinfeld drove a Porsche Carrera 2004
                            Teacher would drive a Chevy Nova 198?

The two comedy greats were reminiscing, sort of cute

Two teachers reminiscing, so boring 
No !
Boring as in quantum boring 

The temperature on the back deck is 70 F in the shade
everything goes north from here plus humidity

I did my own reality show. A friend got T - boned at an intersection last night. He needed a ride to the car rental and help cleaning out the wrecked car < likely a write off - according to the auto shop >
Eek !
We struggled through Friday afternoon traffic and got the job done. Then I struggled some more in traffic getting home
The show is called ' Aftermath - the niggly details of an accident '
Starring - Me
Well,  my part was supporting character
But I'd get an Emmy, for sure

And H  /  H for sure

at the Q

the old cottage and present ' fishing resort ' for me

Went up to fish. The dealership for the truck is on the way home - sort of 2 birds w/ one drive. And the GO train < commuter > is available on the dealership shuttle. M picked me up at the local station
E Z P Z and there is a seniors fare at 1/2 price
Love it !

Fishing report. I saw a video, 3 days before going up and the guy talked about drop shot rigging. I've done it before, however, this dude was all about ' how many multi possibilities ' drop shotting ' allows '.

Thus, I had to try. Nothing in the morning but come afternoon a brisk wind kicked up. I got 2 smallmouth bass on the drop shot rig. Also, several smaller fishies came for the rig.

But no largemouth were tempted.

Weather is again as yesterday beauti, partly sunny to full sun and a light breeze. However, thunderstorms will likely start up w/ the thermal convection created by ...........
yes, H / H is back starting this afternoon for at least 3 days

The elliptical machine of fame in this blog has been a little glitchy - stopping randomly, maybe three or four times.
I wondered if perhaps the computer interface or console had a battery back up that was failing. Using my phone, I searched the elliptical name and discovered a review of the Sole E55.
Sole E55 is considered a mid level machine w/ few positives. A limited array of programs < 10 > and non updated software. I use 1 program.
The shelf life of the Sole w/ every other day use was given as 5 - 8 yrs on average. By my calculation, my Sole is 12 yrs old.
Well, no battery mentioned, that I could find. But there is a contact # for the company. I'll call and ask.

And I turned up interesting maintenance tips. Such as leaving the elliptical plugged in, shortens machine life. Who Knew ?
Wiping the rails that support the wheels of the elliptical footpads is important.
?????  guess I should wipe the machine down.

Oops !

Clement Weather

pleasant all day

Some cloud, some wind, cool in the AM ( for yard work ) and got a bit warm in the aft.
All in all, a doable day

July is the month of ' middle ' - as in mid year and mid summer. But its running out fast - always does tho'

I got out pretty early in the cool of the AM. Weeded and layed mulch. I was reading on the web and by accident saw a piece on mulching. The suggestion was 2 - 3 in. minimum
Eek ! I was trying to make it as thin as possible but see the mulch
Dummy
Well, I usually use newspaper first and then mulch

The dogwoods over grew the path in the backyard and to-day, doggies got cut back

All the Breaks

in the weather

By 8 PM last night the feeling outside had changed.
The evening was cool and dry
Seasonal it seems

Bright sun w/ cloudy periods this AM. Basically, I missed the morning, really, b/c I slept in

Weeding was supposed to start at 8 AM
Nope
Didn't happen
Life, ah, so many twists and turns
No excuses, Pancho
And still the world turns

Weeding was started and some tree trimming ensued
and then I stopped - took a break
and never got back
but all things go slow
and in this house 
much slower

And clouded over anyway w/ thunder rumbling

I'm re-reading books from the shelves here at home.
The last 2 by a Canadian author of ' historical / fiction ' how much of one or the other I don't know. Basically, it seems familiar if you can be familiar w/ what you don't know. The sense of it seems - familiar.
Guy Gavriel Kay wrote ' Lions of Al - Rassan ' and I finished ' a Song for Arbonne ' a few days ago.
Also, much further back, say a month, it was ' Last Light of the Sun ' that I read once more     < also GGK >.
Actually, not chronologically, it was ' Last Light of the Sun ' that I picked up at a free window library at the ' Porch and Pint ' near the Quarter Mile House ' , I guess our go to pub there.
At the Q, the library shelf is full of books < this in the left back bedroom >
GGK has written 13 novels and I managed to find or read 9 of those efforts. All are better than good.
Good reads.

losing the Sauna

or close
Well, it didn't quite pan out

Still on the verge of  H / H but getting better
I'll see in 1 / 2 hr

The weather dudes said the break would happen last night after the skies opened up.
We will wait til to-morrow to see if ' seasonal ' is the word of the day
or
Again, H / H

Meanwhile the garden, grass and trees are going bananas out there. Lush and spreading

I planted sliver leaf dogwoods < shrub/ tree > to cover up a lack of gardening and care. The ' dogs ' were supposed to overshadow the rock garden / shade out weeds etc.
Success !
But the ' dogs ' are the dominant life form in the back garden and lawn.
The ' dogs ' haven't had fertilizer in 3 yrs. 
I don't water the backyard
The ' dogs ' don't care
Boom ! they are the yard

M is not always pleased w/ the dogwoods.
I am ecstatic

Thats them
The bushes on the bottom
Say ' Hi, dogwoods '

Free Sauna

any time of day

We stepped out at 12 PM last night, into a soggy, clingy fog of heat. W/ no breeze
A wall of H / H
The predicted humidex was just shy of 90
and she wasn't that shy as they say

And the official heat alert continues ' w/ significant chance of respiratory distress or circulatory problems especially in the very young, elderly or those w/ already compromised health '

Holey Kamoley, Batman ! Hot, steamy, hot, steamy
Steamy wins !

How do you spell relief : RAIN !
It comes to-night w/ a cold front. This change will be felt by morning w/ temperatures dropping at least 5 degrees and the humidity as well

Its called seasonal

Beat the Heat

NO

I tried to sneak in some yard work at 8 AM < in the cool of the day >
Nice try
I was in an sauna from the 1 st minute
The breeze / wind was Southerly, storms a-comin', Bro

The trees out front were growing like topsy
and turvy

HEAT ALERT from me 

Yes to the rain
Yes, to H / H

In the Heat of July

despite

Prognostications from Environment Canada that there would be very few ' heat alert days ' this summer.
I need heat alerts

H / H Jul 17

yepper,  still steaming

Rain rules the day and week. These weather events are called convectional and w/ the high humidity often get termed pop- ups. The term pop - up seems to imply one - off type event. But the weather guys really men - any time, any place depending on local conditions.
Big sun, blasting down

Un-Deja Vu

hunh ?

I was all set to add to yesterday's post, started in the AM and went to P.S. some info.......
I was sure that I had typed a report of the re-build of the marine ramp for the railway.....
Nope, wasn't there

And I'm positive that I did enter that report
Ooops ! losing it

Weather continues the H / H trend
Pretty days, blue sky

The sky opened up and waves of water cascaded down for 20 minutes

" My marine railway was  refurbished.
You might recall that there was a shore restoration done at the cottage where I keep the boat.
The marine railway that launches the bassboat was taken apart for shore work.
Shortly after, w/ help the railway was replaced but the support system was temporary and pretty much ad hoc. An arrangement of stone holding the rails. The fix worked but looked dodgy and was dodgy.

This weekend, the guys that I fish w/ went at the problem. I had purchased 4x4 s and had them ready to go. But the brain trust that I fish w/, decided that paver stones were the solution. Heavy and wide ( too heavy for me hence the 4x4 s ) got slugged around and arranged.
When the guys were done - there was a solid base and rigid, flat pavers on top that supported the rails. No flex or bulge, just a flat surface for the rails "

A reprint from Sunday for me, mostly

Fishing Weekend

due to circumstances, my fishing group is now limited to weekends.
Busy of course

But we struggled through and caught some fish - not buckets full but a few

And a big and

My marine railway was  refurbished.
You might recall that there was a shore restoration done at the cottage where I keep the boat.
The marine railway that launches the bassboat was taken apart for shore work.
Shortly after, w/ help the railway was replaced but the support system was temporary and pretty much ad hoc. An arrangement of stone holding the rails. The fix worked but looked dodgy and was dodgy.

This weekend, the guys that I fish w/ went at the problem. I had purhcased 4x4 s and had them ready to go. But the brain trust that I fish w/, decided that paver stones were the solution. Heavy and wide ( too heavy for me hence the 4x4 s ) got slugged around and arranged.
When the guys were done - there was a solid base and rigid, flat pavers on top that supported the rails. No flex or bulge, just a flat surface for the rails

a Smart Day

?
Watched a movie ' All Saints ' a true story

Stayed up late despite the plan to get off at 9 AM
But I'm not rushing
Collected weeds and had hot chicken sandwich for breakfast

Slowly gathering momentum

We shall see said the Zen Master

Dum - DUM - DUMB

me

The story
The office computer is a Dell laptop. Purchased in 2010, yes, its getting on in years. In fact, likely 4 generations out of date.
It works but slow, very slow.
And we compare to the Chromebook which is lightning 

We recently, as you have seen switched to a Wifi system called Ignite from a major Telco.
Occasionally for no reason, I check to see network status ( we know the reason - I can't let well enough alone )
All this to try and improve the speed of the laptop.

I noticed that the wireless network was rated as public and since this is the home system, I wanted the connection to say ' private ' or home

I disconnected 6:30 AM.  ( Yes, whopping big mistake )

For 20 minutes, I tried to re-connect
not a hope.
Finally, a window appears  ' wireless connection - OFF '
Ok turn it back on
NO
After two tries, a window appears ' wireless connection available '
Of course, you stupid machine
You were hooked up before

' you are now connected wirelessly '
thank you ! 6:50 AM

Weather. Damp and cloudy
But yesterday's humidex was just shy of 100
w/ the cloud to-day and rain likely
humidex will be much less

Mission accomplished, our Dell laptop is connected to a private wireless network - us

Egad ! does it make a difference

We shall see said the Zen Master

P.S.    yes, Dell is  still running slow - ' er '
P.P.S. the humidex reaches 96 today
          big whoop there but temperature is down                      slightly. I was out - and not bad - no A/C even

5 hr Hang Time

Hang time is an expression used in surfing - as in how long that the surfer stayed on a wave.

Our hang time ala John Denver was 5 hrs.
I watched ' Guardians of the Galaxy ' for the tenth time. But GotG didn't have closed captioning and I can barely hear w/ the earbuds. I switched to ' Crimes of Griswold ' from ' Fantastic Beasts ' series. The captioning made it much easier to follow.
And bingo bango, we we're home.
Traffic on the # 401 was nuts !. Isn't it always, you see, its bloody construction season !!!!!!. Lanes were closed alternately, express and collectors. This phrase means that you weave in and out of the collectors and express til everyone else figures the pattern then you you stop for 8 minutes. Go for three clicks and stop for 8 minutes.
We got off about 8 miles from home and took Ellesmere Av - which was deserted and we flew the eight miles home

TG. Love home.

What was accomplished in Vancouver ( really we stayed in Delta at an AirBnB )
We visited a mother's aunt and her husband in North Vancouver.
We met 3 uncles and 2 aunts on my father's side. There were 8 cousins plus 2 wives, and 2 second cousins - BTW all of these have the same last names except for 2 cousins and 1 second cousin.

We ate like Japanese kings and queens

We stayed at an AirBnB approx 8 minutes from the uncle's house.

And most importantly, a whole whack of guilt was assauged b/c I haven't kept up visiting these people.
To be fair, they don't come out here but it is far.

Guilt free !!! No but less guilt.

There is a Google web page for birthday photos that people are supposed to download onto.
This Chromebook and my phone are Google based.
But I couldn't find the URL page that was recommended and then this afternoon, I was checking photos and ' recent ' and other people's pictures were there. I clicked on upload and my pix got added. I'm not even sure what I did. I guess the phone and laptop synced w/ the BD page
Either that or magic happened.
I'm sure someone could explain what happened to me
and then again, I might not understand the explanation
I get mixed up when the conversation goes to ' drives and folders and other arcania '

" Its a Long Way from

LA to Denver " sang John Denver ( nee Dusseldorf ? )

Its a long time to hang in the sky.............

Always thought that was scary
' hanging in the sky '

Now, the term from hang gliding for those kite thingies that launch off of hillsides etc. w/ a person slung below

Still

I much prefer the lift over drag kind of explanation
The Bernoulli Principle of reduced pressure as air flows further and faster - for lift

Sing it John !

Yep, we fly to-day - lift over drag

The Morning After

means lots of leftovers at the house ( not ours )
however, they have a big built in jobbie of a fridge

The last family re-union was in 1997 in Edmonton.
I encouraged an Uncle w/ some experience in organizing company events to work out the details.
We from a distance, provided seed money and contacted the relatives. Success - or wildly unexpected attendance. 125 showed up.

And it was the last. Til now.
Yesterday, 20 aunts / uncles / cousins / second cousins arrived. And the mood was positive and upbeat.

Creature Feature

the relatives will gather

And there is some animosity possible. The Aunts and Uncles are older and some are wheelchair mobile.
As always the intent is good but people being people - 
well, We shall see said the Zen Master

And here, in this blog the posts were supposedly good news.
Thus, I re-start

The man reached 100 years of age . Friends and family are gathering and several have flown in for this day.
Cousins long sundered by distance and circumstance will renew old ties.

There will be sushi ( on order ) and delectable desserts ( home made tarts, for sure )
and I've already had the cookies.

I brought an 8 x 10 photo of 9 of ten sibs gathered some years ago. According to my searches, I can find nothing comparable. Unfortunately, the original was over 40 years old and of course, in the process of enlargement - a little fuzziness appeared.
However, the truth is that the uncles have fuzzy eyesight anyway.

We will expect a glorious day. The event is an 11 AM to 6 PM time frame
I hope that I last til 6 PM b/c I will help clean up.

And I lied. The photo of my father and his sibs including the birthday boy contained all the brothers and sisters.

No body blows were landed at the birthday party.
Some snide little things were said in private but all ended smoothly.

A family story involving the internment was straightened out. I've been repeating a slightly doctored version but I've got it right now. And the errors were small and don't / didn't affect the story.

Meet the Creature

or parents night interviews

That was our slogan as teachers

We are meeting a whole slew of relatives w/ the same last name - always interesting. In fact, one cousin is making a special effort to drive the 10 minutes from his house. Its his father's 100 th birthday.
See, good news. Everyone is praying that his wife is a no show - she lives closer.

Really, folks are making a special effort to attend.
Our host is a cousin and she smashed her knee a week ago. Plans were adapted and things will go on. We'll help too.

Good News

alive and walking

See just the good

Born on the 4th

of July

" he's a Yankee Doodle dandy " James Cagney, dancing and singing

Weather is definitely H / H

And will stay that way for a few days
broken up by rain, in this high humidity

Happy 4 th to you all !

The Season Starts

for me - this was my 5 th and 6 th outing

Got a bass, both days Tues & Wed
Wed bass shown here

And Lucky , really - should have escaped 4 times
But rather lucky than skilled

H / H has settled in 
sauna as you go outside

The fishing technique is ' fish the wood '.
The first largemouth bass hit a spinnerbait flashing past a stump. Very fundamental bassing. A spinnerbait is great b/c if the bass hits and you set - well , normally he's done like toast.

The pictured ' pig ' of a bass took a 6 inch stick bait in glow in the dark and colour changing white - ishness
plastic - also basic bass strategy.
However, I felt the weight and tried to go around a branch by stepping to the stern - and kept stepping only to realize as I went back, the boat was drifting forward in the wind. I had left the trolling motor to step backward. Thus, I was way out of position by the time the bass got close. And the line was running through a piece of bark on the branch and wouldn't move.
Of course, the drag was set too loose and the porky pig ran all over the woodlot.
Excitement up the wazoo. Anxious and cursing for all the simple and avoidable problems.
A maxim of fishing : some fish were meant to be caught - or  " idiots catch fish too "
Now, understand that ' fish the wood ' is exactly what I've doing all along.
I guess the bass are in summer mode or in the wood where I can catch them.

On the topic of bites and seasons starting - an army of deer flies was waiting for me to park the car at the Q.
The little buggers < literally > were using me as their  sole source of food. One bite on the wrist threatened to make a second thumb on my right hand.

Canada Day July 1

A sunny start for our Birthday of the country

Born in 1867 to the anguish of Grt Britain or not
as the ' colonies ' were becoming a bit of a drag.
I mean Canada pumped out furs and wood for years making Britain wealthy.

Now, she is our Queen symbolically but we are a Dominion w/ elected gov't.

Oh ! Canada

We are staying home