Books in Translation

More people need to read books in translation. Recently I recommended The Lost Daughter to a friend. She loved it.

The books is by Elena Farrante. She writes about motherhood and conflicted emotions surrounding children. Her prose is candid and challenging. The main character vacations by herself on the Ionian coast. With her daughters moving to Toronto with her ex-husband it is first time alone in years. She becomes engrossed in drama surrounding Nina, a young mother. Exploring the comfort and complications that come with family she dares you to like the main character despite her human frailties. If you can find it I recommend it.

Elena Farrante also wrote a great piece for the NYT. She tries to explain Naples to us. Enjoy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/opinion/15ferrante.html?_r=1&scp=10&sq=ferrante&st=cse

So Soft

I love my new robe. It is brown, fuzzy and soft, soft, soft, soft. I think it is the softest thing I have ever owned.

When I first move out on my own I inherited a couch from friends. We called it the snuffaluffagus. It was big and soft and oh so comfy. The new robe makes me miss that couch a little.

But, we all have to grow. So the couch was passed down. My brother and his friends lived with it for many more years. It gave many weary partiers a place to crash, and was eventually retired from service all together.

I think of that couch each time I put on my new robe. The robe only gives one weary folk a comfy place to crash.

That's okay. Because I am the folk.

I love my new robe.

Sick

God. I've been sick for two weeks now. How much longer can this last. It started with allergies. Then it became a stuffy nose. From there it went into a cough, and then back to a stuffy nose and now it is finishing up with a cold sore and canker sore.

I haven't even had time to plan my dream home. It's odd. I can picture every part of it. The lights over the breakfast bar are so real to me. They are made by hanging three bulbs from the ceiling and then using fishing traps as shades. A little salute to Portugal.

Okay maybe I have invested some time in planning it this week. But, I haven't had time to check my lotto tickets to see if it can be something other than a just a wish.

Take to aspirin and call me in the morning.

Wow. After the big travel (as I am calling it now), I have come back to experience allergies. I don't understand how people live with them. Itchy eyes, runny nose, and sneezing are all new to me. I feel like a big baby.

To add to the pain, I now have a cold as well. It seems like every month I am catching some new bug. What happened to me while I was away? Perhaps I need to plan on travelling again. Because staying home is killing me.

hummm

It amazing how quickly time can pass. I have been back in Canada for a year and a half now, and have settled back into a routine that is dangerously close to the one I had before I left town. I get up in the morning, walk the dog, work the day, walk the dog, make dinner, clean up, watch a little tv and go to bed.

Gone are the hours of reading, walking, and writing that I enjoyed on my year off. I have come back to my old life and not made the dramatic life altering changes that I had hoped for.

I have written 70,000 words that could probably be a novel, but the self-doubt I carry about is making it difficult to put the work out into the world. But, if I don't put it out there I will stay exactly where I am.

Outdoor Water

If it is off the pool I want to have it raised. It would be great a few steps higher than the pool, so it doesn't feel like you are just sitting in the pool. I could turn on the jets, lie back, sip a glass of wine and enjoy the stars. And I wouldn't have to worry about the dog trying to get in with me. She would definitely jump in a pool, but she would never climb a step to get into warm swirly water. But, if it is too open and too far from the bedroom… well no naked tubbing.

But, if it is next to the bedroom, what do I do when I head to bed early and my guests use it. I would be tempted to eavesdrop. That rarely goes well. Don't want to overhear a list of my faults. (short list, but still it might hurt)

When I stayed with Ana and Carlos I loved their outdoor shower. It was not something you use often in Canada. Too cold most of the year. You would end up freezing bits off. A few times I would open my eyes from rinsing the soap from my hair and find the dog sitting inside the shower stall watching me rinse. It startled me at first. You don't often find a giant hairy white dog sitting in the shower stall watching you shower.

So I definitely need an outdoor shower as well as hot tub. Maybe the shower I off the bedroom patio and the hot tub stays down by the pool. Other than Kootenay I can't imagine very many people needing to shower on my patio. K only likes it until you try to shower her. The minute you aim the shower head at her she is off. Although when it is really warm, she like drink from any water you try to wash her with. So I guess while I get to use it, the shower will also be for the dog. I have hear people say "love me love my dog" this time it will be "shower for me shower for my dog".

Guess this all requires a bit more thought.

Warm Daze

The pool will be nice. I'm a bit concerned about the dog. She loves
water. She will jump in the pool. Whenever we get close to a beach she
runs to the water. She loves to lie in the waves and have the water
wash over her. She will even lie down in a puddle if it is deep
enough. Guess this mean a few hours of training for her and me. She
will need to learn to recognize the stair exit no matter from where
she enters the pool.

I want to have a ramp as well. If Steve comes to visit I want him to
be able to access the pool as well. He will need to be able to get a
wheelchair in and out. It won't be a true zero entry pool, but the
ramp will be wide enough to give him access.

The 25 meter width will be great for keeping in shape. I hope to swim
a number of laps each day before I write. The morning will be a nice
30 minute walk with the pooch, a few laps and then some tea and toast.
Then writing. Then if I am lucky it will be bread guy day. Some warm
rolls, a glass of wine, and a nice salad before tucking into the
latest book.

Amongst the chairs around the pool will be one that lies flat. It will
be where I read on sunny days. The dog will have her own bed beside
it. If she gets up on my chair it won't be long until it stinks of wet
dog so badly I won't want to be on it.

After a few hours of reading I will have to track down some friends to
meet for dinner. I don't want to send too much time alone. It is easy
for me to do. I can slip into a routine of eating, reading and walking
the dog very easily. It's not exactly the more people I meet the more
I love my dog, but….

--
treena and kootenay
adogabroadayear.blogspot.com

The Bathroom

I designed my dream bathroom today while I sat at our woefully underappreciated booth at the UBC Consumption fair. It seemed very few people were interested in the glamorous recycled products we brought. Luckily this gave me lots of time to dream.

It has slate 2X2 tiles on the floor and walls. The shower is a walk-in stall that has a rainfall head. It's a nice big head that showers down on you with a ton of pressure. My current shower has such low water pressure that asking the cream rinse to leave the strands of my hair would be as effective as the spout some days. The shower stall will have a bench and a steam set up as well, I believe. There's nothing like a eucalyptus steam to clean out the nasal passages.

And the tub, how beautiful it will be. Claw foot, with a white enamel finish inside and a Chinese lacquer red outside and it will be deep enough to drown in. None of this shallow can't even get the top of my knees wet crap I have right now. Nope there will be depth and there will be bubbles. A rack will lie across the top. I might put a candle in the rack when I have the night time bath.

Have I mentioned the in floor radiant heat? When I get out of the tub the floor will be warm. And the towel will come off the heated rack all toasty and absorbent, and they will smell of sunshine (the housekeeper will often air my laundry on a line in the sun). She will be a bit crusty, but loveable. This will be handy, because I often absorb people into my life so she will set boundaries for the both of us.

This will be my master en-suite, so I don't envision a door as being necessary. There won't be casual party-goers going it this space. If they end up here it will be by invitation only, and that is another reason for the big deep tub. Hehehe.

The sinks will be bowls that are set on a solid black abutment and the taps will come out of the wall. The small tiled ledge above the taps can hold the incidentals.

The toilet stall will be behind a small pony wall. It will be shaped in much the same way as the shower, but with softer lighting, and maybe a way to play a little music. You know, for the moments when you need a little extra distraction. Oh, and there will be a small trash bin there, with a bag liner in it. I was lectured by a boy one time because the garbage pail in the bathroom didn't have a bag in it and he couldn't decide how to dispose of a used piece of personal protective wear. Really we just had sex and you're going to lecture me on how I line the garbage pail….

The nicest feature of this room will be the fireplace with a flat screen tv mounted above it. This will be viewable from the tub. A woman cannot live with books alone, and damn I love watching movies in the tub.

And that is it. Oh, I will have to have an upholstered chair in there. The dog likes to hang out in the bathroom when I relax in the tub. Tile floor is hard on her old bones. Now, she drags my towel off the rack and lays on it if I forget to bring her bed into the room. And there is no way she is dragging my lovely large dove grey towel down and sleeping on them. Sorry K. I love ya, but I've gotta draw some boundaries.

Dreams

I love reading Harlequin Romance novels. I love that the couples always work out their troubles. They are completely at odds with what I normally read. Other than romance novels I don't like my fiction to have a happy ending. I like complicated, messy lives entwined by love and lies.

I could be happy if I could spend the rest of my time reading and writing romance novels. In my dream life I would spend six months in my home in Europe and six months in Canada. I would have a home in Vancouver as a base, but I could always spend my time back in Canada hopping from friend to friend. A few months with Treesa. Some time with Michael. Some time with Diane. Some time with Matt and Mel. And I could squeeze in time with Megan & Zach, and Bill and Jen.

I'm sure Kootenay would get used to the flights. She seems happy where ever we end up. Whether we are driving across BC or Alberta in the frozen winter, or flying across the ocean, she always is happy when we get where we are going. Although she is not very fond of the actual travel.

I can picture the house we would build for our European home. I can see the open plan living room, dining room, and kitchen. I can even see the lamps that I would build for over the island. And there would always be extra bedrooms for my friends and family.

I would sit out by the pool and write. I would need to plan on being somewhere the bread van would deliver to. When I stayed with my friends Ana and Carlos. The bread van would come by every other day. He would honk his horn and all the people home in the neighbourhood would come out and buy bread. The back of the truck was insulated so the bread would still be warm when he came by. It was the closest I have come to perfect relationship.

Now I just need a little stake to get this plan underway.

Another Start

How did I get so old?

I don't mean that in the classic, feel so bad for me I miss my youth, kind of way. To be honest there is not one part of me that wants to go backwards a year let alone a decade.

One day when I was a teen I stopped thinking of myself as ever aging. Maybe I stopped believing I could ever age. Tomorrow seemed so far away that everyday was measured just as another today.

Lately I have started to see that I'm getting older. The eyes don't focus quite as well. The body doesn't keep in shape as easily.

And, I realized that my mother was only six years older than I am now when she died. When I think of my mom I remember her as about thirty five. I can see how she dressed, what she read, and how she laughed. Although the only reason I can remember her laugh is because it is the same as my sister's laugh. If I close my eyes when Treesa laughs I can almost think it is Mom.

Must be getting close to that time of year. Oscar parties and sadness.

A New Cooking Plan

Eating better. It is not an easy task. This week I started a new routine. I have made up a menu, bought the appropriate groceries and am trying four new recipes.

All my old standbys are boring me. I can make a darn good panko crusted chicken breast. And my oven-roasted potatoes are fantastic.

One of the things I missed while travelling through Portugal was a variety of potato options. There were no baked potatoes with sour cream and chives and no garlic and lemon oven roasted nugget potatoes. Don't misunderstand they can rock the French fry and their olive oil over boiled potatoes was really nice, but I didn't realize how many different ways there are to get your starch in Canada.

So to start the new cooking plan I made chicken cutlets dredged in garlic and panko with a nice spicy honey lemon sauce. Yummy and apparently low in fat.

Tonight I made a grapefruit avocado salsa and served it on broiled herb crusted pork chops with a lovely jasmine rice sidedish.

Guess what I am having for lunch tomorrow. Ah leftovers. They are so much better than sandwiches.

let's test this out

well i am getting back to blogging. the only problem is that the email
address used for this account has expired. Unfortunately my memory of
my password has also gone. so i will test this note and see if it
comes thru. if it does get ready for some new entries.

--
treena and kootenay
adogabroadayear.blogspot.com