Auction

I have always liked auctions – and I have made a point of whenever I see that there will be one in the near future in my city, even if the auction will be decorative arts,  jewellery , silver or glass, I often make a point of  attending the auction because, I am very curious to see what people like, what they like to buy and how much money they spend , let’s say for a piece of jewellery, or a painting or for antique furniture.

Lately, I went to a preview for decorative arts.   This time, there were beautiful things – like asian art , vases, plates, – exquisite victorian jewellery in brooches, rings, and also an old muff chain  from the early nineties.  In the old days, they used to wear muffs and to hold it, they had a chain around their neck that went through the muff :  and then  you would simply put your two hands in it to keep warm, or if you did not want to use it, the muff was  hanging there for you.

I had seen a beautiful citrine ring and an enhancer to match the ring -  both were surrounded with diamonds.  This really caught my eye, and on the night that this piece was going to be auctioned off, there was  an alert saying that the power was off in that part of the city.   But I had to go and see for myself, and of course, everything was in darkness, the streets leading to the auction house, and even the  traffic lights were not working.

So this  decorative arts auction was cancelled  for tonite -  in another two days, it will go on.   So if time permits, I will be there again trying to find out how much is the bidding for that particular piece.  Maybe I will be the one that will get it.

Thanksgiving

Today’s is the U.S. Thanksgiving!  what a day this is for the american people .  A lot of them  celebrate more on Thanksgiving than  at Christmas.   For us Canadians, that day is celebrated very little, compared to our neighbors.   They talk about  it many days and weeks before the actual date – but for us, we do give thanks, and we do cook a turkey   this is not the majority), we do send a few thanksgiving cards to celebrate it, but unfortunately, we don’t  make a fuss like they do.

Today is the Macy’s parade and everything was focused on Santa Claus, but this year, being Thanksgiving , everybody that was questioned, or interviewed, were saying, yes the parade is terrific, but after this, I am going home to be with the children , my parents, or my in-laws, or the grand-parents and we are going to have turkey, and snuggle up with the family.

This is a time to be thankful for being in a free country, where there are no restraints for food, gaz, lodging, – all in all, we are in a very open country where we haven’t had war, or terrorism.   We should all stop and think how lucky we are.

Christmas Lights

Christmas,  comes once a year!  For a lot of people,  it evokes  midnight mass, lights, music, decorations, christmas cake, dear Santa, parades, lighted fireplace with stockings hanging from the chimney,presents, red and green candles , turkey with the stuffing that your mother used to make and you still remember, and we can’t forget chestnuts.   We could go on and on, because, Christmas is a time of the year that is cherished by a lot of people but for others , it can be a time of sorrow,  for children  ,it is sometimes  a bad time, no parents, or no money to enjoy a little present.

In the condo, where I live, this afternoon, a truck with a crane drove up in front of the building, and began putting lights on our big fir tree that must measure at least 50 feet high .  They light up this tree on the December 1st, and the lights are usually green – beautiful to look at, and whenever  people drive on the street, it is a very striking sight.

From my apartment, I can see this beautiful Christmas tree and I often close all the lights in the room, and I sit there contemplating  this tree . It induces you to sometimes meditate, think of things that you should do or should have done.  And then you give thanks for what you have .This is the special time of the day, that everything stops,  there is no noise to disturb you ,and you cherish this special ” stop” in your life. Sometimes, these special moments are difficult to have.

Ballroom dancing!

Before leaving for Vancouver, I had seen in the paper, an advertisement or if you like, they were advertising an evening of Ballroom Dancing from a Dance Theatre in the Ukraine.  Because I was in a hurry , I had to finish my bags, etc. I tore the piece of paper and left it on my coffee table.

When I came back , I saw this piece of paper with  this advertisement – so I called one of my friends to come with me and we went to see Ballroom dancing!

What a night! My friend and I never saw such beauty – the music, the clothes, the dancing – everything was perfect.  They are all professional dancers,  never missing a step and the choreography was excellent  – the colours of the dresses were to die for, the dances like the waltz, the quick step, the mamba, the samba, and  for the end, it was more or less a jive session – words cannot explain how terrific everything was. In the middle of the performance, the master of ceremonies came out asking the audience if we liked it, and everybody started clapping for at least a minute.  It was an “up evening” – the feeling we had when it was over was  overwhelming – we did not want it to stop.   My hands were hurting because I had clapped too much during the show.

For me and my friend, we were saying that this is a show that should happen more often – it beats  the serious stuff like, opera, symphony, etc.   Of course, we need to be serious sometimes,  but an uplifting show like this beats anything that you can take for getting rid of the blues.  I repeat – “What a terrific show”

coming home

After taking care of my daughter for 2 weeks, I arrived back home,to an empty apartment, but very happy  to be back.  My plants had been taken care of by a friend who picked up my mail ,carefully putting the daily papers and the advertisements in one pile, the letters  and the bills in another corner.  With me, I had taken 2 suitcases which had to be opened, clothes to be washed  and put away.  At the same time, I decided to clean my closet, get rid of some things that I have not worn for 2 years but I must admit that I find this very difficult because there are things in there that I really liked, but it takes space, it gathers dust, and style changes.

Because we are going towards winter, the sandals and the summer shoes were put away, and out came the boots and the heavy shoes that one wears when it is raining or snowing.  This is the same for the light coloured summer jackets that you simply won’t wear again for another 4 months and out comes winter wear.  The good old languid summer days and nights are gone for a while,  and now we are facing short days, and cold nights – the heat is on every day and you need a humidifier if your apartment is too dry.

But there are also good things about winter – your have good sports that you can do – skiing, skating, tobogganing, fishing through a hole in the ice.   And we must not forget sleigh rides .

For a lot of people,the changes if season is important.  The year is not dull – the weather changes, the leaves disappear in the fall, and nature takes a rest for the coming season which is Spring.

This trip has been good to me – coming back to my apartment, I decided to get rid of things that I wasn’t wearing anymore, while I was emptying my suitcases.  Now, I am ready to face dear old winter with a satisfied feeling that  what I wanted to do, I did it.

departure from vancouver

Tomorrow will be the day when I leave Vancouver for Toronto where I have been living for 5 years.   I have been here since the 29th October because my daughter was having a hip operation – her second one since last June.  It was a partial replacement like the first one, but for this one, the pain has been much more intense and she is having a bit more problems to get up and walk around.  She cannot drive for 6 weeks and for her, it is a sacrifice because she needs a car to get around.

She does exercises here in her apartment, but the rehab where she went for the first one is full right now, so she has to wait for their call hoping that it won’t be too long a wait.

I was more or less in the house all the time, but I did manage to go the museum to see an exhibit of Georgia O’Keefe which was very nice.   I was in Santa Fe when her own museum opened in July in 1997, but still you never tire of looking at the paintings, her personal photographs of her daily life – it was very thorough .

And then , one should not miss going to the “Christmas Market” where the Canadian Artisans show their work.  It was very interesting and worth seeing.

So tomorrow I will be saying good-bye to Vancouver which a very nice city especially when the sun is out and shining .  From the centre of town, we can see the mountains, and for now, no snow yet . So, one has to hope that I will be returning in a few months .

‘where is my car?’

“Where is my car?” what an important question that I repeated many times. I am staying at my daughter’s condo for 2 weeks, so to be able to do some errands and visit the city of Vancouver, I rented a car for 2 weeks. My daughter had an appointment at 15.00 p.m., so 1/2 hour before the appointed time, we go out of the condo to get my car….no car!where is my car? I can tell you that I am panicking – I am new in this city, my daughter has an appointment, and here we are no car!

We go back up to her apartment, she cancels her appointment, and she calls “Busters” – the towing company. Thank God they have the car – it has been towed around 11.00 a.m. because it was parked too near the closest sidewalk. So I get into a taxi ,give the address , and while we are going there, I ask the driver if he has been there before – he starts to laugh and tells me quite candidly “yes of course, many times”! When I arrive there, I pay the charges, and I am very much surprised to see the many cars that are there parked, and new ones coming in being towed.

After paying the charges, I get into my car, drive away and start thinking how lucky I was to have been with my daughter who knew who to call to get my car back. I now have my peace of mind.

“One of a Kind Show”

Being in Vancouver for a couple of weeks because of my daughter’s surgery, I was lucky to see in the Vancouver Sun an ad on “One of a Kind of show” -  This is where crafts are shown in the convention Centre , with a small  admission – At this time of the year, the room was fully decorated with christmas decorations with  few christmas trees and  with a person playing the piano.   The lighting was subdued so this made this whole room  quite attractive and to my eyes, very much enticing to buying.

There were numerous crafts on display – and when you reached the end of  this room, there were quite a few displays of food, chocolate from Belgium, honey and tins of  pacific salmon.

This was my first experience and I really enjoyed it.  Finally at the end of my tour, I went back to see this artist again and I purchased a  small painting from her.  I know for sure that at this time of the year, there are shows like all over, so at the end of November, I will be visiting another one which should be again very interesting.  It is always  good to encourage artisans of  that calibre.

Ordeal of an operation

This morning, I was calling my oldest friend to see how was her husband – he  was having  the main valve of his heart replaced.  So of course, I wanted to know how he was doing – well, the answer that I received  completely stunned me.  First of all, she proceeded to tell me how fed up she was, repeating it many times, and after a few minutes, I asked,  “Well how was the operation”?   For her, at this moment, his operation was not important, except the way she felt towards him,  how her  feelings were much more important than the condition  of her husband after this important procedure.  Then she had to leave me because her daughter was driving her to the hospital.   I can truly say that it was the daughter who wanted to see the father, because, my friend did not want to go.   I have to say that  my friend   needs a lot of attention and if she does not get it, well she can turn on you very quickly.   Her, herself has been sick and hospitalized many times for operations, heart attacks, cancer, and every time her husband  has driven her for these appointments.   And for the first time in his life, he is sick and she is acting that way. Another thing that I have to add here, is that she does not drive and has never cooked in her life, so this medical predicament of her husband has really put a damper on her everyday life.  A lesson has to be learned here – take a few moments  and try to think of everything that other people have done for you and try to understand that sick people want compassion and loving care.

Georgia O’keefe

Today, November 4th, I went to the Vancouver Art Gallery where there was an exhibition of Georgia O’Keefe – I have seen a lot of her paintings when the museum dedicated to her was opened on July 1997, in Sante Fe, but I find her so interesting and her paintings are so beautiful, that I had to go and see this exhibit again, and I can tell you, I was not disappointed. It is very well displayed, and this time, there are quite a few pictures depicting her in her adobe, in her studio, and where she lived. There are quite a few pictures showing her hands in various poses which I found very interesting, because you don’t often see this, but her hands are quite extraordinary. It is an afternoon well spent and every time you happen to be in the city where an exhibition of Georgia O’Keefe is shown, you know that you will have learnt something new, and that you will see something different that you may have missed the last time you saw it. So by all means, if you have the chance to see it, go for it.