Progress report on Country Shops project. I guess this is about a month's
worth of work and I would hazard a guess and say that I am about half
way done on this. Two of the buildings share a roof, and I'm just starting
on that area. The stair area was fun to stitch, with colour changes and
trying to keep track of which parts were stairs, and which parts were a
part of the building. It wasn't until I back stitched the area that the
stairs actually became "visible".


My current read, begun this week, is Margaret George's "Helen of Troy".
Over the years I've read all of Ms George's books. When her first book
"The Autobiography of Henry VIII" came out I bought it for my Dad for
his birthday. I eventually read it too, enjoyed it, and kept an eye out for
her new books as they came along. I think that this is her fifth book. I
use to love Greek mythology, but it's been a long time since I read any
thing about that topic and I've forgotten a lot of it. This book is not a
fantasy but more of a historical romance, with the gods and goddesses
and the prophesies being in the style of "visions" more then "reality".
I am enjoying the story very much and I'm curious as to how Ms George
will use and interpret the myths and legends surrounding this famous
love story.

I saw the movie Troy when it came out two years ago and it was okay,
but didn't knock my socks off. I'm not a big fan of Brad Pitt's, so his
role as Achilles didn't impress me over much. Orlando Bloom as Paris
was okay, Eric Bana also didn't make much of an impression as Hector.
Peter O'Toole as King Priam was fantastic, not surprisingly. One of
my friends who went to the movie with me that day is a big fan of Sean
Bean's and we enjoyed his role in the movie as Odysseus very much.
I think that if the movie had had more of the "mythological" story in it
as opposed to the dry history it might have added more colour and
flavour to it, not to mention some fun. I wouldn't bother seeing it again.

This week was back to work after a weeks holiday. Always hard to get
back into the old routine after the pleasure of being home and doing
whatever we wanted to do. Easter Sunday I made dinner for DH, my
Mom and my SIL. I made Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs, which were
finger licking good (with apologies to the Coronal). I also made
Scalloped Potato's, which went with the ribs very nicely. SIL made a
lemon cake for desert. Yum.

Things in the news this week that caught my attention....Belinda
Stronach leaving politics to go back and work for her daddy's
company. Don't let the door hit you on the way out sweetie!!
Sheesh!! But she said (threatened) that she may return to
politics in the future. Says that she still has a lot she wants to do.
I guess so, since there are still two political party's left that she
hasn't tried on for size yet. If she can master the french language
thing she may yet make it as leader of the Separatist party of
Quebec.

Eight Canadian soldiers loose their lives in Afghanistan. What
can be said that hasn't already been said? They believed in what
they were doing and were proud to serve and represent our
country the way they were. I wonder, are we worthy of their
sacrifice?

Lelia, you commented that you received an Anne Rice book from
a friend. I have collected and read all of Anne Rice's Vampire and
Witches of Mayfair series. Some of them were good, and some of
them were lousy. The very best book of hers that I've ever read
is not from either series. It's called "The Mummy" and it came
out many years ago. It's about Ramses II and is a wonderful read.
In the Vampire series the best books for me were "The Vampire
Lestat" and "Queen of the Damned" and "The Body Thief". I did
enjoy all three of the Witches of Mayfair series. The trouble with
Ms Rice is that she tends to pontificate and get all cosmic about
things, and she has to tell you all about it. For chapters and
chapters. Ad nauseum. It gets very old and very boring after
awhile.

Darlene and I attended a book signing of Ms Rice's about 10 years
ago when she was in the midst of her Vampire phase. We stood in
line for hours just to get her to sign our books. We were in her
presence for all of a minute or so. I'm still glad that we did it though.
I love having my books signed by the author, if I can.

Karen, we've had Delia Smith's books and tv series here in Canada
too and I use to love watching her on television. Her shows were
visually beautiful to watch, with the food preparation and the
finished dishes presented in glorious, colourful detail. She was a
patient, calm teacher who had enthusiasm for her subject without
allowing her personality to overshadow the lesson.

Tomorrow night is the Loreena Mckennitt concert at Massey Hall.
Plan to take the Go bus down to Toronto, have dinner with Darlene
at Red Lobster, spend some time in the Worlds Biggest Bookstore
and then over to Massey Hall to see the world through Ms
Mckennitt's music. Does that not sound like the most perfect day?
Unfortunately it's suppose to be cool with rain/snow showers. Ah
well, we can't have everything.


Rupert, in DH's pajama drawer. You can't leave drawers open when you
have cats. And yes, we do have the world's ugliest furniture in our bedroom.
Please ignore.