The day after Boxing Day...

[fajrdrako]

Yesterday: Had a much-postponed post-Christmas dinner at Lisa and David's, which should have been at Christmas except his father died a couple of days earlier. They're back in Ottawa now and Christmas goes on. Lisa picked me up, as well as her mother (another Elizabeth), at the Unitarian senior's residence that Beulah likes so much. Though I have seen Elizabeth from time to time since I was nine years old, I haven't seen her in a number of years: she's now 86, still practises yoga, still teaches swimming, though her hearing isn't want it used to be - she was trying out her new hearing aid and finding it annoying. I hope I have that spirit when I'm 86. (Must be the yoga that does it. Note to self: practise yoga. Don't stop.)

Dinner: Pasta with vegetables and a fava bean sauce, red wine, turnips (which David calls rutabagas, with stunning accuracy) and squash. He made a joke about the menu relating to "The Silence of the Lambs", which, since neither of us have seen it, didn't have the impact it might have.

Afterwards, Lisa and I played Probe with Eleanor, who is six, and can't spell any words that are more than three letters long. She consequently couldn't read our words ("century" and "butter") and didn't know what "century" meant till it was explained, but she was good at the game - with a better memory for letters than we had, and a nice methodical way of working through the alphabet. I see a career in CSIS cryptography in her future.

I read to Eleanor for a while - "The King's Breakfast" from When We Were Very Young by A.A.Milne, one of my favourite poems (and one of my favourite books of poetry). Eleanor wanted more so we read one of her Christmas presents - a book about the history of Christmas all over the world - and another, much more subversive book called The Dumb Bunnies' Easter, which David and I particularly found hilarious. I see now it's a whole series of books. Heh. I think I know what to get Eleanor for her birthday.

Margot (aged nine) had her best friend visiting. All three little girls put on their prettiest dark-blue dresses for the occasion, putting the adults - all in blue jeans and sweaters - to shame. Margot's friend Lee played the violin very beautiful: she's been taking Suzuki since she was three. Lisa says her parents report that this involves many years of listening to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" but it pays off in the end. I hadn't expected live music.

Comments

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

"Excuse me,
Your Majesty,
For taking of
The liberty,
But marmalade is tasty, if
It's very
Thickly
Spread."

I love that poem!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I love that poem too. And I'll swear that Lisa and I never discussed it when we were kids, but we both memorized it at some point - it's just one of the greats. But then A.A. Milne is one of my favourite writers.

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

Another one we agree on for the World Domination List!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Oh absolutely!